Author's Note: I think one of my favorite parts of Perfect Girl Evolution is how, at random moments, all four boys will start weeping. I have never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever met a sixteen year-old boy would just start crying, especially if it did not involve physical pain.
I'm very fond of this particular segment, because I think I snorted milk out of my nose at least four times while rereading it. It's good that I entertain me, because that way I know at least one person that won't egg my house after reading this chapter. (HINT: IT IS ME.)
I hope you will enjoy this.
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This time, when Noi woke up, she kissed Takenaga's cheek repeatedly until he swatted at her as if she were a bug.
"Heeeey," she whined. "I'm just trying to wake you up!"
He smiled and opened his eyes. They grinned at each other.
"Wanna come wake everyone up with me?" she asked, sitting up. He watched her, pleased.
"Sure," he said, stretching out his long limbs. "Couldn't let you do it alone after yesterday."
They got out of bed, brushed their teeth, showered, possibly did some other things, the likes of which is none of anyone's business but their own, and got dressed. It didn't take long for them to get down to Sunako's room and knock on the door.
There was no response. Noi whimpered softly and Takenaga set his jaw and knocked firmly again.
Sunako opened the door after a beat, wearing a black tunic and shorts. She looked extremely annoyed.
"Where are my clothes?" she asked them darkly.
"We traded them ALL out for clothes you wouldn't melt in," he told her. "Not just the clothes on the top of the suitcase. Heat stroke is a real problem. You can't just ignore it."
"Where's Kyohei?" Noi asked, slipping past Sunako and peeking into the bathroom. "Did he come back last night?"
Sunako tilted her head and looked at Noi. She said nothing as they both looked at her. She raised her eyebrows, as if to ask them what they wanted. Takenaga gave her an annoyed look.
"Well did he?" he demanded.
"Oh," she said, acting as though it was just occurring he was addressing her and not someone else in the room. "No."
"I'm going to wake Ran and Yuki up," Takenaga told them, and crossed the hall to knock on the door.
It took a few seconds for Yuki to open the door, yawning widely and scratching at the back of his head. He was wearing the same robe Ranmaru had worn the previous day, only properly tied around his waist so that almost none of his skin was visible.
"What?" he said wearily, rubbing at his eyes.
"Ran!" Takenaga called around Yuki. "Get up!"
"He's uh… indisposed at the moment," Yuki said, stepping in front of Takenaga.
"Kyohei didn't come back to the hotel last night," Takenaga told him. "I think something happened to him."
Yuki nodded and quickly walked back into the room, letting the door swing shut. Takenaga put his foot in the door and peeked his head in.
Ranmaru was lying on his side in the pink frilly dress, barely covered by the blankets. His wrists were tied together behind his back, but he was still soundly asleep, drooling onto the pillow.
"Yuki!" Takenaga exclaimed. "What the hell?!"
"Ah! No! It's not what it looks like!" Yuki shrieked, diving back to the door to shove Takenaga out of the room.
Hearing the shrill voice, Ranmaru shifted and groaned softly on the bed. He squirmed lightly in the bonds and mumbled, "Oh God, again already? Let a guy get some sleep, Yuki."
Takenaga's jaw dropped open and he looked at Yuki in horror.
"Not what it looks like!" Yuki insisted again, still shoving the other boy out the door. "Seriously. Gotta go now. Take a shower. Be right out. Gimme a minute."
Takenaga stumbled into the hallway and Yuki slammed the door in his face. Staring at the door, Takenaga could hear Yuki yell behind it.
"You moron! Takenaga just saw you! GAH! Do you have to say every stupid little thing that crosses your mind?!"
Noi walked across the hall to stand next to Takenaga.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked, nudging him gently.
He silently opened and shut his mouth, then pointed at the room.
"Oh my god," he said. "Oh my god."
"There is no god," Sunako said, moving to his other side. She was wearing the sunglasses again, and bumped into the wall. "Unless you are referring to the dark lord, Satan."
"Oh my god," he repeated. Sunako looked at where he was pointing.
"Did Yuki exact some revenge?" she asked.
"You… might say that," Takenaga said weakly.
From the other side of the door they could hear, "I'm gonna punish you so good."
Noi frowned. "What? What is he talking about?"
"Tiiiiime to go," Takenaga said, grabbing Noi by the shoulders and reaching for Sunako's wrist.
"No, I want to listen," Sunako said, twisting out of his grip. "I like punishment."
Takenaga stared at her in disgust then shook it off and left her to her own devices, shoving Noi down the hallway.
An hour later, when Yuki and Ranmaru finally emerged from their room, they found Sunako sitting on the floor and shuffling through a tarot deck.
"Uh… good morning," Yuki said nervously, looking down at her. She looked up, through her sunglasses and flipped over a card.
Without looking down to see it, she correctly identified: "Death."
"God it's creepy when you do that," Ranmaru muttered, not looking down.
"Going down for breakfast?" Yuki asked her, taking a small step away from the taller boy.
"I am," she said, getting to her feet.
"Did Kyohei turn up?" he asked as they walked for the elevator.
"He did not."
"I'm sorry, did you forget how to use contractions?" Ranmaru asked irritatedly.
She turned to him as they stepped into the elevator.
"Are you cranky because Yuki was punishing you?" she asked.
Ranmaru's face went scarlet, and he stared at her as Yuki quickly looked down at his feet.
"It sounded very painful, did he use thumb screws?" she asked eagerly. "Did he break any of your bones? Flog you? Use a metal tipped whip? Beat you with a club? Or maybe he did it so that he left no marks, only internal bleeding?"
The boys could say nothing as she looked back and forth between them.
"Did you like it?" she asked him, narrowing her eyes. It was hard to see it through the glasses, but her eyebrows met in the center of her face fiercely. Ranmaru looked queasy.
Yuki ignored them both, staring at his shoes until the door opened and he quickly stepped out into the lobby. He bolted toward the dining room.
"Do you think they'll have bacon?" she asked Ranmaru, not moving. "I hope so." They stared at each other. "I hope it was painful for you." She grinned and stepped out into the lobby.
The doors shut again, Ranmaru still tomato red and frozen with horror in the elevator, staring at her.
It wasn't until a fat American woman got on the elevator on the second floor a few minutes later that Ranmaru came back to his senses. He shuffled to one side to make room for her. The doors closed and he glanced at her.
She smiled politely and nodded.
"I didn't like it," he said quickly. "No matter what either of them say. I didn't like it."
Still smiling politely, she nodded again, but looked puzzled.
When they got to the first floor, she moved exceptionally quickly for a woman of her size for the front doors and left. Ranmaru, on the other hand, made his way to the dining room, spotted his housemates sitting at a table and joined them, taking a chair next to Takenaga – also conveniently at the other end of the table from Yuki.
Sunako leaned over the table to look at him. He tried to avoid her gaze.
"So did he dislocate your shoulder? Pull out some toenails? What kind of punishment are we talking here?"
"Sunako!" Takenaga snapped. His face was almost as red as Ranmaru's. "Not at the table! Have some decorum."
"I feel weird about this whole punishing thing," Noi said with a frown. "Friends shouldn't treat each other like that."
"Can we please just drop this?" Yuki mumbled, trying to not look up from his menu.
"No!" she declared, smacking the table with an open palm. "Torture is wrong!"
Takenaga groaned, putting one hand to rub at his sinuses before leaning toward her, one hand to her ear to whisper. Her jaw dropped open and she stared at Yuki. The boy sank lower in his seat under her gaze and lifted his menu up so that he was almost completely blocked from view.
"Ew, and you just sat up there and listened to them?!" she shrieked at Sunako.
The girl turned and gave her the chilliest look she could manage. Noi gulped and turned back to the middle of the table. Then she looked down at Ranmaru, who looked as though he was praying for the world to open up beneath him and swallow him whole.
There was a long moment of silence.
"Soooo, where's that Kyohei, huh?" Takenaga said weakly.
"Not here," Sunako volunteered.
There was another moment of silence. Everyone sat up and looked down at her. She looked thoughtfully at her menu for a few seconds and then back up. They were all still staring at her.
"What are you guys getting? I think I'm going with pancakes."
"Sunako," Takenaga said in a low voice, "do you know where Kyohei is?"
She seemed to consider it for a moment, tilting her head. Frowning, tapping her chin, and sighing pensively, she finally said, "You know, now that you mention it…"
Yuki put his menu down and frowned at her. Ranmaru went pale.
"Nope." She picked her menu back up and looked at it. "Oh wait, they have eggs Benedict. That sounds incredible."
"Oh my god, you are such a liar!" Yuki gasped, pointing at her. "You do know!"
"No I do not," she said quickly, bringing the menu closer to her face.
"Yes you do!" Ranmaru nearly yelled, jumping to his feet. "Did you kill him?! Did you bury his body somewhere?! Did you lock him up so he wouldn't bother you?! Did you –" He cut himself off.
"What?" Noi cried. "Did she what?!"
"You didn't," he said, face ashen as he sat back down. "You wouldn't."
"No, I would not," she said nervously, pulling the tarot cards from her pocket and shuffling anxiously.
"What what what?!" Noi squealed, her fingers gripping the table.
"I think we need to go back to the catacombs," Ranmaru said.
There was a moment of silence before Yuki began sobbing hysterically into his napkin.