Entry 82: There is a Fire in Me
September 16th: Morning
With all of this excitement that has been going on in my life recently, I haven't really had the time to truly digest what has happened. I met my mother and she turned out to be a great person who wants to be in my life. Taro and Yotsu began dating, Marou's being the usual tsundere but showed up today and... my relationship with Hiragii has been solidified. In all honesty, it's been a good few day. And it's looking like this last day of the festival will be a good one as well. While yes, there were a few hiccups along the way, things are still good.
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that my life is a thousand times better than it was on this exact day a year ago. I'm happy. Walking around the festival, I found myself alone once more, this time on purpose however. Mother said she'd be a little late today, and everyone's busy at the moment. Nino and Miku skirted their responsibilities yesterday so they're making up for it by working at their stalls during the morning. Ichika is making sure that Itsuki doesn't waste away the last day alone and studying, and Taro and Yotsu are conveniently paired up to make sure that the festival ends in an orderly fashion. All in all, everyone's happ- "Well, well, well, if it ain't the Bossman." Someone had grabbed the back of my shirt, almost causing me to choke. Stopping myself and pulling away from the assailant, I turned around to see Maki, dressed in a traditional martial arts gi. "Didn't expect you to be alone. Where' the princesses?" She'd caught me going into the main building, while looking for the bathroom.
"Nino and Miku are busy." Rubbing my neck, I did my best not to show my disappointment. At this rate, the three of us aren't going to be able to spend any time together during the festival. Ugh, I just want to dote on them! "Anyway, how're you? Doing another cosplay?"
For a moment, she grimaced, clearly not realizing that I saw her on the first day. "No, and get that image out of your head before I give you amnesia." Already done. Reading my mind, the black haired girl grinned and cracked her knuckles. "Now, what I'm here for is my promise. You and I are gonna fight."
"...what?"
"Remember? You promised me a fight a few months ago. I'm here to cash it in." Is that why she's wearing a gi? But even so, that makes no sense.
"We're in school. Why the hell would we even fight here and now? Can't we save it for some other time. How about winter break?" Stomping her foot into the ground, clearly she didn't take kind to my suggestion. "Maki, come on. It's a festival and it's morning too. Ignoring the logistics of fighting in a crowded school for one, you and I both know that if we went at it seriously, we both would be out of commission for the rest of the day."
A monsterous smile crept on her face, the battle hungry girl clearly found what I said to be deliciously exciting. "Oh, Kuro. You already got me going, no need to excite me more." I completely forgot how unruly this girl can get whenever it comes to fighting.
Maki is a tough woman. Well, tough is an understatement. She didn't get the title "Unit Assassin" for no reason. While yes, it was influenced by my brother's chunni obsessions, she deserves the title. Like I've stated before, while I have a talent for strength and violence, she has a talent inflicting violence. On paper, she shouldn't be as strong as she is, but wow does she have a creative mind whenever it comes to causing pain. I suppose it helps that she's used Subaru as a test subject for her torture for years. I am afraid of her, of course I am. I never liked fighting and getting hurt makes things worse. However, just admitting that to her will not get her off my back, hell it'll make her hunger for a fight even more. She's a sadist, and not the good kind like Nino.
"Maki, you know how there's going to be a big bonfire tonight, right? To signify the end of the festival." Giving me a face that said "duh" I continued. "Well, in all honesty, I wanted to spend that time with Miku and Nino. You know, my partners."
"Get to it before I punch you out right here."
"Well, I'd rather not be beaten black and blue when that time comes. So, I know that I can't convince you to give up on this, let's please postpone this. Any other time, any other place. I'll do it, just not today. Please." Rubbing her chin, I was actually surprised that the assassin was giving my plea any time of day. I had half a mind to just run right now, but she'd probably either catch me or break into my apartment and jump me tonight.
Nodding her head, she seemed to actually figure something out. "Alright then. How about this, we do it infront of the school, in front of everyone." Huh?! Snapping her fingers and smiling, the sadist continued. "I could probably get your shity brother to convince the school to make it a whole event. You versus me, winner takes all." Takes what? What's left of my pride?
"Why in front of the whole school?"
"What, scared of being beaten by a girl in front of your girlfriends?"
"Maki, my fear for you has nothing to do with your gender. You are truly one of the most terrifying people in the entire world."
"Thank you." Of course she'd take that as a complement. "Come on, Kuro. It's our last bout. I want it to be a memorable one. I want these brats to look back on that day and almost vomit at the thought of our fight." Just how serious are you going to take it?! At this point, I was wondering if I could fake my own death in a convincing enough way to have her not look for me. "We can either do that, or beat the piss out of each other now. You're pick, pussy."
Truly what an amazing choice I have in front of me. A decision that scholars would be speaking about for years to come. "...I know I'm going to regret this, but I choose the latter. Today really isn't a good day."
Nodding her head, Maki seemed satisfied enough. Well, of course she was. She's getting her fight one way or another. "Alright then. Don't cry when the time comes then. Have fun with your partners, idiot." Turning around, her long black hair actually smacked me in the face as she did. Somehow, she did that on purpose. "Oh, and tell your mom I said hi."
Disappearing into the crowd, I let out a small sigh of relief and went to relieve myself in the bathroom. When I got out and back into the main festival area, I was immediately assaulted with the strange smell of smoke. Hm? Is someone burning something? Growing curious, as well as having a bad feeling, I followed the smell. As I did, I noticed that I was getting dangerously close to where our classes' Takoyaki stand was supposed to be. "No, no, no!" Nino! Running through the crowd, I tried to get to the stand as fast as I could. But... of course. I was to fucking late.
"STAY BACK! EVERYONE STAY BACK!" A teacher yelled as he and a few others stood in front of the fire, keeping students away as Taro and our homeroom teacher put out the burning stand. A small crowd had formed around the burning structure, and from where I stood, I could see Miku standing at the front, watching as her and her sister's hard work literally burned away in front of her. What... I could feel the sense of self loathing begin to creep back, but it was thankfully drowned out by the worry I had for my love. Forcing my way through the crowd, I made my way to Miku and slowly grabbed her hand.
"...what happened?" I asked slowly, making sure to be as gentle and patient as I could.
"I don't... I don't know. I went with Nino to get some ingredients and when we came back..." Trailing off, she simply stared at the flames as I slowly died down from the fire extinguishers. "I... what do we do?" Looking around, I noticed that Nino was strangely missing. "She went to get more help."
My first instinct was to immediately go and chop down a tree and build a new stand. But, even if I did my best and as fast as I could, I doubt I'd be able to finish anytime soon. "Miku, I-" Stopping myself from needlessly apologizing, I took a deep breath and calmed myself. "It's okay. We'll figure something out."
Closing her eyes, Miku took in a deep breath before turning to me with a small smile. "Yeah. We have to support her. I'm sure we'll figure something out." Hey now, when did you get so confident? "Let's go find her." Pulling me by the arm, she and I left the crowd. Almost immediately, we ran into the ribbon wearing girl, leaning against the school's wall as she spoke with a teacher. "Nino."
"But- Oh, hey... Um, I understand teach."
"Hm, be careful now." The teacher, who I think ran P.E. walked away, leaving the three of us alone. Nino seemed surprisingly fine, only a bit disappointed but thankfully not to badly.
"Ku, you wouldn't happen to know how to turn back time, do you?"
"If I did, I would have done it a million times already." Slowly grabbing her hand, I tried my best to comfort her. But I'm not really good at this. "Um, sorry." Really great line there, asshole.
"Hey, not your fault. Should have known better than to leave those idiot guys alone for even a second." Squeezing my hand, a frustrated and yet still somehow smug grin appeared on her face. "Jeez, they can't even make Takoyaki right. We would have been screwed if we all did one stand."
Wait a second, I almost forgot that there was another stand that we had. Sure, the equipment was different but... "Miku, what kind of equipment does the pancake station have?"
"Hm? Just a big griddle. What... OH!" Immediately lighting up, she clapped her hands and turned to Nino. "Let's share the stall! There's more than enough space, and if we all work together I'm sure it'll work out!"
Taken aback, the Tsundere let go of me and placed a hand on her chin. "Well, how're we supposed to make Takoyaki on a griddle. Our equipment got fucked up, so-"
"Come on, Nino. Who'd you think you're talking to?" Pointing to myself, I felt a smile slowly come on. "After making Takoyaki for Itsuki for years, I learned a few easy ways to make it without needing the grill for it. It'll be easy to teach the guys how to do it too."
"Wow, here I thought all you were good for was looking good and punching guys." Wow. "But5, if you think we can do that, fuck it. Let's save our classes' stalls!"
Same Day: Afternoon
"H-Hey, aren't you a little close, dude?"
"I need to make sure that you don't screw up. Remember how I showed you and don't mess it up, please." Hovering over two boys from our class, I was surprised with how well they were doing. The method I'd learned was a 'Hack' I saw online a while ago, and it was surprisingly easy. But given that these guys had just burnt down a Stall that I personally made, I had to keep an eye on them. Glancing to my side, Miku and a few girls were busy handing out the already made pancakes and Takoyaki to customers. "Oi, the octopus is going to spill out if you fold it like that." Gotta say, Tako and Pancakes are a weird combo, but we've been selling surprisingly well. Hmm, now I'm surprised Itsuki didn't ask for that kind of combo.
"S-Sorry!" Quickly fixing his mistake, the young brown haired man sighed. "I'd be doing better if Nino were teaching me..."
"What'd you say?" Flinching, my Classmate decided it was better to give the Tako his full attention. His friend, a kid with a shaved head, was surprisingly quiet. But looking at his face, I could see that he seemed to be afraid as well. So, seeing as those two would be falling in line, I glanced over to the two girls who were making pancakes at the moment. "Everything going alright on your end?"
"We don't need help from idiots who almost burnt down the festival." Well aren't they being nice? The wound woman, with short black hair, turned her glare to the shaved head kid before looking back at her work. Oh. Of course. It's sort of been like this for a while. It hasn't helped that our class has literally been in a civil war over the festival for weeks now.
The animosity between the Tako and Pancake faction has been insane. Hell, when we were first trying to merge the stalls, there was a conspiracy that the girls had burnt down the guys' stalls. Ugh, how childish. But, I can't let things fall apart right now. These stalls are way too important to Miku and Nino, and the last thing I'm going to let happen is some childish fight to hurt them. "Understood, I won't bother you anymore. However, if you need any help, please speak up and I'll do my best." Deciding that things were fine here for now, I decided to see if there was anything else I could help with. Walking to the back of the stall, I wasn't at all surprised to see a small group of our classmates just sitting around. "Are we full in ingredients at the moment?"
The students didn't even give me a glance when I spoke. Whatever, I'll do it myself. I couldn't really blame them for losing morale. From the girls perspective, we had just taken over their stall that they spent the last month creating and preparing for. From the guys, well I don't need to repeat it at this point.
This is all I've been doing for the last few hours. I didn't mind being our class's errand boy if it was for Nino and Miku. Though it does feel strangely familiar. I was surprised that we were able to do this at all, though it was mostly because of Miku convincing everyone. Nevertheless, I did my job at a necessary pace. Getting ingredients, teaching the boys my trick and keeping everything on track. Nothing else was on my mind but my work and- "Ogata, there you are." Walking out of where we were keeping our ingredients, I was immediately greeted by a scowl and growl by my former employer. The older man was seemingly waiting for me. "I've been looking for you."
Placing the bags down near me, I gave the older man a polite bow. "Marou, so you found the time to come. That's great to see. Is there something that I can help you with?" Honestly, I was glad to be a little smug to the man. It isn't every day that I get a win over him. "Did you visit our class stall? There was a little... complication, but we're bouncing back."
"Oh, I heard about that, but that is not what I am here to speak with you about. Come with me." Not leaving any room for argument, Marou began walking away from me. Not seeing what else I could do, I picked back up the ingredients and jogged to catch back up with the man. "...I just happened to have some free time, that is why I came." If that's what you need to tell yourself. I didn't care about whatever justification he came up with, at least he was here.
"I see, that's good to hear then. I'm honestly happy to see you here." With an audible groan, the doctor shook his head in a honestly amusing way. "Everyone's put a lot of work into everything. Especially Miku, Nino, Yotsu and Taro. I think it turned out well, hasn't it?" Hesitantly, he nodded while keeping his face forward. "Anyway, what was it that you needed?" He didn't answer me until we got to my first location. In front of the Tako/Pancakes stall were Miku and Nino, each of them handing a plate of food to- "Mother?"
"Isagi, there you are!" Turning to me with a pick in her mouth, my mother had a gigantic smile on her face. "Oh, hello there, Mr. Nakano, how're you?" HUH?!
I was surprised by how fast my head spun to look at the Doctor. But, the man was completely still, not a single emotion showing on his face. "Greetings, Mrs. Hajime. I did not expect to see you today. Once again, I apologize for what I had said last night." LAST NIGHT?!
"Oh, well, it's water under the bridge now. I understand where you were coming from, being a parent and all."
"What the hell is going on right now?" Not being able to keep myself calm anymore, I spoke my mind immediately. "What the hell did you mean last night?"
"Yeah... this is really fucking weird right now." Nino, crossing her arms, looked between the two adults. "Dad, if you already pissed off Mother, I'll-"
"I did nothing of the sort. I simply... went a little too far when we had a meeting last night. Shiro had set up the meeting but I may have overreacted to a certain piece of information. Once again, I apologize." For Marou Nakano, one of the proudest people I know, to actually apologize, what he said must have been fucked up. What the hell did you-
Waving her hands to catch all of our attention, Mother seemingly tried to stop whatever angry response I was about to have. "Like I said, water. Bridge. It's under it. AAAAnyway, how are you doing today?"
"...fine." This is awkward as hell. "Ogata, I wanted to ask you something." Turning to me, he pointed his finger to Mother and asked, "Do you see her as family?"
"Yeah."
"... that's it? Yeah?"
"Uhhh... yes. I do in fact see Ai Hajime as my mother." I don't know what he expected from me. I know that I just met her, but it was sort of a feeling, I suppose. Ai is my Mother. That is all.
Taking in my answer, the Doctor sighed but nodded nonetheless. "Very well." Turning on his heel, he turned to his daughters. "Make sure that this fool doesn't get himself into something stupid."
"It's Kuro, it's going to happen." HEY! Now that's just mean, Miku.
"Yeah, but when it happens we'll make sure he regrets it for at least six months. I won't let him forget it." Smirking at me, my beloved girlfriend put her hands on her hips. "Anyway, are you hungry, Dad? Or did you just come by to flirt with a married woman?"
"...I'll take a stack of pancakes please."
"Well, if it's an order from Dad, I think we should do it ourselves, shouldn't we, Miku?"
"Yup!" This is a really weird day.
After the roaring (Read: weirdly cute) praise that Marou gave his daughters for the food, he went back to exploring the festival along with Mother. Hopefully they won't get into another argument. Whatever the first one was about. Deciding that I should just get back to working, I slid back into the stall and dropped off the ingredients. As I did so, I noticed something weird. Well, the fact that the two factions seemed to have forgotten their anger for one another. "Hey, teach me right! There's no way this is how Ogata said to roll the Octopus!"
"That's just how I've been doing it! Come on, it's easier isn't it?"
"Hell no! My hand is getting cramped!" Well, mostly, at least. The guy with a shaved head and the short heard girl had seemingly switched places. He was handling pancakes while she seemed to be having trouble with the Takoyaki. "Agh, what the hell! This is impossible!"
"If you're having trouble, I can be of assistance." Turning back to me, my classmate shrugged, reluctantly took my help. Standing near her, I gave her step by step instructions of how to make the Takoyaki on the grill. Sure, it's not the same, but we're not exactly putting out gourmet level food in the first place. "Is that easy to understand? I apologize if it isn't. I'm not the best teacher."
"Nah, I got it. You're better that this guy." And sure enough, she had done it completely perfectly as I instructed and made a completely perfect piece of the pastry. "These guys were complaining about it being that hard? So lame~"
"Grrr, I-It's just because Ogata's better at teaching girls! He's just flirting with you!"
"Sorry, but I'm not interested in any girl in the world that isn't Miku or Nino." Baffling the students, I spoke my mind. But... I think it came across as creepy judging by the two students' faces. Coughing into my hand to regain my composure, I continued. "What I mean is basically I wouldn't flirt with anyone other than my partners. Though, as I said, I'm not the best teacher. I apologize if I didn't explain it well enough to you, sir."
Shaved-Head Guy stared at me for a moment. "N-Nah, you're good, my guy. You uh... wait, but don't you have two girlfriends?"
"... anyway."
"H-Hey!"
Same Day: Evening
The festival is starting to close down for the last time. A small group of students were going around and putting down the stalls while the teachers were putting up the large bonfire in the center of the athletics field. I Should be there, hanging out with everyone and getting ready to have fun next to the giant fire hazard, however I had completely forgotten to return a certain pair of glasses that I sto- borrowed. Sneaking into the Cosplay room, I solely placed the glasses back on what I assumed was Subaru's desk and made my perfect exit. Closing the club room behind me, I let out a satisfied sigh and was about to head down to the field. That is, until I felt... strange.
It was like a strange instinct or some sort of pull. Something was telling me to go to the roof for some reason. I didn't really know why and I really should have ignored it. But, being the huge dumbass I am, I listened to the feeling. As I walked up to the roof, I thought about the last time I felt this. Wait, wasn't the last time I had this feeling that time Ono almost killed me? This isn't- Opening the door, on the other side stood a young woman. Long black silky hair flowing in the evening wind as she stared down at the athletics field. Strangely enough, she was wearing her old uniform from when she came here. "Of course it's you." Is this what Dio meant by "Do you believe in Gravity"?
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Ogata! Been a while." Turning to me with a teasing smile, Shiki Ono was, for some reason, standing in front of me. "Huh, are you growing your hair out again? Hmmm, I think it looks good on you~"
"The hell are you doing here?" Closing the roof door behind me, I kept a hand behind my back, where I had a small knife in my back pocket. Something I learned to do from Shiro. "I thought we told you that you were expelled from Asahiyama. You know you're breaking your agreement with Library. An agreement meant to be merciful."
And yet, as she always has, Ono simply shrugged off the accusation casually. "Hey, do you have any idea how many invitations I got? Sure, turning down one or three would be fine, but my phone was blowing up for days! Ah, it's so hard being popular." Ugh, I'm getting a headache, I forgot how annoying she can be. Seriously, did every word she say have to either be a brag or a dig at me? "So, I just had to come. But don't worry, I made sure not to go anywhere near you and your bra-... I mean friends!" Ending her sentence with a fake ass smile, I groaned at her.
I almost believed her for a moment, before I remembered just how manipulative she could be. Keeping my guard up, I continued my questioning. "Why are you here then? Wouldn't you be with your friends?"
"With how spread out we'd all be in the field, I knew either you or your buddies would spot me. So, I decided to come up here. Didn't really feel like heading home yet and I wanted to walk down memory lane. Ya know?" Leaning against the fencing around the roof, she tilted her head at me. "Real question is, why are you here, casanova? Don't you have two flowers to take care of? Or did you miss me that much?"
"I had a feeling that something was up here, and as a former bodyguard, I have to check everything. Turns out, I was right and a snake was hiding."
"I prefer the term Scorpion, please. Snakes are sooo last year." Now she's just fucking with me. Quickly, I tried my best to think of my options here. I didn't exactly feel comfortable with her being here, but if I called Shiro or anyone in Library, she could get hurt, or even killed. "Hm? You alright there, Puppet? Wait, no, puppet doesn't work for you anymore. Hmmm, can't really think of one though."
Groaning once more, I just decided to finish this here. "Whatever. Just don't do anything suspicious and get out of Asahiyama. Have a good day, Ono." Turning around to leave, I was ready to end this weird interaction and stroll down memory lane. At least she's doing alright. I didn't know how to feel about that thought popping into my mind about a woman who almost killed me. Twice. In one summer.
"Hey, hold up." Great. Reluctantly turning to the woman, her strange smile had disappeared. "Ogata... There's actually another reason why I came here. I was actually hoping that this would happen." Slowly walking up to me, she stopped a few feet away from me and... went into a deep bow. "Please, help me."
"...what?"
"I'm not going to hold back. I'm in real pile of shit right now, and I'll prolly die in a few months." What? "I... can't say why at the moment, but I'm in a lot of trouble and I need your help. You're seriously the last person that I can ask right now."
Taking a step back from the woman, my mind was completely shattered. Was this another ploy? Was she telling the truth? It was hard to know with her, hell it was hard to believe if she's ever even meant a single word she's ever said to me. "W-What? Wait, why me? Haven't you tried to kill me twice?! Why in the ever living fuck would I help you?" In fact, I should be happy that she was getting her just deserts. Unfortunately, should was the key word there.
Standing up, she leaned to one side and rested a hand on her hip. As if annoyed that I asked the question. "Who else could I ask? The Omi are dead and the underground is in shatters. Sanctuary threw me out and they're buddy buddy with the Org that's being led by the brother of the guy I tried to kill. Twice. Sorry bout that btw." Don't say the letters BTW. "Anyway... we've spent a lot of time together, Ogata. And I know a lot about you. I know you're a complete dumbass. The fact you didn't have me killed is proof of that."
"I... it would just leave a bad taste in my mouth." Turning my head away from her, I took a deep breath. "Anyway, it's not my fault if you get hurt from your own issues."
"...you're right. And it's not like I'd blame you. I did screw with you for a long time. And this is definitely just me getting what I deserve." Shrugging her shoulders, she tried her best to give me a smug smile. But, even to me, or was it because it was me, I knew that her mask was shattered. Whatever trouble she found herself in, it's definitely something that's led her to rock bottom. "Ah well, this was just a hail mary attempt anyway. If I die, I die."
And this should be where her story ends. She's burnt down every single bridge she's built in her attempt to become Queen of the Yakuza or whatever. Because of that, there's no one who can help her here and there's nothing she can do about her unfortunate fate. A fate that she's ultimately chosen for herself. It was sad, sure. But what can you do?
She had attempted to use my own, shitty fate against me to get me on her side. She pretended to be Hiragii, she almost got Itsuki shot, almost killed me in the basement of a shitty house, spread annoying rumors about me...maybe I should have said that before the attempted murder. Anyway, I might be one of the people she's slighted the most in her life. Yet, I still feel bad for her. Yes, her actions lead her to this fate, but were those actions truly hers? Her father was a Yakuza and she was born into that world just as much as I was. She simply embraced it. But can I blame her for that? I'm lucky that my life led me to a path where I could leave that world. I could have easily been stuck there, just bitter.
If I'm going to help people and kids stuck in that world... Can I really ignore her? Maybe I was being too nice, but she's a victim of that world just as much as I am. As much as Suabru, Maki, Take and even my brother. Ugh, I really am a fucking idiot. "...Give me your contact information."
"Huh?"
"I'm going to contact you in a few days with a time and place to meet. You chose a really shit time, you know? Exams are right around the corner and now I have to worry about this shit? Ugh. You better not make me regret this."
My former archnemesis stared at me before she began giggling. "Wow, you really are fucking stupid."
"I can still leave, you know."
"Okay, okay." Handing me her phone, I put in her contact info into my own and handed it back. "What, I can't know your phone number yet? Is this how you treat all of your side pieces?"
"I'm reserving the right to change my mind, that's why." Ingoing her sly comment, I pocketed my phone and turned around to leave. "Lay low in Asahiyama for a while. If you don't hear from me by this time, next week. Contact Shiro. Sure, he might hate you, but if I send in a good word, he'll give you a place to hide out. Understood?"
"...So either way, I'll be alive. But I'd prefer to be free and alive. So, I'm counting on you Ogata. Thanks." Taking her forced thanks, I left and made my way down to the bonfire. What the hell did I just get myself into? I just keep drifting from one problem to another.
An: Hello everyone. How are you all doing? I've been fine, still recovering and getting really into Star Rail. Other than that, not much has been going on for me.
Other than that; first off, Happy (late) Birthday to the quints! Second off, we've reached another big turn in the story. The end of the manga, well mostly, and the end of the fourth arc. Our next arc, name pending, is another that I've been looking foward to. And I hope that you all enjoy where it goes as well. In the meantime, thank you for reading once more and I hoped you liked it.
Guest: Thank you, and I'm excited to see if you'd like where the story goes. Hoenslty, I didn't think I'd see another review for a while, so thank you for giving me your thoughts. Thank you.