Step #4:

Answering 5 Questions

...\~/...

Dear Hikaru,

I have mixed feelings about snow. I like it when it's fresh and blindingly bright, but I hate it when it melts to sludge. Sludge just makes everything look dirty. And yes, I am a writer. Haven't published anything, but I hope someday that I'll be able to walk into a bookstore and see my books all over the shelves. The problem is: I have no commitment whatsoever. I've told my friends that they need to push me to get a story done, but I guess we all forget. Also, I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Whatever I write never seems to satisfy me.

Anyways, I'm glad I'm not the only one nervous about this. Friends say it's not a big deal, but that doesn't make me feel any better.

From,

Ripley B.

P.S. Are you the older or younger brother? You mentioned a brother in your previous message.

...\~/...

Dear Ripley,

I've never really noticed the sludge. I probably will now since you've pointed it out. And what kind of stories do you write? I sometimes wish I could write; always been a math and science person. Hey, when you publish something, can I get an autograph? I've never gotten a book autographed before and it's on my bucket list. Do you have a bucket list? Is that a weird thing to ask? Am I asking too many questions?

By the way, I'm the oldest by five minutes. We're twins and his name's Kaoru.

From,

Hikaru H.

P.S. Seriously, am I asking too many questions?

...\~/...

Dear Hikaru,

Nope, you're not asking too many questions. How else are we supposed to get to know each other if we don't ask them? See, I'm the other way around; I wish I could be a math and science person. Math I was alright at, but science was too boring for me to pay attention to. I especially hated chemistry during high school. Ugh, makes me shudder just thinking about it... Also, I write anything that comes to mind. Fantasy, action/adventure, romance, anything. The one thing I probably can't do and won't do is sci-fi. The whole galaxy-space adventure thing has never exactly been my cup of tea. And of course I can give you an autograph. Just nag me to write and maybe you'll get one someday.

Of course I have a bucket list! Haven't marked anything off, but I'll get to it. Someday...

Um...my friend (FRIEND, not me) has a question for you (I really hope this doesn't ruin things for us, but better now then later): she wants to know if you and your brother have ever done twincest before. She likes that kind of thing... If I don't get a letter back, I understand.

From,

Ripley B.

P.S. Do I write too much? I feel like I do.

...\~/...

Dear Ripley,

I cracked up and I mean, I laughed for like...ten minutes when I read your twincest section. In high school, my brother and I were in this club called a Host Club, and we basically entertain the girls by talking with them, serving tea, doing cosplay, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Well, my brother and I put on this act where we pretended to be involved in a forbidden romance. Girls ate it up so bad. So yeah, we kind of have done twincest. Bet you weren't expecting that answer, huh?

How can you NOT love chemistry? That was one of my favorite classes in high school!

I've marked a few things off my bucket list, like being kicked by a soccer player and scaring someone with one of those hand buzzers.

From,

Hikaru H.

P.S. You don't write too much. I like long messages.

...\~/...

Dear Hikaru,

Are you kidding me? I wasn't even expecting a letter after the twincest thing! I thought that was a little much, especially since we just starting talking to one another.

How CAN you love chemistry? That subject was created by the devil as a torture device, no joke. Though, we did have this student teacher that we all came to adore, and let's just say that when he left, there were a lot of depressed, desperate, panicked students in that class. The real teacher always treated us like we were stupid. So that's why I despise and will FOREVER despise chemistry. Nothing you can say can make me change my mind.

Hand buzzer? Okay, I'll admit it, I've always wanted to get zapped by one of those. Question: did you get numerous people with the buzzer or just one oblivious person over and over again? If it's the second one, I'm going to laugh my ass off.

From,

Ripley B.

P.S. You aren't offended by foul language, right?

...\~/...

Dear Ripley,

Have you told your friend yet about the twincest thing yet? If you did, how did she react?

Our teacher always did demonstrations all the time so it was always exciting. He had really cool ways of teaching it so I was always interested. It also depends on the teacher because I always heard other students complain about how boring it was in the other homerooms. I guess I was just lucky. You must've had a dud.

If we ever meet in person, I'll get you with the hand buzzer, promise. Also, it was one person over and over again. He was a...actually, he still IS an idiot, so it was easy to trick him. I wanted to get the vice-president of our club, but I was pretty sure he would summon the demons from Hell and sic 'em on me if I did, so I stayed away from him.

Okay, so it just went from being a really pretty snow to kind of terrifying. Weather scares me sometimes.

From,

Hikaru H.

P.S. The hell if I'm not offended by foul language. I'm used to it. My friend swears like a sailor and yet, she's the girlfriend to one of the most proper people I know.

...\~/...

Dear Hikaru,

Nope. She fell asleep right after she asked the twincest question. Sorry, no reaction.

You lucky bastard. My chemistry teacher did at least four or five demonstrations and when she did, they weren't even that cool. There was one that I loved, but only one. Plus, I hated that class because I sat in the very front all year long. I wanted to sit in the very back so she wouldn't ask me so many damn questions.

I laughed so hard, I thought I was going to wake the neighbors when I read about the whole buzzing one person thing. It takes a real idiot to be so trusting of a prankster.

Hey, if weather there scares you, come to where I live. It goes from sunny, to rainy, to below zero, to tornado-perfect conditions in less than five minutes. You never know what the hell you're going to get over here. It shouldn't be called the Land of Lincoln; it should be called the Bipolar-Weather State.

From,

Ripley B.

P.S. You know what I hate? Bugs being attracted to light, especially since my laptop is the only light on.

...\~/...

Dear Ripley,

Tell your friend that we went all the way. Tell me if she faints or not.

I sat in the back with my brother and friend. But you know what I hated the most? When my teacher would call on me on a question I didn't have an answer to. I would stand up, state my answer, then cringe when the teacher said no real slowly, like he was trying to figure out where the hell I came up with it. And it was always in my foreign language class; usually pulled all the answers in that class out of my ass. Kaoru was always a genius when it came to foreign language.

On my bucket list, I have 'see a tornado and take a picture of it'.

From,

Hikaru H.

P.S. You know what I hate? When you smash bugs on your computer screen and you try and wipe them away, but it only smears them. I hate that.

...\~/...

Dear Hikaru,

If I told her you went all the way with your brother, I'm pretty sure she would have a heart attack. But I'll do it, just for you.

Oh, I know, right? I never paid any attention in classes so I didn't know what the hell I was doing in any of them. I would either stay really quiet or just say 'I don't know' and they would get on with the class. I hated talking in class because I always felt people were going to laugh at me if I got the wrong answer because there WERE kids that would laugh behind your back if you got the wrong answer. I remember there was this one girl that was so condescending to people who said the wrong things; I wanted to punch her right between the eyes most of the time. By the way, I hated my foreign language class, too.

Oh. My. God. I have the same exact thing on MY bucket list, and it's even worded the same! The day after I wrote my bucket list, there was a tornado that touched down about ten miles away from where I lived. My dad and I just sat outside, waiting for it to come to our house, camera ready and everything, but it never did. I was SO pissed. Someday though, I'll get a picture, and then run like hell afterwards.

From,

Ripley B.

P.S. Are you a night owl like me?

...\~/...

Dear Ripley,

I just came up with something. I'll ask you five questions, you answer them, then you can ask me five questions, I'll answer them, so on and so forth. I think it would be pretty interesting to see what kind of questions are floating around in our minds. Okay, here's mine:

1. Are you listening to music right now? If so, what kind?

2. Do you live with anyone?

3. Who do you talk to more about your problems: mom or dad?

4. If you could date a famous actor, who would it be?

5. What does it look like outside of where you live and what's going on?

From,

Hikaru H.

P.S. Lately, I haven't been able to sleep. There have been a lot of things on my mind.

...\~/...

Dear Hikaru,

I like this idea. I've done it before, but I wasn't sure if I should've done it or not.

Right now, I'm listening to the Bucket List soundtrack. I thought it was fitting since we kept on mentioning bucket lists, so I pulled it up. If you've never seen the Bucket List, you need to rent it. One of my favorites. I live with four of my friends that were from high school. We live in a two-bedroom apartment, so there are two beds in one room and three in the other, but I usually sleep on the couch because I prefer it and it's better on my back. I go to my dad when I need to talk about my problems, probably because he usually has an answer for me, and he gives me honest ones, even if sometimes I wanted the sugar-coated answers. Famous actor...is it okay if I have a tie because it would be a tie between Liam Neeson and George Clooney. And outside our apartment, there are train tracks, and a train's passing by. There's also a gas station (which has four cars pulled into it) and a bar close by. The bar's closed right now.

My turn!

1. What's the strangest punishment your parents have ever given you?

2. Do you have any pets?

3. Would you have super strength or super intelligence?

4. What's the most expensive thing you've ever bought someone?

5. Have you ever heard of the video games Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas?

From,

Ripley B.

P.S. You won't believe how much my friends nag me out sleeping. It's okay. Shows that they care.

...\~/...

Dear Ripley,

Okay, so my mom's a fashion designer (Yuzuha Hitachiin ring any bells?) and she would design girl clothes all the time, so she would have Kaoru and I model them for her. Not really for a punishment because we got away with a lot of stuff, but because she just needed a model. So, yes, I've crossdressed majorly in my life. Sadly, I don't have any pets, but I'm thinking about getting something to keep me company. Maybe a dog... I'd rather have super intelligence. I feel as if you could do a lot more with intelligence than strength. Then, with my intelligence, I would find some way to create a chemical of some sort that would allow me to have super strength, so I would get the best of both deals. The most expensive thing would be a seven hundred dollar laptop for a friend of mine's graduation gift. Of course I had it formatted and personalized the way I wanted it so that added another two hundred, then I got them all the accessories and everything else, so in the end it was around a thousand dollars. But that was just my allowance, so I didn't care. And no, I've never heard of those games. I have a feeling I'm going to get scolded for not knowing them.

1. Do you have any siblings?

2. What do you do when you're driving alone in a car?

3. What is one thing you won't eat?

4. What is one thing you learned in high school that is useless to you today?

5. Do you like roller coasters? Please say you do. I love those things.

From,

Hikaru H.

P.S. There's a reason why they call New York City the 'City That Never Sleeps'. It's so freakin' loud at night.

...\~/...

Dear Hikaru,

I have three older brothers- Joesph (Joey), Mark, and Quinton (Quin), so that makes me the baby of the family. I do a lot of things when I'm alone in my car. I sing, I eat on my way to work, and I talk to myself, but then again, I talk to myself all the time. Don't worry; I'm not crazy. Okay, the worst food in the whole wide world is liver. That stuff tastes disgusting, looks disgusting, and smells disgusting when it's being cooked. Ew... Oh, c'mon, you should know the answer to question four already: chemistry, of course. And hell yes I love roller coasters. I laugh my ass off when I ride them. Heck, I laugh my ass off when I watch commercials that have roller coasters in them.

1. What game consoles and video games do you have?

2. What do you draw the most?

3. It's probably really cold, but since you live in New York City, can you take a picture of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree? Please? For me?

4. Have you been inside of a REAL comic book store? I bet they have a lot of those in the city...

5. Do YOU live with anyone?

YOU NEED TO PLAY FALLOUT! MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE GAME! All caps, so it's important.

And holy shit, a thousand dollars for your allowance. You're loaded, aren't you?

From,

Ripley B.

P.S. I'm so jealous you live in NYC. I've always wanted to go there. Seen Spiderman lately?

...\~/...

Dear Ripley,

I currently have an Xbox 360 and I only have two games: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Halo: Reach. I haven't been playing them lately. Video games haven't been enjoyable lately. Thanks to your second question, I had to go get my sketchbook and flip through it. I guess I sketch a lot of my friends. We took a lot of pictures in high school and sketching them not only allows me to practice facial and body structure, but it helps me reminisce. And sure, I can get you a picture of the Rockefeller Center Tree. I'll even get you pictures of other landmarks, too. No, I've never been in a REAL comic book store. I can find one and take a picture for you though, if it means that much to you. I've been looking for something to do. Answer to question five is a no, I don't live with anyone. Two of my friends that live in Massachusetts come to visit me a lot. They're staying here for right now until the weather calms down.

1. What do you draw a lot of? I'm interested.

2. What song do you listen to when you're pissed?

3. Are you a nerd?

4. Favorite color?

5. What's your sign?

By the way, you're going to have to ask the 'are you loaded' question in one of your five.

From,

Hikaru H.

P.S. Nope, haven't seen Spiderman. Sorry. I'll try and get a picture of him, too, if I can.

...\~/...

Dear Hikaru,

I draw whatever enters my mind. Lately, its been dragons for some reason. Probably because I was watching this show and it had a dragon in it so I drew one. My collection of dragon drawings has increased since then. Oh Lord, um, I listen to 'I Hate My Life' by Theory of a Deadman when I'm pissed. Most parts of the song pretty much some up my life sometimes. Ha! Yes, yes I am a nerd, and proud! Favorite color is purple and my sign is Aquarius.

Okay, so I'm not going to ask any more questions because I have to go. The papers were delivered just now and I have to fold them up and deliver them. Paper route... I'll send a message when I get home tonight. I'm going to be busy today.

From,

Ripley B.

P.S. I think my inner nerdy fangirl just squealed. I hope you find Spiderman...

P.P.S. Why did you answer my Spiderman question, but not my 'are you loaded' question?

...\~/...

He was sad to see her go.