A/N: Like I promised two days ago, here is the next chapter. And hey! It's not even pass two days since the moment I posted the chapter 56. It's less than 48 hours. Barely 36 hours! Only a day and half! (Mumble) I should wait another 8 hours before putting this chapter… It would be better… (from my personal opinion! Hehe!). But anyway, what is posted is posted.
But before that, I want to ask you about something. Yesterday, I heard something thing… strange… funny… if I might say (from my own perspective, that's it). I heard that there are guys who read fanfictions. When that came to my ears, I fell off my chair (the pain on the butt still lingered in my memory). But when I think about it, guys aren't forbidden from reading fanfictions. Or even from writing too! But in my head, it's just so incredible to believe and unexpected. Up to now, I never thought that guys can find interest into reading or writing fanfictions. I can figure them writing any kind of things (blog, short stories, novels and stuff like that), but not fanfictions. Then, thinking about it again, I thought about the fact that Japanese mangas and animations are very popular among guys too, so there was a probable possibility that there are also guys who read and write fanfictions.
Thus, I came up with this inquiry: is there anyone of you, who are reading this story, who is a guy? Biologically speaking I mean. I'm very curious to know. True to tell, I don't think (I don't believe) that there are guys who are reading this story because there is romance and it's cheesy (but fun to write for me). All the guys around me would say that this fanfic is sissy and boring. Could it be that it's because no guy around possesses one bone - or even one tiny tiny cell - of romance in them? Anyway, I'm very curious to know if there is at least one of my readers who is a guy.
So just in case - IN CASE! - there is one guy who is reading this story, please answer to some of my questions. I don't care if you're homo, hetero, bi, trans, androgyny or cross-breed (half-human and half-alien for example), I just want to know if there is at least one guy who is reading this fanfic (or a chapter of the whole story). Why did you read it? How did you stumble on it? Do you find it cheesy and boring? Is there anything that which is not cheesy and boring? Thank you for answering! By the way, if you don't want to answer through the review to preserve your anonymity, a personal message can do to. My Anonymous Reviews setting is also enabled, so you can use it too.
Now, chapter 57: A cellphone, a stoic and a freak over wasabi. Enjoy!
Chapter 57: A cellphone, a stoic and a freak over wasabi.
Tit it tit! Tit tit tit! Tit tit tit!
Yagyuu's cellphone rang. He took it out and flipped it open.
"Moshi moshi."
"Hiroshi, it's me," Ryoga said.
"Ryoga, what is it?"
"Want to know something." Ryoga plopped a chocolate in his mouth, chewing it. Ryoma gave him chocolate this morning before he left. "Hummm! Umeeeeeeeeeeee! Say, did Chibisuke give you guys chocolate?"
"Yes, she did. Everyone got Valentine chocolate from her. A small box with of three truffles inside. It wasn't like she had a choice, if she wants them to let her live in peace until next year Valentine's Day," Yagyuu said.
"Hihihihi!" Ryoga laughed. Plop! Another chocolate in the mouth. "Mmn Mmn Mmn…! Say, …mmn mmn mmn…, tell me something else. Mmn mmn mmn…!"
"What is it?"
"Is there any of you guys who likes wasabi (1)?"
"Huh? Wasabi?" Yagyuu cocked an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Wasabi. Is there someone of you who likes wasabi?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Who's that wasabi-guy? Who's that dork? What kind of weirdo is he? A jerk? A playboy? An arrogant ass? A-…"
"You already know him," Yagyuu said. "But why do you want to know?"
"WHAT IS HIS NAME?" Ryoga continued yelling, not listening to Yagyuu. "Tell me now! I'm sure he's a absolute prick whose head is to inflated for his own good and for everyone's good! He needs me to teach him a lesson! I'm going to kill him! No! First, I'm going to make that git suffer with a lot of pain! Then torture him again and again. Then, skin him alive. Then chainsaw him into little pieces. Then-…! "
"YUUJI RYUU!" Yagyuu roared. "I'm not going to tell you anything it you don't tell me the reason why you want to know who is this wasabi-person!" Yagyuu interrupted.
"Haaaa…" Yagyuu heard Ryoga let out a long and heavy sigh. At least, he stopped.
'Finally!' Yagyuu thought, rolling his eyes in exasperation. He waited for Ryoga to talk.
"Last night, when Chibisuke was making chocolate, she put wasabi in some of them. I was curious because no one fills chocolate with wasabi. I asked her why she did it. She told me it was because there was a senpai who really likes wasabi…" Ryoga stopped momentary.
"And?"
"AND SHE BLUSHED DAMN IT!" Ryoga yelled in the phone. Yagyuu winced and pulled away the phone far far far away from his ear, one finger plugged in. "She blushed! Blushed! Bloody hell, she B-L-U-S-H-E-D!"
"What's wrong with that, Ryoma-chan blushing?" Yagyuu asked.
"Chibisuke NEVER blushes to anything! And on the top of everything, she was acting like a girl for kami-sama's sake! Like a G-I-R-L!"
"Ryoga, in case you haven't notice it yet, she IS a girl," Yagyuu calmly said.
"Not in her head and in her way to be! But yesterday, she behaved like a young teenager girl who is in lov-… Eh… Wait… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ryoga freaked out. "No way! She cannot be having a cru-… *beep* (Ryoga refused to say the forbidden word) on a guy? No! No way! It's impossible! This cannot be true! Ahhhhhhhhhhh! What is happening? It must be the end of the world! Chibisuke cannot be in l-… *beep*! (He refused to use that word, which would be against the law of the nature if applied to Ryoma). That's it! That wasabi-guy must have brainwash her. It must be that! He had brainwasher her! Brainwash! Ah! Huh? Wait. Brainwash? A normal human cannot brainwash people… Then… (Silence). Ahhhh! Ahhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! So he's an alien! An alien had brainwashed my little sister! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Nooooooooooo! What should I do? What should I do? What should I do to cure her back to normal? What-…"
". . ." Yagyuu was no longer listening.
Right now, he was holding his cellphone in his right hand, only staring at it. He was wondering how such thinking could have take place in his cousin's head. How did it start? What brought him to think stupidity like that? When did it start? How did it turn out so crazy? Once again, he was amazed by how some people's brain work in their quite unique (weird and insane) way. Anyway, while letting Ryoga freaking himself out as much as he wanted (as much as he needed), Yagyuu didn't have any other choice but to wait for Ryoga to finish. Even if he didn't want to wait. Ryoga was so loud that it was impossible to ignore him. Beside, everyone around him could hear Ryoga freaking out from in his cellphone. They wondered how a stoic boy like Yagyuu Hiroshi could know such a loud person? It was really unlike Yagyuu Hiroshi to admit this kind of person in his private circle of acquaintance. As for Yagyuu, he kept staring stoically at his cellphone. It was useless trying to stop Ryoga when he was in this state. Yagyuu knew it better than anyone else. Why? Because he (sadly) had many experiences of his cousin's (nonsense) outbursts during his childhood life.
'Is this what people call a crazy overprotective older brother? If it's the case, then I pity Ryoma-chan! How did she manage to handle this guy up to today? I must admit that she is admirably courageous to be able to bear him all her live. But then again, it's not like she has a choice since she lives with him. Ah! Maybe it's because of him that she knows how to handle so well Kirihara's, Marui's, Niou's and Ootori's childishness. Ryoma-chan, you have my admiration for living so long with this crazy guy and not loosing your head yet!'
After a long, long, long, time, his cellphone finally became quiet. Yagyuu checked his wristwatch.
". . ."
Sixteen. Sixteen minutes. More precisely sixteen minutes and twenty two seconds. Sixteen minutes and twenty two seconds of nonstop and nonsense freaking and annoying rambling. Yagyuu sighed.
'This is definitely him. He really didn't change from ten years ago!' he thought. 'I was hoping that he has become wiser and more mature with the years, but it seems that it is not the case. I guess I was asking too much from kami-sama.' Sigh.
Yagyuu put his cellphone back on his ear.
"Have you finish making a fool out of yourself now?" Yagyuu asked.
"Ha… Ha… Ha… Yeah… Ha… Ha… Ha…" Ryoga said, panting.
He took a big breath and pulled himself together.
"So, tell me now, who is that wasabi-guy?"
Fuji, alone in his room, was sat in his armchair, legs crossed. He was holding the small chocolate box Ryoma gave him this afternoon. He had been contemplating it for quite a while, a soft expression in his eyes.
'Ryoma-chan… I completly forgot about what happened yesterday.'
He had forgotten that Ryoma was… forced (he too admitted it) to make chocolate for everyone if she wanted to live in peace until next Valentine's Day. He was so stressed out that he had forgot about something so simple. This was something very unusual from him. He rarely forgot anything. But he also realized that since he met Ryoma, many unsual thing happened to him. Her unique personality caught him off his balance and made him changed in many ways. And more than once. And Yukimura had used that fact against him. Fuji laughed at himself, remembering his conversation with Yukimura.
'He really got me.'
Yukimura had purposely made him jealous. He really thought that Ryoma gave Yukimura chocolate because she probably had feelings for him. And he was jealous. Jealous of Yukimura Seiichi.
'First, Tezuka. And now, Yukimura.'
Fuji brought his attention back to Ryoma's gift. He smiled. He took the yellow ribbon he removed from the white box. Leaning in his chair, he examined the ribbon. There were many wrinkles in the ribbon. Fuji smiled again.
'This is definitely Ryoma's signature,' he thought.
She must had redone the bow of the ribbon over and over again because she was unskillfull with her hands.
'Tying this bow must have been a pain for her.' He chuckled.
Yet, she put all her effort into doing it until she finally succeed to tie a… a (maybe) acceptable bow (yet still bad from the perspective of normal people with a normal artistic judgment). Normally, a girl would take a new ribbon and redone the bow without any wrinkle. But Fuji guessed that Ryoma wasn't sure that she would succeed to do another acceptable bow like this one, so she let it as it was. He also thought that he much preferred her badly done bow than a perfectly done one. This wrinkled ribbon just showed how much she worked hard to do it.
'This is is much more like herself.' He softly laughed.
Delicately, he put the ribbon back on his desk and turned his chair to face his window, through which the moon was shining brightly up in the sky. Crossing his hands on his knees, he leaned in his chair, contemplating the round pearl in the blue velvet mantle of the night. He remembered today's day.
'Today was very funny. This morning, I was loathing today's day. But now, I'm happy that I live today's Valentine Day.'
He brought the box up to the level of his eyes.
'Only because she gave me this Valentine chocolate present.'
Fuji smiled.
'And handmade Valentine chocolate by her hands…'
He caressed the surface of the cover of the box.
'I'm still amazed at how she can make me change my opinion so fast and so easily…'
He looked up at the moon again, closing his eyes.
'Ryoma-chan, I have fallen very hard for you…'
He relaxed in his chair, letting the last thought echoing in his heart and soul.
After a very long moment, Fuji opened his eyes again. His long and elegant fingers swept again on the cover of the small box. Then, he removed it. He picked up a small brown truffle. He smiled.
'This will be the very first time that I eat a Valentine chocolate gift.'
Slowly, he brought the small cocoa ball up to his mouth, but stopped. The smell of the cocoa caressed his nose. He took in a deep breath, inhaling the smell of the candy, thoroughly enjoying it. Then, slowly again, he slide the small ball trough his lips and closed them. As soon as it touched his tongue, the soft candy released it sweetness… and another taste.
Fuji opened wide his eyes at this new taste. It was a taste of an ingredient which people normally didn't put in chocolate. Through the sweetness of the cocoa, there was a strong taste of bitterness. Not the bitterness of the cocoa or a sharp and acrid bitterness, but a bitterness which Fuji was very found on.
Fuji's eyes softened while his lips stretched into a tender smile. He thought about the maiden who made the chocolate.
'Ryoma…'
Maybe she was the only person who would think about putting this particular ingredient in the chocolate. The delicacy of her gest and her dedication made his heart chimed. Even though she was forced to make chocolate, she still wholeheartedly did her work. An indescribable feeling of serene happiness lit in Fuji's heart. Outside, the moon watched the motionless young man sat in his chair. Its light brushed over the young man's calm features, making his skin shined in a dew light blue halo. Under the light of the moon, the feeling of the dedication pourred inside the handmade chocolate ran in every parts of the young man's body.
'She would be the only who would think about putting wasabi in the chocolate… And only for me…'
"So, tell me now, who is that wasabi-guy?" Ryoga asked.
"It's Fuji." Yagyuu answered.
"Fuji…?"
"Fuji Syuusuke."
"Fuji Syuusuke… You mean Yuuta's elder brother?"
"Yes. Have you already forget about him?"
Ryoga reflected a moment. He remembered a brunette boy with permanent close eyes and an eery smile, who always maintained himself elegantly.
"I remember…" Ryoga stopped talking a moment.
Yagyuu waited for him to continue.
"Hiroshi, what do you think about him, Fuji Syuusuke?" Ryoga asked in a very serious voice.
Yagyuu cocked an eyebrow, very surprised. He wondered what was the purpose behind Ryoga's question.
1) wasabi: Japanese horseradish. (Don't ask me why there is a horse inside! I don't know. I can't answer to that one!) Usually comes under the form of a soft green paste and served alongside with ginger pickles when you eat sushi. Extremely strong spice, stronger than chili pepper or hot mustard.
However, the taste doesn't stay on the tongue like chili pepper does. Within the first seconds the wasabi touches your tongue, you have the impression that you had just set your tongue in fire (Call the fireman! You will need them!). For people who haven't eat wasabi yet: the reaction of Inui's juice victims in the PoT* (see the * under) animation are very close to the reality for the first bite of wasabi (and probably the second and the third too). The flavour is so strong that you cannot stop your tears to overflow out from your eyes. Once you swallow everything, the bad taste will be swallowed too, so you no longer feel it on the tongue. On the other hand, you won't forget how much it had burn you. Wasabi is like a bomb paste disguised as a food condiment!
By the way, this is my personal description of wasabi! I don't share the same opinion with the wasabi-lovers (like Fuji for instance!). I don't really understand the art of eating wasabi, so my opinion is not very reliable to judge on its true value and wonder. Sorry for all the wasabi-lovers if you feel offended you by my lack of knowledge and appreciation of wasabi. I only ate wasabi once and that bad experience got stuck - permanently I should add - in my memory. And forever! I know I should take another try to change my memory but I absolutely refuse to eat wasabi again!
And now that I think about it, I think I have an idea of why there is a horse in wasabi. When you eat wasabi, you can run as fast as a horse to the nearest water point. Or who can run as fast as a horse when you want to AVOID eating wasabi, just like Inui juice victims.
* PoT as in Prince of Tennis and not PoT as pot, illegal substance mind you (though I personally think that wasabi should be labeled as an illegal substance!)
A/N: So again, IF there is one guy who is reading this story, please answer to my questions. Why do you read this story? How did you stumble on it? Do you find it cheesy and boring? Is there anything which is not cheesy and boring? Please answer me. You can do it with a review, if you don't have any problem with that, or by a personal message if you prefer. I assure you that I don't have any purpose other than pure curiosity for asking. Thank you again!
Oh! And I'm not posting anything until next week because you already have your weekly treat this week! So see you again next week! And thank you for reviewing!