Chapter 2x: Some Things Change In Life (Aisaka Taiga)
I had spent so many nights planning for the first day of school. Everything was ready. The envelope was perfect; not too girly but just enough to be attractive. My letter was rewritten so many times it had to have been flawless. Every word I would say to him was rehearsed, week after week after week. I had done everything to make sure I would be the girlfriend of the one person I loved. I would be the girlfriend of Yusaku Kitamura.
All during break I looked at every single picture I had took of him from last year. I was entranced. He was assertive yet kind. Gentle, but straightforward. He was amazing in every way. I imagined scenarios every day of me and him together; we would be with each other every day and he would take me out to eat and we would be happy together. It would be perfect. If I hadn't been so naive and had recognized my feelings before when he confessed to me then this would have been a reality. Realizing that I had done nothing during the break except fantasize about him, I decided to write him a letter saying how I really felt. Every passing day afterward I worked as hard as I could, preparing for the day when I would see him again.
And then the day came. I stared at 5 different drafts of my love letter, not knowing which one to pick. I read them out loud, trying to find the one that sounded the most attractive. Back and forth I kept at it until I heard my cellphone go off. It was surprising to see that Minori had sent me a text. We hadn't spoken to each other for a good amount of the break, even though she said she wanted to as much as possible when we still had school. The last words I heard from her was "sorry, something came up", and that was a long time ago. She probably got more jobs for some dumb reason.
I flipped my cellphone and glance through the message. It was Minori alright. No one could write a message so happy and strange. Idiot. Sending a text after you abandoned me like nothing ever happened. Now she cares when she has to see me again... whatever. She's still my friend I guess. She's probably waiting for me at the usual spot. …. Crap. I wasn't done picking out a letter that was good enough for Kitamura and I didn't think I would be for a while. Knowing there was no way I could go with Minori to school and ruin my efforts, I start thinking of an excuse I could tell her.
*AH CHOO* *sniff*
I told her I was too sick to go with her and that she should go without me. It wasn't technically a lie, but I wasn't really that bad in shape. I had a runny nose for about a week and could have easily met up with her if I wanted to. It didn't feel good to put her off, but there were more important things to do right now. Talking with Minori could wait until later.
I made it to school a few hours later, obsessing over every detail I had to do. I knew the student council had a meeting at lunch on the first day, so I would wait outside until it was finished and follow Kitamura to his classroom. Once I knew where it was I would go there after school when no one was there and look for a school bag. Kitamura was the vice president and he would always stay late getting work done. With every one else gone I would slip in, plant my love letter in his bag and slip right out. It was fail-proof. I rehearsed it in my thoughts a few times until someone had run into me. Annoyed by the guy's lack of manners I punched him, causing a big fuss and a wave of people to come by. I was shocked to see that Kitamura had come along to the scene too, suddenly asking me questions about what had happened. I was too shy to talk to him and made a fool of myself when trying to do so, stumbling over my own words over and over. It was obvious I couldn't give Kitamura a proper confession with the way I was, the letter would have to do. After the spectacle had died I saw Kitamura walking in the same classroom door my homeroom was in. A few seconds later I realized that he was in my class this year, and I stood in place in the hallway, speechless.
Class had ended later on in the day and I was getting ready to put my plan in motion. Having Kitamura in my own class was definitely nerve wracking, but it ultimately made things easier. I would just have to wait another hour or so in class until everyone had left, and put my letter in his bag like I rehearsed, simple as that.
Minori came to my desk a few minutes after our class was dismissed. It was a surprise to see that she had somehow managed to be in my class too, and the fact that she was was a pain in my neck the entire time. She had brought up the point of me being sick when the fight had happened and I spent the rest of the day trying to convince her that I was. We had gone to the nurse's office and everything and I had done my best to look as gloomy and pathetic as possible. I was even blowing my empty nose into some tissues, just to maintain the image. Minori was still a close friend even if she had let me down this break. I didn't want her to find out I had lied to her.
She talked with me for a bit in her usual way and I did my best to keep up my charade until she would eventually run off and do her own thing. I sneaked in a glance at Kitamura to make sure I knew where his seat was, just in case. The next thing I heard from Minori was that she wanted to actually hang out with me today. Today, of all days. She had about 2 months to make something happen during break and she chose the one day where I was busy with the most important thing ever. Moron. I thought of a lie to get me out of that tight spot, and I had to keep making more when she kept on insisting on it. I was frustrated but relieved when it seemed like she would finally stop. But then out of nowhere she grabs my arm and try's to force me to go with her, all the while having that ridiculous expression of hers! What was her problem!? Couldn't she take the hint that I had something to do by myself!? Why did she suddenly want to start caring about me now of all times!? Stop!
I saw Minori's face turn bleak as her smile quickly faded. Now what? …. I quickly realized that I had slipped up and yelled at her. Damn it. I apologized to her as she slowly backed up to her desk, reaching for her bag. She told me she wasn't mad at me and she looked happy enough for me to believe it, but something was definitely wrong. I wondered for a little bit as she waved goodbye and headed out the door, but soon snapped out of it to go back to what I was doing. Minori would be fine, she didn't need me. She proved that to me during vacation.
I had killed some time by the school vending machines until it was late enough that my classmates had gone home. I went inside and sure enough no one was there. However just by chance there happened to be two school bags, each on desks that were right next to each other. And they were both in the spot where Kitamura was standing after school. I desperately think back to exactly where Kitamura was standing, ignoring my feelings of anxiety. After a quick mental debate I chose the desk closest to me, confident that this was his seat. Just as I had planted my letter I heard footsteps approaching the room. Fearful that it was Kitamura I panicked and went inside the closest hiding spot there was, the class locker.
My nerves were collapsing as I saw the door open and anticipated the worst. To an uneventful sight it was just some guy I didn't know. He must have been the owner of the other bag. I rolled back out suppressing my girlish feelings with that of anger. I wanted him gone. He approached the two desks and to my dismay he had grabbed the bag I had put my letter in. Realizing that I had given my feelings for Kitamura to a complete stranger I began to fight him for it, however my embarrassment outweighed my bloodlust and he had ended up taking his bag, along with my love letter. But it was far from over. I knew I would I get that letter back no matter the cost; no one but Kitamura was going to read that.
I followed him after school to find that by some strange fate he lived in the house next to mine. It was convenient that I didn't have to go very far from home to break into his house, but it was by far more convenient that there was an entry way right across from my bedroom to his veranda. I grabbed my wooden sword and sat waiting on my bed, using my feelings of rage to keep me awake. I would wait until the middle of the night where he would be fast asleep, and scavenge the place for my letter. And if he happened to be awake I would make sure he wouldn't remember a thing.
It was 2 am and I went on my window and jumped onto his balcony. I was going to force the lock open but the imbecile left it unlocked to begin with. I went in and began to look around when sure enough a door opened and the letter thief emerged. I began to swing my sword at him with a violent hatred, knowing that if he wasn't unconscious by the time I was done a stranger would know that I loved Kitamura. I cornered him to the wall and prepared my felling blow when he blurted out that the love letter had been empty. I took in what he said and collapsed soon after, bombarded by my own embarrassment.
Feeling hungry I forced him to make me a meal as an apology for his theft. I ate as fast as I could showing a cold expression, I wanted to make it clear that he owed me the food to begin with. Afterward he brought up some sort of box for me to look at saying that having a crush on somebody wasn't embarrassing at all. I skimmed through the piles of notebooks and journals ignoring his stupid feelings of pride, until I came upon something interesting. In one of the journals was a 5 page mock letter titled "for Kushieda Minori." This loser has a crush on Minorin! How pathetic, she's way out his league! Hahaha!
Soon after I was left in a troublesome situation. This guy, Takasu Ryuuji he said his name was, knew that I liked Kitamura, and that alone was unforgivable. Worrying that he might gossip my affection for Kitamura I refused to leave, not knowing what else to do. Ryuuji then pleaded for me to go and brought up the point that he would help me be with Kitamura. I was dazed for a second by his sudden act of kindness. He must have been desperate for me to leave. I twisted his offer into a pledge of obedience as a pet, to obey every order I gave him like a dog. There wasn't any chance I would let him have his own will with him knowing my secret. He accepted like the good dog he was and I left soon after, thinking of what I can use my new found pet for. I would make him pay for making my life more difficult.
The following day I commanded him to come over and make me breakfast. He resisted at first, but as soon as I showed my temper he became a good puppy and did what was told of him. Every good pet needs to be disciplined. Still exhausted from how late I stayed last night I went back to bed for a nap. I awoke with a pleasing aroma hitting my nostrils, almost like the smell of freshly cooked rice. I rose up and went to the living room, knowing that my pet had made me food. But what I saw wasn't what I was expecting at all. The entire room had been cleaned spotless! All the piles of trash were gone and it smelled sort of nice and it just looked brighter for some reason! I looked at my kitchen to see Ryuuji with a stupid grin on his face, wearing an apron and cleaning some plates. I was trying to think of a reason he would be so nice as to go and do this, and I soon realized he was trying to get on my good side. He knew that I could rat him out to Minori at any point and he wanted to stop that from happening. I threw my pillow at him to show that I was still in control and went on to go eat my meal.
I spent the rest of the week training my dog and planning my next move to be with Kitamura. I became a regular at his house and his mom, Ya-chan, and I got along great. She's really nice and kind, unlike the good for nothing mongrel she lives with. All he ever does is complain and he takes forever to get anything done. I went to their home every day for all the meals I wanted, and the rest of the time I had my mutt own up to his promise and think of a plan to help me. If it wasn't for Minori he would've just abandoned me like everyone else. Thankfully I had him by the collar. He was going to repay me back no matter what.
The moron actually thought of a good plan for once and we talked about it the next Monday morning walking to school. He was complaining about something like usual but at least today was Monday and Minori would be waiting for me. Then I could get away from his stupidity if just for a moment. When I went up to her and she freaked out, saying that I was a couple with Ryuuji. I quickly explained that we just lived close to each other and we went off walking like normal. I snook in a tease to my dog and laughed a little to myself. No one would ever want a stupid puppy like him.
The school day had gone terribly. Every plan from P.E. to home ec. had messed up in some way and I hadn't gone Kitamura's attention at all. I spent the whole dang week rehearsing to actually talk to Kitamura but nothing was going right at all. But there was the final plan that wouldn't fail. I had made the best cookies possible during class and me and the dog spent the lunch looking for the prettiest bag to put them in. There was no way this was going to go bad. I prepared myself for the inevitable confession I had to make.
I walked into the classroom after school with my pet following close, ready to give my feelings to my biggest crush. But for some reason there was no one in class. I looked around but there was no sign of him anywhere. Ryuuji then saw him running off down the hallway stairs, and we started to both pursue him. I was frantic to make this my chance to make my dreams come true, and I put in every ounce of energy to catch up to him. I race down the stairs, but to my despair I felt my foot slip on the concrete step. My thoughts freeze in an instant as I try and understand what was about to happen. The only thing my brain had registered was one phrase. "Watch out!"
I drifted off for a moment but soon woke up, realizing I was being held by my dog on the floor of the stairs. He must have caught me as I was falling down. I looked around a bit to make sure I understood the situation, and I noticed the bag of cookies were out of sight. I asked Ryuuji where they went, and he said that they had went out the window when I tripped. I couldn't believe what he just said to me. All of that planning and work we did was for nothing. I sat there on the tile floor defeated. Ryuuji told me to stay here, saying the cookies might still be good and he would go get them. It wasn't like I was going to go anywhere with the way I was now.
He came back in a hurry, with a bag that looked like it had been swept clean of the dirt and dust it was covered in. He swept the bag again with his hand and gave it back to me. I opened it to see that all the cookies were crumbled and wrecked, to the point that they may have been the gravel the bag had landed on. I put my head down and confided in myself, realizing that nothing I could ever do could ever be right. Everything that went wrong today happened because I was a clutz. I ruined the basketball plan because I was a clutz and got hit with a basketball to the face. The home ec plan failed because I fell down while carrying a tray of cookies. And this had failed because I slipped on the stairs while running too fast. I was pathetic.
Out of nowhere Ryuuji grabbed the bag of broken cookies and reached in for some. I told him not to because they were no good and messed up but he did so anyway. He took a few bits and ate them, then he took the whole bag and poured it down his mouth, saying that it tasted amazing. That it was a shame that they were ruined and that Kitamura would have loved them. I didn't know what to say to him. His words were way too kind and I felt really happy that he said that. I guess he was a little nice after all. Yeah, just a nice little dog. It wasn't until later on at home that I realized he had lied about the cookies tasting good to make me feel better. That idiot. It worked too.
We had agreed to come up with another plan some other time and we went to school the next day, to be assaulted by the stares of our classmates. Ryuuji and I were petrified for a moment by the sudden attention, and then Minori came up to us and asked us to meet her on the roof. We were clueless to what was happening so we went along and met her. Minori did some weird mock fighting or something, and then she was on the floor begging Ryuuji to take care of me. Completely at a loss for words I began to look around, and saw that Kitamura had tailed us as well. He came forward and congratulated us, saying that he always saw something between me and Ryuuji. I took a second to comprehend that Kitamura saw me and Ryuuji as a couple. I then collapsed on the floor, out of massive disbelief.
Me and Ryuuji both went to the local restaurant to drown out our pain with food, having our crushes wish us good luck on being together. I refused to believe it even happened, that the most important people had gave their blessings for me and Ryuuji's relationship. They didn't understand our situation at all. They never understood anything at all. No one did. Ryuuji and I began to walk back home, where I stopped at a lamp post to repeatedly kick it to relieve the anger out of my system. How everyone would call me names like it didn't matter to me. How everyone would go and avoid me like I was the plague. How there was no one I could ever trust to confide in. Not Minori. Not Kitamura. Not my parents. No one!
I saw a leg come up and kick the pole alongside me. I looked to the side and saw that Ryuuji had started to vent his frustration too. "Mind if I join you?" he said. You idiot. Of course you can. At that point we started to scream our social problems to the night, echoing alongside the clatter of our shoes on metal. I shouted as loud as I could, and to my surprise Ryuuji shouted equally as loud, maybe with even more vigor than I had. Shouting things like how he hated being called a delinquent, that he hated how he looked the way he did, how no one understood him at all. Alongside all the screams and clatter I knew that he and I were similar in a lot of ways. Almost how like a pet takes after his master.
As I grew tired I understood that Ryuuji had done a lot for me. How in the past week he had given me the courage to actually go up to Kitamura and verbally confess to him, something that I would have never considered before. He cooked meals for me every day, he cleaned my house, and he supported me through all of these failed plans. He even went out his way to make me kind of happy. He was the best pet I could ever ask for. And he had already done his job in full. Knowing that I couldn't just leave his actions unrewarded I needed to repay him back somehow. I remembered his ridiculous letter to Minori and understood that that was what he really wanted.
It didn't take long at all to know what needed to be done. Minori believed that Ryuuji and I were dating so his shots with her were basically gone. If she understood that that wasn't true then Ryuuji would be in the clear again. I was going to do that and so much more for him. He would forever be indebted to me after this. But first I had to make it clear to Ryuuji to never talk to me again. If anyone saw us together again then more lies about us dating would pop up, and Minori would turn away from him. After my plan his chances with her would be perfect, and it was going to stay perfect for him if I had anything to say about it. I thought about it for a second, and I decided that Ryuuji was good enough for Minori. Ryuuji was kind enough and if I he had the guts to pull it off I was sure he can make something happen with her. They would be happy together and I would have done my fair share as a good owner. After tomorrow I wouldn't need a pet anymore, I would be happy with Kitamura. After tomorrow Ryuuji would be happy with Minori. After tomorrow there would be no more pets and masters, just two students getting what they always wished for. The pet's service has come to an end.