Chapter 3: Yang

There is a sort of relationship in this world, which is the unsavory type, and that's the sort of relationship that Yang Xiao Long and I share. Since our houses are located close to each other, it's only natural for us to attend the same school from our days in elementary school till junior high school. However, we were in the same class for nine consecutive years, and we even managed to get into the same high school. There may be some who might say that it's because our intelligence is roughly the same, but the problem is we've both been assigned to the same class again at high school. What can I say, other than our unsavory ties are extremely deep.

"Isn't this great? I'm poor at math and history, so I can copy your notes. You're not too good with sports, but I am. Let's help each other from now on." Not long after the end of the opening ceremony, Yang said that while slapping my back with a 'papapa' sound, in our classroom that was still lingering with the smell of wax.

You're good at sports, but how are you gonna assist me with that?

"This guy's impressive. You'll see a mountain of CDs when you open his door, and they will all come tumbling down."

"Wow, why is that? Is his house a music shop or something?"

"Why have you been to his house before?"

Using me as a stepping stone, Yang had quickly blended herself in with the rest of our girl classmates which she had only met not too long ago. Her adaptability is really scary.

"Hey, what's your relationship with her?" A guy who was quite interested in me leaned over and asked me with a whisper.

"It's nothing, we just studied in the same junior high school."

"But didn't you help her tie her bow-tie prior to the opening ceremony?" Another guy suddenly spoke from behind me, and caused my face to go green from the shock. They saw?

"W-well, that's because…"

"Really!? Oh damn! Are you two a married couple!?"

"Isn't that the opposite from your normal situation? It should be the girl helping the guy!"

They are picking that sort of difficult-to-explain situation as a conversation topic.

Dammit, I hate Yang for that. I've taught her many times already - at the very least, remember how to tie those bow-ties by herself!

"Have both of you been together since junior high school?"

I shook my head for a few hundred times so as to deny it fervently, and all the guys around me heaved a sigh of relief. They pulled me away from the girls, and the group of us moved to a corner of the classroom. They then began to talk in whispers.

"Xiao Long-san's one the cutest girls in our class! That's just great."

"I always thought I liked a shy and short haired girl, but I realized now that I was wrong."

I listened to the guys' assessments with a dumbfounded expression, then looked at Yang's profile, who was still sitting on the table and chatting on the other side of the classroom. Her hairstyle back then was short, and it parted down the center, which made her look really fierce. Since she left her club during the autumn of our third year, however, she began growing her hair. Now, her hair is longer and looks prettier and more feminine. But wait, the problem is…

"That girl has a volatile temper, and she's a black belt in martial arts as well. Don't you think it's better if you guys stay away from her?"

"She's in the martial arts club? Should I go join them as well?"

"Do we have a martial arts club here?"

"Even then, most martial arts clubs split up the guys and the girls."

"Why must they be separated? They should allow everyone to practice prone techniques together!"

Can you guys listen to what others have to say!?

But as she sustained a back injury last year, she is no longer practicing martial arts. At about the same time when our enrollment into high school was confirmed, for some reason, she began learning the drums.

But then again, she had zero interest in music back in the past, and she probably couldn't start practicing on the drums by herself, right? As for her reason for wanting to be a drummer, this is what Yang told me, "Back during the new year, when the doctor told me I could no longer practice martial arts, I drank a bit of beer out of desperation… "

"Oi, oi, the underage shouldn't be drinking."

"As I fell asleep in my drunken state, Bonzo appeared in my dreams."

Bonzo is the drummer of Led Zeppelin, and he died from suffocation because he inhaled his own vomit after puking in his drunken stupor. That didn't sound too good. She couldn't have seen his spirit while in a state of near death, right?

"And he said to me, 'All you have left is the drums, Yang.' Since Bonzo said that to me, I had no choice but to do it, right?"

"Was that really Bonzo?"

"I saw him continuously waving his hands at me while standing in the flower fields near the riverside. It's Bonzo alright. His Japanese was really impressive, though he spoke in Tsuguru dialect."

"… That's probably your deceased grandfather, who died last year."

It was only after entering high school, that I came to know the real reason Yang started practicing the drums. Everyday after school, she would continuously pester me into joining the Folk Music Research Club.

"But Naruto you didn't have anything to do afterschool, right? Come on, just join us."

"You're meddling too much. Speaking of which, what's with the Folk-whateverthing? There's no such club, right?"

I tried recalling the introduction booklet of the clubs in school which I got during the opening ceremony, as well as the parade of people who were waiting at the school gates to get the new students into their respective clubs. I don't remember seeing a club with such a complicated name.

"The so called folk music is actually referring to rock. If we were to call ourselves a rock band directly, the teachers would never approve it, moreover, with only Ruby and I, there's no way they would approve it either. So please, join our club!"

So that's the reason you are desperately trying to get me into the club!

"Stop trying to get me into a club that's not even established yet! Then again, who is this Ruby person?"

"My half sister who I just found out recently. She really is an awesome girl."

After a careful round of questioning, all the riddles were finally solved. It seems like Yang met this new sister of hers during summer last year. Her entering this high school via recommendations, and her reason to begin drumming, it was all because of this Ruby-somebody.

What a joke. I grabbed my bag and walked out of the classroom. All of our classmates were already focusing their attention on us as we had that conversation, and it felt really embarrassing.

Yang chased me and said, "Hey Naruto! Wait for me! What's wrong with joining the club? You have nothing else going on anyway, right?"

"I won't join that club even if I have nothing to do."

"Why?"

"Because… I won't stay long anyway."

I had originally wanted to say, "I was dragged to your training, and I gave up within a short time span of two days because you didn't know how to hold back - you know that as well!" However, for the sake of my health I never said it in the end.

"Really? Then what do you plan to do in high school?"

To study but obviously I couldn't bring myself to say such an insincere but politically correct answer.

"Isn't your life just boring then?"

"So your life's very interesting huh? Why do you care about whether my life is boring or not?" I said that without much thought, and Yang suddenly stopped in her tracks.

As I turned my head backwards, I saw Yang shifting her sight away from me, and was looking downwards slightly. What's happening now?

Yang turned her head away, and asked, "What do you think is my reason?"

I had no idea how I should reply to that. "Because you're very free as well?"

Yang's hands reached out for the collars of my shirt. Before I could even think, my body had already made a spin in the air, and my back slammed against the floors of the corridor.

"Ugh!" My eyes were filled with stars, and for a moment I could not breathe. Despite that, I tried to stand up by supporting myself on the wall with my hands. "Stop with those random shoulder throws of yours, alright!?"

"That's not a shoulder throw. That's a body drop."

"That's not the problem here! Are you trying to kill me!?"

"Stupid Naruto!" Yang punched on my gut, turned around, and left.

What's with all that!? My reason for not joining a club was because of an extremely negative one like "finding it all bothersome." However, aside from that, there was another reason that could be considered as something positive I found something that I can do after school.

After watching Yang leave, I went to the first floor, and came to a small courtyard after walking out of the school's back gates. Next to a rusty rubbish incinerator that hasn't been used in a long time, stood a long narrow building. It was of a simple rectangular shape made of cement, similar to a park's public toilets. On its sides were several doors. Since it hasn't been used by anyone for quite a long time, the walls and doors of the building were covered with dirt, making it rather filthy.

The private school expands for no rhyme or reason, and to add on to all that, the number of students enrolling into the school is on a steady decline, all of these have resulted in the increase of many empty facilities and classrooms that are not in use. On the third day I entered this school, I had discovered that one can enter a room on the left side of this building. During my school exploration, I tried turning the handle with a 'kra kra' sound, and the door just opened. Later, I figured out that by pressing the door handle diagonally downwards to the right and turning it forty-five degrees, the lock will open.

In the room, there was a tall metal rack, a locker and an old study desk. The walls were pasted with a sound absorbent material, that has many equally spaced circular holes on it. From the marks left on the floor, one can deduce that this place used to house a piano. As of now, the only thing that can be called the school's equipment, was some mini audio system placed next to the desk. Actually, this high school is my mother's almamater. I'd once heard from Mom, that this school used to have a music club, but it was abolished not long after she graduated.

There's a perk to the sound absorbers, I can bring in a huge stack of my CDs to this room, and listen to my favorite songs as loudly as I like. It's a good way to kill time after school. Should I be at home, my sister will definitely be there, resulting in me not having a place where I could enjoy myself in peace.

Since the condition of the room isn't too good, the sound proofing is not perfect. I'll have to stuff a towel into the gaps around the door before I can turn on the audio system. On that day, the first CD I listened to was the live album by Bob Marley, and was led into a reggae mood. I was probably affected by what Yang said. "Isn't your life just boring?"

I had never thought about that. Then again, it is quite a headache for me if my life is deemed boring just because I did not join a club. Isn't this just fine, you can consider it to be a Music Appreciation Club! I'm not causing trouble for anyone either. I am using this room without any prior approval, but since this classroom seemed to not be in use for a long period of time, plus the fact that I'll keep the classroom clean as long as I ensure that no one outside can hear the music that I'm playing, it should be fine, right?

A-Side ~ |[●▪▪●]| B-Side ~

It was Sunday. In the morning, I had gone out with Yang to the arcade. When I returned home I found Naruko waiting in the entryway. She was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Did I do something to piss her off?

"Come with me."

"Why?" I asked. Naruko continued to glance at me from the corner of her eye.

"Life counseling. Part two," she muttered this thickly.

I know what she wanted to say, but why does she have to say it with such frank hostility? Is that really the proper attitude of someone asking someone else for advice?

"Part two, you say…?"

"J-just come."

Without even letting me properly take off my shoes, Naruko pulled at my sleeve. I might be overreacting, but her inability to actually directly take my hand is a bit irritating.

I was forcibly taken to my sister's room. As always, the room emitted a sweet smell. Naruko, who entered the room first, pulled out a chair in front of her PC, and beckoned me over with her index finger. What the hell is she trying to say? Was this not an advice session? Not knowing what my sister really wanted, I was bewildered.

"Sit here."

"Alright."

Naruko came to my side, and leaned one hand on the table, putting her weight on it. Naruko turned on her computer, and I soon found myself looking at the Windows startup screen. Soon, that screen was gone, and replaced by the desktop screen. A number of cat-eared girls relaxing in a living room adorned Naruko's desktop one corner of that cute desktop, there was an icon of a deformed cat peeking out from behind a wastebasket. There was a calendar in the upper left. In the upper portion, there was a messenger window open that was shaped like an oblong set of cat ears. Browsers and other icons were also lined up in an organized way.

"You're really into this stuff, aren't you?"

"Sure. I changed the skin, and used a cute launcher to dress everything up. It's pretty basic stuff, isn't it?" She let out a proud laugh.

Using a launcher and skin to dress something up? What the hell. Why is she using all these technical terms? There wasn't a single thing she said that I understood, but I think all she means is that she customized her desktop. Really, this type of showing off was pretty consistent with both her sides, as an otaku and as a famous girl in junior high school.

"Well? What's the point of showing me this?"

"I'm shocked. You still don't know?"

"As if I could know!"

From right beside me, Naruko gave me a scornful look. Taking the computer mouse, she spoke, "It's the game, the game. We're going to play it together."

"Wha-? That ero game… you mean, you and me? Together? you want to play an ero game with your brother?"

"Y-yeah," she answered without looking at me. She probably became a bit self-conscious that she was saying some pretty weird things, so this was hard for her to say.

Honestly, I don't know at all. Why do I, a guy who isn't even that friendly with his sister, have to stand here and play a game with her? Whether this was a competitive game or not, I was getting an unpleasant feeling about it…

Maybe she realized how puzzled I was, but Naruko tried to smooth things over. "You said it yourself, didn't you? That you would help me as much as you could, or something… "

"Well, I meant that I would give you my advice whenever you have trouble with your hobby… I thought that was the main point, why do I have to play this game so suddenly?"

"I-it's necessary! It's okay, so come on, hold this." I was forcibly given the mouse by Naruko. She was covering my own hand with hers, manipulating the mouse. She maneuvered it to the icon in the corner and double clicked.

Man, she's suddenly so tense… where was the usual cool attitude that she usually had? If I thought about it, maybe this was her real personality. She became so animated when she was doing this stuff. I only recently came to understand this though, and normally she blends into her surroundings and feigns innocence.

Cooling down, she casually looked at me with a cynical glint, slightly defiant. Wearing the latest clothing, talking about the latest gossip, going out with her friends to do karaoke or whatever… she was the embodiment of the "trendy junior high school girl". Do people say that anymore, or is it just me? Whether that was a good lifestyle or not, I wasn't really in a position to judge. But seriously, Naruko… regardless of all that, don't you want to play these kinds of games alone?

Oh well, I guess there's no helping it. I'll hang out with her for a bit, I guess. Exuding the spirit of a big brother, I watched as the game booted up and displayed on the screen.

'Ping!' A lively title screen showed up, and I was greeted by the voices of young girls. "Little~ Sister~ Maker~ EX! Voluuume Four~! Welcome home, Oniichan! Let's love each other!"

"NARUKO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME TO DO!?"

"K-keep your voice quiet, idiot!"

I should get out of here. I should get out of here right away. I should have known when she led me into her room instead of into the living room to play. This damn girl, where in the world is there a brother who would play games like this with his sister? Am I a pervert or something!?

"You probably already knooow, buuut… Oniichan? All the little sisters who appear in this game… they're all eighteen or older, okaaaaaay~~?"

Eighteen my ass. Rubbing my temples to dull my headache, I turned to Naruko.

"Y-you… "

"Don't get so close."

Her words stabbed me like a poisoned knife. I wanted to say something, but seeing her face darken, I stopped in my tracks.

"Hey… what's wrong?"

"As I thought, you're making fun of me."

"Huh? What?"

"I guess you're all talk. You think it's a bad thing and you haven't even tried it… you say sweet things, but in your heart you think I'm weird… " She glared at me, obviously annoyed.

"No no, it's not like that… " I gloomily played with the head of the mouse in my hand. "I'm not making fun of you. Playing this kind of stuff in front of you just makes me feel awkward. You understand, don't you? You know, this isn't exactly the same as two people watching a kissing scene in a movie in the living room, right?"

"What the hell does that mean? I have no idea what you're talking about."

Could it be… that she really has no idea what I mean? Or rather, did I say something awkward? No, but I definitely had a point. Pointing to the screen, I spoke, "I don't know the particulars, but in this game, you probably get close to a virtual little sister, and then do this and that, right? And what's more, it's a game for guys above 18, right? So I mean, the natural conclusion is that during the story's climax, certain things would happen…" While Naruko put on an angry expression, I started up again. "You… watching those kinds of scenes with me, you don't think anything of it?"

"Ah!" Having finally realized what I was insinuating, Naruko's face flushed a brilliant red. "F-for me, I mean… I didn't realize what you meant before… don't say pointless things. And, the way you put it, you make me sound like some pervert."

Ah, I see, I know my mistake now. She's not playing these games because they're 18+, or because they include those kinds of scenes. When she says that she loves little sister characters, she doesn't really mean anything perverted by that.

Well, that should have been obvious, considering she's a girl… for now, that was my conclusion.

"Okay… I understand now, Naruko. I think I know where you're coming from now. Let's talk now, okay? It's alright… that is-"

"Click the screen, but gently, won't you~~?"

"Shut up Idiot! Don't interrupt at bad times!"

Geez, I'm yelling at a computer screen. I must be going crazy. This isn't good… I have to calm down.

"Hey, don't bully Hina-chan!"

"You also return to the real world. It's just a drawing."

"Don't call her a drawing!"

"What are you shouting for?" Ahh, dammit. What the hell. What should I do? Someone tell me. Man, this is getting out of hand… I exhaustedly collected myself, and tried to explain myself, "It was my fault. I spoke without really knowing the situation. I'm not trying to say that what you're doing is bad, or trying to make fun of you, not in the slightest. That is the definite truth. Please believe me."

Pursing her lips, Naruko looked at me with tear-filled eyes.

"But… I think this game is a bit too high of a hurdle for me right now. See, I'm still underage. I'm not trying to make fun of you, but playing this is impossible for me… I mean, do you see what I'm saying? I mean, this is probably a really interesting game, right? It's a game you recommended to me, right? That I understand all too well. So, I'm sticking my neck out here and asking you to please let me go this time. I know you're reluctant to, but I mean, playing this 18+ game not alone, but with my little sister next to me… unfortunately I just don't have the courage for that."

"Coward." My sister threw that scornful word at me.

You can get through this… you can get through this, Naruto! If I stop now, things will just get much more complicated.

Naruko gave a huge sigh. Hey, hey, I'm the one who should be sighing here. Naruko began talking as if nothing had happened. "Well… let's make it homework then."

"Homework?"

"Yes. After all, you don't want to play this next to me, right? So, let's call it homework. I'll lend you my laptop along with everything, and you can play the game by next week."

If I refuse her now, she'll get angry again and think I'm making fun of her, won't she? Feeling my cheeks cramping, I knew that in the end, I couldn't resist the oppressive aggression of my sister.

"Alright… so should I play this then? I should… play this?"

"Yes, exactly." Naruko moved the mouse with a triumphant look.

When she clicked to exit the application, the girl who was on the title screen, she must have been only two heads tall appeared again, and quickly bowed. Waving her hands energetically, she said a sorrowful goodbye.

"Oniichan. Promise you'll come back to play, okay? Bai-baiii~." Hina-chan said with her cute voice

"Yeah, yeah… bai-bai… " You're quite something, aren't you? It's not like my sister has ever once called out to me like that.