Quit 'Wine'ing

The week after

I woke up in my bed, staring at the white ceiling. I ended up waking up 5 minutes before my alarm. I reached over to my phone, which was charging on the nearby wall, and disabled my alarm. I then slowly got up to get ready for school.

It's been one week since I returned to Japan. I haven't told anyone back home yet, except for Ono-chan. Not the club, nor the exchange guys, nor the Kobayashi couple. I don't know if I can come clean. The only reason why I told Ono-chan was that I trusted her with my life. She's that one special friend, you know?

I took a quick cold shower to shock myself awake. I managed to brush my teeth, comb my hair, and change into my school clothes. When I went downstairs, I saw a small stack of pancakes. There was a note next to the plate. "We're running late! Here's some breakfast! :P"

I quickly ate the pancakes and readied my bag. I put all of my needed books into that green satchel. I then tied my dog tags on the strap to decorate it. If I wanted to show it around at school, this is the only way to do this since my school is too strict about students' uniforms. Hell, I still see people giving Saito-san a different look since she kept wearing the blazer during the summer.

Shouldering my bag, I went outside. For the first time in a while, I saw that Ono-chan had gotten up before me. Usually, I would have to drag her out of bed, but this time she was able to wake up on her own and get out before me. I'm… kind of proud, actually. Like a father who watched his own daughter take her first steps kind of proud. My little angel's all grown up! Sniff sniff.

My pride in my parenting quickly faded away as Ono-chan put her hand on her stomach as if she was hungry or aching.

"Ono-chan?" I asked, "You okay there?"

"Y-yeah," she stammered, struggling to smile, "I'm okay. I think. It was just the breakfast that I had this morning."

But her stomach betrayed her. As she finished her statement, her stomach growled like a tiger. As if there was no food in there at all. Yeah right, I thought as she grabbed her stomach once more.

"Ono-chan," I asked calmly, "Did you have breakfast?"

"Y-yeah," she stuttered, still trying to keep a straight face, "I had something to eat. Why?"

"It's just that," I pointed at her stomach, "You seem to be having some problems there. You okay?"

"N-no, it's nothing," she said, laughing it off. Mmhm. Yeah, it's "nothing". Notice the quotation marks?

"Last question. What did you have for breakfast?" I asked.

She stayed silent for a second. Just a second. She may either had nothing to eat, or it wasn't settling down right. "...chocolate," she said in a quiet voice, barely audible.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked again, asking for confirmation.

"...Chocolate," she said a little bit louder, putting her index fingers together nervously, "Ehehe." This girl!

"Alright, c'mon," I beckoned, waving my hand, "I'll get you something on the way. Is McDonald's okay?" I feel like a boyfriend right now. Jesus, I'm lonely.

And so we went to McDonald's before going to school. It was a short detour, just going on block past the school. We woke up early enough, so we had enough time to get something from McDonald's.

There were already students there getting their own breakfast. I was looking to eat on the way to school, but we might as well sit down and dine. Besides, we're in no rush.

We fell in line and waited. As we waited for the long line of students looking to grab a sausage McMuffin or some other breakfast sandwich, Ono-chan turned to me.

"You know," she said, "Yuri texted me this morning. She told me that she has a surprise for the club. I actually found that surprising, what with all of her social anxiety." That's not a statement you just drop in a conversation!

"Oh yeah?" I said as I did find this amusing as well, "What kind of surprise?"

"It's a surprise! We don't know!" exclaimed Ono-chan, "Though I am interested. I wonder what she'll bring to the table. Maybe a treat or something."

"If it's chocolate," I teased, "I'll make sure you won't eat it for breakfast."

"Eh? Meanie!" she pouted. I laughed. "But Lee-kun! I want to be hyper in the morning! How about coffee?"

"Nope," I said, "Off the table. 'Cause if I give some amount of sugar or caffeine to you, you'll be bouncing off the walls."

The line shrank faster than I expected. They probably face a huge amount of students getting food in the mornings and after school, so they know how to be efficient to serve everyone in a timely manner. Soon, we were next in line.

"What do you want?" I asked as I took out my wallet.

"Um," said Ono-chan as she browsed the menu. "I'll go for the bacon, egg, and cheese bagel." So that was 300 Yen. I wanna get a hashbrown and a latte, so that's probably about another 300. Crap, do I have enough?

I checked my wallet for the needed money and found a thousand Yen bill. That'll work., I thought as I handed the cashier the money after ordering.

Our food quickly came to the counter in about a minute. Well, it ain't called fast food for nothing. We took the bag of food and quickly ate it in silence. We didn't want to be late after all. I wanted to talk to Saito-san for the, shall I say, surprise.

Coffee in hand, we walked to school together. Ono-chan said she had something to do, so she ran off without me. Meanwhile, I tried looking for Saito-san. I have no clue where she is, though. All I know is that she's either somewhere in the courtyard or somewhere in the third year building.

The school was comprised of four buildings, three of which were parallel, the first and second-year buildings connected together by a walkway on the second floor. The courtyard was in between the second and third-year buildings, sporting a great lawn with cobblestone paths leading up to a fountain in the middle of the courtyard, with wooden benches and short Italian Cypresses scattered along the paths and a few pine trees hanging over some of the benches as shade. The cafeteria, gym, and the playing fields were in the back of the campus.

Now, I did a quick scan of the courtyard to see if I can spy Saito-san. She was relatively tall compared to the rest of the Japanese, and her dark (almost violet) hair stood out from the crowd somehow. I could've sworn there was a word for that, being able to identify someone by the back of their head. I could've sworn I learned it somewhere in my AP Psych class two years ago.

Damn, she ain't here, I thought as I gave up looking for her in the courtyard, for she wasn't there. With one hand in my pocket and the other holding my cup of coffee, I entered the third year hallway.

Bobbing and weaving through the mass of students chattering away in the hallway, I searched for her in the crowd of people waiting for class to start. I kept hearing bits and pieces of conversations, from things related to school to the rumors that circulate throughout the students. I took quick peeks in the classrooms to see if I can see Saito-san somewhere. Nada, I thought as I decided to look on the second floor.

When I passed the third classroom from the stairs, I saw the door to that classroom open. I looked and saw it was the triplets, all three of them giggling and having fun in each other's company. "Hey, Sawyer!" exclaimed Kaylee when she saw me.

"Hey guys," I said, turning to face them, "How's y'all?"

"Rose is betting that she can serve better than me," said Zara, who was bickering with Rose.

"What do you mean?" Rose bickered back, "You're an outside hitter! I'm a libero! Therefore, I do more serving between the two of us!"

For some context, I forgot to tell you guys that Zara and Rose are on the volleyball team. Meanwhile, Kaylee was a cheerleader, which wasn't so surprising. Honestly, I thought Rose and Zara would never be able to work as a team, judging from how different they were. I thought one of 'em would join the Art Club or the Archery Club. Like Nakano-san and Saito-san, they were able to work together somehow. Honestly, them being on the team gave me a reason to come to a couple of volleyball games. Well, really, a couple of reasons (wink, wink).

I have come to their games, mainly because Kaylee dragged me there to get a bigger crowd, so I do understand what they were talking about.

Judging from their positions, with Zara being an outside hitter who can spike the ball hard over the net and Rose being a libero who sometimes has to actually serve, I have no idea who would win in a competition between the two. Would it be Rose because she has more experience? Or Zara with her offensive spiking skills? I wouldn't know. All I do is watch.

"Don't you guys have gym class?" I asked, "I heard the teacher was planning to do volleyball today."

"Good idea!" says Rose, "I bet five bucks on it! The one who can hit five consecutive shots first wins!"

"No, no," argued Zara, "Let's not use money. The loser has to do what the winner wants."

"Great! You're totally going down, Zara," taunted Rose. Zara could only look on with a smug smile and a disapproving nod. You know, Rose is way too cocky for anything. Way too cocky. This is gonna bite her in the butt if she's not careful.

"Let these kids play," said Kaylee, who put her arms on her hips, leaning to one side, "Who do you think'll win?"

"No clue," I said, "They're so unpredictable. I'm leaning towards Zara, though. Rose is too cocky and'll choke up."

The two of us chuckled as we watched the two girls argue and taunt each other. I looked around the room. Maybe Saito-san is here.

That's when I saw the familiar barrette in the dark violet hair of the girl I was looking for. Saito-san was yet again reading another book at her desk in the corner of the room. It seemed as though she was lost in a trance as she explored the land of that book that she's reading. No one else seemed to notice Saito-san. There were a couple of glances at Saito-san, but no one really bothered to go talk to her. It's as if she isolated herself in her corner of the world, dreaming of things that can only be in a dream.

It was as if she was just… alone. As if she didn't have anyone to talk to. I remember having that phase when I was in middle school. Mainly, I did it because I was made fun of in middle school, so I decided to put duct tape on my mouth and kept it shut for the rest of my three years there. I guess I became a little more vocal after coming to Japan. I mean, I've made more friends than I did back home in the span of a few months. It felt as if it was a reset in my life. Maybe… she's just like me.

The bell was about to ring, so I didn't want to bother her. She didn't notice me, so I left. Well, at least I found out that she's in the same class as the triplets.

When I got to my classroom, I saw CJ sleeping again, a book draped open on his face. Meanwhile, Takeuchi-san sat alone in her seat. She was twirling her pen in her hand, her delicate fingers guiding the pink pen along, while her other hand sat on top of a sheet of paper. I just realized as well, no one ever seemed to talk to her as much. She didn't talk to guys who would probably stand a chance at standing at her side. She didn't join in the rumors that the girls tend to pass around. It's like she's lost in her thoughts, much like Saito-san in her classroom.

I plopped my stuff on my desk. I looked over to Takeuchi-san, who had a slight smile. She was humming a song that I did not know, though it did sound like the melody I hear on the piano every lunch. On her desk was what I thought her next masterpiece, her next poem. All I could see was the word "Reality" on the top. It seemed rather long. There were lots of lines where Takeuchi-san had scratched out that specific idea as if it wasn't good enough. Writers' block is indeed a pain in the ass.

"Just move your hand, write your story in this world… No, that's not good," she sang, though she trashed that idea. She seemed to have a troubled face as she scratched out that line with her pen.

"That a, uh, a poem that you're working on?" I asked. She snapped out of her thinking gaze, shaking her head before facing me.

"Th-that's something that I'm working on for a friend of mine," said Takeuchi-san, "Sayori might've said something about someone named MC, no?" Oh, that guy. How did Takeuchi-san know him?

"Yeah, I've heard of him," I said, "I didn't know you knew him."

"Oh, she didn't say?" said Takeuchi-san. I shook my head no. "I see," she said, "Well, MC was another member of the Literature Club. Before he left. He was that fifth person that we needed to keep the school from shutting us down.

"I guess you could say," she said solemnly, looking down at her paper, as if reflecting on her memory of him, "I kinda liked him." Oh. Like that. Man, he was stuck in a love triangle with Ono-chan? Is that why he left?

"Well," she continued, putting a smile back on her face, "If I do ever get back in contact with him, I have something to show him." On that note, she happily glanced at whatever was on her piece of paper quickly and then put it away right as the teacher walked in to begin the lesson.

Later

Lunchtime came around faster than expected. I had a bento box that I had made beforehand. CJ went out to talk to his teachers and Takeuchi-san disappeared somewhere, so I went outside to look for someone to eat lunch with.

I went outside in the courtyard. Students were milling around the lush green area under the summer sun. There were students sitting on benches, on the fountain, or the lawn as if they were having a picnic. I looked around as I held my bento box, which was wrapped in a piece of cloth.

That's when I saw Nakano-san's pink hair in the shadow of a tree that she sat under. I saw her alone nibbling on a piece of melonpan, taking tiny bits with each bite. She didn't seem to have anything else to eat.

"Melonpan? For lunch?" I asked as I took a seat next to her. Nakano-san looked up at me with her mouth full of food.

"S-senpai!" she exclaimed as she swallowed her food, "What are you doing here?"

"My friends left me in the classroom, so I wanted to look for someone to eat lunch with," said I, "Besides, you look lonely yourself."

"Sh-shut up!" spat Nakano-san, "I'm perfectly fine by myself!"

"Relax, don't get your panties in a bunch," I said, chiding the poor child, "You hungry? That melonpan isn't gonna fill you up."

"I'm fine!" she exclaimed, stuffing her mouth with the rest of the melonpan so she looked like a squirrel, "I don't wanna get too fat!"

"I think you need the fat," I teased, pointing at her, pointing out that she was short and scrawny. "I mean, look at you!"

"Sh-shut up!" she exclaimed again, blushing like the tsundere she is, "B-baka! Idiot!"

After she calmed down, I opened my bento box, revealing the five onigiri rice balls that I had packed, along with some chicken nuggets. I had a big bento box, so it was able to hold all of that triangular onigiri rice balls and chicken nuggets. I completely stuffed this bento box with food.

"You want one?" I asked Nakano-san, holding out the bento box. She looked at them for a second, as if contemplating whether she should eat this goodness of food. I mean, I made them, they gotta be the best. And then she turned away, her face red.

"N-no! I don't need your food!" she exclaimed while she crossed her arms.

"Alright, suit yourself," I said as I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed one rice ball, examining the salted rice that was partly wrapped by a sheet of seaweed. This was the first time I've made these, so I don't really know how they taste like. I ended up using rice, seaweed, salt, and salmon (it's on the inside of the rice ball). It's a good snack to eat, and it's pretty easy to make and transport.

While I ate, I saw Nakano-san eyeing the food every now and then. I pretended not to notice for a bit, letting Nakano-san's hunger tempt her.

I held out the bento box one more time. "You sure you don't wan-"

"Okay sure!" she exclaimed, picking one out of the box quickly, "If you insist!"

I stopped eating for one second to see her munching on the onigiri. She seemed like she didn't have food again, so she was hungry all day. But because she's a cheeky tsundere, she's not gonna give in. Until now.

"Better?" I said as she finished the last of the rice ball. I had already eaten all but one rice ball and all of the nuggets. I had quickly wolfed down my food because I'm hungry as hell. It seemed that Nakano-san was also starving, for she swallowed her food fast.

"Y-yeah," stammered Nakano-san, her voice barely above a whisper, "Thank you. And s-sorry… for eating your food."

"Nah, it's fine," I said as I laid my right hand on her head, "It's like feeding a kid!"

"Grr!" growled Nakano-san, "I'm not a kid!"

I chuckled lightheartedly with a smile on my face. I just wanted to cherish that moment of happiness because, well, you guys know what I'm going through.

At the end of the day, in the classroom

Finally, after a long day, the bell rang, signifying the end of the day. Everyone went to their respective clubs or went home. CJ dipped as usual, heading out to practice with the basketball team. The only people who were left in the room were Takeuchi-san and me.

Soon enough, though, the rest of the club members arrived. First, it was Ono-chan, and then Nakano-san, and then Saito-san. Ono-chan came in like a bumbling ball of joy as usual. Nakano-san immediately made a bee-line to the closet to look for her manga, and Saito-san entered nervously. Oh right, didn't she say she had a surprise for us?

However, I didn't have enough energy. I was pretty much spent. At the time, I was reading a book, this SCP-inspired light novel revolving around SCP-105. I was pretty immersed in my book that I barely acknowledged everyone other than a simple "Hey". After a while, though, I slowly drifted to sleep. In doing so, I laid back in my seat, put my feet up on my desk, placed my open book on my face, and got a little shut-eye.

I was still able to listen to every conversation in the room. I was just too lazy to more or in any other way respond to any outside stimulus. To be fair, it was just a matter of needless banter.

It was just one thing that made my ears perk up. And that was when Saito-san spoke up in a bold manner, something surprising knowing her.

"Would anybody like some wine?" asked Saito-san as I heard of something solid slam down on a desk nearby. Immediately, everyone was thrown into a frenzy. It felt as if everyone's Cain Instinct was activated.

"AAAAA," vocalized Ono-chan without taking a breath in the same tone.

"Yuri!" exclaimed Takeuchi-san, "Why did you bring alcohol to school?" So that was the surprise? Saito-san has balls, knowing how strict this school is.

"We're all underage!" Takeuchi-san ranted on, "It's illegal to drink at 17! Besides, who's gonna drink?"

At this point, I was pretty interested. I slowly sat up, removing the book from my face, before looking at all of the commotion. No one noticed I was up yet. They were all fixated at Saito-san, who was just looked a little depressed while Takeuchi-san roasted the hell outta her.

"I wanna try some," spoke Nakano-san over Ono-chan's monotone screaming.

"Oh, shush, child," said Takeuchi-san, taking her focus away from Saito-san for a second. I then took that opportunity to walk over, somehow undetected.

There on the desk was a small wine bottle with a cork. There were some shot-glass sized paper cups next to the wine bottle. I took the bottle, popped off the cork, and poured one out. The girls noticed and immediately, Takeuchi-san's and Ono-chan's eyes widened. I quickly downed the drink, the sweet yet bitter liquid hitting the back of my throat before swallowing.

"It's a tad too bitter for my taste. Still, it's still worth drinking," I said as I flattened the paper cup and licked my lips.

"L-lee-san," said the three girls, with Ono-chan vocalizing a little louder this time.

"What?" I asked quizzically, tilting my head to the side as I was wondering what I did wrong.

"Y-you do realize that's wine, right?" said Takeuchi-san.

"And what's wrong with that?" I said as I grabbed the bottle to examine it. A cabernet sauvignon. It says on the bottle that it was from California. Ah, the sweet taste of home.

"And wine is an alcoholic beverage, right?" Saito-san added.

"Yeah. Like I said, what's wrong with that?"

"And you're 17, right?" Takeuchi-san said.

"So?" I smugly said before grabbing another cup. Takeuchi-san snatched the bottle out of my hands before I could pour a second shot of wine. I don't think you're supposed to drink wine out of shot glasses, but hey, a drink's a drink.

"Besides," I said, ever so nonchalantly while gesturing towards the pestering girl in the back with my paper shot cup, "I think you should watch out for Ono-chan. It looks like you've broken her."

The three girls set their sights on Ono-chan, who haven't stopped screaming. In the meantime, I somehow was able to snatch the wine bottle away from Takeuchi-san's grasp. After seeing that Ono-chan was a lost cause, they set their sights back on me.

"You know," I said while examining the bottle once more, "Maybe I should give Ono-chan wine instead of coffee. Maybe she won't be bouncing off the walls as much."

Saito-san and Nakano-san decided to watch the carnage from a safe distance between Takeuchi-san and me, standing next to Ono-chan, who finally calmed down from the shock of seeing Saito-san bring a wine bottle to school.

"No!" she cried out as she charged at me, trying to take back the wine bottle from my hands. She chased me around the classroom until she was tired out. Score one for me!

After the club, we all went home. I, for one, laid in bed and stared at the ceiling once more to reflect on the day. Really, I was just thinking about why Saito-san had brought in a bottle of wine. Not that I'm against it. Takeuchi-san and Ono-chan, on the other hand, I'm not so sure. A glass or two wouldn't hurt, would it? But that's not what I was thinking about. I was thinking about the "why" part of the equation. Why did she bring an alcoholic beverage into the clubroom? Was she trying to seem like a spontaneous individual? Was she trying to change something up? To stand out a bit?

Now that you think of it, she really is very quiet. I don't see her talking with anyone else other than the club members. Not when I see her in the halls, the courtyard, the library. Not even in the classroom where the triplets were. It's as if she had no friends other than us. And even then, she's not as vocal around us. It's a miracle that I actually got her to open up a little bit. But I still don't know much about her. It's like... she's a maiden of mystery.


Honorifics: (Underlined honorifics are the ones used in current chapter)

-san: Most common, it is an all-purpose suffix that can be used in any situation where politeness is expected. Basically the titles Mr. Ms. etc.

-sama: This suffix is one level higher than "-san" and is used to confer great respect.

-kun: This suffix is commonly used at the end of boys' names to express endearment.

-chan: Feminine version of -kun.

Senpai: Superior/Upperclassmen.

Sensei: Master.


Translation notes:

1. Yen is the standard Japanese currency. 1 USD is about 110 JPY.

2. Onigiri rice balls are tightly packed balls of rice that can come in a circular, spherical, or triangular shape made with rice, a preservative such as oil or vinegar (sometimes salt), a seaweed wrap to hold the ball together, and, often, some type of uncooked meat or vegetables as filling.

3. Despite Takeuchi-san being so adamant about the ban of underage drinking, the underage drinking laws (20 years old to drink) are vastly ignored, though underage drinking is still considered taboo since, well, you know.


A/N: Well crap, I'm one day late again. I try to post every other Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, but I decided to procrastinate again. And when I did decide to finally work on it, I get slammed in the face with an unbreakable fever of 102 because of the flu. Whoop-de-fucking-woo. Oh well, at least this one chapter is out. I'll try to solidify this non-existent posting schedule, but that won't be much of an issue, right?

This chapter was a bit of a change of pace, right? Well, I wanted to have one more chapter of fluff before I get down into the real dirty stuff. Really all I have to say.

Also, thanks for the support from the last chapter. They really lifted my spirits, got me motivated to write again. I honestly thought it was gonna be a little bit of a controversial idea, with me deviating from the game a lot by going into my OC's personal life. Looks like that's not the case. In fact, I have 51 followers, 38 favorites, and over 10k views. Best shit I've ever written and I'm not even halfway done. Feel free to send some love via reviews. Thank you all for your support, and I'll see you in the next one. Peace!