CHAPTER 3: Held at Gun Point
Monday, Yukinoshita's first day at babysitting...
It's really early in the morning and Yukinoshita's already in the door front of the Hikigaya Household. She has grocery bags on both of her hands and a black leather purse hanging on her left shoulder.
She layed down the grocery bag on her right hand tothe ground and approached the door. She raised her right hand and was about to knock and then stopped. "I was never good at kids." she thought.
Yukinoshita used her right hand and knocked at the door. "Hello, I'm the one in charge of taking care of you this day." she said.
A muffled voice an be heared from behind the door. "State your name."
Yukinoshita complied. "I'm Yukinoshita Yukino."
There's a brief silence before the voice behind the door responded. "You're in the list Father sent me... Come in."
CLICK!
The door has been unlocked and is opened.
Yukinoshita grabbed her other grocery bag and is greeted by a blue haired boy in a blue framed glasses.
Sora saw how many Yukinoshita is carrying so he offered his help. "Let me help you with those groceries."
Yukinoshita handed the grocery bag on her right hand with a smile. "This kid is really well mannered." thought Yukinoshita.
"I'm Sora." Sora offered his right hand for a hand shake.
Delighted on how formal the kid is, Yukinoshita took Sora's offer and shook his hand.
The two both started walking in the small hallway that leads toward the living room of the house. Sora leads the way while Yukinoshita follows. Yukinoshita started noticing the pictures and portraits of Hikigaya and his children along the hallway.
How she missed those genuine smiles.
Sora then stopped and looked at the older woman. "I must warn you, this is the last semblance of peace you will have, the moment you enter the living room is the moment you'll want to leave the living room." he said.
Underestimating the kid's warning, Yukinoshita asked him to go on. "Let's go." she said.
And so, the two reached the end of the hallway and Yukinoshita finally saw what the Sora is warning her for.
Irida and Kizuna are both sitting on the couch, fighting over the TV remote. "Let me watch my show!" complains Irida. " as she pulls the remote from Kizuna's hands. "That show you watch isn't good anyways!" said Kizuna's as she pulls back the remote.
Meanwhile, Akagami is chasing around Sonny while wearing a makeshift oni mask. "I'M GONNA TURN YOU INTO A HOT DOG AND EAT YOU!" screams Akagami as he chases the dog who seems to be happy to be chased around.
Midori is in a corner as she read, and since her environment is too loud for her, she is reading her book out loud just to spite her loud siblings. "DON'T DO IT KEICHI-KUN, IT'S TOO DANGEROUS!... DON'T WORRY NANAKO, I'VE GOT THIS!"
Momoi just descovered the concept of tattoos by scribbling incoherent lines at her arms with a marker. "Black markers make my skin black... I wanna turn my skin blue!"
Aoki being a clean freak that he is has a broom on one hand and a dust pan at the other and started cleaning all the mess his siblings has made. "You guys really like making a mess don't you!" he said and then noticed Momoi and her face. "Momoi! You better take a throughout bath after breakfast!"
Sora then took a step forward. "Ahem..." he faked a cough to get his sibling's attention. "This is Yukinoshita Yukino, our babysitter for the day."
Everyone turned their heads to look at the stranger at their house.
"You're beautiful." said Momoi who had black and blue marker lines at her arms and face. Yukinoshita giggled at the sight of Momoi's self vandalized face. "Thank you, I'm sure you are too if we remove those marker lines at your face." responds Yukinoshita.
Sonny approached the Yukinoshita and started sniffing her feet. "Tolerate it's presence! Don't run away! It's just a small dog!" thought Yukinoshita until a red haired boy with a poorly made oni mask caught her attention.
"You think you can control me? You think you could make do things that I don't like?" said Akagami as he started shadow boxing to threat Yukinoshita. "Did you make that mask your own?" asks Yukinoshita. Akagami stops shadow boxing and removed the mask. "Looks good right?" he said a he looks proudly at his creation.
"H-hi." said the shy and blushing Midori. "Is she so flustered that I heard her reading a book out loud?" thought Yukinoshita. "Don't worry, you have a really loud and clear voice, I like it." she said to the kid. It only made Midori more shy and ran away from the living room.
"You're gonna do household chores and you're gonna need my help." says Aoki. Yukinoshita responds to the boy. "Don't worry, about that and your help won't be necessary." Aoki didn't quite like the last part of her statement.
Kizuna moved closer to Yukinoshita and inspected her from head to toe. "Momoi is often wrong but you are indeed beautiful. I like how you incorporated the color black and white in your outfit." "She kinda reminds me of someone I know..." thought Yukinoshita. "Thank you, I've got my assistant help me on this one." responded Yukinoshita. "Wait, so that's not entirely your idea? I've changed my mind, you're not that beautiful." said Kizuna. "Yep, she reminds me of a certain blonde bimbo."
Irida then took a step closer to Yukinoshita and smiled at her. "Not only that you look really beautiful, you look like someone really good in the kitchen too! Do you think you could make a really good pancakes?" asks Irida while blinking her eyes to look cuter.
Yukinoshita just chuckled at Irida's effort to manipulate her into making pancakes. "I won't make pancakes for you." she said to the kid. Irida's face turned sour and looked at Yukinoshita with annoyance and said. "You just can't make some aren't you?"
Dismissing Irida, Yukinoshita looked at the other kids and said. "But I'll make something more nutritious." said Yukinoshita as she slightly raised the grocery bag that she is carrying. "Where's you kitchen? I better start cooking now so you guys could eat at 5:30 am, take a bath at 6:00 am, and go out of the house for school at 7:00 am."
Sora started leading Yukinoshita to the kitchen while the other siblings started gathering at the dining room.
The siblings are now seated around their long table in the dining room while Yukinoshita's cooking at the kitchen.
Aoki and Irida are both sulking.
"Otou-san would let me help prepare breakfast, why won't she?" complains Aoki who is itching to do something.
"Don't worry, she probably not used to cooking with someone." Kizuna comforts Aoki.
"I already miss Papa, he would make our favorite breakfast for each one of us." says Irida
"Which is a habit he should break. Do you know how inconvenient and physically taxing it is to make 7 different breakfasts so early in the morning?" asks Sora to Irida. "Yeah... I guess you're right but why didn't you stop him from doing so?" Irida asks back.
Sora let out a sigh and then smiles. "It's Father we're talking about, do you really think I can stop him?" his siblings simultaneously agreed to his statement.
Meanwhile, Midori who ran away because of embarrassment earlier, is in the bedroom, hiding in her father's bed. She is hugging her knees really thight. She started rolling from side to side under the bed out of embarrassment until she hit a box. "Ow!"
She took the box and carefully got out under the bed. It is wooden box covered with cobwebs and dust.
Midori blew the dust away which caused her to sneeze a little because of some dust that got into her nose. She rubbed her nose and then opened the lid of the box. "What's in here?" she asked herself.
The box contains some stacks of papers. Midori, took the papers and read it. She isn't familiar with the titles but the author is her father. She came into a realization that it is he father's old experimental light novels that he is embarrassed about but too attached to throw away.
Like an adventurer who found a treasure chest, she dug through the box and took every paper until she reached the bottom. She found a notebook with a black leather cover. The book is titled "List of people I want to kill".
Having watched an anime about killing and notebooks, Midori excitedly opened the black notebook. Midori skimmed through the pages, extremely entertained by the sheer number of the names in each pages. "Otou-san really is not joking when he said that he hates everyone and everyone hates him when he was younger." she said to herself.
Then, she saw the name "Yukinoshita Yukino". Her eyes widened. "Isn't that the name of our babysitter for today? I've got to tell the others!" said Midori as she hastily run out of their bedroom.
Back at the dining room...
While the siblings diligently waits for their breakfast to come, Kizuna asks her sliblings. "What do you guys think about Yukinoshita-san?"
"She seems responsible, too responsible in fact! I hope she'll leave some work for me." says Aoki who is irritated that he isn't doing something at the moment.
"They all are at the beginning! Give it some hours and she'll act like she owns the place." says Irida.
"Yes, it's too early to judge." says Sora.
"What are we talking about?" asks the innocent Momoi.
"Were talking about if that Yukibuta-san is a good gal or a bad gal." explains Akagami to Momoi.
"She must be a good person, Sonny likes her after all!" reasons Momoi to Akagami. She then points at Akagami and let out a giggle. "And her name is Yukinoshita-san, not Yukibuta-san. You're stupid sometimes."
"I don't want to hear that from you stupid!" says Akagami as he sticks out his tongue at Momoi.
"No I'm not." says Momoi.
"Yes you are and I'll prove it! What's 1 + 1=?" Akagami asks Momoi.
"1 + 1= is 11!" answers Momoi with full confidence.
Akagami smiles.
"How did you know the right answer?" asks the genuinely surprised Akagami.
"GUYS! LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" Midori announced as she enter the dining room.
She presented the black notebook to her siblings.
"List of people I want to kill..." Sora read the title of the book. "Is that Father's?"
"Yes! And look at this page!" said Midori as she excitedly opened the book to a certain page. "Look! Yukinoshita-san is in the list!"
Everyone was shocked except Sora.
"That book looks really old, Otou-san probably had that book when he was young and wrote her name out of teenage immaturity. Also, didn't Komachi-Obaa-san said last night that everyone who's going to babysit us are friends to Father?" said Sora but is ignored because what he said is logical, right, and boring.
"Wait, isn't Griffith a western name? Who is Griffith? And why is he on the list?" asks the confused Kizuna.
"Lets hunt down everyone on that list." said Akagami while cracking his knuckles.
"So that's why she didn't let me help her cook! She's going to poison us in secret!" said Aoki who is still annoyed because he didn't get to help in cooking.
"That's a lot of enemies. I'm gonna ask Papa how he did this and how to do the exact opposite." said Irida as she check the names in the book.
"Woah... That's a lot of names, I can't even spell Hikigaya right even after 2 tries." said Momoi who is amazed by the sheer number of names in the pages.
Then, Yukinoshita entered the dining room, adorned by a white apron and a ladle at her hand. Seeing that the kids are gathered by something, she asks. "What's the matter?"
The Siblings quickly presented the black notebook opened at the page featuring Yukinoshita's name.
"Your dark colors has been revealed, witch!" says Aoki.
"To think that we would let an enemy inside our home... Well played Yukibuta-san." says Akagami.
"Is the breakfast ready?" asks Momoi.
"No, she's an enemy, don't eat what she makes!" says Irida who is just going with the flow of her brothers.
"As someone who's also in Papa's list, do you know who's this Gryffith?" asks Kizuna who's still curious with that out of place name in her Papa's notebook.
"Uhhh, Griffith is a villain in one of Otou-san's favorite mangas." says Midori to Kizuna.
"What's the title? I might read it." asks Kizuna to which Midori awkwardly answers. "Maybe when you're a little older hehe."
"But you already read it right? And you're a month younger than me." reasons Kizuna.
Easily broken by Kizuna's pressure, Midori complies and says. "It's on the top left corner in Otou-san's mini library in his office."
"My siblings think you're an enemy of Father's because you're in Father's "List of people I want to kill." says Sora.
Yukinoshita giggled and said. "You should look at the last page, there's something written on there. Read it."
Midori looked at the last page. There are indeed something written in there. She started reading it loudly. "I Hikigaya Hachiman, regret writing the name of the really beautiful, and smart Yukinoshita Yukinoshita in this notebook. She also has an average boob size and is definitely not flat chested. I will not remove her name in this notebook to remind me of my hubris. I am not being forced to write this."
Annoyed, Aoki aggressively pointed at Yukinoshita and says. "You clearly forced him! You really are evil!"
Akagami got confused, looked at Aoki and said. "But Pops said he isn't forced to write it."
Kizuna face-palmed herself and asks Akagami in a disappointed tone. "Have you ever heard of sarcasm?"
"I don't even know that that word existed." responded Akagami as he crossed his arms in full confidence.
"You seems so close to Father." commented Sora on Yukinoshita.
"Yes, we were really close at that time." says Yukinoshita. "Anyways, let's eat breakfast."
And so they did...
The siblings are now seated around the table. The table has a big bowl of miso, a rice cooker filled with cooked rice, and a place of fish. Along those dishes are 8 stacks of plate, 8 neatly lined up sets of chopsticks, 8 small bowls for miso, and 8 bowls for rice.
Yukinoshita started distributing the food she made amongst the kids. She grabbed a small bowl, filled it with miso soup, and placed it in front of Aoki who is clearly annoyed at something. "WRONG!" says Aoki in a loud annoyed tone which grabbed the attention of Yukinoshita.
Yukinoshita inquires to Aoki. "What is?" to which Aoki answers "You placed the bowl by 2 inches off to the right." while he carefully moves his bowl 2 inches to the left. "In a house containing 8 people, space is a necessity that must be regulated with extreme caution!"
Akagami moved closer to Sora and asked him. "I cannot understand some of the words Aoki are saying, is he speaking a different language or is he just crazy and is inventing words? Are necessity, regulated, and caution even real words?"
Sora just looked at his brother with genuine fascination and said. "I've read from somewhere that someone could never have a proper communication with someone if there's a 20 IQ gap between them."
Akagami then smiles and then looked at Aoki. "So Aoki is just saying stupid stuff I'm too smart to understand."
Sora let out a sigh and then said. "Whatever floats your boat." before watching back Aoki and Yukinoshita's dilemma.
"Well, of course. I'll try to watch how I distance these tablewares." says Yukinoshita who is kind of liking the challenge posed by Aoki because it is reawaking her competitive side.
She carefully placed a bowl of miso in front of Kizuna but apparently, she wasn't careful enough for Aoki's keen eyes saw another mistake. "You're off by a half inch to the left this time."
"It is actually amazing that you could see even the smallest of errors but worry not, the next one won't be a mistake." says Yukinoshita.
"Oh they better be." says Aoki before going under the table and after a few seconds, reappearing with a GUN!
Recognizing the weapon held by his brother, Akagami pointed at it and uttered it's name. "THAT'S MY SPOILED MILK SHOOTER! SO YOU'RE BEEN HIDING THAT UNDER THE TABLE ALL THIS TIME?!"
Kizuna who is now angry, glared at Aoki and started berating him. "Didn't I told you to throw that away?"
Aoki who is still pointing the water gun at Yukinoshita answers Kizuna. "It's too cool to be thrown away and don't worry, it's only loaded with soy souce."
Sora dropped his forehead to the table and whispered to himself. "Can I have just one normal breakfast in this house?"
Seeing that matters will turn for the worst, Midori stood up and walked towards Momoi. "Hey, this will probably take long enough for us to clean your face."
"Wait, somethings in my face?" asks Momoi who completely forgot that she has drawn random lines in her face.
The two left the dining room leaving the chaos behind.
Akagami is looking intensely at his brother. "I brought that water gun with my allowance... Then he confiscated it because apparently, shooting your sibling with spoiled milk is wrong and now he is doing the exact same thing he doesn't want me to do!" he thought but after some seconds... "But it's actually kinda cool how he just came out with a gun pointed at our babysitter." and after some more seconds on looking at his brother, his anger has been completely flipped to admiration. "I want to see him and Yukibuta-san fight! he thought.
"IN THE RED CORNER!" he screamed and pointed at Aoki. "THE GUY WHO SUCKS OUT THE FUN ON LIFE!" and then points at Yukinoshita. "AND IN THE BLUE CORNER, YUKIBUTA-SAN!"
Aoki then started pointing his water gun at the breakfast Yukinoshita has made. "I'm pretty sure the content of this water gun is enough to ruin the food you made." he threatens Yukinoshita.
"And you'll do that because?" Yukinoshita asks for any valid reasoning for this farce.
"IF YOU PLACE ANOTHER BOWL IN THE WRONG PLACE, I'M GONNA SHOOT!" Aoki threatens further
"So, you're gonna ruin everybody's breakfast for some tiny measurements?" Yukinoshita tries clarify.
"Yes." answers Aoki.
"Just what did I got my self into? This is so stupid, BUT! I have been in stupid circumstances before, this is nothing." proudly states Yukinoshita.
Aoki smirks.
"I appreciate the challenge, bring it on." says the ever confident Yukinoshita.
CHAPTER END-
Author's notes:
Umm... I got a job now and it has day and night shifting... I got night shift... I spent most of my time either working or sleeping... The only free time I get is the Sundays! So, very sorry for the late updates.