Chapter 22: Summer's Last Moments Escape Like a Sigh.
That Friday began the way every day so far had while Yasui was staying with Miss Diana. They all ate breakfast together, then Yasui would do his best to join Diana for yoga. He still wasn't very flexible, but he had a lot of fun trying to do the poses with her. Once it was getting close to noon, they all got into the car and Charles drove them to a spacious park near Diana's house on the edge of the city. As they spread out their blanket and set down the basket, Diana stopped Yasui as he moved to help Charles unpack the basket.
"Yasui, remember how I said we were going to cross another item off my list?"
Yasui nodded and she continued.
"Well, this is it."
"Oh, what's the thing? Something about a picnic?"
Diana laughed.
"You could say that."
Charles lifted a cake out of the basket and set it down on the blanket. Yasui was a bit confused until he remembered the first page of Miss Diana's notebook. He looked at her in disbelief.
"No… you can't seriously mean…."
She gave him a look of apprehension and handed him a fork.
"I really wish younger me hadn't been such a sugar addict."
Yasui looked down in horror at the large confection waiting for him. He took a deep breath.
"I really think we'll regret this."
Diana sighed.
"Definitely."
It was a long, grueling battle. The cake was delicious, but after eating a fourth of it Yasui wanted to rip his own tongue out rather than eat more sugar pastry. Charles just watched as he ate his salad, insisting that the notebook had specified that she eat a whole cake with her best friend. And that because he was simply her employee he didn't count. Yasui sipped some water and grimaced at the remaining wedge of cake left. Diana had since flopped back onto the grass groaning in discomfort as her stomach was full of dessert. Yasui took a deep breath and tried to stifle a burp as it bubbled up.
"Miss Diana, we only have a little, *urp, left."
She moaned and clasped her stomach.
"I'm tapping out. I already… hurt myself."
Yasui looked at the last chunk of cake and clenched his jaw. He then remembered something he had seen Yone do once and began to knead his stomach a bit. With an unpleasant rumbling sensation, Yasui unleashed a belch like thunder and then grabbed the last piece of cake. As fast as possible, ignoring flatware and plate, Yasui shoved the whole piece into his mouth and gulped it down. He felt it slide down his throat and land like a rock in his stomach. Immediately Yasui was afraid he was about to be ill. He followed Diana's lead and flopped back onto the ground clutching his distended gut.
"My stomach!"
Charles shook his head.
"That… was… horrific."
Diana lazily picked up her almost empty water bottle and threw it at him.
"Shut up."
Yasui wasn't feeling very good. His stomach felt like he had eaten a pallet of bricks and he didn't want to move. He grunted.
"I can't move."
Charles laughed as he began to clean up.
"Just wait. Soon all that sugar will kick in. And then… crash."
Yasui rubbed at his eyes with the palms of his hands.
"Just kiiiill meeeeee!"
It turns out that Charles was exactly right. Before long Yasui felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest and he was full of energy. However he didn't feel any less sick, just sick faster. He managed to stumble back through the front door of Miss Diana's home and flopped down in a chair in the library. Miss Diana shuffled in from a different direction holding a bottle of something. She shook two tablets out of the bottle and handed them to Yasui as she sat down beside him.
"Here, for your stomach."
Yasui's tongue lolled out of his mouth as he turned his head to look at her. Slowly he accepted the medication and ate it too, grimacing at the chalky taste and texture.
"Is what I'm feeling the crash Charles was talking about?"
"That depends. Do you feel sluggish and awful?"
"A little?"
"Then maybe."
There was a pause before Diana turned a shade of pale green and gasped.
"I'm going to go lie down for a bit."
Yasui nodded while still in a bit of a daze.
"M'kay… have fun."
As he sat there alone, he glanced around the shelves at the various books that filled the room. He had perused the library before, and glanced through a few books. However so far nothing had exactly caught his interest very much. He was still looking about in a mental fog when his phone started to ring. Absent-mindedly, he answered it.
"Hi."
"Uh… hi, Yasui."
The voice on the other end was Yone's. Yasui snapped to attention. Why was his brother calling him? Yasui remained silent until Yone spoke again.
"Can… can we talk?"
Yasui gulped. His mouth felt dry and itchy. He croaked out.
"Okay."
The line fell silent before he heard Yone sigh.
"I'll just cut to the chase. I just… I wanted to tell you…. I'm sorry."
Yasui licked his lips, and as he spoke his voice was hoarse.
"Did Mom and Dad put you up to this?"
"No… they don't know I'm talking to you. I'm home by myself. Still being, you know, punished."
Yasui didn't know how to respond to that, so he didn't. Finally his brother sighed, sounding weary.
"I'll hang up. I don't want to bug you, I just wanted to say sorry."
Words jumped from Yasui's mouth like water spilling from a broken bowl.
"Why did you do it?"
Yone was silent for a full minute before he huffed.
"Because I'm an idiot."
"Yone—"
"And because I thought it might make me feel better."
Whatever Yasui was going to say died in his throat. He frowned.
"Yone… what's going on?"
"Nothing… it's just…. Mom and Dad have been getting on me a lot ever since you left. They keep saying things like 'you need to apply yourself like your brother does' and 'stop getting into trouble. Yasui never caused this many problems at school.' I just… started to get angry with you. And also… I'm jealous of you."
Yasui let out a dry laugh.
"Yone, you're jealous of me?"
"Yeah. You're living it up in the city with your new friends going to movies and playing video games while I'm digging in the dirt with Dad or throwing darts at a tree. I just… I feel like such a loser compared to you."
"Yone, I was always jealous of you!"
Yasui could almost hear his brother's brow furrow.
"What?! Why?!"
"Yone, growing up you had everything I didn't. You were bigger than I was and more athletic. You had friends. Our extended family loved you and hated me. And you weren't sick all the time like I was."
Yone fell silent before speaking in almost a whisper.
"I'd forgotten how sick you used to get."
"Yeah. I remember watching you from the window as you played with our cousins because I was too weak to leave my bed. Mom would carry me to the couch so I could at least see outside."
Yone's voice was hollow and distant when he spoke again.
"I still remember that winter when you were seven. You got something really, really bad. I remember sitting next to Mom as she tried to help you. You were so… like a skeleton. And the sounds you were making as you tried to breathe…. That was the scariest thing I've ever seen. I… I was scared that you'd die."
Neither brother spoke for a long time. Eventually Yone broke the silence.
"Are you still there?"
"…Yeah."
"When did things get so bad between us? We were inseparable as little kids!"
Yasui sighed.
"It was around when you started going to school in the village. You got new friends, and then they'd just make fun of me whenever I tried to play with you guys."
Yone took a deep breath.
"Yasui… can we fix this?"
"…What do you mean?"
"I just…. Can we be the type of brothers we once were?"
"How?"
"Well… can I call you more often? Just me? So we can talk?"
Yasui felt a lump in his throat. He choked on it a bit before sniffling.
"I think I'd be fine with that."
"I just… I don't want to leave things like this. We're brothers. We're brothers, and that's supposed to be a bond that never breaks."
Yasui laughed.
"Have you been reading some of my books while you've been grounded?"
"…Yeah…."
Yasui laughed again. Yone joined in. Eventually they stopped laughing and Yone sighed.
"I need to go. Part of my punishment is cleaning the kitchen before everyone gets back."
"Hey…. Are things bad for you in the village right now? Like, people aren't treating you bad, are they?"
"Not really. Most everyone just thought it was funny. Apparently something similar happened between Dad and Uncle Renitsu when they were a bit older than us."
"Really? What about?"
"They were fighting over who could ask Mom out."
Yasui smiled.
"I guess Dad won."
"Yeah…. Aunt Dahlia didn't seem thrilled to have the story brought up again."
Yasui snickered before saying.
"Hey, call me again on Sunday if you can. I'm not sure if I'll have much time tomorrow so it's safer."
"Yeah… I'll try. I'm still grounded, so there's that."
"Oh yeah, Mom and Dad probably won't let you use the phone."
"Nah."
"…."
"…."
Yone coughed.
"I'll talk to you later."
"Wait!"
There was a pause and Yasui sighed.
"Sorry I broke your nose and said you were the worst person I ever met. I didn't really mean it."
"Dude, I deserved it. I was being a jerk."
"Yeah, I guess."
They hesitated in case the other sibling had anything to say before quickly ending the call.
"Bye."
"Bye."
Yasui held the phone away from his ear for a moment before slipping it into his pocket. It was like a weight had been suddenly lifted from his chest he hadn't realized was there.
I should tell Miss Diana. She'll be happy to know Yone and I made up.
Yasui heaved himself out of the chair and staggered upstairs. As he fumbled towards Miss Diana's room, he felt his stomach growl ominously. Yasui pulled a face.
I think all that sugar is going to kill me.
Yasui pushed open the door and saw that Miss Diana had only partially made it onto her bed. Only her top half was lying on the mattress. The rest was dangling off the bed as she sprawled out. Yasui grunted.
Oh, she's asleep. I shouldn't wake her up.
Yasui looked at her and noticed she was slowly sliding off her bed. With a little effort, Yasui lifted her legs up and placed them on the bed. Satisfied she wasn't going to fall, Yasui sat in one of the chairs located in the room to catch his breath. The cake was really wreaking havoc in his stomach, and Yasui felt heavy and sluggish. He leaned back in the chair and sighed, letting his eyes close.
A moment later Yasui's eyes exploded open and he made a sharp grunting sound. Looking around, he saw that what had awakened him was Charles standing in the doorway. Yasui groaned. His eyes felt sticky, he was dizzy, and his mouth felt like sandpaper. He smacked his lips and croaked.
"Whaaaa… when?"
"It's nearly six in the evening. I've made dinner."
Yasui's stomach backflipped and he grimaced.
"I'll pass."
"It's salad."
"…Okay."
Yasui clumsily got to his feet and noticed that Miss Diana was doing the same. She looked bedraggled and groggy, same as he felt. As he put his weight onto his left foot, he felt a tingling sensation along his rear.
Did… did my butt fall asleep? Am I getting pins and needles on my butt?!
Charles shook his head.
"You two are pathetic. So who fell asleep first?"
Yasui pointed at Diana. She looked over and yawned.
"Yasui? When… did you get in here?"
"A little bit after you left me in the library. I had something I wanted to tell you, but you were asleep. I sat down for a second, and boom."
The leopard massaged her eyes.
"Sugar crash. Fortunately I will never have to eat that much cake ever again."
Yasui gagged.
"I think I'll be good on cake for a while. Possibly forever."
As they sat at the table and ate salad, or to be more accurate while Charles ate and the two invalids picked idly at their meals, Yasui looked over at Miss Diana.
"I meant to tell you before I fell asleep. My brother called me."
Diana rubbed her nose and squinted.
"You only have one brother, right?"
Yasui nodded. His head felt too heavy as he did so. She narrowed her eyes as she thought back to the previous night.
"He's the one who tried to beat you up? And who's nose you broke?"
Charles looked at him incredulously.
"Your brother beat you up?"
Yasui shrugged.
"Sort of."
"Oh… that's too bad."
Diana looked concerned.
"What did he call you for?"
"Well, he wanted to apologize. And he said he wanted us to go back to being close like we used to be."
Diana smiled.
"That's amazing news! I'm happy for you."
Yasui sighed.
"I just hope we can work it out. I don't want us to grow distant."
Diana looked a bit pensive and sighed.
"I know how that is. I haven't heard from my brother in decades. Not since I was twenty-five."
"Oh, what happened?"
Diana folded her hands in her lap and looked at the ceiling.
"Words were exchanged, lines were crossed, and I never saw my family again."
"That's so sad."
Diana shrugged.
"My parents were pretty terrible and my brother took after them. It was probably for the best."
Diana shook her head.
"But enough about this depressing topic! We have tomorrow to discuss! We need to be ready to go by eleven. So don't sleep in too late."
Yasui tilted his head.
"Can you at least give me a hint of what this surprise is?"
She smirked and sweetly lilted,
"~No.~"
Yasui had trouble falling asleep as he tried to puzzle out what this mysterious surprise that Miss Diana had prepared for him could be.
What is it? She said we're going somewhere, so maybe it's some sort of interesting restaurant? Or it could be some sort of special shop? Maybe a book shop? Or the beach again? I do know how to swim now. I just don't know!
Yasui tossed and turned, but eventually was able to fall asleep. He dreamt that the surprise Miss Diana had for him was that they were flying to the moon in a rocket ship. Yasui had to explain that he had to be back to school by Sunday night, and as such a round trip to the moon probably wasn't going to work. Miss Diana was very pouty and began explaining how he could bring his school books on the rocket. Yasui awoke and grunted.
"But how will I get my homework turned in from space?"
There was a brief pause before he heard a laugh. He looked over and saw that Miss Diana was standing in the open doorway with her hand on the light switch. She raised an eyebrow.
"Why would you need to turn in homework from space?"
Yasui let out a wide yawn and closed his eyes again.
"Weird dream."
"Hmm, sounds like it. Well it's time to get up, breakfast is ready."
Yasui was a bit drowsy all morning as he ate and then went about his morning routine. Once they were all ready, the three got into Miss Diana's fancy car and Charles started driving. Yasui leaned his head against the window and yawned. Diana clicked her tongue.
"Yasui, you seem so tired. Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, *yawn* just sleepy. I had trouble sleeping last night. Too much anticipation."
"Well you can take a nap on the way there if you want. We have a little bit of a drive."
Yasui nodded sleepily and got as comfortable as he could. It didn't seem like that long before he was squinting as he woke back up. Yasui stretched and looked out the window. The city was behind them and receding as they drove up a slight incline. Yasui frowned.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see."
Yasui had a thought that made him nervous.
"We're not… going to my home, right?"
"No, don't worry. It's just a short drive out of town, nowhere near that far away."
Looking ahead, Yasui saw that they were climbing a hill and that on top of that hill was a massive house in the traditional style of feudal Japan. Behind it he could see a large walled garden with beautiful wisteria trees growing along the sides. Yasui leaned forward to get a better look out the front windshield
"What is this place?"
Diana pulled a brochure from her purse and offered it to him. Yasui flipped through it as Diana spoke.
"It's called the Wisteria Palace. It was the home of an ancient shogun who ruled over this region. Apparently it's very beautiful and houses the only wisteria trees in this region. Even though this close to the ocean isn't a good climate for them, they still grow here somehow. I saw that they have a highly rated restaurant that serves traditional Japanese meals, as well as a tea ceremony you can take part in. What do you think? I wasn't sure where you would want to go for a day trip, but I thought you seemed like the sort of person who likes history."
Yasui grinned.
"This is going to be amazing! Thank you, Diana. You're the best honorary aunt ever."
She laughed.
"I'll have to get that on a mug or something. 'World's Best Aunt' but with an 'honorary' inserted above the 'Aunt' or something along those lines."
"I guess I found out what to get you for your birthday. Or maybe… what was that holiday Shinrai was telling me about? Something in the winter, rexlus or something."
"You mean Rexmas? Do you not celebrate Rexmas back home?"
Yasui shook his head. Diana gasped.
"Well that won't do! I'll have to have you over for Rexmas. We'll do it right, with all the bells and whistles. Gingerbread dinos, Rexmas cake, spiced cider, the whole menu."
Charles tilted his head to address them.
"You're just excited to not be alone for Rexmas for once."
Diana crossed her arms.
"I didn't ask for your input, Charles. Just focus on driving."
"Hmm… touchy."
Yasui smiled at her.
"I'd love to celebrate Rexmas with you! It'll be loads of fun."
She returned the smile, and soon they were parking at the Palace. Once they were inside the retaining walls, the scent of wisteria was like a fog throughout the expansive garden. First they went on a tour of the building itself with Charles reading out the descriptions from the map he had gotten upon arrival. Every room was expansive with ornate carvings and tapestries. Yasui could almost imagine what it would have been like to be here all those years ago, with samurai and officials lining the halls to listen to the rulings of their shogun. It gave him the same sort of feeling as some of the shrines back home, like he was walking through a crowd of ghosts. He shuddered.
"Can you feel it, Miss Diana?"
"Hm? Feel what?"
"This place has lots of history. It's almost palpable."
She whistled.
"There's a hundred-yen word. I figured you'd enjoy visiting here."
"Yeah, this is really cool. Wait, is that a real samurai sword?!"
Once they finished their tour it was time for lunch. Yasui had a helping of rice with sukiyaki that was very good. From there, they toured the grounds of the estate until it was time for the tea ceremony. Yasui had never actually been to a tea ceremony before, despite coming from a village so steeped in tradition. He enjoyed all the little plates of food that were served with the tea, and imagined he was actually back in time having tea with some powerful feudal lord. By the time they were heading back to the city, it was beginning to creep closer to dinner time. As such, they stopped by a convenience store on their way home to buy some ingredients so Charles and Yausi could make a small supper for them.
Their dinner was a simple affair. Grilled bean steak with vegetables and rice, served with miso. As he helped clear the dishes, Yasui felt a cold little pit grow in his stomach. Tomorrow he was going to head back to the dorms. Summer brea was already over. It had gone so quickly. At least… this last week had. Diana seemed to pick up on this as he sat down and idly picked up a book to read. She leaned towards him a bit.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing. It's just… I can't believe Summer is almost over."
"I thought you liked school?"
"I do, but I really like spending time with you. I'll miss staying here with you."
She smiled and patted his head, making his ears twitch.
"Well you're always welcome here. Feel free to visit on weekends and such. With advanced warning, of course."
Yasui returned her smile. It hadn't been such a bad summer after all.
That night he got a text from Shinrai saying that he was back home again. In the text he requested Yasui swing by his place so they could head back to school together and catch up. Yasui asked him what time he wanted to do this, and was told sometime after one or so. With that to look forward to, Yasui spent his last night in the luxurious bedroom Miss Diana had provided. The next morning was a somewhat subdued affair as Yasui got everything of his together and prepared to leave. After lunch he grabbed his bag and headed for the front door. Miss Diana met him there. She smiled sadly and said,
"It'll be boring without you around. I'll look forward to our next meeting."
Yasui leaned in and hugged her.
"Same here. Maybe you can take up knitting again and make yourself a scarf for Autumn."
"Ha! Hardly."
Charles walked in and nodded at him.
"Study hard. If you lose that scholarship and move away Diana will have a conniption."
Yasui rolled his eyes.
"I'll try. Keep her from getting too wild and crazy."
The gorilla snorted.
"No promises."
And with that, Yasui headed out the door and began his walk to the train station. He was actually getting pretty good at navigating the underground railways of the city now, and was able to make it to Shinrai's apartment with no issues. He retraced his steps to Shinrai's door and knocked politely before standing back to wait. He heard Shinrai call from the other side.
"That's probably Yasui! Can you get it, Hana?"
Shinrai's sister replied,
"Do your legs not work anymore? Do it yourself."
"C'mon you're just sitting there!"
"And you're just lying there."
"Loser."
"Brat."
There were footsteps and the door swung open. Shinrai looked up at Yasui and threw his hands up.
"Yasui! Buddy!"
Yasui smiled and tilted his head.
"Hi, Shinrai! Long time no see."
"Totally, my main fox. You living in a deadzone is totally lame."
"Well I was here all this week."
Shinrai pulled a face and blinked a few times.
"Ah… I forgot…oopsies. Whatever, come in! Come in!"
Yasui took his shoes off in the entryway and followed Shinrai inside. The apartment looked the exact same as it had a few weeks ago. Currently Shinrai's father and sister were sitting around the common room reading a newspaper and something on their phone respectively. Yasui waved at them both.
"Afternoon, Mr. Ouga. Hana."
Hana idly waved back and Ouga inclined his head, returning to his newspaper. Shinrai's mother poked her head out from the kitchen. Given the rubber gloves and apron she was wearing, she must be cleaning something. She waved with a scrub brush.
"Hello, Yasui. How was your summer?"
"Pretty good! How was you guy's trip to visit… er… grandparents, right?"
Shinrai groaned.
"Pretty boring. They're old and don't do much. We pretty much just sat around their house and went with Granny to do her shopping. Total snore. Legit the only thing that was fun I did was me and Hikaru played some Alley Brawler online a few times."
Yasui squinted as he tried to place the name. He tapped his chin.
"That's… the person we met at the mall, right?"
"Yurp."
"Nice. I'm glad you have someone to play video games with that actually plays them well."
Shinrai asked,
"Did you do anything exciting over break?"
"Yeah! I learned how to swim, watched two movies, and then yesterday I visited the Wisteria Palace with two friends of mine."
Shinrai snickered and shook his head.
"Only you would think visiting some boring historic monument is exciting."
Shinrai's father looked up from his paper.
"I've always wanted to visit that place. How was it?"
Yasui leaned forward in excitement.
"It was so cool! The gardens were super big and full of beautiful plants, and they had an entire room full of different types of armor and weapons wielded by samurai from different eras, and then I did the tea ceremony thing which was fun."
"Anything from the Azuchi-Momoyama Period?"
"They had a few rooms full of things to do with all the civil wars during that time."
The older male squirrel nodded and returned to his paper. Shinrai gave Yasui a flat look.
"Dad likes history."
"History is cool."
"If you say so."
Shinrai picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He called out.
"Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. I'm heading back to school."
They all said their goodbyes and soon Yasui and Shinrai were making their way to school. As they climbed the stairs out of the train station closest to Cherryton, Shinrai looked over at Yasui.
"Wanna go get slushies at Arty's Mart?"
"I don't know what either of those are, but sure!"
Shinrai led the way to a pleasant looking convenience store on a corner just a few blocks away from school with a sign that read "Mini Mart". As they walked in Shinrai called out.
"Hey, Arty! You here?"
A male leopard who appeared to be in his thirties leaned against the front counter.
"Hey, little dudes. What's going on?"
"Getting slushies."
"For sure, for sure. It's plenty warm out, makes for good slushy weather."
Shinrai gestured to the leopard.
"Yasui, this is Arty. He runs this store, which is the legit best Mini Mart in the city."
The leopard smiled. He was wearing khaki pants and a polo shirt. He eyed them both up and down.
"I'm guessing both of you are heading back to Cherryton? Classes start tomorrow, right?"
They both nodded. He grinned.
"Ah, I remember being your age. I miss Summer Break."
Yasui followed Shinrai to the back where a few machines labeled with different flavors were mixing up multicolored drinks. Yasui saw cherry, sour apple, blue raspberry, and cola. Shinrai grabbed a cup and Yasui did the same, making note of the price listed next to the size he chose. He hesitated, trying to pick a flavor. Shinrai noticed and pointed.
"You can pour a little into your cup to try it if you want. I recommend the blue raspberry or sour apple. Both are great."
"What's a blue raspberry?"
"Shoot, I don't know. Probably a raspberry, but blue."
Yasui tried each flavor. He didn't particularly like the cola one, and the cherry was pretty good. However he decided to do what Shinrai did and pour part blue raspberry and part sour apple into his cup. He watched as Shinrai topped his currently green drink up with a few squirts of blue raspberry before laughing. He showed Yasui his cup, which he had drawn a smiley face in with the blue raspberry. Yasui did his best to draw a smiling squirrel face on top of his and showed it to Shinrai. Shinrai laughed.
"Dude, is that a butt?"
"Oh, no. It's supposed to be you."
"Meh, it's accurate."
They both laughed and headed up to the register. Arty was sitting behind it casually building a tower of cards. Shinrai snapped his fingers.
"Dude! I forgot! Yasui, Arty does magic too. Kinda like those coin tricks you showed me once."
Yasui tilted his head.
"Really?"
Without looking up, Arty flicked his wrist and a card appeared between his fingers. With another flick it was gone. The leopard grinned.
"Ta-da."
"Wow, that was cool."
"Thanks. It's a side gig. Y'know, birthday parties and all that. What about you? Show me what you've got."
Yasui was a little worried he would mess it up, but he tried to do the vanishing coin trick he'd been taught so many years ago. He used to practice in front of the mirror when he had nothing better to do, but recently he hadn't had the time or inclination to do so. Yasui pulled out his coin and pinched it between two fingers. The trick was to flick it in such a way that it sounded like he'd thrown it, but to actually hide it in his other hand. Nervously, Yasui made an exaggerated show of blowing on the coin and flicking it. He almost dropped it, but managed to catch it before it was out of his reach. He then held up the hand that had been holding it and snapped his fingers before pretending to pull it out of Shinrai's ear. Arty whistled.
"Not bad! Self taught or did someone show them to you?"
"I learned them from my neighbor. He was great at coin tricks."
"Nice."
They paid for their drinks and exited the store. As they walked, Shinrai tapped Yasui's elbow.
"Careful you don't drink it too fast. You'll give yourself brain freeze."
"What's that?"
"It's a really bad headache from eating cold stuff too fast."
The drink was very… sweet. It took a while for Yasui to get used to how syrupy the concoction was. Fortunately the sour apple offset how sickly sacarin the blue raspberry was. They were walking past a small park when Shinrai elbowed Yasui.
"Yo, let's hang here for a sec."
Yasui nodded and the two found a bench in the shade. Shinrai sighed.
"I don't want to go back to school just yet. That means summer is, like, officially over."
"Oh, I get it."
"So, how was your vacation? Have fun back home?"
Yasui grimaced. It wasn't as sore a subject now as it had been, but he still felt bad about everything. Reluctantly, Yasui began to talk about his visit home. It was easier the second time around, and unlike Diana who had stayed silent until he was done, Shinrai would interject with statements of disbelief, disapproval, or disappointment. When he reached his and Yone's fight, Shinrai gasped.
"No! He freaking punched you!?"
"Mhm."
"What a jerk! Oh, if I had been there I would have totally gotten torn apart by his friends for trying to punch him back! What happened? Did you run?"
"Well… eventually. But… I kinda sorta… gave him a black eye and broke his nose before I did."
Shinrai's jaw dropped.
"Shut… up! You thrashed him?!"
"Uh… I guess you could call it that? I guess I sort of won."
"Dang I didn't realize I was best friends with a badass, excuse my language!"
Yasui laughed.
"I'm not sure I'm… that, but I did win."
"What happened when your parents found out?"
"Oh, he got in so much trouble. Like, I had never seen my parents that furious before."
"I can bet! Geez, sorry dude."
"Well, it's okay. We talked this week and made up. We're going to try to fix things between us."
"I'm happy for you, my dude. So is that why you came back early?"
Yasui licked his lips.
"Well… I sorta lied to my parents that break was shorter than it actually was. I just… I couldn't stand how awkward and tense it was, and I didn't want to do more farm work."
"Understandable."
"So I came back and stayed with Miss Diana for the week. That's where I learned to swim."
"Oh, Miss Diana. She's… that adult you're friends with? Honestly I'm a bit confused about your relationship with her."
"She's like my adopted aunt. We go shopping together and do fun stuff that she has on this list of things she never got to do as a kid. So far we've had a sleepover, eaten an entire cake, and had a day at the mall."
"Nice. Maybe I'll get to meet her someday."
Yasui was about to continue when Shinrai waved his arm to get Yasui's attention. He then pointed to a secluded corner of the park partially hidden by trees. Standing there was a female racoon nervously looking around. Shinrai squinted.
"I know her from somewhere. I think she's in my class. Yeah, she sits in front of me in science. Why does she look so nervous?"
As they watched, a male impala snuck over to her and happily started talking to her. The held hands… before leaning in and kissing. Shinrai slapped Yasui's knee.
"Whooooh! A dang herbivore-carnivore couple!? Those two are nuts!"
"Ew, that's really weird."
"Yasui, what are your thoughts on interspecies relationships?"
Yasui frowned.
"That's a change in topic."
"Yeah, I know. Just curious."
"Well… not to sound mean or anything…."
"I won't get mad."
"For the most part I don't get it. Especially if it's not a similar species. Isn't the point of getting married to start a family? And if you get married to somebody who's a really different species the odds of you managing to have kids is slim. And even then, they can have lots of birth defects and stuff."
Not that it's stopped me from fawning over Miss Diana.
"Leave it to you to make it all rational and sciency. For me, I don't really care. I just think that certain combinations are asking for trouble."
Yasui was intrigued. He leaned in attentively.
"For example?"
"Like… if a small cat and a tiger got in a relationship, how would that work? The tiger would definitely hurt the cat when they… you know…."
Yasui furrowed his brow before comprehension dawned on him.
"Ohhh…. Yeah, I can see there being… compatibility issues."
"Yeah, and I especially think that carnivore-herbivore couples are playing with fire. Like, I know you try really hard to be careful when we roughhouse and stuff. It's just easy for accidents to happen between herbivores and carnivores. So imagine how much more frequently they happen when you're being… intimate."
Shinrai swirled his drink.
"Like… you remember when I was talking about my uncle? It was a while ago."
"No, sorry. What about him?"
"Well… he's married to a snake. So I overheard my parents talking one time, and if anyone asks you didn't hear it from me. But apparently snakes like to squeeze their… mate when they're doing the nasy. Apparently my aunt accidentally broke my uncle's ribs once. She freaked out and got really upset over it, which is why I think it might not be a good idea to get romantically involved between herbivores and carnivores. Imagine how guilty you'd feel if you accidentally hurt your spouse… or worse."
Yasui sighed.
"Yeah. I'd never forgive myself if I hurt you while we were playing. And we're not married."
Shinrai grabbed Yasui's shoulder and jostled him.
"Don't sweat it, bud. I'm tougher than I look."
Shinrai kicked his legs and sighed.
"We always talk about what I want to talk about. What do you want to talk about, Yasui?"
"Oh, I dunno. I'm just happy to talk about whatever. I never really got much practice growing up, so I kinda suck at making conversation."
"Hmm… oh! I heard about a movie we could watch sometime. It's this older American film about this cop in a futuristic city who has to hunt down these crazy synthetic beasts that are running around causing chaos."
"Synthetic? Like… a robot?"
"Kinda. Like, they're grown in a lab and can't feel pain. The only way to tell if they're the fake animals is with a special machine."
"I'm game. Maybe next weekend?"
"Sure!"
They talked in the park until it was getting close to dinner time. They then made their way up the hill to Cherryton and ate dinner together. As they went their separate ways to their respective dorms, Yasui took a deep breath. Yone must have not been able to get the phone to himself, because he hadn't called. Yasui was hopeful that he'd hear from him soon. Classes started bright and early tomorrow. Back to homework and quizzes. As he laid down that night to sleep, he sighed.
Summer really did go by super fast. Y'know… I should get a thank you card for Miss Diana. She really didn't have to let me stay with her like that.
The next morning dawned and Yasui reluctantly rolled out of bed and prepared for class. He was struggling to get back into his routine after his time off, but he would get there eventually. He sent a text to the other Cooking Club members to see if they were free to have a club meeting after classes today. When they all said they could, Yasui began to think about what they should do. Once the three of them were gathered, Yasui stood awkwardly in the center of the room while Chaussette coiled up on a windowsill and Yufine sat at the table and decorated her phone case with glitter-covered stickers. Yasui cleared his throat.
"Uh… so… what should we do?"
Yufine inspected her case and shrugged.
"I dunno. You're the president."
"Well yeah, but I don't want to just say we're doing something. Besides, I don't know what exactly we should be doing. I don't think we need to cook something every time we have a meeting, so maybe we can brainstorm what to cook?"
Yufine stretched and sighed.
"I dunno, I can't really cook anything but toast."
Yasui looked up at the windowsill.
"Chaussette? Anything you think we should do."
The snake opened her eyes and flicked her tongue.
"Well… I did have an idea earlier. Maybe we sssshould go talk to the workerssss in the cafeteria? They cook tasssty mealssss for everyone all the time. They might be able to teach ussss sssome thingssss."
Yufine sat forward.
"Hey, that's a great idea!"
Chaussette looked away. Yasui swore that if she could blush, she would be.
"Well, it wassss not really my idea. One of my roommatessss knowsss a cafeteria worker who wassss a caterer for a while."
Yasui gave her a thumbs up.
"Well either way, it's a really awesome idea. Want to go see if any of them have time?"
Yufine slotted her phone into the now very bright case and stood.
"I'm game. Let's do it!"
Chaussette bobbed her head and looked towards the ground. Yasui noticed that it would probably be a long drop from her perch and strode over.
"Want some help? You can use my arm as a ramp if it helps."
"Oh, thank you. You're very kind."
Yasui held his arm as close to the window as possible. It was a pretty long window, hence why Chaussette had been able to squeeze up there in the first place. Yasui was struck by how long and thick Chaussette's body was as she carefully slithered across his shoulders and onto the ground, as well as how heavy she was. She flicked her tongue.
"Thank you. Let'ssss get going."
The cafeteria proper was almost completely deserted, however the kitchens were bustling with activity as the various cooks prepared for the coming meal. They asked around a bit and were directed to the head cook, an aged hippopotamus named Lonfan who wore large square glasses and had very squinty, watery eyes. She peered down at the three of them.
"Can I help you kids?"
Yasui was pushed forward by his clubmates and stood there awkwardly.
"Uh… well…."
"Sorry, can you speak up? I'm having trouble hearing you."
"We're with the Cooking Club! We were wondering if you had any advice to give us! We're looking to learn how to cook more things!"
She clapped her hands.
"Ah! Is that right! It's been a few years since there was a Cooking Club here! Let's see… hmm… well, I can think of one thing off the top of my head."
All three leaned closer in anticipation. She continued.
"Well, back when I was in school, it was all the rage to make these special treats called Rabbit Fortune Cookies. They were little cookies shaped like rabbit heads that you would decorate and then place a hand written fortune inside. All us girls would make a few and mix them all together before dividing them up. We'd then take turns opening the cookies and trying to guess who wrote the fortune. Why, I remember one time Miko…."
She proceeded to talk ad nauseam about how her friends had done this and that and gone here or dated this guy. Yasui didn't have the heart to stop her, so he just stood there impatiently waiting for her to finish writing down the recipe and directions. Finally, after almost a full hour, she looked at the clock on the wall nearby and laughed.
"Oh good heavens! Look at the time! I really must be getting back to my job. Here's your recipe, dears. I'll think up a few more and give them to you when I can."
Yasui's eye twitched a little.
"I really… appreciate it. Thank you."
They turned and walked away. Once out of earshot, Yufine groaned.
"I thought she'd never shut up!"
Chaussette drooped.
"Sssshe reminded me of my great aunt. Talk talk talk."
Yasui sighed.
"I just didn't have the heart to stop her. She reminds me of my neighbor back home. Her husband died a few years back so now they have nobody to talk to."
Yufine whimpered.
"That's so sad. I'll need to have lots of kids who'll have lots of grandkids so I'll never be alone."
Chaussette glanced up at the sky as they left the cafeteria.
"Not to be a killjoy, but maybe we ssshould end club here for today? It'ssss getting late."
Yasui checked the time and nodded.
"Yeah, probably. See you two Wednesday?"
Yufine giggled and pinched Yasui's cheek.
"Okey-dokey Yasui! See you then."
Yasui rubbed his cheek as she flounced away. Chaussette coiled slightly to look directly in Yasui's eyes.
"Ssssoundssss good. Until then."
Yasui smiled at her as she slithered into the shadows of a nearby building and was gone. He stretched.
Oh yeah, I have work tomorrow.
Tuesday afternoon saw Yasui once again at Cafe Lapin with Mimi. The spooky rabbit was once more dressed all in black with spiky jewelry and dark makeup. Mr. Nabuyo walked towards the door around five and waved at them.
"Sorry you two. My daughter needs my help. Apparently my granddaughter has a fever and she needs somebody to watch her other kids while she takes her to the doctors.
Mimi gave him a thumbs up and Yasui looked concerned.
"Oh no! I hope she feels better soon."
"Bah, she's tough. I'll be back before closing time. See you two later."
As the door closed behind him, Mimi pulled out her phone and began rapidly typing something. Yasui ignored her and went about serving the customers that trickled in as the day went by. Thirty minutes later, a group of strange teenagers entered the building. There was a female white tailed coati and two sheep, male and female, who were all very similar looking aesthetically to Mimi. Mimi looked at them and jerked her chin up at them.
"'Sup."
The coati, who was even less colorful in garment, looked at her with heavy lidded eyes and replied in a monotone.
"Your boss really peaced out?"
"Yeah."
The male of the two sheep, who was wearing well worn clothes with patches all over them chuckled oddly.
"Score. Totally. Wanna get a coffee, babe?"
The female sheep was wearing reds, blacks, and grays with lots of fishnet and spiky jewelry. She put a hand on her hip and looked over the menu.
"Hmm… probably should if we're going to bum it here all day."
Mimi walked past the counter towards the table where her friends were congregating. She looked back at Yasui.
"Keep an eye on things. If anything happens just yell."
Yasui nodded, confused. All together, these three were the oddest animals he had ever met. He heard Mimi ask,
"Is Neon coming?"
The male sheep snorted.
"As if she'd miss out. Just finishing up something."
The female sheep approached the counter and fixed Yasui with a pointed look.
"Whatcha starin' at, squirt?"
Yasui flinched.
"Who, me?"
"No, the other squirt."
Yasui rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. He had been staring at the group. Nothing for it but to tell the truth.
"Well you see… I've never met animals as different as you all are. Like, when it comes to clothes and stuff! Other than Mimi, who I didn't know had friends."
"Chill, I'm screwing with you."
Yasui let out a sigh of relief.
"Sorry, you're just very… intense."
"Do I scare you?"
Yasui looked at her spikey jewelry and piercings. He shrugged.
"Not really. Just… intrigue me, I guess."
She nodded.
"Cool, I can vibe with that. Gimme a coffee, black."
Yasui was jarred by the sudden shift but proceeded to check her out and make her drink. He brought it over to the table where all the unusual herbivores were sitting and gave the female sheep her drink.
"Here you go, enjoy."
The sheep smirked.
"I bet this little ray of sunshine gets better tips than you, Mimi."
Mimi fixed her with a blank look and sneered,
"Bite me."
Yasui went back to the counter and tried to act natural as the teenagers talked loudly and laughed in the corner. He was cleaning a mug when the front door opened with the jingling of a bell. Yasui looked up.
"Welcome i—"
His words died in his throat as the most bizarre beast he had ever seen walked through the doors. It was a female otter of normal size and build, but that was where the normality ended. She was wearing something Yasui hesitated to call a shirt that was practically just a circle of fabric that covered her chest. Below her waist were shorts so small they were practically boxer-briefs and fishnet stockings that went down to large boots. Yet despite all of that, the truly strangest part about this animal was that it seemed that every single inch of her was either tattooed, pierced, or both.
Swirling waves covered her right arm, and a large cherry tree in full blossom before a mountain covered her left. Her legs had various strange tribal shapes on them which were echoed across her exposed stomach and upper chest. Even her adorable and round otter face had those strange swirls and shapes on it. She had at least six rings in each ear, a nose piercing, a bellybutton ring, and when she opened her mouth Yasui noticed a piercing in her tongue as well. The voice that came out of her mouth didn't match her appearance at all, it was bubbly and warm. It was jarring to hear such a normal and soothing voice from such an outlandish being.
"Hey hey, peeps! Where's the party!"
The male sheep raised a hand in greeting.
"Wazzup, Neon."
Neon, apparently, placed her hands on her hips.
"Minato, you stoner bastard. You left some crap at my place!"
"Oops, my b. In my defense I was absolutely fried when I left last time."
"Yeah I noticed. Mimi, Emiko, Anzu, how's it hanging?"
All three females greeted the newcomer with varying enthusiasm. Neon saw Yasui and smiled at him.
"Aw, who's the cute little fox?"
Mimi yawned.
"That's Yasui. He's covering for me."
Neon laughed and approached the counter.
"Sick, thanks a bunch. I like that you're chill."
Yasui didn't know how to respond as she grinned at him and walked towards her friends. Yasui gasped as he saw her back. Her entire back was decorated with a stylized tattoo of a dragon in flight. Yasui stared at her as she sat down, and couldn't keep his eyes off her as she talked with her friends. She was just so… bizarre. He couldn't look away. She seemed to notice him staring and beckoned him over. Reluctantly, Yasui complied. She looked him up and down and smirked.
"You think I'm weird, huh."
Yasui blinked in surprise as she said that.
"What? I, uh…."
"It's cool. I'm used to getting stared at."
Yasui felt bad. She actually seemed like a really nice person. It was funny how she was the polar opposite of the other otter Yasui knew. Yasui shook his head.
"Not really. It's just… I've never seen so many tattoos before. Or many tattoos in general."
She grinned.
"You can take a closer look if you want. I won't bite."
After checking that nobody was about to enter the shop, Yasui took the seat next to her that she patted and watched as she began to slowly trace her tattoos, explaining each one as she went.
"This wave is from this trip I took to Polynesia to visit my cousins. That's also where the tats on my legs and chest are from. My family is native to Polynesia. The cherry tree and mountain are in honor of my grandmother. She loves this one where we used to go for picnics when I was little. And then of course there's my dragon. I thought it was cool, and it's supposed to bring good fortune."
Yasui stretched his hand towards her back but stopped it. She laughed.
"Go ahead, you can touch it."
Gently, Yasui ran a finger across the face of the dragon. The detail was exquisite.
"It's amazing."
"Thanks! I'm really happy with how it turned out."
Yasui made to stand and get back to the counter when Neon grabbed his apron.
"Aw, c'mon. Hang out with us a bit! The store's empty right now anyway."
Yasui looked around. She was right, and he really was curious about these strange beasts. Slowly, Yasui retook his seat.
"Well, maybe for a little bit."
Neon threw an arm around his shoulders and gave him a noogie.
"Atta boy! We'll make you a punk yet."
As the day went on, Yasui began to understand what these strange animals were. They were all self professed "punks" which meant that they didn't like rules or stereotypes. They talked about how the media was all crap pushed by government officials to keep people compliant, how pop music was sugary crap designed to crush the individuality of the common people, and how carnivores and herbivores were being played against each other by the rich elite to keep them in their place. By the time they had left and Mr. Nabuyo had returned, Yasui had found that while he didn't particularly buy into everything they said, he found them strangely pleasant to be around. They were all very honest about what they thought and didn't skirt around sensitive topics. It was nice to experience somebody else as blunt as he was.
As he turned in for the night, Yausi grinned.
(Who knows, I might just be a punk too.)