Chapter 10 – Yoriko's Unwanted Reunion
Miharu's POV
"Wait, hold on. What was her name again?"
"Okay, seriously. How do you keep forgetting our teacher's name?" Ritsu asked me. The six of us were heading for the hotel to somehow convince Yoriko to allow this welcome party Ritsu wanted to throw for me. That teacher lady said she'll help us out. But once we got out of the school building, we lost sight of her.
Which, according to Mio, Ritsu, and Azusa, was a bad sign.
"Well…I'm just not around her much. Kinda makes it hard to remember her name."
"Again. She's our teacher."
"Her name is Sawako Yamanaka." Mugi said. "But everyone calls her Sawa-chan."
"Aren't you supposed to call a teacher by their last name? I mean…it's something I do with my teachers back in France."
"It's a thing here, too." Ritsu said. "Just not with her."
"The name Sawa-chan just stuck." Yui said.
"Much to her dismay." Azusa added.
"I see…" I said with a sweatdrop.
"Speaking of which...I can't believe we already lost her." Mio said.
"Hey, I've been meaning to ask…what exactly is weird about uh…Sawako?"
"You're not gonna call her Sawa-chan?" Yui asked.
"Eh. I'm not really a fan of these honorifics. They're too hard to remember."
"Fair enough." Azusa said.
"Well…" Ritsu said. "…She kinda does this "punishments" either whenever we piss her off too much or whenever her "switch" is flipped…she basically tries to get us to wear these provocative outfits she has. Mainly Mio."
"Why is it always me…?" Mio said while shaking in fear.
"But they do look cute." Yui said.
"That's because you're not the one wearing them!"
"Right…" I said with a sweatdrop.
I find that part hard to believe…
"Well…she said that she would help us talk to Yoriko. Can't believe she ditched us like that."
"Like I said, Miharu. This is a bad sign." Ritsu said. "We to get to that hotel before she does or else we're screwed."
"Uh…okay, I guess."
How is this woman a teacher if she's so unpredictable?
10 minutes later, we arrived at the hotel. And we walked inside to see Mikuru sweeping up the main lobby. One of her daily jobs.
"Hey, Mikuru. We're back." I said.
"Oh. Miharu-san. Kotobuki-san. Welcome back."
"*gasp* Oh, my gosh! She's SO cute! I wanna cuddle her!"
"*shriek* Wh-Who are you?!"
"Cool it, Yui! Or else you'll ruin our chances!" Ritsu said as she held on to Yui by the jacket collar.
"S-Sorry."
"Hey, Mikuru. You alright? I heard you yell." Yoriko said as she came into the lobby and then saw us with her. "Oh. Miharu and Mugi. And…more girls." She then looked annoyed.
"Hehhehheh. Yeah, pretty much." We both said.
"Girls. May I have a word with you?"
"Oh, boy…"
The two of us went with Yoriko and Mikuru to their small residential space to at least have privacy about this.
"Look, you two. I don't know where you keep finding these homeless girls, but they are NOT staying here."
"N-No, Yoriko. They're not homeless." I said.
"They're our friends and classmates from school. They want to ask you for an offer of sorts." Mugi added.
"An offer? Of what kind?"
"Well…"
And so we explained to the Tamura family what Ritsu had told us. How she wants to throw a party here to celebrate me being in Japan for a month and for joining their club. Which is also a band.
I'll probably be really confused during rehearsals and stuff. But, hey. I guess it'll still be fun.
"A welcome party? Here?" Yoriko asked after we met up with the others and were now talking it out.
"We know this may sound really sudden, Tamura-san." Ritsu said. "But we're all enjoying being friends with Miharu and we feel like this welcome party would be the perfect way to show it. Even if it is a month late."
"I…guess I see what you mean. You've made a lot of friends in your short time here huh, Miharu?"
"Yeah…" I said with a sweatdrop. "…But Ritsu and I weren't exactly on good terms at first."
"I-I said I was sorry. Me nearly exposing your panties was not intentional at all."
"Wh-What?" Yoriko asked.
*POW*
"S-Sorry about that, Tamura-san. Ritsu can be an idiot at times." Mio said after hitting Ritsu in the head.
"Uh-huh…" Yoriko shrugged the whole thing off. A lot faster than I did on that day.
"M-Miharu-san. These girls are weird." Mikuru said to me.
"Yeah. They're extremely weird, Mikuru." I said with another sweatdrop.
"Well, it's nice that you girls are such good friends with Miharu that you want to do this." Yoriko continued. "But unfortunately, the reserved room is no longer in use. It took some heavy damage during the last typhoon and it hasn't been fixed since."
"What? Aw, phooey." Yui said.
"Well, that was a bust." Azusa added.
At that moment, Mugi and I looked at each other with different looks. Mugi had a smile on hers while I looked at her with a "You can't be serious…" look.
"Mugi. Are you kidding me?" I whispered to her.
"Come on, Miharu. It's your party. We should make this happen."
"Yeah, but…*sigh* fine. I'll do it. But I'm not happy about it."
"*giggle* Thank you, Miharu."
"Hey, guys. What are you whispering about?" Ritsu asked.
"Well…we were saying that we'll clean up the reserved room."
"S-Seriously?!"
"You'll do that?" Yoriko asked us.
"I have been truly grateful for you allowing me to stay here, Tamura-san." Mugi said. "Doing this for you would be the ultimate source of gratitude."
"Well…even if you say that, the mess is huge. It could take you two a full day or two to fully clean it."
"Well, now that you mention that…"
"We'll be perfectly fine." Mugi said as she covered my mouth.
"Pourquoi toi petit…"
"Well, if you two insist, then I can't really refuse it."
"*sigh* Putain de merde…"
"M-Miharu-senpai…" Azusa said. Clearly knowing what I had just said in French.
"Alright, then." Ritsu said. "We'll leave clean-up duty to you girls. Come on, let's go get something to eat."
"Where we going? Knock-Off McDonald's?"
"It's not…McDonald's!" She then yelled at me.
"But it looks a lot like it. Even the logo. But they changed the "M" to a "W"."
"Still different!"
I don't see it...
"Oh. By the way, Tamura-san. Did you happen to see a woman with long brown hair and glasses come in here?" Mio asked.
"Oh, yeah." Yoriko said. "Mikuru. You can let her out now."
"Yes, Mother." Mikuru said with a bow.
"Uh…let her out?" We all asked in confusion.
"Just watch."
Mikuru went over to an old bamboo dresser and removed the mop that was blocking the two doors from opening. Once that happened…we saw our teacher fling out of it and land on the floor.
"Wh-What the hell…?" We all asked.
"N-Not cool, Yoriko! I could've suffocated in there!"
"I had to, Sawako. Knowing you, I had to protect my daughter and the remaining guest here."
"Heh. So, I see that you still don't trust me. I guess someone's still having sweet memories about dressing up for little 'ol…"
"Mikuru, lock her up again."
"Yes, Mother."
"O-Okay, okay! I'll shut up! Just don't put me back in there!"
"Just as I thought."
"Wait, you two KNOW each other?!" Mio asked.
"Oh, why of course." Sawako said as she got up from the floor and pushed up her glasses. "Yoriko Tamura and I were once classmates during our days of attending Sakuragaoka."
"WH-WHAT?!" Us schoolgirls all yelled in shock.
"Mother, is this true?" Mikuru asked her mother.
"*sigh* Yes, it's true. But back then, I was known as Yoriko Honjō. My family name. As for the two of us...we were in the same class for all three years. And it was a complete mess."
"How?" I asked.
"Well, for starters…she's secretly a pervert."
"Secretly?" Mio and Azusa asked as if the "secretly" part was pointless.
"Watch it, you two!" Sawako threatened them.
"And for the most part, I always had to go to that clubroom and tell her to keep the freaking noise down. And then she and her bandmates would annoy me even more by making me lose focus on why I was down there in the first place."
"Hey, it's not my fault you were incredibly gullible."
"Mikuru…"
"I-I take it back." Sawako said with a panicked reaction.
She must really not want to go back in there…
"Go to that clubroom? Were you a member of the Light Music Club, Tamura-san?" Mugi asked.
"No, I wasn't. Believe it or not, I was a member of the Student Council."
"Woah! Just like Nodoka-chan!" Yui said.
"Who?"
"Another friend our ours." I said.
"I see. Anyway…I didn't think you would be teaching at that school, Sawako. Tell me…do you give these girls a hard time?"
"W-Well, I…"
"Yes." Ritsu said.
"Kinda." Yui said.
"To an extent." Mugi said.
"She makes us wear embarrassing cosplay costumes!" Mio and Azusa yelled as if they were about to cry.
"N-No one asked you girls!" Sawako yelled.
"*sigh* Just as I thought…" Yoriko said with a facepalm.
"How are you a teacher?" Mikuru and I asked.
"Tch! F-Forget this! You girls are on your own with asking Yoriko for the reserved spot!"
"We already got it done. You were of no help." Ritsu said.
"Gah! What…Whatever." Sawako then slumped out of the hotel in a completely bad mood.
"Is she gonna be okay?" I asked.
"She'll be fine." Yoriko said. "Just give her a few hours and a beer or two and she'll be her normal self by tomorrow."
"Yeah. Her normal self…" Mio and Azusa said in a sorrowful tone.
"Those two look scarred for life." I whispered to Mugi, whose only response was a chuckle and a sweatdrop.
Mugi's POV
"Ugh! Mugi! I can't believe you got us to clean that reserved spot this weekend!" Miharu whined as we were both sitting in the hot spring water enjoying a bath.
"Cheer up, Miharu. Once we get this done, we'll be able to have the party."
"Yeah, but…you saw how big that room was. There's no way we'll finish it in one day."
"That's why we have two."
"Huh? I don't get it."
"Tomorrow is Kinrōkanshahi, or Labor Thanksgiving Day. School is closed on that day."
"Really? Well, that's freaking lucky." Miharu then went silent for a bit. "But, um…what's Labor Thanksgiving Day?"
"Well…" And then I went silent trying to think of a good way to explain it to her. "…You know how America celebrates Thanksgiving Day?"
"Yeah."
"Well, it like that. But without the big parades and closed stores and the turkey."
"I see. So, what do you do here?"
"On Labor Thanksgiving Day, we're thankful for the workers who do their job and do it well. Sometimes you literally thank those people in person. Elementary school kids usually use this day to make thank you cards and gifts for municipal workers like police, firefighters, and hospital workers."
"Oh, wow."
"It's also a day to spend time with your family and enjoy a family dinner together. Referencing America again, it's basically their version of Labor Day and their version of Thanksgiving Day just put together."
"Wow. That's a lot for just one day."
"Yeah. I guess."
"By the way…you said, "Spend time with family". Are you going to do that?"
"Of course. I've got you and Tamura-san and Mikuru-chan…"
"Mugi. That's not what I meant."
Damnit. I was hoping she wouldn't catch on.
"You're gonna have to make up with them eventually."
"*sigh* I know, Miharu. It's just…all my life, I lived under complete control. I know that's to be expected as a minor, but…for me, it was different. I was taught to obey everything and not question anything. Even if it looked really bad. So, standing up to my father and telling him off like that…I felt this…rush of excitement flowing through my body. Like these overprotective chains of mine have finally broken. And I can be my own person for once. Have you ever felt like that, Miharu?"
…
…
…
Miharu was currently staring at me with a look of pure shock and amazement (and probably a little confused).
Guess I went overboard…
"S-Sorry, Mugi. But I can't really relate to that. My childhood wasn't as easy as yours."
"Right." I said.
Come to think of it, Miharu's never told me about her childhood. Or what life in France is like, to begin with.
"But…I kinda get what you're saying. You just want to live as a normal teenage girl, right?"
"It's all I ever dreamed of."
"I see."
…
…
…
…
"Hey…Miharu."
"Yeah, Mugi?"
"If…If I wasn't your half-sister…would you still been nice to me?"
"Huh? Where is this coming from?"
"Just…something on my mind."
"Okay. Well…if we're being completely honest…that night when we had that fight. If you didn't tell me that we were related, I…I honestly would've hated you."
"*sigh* Yeah. Kinda figured you'll say that. I did go too far with it all."
"But…"
"Huh? But?"
"But…now that I've gotten to know you more…even if we weren't related, you would've at least been my best friend."
"B-Best friend?" I then felt tears coming out of my eyes. A rapid amount of them falling from my eyes. Dripping down my face and landing in the hot water we're in. My body felt warm and my heart was beating fast. It could be because I've been in here for so long. But on the other hand…I felt…I felt…I-I felt…
"M-Mi…Miharu…"
"M-Mugi? A-Are you okay?"
"Miharu…I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!" I latched over to my half-sister and hugged her really tight as I let more of the tears out from my eyes.
"W-Woah, Woah, Woah! M-Mugi, what's up with you?!"
"*sniff* What? I can't hug my half-sister?"
"I-I'm not saying you can't. I-It's just that we're in a hot spring bath, completely naked, and our breasts are currently pushing against each other."
"They really are as big as mine…"
"Mugi!"
"*giggle* Okay. I'm done." I said as I let go of Miharu. "But thanks for letting me hug you, Miharu. I really needed it."
"*sigh* You're welcome, I guess. Just give me a heads up next time. You freaking scared me."
"Oh? Scared of a little…sisterly bonding?" I teased.
"D-Don't make me hit you." Miharu started to blush.
"*giggle* I'm kidding."
"Girls. Time to come out."
"Alright, Yoriko."
"Alright, Tamura-san."
"*sigh* Anyway…I enjoyed that talk too, Mugi. We should have more of these together."
"Same here." I said. "A-And, uh…Miharu. C-Can I ask you something?"
"*sigh* Mugi. Just because we're the same size, doesn't mean that you can keep borrowing my underwear like this!"
"Come on, please? It's either that or go commando!"
"If you're going to live here, then go get your own underwear from your place."
"I'm…working on it. It just takes a while, okay? Just let me borrow a pair."
"Ugh. Fine. But you owe me for this."
"I know, I know." I rushed over to catch up with Miharu as we got dressed and headed for bed. Ending another day together with my half-sister.
The…The only family member I can rely on right now.
Author's Note: The welcome party plan goes off on a rocky start, Sawako and Yoriko reunite (much to Yoriko's dismay), and Miharu & Mugi have another bonding moment. Sounds like an eventful chapter to me.
Fun Fact – Labor Thanksgiving Day is actually (as of right now in Japan time) tomorrow. So, I might have an extra chapter ready by this time tomorrow. Or maybe the day after. Depends on how busy I am.
Next chapter will debut a character that I'm putting a little twist on. I got this idea based on uh…other types of K-ON! fan work and want to implement it here. More on that next chapter.
Thanks for reading. Later.