The Eternal Summer

[Paladinoras]

Not sure where to put this fiction...it's not exactly fan fiction, but heyy, this seems like the right place, so I'll give it a shot.


Prologue – The Winter Sorrow

January 1, 2010. 6:57 PM. Local Park, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture

“That’s bullshit!!! I won’t accept that reason!” I yelled loudly at the girl standing before me. She merely shrugged, and repeated the statement she had said moments ago. “I am sorry…but I think that you deserve better than me, that’s all.” Her eyes, eyes which had been filled with unconditional love and attentive care for the past year, is now an empty shell of what it once was. Even as I tried to find a remnant of her past self, her eyes were just…freakishly cold. “If that is all…I’ll be taking my leave now.” She said quietly, her voice barely a whisper, and walked away from me. From everything we had.

I can’t really remember what else happened after that, all I knew was that I ended up sitting in a park bench, staring at the dark winter sky of Tokyo alone. The coldness of winter never really strikes you until you are truly alone, when you feel that you have no one to accompany you through the meaningless days of your life. Then, I felt a sharp blow on the back of my neck. “Urrghh, Kazuhiko, you annoying prick!” I exclaimed loudly as the man in question plopped himself comfortably in the seat beside me.

I shot him a murderous glance, attempting to scare him. Kazuhiko looked at me for a while, a perplexed look on his face. “That glare of yours…it’s not scary, you know, it’s more of the look of a lost puppy whose owner has abandoned his sad ass.” He spoke out nonchalantly.

Son of a bitch, how did he know that.

I gave up trying to intimidate him and looked at the night sky again, sighing loudly in the process. “Natsumi broke up with me today, dude…. And she didn’t even give a decent enough reason.” God, I must’ve sounded pathetic. Kazuhiko merely shrugged in response to my statement. “A lot of fishes in the waters, so when you go fishing be prepared to get a portion of your bait eaten.” He commented. “What the hell does that even mean..?” He sighed exaggeratedly and stood up, posed dramatically and...”Honestly, I have no idea what that means, dude, it’s just some crap I made up on the spot.”..gave a retarded explanation.

I can’t help but smile at his stupidity…with friends like him, how can anyone stay sad? “OH.MY.GOD, A SMILE PEOPLE!!! THE MAN WHO JUST HAD HIS HEART CRUSHED BY THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE HAS JUST SMILED!!! THIS IS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF THE STRENGTH OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT!!!” announced Kazuhiko loudly, not unlike a football commentator who had just seen a beautiful goal. “Shut up, you idiot, don’t embarrass me!” I muttered loudly and pulled him back to his seat.

Seriously, this guy is an idiot. Well, at the very least I am not suicidal right now, I suppose.

“Well, it’s all good, dude, I’ll find you a new girlfriend! So what if Natsumi’s a 10? I’ll get you a 12! If that fails, then we’ll get 2 6’s, and if that still doesn’t work, 3 4’s, and if all else fails, we’ll go to Kabukicho and get 12 1’s!” Kazuhiko enthusiastically said. “…Whatever you say, dude” I replied, indifferent. “Geee, you are such a mood killer, you know that…” Kazuhiko muttered, and promptly stood up. “I’ll be off now, the depressive mood here is enough to rape my brain.” I didn’t remember if I gave a response or not, but he was gone soon afterwards though.

I leaned back on the bench and can’t help but start to reminisce about my past memories with her…

[Paladinoras]

Chapter 1 – Nobody Does Anything in January

Spoiler:

January 8th, 2009, 6:30 AM Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture

God, I hate January.

Everything is freakishly cold, I gotta go back to school… and nobody does anything worth noticing in January. These thoughts swirled in my head as I walked slowly in the direction of my high school. “Ahhh, I want more holidays, I haven’t even finished watching my collection of movies” I moaned loudly. “I presume by movies, you mean porn, right?” Suddenly, an all-too familiar voice spoke out from behind me. “I see you haven’t changed at all within the holidays” I commented, turning around to face the owner of the voice. And sure enough, standing in front of me was Kazuhiko Toyama, my friend since the fifth grade….stretching the definition of “friend” extensively, of course. Of all the years I have been friends with him, he had eyes for only one thing. Females. Being a guy, I can’t really say for sure if he is handsome, but one thing is for sure. The bastard is a prolific womanizer. Since the beginning of our high school life 1 and a half years ago, he has had 28 girlfriends…and counting, 28 last time I checked, anyways. And if the rumors circulating around the campus are true, there is a special fanclub in the school dedicated to worshipping him. Charming guy, I guess…

“Sooo, Yamazaki-kun, any plans to advance your non-existent lovelife this year?” he asked, a cocky grin dominating his face. “So far, our score is what, infinity in my favour?” I rolled my eyes at his statement. “Look, that contest we had was never a joint agreement; you just came to my house one day and started blabbering about how you would have a dozen girlfriends before I got one. I neither replied nor agreed to that statement, so you are on a one-horse race here buddy.” Kazuhiko merely gave an even cockier grin and took out a tape recorder, an ancient technology by our current standards. “And…let’s press play now shall we?” As soon as he said that, a shrilly voice came out from the speakers of the contraption, a voice that belongs to a pre-adolescent boy. “Oh shut up you annoying bastard, just wait and see, by the time we are in high school, you would be but a pebble in the foundation of my all-girl-conquering dynasty!” Another voice emanated from the speakers, the voice of a pre-adolescent boy as well, rebutting the statement. “Ahahahahaha, don’t make me laugh, boy, by the time we are in high school, I would have a dozen girlfriends before you even got ONE! You make me laugh so hard..” The voice never finished his statement however, as the target of the statement interrupted him promptly. “Oh, don’t be full of yourself you cocky bastard, I’ll get 24 for every dozen you get! You can believe that. Hell, I’ll even do it before I am a senior! I’ll be your servant for a month if I don’t make it!” Kazuhiko then pressed the stop button, and the voice stopped speaking immediately. Thankfully.

Awkward silence.

“I can get you sued for that, that’s invasion of privacy!” I tried to divert the subject. Fruitlessly. “Ahh, well, eitherway, Yamazaki-kun, if we go by simple math, I have 34 girlfriends, so you need…umm, let’s see…34 divided by 12…” Kazuhiko muttered incoherently for the next few moments, calculating.

“AHH, 52 girlfriends. Before the end of this school year. Which makes an average of…hmm, say, 9 girls a month counting from this day onward. So I suggest you start turning on your charm ”

“Wh-wh-WHAT??!!! THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!”

“Well, I am not the one who made retarded statements, don’t blame me..”

“We were 10!! Who the hell thinks about what they are saying when they’re 10!”

“Quit evading my point, Yamazaki-kun, just accept it and be my servant already.”

“N-no WAY! I won’t give up till the last minute of the last day of this semester!”

Kazuhiko chuckled quietly. “Prolonging the inevitable, I’d say, but well…” He shrugged. “Prisoners on death row get a last meal, so well, why not, eh? This’ll be kinda interesting to see anyway.” Unfortunately, before I could reply with a scathing remark, the large building of Shizuoka High appeared, white, austere, old, intimidating, and abnormally large. “Back in hell…” I thought to myself as I walked past the opening gate of the school.

The rest of the morning passed by quickly, filled with the usual start-of-semester speech by the principal of the school. I barely stayed awake in the duration of the speech, but thanks to Kazuhiko’s incessant whispering of “servant, servant, servant” in my ear, sleeping is nigh impossible. And by a rather painful twist of fate, it turns out that Kazuhiko and I are in the same class, class 2-F. “My god, Ken, I think that this is a premonition ya know… Servants have to stay near his master to make it easy to serve him.” Kazuhiko annoyingly commented as soon as I took my seat. He took the seat next to mine, obviously.

“Oh, shaddup, I don’t have time for this.” I replied rather angrily, tossing my eraser at him. Easily evading it, Kazuhiko’s mouth opened yet again. “For once, you are right, Yamazaki, I mean, as Sun Tzu had said, know your enemy and know yourself, and you can win 100 battles without fail.” I gave him an are-you-retarded-look, but he didn’t seem to notice, as he continued on talking. “So, my soon-to-be servant, we need to survey our surroundings! We need to figure out who is worth dating, in this very classroom!! Based on that information, we shall then strike forward on our conquest of these sophomores’ hearts!” Kazuhiko finished his “inspirational” speech.

“…Did you forget to take your meds today or something?” I asked him. “SILENCE, FOOL! This is high-level strategy right here! If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail! And sides...” He paused and gave me a condescending look. “Don’t you think you need this more than me? Unless if you have finally accepted the fact that you are going to be my servant, that is.”

My head shot up at his last sentence. “NEVER!!” I exclaimed loudly, inviting a few stares from the people in the class. “Ehh…sorry about that…” I muttered meekly, and buried my head in my table yet again.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, well, I guess I’ll impart some of my wisdom to you, considering you need to date 52 girls in 6 months.” After saying that, Kazuhiko reached into his bag and pulled out a black notebook. “Is that the Death Note or something? Do you kill their boyfriends and force em to go on a date with you that way?” Kazuhiko ignored my comment and started flipping through the pages of the book, which looked to be meticulously organized, with sticky notes popping out from the upper part of the book, and he is never, and I do mean NEVER organized, so for what’s worth, the book has to mean something.

“Let’s see now…” he muttered to himself, stroking an imaginary beard. “AHH, here it is, data of the girls in class 2-F, take a look.” He passed the black notebook to me. I read the page he was talking about, not knowing what to expect. Well…frankly, I was blown away. The book contained detailed analysis of each and every girl in my class. What is their favourite food, their last recorded height and weight, hobbies, hell, even their last recorded measurements are there! “Kazuhiko….I don’t even know what to say here… Do you stalk these girls…?” I stuttered, still shocked from the discovery I just made. “Nope, not really, I am just incredibly close with the school nurse and counselor, that’s all, so obviously I can gain easy access to their personal data.” He replied calmly. I honestly didn’t know whether to be pleased or freaked out, so I resorted to just opening and closing my mouth repeatedly, like a fish out of water.

“Annnyywayyysss, from psychoanalysis of your personality and the girls of our class…I have deduced that there are three possible candidates for you…” He stood up and looked around. “Ahh, her.” He pointed at a random girl who sat three rows in front of me. “Chihiro Fushioka, class treasurer, 164 cm, 54 kg, an average GPA of 9.4, so she is brilliant, obviously. Always uses red rimmed glasses, kinda cute, if I do say so myself, and her physical test scores ain’t so bad either. Her only drawback….she is…well, a control freak. But well, you are an obedient kinda guy anyways, right, Ken?” Before I could reply to him, he turned around and pointed his finger at yet another girl. “ And next up, we have, Kyouko Matsushiro, 167 cm, 52 kg, killer body, toned as hell, star of the school track team and rumors say she is an excellent cook. GPA of 7.9, so an above average student, butt…well, she is colder than the Siberian winter, but I am sure with attentive care and love from you, you can melt her heart.” And again, before I could even open my mouth to come up with a reply, he pointed his finger at a girl who sat right next to me. Thankfully, he still had the common sense to crouch down and lower his voice. “Lastly, we have… Yui Matsuda. 162 cm, 48 kg, face of an angel, caring, devoted, loving, attentive, basically your perfect housewife. Sadly, she is quite weak physically, and mentally…and honestly, too conservative and boring for me. But then again, you aren’t exactly famous for throwing wild parties, so I think she’ll fit in just nice with you.” Kazuhiko finally finished his lecture.

I thought about what he said, albeit with a grain of salt. “Well, Kazu…you make a fair point there, but I think I’ll look for my own targets, been here six months after all, I think I can make a good choice…for exampleeee…HER!” I randomly pointed my finger dramatically at a random girl in the crowd. Kazuhiko glanced at the direction of my finger and grinned. “My boy, you have much to learn… look at page 162 of my book….the one with a blood red sticky post on top.”

Wait, what?

“I was only joking dude, I was only randomly pointing my finger, I wasn’t actually serious.” I said. Kazuhiko merely smiled. “Tell you what dude, I’ll make a deal… if you can get the girl you just pointed at, before the end of this semester, I’ll be your servant till the end of the whole freakin YEAR.”

Huh? Who is this girl anyway?

“Of course, you are not allowed to look at her info beforehand if you plan to make this deal.” Kazuhiko then extended his hand, his other hand keeping his black book shut. “So? Deal? No deal?” I felt like I was being swindled…but hey, at least I don’t have to date 52 girls, right? “Deal” I confidently said, shaking his hand.

In retrospect, I should’ve just chased after those 52 girls.

“Very well, then, go ahead and look at her data.” Kazuhiko moved his hands away and passed the book on to me. “Great, so why does it have a blood red sticky on it anyways? Can’t you pick a happier colour?” I asked him nonchalantly, flipping the pages of his book. “You should know, Yamazaki, that my book is colour-coded, blue is for my past girlfriends,..”

Well, there were a lot of those, apparently.

“Yellow is for girls who I plan to date soon..”

Abundant as well

“And blood red..” He turned and faced me. “Are for girls who I deem to be unreachable…as in, undateable, for one reason or another, and…” He brought his face closer to mine, his voice barely a whisper. “…so far, there are only three girls who have received that honour, your sister, my sister, and..” He pressed his finger hard on the page I had just reached, leaving a mark. “her, Natsumi Hinata .”

“Un-unreachable?” I muttered unintelligibly and decided to read her info before jumping to conclusions. Natsumi Hinata, height 165 cmn, weight 47 kg, a balanced beauty, being breathtakingly beautiful yet having an hourglass figure at the same time, her measurements being almost directly proportional to each other. Loves the colour sky blue, looks great in a yukata, prolific athlete, although she has never joined a club since middle school, an average GPA of 9.1, and can speak 6 different languages fluently.

Basically, perfect, so why did Kazuhiko deem her unreachable?

I flipped the page, and there, written in red ink, was the reason why.

“MENTALLY UNSTABLE DUE TO TRAUMATIZING PAST EXPERIENCES, PRONE TO PSYCHOTIC BURSTS OF RAGE” And underneath that, was yet another side note, added by Kazuhiko recently, judging from the still deep colour of the ink. “POSSIBLE RELATIONS TO THE UNDERWORLD, ALTHOUGH NOT DIRECTLY”

Goddamn, what have I gotten myself into?

[Paladinoras]

Chapter 2 – Chocolates? No way!

Spoiler:

February 8th, 10:45 AM, Shizuoka High School, Shizuoka, Shizuoka District

A month has passed since that faithful day in January where Kazuhiko had assigned me to a task he deemed impossible. To make Natsumi Hinata, potentially the most beautiful girl in my class, my girlfriend, and before the end of the current semester as if the task is not incredibly arduous already.

Either that or I would have to serve his sad ass for one whole month.

Well, hell would freeze over before I’d even think about becoming his personal bitch, so I am chasing after her, for better or for worse.

And so far, the task does look impossible.

It’s not that she’s cold, or unfriendly, or evil, or cold. Wait, did I say cold already? Well, either way, she’s not, so don’t get the wrong impression. It’s just that she has this….unexplainable, untouchable aura around her. Everytime I tried to approach her and strike up a conversation, it feels like there are daggers pointed at me, ready to kill me the moment I say my first word. Maybe this is why that even Kazuhiko would be intimidated by her?

One thing’s for sure though…at this rate, I am so screwed.

But heyy, six days and it’s Valentine, the holy lovers day or something, right??? Maybe something good will come out of that day! Yes, yes, must be optimistic now!

I was meditating deeply concerning this matter during lunch today, and as usual, Kazuhiko was there to give me a second opinion.

“Holy lovers day? Boy, are you high on crack or something?” Kazuhiko responded when I told him about my plans for Valentines.

….Okay, not exactly the answer I was expecting.

“I’ll tell you what Valentine’s all about, dude, it’s about…THE CHOCOLATES!” Kazuhiko explained dramatically, waving his hands in the air. “I mean, let’s just face the facts right here and now man, chocolates are a rare commodity around these part, and Valentines is the only day when I can use my god-given talent to full use!”

I suppose by talent he meant a defective brain.

“Girls on Valentines will do their very best to buy, and or, even better, MAKE chocolates for guys all around the world, and it is only fair for us to APPRECIATE their effort and accept those chocolates….and sell them on the internet soon after!” Kazuhiko continued, sounding more and more like a deranged Adolf Hitler.

“…I am pretty sure that’s called exploitation.” I replied, bursting his bubble.

But he was not to be denied.

“NONSENSE!” He exclaimed loudly. “I mean, if someone gives you a present, and then you give it back, no matter for what reason, it’s impolite, right?! Chocolates are basically the same, I mean, there is this girl, who’s feelings are so strong for you that she would spend hours to get you that perfect chocolate, and you are gonna say NO? Who does that, really??!!”

“I am not so sure that selling those “perfect” chocolates is their idea of getting appreciated.” I rebutted his statement.

“Oh comeeee on, you have to look at the bigger picture here man!!” Kazuhiko argued. “I mean, okay, I sell their chocolates now, but I am gonna spend it on them again when I take them out on dates, right?? I am just circulating the money around to benefit the economy here!”

“Oh, whatever, it’s no use arguing with you and your crazy theories” I replied, exasperated. “I’m leaving now, see ya around.”

As I stood up and walked towards the canteen door, I can still hear his voice reaching out to me.

“YOU ARE ONLY DENYING IT CAUSE YOU KNOW IT’S THE TRUTH!!”

February 14th 2009, 6:30 AM, Shizuoka High, Shizuoka, Shizuoka District

And so the fateful day arrives. The weather has improved significantly since last January, the winter sky starting to disperse in favor of the spring sun. A sign of things to come, perhaps?

I certainly hope so; I need a bloody miracle if I wanna pull this off.

So what are my plans for this day you ask?

Absolutely NOTHING! I am just gonna let the winds of fate do their jobs. Not like there is much else I can do anyways, hell, I can’t even TALK to her, let alone give her a box of chocolates… And I am dead broke anyways, Kazuhiko had a point when he said that chocolates are a rare commodity, they are freakishly expensive! I didn’t even have enough money left in my wallet to buy a Snicker bar…

And as I walked into my classroom, looks like fate doesn’t like me much. In fact, I’d say it is giving me the proverbial middle finger. As you’d all know by now, my seat is placed directly beside Kazuhiko’s…who is a serial dater. In fact, serial dater would be an understatement, more like a chaining machine-gun dater.

Valentine’s Day Translation: Chocolate Rain

That was not an exaggeration, merely an expression of truth. His desk was filled with so many chocolates that you can’t even see the bloody desk. Heart-shaped, normal shaped, dog-shaped (yes, those exist, apparently), about every single possible variety of chocolate seemed to be present there. None of my classmates seemed to be surprised in any shape or form; Kazuhiko’s reputation precedes him abundantly.

Kazuhiko, however, did not look happy at all. He stared pensively at the enormous pile of cocoa in front of him. “What’s the matter, bro, thinking about how the hell are you gonna bring all these chocolates home?” I asked him jokingly. “This…this is terrible.” He muttered, almost inaudibly. “Wow, too much even for you, huh? Well, no worries, I’ll help to take some of this home with me!” I replied, not sure if I am supposed to be comforting a man who got more chocolates than a freakin factory. He suddenly turned around and looked at me in the eyes, his face painted with a severely pained and depressed expression. Suddenly, he grabbed my shirt and started yelling at me.

“DON’T YOU GET IT?? THIS IS NOT ENOUGH!!!”

“YOU CRAZY BASTARD, HOW THE HELL IS THAT NOT ENOUGH?” I yelled back at him, in an equally, if not louder voice.

“I-I-I…got 54 chocolates last year, Ken…this is…this is”

“THAT’S A CRAPLOAD MORE THAN 54, YOU OVERZEALOUS PRICK!”

“IT’S ONLY 68!!! 60 FRIGGING 8!! I EXPECTED 80, AT THE BARE MINIMUM!!!”

“YOU PSYCHOTIC MORON, HOW THE HELL CAN YOU GET 80 CHOCOLATES?? YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW 80 GIRLS!”

“SO WHAT??? MOST OF THESE CAME FROM PEOPLE I DON’T KNOW ANYWAYS!!!”

…..Our stupid banter continued for another 2 minutes or so, until I realized that our conversation was about as productive as trying to revive a dead horse. I kicked some of the chocolates that had rolled from Kazuhiko’s table to mine away and sat down. As usual, there were 3 boxes of chocolate in my desk. One from my sister, one from the lead vocalist of my band, and one from someone who has given me chocolates repeatedly for the past three years, but has never talked to me in person. Feels kinda weird to have an admirer, but whatever.

Speaking of my band, I haven’t jammed with them in a while… maybe I’ll do that in the weekend.

I leaned back in my seat and scanned the classroom for Natsumi. And as usual, she was sitting in her seat, directly in front of the whiteboard. Come to think of it, does she study a lot? Kazuhiko said her GPA is 9.1, does that make her some kind of study freak or something? From what I can see, all she does during class is space out and stare blankly at the windows... strange. Oh, and of course, she looks gorgeous today, her face basking in the morning sun. How can a girl that cute and pretty have a traumatizing past..?

Actually now that I think about it, I accepted Kazuhiko’s challenge…, but if I actually, by some heavenly miracle, manage to make her my girlfriend…

Then what?

Honestly, while I find her to be irresistibly attractive and cute, I know next to nothing about her. Don’t relationships require more than just physical attraction to work? For better or for worse, I am going to get to know her better, and not for some stupid bet I made with my friend 7 years ago, but simply cause I find her… interesting.

With that thought, in mind, I inhaled deeply and prepared myself for what was surely going to be a great school day!

7 hours later…

“I HATE SCHOOL!” I yelled out loudly, slamming my bag down on my desk. “I mean, COME ON, a surprise test on SATURDAY? And at VALENTINE’S? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?” Kazuhiko didn’t give a retarded reply as usual, his face incredibly grim and forlorn. Ever since this morning, he has been muttering “more more more” repeatedly, like a broken tape recorder. “Gee, you sure have a great timing for knowing when to shut up.” I commented sarcastically. I think he muttered something along the lines of “shut up, peasant” as a response. Seeing that he is not gonna be the best conversational partner right now, I decided to leave him alone and headed towards my favourite spot in the whole school.

I climbed what seemed to be a million steps before I managed to reach the exit door leading to the roof. I am not really sure why I like the roof, maybe cause it’s so deserted and barren, plus I get a real good view of the city from there. And it seems like I was not the only one who thought so, since someone was already there ahead of me.

And that person was none other than Natsumi Hinata.

Holy crap, has lady luck finally developed a thing for me?

[Paladinoras]

Chapter 2 part 2: Chocolates? No way!

Spoiler:

February 14th, 2009, Shizuka High Rooftop, Shizuoka Prefecture

Ever since I joined this school, slightly more than a year ago, I have always taken a liking to the roof. Can’t really explain why, maybe I am just weird that way… Eitherway, for the past year or so, everytime I feel depressed or need a change of pace, my escape will always be the roof. It’s just…so peaceful up here, if you are lucky, you may just be able to hear the distant sound of birds chirping in the morning. The view is amazing too. The school is located at the center of Shizuoka City, and the building itself is pretty damned tall, so you can pretty much see everything Shizuoka has to offer from here. And don’t even get me started on the sunset; it’s practically one of the most romantic places a high school guy can take a girl too. Of course, I do plan to take a girl up here too, someday in the future.

But looks like fate pressed the fast forward button, cause the girl I admire, Natsumi Hinata, is already standing there, in the roof, alone. I am not sure why, but the peaceful, serene atmosphere up here seems to suit her completely. A gentle breeze passes and she closes her eyes, enjoying the chilled winter wind, her hair fluttering in the wind. Such a simple gesture…and yet, I find it bloody attractive.

So now, I am in a moral dilemma. Do I talk to her? Do I not? What if I talk to her and she ends up hating me? But then again…what if this is a god-given chance for me to talk to her and get closer?!! But then again, Kazuhiko did deem her mentally unstable…probably I am gonna say the wrong thing anyways, no matter what I say… and she isn’t Miss Congeniality 2009 either… Oh god, what do I doo???

Then, my cellphone rang. I put it on silent mode, so it just vibrated annoyingly in my pocket. “Urrghh, who could it be, I am in a moral dilemma here…” I muttered quietly, flipping the lid of the DoCoMo phone over and quickly looked at the new text message.

<From: Kazuhiko>
<Don’t be such a ****** go and talk to her NOW! Or have you finally resigned to your fate as my servant?>
<Message end>

What the…how did he know?? I scanned my surroundings, searching for a sign of his presence…. But there was nothing. What, is Kazuhiko secretly a psychic ninja guy or something?? Nevertheless…his message snapped me back to reality, this is indeed a great chance, and I certainly shouldn’t waste it. I drew in a deep breath and walked towards the guardrail Natsumi is leaning against.

“Uhh, hello there” I said casually.

Natsumi nearly jumped up at that simple statement, she quickly turned around and faced me, visibly shocked.

“Wh-who are you?” she asked frantically.

Okay, this is a great start…

“Oh, my name is Kenichi Yamazaki…your classmate.” I replied, trying not to sound stressed, which I am. Excessively.

“Oh, right” she muttered quietly, and thought about my statement for a while. “Ahh!! The guy sitting three rows behind me, right?”

“Uhh, no, that’s Kazuhiko Toyama, he sits next to me”

“Ahh, really? Oh well, close enough” she said nonchalantly, and turned around again, staring into space blankly.

…Well, okay, that was not very productive.

“So…uhh, what are you doing up here?” I asked her, attempting to start up a conversation.

“Hmm, well…I was bored down there, plus, I am tired of boys running up to me and giving me chocolates and stuff, so I decided to go the most secluded place in this whole school…the roof” she explained calmly, her voice level.

“Ahh, I see..”

“How about you?” She turned around and faced me. “Running from the mobs of girls chasing after you?”

I laughed meekly at her statement. “No chance in hell, nobody is chasing me…except maybe if I owe some girls money and I forgot to pay…”

Natsumi chuckled at my response. “Well, you have a good life then. No annoyances. So, what are you doing in the roof then?” she inquired calmly.

“I…just like the place.” I answered, leaning against the same guardrail as her. “It’s peaceful up here…relaxing.”
Oh my god, did I really just say that???!!! I must’ve sounded like a complete airheaded retard!!!!

But apparently Natsumi didn’t think the same way, because she just smiled. First time I have ever seen her smile, I think…and I can assure you that the scene is forever etched into my mind. It was…majestic, like seeing a rare flower bloom for the first time.

“You’re interesting, Yamazaki-kun, most boys will never say that… I like you” she coolly stated, sincerely smiling at me.
I remembered seeing a documentary about how to tell whether a tomato is adequately ripe or not by the shade of red it possesses. The colour of my face right about now should be similar to that of an over-ripe tomato covered in blood.
I quickly looked away, trying to regain my composure. What’s left of it, at any rate.

Natsumi laughed heartily at my reaction. “Ahahaha, you are such an innocent boy, you know that? Your face looks like it’s been put in a microwave oven for too long!”

“Sh-shut up, it’s not my fault.” I retorted, embarrassed. Extremely so.
“Ohh, acting all defensive, now are we? How nice~~~”

“Gahhhh, quit toying with me!!”

“But it’s so much funnnn!!” she said in a rather mean voice, and suddenly placed her face in front of mine, so I am forced to look at her face.

Well, okay, not exactly a bad thing, in fact, it was a great thing. But still…

“I can’t believe that such a good-looking guy like you is dateless on Valentine’s though” she uttered jokingly, looking into my eyes, a mischievous grin plastered across her face.

If it is humanly possible for a human head to explode, I am pretty sure mine would have, right there and then. As it stands, it just became really, really, really, really, red. It’s like the blood vessels in my cheeks are burning.

“Q-q-quit it!! Don’t say crazy things like that, Hinata-san!” I frantically exclaimed, not sure if I am supposed to be happy or disturbed. One thing is for sure though….this is extremely humiliating.

“Ahahahaha” Natsumi laughed with gusto, doubling over, tears beginning to form on the edge of her eyes. “Okay, sorry, sorry, Yamazaki-kun, it was just too much fun, but you really are innocent, you know?”

I ignored her statement and shifted my gaze at the spectacular Shizuoka skyline.

“Beautiful” I muttered. Even after a year and a half, I am still amazed by the view everytime I come up here.

“Hmm, yeah, it is, isn’t it? Especially Mount Fuji over there” Natsumi pointed at perhaps Japan’s most iconic mountain ever, which can be easily viewed from our current place.

“Not as much as you though.” I commented without thinking, saying the first thing that came to mind.

Wait, what did I just say?

Hmm.

AHHHH, DAMNNN, DID I JUST SAY WHAT I THINK I SAID???? CRAP, NATSUMI IS SO GONNA GET PISSED NOW!!! SHIT!

However…if Natsumi was bothered by that offhand comment I just made, she didn’t show it. She just looked at me, a bemused expression on her face. “Thanks, I guess…” she murmured softly, turning to face the Shizuoka skyline.
Damn, I think she was really offended… Should I say sorry or something..? But wasn’t that a compliment…? Should I really be saying sorry for that? Won’t that make her even feel more offended… OH MY GODDDD, WHY DID I SAY THAT JUST NOWWWWWW, NOW MY CHANCES ARE BLOWN TO BITS!!! I buried my head in my hands, and probably would have stayed there for the next hour or so, berating myself, had Natsumi not patted me in the back.

“Helloooo, Yamazaki-kun, you still alive?” she called out to me.

Oh god, here comes the overspill. She is so gonna kill me… at least make it painless!

I slowly detached my head from the palm of my hands and slowly looked up, turning my head to face her, preparing to get a slap or some other kind of brutal physical punishment, my eyes half-closed.

But Natsumi surprised me yet again, for all she did was stuff a chocolate bar into my mouth. Well, half of a chocolate bar, to be exact. The other half was in her mouth, and she looked like she was savoring the flavor of it thoroughly

“I can’t possibly finish this whole bar on my own, so take that half as a get-to-know-me kinda present.” She said casually, grinning sheepishly.

So there I was, standing like an idiot, half a chocolate bar dangling from my mouth, which really helps the idiot image, by the way, but you know what?

Today was the best Valentine’s Day…ever.

[Paladinoras]

Chapter 3 – When the Cherry Blossoms Bloom

Spoiler:

March 7th 2009, 10:03 AM, Shizuoka Central Park, Shizuoka

The coldness of winter has come and gone, and now, the warmth and beauty of spring approaches. Season of love, eh… Will it hold any wonderful surprises for me?

Well, it certainly seemed that way by the start of March. After our rather”interesting” meeting in the roof on Valentine’s, I have somewhat gotten closer to Natsumi Hinata, got her number and e-mail after all, and it doesn’t seem like she holds any ill feelings towards me….so I am kinda optimistic heading towards spring. But of course, it’s incredibly hard to be optimistic when you have more homework to do in one week than about a million other Japanese high school students have to do in a month. As usual, most of it came from my mentally unstable, all-hating Mathematic teacher, Shikanosuke Majima.

Ever since I started my sophomore year 6 months ago, I instantly took a disliking to him. His mere presence is enough to send shivers down my spine. The way he dresses, the way he talks, the way he teaches….I hate everything about it. Him being perpetually dressed in a disgusting purple suit reminds me of Barney the Dinosaur, his over, and I do mean OVER-gelled hair probably has enough oil in it to support a small country for a month, and don’t even get me started on his face. It always had this mocking, annoying expression, and his teeth was too large to fit in his mouth, so it ended up jutting out, making him look like a possessed human-rabbit thing. Oh, and the best part, he hates teenagers. To the core.

“Gah, springtime is the time for love my foot! All of you kids disgust me with your “mini-skirts” and “harajuku style” crap! I think that you girls are showing so much skin that you might as well be naked!! And what’s with you men! Quit slouching around, sitting like you don’t have a backbone! Have you people no shame! Oh gods, the current generation of Japanese are such degenerates!” He once ranted to us when my friend asked him why he can’t cut us some slack during spring.

So basically, his way of “contributing” to society at present is to give us so much homework that we won’t have time to date each other.

Well, he can rot in hell, cause I am meeting Natsumi at the park today. For some unexplainable reason, she mailed me yesterday saying that she wants to meet up. I was so overjoyed that I forgot to ask why. Honestly, I didn’t care why, as long as I get to spend some time with her, but everything happens for a reason, right? Eitherway, I am already waiting at the park, sitting at a bench, waiting patiently for her. The sakura, or cherry blossoms have slowly began to bloom, although not completely just yet. Occasionally, a stray sakura petal will float by me, without a care in the world. It was a nice scene.

But it was missing one vital piece… Where the hell is Natsumi?!!! We promised to meet here at 9:45 am, but she still hasn’t materialized, and it’s past 10 already!! Am I getting stood up?!!

Thankfully, while I was angsting and beginning to feel rather insecure, she appeared, panting loudly. “Sorry for the lateness” she said quickly, out of breath. “Ohh…uhh,, it’s ok, I just arrived here anyways” I lied. “Oh, good then, I missed the train coming here…so I had to take the bus, but then I took the wrong bus, and I had to run all the way here.” She explained. “It’s all good, I barely noticed you were missing!” I gave a rather unconvincing grin to make my statement more believable. However, the statement didn’t have the desired effect, as instead of being happy, she pouted. “Meh, am I that unimportant?” She sulked. “No, no, not what I meant, you are very important to me!” I stuttered, only realizing what I had just said 5 seconds after I had said it. Natsumi laughed loudly, and it’s obvious that she was toying with me all the way.

“Anyways” I quickly said, trying to stop myself from getting even more humiliated. “What did you want to meet up here for?”

Now, I am not gonna lie here, I have about 40 different ideas revolving in my head about why she would want to meet up in a Sakura filled park in the early stages of spring. Most of the ideas point to one thing and one thing only… A ROMANTIC DATE!!!! The other plausible idea is that she is a psychopathic serial murderer and that she has summoned me here to be her umpteenth victim…but I think I can safely say that won’t happen.

Well, I hope not.

“Umm…well, how do I really say this…” She started, scratching her cheeks, slightly blushing. Cute. “I need you to help me with something rather important here, Yamazaki-kun.”

“What is it?” I asked calmly, although deep inside, my heart is beating faster than a rabbit’s as all the possibilities of the moment runs through my head. Being so coy, eh, Natsumi, calling it help and whatnot, but I know what you really want!!!

Then…she took out a big plastic bag, and handed it to me. “Help me do my homework please!” She said loudly to me, bowing down.

Oh.

“Ehh…well..” I stammered, unable to formulate a decent answer. This scenario didn’t exist in my head! What is this?!!! Didn’t she have a GPA of 9.1 or something???!! Why the hell would she need my help??? With those thoughts circulating in my brain, I was fully prepared to tell her that there is no chance in hell that I am gonna waste my extremely rare day off to help her do some bloody homework…but right then and there, she played her trump card.

Now, I am sure most of you have heard the phrase “puppy-dog eyes”, which refers to a person giving some sort of pleading, cute look to try and entice someone to do something. Well….Natsumi’s is more of a “thousand-puppy-dog-eyes” look. It is so freakishly cute that I don’t think any man in this world would have the mental strength necessary to refuse her. And I sure as hell don’t have the required amount of mental strength…so I ended up nodding repeatedly, mumbling ‘ok, ok’ looking very much like an idiot. Again.

March 7th 2009, 12:43 AM, Shimizu Sushi Yokocho Shops, Shizuoka City

"So are you saying that when x is differentiated, its power will decrease by one.” Natsumi asked. “I guess so.” I responded rather unenthusiastically. Can you blame me? It’s springtime and I am spending it doing differentiation, which is possibly the most boring topic ever invented by mankind. “You could at least PRETEND to sound interested” Natsumi suddenly snapped at me. “Well, SORRRRRRYYYY if I am not exactly psyched up at the thought of doing math on my day off.” I replied testily.

“Didn’t your parents teach you that you should always help out a damsel in distress?”

“Chivalry is dead, and you are not exactly in distress”

“Bahh, you are so insensitive, math is my worst enemy you know!!”

“Didn’t you get 92 on the last test? I’d say you have more things to worry about…”

”Th-that was different! It didn’t have any calculus in it!”

“If you can’t do calculus, why makes you think that I, who have consistently scored lower than you in every single test since the beginning of time, can?”

“Ahh…” Natsumi faltered to answer back. Sensing a breakthrough ahead, I decided to press on. “Don’t tell me, you just called me out here so that you can spend some time with me!” I stated in a joking manner, grinning mockingly. I expected Natsumi to laugh out loud and reply with something along the lines of “No chance in hell”, or “Keep dreaming, buddy”, but instead she averted my gaze, and in a really quiet, near inaudible voice, muttered “So what if I did.”

Eh?

No way.

Nahhh

I must’ve heard that wrong.

Oh, I got it! She is just playing with me again! This is just another one of her tricks, isn’t it? Well, I am not gonna fall for it again!

“You-you’re playing with me, aren’t you? This is all part of a masterful, diabolical plan to make me humiliate myself, right??!!” I stammered, unable to compose myself.

Natsumi sighed, gave me a very annoyed look, and stood up. “Baka” she murmured, and stormed out from the sushi shop.

….Okay, I DID NOT see this coming. At all. So therefore, my natural response was to sit wide-eyed, holding a piece of sushi in front of my mouth. It’s amazing how I can look like an idiot three separate times on the very same day.

Wait, is this supposed to be the part where I am supposed to chase her? And tell her I’m sorry and all that?
But…but, what about my manly pride??? Wouldn’t doing that be incredibly humiliating?? I need to think this through before making rash decisions…

“WELL, AREN’T YOU GONNA COME AFTER ME?!” Natsumi’s voice suddenly rang out. “AND BRING MY BOOKS WITH YOU!”

Okay, decision made, can’t keep a mentally unstable girl waiting now... I quickly picked up all of her books, paid for the food we ordered, and ran out from the shop.

Today’s gonna be a long day….

[Paladinoras]

A filler chapter, of sorts. And note, italics means it's lyrics to a song

Chapter 2.75 – When In Doubt, Jam

Spoiler:

February 27th 2009 14:35 PM Somewhere in Shizuoka City, Shizuoka

“Is there still a long way to goo?? I am tireed!!!” The shrill voice of a girl broke the silence that has accompanied me ever since I walked off the subway station. “Yeah, yeah, you can see it from here…sides, you aren’t even carrying ANYTHING, why the hell should you be tired?!” I replied indignantly, glaring at her. “Oh come on, now, you can’t seriously expect the lead vocalist to carry any equipment now, can you? What if I suddenly lose my voice?” She answered back, her voice devoid of guilt. “How the hell can carrying your own guitar make you lose your voice???!!” I argued.

“Oh, cut it out, you two, you sound like my mom and dad when it’s his payday” A voice spoke out from behind me. “But she’s being lazy! And unappreciative too! You understand, right, Hitomi?!” The girl in question, Hitomi Yamazaki, my little sister, just smiled calmly, not saying anything. “Don’t bring your sister into this, Ken, that’s not fair.” The voice spoke out again. “Gee, for a drummer, you sure ain’t hot-blooded enough” I muttered. The owner of the voice was a ridiculously fit 16 year old man named Yukimura Tanaka. My drummer. “Pschh, and for our lead guitarist, you sure ain’t talented enough.” He retorted, not missing a beat.

“Overfitnessed dude. All brawn no brains”

“Asian Hendrix wannabe”

“Asian Schwarzenegger fail”

“Oh, I think that’s the place!” My vocalist suddenly interrupted us before Yukimura could come up with a response. “Oh, yeah, good point, it is indeed, come on then.” I led my band forward as I walked in to a medium sized, two storey building, which looked quite ordinary, except for an oversized, neon-lighted sign in front which said “ROCK HOUSE SHIZUOKA”. The interior of the place is honestly, quite weird. The walls are padded with some kind of purple sound-insulating material, and there are dozens of rooms inside with various different bands jamming inside. “The theme is weird, but I guess this place is not so bad.” My vocalist gave her sign of approval. I turned around and faced her. “I believe that’s the first time you ever said that about the places I have chosen, Natsumi” She ignored my statement and walked towards the nearest empty room, placing an order to rent the room for two hours. The rest of us followed soon after.

Within 10 minutes, all of our equipments have been adequately set up, with Yukimura slightly displeased with the drum set provided by the studio. Hitomi and her two colored Sunburst Fender Jazz Bass stood silently, awaiting my mark. Natsumi, my vocalist/second guitarist with her custom pink coloured Fender Stratocaster impatiently waited for me as well. But of course, perfection takes time… I slowly took out my most prized possession, my three-coloured Gibson Les Paul Florentine electric guitar. Oh god, I love it so much, I don’t think that I can love a human baby more than I love my guitar.

“Hurry up already, we are not paying for this session with leaves ya know.” Yukimura spoke out from behind me. “Patience, young padawan.” I muttered, carefully holding the guitar and wrapped the strap around my shoulder, holding it in place. “Ok…ready. What song do you wanna play first?” I asked around. “Uhh, my vote goes to Rolling Star. YUI’s songs are never wrong.” Yukimura gave his opinion. “No wayyyy, that song is way too hardcore to start a session with, I suggest Fragile by Every Little Thing first!” Natsumi argued. “I….I’d like to play Muffler instead…that song is touching.” Hitomi quietly commented.

“Well, it is a nice song, but way too slow!!!”

“Mehh, Rolling Star is too heavy and Muffler is too slow, what the hell is right then? Fragile is not exactly slow either ya know.”

“Yeahh, but..”

“SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!” I suddenly yelled out, my headache gradually being amplified at the sound of those two bickering. “If you guys can’t decide, then I very well will, we are gonna play Mou Hitotsu no Yoake.” I stated plainly. Natsumi and Yukimura muttered a few words, pretty sure I can hear Hitler and Stalin…, but grudgingly accepted nonetheless.

“Okay, ready… GO!” I turned on the amplifier and placed my hand in a modified F chord position.

And Natsumi sang.

Kaban no naka ni wa itsudemo
Daisuki na shiro no KYANDI
Masshiro ni suki tootte
Amai amai jikan sugiru
Mabushikute utsukushii no ni
Dokoka kanashii iro de tokete
Aa natsukashii itsuka no toki no you ni

Sagashitemo mitsu kara nai
Hoshi katta jibun wa doko he itta no

Kurayami ga kowakute me wo tsubutte hashitta
Nigeteru dake no hibi ga kokoro wo kakushite itta
Sakebi tsuduketa yo “Nee ima doko ni iru no?”
Ushiro wo furimukeba “Koko ni iru yo” to waratteta
Kakushite ita no wa hoka no dare demo nai watashi

You know, I’ll never tell her, but everytime I see Natsumi sing, a little part of me dies inside, out of pure admiration for her voice and energy. She is quite the beauty as well…so staring at her might not be so good for my guitarplay…

Kyou mo umaku waraeta no ni
Naze umaku nake nai no
Namida wa ikiba wo nakushi fukaku fukaku shizundeku
Kotoba nado imi ga naito
Kuchibiru tsuyoku kami shimetemo
Kitto kotoba shika tsutaeru sube wa nakute

I stole a glance at Hitomi. My little sister has always been a bit on the shy, weak side, so I was kinda surprised she decided to pick up bass as her instrument. Looks like I worried for nothing however, she seems to be totally absorbed.

Dare yori mo saki ni ima
Mitsuketa hoshi hitotsu nagarete kieta

Yukimura…was well, Yukimura. Not much else to say about that.

Nakusu no wo osorete
Muchuu de nigirishimeta
Te no hira hiraita toki
Nanimo nokotte inakute
Douka oshiete yo “Naze nakushite shimau no?”
Kokoro ga ima kotaeta “Mou ichido sagasu tame nanda”

Natsumi paused, which only means one thing. Solo time.

Oh hell yeah, my fingers started flailing wildly on the 6 strings of my guitar, making wonderful sounds… It was pretty addictive.

Natsumi strummed on her guitar once, a sign for me to stop, and her voice rang out again.

Kurayami ga kowakute me wo tsubutte hashitta
Nigeteru dake no hibi ga kokoro wo kakushite itta
Sakebi tsuduketa yo “Nee ima doko ni iru no?”
Ushiro wo furimukeba “Koko ni iru yo” to waratteta

Mou sugu yoake ga kuru yo
Kakushite ita no wa hoka no dare demo nai atashi

“Now that’s what I’m talking about guys, awesome!” I complimented all of them. “Nacchan, great vocals, as usual, Hitomi, you are getting better and better with that bass, and Yukimura…well, you are your usual self, not much else I can comment on that” The rest of the band nodded, and we continued jamming into the day, having the most fun I’ve had in a while.

Right now, nothing matters. School, Natsumi Hinata, Kazuhiko’s stupid bet, grades, screw all of them, it’s just the music and me now.

February 27th, 18:25 PM, Togakushi Soba Ramen Shop, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka

“Heyyy, I wanted that!” Natsumi yelled out as I grabbed the last gyoza left on the plate. “You snooze, you lose, darling.” I calmly replied, inserting the gyoza into my mouth. Natsumi’s arm suddenly shot out, clamping the gyoza between her chopsticks right as I was about to swallow it, pulling it towards her. I held on, pulling on the gyoza with my chopsticks as well. It was a tug-of-war now, neither of us backing down. Then she suddenly glomped the gyoza whole, swallowing it while still attached to my chopsticks. “Urrghh, that’s not fair!” I complained. “You snooze, you lose, darling.” Natsumi returned my words, relishing the gyoza.

“….That has to be the weirdest form of spoonfeeding I have ever seen in my life.” Yukimura commented, his eye twitching slightly. “You guys…look kinda cute together.” Hitomi smiled serenely, giving her completely embarrassing opinion while looking incredibly innocent. “WE ARE NOT LIKE THAT!!” The both of us screamed in unison. Both of Yukimura’s eyes are twitching now. “Get married already” He muttered. The rest of our night was pretty much destroyed after that.

February 27th, 21:34 PM, Minami-cho, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka

And so now, I find myself walking Natsumi home for some unexplainable reason. (“Don’t be an idiot, I’ll take Hitomi home, you go walk Natsumi home, k? Bye”)

…Yukimura, you are so gonna pay for this.

But I guess this ain’t so bad, I mean, I’m only being a gentleman, right??? Nothing else to it. Yup, nothing, totally.

“You know, in a way, this is a kinda romantic.” Natsumi suddenly spoke out.

Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing……

“This is the first time you have ever walked me home ya know, usually you just run off with Hitomi.” She continued. Even in the dark moonless night sky, I can still feel her warm smile. “Well, I guess your sister does take a higher priority compared to me, so I can’t really complain.”

I remembered giving a very charming and witty response, something along the lines of “Uhh…”

“Still,” She suddenly jumped in front of me and looked at me straight in the eyes. “This makes me happy.” The radiance from her pure smile was enough to light up the whole block.

“Ahh…yeah, glad to hear that” I managed to say, and thankfully, before she managed to say anything else, we reached her house.

“Owwhh, too bad, I was hoping I get to spend more time with Ken-chan. Oh well, thanks for today!” After saying that, she ran into the house immediately. What a freakishly energetic girl, I thought to myself. And speak of the devil, she came running back out again. “Oh yeah, I forgot something!” She exclaimed suddenly.

Oh god, I saw this scene before one of those soppy doramas my mom loves, this is the part where the girl kisses the guy good night, right? Oh damn, I don’t think I can stand this enormous pressure, I mean, she is pretty and all, but…

“Well, hurry up and give it over then!” Her impatient voice suddenly interrupted my train of thought.

Oh my god, she’s asking for it, is this supposed to really happen? Isn’t the girl supposed to make the first move or something, I-I-I don’t have the experience, I mean, this pressure is too great for one man to handle, how the hell does Kazuhiko do this all the time?? The pressure, oh god, the pressure, what if I disappoint her and make the wrong move or something, then I am gonna have to find a new vocalist and ….

“HELLOO, anybody there?? My guitar please!” She suddenly yelled out, tapping my forehead with her fingers.

Oh.

“S-s-sorry, here ya go” I muttered, almost inaudible, and handed her guitar over.

“Thanks for carrying this around for me, must’ve been heavy.”

“Uhh..yeah, no problem.”

Then she did the unimaginable, she went ahead and kissed me.

Well, on the cheek, but a kiss is a kiss.

Winter has barely passed me by, but my face is already heating up like the summer sun.

She laughed loudly and ran back into her house, carrying her Fender Stratocaster like it’s weightless.

Gotta love my band.

[Paladinoras]

Mmm, for the sports fans.

Chapter 4 part 1 – Birthdays Were Created To Kill My Feet

Spoiler:

April 6th 2009, 8:45 A.M, Shizuoka High School, Shizuoka

“Hoaammm” I yawned loudly as I walked outside towards the school’s outdoor track & field court. Spring was in full flow at the moment, and thousands of Sakura petals were scattered about in the school grounds with thousands more fluttering wildly about in the air. Blissfully romantic, some would say, but the only romance I want to start right now is with the bed in my room. Who is the genius who decided that the first subject of the worst day of the week should be PE anyways? Meh.

After some stretching and basic exercise, my PE teacher, a strongly-built, tanned man in his forties, determined that we would all play basketball as part of today’s lesson. We have 40 people in our class, so all of us had to be divided into teams. I have never been the athletic type, but I have always had a knack for playing basketball, god knows why. I can’t play baseball or football properly, but no one so far has managed to beat me in basketball. Maybe it’s all of the guitar training I did…my fingers are special now!! Anyways, after the teacher has teamed us up, I was appointed as the captain of my squad, consisting of Kosuke Hiroyama, a tall, lanky guy who is deceptively powerful, Shikanosuke Juushiro, a boy with a weak disposition, yet has killer accuracy, Kenji Shimoda…who I know nothing about, and lastly, Dieter Shimazu, a German-Japanese athlete who is the star of the school soccer team…not sure if he is equally dependable for basketball though, but his pace is useful at any rate.

And of course, it just had to happen, but the opposing team is led by none other than Kazuhiko. Now, don’t get deceived by his perfectly manicured nails and overall pretty-boy look, Kazuhiko is one hell of an athlete. Problem is, he never shows it, so the coaches assume that he is what he appears to be: a guy who got rejected by some random boyband. But of course, Kazuhiko is…well, Kazuhiko, he would much rather spend his time chasing after some girl than doing practice runs in a club, so obviously the coaches never gave him a second glance. However, it seems that playing against me gave him some sort of twisted motivation, cause he suddenly asked me if I wanted to make a bet with him for the game.

“What kind of bet?” I asked him, suspicious. “The type that you will probably lose.” He replied cockily, grinning sardonically.

“Hmph, if I am not gonna gain anything from it, then why should I bother doing it?” I stated in an uninterested tone.

“Heh, very well then..” Kazuhiko extended his hand.”If you somehow, by some weird miracle, manage to win, I’ll tell you a very....interesting secret about Natsumi, which would help you quite a bit, I must say.”

Urrghh, damn him, he knows my main weakness.

“Deal” I shook his hand, and briskly walked back to my team’s corner.

The game just got a lot more interesting.

5 minutes later, the game started in the outdoor basketball court. The gentle spring breeze cooled my face, but all I could think about was whether the wind speed is going to affect my shooting. Sad, I know, but it’s for Natsumi! Speaking of which…is she playing? Honestly, I have never seen her perform spectacularly in PE class, although Kazuhiko’s notes suggest that she is a good athlete. After our March encounter, I haven’t talked to her much, it’s just too awkward. Did she indirectly say that she liked me or something? I mean, her attitude seems to imply that, but…

“Hey, captain, mind dribbling the ball already?” Dieter’s deep voice suddenly cut my thoughts short.
Oh right, we are in a game now, better start playing now…

From the beginning of the match, I used an ultra-attacking line-up, with me as point guard, Dieter as Power Forward, Kenji as Small Forward, the tall Kosuke as my center, and the accurate Juushiro as my Shooting Guard. I thought that this was the best possible line-up, as I cannot risk giving Kenji, who again, I know nothing about, a point-getter role, while Juushiro is too easily disrupted as a playmaker. Well, if you want to get things done, you gotta do it yourself, I suppose. “Okay, guys, let’s go!” I yelled out to them, trying to sound encouraging. Strangely, Kazuhiko is not the one guarding me, I guess their captain don’t trust him a lot, instead, a quick, muscular guy who I have never seen before is hounding my every move. Luckily, I have a height advantage over him, so he shouldn’t trouble me too much. I scanned the court for any open players….there! Dieter has broken loose of his defender and is rushing towards the middle. I quickly passed to him, and he swiftly dribbled into the inside post, scoring easily with a lay-up. “Alright guys, beautiful point!” I praised my teammates.

Most people don’t realize this, but the first point in any competitive sport match is very important, as it determines the tempo of the game, as well as the morale of the players. And with a point like that, the opposing team is sure to feel the pressure. Kazuhiko however, just smiled calmly, without a care in the world. Their captain, a pretty close friend of minenamed Nagayuki Sanada who just happens to be the star shooting guard of the school team, also does not seem to be visibly shocked. Well, it’s to be expected, he has had a lot of match experience….but his teammates sure as hell don’t. As long as we keep him contained, I have a legal shot at winning this match. Kazuhiko sure as hell picked the wrong time to make a bet!

20 Minutes Later, Halftime

“Give me more water!” Dieter barked at the waterb—err, girl, who quickly took his bottle and filled it up with water from a nearby dispenser. The teacher’s idea of a joke, make the students who are exempt from PE class due to some illness and whatnot, our helpers. The unfortunate girl who was assigned to my team in this particular moment is Yui Matsuda, the girl who Kazuhiko had said to be a potential girlfriend for me. I had to admit that she moved with a certain elegance about her, every single one of her movements are refined, even if it’s only to fill up the water bottle of an irate German-Japanese dude.

It was currently halftime, and my team had built up a sizeable margin over Kazuhiko’s team, leading 43 – 27. I led the scoring with 14 points while Dieter and Juushiro were tied at 12 points apiece. The scoring on the other team had been pretty lopsided, with Nagayuki taking in 24 points, most of the points they have scored. In fact…he has been carrying the team all the way. Without him, the score would have been substantially worse. Kazuhiko, of course, had played nonchalantly, never holding the ball for more than a few seconds. If he has any plans of winning this bet, he better start stepping his game up.

The third quarter started and it went pretty much the same way as the first and second, with me and Dieter leading the scoring. Nagayuki struggled to bring the score closer, but of course, one man can’t do much against 5, but to his credit, he did score 10 points in the quarter alone. Nevertheless, the gap between us increased, and by the end of the quarter, it was 64 – 42 in our favour. Victory was pretty much assured.

I grinned mockingly at Kazuhiko, who didn’t seem to have broken a sweat at all. He grinned back, and mouthed the words “get ready to lose”. Hmph, even when losing, he hasn’t lost any of his usual obnoxiousness. The piercing sound of a whistle marked the end of the break, and both teams returned to the court. Kazuhiko, for once, looks like he is gonna play seriously. He pulled his rather long hair back, tying it in a ponytail-like-thing, and strapped on red wrist guards.

…..Shit, I have never seen him go wrist-guardy since the 8th grade…he scored 34 points then… in one quarter.

“Guys, mark Kazuhiko tight! Don’t let him out of your sight!” I barked orders at my teammates. “Are you serious? He hasn’t done anything since the beginning of the match, let him be guys, just focus on Nagayuki” Dieter scoffed at me. Blah, being captain of the soccer team has obviously given him some ego problems. “Trust me guys, I know Kazuhiko, he is gonna kill us if you don’t stop him!” I ordered again. My words fell on deaf ears however, as my teammates seem to share the same mindset as Dieter. Damn, this could be trouble.

The fourth quarter started smoothly enough, with Juushiro clinching a three-point shot after a good pass from yours truly, but Kazuhiko’s counter attack was well…scary. We had assigned Kenji, who is the weakest player in our team, to defend Kazuhiko as of course; none of my teammates recognized his true skill. Kazuhiko took the ball, dribbled it quickly between his feet, and drived past him, nailing a jumpshot easily. Kenji was so surprised that he didn’t even move an inch throughout the whole process. “B-beginner’s luck!!’ Dieter stammered, more to comfort himself than anything else, really.

He was equally formidable in defense, as Juushiro dribbled and tried to shoot a three-pointer, Kazuhiko literally grabbed the ball in mid-air, and dribbled back to our side of the court. Dieter raced back, and with his amazing pace developed by years of playing soccer, managed to catch up with him, if only barely. Dieter’s large frame didn’t seem to faze Kazuhiko one bit though, as he charged directly at the basket, not decreasing his speed. Dieter quickly jumped up, attempting to block Kazuhiko’s lay-up. What happened next was a blur, nobody had actually seen Kazuhiko putting the ball into the basket, but in the aftermath, Dieter was lying down on the ground, the ball was in the basket, and Kazuhiko was standing in the middle of it all, unscathed.

“D-did he just knock Dieter down? Th-that was possible?” Juushiro squeaked from behind me. “Apparently so..” I muttered, walking over to Dieter and pulling him up. He had this dazed look on his face, like he didn’t know what hit him. Well, to be fair…he didn’t.

Kazuhiko pretty much went on a rampage soon after that, sinking mid-range jumpshots, driving to the basket and scoring with lay-ups, and even the occasional three-pointers. Even Nagayuki was visibly shocked at his show of skill. We tried triple-teaming him, but then, that left Nagayuki wide open, and he scored easily as well. Before we knew it, it was 84 – 85, with 10 seconds remaining, ball in our court. Kazuhiko had managed to score 32 points, and Nagayuki took in 11 of his own. “Okay, guys…we have one last shot left. Who wants to take it?” I asked my teammates during our timeout. None replied. “Gah, fine, give me the god-damned ball and I’ll make things happen!” I said confidently...well, at least I thought that I sounded confident, I can't really be sure, considering I am running on pure adrenaline right now.

And so it began.

10 seconds, ball inbounded from half-court.

9 seconds, Dieter is carrying the ball, dribbling past his defender rather easily.

8 seconds, Nagayuki popped out, blocking Dieter’s path.

7 seconds, Dieter desperately passed to Juushiro, who is smothered by his defender who is quite a bit taller than him.

6 seconds, Juushiro tries to dribble past his marker and sink a shot. No such luck.

5 seconds, Juushiro desperately shot the ball, almost went in, but instead, it bounced off the inner rim of the basket.

4 seconds, Kosuke rebounded the ball, pushing away the enemy’s center.

3 seconds, Unable to find a shot, Kosuke threw the ball back out, to me.

2 seconds, I drove towards the basket, dribbling past Nagayuki and another player.

1 second, Kazuhiko jumped in front of me, his intention written clearly across his face
.
“AARRRRGGGHHH!!” I yelled, jumping up for a lay-up. “NOT IN A MILLION YEARS, BOY!!!” Kazuhiko yelled back, a crazed look in his eyes, his hands ready to block me. Our two bodies collided. Hard. All of the air in my lungs was forced out by the impact, but with the last bit of energy I could muster, I tipped the ball into the basket, hoping that it goes in as I feel myself falling towards the ground, gravity pulling me.

And it did, barely.

“YEAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!” I screamed out as soon as my lungs regained some air. It’s just a PE game, but screw it, this was the most exciting game I have ever had. Nagayuki smiled bitterly on the other end, displeased that he has lost, but admitting that it was a good game as well.

“Hahahaha, you worked out, didn’t you?” Kazuhiko laughed loudly. “Not bad, I guess I should’ve started playing sooner.”

“Heh, you…. would’ve….. still …..lost” I replied between my gasps for air. Both of us were lying on the ground, neither one of us having enough energy to stand up.

“Dream, on, but well, a bet’s a bet.” Kazuhiko sat up. “Natsumi Hinata’s birthday is on the 22nd of April, so that gives you a 16 day window to prepare something special.” He told me calmly.

“Oh…great, thanks.”

“Don’t get used to it, I am gonna slaughter you next time.”

“Keep dreaming, lover boy”

“My dream is your reality, guitar boy”

We both laughed.

I slowly stood up, my feet still wobbly. My PE T-shirt was completely drenched with my sweat and a little blood, don’t ask me who’s, and my breathing was ragged. Overall, I am in a very sorry state. Dieter came up to me and shook my hand. “Good game, you were a good captain” he said grudgingly. “No problem, man” I replied coolly.

As I walked over towards the locker room, I started to feel a searing pain across my left leg, probably a byproduct of that horrendous fall. The pain was so intense and shocking that for a short moment, I lost control over my left leg. I would have fallen over too, had Natsumi not suddenly caught me. “Wow, you’re kinda heavy.” She commented. “Good game there, Yamazaki-kun, you played beautifully. It was…poetry in motion!”

“Uhh, thanks” I replied, not expecting this at all. And it was rather hard to come up with a reply anyways. Natsumi slung my left arm across her shoulder and put her right hand on my waist, supporting me. Oh god, actual physical contact? I must’ve done something right in my past life or something. As we walked together to the locker room, I could hear some of the more immature boys making some catcalls, but I didn’t care. All of my senses are not functioning properly, but Natsumi’s sweet scent still manages to linger in my head and I can still feel her soft skin brushing against mine.

…Every cloud has a silver lining after all.

P.S

Final Stats:

Kazuhiko Toyama, Small Forward/Shooting Guard – 32 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks
Kenichi Yamazaki, Point Guard – 33 points, 7 rebounds, 14 assists, 3 steals, 1 block.
Nagayuki Sanada, Shooting Guard, 45 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 steals, 3 blocks
Dieter Shimazu, Power Forward, 24 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 0 steals, 2 blocks
Shikanosuke Juushiro, Shooting Guard, 21 points, 0 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 0 blocks

[Paladinoras]

Chapter 4 part 2 – Birthdays Were Created To Kill My Wallet

Spoiler:

April 12th, 9:34 AM, Minami-cho, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka

I rifled through the contents of my rather thick wallet quickly. One…two…three…four, I slowly counted, making sure that no paper bills were glued together or folded. “Hmm, so I have 80 000 yen in total, this should do it…” I muttered to no one in particular. It was the morning of April 12th, 10 days before Natsumi Hinata’s birthday, and therefore today, I decided that I would go out and get a present for her. Obviously, I know nothing about the inner workings of a girl’s mind, so I wanted to ask a girl to tag along with me….problem is, I am not particularly close with any girl, so who the hell can I ask to go with me???

After some deep contemplation, I realized that I could really only choose between two people: my younger sister, Hitomi…and the vocalist of my band, Natsumi Kuroyuki, or Nacchan, as I’d like to affectionately call her. While I love my sister with all my heart, I don’t trust her enough to let her accompany me to do something that might impact my lovelife. My parents were pretty conservative about these things, and technically, I am not supposed to have a girlfriend till I graduate from high school. But heyyy, what they don’t know won’t hurt em, right??

And so therefore, I find myself walking along the streets of Minami-cho on a Sunday morning, heading towards Natsumi’s house. I had called her the night previously asking if she wanted to go with me, and she had responded yes rather enthusiastically. But strangely, right after I told her that I was gonna go there to buy a present for a girl, she instantly said that she changed her mind and didn’t want to go after all.

So I had to swallow my pride and beg.

And beg.

And beg.

And beg.

Thankfully, after about 30 minutes of continuous persuasion and begging, she gave in and said that she’ll tag along, but to not expect much from her. She hung up immediately afterwards. Ahh, I might have pissed her off or something but who cares!!!

With these happy thoughts in my mind, I walked towards the gate of Natsumi’s house, whistling a jovial tune. However, my mood was not to last. As I slowly walked past the entrance, I could hear loud voices emanating from the house. Screaming voices, to be more precise. I couldn’t really identify who were the owners of the voices from here, but I can certainly tell that it was the voice of a man and a young woman. “Shut up, what do you know about my life??!!” The muffled voice of a man could be heard. “You are such a loser! You don’t deserve to be called a parent!” The girl responded, screaming shrilly.

Wait…that voice…isn’t that…Natsumi?

“You bitch! How dare you talk to me like that! All you do is play around with your goddamned guitar all day, what do you know about anything??!!!” The man raised his voice even further.

“That guitar has taught me more about life than you ever will, you bastard!” The girl added a few decibels to her voice as well.

“THAT’S IT!!” The man roared, and suddenly, a black box was thrown out from the second floor, shattering a window.

“Wow” I exclaimed, having managed to barely evade the black box, which landed on the asphalt with a loud bang. I recognized it immediately as Nacchan’s guitar box, the one I carried not so long ago.
“NOO!” I could her Natsumi exclaiming. Through the broken window, I could hear her voice clearly…and see what was unfolding right in front of me. Natsumi was standing face-to-face against a tall, bulky man who appeared to be intoxicated and very angry. Her father…or at least her parental figure, I guess.
Natsumi suddenly disappeared from view and I could hear footsteps gradually coming closer towards the front door. The door was slammed open well afterwards, and Nacchan came running out, tears streaked across her face. “Ehh..” I began. She looked at me and I could tell she was surprised. I guess this was not how most people would like to be seen… “Let’s go.” She said quickly, and walked…well, more accurately, ran out from her house. “DON’T COME BACK!!!!” The man yelled out again.

Oh boy, what did I get myself into now…

I picked up her guitar casing, which was in very bad shape, and quickly followed after her.

“Uhh…” I tried to say something…anything, but the words just wouldn’t come. What words were appropriate for a situation like this anyway? “I…I don’t want to talk about it” she murmured, barely opening her mouth. “Uhh, ok.”

And so we walked on silently towards the train station. I had planned to go to Shimizu for this special occasion, but taking into account what just happened…I decided to make a detour and boarded the train towards Nihondaira. Natsumi noticed this, and it seemed like she wanted to comment, but instead, she remained silent. I can see why she would be confused, Nihondaira is famous for its scenic view, not shopping centres, but there was a special place there that I just had to go to.

April 12th, 10:47 AM, Nihondaira, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka

“Ahhh, the view here is spectacular! I can see why people love this place so much” I exclaimed loudly as soon as I got out of the train station, trying to coax a comment out of Nacchan’s lips, but she didn’t respond. She gave a small, bitter smile, her lips refusing to part. I sighed, and quickly walked along the streets of Nihondaira.

Lush green hills and a wide, expansive field can be seen from where I stand. Of course, the cream of the crop, Mount Fuji, can also be seen from here, spectacularly reaching towards the heavens. I have seen the mountain over a hundred times already…but I’ll never get bored of it. I guess it’s not the national symbol of Japan for nothing. All of this is lost on Natsumi’s eyes though, as she appeared to be in a trance of some sort, her eyes staring blankly into the distance. “Hello???” I waved my hands in front of her face repeatedly. She looked at me for a few seconds with an empty look and walked on.

Okay, this situation requires some extreme measures.

“I love you…” I silently whispered in her ear. Now, I was expecting a rather violent outburst from her, but I was so desperate to get a reaction out of her, I didn’t really care. However, Natsumi just gave me that same blank look, her eyes gazing far off into the distance. “Sorry, did you say something?” she murmured emotionlessly.

AHHHHH, WHAT IS THIS??? NOT EVEN THAT GETS A REACTION??? DEAR GOD!!!!

Deciding that any further attempts to try and coax a response from her would be about as fruitful as trying to kill an elephant with a feather, I remained silent for the remainder of the trip. Natsumi didn’t even once try to break the silence along the way. Thankfully, my destination wasn’t so amazingly far away, so we managed to reach there within 15 minutes. The place in question was a small, two-storey building with a small sign on the roof which read “Kuroyuki Music Shop”. The building would have looked quite normal and inconspicuous if it was located in any city in Japan….which is why this building is unique. It is, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere.

Nihondaira, one must understand, is a place for sightseeing, and for that reason, there are very few shops located here, mostly selling souvenirs. The Kuroyuki Music Shop, however, is located dead center in Nihondaira. Imagine a gigantic dinner plate with a small piece of meat in the center and nothing else around it, and you would roughly get the idea of how the shop is located. To no one’s surprise, very few people know that this shop exists. Kazuhiko does, god knows why, and that is how I have become a loyal customer here over the years. Meeting the owner has always been a rather…disturbing experience, though.

Sighing loudly, I opened the door to the shop and walked in. Natsumi followed suit. The interior of the place is about as different as it could possibly be compared to its outer appearance. I swear to god, first time I walked in here, it felt like I went into a time machine and was transported back to the 70s. The walls were lined with some freaky velvet-coloured material which was soft to the touch, and a gigantic, glittering disco ball was hanging from the wall, revolving at a slow speed, shining its multi-coloured lights towards the room. Posters of the Beatles, the Ramones, and even the Beegees were plastered to the wall. And the cream of the crop, disco floors, floor tiles that changes colour from white to blue when someone steps upon it. But of course, it is a music shop, and so, along the left and right walls of the room were dozens of very expensive and rare guitars hanging from the wall.

“OHMAIGAT!!! KEN-CHANNN!!!!” A high-pitched voice suddenly emanated from behind a large wooden table.

Oh god, not this again.

The owner of the voice was well…the owner of the shop, an obese, bulky, man by the name of John Morrison. Not his real name, quite obviously, considering he is Japanese, it’s an amalgam of Jim Morrison and John Lennon, two of the rockers he admired the most. So far, nobody has been able to figure out what his real name is. And oh, he has a gigantic afro on his head, which, to be honest, I can’t tell whether it’s authentic or just a really good wig.

“You came back!!!” he yelled out dramatically. “How’s Florry doing? You treating her well?”

“Ehh…yeah, Florry is fine…” I replied hesitantly. Florry was what he nicknamed my guitar, which is a Les Paul Gibson Florentine type, the day I bought it.

“Great!!! Oh, and I see you brought your girlfriend with you today!! How sweet! What can I do for you then??” he spluttered out quickly, words coming out from his mouth like bullets from a machine gun.

“She’s not…” Before I could finish, John cut me off midway, staring at the battered guitar case in my hand.

“OHMMAAAAAIIIGGGGGAAAATTTT!!!! IS THAT FLORRYYY???? WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO IT?? I’LL KILL YA BOY!” I was taken aback by this sudden outburst, Kazuhiko did say that he was eccentric, but this was just…well, psychotic.

“It’s not…” I barely had time to open my mouth before he yanked the guitar case from my hand and opened it.

“Oh, it’s not Florry after all…but this guitar is in pretty bad shape, you own this, Ken-chan?” He asked me calmly, his mood suddenly normal again. What a guy.

“That’s what I was trying to say, goddamit! Let me finish!” I yelled out. “That guitar belongs to the girl here, she’s the vocalist of my band, I wanted to ask you if you can help me fix it!
John mused over my request for a while. He slowly took out the guitar from the casing and well…it didn’t look good.

“Oh..” I can hear Natsumi weakly exclaiming from beside me. Her pink Fender Stratocaster was well…destroyed. The neck had been snapped in two, leaving the strings hanging around. The multitude of knobs to regulate volume, bass and treble were all cracked, some even falling out from the body of the guitar when John held it up. The headstock of the electric guitar was also pretty much destroyed, the tuner which Natsumi had used so many times was barely holding on, almost dropping off.

“So can you fix it?” I asked John quietly, fearing that his response would be a bad one

“Well…” John scratched his head, well, afro, for a while “It’s not impossible, yeah, but honestly, I think that you would be better off buying a new one.”

“At its current state, I would pretty much have to replace 80% of all the parts in this guitar for it to be running as smoothly as it once had. I can’t even guarantee that either, an impact like that would have warped the body of the guitar, so the string formations and all would be compromised.”

“All in all, to answer your question, yes, I can fix it, but it’s gonna cost you a lot, plus it probably won’t sound the same as it used to” John concluded calmly.

Natsumi took the news hard; I can tell that she was already on the verge of crying. I can hear her irregular breathing, and the shuffling of her feet. The guitar must’ve meant a whole lot to her.

…Sigh


“How much to fix it?” I asked.

“Wow, you are seriously considering it? Well, hmm…cause it’s you, I’d say 89 000 yen.”

My jaw dropped at his statement.

“WHAT THE HELL? A BRAND NEW FENDER STRATOCASTER ONLY COSTS 59 000 YEN!”

“Yeahh, well, fixing it ain’t easy, plus I have to order some of the parts from the States. Shipping ain’t cheap, ya know.”

“B-b-but!” I spluttered, not really sure how to argue against him. He knows guitars pretty well, and if he says that the guitar needs parts from out of the country…then it needs parts from out of the country.
“It’s okay, Ken” Natsumi suddenly whispered from behind me “I don’t have the money for it anyway, even if it’s for a new Fender, let alone to repair this one.”
“But you loved that guitar!!” I argued.

“It can’t be helped” She replied, tears already beginning to form on the side of her eyes.

“Fine, I’ll pay for it!” I turned around and took out my wallet without a second though, taking out a few paper bills. I can’t pay em all in one go, but I think John will take a downpayment of 80 thousand.
“DON’T” Natsumi yelled out from behind me. “I-I can’t make you do that, Ken, thanks for the offer, but..” Her tears were already flowing out, each droplet falling slowly towards the ground. “I’ll never forgive myself if you pay to fix that guitar.” She managed to say, in between her sobs.

“You can always pay me back, you idiot, I am not kind enough to splash out 89 000 yen on you ya know” I joked around, trying to cheer her up, but she just swayed her head from left to right, the universal sign for “no”.

I was going to try and persuade her again, but my cellphone suddenly vibrated in my pocket, ringing once. A text message.

“Uhh, excuse me”

I know I have the worst timing and dramatic-situation-sensitivity in the world, gimme a break.

<<From: Yukimura Tanaka>>
<<Subject: Yoo>>
<<Hey dude, 3 days to go before our dearest vocalist’s birthday. Have you bought anything for her? If ya haven’t, call me up, let’s go and get her something. Bring your sister along, you and I both know we’re hopeless when it comes to girly crap.>>
<<Message End>>

…

So her birthday is in three days? Holy crap, how could I have totally forgotten about that???
I closed the lid of my phone and looked at Natsumi again. She was still crying, although with less intensity, and she looks like she has barely enough energy to stand up. She has always been the cheerful one in the band, so I didn’t expect such an extreme reaction from her… I guess everyone has a weak side after all.

I looked at my wallet again. I have 80 000 yen...I haven’t thought about this before…but if I buy anything for Nacchan right here and now, then…well, I wouldn’t have enough money to get the other Natsumi anything decent for her birthday. But on the other hand, I have known Nacchan for more than 2 years now, and we are together in a band, while I barely knew Natsumi… On the other hand, Nacchan did say that she won’t be able to forgive herself if I paid to fix her guitar, so I would probably be doing her more harm than good. But my band won’t be complete without her… and if she doesn’t play the guitar then it will greatly disrupt our songs.

Oh god, what the hell am I supposed to do…

I glanced at Natsumi again, who is now sitting on a chair, her eyes completely red from all the crying. She was staring blankly into space again with the same expression she had on this morning. Obviously, if this goes on, it won’t have good effects for her mental health.

….Damn it

I slowly turned around to face John, a thousand thoughts raging about in my head, and pointed at the black and white Stratocaster hanging in the wall behind him.

“Wrap that up, I’m buying it.”

Relationship hell, here I come.

[Paladinoras]

Chapter 4 part 3 – Birthdays Were Created To Give Me Chest Pains

Spoiler:

April 12th, 13:47 PM, Nihondaira, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka

Note to self: Before acting heroic and buying a very expensive gift for a friend, make sure that I don’t have to carry it around due to said heroism or that it is so light that I won’t mind carrying it. If not, you might end up carrying two Fender Stratocasters plus their respective casings on each hand. Like what I am doing now.

Now, I am pretty sure a lot of people out there have never carried an electric guitar before, but let me be the first to say that it is, in no way whatsoever, light. Even the basic beginner electric guitars with minimal decorations and equipment can weigh up to 3 kilograms, not counting the casing. When the casing is included, it can go up to 5 or 6 kilograms. A Fender Stratocaster usually weighs 4 kilograms at minimum…so at best, it weighs 6 kilograms with the casing. Don’t get me wrong now, I am not some wimpy kid who never works out, I can handle 6 kilograms on each arm. But of course, things are never that simple.

Natsumi’s old Fender Stratocaster was basically stock, except for the pink paintjob, but the casing…Oh god, the casing. On each side of the rectangular box, she had attached about a dozen different key chains, and not the basic plastic key chains either, but the incredibly-heavy-and-unnecessary-metal-thing key chains. She had also inserted a metal layer inside of the casing itself, to protect the guitar from external impact. Of course, in the end, it didn’t help any, and honestly, I thought that it caused more damage in the end. With all these mods, it weighed more than 10 kilograms in total, and John had “kindly” given me some “extra accessories” for the new Stratocaster I had just bought too.

In conclusion, 10 kilograms on my right hand, 9 on my left hand.

And I have to walk for at least 30 minutes from John’s shop to go back to the train station.

Oh, and best of all, I haven’t eaten lunch. Terrific day I am having here.

Natsumi herself haven’t said anything since we left the shop. She had argued, of course, and fiercely at that, about how I am being such an idiot and that I shouldn’t waste my money on buying another guitar that will probably get broken sooner rather than later. But well, her fault for not being specific. She said not to FIX her guitar, she never said anything about buying her a NEW guitar, I mean, I am not a very smart man here, if she’s not being very specific I might just interpret it the wrong way... At any rate, it’s her birthday in three days anyway, a new guitar now, a new guitar then, what’s the difference, I reasoned to her. After hearing that, she finally gave up and grudgingly accepted the guitar.

But of course, being the incredibly grateful and appreciative person that she is, she has decided to remain silent for the whole trip back. I would try to break the silence, but carrying 19 kilograms’ worth of weight tends to take the breath out of one’s lungs. “Need…food” I finally grunted, not wasting any energy to form a full sentence. Natsumi didn’t say anything in response; instead, she took a detour and headed towards a nearby okonomiyaki stall.

There is a god after all

I quickly grabbed a seat, making sure that I placed the guitars in a safe location, and ordered two portions of the largest meat okonomiyakis that the shop had. In retrospect, I probably should have ordered a smaller one first and used that to check the taste, but by that point, I was so hungry that I would have eaten the okonomiyaki even if it had dead rats in them. Natsumi, who was sitting right beside me, ordered a small vegetable okonomiyaki. “Not hungry?” I asked calmly, trying to break the ice. “I’m fine” Natsumi answered curtly and maintained her silent treatment. “Your treat, by the way.” I joked, trying to lighten the mood, which is nothing short of utterly depressing right now. “Yeah..you wasted enough money today” she murmured slowly.

…Well, so much for lightening the mood.

“It’s not wasted, it’s probably the best investment I have ever made!” Natsumi turned around and glared at me. “You are such an idiot, you know that…” She stated plainly, giving me an annoyed look. Now, I have never been, and prolly never will be, the short-tempered type, but even this is too much for me. “Wh-what? Idiot?? I spent 60 thousand yen and that’s all you can say?!! Can’t you think of something else…like, oh, I dunno, THANK YOU??” I shouted at her, unable to repress my voice any longer. “I didn’t ask for it!” Natsumi yelled back, both of us standing up now.

Two things were going through my head at that time, A, to passersby, it must’ve looked like I was sexually harassing Natsumi, and B, I obviously need to learn more about the inner workings of a girl’s brain. If possible.

“You are hopeless, you know that!” I said, exasperated. “Shut up, you’re the idiot!” I decided that continuing this conversation would have a disastrous effect on our already strained relationship, so I held my tongue and stayed quiet. Natsumi didn’t pursue the matter as well, and so we spent the rest of the afternoon chomping down on okonomiyaki, giving each other the silent treatment. The okonomiyaki was delicious, by the way, the best I have ever tasted in my life. Gotta come to this place again when I have the time.

April 12th, 17:57 PM, Shizuoka Station, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka

After a painfully long train ride, made even more painful by the hanging silence and tension in the air, we managed to return to the city. Natsumi’s house and mine are on two different directions, and I am in no mood to walk her home, screw gentlemanliness and all that crap, so I was about to hand her the two guitars and go back home when I suddenly remembered her father’s words. “Don’t come back here again!” The words echoed in my mind, and it seems that Natsumi felt the same way, as she was shuffling her feet, unsure of what to do.

“..Can you come home tonight?” I asked her. “I am not sure…” She was a strong girl, she always had been, but for once, I could see the uncertainty in her eyes. “….Do you have a place to stay then?” I asked her again. “I…am not sure” Natsumi repeated her statement.

Well this is turning out to be a really swell day.

“If..you really have no place to go to, you can stay to my place, at least for the night.” Natsumi turned around and looked at me in a weird way, her face blushing furiously. “Y-you pervert. I am not gonna sleep in a guy’s room, you idiot!” After hearing that, I can feel my facial temperature heating up too. “Th-that’s not what I meant, you retard, I was talking about my house, not my room!” I exclaimed, trying to make the situation less awkward. “O-oh…but where else can I sleep if I go to your house?” She asked slowly, regaining her composure. “My sister’s room, where else?” Natsumi pondered over the matter for a few seconds. “But then..where will your sister sleep?” She questioned me again. “Don’t sweat it, she can always sleep in my room, or even my parent’s room, if it’s really that bad.” Natsumi considered my offer again.

“You sure it’s absolutely ok for me to go to your house?”

“Yea, of course, what are friends for, right?”

“Your parents won’t mind..?”

“They’re not at home right now, mom is visiting a hot spring over the weekend and dad is on a business trip, so it should be fine.”

“You won’t do anything weird to me while I am sleeping, right?”

“Wh-what, what kind of guy do you think I am??”

“The perverted type.”

“Gahh, I changed my mind, go sleep under a bridge and die.”

“Ahaha, sorry, sorry.” Natsumi laughed at my statement. For the first time in the whole day, I was finally able to see her smiling face. Radiant, as always. “But..you are absolutely, positively, undoubtedly sure that it is fine for me to go to your house, right?” I gave her an irritated look. “Haven’t you been listening? Yes, it’s fine, so come on already. I’m going right now, so better make up your mind fast” Without waiting for her answer, I trudged down the road leading to my house, an excruciatingly heavy guitar case in each hand. Terrific. As expected, Natsumi came running towards me. “Hey…Ken,” She started. “You’re welcome” I cut her off, already knowing what she was going to say. “..Yeah” she said softly, quietly walking beside me.

April 12th, 19:57 PM, Temma-cho, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka

“…I knew it, you are a pervert after all! You planned this all along, didn’t you??!! PERV!” Natsumi gave me a disgusted look, filled with malcontent. “Wh-whattt? For the millionth time, I told you that I had no idea that this was gonna happen!” I complained. “LIES!!! How can you not have an idea that your sister and parents are gonna be gone??! You live in this house, don’t you?!” Natsumi retorted, not accepting my reasons so easily. “Well…yeah, but I never listen to anything they say, plus you saw the note, it was a spur-of-the-moment kinda thing with Hitomi!” I argued again.

How did we get into that situation, you ask? Well….basically, it’s because my fate loves uniformity. The night of the day must go on the same way as the day did...as in being completely unexpected and horrific. As soon as I reached the house, it became obviously clear that no one was present in my house. I called out my sister’s name for a few minutes, but no response was heard. Well…she was probably taking a bath, or so I reasoned, so after putting the guitars safely in my room, I went to the kitchen to get me and Nacchan something to drink, and then quickly settled down on the living room, watching TV and chatting with her.

5 minutes passed… she still hasn’t come out.

10 minutes passed….I called her name out again, but still no response

20 minutes passed….this is getting weird

So you know, being the attentive, caring older brother that I am, I decided to go check the bathroom…but there was nobody there. Well, that’s fine, I convinced myself, she is probably out buying some stuff or was relaxing in her room. But as I checked her room, right then and there, I knew that the day wasn’t gonna end well. Plastered on the door leading to her room was a small piece of paper, filled with the typically neat and easy-to-read handwriting of Hitomi.

Dear Nii-san

I am gonna be away for the night studying for Monday’s uber-difficult test, so take care of yourself, okay? ^^

P.S. There is food in the fridge, you know how to microwave something, right? If so, then great, if not, then, oh well, starve ^^

P.P.S I am locking my room, so don’t even think about going in there to do some creepy guy stuff, okay? ^^

From that note, I can conclude two things:

A. My sister could be a diabolically evil person when she wants to.

B. I am alone. In the house. With a girl. My age. Alone. Alone. ALONE!!!

…. Ehh…

OMGWTFBBQSAUCE, HOW COULD HAVE THIS HAPPENED????

I stared at the note in my hand, and walked back towards the living room. Natsumi is not gonna take the news well…

And so here I am, arguing over my pervy-ness with the vocalist of my band. “Fine, fine, I give, I’ll go sleep in the living room, you go use my bed.” I conceded, deciding that this time, being a gentleman is the right course of action to take. Natsumi was not in a very compromising mood though. “E-ehh, sleep in your bed?? What is THAT supposed to mean? You’re gonna do something weird to me, right??? Right?? I know all your pervy tricks, Ken, I am not gonna fall for that!” …Quit pushing it, dear, even gentlemen have their limits. “For the last time, I am not a PERVERT!!! So make up your mind, it’s getting late, if you don’t wanna stay here, then we gotta go find you a hotel.” I said exasperatedly. “H-hotel…but I don’t have enough money…” she murmured, ashamed of her own financial status.

“Then, shut up and go sleep. Just let me get my stuff first…” I half-expected Natsumi to complain again, but I guess showing her the gravity of her situation snapped her back to reality. I walked towards my room and cleaned up as much as I possibly could. I wasn’t expecting visitors, especially female ones, so my room was a total pigsty. Guitar picks were scattered everywhere, and my underwear was strewn all over the place. I picked those up and tossed them under the bed. Crude, but effective.

I picked up a few pieces of clothing and walked out of the room, only to find the front door to my house wide open and Natsumi….well…

Gone.

....Today sucks.

[Paladinoras]

Chapter 4 part Finale: Sakura グッバイ

Spoiler:

April 13th, 12:04 PM, Shizuoka High School, Shizuoka

“Wait, wait, so let me get this straight, you spent 60 THOUSAND Yen on a girl who you aren’t romantically interested in…” Kazuhiko said slowly. “But who you eventually fought for anyway, to the point where you now look like a bad piece of rotten meat, and said girl ended up sleeping in the same room as you..” Kazuhiko stopped for a moment. “Okay, that last part kinda shocked me a little bit, but never mind, miracles do happen after all. I mean, compared to turning water into wine and parting the Red Sea, having you stay in the same room with an attractive girl is one of God’s lesser miracles, but nonetheless, still amazing.” I gave a very venomous look towards Kazuhiko and threw a piece of bread at him, which he deftly caught and swallowed.

“Anyways, in light of the following events, I just have one single question to ask you..” Kazuhiko leaned in towards me and lowered his voice to barely a whisper. “Umm…Ken, you’re not …gay, right?”

“Wh-WHAT???” I spluttered loudly “HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT?”

“Well, I mean, let’s just look at the situation here, you had an attractive girl over in the same room as you, you just saved her life, and you didn’t take advantage of that? I mean, that’s even better than getting her drunk! ”

“YOU DUMBASS, NOT EVERYONE IN THE WORLD HAS YOUR SICK MINDSET!”

“No, not everyone, only healthy heterosexual males…which is why I had to ask..”

“HEALTHY HETEROSEXUAL MALES MY ASS, IT’S MORE LIKE CRAZY HORNY BASTARDS LIKE YOU!”

“Umm, could you like…kinda keep your voice down, you’re kinda attracting negative attention here…”

“SCREW Y---“ I paused and observed my surroundings, which have turned eerily silent. Everyone who had been noisily eating only a few moments ago have all stopped to glare at our table. “Umm…sorry.” I said meekly and sat back down, giving Kazuhiko a vicious stare. “Look what you made me do! And no, I am a healthy heterosexual male!” Kazuhiko merely grinned in his typical Kazuhiko-esque way at my reaction. “It’s so easy to get a rise out of you, you know Ken?” He told me calmly, that same stupid grin still plastered across his face. “Go die.” I barked, and proceeded to waste my anger out on a particularly hard piece of meat.

“Oh yeah, by the way, I forgot to tell you something.” Kazuhiko took out his famous black book and flipped through the pages. “I told you that Hinata-chan’s birthday is on the 22nd right?”

“…Yeah, so?” I said cautiously.

“Umm…it’s actually on the 17th, in other words…” He closed the book and gave me an apologetic look. “…this Friday.”

....

…….

“AAAARRRGHH” I screamed, grabbing Kazuhiko by the neck and strangling him. “YOU BLITHERING IDIOT, HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET THE DATES MESSED UP??!!!”

“I-I’m sorry. C-can’t breathe” Kazuhiko squeaked, trying to pull my arms away from his neck. “BASTARD, JUST GO DIE!” I roared, but released my hands eventually. With great reluctance.

While Kazuhiko gasped for air, I tried to absorb this new nugget of information that has suddenly befallen me. Okay, so he got the date wrong by five days…no biggie, I can always buy a present within that time. But right..I’m broke. Hmm, I wonder if I’ll be able to find a decent shop that sells the kinda stuff she likes tomorrow. But…oh yeah, I’m broke. Nevertheless, I still can’t decide whether to buy her that necklace thing or that gigantic stuffed doll I saw a few days ago. But....wait, I’m broke.
In conclusion, I’m broke.

“You’re broke, aren’t you” Kazuhiko echoed my thoughts perfectly. “It’s not hard to figure out, Ken, don’t give me that face” He continued, ignoring my scowling face. “Stratocasters ain’t cheap, even I know that, and you didn’t have the brainpower to consider paying in installments… If I had to make a wild guess, I’d say that you have about 4000 yen left in your wallet.”

He’s right…as usual.

“I know I’m right, Ken, I amaze myself sometime…now, I do realize that the latest piece of information that I have given you might have messed up your plans a little bit…so in retribution, I am prepared to lend you all of the money I have in my wallet right now.” Kazuhiko handed me his wallet, which appears to be an expensive and Italian, to me. This unexpected act of compassion from him stunned me. I mean, Kazuhiko actually doing something about his screw-ups?? Next thing we know, pigs will start to fly!

Grinning like a moron, I opened his wallet and took out all of the bills inside.

Which, in total, amounted to about 2800 yen.

Note to self: When it comes to that idiot, don’t even think about getting my hopes up.

“…There’s 2800 yen here, Kazu…” I told him matter-of-factly. “Well, 2853 yen, to be exact, I am pretty sure there are a few coins in the side pocket…” CRACK! The sound of my knuckles reverberated around our table, conveying my message clearly. “W-w-well, I didn’t know what you expect from me man, I-I mean, I ain’t Bill Gates ya know, I-I don’t have that much m-money, and …BYE!” After saying that, Kazuhiko ran away and disappeared almost instantly. Normally, I would have got up and chased after him…but my legs are busted and I can barely move. Last night’s injuries were still very very fresh…
Sighing loudly to myself, I inspected his wallet again. Hmm…maybe I can sell it for a decent sum of money if I meet the right buyer. Rifling through the side pockets, which had pictures and numbers of dozens of girls, I suddenly noticed that there is a small, nearly invisible zipper on the main pocket. I rubbed the inner material of the wallet gently….I can feel the unmistakable texture of paper within. Money perhaps?

My bandaged hands were way too large to be able to grip the zipper, so I borrowed a hair-clip from one of the girls in my class and slipped the small needle into the tiny hole located in the upper part of the zipper. Pulling it slowly, careful not to dislodge the hairpin, I finally discovered what Kazuhiko might have truly meant, when he said “all the money in his wallet”. For in that hidden enclave, half a dozen 10 thousand yen bills were present, just itching to be used.

“Hmph, I guess he’s not all bad after all.” I muttered to myself, taking those precious bills and safely transferring them to my own wallet.

Now…what to buy for Natsumi…

April 16th, 17:04 PM, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka

“So basically, you have no idea what present to give her..” Kazuhiko’s voice crackled over the phone lines. “And after I gave you all that money? You disappoint me, Ken..”

“Well, I can’t help it dude!! Seems like you know a lot more about her than me anyways, with all your research, sorry, stalking, so it’s only logical that I’ll ask you.” I responded to his statement testily.
“You know, Ken, that bet is kinda stupid, if you really have no interest in her then don’t bother trying.” Kazuhiko suddenly made a shocking statement. “I mean, it was a bet we made when we were young, don’t really matter. I was just hoping that you’d get a girlfriend before the end of your high school career you sad, sad soul.”

I thought about what he said for a while. Why…am I even doing this? Do I really like that girl, or was it just out of necessity? Was a stupid, immature, bet really the only thing that is motivating me to do something like this? Am I that shallow that I would chase after a girl just to please my own ego? The questions which I really should have asked myself months ago suddenly rushed into my mind. Are my emotions really that unbearably pathetic?

“…From that silence, I see that you are thinking of the matter deeply.” Kazuhiko sighed loudly, the sound coming off as static through the phone lines. “Maybe I’m the worst person to hear this from, but hey, chasing after a girl who you have no feelings for is like trying to buy a Ferrari, you are probably not gonna get one in the end, and you would have wasted a lot of time trying...”


“…So if you don’t feel anything when you look at her, why force it.” Kazuhiko finished what just could be the first time that I have ever heard him speak so seriously. He sighed again. “Well, okay then, I take it you won’t be going after he—“.“No.” I suddenly cut him off. “I am not as shallow as you, bastard. I don’t know when it happened, but I am pretty serious about this, so don’t bail on me now.” I told him firmly. I can hear Kazuhiko snorting from the other side of the line. “Well, aren’t we the bloody romantic…” he muttered. “Fine, leave it all to me. I’ll buy the present for her, all you have to do is give it to her when the time comes.”

“W-wait, I have all your money, how can you buy anything for her??” I asked Kazuhiko quickly, taken aback by his previous statement.

“Geez, Ken, if I had to spend 60 000 yen on each girl I wanted to date, I’ll be wearing my underwear right now, it’s the thought that counts.” Kazuhiko explained in a rather annoyingly cocky tone.

“So you’re just saying you’re cheap, right?”

“Effective money usage, Ken, not cheap. Anyways, I gotta go, I’ll set things up, no worries.” After saying that, Kazuhiko disconnected, probably off to another one of his insane escapades. I looked morosely at the phone screen and sighed. This whole relationship thing is NOT easy. Suddenly the phone rang again, it was Kazuhiko.

Weird, he doesn’t usually call someone twice within a short space of time. And a guy at that too.

“Yea, what’s up?” I questioned him quickly, expecting a rather grim response, like he is too broke or is in a bar fight, or one of the girls he dated has a boyfriend with a 4th degree black belt and Kazuhiko is getting the beating of a lifetime as we speak.

“Sorry forgot to ask, that vocalist of your band…Natsumi Kuroyuki was it? She sounds HOTTTT, can I have her num—“ I disconnected the call immediately. It would be a cold, cold, freezing day in hell before I introduce my precious vocalist to that insane girl-consuming predator. Walking home, I cannot help but feel apprehensive for the coming day. The days has passed me by quickly, and tomorrow is already Natsumi’s birthday…what surprises will that day hold for me? I sincerely hope that Kazuhiko’s brain, for one miraculous moment, functions as how a human being’s should, and buy a proper present for her.

..Please?

April 17th, 06:30 AM, Shizuoka High School, Shizuoka

So here we are. The promised day. The day to end all days. Probably one of the most important days in the 17 years that I have spent on this earth. Well, okay, I am being too dramatic there, but yeah, today is very important. And I rest all of my hopes upon the shoulders of my best friend, Kazuhiko!

My god, I didn’t realize how hopeless that sounded… Well…Kazuhiko hasn’t disappointed me so far, well, not spectacularly at least, so it should all work out. Should.

Which is why I am going insane right about now. Kazuhiko had promised to come earlier in the morning to give me the present which he had purchased, but it’s half an hour before the school starts and he hasn’t even showed up yet! Damn him, I should’ve known that I can’t rely on him! I’ve seen dead people who are more punctual than him! I need…I need a plan B!! But…I haven’t bought anything and I just can’t skip class, there is this major history test on the third period! Oh come on, Ken, history grades or the girl you like, it’s not a very difficult choice. But then again, this test is 20% of the final grade, if I miss it, how am I gonna make up for the lost marks. Oh god, I am in a moral dilemma here…

Thankfully, Kazuhiko walked through the door at that exact moment. Perfect timing too, 5 more minutes and I would have mentally imploded. “Here.” Kazuhiko handed me a rather large plastic bag. “All you need is there.” I peeked inside the plastic bag, which contained a large, meticulously-wrapped, pink box. “What’s inside?” I asked him. “That’s for her to know and for you to never find out.” Kazuhiko told me mockingly. “But I guess you’ll see for yourself, she will probably open the box in front of you, like she usually does.”

Deciding to trust his judgement, I safely stored the plastic bag underneath my table and took my seat, ensuring that my bag and feet are strategically placed so that no one can directly see the plastic bag. The birthday girl herself hasn’t arrived, which is great, because I didn’t have to make up an excuse about why Kazuhiko gave me a large plastic bag in the early hours of the morning.

And so the day starts…

April 17th, 12:30 PM, Shizuoka High School, Shizuoka

PRRINNNGG!!! The piercing sound of the bell signaled the beginning of our lunch break. I had pondered deeply about the best time of the day to give her the present, and I whittled it down to two possible candidates: During our lunch break, or after school hours. After school had been my primary choice when I came to the sudden realization that I have no idea where she lives or when she leaves the school compound. I can’t very well stalk her all day, so it’s either now or never!

Problem is, I have no idea where she eats lunch. I really should think things through next time…if there IS a next time, that is. However, I do have a pretty confident idea of where she’ll be…. It should be at the place where we first talked to each other…the roof.

Praying to the gods that I am right, I rushed up the stairs leading to the roof, the plastic bag in my hands feeling a lot heavier than it normally should. To be perfectly honest, I have no other idea of where she’ll be besides the roof, so if she’s not here, I would be forced to go on a wild goose chase.

Fortunately, Natsumi Hinata was indeed at the roof, standing at the exact same spot 2 months ago when I first truly met her, staring serenely at the expansive view before her. I felt kind of guilty disturbing this peaceful scene, but heyy, it’s for the greater good!! “Umm, excuse me, Hinata-san..?” I started, trying to attract her attention. Natsumi turned and was mildly surprised to see me there, her eyes widening slightly. “Oh, Yamazaki-kun, what are you doing here?” She asked me calmly. “Oh, well, uhh, I was looking for you, and I figured you would be here.” I answered honestly.

“Oh?” Natsumi ‘s face clearly showed her confusion “And just why would you look for me? If it was really important, you could have just called me you know. That’s what modern technology is for, right?”

Oh…right, why didn’t I think of that. Damn dysfunctional brain…

“Uhh…right.. Anyways!” I decided to change the topic, before she figured out that I was a complete moron. “It’s your birthday right, Hinata-san? Happy Birthday!” I said in an enthusiastic tone, handing her the large plastic bag I was holding. “And of course…your present!”

“Oh..” Natsumi was visibly shocked, but pleasantly so. She gave a small smile and chuckled. “I totally forgot it is my birthday today… You are the first person to wish me today, you know, Yamazaki-kun? With a present too! Well…thank you! I really appreciate it!” She flashed me another one of her charming smile, and I swear to god, I would literally buy her a present each day just to see that smile again. It would be worth every bloody cent.

“So…what’s inside of this thing?” Natsumi asked me while inspecting the box carefully. “Umm…it’s a secret! You’ll just have to open it and find out for yourself!” I told her confidently, trying to hide the fact that I am about as clueless as her about the contents of that present box.

“Mmm, mind if I open it right now?”

“Uhh…sure, I guess, presents are meant to be opened, right?” I gave a nervous laugh. Despite of myself, I am actually quite curious about what was inside that box.

Natsumi deftly unwrapped the box and lifted the lid, revealing…..mangas..?

Seriously, Kazu? The best idea you could think of as a present for a 17 year old girl are volumes of mangas? A shonen manga at that?

…I am so gonna kill you. If I survive Natsumi’s wrath, that is..

Natsumi was speechless; she must’ve felt deeply insulted that I gave her such a crappy present. Her mouth was wide open like a fish out of water, but no words came out. Is it that bad???

“Umm..Hinata-san, about the present..” I tried to apologize, but she cut me short. “W-what is…this??!!!” She exclaimed loudly. “W-well…uhh, I can explain...”

I can’t…actually.

“Th-this is…” I braced myself for impact; the words coming out of her mouth won’t be very pleasant… “AWESOMEE!!!” She yelled out excitedly

“HOW DID YOU KNOW I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS MANGA VOLUME FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS???” She took one volume out, looking at it gleefully. It was well…Bleach. THE Bleach, the manga about Shinigamis and Hollows and Zanpakutos. It turns out that she had been an avid fan of the series, but her collection lacks the manga volumes 6 to 15…and that was what the box contained. Well, and a plushie of Kon, the adorable mascot of the Bleach series.

“THANK YOUUUU, YAMAZAKI-KUN, THIS IS THE BEST PRESENT ANYONE HAS EVER GIVEN MEEE!!!” She said eagerly, unable to hold back her joy.

Then, she hugged me.

It had to be one of the top 5 moments of the year so far, definitely, if not THE best. Her sweet scent, the feel of her soft skin against mine…my sensory organs are getting overloaded.

Which is why I was more than a little disappointed when she released me from her hug, blushing furiously. I didn’t blush though, I’m proud to say. Well, that’s probably because my brain was overloaded and couldn’t order my face to blush. I must’ve looked like an idiot…seems like whenever I am around Natsumi I make myself look stupid. But hey, it was worth each and every second.

I spent the rest of the lunch break talking with her, enjoying the moment.

April 17th, 17:30 PM, Minami-cho, Shizuoka

I whistled as I walked along the street leading to my house. And why shouldn’t I? Everything had worked out beautifully; it couldn’t have gone better if I had planned it beforehand. Natsumi’s happy, I’m happy, everybody’s happy!!! Suddenly my phone rang loudly, signaling the arrival of a new mail. I flipped open the lid and looked at the sender, it was Kazuhiko.

<<From: Kazuhiko>>
<<Subject: I know>>
<<I’m awesome, right? Don’t need to say it. ^^>>
<<Message End>>

…. For once I agree with him…yes you are, Kazu.

Yes, you are.

[Paladinoras]

Chapter 5 part 1 – Aurum Initium

Spoiler:

May 1st, 12:24 PM, Shizuoka High School, Shizuoka

“No way I’m going if it’s gonna be a sausagefest.” Kazuhiko stated plainly, much to the dismay of our school’s star shooting guard, Nagayuki Sanada. “Oh, come on, mann, it’s gonna be epic!!! It’ll just be me, you, Ken here, and a few other basketball team members, it’s our BONDING time!!!” Nagayuki said enthusiastically, enthusiasm which didn’t transfer to Kazuhiko unfortunately. “Uhh…well, you can have your umm…”bonding” sessions with them as much as you want, but me, I need female contact.” Nagayuki laughed uncomfortably, obviously somewhat disturbed by Kazuhiko’s comment. Well, I don’t blame him, he disturbs me sometimes and I have known him for over 10 years now. “But there are only reservations for 6 people, see, so if we bring girls along…” Nagayuki tried to reason, but of course, reason has never worked well with my friend. “Then cut three guys and bring three girls. How hard is that??” Nagayuki pondered over Kazu’s suggestion for a while, before nodding slowly and muttering some incoherent words. “Well, fine then, but I have to approve the girls you bring, okay?”

“Hmph, I guess I’ll go with that. But I swear, if you bring ugly girls, I’ll…” Kazuhiko trailed off, leaving us to finish the sentence with our imaginations.

Wow, does my opinion count? At all? Did these guys just completely ignore me? Damn it.

How did this happen you ask? Well...I am not sure either. Kazuhiko and I were casually walking to our usual lunch table at the cafeteria…only to find Nagayuki sitting there, waving his hands like a madman. Both of us weren’t sure what he wanted, so we decided to hear him out for a while. It turns out that Nagayuki is planning a trip to Fujiyoshi, the reputedly beautiful, yet incredibly expensive bath house in the northern part of Shizuoka, for May 3rd to 6th, a.k.a Golden Week. I have never been there myself; my family has neither the money nor the time, so this came as a major shock to me.

Kazuhiko was skeptical though. “Who’s…going?” He had asked hesitantly when Nagayuki finished his explanation. “Oh…just 6 people, me, you, Ken there, and three of my favourite members from the basketball team.” Nagayuki had stated passionately. “Wait, who’s paying for all this? Onsens ain’t cheap.” I had interjected, finances being my main worry. “Oh, no need to worry; I have connections, so we’ll be able to stay there for free.” Nagayuki had planned this entire thing out well, I see. Moments before I was about to say yes, Kazuhiko added his perverted, ego-centric opinion…and that’s how the whole thing started.

“So who do ya plan to take?” I asked Kazuhiko as soon as we were alone. “Hmph…haven’t really decided, but it’s pretty obvious who are you gonna take right?” Kazuhiko grinned and playfully elbowed me in the chest. “Yeah, yeah..” I muttered. Natsumi would be my first pick obviously, and he knows that all too well. “Maybe I’ll bring one of those insanely slutty types…should be fun seeing how they are when they are in the onsen.” Kazuhiko said dreamily, god knows what is going on inside that head of his. “Bring someone reasonable, for crying out loud. Someone who’s not psychotic.”

“And just what are we talking about here?” A voice suddenly spoke out from behind me. “Oh shit” I whispered, and rightly so, for at that exact moment, a sharp blow landed on my back. Painful, obviously. “Jesus, Pres, do you really have to greet people like that..?” I groaned, my face twisted in pain.

“Oh come on now, that’s just how I greet people who I like!”

“Gee, I’d hate to see how you greet people you hate…”

“Crybaby.”

“Trap.”

“I see no love is lost between you two…” Kazuhiko said calmly, gleefully watching our stupid banter.

The owner of the voice was none other than Mayumi Azai, my Class President, and an old childhood friend of mine. Well, childhood friend would be an understatement really, more like…babyhood friend, if such a thing exists. The both of us had known each other before we could even say a single word, so needless to say, we are close friends. Or well, were, at least, somehow we had drifted apart since I entered high school. But we still hang out on the odd occasion, so I guess we remained close.

And from all the years that I have known her, she had developed a habit for punching me in the back as a form of greeting. Painful, totally un-feminine, and honestly, kinda emasculating, but nevertheless, she kept on doing it. To my eternal regret. However, take nothing away from her, Mayumi is one of those girls guys can’t help but hate and love at the same time. I guess you can say she’s gorgeous, although I honestly can’t see it, gets amazing grades, has been the class and student council president for two straight years, plus she is pretty tall, at 168 cm. Yet her domineering personality and rather…sadistic treatment of guys makes it hard for any level-headed male to get close to her. I am special in that sense, I suppose.

“Oh, Bakazu, you are still alive, I hoped that you would be dead by now.” Mayumi told Kazuhiko emotionlessly. “Ahh, yes, sorry dear President, but I won’t die yet… I am still waiting for the time when you turn dere-dere and tell me that you love me with all your heart.” Kazuhiko replied nonchalantly, obviously baiting her. “Well..in that case..” Mayumi’s voice suddenly turned to an incredibly cute tone. “I love you, Kazuhiko-kun!”

For better or for worse though, Kazuhiko was still standing, fine and dandy. “Tsch, I thought you said you’ll die.” Kazuhiko gave a small chuckle and grinned. “And I will, Mayumi darling, in 40 years or so, at least.” Kazuhiko calmly commented. “You’re hopeless…” grumbled my childhood friend. Thankfully, they couldn’t argue any further, as a member of the student council suddenly called on her to ask for her signature for some official documents. She quickly said goodbye and left, clearly taking her position very seriously.

“She’ll be the end of you, that girl.” Kazuhiko commented as soon as she was out of earshot. “She’ll kill you a whole lot sooner before she kills me.” I replied, grinning sardonically. “True, but she meets you a whole lot more, so the chances even out.” We both laughed at his comment and was about to enter our classroom when Nagayuki suddenly appeared behind us, draping his hands between our shoulders. “DUDE, YOU KNOW MAYUMI??” He asked excitedly. I am not exactly sure which one of us he is referring to…but eitherway, this is getting weird. “DUDE, ever heard of PERSONAL SPACE??!” Kazuhiko yelled out in disgust, yanking Nagayuki’s long arms away from his body. I followed suit.

“Never mind that!!! You guys know her?” Kazuhiko asked again with the same excited tone. “Uhh…yeah, she’s a childhood friend of mine…why?” I questioned him carefully. He gave a gigantic grin, looking very much like a complete idiot, and unexpectedly gave me a bear hug. “THIS IS PERFECT!!! THE CHANCE THAT I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!” he exclaimed loudly, swinging me around like a rag doll. “L-let me go, you insane freak!” I shouted at him. This is totally attracting negative attention on me. “Oh, sorry, sorry!” Nagayuki quickly let me go and I fell down on the ground, gasping for air.

“What…the…hell…was…that…for…?” I panted, between my greedy gulps for sweet oxygen. “Well…can we do this somewhere more private?” Nagayuki asked me quietly, pointing to a secluded corner in the classroom. “Fine, fine..” I quickly stood up and walked over to the designated spot, waiting for his explanation. “Umm…I really shouldn’t be telling you this, but I have fallen in love with the class president!” Nagayuki announced proudly.

My god, I think that someone rammed a basketball to his head. Hard.

“Uhh…you sure about that..? Like, you are positive that it’s HER right? Mayumi Azai, right?” I asked again, just to make sure that I was not hallucinating from lack of oxygen. “Yes, definitely.” Nagayuki reaffirmed his statement. “Ever since this school year started, when we have been given the amazing privilege of being led by Mayumi-chan…I have fallen for her beauty, her brains, and of course, her PERSONALITY!!!”

….Okay, he MUST be insane.

“Well…uhh, yeah…about that…” I started, trying to point out that while Mayumi is indeed beautiful and smart, she is an insane, masochistic , honorary-dude-kinda-girl, but Nagayuki interrupted me before I finished my sentence. “Her very presence, it’s like, like, a cool breeze of wind in the oppressive heat of summer! A gust of cold air flowing straight through my heart, opening spaces I didn’t even know existed!”

What, you’re poetic now??? Really??? For her??? This…this…this is what people call simple love, isn’t it? He is a simple kinda guy, so I guess he has a simple kinda love. Simple…as in how a lost puppy would fall in love at the first person it sees, even if the person turns out to be an insane dog-rapist.

“I guess…you want me to ask her to come with us to Fujiyoshi then..?” Nagayuki’s stupid grin became even larger and nodded his head repeatedly. “Well, I’ll try my best, but no promises there..” I told him half-heartedly. “THANK YOU MAN!!!! I OWE YOU BIG TIME FOR THIS!!!!!” He shook my hand profusely and walked back to his seat cheerfully, whistling a TV showtune. I swear, that man is a basketball genius, but he’s a complete idiot when it comes to females. Sighing and scratching my head in wonder, I took my seat beside Kazuhiko and waited patiently for the day to end.

May 1st, 15:30 PM, Shizuoka High School, Shizuoka

“YESS!!! Another boring day over!!!” Kazuhiko yelled loudly, as the bell signaling the end of school rang loudly across the halls. “Oh shaddup Toyama, you are the exact reason why Japanese teens these days are degenerating even further. All you do is play, play, play, and you girls, ohhh, don’t even get me started with you people! Seems like your skirts exponentially get shorter every year that passes by!! I bet you are purposely doing this to attract stares from any random guys that passes by, huh??!!! My god, you are no different from those Kabukicho show girls who…” My homeroom teacher, the much-despised Shikanosuke Majima continued to rant, but no one was actually listening, in fact, some of the braver students have managed to leave while Majima was too engrossed in his social criticisms.

After 5 minutes of continuous ranting, god knows how he can last that long, he finally released us, muttering to himself as he walked back to the teacher’s lounge, probably coming up with some new way to show how much he despises us. Bastard. Eitherway, I walked lazily to the front gate of the school, picked up my shoes and yawned loudly. “Sleepy there, Yamazaki-kun?” Natsumi Hinata’s sweet voice suddenly assaulted my ears. “Yeah, I guess our awesome homeroom teacher is trying to motivate us in his own special, awesome way, but my brain generally prefers praises over neurotic rants.” I said jokingly. Natsumi gave a small chuckle and put on her shoes. “Hey, can you walk with me for a while?” She suddenly made a startling request.

….Today is a beautiful day.

“Well, sure, I don’t mind…where to?” I asked her, trying to hide my excitement at the prospect of spending time with a girl I admire.

“Mmmm….my house, if you don’t mind, I need help carrying these.” Natsumi lifted up a large bag of groceries. “I don’t think I’ll be able to bring everything on my own, so lend me a hand, will ya? Well, actually, my house is a bit too far, just the station would be fine.”

“Oh, sure, it’s not a problem.” I lifted up the bag of groceries and walked out of the school together with Natsumi. Beautiful day indeed.

“Soo, Hinata-san, where do you live?” I asked her.

“Oh, in Shimizu-ku, not that far away really, about a 10 minute walk from the station.”

“Ahh…you live with your parents there?”

Natsumi remained silent for a while before finally answering. “No, I live alone.” She said curtly, and even my intoxicated brain can sense that I shouldn’t pursue this matter further.

“I see..” I muttered, and walked on silently, trying to enjoy the moment while it lasted. Then it suddenly struck me, this is one of the best opportunities I will ever get to ask her about the onsen trip thing!

But…when am I gonna get the opening to bring the matter up? I mean, I can’t just talk about it from nowhere, I need a starting point, a base of operations from where I can launch my offensive towards the subject matter! Sides, I don’t think the words will come out properly if I ask straightaway; my mind is not in a very…stable state right now. And I don’t have much time left either…both of us reached the station already, and her train was minutes away from arriving!

“By the way, what were you talking about with Sanada-kun earlier in the morning?” Natsumi suddenly asked, giving me the opportunity that I so badly desired! I knew that the fates would pull through for me! THANK YOU, NATSUMI-CHAANNN!!!

“Oh, well, he was asking me to go on a trip with him for Golden Week.” I replied casually, trying to sound calm. “Interesting...where to, if I may ask?” Natsumi questioned me again. “Fujiyoshi, that place on the northern part of Shizuoka, I heard that it’s quite relaxing.” I answered carefully, promoting the place while not sounding too enthusiastic. “Oww, isn’t it expensive there?”

“Pretty expensive, but Sanada-kun said that he would cover all the living expenses and whatnot, so I guess it wouldn’t cost TOO much.”

“Wow, Sanada-kun is a pretty awesome guy, eh… Who’s going anyway?”

THERE! THE OPENING! TIME FOR A FULL ASSAULT!!!!!

“Well, we haven’t decided yet. Toyama-kun and I is a definite, but we need three girls, so I was wondering who I should bring…” I stopped for a while and looked at Natsumi.

NOW! Time for the killer blow!

“You wanna come along with us, Hinata-chan?” I popped the question instantaneously, not sounding too casual, but not too desperate either. THIS IS PERFECT!

Natsumi looked at me for a while, deep in thought. “You sure you don’t wanna be alone with Sanada-kun? You two looked pretty cozy just now.” Natsumi answered back jokingly with a large smile on her face. Well, at least I thought she was joking.

“Wh-what???!!!” I spluttered. “WE ARE NOT LIKE THAT! I AM NOT LIKE THAT! I LIKE GIRLS, OKAY?? FEMALES, I AM HETEROSEXUAL! COMPLETELY STRAIGHT AND NORMAL!” I yelled out loudly, visibly flustered.

Natsumi laughed loudly at my reaction. “Ahahahahaha, my god, Yamazaki-kun, it’s so easy to get a reaction out of you, you know?” She poked my head with her index finger, pushing it back. “You should fix that character trait of yours, you know? Girls don’t like neurotic guys.”

“Well, then don’t say stupid things to me!” I retorted, pretending to be annoyed. “Hahahaha, fine, fine, sorry, but it was too good a chance to resist” Natsumi managed to say in between her laughing sprees.

But of course, one must always find an opportunity in the darkest of moments… and in this case, I have the perfect solution. “Hmph, apology not accepted!” I told her firmly. “To make up for your… transgressions, you are stuck with me for the rest of Golden Week! Oh yes, you heard me, you are going on that trip with me and there’s nothing you can do about it!” Natsumi stopped laughing and looked at me straight in the eyes. “How does calling you gay equal me going with you on a trip…?” I waved my hand about dismissively. “Silence, knave, your arguments will not be heard!” Natsumi sulked for a while but soon, that same mischievous smile that decorated her face just seconds ago returned. “Weeeeelllll, okay then, I’ll go with you, but you know what, Yamazaki-channn?” She asked me in a falsely cute voice. “Wh..at..?” I asked her suspiciously, my instincts telling me that I won’t like her response very much.

She told me.

And I didn't like her response, not one bit.

[Mittwoch]

Uh, wee, I actually managed to finish this before my head would roll cozily in my pillow and drift away to sweet slumber. I must say, you're one damn of a writer, and even though this resembles an anime story, I don't mean one in particular, just as style, I still find it very intriguing and it did captivate me.

It is a very humorous piece and I'm enthralled by the colorful and very wide-angled speech.

I'm looking forward to new chapters! Well done.

[Paladinoras]

Ahaha, thanks for your nice words man, it makes me happy that some people enjoy what I write. And umm, well, I have been told that my story is basically "anime on words", but I guess I'll take that as a compliment, because animes are indeed part of my inspiration, and being able to translate that on paper is a great achievement for me personally. XD

[Paladinoras]

Chapter 5 part 2 – Nagayuki Gets Impaled

Spoiler:

May 3rd, 13:25 PM, Fujiyoshi, Futo, Ito-City, Shizuoka

“Welcome to Fujiyoshi guys!” Nagayuki proudly announced as soon as we exited the train station, a grueling 8 hour trip from our native Shizuoka City. Needless to say, most of us weren’t in a good mood. “BASTARD! 8 HOURS??? 8 HOURS? YOU WOKE ME UP AT 5 IN THE MORNING TO SIT ON A TRAIN FOR 8 HOURS???!!! I CAN’T FEEL MY ASS RIGHT NOW!” Kazuhiko yelled out, his eyes bloodshot, and his usually carefully prepared exterior completely scrapped. He has never been, and never will be, I suppose, a morning person, and you can pretty much deduce that from looking at him now. “Dying already, Bakazu?” Mayumi Azai, our vicious class president, mocked him. “If I knew it was this easy, I would have arranged for a class trip to Tokyo by train a longggg time ago.”

And yes, Mayumi has indeed joined us in our trip. I had expected her to refuse whole-heartedly and break Nagayuki’s heart, but she was instead….kinda enthusiastic about going. Nagayuki was elated, short to say. This is probably why he isn’t exhausted at all right now.

“Ahahaha, funny there, Azai-san.” Nagayuki laughed rather too desperately. Mayumi pretty much ignored him though and read the nearby signpost, which had directions to the onsen. From the looks of it, it shouldn’t be too amazingly far away, but I can’t be sure. “Approximately how long does it take to go from here to the onsen..?” I asked Nagayuki. “Oh, not that far away, about 45 minutes I think.”

….Awkward silence.

“YOU UNIMAGINABLE BASTARD!!! 45 MINUTES!! I CAN’T EVEN FEEL MY LEGS!” Kazuhiko protested loudly, apparently not having enough strength to walk, but enough to scream his lungs out. “Welll, it IS a basketball camp originally…what did you expect? This is supposed to be a warm-up exercise.” Nagayuki explained calmly, unfazed by Kazuhiko’s childish rants. “Sidesss, the time will pass by fleetinglyyy, we have good company after all!” That stupid hopeful look he had when I told him that Mayumi was coming, decorated his face once again. “45 minutes ehh…well, good luck with that, Yamazaki-kun!” Natsumi patted me on my shoulders and threw her incredibly oversized luggage at me. “There is a lot of fragile and expensive stuff in there, so don’t carry it roughly. I might get mentally traumatized if any of em breaks, okay??” That false sugary-sweet cute voice…oh, how painful and powerful it is.

….Oh sweet Natsumi, you are far too evil. Who in this world could have reverse-blackmailed someone to carrying their bags for her…? Right after I had asked her to come with me for this trip, she had replied simply that either I carry her bags for her or she can’t possibly go. After the initial offer, I can’t possibly back down!! It’s my manly pride! And so here I am now, carrying one large camping backpack and a huge, grossly oversized trunk filled with god-knows-what. This seems wrong somehow…

“I am not gonna walk for another 45 minutes. Period.” Kazuhiko finally stated, his tone flat and dead. “Awwwhh, is my dear Kazu-chan tired? Do you need me to carry some of your bags for you?” crooned Kaede. Oh right, well, I guess even SHE needs an introduction. True to his word, Kazuhiko brought the single most airheaded and bimbotic girl he could possibly find. Her job here is simply to do one thing, massively boost Kazuhiko’s ego. And in that respect, she does own. Kaede Rikako is pretty simple to imagine really, just imagine the single most beautiful girl you have ever met, and then think of the single most mentally deficient person you have ever met. Combine the two together and you will roughly have an image of how she is. Oh, and of course, she needs to dress in the sluttiest way possible.

“No, no, it’s okay, I’m just exhausted.” Kazuhiko reassured her, using the last shred of decency he has left in his tank I suppose. “Isn’t there a way around this? No buses? Or trains? Or hell even taxis?? I’ll literally give my whole wallet away just to not walk!” Nagayuki merely shook his head. “This place is pretty much deserted, buses do come by every once in a while, but nothing’s coming for the next two hours or so.”

“Gah! It’s Golden Week! How are people not supposed to come here for Golden WEEK!!!” Kazuhiko whined again, unwilling to accept his fate. “It’s a friggin onsen right?? Aren’t people supposed to come here for rest and relaxation or something??? IT SHOULD BE CROWDED! BUSES!”

“I completely agree!” Kaede chirped in, obviously not having any idea what the conversation is about, but just supporting Kazuhiko for the hell of it.

“Well…I guess if you feel THAT much strongly about it, I can arrange some transport…” Nagayuki muttered to himself for a while. “Gimme a minute, let me make a phone call for a bit.” He deftly took out his cellphone and dialed a number. “Hello? Yes, is this the Fujiyoshi onsen? May I talk to Suzaku please?”

A short pause.

“Ah, Suzaku-kun, one of our members has fallen sick because of the trick, can you arrange for someone to pick us up here? Yeah, right in front of the station. Sorry for all the trouble, and thanks.” Nagayuki disconnected the call and turned towards us. “A car is coming to pick all of us up, so just wait patiently.”

“YES!” Kazuhiko exclaimed joyfully. Kaede clapped her hands excitedly as well. Reminds me of that bunny I saw at the petting zoo when I was a kid… Cute, but completely clueless.

May 3rd, 15:05 PM, Fujiyoshi, Futo, Ito-City, Shizuoka

“Oh…my…god..” I said slowly, in awe of the hotel I would be staying in. It wasn’t incredibly large, not like those massive hotels one would see in pictures of Las Vegas, in fact, this place is not even a hotel, it’s an inn, but it has that distinct Japanese charm and quality. There are no TVs in the gigantic entrance hall, only simple chairs and couches, most filled by chatting guests. The view is spectacular, and the sea can be seen from any part of the inn, but of course the main spectacle has to be the massive rotenburo, or outdoor spring, filled with dozens of people bathing away.

“Welcome to Fujiyoshi. I take it that you are Sanada-san’s companions?” A formal voice suddenly spoke from behind us. I turned around to face the owner of the voice. It was a young man dressed in a neatly tied kimono, probably not any older than me, pretty short, about my mouth-level I’d say, and he is well, incredibly underwhelming, to tell you the truth. I expected a tall, formal business-man-esque person to come greet us, but I guess you can’t judge a book by the cover. “Ohh, Suzaku-kun, you don’t need to be so formal with us!!!” Nagayuki laughed raucously and patted him on the back. Suzaku, I guess that’s his name, seems to be used to these kinds of situations. “I am afraid I do, Sanada-san, as long as you are here, you are guests of this establishment, and therefore you shall be treated as such.” He stated firmly, curbing Nagayuki’s enthusiasm. “Psch, you’re hopeless! This is why no one believes you when you say you are 17!” Nagayuki protested.

“Yes, well, eitherway,” The man…well, teenager I guess, called Suzaku turned to face us, completely ignoring Nagayuki. “Welcome to the Fujiyoshi Ryokan, my name is Nichijou Suzaku, and I will be your host for the remainder of your trip. Pleasure to meet you.” He bowed deeply.

Well…awkward much? This man is stiffer than a dried out wooden board.

“For the ladies, please go to the receptionist counter and change into your yukatas, which are provided by us of course, and as for the gentlemen, you may choose to use a kimono or proceed to wear your normal clothes, although it is strongly recommended that you use the kimono in order to get the authentic Japanese experience.” Suzaku told all of us calmly. “Once you are done, please proceed to your rooms to check if anything is missing, your luggages will precede you, no worries.” Suzaku then pulled out a folded piece of paper from inside his kimono, and handed each of us one copy. “That is a map of our establishment, please do not hesitate to use it to find your rooms and to traverse around here. I am afraid I must be off soon, so I cannot accompany you, but do enjoy your time here.” After those final parting words, Suzaku walked off towards the onsen, followed by a few waitresses.

“Wow…I guess he is top dog of this place eh..” I said, honestly quite shocked that a kid my age could be running an onsen so smoothly. “Hahaha, he does have that effect on people sometime… Suzaku is the son of the owner, see, so he helps out here from time to time. Wouldn’t believe that he is in the same grade as us, eh?” Nagayuki said, a hint of admiration in his tone. “Anyways, let’s go to the room already, don’t you wanna check it out??” He excitedly ran off towards the halls, not even stopping to look at the map Suzaku gave him. I guess he must be pretty confident with his memory…

5 Minutes Later

“Here we are guys.” Nagayuki said as we reached a large traditional sliding door, fitting the overall theme of the inn, pure, untainted tradition.

“Are you…sure?” Kazuhiko asked suspiciously. “I mean, you just dashed off without looking at this map, how are we supposed to know we’re in the right place.”

“Oh come on now, I’ve been a regular customer here for the past three years! Suzaku always registers me in the same room every single year, it’s sort of our little tradition.” Nagayuki assured us.

“Well, I guess the worst thing that can happen is that we go in the wrong room and get stared at for being impolite…” I reached out for the door handle. “So we might as well try our luck!” I slid the door open aside, and for the umpteenth time in my very unfortunate life, I didn’t realize just how wrong I could be. Getting stared at wasn’t the worst possible thing that could happen, not even close. More like the opposite really.

For all three of us couldn’t help but just stand there in the hallway and stare at our very beautiful, very smart, very shocked, and very naked class president standing still in the middle of the room. Well, okay, not COMPLETELY naked, she was still wearing her undergarments after all, but in the end, the overall outcome was no different. Three guys, almost-naked-girl, what else could happen? We just stared on in shock, none of us managing to formulate a proper sentence. Mayumi was also too surprised to be embarrassed, angry, or any combination of the move. Silence ensued for what appeared to be an eternity, before Kazuhiko made an atypical Kazuhiko comment, i.e, brainless and having very painful consequences.

“Wow, Pres’ got a killer body.” He remarked. That single statement was enough to snap Mayumi back to her senses, which meant severely painful repercussions for us. “YOU PERVERTS!” she yelled out, the colour of her face turning bright red, and hurled anything she could get her hands on towards us.

Good news: There weren’t that many things around her to throw at us. Bad news: The only thing she could hurl at us were sharp metal knives.

“HOLY SHIT, A KNIFE! THAT WAS A KNIFE, WASN’T IT??! YOU JUST THREW A FUCKING KNIFE AT ME!” I yelled out loudly while trying my best to evade her deadly knife throws. “I DON’T CARE, DIE, DIE, DIE ALL OF YOU WORTHLESS MAGGOTS!” Mayumi yelled back fiercely, flinging even more knives towards my direction.

Okay, more good news: All of the knives missed me. Bad news: The knives didn’t miss Nagayuki.

One of them had impaled itself directly on his upper shoulder, and another on his left thigh. “I-I’m sorry, but I don’t like it rough, Azai-san.” Nagayuki managed to say before collapsing on the wooden hallway, causing even more panic among us.

30 Minutes Later

“So let me get this straight, you guys walked in on her changing…and then she tried to kill all of you?” asked Natsumi.

“I’d say you’re oversimplifying things a little bit there, but yeah, you got the basic points.” I replied.

“It’s their fault! Who the hell walks in on an inn room without knocking first! Or at least ring the bell or something!” Mayumi argued, obviously still miffed about the whole incident.

“How the hell are we supposed to knock on a sliding door…” Kazuhiko muttered under his breath, inviting a fierce glare from my childhood friend.

“AND YOU!!! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMMENT IN THIS!”

“Oh come on Pres, don’t be like that, what I said back then was the truth, yo.”

“IT WAS COMPLETLEY RUDE AND INAPPROPRIATE!!!!”

“Fine, you have a ridiculously flat chest and overall unattractive body, happy now?”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT ME, YOU SICK PERVERT??!!”

“What do you want from me, woman??!! I say you’re hot, you throw knives at me, I say you’re ugly and you get agitated! Make up your mind, girl!”

By this point in time, Mayumi’s mouth was nearly frothing in anger. You gotta hand it to Kazuhiko; he really knows how to drive someone insane.

“I must apologize for this whole situation.” Suzaku suddenly interjected. When he heard of Nagayuki’s…unfortunate accident, he had rushed to our rooms with remarkable speed and brought the inn’s doctor with him too. His wounds weren’t that serious apparently, the knives didn’t impale far into the skin, plus the knives were small to begin with anyway, so Nagayuki should be able to manage a full recovery by tomorrow.

Although….I don’t think that his physical state is the one that the doctor should be examining. For the past fifteen minutes, he had been sitting in the corner of the room all alone, cradling his head in his arms and slowly rocked his body back and forth, muttering something along the lines of “ahaha…naked…haha…ha…naked…haha…ahaha…haha…haha…”, in repeat. But I digress.

“I completely forgot to tell you that all of you are assigned to the same room, so guys should watch out, and vice versa.” Suzaku continued. “Usually, Nagayuki only brings the basketball team, and they are all guys, so this kind of problem never takes place.”

“One question though,” I chirped in, cutting him off momentarily. “Mayumi, why were you….not wearing anything..?”

“Well….that’s….” she hesitated to answer for a while. “I wasn’t feeling comfortable wearing the yukata…so I decided to take it off, but that’s beside the point!” She tried to dismiss the idea.

“So, in short, because there is not a single trace of femininity in you?” Kazuhiko quipped, before dashing out of the room, giving Mayumi no chance to kill him I suppose.

“Kazuuuu, waittt!!!” his date…whatever her name was, groaned, getting up and chasing after Kazuhiko while still wearing her yukata.

“Anyways…” said Natsumi, “Suzaku-kun, you said that all of us are assigned to the same room….so does that mean all of us will be sleeping together in the same room?”

“Oh..” Suzaku scratched his head for a short moment. “Well….yes.”

“WHHHHHAAAATTT???!!!” Mayumi exploded. “TH-THA-THAT’S INSANE! I CAN’T SLEEP IN THE SAME ROOM WITH THESE HORNY BASTARDS!”

“I-I’m sorry, but it’s Golden Week, there are simply no other rooms available right now, and I assure you, the bedroom is pretty big, you can put a safe distance away from the guys.” Suzaku tried to alleviate the situation.

“B-B-BUT!! BUT!!!!” Mayumi tried to argue, but she simply couldn’t come up with the words.

“Just relax.” I told Mayumi “I’ll make sure no one gets close to you…then again I don’t think anyone here wants to get close to you in the first place.” She gave me the usual “I’ll-kill-you” glare.

“Once again, I am sorry for this mix-up…well, I’ll be taking my leave now, please enjoy the remainder of your stay here.” After saying that, Suzaku then stood up and briskly walked out of the room.

I looked around the room we were in. Now that all the panic was gone, I noticed that the room we were in was well…huge. It had to be at least 15 tatami mats in total, and that’s the bare minimum too. In fact, to say that this is our room would be quite a mistake…it is only ONE of the rooms. On the right side of the room, there is another sliding door, leading to another large room consisting of six futons spread on the floor, our “bedroom” so to speak. The room we were currently in is more of the living room, although it barely had any furniture. One big table in the middle pretty much dominated the whole room; there were no TVs, or any other modern equipment for that matter. A small calligraphy scroll hung in the far left side of the room, not really sure what it says, but it was probably some philosophical thing. The walls were covered with clean, pure white wallpaper, making the whole area look both elegant and rather…scary at the same time.

Although I don’t think that anyone in their right mind would want to stay indoors in the first place. Outside our room, we have our own personal hot spring, believe it or not. Our very own pool of hot, steaming water ready to use anytime we feel like it. To conclude… this place is heaven on earth. I can’t imagine how expensive the usual room rate will be. Nagayuki better not end up screwing up the prices, or I am gonna end up washing plates here for the rest of the month.

“So what are we gonna do now?” Natsumi inquired. She looked incredibly stunning in the hotel’s pink yukata, like a classical Japanese beauty. Her hair had been let down loosely, nearly reaching down to her waist. I found that strangely attractive. But I digress.

Come to think of it…what ARE we going to do? I had expected basketball genius over there to come up with a proper itinerary, but with his current mental state, I don’t think he can even walk to the bathroom, let alone exit the hotel. This can’t be good…

Suddenly, Suzaku rushed back in, as if he forgotten something. “Sorry, I forgot to tell you, Nagayuki never plans for anything the first day around, so please, all of you should just rest and socialize. If you want food, feel free to use room service. It’s on the house, consider it as my personal apology.” Suzaku said, before bowing down deeply once again and leaving the room.

“Well…at least we got free food… Maybe you should walk around naked more, Mayumi.” I teased my childhood friend.

“N-not you too! Shut up, Ken!” she told me angrily, before pouting her lips and walking away, closing the door to the bedroom roughly, leaving Natsumi and me alone.

“Great first day, eh…” I muttered.

“Ahaha, the best, definitely.” Natsumi chuckled. “It wasn’t all bad though, at least the yukata is nice. The whole place is beautiful too, have you seen the view from here?”

“Well, no, not quite actually, when I got here, SOMEONE threw knives at me, so the view was kinda in the back of my head, after you know, surviving.”

“Shut up, it’s your fault!” Mayumi’s muffled screaming could be heard from the next room.

“You two are pretty close aren’t you?” Natsumi said, her mouth stretched in a bemused smile.

“Uhh, well, I knew her for 16 years now, so I guess you can say that.” I answered.

“Hmm, interesting..well, eitherway!” Natsumi suddenly stood up. “You have to see the view here! Come with me!” She exclaimed, grabbing my hand and yanking it to try and get me to rise up

“Alright, alright, slow down!” I groaned, but got up and followed after her anyways, her hands still intertwined with mine.

Damn, I love this place.

“Come come!” Natsumi kept on telling me as she took me outside, and well, let’s just say I could see what all the fuss was about. Past the onsen, past the small wooden fence which enclosed the whole area, the view was simply spectacular. I didn’t realize it, but this inn is located on top of a mountain, so, there is a stunning view on the shore and the ocean. I can see small houses perched on top of the cliffs along the outline, and the horizon was spectacular.

“Mmm, Suzaku-kun did say that the best view to see the horizon is from the biggest mixed bath here… Let’s go there sometime!” Natsumi told me excitedly.

“Sure, sure.” I replied calmly.

Wait, did she just say MIXED bath?

As in, girls and guys together?

In one bath?

Seriously?

Is this a dream? Someone…slap me please?

Now, I would have been perfectly fine to just stand there and try to remember what my name was and decipher the words Natsumi had just spoken, but Nagayuki suddenly crawled out from the inner room, and said something along the lines of, “Food’s here…naked…ahaha…haha…food…haha”, before crawling back in.

“Well, let’s eat then, Yamazaki-kun!” Natsumi cheerily said, apparently not noticing that the words that she had just spoken were very powerful indeed.

The rest of the day passed without incident, we all basically just stayed in the room and talked with each other (Nagayuki was still dazed though, so he doesn’t count). Kazuhiko eventually came back at around 3 PM, his date nowhere to be found. When I questioned him on her whereabouts, he simply shrugged and answered, “She was trying to talk to a rabbit statue when I left her” The discussion stopped there.

Mayumi also came out from the bedroom soon after Kazuhiko returned, and it was pretty obvious that she just took a long nap, with her hair all ruffled up and her clothes all messed up. Kazuhiko went on to comment that she looked even MORE sexy now, and she pretty much tried to kill him again. Thankfully, Suzaku had removed any and all potentially harmful objects from the room (The knives were originally there to help us eat, Suzaku took it away…together with the forks…and even the spoons), so she had nothing to throw at Kazu. Too bad she decided to try and choke him to death instead.

Ah, yes, an incident-devoid day indeed.

Well, at least someone didn’t get killed. Yet.

Surprisingly enough though, everything was fine by nightfall. Kazuhiko was hurled off to the furthest top right corner of the room, far far away from the girls, where he could do no damage, while Nagayuki and I were stuck on the right side of the room. The futons were arranged horizontally across the middle of the room see, so basically there were three on the left side, and three more on the right side, divided by an imaginary vertical line down the middle. Mayumi added as much space as possible between our futons, ‘Any of you guys touch me, and I’ll kill you and drag you back from hell just to kill you again’, so the girls were supposedly safe. There was this completely uneasy atmosphere in the room when the lights were turned off though.

Well, I slept well enough though. Even with Nagayuki babbling quietly to himself beside me like a drugged up maniac. Oh wait, he is, never mind then.

….I hope tomorrow is better…

[Mianhaeyo]

I was already scared I came here alone with the intention making a fanfic.
I've been reading the first few lines, very catchy so far.
Can't wait to read the rest!

[Paladinoras]

Ahahaha, go for it dude.

Anyways...new chapter! XD

Chapter 5 part 3 – Kazuhiko Becomes A Man

Spoiler for Chapter 5 part 3:

May 4th, 06:25 AM, Fujiyoshi, Futo, Ito-City, Shizuoka

My father once told me that the first thing you see when you wake up will decide how the rest of the day will play out.

Well, in that case, my day should be spectacular.

Or incredibly painful, depends how you look at it.

For when I woke up today, the first that greeted me was the sight of my class president’s sleeping face. Now, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, in fact it’s wonderful!

But well…what the hell was she doing here???!!!

My first instinct was to scream loudly and get up, but I quickly pressed my hands on my mouth to stop me from letting out even the smallest of sounds. I am not exactly sure how my childhood friend and I ended up in such a weird position, but one thing is sure, if I wake her up, there is going to be pain. A lot of pain. I shuffled around my futon, trying to find a way to rise, but just as I was about to sit up, I felt a strange sensation on my stomach. The night had been cold, and my whole body felt frozen, but there was one warm sensation in the middle of my abdomen.

I lifted my head and looked at my stomach. And well, waddya know, Mayumi’s arm, covered in her pajamas, was lying oh-so-snugly across my belly. I sighed and laid my head back against the pillow. Obviously, I can’t move NOW, if I move her hand, she’ll wake up for sure. I turned towards her and cursed silently at her sleeping face. “Always giving me trouble, eh, Mayumi?” I murmured quietly.

You know, I haven’t really noticed it before, but my childhood friend had certainly grown to become a pretty gorgeous girl. Looking at her sleeping face, I can’t help but think of how she used to look like…and how she looks now. The difference was astounding. If someone pointed a gun at me now and asked me between Natsumi and Mayumi, who is the more beautiful girl, I don’t think I would be able to give a proper answer. They are…well, different types of beauties.

Natsumi, well, needless to say, being the school idol, is beautiful in her own right, but her beauty is more…refined, in a sense. She is not exactly the high-maintenance type, who would try on twenty four different kinds of make up just to determine which one looks better on her, but she realizes that she is attractive, and is not afraid to use it to her advantage. As I have painfully learnt.

Mayumi, on the other hand, she is more of the “pure” beauty type. She doesn’t necessarily know or care that she is gorgeous, and as far as she’s concerned, if guys want to swoon over her…well, actually she’s not concerned at all, which probably explains why Nagayuki is climbing up one steep hill chasing after her. However, it is exactly that uncaring flair, that uninterested charm, which makes her all the more attractive. Yet, of course, being my childhood friend, I don’t think I can ever see her that way…

But being a healthy, heterosexual male, I can’t help but to find her peaceful, sleeping face, ludicrously cute. Her mouth was half-open and her usually neat hair was ruffled and messy. A far-cry from the perfect student image she has at school. I was tempted to take a picture of this and use it for any future blackmail purposes, but psch, my cellphone is outside and I don’t think that this particular scene is so bad anyways.

Suddenly, she wriggled imperceptibly in her sleep, muttering something that sounds like “munya-munya”, and a flock of hair dropped down on her face, over her eyes. An unfortunate blemish on an otherwise perfect image. My hand unconsciously began to reach towards her face, pulling that bangle of hair and moving it backwards, away from her face. Her nose wrinkled slightly and for a moment there, it seemed like she would wake up, but she just gave a lazy sigh and continued her slumber.

I instinctively pulled back my hand. What the hell was I doing just now? Was it some kind of reflex which I have developed over the years from reading all those goddamned girly shoujo mangas my sister forced me to read? Not cool, Ken, not cool. Especially because she is Mayumi, that girl you knew even before you could walk, Ken! Damn it! And besides….even if I had wanted to make it happen, after what happened five years ago, I don’t think it’s a possibility…

I sighed again and turned back to look at the ceiling. Her face is cute and all…but all of this is making me forget about the most important thing any person must do in the morning.

I need to pee. Badly.

I squirmed around in my futon, trying to find some Houdini-esque way to escape her hold, but to no avail. She virtually has me pinned down, a death lock, damn her!

Then all of a sudden, her eyes opened slightly. Just a small slit, but it was all I needed to realize that the time of reckoning had arrived. “Mmm, munya munya…morning Ken…” She murmured lazily.

Okay, seriously what the hell does “munya-munya” means? Is that a legal word?

Err…anyways, after saying that, her eyes closed again, and for a short moment there, I thought that I was off the hook. Then…it finally struck her.

“Wait, KEN?” Her eyes shot wide open. “W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU –“

Seeing an opportunity, I jumped off the bed and dashed towards the bathroom which was on the other room, ignoring that flabbergasted look on my childhood friend’s face. Sorry, dear, but when nature calls, I gotta answer!

After relieving myself, I stepped out of the bathroom and found Mayumi’s incredibly pissed face staring back at me. “W-WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?” She asked me angrily. “Err…obviously, I was peeing.” I answered back in a rather patronizing tone. Not a good call, Ken. “THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!! YOU…YOU PERV!” She scolded me loudly.

“Hey, weren’t you paying attention? You were on MY bed, not the other way around.”

“So what, are you saying it’s MY fault?”

“It’s nobody’s fault…you were just unable to resist my devilishly attractive charm I suppose.”

“W-WHAT DEVILISHLY ATTRACTIVE CHARM? IDIOT!”

“HEY, YOU’RE THE ONE THAT CAME ON TO ME MAN!”

“DON’T FLATTER YOURSELF, MORON!”

“DON’T CALL ME A MORON, YOU LATE-NIGHT PREDATOR!”

“W-WHAT?? OBVIOUSLY YOU DRUGGED ME OR SOMETHING AND CARRIED ME OVER TO YOUR BED!”

“HOW THE HELL CAN I DO THAT??”

Our mindless argument continued on for another 3 minutes or so, serving as an alarm clock for the others. We didn’t realize that the walls were thin…and voices seep through it quite easily, so basically the rest of the group could hear our not-so-witty repartee. Kazuhiko was the first to come out of the bedroom, his usually-perfect hair a complete bird’s nest and his eyes completely bloodshot. Not a morning person, as it seems.

“Dudes…if you wanna have a lovers’ quarrel, don’t do it so early in the morning…please..” He drawled before literally dropping down on the floor and sleeping again.

Nagayuki was next to come out, his eyes frighteningly manic. “K-Ken…YOU BETRAYED ME!!!” He roared, before charging forward and ramming me head-on, stepping on Kazuhiko’s prone body in the process. “What the hell?!” Both of us screamed in unison. All of the air in my lungs was forced out by Nagayuki and I fell down on the ground hard. I don’t get scared by a lot of things, but the sight of a 190+ cm toned dude sitting on top of you and about to beat you senseless tends to scare anybody with a sane mind.

Yeap, a totally uneventful and normal morning.

May 4th, 08:14 AM, Fujiyoshi, Futo, Ito-City, Shizuoka

“I’m starting to think that this trip just wasn’t meant to be” Natsumi said as we all gathered around the large table in the living room. “I mean, first day, Nagayuki gets wounded, and now he in turn wounds someone…. Hmm, this could be that karma thing…”

“Karma my ass.” I stated in a dead tone.

“What he said” Kazuhiko echoed my statement.

“Ahaha…yeah, about that, I’m sorry, bro, I wasn’t thinking straight so I was just, you know…yeah…” Nagayuki scratched his head in shame.

“How the hell did you end up next to me anyways? Dear god…” I asked Mayumi while pressing an icepack to my swollen cheek.

“I…I dunno, sleepwalking maybe..?” She replied hesitantly. I guess even she could tell that her response was a weak one.

“She was rolling around the whole damn room, Ken.” Kazuhiko interjected. “It’s less of sleepwalking as it is sleep..drifting. She was practically writhing around like a fish the whole night, I guess she found your chest to be rather comforting. Damn, I should’ve taken advantage of her last night when she came near ME…”

“YOU WHAT?!”

“Hey, don’t hate the playa, hate the game. In this game, you just gave me an open goal from 3 yards away.”

“W-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN? PERVERT!”

“Careful now, Pres, you might just develop high blood pressure…”

“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! AND IF I DO GET HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, IT’LL BE CAUSE OF YOU! PERVERTED IDIOT!”

“Oh well, the more tsun she is now, the more dere she’ll be later…” Kazuhiko finally said, shrugging his shoulders.

“I AM SO GONNAA—“ Mayumi started, but I quickly cut her off before this typical Mayumi-Kazuhiko repartee gets out of hand. “Nevertheless, the day moves on. What do you have planned for us today Nagayuki?” I turned towards our school’s star shooting guard, hoping for a well-planned itinerary of things to do.

Obviously, I hoped too much, way too much.

“Hmm, ohh, planned?” Nagayuki had a perplexed look on his face. “Well, usually I’d have a training regimen which involves jogging for 2 hours, running for 1, and overall weight training for the next 3 hours. But you’re not the basketball team, so…” He shrugged. “Do whatever you feel like, I guess.”

“W-w-wait, what??!” I spluttered out. “You had absolutely NOTHING planned for us???!!! I thought you had a week to prepare for this!!”

“Err…I wasn’t sure that you guys…actually wanted to go. But no worries!!!” Nagayuki said excitedly. “This place is awesome, sides there’s nothing in Fujiyoshi anyways. You guys should just enjoy the hot springs. Check out the mixed bath or something, it’ll be great!”

Kazuhiko’s ears perked up at the sound of the words “mixed” and “bath” being put in one sentence. “Wow wow wow there buddy… Did you just say mixed bath? As in a bath where both guys and girls can enter? Like, for HUMANS right?!” Nagayuki nodded his head.

“DEAR GOD, KEN, THIS IS THE MOMENT I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR ALL MY LIFE! WE ARE SO GOING THERE!!! IT’S GOING TO BE LEGEN- Wait for it…- DARY!” Kazuhiko exclaimed gleefully, like a little schoolgirl who had just found her long lost Barbie doll. It’s quite concerning…

“Well, go ahead if you want Kazu, just come meet me in the men’s bath by 2 PM, I got something I need to talk to you guys about.” Nagayuki told us seriously, then got up and walked back to the bedroom to get some more shut-eye. Kazuhiko pretty much dragged me to the mixed rotenburo after that, claiming that we were going to attain our full manhood today. Apparently, he had forgotten that he brought a date here, although to be perfectly fair to him…I don’t think his date has enough brainpower to remember her name and his at the same time.

“Today, my friend, we walk one small step towards that bath-house. One small step, yet it is one giant step in our path to manhood… ARE YOU READY, KEN???!!!” Kazuhiko announced as soon as we reached the main entrance of the mixed rotenburo.

“Err…whatever you say dude.” I replied half-heartedly. I know that this whole mixed bath thing is supposed to be some kind of manga/anime staple where it is defined as being the top dream of any heterosexual dude… but well, I am honestly quite cynical about the whole situation. I can’t let go of this feeling on the pit of my stomach that Kazuhiko’s dream will be destroyed to tiny bits and pieces the moment he enters that room.

Kazuhiko took a deep breath…and it was time. He slowly stepped up to the sliding doors which led to the inner bath-house, and with one big excited squeal, slid it open roughly. “IT IS TIME!”

….And my feeling was right. It’s not that there weren’t any females in the rotenburo, in fact, there was quite a lot of them.

Old ladies. With their kids. It was all quite sweet actually, but well, sweet is not what Kazuhiko had in mind when the words “mixed” and “bath” came to mind.

“Well, bro, go and be a man!” I pronounced loudly, forcefully pushing Kazuhiko inside and closing the sliding door immediately after, laughing my ass off as I walked away.

Today’s not so bad after all.

May 4th, 14:04 PM, Fujiyoshi, Futo, Ito City, Shizuoka

“So, guys, I have an announcement to make…this might shock you guys, but I did not bring all of you here for nothing…” Nagayuki said slowly, trying to get his point across as clearly as possible.

Kazuhiko, Nagayuki and me were all relaxing in our private hot spring on the terrace of our inn room. Nagayuki had placed a big, rather embarrassing sign on top of the dining table to inform the girls that we were using the hot spring and unless they want to see us naked (or join in, Kazuhiko added to the sign afterwards), they shouldn’t go to the terrace. We had originally planned to have our little meeting on the men’s bath…but seeing so many pruned up old male bodies horrified Kazuhiko (It’s like watching a really bad horror movie!) and well, after suffering in the mixed bath earlier this morning (The old ladies all talked to him and made him help them bathe their children), I decided I should give him a break. Nagayuki didn’t care much, so well…we ended up being here.

“That’s obvious…” I answered. “I mean, not to say you are not a nice guy, but no one is gonna splash this much cash for nothing.”

“Exaclly, Ken, so basically, wait for it, I hope all of you are not surprised, but the actual reason…that I invited all of you here…is so that…”

“….You want to make us join the basketball team, right?” Kazuhiko interjected, in that typical deadpan tone he loves so much.

“WRONG! I want to invite you to join the basketball tea---…yea, you’re right, Kazu…” Nagayuki trailed off, sounding dejected. Man, this guy is way too simple to be alive. “Eitherway…what do you say guys? Are you interested? After seeing you guys play on that game, I knew that I just had to bring you guys in. You guys are epic man! With you on our team, our strength will increase at least threefold! Shizuoka High can legitimately pose a challenge for the Interhigh title!!!” Nagayuki added enthusiastically.

“Err…well…” To be honest, while I am pretty good at basketball, it’s not my favourite sport. On the other hand, I didn’t want to disappoint Nagayuki, who had so graciously brought us here…so I decided upon the best possible course of action. “I guess I’ll join if Kazu there joins.”

HAH! Great statement there, Ken, you passed on the bullet to your useless bum of a friend who would sooner die than join a team! I have to say, I really do think brilliantly sometimes.

“Well, sure I guess, I don’t mind.” Kazuhiko stated.

“Awww, I’m sorry to hear that, see, Sanada-kun, he doesn’t want to—WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WHAT?”

Kazuhiko gave me a weird look. “What are you so surprised about? Joining a team is a good way to get a girl’s attention yo. I can totally increase my attractiveness by a few points…and yes, I know that you think that is not possible, but yes.”

“B-b-but!!!” I spluttered, trying to find a decent argument. “You hate to join teams! You think it’s a massive waste of time!”

“Well, people change, my dear Ken, and sides, nothing like a good trophy to get a girl’s attention.”

“Couldn’t you find some other way?!!!”

“Well, it’s the easiest, sides, don’t you feel sorry for Nagayuki? He did all this and you are going to say no??” Kazuhiko said in a patronizing tone.

Damn it, he used my counter-measure against me! He fired the bullet right back into my heart! Damn you, Kazuhiko! Damn you!

“Well…if he joins, then I guess…I will…too..?” I shrugged. Not much of a choice left, is there? And sides…who knows, I might actually enjoy this.

“MY BROTHERSSS!!!” Nagayuki suddenly exclaimed, rising up and giving us a bear hug with each of his arms. Oh god, he was naked. Oh please no. Oh god why. NO!

“HOLY SHIT! LET GO OF ME, YOU GAY BASTARD! I’M NOT INTO MEN!” Kazuhiko roared, struggling to break free, but it was all for naught. Years of basketball training had made Nagayuki ridiculously strong, and it would take a miracle for either of us to break free.

“Guys, I read the sign, but I really need to take—oh..” Natsumi suddenly appeared, obviously perturbed by the incredibly strange scene in front of her. “O-oh…I’m really…really sorry! SORRY!” She closed the sliding door and walked back into the room.

“WAIT, HINATA-SAN, IT’S NOT LIKE THAT!” I yelled out to the girl I admired, kicking Nagayuki in the part where it hurts most. I figured that must work. And it did. He squealed and let go of us, and in a moment of short-thinking, I dashed into the terrace and opened the sliding door, wanting to explain the weird situation I was in to Natsumi….but I absolutely forgot that I was only wearing a towel, wrapped around my waist.

Natsumi and Mayumi were inside the room, and they stared at me for a few seconds.

….Awkward silence.

“YOU FUCKING EXHIBITIONIST PERVERT! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!” Mayumi shrieked, grabbing a pair of chopsticks and throwing them to me, as if it was a shuriken.

“HOLY SHI-“ I instantly slid the door back in, and fell on my knees, covering my head with my hands. A very unmanly position, to be scared by chopsticks, but well, Mayumi used to be the lead captain of the girls softball team back in middle school, and I am not taking my chances. And sure enough, a chopstick pierced through the thin sliding door and would have taken one of my eyeballs out had my hands not been there to cover them.

Great day I’m having here.

May 5th, 12:15 AM, Fujiyoshi, Futo, Ito City, Shizuoka

“Urrghh, damn, I gotta pee..,” I groaned to no one in particular and slowly got up from my futon. Everything was dark, but my eyes soon adjusted to the dimly-lit room. No more surprises tonight I suppose, Mayumi is still sleeping peacefully on her side of the room, so I guess this morning’s incident won’t happen again. As I looked around the room however, I noticed that Natsumi’s and Kazuhiko’s bed were empty. Hmm, that’s strange.

Eitherway, my main priority here is to get to the bathroom fast, so I carefully got up from my futon, my legs still very much asleep, and trudged on towards the bathroom on the living room. I did what I had to do, but as I stepped out of the bathroom, I could faintly hear whispering voices outside of the room. Who the hell could be talking at this time of night? Wait, wait, no, it can’t be… Natsumi is outside with Kazuhiko??!! That bastard!

I silently approached the closed sliding door which separated the outside terrace with the inner quarters and pressed my ears against it, careful not to alert them. “Does it matter?” I could hear Natsumi’s muffled voice from outside. “Well of course it is, stupid!” Kazuhiko replied, his voice equally muffled.

“What difference does it make?”

“You can’t just let go of it so easily.”

“Quit telling me what to do, Kazuhiko!”

“I’m not telling you what to do, I’m telling you what you SHOULD be doing!”

“Stupid, what would you know about anything?”

Their banter continued on for a few minutes. Honestly, I couldn’t make heads or tails of what they were talking about, but it seemed to be a pretty touchy subject. Kazu kept on pressing her to do SOMETHING, I’m not sure what, but Natsumi was being pretty stubborn about it.

“After all this time, you are still that same old stubborn, short-sighted girl!” Kazuhiko finally snapped, unable to hold his annoyance any longer.

Wow, hold on a second there, buddy. All this time?? Just how long have you known her, Kazu? What secrets have you been hiding from me? What could possibly be – OH CRAP!

In all my excitement listening to their convo, I accidentally knocked my head on the thin sliding doors. The sound wasn’t incredibly loud, but it was enough to alert them. “Wait…did you hear that?” I could hear Natsumi say. I swiftly got up and tried my best to dash to the bedroom as soundlessly as possible. Fortunately, I was able to make it in time and I jumped into my futon, covering myself in the blanket and pretending to sleep.

About ten minutes later, I could hear both of them entering the room. From the sound of their footsteps, I could tell that neither of them was particularly happy.

I never did fall asleep that night; my mind was far too stunned to shut down. Just what is their relationship?!

[Paladinoras]

Update!! Back story timeee!!! XD

Btw, I consider this chapter to be my magnum opus so far...so yeah. XD

Cliches FTW! XD

Chapter 5.75 – Tears in Heaven

Spoiler:

May 25th, 10:17 AM, Temma-cho, Aoi-ku, Yamazaki Family House, Shizuoka

“YES MOM, I’M CLEANING MY ROOM RIGHT NOW!!!” I yelled out from my room, my mom’s persistent nagging finally achieving its desired effect. “Geez, she can be such a pain sometimes…A man’s room is supposed to be dirty and unkempt!” I muttered to myself, then looked around my room.

….I guess I should clean it after all. The room looked like a giant bomb filled with underwear, old manga, and unwashed T-shirts had exploded in the middle and spread all of its contents on the room. Where can I possibly start from…. Well, I guess my clothes closet was as good as any. I walked over to a wooden cabinet which held all my clothes and opened it.

Unsurprisingly, the inside of the cabinet was barely filled. Most of its original contents had been spilled over to the floor, and only about 10 pieces of clothes remained in the bare closet. I scratched my head and groped around inside for anything I might need to throw away…or take to laundry, or whatever, as long as it seemed like I tried to clean my room. “Oh…what’s this..” I murmured as I pulled out a dusty, mangled old shoebox from inside the cabinet. I dusted it off and tried to make out the letters written on lid of the shoebox. “Err…the Yamazaki-Azai Time Box…” I read the words out loud and feeling curious, I plopped myself down in front of my bed and opened the box.

The first thing I saw was an old picture of me and Mayumi, when we were both young kids…10 years old at maximum. She was wearing a small summer dress and was smiling happily, a sight that has not greeted me so often the past few years. My ten-year old self, on the other hand, seemed annoyed and was holding a lollipop in his hand. Heh, I always had a sweet tooth. I rifled through the contents of the box again and it all came back to me… this Time Box was something Mayumi and I decided to keep when we were around 11, to hold all of our past memories. I’d give her some of my stuff, and she’d give me some of hers. We weren’t supposed to open it until 10 years had passed if I remember our agreement correctly.

Oops.

I took out another object from the box and looked at it carefully. It seemed…unfamiliar. I mean, sure, after all those years, I don’t remember much about what’s inside the box, but I dunno, all of the other things seemed….familiar to the touch, I can recollect where Mayumi got them and why she decided to give it to me…but this one was different. I inspected it closer and then it hit me, it was supposed to be her birthday present for when she turned 12. I blew off some of the dust from it and found out that my suspicions had been correct, it was a beautiful, intricate floral hairpin, and a pretty pricey one too. Well, at least pricey for when I was 12. I had gotten it for her for her 12th birthday…but due to circumstances, I never did manage to give it to her. 5 years ago was a horrible time for Mayumi…and I guess I never got the chance to give it to her. As I looked back upon those days, I can’t help but feel incredibly sad…


The date was August 14th, 2004. Mayumi’s 12th birthday was coming up in 10 days, and she couldn’t wait for the day to finally come. We were much closer back in those days….in fact, it was incomparable. Back when we were 12, we were practically inseparable. Where she would go, I’ll follow her, what she would do; I’ll do it together with her. Our parents had even joked that they should arrange for us to get married when we hit the proper age. Not such a bad proposition now, come to think of it, but well, my twelve year old self was a dumbass.

Anyways, Mayumi’s parents….I couldn’t really remember how they were, to be perfectly honest. Her dad was a loving family man, but he would often have to work till late and not come home for days, something that affected Mayumi to an extent. She was the only child of her family, so she loved her father very much, and in retrospect, I am sure he did too, but well, society sucks in that way. Her mom, well, she was not a classic stay-at-home mom. She commanded a high-paying job at a multi-national corporation, and that meant she was rarely home either….mainly the reason why Mayumi ended up spending a lot of time with me, simply because there was no one home for her to play with. I barely met Mayumi’s mom, but from the little I know of her, I can tell that like her husband, she loved her young daughter very much as well, but had a bad way of showing it. She would often make Mayumi go on worthless tuitions she didn’t like because she wanted to groom her to be the perfect woman, an ideal that she herself failed to meet, I suppose, but Mayumi hated it. She wasn’t exactly a tomboy, but she loved to play around in the dirt, to get dirty, to just well…have fun like how any normal kid would. At any rate, I got along pretty fabulously with her parents because my parents got along well with her parents as well. My dad and her dad used to be workmates, if I am not wrong, and they would often drink sake together and do some other old man crap together I guess.



So anyways, on August 14th, her mom and dad had driven off to Karuizawa, a pretty famous holiday resort spot close to Tokyo, and for once, Mayumi didn’t join them. She had been down with the flu and her parents had wanted to cancel their trip, but Mayumi was adamant that they should go, not willing to let them sacrifice their relaxation time for her. Her parents had been reluctant at first, but I guess seeing their little daughter be so determined to make them go, they left anyway, leaving Mayumi in my family’s hands. I was pretty much fine with the idea, as far as I was concerned, more Mayumi equals to more fun.

But then the unexpected happened. Her parents, driving down a freeway leading from Shizuoka to Tokyo, collided with another car at high speed. Airbags had helped them to an extent, but in the end, the severity of the crash was too much to bear and her parents passed away. When my parents heard the news, I remembered that they pretty much panicked. Not so much for their sakes, but for the sake of the young girl sleeping contentedly in our guestroom. In the end, we couldn’t hide the fact from her forever, and my parents told her the news, telling her that she’ll be fine and that they’ll do everything in their power to help her.

I could still remember all too poignantly of what happened the day Mayumi heard the news. I don’t know if any of you have ever seen a child mentally break down right in front of you, and not the types where they are spazzing over not getting that new PS3 game, the type where you can tell that their hearts had been ripped out and played upon by the cruel hands of fate, but it was a horrible sight. Her eyes widened, and she screamed out loud, a bone-chilling heart-wrenching scream that was so pained and horrifying that I couldn’t help but feel completely devastated as well. She cried her eyes out that day. She cried and cried… and cried, until I was afraid that she would dry her eyes out and go blind. As the funeral procession came about, Mayumi finally stopped crying…she simply had no tears left to cry out.



Months passed after her parents’ death, and it seemed that things were finally returning to normal, but it wasn’t. Mayumi’s grandparents had moved in to her house, as all parties involved believed that it would have been better off for Mayumi to remain in the city, where she could get an education, and where at least she would have a friend, namely me to help her out. To this day, I believed they were wrong though. There were just too many memories, too many things left undone in that house to allow Mayumi to properly grow. It would have hurt like hell for me if she had left for the village, but for Mayumi’s sake, it would have been for the best. She could start over anew; nothing from her past can haunt her.

Instead, Mayumi did what any 12-year old child would do had the people they loved most in this world died, she just…well, shut down completely. The concepts of death and sudden departure were simply too much for her 12 year old mind to understand. And worst of all, she began blaming herself. What if she had told her parents to stay? What if she had been a little bit selfish and forced them to stay…then would they have died? The way Mayumi saw it was that the world, or any god out there, was punishing her for not being selfish enough, for not being more assertive. She stopped being the nice Mayumi, and her twisted psyche made her the most destructive girl on the planet. She would throw plates around at her grandma when the food wasn’t to her liking…she would burn her grandfather’s books if she felt like there wasn’t enough space in the bookshelf….she would tell me I am the most useless friend in the world and bossed me around. I…well, I didn’t know how to react, to be honest. My memories of the girl I once knew…and come to think of it, she was probably my real first love, was conflicting with the insane bossy girl I faced back then.



School was no different either. She separated from her usual group of friends, and began hanging out with the older set of students. Back then, Mayumi and I used to go to a mixed middle school, and we pretty much just graduated from primary school, (we both skipped a grade) so we had no idea how the system really worked. Although to be fair, who the hell knows how the middle school system works…it’s just…THERE. But I digress. The middle school was filled with kids aged 13 to 15, and even the occasional 16 year old boy who failed junior high. Hanging out with the seniors wasn’t a very wise choice, those 15 year old girls had just started developing their jealous gland, and the strikingly pretty Mayumi was really always going to be a target for them. They made her their errand-girl, making her go and get every single whim they demanded. Mayumi, in turn, would often tell me to do her tasks for her. I still considered her a good friend of mine, so I wouldn’t complain much and do it regardless. Then, the requests became ridiculous. First it was bread…then CDs…then albums…then lipstick..then a full make-up set. Mayumi would burn out her pocket money trying to please them, and well, her grandparents stopped giving her cash when they found out what was happening. So she went to the only other person she knew had money.

Me.

I was reluctant to give her my money at first, but Mayumi threatened that she would stop being my friend and tell the senior boys to beat me up if I don’t give her my money. So well, I did. In truth, I was far more scared of the prospect that she would stop being my friend over the prospect that I would get beaten to a pulp. My nice 12-year old heart, I guess. I would then give her all of my money…sometimes leaving me with not enough money to buy lunch at school. Mayumi scoffed at my remarks and told me I should lose some weight anyways…so I persevered. And on. And on. And on.

But of course, appeasement never really works, and those seniors finally gave her an impossible order, to get them EACH new clothes from the Spring line or whatever. Even Mayumi knew there was no way she could possibly come up with enough money for this one, so she finally put her foot down and refused. The seniors didn’t take to it lightly, telling her that unless she coughed up with those clothes before the end of the month, they would get some senior boys to beat her up. Mayumi thought that they were only bluffing, so she left them and did not meet them for the remainder of the month.

Well, they weren’t bluffing. One day, as Mayumi was walking home from school, three 15 year old boys, who honestly looked like they were 18, came up to her and told Mayumi that they came to make her cough up the cash…or else. Mayumi wouldn’t…or should I say, couldn’t give them all that money, and the ringleader, a 15 year old boy by the name of Masakazu Tomozawa, began to harass her. He was pretty tall for a 15 year old, and he prematurely grew up I guess, dying his hair red and having piercings all over his face. I was walking home from school…and I saw the three of them, surrounding Mayumi and grabbing her clothes. My 12 year old brain didn’t see it that way, but I was sure that those guys were very much planning to violate her. From afar I could hear Masakazu’s lecherous voice…and I still remember his words, “Hmph…well, if you don’t have any money….hey, you’re kinda cute…come to think of it…I guess I can make you PAY with something else!”

Meh, oversexed boys…I blame the internet.

Anyways, I ran over to the scene and jumped in front of Mayumi, trying to protect her. Those seniors were apparently amused by my actions, and told me to bug off. I swear that I have never cursed a day before in my life before then, but that fine day, for the first time in my life, I told someone to fuck off. They didn’t receive it well either.

Now, I don’t know whoever said that if you stand up to a bully they would back off, but they obviously met some pretty weak and cowardly bullies, cause these guys didn’t back off, in fact, quite the contrary, they began to beat the living shit out of me. I tried to fight back…but three 15 year olds against a scrawny 12 year old isn’t much of a fight. They kicked…and punched, and by the end of it, I was a bloody mess. But it wasn’t all for nothing though, they were kinda creeped out watching me bleed so much, so they left Mayumi alone and dashed off in case anyone saw them.



It had been raining that day, and as the rain fell on my body, I felt…kind of an otherworldly experience. My mind was wandering away, and I guess I came pretty close to meeting the Grim Reaper. Mayumi started shrieking beside me and kneeled down, frantically trying to wipe off the blood flowing freely from well…every single orifice in my face. “Why…? Why did you do it, you idiot?? I had been so mean to you…and…” I could remember Mayumi lamenting. I should note though, that probably my knack of witty responses came during that near-death experience. Yeah, you heard me. Some people reaffirm their belief in religion, some people aim to be a better person, me, I just became witty and sarcastic. “Not so useless now…am…I…”I could distinctly recollect myself saying before I finally passed out, Mayumi’s screaming filling the background as everything turned black.

I woke up a few days later at the local hospital, with Mayumi’s head resting on the feet of my bed. Apparently, since the day I was put into this room, she had never left my side, and my parents told me that for the first time since her parents died, Mayumi cried again. She would hold my hand and cry, saying she’s sorry even though I was fast asleep. To this day, I find that kinda freaky…but also touching. Those seniors of mine had done a pretty thorough job on my body as it turns out, I had fractured my jaw, and two of my ribs were broken. Parts of my arm were also broken and I suffered mild concussion. Obviously, my parents had been incredibly pissed and basically went on a witch-hunt to find the kids who did this to me. Masakazu ended up moving away from the middle school and spent some time in juvenile hall, before rejoining a nearby high school to mine, where he remains until now.

Either way, after that day, Mayumi returned to the girl I once knew, that nice, sweet, caring girl who I came to admire. But for what’s worth, the damage had been done to our relationship. She remained a close friend to me throughout our middle school years, but she slowly drifted apart as we graduated. I couldn’t quite pinpoint what caused it back then, but after I thought about it now, and after what happened a few weeks ago, what she did…and what I did, hung heavily on her mind. She thought that she had nearly caused the death of another person she cared about, and she never did could forgive herself. I guess in the end, that is what made her drift apart from me.

“KEN, YOU BETTER BE CLEANING YOUR ROOM, OR I’M THROWING OUT YOUR GUITAR, YOU LAZY BUM!” My mom’s voice suddenly roared from the living room, destroying my epic moment of recollection and snapping me back to my senses. I put the old shoebox back in my closet, but I took out the hairpin…I had other plans for this. I got up, stretched, and looked around. I gave a deep, long sigh, and finally begin to ACTUALLY clean my room.

May 26th, 9:11 AM, Temma-cho, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka

“Oh, what’s up Ken?” Mayumi asked as she sat down on the park bench beside me. “Nothing much, I just wanted to give you something.” I told her nonchalantly, reaching into my pocket and taking out that long-overdue hairpin.

I had asked her to meet me at the Aoi Park today…and I really only had one purpose.

I stood up, turned towards her and gently clipped the hairclip on a part of her hair. Hmm, it looks great on her, I have to hand it to my twelve-year old self…he had exquisite taste.

“Hmm? What’s this for?” Mayumi quizzed me, a bit perplexed for my gift from nowhere. She was blushing a little bit, and it occurred to me that this was the first time that I have ever given anything to her…at least, personally.

I scratched my head and I could feel my face turning red as well. Damn it! I always do this at the most inopportune moment! “Oh, let’s just say it’s just something I’ve been meaning to give you for a while.” I told her. Heh, five-years-while.

“Ahh…well, thanks anyway, Ken, I’ll be sure to wear it all the time.” Mayumi beamed and for the first time in a long while, I got to see the same beautiful face of that girl in the picture taken so long ago.

I guess I always had a messed up list of priorities…but getting beat up to a bloody pulp was worth it just so I will have the chance to see that face again. If I had to redo it all over again, I wouldn’t do it any differently. As long as her face continues to give me the shortest glimpses of that beautiful smile again….I have no regrets for what happened. Now and forever.

[Paladinoras]

Uh yeah....5 years in, but here it is.

I actually finished a large part of the story, just never bothered to post it here. Well, enjoy!

Chapter 5 part 4 – Last Train Home

Spoiler for Chapter 5 part 4:

May 5th, 08:25 AM, Fujiyoshi, Futo, Ito-City, Shizuoka

“I can’t believe that it’s our last day here already…” Natsumi groaned, as we all prepared to eat breakfast.
“Yea, I mean, we didn’t do much here, but I have to say that the onsen is very refreshing.” Mayumi chirped in, grabbing a piece of toast from the middle of the table.

“Refreshing my ass…” Kazuhiko muttered under his breath. The trip had been very great for all of us, but him apparently. Probably because one of his biggest dreams in the whole entire world had just been absolutely shattered in front of his face. I take credit for that. “I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t define ‘refreshing’ as helping a bunch of old hags get a bar of soap…”

“It’s karmic retribution, Bakazu.” Mayumi said patronizingly. “After all those women you toyed around with, now you’re the one being toyed with. By a bunch of old hags too! It’s perfect!”

Heh, just another typical mellow morning. The trip had been rather fun, I must admit. I mean, sure, I honestly didn’t get that far with Natsumi as much as I’d liked, or get to know her…as much as I wanted, but hey, we had a moment! Although in the end, I think I got to know Mayumi a little bit too well….and I didn’t even think that was possible after knowing her for the best part of 15 years. Kazuhiko would never admit it, but I think he actually enjoyed his time here. As for his date….I have no idea to be perfectly honest. In the entire duration of our stay, I think I only talked to her 3 times, and let’s just say it wasn’t the most interesting conversation I ever had. She basically defines how a bimbo should be…her vacant, trusting stare, her sluggish, unencumbered mind...they were all perfect traits of how a bimbo should be. So it was no surprise that Kazuhiko liked her.

“Our train leaves at 11 today guys, so I guess we should be heading off from this hotel in two hours time. I suggest all of you start packing now.” Nagayuki announced shortly after we all had finished eating breakfast.

“Aww, I can only enjoy this room for another hour? That kinda sucks.” Mayumi complained to no one in particular, but apparently Nagayuki took it personally.

“W-well, Azai-san, it’s more like an hour and 47 minutes if you look at it.” He pathetically said, I guess trying to somewhat comfort her, but it was about as effective as using a bug spray to try and kill a rat. “Yeah yeah, don’t be such a smartass.” Mayumi responded in her usual brisk way. She obviously didn’t realize it, but the expression on Nagayuki’s face pretty much said it all, she had driven a sword right through his heart, and it hurt.

Meh, he’s a simple guy, he’ll get over it.

“Eitherway, we have mid-terms in 2 weeks, so all of you should start studying.” Mayumi continued, completely killing the mood inside the room.

“Dude, you just killed the mood. It’s supposed to be happy time, and now all I’m gonna think about on the way home is which subject to study first.” Kazuhiko told her, visibly annoyed.

“Psch, I’m the class president, what do you expect?! It’s my job to remind you of important academic events.”

“Right, I’m sorry, I forgot you perpetually have a stick up your ass.”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT ME, JERKWAD?!”

“You heard me, darling, you are an uptight little girl and there’s nothing you can do about it. Woohoo.”

“WHY I OUGHTA—“

“STOP STOP STOP! IT’S OUR LAST DAY HERE GODDAMIT!” I cut them both off, unwilling to accept that my last few hours on this hot spring heaven will be wasted hearing these two continue with their none-too-intelligent banter.

“Psch, fine..” Kazuhiko muttered. “But just remember pres, no matter how much you study, you’ll never beat me~~~” After saying so, Kazuhiko disappeared back into the bedroom.

Heh, I forgot about Kazuhiko’s trump card, his grades. For all his frivolity, for all his mentally deficient statements, Kazuhiko is one of the most brilliant students I have ever met in my whole entire life. He has averaged in the mid 90s for every single subject he had enrolled in since the beginning of high school, which is quite amazing in the cutthroat Japanese education system. But I swear to god, I have never seen him study. Ever. Some bastards get all the luck, I guess.

“DON’T BE SO COCKY, BAKAZU!” Mayumi roared. Ah, yes, I remembered how their current relationship started… Mayumi had studied her ass off for last semester’s finals, barely getting out of her whole room for one whole week while exams were going on. Kazu, on the other hand, was taking it in his usual relaxed manner and even had dates planned out after the test was done! Mayumi had been so sure that for once, she would be the top student in our whole year, but no such luck. Kazuhiko easily outperformed her for seven different subjects, and Mayumi’s best effort was to merely tie Kazuhiko’s score of 94 for History. Short to say, Mayumi exploded after reading the results and couldn’t accept how she could have been defeated by a perverted moron who never studied. (Well, in her point of view at least) And Kazuhiko, being well…himself, gloated the whole day, and one thing led to another..and here we are now.

Eitherway, I better start packing…the train will leave soon. I stole a quick glance at the outdoor hot spring one final time, and groaned loudly as I packed.

A small part of me died that day.

May 5th, 09:55 AM, Fujiyoshi, Futo, Ito-City, Shizuoka

“…And please check for all of your belongings after the trip has finished. Thank you” The voice of the train attendant fizzled out to static as she finished her announcement. It’s been a fun trip, but this is it. This is the time when we all must go home and return to our boring mundane lives.

Oh, and mid-terms in 8 days. Damn it.

“So, did you guys enjoy the trip?” Nagayuki asked us as soon as the train departed from the station. The six of us were all in one cabin, me, Kazuhiko and Nagayuki sitting down on one side while the girls were all sitting on the chairs directly opposite of our position.

“Well, it was fun, I enjoyed it at least” Natsumi commented, looking out at the window dreamily. “I can’t believe it’s over so soon though…”

“Yeah….we’ll have to go back to school and all…Golden Week is not even over yet and I already miss it!” Mayumi added, sounding very disappointed.

“Oh, and here I thought Pres is one studying machine hell-bent on constantly working hard to achieve an impossible goal: beat me in anything.” Kazuhiko replied, which earned him a very murderous glare from my childhood friend.

“Oh yeah, by the way guys, you should thank Suzaku for all of this when we return to school. He’s been a big help, I honestly say this would have been impossible without him.” Nagayuki suddenly told us. “Thanks to him, we only had to pay a few thousand yen for a few days’ stay in an awesome hotel like that.”

Heh, well, for once, Nagayuki said something sensible. Suzaku had indeed been a big help throughout our stay, and I can’t imagine what would’ve happened had he not been there to help us all the time. He even slashed the cost of our stay due to Nagayuki getting injured…although it was all really Mayumi’s fault. I felt kinda bad exploiting it, but hey, I’m broke! I wouldn’t have had enough money for train ticket if I had paid the full cost! Although, admittedly, I do feel kinda guilty for leaving our hotel room in as sorry a state as we did…

“Yeah, I guess having an inn-owner as a dad has its perks huh?” Natsumi mused out loud.

“Indeed…too bad my dad is only a salaryman, otherwise I’d be living in heaven everyday!” I said jokingly.

“Well, my dad is a mathematician…pretty interesting job, I’d say” Kaede suddenly took all of us by surprise.

“Wait…wait…your dad…is…A MATHEMATICIAN?!” I blurted out, unable to believe my ears. How can it be that the daughter of an intelligent man end up being like…well, like THAT.

“Yeah, he just released his thesis lately…what was it again…the use of classic mathematical equations in modern calculus applications was it?”

….There is no god in this world.

“How about you, Mayumi, what do your parents do?” Nagayuki asked, trying to hide his excitement. I guess for him finding out as much information he possibly could about dear Mayumi is beneficial, but man…he had no idea of the repercussions.

“Oh, me? My parents passed away 5 years ago… I am pretty much living alone now.” Mayumi answered curtly, clearly unwilling to expound further on her past.

“O…oh..” said Nagayuki, stunned that he had brought up such a sore subject by accident. In fact, the entire cabin remained silent; none of us really had a proper reply. Even the usually witty and snide Kazuhiko remained silent. I guess even he knew when to shut up. Of course, being her childhood friend, I knew about the whole story…in fact I was part of it. It was a horrible time for both me and her, and I’ll forever be grateful that she managed to grow up well…normally.

“Oh, I’m sorry guys, I didn’t mean to kill the mood.” Mayumi spoke out after the silence was too much for even her to bear. “It happened a long time ago, and I got over it, so it’s okay guys, don’t worry about me.”

Stupid, how can the mood ever recover after you say something like that…

Well, at any rate, all of us were exhausted after the long trip anyways, so before we knew it, all of us had fallen asleep, me included. The train trip itself was going to last 6 to 8 hours, so we might as well get some shut-eye in the meantime. As I closed my eyes, the world of dreams welcomed me, and everything turned dark. Wonderful.

May 5th, 19:25 PM, Shizuoka Train Stop, Shizuoka City, Shizuoka

“Urgh, thank god all of that is over…I am never riding a train that long EVER again…” Kazuhiko moaned as we all disembarked from the train. “Stop being such a girl, Bakazu” Mayumi replied in her usual vicious tone. “Well, he has a point ya know…I can barely feel my ass right now…” I commented dryly, lazily lifting my luggage. For some reason, I didn’t want any of this to end. Life the past few days had been weird…and occasionally painful, but it was enjoyable.

“Well, we ate dinner on the train…so I guess all of us might as well go straight home now.” said Nagayuki. “I don’t want to be responsible if any of you girls get raped. Mayumi-chan, I’ll walk ya home!”

“What? Oh, you don’t have to, Ken’s house and mine is in the same direction, in fact, it’s like…two houses apart, no worries” Mayumi answered truthfully, crushing the dreams of our school’s star basketball player yet again.

“B-b-b-but!” Nagayuki spluttered, trying to find a decent excuse.

“In fact, I am pretty sure your house and Natsumi-chan’s is in the same direction, why don’t you walk her instead? A pretty girl like her would surely attract some predators.” Mayumi continued, piling even more disappointment.

“Nah, actually my house is in the opposite direction from Sanada-kun’s…although if I remember correctly, Kaede-chan’s house there should be closer.” Natsumi corrected Mayumi, and well…at this point in time, you just gotta feel sorry for Nagayuki. He’s like an unwanted piece of baggage being tossed around.

“Hmm? Oh yeah, that’s about right.” Kaede said absent-mindedly, obviously not knowing what is going on in this conversation.

“Ah, it all works out then. My house is about two blocks away from Hinata-san’s, so I guess I should go with her.” Kazuhiko suddenly chirped in, shamelessly abandoning his date for the trip. Well, then again, this is Kazuhiko; I don’t think he can legally feel shame. “Well, Kaede, take care, I’ll be going now!” Then, he disappeared, walking away into the darkness with a bemused Natsumi following him after saying her goodbyes to us.

“Well, we’ll be taking our leave too then!” Mayumi announced, yanking my hand and practically dragging me down to the street leading to our houses, leaving a very distraught and confused Nagayuki standing in the station platform, asking the gods what he did to deserve such a punishment…

May 5th, 19:37 PM, Temma-cho, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka

The sky was clear tonight, the moon radiating its warm glow towards the ground. Kinda reminiscent of that night when I ran frantically around here looking for the other Natsumi… I wonder how she’s doing now; I haven’t really talked to her since that night. I guess I should call her as soon as I can… As my mind began to wander however, it was quickly snapped back into reality by another pretty girl walking by my side, my precocious childhood friend Mayumi Azai.

“So, Ken…did you enjoy the trip?” She asked me, trying to make small-talk.

“Yeah…I guess it was fun, although you tried to kill me a few times.”

“Hey, you were asking for it. Exhibitionist pervert.” Mayumi said those words softly, as if she meant it as a pseudo-compliment.

“Haha, yeah. We haven’t really spent time together since we started high school, have we?”

“Yeah, why did we drift apart again?”

“Circumstances I guess. After we enrolled, you met your own group of friends, and me mine. In fact, I am pretty sure that throughout my freshman year, Kazuhiko was the only thing that bonded us. Kinda ironic.” I said jokingly, trying to make light of the situation. In truth, it wasn’t circumstances that drove us apart. Mayumi had simply been…avoiding me, ever since we started freshman year. I don’t know why, and I didn’t quite dare to ask her.

“Ahaha, yeah, you know a relationship is straining when a guy like HIM is our only bond.” Mayumi replied, chuckling slightly. A gentle night wind blew and her hair fluttered slightly in the wind, the moon giving me enough light to see the rather sad expression written across her face.

The both of us remained silent for a while, just taking one step after another towards our home, not knowing what else to say. The both of us had been through many things together, some being particularly bad ones, and those experiences acted as a double-edged sword. On one hand, we knew each other like the back of our hands, our happy childhood memories ensuring that. Kids may grow up, but in the end, their characters and quirks never changes as the years go by. But on the other hand, there was an unbridgeable chasm among our hearts, formed by the painful experiences we share… and can never discuss.

“Mid-terms soon eh, Mayumi.” I finally said something to break the deadlock, the silence being too depressing for me to handle.

“Oh, yeah, I’ve studied hard for it. That rat-bastard is not gonna beat me this time.”

“Hahaha, it seems like you made it your life’s goal to beat Kazuhiko.”

“Right now, it’s definitely in the top 5”

“Oh really? What are the others?” I asked, amused by her strange sort of childish competitiveness.

“Oh, well, let’s see, number 5 is to be able to play a musical instrument…” Mayumi started, contemplating on her list.

“You could always ask me to teach you the guitar.” I offered, but she curtly refused. “Nah, too many people play the guitar…I wanna play something unconventional…like a cello!”

“If you say so…” I gave in, even more amused at her.

“And number 4 is to get a pet dog…” Mayumi continued, her facial expression clearly showing how much she longed to get a dog.

“Hah, you like cute things after all. Here I thought you were all for pragmatism and all that.” Mayumi looked at me strangely, as if she didn’t know whether to be offended or happy. She settled with a mix of the two. “I’m still a girl, you idiot. And sides, I don’t plan to get one of those stupid midget dogs…no, I’m getting the big fluffy type! To help me guard the house!”

“Wow, you really are a kid at heart, aren’t you?” I teased her.

“Shut up, and well, number 3 is to beat that insane womanizer in those damn exams. I can’t believe there is a god otherwise…”

“Mmhmm, and then? What’s the top two?”

“Number two..is that I want to go to a Budokan concert! The atmosphere there looks amazing…I’ll be happy if I can experience it even once.”

“Heh, then wait till I send you the tickets to my band’s Budokan special.” I said cockily, grinning like an idiot.

“Haha, confident in our skills now are we? Well, I’ll be waiting then, if you say so.”

“Go ahead…so what’s the first one then? What’s the one final thing you have to do in your life before you die? What great dream does my childhood friend have? World peace?” I teased her yet again, although I am honestly curious.

“The number one thing I’d like to do…” Mayumi trailed off, saying something in a very weak voice which I wasn’t able to catch.

“Sorry, what did you say? I didn’t quite get you there.” I approached her, trying to get a better listen.

“I…I want you to forgive me for what I did, Ken” Mayumi finally said what has been locked inside her heart for these past few years. I stopped walking, stunned by what I just heard, and Mayumi turned towards me, her eyes barely able to hold back the tears which was about to flow out freely. Mayumi has never been the emotional type, and I can tell she is making a large effort just to be able to say the words she just said.

“Look, Mayumi, I already told you, it’s not your fault. There’s nothing to feel guilty about.” I replied gently, careful to not tread on her delicate feelings.

“But…but…you nearly died because of me! There is no way…no way that you could not hold a grudge against me.”

“I made my choice, and well, yes, I had to suffer a lot for it, but I had no regrets… Neither should you, Mayumi”

“Yeah….but, but, if it wasn’t for me, if I had been stronger…”

“Don’t be stupid... You were going through a rough time back then. And sides, I’m the guy here, don’t say stupid things like that. Think of my ego!” I told her while slightly smiling.

“You’ve always been stupid like that….” Mayumi muttered, while chuckling and wiping the tears off of her eyes. “It’s just that…it’s been…you were…”

Seeing my usually fierce and vicious childhood friend like this was painful for me, so I instinctively grabbed her face and forced her to look into my eyes. Heh, her eyes had always been so beautiful, they had so much life in them….but her spark had disappeared. Her radiant eyes were now lifeless, devoid of feeling. Did I really cause this? “Hey, listen to me here.” I told her firmly. “Quit blaming yourself, it’s not your fault, nor is it anyone else’s. Just…go back to being the Mayumi I know, the Mayumi I love to be with.”

She nodded a few times, and sobbed a few times…then she did what was to be the highlight of my entire night.

She hugged me and cried her eyes out.

As she weeped in my arms, I didn’t know exactly what to do. I am not sure males come pre-programmed with instructions on how to handle a situation like this. So I did what any sensible guy would do, I just err…stood there and stroked her hair. Hey, any other guy would have done the exact same thing! As she let out her tears, I just let her be. I didn’t say a single word…they were useless. Words cannot justify the rawness of the outburst of pure emotion taking place right in front of me.

….While this is all taking place, I can’t help but remember an old fighting game I once played. Every time I played that game, I would always come close to beating the final boss…then the game would bitchslap me and come out with a brand new, tougher opponent with the annoying words “A NEW CHALLENGER APPEARS” flashing across the screen.

Well, they’re flashing now. Long and hard.