Chapter 6 – The Way of Life “You know Kame, it would do you a whole lot of good to try waking up on time once in a while.”
Shaking her head and speaking in a resigned voice, Risa unzipped her bag and reached for the folded set of newspapers she had tucked in before she left the house. The duo of GakiKame, as fondly known to their friends, had arrived in school late, AGAIN. By the time the last warning bell rang, they still have not reached the school gates. It was as usual the result of Eri not getting to the Niigaki household at the designated time.
“I do try Gaki-san. I set the clock, sleep early and wish really hard the night before to wake up when I’m supposed to. Somehow it never works.”
“Perhaps you need more alarm clocks. Or you could ask your alien friends to beam you a signal from space informing you when it’s time to wake up.”
Grinning widely, Risa teased her friend playfully. Eri was the easiest person to make fun of out of all her friends. The ample childish actions, babyish expressions and immature opinions and views of the turtle girl were all areas a good tsukkomi could never miss out on. Satisfied at getting her revenge for missing first period, Risa went back to scrutinizing the newspaper that she had spread out in front of her.
“I know for sure waking up on time wouldn’t be a problem if SHE was the one rousing me.”
Eri slipping into sudden daydreams about the mysterious beauty had become such a regular occurrence over the past two weeks that Risa was now rather immune to Eri’s ramblings. In fact she had successfully trained herself to block out any sentences that contained the words ‘dark-hair’ and ‘beautiful’. After some time of not hearing any response from Risa, Eri realized the slightly older girl wasn't paying her any attention. Upset, she snatched away the section of the newspapers that Risa was reading intently and refused to return them until her friend paid her full attention.
"You aren’t listening to me Gaki-san!"
"Yes I know, I know. Your elusive raven-haired princess hasn't made an appearance. You've been telling me that everyday for the last fourteen days."
Sighing dramatically, Risa reached for the newspapers held in Eri's stretched out hands and tried to grab them back. She had spotted a particularly interesting advert just before Eri went into her little attention-seeking mode. She tended to do that every few days.
"But this is
important to me Gaki-san. I can't believe you're paying more attention to words printed on inferior paper."
Looking at the faint streaks of black residue left on her fingers with obvious abhorrence, Eri grudgingly returned the sheets of papers to Risa. Then fishing out a small pack of wet wipes from her pocket, she wiped at her fingers carefully, determined to disinfect every inch of her fingers thoroughly.
"These are called newspapers Kame. You know those documents produced by the state daily to keep citizens up to date about the happenings in the world?"
"I know that. I just don't see what's so interesting about them. You can find out about world events from the television. Those are so much more convenient and
clean."
Mouthing a silent “oh right”, Risa almost forgot about Eri being the clean freak that she is. Never failing to leave the house with a packet of heavy duty sterile wipes in her bag, this was a girl who at last count, had four jumbo sized packs stashed away in a special compartment of her bag. These are for special emergencies, she once said when Risa brought up the issue. She had tried convincing Eri that a single person would never require such a plentiful supply of top quality sanitized wipes unless germ warfare broke out only to be met with Eri dismissing her as not being hygienic enough.
"News programs on telly don’t come with the classifieds Kame. I need that since I'm looking for a job."
As Eri pulled out a third piece of wipe to clean her hands, Risa flipped back to the page she was originally looking at and memorized the details written in the small advertisement at a corner of the page.
"A job? What for? Are you in debt?"
Unable to contain her amusement, Risa exploded with laughter at Eri's question. Hanging out with Eri certainly injected much delight in her life. Seeing Eri ask questions with such a straight face, you would be fooled into thinking she was cracking a joke. Except that after being friends with her for so long, Risa knew it was a genuine question.
"No, I'm not in debt Kame. I just want to earn some money and buy Koharu a nice welcome gift."
"You're so nice to her. You’re never that nice to me. For one, you never bought me anything."
Pouting and folding her arms, Eri felt a little hurt. This new girl was taking up a lot of Risa's time and she didn’t like it. Risa was her best friend so naturally, she should spend the most time with her.
"I don't buy you stuff but I make them. See, the earrings you're wearing, necklace, bracelet and even your cell phone dangle. They were all presents from me aren't they?"
"Well, yeah...but you’ve have never taken up a job for me."
Inside, Eri knew she was behaving childishly and acting immature for getting upset over Risa's sister. She didn't know the details but according to Risa, Koharu had a pretty harsh life. It was expected that Risa would want to make her feel welcome and happy. After all, she was a really kind and caring person.
"Where is this leading? Don't tell me you're jealous."
Grinning mischievously, it suddenly dawned on Risa that the reason for Eri's unhappiness was due to the fact that she was putting a lot of effort into pleasing Koharu. In the past, most of her time was spent on Eri.
"I'm not jealous!"
Blushing considerable, Eri turned away to hide her pink and flushed cheeks. She wasn't going to own up about how much she envied Koharu for having someone so concerned for her. Although she was secretly afraid that the younger girl was going to take her place in Risa’s heart.
"Come on Kame. She's my sister. Besides, you have your raven beauty."
"It's Raven-HAIRED beauty. You make her sound like she’s a bird or something."
Laughing heartily, Eri forgot all about the earlier discontent she had felt. Her eyes made their way over to a couple of girls who had strolled through the huge double-glassed doors of the school entrance. Detecting a familiar face on the cover of the magazine the first girl was holding in her hands, Eri exclaimed loudly.
"THAT’S HER!!"
Frantically pulling at Risa to look at the same thing she saw, Eri pointed agitatedly at the girl.
"Who, wha...where?!"
Following the direction Eri was gesturing at, Risa saw a girl who was possibly a junior. Her walking style and action of flicking her hair every few steps revealed how she in all probability, considered herself the most attractive creature that roamed the earth.
"She's okay, nothing like how awesomely drop dead gorgeous you made her out to be. I’m surprised she made it through the door with the size of her ego."
"Not her, the magazine she's holding. That's the girl I saw!"
Her line of vision dropping some distance onto the glossy cover of the magazine, Risa's eyes widened. Even from the distance, she could see the girl was a looker. Pale, exquisite and very very beautiful.
“Woah, she IS stunning.”
Scrambling out of the wooden table and bench set they were seated on, Eri reached the girls and asked immediately for the magazine. All without giving a reason or introducing herself. From afar, Risa couldn’t make out the words that were exchanged. But judging from the silly grin magazine girl had on her face and the excited chatter of her friends behind her, they obviously recognized Eri as the track captain. Barely seconds later, Eri was back at the table and desperately flipping pages to get to the article featuring raven girl.
“I’m guessing you got it for free?”
Risa asked as she watched Eri fail to pinpoint the exact page and was now looking through the content page of the fashion magazine. The resolute look in Eri’s eyes made her wonder if she even heard her. Seeing Eri exhibiting such maniacal and desperate behavior was somewhat rare and Risa marveled at the large effect raven girl had on her friend. To fall in love was a good thing but to such an extent, Risa was unsure how Eri would behave if she were to fall out of love.
“I found it!”
There was a moment of silence as Eri took in the full beauty of the girl in the magazine. Her long black hair was unchanged and she was dressed in a flowing white dress with a garner of flowers on her head. The image was so magnificent that that even Risa was left breathless by her unparalleled loveliness. And she wasn’t the type to be taken by the sheer appearance of a person.
“What did I tell you? She’s beautiful isn’t she?”
The dreamy tone of Eri voice told Risa her friend was sucked in bad. There was no way she was going to escape from the clutches of this girl.
--
The afternoon sun blazed down mercilessly on the fifteen figures running about within the large school field. It was so unbearably warm at this time of the day that no one else was training on the track or other parts of the field. The soccer team was the lone group brave enough to attempt practice with the risk of the scotching heat rays penetrating their bodies. With final rounds of an important tournament approaching, the members of one of the best soccer teams in the state were doubling up on practice to ensure a place in the top three. Sitting in the shade of the nearby spectator beeches, Kanna watched in silence at two particular figures.
“Get your act together!”
“That was a lousy pass!”
“What are you all doing?! Positions people!”
Kanna watched as the same girl barked out orders to the rest of the team. She was strict and her comments callous. Not one girl was safe from her harsh remarks. As the sun continued sweltering all beneath her, it finally took its toil on the young members. One by one, they began making more and more mistakes.
“Look out!”
Hearing the cry of warning but being too sluggish to react, Airi was within seconds struck on the head by a soccer ball flying at high speed. Realizing a runaway ball had ferociously attacked her cousin, Kanna jumped down from the bleaches where she was seated and sprinted all the way to the middle of the field.
“How can you be a member of this team if you’re so clumsy! We’re going to the finals soon and you can’t even stop a ball properly.”
The star striker of the adolescent soccer team stood tall in front of the fallen girl and continued barraging her with her unkind words. Not bothering to check if she was hurt or help her up, the strong and unfeeling captain didn’t let up her rain of discouraging comments. Bruised and miserable at being labeled a burden, Airi bit on her lip to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall.
“I think that’s enough Natsuyaki. We should check if Suzuki is hurt.”
One of the other members of the team who had at first watched in silence, decided to speak up against the captain. She knew it wasn’t her place to question Miyabi, much less her decisions. Nevertheless, she knew Airi who was still on the ground, must be feeling terrible at being surrounded by the rest of the squad and spoken to like this.
“Shut up Tsugunaga! You have NO right to speak to me like that. Remember you’re just the goalkeeper.”
Stepping out of the circle, Miyabi came up to Momoko and stared hard at her. It wasn’t all that difficult since she was considerably taller. Fingering the collar of Momoko’s jersey, Miyabi leaned in close and whispered.
“Don’t think standing up for the incompetent members will land you their support. Since you’ll be out of the team before the season ends.”
By now, Kanna had arrived by Airi’s side and was anxiously examining her younger cousin for any injuries. Satisfied that there was no serious damage other than the scrapes on her elbows, Kanna gently pulled Airi to her feet and brushed her off. Becoming aware of the stranger beside Airi, Miyabi inspected her from head to toe before giving her a distasteful look.
“And who are you? Don’t you know the field is out of bounds during soccer practice?”
An extremely tanned girl standing beside Momoko gulped at Miyabi’s voice. Should she admit to having invited Kanna to watch the team practice? While she had instructed her new lab partner to never venture onto the field at any moment, she knew it wouldn’t lessen the telling off that she would receive from the most competent player. Weighing her options, she decided to surrender herself. Miyabi could be worst than a pit bull in a pant leg when she wanted something. There was no doubt she would hunt down the person responsible for the emergence of an outsider on the training grounds. Chisato raised her hand, a habit before speaking and was about to voice her thoughts when Kanna preempted her. Now standing eye to eye with Miyabi, she gritted her teeth as a staring match ensured.
“I think you should apologize to Airi.”
Breaking into sudden hilarity, Miyabi slapped on her thigh and wrapped her arms around her stomach acting as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
“Is there something wrong with your brain? Why should I apologize? She should be apologizing for being inept.”
If any other person were treating Airi with such unkindness and cruelty, Kanna would have in a second lashed out at her without holding back. Yet, staring at the girl before her, Kanna couldn’t bring herself to do anything to wipe off the insufferable smirk plastered on Miyabi’s face.
You’ve changed Miyabi-chan.--
“Open the door Ai!”
Banging hard on the thick wooden material of their daughter’s bedroom door, an anxious couple pleaded with their teenage daughter to unlock it. Intermittently glancing at the solemn looking lady standing with them, they couldn’t hide the embarrassed looks on their faces. This was the fourth instructor that their only child had offended by refusing the lessons painstakingly arranged for her.
“It appears that your daughter is not interested in the lessons Mrs. Takahashi. Why don’t you and your husband call me again when you have settled the issue? If you don’t mind, I’ll see myself out.”
Turning to leave, the haughty woman descended the stairs towards the main door, leaving the apologetic pair flabbergasted at her abrupt departure. Her voice hinted annoyance and the unmistakable look of displeasure that settled upon her hard face revealed her unwillingness to accept this assignment for a second time.
“I am terribly sorry to have you make a wasted trip Mdm Satoshi. Please allow me to see you to the door.”
Mrs Takahashi rushed to catch up with the tutor and bowed low to apologize repeatedly for her daughter’s less than good-mannered behavior. Deep down, her parents were unhappy with Ai. However they also knew they were fully to blame for the current state of affairs. If they were ever granted a chance to turn back time, they would have never indulged in the foolish actions that stripped Ai of her happiness.
Behind the door, a figure sat expressionless at the narrow ledge under the window that opened out to a busy street. This quiet area of the room was where Ai hid whenever she sought solace.
With her head lying on her knees, Ai’s eyes fixated on the redbrick building situated on the far end of the road. This structure housed a few quaint boutiques, an English café which served delicious scones and a small dancing school. A woman with a child appeared from around the corner and started climbing up the short flight of stairs leading to the entrance of the school. The young girl was dressed in a light pink leotard and had a smile on her face that could light up an entire room.
I was once like that ...--
wordsworth: Airi has GREAT taste. Okay, so maybe I’m a little biased since I adore the girl I’m pairing her with
AmberSan: Reina and Kohau fighting was purely the result of hating each other’s guts. It started with Koharu accidentally spraying water on Reina. When she demanded an apology, Koharu (who is supposed to be badass here) refused. As we know, Reina would never take this lying down. There’s definitely TakaGaki. As to whether they will end up together at the end will depend on audience reaction.
Amarghetta: Well, I could answer you right now. But then it wouldn’t keep the suspense would it?
Grisours: I thought the eyelash hint was a good one. Man, I didn’t know so many of the HPK had em. Lol. I guess I don’t scrutinize them enough
mode107: Like Risa said herself, Koharu is her sister. As to why they have different last names, it will be revealed later.
Estrea: I finally managed another chapter. About time really
stefy: I never realized there was this many fans for the less popular kids. I was contemplating only writing a couple of them in. I presume that isn’t a good plan now?
Yuuyami: The baka couple eh? I never thought of them as so. Care to elaborate a little? I could hit upon some inspiration for the story. Okay, I admit it. I was just wanna know more about TakaGaki
It’s been to long since there was any news of them together.
rokun: Really? I get pretty strong vibes of Yurina x Maasa x Chinami or Miyabi x Captain from watching BK vids. Someone should write a threesome for kids. Oops, did I type that out?
Airi x Captain? lol: It’s an idea. I’ll mull over it.
walking_wounded`: Hey there! Never seen you around here before. Thanks for reading and replying
Seems like the Maimi x Ree pairing was a good choice.
lollipopgirl: Ahhhh a TanaKamei fan. You should totally read Indigo Blue Love. That’s true blue Eri x Reina love
More of Ai-chan was in this chapter. Some groundwork has to be laid before her interaction with Risa comes in.
meowz: Aww really? I never expected my fics to be able to induce anyone to become a regular on the forum. You don’t know how long I’ve had a smile on my face after reading this
I really do think Koharu can have a badass face when she wants to. That is if she doesn’t go into spazzy mode
Good luck preparing for uni. I know it can be horrid.
Topic: Please Take Care of My Club [Chapter 7 – Secrets Revealed] (Read 12235 times)