@hackata48-san, I hope your friend isn't getting angry with the you use her name.
And, as promised... Will be updating twice this week. Thanks to everyone who participated~
Chapter 21: 妹の戦争 (II)
MAKI CAME in the classroom with unusual high tension. She is wearing her hair in twin tails in preparation of some upcoming event. All the other girls greeted her and praised her about how the hairstyle fits her. With those praises, she became even more excited to present herself to her friends but…
“Why are you two so gloomy early in the morning?”
Maki asked, all the excitement in her face is gone. The two girls both seemed like their souls were taken away. Miyu is just staring blankly at the window while Fumie is burying her face in her arms as she leans on her desk. No one seems to be bothered to look at the happy zombie.
“It seems like they had a tough day yesterday.” Yuma casually commented while he is busy surfing the internet to prepare more stuffs in his future TV guesting. He raised his head and looked at Maki. “Anyway, that style looks good on you Maki-san. You look like a cute
imouto.”
“IMOUTO!!?”Maki and Yuma gasped when the two just gave an abnormal reaction at that word. They both looked like the person on
The Scream painting before they melted back to their soulless appearance. The other two got alerted even more when they started murmuring a phrase again and again as if they are going to summon something.
“Little sisters are scary… Little sisters are scary… Little sisters are scary…”“Oh no!” Maki dropped her bag and tried to wake her friends up by slapping them and shaking them up. “What are you guys talking about!? Little sisters aren’t scary!”
Maki then turned to Fumie and shook her strongly. “Fumie-chan! Little sisters aren’t scary! You are a little sister yourself, remember!?”
The two somehow calmed down and stopped with all the mumblings. They looked at each other as if they are going to cry.
FAST FORWARD“So you met their sisters?” Yuma and Maki asked in chorus. The other two nodded.
“It wasn’t a very good first meeting for me.” Miyu sighed. “I mistook her as Aki-senpai. I thought that Senpai was actually
coming out to me which made everything so awkward. I mean, they really look alike!”
Miyu covered her face in embarrassment. “Why do I even think that Senpai was into crossdressing? My heart started beating so fast to the point that I got nosebleed.
Yuuka got scared at me and called me a creep. She even thought that I was an intruder, her brother’s stalker. Thank goodness Aki-senpai came to save me.”
“I see.” Yuma nodded. “But, knowing your nature, I bet you were thinking of indecent things while you were in the showers, right?”
“S-S-Shut up, Yuma-kun!” Miyu lied even though everything is written over her flustered face. “Why would I even think about that?”
“TCH.” Yuma and Maki rolled their eyes then turned to another direction.
“Hey! At least believe what I am saying!” Miyu protested.
“What about you, Fumie-chan?” Maki asked. “What happened with your first meeting with the King’s sister?” Maki sounded irritated as she stressed out the last word. “Tell me about her. What was her name again?”
“Yurina.” The girl answered after trying to remember. “I heard Fuyu-senpai called her Yurina.”
“And then, and then?” Maki moved closer to Fumie which made the other girl backed out a little.
“W-Well… According to their conversation last night, it seems that Yurina-chan ran away from their grandparents’ house. She brought all her clothes but since it was raining yesterday, all her stuffs got wet so she had to borrow clothes from his brother.”
Fumie tried to remember that happened and tell the others about it as it is. The intensity that she felt when Yurina looked at her is still fresh.
“Her hair is short and she’s really tall compared to her age. She’s still in middle school but she doesn’t give off an adorable aura at all. Maybe it is because of her eyes.”
“What about her eyes?” Maki raised up her follow-up question.
“Hmmm.” Fumie thought aloud. “She has the same eyes as her brother. But hers look like the same eyes when I first met Fuyu-senpai. It was so cold and empty yet it feels like they are hiding a lot of things.
She looks really amazed that her brother brought a girl home. She even went near me and tried to sniff me after that she looked at her brother with a very curious face. Then she just shrugged her shoulders as if she is telling him that there’s nothing special with my scent.”
“What else? What else?” Maki’s curiosity about Fuyu’s sister is somehow off the roof.
“Yurina-chan seems like she has a bad habit of spitting out random bad words. The first word that I heard from her really doesn’t sound right.” Fumie explained further. “Well, that’s all that I can say since Fuyu-senpai dropped me to my house after that. It seems like Yurina-chan’s sudden appearance would be a very big issue in their family. He told me not to worry but he didn’t chat me even after dinner. It seems like it is really serious.”
Maki then leaned back to her seat before crossing her arms. “I’ve heard that King had younger sisters when his mother remarried but I haven’t met them even once. Even though my Dad also knows her dad, I
never had the curiosity to meet her.”
“Look whose nose is growing longer.” Miyu commented with a sly smile.
“Yours just got back to its normal size, Miyu-san.” Yuma followed-up which made him receive a spanking from the Fisher.
“I really never met her. Since the King’s mother and her new husband got into a fatal car accident, her sisters were then taken by his step-father’s parents while the King got abandoned by everyone else. The ones who helped him get by were Shinoda-sensei and Akimoto—WOAH!”
Maki was surprised when Fumie suddenly jumped out in front of her. Her troubled-looking eyebrows looked more troubled as she holds Maki’s hands.
“W-What—“
“Can you please repeat what you said?” Fumie asked with a hint of frustration in her face.
“W-Which part exactly?” The zombie backed off a little bit. Fumie is just inches away from her.
“Did you just say that Fuyu-senpai’s mother is
already dead?” The girl asked with great disbelief written all over her face. “But Senpai said that he is living with his mother!”
Maki gulped. Did she just spill something that she shouldn’t? “T-That’s rubbish! The King’s mother and step-father died in a car accident when he was in ninth grade! How could he live with his mother?”
Fumie caught the attention of her other classmates when she suddenly stood up from her seat which made a lot of noise. She was about to go out when the bell rang and their homeroom teacher opened the door before her.
“Going somewhere, Shingyoji-san?” The teacher asked in a cold voice. The girl just backed out and returned to her seat. Seems like someone will have some explaining to do during lunch.
“HOW ARE the preparations going on, Akane?”
Mochizuki Akane, the proud Vice President of the Student Council or widely known as the Drill Sergeant, took her eyes away from her laptop for a little while and turned to Haru who just entered the SC room. The President looks a bit tired. Right after the MT, he went to Singapore to check the branch of their company there and then after three days he flew to Hong Kong to do the same thing.
He wanted to entrust everything again to Fuyu but knowing everything that happened, he knows that Fuyu will not be able to focus on his job. So, even though it is a little burdensome, Akane volunteered to do the preparations for the upcoming
Family Day.“Everything is going out fine.” The Vice President answered. “I have already sent the invitation to the families of each student and a lot of them have already confirmed that they will be attending the event.”
“That’s good to know. Thank you, Akane.” Haru dropped himself to his swivel chair and then closed his eyes. “I’m sorry that I was not able to help you from the start. Where are Risao and Manaki anyway?”
Akane stood up from her seat and went on to prepare tea for the President. “It’s okay, Kaichou. I can handle this. The guys just went to fetch food. They’ll bring food here.”
She finished making the tea before she went on with her concerns.
“Is there anyone from your family that will come this year, Kaichou?” Akane asked as she places the tea on Haru’s desk. “This will be your last year, right?”
“Well…” Haru sighed. “My parents will never be able to attend but my younger sister is insisting to come in their place. Our father already gave her the permission to attend the event and she can’t be happier about it.”
“That’s good to know.” The Drill Sergeant went back to her seat with grace.
“
Neru is so excited about it that she facetimed with me the whole night. I was too sleepy but she didn’t let me sleep in peace. But I’m glad that she’ll be out of home once in a while. Being home schooled is tough.” Haru opened his eyes and reached out for the tea prepared for him.
“I’m just worried about one person though.” Akane turned her laptop screen to Haru’s way. It is flashing the picture of a certain coconut head. “I don’t know to whom I should send the invitation.”
The president only looked at the screen through the corner of his eyes. For the past years, it was his task to send the invitation to the families and he already know what to do in this situation. He organized this kind of event to keep families intact. Since marriage is just being taken for granted and divorce is easily accessible, there are a lot of children that are living with a broken family. And, since the society is a lot more workaholic, most parents have more time with their work rather than quality time with their kids. Haru knows all of it. He sees it to his friends. His life reflects it as well. Somehow he wants to change this kind of society.
But, this case of his friend seems to be a little helpless.
He may have a family but he couldn’t call them his own. The right to call them his family was taken away from him.
“Leave it to me.” Haru closed his eyes. “I already took action about that.”
THE SECOND year tower is yet again on a buzz but this time it isn’t about the Winter Prince. The one who graced them with his presence is the prince that is being rumored to be inlove with another prince—Yamamoto Aki.
“Agoki-senpai!” Maki called out to him which made the guy’s eyebrows twitch. “What are you doing here in our classroom?”
Aki removed his earphones and sighed. “Please don’t call me like that so loudly. I could still hear you even with my earphones on.”
“So I can call you Agoki as long as I don’t shout?” Maki innocently asked.
“Of course not!” Aki felt a throbbing pain in his head. Fuyu isn’t a very good influence to Maki. He is the one who started this whole Agoki thing.
“Oh, Agoki-senpai! What brought you here?”
Aki started to continuously hit his head on the wall as Yuma also greeted him with the same name.
“What’s wrong with him?” Yuma asked Maki. The zombie just shrugged.
“Trying to fight the devil inside him?” The girl calmly answered.
Aki tried to gather himself and retain his cool composure. He looked at the two with his sharp eyes before heading on to his purpose.
“Is Miyu-chan still around?” The Autumn Prince asked while trying to see if the said girl is still inside. “I just want to say sorry about how my sister acted towards her. I know she was surprised.”
“Ahh… That one?” Maki answered as she remembered the story Miyu told them earlier. “She already left. She got a call from work.”
“Is that so?” Aki’s shoulders dropped. “I guess I should’ve come a bit earlier.”
“Why come during afterschool if there is lunch time?” Yuma asked as if he is talking like a love expert. “You really should’ve come earlier if you are sincere to your feelings.”
“What on earth are you talking about, Yuma?” Aki sighed. He bit his lips in frustration after not being able to see Miyu. Something is definitely wrong with him. It feels like he always wants to see the girl and it comforts him everytime she is around. Was it because of the way she smiles?
Men are so easy. Just because of a girl’s smile they can be captured. Probably, one of the best baits there is in order to fish is such a wonderful eye smile. It’s not because of his public reputation anymore that he is looking for the writer of the BL fic and put that person to stop, he could feel that for now it’s about something else. He wants to be as cool as he can be in the eyes of Watanabe Miyu.
“Where is Fumie-chan anyway?” Aki asked to change the topic. He is worried that the other two would pry more on him. “Fuyu didn’t come to school today. Have you guys heard about it?”
“Well, the King’s girlfriend is here. Of course we would know about it right away.” Maki answered, a little bit pissed. She couldn’t move on about the younger sister story.
“Fumie-san said that she will visit him. Apparently Fuyu-senpai isn’t responding to her mails.” Yuma explained. Aki seemed a bit clueless of the happenings so the two told him everything that they heard from Fumie. The guy just wiped his face with his palm.
“Our younger sisters are little pain in the ass.” He sighed in disappointment. “I really envy Haru for having such a reliable younger sister like Neru-chan. Natsu has the spoiled, crybaby Momoko-chan and I have a Yuuka who is horseback riding freak then there are the twin sisters of Fuyu. I’ve met Yurina before and I can say that she is really rude.”
“I see…” Maki answered while gritting her teeth. “It seems that that Yurina is giving the King some hard time to the point of not responding to his girlfriend’s mails! I will teach her a lesson once I meet her!”
“You know Maki-san, I don’t know from what kind of emotion you are pulling those words.” Yuma stated. His brows are meeting, can’t figure out what’s really on Maki’s mind.
“You guys are both weird.” Aki laughed then pocketed his hands. “Please tell Miyu-chan that I dropped by to see her. I’ll be heading out now.”
The two waved at him as a goodbye. Such a disappointment that he was not able to see the reason why he came over. That fanfic about him and Haru must be stopped as soon as possible.
“Oh!” He was still in the hallway when an idea popped out his head. He immediately went back to Class 2-D which surprised Maki and Yuma. Aki was in an adrenaline rush.
“Guys…” He called out, chasing for his breath. “Can I ask you a favor?”
THE WIND blew once more but it seems that the damsel in distress hasn’t decided on what to do. She has been standing outside Fuyu’s house for a good 20 minutes but she still hasn’t found the courage to push the doorbell. Why is she always this hopeless?
“Why did I even rush here if I will just act like this?” She violently shook her head and slapped herself. Her fists balled. “I’m here for my boyfriend! He’s
my boyfriend! There’s nothing to be shy about coming to his house all of a sudden!”
She nodded in agreement to herself. “All I have to do is to press the button—KYAA!”
Fumie suddenly shrieked when her phone vibrated. She immediately pulled it from her pocket hoping that it is Fuyu but it is the same person that has kept on bothering her since last week. She immediately rejected the call and was on the edge of blocking the number when she suddenly had a change of mind—like she always does whenever that person calls.
She puffed her cheeks, annoyed why she couldn’t just block it. Her fingers then led to Fuyu’s number. She decided to give him another call, hoping that this time he will pick it up but—
“D-DAMN IT!”
Fumie turned around to the direction of the voice. There she saw a familiar short-haired girl panicking, trying her hardest to turn off the phone that is ringing. Her hands are a little wet because of the papico that she is eating making it hard to silence the phone off. She even dropped the said popsicle on the process which made her cursed so hard.
“Y-Yurina-chan?” Fumie called out which made the other girl froze for a moment. Yurina immediately straightened up, kicked her unfinished papiko away and then looked at Fumie with her smug face.
“What are you doing here?” She asked coldly trying her best to act cool while trying to sneakily hide the phone in her hoodie’s pocket. “Are you here for my stupid brother?”
Fumie faced her properly. “How long have you been there? A-And… Why do you have Fuyu-senpai’s phone?”
“Don’t answer with me with another question, woman!” Yurina sneered at her. “Let’s say I’m just preventing him from calling back up that’s why I stole his phone.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“Well, you know? My grandparents—Wait! What the hell am I even doing answering your questions!?” Yurina crossed her arms and looked down at Fumie. “Why are you standing in front of my brother’s house?”
“W-Well!” Fumie raised her chin; she isn’t bowing down to this girl. “I’m here to see my
boyfriend! He hasn’t replied to my messages for the whole day! And look at what I have discovered…”
“Tch!” Yurina rolled her eyes and looked at another direction. Fumie’s jaw dropped. Did a middle-schooler just did that to her.
“Where is Fuyu-senpai now?” Fumie asked.
“Why are you still calling him Senpai when you are already lovers?” Yurina’s smug face is back. “Are you guys just playing?” She then laughed to tease Fumie even more. “I can’t believe that the girl she is talking about is you. You look so plain!”
Knots started to form in Fumie’s head but she tried her best to calm herself. This is her boyfriend’s sister and Yurina is younger than her. There’s no need to be annoyed. After all, she doesn’t know the story why this girl is here.
“It doesn’t matter whatever I call him and however I look. What matters is what we are to each other!” Fumie blushed to her own words but she tried not to make Yurina notice it. “Now, will you just please tell me where your brother is?”
Yurina backed off a little at the showcase of courage. “E-Earlier this morning, when he is about to go to school, a short-haired girl came here crying. All I heard is that my brother’s boss was sent to the hospital. He was so worried that he has forgotten that his younger sister is here. That’s all! He left with another girl! Bleh!”
The younger girl tucked her tongue out. Fumie felt her heart tightened for a moment. The fact that Fuyu left with another girl surely got her but it isn’t the time to be jealous at some trivial matter. She knows that he would explain once they meet.
“Do you mean that Senpai is in the hospital?”
“No, he is just guarding the store—F**K!” Yurina covered her mouth. “Why do I always spill things up?”
At this moment, Fumie started to realize something with the way Yurina acts.
“Can you show me where he is working?”
Yurina laughed. “You said you are his girlfriend but you don’t even know where he is working? Are you sure about your relationship?”
Man, this girl’s tongue is really sharp. That sure got her. She could feel that Fuyu is still not fully open to her. Just the fact that he hasn’t told her the truth about his mother is a proof. She’s well aware that Fuyu has a reason but she couldn’t erase this negative feeling.
She took a deep breath. “Do you want to make sure about my relationship with your brother?”
Fumie watched Yurina’s eyes widened for a bit. For a moment she was also surprised at the way she sounded. Since people were claiming that she was Shimazaki Haruka, there are times that she would spend time watching videos about the girl. For that certain moment she kind of heard Paruru and not herself. Was she watching too much videos of that girl? Or is it just her nature that’s manifesting?
Anyway, it seems to be working. Her plan is to intimidate Yurina and the way she spoke seemed to take effect. She could imagine the other girl bathing in salt. She has to continue with it.
“If you want to witness the truth…” She stepped towards Yurina who wasn’t able to do anything but to step backwards. She looked down at her with those bored eyes and she saw how sweat rolled down from Yurina’s head.
“Lead me to where your brother is.”
“WHAT ON earth is going on?”
Fumie couldn’t believe what she arrived at. There is a long line of customers waiting for their turn only to buy muffins. Are those muffins really that delicious that people are lining up just to buy a piece of it? Why didn’t she hear about it until now when it is just in the neighborhood?
Most of the people in the line are girls. There are girls of all ages but highschool girls dominated it. It’s like a festival of schools because of the different uniforms that are present. All of them are so excited to get inside that little store.
“I never thought that there is a muffin place in here that is really famous~!” Fumie bewildered. She hasn’t had the opportunity to go around the town. The poor girl already knows her fate once she attempt to go on her own.
“Huh?” Yurina sneered. “Don’t tell me that you are really thinking that what they came here for are the muffins. Let’s fall in line so that your rusty ear could hear what they are talking about.”
Yurina jumped from where they are hiding and then casually get in line. Fumie just followed her and then tried to listen to what the customers are talking about.
“I heard he was already here since morning!”
“Really? He didn’t go to school?”
“I heard it from my Mum. He has been working since morning!”
“Seems like they are giving
Fuyu-kun a hard time!”
Fumie’s ears twitched when she heard Fuyu’s name. Yurina looked at her with her default smug face. Just with that look she could understand what the girl is trying to convey.
“I want to see
him so badly that I rushed here after class finished!”
“Girl, you are a die-hard fan!”
“Duh? I would go to the ends of the earth just for Fuyu-kun! I have all the magazines where he appeared as a model and he would literally be my ichiban if ever he became an idol!”
The girls giggled at the idea of Fuyu being an idol.
“He has a face of perfect proportion! His eyes are really… oh Gahd!”
“I know right! Just look at his lips! I wonder how soft they are!”
“Girl I bet he has fine abs too! Just look at his biceps whenever he flexes! I’m sure he works out!”
“Let’s have some delicious
muffin! I don’t care how
cold it is!”
The girls giggled once more while Fumie’s face is red up to the tip of her ears. So all of these girls are here not for what is being sold.
“Look,
kanojo-san. My brother is right at the counter.”
Fumie’s body automatically moved and her eyes went to search for her man. There she saw him, exactly where Yurina was pointing. He is manning the counter wearing a maroon apron with the logo of the muffin store.
He seems tired. All the customers that are paying always ask other questions but he doesn’t answer them at all. He sticks to doing his job and nothing more. She noticed how he forces himself to give a smile but it always ends up being faint. From time to time he looks at the clock, growing more and more impatient with every ticking.
His every movement, no matter how small it is, is an eye candy for all these girls who couldn’t take their eyes off of him.
“Are you getting je—WTF!”
Yurina was surprised to see Fumie smiling from ear to ear. She looks like a different person from who she saw a while ago.
“Why are you smiling so creepily like that?” The girl asked, acting like she’s having goose bumps.
Fumie tried not to smile but she couldn’t help but to. “I’m just happy, Yurina-chan…”
“H-Happy!?” Yurina asked in disbelief. “Don’t you think you should be jealous?”
“Fumie just snickered. “There’s no need…” She heaved a sigh. “I’m happy that among these girls that like him,
he chose me.”
“What?”
Their conversation was put into a halt when there was a commotion in front of them. Apparently, all the muffins were already sold out so this means the store has to close. They saw a short-haired girl came outside to apologize to the customers and then immediately went back inside after changing the signage of the store.
The disappointed girls dispersed. Some of them are blaming someone for buying a bunch of muffins just to have more time by the cashier.
“That store girl is also cute. Don’t you think she and Fuyu-kun are dating?”
“Hell no! Do you think Fuyu-kun is the type to date? Just look at how cold he is!”
“But they meet each other everyday! There’s a possibility that they will develop feelings for each other!”
“Shut up! That girl couldn’t even straighten up her tongue that’s why she wasn’t put in the counter. Let’s just go home!”
A few minutes later, that busy street suddenly became quiet. Fumie watched Fuyu helped the said girl with cleaning. They seem to be in a hurry with the girl looking so worried. Fuyu stopped her by holding her by the arm. This somehow stopped Fumie’s heart for a second, too.
“Let me take care of the cleaning. Go.”, is what Fumie read from those lips of Fuyu. The girl just nodded and removed her apron. She bowed down to Fuyu before leaving the store to his hands.
The two bystanders didn’t notice that the sun has already set. They were busy watching the guy cleaning the whole store. There isn’t a hint of complain in his face but he still seems to be in a hurry.
“Nii-san is really working hard…” Yurina murmured to herself but Fumie managed to pick that up. “I’ll be going back home. I’ll give you guys some private time.”
That’s all and she ran away even before Fumie tried to call her back.
“Fumie?”
The girl immediately turned to where the voice is coming from and there she saw the smile that wiped away all the anxieties that she was having for the whole day. Fuyu is already out of the store, back to his normal clothes, looking a bit exhausted but that smile on his face is really precious.
“Fumie, I missed you!” He rushed to her to give her a hug which the girl welcomed warmly. It’s just for a day that they didn’t see each other but she admits that she missed him so much as well. Heaven knows how she was worried.
“I missed you, too, Senpai.” She looked at his smiling face once more and pinched his cheeks. He looks like a cute puppy especially with those untidy hair. How happy she is now for being the only one to see this adorable smile. How glad she is for being the one jailed in these arms.
“But…” The smile on Fumie’s face somehow became a little scary. “You still have to explain things to me.”
A drop of sweat rolled down Fuyu’s head.
“A-Alright.”
-TBC-
Here’s the Imouto Chart for all of you
