@sapphire: LOL I noticed, that was beast of you

@kawaii beam: lol I totally just pulled the brain development thing from high school science class..

@kano-chan: yeah, I don't know if I can hold back writing all the TakaGaki love...

@rndmwierd: lol actually, it just put me in a pinch where I started to contemplate whether it was perv material or not... so i just kinda avoided the subject altogether and took a different approach instead

@astro18: yeah, a year and half is too long...

@kRisZ: LOL I'm only happy to make my readers go twitterpatted

@Tchips: welcome back! and yeah, Reina's being a bitch... but just for a little while

@oddball: well, whether it takes a long time or a short time, the bean's gonna do her best to make it come "naturally"

@black_inu09: yay~ glad to give you some smiles

@eruchan: LOL raging hormones... LOL

Yay for my unstoppable typing fingers that actually got me to finish the next chapter in less than 24 hours!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 49 Eri quietly slurped up her soda through the straw as she intently watched her girlfriend across the table. Reina had been staring at the burger in her hands with a blank face for the past three minutes without even moving a little. The turtle slowly reached over to Reina’s tray and took a handful of fries to put on her own tray. Still, the kitten made no movement.
“Um… Reina?” Eri called after clearly her throat. “Hello, Reina?”
“Huh?” Reina blihnked a couple times as she looked up at her girlfriend. “Nani?”
“Are you okay?” the turtle asked, concerned. “You’ve been spacing out for a while…”
“Oh. Oh, yeah, I’m fine, just… just kind of tired I guess…”
Reina took a bite out of her burger and started to chew slowly. This time, she started to stare at the paper placemat on her tray which was advertising the shop’s new crispy chicken sandwich. Eventually, she stopped chewing and let her mouth drop open slightly as she spaced out once more.
Eri sighed as she shoved some fries into her mouth. The two lovers were at a burger shop, catching an afternoon snack together. The atmosphere was pretty friendly, with the brightness of the store itself and a soft pop song playing in the background. However, the ex-yankii’s unusual attitude was making the turtle worry more than ever. She hadn’t really smiled much after the night she yelled at her girlfriend. Eri had spent the past week thinking about who the man that visited Reina might be, and what made her so anxious all of a sudden. And also, it seemed as though that envelope that Reina had received had some significance in this matter….
“You know, Reina,” Eri started, leaning forward a little to snap her girlfriend back into reality, “if there’s something bothering you, you can tell me. Anything at all. You know that, right?”
“Huh? Y-yeah… I know…” the kitten mumbled, staring at the place where she had bitten out of the burger.
“… Okay, I’m going to be straightforward with you,” the turtle sighed, realizing her previous plan wasn’t going to work. “I know you’re hiding something, and that it has to do with the man that visited you a week ago.”
“What man?”
“The guy in the black suit who brought all the other guys in black suits driving a black limousine,” Eri explained, rolling her eyes. “It doesn’t get any more suspicious than that.”
“I don’t get what you mean,” Reina said quietly, pursing her lips.
“Come on, Reina, I’m not that much of an airhead, right?” Eri groaned. “You obviously knew the man; you called him ‘Kaneda’, I remember. Who is he?”
“He’s just… someone I know.”
“Yeah, a middle-aged man that you happen to call informally,” Eri said sarcastically. “Then what about that envelope? Why were you so surprised to get it?”
“Look, Eri, I know that you care about me and all,” Reina snapped, changing her attitude, “but that doesn’t mean you can delve so deeply into my personal life.”
“But
I’m your personal life!” the turtle argued. “Aren’t I important enough to know this? Reina, please don’t hide things from me. I want to be the one closest to you, and I don’t like the fact that there’s something I don’t know about you.”
“Well, there’s a lot of things you still don’t know about me,” Reina said in a threatening tone, narrowing her eyes. “Look, Eri, I’m not in the mood for this, alright?”
Eri blinked a couple times as she stared at the unfamiliar girl in front of her. This was definitely not like the Reina she knew. The Reina she knew was confident, teasing, and full of pride but also warm, fun, and kind. The person in front of her right now was cold, uncaring, and merciless. The ex-yankii stared back at her lover in shock for a while before sighing and closing her eyes for a while. She rubbed her forehead a little before attempting to speak again.
“Look, Eri… I just—”
“Woah, what a coincidence to find you two here!”
Both girls looked up to find a familiar yankii standing by their table. She had her arm around black-haired girl who was attempting to smile but failing somehow as her lips curved up awkwardly.
“Junjun, what are you doing here?” Reina growled, obviously not welcoming her unserious friend’s presence.
“Hey, that’s no way to greet your best friend,” the panda pouted. “How’s it going, Kame-chan?”
“It’s going,” Eri answered, trying to force a smile. “Good to see you again, Shige-san.”
“H-hai…” Sayumi nodded, feeling happy to be greeted. With a surge of courage, the bunny proceeded to say a word to the ex-yankii as well. “T-Tanaka-san… konnichiwa.”
“Oshisashiburi desu ne, Shige-san,” Reina greeted back, smiling almost professionally. “Genki?”
“Hai,” Sayumi answered quietly, nodding a couple times again.
Well, I can see she’s obviously not planning on taking her anger out on Shige-san, Eri thought.
Good thing too, since Reina could probably give the poor girl a heart attack if she went on the way she acted towards me… “What were you guys talking about?” Junjun asked. “Can we slip in?”
Before her request could even be answered, the panda pulled Reina out of her seat and swung her into the same bench as the turtle. Then, she nudged Sayumi towards the empty seats and slid into the booth.
“Hey!” Reina protested, glaring at her friend. “I didn’t even answer you yet!”
“It was taking too long,” Junjun joked, yawning. “So what were you guys talking about?”
“Nothing that concerns you,” Reina shot, obviously not playing friendly with the panda either.
“Fine,” the yankii leader scoffed. “Maybe Kame-chan will tell me then.”
As Junjun looked at her expectantly, Eri caught her girlfriend glaring at her in the corner of eye.
“I think I’m going to hold off on that,” the turtle decided, thinking it was better not to anger the kitten any more than she already was.
“Oh, fine,” Junjun sighed, deciding to let the subject go.
“Where are Aika and Linlin today?” Eri asked, looking around for signs of the usual yankii crew.
“They’re on a date in Disneyland,” Junjun grinned. “Aika said that she needed to go one more time this season to make a profit from her annual pass.”
“And Linlin just goes with her like that when she still needs to pay?” Eri asked, amazed by the young couple’s bond.
“She doesn’t mind; that girl is crazy for Aika and vice versa,” Junjun snickered. “Well, I’m going to go get some food. What do you want, Usa-chan? Do you want to try the new crispy chicken sandwich?”
“I don’t think I can finish it…” the bunny said in almost a whisper.
“We can split it then,” the panda shrugged, getting up from her seat. “I’ll go buy it.”
As Junjun slid out of the booth and disappeared around a corner, Eri got a sudden spark of idea. She ushered Reina out of the seat so that she could get out.
“I’m… uh… going to the bathroom,” the turtle said. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” Reina nodded, not even looking up.
Eri immediately strutted around the corner as well towards the counter. Junjun was waiting on the line, observing the menu board and mumbling something to herself.
“Junjun!” the turtle called, walking over to stand in line with her.
“Hey, Kame-chan,” the yankii grinned. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering if I could ask you something… about Reina.”
“This is what you guys were talking about before, right?” Junjun smirked. “And I assume you don’t want me to tell Reina about this so that she doesn’t get angry.”
“Sharp as ever, Junjun,” Eri smiled.
“That’s my middle name,” the panda winked. “So shoot. What do you want to know?”
“I was just wondering… if you know anybody by the name of ‘Kaneda’?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Junjun shrugged. “He’s Tanaka Koichi’s right-hand man: Kaneda Tetsuya.”
“Tanaka… Koichi?” Eri asked.
“Yeah, Reina’s dad,” Junjun explained. “The president of Tanaka Electronics? I mean, it’s not a really prominent company, but the family is rich enough.”
“Sou ka…”
There really are so many things I still don’t know about Reina… Eri put her hand over her chest, feeling it tighten. Although she knew their relationship was mostly built on the “love-at-first-sight” concept, it still hurt to know that Eri wasn’t close enough to know more than Reina’s friend.
“Why do you ask about Kaneda-san?” Junjun questioned.
“Well… he visited Reina about a week ago,” Eri explained, thinking that maybe she could get more out of this conversation if Junjun knew the full story. “He gave her this envelope: I’m not sure what’s inside. But whatever it is, it really shocked Reina. And after that, she wouldn’t tell me anything and just yell whenever I ask her about it.”
“… Well, chances are that the envelope is from Reina’s dad,” Junjun predicted, stroking her chin like a detective. “Kaneda-san’s entire life basically revolves around Tanaka-shachou. And I’m not surprised by Reina’s action since just the mere fact that her father sent her something is pretty shocking enough. You’re aware that they’re not exactly on good terms, right?”
“Yes, I know.” Eri recalled the time when Reina had made a major confession of her past… Of how her father had basically kicked her out of her home when her mother passed away through a car accident, while she was on the way to pick her up from the police office… Guilt, anger, and regret had driven the father and the daughter apart.
“Yeah, so Reina’s father probably wants something from Reina to send something like that, whatever it is,” Junjun continued. “Kame-chan, Reina has a bad habit of keeping all her burdens to herself. I think it’s better if we find a way to share it.”
“But how would I do that?” Eri asked. “She won’t even tell me anything…”
“You gotta start thinking like me, Kame-chan,” Junjun smirked. “What do I do when Reina doesn’t let me in her house?”
“… Sneak in?” Eri guessed.
“Exactly,” Junjun said, clapping her hands together.
“But… isn’t that kind of going overboard?” the turtle inquired. “I mean, it
is her privacy…”
“Hey, it’s all for her own good,” Junjun shrugged. “We break in to make dinner for her. You’re breaking in to support her. Trust me when I say this, Kame-chan: whatever her father gave her, it can’t be a good thing for Reina. She’s actually very afraid of her father.”
“… I understand,” Eri nodded determinedly.
Junjun is right; I have to do this. If I ever want to really get to know Reina more, I have to take action myself. And the first step to doing that is getting that envelope!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's not that long but hey, it really makes things interesting, right?

Next is the 50th chapter... I'm planning on having a little special chapter thingie, something to just put out there. Like an omake, almost

And it involves our little AikaLin couple! These girls are pretty underrated in this fic, and I thought that they deserved some screentime

And another reason I'm gonna do this is because I have no idea how to continue on this story after this so... yeah, it's a filler chapter while I brainstorm

But it'll be cute! I'll make it as interesting as possible
