@xyukie56: lol, really? i have to confess that I got bored while writing in the middle though... glad to hear that you weren't!
@shenlog: well, it's not a story without drama/plot, right?
@kano-chan: lol the unpredictable SayuJun. substitute teacher made me like this for some reason-->
@KirikomoriHime: yeah, i probably could...
@Bamtai: aww~ you're such an optimist, i love it
@Sora-chan: where there's a will, there's a way
@eruchan: lol honeymoon is a good way to put it~ Even though they've been a couple for a long time already
@oddball: well, of course Risa must be awfully frustrated because of this, hence the rant. the question is how long the grudge will last
thank you for all the comments/thanks!
whenever I see who "thanked" me, i figure that they must be too busy to comment, which is totally fine with me. so reading those names makes me feel pretty happy too
onwards!
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Chapter 74 This was ridiculous.
Reina found it difficult to believe that she was actually still lying in bed at this time. It was past noon and the sun was high up in the sky. Even school was supposed to end in an hour or two. Reina always made herself out to be a diligent lady, at least ever since she left Fukuoka. She was always up at the same time every morning for school without the help of an alarm, since her internal clock had been set that way for a couple years now. At this moment, she would’ve been in school, swiftly copying notes from Yaguchi-sensei’s lecture. But alas, her girlfriend’s desperate request had convinced her to stay home and rest up for the day.
And rest like a dead person, she did. She had fallen asleep as soon as Eri left her last night, slumped over the bed without even changing—again, not very much like the usual Reina. Not like she really had to change into her assigned pajamas of the week anyway; she had already been wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, just like she had for the past couple of days. Her plain outfit had served her well throughout the night in making comfortable sleepwear.
After many many hours, the sun had finally managed to wake the sleeping kitten with its bright shine. Reina had refused to open her eyes for a couple minutes before she realized that the sun was much too bright for it to be early morning. When she took a peek at the clock by her bedside through her blanket, she had felt immediate guilt and shame from sleeping in until so late in the day. But even as she continued to tell herself to get out of bed, Reina just kept rolling around on the soft mattress to tangle herself up in the bedsheets, feeling much too cozy to actually start taking action.
And just like that, another hour or two passed by again. Reina didn’t fall asleep but she felt satisfied just by lying in bed, doing nothing. It had given her a lot of time to think about the recent happenings: her father’s visit, their argument, Eri getting hit, her father collapsing, more tears along with more confusion… So much had happened in these past few days that it made Reina feel as though she had aged much more. It was almost natural that she felt that way too, considering how she was practically letting herself rot in her father’s hospital room by refusing to eat or sleep… until Eri came along.
That girl always had a way, didn’t she? Things always seemed to work out for her, one way or another. If she had complications in her life, it was related to Reina somehow. That girl would have no worries if Reina and her background didn’t cause so much trouble. But as selfish as Reina knew she was being, she didn’t have the courage to live without Eri’s presence now. She didn’t have the courage to work through her own problems; she needed Eri there beside her. She knew the turtle would always lend a helping hand with all the pleasure in the world, but that was part of what made her feel guilty. Eri was just too pure... yet Reina had always burdened her in unimaginable ways.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Reina also very well knew that the past couldn’t be changed. It was time to start thinking about the future, time to start realizing what she truly wanted and which of those desires had the possibility of coming true.
Before her mind could shift over to a new topic, something alerted Reina’s keen senses. It wasn’t a very noticeable signal either—just the very slightest sound of a door clicking close. And then a quite thud. Someone was in the house.
Reina let out a tired sigh, cursing her fortunes. If a burglar had broken into her home any other day, she would’ve been happy to have the pleasure of capturing him, throwing in a couple punches here and there, and reporting him to the police. But today was just not a good day; she was still too exhausted and her body felt stiff like a pair of chopsticks after being in bed for so long.
But this was her home and a queen had to protect her castle. Drudgingly, Reina dragged herself out of bed as quietly as she could. She rubbed her eyes to let it adjust to the brighteness of the sunlight blazing through the windows and yanked her fingers through her hair to work out as many knots as she could. Trying to ignore the awful dry taste in her mouth after the extensive slumber, Reina quietly made her way out of her bedroom and towards the stairs.
Calmly and dexterously, the kitten tiptoed down the staircase until she froze at the last step. A hunter listened for her prey first. Only silence resonated from the living room but a clatter reverberated from the kitchen. Reina glided towards the entrance of the kitchen as she raised an eyebrow in confusion; what kind of thief stole kitchen utensils? What kind of…
Rolling her eyes, Reina sighed as she crossed her arms across her chest. “You know, one of these days I’m seriously going to kick your ass, thinking you’re a burglar.”
A tall black-haired girl grinned as she turned from the sink to face her friend. “Well, I would’ve announced my arrival but I figured that you’d still be sleeping.”
“I was,” Reina lied. But the fact was that if her friend had rang the doorbell, she probably would’ve ignored it anyway, pretending to be off in dreamland. However, just to rant at her yankii friend for a little longer, Reina helped herself in telling a little white lie. “Would it have hurt to use the front door?”
“Well, you moved the spare key from under the pot,” Junjun shrugged. “So I took the liberty of breaking in through the back door… This lock is a bit easier to pick than your front doors.”
“Thank you for that little bit of information, now I know that I need to go buy a new lock,” Reina grinned.
“Don’t bother,” Junjun chuckled. “I only broke in through the kitchen door because picking locks isn’t my specialty. But you know how Aika is a master at breaking and entering.”
“True that,” Reina agreed. She had seen her little kouhai at work before; the girl could break into a bank if she wanted to. Thank goodness Junjun had put some sense into her young mind before she made herself a criminal. “Speaking of Aika…”
“They’re at school,” the panda answered, reading the kitten’s mind. “And yes, I cut class to come here.”
“To do what, inspect my pot?” Reina smiled, referring to the large black cooking pot in Junjun’s hand. And upon closer examination, she noticed that there were two grocery bags sitting on the counter.
“To cook something for you,” Junjun shrugged. “You hadn’t eaten in a while, right? I figured you’d either be too tired or lazy to make something for yourself so… here I am, your chef of the day.” She flashed a toothy grin, posing with the pot as though she was advertising it, causing Reina to laugh.
“Thanks, Jun,” she said earnestly, smiling warmly. “I really appreciate that.”
“Hey, what are gang members for?” Junjun joked, grinning. “And more importantly… friends.”
“I can live with that,” Reina said, stretching her arms. She walked towards her dining table and curled up into a ball on the chair. “So, what’s on the menu?”
“Well, I felt like going all fancy with the food at first,” Junjun grinned, “but then I realized you skipped quite a number of meals, so it’s better to work slowly back up to your regular eating pattern. How about okayu?”
“Porridge sounds good,” Reina smiled. Now that they were talking about food, the kitten could feel her stomach knotting up from days of hunger and emptiness. At least she knew she could trust Junjun with food; the girl was a pretty good cook for a yankii since she had to feed herself for the past couple of years.
“I’ll get to it right away,” the panda announced, heading over to the large bag of rice sitting next to the refrigerator to pour a cup of uncooked rice into a large bowl. “And I really mean right away. I figured you would be completely drained of life during the days I didn’t see you, and I was right; you look terrible.”
“Thanks, Junjun, that’s exactly what I needed to feel better,” Reina anwered sarcastically, blowing out air to get the strand of hair covering her face out of the way. “I’m going to go wash up; I feel disgusting.”
“Don’t take a shower now, the food won’t take long,” Junjun warned.
Nodding in approval, Reina got up and made her way towards the bathroom. Only when she saw herself in the mirror did she realize Junjun wasn’t kidding. Reina could now see that she had become a complete skeleton during the past few days; her cheekbones were a lot more defined in a not-so-positive way as her face had thinned a lot. Her collarbones were more noticeable as well as the veins in her wrist, which irradiated a dark blue color. Her fingers seemed longer but only because they were thinner, while her skin was rough to the touch. Her eyes were puffed up from sleeping too much at once after having stayed away for days; Reina figured that the puffs probably replaced some pretty bad dark circles throughout the night. And to think that her girlfriend had seen her in this terrible state yesterday…
Groaning in frustration, Reina turned the faucet and splashed some cold water on her face, using her facial cleanser to rub the oil off of her unpolished skin. She then splattered some more icy water onto her neck and arms, stretching her muscles as the cool feeling spread throughout her body. After patting herself down with a towel, Reina quickly walked back towards the kichen.
Junjun was pouring the rice mixture from the pot into a bowl when the kitten curled up on her chair again. The panda sprinkled some seasame seeds on and plopped a umeboshi on top before presenting it in front of her friend with a proud smile.
“One vegetable okayu, piping hot and ready to eat!” she proclaimed. She placed a spoon in front of the kitten before taking a seat beside her. “I taste-tested it; I didn’t die, which is a good sign.”
“Something that looks this good couldn’t possibly kill,” Reina grinned. The smell of the porridge was alluring enough to make her mouth water. Just the fact that it was food and it was edible made Reina’s mind whirl with happiness. “Itadakimasu!”
The kitten quickly picked up the utensil and helped herself to a spoonful of the porridge. In less than a second, Reina was moaning and panicking while waving her hands frantically as if to fan herself; Junjun really wasn’t kidding when she had piping hot.
“Woah, slow down there!” the panda yelled. She dashed towards the fridge to pull out a water bottle and skidded over towards the cupboard to grab a glass. She quickly poured the drink into the cup and handed it to Reina, who downed the ice water in one large gulp. “Are you okay?”
As Junjun watched over her worriedly, Reina breathed heavily to catch her breath, patting her chest to help the porridge through her throat. After exhaling deeply, she looked up at her friend with a huge grin. “It tastes AMAZING, Junjun.”
“Man, don’t scare me like that!” the yankii leader moaned, slouching back into her chair. “I know you’re desperate to eat but try to take it slow, alright? If you eat too fast, your stomach won’t digest, which gets rid of the whole purpose of making you porridge in the first place.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Reina snickered, sinking her spoon in the bowl before ladling out just a little bit the rice porridge this time. “It really does taste amazing though. Thanks.”
Junjun smiled proudly as she watched her friend enjoy the modest meal that she had prepared. Reina made a smart move in starting to eat slowly, but soon enough she couldn’t resist the urge to shove the food down her throat. She couldn’t deny that she wished she could savor the taste more, but survival came first. And right now, she just needed to fill her stomach with something. And just like that, the bowl was emptied in no time.
“Gochisousama!” Reina thanked, clapping her hands together. “That was great, Junjun. Thanks.”
“Anything for my leader,” the panda grinned.
“Don’t be ridiculous; I’m not your leader anymore,” the kitten chuckled. “You’re in charge of the gang now.”
“You should stop being ridiculous,” Junjun said in a sincere voice. “You’ll always be my leader, Reina, and I’ll always be your lackey who got your back. Never forget that.”
The ex-yankii smiled as she stared at her friend’s honest eyes. She held up her fist and, without missing a beat, Junjun pounded her own fist against it.
“And since I always got your back,” Junjun continued, “it would be okay to confess your heart out to me too. You want to tell me what went down during these past few days?”
“… Otou-san came.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“… He wanted to take me back to Fukuoka.”
“What?” Junjun frowned at the unexpected development. She quickly sat up from her slouching position and leaned in towards the table. “Wait, why? Why now?”
“I don’t know,” Reina sighed, hugging her knees to curl up her body again. “Long story short, he just… came and told me to go back to Fukuoka with him. And before I could find out why… the hospital called me.”
“That’s really unusual,” Junjun mumbled to herself as she fell into deep thought. “Why would the man who wouldn’t even talk to you on the phone for three years suddenly want you back in his house?”
“Beats me.”
“Well, I don’t want you to go back to Fukuoka,” the panda said, her face cringing into a really annoyed expression. “That means I have to pack again too. It’s such a hassle.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to go back either,” Reina said, smiling a little. “I can’t go back anymore… I mean, you’re here now and Eri’s here… and after what he did to her…”
“… What did he do to her?” Junjun narrowed her eyes, as Reina’s expression hardened at the unpleasant memory.
“… He slapped her. Across her face.”
“Tanaka Shachou
slapped your girlfriend?!”
“Well, it was an accident.” Reina sighed as she rubbed her temples. “He was hitting me, and then Eri jumped in to protect me and… wham, just like that.”
“Wait, your father slapped
you, too?!” Junjun shrilled. The situation had been a lot graver than she had predicted. “Don’t tell that to Aika; she’ll forget all my orders and pull out one of Linlin’s knives on your dad.”
“I trust you’ll take care to keep your gang in the dark about my private life,” Reina said firmly. “To be honest with you… I have half the mind to return to Fukuoka.”
Junjun raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean I have to pack?”
“No, not at all,” Reina chuckled. “It’s just… during the past few days I’ve been watching my father, lying unconscious in the hospital… I realized how much we’ve both changed. I always had this misconception that Otou-san was invincible or something but… he has aged so much. I feel that maybe I should return to Fukuoka for his sake; he is family and I’m… concerned.”
“You care about him,” the panda shrugged. “That’s natural, Reina.”
“Yeah, but I care about Eri, too.” The kitten bit down on her lips as an imaginary scale in front of her balanced out her girlfriend with her father. “I just… don’t want to lose her. I can’t lose her; if Eri isn’t there, I… I don’t know what I’d do.”
“I can identify with you on that,” Junjun smiled. “Sayumi kind of makes me feel like that too. She’s what keeps me happy in this world now. Sometimes I feel so weak and powerless when I think that one girl has me wrapped around her fingers but… I’ve never been so happy to be helpless.”
“Tell me about it,” Reina grinned. “We’re both pathetic.”
“And proud of it.”
As the two friends bumped their fists together again, the sound of the doorbell echoed throughout the house. Reina got up to answer as she waved her friend away to keep her seated. She glided over to the front door and opened the door to reveal her beautiful lover, still dressed in her school uniform. Reina smiled as she noticed her girlfriend’s hair that had gotten longer: enough to reach her chest, but her layers had grown out to create a slightly bobbed shape, which gave her hair the illusion of it still being short. Before her visitor could say anything, Reina jumped into her arms to embrace her warmly while mumbling her name.
“Mm… Eri…”
“Well, I expected a sleepy ‘hello’ but this isn’t too bad either, I guess,” Eri grinned, hugging her girlfriend back. “How are you?”
“Better,” Reina said softly. “A lot better, now that you’re here. You?”
“Same old boring classes,” the Eri laughed, “but a lot better now that I’m here.”
“Hey, there’s my favorite turtle!” Junjun greeted, stepping out of the kitchen while waving. “How’s it going, Kame-chan?”
“Oshisashiburi ne, Junjun!” Eri smiled. “Cut class to see Reina?”
“What else is new?” the yankii grinned.
“So what have you two been talking about in secret?” Eri inquired, taking her lover’s hand to her lips to kiss it. “Something I should be aware of?”
“Nothing much, really,” Reina shrugged, winking at her friend.
“You wouldn’t be interested,” Junjun smirked.
“… I’m going to take your word for it, only because I have more pressing issues,” Eri sighed, turning to her girlfriend. “I want you to promise me something.”
“Promise?” Reina raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
“Actually, a couple things,” Eri rephrased. “It’s very important. Think of it as favors, for me.”
“Go ahead.”
“First… promise me you’ll sleep in your own house and not at the hospital?”
“Don’t worry, Eri, I promise,” Reina chuckled, feeling happy about the fact that her girlfriend was showing honest concern for her.
“And only visit your father once a day, please?” Eri pleaded.
“Yes, I promise.”
“And eat three square meals a day?”
“I think I’ve learned my lesson on that one.” Reina recalled her pale reflection in the mirror, unrecognizeable even to herself.
“And go to school?”
“Right on time every morning.”
“Call me everyday?”
“I already do that.”
“Good, we’re set.” Eri grinned as she leaned forward to kiss her girlfriend lovingly, savoring the sweet taste that she had missed so much. More than understanding of how Eri felt, Reina kissed her back eagerly, satisfying her on suppressed desires. Before the couple could make out more heavily, the sound of an overly exaggerated cough broke them apart to turn their attention towards the source of the interruption.
“Wow, watching you two lovebirds is making me miss my own girl,” Junjun grinned, clearing her throat. “I’m out. Enjoy your night, guys.”
The panda quickly shoved her feet in her sneakers and strutted out the front door, closing it on the way out. When silence ensured in the kitten’s home again, Eri turned to look at her lover’s face again, the face that she had missed so much. Those brown eyes that were clear with sense again, rather than being glazed over like a doll from a day ago.
“I’m so happy to see you again like this,” Eri sighed, stroking her girlfriend’s cheek.
“Ugh, I actually wish you didn’t have to see me like this,” Reina groaned. “But since I want to see your face so badly… I guess I have no choice but to show myself too.”
“You don’t want me to see you?” Eri cocked her head in confusion.
“Well, not now, not really,” Reina shrugged. “I mean, I look terrible. At least I’m somewhat clean now; I’m sorry you had to see me like that yesterday.”
“Hey, don’t worry about that and don’t worry about now,” Eri smiled, kissing her lover’s forehead. “You were beautiful to me then and you’re beautiful to me now. I’m just happy to see you looking…”
“Less dead?” Reina suggested.
“Healthier,” Eri decided. “So stay like this, alright? You’re perfect the way you are.”
“Don’t worry; nothing will change about me, about us,” Reina said determinedly. “Everything is going to stay like this, I promise.”
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mehehe
Topic: Chigatte mo Iin da yo! ~Mainly TanaKame, TakaGaki~ [FINALE - Ch. 93 - (1/30)] (Read 409569 times)