Fuyu reached for a nearby porcelain cup. The proximal interphalangeal joints of her fingers only briefly touched the side as she gripped the handle, but it was enough to feel the warmth of her favorite morning drink.
She slowly raised the cup towards her face and took a cautious sip of her hot chocolate. The intense heat caused her to immediately reel back.
It's a wonder I finish this every morning.
She steeled herself for another sip as her mother walked into the kitchen. Her eyes were glued to her phone as she walked to the coffee maker.
"Morning, Fuyu."
"Morning, Mom. Got anytime for interviews?"
"Not at all."
"Okay then. Need to convince Hiroko to choose another topic," Fuyu took another short sip from her cup. "Maybe some whip cream too."
"It's not that I want to stifle your friend's dreams."
"That would be against your profession."
"A bit more complicated than that," Kori replied as she casually sprayed whip cream over her drink. "But my schedule is a bit full."
"I can relate..." Fuyu said as she took a longer sip from her cup.
The moment she lowered the cup again-
"Rei!"
The sudden appearance of her adopted sister made her glad she swallowed before the shock hit her. She took a moment to catch her breath.
"Morning, Rei."
Rei silently raised her right hand and waved it. That was their usual morning greetings to each other. It started just after the finals before summer vacation.
She was surprised at first, but it felt nice to have some form of interaction with her sister that wasn't quiet stares. It eventually changed from just a morning greeting to just being Rei greeted people.
Lately, however, that usual greeting started having the opposite effect on her.
"Rei, already went to the other room."
Snapped out of her thoughts, Fuyu looked around. Like her mother said, Rei had already walked out of the room.
"Anything wrong, Fuyu?" Kori asked.
Her first instinct was to insist nothing was wrong, but she knew her mother would see right through that claim.
All Fuyu could think about was the inciting incident that started it all. It wasn't that long ago.
She could remember the cold breeze brushing against her face as she sat along the open window in her shared room.
It was for no other reason than to enjoy a moment's peace from her responsibilities. It was then when she heard someone approaching her home.
She looked down to realize it was Rei and Shujinkou.
"Here we are," he awkwardly said.
Rei simply stood next to the front door, silent and motionless. Fuyu thought her sister would wave goodbye, but she didn't.
"Um... I guess I'll see you later," Shujinkou waved goodbye and turned to leave before suddenly turning back around. "Oh wait!"
Fuyu watched Shujinkou dig into his pocket and present what looked like a white lily to her.
"They were giving this away at the botanical garden," he said. "I thought you would like it."
Rei slowly reached for the white lily and just as slowly brought it towards her chest.
"Well... Like I said before, I'll see you later."
Shujinkou once again waved goodbye and turned to leave.
"...nice..."
Fuyu was sure at that moment if her jaw could hit the floor it would. She has never even heard her adopted sister make a grunt or sneeze, let alone say a word.
She noticed Shujinkou was completely frozen in place. Moments later, he very slowly turned around; his shocked expression matching her own.
"Rei?"
"...Shujinkou is... Nice..." Rei slowly repeated.
Not another word was said as Rei walked into the house.
Fuyu felt a variety of mixed feelings ever since that night. She felt envious and resentment for that envy she felt towards someone she considered a friend and whom she personally asked to look after her adopted sister.
But... I've known her so long... How come she never spoke to me or at least since...
"Fuyu, Rei's waiting for you," Kori announced.
"Hu-? Ah!"
Fuyu almost dropped her cup from Rei's second sudden appearance. The silent teen slowly raised her school bag between their faces.
"Right. School." Fuyu sighed before putting up a defeated smile. "Let's go."
...
Shujinkou stood in front of the abandoned wing of the school. It still looked the same from when he was a kid; dusty and falling apart. He was fairly certain that some of the boarded windows on the first floor had some kind of cobweb.
Is that dust or an actual spider web?
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek, trying to make an educated guess until Natsuki approached him.
"Hey."
She looked at the building and then turned her curious gaze back to Shujinkou. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just thinking about the past," he answered. "My sister brought me and Sayori here on Sayori's 10th birthday to surprise her with cake and balloons and confetti."
"Really?"
A look Shujinkou could only describe as surprised and disturbed slowly formed on Natsuki's face. Once again, she looked at the building then looked back at her friend.
"It's kind of a weird place to have a surprise like that at..." she muttered.
"She kinda likes exploring like Gramps..." he weakly chuckled. "Even if it's at a place that looks like someone would hide a hostage."
Natsuki remained silent. She wanted to jokingly respond to that comment, but there was something more important she had to ask.
"Anyway... What was with you yesterday?"
"What you mean?"
"You were creepily silent and couldn't even look Monika and Yuri in the eye."
Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek as he recalled the club meeting the day before. "I was that obvious?"
"Neko girls from manga could tell; it was that obvious, Dummy," Natsuki bluntly answered.
Another weak chuckle slipped through Shujinkou's lips. "Yeah... Monika said I was just having something called Jamias Vu."
"What's that?"
"Um... Something that makes the familiar not feel familiar."
Once again, Natsuki stayed silent. She contemplatively scratched her right cheek as she said,
"So that's actually real? I thought that was just a level from..." she contemplatively scratched her right cheek as she tried to remember the name of the game. "Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes."
"Nope apparently it's real."
Natsuki worriedly looked into his eyes. Despite his casual responses, she could tell something was bothering him.
"So... You feel like everything doesn't feel right?"
"I guess. I'm sure it'll stop soon. And if it doesn't I can go to a military base off the shore of Cuba and eliminate Snatchers posing as human soldiers."
Natsuki averted her gaze. She was worried, but she couldn't think of something she could do. Perhaps it was just a strange feeling that would soon go away.
She breathed a tired sigh and looked back up at her friend."...You really need to invite me over and let me play some of your weirder games."
Shujinkou scratched his right cheek. He didn't need to say a word for her to know what he was thinking.
"Yes, I know I'm saying that after happily accepting a game where a bandicoot is mutated and lives on a place called N'Sanity Island," she reluctantly acknowledged.
"And yet Kingdom Hearts is the series that makes its fans go N'Sane," Shujinkou chuckled. "But yeah, we can do that."
"R-Really?"
Surprise gripped Natsuki's heart. She didn't expect Shujinkou to take her words seriously.
"Yeah. I mean, if you want to."
"Um..." Natsuki's eyes darted around, desperately looking around for something to focus on. "I mean, sure. After all, you need to take responsibility for getting me curious on such confusing stuff..."
She finished her statement by crossing her arms in a huff. She tried her hardest to sound tough and nonchalant, but she just couldn't find it in her to go through with it.
Natsuki looked into Shujinkou's eyes. Like always, they were innocent and comforting. Her cheeks grew bright pink as she bit her lip. Despite saying it once or twice in the past, she still needed to scrounge the strength to respond, "I... I would love to."
"Great, it'll be fun to share the madness with a newcomer," Shujinkou grinned.
"Kinda already got a taste of that during the summer..." Natsuki sighed. "By the way..."
Natsuki dug into her school bag and handed Shujinkou a brownie wrapped in plastic.
"What's this for?" he asked.
"I don't need a reason to give you something, Dummy," she playfully reminded him.
"Sorry. Thanks, Natsuki."
Before he could take a bite, the bell signifying the end of lunch could be heard throughout the school grounds.
The two wasted no time returning to the school building. A plethora of students were shuffling to return to their classes. It was the usual sight, except for the encroaching shadow that enveloped him.
This... Is eerily familiar...
Call it sixth sense, but Shujinkou felt like he's been in a situation like this during the semester.
"Oh no..."
He quickly looked up, and then just as quickly raised his backpack over Natsuki's head.
"Close your eyes!" he instructed.
"What?"
Shujinkou's body tensed as he braced for the impact of a storm of water balloons. Each explosion of water felt it had more power than the last.
Thought it seemed like it would last forever, it eventually ended. Everyone in the vicinity was drenched barring a half-soaked Natsuki.
Shujinkou slowly retracted his backpack back to his side. "First Jamias vu then Déjà vu... I should start packing my bags and find the nearest U.S. Marine Base."
...
"The water balloon prank really happened again?" Sayori gasped.
Shujinkou glanced down at his backpack. "Yep..."
"Wow, there's a second semester classic moment..." Monika mumbled under her breath. "Anything else happened today?"
Yuri spun around, her eyes glued to hair as she did so. "There isn't any confetti in my hair is there?"
Sayori curiously circled around her. She answered with a bright smile, "Nope."
Her eyes were then drawn to Natsuki. Her school uniform didn't seem as water logged as Shujinkou's. "So... The water balloon prank again?"
Shujinkou nodded his head. "Yep."
"Seems like 'someone' is up their old tricks again..." Natsuki grumbled.
"Is it?" Sayori asked.
"What do you mean, 'is it'? Who else could it be?"
"I don't know. Pulling the same prank in the same place seems too... 'It's me'. Plus, I get the feeling if Mali was going to repeat a prank, she would add a new twist to it."
Natuski shot Sayori a disturbed look. "...I'm kinda scared you would say that like you know a lot about this."
"Gonna have to agree with you there..." Monika weakly chuckled.
"I believe this is an example of good observation and deduction skills, rather than an implication of pulling pranks herself," Yuri defended.
"Yeah! Besides I'm not good with pranks," Sayori insisted. "Right, Shiko?"
Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek. "I feel like that's a trick question..."
Monika worriedly snuck another glance at Sayori before shifting her gaze towards Shujinkou. "What do you think, Shujinkou?"
"I... I don't really know... I guess-"
A hand reached out from behind and tapped him on his left shoulder. Standing behind him was Rei.
"Hey, Rei," Shujinkou greeted.
The silent girl raised a tiny sheet of paper for all to see.
"To Shujinkou, SOS in my office, Fuyu," he read aloud.
"Another SOS message?" Sayori marveled.
In response, Rei brought up another slip of paper for Shujinkou to read. "P.S. Once again, it's not a life-or-death emergency and I insist that you make sure the others don't come with you."
Looking around, Sayori realized that the eyes of the other female club members are fixed solely on her.
"It's at you guys too..." she pouted.
...
Fuyu paced back and forth in front of her desk. All day, she has received numerous complaints regarding "The Great Water Balloon Prank II" after lunch.
"Again with the pranks. I bet Haru doesn't have to deal with this."
Sitting on a nearby couch, Hiroko continued to tap away at the keyboard of her laptop without a care in the world. Without looking up, she nonchalantly replied with a single word. "Sister."
"Right... He has his own major issues..."
Fuyu's heart was full of sympathy until she heard a knock at the door. "Come in!"
The door slowly opened. Shujinkou stuck his head inside and looked around.
"Hey, Shujinkou," Hiroko greeted.
"Hey, Sis."
Shujinkou walked inside, followed closely by Rei. Seeing them together brought up the feelings of envy Fuyu had felt this morning, but she put it aside. There was something more important to deal with.
"Thank you for coming, Shujinkou," she formally greeted.
"No problem. What's going on?" he asked.
Fuyu adjusted her glasses as her eyes examined Shujinkou's clothing. "I think you have an idea... Have you seen Mali today?"
"No." Though he spoke thought truth, Shujinkou felt like an accomplice and an enabler. "You think she did this?"
He felt like kicking himself for asking that, but he had to know.
"I'm an advocate of innocent before proven guilty, but she is on the suspect list."
"Oh..."
"I do want to assure you I'm not just pointing fingers at her. Balloon falling from the ceiling is a classic prank and you never know who suddenly decided to be school prankster."
"Right." Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek. "Have you talked to Mali?"
"No. She wasn't in class when I came looking for her," Fuyu answered.
"Right."
"Every period break," she added.
Shujinkou continued to scratch his right cheek.
I can't deny that that's suspicious. But Mali does things that don't make sense to keep us on our toes and get an edge on us. She admitted to that.
"New school prankster. One time thing or a new wave of pranks incoming?" Hiroko announced.
"There's no theories in that article are there?" Fuyu asked.
"None at all."
"Continue on."
A small chuckled escaped from Shujinkou. Only his sister could remain calm in the face of a new story.
"So, is there any plan?" Shujinkou asked.
"The only thing we can do is to inform every student to keep their eyes and ears open. Also, do you think you can come to my office tomorrow?"
"To help you talk to Mali?"
Fuyu nodded her head and then adjusted her glasses. "Mm-hmm. I heard she's more cooperative when you're around."
"She is," Hiroko confirmed.
"Okay," Shujinkou agreed.
"Thanks and..."
Fuyu crept her way towards the office doors and reached for the left's handle. She gripped it tightly and turned back towards Shujinkou.
Without saying a word, she opened the door, causing the rest of the Literature Club to come tumbling in.
"Guys!?" Shujinkou exclaimed.
"How'd you know?" Monika queried.
With a tired sigh, Fuyu answered. "It comes from years of growing up with my mother."
"I told you the P.S. was directed at all of us..." Sayori nervously giggled.
...
Moments later, the club walked out of the school, breathing sighs of relief that they weren't reprimanded for listening to a private meeting.
Everyone except Shujinkou; relief was the farthest emotion he felt.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Right in front of him was Monika. For once, he wasn't too deep into his head to be shocked by the sudden call for his attention.
"It's just that... I kinda hope Mali wasn't the one who pulled the prank," he admitted. "She could have gotten expelled for her last pranks and I don't want that to happen to her."
"You seem to care about that more than she does," Monika replied.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Just that she doesn't seem to care about the consequences of her actions much. Then again, she seems confident she'll always come out on top no matter the situation."
"She is confident..." Shujinkou mumbled under his breath.
"I wouldn't worry too much though. Whether she did it or not, I'm sure it'll all work out," Monika assured him with a gentle smile.
Shujinkou didn't really know what to say. At first he was worried about Mali, but now he was stunned by Monika's caviler attitude towards the situation. He had never seen her act like that during a moment like this.
"Hey, are you two coming!?"
The two looked towards the front gate. There the other club members were waiting for them.
"Ready to go?" Monika asked.
"Yeah."
Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek as he followed Monika. For a moment, the unfamiliarity towards the familiar affected him more than before.