Mahou: "Remember what I said I wanted!"
Y/N: "Oh... You were saying something?"
Mahou: "Fuck you! I've been talking this entire time!" My phone speakers began to lose quality due to her screaming.
I was in the back of the van with the rest of my classmates, as we all rode to some other place to visit. I didn't really care about the destination anymore, I was more focused on trying to stay on my seat because of the bumpy road we were on.
I also didn't really care about what my sister was saying, as she randomly called me through my phone halfway through the ride.
Mahou: "I was talking about what I wanted from Kyoto while you were over there!"
Y/N: "Why would I get anything for you?"
Mahou: "Because I'm your sister!"
Y/N: "That's the exact reason why I wouldn't get you anything."
She grumbled over the phone, as I contemplated whether or not I should hang up and ignore her.
I hadn't realized that Totsuka was right next to me, listening to the entire conversation at hand. He sweat dropped, a pitying smile on his face.
Totsuka: "Aw, why don't you get something for her?"
Y/N: "There's no good reason for me to give her something."
Mahou: "Not true! I'm sure there's a reason... I just gotta find one."
Y/N: "That sounds like you don't have a reason, so I'm gonna go now."
Mahou: "Wait-!"
I hung up the call.
Totsuka looked at me angrily, asking why I did that. I was going to answer him, but my head banged against the window of the car because there was a deep pothole in the road that the driver sped through.
I rubbed the side of my head in pain, and Totsuka quickly grabbed onto my head as well.
Totsuka: "Are you okay??"
Y/N: "No. It hurts like hell."
Totsuka started to pet my head to calm me down, which worked incredibly quickly, as I suddenly stopped feeling pain and Totsuka's touch was the only thing I could feel.
That was, until my phone started vibrating in my hand. I looked down to read that I was my sister again.
Totsuka looked to my phone as well, then back up to me.
Totsuka: "Answer it, will you? She doesn't have the chance to come out all this way to Kyoto, so you should get her something."
Y/N: "...*sigh*"
I answered the call.
Mahou: "I'll pay you back!" She quickly said, before I could even open my mouth to speak.
Y/N: "Don't worry about it. Just tell me what you want."
Mahou: "R-Really?! Okay, so I want some make-up they have in a store over there called-"
Y/N: "Yeah, no."
Mahou: "C'monnn. *groan* Fine! I'll just have a specialty drink! They have those over there in Kyoto, right?"
"Probably..."
I looked over to Totsuka, and he nodded his head.
Totsuka: "There was one in the cafe we went to this morning... I don't remember then name of the drink, but I DO know that its a specialty to Kyoto." He said, putting a finger on his chin as he thought back to our time in the cafe.
Y/N: "Cool. Is that all you want?"
Mahou: "One more thing. Take pictures of any pretty girls you see! I want to copy their style and see if it fits me."
Y/N: "Wouldn't I be seen as a creep?"
Mahou: "You're already creepy, it won't make a difference. Can you do that for me? Great. See you, bitch!"
She hung up the call.
Totsuka looked at me with an awkward smile, rubbing the back of his head slowly.
Thankfully, the other kids that were with us in the van were talking with each other really loudly, so they didn't hear the conversation between my sister and myself.
Of course, Totsuka was right next to me so he heard everything. I wouldn't have gotten anything for my sister if it wasn't for him.
Y/N: "I will continue to have 15 dollars in my pocket if I don't accept her wishes. Plus, she insulted me. TWICE"
Totsuka: "Oh come on, just get it for her! It's only a drink."
I was about to refuse, when I noticed something outside the window of the van.
There were other vans that were intersecting with our own. At first I questioned it, but then I quickly realized that it was simply the upper-classmen that were in them.
It looked like they were following us the entire time.
Y/N: "They're coming with us?"
Totsuka: "Yeah, I heard something about that. The guys were talking about it earlier yesterday. Apparently the upper-classmen are coming with us to... wherever we're going."
Seems like I wasn't the only one who didn't care where we were headed.
Yet, it was interesting to see that our senpais would be joining us (specifically Yukino).
Timeskip
Kawasaki: "..."
Y/N: "Let's go already. You're holding up the rest of the line."
Kawasaki: "Please let me leave. Please. PLEASE!!"
Y/N: "The school already paid for it. Do you want them to waste their money?"
"I don't care if they waste their money! I'm not going!"
"..."
I grabbed her by her arm, dragging her into the haunted house we've been trying to enter for the past 5 minutes.
She resisted as much as possible, but soon enough the closed the door behind us, so the only option was to go forward to the end.
She shivered slightly, until she eventually settled with grabbing onto my arm tightly.
Y/N: "Stop holding me."
Kawasaki: "I need you in case someone comes out to attack. I'll push you in their direction and run away, okay?"
Y/N: "No! Not okay!"
Yui: "Are you both done arguing!? Sakisaki-san is not the only one who is scared!"
Kawasaki: "Don't call me Sakisaki-san!"
They complained to each other as we slowly moved through the haunted house.
It's times like these when I wish for Totsuka to be at my side, but in this case he was with another class. They begged for him to go with them, and Totsuka couldn't help but accept.
All things considered, this haunted house wasn't haunted in the slightest. There were LED lights with multiple bright colors layered across the entire place, which made it incredibly easy to see our surroundings.
As we walked through, a corpse lay against the wall. Yuigahama said it was disgusting, and tried to go past it, but it suddenly got up from its spot and screamed at us all.
It wasn't terrifying in anyway shape or form, however Yuigahama was so scared she bumped directly into my jaw, clashing my teeth together.
Yui: "AHHH!"
Y/N: "AGH-!" I held my jaw in pain, as I crouched down onto the floor.
Yuigahama also went down to the floor in pain, as the impact she made on my jaw made her head hurt as well.
We stayed on the floor for a few seconds, before I looked up to see Kawasaki with shadows over her eyes. The corpse that had scared us went out to reach for Kawasaki, but before it could touch her, she turned around and dashed directly down the hallway and out of sight.
Y/N: "Kawasaki! Shit... She'll die if she gets lost in here..." I got up from the floor, and Yuigahama held onto me as leverage to get herself off the floor as well.
She had miniature tears forming on the corners of her eyes, as she rubbed them away.
Yui: "S-Sorry for hitting you... Did it hurt?"
Y/N: "Yeah, it hurt like hell. Hurry up, we have to go find Kawasaki before she gets lost."
Yui: "I can't go any further!"
Her legs shook in place as she continued to hold on to me. Her eyes were shut closed as much as possible, tears beginning to form on the corners of her eyes.
Y/N: "C'mon, Yuigahama-san. We're never going to make it to the end of this place until you start walking."
Yui: "I can't do it! It's too much!" It was one jump scare. ONE.
I sighed heavily, and hesitantly grabbed onto Yuigahama's hand to calm her down. She looked up to me, a little embarrassed, but still adamant on the fact that we shouldn't move.
The corpse that had scared us a little bit ago looked at us awkwardly, before quietly leaving behind some curtains to give us alone time.
Still holding onto her hand, I squeezed it tightly and started walking forward. She followed in my steps slowly, before she settled with tightly grabbing my hand as hard as possible.
After that, she seemed to move a lot quicker, and we eventually made it to the end of the haunted house, where we saw Kawasaki laying on the floor.
A person that was dressed as a ghost was crouched next to her, shaking her in an attempt to wake her up. When they saw us, they panicked and attempted to explain themselves.
Person: "Uh-! This is...!" A female voice spoke.
Y/N: "...Just try and wake her up."
Person: "Yeah..."
Eventually, we settled with simply dragging her outside and waiting for her to wake up there. She woke up soon after, however the person was still in a ghost costume, and once she saw them she passed out again.
Maybe we shouldn't have brought Kawasaki into here...
Timeskip
Y/N: "*sigh*...What a day."
I sat down on a wooden floor, looking out to a gravel backyard with a rock sprouting in the middle of it all.
???: "This garden is called 'Tiger Cubs Crossing the Water.' However, I'm having difficulty finding which part are the tigers..." A quiet voice spoke.
I looked to the source of the voice, and found Yukino sitting a few feet away from my spot, alongside four other girls that were next to her.
Y/N: "...The tigers? Are you looking for the tigers because they are cats?"
Yukino: "I'm merely interested in the garden's subject. That's all."
She spoke, holding her hand up to her chin and as looked at the rock that sat in the middle.
The four other girls that were sitting next to her looked... mean spirited, to say the least. They stared at Yukino as if they were better than her in any way.
I'm sure Yukino knew they were staring at her, but I guess she didn't bother to care.
Y/N: "If you look hard enough... you can kind of see a tiger cub."
Yukino: "Oh? And what is the cub doing?"
Y/N: "...It's either swimming or drowning."
Yukino: "D-Drowning!?" She looked at me, sweat dropping in the process.
She opened her mouth to speak again, but then a group of most of our classmates appeared. They all stood next to each other, as they came to watch the rock as well, and the area was getting kind of cramped.
There were too many people here for such a small area, and Yukino could feel it too. After a little bit, she got up from her spot, and spoke to me.
Yukino: "Let's go somewhere else..."
I nodded, getting up from my spot. We squeezed through our classmates, until we made it to the opposite side of the building.
This side of the house was more secluded, however we could still see a beautiful view because of the fact that the house was surrounded by a forest.
Wind blew through the forest, shaking the leaves on the trees as their petals fell onto the floorboards we stood on.
Yukino: "*sigh*...Finally." She leaned against a railing that was nearby, looking out to the dense trees in front of us.
"How are things between Tobe-kun and Ebina-san?" She said, tapping her feet together rhythmically.
Y/N: "It's rough... We went to a haunted house earlier today, which they both seemed to enjoy together." I remember them walking out the building, and Tobe was holding onto Ebina for dear life, as she attempted to calm him down.
"After that..." I thought back to what had happened once everyone had gone through the haunted house.
Flashback
Yui: "That was horrible!"
Y/N: "Yeah, you hit my jaw."
Yui: "I said I was sorry!"
Kawasaki was awake now, sitting down next to the person that was dressed as a ghost.
They had taken off their costume, showing that it was just some poor girl who wanted to try and be a monster in a haunted house for the first time, but they ended up scaring somebody (Kawasaki) to the point where they passed out.
It seemed like they were having a nice conversation though, as Kawasaki smiled occasionally, as well as the girl who was dressed as a ghost.
Miura: "Are we all ready to go?"
Hayama: "Finally... Yeah, we all are."
Miura: "Alright, let me just go get Tobe and Ebina!"
Hayama sounded frustrated and impatient, and I'm pretty sure Miura noticed that too. In return, she tried to act happy for him, however it was clear he wasn't being fazed by any of it.
He'd smile while she was speaking to him, but the moment she turned around, the smile would disappear instantly. Thus, Miura was probably under some stress.
It was weird though. Why was he upset? There's no reason for him to be, as far as I've seen. And I've seen a lot considering that I have watched Tobe and Ebina converse for the past 2-3 days.
Hayama is always with Tobe at a minimum, so at the same time I was watching Tobe, Hayama would be there as well.
He never seemed to be exactly thrilled like he usually was though. Normally, he'd have that perfect smile like he always did, treating people kindly and respectfully.
This was a completely different person.
Miura: "Tobe! Ebina! C'mon, we're going to some other place!"
Tobe was playing with a wooden sword, as Ebina watched him playfully. They seemed to be having fun together.
After they heard their names, they put the sword away and caught up with Miura and Hayama.
Hayama walked away without anyone next to him for a good few minutes before Miura ran up to walk beside him. Tobe and Ebina stayed behind them at a distance.
End of Flashback
Yukino: "Y/N? What happened?"
Y/N: "Nothing... Just daydreaming."
Yukino: "Ah, well... I'm sorry I haven't been able to help at all with the whole situation. There's not much I can do since I have different schedules than them. I'm afraid I'll have to leave this in your hands for the time-being."
She traced her finger over a slip of paper she had in her hand.
Y/N: "No worries. It'll all be fine..." I said that, knowing that it would not be fine.
There was clearly something going on between the lines, I just haven't been able to read them yet. My brain was already stuffed with having to deal with so many other problems, now I have another one on my plate, and it's taking a lot longer to take care of.
Yukino: "I do have something that might help, if it's any use." She handed me the small slip she had in her hand. "I made a list of some places that girls may enjoy. Try talking with Tobe-kun and see if you can do anything with it."
Y/N: "Thanks, Yukino."
Yukino: "Of course. Now, if you'll excuse me." She bowed her head down slightly, as she turned around to leave.
She walked away, her soft footsteps getting quieter and quieter until she was out of sight.
I sighed heavily, fiddling with the small paper I had in my hand. It felt like the situation between Tobe and Ebina was getting more and more complicated by the second.
I'm so tired of it.
Timeskip
Y/N: "Totsuka, do you mind if I go out for a drink this time?"
Totsuka: "Again...? *sigh* Fine, as long as you're back before it gets late, then it's alright."
Y/N: "Thanks, I'll be back as soon as I can."
I grabbed onto my phone, quickly pocketing it and leaving our room. I was already dressed for going out, because even if Totsuka said, 'no' I was going to go anyway.
After making my way down the elevator and out the hotel, I started my walk down the street. The time now was much earlier than it was before, so the stores were all still open, and cars roamed the streets.
I took a single crosswalk, before making my way down a path for another five minutes, then finally making it to a small shop with some drinks and books inside.
I rubbed my hands together to give them warmth, as I headed to the drink aisle for a cola. Taking one out, I immediately started on my way back to the cashier so I can make it back to my room before Totsuka got angry.
???: "Wait a second."
A voice called out to me before I could make it to the cashier. It was by the books that were in the back of the building, and I looked to see who was speaking to me. It was Miura, of all people.
Miura: "What exactly are you up to? Could you stop trying to mess with Ebina?" She never took her eyes off of a book that she had in her hands.
I waited for a little bit, before continuing my way to the cashier.
Miura: "Hey, are you listening!?" She put down the book she had in her hand and ran after me.
I put the cola I had onto the counter in front of the cashier.
Miura: "Listen to me! Whatever it is you're doing with her, put an end to it, alright?"
Cashier: "That'll be $1.50, sir."
Y/N: "Here you go." I handed him a dollar and 50 cents.
Taking my cola, I turned around to face Miura. I opened my cola, took a sip from it, and listened to what she was saying.
Y/N: "I'm not messing with Ebina-san."
Miura: "Yes you are. It's pretty obvious. It's also pretty annoying."
Y/N: "Is it? There's someone who's asking me to do it, though. It's not my intention. It doesn't hurt you in any way either, so why bother?"
Miura: "What do you mean? It's GOING to hurt me. You should know at this point, since you talk with Yuigahama and all. Hasn't she told you?"
I stopped drinking from my cola.
Y/N: "Told me what?"
Miura: "*sigh*...Ebina appeals to guys as long as she's not talking, so a lot of them asked to be introduced to her. But once they're introduced, she turns them down really gently. I've even tried to push things along, but she just responds with, 'Oh, I guess that's something.' Completely monotone, as if I were a stranger."
She brought her head down slightly, balling her hands into a fist. Soon after, she relaxed herself, as she released her hands.
"Ebina doesn't talk about herself much, and I don't ask, but I don't think she likes that kind of thing. People are known to do so much for a single thing, but in reality, I feel like they'd much rather drop anything they'd want in order to keep the things they have."
She brought up her head to meet my eyes.
"I don't want to lose the people that I love. I want to keep the things I have, so please." She brought her head back down again.
I wasn't sure what to do. I've never believed Miura to be the type to be so sensitive over something like this.
On top of that, I knew what she meant. Losing the things you hold so dear to your heart can be mentally saddening.
Kind of like the day I lost Kuyo...
Y/N: "...If it's any reliever, Hayama already said he was going to take care of it."
Miura: "Really? Well then, if Hayato said he was going to take care of it then I guess I've got nothing to worry about." She smiled happily, losing any doubt she had in the situation.
Y/N: "Yeah, guess so... Well, I'm gonna go now."
Miura: "Same. It's getting kinda cold in here..."
We walked out of the store together, then made our way down the sidewalk back to the hotel.
It was going to be a long walk, and I'm sure it's probably going to be worse for Miura more than me, since I enjoy the silence, however she always seemed like the talker.
Not that I despise when someone talks. Listening to people talk fills the empty noise in my brain.
I was fully expecting her to get angry at the fact that it was so quiet, but it didn't seem like that was the case.
Miura: "I'm happy right now, y'know?"
Y/N: "Is that so?"
Miura: "Mm." She nodded her head. "I haven't had a full-length conversation with someone all day. You're the only person I've spoken with for this long. It's nice to finally get my words out."
Y/N: "You haven't said too much, though. It was only about Ebina-san."
"I can talk more, if you'd like."
"Sure, why not?"
"HAH! Like I'd ever talk normally with someone like you. Don't make me laugh."
I drank my cola in response. There was the silence again. I'm sure she felt like she was high and mighty saying that, but now that I haven't said anything back, her words fall flat on top of itself.
It was clear she was dying to say something, even if it was rude, she wanted to. Her mouth would twitch occasionally. She'd even go as far as to open her mouth to speak, but then pull it back as soon as she was going to.
Y/N: "If you wanna say something, just say it already."
Miura: "...Would you really just listen to me talk?"
Y/N: "Nothing else to pass the time."
Miura: "Thanks... Did you find the haunted house scary?"
Y/N: "Nah."
"Ah, yeah. Hayato said that too. I don't think he gets scared by those types of things."
"Hayama, huh..."
"...Hayato seems to have a lot on his mind, and I'm assuming you're the cause of it."
"Sorry-"
"That doesn't mean I want you to stop. I can't figure out what he's bothered with, nor how to fix it." She stopped in her spot. "But... If possible, I'd like it if you helped me out."
She pitched her head slightly down to me, closing her eyes.
Miura: "Please... Could you help me with Hayama?"
Y/N: "..." I'm getting really tired of helping people.
The amount of work that I've been given is immense, and it keeps piling on, no matter how much things seem to die down.
I need to deal with Tobe and Ebina, I need to buy something for my sister, I need to take Tobe and Ebina to different places so he can try and sway her, I need to bring Hayama's group back together as Ebina requested, and now I need to find out why Hayama is acting all weird for Miura.
Added on top of that, I couldn't care less who these people are, besides my sister of course. None of them matter to me, and yet I have to do them all favors. Every single one of them.
I'm getting tired of this. Really tired.
Y/N: "I'll try and help as much as I can."
Miura: "Thanks. I'm counting on you." She gave a small smile, then continued walking on to the hotel.
I walked next to her, as we made our way back. Strange how Miura doesn't seem to mind walking side-by-side with me, however Yukino did.
Miura: "Do you think a lot?"
Y/N: "Huh?"
Miura: "You seem to have something running through your mind constantly. It's kinda creepy."
Y/N: "...Yeah, I guess."
I didn't entertain the idea too much. Talking about a single subject for too long gets awkward once you have nothing else to talk about, and I wasn't fond on having our next conversation be about how I think constantly.
Y/N: "I've just got a lot of stuff to take care of."
Miura: "You don't seem like the type to do much work."
Y/N: "I'm not."
The conversation ended there.
Currently writing this in the airport, so apologies if this chapter was lackluster lol