Cousin Catastrophe
You sat in the middle of the café, watching Keitaro, some drummer, and Nozomi play on the stage. So that was her job? Lucky bastard. You wouldn't have anywhere near enough guts to get on a stage... at any time. You were too people... unfriendly. It just wouldn't work out. You'd either chicken out and run off the stage, or you'd make an ass of yourself. You were completely sure of it.
You put your headphones around your neck, turning your music on low as you waited for your food. You had ordered a nice amount of food that you'd never eat completely. And Nozomi would pay for it all. How nice, yet foolish, of her to offer. Eh, maybe you'd take some food home with you. Just to be nice. You could always put it in the fridge and heat it up later.
Suddenly Keitaro and the drummer decided to break on Nozomi, leaving her all alone on the stage. If you were her, you'd have run away. It would have been such an embarrassment to you. You found it funny that they suddenly decided to ditch her though and you were about ready to laugh your head off when Noz made a comment about it.
You noticed when she started singing that it was a sadder song than her usual taste. It contrasted with your music horribly and made her sound awful. You started laughing your head off now, unable to hold it in any longer. Only when something hard hit your head and bounced off in a funny way did you stop laughing. Glaring, you turned your head to see an orange haired boy, yelling at you to shut up. "You're so annoying!" You shut your music off, ready to tell him to fuck off and mind his own business.
You pulled your over-sized headphones off your neck and grabbed a fork in case he wanted a real fight. Though what good could a fork do? Before you could mutter a word, you felt like something heavy suddenly weighed on your shoulders. You could feel your face pale and your fingertips turn cold before your stomach lurched. Covering your mouth you ran for the bathroom, not even getting your order yet.
Coming through the door you were glad to find the room empty. You ran for the closest sink and spewed the acids of your stomach out, watching as it dripped in thick strings from your mouth. You grabbed a paper towel from beside you on the wall and wiped your mouth clean. Again and again you heaved. You didn't understand how you could throw so much up. You didn't have that much in your stomach to begin with.
When you thought you couldn't possibly throw up anymore and your stomach was completely empty, you walked out the door. As you reached the end of the hallway, you were almost hit by Nozomi's body as it flew into the wall. Before you could react, you felt too heavy to stand and gladly let your self fall to the ground to sleep.
You blinked your eyes as you slowly woke up. You didn't feel sick or heavy anymore. In fact you were rather warm and comfortable. Sighing, you pulled navy blue blankets up to your chin. You knew you were back in your own bed somehow, but didn't really care how you got there. As the door opened you looked over and watched your mom come in with a bowl of water and a cloth. You probably hadn't been there very long. She would normally prepare that kind of stuff right away. Good thing you woke up. She would have forgotten the cloth and it gets horribly cold when it isn't replaced.
She stopped when she saw you blinking at her from under your blankets. "Oh, you're awake. I guess I don't need this then." Now if she was a jerk, she'd pour the water over your head. That's what Nozomi would do. She set the bowl down on the table beside your bed and made herself a seat beside you. Placing her hand on your forehead, she mumbled that you didn't have a fever. 'She never checked before trying to put that cloth on my head?' You blew at your mom's hand as a way of telling her to go away. She lifted her hand and grinned at you. "A cute boy brought you home. Been having fun have we?"
You blushed a hot red, wondering who the hell she was talking about. "MOM!" You pulled the blankets over your head while she laughed. Why was everybody mean to you lately? It was no fun at all from your point of view. "What the hell are you talking about?!" You honestly didn't know any 'cute' boys that would be bothered to bring you home if you passed out in a public place. And who the hell would do that out of sheer kindness? It was just dumb.
You pulled the blankets down to rest on your nose and glared at her. She stopped laughing as best she could. "You were dropped off by some boy from your school. He said you passed out at the café downtown. He left you a note." She reached into her pocket and produced a small piece of paper. "I didn't read it." Now normally you would take that as a given that she had read it, but it was in a sealed envelope.
She passed it to you and walked out of the room. You waited until she was long gone before you opened the note in curiosity. "Be more careful next time..." You blinked at it. Throwing it on the floor you shouted in frustration. What was the point in that? They didn't even leave a name. Guess you wouldn't figure out the identity of this 'kind stalker' for now.
Looking out your window, you watched the sun begin to set. At least you hadn't missed much while you were out. That could have been bad, and you didn't like to be uninformed about what was going on. Though at the same time, you hated gossip. It was a confusing matter. Instead of thinking about anything more, you curled up under your warm blankets and prepared for sleep. You watched the note on the floor as if it would do some amazing trick for some time before you even began to feel sleepy. Only then did you take your eyes off of it and closed them for some decent rest.
You sat in the far back corner of the café again, eating a sandwich. Their food turned out to be pretty good, considering you didn't even get yours yesterday. You were vaguely aware that someone was playing music on the stage, but it barely compared to the volume of your headphones that fit over your ears. You were almost glad for it. You couldn't stand the calm, quiet music for long.
You took a small bite out of your sandwich. "This is your new favourite place for lunch." You jumped when someone sat by you and glared. Nozomi was sitting there. You only hoped she wasn't going to steal your sandwich again. You pulled it towards you protectively. No way in hell were you going to go another day without lunch. You could have sworn your stomach had eaten itself.
"What do you want?" Why was it whenever you asked a question that Nozomi just seemed to have been waiting for it? You knew you'd regret ever asking what she wanted. If it was something stupid she could just forget it. You had already begun coming to her damned café, what more could she want?
"To get back at you for laughing at me." You glared. That just wasn't fair. You weren't laughing at her. More like laughing... okay... at her. But you had your reasons! And besides, an eye for an eye always ended up with you being blind in the end when it came to Nozomi and her with perfect sight. "You'll be singing today." Oh no you weren't. She turned around, smirking to herself, as she grabbed everyone's attention. "How would you like a guest singer today?" The crowd cheered and you only turned a different direction to eat more.
"I'm on break." Ha, payback for trying to make you sing. You still held your front even when she glared at you. It was one thing that was different between you two; you had a hot temper held to her cool demeanour. After not seeing Noz for five years, she probably forgot that fact. Though you had a feeling she was probably stronger than you when it came to attitude.
"Too bad." She growled, grabbing your shirt and pulling you from your seat. Despite your pulling, she dragged you up to the stage and forced you in front of the mic. She started playing on her guitar. It was a song you knew well; after all, you repeated it over and over most of the time. Dance With The Devil, one of your favourites. "Sing." She glared at you again. To not sing, you'd look like an absolute ass. To sing, you could also make an ass of yourself. Hmm... tough decisions... You were definitely a more gentle singer than Nozomi, but you hated people beyond comprehension.
Close your eyes, so many days go by.
Easy to find what's wrong, harder to find what's right.
I believe in you, I can show you that I can see right through all your empty lies.
I won't stay long, in this world so wrong.
Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight.
Don't you dare look at him in the eye, as we dance with the devil tonight.
Trembling, crawling across my skin.
Feeling your cold dead eyes, stealing the life from mine.
I believe in you, I can show you that I can see right through all your empty eyes
I won't last long, in this world so wrong.
Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight.
Don't you dare look at him in the eye, as we dance with the devil tonight.
Hold on
Hold on
Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight.
Don't you dare look at him in the eye, as we dance with the devil tonight.
Hold on
Hold on
Goodbye♪
You finally finished and decided that was the last time you were going to let Nozomi tear you away from your lunch. You started walking towards the edge of the stairs before something caught your eye and made you look up. "He's eating my food!!!" You ran fast for your table as the blonde haired boy stood and held the last bit of your sandwich in the air where you couldn't reach. His green eyes showed obvious amusement. "Keitaro! No! Give it back!"
He lifted his head and stuffed the last bit into his mouth. You went quiet as he grinned at you. You growled and tried to shove your fingers in his mouth. "Don't think that'll stop me!!" You wouldn't go so far as to gag him to get your food back. That would be gross. You wouldn't eat it now that it was in his mouth anyways. Only when he swallowed his food did you stop trying to get it back.
You made an evil pout, one that he was trying not to laugh at. "Calm down little Etsu, I'll get you another one." And oh, he probably would get you another one, but you'd probably have to pay for it. Such was the way of your older cousin, Keitaro Hitogokoro. You didn't know who was more cruel, Noz or Taro. You figured they were pretty evenly matched.
"Nah, don't bother, I have to get home anyways. I'm tired." You waited as a waitress brought your bill around, making idle chit chat with your cousin. Slowly you leaned back, grasping the bill in your hand. "You ate the food... You get the bill!" You shoved the piece of paper down his shirt before taking off out the door. Of course... you had eaten the food as well. But you'd never give him the chance to make that comeback.
When you got home, the first thing you did was go to your room to change. Since you didn't plan on doing anything else that day, you threw on a long t-shirt and put your school skirt on your bed. It was the perfect 'work on your computer for the rest of the night' outfit. When you got downstairs you put your lap top on the couch until you were ready to sit down. Trudging to the kitchen, you poured yourself a large glass of juice and grabbed a couple cookies. Now you were ready.
You grabbed your lap top and flopped on the living room couch. Tsuki was at her friend's house, and your dad was working late. Your mom was upstairs doing something or other. You had absolute quiet and solitude. Ding dong. Or not... "Mom can you get the door?" Of course, you probably sounded horribly lazy since you were feet from the front door and she was all the way upstairs.
You had just sat down... you didn't want to get up again. And you were pretty much half naked. "I'm upstairs!" Well, that was one way of saying 'no, get off your lazy butt and do it yourself.' A much more polite way too. You jumped up fast before whoever was at the door wouldn't leave, popping a cookie into your mouth.
Opening the door, you blinked for a second to try and comprehend what you were seeing. "Is that how you always answer your door?" Your cookie broke and you just barely caught it in your hand. You stumbled with it or a moment before you had it firm in your grip. You couldn't let the chocolaty chip goodness hit the floor.
"Uryu... uh... what're you doing here?" What kind of person just waltzes up to a stranger's door and knocks uninvited? Oh yes, a guy. You wondered how their brains functioned at all. Observing him, you noticed he was still in his school uniform and had a small bag with him. You didn't think there was anything that gave away why he was there.
"I don't have all day. If you want me to help you, get your stuff." He held up his bag, sewing supplies inside. 'Oh, that's what he's doing here, huh?' He looked as if he had something else to say. You opened the door and invited him to sit in the living room. You began to wonder why he looked so uncomfortable. It wasn't like your sister was home.
Realization dawned on you as you looked down. Oh, well now, getting fully dressed may be a good idea. "I'll be right back!" You ran up the stairs, finishing off your cookie. When you got into your room you grabbed a grey pair of pants to throw on. It was better than nothing... literally. When you came back downstairs Uryu was looking at pictures and such on the wall. It gave you time to close your computer. You'd never get to just indulge yourself in the depths of the internet, would you? If all else failed, you might get some time on it after Uryu left.
Preview in results
"This charm... where did you get it?" You thought for a minute. 'Charm?'
You watched as needles, thread, and fabrics fell onto the wooden surface. Oh yeah, sewing... perfect.
'Get out... Get out NOW!'
Now, for your own good people, please go to Lp's chapter as well. And I know if you do or not. We've been patient. We've been nice. Do it for the sake of your own knowledge.
Lp's stuff
