Sorry for the wait
Hopefully this is somewhat satisfying at least... lol.
Chapter 6 - DecisionsMiyabi focused intently as she pressed the thin sliver of metal into the cloth of the jacket for the winter seifuku she’d be wearing for several long months now. Sewing was something she some skill in as her fingers were quite dexterous, and whenever her home economics class reached that unit, she was quick to actually participate. In fact, of anything, home ec was by far and away the class she participated in the most. People should take care of those around them and their surroundings, after all.
Abe-sensei walked by the table where she and Chinami were working, and stopped with a slightly disapproving frown. She didn’t say anything though and just picked at the sleeve of Miyabi’s jacket with a sigh. After taking another step though, she apparently decided against it.
“Natsuyaki-san,” she began, treating her like any other student oblivious of any reputation she might have. This might have been because Miyabi participated in this class just like any other student, although she apparently had what the teacher often remarked on often as a “queer taste of fashion.” Queer it might be, but it drew her eye every time Miyabi walked into the room, to where she and Chinami often joked around that the teacher just didn’t want to admit it was actually better than her own.
“Nnn?” Miyabi murmured incoherently, her tongue sticking slightly out at the corner of her lips while she worked. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Chinami glance up at her and giggle, though as the girl’s stare seemed to linger a bit on her tongue, Miyabi drew it back into her mouth.
“Students are certainly… free… of course, to maintain and design their uniform as they see fit within regulations, but sometimes I do think you take it too far…”
Miyabi lifted her head to take a look at the back of the jacket she was working on. A stylized and very red heart bloomed from the middle, bordered with yellow-orange flames as if on fire. Small skulls decorated the surroundings, each unique in some way in expression and accessories, and a larger skull flying across the top with black wings breathed fire. She’d decided that instead of leaving that skull flying in nothingness, she would add a motorcycle below it, and that’s what she was working on now.
“You have somethin’ against yankiis?” Chinami asked, and Miya glanced over to see her friend looking up as well. Abe-sensei blinked in surprise.
“Yankii?” she asked absent-mindedly, and some of their classmates giggled around them. “What on earth does that have to do with anything?” Then she patted Miyabi’s shoulder, and before walking away said idly, “You girls stay out of trouble now, and keep up the good work!”
Miyabi caught Chinami’s eye again and rolled her own as the two giggled softly. When she looked away, she caught sight of Kumai glancing their way. The sports star wasn’t the only one to have been amused by their exchange with the teacher, but certainly one that was more on
Miyabi’s mind lately.
Chinami must have noticed her momentary staring, because after looking back down to her own work she said quietly, “Is she who you like?”
That froze Miyabi solid.
“Kumai…?” she asked in disbelief, though apparently the impression wasn’t conveyed in her voice.
“It makes sense of course,” Chinami continued. “She’s popular, and tall, and beautiful.” She glanced up to give the basketball star a sidelong glance while pulling a thread through her fabric. “Heck, I’d probably be crazy to have her as
my girlfriend too, like it’d ever happen.”
“Chinami!” Miyabi cried lightly in surprise. “Just how long have you been thinking about who you might like as a girlfriend?”
Her friend gave her a level look. “Just ‘cause you discovered something last night doesn’t mean everyone else is just arriving at that point too.”
Miyabi stared a moment while her thoughts developed a bit. “Are you telling me it wasn’t your first…?”
Chinami didn’t respond, but instead just held her now-small smile and returned to her sewing.
Miyabi wracked her brain, not liking when things seemed to surprise her so completely. It was hard to remember exactly what happened last night after hanging out in the tunnel, but she tried to recall their conversations. She was sure that it must have been Chinami’s first time with a girl too, but couldn’t actually remember her friend saying so. Had she just gone in assuming it? Since Chii normally appeared innocent and always followed her along the delinquent trail? Her eyes narrowed at her friend. Was it even the truth about everything else? It seemed like each new day now brought surprising revelations about the girl.
Idly, and almost without realizing it, her eyes had drifted back to the basketball star across the room. Kumai was no longer looking her way, but focused on her own sewing task. The needle seemed a bit clumsy in her fingers that were apparently more well-designed for athletics.
“You
do like her, don’t you?” Chinami said from next to her.
“I don’t know,” Miyabi said. “I mean, she’s a jock…” Though that didn’t stop her truly wondering.
That morning when she came into school she’d found herself looking with slightly different eyes at the other girls in neat shirts, jackets and skirts. She normally thought about this one being a bit thin, or this one being too fat, but in regards to things such as how it would reflect her own appearance, and not with something else in her mind… feelings of attraction?
She’d been mostly quiet this morning after getting out of bed with Chinami. It wasn’t necessarily that she was trying to figure out her feelings about the girl – she was her best friend after all and it was just another fun time spent together – but the experience had seemed to open the door to a new set of feelings in general.
She already shared a close companionship with Chii, and she didn’t want that to change, but delusions of romance that she’d left far behind years ago once again invaded her thoughts now that she didn’t feel limited to the men and boys she’d become so skillful at using and manipulating. She’d learned to see girls as the more dangerous and worthy rivals, and now wondered if they might not even be the more intriguing lovers.
The idea just wasn’t the kind of thing good girls thought of, but of course… she had never been a good girl. Still, the feeling remained rather foreign since she’d had relationships of various kinds with the opposite sex almost since she’d been awakened to the possibility.
Of course, now she was considering the idea… the question naturally came up of who such an intriguing lover would be. It had been enjoyable with Chinami, but somehow still didn’t carry the level of excitement she desired in a lover. Perhaps it had to do with that they were already too close, and even almost business partners. It was a friendship and partnership that seemed almost too valuable to risk.
As for Kumai, who Chii was currently pressing her about…
She gazed at the girl again, sitting tall and slim in her seat, her long black hair falling straight behind her shoulders. Why had the jock been talking to her more lately anyway? It’s not like Miyabi was the popular girl that everyone hung out with, much less a star athlete. Such a girl was certainly not
her type.
“I’ll ask her out after class,” she said suddenly, but nonchalantly.
Chinami uttered a short
“Ouch!” and dropped what she was working on to suck lightly at a pricked finger, eyeing Miyabi carefully.
“You should be more careful with needles, you know,” Miyabi said dryly, pulling another thread of her own through.
Her friend’s eyes narrowed, and Chinami pushed the… thing… she had been working on away from her. “This was never my strong suit anyway, unlike other
tough yankiis I know…” she chided, and Miyabi thought about slapping her. “But… are you serious?”
“Of course,” Miyabi said, pulling the last stitch through the wheel of the motorcycle. She lifted her head to look at it in all its badass cartoonish glory. Truly impeccable work. “I don’t say I’ll do things I don’t intend to follow through with.”
“That’s the truth…” Chinami said, now relaxing a bit in her chair. “You’re just so… sudden. Though I suppose I should expect it of you by now.”
Miyabi smiled as she stood and whirled the jacket around onto her shoulders. “You know me.”
She waited after class was over until the basketball player had just exited the room herself, her entourage accumulating behind her, and then hurried to follow while making certain to look casual and like she was not hurrying at all. Spotting the girl outside in the hall, she wedged her way through some of the other students. They scattered at the glare she gave as she passed until she was beside the athlete, who blinked around as if surprised that she was actually alone. Well, almost alone. Miyabi also felt that Chinami followed stealthily a bit back down the hall.
“Miyabi-san,” Kumai said, looking down at her as well in mild surprise.
For herself, Miyabi appraised her current companion. She was wearing her uniform the proper way, even down to the skirt a few inches above her knees, though below that it looked like she wore tight sweats which Miyabi supposed she passed off as hose. Not that anyone would reprimand the pride of Berikou for something as silly as a uniform discretion. As Chii had observed, for an athlete the girl really was quite pretty.
“Did you enjoy the class?” Miyabi asked, fidgeting slightly for some reason.
“The class?” the girl asked, seeming puzzled. “Um, I guess it was all right.”
“Although I suppose something as mundane as sewing wouldn’t attract your interest…” Miyabi responded idly. Why was she making smalltalk? She had a mission, and she came here to accomplish it.
Kumai furrowed eyebrows at her. “Actually, I enjoy working with my hands. It makes me feel like I’m creating something.”
Miyabi blinked up at the girl. What did she say? She hadn’t really been paying attention, but somehow felt surprised by what she heard. “Do you? I like it too. Well, not really that I’m uh, all that creative or whatever, but it’s just, you know…”
The other girl peered curiously at her, seeming interested. Miyabi stared back after realizing she was rambling.
“Hey, do you want to go to karaoke or something sometime?” she blurted out, not really in her usual controlled manner.
Kumai blinked. “Um…” she said, hesitating for a moment. “Well, I don’t really sing…”
“Oh, of course,” Miyabi said, and looked down while continuing to walk beside to the other. She also noticed they were certainly attracting attention from the other students walking through the hallway, though her companion didn’t even seem to notice. She glanced up again. “Do you dance?”
The other girl blushed at that, and stopped to lean against a wall, holding her bag tight at her chest. “I’ve never really…” she seemed to sense Miyabi’s disappointment, and followed up with an explanation. “I mean, practice and training take up pretty much all of my extra time. And there’s studying for exams…”
Miyabi realized she certainly was fidgeting with the stitches in her jacket now, oddly very aware at the moment that unlike the other she had no books weighing down her bag, but instead carried her pouch full of mostly cosmetics and money lightly on her shoulder. This conversation wasn’t going at all the way she intended. Why was that? She was just asking the girl out. Miyabi Natsuyaki is supposed to be good at these things!
She glanced up to see the girl still gazing curiously at her. Miyabi felt like she was some strange insect being studied. “I don’t take exams,” she said dumbly, as if feeling like she had to explain something. Kumai nodded, smiling a bit awkwardly.
“Would you like to meet up on Sunday?” the athlete finally asked after the long silence. “It’s really the only day when I’m kinda free… We could, um, go to Harajuku or somewhere?”
“Harajuku,” Miyabi said, smiling and nodding mechanically.
After another short silence, the other spoke up again. “Well, I’ll see you then. By the path to Togo Shrine? We can get some crepes.”
“All right then,” Miyabi replied, still with the fixed smile, and started down the hall again, alone this time. What the hell?
Crepes!?“Very smooth,” Chinami said dryly, suddenly appearing and sliding into step next to her. “But I guess you have a date now, huh? If anyone else overheard you, there are going to be some jealous girls around here. And guys…” she added, almost as an afterthought.
After leaving the school building for one of the class periods they normally skipped, Miyabi suddenly stopped and fell back against the wall, taking in a deep breath and closing her eyes. “I don’t get it, Chii,” she said. “Things like that are supposed to be easy for me. I’m the one who always has people eating out of the palm of my hand.”
“Not everyone,” her friend replied levelly, but then continued, “Maybe jocks are too much, even for you? Or… could it be that you’ve never actually had to deal with real romance before?”
Miyabi responded with a glare, and a short jab to the other’s bony ribs. Chinami rubbed it lightly, but didn’t seem to give it much thought otherwise. “Of course I have,” she finally replied vocally. “It’s just… been a while. Maybe I’ve forgotten what it feels like.”
“Well whaddya know,” Chinami said, still peering at her. “There may be hope for you yet.” That earned her a bit of roughhousing as they continued down the sidewalk toward the park.
…
“That’s them, for sure,” Megumi said, her arms crossed as she glared at the two girls playfully trading kicks and punches as they strolled toward the park. “I’d recognize Natsuyaki from a mile away.”
“I’m sure their fighting has nothing to do with it,” Nakki said dryly from beside her. “After all, it’s quite common for two schoolgirls to be quarreling as they walk down a street in the middle of a schoolday.”
“It’s stupid of them to be doing that,” said a third girl, standing between the other two. If Megumi’s glare was a dark shadow, this girl glared below straight raven bangs out of a face that almost might have been dark as night. The smoke from the cigarette she held in front of her added to the impression. “Out in the open during the day like this, anyone could be watching and observing their fighting technique.”
Megumi glanced out of the corner of her eye at the shorter and younger girl beside her. She’d never liked working with anyone, but Nakki had convinced her she couldn’t stay neutral with graduation coming up. And to at least partially satisfy her pride, this girl was better than the alternative. Still, she occasionally wondered about her sanity. That seemed to be a common theme in the new class.
“Anyone,” Nakki repeated, then giggled. Yes, borderline indeed.
“They’re hardly showing their true colors being playful with each other like that,” Megumi finally said stonily. “Besides, I know more than I want to about how Natsuyaki fights. When the time comes, that won’t be an issue.”
“Perhaps…” the girl in the middle said quietly, still watching while puffing slowly on the cigarette. “Perhaps…”
“Besides, I would think you’re more worried about competition closer to home.”
“That kid doesn’t concern me,” the other replied.
Despite her own choice, Megumi wasn’t so sure about such a cocky attitude. “I know she’s almost a year younger than you, but you’re still in the same class. By any measure, hardly a ‘kid’.”
Finally the girl looked up at her, and Megumi saw the torrent of brooding emotion welling up from within dark eyes. “Kanna does not fear children,” the girl replied firmly, and also very coolly, before dropping her cigarette and stamping on it before walking back up toward the CTG gates.
“
Kanna is barely more than a child herself,” Megumi grumbled under her breath as she watched the girl go, her skirt swaying with her hips as she walked. While considering once again just dispensing with this whole charade of being part of a “gang”, she glanced up at Nakki, who was in turn watching her silently. “What’s up with you, anyway? Why do you always go quiet when they talk about each other?”
“I often have little to say,” the first year replied, smiling, and sauntered off after her classmate.
Refusing to look like she was following them, Megumi stood stonily while watching the two disappear into the gate once again before turning to catch sight of the Berries now chatting freely as they neared the park.
“I’ll have my revenge, Natsuyaki,” she growled into the air. “Even if I have to lower myself to dealing with uppity kids.”
There were always other options, but she knew she’d left them behind long ago. Still, and despite graduation nearing, she idly pondered approaching YajiUme. No, even without her history, change was in the air whether she liked it or not.
She began heading opposite the way the other two had gone, feeling class today just didn’t suit her. Whistling to herself as she walked, a smile crept slowly to her face. In the end, her pride was still in relying on herself as a lone wolf.
Didn't see it coming at all.. 
Happy there wasn't a death? lol. I suppose it was set up a bit, huh 
They're both pretty die-hard yankiis, and so pretty grounded and streetsmart and not given to runaway sappy emotions all that much... 
i shall look forward to part 7 >.< i want it already. Please dont take your time, i shall die!!! It's only been a minute since i finished, and yet. i want it to keep going >.<
hope their date goes well.
