Ukyou Kuonji
6th January 2003, 04:13 AM
**track nineteen**
Sure, I'm carrying a lot more baggage to Ryokuto Academy this time compared
to when I arrived in April, but I don't care. My music's playing, and my
heart is light. No more getting groped by some stupid customer at the
ryokan...
"Eeeee!"
Uh-oh...
I turn around, and I'm face to face with three stampeding junior high
girls... who run right past me. Turns out, there's a fellow Ryokuto student
on his way to the dorms. The girls swoop by him, copping a few quick feels
before sprinting off toward Ryokuto itself. The poor fellow just stares
after them, stunned for a moment, before picking up the luggage he'd just
dropped and resuming his trudge.
For my own part, I don't know whether to be relieved or insulted.
***
I'm at Greenwood's gate when I spot the three of them about a dozen meters
off, and hail them. "Sempais! Suka-chan! I'm back!" Shinobu-sempai grins
slightly and returns the wave, while Mitsuru-sempai looks up from
Suka-chan... did something happen to him?
Oh, it's just another nosebleed. Guess those girls got him, too.
***
Tochizawa sets down his can of Yebisu. "No kidding... Hasukawa's sister?"
"Well, sister-in-law..."
The sempais are regaling us with news of Sumire-chan's visit. Evidently,
Suka-chan's still got a thing for her: it's why he stayed at the dorm over
summer break. Not that Sumire understood any of it -- or that Suka-chan
could explain. Turns out he got a nosebleed just from her hugging him, and
had to make a mad dash for the benjo. And by the time he recovered, she'd
left. So she still doesn't know how Suka-chan feels... not that he seems to
like feeling that way. I make a note to needle him about it later.
Meanwhile, I latch onto his arm, and he looks down on me and gives me a
sheepish smile. I nestle into his shoulder a bit. Mitsuru-sempai blinks at
me a couple of times before continuing. "But yeah... still, you remember
Sumire-san, ne? She was the Queen..."
"Oh that's right. So she's the doc's wife?"
"Well, yeah... didn't you figure it out from the name?"
"...Doctor... Hasukawa..." Tochizawa pauses, and chuckles. "Never even
crossed my mind. Whaddya know."
"Yeah, a real waste, ne? A chick that pretty stuck with an infirmary
doctor, ne? Whaddya think, Suka?" Mitsuru-sempai nudges Suka-chan hard
enough that *I* feel it. Suka-chan just glares at him for a moment. Then
he grabs a can without a word, cracks it open and chugs it. I can't help
staring.
"Uh... Suka-chan? Suka-chan?" I don't get his attention until he's done
with the beer, and by then, he hasn't much attention to give. He topples
backward onto the floor, and I'm hard-pressed to catch him in time.
Shinobu-sempai's expression is flat. "That's the third time he's done that
this summer. Give him a few hours, it'll wear off."
I'm just staring at him in my arms, before I decide I'm better off setting
him down on the floor. "You're kidding... he gets drunk off of one can of
beer?"
"Hardly." Shinobu-sempai shakes his head. "I think it's a combination of
the alcohol itself, the ulcer and the medication he's been taking for it,
and," and at this point, even sempai looks sheepish, "some kind of leftover
body-memory from that champagne we gave you two last month."
It makes sense enough to permit me to glare at the sempais a bit, and they
both have the grace to look embarrased. I set down my can of Yebisu - I've
only taken a few sips, but there's no point in tempting fate. "Hmph. So
this wears off after a while? Well, help me get him back to the room, will
ya?" We all rise, grab an extremity, and carry Suka-chan out of room 211 as
though we were pallbearers.
We march into our room in military fashion, the sempais holding the
shoulders, Tochizawa and I holding Suka-chan's legs. Mitsuru-sempai pushes
the curtain to Suka-chan's bed aside, and calls out, "Okay, everyone...
hoist!" And we boost Suka-chan practically to the height of my head, and
ease him into bed. Once he's settled, Mitsuru-sempai pulls the curtain, and
we troop back out.
Rest in peace, Suka-chan.
***
Out in the hall, Mitsuru-sempai grins. "All right, who's for some more
brewskis?" He's looking straight at me, too.
Fine, then. "You know, sempai... Beer makes for a pretty good shampoo.
Would you like to try it sometime?"
Sure, I'm carrying a lot more baggage to Ryokuto Academy this time compared
to when I arrived in April, but I don't care. My music's playing, and my
heart is light. No more getting groped by some stupid customer at the
ryokan...
"Eeeee!"
Uh-oh...
I turn around, and I'm face to face with three stampeding junior high
girls... who run right past me. Turns out, there's a fellow Ryokuto student
on his way to the dorms. The girls swoop by him, copping a few quick feels
before sprinting off toward Ryokuto itself. The poor fellow just stares
after them, stunned for a moment, before picking up the luggage he'd just
dropped and resuming his trudge.
For my own part, I don't know whether to be relieved or insulted.
***
I'm at Greenwood's gate when I spot the three of them about a dozen meters
off, and hail them. "Sempais! Suka-chan! I'm back!" Shinobu-sempai grins
slightly and returns the wave, while Mitsuru-sempai looks up from
Suka-chan... did something happen to him?
Oh, it's just another nosebleed. Guess those girls got him, too.
***
Tochizawa sets down his can of Yebisu. "No kidding... Hasukawa's sister?"
"Well, sister-in-law..."
The sempais are regaling us with news of Sumire-chan's visit. Evidently,
Suka-chan's still got a thing for her: it's why he stayed at the dorm over
summer break. Not that Sumire understood any of it -- or that Suka-chan
could explain. Turns out he got a nosebleed just from her hugging him, and
had to make a mad dash for the benjo. And by the time he recovered, she'd
left. So she still doesn't know how Suka-chan feels... not that he seems to
like feeling that way. I make a note to needle him about it later.
Meanwhile, I latch onto his arm, and he looks down on me and gives me a
sheepish smile. I nestle into his shoulder a bit. Mitsuru-sempai blinks at
me a couple of times before continuing. "But yeah... still, you remember
Sumire-san, ne? She was the Queen..."
"Oh that's right. So she's the doc's wife?"
"Well, yeah... didn't you figure it out from the name?"
"...Doctor... Hasukawa..." Tochizawa pauses, and chuckles. "Never even
crossed my mind. Whaddya know."
"Yeah, a real waste, ne? A chick that pretty stuck with an infirmary
doctor, ne? Whaddya think, Suka?" Mitsuru-sempai nudges Suka-chan hard
enough that *I* feel it. Suka-chan just glares at him for a moment. Then
he grabs a can without a word, cracks it open and chugs it. I can't help
staring.
"Uh... Suka-chan? Suka-chan?" I don't get his attention until he's done
with the beer, and by then, he hasn't much attention to give. He topples
backward onto the floor, and I'm hard-pressed to catch him in time.
Shinobu-sempai's expression is flat. "That's the third time he's done that
this summer. Give him a few hours, it'll wear off."
I'm just staring at him in my arms, before I decide I'm better off setting
him down on the floor. "You're kidding... he gets drunk off of one can of
beer?"
"Hardly." Shinobu-sempai shakes his head. "I think it's a combination of
the alcohol itself, the ulcer and the medication he's been taking for it,
and," and at this point, even sempai looks sheepish, "some kind of leftover
body-memory from that champagne we gave you two last month."
It makes sense enough to permit me to glare at the sempais a bit, and they
both have the grace to look embarrased. I set down my can of Yebisu - I've
only taken a few sips, but there's no point in tempting fate. "Hmph. So
this wears off after a while? Well, help me get him back to the room, will
ya?" We all rise, grab an extremity, and carry Suka-chan out of room 211 as
though we were pallbearers.
We march into our room in military fashion, the sempais holding the
shoulders, Tochizawa and I holding Suka-chan's legs. Mitsuru-sempai pushes
the curtain to Suka-chan's bed aside, and calls out, "Okay, everyone...
hoist!" And we boost Suka-chan practically to the height of my head, and
ease him into bed. Once he's settled, Mitsuru-sempai pulls the curtain, and
we troop back out.
Rest in peace, Suka-chan.
***
Out in the hall, Mitsuru-sempai grins. "All right, who's for some more
brewskis?" He's looking straight at me, too.
Fine, then. "You know, sempai... Beer makes for a pretty good shampoo.
Would you like to try it sometime?"