CH. 27 - Summer Activities
After parking at a hotel and getting everything inside their two rooms, Shiori, Hikigaya and Ace in one with the parents and Riku in the other, they make their way to the main convection center. As they walk down the sidewalk, Shiori looks around at banners and signs, trying to figure out what the convention is all about. It doesn’t take her long to figure it out. Her eye widens with excitement.
“Ink and Lead Con!” She looks at Hikigaya, who smiles and nods. She punches him in the arm. “Why didn’t you tell me we were going?!”
“Ow! I was hoping you weren’t listening, so it would be a surprise!” He rubs his arm a bit as he pleads his case. Shiori, still smiling, looks all around her as her excitement grows with every step to the entrance. There is a bit of a line, but nothing too long. She steps next to her mother with a question.
“Mama, why are we here? I mean, I’m really really excited but out of all the conventions, why this one?”
“Well, this one is best for a little family getaway. Not too big, but still big enough for lots of fun! That, and Asami, actually has a panel and meet and greet.” Hamasaki says sweetly.
“What?! She’s actually that popular?” Shiori asks with a shocked look.
“Of course I am. And I am very late, so we’re not waiting in this line anymore.” She says while checking her watch before smirking and leading them to a secondary entrance beside the main line.
“Excuse me, I’m running late and need to get inside right away.” Asami says to one of the workers.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but you’re gonna have to wait in line like everyone else.” The worker replies with an attitude as if expecting a ‘karen’ to act this way already.
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Asami pulls out a badge from her shirt and shows it to the worker. His eyes widen a bit after reading it.
“Oh, Ms. Alljoy, please come in. You definitely are late.” He says while opening the entrance for them.
“Thank you.”
‘Alljoy?’ Shiori thinks to herself as they all follow her in.
They walk through a hallway as Shiori stares at Asami in front of her. After a moment, without turning around at all, Asami speaks.
“Keep staring at me like that and I might just catch fire.”
Shiori realizes she’s talking to her and gets embarrassed.
“Sorry… I’m just.. Why did that guy call you Ms. Alljoy?” She asks.
“Yeah mom, I was thinking the same thing. Isn’t your name Oshiro too?” Hikigaya asks.
“Of course it is.” She responds casually.
“Sooo, why did he call you something else? Are you scamming them?” He asks, squinting his eyes are his mother.
“It’s what my badge says.” She lifts her badge towards them, and they read it. Ace smiles behind them.
“Catherine Alljoy. VIP Creator Level 4… What?” Hikigaya says, still confused.
“Catherine Alljoy… No way… You’re..?”
Asami smiles and looks back a bit at her. Hamasaki and Takanou giggle to themselves while Riku looks at them confused.
“You're the Catherine Alljoy?! As in, writer of Clawless Love?!”
“Clawless what now?” Hikigaya asks, not picking up what’s going on as Shiori looks at him with an excited, shocked look.
“Clawless Love! One of the top selling teen romance novels for two years straight! I’ve read it like three times!”
Everyone stops and looks at her, surprised at her excitement. Hikigaya looks slightly adoring her. She blushes in embarrassment and shies away from what she was saying. Asami gives her a prideful smile.
“Good to know you like them. Now come on, I got people to see.”
Shiori smiles back softly, still embarrassed about geeking out over her. They eventually get to her stand where there are other writers besides her. She gets comfortable in her chair as Hamasaki talks to Shiori.
“Your brother, dad and I are gonna stick with Asami for the day. Feel free to go explore and have fun, sweetie.” She gives her a kiss on the forehead.
“Oh, and take these.” She hands her a few badges for her, Hikigaya and Ace. “Asami got those for you three. They’re the special kind.” She whispers to her and gives her a wink. Shiori looks at them excitedly.
“Thanks, mama.” She smiles at her. After the three take the badges, they begin to walk around and explore the convention. Hikigaya is minding his own business before he is punched in the arm.
“Ow! Why do you keep hitting me today?!” He turns to face a comically angry Shiori.
“Why didn’t you tell me your mom was Catherine Alljoy?!”
“I didn’t know either! I knew that she wrote books, but I thought it was just a hobby.”
“If she really writes like that just as a hobby, then I stand no chance as a writer.” She instantly calms down, and her mood drops a bit upon comparing herself to a professional. Hikigaya stops rubbing his arm and notices.
“She’s just always been good at writing.” They both look at Ace after her comment. “She’s shown me some old scripts and ideas from when she was in highschool and they were all really good. She just has a talent for it, I guess.” Ace says in an attempt to comfort Shiori.
“Yeah, I’d expect nothing less from someone of her caliber.” She says softly. Ace looks at her for a moment before speaking up.
“You should ask her to give you some tips.”
“What? You think she would do that?”
“Of course. We all live together after all. Besides, I’m sure she’d appreciate someone sharing her interests since we don’t.” She says, motioning to Hikigaya, who nods in agreement. Shiori smiles warmly at the idea.
“That’d be… really nice.”
Hikigaya and Ace give approving smiles before Hikigaya’s attention is taken somewhere else.
“Ah, no way!” He suddenly rushes past them and towards a booth. There is one man standing behind a table with books and posters on it. A few types of figures and other posters hanging up behind him. Hikigaya starts talking to the man, and the man smiles and shakes his hand. Shiori and Ace step a little closer, but not right behind him.
“It’s such a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Odysseus! I’m a huge fan!”
“Please, call me Ody. It’s always nice to see a new fan.” They talk back and forth for a moment before Hikigaya pulls his little bag from his back to in front of him. He pulls out a small black folder and opens it up, revealing different character drawings. Some are colored and some are in more advanced poses. Ody looks impressed and they begin to talk about it. Shiori looks at his art from the short distance she is and is also surprised. After staring for a moment, Ace speaks up.
“Pretty good, huh?”
“What is?”
“His art. It’s pretty good.”
“Yeah, I knew he drew, but I didn’t realize he was already on that level.” She says, looking at Hikigaya.
“Yeah, he doesn’t like to talk about it. He says it’s ‘embarrassing’ or whatever. I don’t understand why, though. He’s got some incredible talent, just like our mom.”
“I guess I could understand that..”
They stand there for a moment before Ace speaks up with a smile on her face.
“They’re both so talented and incredible at what they do. Wanna know what I’m good at?”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Shiori is surprised by her response and gives a confused, concerned look. “I have no talent like them. I may be in college, but I have no idea what to do. I’m not good at anything.”
They pause for a moment as Shiori stares at her, concerned. Ace’s expression, however, isn’t as sad as she thought it would be when talking like that, a smile still on her face.
“That can’t be true. There’s got to be something you’re good at. I thought you were really good at baseball?” Shiori says, trying to raise Ace up.
“Nah, I’m not that good anymore. Even if I was, it’s not something I’m passionate about.” She leans back against a pillar. “It’s just hard, I guess. With everything going on, trying to figure out who I am. And seeing such talented individuals, it can get hard.” Ace says, still not sad about it but more venting her thoughts. Shiori steps next to her and looks down, unsure of what to say but wanting to say something. She looks up at Hikigaya again, who laughs nervously with the man. She looks for a moment before speaking.
“Well, if it means anything, I think you’re a pretty good sister.” She says softly. Ace is very surprised by her statement and looks at Shiori, who is still looking forward. She blushes a bit and smiles warmly.
“You know, I’ve always wanted a sister.”
Shiori looks at her, a bit surprised. Ace leans in closer, covering her mouth and whispers in her ear.
“I used to dress up Hikigaya in dresses when he was little.”
“No way.” They giggle about it for a moment as Hikigaya comes back to them.
“Sorry about that. I hope I didn’t make you guys wait long.”
“Oh, not at all… little dress boy.” She says with a playfully evil look as Ace giggles. Hikigaya blushes and immediately understands what happened.
“Ace! I thought you said you wouldn’t tell anyone!” They laugh as they turn to walk away. Hikigaya stands there embarrassed for a moment before reluctantly following them. After some steps and giggles, Ace looks at Shiori.
“Hey, Shiori.” She looks at her. “Thanks.” She puts her hand on her head and rubs it a little. Shiori smiles and appreciates the head pats. The rest of the Con goes on without any complications.
Asami does a few more Creator things while the others tag along with her happily. The other three do some fun events and meet artists and writers all along the way, each of them having a wonderful time together.
While Shiori and Hikigaya are away at the convention, the others are left to entertain themselves.
Chizuru lies on her bed on her back with her head hanging over the edge. Her expression is that of extreme boredom. She lays there for a moment before groaning loudly and throwing herself up.
“It’s such a perfect day! There's got to be someone who wants to hangout!” She quickly swipes her phone off her nightstand and starts typing away. She puts the phone up to her ear as it rings.
“What’s up, Chizu?” Lucy answers.
“Lucy! Please tell me you’re not busy right now!”
“Sorry main, but Ryuji and I are helping my dad out at the restaurant today.”
“Lucy, who you on the phone with?” Kenji calls to Lucy from the background. In the restaurant, Lucy turns to face her dad a bit.
“It’s Chizuru, dad.”
“Chizuru? Tell her to come on down, I think we got it from here.”
A couple people in the back behind Kenji give thumbs up. Lucy gives a slight smile and returns to her call with Chizuru.
“Well, dad says you should come by.”
“Yes! I’ll be right over!” She hangs up the phone excitedly, wraps a flannel around her waist, grabs her bag and rushes out of her room, down the stairs. She heads for the front door when her father stops her.
“Where are you going?” Henry says with a slightly asserting tone.
“Oh, I’m just going to meet Lucy at her dad’s restaurant.”
“All by yourself?”
“Yes?..” She answers with an almost annoyed look.
“Not without these, you’re not.” Another voice speaks. Suddenly, her mother steps out from behind Henry, holding a small bottle of pills.
“My refill?”
“Yes. Who knows how late you’ll be home? Don’t tell me you forgot your other bottle is empty.” Pastel, Chizuru’s mother, gives her a slightly disapproving look as Chizuru laughs nervously and pulls an empty pill bottle from her bag.
“Oh, yeah…”
“Chizuru, you have to be more careful. You know what can happen if you don’t take your medicine.” Pastel says with a loving, motherly tone. She gently places the bottle in Chizuru’s hand and places a soft hand on Chizuru’s cheek.
“I know, mom. I’ll make sure to not forget next time.” Chizuru says, appreciating the care.
“I hope so. Now go have fun, but be safe!” Pastel says while kissing her on the forehead. Chizuru then steps out the door.
“I will! Love you guys!”
As she closes the door behind her, Henry steps forward to say something else with a concerned look on his face when Pastel lifts her arm in front of him, stopping him.
“But, darling..”
“I know, my love. But she is growing up and will be out from under our wings more and more. We can only hope she’s grown healthier and stronger.”
She turns and holds his head in her hands. He gently presses his head into her palms with a conflicted look on his face.
“Of course…” He says, worry still all across his face.
It doesn’t take Chizuru long to make it to the restaurant. When she arrives, she comes in and gives Lucy a big hug.
“So what did you guys wanna do?” She asks excitedly while Ryuji takes off the black button-up shirt he had on.
“I was thinking maybe we hit up the arcade. How’s that sound to you guys?” Lucy asks, looking at Ryuji. He nods approvingly in response.
“Yes! That sounds like super fun, let’s get going!” Chizuru says excitedly as she grabs their wrists and pulls them out the door. Lucy waves goodbye to her father as he smiles and waves.
They make their way to the arcade, a smaller building with lots of games inside.
“Woah! I haven’t been to the arcade in so long! They’ve really changed it up.” Chizuru says happily.
“Yeah, Ryuji and I come here every now and then. They’re pretty good at keeping things fresh.” Lucy says. Chizuru gets a smug look while leaning closer to Lucy.
“Oh yeah? Just you and Ryuji, huh?” She asks, playfully nudging at her feelings for him. Lucy smiles and shakes her head a bit, brushing off her comment. Chizuru laughs as they begin to have fun. They play some games for a little while, then in one specific game, Ryuji plays extra hard, trying to get a high score. Chizuru and Lucy stand behind him.
“It’s too bad Haru and Sugawara couldn’t make it.” Chizuru says.
“Yeah, I tried calling Haru, but it just went to voicemail.” She says, a little surprised at the fact.
Going back to that moment, a hand lifts up Haru’s ringing phone before clicking the hang-up button. It’s Sugawara. He smiles a lustful smile as he puts the phone down on the table next to the couch he’s on before lowering himself back down on Haru. They go back to making out as Haru wraps his arms around Sugawara’s waist tightly.
Back at the arcade.
“I can’t imagine what he’d be busy with.” Lucy says, still watching Ryuji play.
“Well, I know something you’re busy with.” Chizuru says with a mischievous smile. Lucy gives her a confused look. Chizuru leans in closer to whisper behind Ryuji.
“You’re busy checking out Ryuji, aren’t you?.”
“Chizu!.” She says, still whispering. “I am not. It’s not like that.”
Chizuru lifts her eyebrows up and down a few times as Lucy just rolls her eyes. Soon, Ryuji finally loses, so they move on.
They eventually make their way to this game that has a tiny box room for it. There are two play mounted guns pointed towards a screen. As soon as Ryuji sees it, he stops and taps Lucy on the shoulder. She stops and turns around to him. He looks at it and speaks.
“That one looks fun.” He says casually.
“Woah, look at you. I haven’t seen you this riled up in a while.”
He smiles at her sarcastic comment, and they make their way to the box. Chizuru sees this and gets an idea. As they get to it, they see there are only two players at a time for this game.
“Sorry Chizu, it’s a two player.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I don’t mind watching.”
They smile at her warmly as they all climb in with Chizuru sitting in the middle. They play a few levels into the story when eventually a cut scene comes on.
‘Now’s my chance!’ She thinks. “Hey Ryuji, I had a quick question.”
“What is it?”
Chizuru speaks softly so not to seem obvious but loud enough for Lucy to hear her. Lucy looks at them from the corner of her eyes, trying not to seem like she’s paying attention since she thinks the conversation doesn’t concern her.
“I was just curious if you gave any thought about dating recently?” Chizuru asks. Lucy’s eyes widen with shock and Ryuji pays more attention to her.
“Dating you?” He asks.
“No no no, silly! I just mean in general.”
“Oh, I can’t say I have, really.” He responds plainly.
“Really? But so many people have asked you out and we’re already entering our second year of highschool.”
He just shrugs a little. Chizuru seems displeased with his answer.
‘Time to bring out the big guns!’ She thinks. “So you don’t have a crush on anyone?”
Lucy reacts even more intensely than before, a look of shock and anxiety across her face. Ryuji pauses for a moment and looks ahead with a completely neutral expression.
“Well, I-” Before he could finish his sentence, Lucy suddenly speaks up.
“Ah, you know what? I’m kind of thirsty. Do you guys want any food? I’m gonna go use the restroom.” She says, slightly upset as she quickly stands up and leaves before he can speak anymore. They watch with confused expressions for a moment.
“I’m… gonna go follow her. We’ll be right back.” Chizuru says. She then leaves the game and follows Lucy. Ryuji sits there for a moment, staring where they just were before lowering his head a bit.
Lucy walks out the back doors of the arcade to the small patio area in the back. She walks hastily and is holding her arms tightly to her chest, obviously distraught.
“What am I doing? What was that? Why did I freak out?” She says to herself before stopping and taking a sharp breath in. “It doesn’t matter, it’s all okay-”
“Lucy?” She stops and looks up with surprise, hearing Chizuru approaching her from behind. “Why did you leave like that, Lucy? Did something happen?”
Lucy grits her teeth a little before quickly turning around to face her.
“Yeah, you did.” Chizuru gets a shocked and sad look on her face. “I mean, what were you thinking? Why have you been messing with me all day?”
Chizuru pauses, unsure of what to say to the words she’s hearing.
“I just… I thought-”
“You thought what? That you’re helping me? Helping me with what, Chizuru? All you’ve been doing is messing with my feelings. Making me feel weird and awkward.”
Chizuru stands there timidly, stunned by what she’s hearing and obviously upset about what is happening.
“I thought I could help you with it…”
“With. What? There is nothing to help, Chizuru. There is nothing to fix. There is nothing between us, there will never be anything between us. Ryuji will always be my friend, nothing more, so stop trying to ‘help’ and just leave me alone.” Lucy says with an extremely upset and overwhelmed tone. Chizuru stands there, holding herself tightly, hanging her head down low for a moment. Not a sound coming out of either of them. After a moment of silence, Lucy sighs softly and breathes in.
“Listen, Chizuru?.. I didn’t mean to sound so harsh..”
She steps towards Chizuru, which causes her to step back. Lucy is surprised by her reaction as Chizuru lifts her head and smiles at her.
“No, it’s okay Lucy. You don’t have to apologize. It was my fault. I don’t know why I was being so pushy today. I should’ve left it alone..” She smiles at her, but her body and voice shake. Lucy tries to smile back but can hardly do it. She takes another step towards her, but Chizuru steps back once again. This time Lucy is more sad at the action. She looks down at their feet to see it, then back up to Chizuru’s face.
“I really should be going now. This was really fun, I had fun today. I’ll see you guys later?” Chizuru says while stepping away, but once she finishes speaking, she turns around and rushes to the doors and through them. Lucy watches her leave, but as soon as she does, her eyes widen. Ryuji is standing there, just a bit behind where Chizuru was a moment ago.
Lucy realizes that he was there, listening to it all. His expression is neutral. Or it would be to any other person who would see it, but Lucy knows him all too well. She can tell he is hurt, too.
“..Ryuji, I-”
“We should head home.” After he says that, he turns and walks through the doors. Left there alone, Lucy stands there with a sad look on her face as she stares at the place her friends once were.
Chizuru eventually makes it home. She comes through the door and heads straight up the stairs, stopping halfway up them. She looks through the doorway to the kitchen and on the counter, she sees a note card that reads:
‘Headed to the store. Be back soon. -Love Mom & Dad’
She stares at it for a moment before continuing up the stairs and to her room. She closes the door behind her and leans against it. After just a moment, she slides down it and plops onto the floor, pulling her knees close to her chest. She lays her head on her knees and wraps her arms around her legs tightly. She begins sobbing all by herself on her room floor.