Ino Yamamoto 5
"Well, is there a café near here?" asks Sotoka-san, and that's a great question, because, yeah, I walk to school every day, but I've never seen a café around here.
But it seems Izumi has a lot to say about it:
"The nearest ones are the Style, but it's already closed; Horton's, but that isn't very good, to be honest; Stardom, but it's too expensive; Echoes, but it's always full; Anime Café, but we're gonna be very distracted right there; Q, but it's too far away; Express-O, but it's only for pick-up. Uh, uh, why don't we go to the Coffee Bin? It's right here, come on," Izumi takes Sotoka-san by the hand and starts running.
Sotoka-san starts running to.
And I have to reach them.
God dammit, Izumi, why do you run so much?
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And we finally arrive to the Coffee Bin.
"Come, Sotoka-chan."
Izumi and Sotoka-san are about to get in but:
"NO!" I put my hands over my knees and yell. "Let me… breath a little… God dammit, Izumi… I hate you… I hate you so much…" and I die of tiredness.
"Yeah, whatever, We'll be inside," Izumi walks to the door, but Sotoka-san grabs her by the arm. Izumi stops.
"Don't worry, Ino-san, we'll wait here," says Sotoka-san.
And I really appreciate it. Just need a minute…
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I can barely breath…
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And I'm all sweaty. Gross.
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And all because of you, Izumi. How can you run that much?
"Come on, Ino!" Izumi yells at me. I want my coffee!"
Coffee.
Yeah, that explains it all.
Anyway, I get up and approach them.
"I think I'm fine," I say.
"You sure?" Asks Sotoka-san.
"Yeah."
And we enter the Coffee Bin. It's a small and dark place, with some black and White paintings over the walls and some clients over the tables.
"Let me buy you something, Sotoka-chan," Izumi says.
"Oh, thanks, but I just want a regular coffee with cream and two sugar, really" says Sotoka-san.
"Ok. I'll get it for you, Sotoka-chan."
We get to the checkout.
"Hi, Izumi-san," says the cashier, "the usual?"
Wow, who would have thought there's someone in this world but Sotoka-san who's nice with Izumi?
Good job, Izumi, it seems not everyone consider you a total pain in the neck.
Or maybe she's just nice with you because she's just doing her job.
Yeah. Must be that.
"Hi, Fumiko-chan, yeah but also the largest medium roast you have for Sotoka-chan."
Well, I don't know about coffee but that doesn't make any sense.
"And a hot cocoa for me," I tell Izumi just to piss her off and not to ge her to invite me something like she did with Sotoka-san.
I don't need that.
And I wouldn't care less if that happened.
Anyway, Izumi turns towards me and stares at me with all her disdain.
"Ew, buy it yourself."
I pretend she just broke my heart, but it's ok, because I don't care anyway.
"Yeah, sure," says the cashier, "so a medium roast and a ristretto… It's gonna be ¥510."
Izumi then reaches into her pocket and takes out a bunch of coins.
And starts to take the ones she needs.
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And she finally has exactly ¥510 and gives her to the cashier. She takes the coins and puts it inside the register.
"Very well, when they're ready, I'll call you, Izumi-san."
"Thanks, Fumiko-chan."
"Izumi-chan," says Sotoka-san, and Izumi looks at her and smiles and is about to yell and hug her and annoy everyone here, but she contains herself.
But that doesn't wipe that stupid grin on her face.
"♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫" She sings it with a dumb tone and moves her hips a little.
Well, at least she didn't yell that Arigatoshoshaimaster thing or whatever.
"Izumi-chan," repeats Sotoka-chan. "Can you get a table outside, please? I'll wait Ino-san. And can you also take this?"
"Ok," Izumi takes Sotoka-san's books and heads to the door. "♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan," she opens the door and leaves.
"Hey. Hey, you want to order?" asks the cashier.
And she's asking it to me.
"Oh, sorry, I'll take a hot cocoa."
"Extra large?"
"Uhm… yeah."
"Whole milk is ok?"
"Sure."
"Ok, it's gonna be ¥240."
I give her ¥300, and she gives me ¥60 back.
"All right," she says, "what's your name?"
"Ino."
"Ino. Perfect. Just a momento," she turns around and starts making all our beverages.
And now I wait.
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You know what? This place is kinda nice.
Maybe we could come here once in a while to do our homework or something.
That is to say until I get tired of hot cocoa or anything else but coffee. And why do people like it so much, anyway? It tastes horrible and it's sour, and yes, I know, people drink it to stay awake and all but, why would they want to stay wake in this horrible, horrible world? They better get some sleep; it's the best thing in the whole world: you're out of it, it's not as eternal as death and you wake up revitalized.
And, yeah, sometimes you have some weird dreams, but you almost always forget about them.
Anyway…
Oh, yeah, Sotoka-san's here too.
She turns towards me.
We smile to each other.
And we both look away.
"So… how you doing?" I ask.
Sotoka-san glances at the roof and sighs.
Then she turns back at me.
"Honestly tired, but, you know…"
"We're almost done, right?"
"Oh, I hope so," and she smiles dimly.
"Yeah…"
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"And why outside?" I ask.
"I'm sorry?"
"Why did you ask Izumi for a table outside?"
"Oh, because no one's outside, and if Izumi-san yells or something, I won't bother anyone here that much."
"Makes sense."
"Yeah, that's the thing with Izumi-san."
"Sure is, haha, and hey, just between us, why do you hang out with her that much? Don't you mind all her hugs?"
"I hate them. I hate to be touched."
"So? Why do you hang out with her that much, then?"
Sotoka-san sighs.
And smiles again.
"Well, yeah, she can be a little annoying and all, but she's good intended," says Sotoka-san, and then murmurs: "and that's so hard to find."
Impossible, I would say.
"Well, I don't know if she's good intended or not but she still is very annoying."
"So, why do you hang out with her, then?" now she asks me, but:
"No, no, no, no, no," I correct her. "I'm only here because of the club, and if I'm hanging out with someone is with you, but she's always around, and, to be honest, I just can barely stand her, even if it's fun to watch how she fails and suffers every time, but it's still pretty annoying to watch her yell and cry and hug you every time.
Sotoka-san stares at me with a grin.
But says nothing.
"Why are you looking at me like that? You want to tell me something, right?"
Sotoka-san nods with her head.
But she's still grinning.
"You want to tell me something. Just say it."
Sotoka-san nods with her head.
But she's still grinning.
"Just say it!"
Sotoka-san nods with her head.
But she's still grinning.
"Why don't you say it, Sotoka-san!?" I grab her by the shoulder and start shaking her. "Just say it!"
Sotoka-san laughs.
"You really like Izumi," she lies.
"What?!" And I shake her some more.
And she laughs some more.
"You really like Izumi," she lies again.
And I shake her harder and harder.
"What's wrong with you?! I don't like Izumi! I can barely stand her, didn't you hear me?! And why are you laughing?! You're weird and a liar, and why do you say such lies?! Izumi and I are always arguing, and she only says weird stuff and…"
Sotoka-san laughs as loudly and annoyingly as Izumi would.
"Stop!" she yells while she's still laughing. "Stop! I can't! Stop! Stop! Stop!"
"A ristretto for Izumi-san, and extra-large medium blend for Sotoka-chan and an extra-large hot cocoa for Ino-san," says the cashier/barista loudly enough for me to hear her.
And leave Sotoka-san alone.
Sotoka-san laughs quieter and quieter.
And she finally shuts up.
"Oh, god, that was hilarious," Sotoka-san gets to the bar and takes all our cups.
"No. Let's make it clear," I tell her: "I hate Izumi."
"Yeah. Me too." Sotoka-san smiles at me again.
And leaves.
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"Ino-san?" She asks at the door.
"What?"
"Can you help me out here?"
"No," I only say that because she was lying a lot, and I don't help liars.
Sotoka-san stares at me condescendingly.
And smiles.
She pusher the door with her butt.
And gets out.
*Sigh*
And I get out too.
I head to the table Izumi picked and sit there.
"Let's finish this thing," Sotoka-san opens Izumi's laptop and starts working.
And so do we.
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And we finally finish.
"Well, I've already sent it to you so you can change it a little," Sotoka-chan says because we were supposed to make the report individually.
So I guess I have to get back home now.
But, honestly, I'd rather be here: chairs are confortable; weather's nice; if I have a question, Sotoka-san can help me out; I still have some hot cocoa left—but it's not hot anymore, but I don't mind drinking it like this—and Izumi hasn't yelled nor annoyed someone for quite a while.
Hey, I know what I can do right now.
"Sotoka-san," I say, "can you lend me Izumi's laptop? I'll modify mine right now."
Sotoka-san gives me Izumi's laptop, and I start modifying her report: I increase the page's margins by ¼ to make the report look a little bit longer than it actually is; I also increase the line spacing (from 1.5 to 1.7) and the space between letters (expanded by 0.3); I paraphrase it all while adding as many words as possible without making it look overloaded or redundant; I add, remove or change some paragraph's order; I add, remove or change bibliography's order; I change the cover page.
And, while I do all of this, Sotoka-san leans back in her chair and closes her eyes. That's weird. She ordered a cup of coffee a while ago, and she's already sleeping. Isn't coffee supposed to keep you awake, though?
But, anyway, maybe she just drank a little bit or…
No, her cup's still full.
And she didn't even put it cream and two sugar packets as she wanted.
Maybe she was so focused on finishing the report she totally forgot about her coffee.
Poor, poor Sotoka-san.
But you can rest now; you well deserve it.
Even though I don't think you would because Izumi just saw you and she's about to pounce on you and hug you, and you yell, and she yells:
"AWWWW, HOW CUTE, HOW CUTE, HOW CUTE'S MY SOTOKA-CHAN!" Izumi speaks to Sotoka-san like she was a baby.
"Izumi-san, just let me rest a little," Sotoka-san tries to get rid of Izumi, but, considering she's too tired she's barely pushing Izumi away, she just gets Izumi to hug her even tighter.
"IZUMI-CHAN, CALL ME IZUMI-CHAN, AND IT'S JUST YOU LOOK SO, SO CUTE SLEPPING AND ALL!
"Just let me rest, Izumi-san."
"JUST CALL ME IZUMI-CHAN, SOTOKA-CHAN!"
"Izumi-chan, Izumi-chan, but leave me alone!"
Izumi lets Sotoka-san free, and Sotoka-san leans back in her chair again.
Now I would tell Izumi something like: "She hates your hugs. Don't you get it or what?" or "how annoying, Izumi" or "come on, just let her sleep" or something among those lines, but, honestly, I don't want to argue with her right now because I have a report to finish.
And because Sotoka-san hasn't apologized for being a liar.
So I stay silent and let Izumi to look around, find nothing of interest, stare at Sotoka-san, die of tenderness, put her crossed arms on the table, lay her head on them and die of boredom.
And I should stop staring at her and finish my report.
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And I'm finally done.
I save the file and send it to myself. I'll print it back home.
"Ok, do you want us to stay a little longer or…" I close Izumi's laptop, and those two are totally asleep.
Well, considering Sotoka-san's hard work and Izumi's distinctive eye bags and the ease with which she falls asleep in class, it's no surprise they are already sleeping.
Even though Izumi did drank her coffee.
She drank her ristretto thing.
Whatever that means.
Anyway, I stand up and leave Izumi's laptop in front of her.
Izumi…
To look at you like this, so calm and quiet, is very weird, to be honest.
Like it's not you.
Wait, why do you have paper balls in your hair?
I take them off.
You also have some tiny pieces of an eraser, and some pen caps, clip, etcetera. Oh, Izumi, what they do to you?
But, anyway, it's time for you to wake up and yell and cry and be as annoying as always.
A real shame, though, but I was nice while it lasted.
"Izumi, Izumi," I put my hand on her shoulder and start shaking her.
But she's still asleep.
"Izumi, Izumi, listen to me! Wake up!" I yell at her.
But she's still asleep.
And it's already late.
I have to go home to print my report.
And sleep.
But it's not like I'll leave them here alone, asleep, at night, practically at the street, with their books, backpacks and laptop at everyone's view.
"IZUMI!" and I slap the table as hard as I can.
And finally they both wake up.
"What happened, Ino-san?" says Sotoka-san sleepily and yawns and stretches her arms and her body.
Izumi raises her head, stares at me and lays back on her arms.
"It's late, and I'm going home," I tell them.
"Oh, yeah, me too," says Sotoka-san, gets up and picks up her things. "Let's go, Izumi-chan," Sotoka-san takes Izumi's hand.
Izumi gets up sleepily.
"Take your stuff," says Sotoka-san to her, and Izumi takes her backpack and hangs it on her shoulder. "You're missing your laptop." Izumi puts her backpack on the table, opens it, puts her laptop inside, and hang it on her shoulder. "Let's go."
And we leave.
Izumi walks slowly, hand in hand with Sotoka-san and with her head resting on, who's shoulder?, Sotoka-san's.
And that's a shame, really, because Sotoka-san's finally letting Izumi to be so close to her for so long, but Izumi's too sleepy to appreciate it.
But still Izumi's awake enough to sing in a low, low voice:
"♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫," she's surely not gonna shut up until we leave her home, but, you know what?, that song isn't that annoying, after all. "♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Izumi-chan♫ ♫Sotoka-chan just called me Izumi-chan♫," I take that back.