Ino Yamamoto 8

♫ Otōsan, okāsan, doko ni iru no? ♫

♫ Naze karera wa watashi ga karera o hitsuyō to shite iru koto ni kidzukanai nodesu ka? ♫

♫ Watashi wa kono-ka no yō ni karappo ni kanjimasu ♫

♫ Noizu wa watashi ga sore o subete kabā suru no ni yakudachimasu ♫

♫ Ki o chirasanakereba naranai shikashi ♫

♫ Darenimo iwanaide kudasai ♫

A horrible anime song comes from the house in front of me.

No doubt: there lives Izumi.

So I ring the bell.

¡DING-DONG!

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¡DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG!

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¡DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING-DONG!

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¡DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG!

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God dammit.

¡DIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDIDING-DONG!

"Hey, hey, stop it," someone gets very close to me and grabs me by the shoulder, and suddenly falls to the floor and puts his hands in his stomach.

My arm's stretched in his direction, and my fist's clenched so hardly it hurts.

Wow, I didn't know I have so good reflexes!

Oh, yeah, my attacker's Sotoka-san.

"Hey, you scared me. What's wrong with you?" I ask.

"Good morning, Ino," she can barely speak.

I give her my hand and help her get up.

She still has a hand in her stomach.

"You're going to school or what?" I ask her to distract her a little bit and lighten her mood and because she's wearing our school uniform. She even has her backpack.

She manages to smile at me confidently.

"Look who's talking," she replies.

And, yes, I'm also wearing the school uniform, and it's only because if I leave my house at the same time I normally do wearing this, my parents will never suspect I got suspended.

And probably Sotoka-san thought the same thing.

But anyway…

¡DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING—

"Stop it!" Sotoka-san grabs me by the shoulder again, but this time my superior reflexes don't activate.

Lucky her.

"Probably she forgot everything and went to school," she says.

"I don't think so," I say.

"Why? Because of the music? Maybe she forgot to turn it off when she left."

"Nah," I say, "she knew you were coming, and she'd never forget that because she LOVES you."

"Oh, come on, that's not entirely true. The thing is—

♫ Watashi no nakaniha sukima ga ari, tsuneni arimasu ♫

♫ Jibun jishin o rikai shite inai baai, dōsureba rikai sa reru to kitai dekimasu ka? ♫

♫ Watashi wa sakebigoe o agemasuga, dare mo watashi o kikimasen ♫

♫ Naze daremoga watashi no sonzai o hitei suru nodesu ka ♫

♫ Sonzai suru tame ni watashi wa nani o shinakereba narimasen ka? ♫

♫ Watashi o tsureteitte, dakishimete, watashi ga ikite iru koto o watashi ni nattoku sa sete ♫ kudasai

"…but it's just that."

"What?" I asked.

She smiles confidently again.

"Nothing."

"Whatever, she loves you; you are the only one Izumi hugs all the time while yelling '¡SoToKa-ChAn!'"

"It's just that she's so effusive, and, I don't know, I think I'm the only one who's not treating her like annoying garbage."

"And how else are we supposed to treat her? She's so annoying. Really. I don't know how you could handle her."

"Hey, that's no reason to treat her that bad," Sotoka-san scolds me. "And she's not that annoying. Believe me."

"Says you, miss Patience."

"Well, it's true. And come on: we already know you actually like Izumi-san. If you hate her as much as you say you wouldn't be here, and you wouldn't speak to her as much as you do."

"What are you talking about? I barely speak to her," it's not like we have anything in common.

And now she's the one who's smiling confidently.

"Whatever, you like her; you're the only one who argues with her every single time, and you know the people who argue the most at least like each other, right?"

"WHAT?! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I only argue with Izumi because I can't stand her. Just shut up, Sotoka-san, and stop saying that bullshit; Izumi's supposed to be the stupid one in the group, not you. God, sometimes you're even more annoying than her, I swear. God dammit, Izumi, open this god damned door."

¡DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING-DONG, DING—

"Hey, Ino Yamamoto, calm down. Izumi's probably not—" someone grabs my by the shoulder, and my incredible reflexes kick in.

"What's wrong with you, Ino-san?! Stop hitting people!" Sotoka-san scolds me.

"Stop scaring me, then," I tell her rightfully.

She doesn't answer and goes to help my attacker.

"Are you all right, Khanna-san?"

Wait. Khanna-san? When did she get here and how long has she been here? Did she hear what we said about Izumi? Not like it matters or anything.

Anyway, she's not wearing her uniform, but that doesn't mean she can't rock the school shoes with some loose and think jeans—like the ones your dad would use—and a totally white t-shirt.

Yeah, I mean, if you wanted to dress with an uglier set of clothes than the schools uniform, you did it, girl.

Sotoka-san helps Khanna-san to get up.

And Khanna-san stares at me.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, Ino Yamamoto," Khanna-san bows even when she has both her hands on her stomach. "It's just that I told you repeatedly that Izumi probably wasn't home, but you didn't hear to me, and I acted without thinking—because the possibility of you hitting be because I scared you was always there—and, hey, "And why you're wearing your uniforms? Did you forgot we were suspended or did we were supposed to wear it, because I can get back home—

"No, no, no," says Sotoka while she's shaking her hands like she's trying to say "no, please, don't do anything stupid, Khanna-san." "Don't worry about that, you just arrived."

"Actually, I've been here for half an hour."

Wait, what?

"You got lost or something?" Sotoka-san asks.

"No, I didn't—even though there always was that possibility, and that was one of the reasons I came here that early—the thing is—

♫ Naze watashi wa totemo kodokuna nodesu ka? Min'na doko ni iru no? ♫

♫ Hitobito no seikatsu wa watashi no yō ni karappodesu ka? ♫

♫ Hitobito wa watashi to onaji kurai karappodesu ka? ♫

♫ Watashitachi wa koko de nani o shi, nan'notameni sore o shimasu ka? ♫

♫ Tsudzuketakunaikedo owara setakunai ♫

♫ Watashi o tasukete, watashi ga ikite iru no o tasukete ♫

"…and that's why I decided to get here a little earlier and wait for you to come."

"Ok… but we've been here for a while," I say. "Why did you appeared until now? And were you hiding?"

"I was just rambling on, it always happens to me."

Yeah. I believe you.

"And what are we doing outside? Does Izumi know you're here? Or are we waiting her to come back?"

"We believe she's inside," says Sotoka-san.

"Why don't you ring the bell, then?" Hanna-san proposes.

"I already did, but she doesn't open," I say.

"Why don't you call her, then," Hanna-san proposes, and normally that would have been and excellent idea. But we're talking about Izumi.

"She doesn't have one," I reply. "She sold it."

Khanna-san stares at me confused, and the only thing I can do in this situation is to shrug.

"Izumi, you know," I say it like it would explain everything because it should.

But Khanna-san's too dumb to understand.

Or maybe she doesn't know Izumi enough.

But she will, eventually.

♫ Watashi wa kono yō ni tsudzukeru koto wa dekimasen ♫

♫ Watashi ga nani o shite mo watashi wa mada onajiyōni mijimedesu ♫

♫ Futsū ni naritai ♫

♫ Watashi wa shinde iru ka ikite iru ka ♫

♫ don'na chigai ga ar—

"Fuckin' move!" someone pushes us over and gets to Izumi's door.

It's a middle-aged woman with a dog on a leash.

¡KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

"Turn off that fuckin' music!" She yells.

Sotoka-san approaches the dog and starts petting it. Is a big lab who's sticking out its tongue and moving its tail faster and faster.

"You're so pretty, you're so pretty," Sotoka-san says to the dog. "And what's its name?" She asks to the woman, but she doesn't answer because she's to busy with her:

¡KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

"I'm calling the fucking cops, you hear me!"

Well, whatever, Sotoka-san keeps petting that dog. Then, she realizes the dog has a tag, so she reads it.

"Your name is… Zotrina, the teenage witch?"

"What?!" I immediately approach them and grab the tag and yes, the tag says:

Zotrina, the teenage witch

"Oh, Zotrina, the teenage witch" I start petting her—I can't resist. "Your name's so stupid. So stupid."

And Zotrina, the teenage witch stares at me with such noble and adorable eyes I keep petting her because she's a sweet, sweet girl, even though almost all dogs are sweet, unlike cats; they're selfish, destroy things just because, attack you even when you're nice to them.

They are so similar to humans.

Just garbage.

We should be more like dogs.

But dogs aren't perfect either, to be honest: they shed a lot of fur, they drool and lick you, they get dirty, they eat their own vomit, you end up stinking like them if you pet them and who knows what else.

But I can take a shower later.

¡KNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCK KNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCKKNOCK!

"TURN OFF THAT FUCKIN' MUSIC, YOU HEAR ME!" The woman yells. "OR I'M GOING TO KNOCK THAT DOOR DOWN AND…"

"Miss…" Khanna-san's dumb enough to approach miss Crazy over here and talk to her, but:

"… YOUR FUCKIN' ASS, BECAUSE WE'RE IN A FUCKIN' RESIDENTIAL ZONE…"

"Excuse me, miss…" it seems Khanna-san's not only dumb, but stubborn.

"ONLY THE HIGH SOCIETY LIVES HERE, YOU HEAR ME? AND WE DIDN'T PAY THAT MUCH FOR SOME FUCKIN' YOUNGSTERS TO…"

"Miss, you don't have to yell…"

"WITH THEIR FUCKIN' PARTIES AND DRUGS AND THEIR SATANIC MUSIC AND…"

Man, if it wasn't for Zotrina, the teenage witch, I'd been yelling at miss Crazy right now, but she's still getting on my nerves, as Khanna-san.

I hope Sotoka-san would do something to end this.

Oh, yeah, Sotoka-san's here.

And she can do something to end this.

"Yell at her, Sotoka-san," I tell her.

"What?" Sotoka-san asks.

"Yell at Izumi. Tell her you're here."

"Oh, I tought you wanted me to yell at that lady," she laughs relieved.

"I'd love that, actually. Yeah, yell at her instead."

Sotoka-san is really unamused.

What a killjoy.

"Shup up," she says. "And how's Izumi going to hear me?"

"Just yell at her as hard as you can. Come on."

Ok, I guess," Sotoka-chan stands up.

Approaches the door and:

"IZUMI-CHAN, I'M HERE!"

We can immediately hear someone going down the stairs as fast as he/she can, running to the door and opening it up.

"SOTOKA-CHAN!" Izumi yells excitedly.