5/5 2012

Weather: Sunny

School Day

Time: After School

It was a regular spring day in the town of Inaba. Flower petals fell from the trees, slowly brushing the ground. Bluebirds chirped in the skies, the trees, the top of buildings. The shopping district seemed as busy as ever, but not with business, but with people enjoying the beautiful day out. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. This day was...perfect. That is, unless you were to turn to the Hanamura household. Yosuke Hanamura's parents had left him to maintain the household while they were on a trip to a convention in America (hosted by Wal-mart.). Therefore, it was currently Yosuke's duty to rid the house of cobwebs, leaves, and other garbage.

He hadn't done his job. Two days into his parent's absence, and the gutters were filled to the brink with leaves from the past autumn, cobwebs accumulated in the nooks and crannies of the house's depths, and the grass was overgrown, with patches of brown from the lack of rain and the fact Yosuke hadn't watered it since days after his parents left. Youd've thought a hermit lived there. This didn't bother Yosuke, however. Right now, he was in his room, which was in shambles, talking on the phone with a faraway friend.

"S-so it's true!?" he said as his voice wavered in disbelief," You're really visiting us?"

"Yeah, I can come," responded Souji Seta, the boy on the other friend, one of Yosuke's dearest friends," My parents say I deserve a break, so I'm visiting for the long holiday. I've already made plans with the Dojimas."

"Woohoo!" Yosuke cried out in victory," Wait! Are we clear, that the only ones that are me and Dojima-san?"

"Yeah, and whatever you do, Hanamura, do not blab this to anyone," commanded his friend," Especially Rise, you know she can't keep a secret."

Yosuke positioned himself for a miltary salute," You have my word, Leader!" He saluted, said goodbye, then hung up," Man, this is gonna be awesome!"

Downstairs, he heard the doorbell ring," A visitor? For moi?" He said to himself jokingly.

He opened the front door, and before he could respond, he felt a blinding pain in between his legs. The object that struck him was none another than his other friend, Chie Satonaka's, shoe.

He groaned, then yelled," I thought we agreed no steel-toed boots!" He soon leaned against the doorway and slid downward.

"Well, you went way too far this time!" yelled Chie angrily," Look at this!"

She took out a DVD case with an illustration of famous movie star and martial artist, Bruce Lee, and the words "Trial of the Dragon II"," You owe me TWO DVDs now!"

"It's not my fault!" argued Yosuke, about to cry.

Yosuke turned his head and saw two familiar faces: Kanji Tatsumi and Rise Kujikawa.

"'Sup guys!" greeted the cheerful idol loudly," Um, Yosuke-senpai? Everything all right?"

"Oh, just dandy," groaned Yosuke in pain, then directing his attention to Chie, said, pointing at Kanji," It was him!"

"Eh?" Kanji looked quizzingly at his friend, then looked down and saw Chie looking up at him, her eyes on fire.

"Well, Kanji," Chie began calmly," Did you break my DVD?"

Kanji, looking down at the pained Yosuke, who was struck in the exact place he wanted to keep- no, the thing he NEEDED to keep to have his status as a man.

He stuttered out," Well, um, yeah, but, you know those things break easily and- OOF!" he received a quick kick to the stomach, just inches up from his "pride". He was so thankful that Chie spared him, and collapsed to his knees.

Chie dusted off her hands, done with the two culprits," How's it going Rise?"

"Eh, fine. Oh, wait, now remember why I came!" Rise took out eight of what appeared to be movie tickets from her purse," I got tickets for all of us to go see a movie!"

Chie looked at her friend suspiciously," What do you mean by 'a movie'?"

"I-i mean a movie, that's all!" Rise gave a ticket to each of her friends," You better show up at the theater by 7:00 or I'll be mad! Bye-bye!"

Just as quick as she had appeared, she was gone. Yosuke, who had recovered form the painful blow, looked at the movie's title," 'Twilight'."

He promptly threw his ticket on the floor,"My friend thinks I like Twilight."

After a long akward pause, he proceeded back into the house," Well, friends, I have no understanding of this world anymore. I'm gonna go kill myself."

"Good luck," said Kanji jokingly, waving goodbye.

Chie went in the house after him with his ticket," Oh no, you're not! Rise looked like she really wanted us to go, so you go watch this crappy movie, dammit!"

By the time the girl had come to her senses she realized she had her friend by the shirt collar, holding his face up to hers. She felt his breath on her.

She quickly let him go, turning away to hide her slight blush, " Er...sorry. Anyway, come on! She had eight tickets, so obviously everyone's going!"

"But there's only seven of us," pointed out Yosuke, looking down at his stretched out collar.

"Nanako, duh," Chie walked out of the boy's house," You better show up! I'll pick you up at 7," she walked back down the sidewalk.

Kanji turned to Yosuke," Looks like you've got a date," he chuckled.

"Yeah..wait, what!?"

It was now 6:55 in Inaba. The sun was setting in the distance. At the newly built movie theater in the shopping district, Rise, Yukiko, Kanji, Naoto, Teddie and Nanako were all standing outside, along with Dojima, who had just dropped off Nanako. Twilight had been out in theaters for a few weeks, so there were no crowds.

Dojima walked back to his car, and said out the window," Make sure Nanako is returned home by the time your movie's over. If you have any problems, call me on your cell phone."

"I know, Dad!" responded Nanako cheerfully, happy she could spend time with her big bro's friends.

As Dojima drived away, Rise said," OK, let Operation 'Hook Up' begin!"

Kanji looked at Rise in surprise," H-hook up!? Who's hooking up?"

Teddie was still confused by the word,"Hook..up?"

"Think of 'scoring with a hot stud', and it'll come to you," explained Yukiko," Who're we hooking up, Rise-chan?"

"Who else isn't in this circle with us?" asked Rise.

As the other five looked at each other, they blatantly replied," Yosuke and Chie."

"Great! Now, here's the plan," Rise took out a piece of paper with drawings scrawled on it. The first was of them all in a group as stick figures, then a picture of what appeared to be of Yosuke and Chie then the next of them inside of a pink heart," We'll hide by the theater, then when they come, we'll all call and make up excuses to not be here, and when they're forced to see such a romantic movie together, they'll fall in LOVE."

The others, save for Nanako, sweatdropped at such a heart-sickening idea. Then, Naoto blurted out the most obvious statement ever.

"How do you know they won't just go back home? I mean, who likes this movie?"

Rise's cheerful expression faded, and said," Oh. Well, crap."

" I think it's a great idea, Rise-chan!" said Nanako happily," It's like how people do it in movies!"

Rise looked down at nanako with affection," Thank you Nanako-chan, at least SOMEONE has hope for those two!"

Kanji almost fell over in disbelief," Come on, Nanako, how do you know this'll work? How any of us know if this'll work?"

" I know it'll work!" blurted out Teddie," The sheer happiness and love from being together, alone in a secluded section of a theater, the lights dimmed. A romantic kiss is performed onscreen, and the action is repeated by the watching friends, now officially lovers."

Kanji was visually moved, then shook it off to not appear girlish or feminine by any passerbys," T-that's it, I'm out!"

Yukiko called over to Kanji, who was walking away," Come on Kanji-kun, you don't know that it won't work! I mean, look at all the people hear who think it will!"

Before he had time to ponder, Kanji heard Rise yell in a shushed voice, "They're coming, they're coming!"

Rise scooted them all over behind the bushes and they watched the two friends.

Yosuke was standing outside of the theater with Chie. He looked at his watch. 7:03. Had they gone inside without them? Aw, what did he care? He hated Twilight, putting the badassness of vampires to shame. I mean, why do they SPARKLE? Wait, Teddie sparkled. WAS TEDDIE A VAMPIRE!?

Hey, get that garbage out of your head! You have the girl of your dreams at your side, shouldn't that be enough?

Yosuke heard his persona, Susano-o, from the deepest depths of his mind. He said back mentally," It's not what you think, man. We're just friends."

You can't lie to me dude, I AM you!

"Oh crap," he thought. He then heard Chie say something next to him, but he didn't hear," What?"

" I said, 'Do you think they went in without us?'," repeated Chie," I mean, what do I care? It's just Twilight."

See? You both think alike.

" Just shut up," thought Yosuke to Susano-o.

Yosuke contemplated on what his persona said before. Girl of his dreams? He turned back to Chie, who was trying to contact Rise on the phone. She was still wearing the school uniform, but had on the jacket she'd usually wear on weekends, and she appeared to be wearing a light shade of lipstick, or lip balm.

Focusing a bit on the lips much, ya think?

Hearing Suano-o, he snapped back to his senses. What was he thinking? He never really noticed what Chie wore before, or cared much for whether or not she wore lipstick. However, he knew for a fact that he cared very deeply about her. He was still pondering over whether the emotions he were sorting out were feelings of friendship or perhaps something deeper..

"Earth to Yosuke..." Yosuke saw Chie waving her hand in front of his face," Rise said she had to go help out at the shop, Kanji's working on his doll business right now, and Naoto's doing homework. Strange, she usually finishes it in seconds."

"Have you tried Teddie?" asked Yosuke," Wait, I'll do it."

Yosuke called Teddie's phone, only to hear Teddie's ringtone emitting from a bush to his left. From the bush, he heard a hushed voice," I thought we agreed all phones on vibrate for this mission!"

"I'm sorry, Rise-chan, but isn't it catchy?"

"I swear, this is the dumbest bear I've ever met."

"Kanji-kun!"

"What? Just saying what comes to mind."

"Um, team? It looks as if we've been discovered."

Yosuke was looking down at all of his missing friends and Nanako, all crouched behind a bush," There you are!"

Rise looked sheepishly at the two," Um, hi guys! How was Twilight!"

Naoto sighed," Our operation is a complete failure, all from the sound of a ringtone."

Teddie responded," But it IS catchy, isn't it?"

"Not catchy enought to escape the akwardness of this moment," Naoto said, shaking her head.

There was complete silence for a few seconds, until Chie said," What operation?"

Rise tried her cest to not spill the beans, but after a quick interrogation, gave the sheet of paper wth the pictures on them to Yosuke.

"OK, here's all of us outside the movie theater," explained Yosuke to Chie, who was looking at the pictures as well," Then here's one of us alone. Then here's one of- Woah!"

Yosuke felt his heart skip a had drawn him and Chie inside of a colorful heart, holding hands," What's this crap!?"

Yukiko covered Nanako's ears," There is a child present!"

Nanako removed Yukiko's hands, saying," It's OK, I'm used to it. Dad does it all the time."

Yosuke continued," But why did you draw this, Rise-chan? WHY!?"

Oh, don't act like you don't appreciate it!

"I don't have time for this!" thought Yosuke to Susano-o. Truly, he was flattered by the drawing, but he was worried about what Chie was thinking. Did she feel flattered too, or was she humored by it? Or did she feel nothing at all for it?

"Oh, fine, I'll tell you," Rise said, giving up. In vivid detail she explained her plot to 'hook up' Yosuke with Chie in an attemt to see them happy together.

"H-happy?" Chie repeated, her face flushed," What do you mean by 'happy'?"

" You know, lovey-dovey happy!" Rise explained," The kind of happy you feel when you wake up next to the person you love every day, then remember they'll be with you till the day you die!"

Yosuke said," OK, that's a little too happy- I-i mean that's a little too MUCH, don't you think?"

Nice save, lover boy.

Chie sighed, then said," Look, Rise-chan, Yosuke and I are happy with the way things are right now. I know I do."

REALLY? Yosuke felt his heart sink a little. Something deep inside him told him she was lying, but she sounded to true to be lying. She was even smiling. He tried to hide his dissapointment as best as he could.

Rise was also visually disturbed," Oh, really?" Then suddenly, her expression changed back to her usual cheerful self," Oh, REALLY?"

Yosuke watched as Rise dug in her purse, and took out a CD. It was in a generic case, and had the words "The Beatles" on it in red Sharpie. Se handed it to him," Here."

He accepted it," Um, thanks. Why'd you give me a CD?"

"Look Hanamura, if you feel nothing for Chie-senpai, then listen to this."

Yosuke tried to give it back to Rise," Sorry, Rise-chan, but I own an iPod, not a CD-"

Rise pulled on his earphone wire and the wire led to a CD player, myseriously tucked in a large side pocket at the side of his thigh. She glared at him fiercly, and said," You can't fool me."

She put the CD in the player, but idn't press play," Listen to that when you're walking Chie home, okay, Yosuke-senpai?"

"What!?" Yosuke protested," Who said I was taking her home?"

"Well, her house is on the way to yours, so you might as well!" Rise explained," Have fun!"

Yosuke and Chie were quiet on the way back. There was a heaviness in the air, and it would seem akward if he tried to start up a conversation. Something inside him told him to play the CD. He took out the case, and on a piece of papr inside, countless tracks were listed. he played the first one, named "Good Day Sunshine". However, before pressing play, he offered one of the earphones to Chie," Wanna listen?"

Yosuke saw that Chie still felt akward from the tme at the theater, but accepted it and put it in her ear. Yosuke pressed play and heard a piano intro.

Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine

I need to laugh, and when the sun is out
I've got something I can laugh about
I feel good, in a special way
I'm in love and it's a sunny day

Yosuke felt the akwardness in the air mysteriously disappear. he looked back at the title of the CD: The Beatles. Did this mysterious music have special powers? He looked at Chie, and a bit of the akwardness came back as they realized they'd' stared at each other for a few seconds. However, that akwardness disappeared as music continued to play through their earpones.

Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine

We take a walk, the sun is shining down
Burns my feet as they touch the ground

Yosuke then realized something: He was feeling warmer than usual, as if the sun was still shining down on them. However, the sun had already set in the distance. he looked back at Chie, and noticed she was fanning herself from the illusion of heat.

Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine

Then we lie beneath a shady tree
I love her and she's loving me
She feels good, she know she's looking fine
I'm so proud to know that she is mine

Yosuke looked at the other end of the street and saw a large tree with branches drooping: perfest for lying in the shade on sunny days. He then contemplated on the lyrics: It said that they lay beneath a shady tree feeling...things. He seemed a bit troubled with this, and with a brief glance at Chie, she looked a bit troubled too, and embarrased. She probably would've walked a little faster if she wasn't in need of joyful music right now.

Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine
Good day sunshine

Yosuke was expecting the next song to play, but he was now standing outside of Chie's house all of a sudden. He must not've noticed where he was going. Chie had taken off the earphone and was outside her front door. "That was...interesting," she said," Let's do it again sometime, 'Kay?"

Yosuke was standing there akwardly for a few seconds, then turned around to go home. He tried to play more songs from the wonderful CD. It had lifted the heaviness of the atmosphere from the walk, and it made Chie more wary of him and possibly his feelings. But alas, it seemed the surface was scratched, and would play very rarely. He walked the rest of the way home, humming the melody to "Good Day Sunshine".