School Girls' Stories - Year 2

Chapter 28 – School Festival Part 3

“Fuji!” Shai cried, jumping up and waving outside of the auditorium out in the midst of all of the booths. Fuji came out, still in her sundress and blonde wig, looking like a completely different person. She saw her friends and ran over to them excitedly, waving her hands over her head.

“Hi guys,” she called, stepping over to them, yellow pumps tightly clinging to her feet. Yuki did not know why she took notice of something of the like, mostly because she had never seen Fuji in yellow before. Every time Fuji dressed she dressed immaculately. She was to the nines, this sundress she wore offered something Fuji even as a child never had: innocence. The pumps were just the final kick in the teeth that Fuji was not whom Yuki remembered her to be.

Shai and Yuki hugged Fuji, Shai happily, Yuki with a sick feeling in her stomach. The three of them walked together towards some of the booths, Fuji insisted she wanted to stop at a booth with juice, she felt parched.

“What made you decide to do a song with Danko?” Yuki finally asked, her lips curling in a slight snarl at the thought of the girl who had been the cause of her older sister’s deportation to America. Part of Yuki still blamed Danko for the whole mess. If Kaori had never been deported would Nakago have escaped from the clinic to go off to America to rescue Kaori? Would he have killed Kago, who deserved it but should have been tried, and at least then Nakago would not be a wanted criminal?

Yuki did not realize by Danko’s turn of events, if Kaori had not been shipped off, if Nakago had not escaped, it would have been Amatsu, an innocent man, who would have died instead of. In this way Danko was a savior, though it would never have been Danko’s intention.

“She was the only one available,” Fuji admitted, ordering a juice from a girl who gave Fuji a friendly smile. “Besides, she fits the part of the Wicked Witch of the West perfectly.”

“How long have you been planning this?” Yuki demanded, following Fuji away from the booth.

Fuji turned on her, giving her a curious look. “Yuki, what is going on?”

“What else don’t we know, Fuji?” Yuki asked, her eyes watering a bit. “Why do you seem fine all of a sudden? Why do you seem to make such mistakes all of a sudden? Why did I see you kissing Devilin this morning?”

“That wasn’t what you…”

“Fuji?” Fuji turned, her stomach twisting in the same knots Yuki’s had been. Yuki’s stomach heaved and almost left her abandoned. Yuki had not meant to be that direct, and somewhere in her hurt and anger she had forgotten that Amatsu was here, and now there he was, standing face to face with Fuji for the first time in months, the winds blowing and suddenly giving them all chills, Fuji the most in the short sleeved sundress. He looked hurt, and she looked appalled.

“Amatsu,” she said quietly, looking up at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Yuki invited me,” Amatsu said blandly. “I was hoping you and I could talk, but I see your new boyfriend is making his way towards you.”

Fuji turned to look at Devilin as he came closer, his rich auburn hair visible even through the mass of dark-haired people. He stepped through and looked at the group surrounding him and wrapped an arm around Fuji’s waist and asked, in a very possessive tone, “Are you okay?”

“Devilin, now is not a good time,” Fuji hissed over at him.

Devilin looked up and smiled at Amatsu, a smile of the Gods though his eyes shone like the devil. “Ah, Amatsu, I have not seen you since the wedding,” Devilin said, releasing Fuji to hold his hand out to the other man. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“Do not address me so informally,” Amatsu snapped. He looked down at Fuji and could only glare for a couple of seconds, Kyoei and Shinwa coming over to stand behind their girls. Shai looked like she wanted to cry, and Yuki was half-way between wanting justice from a friend who seemed to have betrayed her, and a friend she wanted to protect. “I thought you were concentrating on your school work,” Amatsu snarled. “I thought school and a career were so important to you that I could not be what you wanted.”

“And you insisted I was never going to have enough fun in my life,” Fuji pointed out. “So, Devilin has agreed to help me have a little fun,” and she put such a twist on the word that no one could mistake what she really meant.

Amatsu wanted to slap her, for humiliating him, for hurting him, for making him feel like an ass, but being a gentleman he turned on his heel and walked away from her, leaving her in the arms of her new boyfriend. Fuji swore and excused herself, chasing after Amatsu, but Devilin grabbed her and pulled her back, holding her away from him. “Fuji.”

“Fuji, I’m sorry,” Shai began, reaching out for her sister. “It was my fault, Kyoei and I invited him. I did not realize you were… with Devilin now.”

“Who’s babysitting Shu?” Shinwa suddenly blurted out. Everyone looked to Shinwa with crooked looks on their faces. He shrugged and explained, “Well, if Shai and Kyoei are here, and Mr. Taiikuka is on a date, who is watching Shu.”

A person could almost see Shai slapping herself on the forehead, not for forgetfulness, she knew exactly where her son was, but for his abrupt notion to bring it up now. He thought he was extinguishing the fire; instead he was igniting a new one.

“I thought you said your dad was watching him,” Kyoei said, looking down at Shai with concern written all over his face. Not for the child’s well being, but for the reasoning to her lie.

“He did, early, but then he went out, and… Teiyoku is watching him now,” Shai blurted out.

“Why didn’t you just tell me that?” Kyoei asked, his voice rising in anger.

“I knew you would be mad,” Shai said sweetly, in a quiet voice that she tried to keep innocent, that Kyoei was not falling for.

“I’m not mad that the man is watching his son,” Kyoei said through clenched teeth, “I am mad that you did not tell me the truth.”

It was then that Yuki turned to Fuji and asked, “You never explained what’s really going on with Danko? Why are you suddenly being so nice to her?”

“Why don’t we not discuss this here?” Devilin inserted, trying to keep a war from starting in the middle of the school festival.

“Oh, you stay out of this,” snapped Yuki, her anger flaring over. “I don’t even know how you weaseled in with Fuji, but she deserves so much better than you.”

“The way you are treating her you would not think so,” Devilin snapped back. Fuji tried to weasel her way in-between the two of them, keeping them apart, trying to force everyone to quiet down, before a crowd was drawn, but the anger and tension grew too high and suddenly everyone was walking their separate ways. Shinwa was the only one left standing there wondering what the hell just happened.