11. Upheaval (1/2)

tsushima's residence, an hour after the sudden kiss

yoshiko, eloping herself inside her blanket, still on refusal to talk with the certain redhead who's been trying her best for a while now. she tried talking reason but to no avail. well, for yoshiko it was surely something rather cruel being done to her. her only first kiss was being stolen just in the blink of an eye. what's more, it was without her own consent.

"c'mon, yoshiko-chan… i'm begging you, please talk to me…"

"…."

"yoshiko-chan, please…" pleading for who knew how many times already

"… i don't have any intention talking to some cruel girl like you…"

"c-cruel girl…? b-b-b-b-b-but i-i was just kissing you. i didn't hit you or anything like that…"

"it's all the same! it's the same with you stealing such important thing from me!"

"yoshiko-chan… i-i didn't know that was your first kiss…. w-well, i don't think it might

ighten your mood but it was also my first kiss…"

"…"

"yoshiko-chan…, why are you being silent again…?"

"…pay…"

"h-huh? i can't hear you quite well…"

"…you must pay…"

"pay…? with what, money?"

"o-o-of course not, stupid riko! you must heed my one wish, no question asked!"

"o-okay, if it will make you back to normal, yoshiko-chan…"

"t-then,,, tomorrow, y-you will let me stay the night at your house… got it?"

"b-but why?"

"i said no question asked!"

"r-right…"

"now go home! we will continue this conversation tomorrow!"

without even an explanation given, riko headed home with questions inside her head. what does yoshiko meant by lily? what was up with the book she said earlier? and, staying the night at her place? is everything connected with her wish being 'unique'? well, for now all she could do was to wait for tomorrow to come.

the next day, riko's house, roughly an hour before the promised time

"lily…, lily…, just who is the one who called me lily…? if anything, it sounded like a name someone like yoshiko-chan would use… but she'd never called me anything except riko… hmmmmmmm…"

"and what's the deal with that book? what book is she talking about? if i'm not mistaken, she said that it was located in my drawer. but i didn't have such book… just what is happening here?"

"huh~ there's nothing normal happening around me ever since i got involved with yoshiko-chan…"

"well, not that i hated it, of course…"

"but still… at least an explanation would be appreciated here, i think…"

and as riko was still inside her little thinking, slowly she was drowned in sleepiness. and as anyone could expect, she fell asleep right there on her chair. after a while, she was hearing some strange noises from around her.

"i'm sure i saw that book in this drawer. where did she hide it!?"