Vol.3 Ch.2: Eli's Familia ②

---

“Mm…” Yuko mumbled as she chewed on a piece of bread covered in strawberry jam.

It was the next morning, and Yuko was one of the last students lingering around inside the girls’ laundry room. After how dirty her uniform had gotten the night before, she thought it’d be best to at least wash it for a quick cycle before class, despite the fact that it’d require waking up earlier than usual. The mumble she’d just made was because she noticed that the dryer her clothes were in had just beeped, signaling the end of the process.

“Great, just in time!” Yuko quickly gathered her laundry and made to leave the laundry room as quickly as she could. She was running short on time and needed to go get changed so she could head to class.

“Ah!” however, just as she was exiting the laundry room, she’d run into someone else who was trying to hurry inside, and both of them tumbled to the ground.

“Ow, ow… Sorry about that, I was in a hurry… Ah!” Yuko exclaimed, realizing that she recognized the girl she’d run into.

“A-ah, Yuko, it’s you…” whispered a somewhat frazzled girl with long violet hair.

“Yukina! Funny running into you here.” Yuko smiled gently at the sight of her friend.

Yukina Watanabe had been a good friend of Yuko’s while the two of them were in middle school. However, since entering high school the two hadn’t had many opportunities to see each other anymore, due to being in different classes. Recently, Yuko had been trying to make an effort to approach her more often whenever she’d noticed her, but unfortunately now wasn’t a good time, considering the clock was ticking down to the start of class.

“S-sorry for running into you.” Yukina bowed apologetically.

“Oh, no, I was in a rush too! Don’t worry!” Yuko tried to wave it off as no big deal. “Ah, sorry Yukina, but I really gotta get ready for class. We should talk more next time!”

“O-of course… See you.” Yukina waved as Yuko picked up her laundry and hurried off.

With the elevator too packed with students coming down from upstairs, Yuko quickly ran around the corner and took the stairs instead. Dreading the sudden climb she had to deal with, she gritted her teeth and skipped up the steps, narrowly slipping between any students walking down. As she made her way back upstairs, the brief run-in with Yukina lingered in Yuko’s thoughts.

Now that I think about it, Yukina wasn’t in her uniform yet either… I hope she’ll be okay, there’s no time to do anymore laundry before class starts.

With that worry slipping through Yuko’s thoughts, she quickly opted to leave that topic in the back of her mind in order to focus on her own time crunch. After reaching her floor from the stairway, Yuko sprinted back to her room, where she quickly changed into her freshly-cleaned uniform, grabbed her bag, and dashed right back out to the hallway to head downstairs.

“Ack, everything’s still warm from the dryer…” Yuko groaned, realizing she was about to run outside into some early-summer heat while wearing these warm clothes fresh from the dryer.

Sure enough, after finally reaching the lobby again and stepping outside, Yuko was immediately hit by the heat and humidity of the summer morning, a total contrast to the cool air-conditioned dormitory she’d just been in.

“Maybe I should be thankful for the thin fabric of this shirt after all…” Yuko sighed. Despite the heat still lingering in her clothes, at least they were fairly light and breathable. That’s one upside to the summer uniform.

“Anyway… it’s surprisingly nice out today.” Yuko looked around.

The morning sun was shining brightly, joined by a few white fluffy clouds lingering in the sky. After how dark and dreary the prior day was, it was rather refreshing to see the sun again. The damp leaves on the nearby trees glistened in the sunlight, making for quite a lovely view fitting for the morning after a rainy summer day.

“Ah, right. Gotta run!”

Realizing she didn’t have time to appreciate the scenery, Yuko quickly started jogging towards the school building, making sure to dodge any puddles along the way. Although she was worried about running late, all her running around earlier had saved her a bit of time and she’d now probably make it to school just in time for class if she kept up a moderate pace. After all, the school is just around the corner from the dorm.

As Yuko approached the school gates however, she caught sight of what seemed to be a small commotion. Several other students who were hurrying into the school couldn’t help but stare as they walked by.

“What’s going on?” Yuko approached to get a closer look. “Wait, that’s one of the members of the student council and… Yukina?”

Considering she’d just run into her at the dorm a little while ago, Yuko was surprised to see her again already. Yuko approached the pair, trying to get a grasp on the situation.

“I-I didn’t have… time to clean it, though…” she could hear Yukina timidly mumbling to the stern-looking student council member.

“Rules are rules. You should have taken proper steps to avoid this situation!” lectured the angry boy in glasses.

“Excuse me…” Yuko interjected into the conversation. “What’s going on here?”

“This is none of your concern. Get to class.” the glasses boy scoffed at Yuko, as if annoyed by her trying to get involved.

“Sorry, I can’t do that.” Yuko narrowed her eyes at the boy. “Yukina here is a friend of mine. I think I deserve to know what’s going on when I see her getting picked on, especially by someone on the student council.”

“Hmph.” the boy scoffed at her. “Aren’t you that girl the president was getting too friendly with back in April?”

“Hm?” Yuko blinked. “Do I know you…?”

Yuko thought back. There was a time back in April when Yuko had briefly been with Kanna while she worked with her fellow student council members to look for some missing students.

Now that I think about it, there was a grouchy boy in glasses back then too, that must’ve been this guy…

“What a fool. To not even know the names of the members of your school’s own student council…” the boy sighed, placing a palm to his face.

“Well, I do think I’ve seen you before…” Yuko commented, annoyed.

“Hmph.” the boy looked away. “My name is Makoto Ishigami. Student council secretary. Don’t forget it.”

“Okay, Ishigami… So what’s going on here?” Yuko glanced back toward Yukina. As she did so and got a closer look at her, Yuko realized what this may have been about.

“Ugh, fine…” Ishigami sighed. “I’m the one watching the gate this morning. I caught sight of this girl trying to enter the school without the proper uniform.”

Yuko had just realized before he mentioned it, but Yukina wasn’t wearing the full school uniform. She was wearing her gym pants and the long-sleeved button-up usually worn under the winter uniform’s blazer. It’s the same thing she was wearing in the laundry room earlier.

“L-like I said… Yesterday m-my uniform got soaked and muddy on my way back… to the dorm…” Yukina explained in a quiet voice. “I was gonna wash it this morning, b-but I… slept too late… I didn’t have time…”

“So that’s what this is about…” Yuko could sympathize, considering she also ended up getting her clothes soaked and muddy yesterday. Although for totally different reasons…

“And as I told you, the fact that you lacked the discipline to clean your uniform before this morning’s classes is your own fault. I still cannot let you into the school without the proper uniform.” Ishigami ruthlessly denied any pity for the timid girl’s situation.

“Ngh…” Yukina grimaced.

“You’ve got to be kidding…” Yuko sighed in annoyance. “You don’t have to be so rigid in your understanding of the rules, you know! If you couldn’t tell, Yukina did actually put in the effort to assemble the best outfit she could out of school-appropriate clothing. It’s not like she’s trying to waltz in wearing whatever she wants to!”

“Even so, I…” Ishigami glared at Yuko.

“Jeez, with people like you around, it’s no wonder trust in the student council has waned.” Yuko couldn’t help blurting out her feelings.

After all, the lost girl she and Tanabe had met the night before had specifically asked not to be taken to the student council. Yuko could only think that the council had scared her or done something cruel to her in order for her to react in such a way. Seeing Ishigami, a member of the council, throwing such a fit over this minor ordeal only gave Yuko the impression that there may be something to that theory.

“What did you say?!” Ishigami raised his voice, clearly offended.

“I’m not wrong, am I?” Yuko’s voice shook as she tried to maintain her brave façade in front of Ishigami.

“Why you…!”

Just as Ishigami was about to reach out to Yuko.

“S-stop it! D-don’t fight over me… I’m sorry…” Yukina shouted.

“Yukina…” Yuko was surprised to hear her speak so loudly. It was extremely rare for Yukina, who was often such a quiet and reserved girl.

“Hmph…” Ishigami regained his composure, and after a moment of thought, finally spoke up again. “Fine, I’ll let it slide this time. Don’t let it happened again.”

“Th-thank you…” Yukina bowed.

With that, Ishigami turned and walked away, heading into the school building.

“Whew… Glad that’s settled…” Yuko sighed. “Man, that was nerve-wracking… That was so unlike me. I almost never get so confrontational…”

Yuko felt surprised at herself. But her recent desire of wanting to rebuild her connection with Yukina, combined with the recent doubt she’d been feeling about the council after hearing what Eli had to say, had probably led to her feeling the need to do something about the situation.

“Th-thank you, too, Yuko…” Yukina smiled sweetly at the friend who’d stood up for her.

“Yukina… I’m glad I could help.” Yuko smiled, placing her hand on Yukina’s shoulder.

“You really are amazing… Just like when we first met…” Yukina whispered, thinking about the past.

“When we first met… Oh yeah…” it took Yuko a moment to recall the memory.

Back in middle school, Yuko had been passing by her classroom during lunch break when she saw some of the boys from class surrounding Yukina’s desk. They were making fun of her for always being by herself and reading alone in the classroom. They were trying to present themselves as ‘concerned classmates’ telling her to go make some friends and participate in things more. But it was clear they just didn’t want to be around a ‘quiet, gloomy girl’ like Yukina. It was at that moment when Yuko entered the room.

“Hey Yukina, sorry to keep you waiting!” she played it off as naturally as she could.

“Huh…?” Yukina could only look at the girl in confusion.

“We made plans to go eat together, right?” Yuko motioned her eyes at the boys, trying to express to Yukina what she was trying to do.

“Y-yeah, we did.” Yukina nodded, her voice shaking.

The boys raised some doubts about the situation, but Yuko skillfully played things off, and took Yukina by the hand and went to have lunch with her. That was the first time the two spoke, and they’d soon start eating together regularly. At the time, Chisa was in a different class, so Yuko didn’t have any classmates of her own she was particularly close with. That changed when she met Yukina.

“Back then… You really helped me out.” Yukina gently took hold of Yuko’s arm. “People didn’t bother me as much, once I had you by my side. You really… saved me.”

“Looking back, even that was unusual for me.” Yuko chuckled. “See, I normally keep to myself… I guess there’s just something about you that makes me want to protect you, Yukina.”

“That’s fine…” Yukina smiled. “To me, you’re still amazing.”

“I’m really not that special, haha.” Yuko laughed off the compliment.

Though for a moment, Yuko couldn’t help but think back to all of the strange recent events that have unfolded around her. Perhaps at this point, it’s a bit much to say she’s ‘not that special’. But that didn’t change the fact that at heart, Yuko still only saw herself as an ordinary high school girl.

“I’m working hard too.” Yukina whispered. “To become as strong as you…”

“Oh, Yukina…” Yuko gave a wry smile, unsure of how to respond.

It was at that moment…

Ding, dong, dong, ding!

The school bell echoed across the campus.

“Oh, no! I’m going to be late to class!” Yuko snapped to attention, realizing how much time she wasted.

“Ah!” Yukina also snapped out of her daze.

“C’mon Yukina, let’s get to class!” Yuko shouted.

“R-right!” taking Yuko’s hand in her own, Yukina jogged into the school building by her side.

The two girls hurried as much as they could, but in the end they were both scolded for being late to class. And so, the somewhat hectic morning drew to a close.