“Yukkie!”
“Brother!”
“Yu-kki-e!”
“Ra Muuuuuu!”
Yuuki awoke to an intense ultrasonic wave barrage.
He pried his eyes open and saw Mina standing imposingly at his bedside, loudspeaker in hand.
“Wakey wakey, sleepyhead!”
“It’s Sunday, Mina. School’s out.”
“It’s Saturday, hello? Get up, come on, move it! Yue’s here!”
“Yue?”
Yui’s distant Chinese relative? Still sleepy-eyed, Yuuki reluctantly got out of bed.
Mina dragged him to the living room where he was approached by an unfamiliar silhouette, peering into his face.
“Look who’s finally awake. Making your little sister get you out of bed. How low.”
“We’re not interested in your Chinese herbs. Off you go now.”
“What?”
“That’s it.” Mina raised her loudspeaker. Yuuki, having had enough ultrasonic waves for one day, covered his ears. She got on her tippy toes, pushing it right up to his ear, and yelled, “Go get dressed already you slob!”
Yui giggled. “Cute pajamas you got there, Yuuki.”
Being the subject of such harassment was not how Yuuki envisioned his morning.
“Lay off.”
“He just clicked his tongue at us.”
“Yukkie can get a little grumpy when he’s sleepy.”
“A little? Yuuki, yoo-hoo, it’s me, your beloved girlfriend.”
“My what? Are you sleepwalking?”
“The only sleepwalker here is you.” Yui leaned in and whispered, “Moron, Mina’s watching!” Her hair swayed, a sweet aroma tickling his nose.
“Oh, it’s you, Yui. Morning.”
“You figure that out just now?”
“Come here, let me give you a hug.”
“No thanks, perv.” Yui took two steps back as he spread his arms out.
A smaller figure leapt into Yuuki’s chest instead. “Don’t mind if I do!” He wrapped his arms around Mina’s back, squeezing the life out of her.
“I knew it was a trap... alright, enough already!” Yui barged in, tearing his prey away. “What’s wrong with you? Bear hugging your sister first thing in the morning.”
As she held Mina up, her eyes suddenly lit up. “Yui, my love!” Mina whipped around. She grabbed her butt, rubbing her cheeks against Yui’s.
“M-Mina! Get off!”
“Mission complete.”
“Who hired you to do this and how much are they paying you?!” Yui pinched Mina’s cheeks, stretching them out.
Yuuki watched, his tired eyes trying to process what was happening.
“My, my, my. Your hair’s a complete mess, Yuuki.”
“Fix it for me.”
“Do it yourself.”
Mina immediately went and fetched a comb, handing it to Yui.
She froze up after having just grabbed it purely out of instinct. Perhaps overwhelmed by Mina’s anticipating gaze, she hesitantly started combing Yuuki’s hair.
“O-Oh alright. B-But just this once!”
“Ouch, watch it! Be gentle.”
“I’d watch my tone if I were you.”
As she lowered her voice to a growl, Mina turned her phone toward them from behind. Yui, seemingly sensing a disturbance in the force, whipped around and went after her.
“Not this again, Mina!”
“My pièce de résistance.”
“Hand it over!’
As he watched Yui chase Mina down, Yuuki hazily recalled the moments before going to bed.
After Mina finally fell asleep he studied late into the night and, next thing he knew, he found himself here.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot about my master pla... my promise to Rio.
Yuuki, having finally returned to his senses, turned to Yui, whose hair was quite disheveled after tussling with Mina, and said,
“Oh yeah, I called you over, didn’t I. Morning brain, sorry.”
“That’s right, apologize. Apologize more, Doraemon style.”
“My apologeese.”
“Your what now?”
It was getting close to eleven. Time passed faster than expected.
Yuuki left the living room, leaving the two who were still at each other’s throats. He washed up in the bathroom, then returned to his room to get dressed.
When he came back to the living room, he could hear Yui and Mina squawking in front of the TV.
“Let me do it!”
“No, it’s my turn!”
Yuuki, for a second, thought the two were playing Bash again, only to find that they were actually shari... fighting over the controller while playing a single player game.
Yui was putting on an elderly sister act at first but it quickly crumbled; The end result of two younger sister types butting heads.
“You fell in the same spot again! You suck, Yui!”
“I pressed the jump button; I know I did! This mustachioed geezer has a rebellious streak!”
That’s one way of putting it. Yuuki thought to himself as he opened the fridge, deciding it was brunch time.
He felt like eggs ham and toast, but they were out of eggs.
Yuuki figured he’d make a jam sandwich instead, only to find that the jar of strawberry jam, which was at least half full yesterday morning, was nearly empty. Mina’s doing, in all likelihood.
The fact that there was just a teeny tiny bit left added insult to injury.
Ham and bread it is. Tired of dealing with his dwindling list of options, he took some thinly sliced ham from the fridge and sat down at the kitchen table.
“Hold it!” Yui came over, grabbing her handbag from the corner of the sofa. “A little early for lunch but that’s fine.”
What lunch? There’s nothing decent to choose from. He thought as Yui busted out a bento and a large tupperware from her handbag, placing them on the table.
“Ta-da! Bento!” She announced, spreading her hands dramatically.
The word ’bento’ appeared to have reached Mina’s ears as she immediately dropped her game and came running. “Beeeentooooooo!”
“Don’t think I forgot about you, Mina.” Yui took both the lids off, unveiling the contents within. Mina jumped out of her seat, staring into the bento. She pointed, her eyes wide open. “Are those octopus sausages I’m seeing? Y’all still alive?”
“They’re skewered, Mina.”
“Come on, don’t be like that. It’s been a while since we’ve last had these.”
“Uhh, sure has.”
“No... you ate octopus sausages without me, didn’t you!”
“Maybe I did? I’m old enough to make them myself, if I wanted to.”
“That’s not important right now!” Mina shoved Yuuki to the side, bringing her face right up to the bento. “Tamagoyakiiiii! Karaageeeee!” She squealed seeing it jam-packed with sides.
Yui stood behind Mina, giggling. “Don’t expect much. Went for quantity over quality.”
“What’re you talking about? It looks better than Yukkie’s cooking!”
Traitor... not that I disagree.
The bento contained three different sides, while the tupperware was lined with neat rows of cylindrical, nori-wrapped rice balls.
It certainly lacked in terms of side variety compared to the bento Yuuki received, but preparing this much food must’ve taken quite a while, nonetheless.
Yuuki gazed up at Yui, expressing his gratitude. “Thanks, Yui. I really appreciate it.”
“Oh, I just figured I’d give you a break from cooking each and every day.” She scratched her head, an awkward smile on her face. The corners of Yuuki’s mouth turned up slightly at that.
As they awkwardly stared at each other, Mina began tugging on Yui’s arm. “May I dig in? May I?”
“Uhh, sure. Go ahead.”
Mina cheered as she gleefully took one of the octopus sausages she so desperately longed for and tossed it into her mouth.
Yuuki put away the bread, grabbing himself a rice ball instead.
“Mmm, delish!”
“Please be quiet at the dinner table, Mina.”
“Yukkie, shouldn’t you be feeding Yui?”
“Why should I?”
“What do you mean why? You’re dating!”
According to Mina’s date theory, couples were apparently required to feed one another.
Right, we’re supposed to be dating. Yuuki recalled, grabbing an octopus sausage and bringing it up to Yui’s mouth.
“Say aah.” She froze up, throwing him a confused look. Yuuki wiggled it, yet she showed no sign of biting on the sausage. “What’s up?”
“You’re... formidable.”
“Where did that come from?”
“Maybe try, I don’t know, hesitating a little?” She said, her face a weird mixture of awkward and dumbfounded.
Yuuki fed, or rather, was forced to feed Mina all the time, so he didn’t really think much of it, or at least that’s what he thought.
“I feed Mina all the time.”
“That’s not the... all the time?”
“Yukkie, our bloodline is tainted!”
Mina, having said something outlandish out of the blue like that, skewered a piece of tamagoyaki and a piece of karaage onto a single toothpick and started gnawing on it.
Yui appeared to have been conscious of Mina’s looks as she took the opportunity to bite down on the sausage.
“Good girl. Proud of you.”
“Can you not make it sound like I’m some kind of zoo animal?” Yui averted her gaze while chewing on her food.