The Gift That Keeps on Giving [Slice of Life]

The ability to be late for classes while arriving earlier than anyone at the school should be listed as a superpower. Maybe along the ability to fall asleep inside that empty classroom which knob had been broken for almost two months. Luckily, no one seemed to have noticed, which meant Hiro could get in there when his dad dropped him earlier in the morning and get some time alone. Sadly, this also meant falling asleep and waking up to go down a couple of floors and enter his own classroom before Mrs. Nakamura, their homeroom teacher, made her appearance. Not always he managed. This time around, he did.

“Good morning.” He greeted the girl who had been sitting next to him since they parceled the seats at the start of the school year. She was nice, even if she had a too-complicated last name for him to actually remember. In his head, she was ‘sleepy twin’ even if he would never come to actually call her like that.

It seemed, however, that he had arrived only to be granted some more free time. Mrs. Nakamura declared the class would be starting in half an hour. This, only after sharing news about a certain student who had disappeared. Resting his head over his hand, Hiro dwelled about it for a while. For some reason, this guy reminded him of some other poor character who had also disappeared in his favorite anime series last night. It was the story of a man who faced monsters in a foreign land by himself, managing to dodge their attacks although he was only human. If you asked Hiro, the whole thing couldn’t make less sense but somehow, it was so stupid he couldn’t stop watching it every night. Its stupidity and nonsense were like a gift that kept on giving.

Speaking of gifts, Hiro stared at his classmate for a second. His eyes went to her sweater, the one that he used to borrow as a pillow now and then to take naps. Then, his gaze went back to her. There was something that seemed to be troubling the guy. Only when the girl’s gaze had met his, he decided to speak, almost in a mutter.

“Is there… any homework due for today?”

He always managed to forget those. This girl too. But she had a sister who usually complied.

Huh. He was actually being carried by someone who was already being carried.

    At least from the get-go, the blonde seemed to have more information regarding the so-called 'Himura-san' than Yuuya himself, even though that wasn't very hard. And... it wasn't very promising, all things considered. Guy seemed like a perfect nobody, meaning he could very well be his twin brother!

    And, to say the least, he despised the idea of having any more direct family. He had more than enough with his extended family! Especially considering that now they were a fair bit closer than in before, given the new baby and all that...

    Ugh. Not to say that his cousin was fairly annoying, and provided him with bad advice that was seemingly good in the surface. Why did he take dating advice from somebody in a dysfunctional relationship in first place? That seemed like the worst idea ever, in hindsight.

    Anyway. Better to stop thinking about himself and begin thinking about the matter at hand. "Hope he didn't get kidnapped in one of those 'your rich, Nigerian grandfather just died. Come and become rich with his inheritance' deals. I've read in the newspapers that those are getting more common nowadays. Can't believe there are people that gullible, honestly."

    He made a pause. Nah; that was just too outlandish. "I doubt it was anything scary, though. Maybe he decided to run away from home because the girl he liked will never reciprocate his love? That sounds more like what somebody sheltered would do. Any idea who that person could've been?"

    But... those were wild guesses at best. In truth, Yuuya didn't know who the guy even was, so it wasn't like his disappearance affected him in the slightest, besides the fact that class would be shorter thanks to the teacher deciding that the whole classroom would 'pay respects' to say it in some way. Eventually, after those thirty minutes, classes began. Time for the school day to begin!

---

    And for it to end, eventually. Homeroom was a remarkably easy subject, so there wasn't a lot to cover, and was mostly the perfect time for Yuuya to just laze around and scribble random doodles on his notebook. Yet, as the bell rang...

    "Remember that today's the last day for submitting or joining potential student clubs, in case any of you hadn't joined any yet. Also, remember that this year, those are mandatory. Have a nice day!"

    The teacher proceeded to exit the classroom, leaving a very perplexed Yuuya in the face of this information that his brain had omitted for the longest time. Truth was that he didn't like clubs all that much, and that meant that his knowledge about them was scarce, to say the least.

    "Crap." The realization had hit him a tad too hard. Not even Evie could save him from a situation like this!

    The idea of Souji being swept away at a scam about Nigerian grandfathers elicited a giggle from the blonde. That shouldn't be funny! But it was! Maybe because Evie could actually see the guy falling for something like that! "I hope not!" Truly! Anyone who fell for that would have to be pretty dumb! "Do people actually believe in those scams?" Surely, she knew the answer, but there were some things even Evie didn't want to believe.

    As far as Yuuya's next theory? Well, that was a possibility too! But, yet again, one the girl didn't particularly want to believe. Especially considering her last encounter with the person in question! Giving a thoughtful hum, green eyes stared up at the ceiling for a second. "Nope!" Evie settled, lightly clapping both hands together, before resting her cheek on them. "He had a crush on an idol, but I would hope nobody would run away from home for a girl that they don't really know." Sure, she had agreed not to tell mutual friends about Souji's crush on an idol, but Yuuya didn't count! And probably didn't have anyone to tell anyway, to be honest. But, Evie wasn't going to add any further details of other crushes that may or may not have existed, that she was aware of. She'd much rather it be something bizarre, like unrequited love from someone famous!

    For the moment, an innocent smile would remain on the girl's lips, as if pretending she hadn't heard Yuuya's reaction to the mandatory club deadline, and instead prepared to focus on the next lesson.

    Meanwhile, things were mostly uneventful with the 'sleepy twin' and her sleepy deskmate. With both of them relieved at a lack of homework, it seemed like the day would go by easily! But, hearing the word 'mandatory' repeated from Hiro pulled Elsie from her morning daze, debating if this was another moment of concern. And, then, the twin ultimately decided that nope, she didn't care enough to be worried.

    "Eh," was the only sound the wild-haired blonde made to even imply she had heard his statement, before shuffling in her seat to find a more comfortable sleeping position. Unlike the boy next to her, who debated clubs up until lunch, Elsie seemed to nap through a good portion of the day until that point! Which made it go by pretty quickly, as far as she was concerned!

    But, now it was lunch time, and she was fully awake and prepared to eat. Or, to answer questions about clubs! There was another deer-in-headlights, "uhhh," while the teen debated her answer. "Nope!" Was the answer that followed soon after. Surprisingly, she didn't sound stressed at all! "I just join in on whatever Evie's doin'." Solid plan! It hadn't failed her yet!

    Which prompted the next action! "Hey, Eves! We don't have a club!" 'We'? While that seemed pretty presumptuous, could she really be blamed? It wasn't like his earlier comment didn't make a lack of clubs obvious! Sorry Hiro, the cry went noticed.

    The obviously more prepared blonde threw a glance to Yuuya first, before looking to her twin, and the person that she was clearly having the conversation with. "I have a club that you can both join," she stated, before turning to Yuuya again, "you're welcome to join also, if you haven't settled on a club yet. It would be fun, don't you think?" While Evie suspected that Yuuya wouldn't fall for the smile that she was giving, she suspected he wouldn't turn down an opportunity to join a club and not need to hunt one down at the last second!

    "What d'you think?" Elsie immediately questioned Hiro, without even bothering to hear the details of the club herself, "you only asked 'cause you needed to join one too, right?"

Saying Hiro was surprised by the slovenliness ‘sleepy twin’ bestowed regarding this situation would be a bit of an understatement. Was he the only one who had super strict parents regarding school stuff? If he got scold by not joining a club and his dad found out he was going to be in serious trouble. Even if his parents usually stayed off his back regarding grades and such, they really didn’t appreciate him getting in trouble for not abiding by certain rules.

No, there had to be something else right? The answer would quickly reach him when the teenager answered his question. To this, Hiro just let out a sigh and sank in his chair even more. This ‘Evie’ had to be her sister, right? Now, he was only missing sleepy twin’s name!

“You sure are lucky.” He didn’t have someone to help him with this kind of stuff. His own sister only drooled and played with dolls. Granted, she was 5. But still…!

It seemed like the blonde was sharing some of her luck with Hiro this time. Which was, honestly, the best thing that had happened to him today. “W-We…?” Even if he was a bit surprised, he didn’t mind being included there. He didn’t mind it in the slightest. While he listened to who would pretty much be the ‘smart twin’, Hiro took out his bento. If he was going to be carried, at least he would have his lunch while doing it.

Evie seemed to have solved the narcoleptic duo’s problems! Even if it seemed like it was never a real problem for the feminine part of such duo. While being addressed by the girl, Hiro didn’t take long to answer.

“Sounds good.” He nodded. It was probably a little late to keep on with the charade, right? In any case, he would grab onto this opportunity. “I… I sleep through most of the school day so I really don’t know much about clubs. I doubt any other would even take me so I’ll definitely join your sister’s.” No point in lying. Hiro was very much aware that he didn’t have any skill that would make him fit for a club, neither had he had the intention to hide this fact.

“Shouldn’t we… ask her what is the club about, though?” The fact that Hiro was the one suggesting the important question just showed this girl could be even more laid-back than him! It didn’t change the fact that he was joining, but at least it would be good to know.

If that was the case, maybe they should go to her sister’s desk and talk about it? He didn’t really know what the procedure was from now on. Or was her sister going to come to them now? Hiro’s eyes leisurely drifted towards Evie’s seat.

“Huh.” So Yuuya was with her. Good, at least someone he kind of knew was involved in all of this.

Was it a bit late to ask sleepy twin's name now? It problably was.

    It was relatively pointless to keep on discussing the matter at hand. Whatever had happened to Souji and for whatever reason, it was probably his doing to some extent. "Who knows. In a sense, I'm glad I won't be able to find out." Repeating his previous shrug would be really pointless, so Yuuya left it at that.

    As unpleasant as the teenager was, being a creeper was leagues above all his insufferable personality traits; mostly because he couldn't really get in trouble with the police regarding them. In a sense, that was a relief. "Maybe they don't know what else to do with their time, and it makes them feel better about themselves. More people should make an effort and get proper lives if you ask me. At least the average person would be more interesting that way."

    Not like he was a 'people person', but maybe it had to do with the vast amount of them being extremely dull? Those thoughts didn't even deserve to be entertained anyway, at least as far as Yuuya was concerned. Instead, his attention focused on the smart blonde, and how she progressively began to address the questions regarding her 'club'. Truthfully? He had his reservations; considering how she seemed to take her sweet time at explaining, the teenager almost felt like he was walking in a trap of some sort.

    Eh, whatever. He would bite the bait. Yuuya seemed to be somewhat surprised at how much of a fuss the girls were making about the lunches. Figuring that Evie would reveal the information when she pleased, he just proceeded to ask. "What's wrong with raw eggs? I wouldn't mind having one on my rice right now. At least it would taste a little better that way."

    Guess that being an exchange student could also be associated with having rather bad culinary tastes? Pondering in between bites, he remained silent until the next tidbit was revealed. 'No sports'. Well, at least that wasn't too bad. "I don't mind non-physical sports, honestly." He added, somewhat lazily. Was that even a good reply?

    No time to ponder that. The grand reveal came soon enough. That was... interesting. A small sigh escaped Yuuya's lips before the next question was uttered. "Guess it's too soon to ask what position we would occupy, right? I'm game as long as I don't end up being the janitor or something. That'd be boring."

    He had to cover his bases, after all!

    While Evie had to agree with Yuuya's theory about people without anything better to do than stalk people, she had decided that the conversation was nearing its end and, from what she had established from sitting next to this boy, he wasn't keen on drawing topics out for longer than necessary! So, instead, she'd give a nod and chime, "I agree," before allowing class to begin properly!

    And, of course, lunch time would soon follow. Which was the most important time of the school day!

    "Well, yeah," Elsie stated, without missing a beat. What else would nap clubs be for? "I mean, if it needed to be more interactive or somethin', we could take naps and discuss our dreams? Or discuss how hard it is to nap on a desk." Apparently, Elsie wasn't going to mind Hiro having a weird side. She was just going to match it! "Did'ja know that taking a nap can improve your memory, alertness, and performance?" That seemed like solid enough logic for a nap club! Giving a yawn at the mere thought, the lazy twin tilted her head to the side to subtly stretch. "At least, that's what Evie told me." During time that Elsie could have spent napping, no less!

    But, now it was time for food. And, apparently questions regarding food! First response came from Evie, at Yuuya's inquiry. There was a tiny scrunch of her nose, trying to mask her distaste. After all, it wasn't like she wanted to insult his lack of taste! "I'm not a fan of a lot of uncooked foods."

    "You should see her with sushi. She, like, only eats the crabstick ones. You know. The kind that are cooked. Or fake crab." Well, it was pretty obvious that Elsie was going to keep herself in every available conversation going on right now!

    This left the green-eyed sibling fidgeting with her bento for a moment, before finally opening it. "I don't like the texture. Fish and eggs both are slimy before being cooked." Maybe the nose-scrunch was more obvious now. Slimy food wasn't Evie's friend. Was it a childhood trauma from Elsie surely trapping her sibling in literally slimy situations, or did food actually just taste better without a slime-layer? Only Evie would know!

    Would Elsie have noticed Hiro's staring? Debatable. Maybe, if Evie hadn't been distracted with defending her tastebuds, she would have, though! Instead, focus was only caught once the cooking question was presented! "Yeah! I make all of our lunches. And most dinners." Didn't that seem like a lot of responsibility for a fifteen year old? Ah well. It definitely looked well-made! "It's kind of fun trying all these bento idea things I find online, you know?" Not to stereotype on Hiro being a guy, but... No. He probably didn't know. He certainly didn't strike Elsie as the 'chef' type!

    Inside the bento, if either boy would look when the twins opened them, they would see Tamagoyaki, wontons, a few apple peices cut into rabbit-shapes, and... panda-shaped onigiri. Yep, this was obviously made by a girl. It also included some interesting, tiny balls that seemed made of dough; one of which was immediately plucked up by the sibling who didn't make any of the meal. "Elsie," she finally revealed as the sleepy twin's name called out, raising it for the wild-haired sibling to see, "is this supposed to be a pancake ball?" It smelled kind of like pancakes. And it felt like pancakes!

    "Yeah. It's full of chocolate. I love the internet."

    It seemed that maybe Elsie shouldn't be allowed to search random recipes online.

    While Evie continued to prod at the mysterious pancake-dessert for another moment, her sibling shifted her bento to be within easy reach of Hiro. "You wanna try anything? I promise it's good!" Would Elsie ever lie to anyone?

    ...Regardless of the answer to that, Evie would shift her bento so that Yuuya could also reach it. "Would you like to try one of these... pancake entities?" Did Yuuya like sweets? If he tried it (and liked pancakes and chocolate), he'd probably find it to be surprisingly good! At least, considering that would eventually be Evie's consensus on it!

    Elsie was actually a pretty good cook! Aside from the one time she tried to stuff onigiri with whatever she found in the cupboards. That day, Evie learned that grape jelly didn't taste good with rice. And that, out of all of the strange combinations she had tried that day, the least terrifying had been hot dogs. Some things just shouldn't be smashed into rice. Luckily, there had been plenty of warning before she bit into any of those! And, no raw fish was involved.

    But, it was really time to focus on the other important things here! Like clubs! Especially since those were mandatory, and all. "You don't need to be a janitor. Is there some sort of role you'd like?" Surely, that would answer the black-haired boy's question well enough! Evie wasn't one to make roles for people when she hadn't been sure, until now, if they were joining! And, to answer the question that came from Hiro? "Student council--"

    "Don't they, like, rule the school, are mostly rich people, and stuff like that?"

    "You watch too much anime," Evie sighed, brushing some of her hair behind her ear. "Student council mostly keeps everything organized, plans and runs events. We kind of represent the interest of students. It's a pretty important thing." Funny how 'interest' probably didn't suit Yuuya all that much! Or Hiro, for that matter. Or...

    Okay. Evie might actually be the only one with interest. Whatever. Close enough. "Student council also helps out other clubs or students, if they need to. And can act as a liaison between students and teachers." Maybe this was sounding like too much effort. But, how often would they really be needed anyway? Thinking on any other points, the green-eyed girl shifted her attention to Yuuya again, "can you think of anything I might have missed, to explain student council?"

    Of course she wasn't going to trust Elsie to answer that. It was clear that there were at least two members of this group that didn't really know anything about student council! Would Yuuya make a third, or would he have a bit more insight?

Listening to sleepy twin go, Hiro’s expression changed one bit. Was that a… smirk? It was good to know he could slide one or two weird comments with her playing along just fine. Her piece of insight was actually rather interesting, for what he concerned. It was also very funny how she was saying ‘We’, assuming they would be together in such association. “I don’t think it’s hard for you to nap on a desk, so if the hierarchy was based on how easily can a member fall asleep, I think you would be pretty high above.” Taking a couple of bites with his chopsticks, he leaned his back against the chair.

“Well, I would say your sister is trustworthy enough.” He couldn’t say he had read that anywhere and although it sounded logical, it wasn’t like any piece of information would make him nap any less, or any more, for that matter.

When it came to things that weren’t cooked, Hiro could somewhat relate to Evie’s point of view. Although there were some raw meals he could enjoy, eggs were definitely not in that list. Right now, it seemed like the conversation was being shared between four. The silence in the classroom, with it being half-empty, allowed that.

“That’s nice. I’m a terrible cook.” Which shouldn’t be surprising at this point. And much like she had thought: no, he didn’t know. Not because he was a guy, but mainly because he was Hiro. “You find bento ideas… online?” That wasn’t too different from what his mom did, honestly. Sleepy twin seemed to actually enjoy doing this and although he didn’t share her eagerness towards this particular subject, it was… nice to see her motivated. Now a real smirk had appeared on his face. “Well, I’m usually not too reluctant to try new food, so I could help you by tasting all of these ideas you find online.” That was a good way of helping her, wasn’t it? Probably not, considering she could try those herself. Two mouths were better than one, maybe? … That sounded weird.

ELSIE! At last, he knew the girl’s name now.

Hiro blinked twice, staring at the bento for a second or two. “Sure.” Although hesitant, he tried his best to avoid being rude. He had just said he was open to trying Elsie’s food, so he had to stick to those words. Besides, it really looked good. Tamagoyaki wasn’t his favorite and tasting a piece of apple wouldn’t really be enough to tell how good was her cooking right? He really liked wonton, but he also was curious on trying those balls made of dough so…

“I-it’s good.” It was. He was trying his best to not be too expressive and look weird, but it was actually delicious. “Great job.” Of course, this brought a question to the table. “Isn’t there a cooking club?” He really didn’t know, but at least Elsie was actually good at something and that sounded like a place where she would fit better.

Regardless of the outcome of this, Hiro would listen to Evie and Yuuya as they explained how the student council worked. Help out and babysit other clubs and students? He couldn’t even help himself! Maybe it wasn’t a lot of work, but the very little amount of work there was to do, sounded hard for him. It wasn’t like he really had much of a choice, honestly.

Hiro let out a sigh, closing his eyes now that he was done with his own meal. Then, a short-haired girl appeared, speaking of a first meeting of the year for the student council. Did he know this girl? She looked oddly familiar. In any case, it seemed like his afternoon had gotten busy. What a drag.

The rest of the classes went by without anything to remark. Before Hiro knew it, the afternoon sun entered the classroom through the window. As everyone got their things back inside their backpacks, Hiro prepared to follow Elsie wherever they were going. It was likely she was going to follow Evie, anyways. They had a meeting, after all.