The Yanderes Next Door

Chapter 13: Preparing for the party

Sashi's POV

I smiled at my reflection as I brushed through my dark locks, which had managed to become quite tangled in my rush to get ready for the party. Now I have minutes to spare, but unfortunately, my hair seems to have paid the price. I need to get these knots out before we leave. I don't want Hiro to see me like this... Not that he hasn't seen my messy bed hair already.

I had decided to wear a very cute purple dress with a pair of black flats, just to give my feet some rest after yesterday. Yes, they were incredibly sore when I got home, and yes, I'm going to stay away from high heels for a while. But was it worth it? Abso-fricking-lutely. I'm also wearing the necklace that Hiro gave me, and I have no intention of ever taking it off. I really hope that he's wearing his matching one...

I was snapped out of my daydreaming by a knock on the door, and I turned around to see my sister peeking her head into my room, keeping the door over the rest of her body so I could only see her face. I think this is the first time that she's going to leave the house with her hair hanging loose over her shoulders, and in my opinion, she looks much better than when she puts it up in a ponytail. There's just something more...human...about the way she looks right now.

'Sorry to bother you, Sash, but I was just wondering if you would tell me how I look?' she said as she moved the door out of the way, revealing the black dress that went down to her knees. She looked so beautiful that I couldn't believe my eyes, and I tried to remember when I had last seen her wearing a dress. It was probably back when we were very young, when our parents used to dress us up like princesses. I always enjoyed playing dress-up a lot more than Ayano did.

'You look amazing, Yan-chan,' I said with a smile, but that wasn't enough to stop her from fiddling with the hem of her dress, subconsciously pulling it down a little. 'I didn't even know you had a dress like that.'

'I don't. I decided to borrow one of Mom's dresses when I couldn't find anything in my closet,' she explained. 'I tried on all the clothes that I have, but I didn't feel confident enough to let Taro see me in them for the first time. I want to make a good impression, you know?'

'Well, I'm certain that Taro will be blown away by how beautiful you look.'

'You really think so?' she asked hopefully, and I nodded my head. 'Thanks, Sash. I hope that you're right. This could be the first step to making my emotions permanent, and I don't want to mess it up. You did get their address from Hanako this morning, right?'

~ Flashback ~

Hiro and I walked to school side by side like we have done many times before, but the tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and I couldn't help but wonder why he was so quiet and stiff. Does he regret telling me about his past? Is he worried that I'm going to judge him? Does he regret asking me out at all?

To stop my imagination from completely running wild, I decided to ask him about it, rather than come up with my own theories.

'Hiro-kun, is there something bothering you? You've been awfully quiet this whole time,' I said, finally grabbing the brown-haired male's attention. 'You're not usually this quiet when we're walking to school.'

'Oh, sorry, Sash, there's just a lot on my mind at the moment,' he answered with a sigh, rubbing his face with one of his hands. The other one's fingers quickly intertwined with my own, which immediately reassured me that he didn't regret the date. 'I would rather not go into it right now, but I will tell you eventually, I promise. All I'm going to say now is that I learned some pretty disturbing things about my brother last night.'

Before I could question his statement, I was suddenly tackled in a very big hug from behind, which caused our hands to disconnect by force. I chuckled as Hanako spun me around and squeezed me tightly, but I couldn't help but give Hiro a sympathetic look over her shoulder. He just smiled in return and shook his head, signalling that now wasn't the time to get into his family drama. He then motioned towards the dark-haired female in front of me with his head, silently telling me to focus on her instead. I just nodded with a small smile.