How We Met Again

Chapter 11: Wait, You're Not Ready For Midterms?!

That evening, I was getting ready for bed after having had my bath, when my phone started buzzing madly. It was like it had gone wild, vibrating repeatedly against the floor as though possessed by a demon. Raiha stared at it from her futon in shock, and I fearfully reached towards the shaking monstrosity.

What the hell is going on?

I picked up the vibrating phone, and looked at the screen. I had seventeen new emails. One of them was from Yotsuba, from right after I had got into the bath. The other sixteen were from an address I didn't recognize. I opened Yotsuba's first.

<That didn't go how I'd hoped.>

I stared down at the message, confused. Then, trembling, I returned to the main page to see that another two emails had arrived from the other address. I scrolled down to the first one, and opened it.

"InsiderMay..." I said quietly to myself, frowning. "Who the hell is that?"

The first message just had one word.

<YOU>

I exited back out, and then read them all, more arriving by the second. Eventually, I had a full phrase.

<YOU SOLD YOUR SOUL FOR A BAR OF CHOCOLATE, UESUGI-KUN. AS PER OUR DEAL, I MUST HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW MUCH OF A WASTE OF TIME THIS TUTOR WAS.>

I read the full thing, and then shook my head.

"Are you kidding me?" I muttered to myself. "You blew up my phone for this?"

"Onii-chan? What... what is it?" Raiha whimpered.

"Itsuki being an idiot. One moment," I said, typing my response.

<Hey, Itsuki. Can you send that all as one email next time? You blew up my phone, and scared Raiha.>

I sent it off, and about thirty second, I got Itsuki's response.

<No.>

I scowled down at my phone, and then turned it off to avoid any more explosions. I put it away in my bag, and then turned off the lights and laid down in my futon.

"Apparently, their tutoring went quite badly," I said. "I'll probably get the details tomorrow. Itsuki decided to take out her frustration by blowing up my phone."

"Oh. I see. Are you going to tutor them instead, Onii-chan?"

"Me? Hell no. Not a chance."

"Oh... ok. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Raiha."

I stared at the ceiling, the dancing patterns of the shadows calming me down. Within a few minutes, I could feel myself drifting away... and before I knew it, I was awake and it was morning. I sat up with a groan, and stared around me. Both Raiha and my dad were awake -- Raiha was cooking breakfast, while my dad was reading a newspaper. Where he'd gotten it from, I had no clue.

"Oh, hey. You're awake, kid. Mornin'."

"Good morning, Onii-chan!"

I rubbed my eyes. "Good morning. What're you cooking?"

"Toast and eggs."

I eyed her up. "You're making toast... in a frying pan?"

"Yeah! I wanted to see if it would work! It does!"

"...Alright."

"What's with the skepticism, Onii-chan?! Try one!"

Skeptically, I picked a piece of toast up off the plate she handed me. I spread some butter on it, and had a bite. It was shockingly good.