Uncle Ryuji
It couldn't have been any other hotel.
It couldn't have been any other day.
It had to be today.
It had to be in front of them.
I'm done for…
I felt the blood draining from my body.
I turned my head slowly.
Arima was completely rigid.
His eyes were fixed on the enormous tattoos covering Ryuji's arms and chest.
He looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck.
Harada didn't look much better…
"S-Shimizu-san…" Harada asked with a completely forced smile. "W-who are these people?"
My brain went blank.
"…"
I looked at Harada.
Then at Arima.
Then at the group of yakuza.
Back at my friends.
Back at the yakuza.
What am I supposed to say?
"Hi, these are the gangsters I work part-time for."
No.
"They're acquaintances."
Too suspicious.
"I just met them."
Worse.
I opened my mouth.
"T-they're…"
SMACK!
Something hit Ryuji directly in the face.
The sound echoed across the entire court.
The boss barely moved his head a few centimeters.
The volleyball bounced slowly to the ground.
…
…
The silence was absolute.
Arima gave a small jump.
"A-ah!!"
Harada's eyes went so wide I thought they'd pop out.
I jolted too.
What now?!
Rika came running from the court.
"I-I'm so sorry! The ball slipped!"
She bowed repeatedly in apology…
…until she looked up.
And saw the tattoos.
Her expression went from worried…
…to completely pale.
"Huh…?"
She took a step back.
"A-yaku…?"
Ryuji slowly raised his hand and rubbed the spot where he'd taken the hit.
His smile had disappeared.
The other two yakuza took a small step forward.
The atmosphere changed completely.
Even the air seemed to grow heavier.
Ryuji stared directly at Rika.
"Kids…"
His voice came out low.
"I can see you have a real death wish to—"
"HE'S MY UNCLE!!"
…
…
…
Everyone looked at me.
"Huh…?" Arima murmured.
"What…?" said Harada.
Even the yakuza seemed to freeze for a moment.
Ryuji turned his head slowly toward me.
"What on earth are you talk—"
"My friend didn't do it on purpose, Uncle Ryuji!" I blurted out almost without breathing while making a clumsy bow. "P-please forgive her!"
I smiled.
Or at least I tried to.
What came out was probably a desperate grimace.
Ryuji stayed completely still.
He watched me in silence.
I stared back.
Please…
Please just go along with it…
To my right, one of the yakuza cleared his throat.
"Boss, taking a hit like that deserves punishment."
Ryuji raised a hand, silencing him instantly.
He was still looking at me.
It was only a few seconds, but to me it lasted an eternity.
Finally he let out a small laugh through his nose.
"It's fine."
He turned toward Rika.
To everyone's surprise, he gave a slight bow.
"Thank you for being friends with my niece."
He smiled.
I felt such an enormous wave of relief I almost collapsed…
"She's had a difficult life…"
Thank heavens…
"I thought nobody liked her."
Wait… what?
"Hey! That was really cruel!"
The fact that it wasn't too far from the truth made me even more irritated.
Ryuji seemed amused and let out a laugh.
Arima blinked several times.
"I-I didn't expect Shimizu-san to be… a yakuza princess…"
"A-are you really family…?" Harada asked almost in a whisper.
"That's right~."
Bibi appeared, stepping elegantly forward and pointing proudly at his own chest.
"I'm her Onee-san. People always say we look incredibly alike, don't you think?" he said with a wink.
There was a second of silence.
Arima and Rika answered at exactly the same time.
"Absolutely not!"
"Not even a little!"
"What do you mean not?!" Bibi protested, puffing out his cheeks. "We're practically twins!"
"That makes it worse!" I said without thinking.
"You little brat!"
Before Bibi could keep complaining, arms wrapped around me from behind.
"Her real Onee-san is me."
I'd recognize that voice anywhere.
"R-Reiko-san…"
She leaned toward my ear and whispered in a soft voice that made my skin prickle.
"I always wanted a little sister this cute."
I felt my cheeks burn.
"W-what are you doing…?"
Reiko just laughed. Her jokes were starting to worry me for my heart.
Behind me, Harada had gone completely still watching.
Another victim of the Reiko effect… you're not the only one!
…
A few steps away, Yuuna leaned discreetly toward Mei.
"Why are there yakuza at your family's hotel?"
Mei smiled with that characteristic mixture of sweetness and nervousness.
"W-well… it's an international hotel. W-we can't discriminate against guests just for having tattoos…"
She let out an uncomfortable little laugh.
"I-it would be an enormous problem…"
At that moment, Ryuji crossed his arms.
His gaze slowly swept the volleyball court.
Then he looked at Arima.
Then Rika.
Finally he smiled again.
And for some reason…
…that smile gave me a very bad feeling.
Don't tell me…
"Alright."
Ryuji stepped forward.
"What do you say we play a match to celebrate this little reunion?"
A shiver ran down my spine.
I knew it.
He's still upset about the ball.
I gritted my teeth.
"I-there's no need to play. We're really fine like this…"
"We'd love to!"
I snapped my head around.
"Yuuna?!"
Yuuna smiled with absolute calm.
"It would be fun to play a match with Aika's family."
They're not my family!
Ryuji smiled, satisfied.
"Glad to hear it."
I'm not glad at all!
I raised a hand in resignation.
Looking at them like this, I don't think they're going to stop…
"F-fine…"
I sighed.
"But let's balance the teams."
One of the yakuza frowned.
"Boss, the three of us with you would be enough to—"
"Aika's right."
Reiko appeared at my side again, resting an arm over my shoulders with complete naturalness.
"The three of you together would be too unfair."
She smiled elegantly.
Melissa let out a small laugh.
"True. Better if we mix it up a little."
Ryuji looked at both groups for a few seconds.
Finally he nodded.
"Agreed."
In less than a minute we were already organizing ourselves.
In the end we had two fairly balanced teams.
On mine were Yuuna, Harada, Melissa, Matsuda, Taro, and me.
On the other were Ryuji, Reiko, Arima, Mei, Rika, and Bibi.
I let out a sigh.
Of course I end up facing the boss… at least Rika looks happy to be on his team…
But that's unfair — Rika's actually good!
"Alright!" Arima shouted, holding up the ball. "Losing team buys the drinks!"
"What?!" Harada protested.
…
…
…
The match ended up being way more fun than I expected.
Well…
For the first five minutes I was still convinced it was going to end in tragedy.
But after a while everyone had set aside their first impressions.
Ryuji, to my enormous surprise, played completely clean.
He was still intimidating even when he smiled…
…but he never did anything out of place.
Bibi, on the other hand, turned the match into a spectacle.
"Beauty also scores points!"
"That rule doesn't exist!" Yuuna shouted.
"Well it should!"
Melissa could barely stop laughing.
Reiko played surprisingly well.
Every time she saved a ball, Harada followed her with his eyes like he was watching an Olympic final.
"…She's incredible…"
"Harada-san."
"Yes?"
"The ball is on the other side."
"Huh?!"
Smack!
The ball ended up hitting him directly in the face.
"Ha ha ha!" Bibi was practically doubling over with laughter.
Even Ryuji let out a small laugh.
Yuuna didn't hold back either.
Every time we scored a point she discreetly raised her fist, proud.
Even Mei ended up getting into it.
Though she apologized every time she missed a receive.
…
…
The match ended several minutes later.
With considerable effort…
…my team lost.
"We won!" Rika celebrated, throwing both arms in the air.
"That's because destiny favors beautiful people!" Bibi added.
"I don't think it works that way…" Harada murmured, still recovering from the ball to the face.
I ended up slumped on the floor.
"I'm…"
I took a deep breath.
"…exhausted."
Yuuna also let out a sigh.
"I didn't think we'd play that long."
"Neither did I…"
Rika dropped down to sit.
"But it was so much fun."
Everyone ended up laughing.
Even me.
For a moment I almost forgot I'd spent the entire afternoon in a panic.
Ryuji gave a couple of claps.
"Well."
He checked his watch.
"We should get going."
He stepped a little closer.
"Aika."
I felt a small shiver.
"Yes…"
He smiled.
"We'll see each other soon."
"…Y-yes."
Bibi waved a hand exaggeratedly.
"Goodbye, little sis!"
"I'm not your little sis!"
"Such a tsundere!"
"I'm not a tsundere!"
Reiko let out a small laugh.
"See you, Aika-chan."
Melissa made a farewell gesture with her hand.
Shortly after, all seven of them disappeared into the crowd at the resort.
Only when they were out of sight could I finally release the breath I'd been holding for who knew how long.
"…"
"…"
"I survived…"
Dinner was so luxurious I still couldn't believe it was real.
There were so many different dishes I ended up trying a little of everything.
When we finally returned to the hotel it was already night.
We all went up to the floor where we'd left our luggage.
Mei pulled several keycards from a small envelope.
"Here you go."
She handed one to each person.
When it was my turn I looked at the card for a few seconds.
"What's this?"
"Your room key."
I blinked.
"…My room?"
Arima held his up too.
"Weren't the boys sleeping in one room and the girls in another?"
Harada nodded.
"Individual rooms seems like too big an expense…"
Mei smiled softly.
"I-I didn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable…"
She lowered her gaze slightly.
"So I asked for one for each person."
"But that must have cost so much…"
"It's fine."
She smiled again.
"Really."
It was obvious trying to convince her was useless.
In the end we all accepted.
I collected my luggage from the room where we'd left it when we arrived and followed the room numbers down the long carpeted hallway.
"…624…"
"625…"
"Here it is."
I swiped the card.
The door gave a small beep.
I walked in.
The room was even bigger than I'd imagined.
An enormous bed.
A balcony.
A bathroom that was probably half the size of my apartment.
I closed the door.
Left the suitcase by the wall.
And threw myself back onto the bed.
"Aaaaah…"
So soft.
I don't think I'd ever felt a mattress like that.
My arms and legs felt completely exhausted.
"…"
"What a long day…"
My eyelids were starting to feel heavy.
Five minutes…
Just five minutes to rest…
Knock. Knock.
I opened one eye.
"Huh?"
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I frowned.
"Who could that be…?"
I hadn't ordered room service.
The knocks continued, this time a little more insistent.
"Coming…"
I got up lazily, walked to the door and turned the handle.
When I opened it…
…I felt a small lurch in my chest.
Yuuna was there.
She watched me for a few seconds.
Then smiled ever so slightly.
"What a coincidence."
She tilted her head a little.
"Turns out we're completely alone now."
My smile froze.
I'd forgotten.
…It seems there's no escape this time…