The Girl with the Golden Voice

(Part two)

Monday 4:00 am

            Chinen awoke with jolt; he eyed his room weirdly while scratching his head. He remembered what happened last week, his first day in school, his new friend and his annoying science project that was hopeless. He sighed heavily at the thought of his science project. He and Miss Sunshine had tried to schedule a meeting 6 times already but every time they were about to meet something would happened and she couldn’t make it. He was seriously pissed now and had shouted at her last time she called. His patience it’s seemed had reached its limit, she was actually lucky it took him five days before he let out his steam. He was one of the members of his family who had short tempers, blame it all on his annoying onisan Yamada. He tried to smile as he stared at his room but every time he remembered that Miss Sunshine stood him up six times already he got angry! He grumpily slipped on his bee slippers and headed to his bathroom loudly banging the door. He wanted to be late today so he filled the tub with water and literally emptied the whole contents of his bath wash. Bubbles foamed and the lemon scent filled the whole bathroom. He removed his clothes then kicked his dirty jammies angrily into the laundry bin. He hopped into the tub and soaked his whole body until his whole head felt like a giant lemon. He wanted to sleep inside the tub. He was about to doze off when Yama-chan burst into his bathroom happily.

            “Hey dwarf!” Yamada yelled at him. He was neatly dressed in a uniform that wasn’t his own.

            “Hey PIG! Why are you wearing my uniform?!!” Chinen yelled at him as he threw a wash cloth straight into Yamada’s face. Yamada ducked and the washcloth hit a passing ghost maid or more like went through it. The maid glared at him annoyed.

            “Hahaha! You throw like a girl! Anyway this isn’t your uniform Okasan transferred me to Shinkyoku High so we are officially classmates!” Yamada said happily as he bounced up and down.

            “What? Is that all? If you have nothing else to say GET OUT OF MY BATHROOM!” he yelled frustrated. Great he was having a rotten day and now his school was about to decay because Yama-chan was attending it. Yamada made a funny face at him before he left the bathroom humming the song Genie.

            He hurried taking his bubble bath then got dressed wearing his happy scarf to boost his mood. It was a stripped black and yellow scarf that had an embroidered bee at the end. It was a gift from his cousin Jessica when they were in kids. It was actually modestly done with just simple bands instead of complex patterns, for some weird reason it made him feel happy, maybe because Jessica had the ability to control emotions. He stepped into the hallway in a slightly happy mood. Upon reaching the dining room his family eyed him worriedly. He only wore his happy scarf when he was seriously annoyed. They all smiled at him even Yamada. He sat comfortably beside his mother as she piled his plate with his favorite food which magically appeared on the table.

            “Yuri-chan do you want to skip school today?” his Otosan asked him.

            “What? Tosan who will show me around if Chinen is absent?!” Yamada blurted out. He had no intention of missing class just because of Miss Sunshine.

            “I am fine otosan.” He said as he stuffed his face with a cheese filled croissant. He loved food that had cheese on it. There was huge bowl of extremely cheesy spaghetti, beside it was a big slice of cheese cake in front of him, he ate it heartily. He let the food ease his annoyance, its warmth covering him, it was his comfort food. The scarf around his neck was having an effect on him, he smiled at the feeling.

            Yamada was eating like he was starving for 500 years as always, there was a huge heap of fried rice in front of him while ham and sausages were piled on top of his plate. If Yama-chan would change his name, he should change it to Gluttony. Keito-nisan was quietly eating his meal of ham and potatoes while Seobaby was fiddling with her planner as if she was missing something. His okasan was piling on more food into his plate while his otosan was instructing the guards on something important. He shrugged off the nosiness he was starting to feel, the last thing he wanted was to meddle into otherworldly affairs.

            “Yuri-chan your ex-girlfriend called the other day, she is visiting Tokyo for a month.” His okasan told him. Ex-girlfriend? He has a lot of Ex-girlfriends! He heard Yama-chan snort, pig he branded him.

            “Okasan which ex-girlfriend are you referring to?” he almost croaked. Yamada burst into fits of laughter. He glanced round the room even Keito-nisan was laughing! Seobaby tried hard not to laugh while Yuya-nisan was sleeping in his chair, his face was buried into his breakfast of rice and bacon.

            “Pig why are you laughing YOU HAVE MORE EX_GIRLFRIENDS THAN ME!” he yelled at Yamada, his mother hit Yama-chan’s head with a fan.

            “Stop laughing Ryosuke we received 50 calls today all from your ex-girlfriends!” his mother chided Yama-chan. Yama-chan stopped laughing and sulked.

            The whole family except Yama-chan and Yuya-nisan laughed. Yuya-nisan awoke from his slumber with a piece of bacon strip sticking on his forehead and rice covered his face!

          “Akanishi YUYA if you don’t wake up now and fix that face of YOURS I’m throwing out all of your purple collection!” his okasan yelled at Yuya-nisan who woke up with a fuzzy jolt.

            “Yuya son wake up!” His otosan told his half-awake broher.

            Breakfast was different than usual but he had to admit he loved besting Yama-chan. He had agreed to show Yama-chan around after class, he was cursed with the event of being in the same class as his older brother, but one thing was for sure when it came to mingling with humans they tend to stick together. Though he and Yama-chan do not get along there was this bond that formed between them whenever they stepped out of the house, they were after all family and families stick together. They arrived at the school gate and were pissed off when girls crowded the entrance awaiting them.

            “Fangirl mobs already?” Yama-chan said with despair. “And to think you’re the only male Akanishi in this school last week!” he thrown his hands up in the air in aggravation while they were still in the limo.

            “Tell me about it, now you transferring to this school that makes it two! Good luck to us Yama-chan!” he said in frustration.

            “Onichans cheer-up it’ll be fine.” Seobaby told them.

            “Seororo if boys bother you in anyway tell us ok.” Yama-chan said full of concern for their youngest.

            “We’ll beat them to a pulp!” he added making a fist with his one hand while hitting the open hand of his other hand.

            “I know let’s go onichans or we will be late!” Seobaby said to them as she stepped out of the limo, boys were screaming her name. He and Yamada breathe in deeply and stepped out as well. Imagine being in your own concert in Tokyo dome with your fans screaming at your every move with such intense passion, that was what occurred to them as soon as they stepped out of the car. Girls were screaming, and hyperventilating as they passed by. Seohyun bid then goodbye and good luck as she headed for her classroom at the opposite side of the campus.

            “So what do we do now?” Yama-chan asked him as they walked briskly trying to avoid the crazy fangirls following them. They reached the seniors building, where met more screaming and Fangirling. He and Yamada face palmed themselves. They made their way through the crowded corridors. They stopped in front of the classroom of 3-A. He and his brother breathe deeply whilst they communicated through their minds.

            “You ready?” he asked in his mind.

            “Yeah we can handle this.” Yama-chan answered back in his head.

            They entered the classroom and all eyes were on them. All the girls were goggle eyed as he took his seat while Yamada waited for the teacher. He beckoned for his brother to sit beside him. Yamada only smiled.

The teacher entered and greeted Yamada happily. She made Yama-chan stand beside her while she introduced him to the class.

            “Class this is Akanishi Ryosuke he is Yuri-san’s brother he had transferred here from Shojo Sakura Gakuen” the teacher said causing the girls to scream like it was the end of the world.

            “Hi everyone I am Akanishi Ryosuke Yuri-chan’s onisama, it’s a pleasure to meet all of you.” Yama-chan said smiling. The room was so noisy. Yamada decided to take the seat in front of him since it was next to the window. The class started but the room was still full of hushed spazzing.

            “Man this is worse than middle school!” Yama-chan told him telepathically.

            “Yeah but at least there are only two of us imagine if the others were here!” he answered him. They focused on the lesson, at least he did Yama-chan was busy doodling on his notebook, the teacher discussed about the lesson and about the upcoming science festival. The idea made him groan in frustration, he remembered his anger towards Miss Sunshine. He felt someone staring at him and turned around. He saw Miss Sunshine staring at him he caught a glimpse of her thoughts; there was anxiety and nervousness as to how to approach him. He was dead annoyed but he couldn’t help but pity her.

            The class ended and he and Yama-chan were surrounded by girls.

            “Ryosuke-san are you eating lunch at the cafeteria today?” a girl boldly asked.

            “Yes.” Yama-chan answered plainly.

            “We are having lunch with our sister so if you don’t mind can you please move out of our way.” He said annoyed. All the girls were teary eyed but he didn’t care. They went to the cafeteria and found Seobaby sitting together with Sooyoung and Yoona.

            “Onisans!” Seobaby greeted cutely.

            “Oppas!” Sooyoung and Yoona greeted merrily as well. The tension around the cafeteria was rising, more and more girls entered the cafeteria upon seeing them. He spotted Miss Sunshine seated with her friends and of course her boyfriend.

            Sooyoung was eating a huge helping of bibimbap together with a special bento and a whole chocolate cake. Yoona’s side of the table was also filled like there was no tomorrow. To his right Yamada was also in the same predicament. Gluttons! He thought seriously where were they putting all the food that they were eating?

            “Seobaby how was class?” he asked Seohyun just to distract himself from the barbaric ways the three gluttons were eating.

            “Same as usual but they were extremely hype today.” Seohyun said calmly as she ate her lunch which consisted of steak and vegetables. He was eating a huge helping of lasagna just to forget his annoyance.

            “Oppa hehjkshyeeiodhg?” Sooyoung-chan asked him while was filled with food. Bits and pieces of what she ate flew to Yama-chan’s face.

            “Hey! Gjdykusnvdkjsnh!” Yamada yelled with his mouth filled with food too. He took a paper towel and smacked it into their faces.

            “Onichan! Oneechan! You both know that you shouldn’t speak when your mouth is full right?!” Seohyun scolded them. Yamada and Sooyoung blushed like a ripe tomato.

            “Unnie was asking as to why you are wearing the scarf Sica unnie gave you.” Yoona told him calmly.

            “Oh. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” he told them. The people were crowding the cafeteria and he didn’t like the feeling of being in a room filled with so many humans. They all decided to leave the café and go somewhere else. Yamada went with the girls while he decided to roam around the campus in hopes of seeing Melody.

            He was walking through the corridors when someone called him.

            “Akanishi-san wait!” a girl’s voice called him.

            He turned and saw Miss Sunshine heading towards him. He quickened his pace. She was the last person he wanted to speak to. She ran after him with her short legs. He turned around when he heard someone cry out in pain. Miss Sunshine tripped and injured her knee. Damn his gentleman genes! He went over to her and helped her up.

            “Akanishi-san I am really sorry for not being able to show up.” She cried from the pressure and also from her injury. Probably due to her condition her mind was left open and he saw the reasons as to why she wasn’t able to make it. He cursed in his mind when the images to Sungmin popped up on all occasions with excuses, alibis and reasons to take her time. Damn HIM! If he really thinks that he Akanishi Yuri would steal his girlfriend then consider his gift granted! Since Sungmin is so into the idea that he would snatch Miss Sunshine away then so he will! Lee Sungmin, You messed with the wrong guy! He said in his mind.

            Sunny explained her reasons and humbly apologize. He listened well and smiled after she finished talking.

           “Oh so that’s why. I understand.” He said in the most angelic voice he could muster while he flashed his cherubic smile.

            “Really you do? Thank you Akanishi-san for understanding.” She bowed to him. He stared at her wound and said.

            “Let’s go Lee-san I’ll take you to the clinic to have that wound cleaned and bandaged.”

            “It’s ok Akanishi-san it’s not a big wound.” She tried to lie but it was impossible since her knee was bloody and had numerous scrapes all over.

            “I insist!” he told her as he helped her up and supported her weight by holding on her waist. She limped as they walked. They reached the clinic and found the nurse.

            “Oh hi, I am about to close the clinic because we have a faculty meeting.” The nurse told them.

            “Sensei her wound is really bad and she needs to have it medicated.” He reasoned.

            “Oh but…” the nurse said.

            He read the nurse’s mind and thought of a way.

            “Sensei can you just lend the first aid kit?” he asked the nurse who readily agreed.

            They found a nice spot under a tree and he made Miss Sunshine sit while he applied medication on her wound. She flinched and fought back the tears when he applied alcohol into it and cleaned the blood using a cotton ball. He then put gauze over it and secured it with his handkerchief.

            “Thank you Akanishi-san.” She said wholeheartedly.

            “No problem. Can you stand on your own now?” he asked her as he tried to help her up. The pain from the alcohol made it difficult to walk, she could barely stand.

            He kneed in front of her his back facing her and said.

            “I’ll just give you a piggy back ride since you can’t walk on your own.”

            She declined at first but he insisted. He carried her on his back as they entered the building. She felt light, maybe because he wasn’t normal. He was amused by his notions of humans and supernatural. When they got to the 2^nd floor he put her down and helped her walk as she limped. He knew she would be in the hot seat if he carried her into the classroom.

            As they entered the girls eyes were about to poop out. Yamada was giving him that sleazy look. He shrugged it off and helped her to her seat then went to his and hit Yamada’s head as he said in French.

            “It’s not what you think ert!”

            Yamada merely laughed at him and ruffled his hair. The class ended and they were about to leave when his phone vibrated. He smiled reached from ear to ear as he looked at the caller Id.

            “Hello Kitten what can I do for you?” he said happily.

            The girls became uneasy.

            “Arasso I’ll meet you there.” He told his caller happily.

            “Who was that?” Yamada inquired without interest.

            “Jessica, I’m going on a date with her!” he said in a trance while pinching Yamada’s cheeks.

            “What!!! NO FAIR!” Yamada yelled obviously annoyed. Yamada had always envied his closeness with their goddess like cousin.

            “Ha! Don’t you have a date with your numerous girls?” he asked wittily.

            “I’ll cancel all of those!” Yamada argued.

            “Sorry Yama-chan it’s a private affair!” he said evilly. Yamada was as ripe as a tomato.

            The girls began crying. His seatmate approached him and asked with teary eyed.

            “Akanishi-san was that your girlfriend?”

            “Yeah.” He said happily. He loved fooling humans; he and Jessica had come up with that joke when they were in middle school so as to drive their admirers away. They would pretend that they were lovers so that people wouldn’t bother them. He left the classroom followed by Yamada who was sulking like an old spinster.

            Their classmates followed them to the gate while Miss Sunshine was escorted by her boyfriend. Yamada and the girls rode in the limo while he waited for Jessica. Miss Sunshine’s older arrived and was about to help her when a lavish hot pink convertible parked gracefully in front of the gate. The boys stared with mouths wide open while his female schoolmate looked as if they were about to die when his goddess like of a cousin took of her shades off and winked at him.

            “Anata let’s go!” Jessica said brightly her strawberry blonde hair was loose and cascaded to her waist, her rose pink eyes sparkled with mischief. He hopped into her car and they spend away.

            “You should have seen the look on their faces!” Jessica said giggling.

            “We should have taken a picture right Sica-neechan?” he told her as they enjoyed their little charade. Jessica was about the same age as Keito-nichan which made her 2 years older than him but he often considered her as a friend and not as an older sister unlike Taeyeon-neechan. Jessica had always been liberated and carefree that was why he never felt inferior to her; after all it was her that helped him survive middle school when his Keito-nisan was not around. He remembered he used to call her Sica-sama until she scolded him and made him swear never to call her like that again. They decided to eat ice cream at an ice cream house near Tokyo tower. He told her his troubles and felt a huge wave of relief overcome him. He became as calm as the serene view of Tokyo at night.

Project-Day one

            He decided to be a little lazy today so he came in a little late but not really late just a few minutes. He saw Miss Sunshine standing in front of the store; he felt the sudden urge to break into a run. She spotted him and wave giving him his signature sunshine smile. She wore a simple yellow dress that fell gracefully up to her knees while her hair was made into a bun.

            “Sorry for being late! Did you wait very long?” he asked full of concern. Why was he acting like this?

            “It’s ok after all I stood you up six times.” she said as he reached her side.

            They walked towards the small book café where they would discuss their probable project topics. It was a simple café that he and Jessica found not long ago. He was always fond of the calmness of the place. They took their seats and ordered some snacks and of course a brew of coffee from the menu. He decided to try their chocolate Frappuccino while Miss Sunshine had lemon latte.

            “So do you have anything in mind?” he asked her as they waited for their order.

            “I am not really good with science so …” she said embarrassed. He merely smiled as he took out his book. “How about plant crossbreeding? I am good with plants so that is all I could think of.” He told her.

            “That sounds fun!” she said full of enthusiasm.

            They had agreed to do something plant related but instead of crossbreeding, they decided to go with plant serum that could boost the fertility of the soil. Their orders arrived and they both had chocolate cake. His was a chocolate cheesecake while Miss Sunshine had Choco-coffee crumble. They ate their cakes whilst they discussed about the project.

            “If we spend that much time together wouldn’t your girlfriend be jealous?” she asked him as she ate a piece of cake.

            He laughed and said unconsciously “She is not my girlfriend but my cousin.” Her eyes pooped out as he said that. Why the heck did he say it? He scratched his head in embarrassment.

            “I don’t really like all the attention so me and my cousin would play this game of charades to shoo people away.” He said in a small voice.

            “Oh that’s quiet understandable considering the fact that fangirls can be annoying at times.” she told him comfortingly. They both laughed at the notion. They decided to go to school to start the project but as soon as they reached the campus girls were crowding the gate and yelling like hyenas.

            “Let’s just do it somewhere else.” He told her and she agreed.

            They decided to go to his Aunt’s flower shop since it was the only place available, he couldn’t invite her to his house because she would definitely freak out. They choose the plants and went to do their work. Both of them had turned off their mobiles to avoid disturbance. They both focused on their task of segregating the plants for its purpose.

            “So do you think we can finish this on time?” Miss Sunshine asked.

            “Do you trust me?” he asked while he lifted a certain plant and examined it under a microscope.

            Miss Sunshine stared at him weirdly then nodded. They examined each plant together discussing which was the best method to extract the needed plant serum, finally they agreed on the same thing and begun the tiresome process. It was nearing lunch and he realized that Miss Sunshine was getting hungry. His stomach also started to growl.

            “Let’s take a break shall we? My uncle’s café is not far from here. How about we have lunch there my treat?” he offered her in most gentlemanly manner he could say.

            “Your family must be really rich Akanishi-san.” She said as she gathered her things and placed them into her bag. He chuckled at her comment.

            “Since we know each other already let’s drop the formalities.” He spoke nicely as he opened the backdoor for her.

            “Ok.” Miss Sunshine said as she gave him the brightest smile he had seen. “So I’ll be calling you Akanishi-kun. Is that ok?”

            “Akanishi-kun is still formal how about Yuri-kun?” he said as they went to his mother’s café, he told her it was his uncle’s café since it was the only place where his okasan showed his male form. It was a cozy café near the park. The whole café was built like a French Riviera tea house and it was a very cozy place plus the food was deliriously good. His mother’s male form was incredibly good at cooking.

            “This place is usually crowded on weekends.” He told her as they stood in front of its red door.

            “It looks crowded now.” she said as they inspected the numerous patrons of the café eating and sipping coffee. There was a huge line formed outside the café’s takeout booth. The café was famous for its cake and pastries.

            “My uncle specializes in cakes and pastries.” He said as the entered the café. His okasan who pretended to be his uncle smiled at him warmly. His okasan’s male form was the kindest person you would meet. He was always smiling and was a very jolly man.

            “Hey uncle do you mind if we have lunch here?” he asked as he introduced Miss Sunshine. “Uncle this is Miss Lee she is my science project partner.”

            “I wouldn’t mind Yuri-chan. It’s a pleasure to meet you Lee-san I am Kamenashi Kazuya. Has anybody ever told you that you are very pretty?” his okasan said as he extended his hand for a shake. Miss Sunshine shook it and bowed.

            “Thank you I am flattered not many people tell me that.” She said giving his okasan one of her bright smiles. They made themselves comfortable in a booth near the window as they waited for the food that his okasan was preparing.

            “This place is very pretty and cozy.” She said as she studied the café’s interior.

            “So should I call you Lee-kun or Sunny-kun?” he asked as he fiddled with the little bobbing figurine of Little Miss Muffet.

            “Since I call you Yuri-kun you can call me Sunny-kun.” She said as she started playing with the bobbing sheep next to Little Miss Muffet. They talked about school and Sunny, he decided not to call her Miss Sunshine anymore. She talked about her dad’s okonomiyaki shop and about her upcoming change of surname from Lee to Nakamaru since her dad was finalizing his divorce papers.

            “Next time I’ll be my treat.” she said as they started playing a game on his Ipad. A boy approached them and smilingly tapped his shoulder. He smiled when he realized that the boy was actually his cousin Luhan. Luhan was his okasan’s nephew his aunt’s son. He had like twelve siblings and he was the youngest.

            “Lulu!” he said happily as he ruffled his hair. “Aunty did say that you were working here.”

            “Mom thinks that we should learn how to be independent.” Luhan said as he sat next to Chinen.

            “Sunny-kun this is my cousin Luhan, he and his siblings help my uncle with this shop.” He said as Luhan and Sunny bowed to each other and said their warm greetings.

            “So where are your siblings?” he asked him as they talked about home and school.

            “Oh they’re at the kitchen while the others are in school. I decided to skip school today because I wasn’t feeling well earlier.” He said as he stood up to help his okasan. Luhan was of the same age as Seohyun his siblings were either a sophomore, senior while others are already in college.

            “Luhan you should be at home resting!” his okasan scolded the boy but he merely showed his cute smile and went to help the other waiters in serving the food. He also spotted his older siblings coming out of the kitchen to greet him. Lai and Suho were in the takeout booth while Chen and Kai were in the kitchen. Kris served in the cash register while D.O, Tao and Luhan were the waiters. That leaves Chanyeol, Baekhyun and Sehun in school. His aunt’s flower shop was just beside the café.

            “Wow you have a big family.” Sunny said as they ate. “This is really good! The best pasta I have tasted.” They both had pasta alfredo paired with bottomless iced tea. They had a couple of side dishes too like garlic bread and soup.

            “My uncle is really gifted in cooking but he prefers European food than Japanese.” He said as he ate his extra cheesy pasta alfredo.

            “No wonder this place is popular. So how many siblings do you have?”

             “I have four siblings and numerous cousins. How about you?”

            “I have two older siblings and three cousins from my mother side. My dad’s an only child.”

            They both shared their interest without restraint something both of them found peculiar. He tongue seemed to have a mouth of its own. They were happily discussing about bees and the color yellow when they felt as if someone was staring at them. They both looked out the window and spotted Sungmin dangerously glaring at them. Sunny ignored him.

            “I’m guessing you two would fight later.” He said as he read Sungmin’s mind which was b with jealousy.

            “Don’t mind him I am actually getting tired of his never ending jealousy. Are you guys always like that?” she asked as she ate a piece of brownie.

            “Not all I for certain am not like that. I believe in self-worth if my girl cheats on me then it’s her loss not mine.” Sunny laughed at his comment.

            “You say that because you are handsome.”

            “I know right!” he said admiring himself. He just wanted to make her laugh.

            “You really love to gloat don’t you?” she said giggling at him as checked his reflection.

            They paid no attention to the people gawking at them nor did they mind Sungmin who left in rage all that mattered was the fact that they were having fun.