Chapter 3: Skipping School is an Art

Fuyumi had half been expecting Hideko to storm back into the storage closet to either yell at her some more or forcefully kiss her, but she never did. After she left in tears, she didn't come back. Fuyumi rubbed the back of her neck and sighed, looking at the cleaned up closet.

"What a way to leave me to clean all by myself, Hideko..."

_

Hideko sat in her room, sulking all day as she buried her face in her fluffy pillow and crossed her legs. She decided to skip school so that she didn't have to face Fuyumi, or any of her friends. She looked up with slightly red eyes, irritated from being rubbed, and sighed.

"Stupid Fuyumi. My heads been all messed up for days all because of her. I need some sort of distraction..."

She pouted and huffed, looking at her phone that laid next to her. 'Should I call Miyuki? But I'm giving her the silent treatment right now...'

She flopped onto her back and stared up at her ceiling. It seemed a lot more plain than she remembered. It was missing a chandelier or something, like the one she had in her closet. Yes, Hideko had a chandelier in her closet.

A sudden knocking came at her door, causing her to look up in surprise. She groaned and rolled her eyes, relaxing again. "If you're a butler or a maid, then go away! You can clean later."

A familiar voice came from the other side of the door. Masculine and light, and oh so annoying. Her older brother, Naoto.

"You should start being nicer to the maids and the butlers. If it weren't for them, you'd live in a pile of dust."

"What do you want, Naoto?"

"I wanna come in and talk to my obviously depressed little sister. That is, if she'll have me."

"No, go away."

"I was bluffing, I'm coming in anyway."

He opened the door carelessly, an annoyingly happy grin spread on his face as he looked around. "Wanna talk about it?"

As he shut the door behind him, Hideko glared at him and threw her pillow his way, hoping to hit him. "What makes you so sure there's something bothering me?"

Naoto took a seat at the end of her bed and sighed, shoulders sagging as he rolled his eyes. "For one, your attitude stinks more than usual. You actually made one of the maids cry the other day."

Hideko puffed out her cheeks and growled. "She went into my closet without permission. She should know better!"

"And for two, you're skipping school. You haven't skipped school since first grade. Remember? Cause that girl cut off some of your ponytail, and you thought you looked stupid? You did look stupid by the way."

Hideko glowered at him. "You're no help at all, you freak. Get out of my room."

Naoto frowned and pouted. "But I wanna know what's wrong!"

"No! Nothings wrong, so just shut up and leave!"

"Is it boy problems? Did you get dumped? Aw, you poor thing. Just go shopping with Miyuki to fill the void—"

He let out a high-pitched squeal as two fingers grabbed ahold of his cheek and squeezed. A vein pulsed in Hideko's neck as she pinched Naoto's cheek.

"I said get out!"

He ran off with his tail between his legs and rubbed at his sore cheek, whimpering.

"Whatever it is that's bothering you, I hope it really sucks!"

And he slammed the door shut behind him.

_

The bell rang. The first class of Monday morning had begun, and Fuyumi was bored out of her mind. She took a peak at the other side of the room. Hideko wasn't in her seat like she always was. She blinked and cocked her head.

'Oh? Was she that shaken up to the point of skipping? She's making me feel bad.'

A grin spread on her lips as she turned away and looked back to the front of the room. The teacher droned on.

Fuyumi thought that class wouldn't be as boring as it was. She chalked it up to being a Monday. She currently sat outside during lunch with Ichigo.

A toothpick bobbed up and down between her clenched teeth as she leaned against a tree and pointed at the sky.

"Hey, Ichigo, that cloud there looks like Hideko when she's angry. Doesn't it look like it's cheeks are puffed out?"

She giggled to herself and took the toothpick out, opting to instead twirl it between her fingers. Ichigo looked over at her as she chewed on her chopsticks and frowned.

"...I don't really notice Hideko's face when she's mad. I'm too busy avoiding her gaze. Speaking of which, where is she today?"

Fuyumi glanced at her friend from the corner of her eye and then looked away, shrugging with a cool demeanor.

"Who knows? Maybe she decided an emergency mani-pedi was more important than school."

Ichigo stared at her friend, deadpan, eyes and lips forming a straight line. She reached out and jabbed Fuyumi with her finger.

"Alright, spill. What do you know that I don't?"

Fuyumi rubbed her arm and grinned, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do. Look at the smug look on your face, it tells all. If you can't tell me, it must be really bad. What did you do?"

"Nothing; nothing at all. It's not like I'm her buddy, so I wouldn't know why she's skipping. If you're really that curious, ask her bestie, Miyuki."

Ichigo rolled her eyes. "As if I'd talk to that strawberry head. Whatever. Don't tell me, I don't care anyway."

Fuyumi giggled and flopped onto her back in the cold grass. The cloud that resembled Hideko, with its cheeks all puffed out, floated happily through the sky.

"...Hey, Ichigo, why're we out here? It's the middle of winter and it's cold. Everyone else is eating inside."

"It's nice and peaceful out here. A little cold doesn't hurt."

"If I get frostbite and die, I want you to come to my funeral, all dressed in red, and pour champagne on my corpse—! Oh, my corpse that will be dressed up as a clown! With a big red nose and giant shoes..."

_

A few hours went by of absolute boredom and building irritation. Hideko laid on her face and growled into her bed sheets, clutching them.

"Gah!"

She leapt up from her bed and began throwing her clothes on. "I've gotta get outta here! I just can't take it any longer!"

Stomping out of her room and down the hall, she pushed past her brother whom was heading to his room with a snack. He blinked and looked at her curiously.

"Where ya goin'—?"

"No where! Outta my way, loser."

He blinked and sweated, smiling. "I'm glad you've left your depression room."

She ignored him and walked down the winding stairs and to the main entrance. Living in a mansion could be such a hassle sometimes. She pulled on her coat and waved her hand.

"I'm going to buy something from the supermarket. Don't wait up for me. I might jump off of a bridge while I'm at it."

Naoto rested his arms on the railing of the stairs and looked down on his younger sister. "Could you jump off of a bridge another day? I need you to pick me up some candy."

She turned to him, middle finger held proudly in the air. "Candy this."

And she left the house.

The streets were cold but remained bustling. The city they lived in was quite beautiful during the Christmas season. Lights strung up on poles, Christmas trees displayed in shop windows.

Fuyumi hummed as she reached forward and grabbed a carton of strawberry milk. She turned it over in her hands and smiled. "Sweet, it's only a few bucks. Looks like I can manage..."

She dug into her pocket and pulled out a few dollars. "Dad only gave me ten so I have to be careful."

She hummed as she walked along down the frozen food aisle and scanned everything. She stopped in her tracks and looked down at the list in her hand.

"A bowl of ramen for Dad, a bag of treats for Bobo, and one strawberry milk for me. That's ten dollars right?"

As she was mulling over the prices of her selected items, she hardly took notice of the person walking toward her. When she looked up, she blinked.

Hideko was mindlessly wandering toward her, her arm held out as she eyed the ice creams. The girl sighed and turned to the side, grabbing a pint.

"...Is this kind good for curing irritation? I wonder if they have a kind that prevents suicidal thoughts."

Hideko sighed and shrugged. "I guess I'll just buy it. It sounds yummy anyways—"

"Boo!"

Her eyes went wide and she jumped away with a yelp. Looking back with beads of sweat on her face. "W-Who?!"

Fuyumi stood there with a cheeky grin and her hands folded behind her back. "Well, you're not sick and you're not dead..."

She placed her hand on her cheek and cooed, looking up as she mocked surprise.

"So that must mean...you skipped class today, Hideko-san! Oh, you cheeky, little thing! You rebel!"

Hideko's brow twitched as she glared at the girl before her. She hugged her ice cream to her chest and whipped away, speed walking away from Fuyumi as fast as possible.

The black haired girl was quick to follow with a shit-eating grin spread on her lips. "You know, Hideko, skipping school is an art. Looks like you haven't mastered it."

Hideko stopped in her tracks and glared at Fuyumi from over her shoulder. "...What are you talking about?"

Fuyumi giggled and sighed. "Oh, come on. Everyone knows that if you skip school you can't show your face in public until the day after. It's common sense!"

Hideko scoffed and pointedly rolled her eyes, stalking away. "I don't care. Just leave me alone. You're the reason I ski—"

She slapped her hand over her mouth, a dark aura falling upon her. Fuyumi smirked at her and raised her brows.

"Oh, really~? Our little grope session in the storage closet shook you up that bad? Haha, in the closet. Go figure, huh?"

Hideko whipped around, hair bouncing, and pointed an accusing finger Fuyumi's way.

"Leave me alone! I'll report you for harassment..!"

Fuyumi giggled and stuck her tongue out. "And I'll report you to the school for skipping."

She pulled her phone out and grinned, aiming it at Hideko. "Say cheese!" She snapped a picture and hummed.

"Now I have proof. You're really such a bad girl, Hideko."

Hideko trembled with anger and whipped out her own phone, flipping it open. She brandished her picture of Fuyumi and let out a triumphant laugh.

"Well now I have a picture of my own! One that proves you were harassing me!"

"How does that prove anything? I think you just wanted a pic of me. Take it again; I'll pose this time."

"Just shut up! I don't know why I even bother with you. My Daddy's the chairman of the school! And yours? Yours is the janitor!"

A vein pulsed in Fuyumi's cheek as she smiled innocently. "At least I don't have daddy issues."

Hideko stared at her with a deep frown, eye twitching. "Whatever. I'm leaving now."

Fuyumi waved at her and cheerfully exclaimed, "See you tomorrow! Unless you plan on skipping again..?"

Hideko flashed her favorite finger. Fuyumi giggled.

Fuyumi watched as the blue-haired girl paid for her ice cream and then ran out of the supermarket in a hurry. She then looked back down at her items and hummed.

"Back to my shopping. I hope they have dog treats here..."

Hideko slammed her front door shut. Naoto stood in the main entrance with a blanket wrapped around his body. He smiled hopefully.

"You're back! Did you bring me any candy? I hope you got something grape flavored—"

"Shove it. I just got ice cream and left. I might not even like the flavor."

He frowned at her as she stomped away. "Then why did you buy it—?"

"I'm not good under pressure!"