Home visit~Act III~

2006/01/10 20:33

Early in the new year—my first visit to Y-ko’s parents’ house.

First her mother’s ambush invitation,

then Y-ko’s unbelievable refusal to pick me up, followed by her father grabbing me on the rebound,

and ending with her mother’s aggressive Le Creuset jab—I was reeling in the ring.

Not only was I nervous as hell, my welcoming party had taken several abrupt turns.

The meal was a storm of questions about me.

To be honest, I was exhausted.

After Y-ko’s elder brother had shown up and we had shared a very awkward conversation,

I was finally allowed to escape to the safety of Y-ko’s room.

ME:	So, this is your room, huh?
Y-KO:	Yep. Whaddaya think of the place I spent my youth?
ME:	It’s, uh… unique. Or perhaps novel is the word I’m looking for…

There could not possibly be more manga in here.

It’s a whole wall full of manga.

Y-KO:	Well, thanks for the compliment.
ME:	It wasn’t a compliment.
Y-KO:	… Oh. Hey, look! This is my high school uniform!

She pulled a sailor uniform out of the closet.

… Why are you grinning like that?

Y-KO:	Well? What do you think? Want me to wear it? Want me to wear it?!
ME:	… You seem fairly excited at the prospect…
Y-KO:	If you ask very nicely, I might even take it back to Tokyo with me. Hmm?
ME:	Um… May I make a quick comment first?
Y-KO:	Yeah, sure.
ME:	I think you should probably consider your age befor—“Gatotsu!!”—gffh!

In an unbelievably quick movement, Y-ko used the hanger upon which her uniform was displayed to unleash a killer “Gatotsu” against me. (*Gatotsu = an attack used by Hajime Saito in Rurouni Kenshin.)

Her eyes flashed with murder!

This was the look of someone driven to kill!!

She caught me right in the solar plexus.

… That really, really hurts…

Y-KO:	Phew… Once again, I have cut a worthless object…
ME:	That’s a different character…
Y-KO:	Hey, speaking of Hajime Saito, the new Shinsengumi special is nearly on! Better watch it!
ME:	Are you listening to me? Besides…
	I thought you were watching Satomi Hakkenden.

Yes.

Y-ko had abandoned her duty to pick me up at the train station,

because she had to watch the recording of the first half of Satomi Hakkenden.

If there was a choice between Shinsengumi and Satomi Hakkenden, she ought to be choosing the latter.

Y-KO:	Huh? Yeah, but I just can’t miss seeing Toshizo Hijikata.
ME:	Sigh… Well, I suppose you can always just record the second half of Hakkenden.
Y-KO:	Huh?

… What is so confusing about that?

Y-KO:

No, the show I need to record is Furuhata, obviously!

Obviously. How silly of me.

I agree. Ninzaburo Furuhata is a great show, of course.

Ain’t that right… Y-kooo? (twitching my eyebrows, like Furuhata)

Tra-la-la-la-la-la, tra-la-la-la (that’s supposed to be the Furuhata theme).

… Okay, me, settle down.

ME:	So, uh… What about Hakkenden?

What happened to Hakkenden, the show so important that you couldn’t come get me because of it?

Y-KO:	Oh,
	I wasn’t really all that interested in it.

So, to sum it all up…

Furuhata > Shinsengumi > Satomi Hakkenden > boyfriend’s first visit home.

I don’t think I’ll ever beat her.