"Really? You met Penny Polendina, Namikaze? Can you introduce me to her? I want to meet her too."
There were only a few people left in the lobby. Ruby kept hounding me about Penny the moment I talked about how I met and talked to her.
"What will you do if you meet her?" Yang, who was all sleepy from waiting for me, prodded Ruby's waist gently as she asked that question.
"Hmm? I guess I'll start by asking her about her country America first and then I will offer her a private speaking lesson on how to speak Japanese properly!"
"Penny can speak Japanese, and she is much more fluent at it than I am." Weiss said softly behind me. Indeed, she is incredibly fluent with her Japanese.
A brief silence engulfed the scene. Yang kept staring at me. "… Um, what's wrong?"
"You are not going to retort at her?" Yang asked while pointing to Ruby.
"… It's not like I exist in this world solely to respond to the idiotic lines that were said around me."
"I don't live in this world purely for romance as well—I have never forgotten about my revolution, you know. America is a country of revolution as well, so it will definitely be beneficial for me to learn more about them."
"That's something you've only thought of a second ago, right?"
"Oh! Haruto's revived!" Yang said with approval. Don't be that happy. I only said it by accident!
I will forget the contents of the concert if I continue on with this stupid conversation. I began walking towards the exit of the concert hall. I better get home quickly to work on my draft.
"Hold on, wait! Haruto, you are really mean! Ruby and I have waited for you for so long, and you are planning to head home already?"
Yang caught up to me with her yells and her footsteps. Then, I heard two more pairs of footsteps as well—Weiss caught up to me as well with Ruby by her side. In the end, the four of us walked out of the main entrance together.
After walking past a row of tall trees that encircles the huge concert hall, I could see the rows of streetlights that were installed on the soundproof walls of the Tokyo highways. It was already late. I did not realize it during the piece, but the encore was actually really long as they had played the whole concerto.
Despite it being a hard to understand piece due to its complex tones, I was deeply attracted to it. That caused me to lose track of time.
"Ruto…" Weiss called me. I turned my head around to look at her. "Are you angry?"
"… Why are you asking me that?" Angry? Who me? I asked Weiss that question in response. She immediately showed a troubled expression.
"By the way, I'm curious what the relationship between Penny Aera and Weiss! It's the same for you as well, right, Namikaze?" Ruby suddenly said that question.
"I'm also curious about it," said Yang too.
Weiss' face went red from the bombardment of questions coming from all around her. She remained rooted on the spot and looked a little overwhelmed. I turned my head around and found her looking at me with a cry for help.
"Is she your father's friend?" I am curious as well.
Weiss mumbled something before nodding her head lightly.
"I remember seeing her on the cover of some fashion magazines. She and Tobirama had gone on a tour in Europe too, right?"
So even Yang knew of the existence of Penny? I never expect the fashion magazines to write articles about her as well.
"… That was a long time ago, when Papa was not the main conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra."
And that means she used to go on a tour with Weiss as well? And I do remember her saying things like "I'll be depending on Weiss's family during my stay in Japan…"
"Have you and Penny performed together before? There are some pieces which are performed only with the piano and violin, right?" I asked that question
"There were plans for that, but none of them materialized…"
"So that girl is here specially to see you, right? You two share a really close relationship with each other."
"Eh? U-uhh…" Weiss was getting more and more restless as the other two girls pelted her with all sorts of questions. "You know, there is really nothing special going on with Penny and I. We are just normal friends… there r-really is nothing special between us."
I was stunned. Why is she telling me that? Weiss' face was so red, it looked like steam was about to come out of her skin. She turned her head away and walked quickly towards the direction of the train station. As for Ruby, she gave a snicker before grabbing Yang and me by our arms and ran towards Weiss.
It was already past ten when Yang and I reached our train station. Tokyo's really far away. I remained sitting on my seat with a blank expression even after the door of the train had opened. It was only after a hard stomp on the foot from Yang that I realized we had already arrived. I got off the train in a hurry.
"What are you spacing out for? Still thinking about Weiss and that girl?" Yang asked me with a sinister expression on her face as we walked past the ticket gates.
"… Yeah, kind of."
It was the first time I saw someone speaking with Weiss like that. Come to think of it, Weiss was the one who looked for her (and to add on, she did it despite knowing Tobirama will be around as well). Even though my intentions were quite different from Ruby, I was still very curious about the relationship between the two of them.
"Didn't Weiss say they are just friends?"
"Mmm… that's true, but… somehow, it feels like Weiss was acting really strange back then. She's incredibly flustered. She kept emphasizing that Penny is just a friend of hers—did she do so out of embarrassment?"
"What do you mean by embarrassment?"
"You're not around, so you wouldn't know. I don't know if Weiss likes girls, but she was okay with Penny hugging her or kissing her… they may actually be a couple."
No wait, they were not old enough back then, right? And Penny hugged me as well.
Yang stopped in her tracks at the nearly empty bus rotary and stared at me with a dumbfounded expression on her face.
"… What?"
"Do you really mean… what you had just said?"
Wait, the expression on your eyes is really scary! Why are they shining brightly like that of a cat?
"Umm… yeah."
Back when Yang was still practicing martial arts, I attended one of the competitions which she took part in, and everyone at then said she "will definitely get into the national finals." When she closed in towards me with lightning quick speed and seized me, I was reminded of those perfect steps of hers during the competition. Before I could fully comprehend what was happening, the night sky streaked past my sight in a flash. My back was slammed hard on the asphalt road. I could feel all the air in my lungs being squeezed out of my mouth, followed by a sharp numbing pain that ran through my spine.
"That… hurts… what are you doing!?" I frowned.
Yang's foot then grazed past my hair just as I was about to get myself up—it looked like she was trying to crush my head.
"Are you trying to kill me!?"
"You're unbelievable! Stupid Haruto! You might as well die!"
"W-why are you so angry?"
"I can't take it anymore! I have to punch you! Or else it's too sad for Weiss!"
"Why? Sorry, I'll apologize first, but what's wrong with Weiss?" I stared at that pair of lilac eyes that were burning with anger.
"What do you mean by you'll apologize first!? Listen up really carefully. Should you ever say what you said just now to Weiss directly, then you better be prepared for a beat down from me!"
"Y-yes ma'am…"
I had no choice but to sit in seiza on the soil and reply to her politely. After venting her anger out on me without reservation, Yang stomped away with the steps of a dinosaur. Dammit, tonight's a really crazy night. Why the hell is everyone acting strange tonight?
On Monday of the following week, I was forced to face the rather unpleasant daily life in school. Weiss would turn her gaze away whenever our eyes met, while Yang would stare at me all the time. As for Ruby, she was incredibly happy to see us acting the way we were.