Boku no Pierce Girl "My Earring Girl" Originally appeared in Nakayoshi Deluxe, May 1989. Written by Takeuchi Naoko. Translated by Alex Glover. Version 1.0, 6.98. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Say, Yuuki... Even if you find a girl you like someday, stay with me... Because we're twins..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A girl holds a dart in her fingers, squinting as she aims. "Oh, come on!" she says. "I'm going to die of boredom!" A boy who looks like her, wearing a baseball cap, looks into the room. "Yuumi, know where my bat is?" "Yuuki!" she says. "Do you have a game, then?" He laughs nervously as the dart flies past his head to the dartboard. "Yeah," he says. "It's a ward match. We've lost 34 times in a row. Maybe this will be a new record." "Hey!" says Yuumi. "I'll go in your place!" She grabs his cap and puts it on her head. "All right! Now this will be your first win, Yuuki!" "You can't!" says Yuuki. "Yuumi, aren't you not allowed to go outside because of your summer cold?" Their mother enters the room. "Yuumi?" she says. "You did take your cold medicine after brunch, right? You're pretty quiet." Yuumi runs out of the room in the baseball cap. "See you, Yuumi!" she says with a smile. Yuuki coughs. "Um, yeah, I made sure to take my medicine," he says. "Why that Yuumi...!" he thinks. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuumi runs out into the sunlight. "It's been so long since I've been outside! This feels so good!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Yuumi, I'm begging you!" says one of the boys on the baseball team. "What will you do if you're discovered! We don't care that we've lost 34 games in a row. We'll be made greater fools of for putting a girl in the game!" "What then!" says Yuumi. "Don't you want to win? Come on..." "Today is special," says the boy. "It's just impossible. Our opponents are the strongest team, the Koto-ku Shadows! They're making a new record, with 70 wins in a row. Compared to them, our Minato-ku Nighters are..." "Shadows?" says Yuumi. "No problem, no problem." "Yuumi!?" She steps up to the plate. The dark-haired boy on the mound looks at her. The sunlight glints off one of her earrings. "What?" he thinks. "Did something shine?" He pitches the ball past her face. "Ball!" "Damn!" says the boy. The light from her earrings shines in his eyes as he pitches again. "This one's mine!" thinks Yuumi. She swings the bat and knocks the ball high into the air. "She got a hit off Kageura!" calls one of the boys. "Are you serious?" Yuumi smiles and laughs as she rounds the bases. "Wait a second..." thinks the dark-haired boy, looking at her. "So that's it! What a trick!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuumi peers into the room. "Yuumi!" says Yuuki. "It was awful of you to make me your substitute and go out! Mom's really pissed." "What, did she find out?" says Yuumi. "She found out right away. What about your fever? Are you all right? Playing baseball despite being convalescent..." "Yuuki, you worry too much! Anyway, I'm thirsty from running." Yuuki sighs. "My special milk iced tea, right?" he says. "Really..." "All right!" says Yuumi. "That's why I love you, Yuuki." "So how was the game?" "Ehehe!" she says. "With me playing, there's no way we'd lose! I turned it around with a bases-loaded home run!" "A home run!?" says Yuuki. "None of the guys on our team has hit one of Kageura's pitches before. What happened next?" "Come on... Yuuki, you're ready to run away at once. You should persevere!" "Damnit..." he says. "Every day I make sure to enter the game data, and the computer shows trends and countermeasures, but this..." Yuumi puts her arms around Yuuki's shoulders. "What?" he says. She smiles. "Nothing, Yuuki..." "I'm thinking that I can't leave you alone..." she thinks. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- They leave the house in the morning. "I'm going!" says Yuumi. "Hurry, hurry, Yuuki!" The dark-haired boy sits outside in the sun. "Oh!" says Yuuki. "Kageura! What are you doing here? Watch out, Yuumi." Kageura looks at Yuumi. "You're the one who was in the game yesterday," he says. "Do you think it's all right for girls to play?" "What!" says Yuumi. "Are you saying girls shouldn't play!?" "I have no use for girls," he says. "Yuumi," says Yuuki. "Apologize! We're going to be late." "Go on without me!" she says. "Yuumi!" "I'll catch right up with you!" Yuuki walks on ahead. "With a loser like that as the captain," says Kageura, "you can't win." "But you're the one who got hit off of by a girl!" says Yuumi. "That was a lucky hit." "It was not!" she says. "Let's have one more match! No matter how many times we do it, I'll get a hit!" "This guy is making a fool of Yuuki and me!" she thinks. "A match is fine," says Kageura, "but this time give me the real Yuuki." "Wh- What a jerk!" thinks Yuumi. "He knows Yuuki is weak." "Sorry," she says, "but Kageura! The match will be with me. This Sunday! If I win, you have to listen to anything I say!" "So then," says Kageura. "If you lose, you have to listen to anything I say. Sounds good. I will win, for sure." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuuki wakes up and sees the bed empty next to him. "Hm..." He gets up and walks out of the room. "Where's Yuumi?" "Your first word after waking up is Yuumi?" says his mom. "She went out already." "What, alone?" says Yuuki. "Where to?" "Anyway, now that you're in 8th grade, there aren't any siblings who sleep together. Really, what are you going to do when you're adults?" "Where did she go?" thinks Yuuki. "That Yuumi..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kageura draws a circle on a chalkboard. "This is the strike zone," he says. "You only get three balls." "I know that," says Yuumi. She swings and misses as the ball flies past her. "What!?" Kageura smiles. She swings at two more pitches, and misses both. She gasps. "Why!? I didn't even graze it!" "Told you," says Kageura. "The other day was a lucky hit. You promised that if I won, you'd listen to anything I say." He looks at her. "Go out with me." "Wh- What is that!" says Yuumi. "You made a fool of me for being a girl!" "I'm serious," he says. Yuuki walks by on a path overlooking them. "Yuumi!?" he thinks. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuumi throws her pillow down. "What is with that guy, really!" She hugs the pillow to her face. "I'm serious." "What is he thinking!?" she thinks. "That Kageura! Saying that kind of thing all of a sudden, what a feint!" Yuuki enters the room. "Yuumi," he says. "Did you see Kageura today?" "It was a game!" says Yuumi. "We were having a match! If I won, that guy would have had to listen to anything I said. But I lost..." "Did he put any conditions on it?" "It has nothing to do with you, Yuuki." She turns away from him. "Yuuki, umm... Starting tomorrow, I'll be going to school without you." "Yuumi?" he thinks. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuuki turns off the alarm clock. He looks out the window as he straightens his tie. He sees Yuumi walking with Kageura. "Yuumi and... Kageura!?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The school bell rings. Yuuki walks outside. "Wow," says Kageura. "So you and Yuumi do spend time apart." "If you want Yuumi," says Yuuki, "she's still not done with her conference." He looks at Kageura. "What did you say to Yuumi yesterday when you won the match." Two girls walk by. "Yuuki-senpai, have a nice day!" "Have a nice day!" "Oh, goodbye," says Yuuki. "Have a nice day!?" says Kageura. "I well know that you're a slob... You must like it like this, being stood up for by girls!" "When was I stood up for by a girl...!" says Yuuki. "What, isn't it true? The game the other day, the match yesterday... A girl pinch-hit for you, and what's more, she's stronger." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "For high school..." says Yuuki, "I've decided to go to Hachiouji Boarding School." "What!?" says Yuumi. "Wait, Yuuki! What is this, all of a sudden! Hachiouji!? Boarding school!? You're not serious!?" "I wanted to go to a high-ranked boys school," he says. "I've already decided! I applied to a college prep class as well. I'm starting next week, so I'm going to be late." He leaves the room. "Yuuki!" calls Yuumi. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "He went home?" "Huh?" says the boy. "Yuuki is always just with you, Yuumi..." "Is it true Yuuki's going to Hachiouji Boys School?" she says. "That's what it looks like. I heard the teacher received the documents for it. I thought he was going to go on to high school with us, but..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kageura stands outside the school in the rain, carrying an umbrella. He sees Yuumi leaving the building. "Yuumi!?" he says. "Where's your umbrella? You're soaking wet!" "I've never brought an umbrella..." says Yuumi. "We always went home together with Yuuki's umbrella..." They walk together in the rain. Yuumi goes to a vending machine and punches one of the buttons repeatedly. "Hey, what are you doing buying so much juice!" says Kageura. "I'll be fine! I've gone too long without a can of juice!" She opens a can and drinks rapidly. "Stop it!" says Kageura. "You'll upset your stomach! Get under the umbrella!" "Leave me alone!" says Yuumi. The rain pours down on them. "He's never gone home without me before," she says. "And Yuuki going by himself to a boys boarding school..." "Oh?" says Kageura. "So that guy finally woke up." "Kageura! You said something to Yuuki, didn't you!?" He puts his arm around her waist and pulls her close to him. "Let go of me!" she says. "Be quiet," says Kageura. "If you catch cold, it'll be my fault. Really... There may be lots of twins, but you two are a bit unusual." "We're not unusual..." says Yuumi. "We're just twins." "Then what will you do if someday he finds a girl he likes?" "I hope that day doesn't come..." "Why don't you face the outside more?" says Kageura. "The outside?" "Other than your brother, I mean," he says. "For example..." "For example..." she thinks. "Let's go," he says. "I can't go home," says Yuumi. "I had a fight with Yuuki." They look at each other. Kageura leans close to kiss her. Yuumi blushes, then turns and runs away. Kageura watches her in the rain. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuumi pounds on the door to Yuuki's room. "Yuuki?" she says. "Yuuki, come on. Are you in there? Come on, open up, I want to talk..." "I'm busy now," says Yuuki. Yuumi steps back. "Yuuki..." she says. "You're so selfish lately! Stupid!" Yuuki turns to the door as he hears her running away. "Yu..." He leans back and sighs. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Say, Yuuki," says their mom. "Hasn't Yuumi come down yet? Go call her for dinner." Yuuki sits against the wall. "What?" says their mom. "A fight? That's unusual. Isn't it the first? Really, having fights, you saying you're going by yourself to a school far away... What's gotten in to the two of you." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuuki stands outside Yuumi's room. "Yuumi? Umm... I..." He opens the door. "Yuumi?" He sees her lying on the bed, doubled over in pain. "My stomach..." she says. "It hurts..." Yuuki runs to her. "Yuumi!? What is it? Are you all right!? Why didn't you say..." "Yuuki, you were mad, and you wouldn't listen to me..." "Hey, are you in pain? Where? You wait for an ambulance! Mom!!" "Yuuki..." she says. "Huh!?" "Yuuki... Is there a girl you like?" "What are you talking about?" She rests her head on his chest, crying. "We can't be close like this forever," she says. "I know that. But I can't. I don't want that yet. I'll quit seeing Kageura. It's because of that that our relationship has changed. I won't see him, so... So... Stay with me..." She holds on to him as he puts his arms around her. "Don't go far away," she says. "I understand, Yuumi." He looks at her. "I'll always stay with you, Yuumi." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yuumi opens her eyes and feels a hand touching hers. "Yuuki?" Kageura looks down at her. "Are you okay?" he says. "You've been sleeping for a while. I knew you'd get chilly, from the rain and the juice." Yuumi bolts up in her bed. "Kageura!? What are you doing here!?" "I got a call from that guy." He points to Yuuki. "More importantly, Kageura!" says Yuuki. He raises his fist and hits Kageura across the face. "Yuuki!?" Kageura rubs his face. "Ouch... What are you doing, damnit!" "You made Yuumi get that cold by hanging around her!" says Yuuki. "From now on that alone won't settle it." "Yuuki... Is there a girl you like?" "There was, always," he thinks. "Really, siblings are precious. Always, my one and only, Yuumi." "Ouch..." says Kageura. Yuumi approaches him. "In place of Yuuki, I apologize," she says. "If that's how it is..." Kageura thinks. "But if that guy's going to protect her... Well, fine." "Payback for now," he says. He touches his hand to her face. He kisses her on the forehead and puts his arms around her. "You look like you can't separate from your twin yet," he says. "My... My precious earring girl..." "Yeah..." she says. "Just a little while longer..." The end. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naoko's note for "Boku no Pierce Girl". Original manga copyright © 1989 Takeuchi Naoko. English translation copyright © 1998 Alex Glover. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Manga of Takeuchi Naoko | Miss Rain