Chapter Three
Yagyuu walked behind and wondered what the hell he was doing there again. He hated crowded places, so he was curious to know why he was in Shinjuku. What the hell am I doing in one of the largest entertainment, business, and shopping area… and with a woman I'd rather die than spend time with.
By now, he was carrying three of her shopping bags and he seriously wanted to sit down. They had started walking since the station and she just couldn’t stop shopping. I thought this woman couldn’t shop as she pleased…
It's as if heard his thoughts. "Are you wondering where all my money's from?"
"No."
She ignored his answer and continued walking. "My grandfather gave me a trust fund," she explained. "That's why I'm comfortable in using it because it's not my fathers, but that's all I have so I'm careful and shop only once in a blue moon."
He didn’t say anything.
turned around and stood in front of him, making him stop. "Can we go to Isetan?" she asked innocently.
Yagyuu actually paled. Isetan was every man's nightmare. "With a history of more than 100 years Isetan is a veteran among Shinjuku's department stores. The Shinjuku store is Isetan's flagship and consists of ten floors, including a food department in the basement and a restaurant floor." (1) "No," he answered.
“Please…"
"No."
grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him towards her. "You said you were going to be a gentleman about this."
"And I have not been any less," he said, showing her all the shopping bags he's been carrying. "Frankly, I just want to sit down."
"Fine."
"And you said this is a way of apologizing to me. I didn’t know that I was going to be your personal slave by carrying all your purchases," he muttered.
"Gentlemen don't nag!"
He narrowed his eyes and walked towards a restaurant. "I'm not nagging. Now get inside!" he ordered, opening the door for her. "It's lunchtime, so let's eat."
"They don't order women around either." She walked in.
He didn’t reply to her comment. He simply followed her as she took a seat by the window. One thing that did surprise him about today was the way she was dressed. It was not like her usual attire. She was dressed in a crop jeans pants that ended at her knees, a turtleneck and high heels.
They sat down. "What do you want to eat?" he asked, rubbing his eye.
looked up at him. "Why don't you go for laser eye surgery? You've been rubbing your eye constantly."
He let out a sigh. "I had been planning, but I keep postponing it. It's hard with my schedule. I'm supposed to rest for a few days and I can't do that with Sumi around."
"But Sumi's not here now," she pointed out, sipping her juice care freely.
"I live alone at the moment."
She raised an eyebrow. "Isn’t Seiichi coming back?"
Seiichi again? He thought surprised, but looked at her. "Seiichi decided to see his woman in Osaka."
"Osaka?" asked surprised. "That is an interesting piece of information." She watched him. "Well, I'm here. You can get it done and I can watch over you during the day."
"Do you realize what you're saying?" Yagyuu paused after that. Was I just being friendly with her? He thought, glancing at said female.
“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t,” replied.
Yagyuu raised an eyebrow at her. Apparently she didn’t notice the shift in their civility towards each other. It was almost frightening at how familiar they were being with each other. “Really now?”
“I don’t offer anything if I didn’t mean it.”
He looked at her with some skepticism. Before he could even think about this sudden change, a familiar head of silver hair came into view. “Masaharu?”
The silver haired person looked to the side, recognizing the two immediately. “Oi Hiroshi! What are you doing here?”
“I could be asking you the same think Masaharu,” Yagyuu replied, standing to greet the man.
stayed seated. She had a contemplative look on her face, trying to remember where she had seen this person before. When her eyes met his, a memory of a night she’d rather forget flashed through her mind. “Ah! You’re that guy that was at the party.”
Niou Masaharu put up a mock hurt expression. “You don’t remember me?”
“Well I did have other things on my mind when we met,” mumbled, eyes slightly narrowing.
“Well no worries. I knew Hiroshi here back in middle school. I scouted him for the tennis team,” Niou said with a smirk. “Anyway, enough about me. What are you two doing here? On a date?” he asked, sly look in his eyes.
“No! It’s not like that. We’re just here as—” stopped. What were they now? Friends? She mentally scoffed at that. They weren’t anywhere near as close as friends. They were more like acquaintances.
Niou’s smirk became wider. “Hmm? This is the second time I’ve seen Hiroshi with the same woman. It’s got to be serious.”
“You’re assuming too much Masaharu,” Yagyuu said, rubbing his eyes again. His right eye was really starting to bother him now. No matter how much he rubbed his eye, the irritation would not go away.
, noticing that Yagyuu looked about ready to take his eye out of its socket, slapped his hand away. “You’ll put a tear in your cornea if you keep rubbing it like that,” she reprimanded. She moved aside his hair that was in the way, cupping his face.
Yagyuu grasped her wrist in surprise. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you with your problem. Now hold still,” replied without thinking. She was so used to doing this with the kids at the kindergarten that she didn’t even realize that the person in front of her was a full-grown man. She moved in closer to his face, examining his irritated eye. “I’m going to blow, okay?” After that warning, she gently blew into his right eye.
Yagyuu blinked at the impact. He continued to blink when his eye started to water from the onslaught of air. As the seconds continued on, he could actually feel the irritation fading at the treatment.
stopped blowing into his eye after about a minute and just watched him as he blinked his eyes. As his rapid blinking started to slow down, she stared into his eyes. Although this wasn’t the first time she had seen him without his glasses, it was the first time she actually saw his eyes. She couldn’t help but admire the smoke grey color of them. So entranced by them that she didn’t realize she was actually moving in closer to him.
“Are you sure you two aren’t serious?”
jerked away from Yagyuu. She looked over to Niou who had the biggest Cheshire cat grin she had ever seen. She mentally kicked herself at forgetting that he was there. Although she barely knew the guy, she had the strongest feeling that he was some sort of troublemaker.
Yagyuu wiped at the excess water that formed at his eye. “Masaharu, don’t jump to conclusions.”
Niou shrugged his shoulders. “Whatever you say Hiroshi. So do you two have any plans that you don’t want me to be a part of?”
“Why do keeping assuming that we’re on some kind of date?” questioned, exasperated.
“Because neither of you has done anything to contradict what you’ve been doing for the past minute,” Niou observed, eyebrow rising in amusement. “And both of you sitting in this restaurant together doesn’t help either.”
“Enough Masaharu. We’re not here on a date and that is final,” Yagyuu stated firmly, glaring at the silver haired man.
At his old doubles partner’s tone, Niou knew when to drop it for the moment. He held his hands up in a surrender gesture. A second later he dropped them, slipping his hands in his pockets. “But seriously, do you two have any other plans?”
“Why?” inquired curiously.
“I have reservations at this restaurant tonight that has bands performing live. The people that I was going to go to it with bailed out on me at the last minute,” Niou explained.
“Why don’t you just cancel the reservations?” asked.
“Because the group that’s playing tonight is a jazz band that I’ve wanted to hear for a while now,” Niou elaborated.
“And you’re asking us to go with you?” Yagyuu asked with a questioning look. For some reason, he felt that there was more to it than what Niou was saying. “Somehow I feel that there’s some hidden agenda that you have in stored.”
“Come on Hiroshi! This is me that you’re talking about,” Niou said, tone defensive.
“Exactly.”
watched the exchange between the two. She wondered if there was something that she was missing out on. In a second, she turned to Yagyuu. "So do you want to indulge him and stay?'
“No."
Niou looked hurt.
"I like jazz, come on." whined. "You know I can't stay if you don't stay! I don’t know this man!"
Niou grinned. "You can get to know me."
ignored him. "Plus, we're all the way in Shinjuku. You know I can't go back late at night by myself."
Yagyuu eyed her. "Tell me why do I have to spend the whole day with you?"
"Because you owe me, damnit!" she hissed.
"I owe you?!" he asked incredulously. "Since when did this situation turn around on me?"
Niou watched in amazement as the two bickered. "Seriously, are you two dating?"
"Shut up," they both snapped.
Niou actually wanted to take cover.
“I don’t see any harm in going,” reasoned. “We’re just going out to eat like we were about to do here.”
“I still don’t see why we should go. Isn’t it kind of sudden to do this?” Yagyuu bargained, trying to weasel his way out of this.
“Oh quit being a hermit! Life would be too boring if you didn’t make sudden decisions,” said. She glanced at him and decided to go in for the kill. “Besides, what happened to all that talk yesterday about being a gentleman? I’m sure as a gentleman, you wouldn’t want me to go home all by myself so late at night where anything could happen to me.” She did a mental victory dance when she saw the brown haired man’s conviction crumble away.
Yagyuu sighed in defeat. He knew that his gentleman nature would come back and bite him one day. "Fine, but just this once. I am not doing this again," he muttered. "I don’t even have a suit on me."
"I have an apartment here," Niou offered. "You guys can change there and I can lend you a suit. I'm sure -sama has a new dress and pair of shoes in all her purchases that she can wear," he said dryly, eyeing her shopping bags.
"That's fine by me," nodded. She stood up, picking up her cell phone. "I am going to take this opportunity and get my hair done at Isetan then." She waved before Yagyuu could say something. "You have my number, so wait for me." With that she was off.
Both males looked after her until she was out of sight. Niou plopped down onto the now vacated seat. “You know, after that display, you’re making me wonder why you’re lying to me.”
Yagyuu rubbed his aching temple. "I hate that woman, Masaharu. She hates me too as well."
Niou blinked. "Then why…"
"Don't ask," he interrupted.
Niou still wondered, but he didn’t ask. He knew Yagyuu very well and he knew Yagyuu has a devil side of him if he was pushed. The two men sat in silence while Niou smoked away until her highness returned.
~~~
was on the couch reading a book. She knew if Yagyuu hadn’t agreed to go with her, then she would’ve just returned back with him. However, she wasn’t sure what she got herself into. She was at Niou's apartment, sitting on the sofa and reading a book she had purchased.
Yagyuu was asleep on the sofa next to where she was reading while Niou left to take care of some things. It seemed that she tired him out from dragging him all over place. The second he lied down on the sofa, he was out like a light.
She glanced at the man that had accompanied her all day. She had to admit that she felt the slightest pang of guilt for dragging him shop to shop and making him carry all her bags. Although they fought every once in a while, it was all in fun. At least she thought so.
went back to her book. Or at least tried to. Her mind seemed to drift back to the little incident that had happened between them earlier. His eyes caught her attention. There was just something about them that drew her in. Placing her book down, she looked at him again. The urge to see them one more time started to overwhelm her.
Standing from her seat, went over to his side, crouching down to his level. She stared at his sleeping face, noticing for the first time how peaceful and relaxed he looked compared to when he was awake. She slowly raised her hand, gently brushing his hair aside that obscured the eyes that she wanted to see again. However, it wouldn’t have helped anyway since lids that denied granting her sudden desire covered them.
“I’m back.”
jerked away, standing quickly as Niou came to view. He gave her a questioning glance before shaking his head. “I’m not even going to ask anymore.”
“S-so, did you finish what you needed to do?” asked, shuffling away from the sleeping man.
“Yeah. We should get ready to go. Don’t want our seats to be given to someone else if we don’t show up,” Niou suggested, making his way over to Yagyuu. “Oy Hiroshi! Get up. Need to get ready to go.”
He blinked his eyes and let out a sigh. He moved tiredly to his side and shook his head. "I need to shower."
"You can use the bathroom in the guest room," Niou said. "There's a suit for you on the bed."
He muttered something and went to the bathroom. Yagyuu took off his clothes and hit the shower. He was so tired that he seriously needed to feel fresh again. He allowed the warm water to attack him unmercifully until he decided that he had had enough.
He used the towel and then wrapped it around his waist, while he took another and placed it around his shoulders. He walked out and stopped for a second when he saw her sitting in front of the mirror applying mirror. Under normal circumstances, a half naked man should scare a woman, he thought, but didn’t seem to even care.
He just grabbed the suit and went back to the bathroom, putting them on. After walking out, he found her still there. "What are you doing?"
"Looking sexy," she answered automatically, applying lipstick that she had purchased as well.
"You are as vain as Masaharu."
She turned the lipstick away and closed the lid. "I have every right to be," she said, standing up. "Check out these curves," she said posing for him in her spaghetti strap blue dress that certainly hugged her curves. The bodice for the dress was made of satin material that had touches of bead and embroidery work. The satin material ended at her hips where chiffon-like material began, done in light layers with the back slightly longer than the front, showing her legs from the knees down.
Yagyuu swore softly. "Masaharu, did you spike her tea?" he shouted, making glare.
let out a sigh and walked towards him. "You're no fun at all," she muttered, standing in front of him. She moved her hand to his collar and began fixing his tie for him.
"I can do that, you know."
"Just shut up. I hate waiting, so this is something for me to do." began fitting his tie for him. As she worked, she saw Niou walk in.
Niou paused. "Are you sure you're not…"
"Yes, we’re sure!" they both interrupted at the same time.
Niou backed out again. “Might want to hurry it up. We got to get going before the reservations are given away.”
finished straightening his tie and stepped away from him. Nodding in satisfaction, she went to get the heels she bought to match her dress and her small handbag. “All right let’s go.”
Yagyuu just nodded in agreement. He let exit the room first, following right after her. They made their way to the living room where Niou was waiting for them.
Niou whistled. “If you’re certain that you’re not together then how about going out with me?”
“How about not?” replied flatly. She didn’t even bat an eye at the mock hurt expression on his face. “Are we heading out or what?”
“Right. Let’s go then,” Niou declared, grabbing his keys.
It wasn’t long before they pulled up to the same restaurant they were at earlier. They were promptly seated near the stage that wasn’t there in the afternoon where the band would be playing. Minutes later a waiter came by and took their orders before heading to the back area.
As they waited, took the time to appreciate the décor of the place. She was in awe at how different it looked during the evening. As her eyes glanced over the place, movement by the stage caught her attention. She let out a gasp when she recognized one of the persons there. “What a two timer!” She hissed out angrily.
Niou and Yagyuu turned to her in confusion. They followed her line of sight, trying to see who was the victim of the glare she was sporting. They recognized the person almost immediately.
“Jackal?!”
The person was glaring at turned around at the exclamation of the name to reveal that he was indeed the half Brazilian that the two men went to school with. He excused himself from who he was talking to and made his way to the trio’s table. “Niou, Yagyuu! It’s been a while!” He greeted the two men, surprise in his voice. He turned to the third member of the table and flinched.
“You two timer!” accused with a pointed glare, standing up to face him.
“!” Jackal took a step back at her fierce glare. He racked his brain to figure why she was giving him a glare. What she said finally clicked. “It’s not what you think!”
“Oh really? Please explain yourself then!” she demanded, crossing her arms.
“I’m the manager for the jazz band that’s playing tonight. He was one of the band members,” Jackal explained quickly, his hands up in a defensive manner. “You know I would never do that to him.”
“That’s right you wouldn’t or else you would have to deal with me,” said with an evil smirk.
Niou looked from one person to the other. His eyes then settled to Yagyuu, who didn’t look like he really cared, so he decided to ask the main question. “You two know each other?”
That question brought and Jackal’s attention to the two ignored men who had been sitting there watching the exchange the whole time. Both of them were giving the pair looks of confusion, more so Niou than Yagyuu.
“I only know him because he’s going out with ,” replied nonchalantly.
“Eh?!”
Jackal just scratched his head, a sheepish grin on his face.
“Jackal, I didn’t know you swung that way,” Niou said, a bit of surprise in his voice. A second later his expression changed to his usual smirk. “Well whatever. As long as you’re happy.”
Yagyuu just nodded in agreement.
Jackal’s nervousness morphed into one of relief at his old teammates’ acceptance. “Thanks guys.”
“And how do you guys know each other?” questioned, looking at the trio of men before her.
“We went to middle school together,” Jackal answered.
“Let me guess. You were on the tennis team too?” When she received a nod in confirmation from the half Brazilian, she let out a sigh.
Jackal looked at her and then at the two men. "Who's yours?" he asked .
"Neither," replied, sitting down. She crossed her legs, picking up her wine glass and sipped it.
"Then how?"
"It's a long and boring story." smiled, winking at him. "Now shut up and sit with us before I tell that I saw you with another man."
Jackal laughed.
Niou watched his old teammate. "You're the manager of this band? Damnit, if I had known sooner then I wouldn't have had to run around the place to get a reservation. I had to book it months ago."
Jackal smiled and pulled a card from his jacket. "I would never say no to an old friend,” he said, handing Niou his card.
Niou flipped the card and read it. "Interesting."
Jackal folded his hands and turned to Yagyuu. "And how have you been?" he asked, noticing that the serious one in the group looked tired.
"Tired," he answered, acknowledging his assumptions.
Before Jackal could say anything to that, intervened. "I'm afraid I'm to blame. I've been dragging him around all day." She stole a glance at Yagyuu, who was just nibbling on bread sticks.
They remained quiet for a while until finally their food arrived. broke the silence again. "What type of jazz is this?" she asked, realizing that she wasn't very familiar with the music.
"It's Latin-jazz," Jackal answered. "Latin-jazz has two varieties: Afro-Cuban and Brazilian.(2) "
"And this is?"
"This is Brazilian," Niou answered, taking a spoonful of his rice. He took a swig of his wine and poured another glass for himself. He looked up, feeling sets of eyes staring at him. “What?”
“How’d you know that?” questioned, eyebrow raised.
“I like jazz,” Niou replied with a shrug. “Wouldn’t it be logical for someone who likes jazz to know all styles of it?”
“I didn’t know you liked jazz that much Masaharu,” Jackal mused. “Then again, it’s been a while since we’ve been together like this.”
The four spent more time together, casual chatting filled their seats. glanced several times at Yagyuu and noticed that he really was anti-social at the moment. He was quiet, just listening to the band and hardly contributed to the conversation going on. She actually felt a bit guilty making him spend the evening with them. He was sitting on his chair, with his head to the side, watching the band quietly while his arms were crossed.
As more time passed by, was beginning to feel woozy. Her eyes were starting to get blurry a bit and she somehow blamed it on the four empty wine glasses in front of her. Uh-oh…she thought, shaking her head. She felt an arm around her and she looked to see that it was Niou.
“I think…" Niou chuckled. "I think that you're as drunk as me."
giggled mischievously.
"Damnit," Jackal muttered. " can't handle more than a few glasses."
"You think Masaharu can?" Yagyuu mumbled, knowing that Niou had been like that since earlier ages. He saw that Niou still hadn’t taken his arms off . He was whispering something in her ears, or wait… is he nibbling on her ear? He thought. He swore softly and stood up. "Up!"
They both looked at him confused.
"It's clear that you're both very drunk. Let's leave before you two make fools of yourselves."
pouted. "I want to stay."
"Me too." Niou looked at him with misty eyes.
Yagyuu let out a sigh. "Come on."
They both pouted, but stood up. Yagyuu took out his wallet, but Jackal stopped him. "This is my treat, Hiroshi.'"
"But…"
"You get those two out," he said, pointing at the two that were so engrossed in each other's company. was standing in front of Niou with her hands on his chest as he whispered things in her ears.
Yagyuu rolled his eyes at the scene the two were causing. He turned back to the half Brazilian and gave him a nod in appreciation. “Take care of yourself.”
“You too. Let’s meet up again some time,” Jackal suggested with a smile. He gave a small wave as Yagyuu directed his two companions towards the exit.
~~~
By the time Yagyuu dragged the two out, he knew he was screwed and wouldn’t be in the warmth of his bed tonight. They were both so drunk that he knew he couldn’t leave either of them alone tonight. So he hauled the both of them back to Niou's apartment. He dragged Niou to his bedroom, throwing him on the bed and then dragged to the guest room who didn’t protest.
He went to the bathroom to wash his face, after making sure that they had both calmed down. He took off his jacket, followed by his tie, and then unbuttoned his shirt. He went to get an extra shirt from Niou, but froze by the door. He found and Niou in a tight embrace, kissing furiously on his bed.
He swore softly again and walked towards them. "Are you two idiots?!" he snapped, separating them. "Do you want to do something stupid?" he asked, pushing Niou to one side and then moving to the other. "You're both too drunk."
fell against Yagyuu's back and hugged him. "You shouldn't have let me drink," she whined.
"I'm not your babysitter."
laid her head on his back and hugged him tighter. "But is not here," she said softly.
Yagyuu moved her hands away and turned around. He lifted her up with one quick move and took her to the bathroom. "What are you doing?" she asked, looking at him as he placed her in the bathtub.
"You're going to regret what you did tonight even more if I don't do this," he said simply, turning the shower on.
~~~
"Achoo…"
"Did you catch a cold?" asked, noticing that hadn’t stopped sneezing for a while now.
rubbed her nose and sniffled. She held the phone closer to her ears and tried to pull a few tissues out with her other hand. "I'm fine," she said softly, talking to her friend.
It was two days later and was in her apartment. The minute she had woken up the day after the dinner, she had been dragged back to Shibuya. She couldn’t remember anything, but she vividly remembered when Yagyuu had dropped her into the bathtub and turned the cold shower on her.
And she remembered it even more when she woke up with a bad cold the next day. Now she was currently stuck in bed, wrapped up in blankets and talking to her European friend. She didn’t know which was worse: being stuck in bed with a cold or being healthy with nothing to do.
“You don’t seem fine to me when you’re voice sounds nasally and have been sneezing almost the whole time you’ve talked with me,” pointed out.
“Shut up,” said, annoyance in her tone. “By the way, I met Jackal the other night.”
“Jackal?” seemed to perk up at the name of his boyfriend.
“Yeah. You never told me he was the manager of a jazz band,” accused. “Anyway, I went to the restaurant that his band was playing at. They’re very good.”
“How’d you manage to get a seat at that restaurant?” asked, curiosity itching at him.
“Well, we met—”
“Wait. Who is ‘we’?” interrupted, wondering who could have been out with.
“Yagyuu and me,” answered simply, not really thinking about her answer.
“Yagyuu? As in Yagyuu Hiroshi? Sumi-chan’s father?” questioned in disbelief. He hoped that his hearing hadn’t gone bad during the few days he had been in Europe.
“Yeah. So?”
“So?! I thought Yagyuu Hiroshi was the man that you absolutely did not like. What were you doing together?” inquired, mischief evident in his voice.
sighed. “It’s a long story.”
“Well then you better start narrating,” urged. He definitely wanted to hear this story.
released another sigh. The next hour was spent telling the kindergarten teacher what had happened the past few days, leaving out the minor details.
"And?"
"And what? That's it!" snapped. "Don't assume anything or saying something stupid. I do not like that man. I even like him less after…" she stopped.
"After?"
swore softly. "Forget it," she muttered.
"-chan."
She sneezed and blew her nose. "Seriously , drop it."
He let out sigh, understanding her tone and dropped it. He talked to her for awhile and updated her on his doings and finally hung up.
threw the phone aside and fell on her bed. She closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep, for her head was pounding. She almost fell asleep when her phone rang after some time of quiet. She groaned and picked it up. "Hello…" she said groggily.
"When I first started dating , he warned me that he comes with a certain woman calls ."
didn’t say anything when she heard Jackal's voice.
"He told me to call you and make sure you're still sane."
"He loves me," she mumbled.
Jackal laughed. "He loves me more."
mumbled something under her breath.
"Will you allow me to treat my man's woman to dinner?"
sneezed. "Why are you talking like that? You sound like some freaking straight man," she said. "I'm too tired to move. It's all your friend's fault. If I had the energy I would kill him first."
"Friend? Did Niou do something to you?"
slapped her pillow. "Noo…" she groaned. "It's that idiot! I hate him!"
"Hiroshi?"
rolled on her bed. "Never mind. I'm exhausted. I'll have dinner with you tomorrow if you're free."
~~~
had slept in the whole day before and she was planning to spend the whole day in as well when she woke up at noon, but then remembered that she had promised to meet Jackal. One thing hated was to break her promises.
With whatever energy she had, she hauled herself out of her bed and dragged her feet to the bathroom. She decided to take a nice long bubble bath to soothe her sore muscles. She was tired from staying in bed all day yesterday.
By the time she got out, it was 3 PM. She walked to the kitchen only in her towel, took out a carrot from the fridge and started nibbling on it. She went to her sofa and picked up a magazine and decided to do some reading to pass the time.
Finally what seemed like hours, finally decided to go and get ready for her dinner with Jackal. When she was done, she picked up her jacket and purse and walked out to meet him at the designated restaurant.
It wasn't long before met Jackal in front of the restaurant he had suggested. "I'm sorry to make you meet me,” he said, shaking her hand, then giving her a hug.
smiled. "It's alright. I needed the walk."
He nodded and led her in. “Are you feeling better than yesterday?"
"So and so," she admitted.
They entered the restaurant and were about to walk to their table when Jackal stopped, making pause. She looked at him questioningly. "What's wrong?"
"The devil!" he exclaimed. "I haven't seen those two together in years." He nudged his head towards whom he meant.
looked and grimaced. Him again!? She thought, not happy at all. It was Yagyuu Hiroshi and he was seated at one of the tables with a young, but pretty lady.
"That's his younger sister, Yuuka," he explained when he noticed ’s curious look towards the younger female.
turned her head and looked at him. "I'm not interested, and please let's take a table far away from th--" she said, but was cut off when he took her arm gently and pulled her towards their table.
"Yuuka," she heard Jackal call out.
When they got there, didn’t even look at their table, but turned her head to observe the crowd standing by the door. She vaguely heard Jackal, Yuuka, and Yagyuu exchange greeting's, but didn’t bother to join the conversation. She knew she was being rude, but she just didn’t want anything to do with this man now or ever.
"?"
She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the source of the voice. "Yuuka, this is and vice versa," Jackal introduced the two women.
gave her a weak smile and nodded.
Yuuka seemed cheerful enough compared to her rude elder brother. However, noticed that she still had that gentle trait that her brother possessed. It was one that she sees him only shows around Sumi.
"Would you two like to join us?" Yuuka asked.
jerked her head back in surprise. She forgot herself for a moment. "I'm sorry, but I've already put up enough with him this week, so I will have to decline."
Yuuka and even Jackal looked surprised at her sudden rudeness.
"My thoughts exactly," Yagyuu added, finally speaking, which added more to the surprised looks of the other two.
Jackal smiled placidly. "Well, I would never say no to Yuuka, so you two better put up with our company instead," he said, pulling out a chair for and making her sit.
"Jackal!"
He put his finger on her lips. "You're too sick to argue with me," he said with a slightly reprimanding tone in his voice. "Just sit and eat."
gave him a flat look. “I'm not a dog, so please refrain from commanding me as such."
Yuuka looked at her. "Sick?" she asked, a look of concern appearing on her face.
"I caught a really bad cold two nights ago and I wonder who is to blame for that," she said purposely, narrowed eyes looking toward a certain someone’s direction.
Yagyuu folded his hands. "It was either that or you sleeping with Masaharu."
"Eh?!"
A shocked expression made it’s way on ’s face.
Yagyuu stood up from his seat. "Apparently -sensei," he mocked. "You had a tad bit more to drink so your lips turned to the closest person…"
<SLAP>
Yagyuu didn’t even know when she had stood up. All he felt was the sudden impact on his cheek. As swiftly as she had slapped him, she had picked up her things and was on her way out the restaurant.
Yagyuu swore out loud and sat down.
"That was going too far, Hiroshi." Yuuka looked at her brother disapprovingly. “I think you should go and apologize to her.”
He looked at his sister. "Look, all week I’ve had to put up with that woman. I don’t have to or need to."
Jackal was not happy. "Go after her."
Yagyuu stared at his friend with a wry look.
"That woman is important to a special person in my life, including your housemate, Seiichi. If he finds out that you hurt her like this, you know how Seiichi will get. Now get up, go after her and apologize."
Stubbornness was winning over Yagyuu at the moment, as he remained seated.
"I'm not happy, either, Hiroshi. Even though I just met her, I think she at least deserves an apology," Yuuka stated, the frown on her face deepening.
"Damnit! Fine!" he snapped, standing up once more. "I'll go, but I'm not going to be civil about this," he stated, throwing cash onto the table. "Just make sure that Yuuka gets home safely."
"I'm still here you know.”
"Yes, I know." He put his own jacket on. "I'm sorry you had to see that."
"I'm sorry as well."
Yagyuu didn’t say anything more and left.
~~~
reached her apartment door, still upset about what had happened earlier. She should've never left her apartment today. Although she felt bad for leaving Jackal, she just couldn’t stay for a second longer with that man. She just hoped would not hear of it.
"-san."
She froze for a second, but quickly pulled out her keys and unlocked her door. She walked in, but he stopped her half way by grabbing hold of her wrist. "Wait…"
She jerked her arm out of his grasp and turned around to face him with an angry glare. "Wait for what?! Is this going to be a routine now? Huh?!" she demanded.
"Routine?"
"Yes! Yagyuu and meet coincidentally. Yagyuu says mean things. leaves. Yagyuu apologizes and the beautiful freaking cycle starts all over again!"
He massaged his temple. "You can't just say that."
"Yes, I can." She poked his chest. "You always say mean things to me. You always assume I'm some kind of a slut! And you always, always wound ME." she kept poking and poking until he grabbed her other hand, annoyed at her little antics.
"Stop that."
She snatched her hand away and ignored him. "Leave."
"You are saying things that doesn’t make any sense!"
She stepped into her apartment and he followed her. "I'm a bad influence on your daughter and a slut, remember?"
"I didn’t say that you were a slut!"
She glared at him. "So are you telling me that what you said earlier insinuates to something else entirely?"
Yagyuu felt the comings of a headache. He shook his head and considered his words carefully before answering her. "That's not what I meant."
walked to the door and held it open. "Forget it! What you say next will not save your ass. The damage is done." She indicated for him to leave.
He didn’t say anything. At the same time, he felt that things were still unsettled between them. He stood in his place, trying to think as she stood there waiting for him to get out of her apartment. He suddenly remembered that she was sick and could see that by her slouched stance that she most likely wasn’t in her best condition. Somehow a feeling of guilt came back to him. "Are you alright now?"
She looked up confused.
"You said you got sick, are you alright now?"
She wanted to hit him, but nodded. "I'm fine."
He walked towards her. "The reason why I threw you in that shower was because you were very drunk and so was Masaharu. He has low tolerance for alcohol and apparently so do you," he explained. "Nothing happened between you two, but you did start kissing, so I decided to snap one of you out of it and you were the lightest I could carry."
felt relieved, but at the same time… “Why are you telling me this?"
He shrugged. "I don't know.
was starting to feel vulnerable now. "You always see me at my worst." She lowered her head. "Why do I always have to prove myself to everybody around me?"
“Maybe because of the first impression you leave isn’t always the best,” Yagyuu mumbled, his gaze off to the side.
“Since you seem to be in an explaining mood, mind explaining that to me as well,” requested, an expectant look on her face.
The brown haired man released a sigh. “We’re living in a world where image is everything. With the way you dress, it’s understandable for people to make those kinds of assumptions about you at first glance,” Yagyuu explained, referring to her wardrobe.
“Is it so wrong to dress in a way that people will identify me instead of my family?” questioned, her gaze elsewhere.
Yagyuu raised an eyebrow at her. Apparently when was in a vulnerable state, emotions that weren’t usually expressed were brought out, shown for all those who had the privilege to see. And right now he was one of those few who were able to. He could see her insecurity and confusion clearly.
“While it is important to not lose yourself and have your own identity, you shouldn’t have to lose your dignity to gain it,” Yagyuu advised.
remained silent after that. She wasn’t sure what to say. What he said made sense to her. She had wanted to be identified as herself, not the daughter of . That was why she dressed the way she did. Although she always went about her day with her head held high, she knew she was losing respect in the eyes of her colleagues. And respect was something she wanted more than anything.
stepped away from the door, letting it close by itself. She slowly made her way to Yagyuu until she was right in front of him. Yagyuu stayed rooted in his spot, wondering what she would do to him. He expected a lot of things but what she did next was not one of them.
Since he was taller than her, she had to tiptoe a bit to place his glasses on top of his head. When she couldn’t do that, she just held them in her right hand. Then placing her hands on his cheeks, she stared into his eyes. For a minute they stared into each other’s eyes before she lightly slapped his cheeks, startling him. She smiled in amusement.
“You really should get laser surgery,” said. “Who knows what’ll happen to you when you need your glasses most and you don’t have them with you.”
“I haven’t decided when to get it done yet,” Yagyuu said. He was staring right at her but couldn’t see the details of her face, even with her so close to him. So he didn’t know what to make of it when she laid her head against his chest, her hands falling from his face. “-san?”
“Sorry,” mumbled, lifting her head. She wobbled slightly as she stepped away from but managed to maintain balance. She tried to make her way to her bed, but didn’t get far when she stumbled. Anticipating pain, she prepared herself for the impact; however it never came.
“Looks like you’re not fine after all,” Yagyuu pointed out.
She looked up into his face, his glasses still in her hand. "I'm fine," she said looking down, his arms around her. "I just got dizzy for a second."
He didn’t say anything. He just steadied her and then helped her sit down gently on her bed. However, he didn’t move from her side.
"Tell me something…" she said quietly. "Why are you always bitter? You work so hard for Sumi, but you don’t spend that much time with her."
"I want to make sure Sumi gets everything she wants."
looked down. "Those were my father's words exactly," she murmured.
"What?"
"My father worked so hard. He was always away, but he never had time with me. I adored and loved him. Then when I needed him the most, he decided to include other people in his life." She let out a sigh and fell down on the bed. "I am officially pathetic."
The brown haired man rubbed his face, signs of weariness showing. He didn’t know how much longer he could handle this woman. "More like crazy is what you are,” Yagyuu mumbled behind his hand.
sat straight up again. "Say that to my face!"
"You're crazy," he repeated without hesitating.
She didn’t say anything.
"Can I have my glass back now? I need to go home."
"Na-uh."
Yagyuu let out a sigh. "Did you drink again?" he asked.
"Come and get it." she put the glasses on her eyes and sat up. "EEK! I can't see," she said, waving her hands in front of her.
He snatched her hand with one hand and tried to remove the glasses off her eyes. Although he tried to do it swiftly, he was a bit rough causing to fly back. As she tried to get away, he was pulled along with her. In a second, Yagyuu Hiroshi was face to face with her, his body partially on hers.
looked up at him and was drawn into his eyes again. The eyes that she was nearly caught looking at a couple of days back in front of Niou. She raised her hand and moved his hair gently away from his eyes. "What is the color of your eyes?" she whispered, not even able to hear her own voice.
"I don't know."
She traced her finger from his cheek to his lips, eyes still not straying from his. "How can you not know what color your eyes are? Move away."
"Your other hand is crushing my upper arm,” he reasoned rather pitifully. In truth, he didn’t know why he hadn’t moved away from her already. There was some unknown force keeping him there on top of her for just a second longer.
"Then kiss me."
He didn’t say anything. He slowly got up away from her with her following suit. He let his head hang low so that he wouldn’t have to look at her.
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “What? You're not going to kiss me?"
"Kisses lead to false hope."
tilted his jaw upward since she was sitting on the bed and made him look at her. "Do you live in the 18th century?" she asked. "If you kiss me it’s not like I'm going to sleep with you or expect you to marry me."
“There wouldn’t be any meaning if I kissed you,” Yagyuu replied in a monotone voice.
“Exactly. Why the hesitation then? It’s only a little kiss,” pointed out, a smirk on her face.
“I don’t like you.”
rolled her eyes at that. “Believe me the feeling’s mutual. So what harm would there be in a little kiss?”
“Why are you so insistent anyway?” Yagyuu asked, wondering why she was so persistent with him kissing her.
“And why are you so resistant?” countered back with an expectant look on her face. “We may not like each other, but there’s no harm in one single kiss is there?”
All the while she talked; Yagyuu was getting rather annoyed at the female’s insistence. He looked at her blurred image with a glare. If she were to persist, then there would only be one way to effectively shut her up about it.
He reached forward, placing his hand behind her head and jerked her to him until her face was only a hair’s breath away from his. She swore at the harsh pull and glared at him. “What—”
“Be quiet.” With that he sealed her lips with his, shutting her up.
~~~
Kurohane (Teniyume) & DeVeliCious (Endless Dreamers)
Edited by Kashii
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Notes:
(1) [Shibuya] -- http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3007.html
(2) Wikipedia