'Ah, Hime, here you are!' Shunsui exclaimed, the moment I entered through the door of the living room.
The reddish-brown-haired young man had given me a phone call just a short while ago to inform me that he was back to Kokubunji and to ask me to bring myself to his home rapidly.
'Are you alright?' I asked him, anxiously, hurrying up to where he was standing with Gōjun in the middle of the room. The matter had appeared quite urgent.
'Yes, I couldn't feel any better!' he exclaimed, cheerily. 'In fact, I have an announcement to make to you!'
'Yes, what is it?' I asked, holding my breath in anticipation.
'Well, as you already know, today marks the official beginning of the Golden Week, and I have decided that you and I, together with Gōjun, will be leaving on a vacation together!'
'On va-vacation?!' I stammered, astounded.
'Yes! We're going to make a small tour around the country and visit several different places! It's going to be so much fun!'
'But- But I can't come!' I told him. 'My grand-parents will never allow me to!'
'You don't have to worry about that!' declared a familiar, female voice, abruptly, and we all turned around to look at the blonde woman who was entering the living room through the window.
'Tsubasa-sama!' I gasped, surprised to see her, while Gōjun asked to himself, in puzzlement, 'Why is she entering through the window?'
'I have already talked to your grand-father. He has given his consent,' the woman informed me, with a pleasant smile.
'Huh? What do you mean you've already talked to her grand-father?' Shunsui demanded at her, with a small flinch. 'How do you know about our plan to begin with?!'
Scratching her cheek and giggling in embarrassment, she answered, 'Well, well! The thing is that, when I came around the house earlier, with the intention to visit you, I heard you speaking to Gōjun; you were telling him about the trip that you're planning. I didn't wait around to run to ask Hime's grand-father for his consent!' Clapping her hands once, then, she exclaimed, happily, 'Oh, I'm so excited about it! I'm sure that we're going to have a lot of fun together!'
'W- We?' Shunsui repeated, before he exclaimed at her, with severity, 'You're not coming with us, are you?! No, you're not coming!'
At this, Tsubasa-sama's face scrunched up at him and pulling him downward by his arm, she reached up to pull at his ear, groaning, 'Eh?! I hope that you do realize that if Hime's grand-father has given his consent, it's only because I've told him that I'll be accompanying you on the trip, ne! But, you do realize that, don't you?!'
'Ah! Let go! It hurts! It hurts!' Shunsui squalled, but the blonde woman didn't release him until he had cried, 'I give in! I give in!'
Letting go of his ear only then with a triumphant smile, she sent both her arms around his to pull him downward again and rub her cheek against his shoulder affectionately, telling him that he was really cute.
Shunsui made a cynical face.
'I'm sorry, but I still can't come!' I informed them, apologetically. 'I can't leave Kokubunji because of my mother!'
Who would visit her if I were to leave? And the simple thought of going a little far away from her filled me with agitation.
'Hime,' Tsubasa-sama told me, softly, as she approached me, 'please, come with us! I promise you that we won't be gone for too long. You have my word that we'll be back by Friday.'
She had taken hold of my hands now and was peering into my eyes, with a gentle expression on her face.
I stared back into her eyes, breathlessly, my heart swelling.
Tsubasa-sama… I admired her so much. And she was asking me something… with so much kindness… I can't refuse her!
'Alright,' I accepted, with a shy smile.
'That's great!' she cried, happily, making a small jump in the air. Still keeping hold of my hands, then, she started to drag me towards the door with her, telling me, 'Now, come on, there's not one minute to lose! We need to pack our things up! I'm going to drop you at your house, before I go to the mansion! And then, I'll come to pick you again once you're done!'
'Alright, thank you!' I whispered, gratefully.
'No, please, don't thank me! It's only normal!' she asserted, with a kind smile, before she looked at the boys to wave at them gaily from the door, calling, 'See you in short while!'
'Right!' Shunsui muttered, his expression still a bit cynical, while Gōjun smiled quietly to himself.
***
A short while later…
Shunsui's mouth went agape at me, his eyes growing huge.
'Hime, what is this thing that you're wearing?!'
We were both standing by the side of the car, outside of the gate, on the street, waiting for Tsubasa-sama and Gōjun to come out of the house after their having checked that everything was properly closed.
I looked down at the T-shirt that I was wearing to answer in a nervous giggle, 'It's Tsubasa-sama who has given it to me. In fact, she has given me half a dozen of them, each different from one another.'
'What?!' he shouted, looking like he was going to burst a vessel.
'Oi! Shunsui!' Tsubasa-sama growled, as she appeared out of the gate at that moment, with Gōjun. 'Can you tell me why you're creating such a ruckus?!'
The reddish-brown-haired young man's mouth went fully agape now as his eyes fell onto the T-shirt that the blonde woman was wearing. It was exactly the same as the one that I had on me. They were the famous T-shirts that Tsubasa-sama had personalized with their pictures and which bore slogans expressing her love for him.
'What is THIS?!' Shunsui shouted, on top of his voice, and I really thought that he was going to burst a vessel this time.
'Oh, you're talking about the T-shirts!' Tsubasa-sama exclaimed, with excitement. 'I have been looking for an occasion for wear them, and the moment you spoke of the trip, I couldn't think of wearing anything else!'
'You intend to wear these T-shirts during the whole trip?!'
'Hm-hm,' the woman nodded, cheerily.
Shunsui made a small cringe, before he looked at me to state, testily, 'Hime, please, tell me that you're not going to accept to wear these!'
I looked at my T-shirt again, and squirming nervously, I admitted, sincerely, 'I find them very cute!'
'C- Cute?!' he stuttered, his face paling.
'Tsubasa-sama, are you ready to leave?' Takara-san asked, at that moment, as he came around of the car, after having put all our things in the boot.
Shunsui jumped backward to gawk at the old man, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. The latter was wearing a T-shirt similar to that of Tsubasa-sama and I, but bearing a different slogan, which encouraged the blonde woman and Shunsui's love for each other.
'Takara-san, you too?!' the young master exclaimed, his face as white as a sheet now.
The old man put his two thumbs up at him to imitate the design next to the picture on his T-shirt, giggling.
Shunsui stared at him for a second or two, as if traumatized, before he exclaimed at Gōjun, peevishly, to say something. But the latter simply turned his face slightly to the side to ignore him.
The reddish-brown-haired young man was more than flabbergasted by this instant.
'Now! Now! Enough with all that fuss!' Tsubasa-sama told him, and moving to front of the car, she informed us, 'I'm taking the front seat!'
'Eh?! But- But I wanted to sit in the front!' Shunsui mumbled, with disappointment.
But the woman didn't hear him. She was addressing Takara-san now to tell him, in an apologetic tone, 'I'm really sorry that I'm making you work on this day. Once you've dropped us to our first destination, you may leave us!'
'Ah, Tsubasa-sama, please don't embarrass me by apologizing to me! It's a pleasure!' the man answered, with a hospitable smile, and the woman returned it, thanking him heartfully.
They both moved to take their seats on the car, and Gōjun and I proceeded to do the same, while Shunsui remained standing where he was for a minute, sniffling, until Tsubasa-sama pointed out to him that we were going to have to leave without him if he didn't get on the car rapidly.
On these words, the reddish-brown-haired young immediately jumped onto the vehicle in a panic, and none of us could resist giggling to ourselves.
***
Meanwhile, in the local public park...
'Say, Natsui...' Yūsei Nishoji murmured, hesitantly, and the ginger-haired girl lifted her head up from her book to look at the face of the young man. The latter had stopped writing, his eyes set on the copybook in front of him.
She had noticed that the blond male seemed quite low today. He wouldn't speak much and seemed quite distracted. She wondered if something had happened to him.
'Yes, tell me...' she prompted.
'Do you have any older brother or sister?' he asked her, in the same hesitant tone, keeping his eyes down.
Natsui was discomposed by his question; the image of her older brother rushing to her mind instantly.
'Y-Yes, I have an older brother,' she answered, shifting uneasily. 'And you?'
'I have an older brother too.'
'I see.'
She smiled creakily.
A long minute of silence followed between them, before the young man continued, to say, 'And so, I wanted to ask you… If one day, your brother did something to you, that you find really horrible, and that leaves you very much disappointed, how would you behave after that? I mean, would you forgive him at one point or another?'
Natsui looked down at her lap, deeply troubled.
Disappointment was too small a word to explain what she felt towards her brother, and she knew that she could never forgive him, not now, nor ever in her life, for all the hurt that he has and is causing to their mother and her.
'Natsui?' Yūsei said, and breaking out of her thoughts, the ginger-haired girl's head snapped up at the blond male to find him watching her with a half-worried, half-intrigued look. 'Are you alright?'
'Yes-Yes,' she replied, very quickly, wiping off the expression of desolation that had taken over her face, before telling him, sincerely, 'Well, to answer your initial question, I think that it depends on what he did. Why, what did you brother do?'
But the young man didn't seem to be listening anymore. His eyes had tightened at her, his expression very much intrigued.
'Yūsei?' she called, softly, and the blond male reacted only then.
Averting his eyes and scratching the back of his head, he murmured, in a dejected tone, 'No. Nothing.'
Natsui guessed that he didn't want to go into the details and she didn't want to push him to do it, just like she wouldn't want anyone to push her to talk about her own brother.
'Alright,' she said, in a gentle tone.
'Natsui, I also wanted to ask you if you could please talk to your boss at the pizzeria and see if he could appoint me for a job.'
The ginger-haired girl was a bit surprised. She wondered if there was a particular reason why the young man wanted to do a part-time job.
'Uh, yes, I can give him a phone call for you right away. I know that he's been looking to appoint more waiters and waitresses. And if he's okay with it, I can organize a meeting between the two of you this afternoon itself,' she replied, and putting her forefinger up, she added, in a small giggle, 'He's paying us a little extra for making us work during the Golden Week!'
The young man's eyes had widened at her. He felt utterly grateful towards the girl.
'Thank you,' he whispered, giving her smile, before he lowered his eyes again and scratched the back of his head, to ask her, in an embarrassed tone, 'And say... Do you think you could help me to obtain a job at the service station equally?'
Natsui was further surprised.
Is his family in financial difficulty?
She wanted to ask him about it, to ask him if he had any problems that he wanted to share with her, but decided not to; she didn't want to appear to be prying.
'You can count on me!' she told him, instead, with a cheerful smile, and filled with gratitude, the young man thanked her again.
'You're welcome!' she said, and grabbing her cellphone, she called her boss at the pizzeria immediately to talk to him about the blond male.
Some times after they had resumed their tutorial, out of the blue, Hiyori Miyatsu showed up at the park, just like on the previous day, to sit at their table.
Natsui couldn't help asking herself once again what the dark-haired girl was exactly up to. She felt extremely ill at ease in her company, and every time the girl would give her a smile, it would make her all the more jittery.
After they were done with the day's lesson and Yūsei and she had gathered their things, Hiyori questioned them about where they were going when she saw the two of them leaving in the same direction.
'I'm going to the pizzeria with Natsui,' the blond-haired male answered, and Hiyori jumped at his arm instantly, telling them excitedly that she's going to accompany them. And again, just like on the previous day, the dark-haired girl clung herself at Yūsei's arm during the whole way, while Natsui walked at arm-length distance from them, avoiding to look at them.
When they arrived at the pizzeria, the ginger-haired girl indicated them to a table by the bay window, and asking them to excuse her for a moment, she left for the kitchen.
Though Hiyori was certain that she would choke to death if she ever drank something from such a place, she, reluctantly, asked a waitress who was passing by to bring her a coffee, before she gave Yūsei a large smile, wishing to appear pleasant.
After the waitress had served her, the dark-haired girl bowed her head slightly down, to take a glance at the young woman's retreating figure, and say to the blond male, softly, 'I really think that Natsui should stop doing such humiliating jobs!'
Deciding to speak his feelings out on the subject, Yūsei stated, frankly, 'I don't think that there exists any humiliating job in this world, as long as it is an honest one!'
'You really think so?' Hiyori asked him, giving him a smile that deeply unsettled him. For a second, the young man thought he could read malice in the girl's eyes. The very next second, he saw her look past his shoulder, and the moment he had followed her eyes onto Natsui- who was returning to meet them- he heard something drop, and turned back around to see that the dark-haired girl had spilled her coffee on the table.
Immediately, Natsui hastened her pace to run to their table to clean it with a cloth, while the young man fixated Hiyori Miyatsu with a strange feeling in his heart. He wondered why he was having this very strong impression that the dark-haired girl had dropped her cup of coffee deliberately.
He watched her as she apologized to Natsui several times and shifted further away in her seat to allow her cousin more space, while casting at him a goofy smile.
'Ah, you must be Yūsei Nishoji!' exclaimed a short, fat man, who approached their table, at that moment, coming out of the kitchen. The man was clothed in a short-sleeved, yellow shirt, a dark-brown tie, and tailor-made trousers.
'I'm sorry for my lateness,' he declared at the younger male. 'Natsui told me about you, young man. Please follow me to my office. And don't worry, it's only a formality. You're already hired! I only want you to complete a few paperwork!'
Yūsei's eyes widened at the man.
'Really?! Oh, thank you so much, sir!' he breathed, and getting to his feet, he bowed down in respect.
'No. No. None of this, please!' the man told him, giving him a welcoming pat on the back, and on this, he led the blond young man to the door of his office.
***
Hiyori Miyatsu covered her mouth with her hand as she stared after the retreating figures of the two males, her eyes bulging, her heart palpitating in her chest.
I can't believe it! How could I have made such a big gaffe?! I want to slap myself! Why didn't I keep my mouth shut, damn it?!
She looked at Natsui, clenching her teeth.
The latter was holding herself by the side of the table, with her hands clasped in front of herself, and watching the door of the office expectantly.
But how could I have known that he's going to ask this b**** to help him obtain a job in this damn place?!
She was becoming overwhelmingly agitated by now, and told herself that she had to find a way to calm herself down rapidly, because she desperately had to think of a way to rectify her gaffe.
Come on, Hiyori! Think! Think!
A few minutes later, Yūsei came out of the office and making his way back to them, he announced to Natsui, smilingly, 'He told me that I could start today itself if I want! Thanks again, Natsui!'
'Please, don't mention it!' the girl replied, shyly.
A man peered his head out of the door of the kitchen by that instant, to call out to the ginger-haired girl.
'Hai! I'm coming!' she called back, immediately, and asking them to excuse her again, she hurried to meet up with her colleague, both of them disappearing through the door of the kitchen
This, was the occasion that Hiyori was dreaming about.
Getting to her feet, she gave the blond-haired male a sheepish look, and told him, 'I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I fear I've had myself misunderstood. It wasn't really what I meant. You see, the thing is that, Natsui has been going around since forever, telling everyone that she'd marry only someone who is very rich, and in fact, she has left no stone unturned lately to try to fulfill her aim- she had even managed to find herself a rich boyfriend only recently- and even if I don't approve of those types of interested relationships and marriages, I was only telling myself that this was not really the type of the place where she'd be able to secure herself a rich husband. If you see what I mean! But, again, I'm sorry.' Addressing him a poor smile, then, she added, 'Anyway, I think I'll get going now!'
And on these words, she turned around to hurry up to the counter to pay for her coffee, and scoot out of sight.
Once she was a good distance away, down the street, the dark-haired girl paused down to look over her shoulder towards the pizzeria, a conniving smile coming to her lips.
On his side, Yūsei stared after the said-girl for a whole minute after she was gone, pondering over what she had said about Natsui being a gold-digger. For some reason that he couldn't understand, he felt like he couldn't trust what the dark-haired girl had said.
There was something strange about Hiyori that he hasn't failed to notice. Something strange in the behavior of the two cousins towards each other. Something that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
Thank you for reading!