My eyes went wide at the boys in astonishment.
Shunsui! Gōjun! What are they doing here?!
'Oi, can you hear us?' Gōjun muttered at me.
'You only have to say no to your grand-father!' Shunsui asserted, sternly. 'He cannot force you to marry anyone!'
Eh?!
'And even if you're okay with it, well we're not!' Gōjun seconded, in the same severe tone. 'We're not going to let you marry someone that you hardly know!'
EH?!
'I'm sorry! I think there has been a misunderstanding!' Norinaga-san told them, putting his hands up in front of his chest and smiling awkwardly. 'It's true that I'm going to get married. But not to Hime. I already have a fiancée!'
'There's no need to lie, you as*****! We know everything!' Gōjun and Shunsui snapped at him together, their eyes murderous.
I cringed away, paling, while the brown-haired young man literally flinched, exclaiming to himself, 'Wah! They seem pretty violent to me!'
The receptionist returned at that moment, and scratching the back of his head with the same awkward look as before, Norinaga-san told me, 'Well, Hime, thanks a lot for today! I shall take it up from here! My greetings to your Ojii-san!'
'Hai!' I replied, with a small bow.
I watched the brown-haired young man hurry out of sight with the receptionist for a second or two, before my eyes returned onto the boys. I couldn't help but flinch at the look they were giving me.
'Don't take us for idiots!' Gōjun told me, angrily. 'We've been following you! We saw everything! There's no point in lying now!'
Eh? They've been following me?!
'Ano, guys...' I said, sincerely, closing my eyes and putting my hands up at them, 'It's really a misunderstanding!'
'Ah, really?' Shunsui muttered. 'We saw him k-kiss you on the cheeks!'
His face was red with anger now.
'Ah, that!' I said, scratching my cheek a little. 'In fact, Norinaga-san was born and grown up in France. It's the normal way for people to greet each other in his birth country! I have to admit that it's a bit… discomfiting. But since, he's a family member, I guess that it's alright! Norinaga-san and I are, in fact, far cousins. He's the grand-son of my Ojii-san's older brother, who is now defunct. His full name is Norinaga Kirigakure. So, we share the same surname as you can see!'
'Huh? You want to make us believe that?!' they both shouted, throwing their arms in the air.
I flinched again. What's up with them?!
'We saw you enter that bl**** shop with him, and try a veil on your head!'
I flushed tomato red.
'You- You saw that?!' I asked, averting my eyes and squirming in embarrassment. 'Oh gosh, it was really stupid! Ever since I was little, I have always dreamed of the day when I'd wear a wedding gown. When I saw the veil in the shop, I couldn't resist it. I wanted to see how it looked on me. I had been so sure that no one was watching me though!'
'Ah, really?! And why did you enter the shop to begin with, huh? Can you tell us?!' Gōjun snapped, while Shunsui pointed out to me, 'We also saw you enter the cinema hall with him!'
Eh?!
I jumped backward now.
'The owner of the shop has accepted that we take pictures of some of the gowns that are found in the catalogs, so that we can show them to Norinaga-san's fiancée. And we went to show them to her immediately. His fiancée works at the cinema where we've been. The thing is that, they've decided to get married out of the blue, and Norinaga-san has to return to France very quickly. They have so little time to plan everything, and Ojii-san has made use of a few of his contacts to help them with the organization of their marriage. Since he couldn't come to meet Norinaga-san himself, he has asked me to do it in his place and to take Norinaga-san to meet everyone without any delay.'
'Ah, and how about his fiancée?' the reddish-brown-haired young man demanded. 'Couldn't she have accompanied the two of you? And I remind you that you spent two and a half hours inside of the cinema!'
'Well, if his fiancée couldn't make it, it's because she had already accepted to work during the Golden Week and has been paid for it,' I explained. 'Her boss wouldn't allow her a leave. There was no one to replace her anyway. And, if I spent so much time inside of the cinema, it was because I was watching a film, while Norinaga-san was showing her the catalogs and chatting with her.' A smile came to my lips, then, and I added, cheerily, 'She gave me a free ticket to thank me for helping them out. It was very kind of her. I watched a beautiful, romantic film! It was about-'
'We don't want to know!' they stated, their anger seeming to subside but only by just a little. 'You still accepted to take lunch with him. Even if it was noon, you could have abstained yourself, right?! We did!'
Eh? They haven't taken lunch yet?! They have been following us till here on an empty stomach?!
'The owner of the restaurant is also an excellent pastry cook! He's a very good friend of Ojii-san! It's him who is going to prepare their wedding cake! And as it was noon, Norinaga-san was very hungry. He explained to me that he has stomach aches when he eats late! And he told me that he'd feel uncomfortable if I was to watch him eat and so, I accepted his invitation out of politeness.'
'The old man sure knows a lot of people!' Shunsui murmured, cynically, both Gōjun and him hanging their head a little. 'And we suppose that it's the same for the manager of this hotel!'
Putting my forefinger up and looking at the ceiling, I answered, 'No, that's Tsubasa-sama!'
They humped their back completely now, mumbling to each other, 'I fear that there really has been a terrible misunderstanding!'
'But, wait a sec!' Gōjun exclaimed, out of the blue, straightening up in a jerk to frown at me. 'I heard you speaking on the phone this morning to someone, and I'm sure I heard you mention a romantic rendezvous! How are you going to explain that, huh?'
'Eh?' I was confused for a second, but then, I realized what he was talking about.
'Ah, I see! Just before Ojii-san called me, I was speaking to Katsura-san on the phone!' I exclaimed, cheerily, slamming my fist in my palm. Blushing a little then, I made part to them of the news that Katsura-san had announced to me this morning.
Last night, after we had left the funfair, she had come across of the man that she knew in high school and with whom, she was still very much in love with. She has discovered from him that he is still single and they have given a rendezvous to each other at a restaurant this evening!
'K- Katsura-san?!' Gōjun uttered, his expression more than flabbergasted now. 'The rendezvous… Katsura-san… W-Well, I'm so glad for her!'
I closed my eyes and smiled happily, saying, 'Me, too!'
Looking up at the ceiling again then, and cupping my chin, I asked Shunsui and him, in bewilderment, 'Ne, ne, for sure, what happened with Norinaga-san is a misunderstanding, but say, why were you following us? I mean- why did it seem to bother you so much?'
'Don't ask questions! You won't get the answers!' Shunsui exhaled.
Both Gōjun and he were shaking their heads at themselves.
I was truly perplexed by their reaction, and scratching my cheek, I giggled a little.
Sending his arm around my neck then, the reddish-brown-haired young man started to lead me towards the door, telling me, in a sigh, 'Come, I'm going to drop you to your house! I don't know if I want to go home anymore. The girls that I've met yesterday have told me that they'd really like to present me to their cousins who are on a visit to Kokubunji! I think I'm going to call them up and ask them if they're free right now.'
I flushed up, knowing perfectly well what kind of rendezvous it was going to be.
As we came out of the building to onto the street, he left Gōjun and I for a minute to move slightly away to call Takara-san. We were watching him speak on the phone when, suddenly, I heard a small mewing voice. I looked around only for my eyes to fall onto the small box which was lying on the pavement by the side of the wall of the building. There was something all black moving in it.
Slowly, I approached the box and crouched down in front of it to take a look at what it contained.
A small black kitten peered its head out to mew at me!
'Kawaii!' I exclaimed, picking the small ball of fur up in my hands. 'It's so adorable!'
'Somebody must have abandoned it here!' Gōjun told me, the latter having moved up to me.
In effect, at the bottom of the box, was a folded bed sheet and a tiny empty bowl, which had most certainly contained milk or cat food.
My heart throbbed.
Who could have abandoned such a small, cute and innocent creature like this on the side of the street all alone?!
'What are you two doing?' Shunsui asked, who moved to join us again, after having hung up.
'We've found a kitten,' Gōjun answered.
'And what are you going to do?' the reddish-brown-haired young man asked me, looking at my face.
'I'm going to keep it, of course! I love cats!' I exclaimed, cheerily, and pressing my eyes shut, I gave the small ball of fur a smile.
'And how are you going to call it?'
'That's true!' I said, looking upward thoughtfully. 'She needs to have a name! How about Yamcha?!
The boys' expression turned awkward, and Shunsui asked me, 'Isn't that a Cantonese term for going out to eat dim sum?!'
'Hai! Hai! But, it doesn't matter! I simply love it!' I replied, excitedly. 'Don't you love it, too, my little Yamcha?!'
'Well, that's a name which makes one hungry!'
Alerted, I pulled slightly away with the small ball of fur in my arms, covering its ears with my hands, to say to the boys, 'I know that you're very hungry, but you're not eating Yamcha!'
Closing his eyes and putting his fist up at me, peevishly, Gōjun muttered, 'What do you take us for? For barbarians?!'
And he gave me a large punch on the head, while Shunsui was chuckling to himself.
'Itai!' I moaned.
***
When I reached home a short while later, Ojii-san had not yet returned from work. He was working overtime at the Zaibatsu. On her side, Obā-san was baking something in the kitchen.
The moment I entered through the doorway of the apartment and greeted her, she froze at my sight, or rather, at that of the small ball of fur that I was carrying in my arms.
My heart picked up speed, my throat tightening.
She looked very angry.
'Young girl, you can't be serious! You don't intend to keep that animal with us, do you?'
'W-Well...' I stammered, disconcerted and panicked.
'I really can't believe this! Do you think that we're running an orphanage here?! We've had the charity to take you in, but don't push the plug too far! We already have an additional mouth to feed, and now you have the cheek to bring in another free-loader?! Have you thought of my old age or that of your grand-father?! We're already in so much hardship because of your mother and you! I'm not going to tolerate this animal in my house, understood?! You're going to go dump it somewhere, otherwise don't take the pain to come back to this house again!'
She had stepped out of the kitchenette now to make towards me furiously, while cleaning her hands with a towel.
I started to back away, my heart seeming to weigh a ton, my eyes stinging with tears..
'Get out, I tell you!' she snarled, making me to jump, and flinging around, I ran out of the building, sobbing.
***
At dusk...
'Well, well, our cousins didn't lie! You're really a very charming young man!' one of three girls in Shunsui's arms declared at him, seductively.
'I guess I am!' he answered, with a cocky grin.
The three girls, Gōjun and he had decided to pass through the local park in order to meet with Takara-san, who was waiting for them with the car on the other side of it, just outside of the gate.
As Shunsui took a glance at Gōjun to ask him if he should drop him home or he'd manage, unexpectedly, the reddish-brown-haired young man's eyes fell onto a certain dark-haired girl, who was sitting on a bench in the distance away, with her back turned into this direction.
'Oi, isn't that our Hime sitting over there?' he asked, yanking Gōjun to a stop by his shoulder.
The latter followed Shunsui's eyes onto the said-person, and in effect, it appeared to him that it was the dark-haired girl.
They both wondered what she could be doing in the park at this time of the day.
Turning back to the girls who were accompanying him, the reddish-brown-haired young told them, with a small wink combined to an alluring smile, 'You go wait for me in the car! I'll be there in two minutes!'
'Alright! But don't make us wait too long!' the girls replied, suggestively, and taking one another's hands, they headed towards the gate, talking and laughing gaily amongst themselves.
On their side, the two young men headed in direction of the dark-haired girl.
'Oi, Hime!' Shunsui called, and the girl's head snapped around to look at them automatically.
They both froze when they thought they could see tears in the girl's eyes. Very quickly, she turned her face back to the front and they saw her brush the back of her hands over her eyes rapidly.
It was confirmed; she was crying!
As they drew in closer, they saw that she was not alone. Yamcha was with her. The little ball of fur was sitting on the bench with her, and eating some food that the girl has apparently bought for it.
The two young men exchanged a look with each other, supposing that she must have ran into a problem with her Obā-san.
Instead of making around the bench to sit with her, Shunsui simply jumped over it from behind to sit on the backrest, and placing a hand on top of the dark-haired girl's head, he asked her, with a comforting smile, 'What is it?! Why are you crying?'
***
Feeling a little embarrassed at being caught crying, I brushed the back of my hand over my eyes again, before I replied, my voice sounding hoarse, 'I can't keep Yamcha...'
'Well, that's not a problem!' Shunsui asserted, and picking the small black ball of fur up by its scruff, he placed her in the arms of Gōjun. The latter was standing next to him, by the side of the bench.
'Here, Gōjun! From now on, you're going to take care of little Yamcha!' he declared, and turning back to me, he closed his eyes and gave me a smile, telling me, 'See? There's absolutely no need to cry!'
'Eh?!' I exclaimed, in astonishment, cringing a little, while Gōjun uttered a big 'Oi!' complainingly.
'Do you want the princess to continue to cry? I don't think so!' Shunsui stated to him, putting his forefinger up at him. 'And therefore, the matter is final!'
'F-Final?!' Gōjun grumbled, but the reddish-brown-haired young man ignored him to reassure me, 'You don't have to worry about anything, dear Hime! Gōjun is going to take good care of her!'
'Oi, I've never taken care of an animal in my life before!' Gōjun muttered, but he was immediately countered by Shunsui, who pointed out to him, 'Well, that should give you some practice!'
Getting to his feet then, the reddish-brown-haired young man started to usher him away by his shoulders, ignoring his complaints, while asking me, 'Ah, Hime, should I drop you to your home again? The car is full, but I can make one of the girls sit on my lap!'
At this image, I flushed tomato red, and covered my nose with my hand to hide my nosebleed.
He chuckled. 'I guess that's a no! Well, see you later!'
He was gone after that, dragging Gōjun along with him.
'Yamcha!' I moaned, hoping that it was really alright to leave her in Gōjun's care.
Thank you for reading!