In the evening...
'Hime, is it you who has prepared all of it?' Saien Natsume-sensei asked me, just after we had finished taking dinner, his expression amazed.
We were all siting at the same table in the communal dining room. Shunsui was not very happy that the red-haired male was sitting with us, and he had been sulking during the whole meal. In fact, he still was.
Lowering my head and blushing a little, I nodded in answer.
'It was really, very delicious!'
I blushed even deeper.
'Th-Thank you.'
As I got to my feet, preparing to carry our plates back to the kitchen, suddenly, the red-haired male proposed to help me. And even before I could say anything, he had already started to clear the table.
I was extremely surprised by his sudden change of attitude, and bowing down, I thanked him again.
'You're welcome,' he told me, smilingly.
I couldn't help but watch him out from the corner of my eyes as he accompanied me to the kitchen. When we had entered the room, we made directly for the sink to put all the plates and glasses we were carrying in it. But he didn't leave it to this. He also helped me collect all the other utensils that I had used to put them in the sink as well.
He took a box of cigarette out of his pocket after that and open it.
I didn't know that he smokes.
'Do you mind if I smoke one?' he asked me, and I shook my head rapidly in answer, telling him, 'Please don't deprive yourself because of me.'
At this, his eyes widened at me a little, and he gave me a smile, before he brought one of the cigarettes to his mouth and lit it up.
I had been about to thank him again for his help when, suddenly, I noticed that the red-haired man was fixating me with a strange look.
I scratched my cheek, feeling a bit intrigued.
Against all expectations, he slipped his hands under my armpits to lift me up, as if, I was a toddler.
I panicked; my face reddening.
'Wha- Wha- What are you doing?'
'You really have no weight!' he stated, when he had set me down onto my feet on the floor again.
He- He picked me up to check my weight?!
I cringed.
Why did he do that?!
'Hime, I wanted to tell you that... I'm sorry for having been so rude with you school,' he declared. 'I have not stopped behaving like a real jerk!'
'It's okay,' I told him, sincerely. 'It's already forgotten.'
A large grin spread over his face.
'Hime, I promise you that from now on, you will always be able to count on me to protect you in every situation whatsoever, and that whether it is at school or in your life. From this moment onwards, you may consider me as your god-father! If one day, you find yourself in any problem or situation of danger, you can count on me to run to your rescue! It's my promise to you!'
My eyes went wide at him.
'Natsume-sensei...'
'Ah, don't call me like that! We're not at school right now. You may call me Saien.'
Eh?
'But- But I can't do that!' I asserted, fervently, before I lowered my eyes and murmured, with a blush, 'But I could call you Saien-sensei if you want!'
'Yare! Yare! But I guess that's still it!' he said, ruffling my hair in a fatherly manner, causing me to blush harder.
As I was about to move to in front of the sink, after that, to start doing the dishes, unexpectedly, he caught me by my forearm to tell me, 'Wait! I'll do it! You've hurt your fingers, right?'
And once again, I was astonished.
I stared at him without blinking, as he grabbed the apron which was resting on the kitchen counter to put it on.
'Why are you staring at me like this?' he asked, smilingly, and winking at me, he asserted, 'I told you! You can count on me from now on!'
And turning to the sink, he turned the tap on and started to get to work immediately.
I continued to stare at him in astonishment for another half a minute, before I covered my mouth with my hand to chuckle a little.
He looked funny with an apron on.
I tried to imagine the face that Shunsui, Gōjun, or even Tsubasa-sama would make if they saw him like this.
'Ah, stop laughing!' he exclaimed at me, peevishly, as if he had read my thoughts, and throwing a towel at me, he asked me to use it to dry the utensils he would hand over to me; his face red.
'Hai!' I giggled.
***
A short while later...
When we were done in the kitchen, we returned to the dining area together, but we didn't find anyone there. Momose informed us that the boys and Tsubasa-sama were in the game hall, playing table-tennis.
As we entered the said-hall, I had an impression of déjà-vu. Shunsui was sitting in a corner, almost crying bitterly; the atmosphere around him, depressive. He had played against Tsubasa-sama, and evidently, the latter had knocked the tar out of him.
'Decidedly, he never learns!' Gōjun stated, as he drew up to us, watching the reddish-brown-haired young man cynically.
Closing my eyes, I giggled.
'Are you ready for a little match, Gōjun?' Tsubasa-sama called at the latter, with the enthusiasm of a winner.
'No, thank you!' he replied, cringing away, his face paling a little.
'Well, I am ready to take up the challenge!' Saien-sensei declared, unexpectedly, with a large, excited grin.
Our heads snapped around at him.
He doesn't know yet what's awaiting him!
I could almost pity him!
'Wah! No! You're not going to play against that guy, are you?!' Shunsui shouted, jumping to his feet to rush to his mother's side on the spot. Giving the red-haired male an angry look, he snapped at the latter, 'And you, you'd better stay away from her!'
But neither of Tsubasa-sama nor Saien-sensei were listening to him.
They were both watching each other with a defiant look, their rackets in hand; their expression almost devilish.
I couldn't help but flinch.
They look scary!
'I can't believe it! They're ignoring me completely!' Shunsui moaned out, humping his back.
And thence, the match started, and as could be expected, just like Shunsui, the red-haired male was doomed to defeat. But he refused to give up. They ensued one match after another, but the blonde woman won them all, until the red-haired man was kneeling on all fours on the ground, having sunk in the same depressed state as she had plunged Shunsui earlier.
This seemed to amuse the latter a lot. The reddish-brown-haired young man was grinning widely, his expression vengeful.
However, the older male recovered his spirits within a few minutes, and that, just enough to defy the blonde woman again.
'I have to admit that you're too good for me to defeat you at table-tennis. But how about another game? I'm sure that you won't be able to defeat me at poker. Let's see what you can do with a set of cards in your hands!'
'You want your revenge, eh?' Tsubasa-sama uttered, cupping her chin, and smiling devilishly again. 'I accept the challenge!'
Uh-oh! Why does her confidence give me the impression that she's just as good at poker as at table-tennis! The poor guy! He's going suffer!
And, in effect, he suffered one monumental defeat after another. But just like Shunsui, the man never seems to learn. He continued to defy her.
'Ah, this time, I'm sure to win!' he exclaimed, at one point, watching his cards with a self-confident look.
The blonde woman and he were sitting at the small table in the middle of the room now, with Gōjun, Shunsui and I watching them play.
'I doubt it. But well, let's see what you've got!' Tsubasa-sama told him, with matching self-confidence. 'Let's show our cards to each other at the same time!'
'Alright!' he agreed.
Just as they were both about to set their cards down on the table, abruptly, the room became plunged in complete darkness.
We all jerked to our feet in surprise.
It was a power-cut!
'Ah! When I think that I was going to win!' Saien-sensei growled.
Tsubasa-sama chuckled. 'Let's leave our cards where they are on the table. Once the light is restored, we'll know who is the winner.'
'Oh, no! My phone is not on me!' Gōjun stated. 'I forgot it in my bedroom!'
It was the same case for everyone, including myself.
However, Momose arrived by that moment, carrying a torchlight.
'Momose, do you know the reason of this power failure?' Shunsui asked her, and the girl replied, 'It must be the generator again. It often goes out during the night.'
'Do you know where it is?'
'No,' she answered, and moving to the furniture situated against one side of the hall, she opened the drawers to search for something, until she had found it. They were torchlights and there was one for each of us. 'It has not been a long time since I've started to help my father out with his work. Ikusaba-san and Fujinaka-san know where the generator is. However, they're not here at the moment. They're gone to the village to attend to some urgent work.'
'It's alright. I'm sure that if we split up and search, we'll be able to find it,' the reddish-brown-haired young man told her. 'I'll come with you so that we can search the ground floor together. Gōjun, you go with Hime to search in the basement.'
And on this, he started to get moving with Momose.
'I'll go search outside,' Saien-sensei declared.
'Outside?' Tsubasa-sama asked him. 'I'm going to accompany you. I saw a box on the wall outside earlier. Perhaps, it's the generator. I'll show you where it is.'
She left with the red-haired male. Gōjun and I got moving too.
I couldn't help but feel all jittery as we made our way through the dark corridors of the building. Everything looked so gloomy in the faint white light of our torchlights. Not to forget that the place was very old. It almost looked haunted in the night. And on top of that, the weather has drastically changed ever since we had arrived. Red, thick clouds have rolled in the sky by now, and a terrible wind has risen. It was only a matter of time now before it would start to pour.
All the pieces seemed be united for the most horrific scene of a whodunit novel, where the murderer has cut off the light to take out his victim, only for the other persons present on the premises to discover the lifeless corpse when the power is restored, and the police to arrive to try to find out which one of them has committed the crime.
Gulping hard, I reached out for Gōjun's T-shirt from behind to keep a tight grip on it as we walked. He took a glance over his shoulder at me, but he didn't tell me anything.
I tried to think of more positive things. And it occurred to me that I had not had the chance yet to tell him about how things had turned out after I had returned home yesterday.
'Gōjun… You know...' I murmured, lowering her eyes, in shyness, 'Last night, my grand-mother came to my bedroom and we spoke to each other.'
I started to tell him all that she had said to me and how she had taken me in her arms.
'And this morning, she went to visit my mother at the hospital. I- I wanted to thank you, because I believe that I owe all of it to you. If you had not come to the shop yesterday, maybe...'
He had stopped walking now, and turning to face me, he stared at me for a minute without speaking, before he flicked me at the forehead.
'Itai!' I moaned, rubbing my skin with both my hands.
Why did he do that?!
'I'm so glad that she came around!' he stated. I gazed at him for a minute until, I was startled by a dreadful roar of thunder, which was accompanied by an even more terrifying flash of lightening.
Spontaneously, I crouched down and covered my head with my two hands, squalling with fear.
Being in the dark in this weather was really starting to scare me out!
'Give me your hand!' Gōjun told me, and opening my eyes, I saw that he was holding his hand out to me.
I accepted it gratefully.
We continued to walk after this and descended into the basement, however, we didn't find any generator there.
As we were about to make our way back upstairs, in all of a sudden, Gōjun jerked to a stop.
My heart picked up speed.
'Wha- What is it?' I stammered, and peering my head out from behind him, I used my torchlight to look ahead of him, fearing that he had perceived a presence hiding there in the dark or something.
But I didn't see anyone or anything.
Still, without giving any warning, he turned around to face me, without releasing my hand.
'Gōjun?' I said.
Why isn't he saying anything?
He was fixating me.
And slowly, he started to walk in closer, such that I was forced to back away.
At some point, I felt my back become pressed against something. I took a glance behind me very swiftly to see that it was a wall.
'Gōjun, what are you... doing?' I asked, as I looked at him again, my heart beating even faster.
He continued to stare at me for a few seconds, before I felt his other hand- the one with with which he was holding his torchlight- come past my waist to rest against the surface of the wall, and leaning in, he sealed our mouths in a kiss.
I went very still, my eyes closing on themselves; my cheeks heating up.
When he broke the kiss, I could only stare at his face, voicelessly, my face tomato red.
Gōjun… I'm really starting to wonder what's happening to you?! Why do you keep kissing me all the time?
Thank you for reading!