Chapter XXX.

Yūsei Nishoji checked his watch again.

'What is she doing?' he asked himself. 'She's late!'

He had arrived in the park since a quarter of an hour now and still, there was no sign of the ginger-haired girl.

Just as he raised his head to look athwart of himself one more time, he finally caught sight of Natsui Mizoroge, who was arriving from afar. The girl was running towards him, with an apologetic look on her face.

When she reached him, she was panting so hard- having evidently been running a much longer distance than this- that she had to bend down to take support on her knees, and was unable to speak for a minute or two.

'I'm really sorry!' she told him, when she had finally caught her breath, straightening up. 'You see, every morning, I go to deliver milk and the newspaper at people's houses as a part-time job. Normally, when I have to deliver both to a client, I leave these under the porch of their house, but for those clients who do not take milk, I simply throw their newspaper into their front yard. It's the normal procedure. And today also, I was following this same procedure when, one client's newspaper became stuck in a tree when I threw it over the wall of his house. I had no choice but to get down from my bicycle and climb on top of the tree to take it out, but that's when a stray dog started to bark at me. I think it took me for a thief! It wouldn't let me come down from the tree! And I got stuck there for several hours, before it finally grew fed up and left. I'm truly sorry!'

The blond young man's mouth had gone slightly agape and he stared at the girl's face awkwardly.

That- That was really unlucky!

Scratching the back of her head and smiling in embarrassment, the ginger-haired girl added, 'But, well, I guess that these are the type of things that happen on the job sometimes! I'll have to be more careful the next time I aim!'

He giggled awkwardly.

The two young persons moved to sit at the closest picnic table in the park after that, and taking out their books and copybooks, they got to work without any delay.

***

After Yūsei Nishoji had left, Naoyasu Hanabusa and Sōken Nishoji had come around the other side of the house, to sit under the veranda and smoke a cigarette. They smoked a first one, then a second, and after that, a third one. None of the two spoke to each other, until the blond man broke the silence between them at last to say, in a mumble, 'Perhaps, I should never have returned! Yūsei has already suffered a lot like this! I don't want to shatter him even more!'

Naoyasu looked at the blond male's face instantly with alarm.

'Stop it!' he told him, in an un-contradicting tone. 'He doesn't know it yet, but he needs you in his life!'

Sōken looked at his friend's expression. The latter seemed to be almost angry.

'I don't want you to doubt it ever again!' Naoyasu stated, and looking back ahead of himself, he took a large puff on his cigarette again. 

The only problem was that he had almost finished it, and as he took a puff of it, the end became fully consumed and he burnt his forefinger.

'Ai-ch-ch!' he winced, before he noticed that the cinders which he had fallen onto his lap, were burning tiny holes into his kimono. He sprang to his feet in a panic to slap them off, while the blond male chuckled to himself, teasing him, 'You still lack finesse as I can see!'

'Oh, shut up!' he muttered, peevishly.

And Sōken chuckled to himself again.

***

Tsubasa-sama taught me how to prepare the soup by showing me herself how to do and what to put. She was extremely kind and patient as she explained everything to me, and every one of her actions- even cooking- was filled with grace. I felt deeply honored at having the chance to learn something from her.

While the soup was cooking on the stove, my mind suddenly drifted off to Gōjun. I had not forgotten that it was because of me that he had been injured the other day at the shrine, and I wanted to apologize to him for it, and thank him at the same time, for having protected me.

Just as I was thinking about him, out of the blue, he appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. He had come to take a drink out of the refrigerator.

'Gōjun...' I said, very shyly, as I approached him, and he looked up at me. 'Do you want me to prepare something special for you? The other day at the shrine...'

I left my words hanging.

It took him only a second to answer, 'Ebi and vegetable tempura. Steamed rice. Udon soup. Mochi. The three-colored dango of the other say. Takoyaki for later-'

'Stop!' I cried, cringing. 'So-So many things?!'

Modesty is not his strong suit! 

'Is there a problem? I remind you that it's you who came asking me if I wanted anything special!'

I paled, while Tsubasa-sama giggled to herself.

A devil! He's the devil incarnated!

Humping my back and sniffling, I headed back towards the stove, dragging my feet lifelessly under me, and moaning, 'I shall prepare you all of that very quickly!'

A few hours later, everything was ready, and Tsubasa-sama and I served the dishes that we had prepared on the table.

'Where are the three-colored dango?' Gōjun asked me, as he examined them.

I flinched. 

'The- The dango?!'

He looked up at me, his eyes tightening.

'Yes. I had also asked for dango.'

'I-I forgot!'

I should have made a list!

His expression became upset.

'Yare! Yare, Gōjun! Don't make our Hime work so hard!' Tsubasa-sama told him with a pleasant smile.

Taking a deep breath, he sighed.

'Now, come on! Let's eat!' she exclaimed, cheerily, clapping her hands once, and we all took a seat at the table. 

As we started to eat, I looked at Gōjun, feeling a bit guilty.

If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have had a fractured rib. And he would have been able to participate in the Kendō competition he has attended yesterday with his club. I know how much he is good!

***

Natsui Mizoroge looked up at the young man sitting opposite of her at the table, only to notice that the latter didn't seem to be listening to her anymore; he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

'I'm sorry,' she apologized, sheepishly, 'I must not be a good tutor!'

The blond young man broke out of his thoughts at that moment to look at her, his expression puzzled.

'No, it's not that!' he told her. 'I was thinking about-' He had been about to say his brother, but then stopped himself, to say, '… Someone!'

He had no want to start talking about the latter.

Upon this, a mischievous smile came to the girl's lips, and she said, cheerily, 'Let me guess! Your girlfriend?! Ah, somebody's very lucky!'

I wished I had someone to think so hard about me! she thought to herself, pleasantly.

'Not at all!' he, immediately, corrected her. 'I don't have a girlfriend! I was thinking about... somebody else!'

'Oh, I see,' she replied, scratching her cheek in embarrassment. I spoke too fast, I guess!

'By the way, how is it going with your boyfriend?' he decided to ask her.

'My boyfriend?' she repeated, lowering her eyes uncomfortably. 'Well, we… We broke up! That day, in the metro it was our first date; I had made his encounter only two days before that at a party. He broke up with me on the phone in the evening of our first date itself!'

His breath caught. He wanted to punch himself. 

What took over me to ask her this question? he demanded at himself, angrily, in his mind.

'I'm sorry,' he said, feeling both sorry for her and wishing to apologize for having mentioned the subject.

'It's alright!' she whispered, in a kind tone.

Her cellphone started to ring in all of a sudden. Natsui took it out of her bag to turn off the alarm she had set.

Getting to her feet then, she started to gather her things, telling him, 'I think that'll be all for today. I have to get to work now.'

'You have another part-time job?' he asked, with surprise, getting to his feet too to gather his own things. 

'Yes,' she replied, with a small smile. 'I work at a pizzeria close-by! Normally, I start right after school every day; sometimes after attending extracurriculars. But during weekends, I get to start earlier.' 

Having gathered all her things by now, she started to get moving already, adding on her way, 'It's a nice place. You should visit us some day. The pizzas are really very delicious!'

'Sure!' he agreed.

'Well then, see you again tomorrow! Same time, same place!'

He nodded, and on this, the ginger-haired girl parted with him. 

He stared after her for one long minute, the girl starting to intrigue him a little, before he turned around to leave too.

***

Unbeknownst to the two young persons, Hiyori Miyatsu was watching them secretly from a distance. 

For a few minutes, she leered at the ginger-haired girl's back, gritting her teeth together, before she came out of her hiding place to make her way towards the blond-haired young man, who was coming into this direction, to bump into him deliberately.

'Oh, I'm really sorry!' she apologized to him, and immediately, she bent down to pick his bag up for him. He had dropped it when she had bustled him.

'No, it's okay,' he said, not seeming to recognize her. This vexed her a little, but she decided not to dwell on it.

Faking surprise, she exclaimed, 'Hey, you're Yūsei Nishoji, right? The new student!' She put on her best smile, telling him, 'My name is Hiyori Miyatsu! Nice to meet you!' And, taking a glance into the direction that Natsui has taken, then, she asked him, with an innocent look, 'Was that my cousin who was with you, right now?'

The young man's eyes widened at her in astonishment. 'Natsui is your cousin?' 

'Yes,' she replied, in her most pleasant tone. 'Her mother and my mother are sisters! I've heard that she has proposed to help you to cover the lessons that you have missed! Is that right?'

'Hm-hm!' he replied, nodding. 

They had started to walk together now.

'Well, that's extremely kind of her!' She gave him a large smile, though her tongue seemed to be burning her for praising the ginger-haired girl. 'And so, how do you like our school?' Pretending, as if, she had just remembered something, abruptly, she paused down to say, 'Hey, by the way, my friends and I are planning to go out together tonight with a few boys of our school. Would you like to come? It could help you to get acquainted with the other students of our class! I'll also ask Natsui to come. I'm sure we'll enjoy ourselves a lot. What do you think?'

Having paused down too, he thought about it for a minute, before he accepted.

'Great!'

She informed him of the time and place that they would meet, before she parted with him, with a self-satisfied smile on her lips at the success of the onset of her plan.

Natsui Mizoroge, we shall see you this evening!

She laughed, maliciously.

***

Some times after we had taken lunch, Tsubasa-sama decided that she should probably get back to the mansion to change her clothes and to go to work. We accompanied her till the gate outside.

Grabbing hold of Shunsui's arm to rub her cheek against his, affectionately, she told him to take care of himself in a coo, before she left. The moment she was gone, Shunsui ran back to the house very rapidly, leaving Gōjun and I staring after him in puzzlement.

We both headed back to the house to join him, extremely bewildered. 

When we entered the living room, it was to see that the reddish-brown-haired young man had rushed back to the house to call someone. Putting the phone down, he turned to face us with a beaming smile, announcing, 'Guys! I'm leaving for Okinawa on a short vacation with Seo Yoon, Jae Hwa and Chung Cha!

Eh?! I cringed. O-Okinawa?! But he was sick only yesterday! 

'There's nothing better than some sport to recover oneself completely after a brief sickness!' 

I flushed up. I had no doubt about what kind of sport he was talking about!

'Who are these girls, now?' Gōjun asked him, scratching the back of his head.

Putting his forefinger up at him and pressing his eyes shut, the reddish-brown-haired young man replied, with a cheery smile, 'Oh! I have made their encounter a few days ago at a club! They come from South Korea! And the best part is that, they are three sisters!'

I blushed madly now. He's too forward!

'Ah! The sun! The beach! The salt! I'm fully excited!' he exclaimed, lost in his reverie. 'I shall not be back until Monday!' 

Focusing back on us then, he told us rapidly that he didn't have time to speak to us anymore, that he had to hurry up to pack his things because the girls would be here very soon, before he began to dart towards the corridor to head for his room. 

But then, unexpectedly, he paused down on his way to tell me, with a diabolical smile, 'Oh, by the way, Hime, don't you think that I'm going to let you off easily for tomorrow! Since I won't be in Kokubunji, I'm putting you at Gōjun's disposition for the entire day of tomorrow!'

EH??! I flinched, and looked at Gōjun's face instantly.

'He has to go to the hairdresser in the morning; you shall accompany him! And from there, you'll do everything that he asks you to do!'

And on these words, he left for his room to start packing his bag without losing another second, while I hung my head, sniffling.

Help, Okā-san! Kami-sama!

***

In the evening…

Yūsei Nishoji arrived at the appointed place at the time the dark-haired girl had indicated him. The blond-haired male had clothed himself in formal-wear, just like the other young men of the party; the girls having clothed themselves voguishly too. 

He, immediately, noticed, though, that Natsui Mizoroge was nowhere to be seen.

'Ah, Yūsei! You're here!' Hiyori Miyatsu exclaimed at him, the moment her eyes fell on him, and without much ado, she began to present him to each and every one of the people in her company, starting by her two friends- Sakuya Morimoto and Itsuko Shibata.

He greeted them, before telling the dark-haired girl, 'I can't see Mizoroge around!'

'Oh, I've sent her a text message earlier, but she told me that she won't be able to make it because she has to work!' she lied, faking a sorry look

'I see,' he murmured, feeling a bit disappointed. 

The dark-haired girl turned her face slightly on the side to smile maliciously.

Well, well! You seem to be paying a particular attention to that dear Natsui Mizoroge! I was exactly counting on that, and I have no doubt that it works in the two ways! Don't worry, you'll see her soon!

'And so, where are we going?'

She looked back at him with a large smile, replying, 'To Shinseki Hotel. Have you ever dined there?'

'No. It'll be my first time.'

'Apparently, the restaurant of the hotel has been classified as one of the best restaurants in the region.'

'Really?' he asked, not seeming to be so much interested by that piece information, and she giggled, while she thought to herself, gloatingly, Oh, you'll see! There's something- or rather, someone- there that will surely interest you! 

***

Sometimes later…

'Hiyori, what are you up to?' Sakuya Morimoto hissed at her dark-haired friend, softly in her ear, while they were seated at the table of the restaurant of the said-hotel.

They had finished taking dinner and were now taking dessert. 

'Whatever you're doing, stop that immediately! Shunsui will have all of us expelled!' she told her friend, pressingly, tugging at her arm.

The latter gave her an innocent look, stating, 'Oh, but I'm not doing anything!'

The girl stared at her, petulantly, clearly not believing her.

Hiyori received a text message, at that moment, and smirking at her friend almost defiantly, she turned to Yūsei to ask him if he wanted to go outside to take some fresh air while they would wait for the others to have finished taking their own deserts. 

The young man accepted, and Sakuya Morimoto watched the two of them get out of their seat to make for the door, feeling agitated in her chest. She exchanged a look with Itsuko Shibata, the latter sharing the same agitation as her; both girls gripped by the fear of expulsion.

***

'Natsui-chan! Can you take this out for me, please?'

'Hm-hm!' the ginger-haired replied, smilingly, to the middle-aged woman, and putting the plate she was washing back into the sink, she took the bag of waste from the woman's hands, to come outside at the back of the hotel to put it into the large dustbin on the small alley there.

Just as she came out of the door of the kitchen onto the well-lit alley, suddenly, she heard a familiar female voice- which was coming from around the corner of the building- say, 'Let's go to the back!'

Her head snapped up instantly, only for her see that it was, in effect, the voice of Hiyori Miyatsu. Natsui jerked to a stop at the sight of dark-haired girl, but above it all, her heart skipped a beat when her eyes fell onto the person who was accompanying her.

Yūsei Nishoji! She was shocked to see the two of them together. Do they know each other since a long time?

'Natsui?!' Hiyori exclaimed at her, putting on an astonished tone, while she was silently giggling to herself in her bosom. 'What are you doing here? Do you work at this hotel?'

The ginger-haired girl's eyes shifted from the young man's surprised face to onto Hiyori Miyatsu again.

'Yes. I do the dishes here every night,' she replied, distractedly, several questions raising in her mind.

'Why didn't you tell me that you work here when I told you about his address earlier?!'

'Huh?' Natsui's eyes widened at her a little, confused about what she was talking about. 

But before she could ask anything, the dark-haired girl interrupted her to tell her, critically, 'Well, I have to admit that this isn't the look of you that I would say I appreciate the most!'

Natsui looked down at herself at that instant, to take in her own appearance. 

She was wearing a green plastic apron, which was dripping with water, and she was wearing fat plastic gloves, that were of a bright blue and a little too big for her hands, while her hair was tied high up on her head in an untidy bundle, with part of her hair covered with a green scarf.

She flushed in embarrassment.

Hiyori took a glance at Yūsei Nishoji, trying her best to hide her smile. 

Pinching her nose then, she complained, 'And, my god, Natsui! That bag in your hand is stinking!'

'I can't smell any stink!' Yūsei pointed out, sincerely, looking at Hiyori, while Natsui flushed even deeper in embarrassment.

'Sorry,' the ginger-haired girl said in apology, and immediately, she hurried for the large dustbin situated a short distance away against the side wall of the hotel building to put away.

'Let me help you!' Yūsei called out to her, against all expectations, and Hiyori's heart jumped to her throat.

'What?! You risk dirtying your clothes!' she exclaimed- even if it was not what was bothering her- and she tried to grip his arm to prevent him from going after the ginger-haired girl, but without any success. 

He had already started to make towards Natsui. The ginger-haired girl gave him a surprised look, as he raised the heavy lid of the dustbin for her, and thanking him for his help, she disposed the bag of waste off in it.

On her side, Hiyori Miyatsu was staring at the two of them with wide, bulging eyes. Things were not working out as she had expected. The blond-haired male didn't seem to bothered by Natsui's unappealing looks or the fact that she does the dishes at a hotel. And when she saw the young man gave the ginger-haired girl a small smile, which the latter timidly returned, she felt like ripping both their heads off.

Very quickly, she ran up to the young man to wound her arm around his, telling him, in a faked sweet tone, 'Oh, the others must have finished by now! They must be waiting for us! Let's not make them wait!'

The blond young man looked down at her arm, jarred by the girl's action. Natsui looked at their arms too, feeling a bit discomposed by this demonstration of "closeness" by the dark-haired girl. 

Yūsei became uncomfortable.

'By the way, Natsui, when are you finishing?' Hiyori asked the girl, with a conniving smile. 'If you want, we can wait for you until you have finished! We have already dined, but the evening is far from being over. We were thinking about going to the karaoke or something!'

Natsui was truly confused now. She could not understand what Hiyori was up to; why this sudden change of attitude towards her. 

'Thanks for inviting me, but I can't! I have my job at the service station after I'm done here!' she replied, honestly.

Yūsei's eyes widened at her, and without thinking, he asked, 'You have another part-time job to do after this?!'

Natsui giggled awkwardly, feeling a little embarrassed, as she replied in the positive. 

'What, Natsui! That's so lame of you!' Hiyori complained, putting on an unhappy tone. 'Anyway, I shall see you later! I'm sure we'll have many other occasions to meet!'

And, on these words, the dark-haired girl started to pull Yūsei away with her by his arm. Again, he was a bit jarred by the girl's familiarity- which was as sudden as it had been rapid- with him.

'See you tomorrow!' he called at Natsui, with a wave of the hand, feeling a bit guilty at having to abandon her. The ginger-haired girl was really starting to intrigue him.

Once they were inside of the car, alone with each other, waiting for the others to join their own cars, Hiyori put on a dejected expression, and taking a deep breath, she sighed, theatrically, before saying to the young man, 'I really don't understand Hiyori and her mother! Why does Hiyori need to do such humiliating jobs?! You know, my family is very rich and my mother takes care of all their expenses. I don't understand why they need to work so much! It's not good to be so greedy!' Immediately, she looked up at his face to add, with a most innocent look, 'But, please, don't take me wrongly! It's just that I'm deeply worried about Natsui's health!'

The dark-haired girl became silent after that, pretending to be really, very anxious, while the young man stared at the hotel building, becoming lost in his thoughts.

He didn't believe that there existed any humiliating job, as long as it was a honest one. And he didn't believe that Natsui or her mother could be greedy people. There had to be a good reason why the ginger-haired girl was working so hard while putting her own health in jeopardy; something very serious. He was convinced about it.

***

Shunsui had just finished packing his bag when the three South Korean sisters had arrived. The reddish-brown-haired young man didn't want to lose even a second to get going, and Gōjun and I watched them drive away for the airport, where the Shigeizumi's private jet was waiting for Shunsui and the girls to take them to Okinawa. 

After that, Gōjun and I said goodbye to each other in front of the gate of the house, each one parting in a different direction.

Since it was only the early afternoon, I had the time to pay my mother a visit at the hospital. But I made a jump at home to wash myself first, which I most needed after having spent one and a half day in the same school uniform. I was able to stay with my mother till late at the hospital, after which I returned home. 

And now that I was lying on my futon in my bedroom, I couldn't stop thinking of the morrow.

Tomorrow, I'd find myself alone with Gōjun, and I felt anxious about all the things he'd have for plans. But, above it all, I had not forgotten that Katsura-san had invited me to her home this Sunday which, was for the morrow.

I really hope that I'll be able to visit her as promised! 

Thank you for reading!