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KENTA

Emi was still a bit withdrawn this morning, so I didn’t press her for a response, but she’s all smiles now. When she bounces twice, I know what’s coming and step toward her to let her grab on more easily. “I’ll do it!” She bounces a couple times more on letting go.

I knew you would, Tigger. “Wonderful! Would you like to start with that checklist now, or in the morning? I’ll be there tomorrow no matter what, probably Saturday too. Might as well finish out the week, right?”

“Um, morning if you don’t mind. I’d kinda like to hear… the rest of that story.” I would never have mentioned it if I thought there was any chance you didn’t know, but it’s too late now.

“Yeah, I guess you were kinda busy at the time. Remember how you and our legal counsel tossed Miki out of the room back in Sapporo?”

“We didn’t toss her out, she walked out of her own free will. We didn’t even ask.” Emi’s high-beam smile turns to a pout for just a second or two before returning to its usual shape. “That’s not to say I missed her.”

“Well, someone locked the door the moment she stepped through it.”

“That still doesn’t mean she was pushed.”

Touché. “Anyhow... she forgot the ice bucket and sent me to fetch more.” I have my hand under my jaw as I say ‘ice bucket,’ just in case Emi has forgotten why we would need one. “I had to go on a bit of a quest to find ice, so it took me a while to get back. By then, she was already in the shower. I tried to just give her the ice bucket, but she made it pretty obvious she didn’t mind if I sat in the bathroom while she showered so we could talk. It’s not like you can see anything through that glass anyhow.” Either you already know she doesn’t mind being seen in the nude, or you don’t need to find out now.

A pair of casuals has just come to a stop on the track. I gesture for Emi to take care of the situation, and she jogs away. A few seconds later, they’re moving again, if slowly, and she jogs back. “I take it that’s part of the job? Because I already do that.”

I nod. “I’ve seen you in action, and I knew you didn’t need any explanation of what to do.” This draws another high-beam grin. “Now as I was saying, she was showering, and she asked me to fetch her shampoo. I guess they didn’t let her shower at the course, because she still had dirt and blood in her hair. I was feeling a bit… worked up, I guess you could say, and made a suggestive remark about the shape of the bottle I was handing her, and what it might be useful for. Don’t give me that look, you know how I roll. So does she.”

“Yeah, and I also know how she rolls. I can’t say I understand it. I accept it, but I’m not sure I’ll ever understand it.” She shakes her head and lets her eyes close momentarily. “In any case, I didn’t think that would include you.”

“Me neither. So here I am just trying to be clever and make conversation, waiting my turn for the shower, joking about how the bottle could be an effective ‘manly substitute,’ and then…” I strike my left wrist against my right palm. “She rattles the glass like that, and tells me it’s all the man I needed. You can probably figure out the rest for yourself.”

“No shit? I guess she really did get more than her teeth knocked loose.”

“The next morning pretty much proved that, but I don’t think it was a factor here. I think she was just horny. So was I. It sort of just… fell into place. I really thought you would have heard about this already, since I thought everyone else had. Haruhiko caught us coming out of the bathroom together and got quite an eyeful. He’s not exactly known for keeping his mouth shut.”

“Really, I don’t talk to him any more than I have to, and even then it’s like pulling teeth. I heard about his little speech, but that’s still him being a jerk. He was just being a jerk for us rather than to us.”

I just shrug. “He can keep being a jerk as far as I’m concerned, as long as he aims it in the right direction. So, back to how this ties into me and Ryu. Obviously, I knew I had to tell him, and Miki knew she’d have to tell Neko, so we got to talking about what things meant. I realized that even though it was weird, and somewhat uncomfortable at times, I really felt like something more was going on than just each of us doing what it took to get off. I even mentioned that I wouldn’t be averse to it happening again, but she shot that down fast. She made it abundantly clear that this wasn’t something she had any interest in repeating, and that it had been an ill-considered move in the first place.”

Emi throws back her head and laughs. I’m glad she can, I’ve done it to her enough times. “I never thought you were such a hopeless romantic! It’s kinda cute, actually. But I’m not surprised – at all – by her reaction. You know she and Neko are done, right? I mean like, totally, stick a fork in it, I am so sure done. She’s been prowling for a new girlfriend for the last week-plus. I mean, oh my God, even Rin noticed, and that’s really saying something.”

“Nope, hadn’t heard. Then again, I don’t really talk to her crowd, and haven’t been to the ranch other than that one time.” And like, bag that val-speak.

“Yeah, so done. I heard it was ugly. I don’t think you were the reason why though. Not saying the door is open for you either… just saying. You know?”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I think one unfaithful lover at a time is sufficient. Or none, if it comes to that.”

“Aww, don’t get too down on yourself. You deserve someone who respects you enough to level with you, and I’m sure you’ll find him.”

“Ryu levels with me. He just expects me to accept everything as stated and not have my own take on it. I think I’m just about through with not thinking for myself. Maybe he is telling the truth when he says affairs don’t mean anything to him. That doesn’t mean they don’t hurt me. I guess I really am a hopeless romantic. Oh would you look at that! Go help him with his form, would you?”

I’m so glad she said yes. I need her help as much as she needs the job.

HISAO

She’s looking at me again. Every time I turn in her direction, her eyes drop back to her book – the one that says «DON’T PANIC» on the cover – but I can feel her burning gaze each time I look away. Maybe the library wasn’t the greatest place to try to study for a driver’s license exam. Or maybe that’s it. Maybe she’s looking at me specifically because of what I’m studying. I might as well find out.

“Say, Hanako…” I see her eyes lift toward me, then turn reflexively back to her book, and finally up to me again. Or, the one eye I can see, anyhow. “You seem to be taking an interest in my study material. This is why I won’t be in class Tuesday and asked you to take notes for me. I already have an appointment scheduled.” She’s a fair bit taller than Neko – but isn’t everybody? Everybody except Emi at least – but the yellow bean bag seems to swallow her up and make her look tiny.

“Y-yes, I s-suppose I am. C-could I b-borrow that manual when y-you’re done?” She maintains eye contact to the end of her question rather than looking away as she finishes, as would be typical.

“That won’t be necessary. I mean, they give them out for free, I’ll just pick one up for you when I take my test. No need to borrow. I’ll grab more than one if you think anyone else needs one.”

“N-no, just m-me. I w-want to learn to d-drive too.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you with that part. You have to be taught by someone who has already been driving for two years at least. I don’t have my own car anyhow, and won’t for the foreseeable future.”

“That’s o-okay. I know s-someone who wants to h-help with that.” She blushes quite obviously, and her gaze drops again, though not all the way to the book.

Is she doing this for someone else’s benefit, like I am? I mean I certainly don’t mind getting a license to be helpful to someone else. It’s something I needed to do anyway, I just wasn’t in any particular hurry before. I wonder what – or who – her special reason is.

I glance at my phone for the time. “Hey, it’s getting close to six, you’re probably getting hungry. I know I am. If you’re willing to risk yourself to my cooking, you’re welcome to join me. I’m supposed to make pot stickers and udon. It’ll be my second time for making udon, but the first for pot stickers, so I can’t promise anything.”

“Wh-where?”

“Common room, boys’ dorm. We moved Neko’s fridge into my room since she’s hardly ever in hers any more.” I think I may have just said too much. “That’s why I was carrying it a couple days ago.”

“I-if you’re s-sure it would b-be okay with N-Neko…”

“Sure it will. She wants me to have other friends. I mean, she does too, why shouldn’t I?”

She seems to have suddenly gotten an idea. “C-can I ask you f-for a f-favor?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I… I s-sort of b-borrowed the f-fridge from the t-tea room and c-could use h-help taking it b-back…”

“Oh! I realized after the fact that carrying Neko’s fridge was actually kind of stupid. Is there a rolling cart in the girls’ common room? There is one in the boys’ dorm. If I have to move a fridge again, I’m borrowing that.”

“Oh.” She looks disappointed. “S-sorry…”

“I think you misunderstood. I’ll help you, but neither of us needs to carry it. It probably will still be easier for two people to lift it onto the cart, and two people at the other end to put it back in place. Sure, we can do that when it’s time to take Neko’s share of dinner up to the radio room.”

She smiles and begins a search for something in her vicinity. The search rapidly spreads, but whatever she’s looking for is nowhere to be found. She stands up with her finger inside her book. “I s-seem to have l-lost my bookmark.”

All I have on me is the small booklet of driving laws. “Here, use this for now.”

“Th-thank you.”

We begin the walk back to my room to get the food. I pause to check the notices posted by the front door, and Hanako gets a few steps ahead of me. That’s how I notice that the Post-It note she uses for a bookmark seems to be stuck to the back of her skirt. I take a lunge forward and try to grab it, at the exact moment she realizes that I’ve stopped and tries to spin around. I end up with a handful of skirt, and a combination of embarrassment and momentum land me on the floor. Luckily, I get both hands under me to break my fall. Her free hand reaches for the portion of skirt I briefly held, and the little yellow square goes fluttering to the ground to land beside my hand.

“Uhh… I think I found your bookmark.”

***

It turns out one of Hanako’s hobbies is cooking. Good thing too, I hadn’t the faintest clue how to make pot stickers and almost certainly would have burned some before figuring it out. As it is, a couple got a bit more brown than perhaps would be desirable, so we’re forced to eat the evidence. Tasty, ground-pork-filled evidence. We don’t really have the right dipping sauce on hand either, but Hanako improvises from Neko’s collection of flavors. It tastes pretty close, and would be good even if it wasn’t authentic. I use the same pan to cook the udon, which Hanako lets me do without assistance. I guess I must do this part right, at least.

Soon enough we’ve finished, and it’s time to pack up Neko’s share and clean the pan. No, scratch that… I set the pan in my shower and fill it with hot water. I’ll come back to it a bit later. We take the cart from the boys’ dorm, just in case the other one is already in use, and head out to grab the ‘borrowed’ fridge.

I let her lead the way, since I have no idea where her room is. Even if I did know, it might have been wise not to show it. Once I see the fridge, I’m doubly glad I brought the cart. This one is bigger than ours – not immensely so, but big enough that I’d have trouble getting my arms wrapped around it. We would have had to carry it together. “How did you get this down here? It looks too big to easily carry.”

“I… I had h-help. L-Lilly’s sister helped me m-move it but I w-want to p-put it back before they r-return.”

It’s not terribly heavy, and we get it onto the cart without much difficulty. Unfortunately, it is bulky, and we have to put Neko’s dinner inside it if they’re both going to fit on the cart together. We also have to stabilize it to keep it from toppling, since the cart wasn’t really made to transport something this big or to be loaded this top-heavy. It still beats carrying it, by a long shot.

We take the ground floor entrance to avoid the stairs into the lobby. Once inside the main building, I realize I don’t know where to go next. “Where is the elevator? I’ve never used it, although I know there is one.”

“I-I don’t know e-either.” Neither do any of the small handful of people we encounter.

At first we search together, pushing the cart with us. “This would probably go faster if we didn’t push the cart everywhere. Do you want to stay with the cart, or do you want to find the elevator?”

“I-I’ll stay, it’s m-my responsibility to k-keep it safe.” A valid point.

The elevator is all the way at the end of the building, about as far from the entrance as it could possibly be. Delivery people must just love that arrangement. It looks like it was put on as an afterthought though. If it wasn’t an original part of the building, the choice of location was probably limited.

I get back to the hall where we parted ways, and we continue our trek. I lead this time, now that I know where we’re going. “Sorry it’s such a long way, but I still think this beats carrying it up the stairs.” I get no disagreement.

On the second floor, things are even less busy than down below. Half the overhead lights are off, and there is nobody roaming the halls. We make it to the tea room… and the handle won’t turn.

“Oh. Sh-shit.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard her swear before. “I n-need Lilly’s k-keys.” She’s off like a shot, leaving me standing with the fridge she insisted on watching over just a few minutes ago.

Her return takes long enough that I decide to take a seat at the base of the wall instead of standing. Next thing I know, someone is shaking me by the shoulder. I guess I nodded off.

“Are you alright?” It’s Mutou.

“Oh, yeah… I was helping Hanako return this fridge…” Oh fuck… it’s not there! I look frantically up and down the hall, and start to feel panicked.

“Nakai? Hey… breathe… it’s fine… we already took it inside.” Hanako steps out of the tea room with the cart and the brown paper bag containing Neko’s dinner, and my heart rate slowly winds down. I don’t know if they were intending to prank me, but they sure did a good job of it anyhow. Hanako offers to return the cart on her way, which I gladly accept.

I finally make it to the radio room, and it’s already past seven. I pass the bag to Neko, who starts unpacking it at the radio desk.

“It’s cold.” She puts the trays on top of the radio to warm up.

“Yeah, well, we got sidetracked. How’s the contest going?”

“It’s over.” She shrugs. “Now we’re just waiting to find out the scores.”

“Oh… sorry I kept you waiting. It’s been a long, strange trip.”

“No problem, it’s only been a few minutes since it ended and I wouldn’t have stopped to eat anyhow. You really should join in next time.”

“But there’s only one radio.” I point, as if it’s less than obvious which one I’m talking about.

“Most of the other stations were working in teams. I’d welcome the help. The other people working solo have the advantage of being able to write and twiddle knobs and buttons at the same time, but the biggest disadvantage was… I sort of got bored. It would have been nice to have you here. And who is we? You said ‘we got sidetracked.’”

“Oh, yeah. You can thank Hanako for having pot stickers that aren’t burned, and for having dipping sauce. I would have done quite poorly without her help, I fear, and I’m hopeless if the sauce doesn’t come pre-mixed. Apparently, cooking is one of her hobbies.”

Neko nods and presses her headset to her ear. She nods a couple more times, transmits briefly, then turns the volume down. “I did alright I think, I’m working with less antenna than most of the other guys. I won’t know for sure until we all send in our logs and they get cross-checked. Now let’s see what she taught you.” She unwraps the udon first, covers it again, and opens the pot stickers. Even now, after their roundabout journey, they’re still arranged artistically around a small dish of sauce. “Sure looks good.” She nibbles the end off of one before dipping and taking a bite. “Yup, they’re good. I didn’t even think about sauce when I grabbed them from the house, but that worked out pretty well too.”

“It’s shoyu, sesame oil, and vinegar, all of which you have in your little condiment box. She didn’t measure anything, so I can’t tell you what proportions they’re in.”

“Well if Ben ever decides to move on in his career, at least I know where we can find a cook. We have to invite her out to the ranch, they’d get along swimmingly.”

I don’t think she’ll accept, not if Miki is going to be around. “You’d be well advised to choose the rest of our company wisely. There might be a bit of… history to worry about.”

“Oh, yeah, of course. I can even understand where she’s coming from now. I wouldn’t subject her to… her.” So you know about that. Good, I didn’t want to have to be the one to break it to you. I guess she can read the look on my face. “Yes, darling, I know all about Miki’s wandering eye. You’re not telling me anything I wasn’t aware of a long time ago. She made moves on Misha too, and doesn’t deny it. She denied going after Rin, but… I don’t really care one way or the other at this point. And then there are the guys she leads on...”

I have a little flashback to the scene that resulted in having to bite my darling on the rump. It’s oddly cold and devoid of emotion. I won’t say it wasn’t fun, but I’m not looking to do it again.

“Anyhow, this isn’t about her, it’s about Hanako… and as far as I’m concerned, she’s cool. I’m glad you seem to feel the same way.”

That gleam in her eye says she’s plotting something. Uh oh.

HISAO

She’s looking at me again. Every time I turn in her direction, her eyes drop back to her book – the one that says «DON’T PANIC» on the cover – but I can feel her burning gaze each time I look away. Maybe the library wasn’t the greatest place to try to study for a driver’s license exam. Or maybe that’s it. Maybe she’s looking at me specifically because of what I’m studying. I might as well find out.

“Say, Hanako…” I see her eyes lift toward me, then turn reflexively back to her book, and finally up to me again. Or, the one eye I can see, anyhow. “You seem to be taking an interest in my study material. This is why I won’t be in class Tuesday and asked you to take notes for me. I already have an appointment scheduled.” She’s a fair bit taller than Neko – but isn’t everybody? Everybody except Emi at least – but the yellow bean bag seems to swallow her up and make her look tiny.

“Y-yes, I s-suppose I am. C-could I b-borrow that manual when y-you’re done?” She maintains eye contact to the end of her question rather than looking away as she finishes, as would be typical.

“That won’t be necessary. I mean, they give them out for free, I’ll just pick one up for you when I take my test. No need to borrow. I’ll grab more than one if you think anyone else needs one.”

“N-no, just m-me. I w-want to learn to d-drive too.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you with that part. You have to be taught by someone who has already been driving for two years at least. I don’t have my own car anyhow, and won’t for the foreseeable future.”

“That’s o-okay. I know s-someone who wants to h-help with that.” She blushes quite obviously, and her gaze drops again, though not all the way to the book.

Is she doing this for someone else’s benefit, like I am? I mean I certainly don’t mind getting a license to be helpful to someone else. It’s something I needed to do anyway, I just wasn’t in any particular hurry before. I wonder what – or who – her special reason is.

I glance at my phone for the time. “Hey, it’s getting close to six, you’re probably getting hungry. I know I am. If you’re willing to risk yourself to my cooking, you’re welcome to join me. I’m supposed to make pot stickers and udon. It’ll be my second time for making udon, but the first for pot stickers, so I can’t promise anything.”

“Wh-where?”

“Common room, boys’ dorm. We moved Neko’s fridge into my room since she’s hardly ever in hers any more.” I think I may have just said too much. “That’s why I was carrying it a couple days ago.”

“I-if you’re s-sure it would b-be okay with N-Neko…”

“Sure it will. She wants me to have other friends. I mean, she does too, why shouldn’t I?”

She seems to have suddenly gotten an idea. “C-can I ask you f-for a f-favor?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I… I s-sort of b-borrowed the f-fridge from the t-tea room and c-could use h-help taking it b-back…”

“Oh! I realized after the fact that carrying Neko’s fridge was actually kind of stupid. Is there a rolling cart in the girls’ common room? There is one in the boys’ dorm. If I have to move a fridge again, I’m borrowing that.”

“Oh.” She looks disappointed. “S-sorry…”

“I think you misunderstood. I’ll help you, but neither of us needs to carry it. It probably will still be easier for two people to lift it onto the cart, and two people at the other end to put it back in place. Sure, we can do that when it’s time to take Neko’s share of dinner up to the radio room.”

She smiles and begins a search for something in her vicinity. The search rapidly spreads, but whatever she’s looking for is nowhere to be found. She stands up with her finger inside her book. “I s-seem to have l-lost my bookmark.”

All I have on me is the small booklet of driving laws. “Here, use this for now.”

“Th-thank you.”

We begin the walk back to my room to get the food. I pause to check the notices posted by the front door, and Hanako gets a few steps ahead of me. That’s how I notice that the Post-It note she uses for a bookmark seems to be stuck to the back of her skirt. I take a lunge forward and try to grab it, at the exact moment she realizes that I’ve stopped and tries to spin around. I end up with a handful of skirt, and a combination of embarrassment and momentum land me on the floor. Luckily, I get both hands under me to break my fall. Her free hand reaches for the portion of skirt I briefly held, and the little yellow square goes fluttering to the ground to land beside my hand.

“Uhh… I think I found your bookmark.”

***

It turns out one of Hanako’s hobbies is cooking. Good thing too, I hadn’t the faintest clue how to make pot stickers and almost certainly would have burned some before figuring it out. As it is, a couple got a bit more brown than perhaps would be desirable, so we’re forced to eat the evidence. Tasty, ground-pork-filled evidence. We don’t really have the right dipping sauce on hand either, but Hanako improvises from Neko’s collection of flavors. It tastes pretty close, and would be good even if it wasn’t authentic. I use the same pan to cook the udon, which Hanako lets me do without assistance. I guess I must do this part right, at least.

Soon enough we’ve finished, and it’s time to pack up Neko’s share and clean the pan. No, scratch that… I set the pan in my shower and fill it with hot water. I’ll come back to it a bit later. We take the cart from the boys’ dorm, just in case the other one is already in use, and head out to grab the ‘borrowed’ fridge.

I let her lead the way, since I have no idea where her room is. Even if I did know, it might have been wise not to show it. Once I see the fridge, I’m doubly glad I brought the cart. This one is bigger than ours – not immensely so, but big enough that I’d have trouble getting my arms wrapped around it. We would have had to carry it together. “How did you get this down here? It looks too big to easily carry.”

“I… I had h-help. L-Lilly’s sister helped me m-move it but I w-want to p-put it back before they r-return.”

It’s not terribly heavy, and we get it onto the cart without much difficulty. Unfortunately, it is bulky, and we have to put Neko’s dinner inside it if they’re both going to fit on the cart together. We also have to stabilize it to keep it from toppling, since the cart wasn’t really made to transport something this big or to be loaded this top-heavy. It still beats carrying it, by a long shot.

Once inside the main building, I realize I don’t know where to go next. “Where is the elevator? I’ve never used it, although I know there is one.”

“I-I don’t know e-either.” Neither do any of the small handful of people we encounter.

At first we search together, pushing the cart with us. “This would probably go faster if we didn’t push the cart everywhere. Do you want to stay with the cart, or do you want to find the elevator?”

“I-I’ll stay, it’s m-my responsibility to k-keep it safe.” A valid point.

The elevator is all the way at the end of the building, about as far from the entrance as it could possibly be. Delivery people must just love that arrangement. It looks like it was put on as an afterthought though. If it wasn’t an original part of the building, the choice of location was probably limited.

I get back to the hall where we parted ways, and we continue our trek. I lead this time, now that I know where we’re going. “Sorry it’s such a long way, but I still think this beats carrying it up two flights of stairs.” I get no disagreement.

On the third floor, things are even less busy than down below. Half the overhead lights are off, and there is nobody roaming the halls. We make it to the tea room… and the handle won’t turn.

“Oh. Sh-shit.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard her swear before. “I n-need Lilly’s k-keys.” She’s off like a shot, leaving me standing with the fridge she insisted on watching over just a few minutes ago.

Her return takes long enough that I decide to take a seat at the base of the wall instead of standing. Next thing I know, someone is shaking me by the shoulder. I guess I nodded off.

“Are you alright?” It’s Mutou.

“Oh, yeah… I was helping Hanako return this fridge…” Oh fuck… it’s not there! I look frantically up and down the hall, and start to feel panicked.

“Nakai? Hey… breathe… it’s fine… we already took it inside.” Hanako steps out of the tea room with the cart and the brown paper bag containing Neko’s dinner, and my heart rate slowly winds down. I don’t know if they were intending to prank me, but they sure did a good job of it anyhow. Hanako offers to return the cart on her way, which I gladly accept.

I finally make it to the radio room, and it’s already past seven. I pass the bag to Neko, who starts unpacking it at the radio desk.

“It’s cold.” She puts the trays on top of the radio to warm up.

“Yeah, well, we got sidetracked. How’s the contest going?”

“It’s over.” She shrugs. “Now we’re just waiting to find out the scores.”

“Oh… sorry I kept you waiting. It’s been a long, strange trip.”

“No problem, it’s only been a few minutes since it ended and I wouldn’t have stopped to eat anyhow. You really should join in next time.”

“But there’s only one radio.” I point, as if it’s less than obvious which one I’m talking about.

“Most of the other stations were working in teams. I’d welcome the help. The other people working solo have the advantage of being able to write and twiddle knobs and buttons at the same time, but the biggest disadvantage was… I sort of got bored. It would have been nice to have you here. And who is we? You said ‘we got sidetracked.’”

“Oh, yeah. You can thank Hanako for having pot stickers that aren’t burned, and for having dipping sauce. I would have done quite poorly without her help, I fear, and I’m hopeless if the sauce doesn’t come pre-mixed. Apparently, cooking is one of her hobbies.”

Neko nods and presses her headset to her ear. She nods a couple more times, transmits briefly, then turns the volume down. “I did alright I think, I’m working with less antenna than most of the other guys. I won’t know for sure until we all send in our logs and they get cross-checked. Now let’s see what she taught you.” She unwraps the udon first, covers it again, and opens the pot stickers. Even now, after their roundabout journey, they’re still arranged artistically around a small dish of sauce. “Sure looks good.” She nibbles the end off of one before dipping and taking a bite. “Yup, they’re good. I didn’t even think about sauce when I grabbed them from the house, but that worked out pretty well too.”

“It’s shoyu, sesame oil, and vinegar, all of which you have in your little condiment box. She didn’t measure anything, so I can’t tell you what proportions they’re in.”

“Well if Ben ever decides to move on in his career, at least I know where we can find a cook. We have to invite her out to the ranch, they’d get along swimmingly.”

I don’t think she’ll accept, not if Miki is going to be around. “You’d be well advised to choose the rest of our company wisely. There might be a bit of… history to worry about.”

“Oh, yeah, of course. I can even understand where she’s coming from now. I wouldn’t subject her to… her.” So you know about that. Good, I didn’t want to have to be the one to break it to you. I guess she can read the look on my face. “Yes, darling, I know all about Miki’s wandering eye. You’re not telling me anything I wasn’t aware of a long time ago. She made moves on Misha too, and doesn’t deny it. She denied going after Rin, but… I don’t really care one way or the other at this point. And then there are the guys she leads on...”

I have a little flashback to the scene that resulted in having to bite my darling on the rump. It’s oddly cold and devoid of emotion. I won’t say it wasn’t fun, but I’m not looking to do it again.

“Anyhow, this isn’t about her, it’s about Hanako… and as far as I’m concerned, she’s cool. I’m glad you seem to feel the same way.”

That gleam in her eye says she’s plotting something. Uh oh.
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NEXT CHAPTER

NekoDude wrote:EDIT April 16, 2014: I am suspending all further writing due to: (1) an apparent lack of readership, and (2) openings on the dev team of another VN. I'll keep posting the chapters already written, and may write a few more, but don't expect this to ever get "finished". When I get to the point where the writing is exhausted, I'll post the plot outline that was to be the guide for what remained.

It's a shame to see this story end prematurely, I quite liked it.

Good luck with the other VN.

bhtooefr wrote:It's a shame to see this story end prematurely, I quite liked it.

Good luck with the other VN.

And the help was appreciated, but if it's just going to be you and TyronePotato reading it, I have better things to do -- things not encumbered by restrictions on commercial use.

SALLY

It’s getting harder to keep up every day. Either that, or he’s building stamina with experience. Yeah, that’s the ticket. That little spell I caused – I never should have hit him with the video so soon after a car ride – didn’t slow him down for very long. I nudge him gently until he opens one sleepy eye at me.

“Morning, sunshine. If you’re going to get a shower, now’s the time.” He grumbles something unintelligible, but he moves. I enjoy the view as he stumbles from the bed toward the bathroom.

I check the phone, to see that I slept through a text from Hisao. “I accept, pending some conditions.” He sounds like a damn lawyer, or at least like he’s spoken with one. I’ll have to hear what these conditions are, and that’s best done by voice or in person, not by text.

“Fine, lunch maybe?” I reply. There’s not much else I can do on this point, so I decide to jump in the shower myself. We seem to have an undersized water heater for this house, or at least for the number of people and appliances that want hot water at the same time, so I have to claim my share. I use Kat’s shower, since I know that as nice as it would be to share with Junpei, it would make us late, and by extension, make Abe late as well.

I do like to linger in the shower, but today it’s just another thing to get out of the way. I have a great deal to take care of before hopping off to Peru, and only a week left to do it. Getting Hisao to upgrade is part of those preparations, but I figured it would be a straightforward ‘yes or no’ sort of thing. I didn’t expect to be wasting any more time on the preliminaries.

Showered and dressed, I’m pleased to see that Junpei and Abe are both dressed and ready to go themselves, and that there is coffee waiting for me. I sip first to check the temperature, but if anything, it’s cooler than my shower was. I chug it like a double shot. “So, shall we?”

Ben has already brought the Bimmer around to the front of the house, and parked the Honda in its place. I dare not be seen pulling up to business meetings looking like a chankoro, even if they are with people who wouldn’t know any better. Abe hesitates just long enough to see which seat Junpei heads for, which turns out to be the back. I guess he’s going to go with the eyes-closed method of avoiding his triggers. Unfortunately, there’s no winning for him. This way, he’s going to end up carsick.

“Everyone belted in?” I check the alignment of the mirrors, since I’m not sure who drove this car last, then we’re on our way. I drop Abe at his school first, even though it’s further from the house. I have to make the full loop either way, and I would prefer if he not witness the hand-off. I give Junpei his packages for the next few days – and a lunch – in a brown paper bag, and wave at him before pulling away. Then it’s off to the docks, to see if I can’t convince them to get our containers through Customs just a wee bit faster. I haven’t missed any deadlines yet, but it’s been a nail-biter a couple times now. Every retail supplier has options, and I’ve always held onto my clients by being the most reliable, rather than the cheapest. If I can’t fill their inventory, someone else will.

***

Well that was a glorious fucking waste of time. It may as well have been a tea ceremony, for all that got accomplished. They make big promises, but lack the means to back them up. It looks like I’m going to have to start ordering further in advance if I want to avoid incidents like the last few months. That probably means expanding the wine cellar, and renting climate-controlled storage in the meantime. I’ll have to push Sam into getting one shipment ahead, since it appears these almost-late logistics just aren’t going to fly.

Now to drive all the way back across the city just to play pattycake with my little darling’s new best friend. Methinks he’s too clever by half, but I’ll play the game his way… for now.

I walk into the Shanghai five minutes early, to find he’s already there and has coffee waiting for both of us. At least he respects my time that much.

He flips the debit card onto the table. “She accepted your apology. No hard feelings. Should we order sandwiches?”

“I don’t intend to be here that long. I have a whole lot to do in a very short week. In fact it’ll just be you, Miki, and Ben on Tuesday, and she’ll be driving. I’ll be running around like a headless chicken, trying to make up for everything being closed on Monday.”

“I can understand that. So… on the Suzu situation… I don’t exactly like the idea, but I don’t see how it really changes anything if I help ration things out. I mean, I already know what she’s doing.”

“Good, I’ll leave it to you and Kat to decide how you want to handle that. I suggest a two-layered approach, one of you handling the bulk supply and the other handling the individual daily rations. That way she can’t beg her way into more, because she’ll be begging the wrong person.”

He nods and takes a drink of coffee. “On the other point… I said I had conditions, but you may be pleasantly surprised by some of them. I think the offer is fair, I just want to make sure it’s… stable. So, condition number one is that Neko must not know about any expense funds you provide for us. I’m sure she’ll figure it out, but at the very least I want to keep her nose out of the numbers. So, we’ll use debit cards and no cash. Is that agreeable?”

“It suits me fine, it’s your flexibility that will be cramped by such an arrangement.” I push the debit card, still lying on the table, back to him.

“I can’t think of anything I could do with cash that I can’t do with a card, except… well, I know where to go if I need ‘cash only’ type supplies, let’s just put it that way.” You’re already more aware of my primary money maker than my own child is. “The second condition is a two-parter. One is that my parents must not find out that this room is any more expensive than the one they think they’re paying for. They’re not very good about accepting outside assistance, even when it makes sense. Whatever paperwork you need me to file with the school, I’ll file, but they must never hear of this.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem. In fact I’ll post the difference clear through the end of the year to minimize any chance that our arrangement gets noticed.”

“Then that would take care of the second part of the condition. I need to know I won’t have to move again for the rest of the year, no matter what might happen, short of me dropping dead or getting hit by a bus or something. ‘You know how cats are,’ as you put it yourself.”

I just nod, since I already agreed to this, but he’s not fucking around. I may have to re-think who I have doing my inventory control during my trip.

“Last one, and I promise it won’t hurt too much.”

“You’re doing well enough so far. What is it?”

“I was told there were no waterbeds allowed in the dorms due to the weight and risk of leakage. Since I’ll be on the bottom floor, maybe they’d consider an exception for my bad back.”

“You never told me you had a back pr…” His serious business demeanor cracks as he flashes me a grin. Oh. You idiot. “I see. They’ll waive just about any liability-related rule like that if we have insurance to cover it. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” He takes another drink of coffee.

“Who did you consult with about this? I mean you couldn’t talk to Kat for obvious reasons, and you drove quite a hard bargain there. Fair, but firm.”

“Nobody. I just lost a lot of sleep over it lately. At first I was thinking ‘do it, what could possibly go wrong?’ – and then I realized that’s exactly what I should be focusing on, anything that could possibly go wrong. So, I’m making sure things don’t.” He extends his hand.

I take his hand to seal the deal before he figures out what he missed, and hope I can smooth the rest over when we get to it. I want to keep on his good side as much as he wants to keep on mine.

***

“So did they give you any crap about wanting to move? Every place has its share of pencil-pushers who enjoy making life difficult.” The five of us fit comfortably at the kitchen table, and it’s a good thing because everyone seems to want more. I didn’t think sausage and mashed potatoes was going to be particularly popular, but as usual I underestimated Ben’s ingenuity. I find myself having seconds of the buttery potatoes, something I really didn’t need.

“No, not really.” Hisao spears another sausage from the tray in the center and starts slicing it, with Kat eating from his plate as he works. It’s better than her usual method of chewing on a long sausage like it was a turkey leg. “Maybe I just haven’t met the difficult people, but everyone in the office always seems helpful. There’s a release form you have to sign about that liability thing though. It looks like they just want you to prove you can cover damages, it doesn’t actually say the word ‘insurance’ on it.”

“Maybe so, but it’s cheaper to add the entire room to my insurance than it is to take out a bond for it, and that also protects your belongings. I’ve already told the accountants to take care of it, which makes one less thing for me to worry about, but we can fax them the form after dinner.”

“What is this, 2007, or 1997? A fax? Seriously?” Kat snickers at the very idea.

“Not everyone is prepared to deal with e-mail attachments, love. My bean counters can, certainly, but they have to print it to sign it anyhow, and your school is still pushing paper. We’re lucky they aren’t still using telex, in romaji. Are you staying overnight, or do we need to rush that tour of the security system and inventory control? I’ve decided to bring both of you up to speed on this.”

Kat nods while chewing, and waves her fork in the air until she’s ready to speak. “If I’m not going to get tomorrow night in my own bed, I figure tonight is the next best thing. You can let Miki take my bed tomorrow instead of making her sleep in one of the rock-hard guest beds.”

I lock eyes with Hisao, and it takes him a moment to realize why. Once he does, he gives me the nod to let this slip. “You won’t have to schedule time in a waterbed for too much longer. Your ever-thoughtful companion here…” I nod in his direction. “...has seen to that. It seems he has a little back problem best treated by sleeping on water.” I grin, and throw in a wink just in case she misses it.

She still does. “Wh-what’s wrong with your back? I hope I didn’t…”

He waves a hand to stop her before she can get too far on that subject. “I’m fine, but I figured it was easier to go for the medical exemption to the rules than to just say I wanted a waterbed. It turns out they don’t care, they just want to know someone will pay for the damage if it bursts… which never happens, right?”

“I’ve never heard of it. Even if it leaks, which does happen once in a while, there’s a plastic liner inside the frame, and patching it is about as hard – although more tedious, with the stripping and the draining of the bed and all that – as patching a bicycle inner tube. Or easier, if the leak is minor and in a place you can reach, since then you don’t even have to drain it first. Considering most leaks happen from something sharp hitting the top, this is usually the case. Hey wait… This is either going to be one tiny waterbed, or that room is going to feel really cramped.”

“That’s what moving is all about, love,” I cut in. “The ‘special needs’ rooms on the ground floor, which are almost always occupied by staffers since nobody wants to pay double for one, are more like a motel room in size. Even though you can get yourself to and from the school now, you still want a place on campus to um, sleep, right?” She doesn’t miss this wink, but she also doesn’t blush.

On the quick tour, I show them the wine cellar and the way the bottles are organized – and importantly, which ones not to open. “Don’t open anything where the brand has the initials ‘MB’. The contents won’t hurt you in small quantities, but they also won’t do anything but turn your piss blue… and to us, they’re worth a lot more than the wine. If you accidentally a bottle of blue, pour it back and re-cork it, it’ll still be usable. Generally speaking, if what you pour from a bottle doesn’t match what you were expecting, don’t drink it. Some of the things we put in bottles are distinctly not for human consumption, but none of them will eat glass. We don’t keep the hydrofluoric acid next to the wine.” We really do have industrial quantities of HF around here – I’ll take that look to mean you both know what it’s probably for.

We move on to inventory control. “I’ve already copied our inventory records onto this little thing.” I pull the Vaio subnotebook out of one of the wine nooks where it had been charging. “I’ll want you to keep it hidden somewhere, it wouldn’t do any good to have Miki knowing where the records are kept.” I sure as hell am not giving anyone access to my real laptop’s encrypted volumes.

I pull it out of Sleep mode. “See here, there are three different entries in the ‘type’ column – R for Red, W for White, and O for Other. Don’t open anything ‘other’ unless I ask you to. The hard liquor inventory is this other file.” I load up a second file. “It too has ‘other’ as a type, don’t open those either. And stay out of my cognac.” Last, but not least, I show them the security system and its monitors and controls.

“I knew it.” Kat is nodding. “You have cameras everywhere.”

“I knew you knew it. I was just surprised by how long it took you to figure it out. I know you’re probably going to throw a towel over your television whenever you want to hide from me now, but some things can’t be helped.” It’s not the only camera in that room anyhow. I put the computer back on the wine rack, and grab a bottle of Grey Goose to replace the one we’re about to empty. “Unless you have changed your mind about spending the night, please allow me to introduce you to Mister Martini – shaken, not stirred.”

NEKO

“Drunk and stoned, and on a school night no less. What would your mother think?” He’s starting to pick up that stern lecturing look from me, but he doesn’t have the sarcastic edge just yet.

“I dunno, why don’t you ask her – when she’s done with this hit, that is.” Mum’s just clearing the chamber at the end of it. She has suspended the ‘no smoking indoors’ rule for the pool area – but has fans blowing in one window and out another – so we can soak in the hot tub. My leg hurts a little from the uphill trip, and it’s nice to have someone who can work out the knots with two hands. I’ll have to build up some endurance, but until then, I will probably have to untie a muscle or two when I’m done.

She grunts the next few sentences to conserve smoke. “School night? I thought you said it would just be last-minute cramming for midterms tomorrow. Am I supposed to worry?” A few more seconds go by before she lets out a thin cloud of smoke, which quickly disperses in the breeze. “Maybe I should write you a note. ‘Sorry, I got my daughter and her boyfriend drunk last night, please speak quietly to them.’”

“Oh please, it’s not like I’ve never gone to class on Saturday morning with a hangover before. It is a different experience than drinking with Miki though, that’s for sure. You seem to savor it, while she heads straight for shitfaced. I rather think I prefer it this way.” The warm water seems to be helping things along as well. I rise out of the water to sit on the edge so I can reload the bong. “Are you planning on soaking her in Grey Goose over the weekend?”

“Maybe a little, but mostly she’ll be here to drive some more. I’m pretty sure that thing won’t fall apart in the middle of her test, or between now and then. It might even hold together long enough for you.” She winks at Hisao. “Ask Ben for driving time all you need to over the break, in his car if you prefer. I’d like to come back and hear you say ‘let’s go take that test.’ That would be a nice homecoming. Even better would be to hear that you already have.”

“I’ll need the practice. I’ve never driven anything bigger than a golf cart, and nothing with a clutch. Is his manual or auto?”

“Manual, but right hand drive. For licensing purposes it makes no difference which side the wheel is on, only whether you test in a stick or an automatic. The Honda is what you’ll end up driving afterward, most of the time at least. Of course, it helps that you will be able to drive Ben’s car. I can think of times that will come in handy.”

“Oh, no.” He shakes his head emphatically. “I am not dumping any bodies for you.”

“But I put it in the job posting! It’s the third thing on the list. Love my daughter, make coffee, help dump bodies. I’ve got your signature on the contract too… in blood.”

He turns to me, looking downcast. “Shit, I think she’s got me.”

***

I’m glad Hisao had the foresight to put a smaller gear up front, making the hill more manageable, at the cost of top speed. Fortunately, the trip to school is more downhill than up, even with the climb at the end. We’re able to shorten the trip quite a bit over the first time, now that I have more confidence in all facets of riding: going, stopping, and not falling over. I might even be able to outdistance Miki, if I had the bike and she had to run. Maybe. She is pretty fast.

Speaking of runners, we see Kenta running back to the school as we near the gate. Hisao waves, I don’t. I hope he understands why. Once again we leave the bikes in my room before parting company for the morning. We have locks now, but why leave them exposed to the elements if we don’t have to?

Hisao takes the bags with the wine bottles – four in total, all I felt safe loading up our baskets with. He’ll probably only be able to get two in the fridge with the remaining gyoza, but that should be good for a start. We’re going to want a bigger fridge to match a bigger room and bigger bed. I’ll need a safe too. There’s no reason he should have to see my business, and it’s for his own protection. I’ve gotten him in the habit of running a clothesline, so we won’t have any problems there.

As I take the opportunity for a quick shower, I contemplate how it could really be that easy for me. It’s been ten days since we became an exclusive couple, and a whopping two days since we actually admitted we’d fallen in love, and here I am ready to move in with him. We’ll still have our own places, but mine will be three kilometers up the road. That means we’ll be living out of his space the vast majority of the time. It’s where our classes are, and it’s where most of our friends are. It’s also easier to avoid the people I’d rather not see, even if they are around, and now that I know for certain about the cameras… the mere thought makes me go cold inside even with warm water pouring over my outside.

Has she seen our ‘intimate moments?’ I’m going to have to assume the answer to that is yes. The question is whether she’s looking for informational purposes, or for reasons I also don’t want to think too hard about. I’m not exactly a prude, but the thought that my own mother has been silently watching over my activities makes me very uncomfortable. I’d be worried about her trying to bug the new room, but we don’t even know which one it will be and likely won’t know before she leaves the country. We should be safe for now, at least from her. What kind of mother watches her kid fuck?

Oh yeah. My kind.

If there was ever a morning I wished for another round of ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ so I could play hooky without fear, it would be today. It won’t happen unless Asamiya has already left for the long weekend. While his speech patterns could put Ben Stein to sleep, he does at least have a handle on the English language, and he has made a point of engaging those of us who also have it under our belts.

No such luck. Oh well, basic electronics doesn’t faze me either. V=IR and all that. Yawn. Come on, at least let us build something – a crystal radio, a timer that blinks an LED, something. I learned all this theory shit when I was nine. I don’t even bother putting up my hand when he asks questions. He knows I know, and won’t call on me unless he’s tired of fishing for answers in the sea of confusion, in which case he’ll do it whether I volunteer or not. I half listen and half daydream, for days of wine and gyoza. Noon can’t come fast enough.

Eventually it does anyhow. The world doesn’t stop spinning, even if we’re loaded up on Asamiya brand sleep aids. I yawn before the bell rings, and again right after. I’ll let the more mobile – and less drowsy – students go first.

I make my way back to Hisao’s room, limping oddly. I mean it’s not odd that I limp, that’s sort of the norm for me, but I don’t usually limp on both sides. I don’t remember it being like this when I first started to swim, but it probably was. What’s she doing in the hallway again?

“Hi Hanako, looking for Kenji again? I think he may have already left for the weekend, to wherever he goes.”

“N-no, I already kn-know he’s not h-here today.”

“Oh…” Then she must be waiting for one or both of us. “What brings you this way then?”

“I – I…” She can’t seem to look me in the eyes. Am I that intimidating to her? That would be a first. “I just c-came to apologize. F-for what I m-might have done to H-Hisao.”

“What in the world…” I’ll hear this from him, if that’s possible, but there’s no answer to my tapping.

“He’s at th-the Nurse’s o-office.” Well that explains his absence, but…

“Umm… why? You didn’t bump into him or anything, did you?”

“K-kinda maybe?” A weak imitation of a smile crosses her lips.

Well, shit. If that’s what this is about, his visit could be short and simple, or it could be rather complicated. “Why don’t we go find out how he’s doing?” If I knew when he’d be back, I could possibly do something useful like start lunch. Anything would beat sitting here worrying, and that goes for Hanako as well. I extend my arms to help her up, and she takes just the hand. “It’s really okay to grab the other one too. It’s short, but it’s not going to break off or anything.”

It’s easier to help her to her feet this way, considering my one good leg is a bit wobbly right now, and we head out to see what damage she may have done.

NURSE

I see nothing indicating that he’s being used roughly on my spot inspection, and he seems quite a bit stronger now than when he arrived. “Since you’re going to have to retire from chess boxing, I’m glad you have another option. So it’s bicycles now? Are you giving up on the swim program?”

“No, but swimming isn’t much good for actually getting anywhere – at least not on dry land. We might as well take up a means of exercise that doubles as transportation too.”

“She isn’t tiring you out or keeping you up all night, right?” I try to look serious but I doubt it’s working. He manages not to blush too much. It appears he’s finally getting used to this topic. “I wouldn’t want you to work your heart into condition, only to lose you to sleep deprivation.”

“I think she’s the one who’s tired now. The cycling is hitting her roughly like the swimming was hitting me at the beginning. It’s making her use muscles she barely even knew she had – more so for her than for me, since she actually needs the power generated by pulling up on the pedal.” Nice deflection.

“So is this some sort of special bike, or…”

“Nope. I mean we put the rear brake under her hand so she doesn’t faceplant when trying to stop, and I picked a model that only has one gear in front, so only one shifter. Other than that, it’s just a bicycle.” He shrugs. “Oh, it does have a smaller front chainring and shorter cranks, but that’s just because she’s tiny.”

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. Emi is tiny. Neko is just short. Do you want to call her or something to let her know you’re going to die?” This gets the shocked reaction I would expect, for all of two seconds. It seems someone has been helping to thicken his skin a bit. Too bad it doesn’t protect him from minor collisions.

“I’m going to die, huh? Make sure they put in my obituary, ‘killed by a girl moving a desk.’ It’s such a pointless way to go. Do I at least have time for lunch first? I’d hate to die hungry.”

“You have time for many lunches. You’re going to die, but not today – so long as you steer clear of girls moving desks, anyhow. I hope she’s handling this well. You never can tell with her.” And I can’t do a damn thing to help her. Where she needs fixing, modern medicine just doesn’t go.

“You could just ask.” He’s looking over my shoulder, so I turn around to see her closing the office door, with Neko in tow. Hanako waves, and he waves back. I take that to mean she isn’t too severely traumatized. She still leaves it to Neko to do the talking.

“Is he going to make it?”

“That would seem to be the case. I can’t really find anything wrong with him, he’s free to go. Just look out for rampaging hordes of wild desks.” I turn back to Hisao, but speak loudly enough that everyone can hear. “You didn’t tell me you had two girlfriends. I’m not sure your heart can take two at once.”

The words tumble out before he has a chance to think better of it. “Too late.” He starts to vault off the examining table, but I put up a hand.

“These two?” I whisper before stepping out of the way.

He gives me the smallest shake of the head before hopping down to join a relieved Neko. Hanako, however, is busily inspecting her shoes.

HANAKO

“It’s not so much that you ran into me, it’s that you turned and led with a shoulder and got me right in the chest. If you’d been standing instead of in the process of falling over, I probably would have just caught you.” Hisao shrugs. “Look, that’s instinct, I couldn’t expect you to think that fast even if you knew bumping me that way was a bad idea, which you didn’t.”

“It was j-jammed. Wh-when it b-broke f-free, I went f-flying.”

“Yep, and that’s something I’ll have to watch for in the future. I saw you wrestling with the furniture, and kept standing behind you anyhow. I now know that when people might go flying, it’s probably best to be somewhere else. If it had been a fight, I wouldn’t have stood around and watched from the front row.”

“What he’s trying to say, love,” Neko cuts in as she spins around and walks backward, “is that he could have prevented this, and you couldn’t have, so stop worrying about it.” Where is she leading us? We left Nurse without a clear plan, and now the plan seems to be ‘follow Neko,’ which is how I find myself walking out the front gate and down the hill, and into the front door of the Shanghai.

As usual, there is nobody waiting to seat us, and no crowd to worry about, so we’re free to choose a booth for ourselves. Neko chooses a large U-shaped one along the side wall, roughly between the kitchen and the front door. Hisao shoots her a funny look when he sees the booth she has chosen, but she doesn’t ask why.

“I-isn’t this a bit… w-wasteful? There’s only th-three of us.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. It might suddenly get crowded in here and they’ll ask us to move.” She extends her hand to indicate we should choose our seats first. I go left, Hisao goes right, and Neko follows him, leaving him at the bend.

Yuuko appears quickly, giving a deep bow and almost hitting her head on the table in the process.

“Wait, who’s in the library?” Hisao cocks his head slightly. “It’s open, right?”

“I-I don’t know. They told me not to worry about it.” Yuuko looks worried anyhow, but then she always looks worried.

Neko continues to lead. “Two jobs, but one master. At least this keeps them from stepping on each others’ toes, right? Anyhow, we’ll start with coffee and sandwiches all around, thanks.”

Yuuko bows again and disappears.

“One master? What did you mean by that?” Hisao looks puzzled by this, as was I.

“Either way she works for ‘The Yamaku Foundation.’ If they’re going to fight over her, at least it’s internal. Remember that investment and holding company I told you about? They own the Shanghai too – which means, in a way, I own a little bit of this place myself.”

Wait, that’s the same Foundation that lets me go to school here, and gives me an allowance… and Neko is claiming a portion of ownership? Coffee arrives, and I busy myself with sweetening it up.

“I mean, it’s not like I was forced to go here by this,” Neko continues, holding up the short arm while sipping coffee, “any more than Miki is, or you either, I suspect.” She gestures in my general direction. “We’re here for reasons only tangentially related to being broken. I can see, hear, walk, talk, and swim as well as anyone, and I don’t need medical staff hovering in the background. I can’t run or hit a baseball, but that’s only good for an exemption from phys ed. No, I’m here because we were already dumping money into the place. It’s the price of doing big business in Sendai. At least the other two big families have obvious reasons to send their kids here, even if they’ve held sponsorship longer than those kids have been alive.”

I know who she means, and she seems to be waiting to see if I do or not, rather than risk repeating things I already know – like the names Satou and Hakamichi appearing at the top of the list. I didn’t realize Rogers also ranked up there. I also didn’t realize the Foundation owned the Shanghai. Now Yuuko’s double-shifting makes a lot more sense. But… great. Now I have another friend who owns me, if just a tiny bit.

Either Neko likes hearing herself talk, or she’s not as comfortable with silence as I am. “In any case, this one’s gonna make it.” She gives Hisao’s leg a squeeze… or at least I assume that’s what she just did under the table. “And now you know why he’s here.”

“The whole c-class does now. M-Mutou gave a-all of us a s-stern lecture.” Characteristic of him though was the way he made a point of not making it about the particular incident, but about restraint and caution in general when dealing with potentially hazardous situations. I felt better knowing it wasn’t aimed at me, for the most part. Even the bits that were about today’s incident were about finding a better way to separate our desks than brute force.

“Your Saturday classes are more interesting than mine. I would have welcomed the opportunity for a little mayhem. Maybe like tossing someone a charged capacitor or something. Zzzt!”

“Be careful what you wish for, dear, lest you be cursed to living in interesting times.” I’m pretty sure that isn’t an innocent leg squeeze going on under the table any more.

“I n-need to wash my h-hands.” I slip out of the booth, and once I’m far enough away to get an angle, take a glance back to see what they’re doing under the table. What I see surprises me, even though it’s perfectly innocent after all. A stockinged leg is laying on the floor, and she has her… I’d call it leg but that’s on the floor… over his knee, and he seems to be massaging the end of it. Judging by her reactions, I wouldn’t say it’s a totally pleasant experience. No wonder she walks funny. I’d always assumed it had something to do with Miki.

By the time I return, there’s a bowl with some sort of baked pastries we didn’t order. “Wh-what’s this?”

“Yuuko said they’re trying something new. We’re supposed to dip these in our coffee.” Neko does exactly that, and leans in for a bite while it drips into her cup. “They’re hazelnut flavored. Yeah, I think these would sell, they just need to let people know about them somehow.” She raises her voice for the next statement. “Maybe they could use this new technology called a ‘menu.’ Ow, please stop pressing right there. I think I may need another fitting to get a leg better suited to cycling. This one chafes.”

I try one of the rolled pastries myself. First I take a bite without the coffee, and find it sweet. It’s almost too sweet. Let’s try it the way it was recommended then... alright, I can see why that’s the way to go. The end tumbles into my coffee as I watch, but I suppose that’s considered acceptable collateral damage. Then I hear a loud boom, and the lights flicker momentarily.

“The fuck?!” Neko exclaims. I’m already facing the front window, but Hisao turns his head and Neko has to turn completely around and ends up on her knees. It’s getting very dark outside, very quickly, and all three of us are in nothing more than school uniforms. This could get ugly.

Hisao shakes his head. “I guess this means we probably won’t make it to dinner. Think we should call and let them know?”

Neko shakes her head. “I think that rattled their windows just as much as it did ours. They’ll figure it…” The whole restaurant goes dark. “...out. I wonder if they…” The thunder hits. “...just got that, too.” The sound of torrential rain arrives while the thunder is still echoing in the distance.

There’s a yelp from the kitchen, followed by the sound of pans crashing to the floor. Neko seems to dive under the table, but she’s just retrieving her leg. “They might need our help right about now.” She slides out of the booth, pulls out her phone to use as a weak flashlight, and heads for the kitchen. “Are you coming?” She doesn’t wait for an answer.

Hisao turns toward me in the near darkness. “I think we’ve just been Shanghaied.”

Back in the kitchen, it’s not quite the disaster we were expecting. The ovens are still operating. Once they’re turned off they probably won’t relight, but at least the current batch of baking won’t be ruined by the interruption. The pans that crashed to the floor came from the wall, struck by Yuuko’s head. Nothing was knocked from the stove, which also continues to operate. The striker may not, but matches or a lighter will work for the moment.

Yuuko sits in a chair behind the counter with an ice pack pressed to her head. It seems she got clipped by a few of those pans on the way down. I don’t see any blood, but it’s too dark to be completely sure.

“A-are you alright?” I crouch to get on an eye level with her, and I can see her give me a weak nod. “Could you use a w-wet towel or s-something?”

“No, but a couple dry ones would be nice. My fingers are starting to freeze.”

There’s nothing to be done but to huddle inside and wait for the storm to pass, whether we have power or not. We could have chosen more suitable roles though – Hisao should be the one nursing Yuuko, Neko should be the one hunting for flashlights, and I should be the one helping with cooking in the dark. Oh well, it is what it is.

After maybe twenty minutes in the increasing dark, the cook shuts down all but the two occupied ovens and declares the place closed. We still don’t have any lights, except for what spills out of the propped open bathroom doors. At least the emergency lighting in there is working, but it won’t hold out much longer.

We never did get our sandwiches, but when the weather breaks long enough to risk the walk, we head out anyhow. The cook is good enough to supply us with personal meat pies to thank us for our assistance, so we won’t go hungry, but this was most likely not what Neko had planned for lunch. We head back toward the campus, which is distinctly dark. Oh well, we can sit in the dark at the Shanghai, or we can sit in the dark at school – or at least so I believe.

“Well, we have food at least, and it’s still hot.” Neko is playing the optimist. “I’m pretty sure I can come up with some light entertainment, but we need to stop by my assigned room before heading to the one I actually sleep in.”

“M-maybe I should l-let you two have your s-space.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it! We’re going to have light and music, there’s no point in making you sit in the dark. We probably should walk more and talk less though.” Her upward glance is enough explanation.

Back at her room, Hisao and I stand in a crowded space – three people and two bicycles – holding our phones up for light, while Neko searches for something. “Son of a bitch, isn’t that how it always goes? Can’t find a torch in the dark.” She slides bins out from under the bed and starts going through them. “Aha!” There’s a soft click, but nothing happens.

“Batteries dead?” Hisao asks.

“It’s not known for holding a charge. Here, you do it.” She presses the object into my hand. “Just start cranking, ten or fifteen seconds should do the job.” It lights up with the very first turn, but I do as instructed. It also is making a hissing sound.

“Sh-should it be m-making that n-noise?”

“Oh, that’s why it was flat. I must have left the radio on. In your hand you hold both of the solutions to our problems, darkness and boredom.” Now that she’s pointed it out, I see the antenna and small dials barely extending from the shell, and switch the radio off. “Shine it into the bins though, we could still use a few more torches.”

By the time we get back to the boys’ dorm, we’re well-armed against the darkness with one flashlight apiece and the crank light-radio combo. We’re also armed against boredom, with a deck of cards, a bag of dice, and a box of poker chips. Finally, we’re armed against the weather, as both Neko and I have fetched umbrellas. I’m carrying hers, since it’s not currently raining and she preferred to wield her flashlight to watch for puddles.

Hisao gets his door unlocked with plenty of light provided by the other two of us, and we step inside but leave our wet shoes in the hall. We should be the only ones around today. He crosses to the fridge and pulls out… two bottles of wine? Now there’s some relief from boredom. “We’ll have to cook these once the power comes back on, they probably don’t do well being repeatedly thawed out.” He holds up the same bag of gyoza we used two days ago, then tosses it back inside the fridge.

When the wine is poured and it’s time for me to start the toast, I’m ready. “I’d l-like to toast to b-both p-preparation and quick th-thinking.”

Neko takes the second spot this time. “I’ll toast to getting home dry – except our shoes, but it worked out better than I expected.” As if in acknowledgement, we see a lightning flash through the window.

Hisao takes the anchor leg. “I’ll toast to just being here to toast with you. I was reminded not so long ago that it’s never guaranteed. I could be mauled by wild furniture at any moment.”

We lift our glasses in silence, and tuck into our meat pies. After a bite or two, Neko removes her prosthetic leg, then pins the light between her knees and gives it a burst of cranking before switching the radio on and extending the antenna with her teeth.
Tinny-sounding J-pop has never seemed so good.
-----------------
NEXT CHAPTER

Regarding hiatus:

I read just about everything on this board, however I lurk because I seldom feel like I have anything meaningful to say. I read and have very much enjoyed your story - you've given us a level of intrigue that I don't think anyone else has created here, any you deserve a heartfelt thanks. I wish I would have done more to validate your efforts. I hope many others will reply similar thoughts, and that maybe you will some day reconsider.

Thank you

This story was never my cup of tea, so I only read a few of the posted excerpts of Book 1 before dropping it from my reading list, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I will say that, first and foremost, you should always be writing because you want to (or, better yet, need to), rather than because someone else is showing interest. I, too, wish you luck with your VN work, and hope that you find whatever motivation you need for future endeavors.

dewelar wrote:This story was never my cup of tea, so I only read a few of the posted excerpts of Book 1 before dropping it from my reading list, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I will say that, first and foremost, you should always be writing because you want to (or, better yet, need to), rather than because someone else is showing interest. I, too, wish you luck with your VN work, and hope that you find whatever motivation you need for future endeavors.

Maybe that's because (other than Lilly's brief appearances) nobody drinks tea in this story. It's all coffee coffee coffeeeeee... and methamphetamine.

I've enjoyed writing this particular story, but the problem is that I can't sell it, and it's taking up a large chunk of my time that could be used for things that do perhaps hold commercial value. They may not pan out either, but something-% is better than nothing-%.

A big part of the reason it is taking up so much time is that level of intrigue. And it was about to get a bunch crazier. It still might. We've had some setbacks on the other project of late, and I'm not willing to try to pitch a route until their equivalent of "Act 1" is better fleshed out. Until then, I really have nothing better to do than to continue this story... but I'll set it aside at a moment's notice for "real work".

EMI

“You’re getting there. Still not ready for prime time, but you are definitely improving.” Daisuke puts the guitar back on its stand. “So no, I don’t think you’re crazy. I think this just might work. Do you still have that vocal coach available?” There is a rumble outside loud enough to rattle the balcony door.

“Umm, she’s still out of the country a few more days. She left to visit family, some sort of emergency.”

“Wait… that scenario sounds familiar. When you put me on the phone with her, I knew the name sounded familiar too. There are a lot of people named Sato and Satou floating around though, so I didn’t want to assume anything. She wouldn’t happen to be Akira’s little sister, would she?”

“That’s her, but I wouldn’t call her little. Why, do you know her?” The world seems to be getting smaller every day.

“Not really, but I know of her. I saw the two of them together a few times when we were in law school. It’s kinda hard not to notice her in a crowd. She stands out even more than Akira does, and that’s saying something. Like, literally stands out, a mane of long blond hair floating over almost everyone else’s heads.”

“Yep, that’s totally her, for sure. She’s tall to start with, but the way she puts her hair up makes her seem even taller, unlike me. I could get lost in a crowd even if I put up my arms and wave.”

“I thought your way of dealing with crowds was to be faster than them.”

“If we’re going the same direction maybe. I can’t pick my way through a crowd of people moving in separate directions at once very well though. Either I’m going to run somebody over, or get run over myself.” Or worse. “It has happened before. That time you stepped between Kenny and Akira, I couldn’t have done that. I watched you change direction from straight ahead to straight sideways in one step, more than once.”

“Then I guess it’s a good thing we fired him. I shouldn’t have had to do that, and neither should you. The switch to a core duo for the band has had good and bad sides. It’s sure a lot harder on me, but now we can bring in guests. Apparently Danny has big plans for our next recording session. He wants a string quartet, and a horn section, and a koto player, and who knows what else. About the only thing that’s safe to assume is that he won’t be calling any drummers. He made a joke about covering Koenjihyakkei… or at least I think it was a joke. I won’t be totally surprised if it turns out it wasn’t.”

“The people who do that weird opera-rock in a made-up language? At least you’d make a fan out of Rin, that’s like her favorite band ever. I don’t get it, but she sure seems to love them. I walked in on her dancing to some song about freezing rats or something. Wouldn’t that take a bunch of extra people though?”

“Not with the magic of multi-track recording. Danny is competent on just about anything he touches, so he’d probably do any keyboards himself, or I’d cover the parts on my Stick. He could play sax too, if he wanted to do their recent stuff, or if we start turning into Soft Machine. He’s not just a drummer, he’s a musician whose best instrument happens to be drums.”

I have no idea who Soft Machine is, but the concept sounds… not very useful. Unless it’s for pillow fighting or something. “Maybe you should cover Bone Machine. That sounds like a lot more fun than any Soft Machine.” I give him a wink and a nudge.

HISAO

“No tone, no feedback, nothing. If they were running on backup power, it has already run out. Mute or not?”

“Might as well, one less thing to worry about later.”

I check the position of the button and put the handset back on its cradle. “I’ll have to take that phone to the new room.”

Hanako looks back and forth at us as if we had suddenly started speaking Swahili or something. “Wh-what’s so sp-special about it?”

“Thanks to our paranoid neighbor, we get to choose whether or not someone can listen in on the room.” Neko gestures toward my door. “Not right now of course, since the whole system seems to be out with the power, but under normal conditions, anyone with access can listen to any phone on the campus at any time.”

“And h-he told you a-about this?” Hanako looks a bit skeptical at Kenji willingly sharing this information with us, or maybe particularly with Neko.

“No, love, I told him. Being on the Emergency Response Team has its benefits, and one of them is knowing how to take control of the phone system. Purely for emergency purposes, of course.” It’s always intriguing to watch Neko talk with her hands, even though she only has the one. She moves as if there were an invisible hand on the end of a short but otherwise normal arm.

“That’s n-not how he has b-been using it.”

Neko just shrugs. “I suspected he’d go a bit crazy with it. I wonder if he knows the switchboard operator can see the origin and destination of every open tap. He probably didn’t read that far. That’s why I made him render our phones immune before I gave him the keys to the castle.”

The door to the hallway is open since we have the place to ourselves, but the air is still and humid without any forced ventilation. Maybe it’s also the wine warming us up, but we’re all starting to sweat after finishing just the one bottle between the three of us.

“Do you think maybe there’s somewhere on this campus that’s both dry and well-ventilated?” I fan myself for emphasis. “It’s getting just a little bit muggy in here and I don’t think opening the window is going to help much – nor does it seem like a very good idea when the rain likes to come down sideways. Either that, or maybe if we can’t get power, we could go somewhere the power is still on.”

“Hmm, I suppose we could request pickup service, considering the weather and that we only have two bicycles anyhow. Even if the power is out there, which it probably isn’t, we have a generator.” Neko turns to Hanako. “What do you say? We have a hot tub, a snooker table, more wine than you could shake a stick at, and they’re expecting two for dinner anyhow. There will be enough for one extra, I’m quite certain.” She already has her phone in her hand, awaiting an answer. “It’s either that or sit here and suffocate. Or, I suppose we could go swim to cool off.”

“I c-can’t swim.” Hanako looks ashamed by this confession.

“Don’t feel bad, I couldn’t either a month ago. I thought I could, but now I know better. You’ve got an expert here, if you’re inclined to learn.” I tip my head toward Neko. “I am beginning to suspect she’s half mermaid.”

“No, just a quarter. Pops is half.”

“Still, it’s in your blood, and you don’t mind sharing what you know. The two options aren’t mutually exclusive either, there’s a pool at the house as well. Besides, won’t all the shower water be cold by now, or lukewarm at best? That could make washing up afterward less than refreshing.”

“Not sure. You could find out, if it matters that much to you.” She turns back toward Hanako. “I’m all in favor of getting out of here, the only question is whether they should expect two, or three. You don’t want to stay by yourself, do you? I mean I’d be happy to lend you the radio, but that’s still not much for entertainment.”

“I-I’ll be in the w-way.”

Both Neko and I laugh at the same time. “Do you know…” Neko starts, as we speak at the same time. She lets me do the talking.

“Have you heard anything about this house? Two stories, five bedrooms, an enclosed swimming pool. If there aren’t enough beds to go around, there are two very large couches in the living room, one in her room, and one more in the office. The dining room is designed to seat ten, and six more fit around the kitchen table. It’s hard to be in the way unless you actually try.”

“I’ll make the call.” Neko thumbs her phone, shakes her hair out of the way, and holds it to her ear. “Hi Mum. I don’t suppose it would be too much to ask if we could get a pickup today?” Pause. “Oh, that will be fine. Should we plan on…” Pause. “Alright, I’ll let them know.” Pause. “Yeah, we’re a party of three, it looks like.” She is taking Hanako’s ambivalence for consent. “We should still fit easily enough, it’s only three kilometers.” Pause. “Will do, and thank you.” She hangs up. “I have to call Ben, they’re out driving.”

“In the rain?”

“Would you rather learn to drive in the rain with your instructor at your side, or by yourself? It makes sense.” I suppose it does. She thumbs at the phone again, and does the same hair-flip as before. “Hi Ben, Mum told me to call you directly to request pickup whenever you’re swinging back this way.” Pause. “Oh! Okay, I guess we’ll meet you at the gate then. See you in ten.” After hanging up, she addresses us. “They never left the area, they’ve been driving in a circle around Moniwadai for the last half hour. You have time to pack overnight bags, but not much more than that. I have to go back to my room to pack a bag.” I know she actually doesn’t – anything she really needs is duplicated at the house – but I play along. “See you in ten minutes.”

She stands and hops to where she tossed the leg aside, first putting the probably still wet shoe back on it, then fitting it quickly. She helps Hanako to her feet, and I notice she uses both arms to do so. Hanako does not hesitate to take hold of her hand and arm for leverage getting to her feet, and they leave together.

All I have to do is replace whatever in my bag got worn but not washed the last time. Otherwise, I have a full set of travel toiletries ready to go. I also grab two sandwich bags of medications and toss them inside. I sure hope Hanako doesn’t break and run when she sees who is at the wheel.

I’m first to the gate, although I make a point of not arriving until between eight and nine minutes have passed. I can see a light in the distance headed this way though. I just wonder if there’s one person behind it or two. I see the large black umbrella next, then finally I see two shapes huddled beneath.

The blue Fit pulls to the curb, and I walk over. The window rolls down only when I’ve got it sheltered by the umbrella. “They’re right there, I can see them. Thanks for coming out.”

Miki yawns. “Whatever. I just want to get back. Driving in rain is hard work.”

“Done properly, it should be hard work.” Ben advises from the other front seat. “I’m glad you agree.” The window rolls up, and the girls continue to advance, Neko noticeably clinging to Hanako for balance in the wet conditions. I gesture them around to the right side, figuring it’s probably best to not attempt to seat Hanako directly behind Miki. Hanako jumps across the small stream that is the low side of the curb, and offers her hands to help Neko across, to hop over the rushing water.

Neko indicates that Hanako should enter first. “You may be taller than me, but you’re also narrower.” She gives me a look and I hustle around to my own seat. I guess the plan is to pin Hanako between us before she has a chance to panic.

We’re all in and already belted before the driver lets her presence be felt. “Fancy meeting you here.” She pulls away from the curb immediately.

“I-I…” Hanako’s eyes are wide with fear. Neko reaches across and grabs her hand, and I grab the other.

“It’s alright,” I can hear her whisper. “We’ll be there soon, and you won’t have to worry about her.” This seems to cause a slight decrease in Hanako’s panic level.

As we make the turn onto the road leading up to the ranch, Miki takes it unnecessarily fast and drifts around it, the rear end of the car (with us in it) sliding around alarmingly.

“You had better not pull stunts like that on Tuesday, Miura, or they will fail you on the spot.” Ben sounds less than irate though. I suspect he taught her how to do that, and likely just today.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Difference between theory and practice, and all that. I’ll behave.” She downshifts for control as we hit the steeper part of the hill, then we’re into the mud. She parks as close to the house as possible before shutting the car off.

“I still need to park it,” Ben says.

“Let it sit, maybe some of the mud will come off. It’s not like it’s going to get any dirtier from the rain.” She forces the door open with her knee and opens her umbrella as fast as one hand will permit, walking into the house ahead of us and not looking back.

Neko gives Hanako’s arm a squeeze. “It looks like she’s as happy to see you as you are to see her.”

SUZU

I hear footsteps coming up the stairs before I see her trademark beret.

“Well happy day! I might actually have a contest here. I’ve heard you’re pretty good.” I re-rack the reds, since I was just practicing. I take the fact that she spots all the colors accurately to mean she knows the game. “Do you wish to break off, or shall I?”

“Y-you can have the b-break.” Thanks, it’s such an advantage.

I clip the corner of the pack, barely scattering some of the reds on the opposite corner and just putting a sliver of space between those on the right. Although I don’t do such a great job keeping the cue in baulk, I don’t see that she has much opportunity.

She circles the table twice before selecting a shot. It looks like she’s playing a shot that, if missed, still leaves me without an easy response… but she doesn’t miss, one of the few separated reds taking off at a sharp angle and straight into the corner over a meter and a half away. The cue finds its way back through the D, leaving shots on the colors that are difficult at best. That’s the downside to playing a half-safety shot, sometimes you screw yourself.

She seems to realize the hopelessness of the situation, if her sighs are any indication. Finally she settles for a stop shot on brown, making just the tiniest tap to block all worthwhile shots on the reds. “One.” She writes it down on the chalkboard, which nobody else ever bothers with.

Unless I want to open the pack, which I don’t, I’m forced to work off the side rail. I’ve always hated these, and have difficulty knowing exactly where everything will end up. The margin of error is also immensely reduced, and the exact angle the rail kicks the cue ball is dependent on how hard I hit it. I get this one right, or close enough anyhow, and leave her in a position nearly as bad as she left me. It looks like we’re both digging in for a safety battle.

Three shots later, I’m back at the table and have finally forced her into the mistake of clipping the pink on the cannon, scattering a few reds in the process. I pot one, take the black, pot another, take the black again, and play another safety. I’ll just take what she’s willing to give me. “Sixteen.” She dutifully notes this on the chalkboard.

She’s meticulous, and she’s accurate, but she doesn’t have the vision to make truly great safety shots. The next time I pick up a red, I strike with great force and topspin cannon my way into the pack. Then it’s black, red, blue, red, brown, safety. “Nineteen.”

But my safety was not quite good enough either – she must realize she’s not going to beat me in a defensive game, and goes on the attack. She pots the red I last used for my safety, and to my surprise takes a very long shot on the pink, potting it in the yellow corner with authority. The next shot breaks up the remaining reds as well as keeping her on the table to pick up red, blue, red, black, and leave me with only some very long shots off her safety. I could pot one, but I could just as easily miss and leave the red hovering over the pocket for her.

Ordinarily I would play aggressively here, but I’ve seen that she can punish me for any mistake I might make. I drive one of the loose reds to the top rail and screw the cue all the way back to the baulk rail. That leaves her with one low-percentage shot which, if she misses, could hand the momentum back to me. She misses, but rattles the pocket hard enough to kick the ball free and not leave it hanging. Now there are two reds hovering near the top rail.

I find a way to pot a red through the narrowest of gaps, and follow it with pink, red, blue, and just for good measure, another red, leaving the cue ball near the center of the table as I just give the blue a little love tap like she did earlier. All three remaining reds are near the end rails, two at the top and one at the bottom.

She tries to do the double-kiss off the rail and misses just enough to leave the cue ball near the side pocket. All I really need to do is pick up the remaining reds, and she’ll need a snooker to catch me. There goes one, and then the black. I miss the makeable shot on the other red on this rail, but luckily leave it hidden behind the black. She kicks off the top rail and taps this red down into baulk, leaving the cue to stop in that spot.

She’s down by thirty-five. If I can take just one of those reds, that will leave me up thirty-six with thirty-five left on the table. Conversely, she needs them both. Time for a bit more defense. I do the double-kiss off the rail, not terribly concerned about the exact trajectory of the cue as long as it gets well away from the baulk rail. Unfortunately, I do the one thing I absolutely did not want to do, and watch in horror as the cue ball rolls all the way down to, and into, the top corner. “Four for you.” I fetch the cue ball and resist slamming it to the baize, instead merely banging it into the cushion, angry with myself for not seeing that. Now, basically, if she can run the table, she wins the frame.

“Th-thank you,” she says demurely as she takes the cue ball from my hand. The width of the D is sufficient to let her get an angle to pot the same red I was just toying with, and she leaves herself in position on the brown, potting that as well and leaving herself lined up on the final red. She slams the last red home, running the cue ball around three rails to give her a simple shot on blue. My only hope now is that she misses something trying to clean up, but everything is spotted and there is nothing tricky about it as she works her way around. “My frame,” she confidently proclaims as the black rolls into the corner.

This is going to be fun.

***

After splitting the next two frames, she’s had enough for now. She’s good, but it’s not an ‘effortless mastery’ kind of good, and I can see the toll it takes on her. As she leans back in the chair, using the heel of the cue against the floor to maintain her balance, Neko pops up at the top of the stairs.

“C’mon, we have a pitcher of sangria that’s not going to drink itself.”

***

“Nah, she’s here on business – the business of getting a license, mostly, but also she’ll be running operations while Mum’s in Peru over the break. That gives her less than a week to learn everything, so I expect you won’t have to deal with her very much.”

“I-is that l-legal? I mean, sh-she’s…”

“Underage? Strictly speaking, it’s probably not, but the chances that anyone is going to ask the question are somewhere between slim and none, at least if they want another delivery next month. If you want to do business with this family, you respect our agents like they’re family too – particularly her.” Neko raises her glass. “For respect!”

Abe and I have stuck with the sangria, but all three of them are into the wine, and if I had to take a guess I’d say Neko and Hisao had a little of the baked goods as well. We raise our glasses and drink.

“How about a little love for the cook? I could use an extra hand or two over here,” calls Ben from the far side of the kitchen. I give Abe a nudge, but Hanako is already out of her seat. I can see them quietly conversing, then she’s washing her hands. “I guess we know who’s doing the dishes tonight.” Abe’s momentary delight at being relieved of duty pops like a balloon, then he suddenly seems to have an idea.

“Hey, you wanna come with me to check up on the horses?”

“Didn’t you just…” I feel him squeeze my leg. Oh. Duh. “Sure, I would love to.” We grab towels and rubber boots on the way out.

«Close, naked, skin on skin
Tears are falling, tears of joy
Her first boy, his first girl
Makes a change

In a world full of nothing
Though it's not love
It means something»