Story Title: Weekend at Hakamichi’s (complete)
Author: Asoko_Desu
Type: Side-Story - part of
"Adventures in the 'Emiverse'"
Status: One in a series
PoV-characte: Tetsu
Pairings: Shizune x Tetsu, but not really
Warnings: Verbal abuse, suggestion of physical violence
Remarks: It’s Jigoro at his finest - what do you expect?
October 06, 2007 - Saturday
“You kids ready to go?” A blonde woman sitting in the driver’s seat of the car called out — this must be Akira, Lilly’s sister, thought Tetsu.
Tetsu interpreted for Shizune and they nodded affirmatively. Lilly was already in the front passenger seat and Shizune hopped in behind Akira; Tetsu was left to load their luggage into the trunk — Lilly couldn’t be expected to, and Shizune said lifting things wasn’t ladylike.
Tetsu and Shizune sat in the back seat together — Tetsu looked at Shizune, but she signed [ Not here ] then proceeded to ignore him for the rest of the trip.
“`Not here`?
What `Not here`?” Tetsu was confused, but Shizune seemed to have that effect on people — like she ran on an entirely different set of expectations from the rest of the world.
After a short drive, they arrived at their destination and parked — “We should share phone numbers in case we need to get in touch,” suggested Akira - that done, they exited the car.
“Have fun,” said Akira - her face flat and betraying no emotion. Tetsu raised an eyebrow — “Oh - we’re coming in, we just won’t be staying long.”
Tetsu noted that Akira wasn’t one much for explaining themselves just to fill a void in conversation.
Getting out of the car, Tetsu ran straight into an androgynous child with green hair, dressed like a doll you’d win at a carnival - yellows, reds, and nothing matching.
“I’m Hideaki — Do you even talk or are you mute like my sister?”
Tetsu inhaled — he closed and re-opened his eyes while exhaling slowly.
“Did you just imagine facepalming?”
Tetsu shrugged — this is going to be a long weekend if we’re babysitting Shizune’s precocious little sister.
“That’s so,” Tetsu allowed, being either too annoyed or unimpressed for his clinical shyness to bedevil him.
“People do that a lot around me. Come inside - Father is waiting.” Hideaki turned and and went back inside - his step had little spring to it.
Inside, Akira and Lilly made a business-like greeting — polite, but brief — to a short-ish man. They then disappeared into the house.
Tetsu caught a name - `Jigoro`. “I guess that’s `Father`,” Tetsu thought — a man, about 5’7”, wearing a garish short-sleeved shirt; he looked like he worked out obsessively, but also looked like he regularly skipped leg day. He sported a blue mullet and eyebrows like twin ink drawings of Mt. Fuji. He carried around a katana in his left hand - as much as Tetsu had seen, at least - constantly.
Shizune was standing off to to the side — [ Did you get any of that? ] asked Tetsu.
[ Some - I wish I had not - I was tutored in lipreading throughout my childhood and punished if I got it wrong - it’s hard not to despise a skill which - while useful - was learned under duress ]
Tetsu nodded.
[ Let me know if you want me to interpret for you ]
[ No need - I find ignoring my father to be the best - indeed only - winning strategy - as you’re about to find out .. ]
“What kind of wastrel has my daughter dragged into my house this time? At least it’s not that loudmouthed fool that usually follows my daughter like a lost puppy.”
“What a tool,” thought Tetsu.
“You - with the sour face - what’s your name? Do you talk? I assume you can hear, but your manners are uncouth.”
Tetsu raised one eyebrow slightly, but said nothing.
Jigoro paraded up and down the living room, holding the katana in its saya upside down, warming to his rant.
“What a world is this where children feel entitled to openly wear expressions of disdain for their betters? What insolence!”
Tetsu turned to Shizune —
[ Does your father ever wind down? ]
[ He’s just getting started ]
[ Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re lucky you can’t hear him ]
[ That’s not funny - also, there’s no escaping him when he’s on a roll ]
“You can stop trying to cosy up to my daughter any time you like, impertinent child!”
[ If I try to talk to him he’s just going to make fun of my Japanese, isn’t he? ]
[ He speaks English, they tell me ]
“What the hell,” thought Tetsu - “I clam up in front of people who’s opinion I care about; let’s see how far the flip side of that will go.”
Tetsu looked down, having at least five inches on Jigoro —
“My name is Tetsu - nice to meet you too” said Tetsu, flatly, in English that felt surprisingly rusty - it had been months since he last spoke it, Tetsu realized, and had to think a moment to get back into it.
“Oh! It can talk! Please, favour us more by introducing yourself!”
“
It,” Tetsu thought, aware Shizune was watching the two of them at enough of a distance to see both at once.
“Can she lip-read English from the side?” Tetsu shrugged mentally - he’d tell her about it later if she couldn’t.
“Thank you for having me over.”
“Over? Over what? You mean inviting you into my house? Well I didn’t - my daughter invited you; not me.”
This fellow did a remarkably good job of pushing all of Tetsu’s buttons in rapid succession —
“Shizune. Her name is Shizune.”
“You think I don’t know my own daughter’s name?”
“
Fuck it.” Thought Tetsu.
“I was starting to wonder.”
That got Jigoro’s attention - Jigoro’s hair bristling, he stopped cold and stared at Tetsu.
“What did you say?”
[ Your daughter’s name is Shizune ]
“Don’t wave your hands at me - you’re not some parlour magician!”
“Ah, he utterly doesn’t sign - doesn’t recognize his own daughter’s name. Colour me surprised,” Tetsu thought, without surprise.
“That’s a lovely katana you’ve got.”
“Yes — it’s mine and I’m sure you’ve never seen one of such quality up close - or ever.”
“Too bad you’re holding it wrong.”
“I — What??”
“It’s upside down - draw the blade holding it like that and you’ll slice your fingers off.”
“You would presume to instruct ME??”
“Not at all — I just want to get my camera before you do.”
Jigoro was apoplectic — face beet red and speechless, he opened his mouth and closed it with a snap, twice, then turned and stormed from the room - knocking his laptop off of the arm of a savagely over-stuffed armchair as he did.
[ That was a record - I didn’t get all that - what did you say to him? ]
[ I told him he was an idiot - in not so many words ]
[ No you didn’t - he loves when people call him an idiot - that’s when he attacks because he thinks his opponents are under-estimating him - leaving is the last thing he’d do ]
Tetsu sighed - he’d enjoyed the verbal slap-fest, especially since he appeared to have drawn first blood, but it was depressing - he felt his skin had become thinner, dealing with decent people as he’d done over the past several months. Well, whatever — the world outside of Yamaku hadn’t changed a bit it seemed.
[ In English I’m told I have what’s called a ‘smart mouth’ — do you know the idiom? ]
[ It means someone who taunts, teases, and is generally irritating with words, I believe ]
[ Sort of - it mostly means someone who’s insolent and sarcastic - and good at it; don’t forget that last part ]
[ I won’t ]
[ I told him he was holding his katana upside down and - holding it like that - he’d slice his fingers off if he drew it ]
[ And? ]
[ That I wanted to get my camera if I was going to be there when he did ]
Shizune looked at Tetsu in absolute shock, eyes wide — [ And he didn’t threaten to punch you? ]
[ Good luck with that - I don’t meet up with Miura every morning in the weights room before class to play chess ]
Shizune turned a shade of pale — she had respected Tetsu’s willingness to stand up for himself, but hadn’t anticipated he might have a temper. Nothing in Tetsu’s file suggested anything of the sort, but nothing in Tetsu’s file said much about his time before Yamaku, other than his medical condition and his marks. Her father worked out regularly, but Tetsu had height, weight, and youth on his side. It dawned on Shizune that, despite having done her research, she didn’t know Tetsu well at all.
Unexpectedly, her sense of unease passed quickly; a thought came to her unbidden — “Be nice to see father on the receiving end of a beating for a change.” She savagely repressed the giggle the idea brought.
Tetsu looked over at the armchair and changed the topic — [ I hope nothing important was on that laptop; it took quite the hit ]
[ His memoir is on it ] Shizune offered, flatly. [ He’s been working on it for a year ]
Tetsu looked over at the laptop - one corner had cracked open where it had hit the floor.
[ Was, you mean ]
Shizune fidgeted with her fingers — this was unusual for her. Tetsu looked at her questioningly.
[ This is not good ] she signed, slowly [ If he’s lost his memoirs there’ll be hell to pay for everyone ]
[ Big deal - he can just recover from backup .. he doesn’t have a backup, does he? ]
[ He says backups are for the weak ]
Tetsu facepalmed.
[ Now what? ]
[ I had hoped he’d be away on business - now — who knows? ]
Tetsu shrugged. Noon was past and he was hungry — [ Anything to eat? ]
[ Maybe? We sometimes have a cook, but they keep quitting - the kitchen’s over there - help yourself to what you find - Father usually just orders in anyhow ]
Tetsu found a couple of cold spring rolls and some dubious sushi in the fridge — “At least the spring rolls won’t kill me if they haven’t gone off - probably.” He was going to offer Shizune one, but she’d left - possibly to patch things up with her father, if that was possible.
Tetsu wolfed the two spring rolls down, dry - no plum sauce to be found — “Beats leaving them for Darth Dipshit” he rationalized. He decided, rather than traipsing through the house - who knew what other members of Shizune’s family he’d run into - he decided to wait for Shizune to re-appear in the living room.
Sinking into a very expensive, soft, and uncomfortable sofa, his eyes were drawn to the cracked laptop where it lay at the foot of Jigoro’s chair.
“I’m going to get blamed for that aren’t I?” and for about the third time in as many minutes, he sighed.
—
Tetsu must have fallen asleep on the sofa because when he was startled by the sound of feet, the sun had gone down appreciably.
Jigoro had returned - sans sword and with his left hand in a bandage.
Tetsu plumbed the depths of his tact and managed not to point and laugh.
“My daughter tells me you repair computers for a living.”
“For a hobby — yes.”
“Can you fix this?” Jigoro dropped the busted laptop six inches to the coffee table - a couple small pieces flew off and wound up under one of the chairs.
“Probably not.. ” Tetsu said listlessly.
“I told her you were good for nothing and I was right.”
“.. but I
may be able to recover the data off of the hard drive — provided you don’t keep dropping it.”
Jigoro opened his mouth quickly - then shut it again very slowly.
“What do you need to do that?”
“A desktop PC or another laptop - mine should do - and assorted parts; I’ll know more once I get into the thing ..”
“Then get started!”
“.. Assuming I get into the thing.” Behind Jigoro Shizune had entered the room.
“Are you trying to hold me to ransom boy? Do you know how many technicians I could have right here right now working on this - better people than you?”
“I don’t know - why don’t you tell me how many technicians you’ve already called and how many turned you down.”
Jigoro’s face coloured — Shizune signed [ Five ]
“Get out,” said Jigoro coldly.
“Gladly.”
[ Your father is kicking me out ]
[ Figured he would - I texted Akira; she’ll be by in a few minutes to pick you up - she and Lilly were heading back to Yamaku anyhow ]
[ Will you be .. ok? ]
[ I know how to handle myself ]
[ You didn’t answer my question ]
“You haven’t left yet - do I need to throw you out bodily? I’d enjoy that.”
“I’m sure you would.” Tetsu was surprised by the tone of menace in his own voice.
[ Coming? ]
[ I .. no ]
Jigoro turned to look at Shizune standing behind him — Tetsu took the opportunity to shoot Jigoro a look that left no question Tetsu would relish treating with Jigoro the way a Pinscher would deal with a rat.
[ If your father wants his manuscript recovered, he knows where to find me ]
With that, Tetsu fetched his overnight bag and left without another word.
—
Back at Yamaku Sunday evening there was a knock at Tetsu’s door —
Tetsu raised an eye at the uninvited spectacle of Jigoro in his doorway, Shizune standing behind him and to his side. Tetsu stood and bowed politely — he spoke and signed with what formality he could muster - “Welcome, please come in - may I offer you tea?”
If Jigoro recognized Tetsu’s insult he didn’t let on, which didn’t seem like his style, so in all likelihood it simply went over his head.
“We won’t be staying - you’re going to fix my computer.”
Shizune, standing behind him, signed — [ He tried re-typing his manuscript into his PC, but it’s hundreds of pages long ]
[ Doesn’t he have anyone who can do that for him? ]
[ His latest biographer - but she quit - and the temp agency won’t send any more ]
“Will you quit that arm waving! Tell me what you charge.”
“I said it’s a hobby.”
“Not even a professional — why am I wasting my time with you?”
“Because, at a guess, I’m your last option without having to go as far as Tokyo, and that would take more time than you’re willing to wait.”
[ Don’t antagonize him — do you know how long it took to calm him down after you left? I don’t want to have to go through that again .. ]
Tetsu neither knew, nor cared - but something in Shizune’s body language suggested Jigoro was likely to make her pay for any overt insolence from Tetsu. Taking advantage of the break in antagonism, Shizune slipped past her father and into the room. It seemed she expected to be ignored, but tried to avoid quick attention-getting movements anyhow.
Seeing the veins standing out on Jigoro’s temples, Tetsu muted his approach somewhat — “If it’s my status that bothers you, then pay me - then I’ll be a professional.”
“Of course I’m paying you - I refuse to be in debt to a child. How much do you charge?”
“How much do you?”
“Ha!” Jigoro scrawled a figure on the back of his business card and flipped it across the table to Tetsu.
“I charge this much per hour - 4 hour minimum,” Jigoro said proudly.
“Fine, then so do I.”
“I’m not paying a boy a man’s wages!”
“The longer you wait, the longer you wait. I’m in no rush - are you? I’ll make you a deal - if I can’t get the data back, don’t pay me. If I can, then pay me my full fee - is your manuscript worth that much to you?”
Jigoro fumed, then snapped — “Fine - agreed. Do it.”
Shizune closed her eyes and thought — “Mother, I wouldn’t have missed that for anything in the world.”
With that, Jigoro dropped a laptop bag on Tetsu’s bed and stormed away. Tetsu took the laptop out and laid it gently on his desk - careful to not let the fragile broken parts wind up on his carpet for his bare feet to find.
Her father gone, Shizune cast a dubious eye at the broken laptop —
[ Are you sure you can do this? ]
[ Absolutely not - I have no idea how damaged the drive is ] Although, Tetsu suspected that the internal shock absorbers had spared the drive from the impact that had ended the display’s life — [ I
am absolutely sure I can try ]
Shizune had a pensive look on her face - not concern, but not total calm either. Tetsu had seen that look on Rin’s face - Shizune seemed to be having an internal debate about something.
[ Tetsu .. ]
[ Yes? ]
[ .. What do you think of my father? ]
[ He gives me no reason to believe he’s a not scoundrel — sorry ]
[ No apology needed .. be careful ]
And with that Shizune left.
—
Before long Jigoro’s cracked laptop lay open and exposed like a mussel in sauce; a stained but clean coffee cup with a magnet at the bottom of it held a handful of screws and Jigoro’s hard drive was nowhere to be seen. In its place was a small black box with blinking LEDs, a power cable, and a data cable plugged into the back of Tetsu’s laptop.
“Man, I’m glad Jigoro was too impatient to wait, this was too easy — if by too easy you mean years of time and effort spent to learn how to extract a drive from a broken machine and mount it in an external IDE to parallel chassis. Drive’s in fine shape - and barely used. It’s mostly empty; just two folders on the desktop - ‘Manuscript’ and ‘Jigoro’s Internet Beauties’. Let’s just leave that second one closed, shall we?”
“I’ll let Shizune know I can install the old drive into a new laptop for him.”
—
Duly delivered by Shizune, Tetsu dusted off the new laptop - he had installed the old hard drive and tested it to make sure the folder was readable. He thought of making a backup of the manuscript for Jigoro as a favour, but that wasn’t part of the contract.
Jigoro hadn’t asked for the old laptop back - perhaps believing it to be worthless - so Tetsu salvaged the memory - both newer and better than what was in Tetsu’s laptop, but compatible. He also kept the new hard drive from the new laptop - Jigoro hadn’t asked for it back either and Tetsu wasn’t about to offer.
—
At the agreed-to time, Jigoro strode up to Tetsu’s room - Shizune was already there, sitting on the edge of Tetsu’s bed, swinging her legs.
“Here you go - all done and tested.”
An altogether disturbing glint was in Jigoro’s eyes; Jigoro snatched the laptop away from Tetsu —
“Ha - I’m not paying you; a child isn’t worth a man’s wages. Let this lesson in adult’s business be your payment.”
Tetsu raised his hands to his cheeks, opened his mouth, and opened his eyes widely - the look of horror on his face was grotesque; Jigoro turned and left - he could be heard laughing all the way down the hall.
Tetsu dropped the look of comic horror the moment Jigoro’s back was turned — looking out his window, Tetsu waited until he saw Jigoro’s car leave the parking lot before turning to Shizune.
Shizune looked at Tetsu in anger, her body shaking. She signed with vehemence —
[ I’m disappointed - you said you thought he was a scoundrel, why did you trust him - you shouldn’t have trusted him! ]
Tetsu looked at Shizune flatly — [ Who said I trusted him? ]
[ .. What do you mean? ]
[ Just swapping out his old hard drive for the new one was free - I said it was a hobby - the password to unlock the BIOS is what he’s paying for ]
[ You locked him out of his new computer .. ]
[ I did him a favour - it’s insecure to not have a password on your computer ]
[ He’ll be furious ]
[ He’ll be back ]
Shizune paused - a secretive, almost childlike look spread over her face —
[ Can I be here when he comes with a cheque? ]
[ Sure - and you can be here when he comes back with cash too — no way I’m taking a cheque after that little stunt ]
A shiver ran up Shizune’s back; Tetsu was right - in comparison to life, played well, chess lacked drama.
[ We could be friends, Tetsu-kun .. good friends ]
Tetsu nodded and looked down at his hands. “Yes — friends,” but he didn’t see himself holding her hands.
[ Tetsu-kun? ]
[ Yes? ]
[ It’s been a difficult weekend — will you comfort me? ]
[ OK .. ]
Tetsu leaned over and gave Shizune a hug around her bony shoulders.
[ Now, let’s go get something to eat - I’m starving ]
--
[ broader context:
Two Body Problem ]
