A/N: This chapter refers to the 5th chapter of the manga "Let's Hold a Bazaar", and the 6th "Anything I Can Do". Contains Spoilers for later chapters! From (Fujimoto) Kiyokazu's POV.
Title: A Regular Day
Rating: K+/T?
Pairing: KiyoKoba
Word Count: 4.528
Synopsis: A regular day in Yomogi Nursery School, as seen by the eyes of its unwavering protector.
.o0o.
I frowned when the first rays of light entered through the window and filled the small room with light. I couldn't even recall what time it was when I finally came home and dozed off, but it certainly wasn't all that long ago by the way my brain was refusing to wake up. Turning away from the light I cracked one of my eyes open to look at the clock set by my futon, groaning when I realized that I might as well get up now because it was almost time to head off to the Yomogi Nursery School.
Pushing myself into a seating position, slightly wobbly, I turned the alarm off since there was no point in it ringing in a couple of minutes anyway. As I got up and became more alert I heard running footsteps a sudden cry and the sound of someone falling over, from the room next to mine.
'Guess that means she must be up, then,' I mused, heading to my closet to pick up some new clothes. It was only then that I realized that I'd slept in my clothes. 'Man, I must've been really tired.'
As I began to dress I took notice of her voice groaning and then saying something, before beginning to hum in happiness.
'Probably talking to herself as usual…'
Just as I finished dressing I heard her skipping towards the door and opening it, somehow managing to fall again. She sure was a klutz. I snatched my bag and made sure my latest paycheck was inside before heading to the door and putting on my shoes as I heard her start skipping downstairs, humming again. Shaking my head I headed out and locked my door, wondering how could she be so lively first thing in the morning.
When I reached downstairs she was already by the gate; no point in trying to keep up her pace, I was too damn tired to run even those few meters between us. I kept walking at my regular pace, and I noticed that I almost did catch up to her along the way. Maybe because my legs are longer? I dismissed the thought; no point in dwelling on it.
When she entered the Nursery School she picked up her pace a little, putting some distance between us again. When I entered the school I could hear a door sliding and her distinct voice yelling out 'a bazaar!!'. I listened to Sayaka's confuse voice before she insisted.
"Let's hold a bazaar, Sayaka-sensei!" she exclaimed in a keyed up voice.
'What the hell is she plotting?' I asked myself.
"What?" I heard Sayaka's now surprised tone.
"We'll hold a bazaar and we'll sell loads of stuff and you'll be able to pay your debt!!" she continued, apparently thrilled at the thought.
'Too bad she doesn't have common sense. Doesn't she realize…?'
"Kobato-chan…" Sayaka continued in a slightly surprised tone.
"If we sell enough stuff, you'll be able to stay here!!" she persisted, happily.
'How can she be that naïve??' I ask myself, slightly pissed.
"You know, Kobato-chan…" Sayaka began in a saddened tone.
'Probably feeling guilty since Kobato's so worked up over nothing. As if a simple bazaar could help raise enough money to pay off the debt to the Yakuza,' I frowned at her thoughtlessness. Couldn't she see that she was hurting Sayaka? I paused by the door.
"If we could make enough to stay off of a bazaar, we would've done it by now," I finished in a sour voice, catching their attention.
"Fujimoto-san…" she whispered, turning to look at me, her smile faltering.
I continued, stepping into the room.
"We hardly have any kids enrolled here in the first place; we're such a small school. Who'd show if we held a bazaar? Nobody'd even know about it." I listed some of the reasons why her plan obviously wouldn't work out at all, before finishing with a plain and discouraging, "There's no point."
When the silence and sudden heavy atmosphere got to me I looked up at her to find her head bowed in depression. I kind of felt bad for her, but I wouldn't take it back; I'm that stubborn. Suddenly she raised her head again, smiling as if nothing had happened in the first place.
"Eheh… You're right. I'm sorry. I got carried away, that's all!" she replied to me, with the fake smile still in place, making me feel that much worse for crushing her hope. I was frozen on the spot.
'I'm such an idiot… it's not like she knows, and with that childish personality and no common sense whatsoever, it's not like she could help but come up with that kind of idea, even though it's pointless,' I berated myself for hurting her feelings, though why was I worried about that eluded me.
"I'll go sweep up out front!" she called out as she ran by me, out of the room, fake smile still plastered in place.
The sound of the door closing behind her seemed to eco in the room for a few seconds.
"Fujimoto-kun," Sayaka began, in a dismayed tenor, getting up from her chair, "Kobato-chan looked so disappointed just now when you told her there was no point to a bazaar."
'I know that,' I thought, frowning. But she wasn't done yet.
"I know that ultimately, you're right, but… try not saying it quite like that next time, alright?"
I bowed my head in shame, keeping my eyes on the floor. Sayaka walked towards me and pat me on the shoulder lightly, smiling vaguely even though she was still frowning slightly, probably worried about the girl.
"If you're always that blunt, you're going to end up feeling bitter."
'I guess it's too late for that, I'm already feeling sour,' I thought to myself as she walked past me and opened the door.
As she left the room, no doubt heading to Kobato to cheer her up, I picked up the envelope with my latest paycheck from one of my several part-times and left it on top of the account book on her desk before I left to do my chores.
"A bazaar?" the kids chorused.
"We're going to be selling things here at school. You can sell anything at all, something old from home you don't want anymore, something you've made, anything." Sayaka explained to the kids while I entered the room, finally finished with my chores from that day.
'Well, most of them, at least,' I thought as I sat in my chair, by the piano.
"Oh! You mean like we're playing store!" one of the child exclaimed.
"We can bring whatever we want?" another asked.
"If we're playing store, I want to sell crepes!" one more enthused.
"That's a wonderful idea," Sayaka smiled, "I'm going to write a letter telling your families all about it. Make sure you show it to them, alright?"
"Okaaay!!" the joyous choir chanted.
"All right! Now let's all sing our 'See you Tomorrow' song," Sayaka said as I began to play.
See you tomorrow!
I'll be so happy to see you again!
I let my eyes leave the piano, since I knew the keys by heart, and gazed around the room.
All the children were singing and dancing to the song.
My eyes focused then on Kobato.
My frown lessened as I stared at her; I was reassured to see that she no longer wore a fake smile and that she was having fun with the kids. Apparently the talk she'd later had with Sayaka had helped some; or at least I assumed so, since Sayaka had decided to go along with her idea. Well, if anything, the kids looked pretty hyped about it, so maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing.
"What a relief to see Kobato-chan looking so happy again, hm?" Sayaka whispered to me, surprising me out of my gazing and making me lose my concentration, messing up the music, though I carried on anyways.
"Whatever. It's got nothing to do with me," I replied, frowning and slightly pissed at being caught staring at her.
Sayaka giggled at me.
"Looks like growing up hasn't made you any less stubborn, has it?" she smiled.
I promptly messed up the keys again. I didn't need her to remind me of that.
This time the kids noticed my fluke.
"Kiyokazu-sensei messed up! He messed up!" they declared, laughing. I saw Kobato giggling, though I had no idea if it was at my fluke or the kid's reaction.
'Geez, I've sunk low… being made fun of by little kids,' I thought in slight embarrass, blushing slightly.
"Right, right. Let's keep going!" I continued from where I messed up, thinking of Kobato giggling and wondering if she was laughing at me after all.
See you tomorrow!
I'll be so happy to see you again!
I'll see you tomorrow,
I'll be so happy tomorrow!
See you tomorrow!
The kids chorused, but I was far too concentrated in my thoughts to notice.
'She was laughing at me, I'm sure of it,' I made up my mind, not realizing that in my frustration I was playing the song too fast. By then the kids had stopped dancing and were staring.
"H-he's playing way too faaaast!" Kobato cried out, trying to keep up with my frantic pace.
I glanced briefly at her, before I speed it up a notch, amused that she was still trying to keep up. The kids cheered her on and looked at me in amazement. Little wonder, they'd never seen this side of me.
"Go, go, Kobato-chan!"
"Wow, you're fast, Kiyokazu-sensei."
"Kyah~" Kobato kept dancing to the music.
I was honestly surprised that with her far less than perfect coordination she was still able to keep up - I'd expected her to have fallen by now. Finally I decided to take pity on her and finished the music.
She finished dancing as soon as my fingers left the last keys and the kids ran to congratulate her. She laughed and thanked them, smiling brightly.
'Well, at least I made something right today,' I thought, getting up from my seat and helping Sayaka and Kobato to take the kids to the gate, successfully covering up my previous amusement.
Some kids ran along to the waiting parents, while others walked more slowly waiting for their own to show up. I noticed as Kobato waved them goodbye enthusiastically, just as she seemed to do right about everything, while I settled for a more normal pace.
"See you tomorrow, sensei!" some of them enthused while walking out of the gate.
"Right! See you!" Sayaka answered smiling and waving joyfully. Truly, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear nothing was wrong. She was a bit too good at keeping her secrets and I worried about her.
"See you tomorrow! Try and find something for the bazaar!!" Kobato cut in cheerfully, before sobering up a little and turning to face Sayaka, "Er! Which reminds me; what exactly should I be doing to help!?"
I watched from the corner of my eyes as Sayaka pretended to think about it for a bit, but she'd obviously already thought about something. We all turned around to enter the nursery school again, Kobato keeping her attention focused solely on Sayaka, awaiting her instructions.
"Hmm. Why don't you make us up some posters?" she answered smiling at the younger girl beside her, while I kept my usual glower in place, still staring at them from the corner of my eyes.
"Leave it to me!!" she called out, clearly motivated.
As I finished checking out all the rooms and verifying the locks on them I made my way to the teachers room, where Kobato had rushed to a few minutes ago with a bunch of paper sheets, paint tubes and a brush. As I entered the room I noticed her sitting by the table, materials scattered all over it, happily painting away.
Unable to stop myself I leaned over her to peek at her work, and gave it a long appraising look before the only word that came to mind seemed to spill from my lips breaking her cheerful humming.
"Wuzzat?" I asked pointing at one of her master pieces.
"A-a puppy dog," she replied, clearly proud of herself trying to keep the mirth out of her voice.
I paused for a second before pointing to her other painting.
"And that?"
"A kitty," she continued to paint through it, trying to perfect some of the previous brushings. Not that it would do her any good…
"Wow. I feel sorry for all the cats and dogs out there," I exhaled purposefully, heavily, to better convey my disappointment, turning my head away from her 'work of art' with a dissatisfied expression in place.
She quickly turned her head to glower at me; her happiness draining from my obvious less than enthusiastic response to her work. Her cheeks were flushed with what I guessed had quickly turned from innocent girlish pride to embarrassment thanks to my reaction. She growled lightly at me and I refrained from telling her that she wasn't menacing in the least.
Surprisingly, aside from the light growl, she didn't even try to defend her labor from my verbal assault as I thought she would. Maybe she herself knew she didn't drew all that well.
At that moment Sayaka entered the room carrying a tray with what seemed like three steaming cups of tea in it, closing the door behind her, and I took a few steps back from where I was and turned to face her.
"Looks like you're working hard in here!" she commented.
I suppressed the will to roll my eyes at that and let my eyes wander again to Kobato's works. Sayaka came closer stepping in between us, put a cup of tea in front of each of us and sneaked a peak at Kobato's posters.
"Thank you," Kobato answered, both for the compliment and the tea cup, lowering her work onto the table and smiling happily at Sayaka, her bright mood restored.
"Thanks," I replied as well, more absentmindedly. I really didn't have it in me to understand her mood swings.
Sayaka leaned closer putting the tray with her cup down on the table and picked up the closest poster.
"These are your drawings then, Kobato-chan?" she asked as she smiled gently.
"Um! Y-yeah, err, but…" Kobato seemed to panic slightly, frowning in apprehension as Sayaka took the poster and assessed it, choosing then to stare at the floor between us probably worried that she'd react the same way I did, though I was sure she wouldn't even if she didn't like it.
"They're very good!" she praised it finally.
"Uh?" Kobato turned honest wide eyes in her direction, probably shocked. I had to admit I felt rather surprised myself as I stared at Sayaka too.
"What a cute little duck and sheep." She continued, unaware of Kobato's shock beside her and her silent 'What!?' expression.
I shook my head at them before picking up my bag.
"Well, I'd better get going," I announced as Kobato stared at her poster trembling in shock muttering about ducks and sheep's. That had probably hurt her more than my act, since she seemed to yearn for Sayaka's acknowledgment.
Sayaka turned to me in concern.
"Another part-time job?" she asked in dismay.
I kept silent for once forgetting Kobato was in the same room.
I gave Sayaka all my attention; she knew why I did this, it wasn't anything new.
Well, the only thing new was probably my ditching classes to work on several part-time jobs to help. Not that I minded or even planned to tell her, even thought she'd already figured that out. I was young, and could finish my law studies later. The debt came first, and I wasn't going to allow Sayaka to carry this burden on her own. I wouldn't leave her like he had.
"…I saw what you left on my desk for me," she continued, her voice clearly laced with guilt, "Are you sure you're alright with this?"
"It's fine, really," I tried to appease her once again.
"Don't let yourself get overworked," she refuted, still worried, hands clutching unconsciously.
I had to smile at that.
"I won't," I answered, "Just make sure you don't overwork yourself either Sayaka-sensei."
I stared at her for a few more seconds before turning my eyes back to Kobato, finally remembering she was still there and caught her looking at me with a weird dazzled expression on her face.
'Maybe I should help her,' I thought to myself mischievously as I picked up a post-it block and a pen and scribbled some words on it.
Coming closer to her I shoved the little square piece of paper in the top left corner of her poster. She looked at it in confusion before she read what I had written.
I watched as her eyes widened and she blushed in mortification once again, starting to tremble in fury. Patting myself on the back for a job well done, I turned on my heels and walked away. After all, I was getting late for work. I just hopped I could make it on time, or that at least Kinomoto would cover up my absence or think of some excuse I could use.
Still, as I opened the room door and walked out I couldn't help smiling to myself.
I really loved riling her up.
"See you tomorrow," Kinomoto yelled back at me as I walked away from one of our local part-time jobs.
"Right," I answered not looking back, waving my hand so he'd know I'd listened.
The night was pretty cool and there was a small breeze blowing that even made me shiver a couple times during my way back to the apartment, so I speed up my pace a little and dressed my jacket to keep warm and get there faster.
I yawned.
I hadn't even realized I was that tired.
'I guess I'm so exhausted on a regular basis that I can't even tell when I'm tired anymore... Oh well, nothing a good night of sleep can't fix,' I thought to myself as I crossed the street and made my way to the residence.
As I came closer I noticed someone coming on the opposite direction. A woman, judging by the long dress and blowing hair. Odd. It was pretty late; I didn't think I'd meet anyone on my way back in the suburbs, much less a woman on her own. Didn't she know it was dangerous around here this late? I checked my watch.
'Yep, pretty darn late.'
When I looked up again I was finally able to distinguish the lithe form.
Kobato.
'I should have known,' I rolled my eyes, 'Only she would walk around this late and be totally ingenuous about it. She's damn lucky if she didn't run into any trouble.'
I suppressed my sudden will to make sure she was alright. After all, it had nothing to do with me and she seemed fine.
As we came closer I noticed she was looking at the ground, in a preoccupied pose and a worried frown on her face.
'Ok, so maybe she's not as fine as I thought, but there's no need to make a big deal about it. Maybe she's just still pissed at me for my 'bizarre unidentified life forms' joke…' I assumed. But then I thought… 'Was she really that disturbed about it? It was just a joke. No way she'd be this worried about it. I tease her on a daily basis and she never reacted like this before. Did something happen, then? After I left?'
Since she still hadn't noticed me she entered the gate and kept walking on. As I was close enough now so I could listen to her worried voice. She seemed to be talking to herself. Curious, I speed up my pace a bit more but kept it silent, so I could listen.
She was walking up the stairs when I could finally distinguish her words clearly.
"… He really meant all that?" She asked herself in a small voice.
Ok, now I felt guilty. Maybe she was like this because of me after all.
"How could he do something so cruel to children?"
Wait a minute. I hadn't done anything cruel to anyone, much less to the children. I decided to listen more carefully, taking care so she wouldn't notice I was right behind her.
"He might hurt Sayaka-sensei, too." she continued, unaware of my presence.
I frowned. There was only one person I could think of that would hurt Sayaka, and I didn't like that one bit. I clenched my hands in anger, but kept silent. I needed to make sure of whom it was before I could beat up the target.
"Do you think he'll actually close the school down? He must be serious if he came to check up on it, right?"
Her worry had lessened my anger a bit, though the news weren't good at all. Maybe she could be trusted after all, if she was this worried about Sayaka, the kids and the school. Not that I was completely convinced of her innocence, but maybe I could lessen my teasing a bit. Still, I had to know who had shown up at the school while I was away.
"'He' who?" I asked, making my presence known.
She gasped in surprise and turned around to face me.
"Fujimoto-san!" she cried in astonishment.
It looked like she really hadn't noticed me behind her at all. I continued to look into her eyes seriously waiting for her answer.
"W-were you listening to me?" she asked, her voice wavering with what I guessed was apprehension.
"I overheard," I replied simply. No way was she getting out of this. "S'hardly my fault if you're talking to yourself out loud like that."
She frowned at my accusation and glowered at me half heartedly as she stood closer to the wall, her back facing it.
"I wasn't talking to my-"
I cut her off by slamming my left hand open on the wall beside her head, effectively trapping her.
"'He' who, I asked." I stood closer to her, lowering my head so I could look her in the eyes.
She pushed herself against the wall behind her as I advanced, probably trying to make space between us, but I only stopped when there was only a palm of distance between our faces. Her eyes were wide in surprise and there was that weird dazzled look in them again, though I couldn't figure out why. She was a little flushed as well, but I brushed it off; it didn't matter. What did matter was the answer I was still awaiting.
"I-I didn't get his name…" she began, weakly, probably still stunned by my actions, "He was smoking. And he smiled a whole lot." She continued.
'Okiura.' I growled mentally. I was sure she could see the recognition in my expression and the furious gleam in my eyes as I let my hand drop from the wall and walked away from her.
"That bastard," I growled more to myself than her benefit.
She seemed to snap back to reality as I walked away because she turned to me again with worry in her voice.
"Do you know him?" she asked, though I was sure she could guess I did.
I suddenly remembered something.
"Did Sayaka-sensei see? Did she see him?" I asked over my shoulder, frowning at the thought.
"No. I was going to let her know," she said, following me, "He said he would close down the school if she-"
"Don't tell her he showed up," I ordered as I opened the door to my apartment.
"Huh? Wha-? But…" she asked in confusion, obviously distressed.
"Just keep it to yourself, understand?" I scowled at her, entering and slamming the door behind me.
"Fujimoto-san!" she called out in concern.
I didn't answer.
I didn't have anything more to say to her for now.
She seemed to understand it, because she didn't push it or even knocked on my door. I appreciated that. I needed time alone to cool off.
I heard her open her door and close it softly, probably afraid to disturb me. But I pushed that thought away.
The only thing on my mind was how that bastard had showed up at the school and how fortunate it was that Sayaka had apparently already left. Thought the fact that he'd been calling the school nonstop was bothersome as well.
'Damn, this all mess was the reason I wanted to go to Law School in the beginning, and now I still can't do anything to help!'
I punched the wall in frustration.
Kobato yelped on the other side. I'd startled her.
I cradled my fist in my other hand and let myself fall onto my futon.
'Then again, the fact that he's been talking to Kobato can't be good either,' I continued my trail of thought, 'I know he's been calling before, since I check the phone bill, but I haven't answered any calls from him, and it doesn't look like Sayaka has either, so that means that Kobato's the one who's been answering. Damn, she shouldn't get involved on this.' I thought, worried for her naïve nature, 'This is the Yakuza we're talking about, the girl's nuts! And he's met her today. What if he'd hurt her somehow? Just what I needed... One more person to protect from that bastard.'
My cell phone rang in my pants pocket.
I reached for it and checked the receiver. I frowned when I saw who it was.
'Doumoto Takashi calling'
'Great, just what I need after a long day of work; someone nagging me to get back to college,' I scowled and turned on my side, dropping the cell phone on the floor beside the futon.
I didn't feel like answering. He'd say the same things he always did, with his unwavering logic, trying to convince me to go back, and I'd stubbornly refuse to do so, because that'd mean I'd have to leave Sayaka on her own.
I wouldn't ever abandon her.
Not like he had.
Until I could find a way to finally help her pay off her dept, I wouldn't leave her. Not even after that. After all, we were family.
'I should be extra careful and pay more attention to the phone tomorrow. I need to be the one answering. I have a few things to say to the damn bastard.'
I sighed.
'I just hope Kobato keeps her trap shut about it.' I frowned, 'Well, might as well change into something else before going to sleep.'
"Good night." I heard her soft unmistakable voice from the other side of the wall, as if she'd read my thoughts.
I got up and changed into a t-shirt and shorts, promptly crawling back onto bed. After I got myself settled I gazed at the wall that separated our apartments before rolling over and closing my eyes stubbornly.
"Hmph."
...
'Good night.'
A/N: That's it. Hope you liked it. ;)