Disclaimer:: I don't own anything except this story of mine. La Corda D'Oro, as we all know, rightfully belongs to Yuki Kure and to Koei.
Title:"Daddy For Sale!"
Author: tokiya-kun18
Beta-Reader: Pathetic Rainbow (Thank you so much for all the corrections! I appreciate it tons! :-D)
Fan-base: La Corda D'Oro
Pairing: Len Tsukimori/Kahoko Hino
Silently pacing the room, Kahoko stared at the music sheet at hand. Beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she tried to memorize every single note laid down. She sighed, rubbing her temples gently while sitting on the chair. She stared at the sheet dully before putting it down on the table—a sign of temporary resignation. She started tapping the table, boredom plastered on her face. There must be something in here that I can do other than concentrating on music, she thought, exploring her current location with her bright honey-colored eyes.
As if on cue, her phone started ringing. The vibration in the pocket of her trousers surprised her, making her jump half-way out of her chair. Kahoko immediately dug into her pocket, eyeing on the caller's name before answering it. She smiled as she heard a very familiar voice on the other line.
"Good afternoon, Kahoko-san," the caller greeted with her velvety voice. "I hope I didn't disturb you in the middle of your work..."
"No, not at all!" Kahoko exclaimed, earning a soft chuckle on the other side; her smooth cheeks tinged with light pink as she blushed with embarrassment. "But it's definitely a surprise for you to call me—are you not busy?"
"Not today," she replied. "Oh! Right. Before I forget, can you come over to my house today? I want to give you a small present."
"Ehh? Fo-For what, may I ask? Please, you shouldn't have bothered." It's not even my birthday…or is it?, she mentally added.
"This is nothing, really. Nothing at all. It's just a sign of thanks. Please, Kahoko-san…"
Kahoko sighed. "All right. I'll go."
"Great!" The woman beamed. "Meet me at my house… And, you can also eat supper here, if you don't mind. I'll see you later. Take care!"
"Wa-Wait!" Kahoko wanted to ask her about some matter but decided to put it aside; she could ask it later. "Wonderful…but I guess this is all right," she sighed, glancing at the wall clock and noting the time. 4 PM, it read. "Shoot! I have to hurry!" She quickly put her phone back in the pocket of her trousers as she made her way out of the house. "Mou! Ren isn't going to be happy when he realizes I'm late…"
.
.
.
Advancing quickly yet smoothly, Len climbed down the stairs with complete elegance. His ocean-blue locks still wet as he had just finished taking a bath. He eyed his mother plainly, greeting her politely as he always does: "Good afternoon, Mother," he said.
Misa Hamai spun around, greeting him, too, in return. She adoringly smiled at her son, causing him to slightly raise an eyebrow. "Is there anything I can do for you?" Len asked.
"Yes, of course! You can help me put these flowers in a vase." Misa pointed at the bouquet at hand. "And clear up the living room, too." Music sheets were somehow scattered around the place; Len sweat-dropped.
"But don't we have a maid?" he monotonously questioned.
"We do, but I sent them all home yesterday. Maids are still humans, after all; they need a day of rest, too."
"So—" Len began. "So, you help me clean this place up!" Misa finished the sentence for him; he silently groaned. "Is there a particular event I'm missing today?"
"Not exactly. But a guest is going to come over and have supper with us," Misa said, giggling. "Now, let's get to work!" she said, pushing her son out of the room.
.
.
.
"I hate you." A ruby-haired child glared at another, his lips pulled down in a frown and his arms crossed against his chest; for short, he was irritated.
"So do I," the other harrumphed, mockingly smiling at the ruby-haired boy. "You don't have to like me. Eew; gross!" He snorted, the ruby-haired child's glare worsening as he did. He readied himself to attack.
"Why are you bothering me?" Ren says through his gritted teeth. "Go bother someone else; I don't need your company." He turned his back on him, his body shaking in anger.
"Because you're funny!" the blond child, Shinn, laughed. "You're the only one who doesn't have a daddy. Poor you! Your father must hate you and your mother! Ha!"
Shinn's small statement pulled the silent trigger over Ren's control. Ren launched himself at Shinn, hands balled up in fists as he raised it, ready to punch the latter. He was on top of him, with the poor boy struggling effortlessly beneath him. Ren forced his arm forward, his fist almost hitting Shinn's face when their tutor came in, pulling Ren away from the child.
"Let go of me! Let go!" Ren screamed defiantly, violently thrusting punches in the air. The tutor tried to calm him down, throwing brief glances at another tutor who was trying to soothe Shinn's crying figure.
"No. Ren-kun, calm yourself," the tutor ordered, rubbing the back of his student in a failing attempt to cool him down. "Ah, Hino-san! Your mother is here; you don't want to upset her now, do you?" He looked at his student again who had sullenly lowered his head. The teacher sighed and got up, going to the door to greet his student's mother.
"Good afternoon, Kahoko-san! Please seat down and wait. Ren-kun will be out in a minute," he greeted cheerfully, hiding the worry he felt from Ren. He was torn between settling the child and greeting Kahoko. Boy, was this hard!, he thought.
"I don't want to make Mummy sad…" Ren decided; his tutor showed a face of relief.
"Hmm." Keisuke, his tutor, nodded in understanding. "I know. Now, what you did back there was bad. Apologize to Shinn-kun, okay?" He softly patted Ren's head, caressing his face along the way.
Ren groaned in protest. "But it's his fault; he started it!"
"Yet you're the one who almost injured him. Say sorry."
"Fine." Ren walked up to Shinn's crying figure, his face painted with guilt. He rubs one side of his cheek as he opened his mouth to speak. "I'm sorry, Tsuchiura. I shouldn't have done that." Shinn hid behind the tutor's back, his body still shaking and his tears spilling on his face.
"Go away!" Shinn shouted yet Ren followed.
"Hm… This is going to take a lot of effort than I thought," Keisuke muttered to himself. He motioned Ren to approach him. "Let's go meet your mother, okay?" Ren nodded, exiting the room after his tutor.
.
.
.
"Le-Len…" Misa sweat-dropped, watching her son look for the fire extinguisher. "What happened here?"
"Nothing you should worry about, Mother." He held the fire extinguisher up, aiming for the burning wok. "Simply nothing at all."
But of course, we all know that an accident in the kitchen with Len Tsukimori isn't just nothing at all. The vegetable stir-fry Misa was cooking a moment ago had gone to flames. Len was just passing by when she ordered him to tend the food. He could only stare at the blackening contents as he found himself dumbfounded in cooking. Len had somehow spotted the cook book located near the sink and read it; it said to apply a small amount of wine but he made a mistake with the quantity…which brings them to their current situation.
"Do you need some help?" She offered, taking a broom and a dustpan. She needed no answer anyway as she swept the floor by herself.
"Thank you." Len put on the oven gloves, transferring the burnt wok to the sink and letting the water run over the burnt pan.
Who knew household chores were this hard?, they both thought.
.
.
.
Moments of silence—uncomfortable silence—passed by. Kahoko had gotten used to her son's quiet nature, but it felt different now . Something horrible had occurred while Ren was in school—she can feel it. Ren's dark aura wasn't directed at her, so it must be that.
She glanced at her son; he was frowning…which is bad. She had to break the silence to at least know what was wrong.
"Ren, um—you know…"
"Hey, Mummy," Ren cut her mid sentence, his face, serious. "What is Daddy like?"
Kahoko froze; this was the first time he had ask her about his father. She pursed her lips, unsure of how to respond to her son's perturbing question. She sighed, making up her mind to tell him…a tiny bit. "Your daddy is kind, overprotective, sometimes rude and different… in a good way."
"If Daddy is good then why isn't he here? Where is he?" Ren looked up at her mother, eyes staring directly at her own. He really wants to know this; Kahoko sighed. He needs to.
"Your daddy… is working overseas. That's why he can't be here." Lies—all she could tell him were lies.
"I see…" he nodded understandingly, surprising for a young boy like him. He then smiled at her widely. Childish, cute yet approving and honest—it made Kahoko's heart sink deeper than an abyss. It hurt so much for her. "Umm… I have one more question: where are we going?"
"Well, we've just arrived," she smiled at him, trying to hide all pain. Kahoko went up to the door and knocked a couple of times before Misa opened it and gave her a warm hug.
"You came!" she grinned enthusiastically at her. She released Kahoko from the hug and patted the girl's shoulder. "My, how many months have passed since I last saw you?"
"Five or six, I think," cheerfully, Kahoko said.
Ren tugged on his mother's shirt, getting the attention. Kahoko and Misa averted their gaze to him at the same time. "Good afternoon," he greeted softly, hiding behind his mother—Ren can be real shy when it comes to meeting people, the opposite of his earlier self.
Misa then kneels down to match Ren's height. She finds him fascinating and at the same time, intriguingly cute. "Hello there, little boy. What's your name?"
Ren searched for a sign of approval from his mother. "Ren Hino. Pleased to meet you, Miss…?" He courteously responded, asking the name of the stranger talking to his mother so closely, after his mother nodded.
"Misa Hamai. Pleased to meet you, too, Ren-kun," she kept on smiling sincerely, causing Ren to smile back at her. She's nice, he mentally noted.
"I didn't know you have a younger brother," Misa stated almost confused, standing up and leading them into the living room.
The room was brightly lit; the walls were covered with tons of paintings; a grand piano was located near the center; trophies, ribbons, awards filled one huge shelf while compilations of music sheets which appeared like books were stacked neatly in another; the shiny tiled floors sparkled majestically—the whole room was clean; the room was—one way or another—godly. And Kahoko could only look at it with amazement, like a jealous sister of Cain.
"A-actually, Misa-san," she started, fumbling. "Ren isn't my brother…" Kahoko blushed, forcing the words out of her mouth. "H-He's my son."
"Your… son?" Bewildered, Misa exclaimed. Surprised, shocked, devastated? No; Kahoko tried to dig up for the right word that describe what Misa might have been feeling now because of her sudden revelation.
"Ah, I'm sorry; I was just really taken aback, hearing that he's your son," Misa apologized, regaining her previous outlook. "But really now? You're a mother at such a young age," she rubbed Kahoko's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze afterwards. "It must be hard on you..."
"No, it's not. Not much, at least. Besides, I love taking care of Ren." Kahoko playfully caressed Ren's hair, earning a pout from the said child. Kahoko stared at Misa. "Um, so, what was it that you wanted to give me?"
"Oh, that. Maybe later, Kahoko-san. It might spoil the secret," Misa said, winking at her, mysteriously. Tensed: the befitting word for Kahoko's current body situation.
"Why don't you two take a good look around? I'll come back in a moment." Misa made her way up the stairs, leaving both Mother and Child alone…almost.
"Mother, it's finished. If you want to check it, I left it at the coun-" an ocean-haired lad trailed off, appearing from the kitchen. '…-ter."
Silence—awkward silence—with confusion and tension filled the enclosed area.
"You must be the guest Mother had talked about," Len started off awkwardly, nodding his head in comprehension of the event that had happened. "Welcome." He stated nonchalantly, like the ice cube he's known to be as. Kahoko sweat-dropped, a lot. He had eyes like a dagger, sharp and dangerous—and nowhere near welcoming, at all. But there was a hint of politeness in them. His pale face was smooth, beautiful and snow-white; his hair, a calming shade of blue that would remind you of the cool skies you would often be staring into at the beach; his lips were set in a straight line, showing how much he cared about the situation right now—not much.
Ren became intrigued with the stranger's personality, his eyes twinkling with delight and mischievousness. He smiled secretively. Time for an experiment, he thought.
Ren tugged on his mother's shirt again, making her unable to move. She glanced shortly down and returned her gaze to the tall guy in front of her. "Tha-Thanks, Tsukimori-kun…right?"
Len nodded, crossing his arms on his chest and looking away from them, staying silent. The same way Ren usually acts, Kahoko and her son realized. Oh fun, Ren's smile widened with the thought.
"Please seat on the couch while waiting; I'll go fetch my mother," Len sighed, walking away with his big strides instantaneously.
"He's good; I like him," Ren purposely muttered out loud, making sure his mother heard it. He looked up to meet Kahoko's golden eyes once more, the same almost-secretive smile that he had a while ago was forming on his lips again. "Mummy, I want him as a temporary Daddy!"
…hell was on the loose for Kahoko.
Miserable weather. Snow covering the place. So damn cold. I'm freezing!
I can't think straight for my in-progress FanFics' updates.
Published another one. Bored. Sleepy. Tired. Gonna shut down any minute now. Probably.
*sigh Oh well, at least this FanFic is out of my system. Bothering the Hell out of my head. Can't sleep with it disturbing my peace. lawlz.
Uh… Please review and tell me what you think! :-D
Edit: Many, many, many thanks to Pathetic Rainbow for beta-reading! I love all the changes you've made in this FanFic! ^ ^ You did an awesome job!