Chapter 1 – The Meeting
Two weeks ago, Mitsui was still living by himself in his cubical apartment.
No parents. Just himself.
During the years when he swayed his way and became a gang member, Mitsui had also grown significantly apart from his engineer father.
They were never very close anyway.
Mitsui's parents separated when he was 9 years old and he went on to live with his old man. He was always too busy working and failed to pay enough attention to his only son. A few years ago, he got re-married to another woman and wanted to build a new family on his own.
Mitsui still receives his financial support but he has been living by himself since the end of his first year of high school.
Two weeks ago, upon returning to his apartment after basketball practice, he was told by the landlady that she was going to sell the place and so he had to move out ASAP.
No early notice. No nothing. Mitsui practically had to move out the next day.
Frustrated, he went to a nearby neighborhood real estate agency trying to look for a new home.
It was there where a new chapter of his life began. He just didn't know that yet.
Inside the small real estate agency, Mitsui had been looking at different potential locations with his agent but nothing fit.
Suddenly, a voice attracted his attention.
"That can't be?! I had it reserved! How could somebody else rent it before me?" A girl exclaimed to another agent.
Mitsui curiously turned his head for a look.
What he saw was a girl with distinctive East-meets-West features. She had a set of deep, almond-shaped hazel eyes and her long raven hair made her eyes stand out like gems in a dark night. She had milky-colored skin and radiant complexion. Her ears were a bit elf-like; peeking out of her curtain of hair.
What a cute little elf! She is no doubt a gorgeous girl with such a unique look.
The agent explained to the girl, "So sorry, Hashimoto-san! My co-worker made a mistake... unfortunately, we don't have any rooms that fit your budget right now..."
Mesa Hashimoto looked troubled with the tips of her eyebrows tied in a knot. "Where am I gonna crash..." she murmured to herself.
She traveled to Kanagawa from Tokyo by herself to change school. Her mother and step-father had just migrated to Germany but she wanted to stay behind. She had something very important to do in Kanagawa before joining her family when she finished the remaining six months of high school. She had to use her limited allowance for the entire time so her budget was tight.
Meanwhile, Mitsui's agent pulled out a binder with large pictures of an apartment.
"Mitsui-san, here we have a bigger apartment for two that you can take in consideration. I know you might not need that much space and it's a little pricey... but since you need it in a hurry this is the only one you can get right now."
Mitsui looked at the pictures. A cozy living room, one bedroom, bathroom and a newly remodeled kitchen. Very nice. But what he needed was more like just a room. He had over spent the money his father gave him recently.
"Well it's very nice... but I'm on a budget..." said Mitsui.
"Everyone is on a tight budget ne…" said the agent.
Over on the other side, Mesa kept asking, "Onegai! You must have more options for me..."
There was silence and then Mitsui's agent looked like he just came up with the best idea in the world, "Hey, since Mitsui-san you're on a budget, the young lady over here is also on a budget and there is no other place other than this apartment for rent… why don't you two become roommates? With your money, I'm sure you'll be able to rent this nice place!"
Mitsui and Mesa both stared at him in disbelieve. Then, they turned their sights on each other and their eyes met for the first time. There was a moment as if they were exchanging a silent conversation through the air.
'Would it work?? And who are you?!' They both expressed the same questions in their eyes.
The agent looked at the interesting two and smiled, "It's no biggie. Why don't I show you the place right now see if you like it or not?"
It certainly was an insane idea. They didn't even know each other. Yet, they were desperate and broke like that and in need of a place to stay.
Off they went for the open-house tour right away.
The apartment was a fully furnished space. It was even nicer than they had expected it to be and the location was excellent.
One big problem though - there was one bedroom and only one full-size bed!
The agent was slick and told them they could discuss among themselves while he went outside to wait.
"So what do you think? You want to rent this place?" Mesa crossed her arms over her chest as a natural protective gesture for herself. She just realized how tall Mitsui was comparing to her. She only stood up to his chest. It was then she took a good look at him. She had to admit that he was a good looking boy and he looked like he had a haunting past through his dark eyes.
Mitsui sensed that she was kind of checking him out. He smirked, "Well, here sure is a nice hut and it'd be a win-win situation for us… but there's only one bedroom and one big bed…"
He was faking a troubled look. In fact, he was far from "troubled".
Mesa quickly replied, "I get the room!"
"Hahaha… where am I gonna crash then?"
"The living room. Just set up a tatami on the floor every night you go to sleep and put it away in the morning. I'm a girl. I need my privacy. I need the dresser, the bed, the vanity… everything." Mesa said with a look like that was for sure.
"Well… the bed is so big. I bet it can fit two people…" he walked closer to Mesa until he could smell a gardenia scent from her.
She stepped backward a little, "I will pay the bigger portion of the rent! The room is mine and mine only."
"Oh?" Mitsui said it with a playful tone, "So you've decided to rent here with me now? Living under one roof with a girl… hmmm… I'm a little concerned about that. I don't even know the girl's name yet…"
Mesa honestly didn't like Mitsui's attitude all that much. She didn't know his background but it seemed like he had the words "I am bad" written on his forehead! He had this sort of dangerous vibe about him. However, knowing how urgent and desperate her situation was, she couldn't think of a better choice.
"My name is Mesa Hashimoto. I'm a 3nd year student transferred to Shohoku High School. I start my first day on Monday."
"You go to Shohoku too? That's funny. We will be classmates! By the way, I'm Hisashi Mitsui in the basketball team. The best 3-point shooter you'll ever meet." Mitsui said it proudly.
Mesa was a little taken aback. Classmates and roommates? She would sure to be seeing him a lot more than she wanted to.
"What's a 3-point shooter anyway? I don't know hell about basketball!" Mesa pretended like she knew nothing about the game while in fact she just didn't want to feed his pride.
"Don't worry, Mesa-chan. You will know soon enough." He seemed to say it with a hidden meaning.
"Hold on! Did you just call me Mesa-chan…? No, I can't let this be causal. We need to set up rules so that we won't cross each other's line!"
Interesting. Let there be rules… for they are made to be broken!
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They rented the place and moved in the following day.
It took Mitsui the entire afternoon of the Saturday to move and settle things.
Mesa had only two suitcases and as soon as she entered the apartment, she went inside her room and didn't come out until much later with a piece of paper on her hand.
"Here this is the rules. Please try to follow them." she showed it to Mitsui while he was relaxing in the living room with a can of soda after getting the moving done.
He took a glimpse then ignored it.
"Aren't you going to read it?" asked Mesa.
"You can set whatever rules all you want but it's up to me if I feel like following any of them."
Mesa was stunned. Now he wasn't going to be nice. She was beginning to realize what she just got herself into... the boy wanted control from the get-go.
"Please, Mitsui-san. If we're going to be roommates then we need to talk this through. I only want there to be respect so I won't do things that bother you and you don't do things that bother me. Can we just make things easy for our own sake?"
Mitsui was interested. He put down his soda and looked into Mesa's hazel eyes.
He admired her beautifully shaped eyes and feathery lashes.
"Yes, let's talk about this. First I would like to know more about you." he said.
Mesa was not used to the way he looked at her as if a predator had his eyes locked on his prey. Strangely enough, she got a little nervous by the tense eye contact. There was a split second which she felt something but it was mysterious.
"Me...? What do you want to know about me?"
"Why did you have to come to Kanagawa by yourself?"
Mesa paused for a while, "My family moved to Germany already. I come here to look for a very important person and there's something I need to hand over to him."
"You have to change school for that?"
"Well that's because I don't know his whereabout. I only know he is in Kanagawa. I still need to finish the remaining 6 months of school until I graduate and meanwhile I can look for him."
"That person must be something to cause a girl like you so much trouble just to be a messenger."
She paused again, "He is... my father."
Her father. Mitsui was reminded of his own. He had no idea his exact whereabout either. His father kept transferring money to his bank account every month but he hadn't seen him for years. He last heard that he moved to Osaka with his new wife.
Mitsui decided not to tell Mesa about his own story just yet. Instead, he wanted her to want to tell him more about herself.
"Your father would be happy to see you." he said with a soft tone.
It was like a trick. He knew this sudden encouragement would make her feel better about him and might even want to open up more.
It did work.
Mesa blinked and blinked. Mitsui actually said something nice to her in such a non-flirty, positive way!
"Thanks... I really do hope so." she smiled and ran her fingers through her long locks.
She was more nervous now.
"I can help you find him." Mitsui began to move closer to her.
Was it the gardenia scent that she wore? Was it about her physique? Mitsui wasn't sure. He only knew something about this girl was drawing him to want to get closer.
All of the sudden Mesa's nervousness faded away as the distance between them was closing.
Wait. Not - so - fast!!
Mesa wasn't that dumb. She wanted to talk to him solely because she set up rules for him to follow and yet somehow he made her show her soft spot. He was good but she wasn't going to let him take over.
She shuffed the piece of paper to his face, "Just follow these rules, Mitsui-san! That's the real help that I need from you. Thank you."
Mitsui liked that the girl had a strong mind. It wouldn't be as much fun if she was too easy to be fooled.
He took a good look at the rules this time then his face went cold. Yes, strong mind she had and such a demanding girl too! There must be more than 20 rules on that piece of paper!
"Rule #1 - Hisashi Mitsui cannot in any way touch any part Mesa Hashimoto's body... rule #2 - cannot get to school together or be seen together or be known that they know each other more than anything but classmates... rule #3 - can never enter Mesa's room... rule #4 - cannot touch any of Mesa's possessions..." Mitsui couldn't believe just how many different things that she managed to come up with.
He couldn't help but to laugh it off. It had been a while since he met anyone interesting. Girls, he had. Believe it he had dealt with plenty of them especially when he was living the gangster life but he never met such an intriguing girl like Mesa.
"No problem, Hashimoto-san. We will be splendid roommates. I promise!"
Mesa doubted that if he was really going to follow the rules. He still got that playful smirk and bad attitude. Little did she know that this was only the beginning of their game of love...