A/N: This chapter is inspired of that one Yahoo! news article about the Japanese people having the danger of getting extinct in many years's time if they won't work on their fucking sex lives. I'm serious. You go search for it. And ah, aside from the fan fictions I've mentioned on the previous chapter, I also would like to add OrionSykes' Mawling Grandin on the list. It was an AU but the depiction was so nice and it's my dream to write such kind of work. To OrionSykes, just in case you stumble upon this, thanks for the inspiration.
CHAPTER TWO
Karma completely forgot about Asano's number.
He had been pretty busy with work after that brief hang out with Gakushuu Asano, thanks to the cut-off date that was set for him to submit the account he was grueling over for more than a month. When finally done and was about to send a message to a colleague, he noticed an unnamed dialed entry on his log, then the memories of Asano's eyes and patches of their bizarre conversation resurfaced in his mind.
Right, they were supposed to be dating.
He fired off a text.
'Hey. Been busy all week. How do you do?'
There came a reply three hours later.
'So I am. Didn't I tell you not to text me during working hours?'
'You did?'
'I did.'
'Can't remember.'
'Of course, you're drunk.'
'It's not valid, then.'
'Never mind. I bet you won't abide to it anyway.'
'Nice, Asano-kun. You know me damn too well.'
'What do you want?'
Hmm, what exactly Karma wanted from Asano? He didn't have anything particular in mind, really. He just texted out of a whim and boredom. Karma found himself brooding for a decent reply.
'It's been a week. Wanna go grab some lunch this Sunday?'
'I have an appointment this Sunday.'
'How about the next day?'
'I'm full for the whole week.'
'Let's just meet again on the bar. Some time tomorrow?'
'I drink only once a month, plus I'm not interested to watch over your drunk ass so, NO.'
'Geez. Now I know why no one's staying with you.'
'Says the one who said he wants to date then won't contact me for a solid week. I almost forgot we met that night, you know?'
'Oh. You got me. So, when's your preferred date?'
It had taken Asano ten minutes to reply. He must be weighing over a decision whether to answer 'I can't find any so just give up,' or 'Next month? Maybe next year. I don't know.'
'I'm not sure what time I'll be finished, but I think I can manage around dinner on Sunday. Again, I'm not sure. Willing to wait?'
'Anything for you, Asano-kun. Just send me a text. Well, you must be tired. It's pretty late so good night. See you soon! ;)'
'Okay. Good night.'
So the Sunday night came.
Asano was thirty minutes late, but Karma was too engrossed in a game on his phone that he didn't notice. He didn't really mind: one time he was two hours late on a date because he forgot he got one and got dumped on the very same day. He understood Asano's case more than anyone else: Asano was even considerably nice for telling him he would be late, then coming exactly on the time he estimated. Still, he was smartly dressed in company attire; the crease-free suit said that he must be inside the office the whole day. His eyes however screamed that he was tired. Karma kept an amused chuckle to himself: to think that Asano had really come despite his hectic schedule proved that he was convinced that Karma was serious about the invitation, that Karma indeed was interested in him—and that the feeling was mutual.
Oh, well.
"Whoa. You look like a zombie, Asano-kun. The hell's with those eye bags?"
Gakushuu furrowed his brows, eyeing Akabane and frowning at his comment. "And you look like you didn't take a bath today, Akabane. If I guess it right, you're wearing the same shirt you had the last time we met."
Karma peered down his shirt and raked his memory to confirm if Asano was right. "Oh, yeah. I didn't notice. I randomly picked this up this morning."
Gakushuu sat down on the couch across Akabane, next to the glass window. "Laid back as ever, aren't we?"
Akabane just gave him a carefree shrug.
They agreed to meet in a high rise hotel and restaurant which wasn't that far from Asano's office. It was only approximately five-minute drive from there, yet Asano had taken pretty long. He must be really busy and occupied.
"How long have you been waiting?" Asano leaned against the couch.
"Around thirty minutes, I think."
"I see. I'm sorry for being late. I didn't expect the meeting to last longer."
"Doesn't matter, no biggie. Well, Mr. President. How's your day?"
Gakushuu raise a brow, caught off guard with the uncharacteristic question. Ah, right. They were dating: that was a normal think to ask. Still, it felt weird. He answered, nonetheless.
"It seemed my proposal for branching out Kunugigaoka has to be put on hold."
"Oh?"
"I had a meeting with the Board: they are mostly against it, saying that it's not practical. As it sounds, it's not advisable to establish another school due to the country's declining population. I can see the point, but I've figured it wouldn't hurt to build a small one first, just like what Father did, and see if it'll work. They are against it because Kunugigaoka has a legacy to uphold. I said that's bullshit because that's exactly the legacy Kunugigaoka has built: to start from bottom then reign over to the top in time."
Oh, Karma figured Asano's brain must still be inside his office despite his body presently sitting in front of him.
"Where are you planning to build this first branch, anyway?"
"I'm considering Kyoto or Okinawa, or somewhere farther Tokyo."
"Kyoto or Okinawa, huh… Hmm, I don't really want to make you angry but I think I need to agree with them."
Asano's brows furrowed again, but his voice remained normal. "And why?"
"Based on the latest stats sent to us on the Ministry relating educational institutions, most schools all over the country has declared lower net worth than the previous years, and the biggest factor why was because of the alarming decrease of new enrollees since two years ago. Also, a number of new schools popped out just last year, and the Ministry of Education is considering a temporary cease of license issuance to new applicants, seeing that the supplies exceed the demand. I'm sure you know all about this already, so take this as an advice from an outsider: now is not a very advisable season to expand."
"I see," he must be a little pissed, but the narrowing of his eyes and the way he averted them from Karma's proved that he was giving this a serious thought.
"Well, if it isn't too much to ask. May I know what the current standing of Kunugigaoka on net worth is?"
Karma curved his lips into an amused smile.
"For a school that faced a rather bad reputation after the revelation of its system, thanks to Koro-Sensei, it miraculously skyrocketed to the top ten since we graduated. You're the school in the region that declared the highest net worth in both the previous and current year. Even your population rose up to twenty-five percent, highest thus far compared to the previous years, even when the Class E system was still being implemented. Long live, Alma Mater."
"That's nice to hear, then," Gakushuu entwined his fingers and smiled victoriously, indulging with the fact that the school remained number one and taking extra pleasure as it was being told by his rival. Of course, Gakushuu knew all about that already, but it felt awesome to be heard from Akabane. "So, as an outsider, if expanding isn't a wise action then what do you think about turning Kunugigaoka into a university?"
"No good, either. Toudai and Kyoudai have been getting neck to neck, plus the other older school which have been established long before Kunugigaoka. If I were you, the best way to increase your enrollees is to focus on both the Junior and Middle High—for now. I looked into your population and statistically speaking, your number won't cut for you to be a university anytime soon. Generally, the child population of our nation is the root problem. As long as it wouldn't be solved, there isn't much for us to do. Believe me, not only schools are affected by this crisis. So, just sit back and relax for the meantime."
"Alright, I guess we'll have to postpone it for now. Thanks. So," '… It really feels weird.' Gakushuu mused, feeling that it was his turn to ask Akabane to keep the conversation going. He breathed in. "How's your day?"
"Boring," Karma noticed that hesitance on Asano's voice. It was great that he wasn't the only on feeling awkward here. Then again, why were they doing this anyway? "I'm dealing with yet another tax evader. Thing is, this company hides something—under the table trades and the sorts, just like the usual. I want to see into the investigation personally but reviewing and filtering through their assets has kept me from joining. If only I can find a faster way to solve it then the better: I can sniff that a fellow from the Ministry is involved in this graft."
"Yeah, and you know him?"
"Yup. Pretty well."
"… Your password?"
"Smart as ever, Asano-kun."
Gakushuu smiled. He reached for the menu and scanned over it. "Know what, I initially thought you're going to be a police or detective. But I guess you're way too lazy to be one," he was sincere about that: Akabane was rude and violent but behind that was a good heart that was willing to help. He just happened to express in a crass and annoying way.
"Nah. It'll be a waste of my math skills. And it's more fun to manipulate from up there; you know that more than anyone else."
Gakushuu spared him a smirk. "You know me well, alright. About that tax concern, there is something I noticed with the formulae we use here in solving taxes. There's a subtle difference with the current computation we use compared to States. Of course that's normal, but that's substantial in my opinion. If you're interested, I can send you a PDF file of that computation strategy when I get home later. It won't hurt to check if it'll help."
Karma's eyes lit up. Okay. He would bet his precious spices collection at home: there surely would be a second date. "Really? Thanks. Please do."
From tax evasions to more of Asano's business ventures, they went on and on about business and economic related discussions that made their dinner sound like a business meeting than a date. Asano was talkative, to Karma's surprise, then later he figured that more than being a blabby businessman, he was tired and speaking about his thoughts (without filtering his words much and putting his perfect façade) somehow relieved him, which was normal, of course.
What caught him off guard was when Asano abruptly stopped talking in the middle of his story about his idea of establishing an exchange-student system in Kunugigaoka to an affiliate school in Massachusetts.
"… I bet I'm boring you," Asano paused, looking him in the eyes.
Karma gulped down the remaining wine in his glass in one go. "No. Not really." That was true: business matters bored him at times but when your chat mate was well versed with it (and he looked like having fun at that), it became interesting. Educational, even.
"I… get a feeling that I ward off women because of this habit of mine."
"Bringing you work at home—and dates."
"Exactly."
"Yeah. That bores the hell out of them."
"Don't tell me you do the same?"
"No. I'm flexible when it comes to chats. I don't find you boring because I can adjust. And really, no kidding. I don't mind."
"That makes me think you've dated quite a number of women."
"You can say something like that. Talking and meeting with them honed me to know if one's any good or not."
"Oh? What are your requirements and standards to meet, then?"
Karma then told him some examples of girls he met (one inside Toudai when he was still a student, a girl he met on the same bar where they met, and a co-worker). Among them, the girl from the bar lasted longest, for about three months.
"She's a little weird. Confident, beautiful, smart and wise. But I can feel that something was off. Upon closer observation, I found that she's a sociopath."
"So are you?" Asano shot him a taunting look.
"Not as terminal as her, or as bad as your megalomania. Just the right pinch of both."
"Well, if talking about eccentricity, I used to see a Haematophilic girl, a medical student at MIT. She's normal at first glance but when she sees blood, she's getting ecstatic and excited. We were getting along just fine but when things became hectic at school, we decided to break up to focus on studies."
Akabane laughed. "Really? Hmm… the weirdest I've met is a fujoshi."
"Fujoshi?"
"Yep."
"What's that?"
"Google it."
"Why don't you just explain?"
"Trust me, Asano-kun. This is for your own good. Go on, it's easy: it'll pop out instantly."
Hissing, Gakushuu whipped out his phone and browsed the net.
Karma watched with all enthusiasm as Asano's eyes widened, his face blushed and his head lowered a little.
"I think I should have read some of her manga collections when I had the chance," Karma could barely hold his laughter. He brazenly let it out when Asano's face practically parodied a tomato. He clutched at his stomach and didn't dodge when he threw him his table napkin.
"How come you met that kind of girl?" Gakushuu could feel a knot forming in his stomach. He had pictured Akabane to be a teasing and mocking type but he completely didn't see that kind of dirty joke coming. And why was he flustered, anyway?
"Met her on a comic convention. She happened to like my favorite director."
And from there they jumped into a lively chat about the movies and latest gaming franchises from both local and international. Karma was astounded that for such a workaholic, Asano knew a lot about games. He even gave some recommendations, tips about latest devices and, to Karma's surprise, cheats. Yes, cheats ("I rarely use them. Sometimes, I'm finding those cheats on my own," Asano explained). He had three consoles at home.
Karma was no amateur, of course. He's considerably a pro but lately he spent less time playing. Asano knew things about movies too (he read novels, while Karma would rather wait for months for the movie adaptation to come out).
It was a total shock when they realized it was almost one o'clock midnight.
"So, I guess we shall call this a day," Asano looked so worn out, but his eyes glinted otherwise: they told Karma that he could go for another hour.
"Ah, crap. I have a meeting tomorrow. I forgot. Ah yeah, thanks for the time," Karma reached for his wallet and was about to get his credit card when Asano raised.
"No. Since I made you wait, it's on me."
"But I was the one who invited you."
"Come on, let's not fight over this. We're both dead tired so let me pay."
"How about we pay for ourselves?"
"No. Akabane, it's not a big deal."
"But I don't want to feel like being in debt with you."
"God. I can't believe this. Alright, I'll pay for this one, you'll pay for the next."
A very, very awkward silence ensued. Gakushuu mentally clapped a hand over his mouth. Karma rejoiced in his mind: his beloved spices collection was saved.
"Okay. Deal."
Asano offered to drive him to his place (out of courteousness) but Karma declined, saying that taking taxi was fine. Asano didn't insist.
Once he got home, Karma received a file from Asano. He quickly scrolled over it. 'Nice. This is very useful.'
'Awesome. This will surely help. Thanks!' He replied.
'You're welcome.'
'Oh. I forgot to tell you: I have a new game here but I haven't upgraded my unit yet so it's not compatible. I bet yours is. Wanna give this a try?'
'Sure. Some other time. I'll let you know.'
'Okay!'
'Hey. Today was fun. Thanks."
Karma stared at his phone, dumbstruck. So dumbstruck. He laughed out loud and collapsed on his bed.
'Today was fun,' the words played on his mind, in Asano's voice. He could imagine him saying that with a small quirk of his lips. He chuckled again before peering back to his phone.
'My pleasure.'
'Good night, Akabane.'
'Good night.'
Karma eyed his phone for a while, brain blank. He was damn sure Asano wouldn't reply anymore, so what was he waiting for?
No. Why was he waiting?
'Oh, shit.'
The water was getting dangerous.
