Chapter Two: The Tender Beauty Meets the Blossom of Hope
Today was just another day for Miura Yumiko. At her desk, she was typing away another report for the department head. After three years on the job, Yumiko found that she could perform all her necessary duties as if she was on autopilot.
"...Um...Miura-senpai..." A meek, youthful, voice called out to her. Pulling her eyes away from her computer screen, Yumiko turned to face the owner of the voice: one of the Shogakukan's new administrative assistants, Kawamura Kyoko. She was petite brunette with a bob cut that framed the outline of her face. She wore a light peach frilled dress that seem to have emphasized her youthfulness.
"Huh? What's up Kyoko?"
Kyoko twisted a lock of her light brown hair around her finger and darted her eyes nervously to-and-fro in between Yumiko and the floor below. Her lips formed silent O's as if she was unable to find just the right words to say.
"...Um..." Kyoko began.
Yumiko felt her face slowly contorting to a slight scowl and crossed her arms impatiently as she waited for her junior to speak.
"...Yes?" There was a hint of annoyance laced in Yumiko's voice.
"...I...I...was...wondering..."
"...You were wondering?" Yumiko parroted.
Unable to contain herself, Kyoko felt her own walls crumble from within. "I WAS WONDERING IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GRAB SOMETHING TO EAT AFTER WORK!"
Kyoko's sudden outburst left Yumiko at a loss for words. She blinked in silent surprise and found herself slightly slack-jawed. To think that such a meek girl had such a powerful voice!
"...Uhhh..."
"Sorry!" Kyoko bowed apologetically at a frantic rate. "I'm so sorry Miura-senpai! I didn't mean to yell at you!"
"Hey, hey, now. C'mon. Don't worry about it. It's okay. It's okaaay." Yumiko drawled in an attempt to calm the younger girl down.
After taking a few short, deep, breaths; Kyoko was able to return to a more balanced state. "Oh, thank goodness!" The younger girl beamed. "So...you wanna go for lunch?"
"Eh...sure. Why not? Maybe we can even have a drink too?" Yumiko shrugged. It was a Friday and it wasn't like she had anything better to do today. She would've otherwise spent her night at home blowing off some steam drinking beer and watching TV. It was a good thing Yumiko was diligent with her exercise routine. She could afford an indulgence every now and then.
At this point, she'd do anything to quell that pit of loneliness.
"Sounds good! Thank you Miura-senpai!"
As the girl proceeded to bolt away from Yumiko's desk, the older woman rose from the seat and called out to her.
"Wait! Kyoko! Hold on. Why you were so scared to talk to me?" Yumiko placed her hands on her hips, demanding an answer.
"Umm...I really didn't want to say this, but you're actually really scary Miura-senpai." Kyoko pointed out. Yumiko's face soured at her kohai's remark.
"Geez...I shouldn't have asked..." Yumiko dejectedly replied.
Kyoko shook her head as if she disagreed with her senpai's statement. Taking a moment to find the proper words to say, Kyoko continued, "W-wait! You're actually really cool! I mean, I personally admire you! I...I've always wanted to talk to you. I-It's just that you got this aura around you that just...just kinda intimidates people...and...and...I was kinda afraid to offend you as well..."
"...Oh..."
"Umm...so...lunch after work?" Kyoko asked for the final time.
"That's fine."
"Great!" Kyoko exclaimed and clasped Yumiko's hands in a fit of happiness; making the older woman think that Kyoko was actually cute in a way. "I should go now. I'll see you later, Miura-senpai."
Reaching to halt Kyoko's movements, Yumiko called out to the younger woman once more.
"Kyoko. Wait."
"What's up Miura-senpai?"
"It's okay to call me Yumiko, y'know? I'd actually prefer it if you called me that."
Upon hearing those words, Kyoko's lips shifted to a bright smile.
"Sure thing Miu-err...uh...Yu...Yu...Yumiko-senpai! I'll see you later."
"Later."
Turning back to face her computer monitor, Yumiko attempted to return to her work. For a moment, she found herself in a minor impasse.
'What was I supposed to do again?' She blinked and wondered. 'Oh yeah...that report…'
"Color me surprised. So even Miura Yumiko can feel lonely, huh?" Hachiman commented as he sipped some of his coffee.
"I don't need to hear that from you, Hikio." Yumiko retorted.
Once again, the two found themselves sharing their break in the company break room, musing over things over a cup of coffee.
"...I've hardly been invited to these kinds of things." Yumiko muttered dejectedly as she deflated into a slightly pitiful mess.
"How fortunate. Some of the senior editors invite me out for beer or ramen from time to time..."
'What? Even Hikio gets invited out? Geez...give me a break. Have I seriously fallen this far?'
Thoughts like these further depressed Yumiko. With a solitary right index finger circling the rim of her cup, she spent the next couple minutes staring at the black depths of her coffee silently dwelling over her thoughts while Hachiman continued to sip on his coffee in relative peace.
As her gaze remained firmly planted on her beverage, Yumiko uttered,
"Hey...Hikio..."
"What is it?"
"Am...Am I like...totally scary?"
Hachiman took a moment to mull over Yumiko's simple request. He wasn't sure if he'd like to answer the question posed to him the way he'd like. Of course, this was the Queen of Fire he was dealing with. A little bit of diplomacy and a velvet glove would do wonders in situations like these.
Then again, the Queen wasn't going to have none of it. Taking Hachiman's momentary silence as disheartening, she urged him to answer truthfully.
"C'mon. Just gimme it straight. I need to hear this." She insisted.
"Uhh...yeah. You're totally scary."
Yumiko ran a hand through her locks in mild frustration.
"Ugh. I guess Kyoko was right."
Soon after, Kyoko entered the break room, with a brown envelope in her left hand, scanning the area as if she was looking for someone. Upon spotting Yumiko sitting at one of the tables, she scurried over to meet the older woman.
"Hey Yumiko-senpai."
"Kyoko? What's up?"
Taking a moment to find the right words to say, Kyoko began, "Um...you wouldn't happen to know a Hikigaya Hachiman would you?" The younger woman then raised her left arm, folder in hand, and began waving it around. "I happen to have a copy of the new manuscript that Zaimokuza-sensei sent. The department head asked me to give it to Hikigaya-san."
"Hikigaya? You're in luck. He's the guy with rotten face sitting right next to me. Don't worry, he doesn't bite."
"Oi. Oi." Hachiman scowled. As much as he was used to hearing these kinds of remarks from Yukinoshita, he still didn't take too kindly to what Yumiko had said.
Yumiko decided to take this moment to introduce the two. "Anyways...Hikio, this is Kawamura Kyoko. She's the kohai I was talking about."
"Yo." Hachiman simply replied with a slight wave and continued sipping his coffee.
"Nice to meet you Hikigaya-san!" The younger woman gushed and bowed.
Eyeballing the envelope, Hachiman shifted his eyes to meet Kyoko's.
"So that's it huh? Can I see it?"
"Of course!" Kyoko replied as she enthusiastically handed the envelope to Hachiman.
With the envelope now in possession, Hachiman set the envelope on the surface of the table and carefully pulled out its contents. Silently, yet solemnly he began scanning the contents of the manuscript. Out of curiosity, Yumiko and Kyoko peered over his shoulders to see what Zaimokuza produced.
Though they did have a hard time keeping up. Hachiman worked far too fast.
"So...um...Yumiko-senpai? How do you know Hikigaya-san? You seem pretty familiar with him." Kyoko whispered to Yumiko as if to not interrupt Hachiman.
Matching her kohai's volume, Yumiko replied in turn. "Oh Hikio? We went to high school together years ago. He's the husband of a friend of mine."
"Oh, so that's it huh? Here I was thinking there might have been something more. Silly me."
"Hmph. We're more like in-laws if anything." Hachiman commented with his eyes still planted on the manuscript.
Turning towards her kohai, Yumiko noted that they didn't have a plan after their shift is over. "So Kyoko, where do you want to eat? It'll be my treat."
"Um...Saize?" Kyoko replied sheepishly. Yumiko's face scowled slightly at her suggestion.
'Ugh...Saize…Seriously?'
"You don't like Saize?"
"N-No! Saize sounds totally fine!"
"Excellent choice. With a wide selection of cheap and tasty eats, you can never go wrong with Saize." Hachiman added with a degree of reverence. Kyoko's head enthusiastically bobbed in agreement as she found some common ground with the older man.
"You sure read fast, Hikigaya-san." Kyoko remarked, unable to keep up with Hachiman's pace.
"When you've worked with this guy for years, it becomes really easy to discern the good and the bad."
"So...uh…Hikio, how is it coming along?" Yumiko asked.
"Bad."
"Bad?!" The two women replied in unison.
Shaking his head with a look of mild disappointment spread across his face, Hachiman grumbled, "This isn't good. It looks like I'm going to need to call Author-san. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
Manuscript now in hand, Hachiman rose up from his seat and began walking towards the break room exit. He pulled out his smartphone and began to dial a number.
"Yo, this is your editor speaking. Look, I know you're in a slump right now but what the hell? Who did you rip off to write this? I'm going to need you to redo this. We're already past the deadline!"
Even though the distance between Hachiman and the two women was slowly but steadily increasing, the two managed to hear the anguished cries of Zaimokuza on the other side of the line as his editor continued to berate him.
"Ugh, that sounds totally rough." Yumiko remarked.
"Those two don't have it easy don't they?" Kyoko added.
Several hours later, after their shifts were over, at Saize, the two women chose to sit at a booth on the west corner of the front end of the establishment facing the street. At the table, what lay in front of them were two pasta plates. Yumiko chose the squid ink spaghetti plate while Kyoko chose a classic lasagna plate. As her senpai, Yumiko fronted the bill.
Slowly twirling around the pasta on the fork offhandedly with her right hand, with her chin rested on her left palm, Yumiko watched as her kohai happily munched away on some of her pasta. Realizing that she knew nothing about the younger woman, Yumiko decided to shoot a couple of questions towards her kohai.
"So...Kyoko...how do you like working at Shogakukan so far?"
"It's been great Senpai! Everyone is really nice and I feel like I'm starting to learn a lot about the industry." The younger woman beamed.
Nodding in response, Yumiko took a quick sip of her cola.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! Working with manga is something I've always wanted to do since I was little! I may not be doing exactly what I want to be doing at this very moment, but it's a start!" The younger woman gushed. Afterwards, Kyoko took a moment to catch her breath and sipped on her soda. "A few months before I got hired, I remembered my childhood dream of wanting to work in the manga industry. I quit my previous job so I can work here."
"Seriously? What were you doing before coming here?"
"Um. I was in risk management at a big financial services firm. It was only for a few months, but I wasn't happy over there. It felt like it was the next step I was expected to take, not the step I wanted to take after finishing school."
"Where did you go to school?"
"University of Tokyo. I earned an economics degree when I was an undergrad."
"Wha?! Todai?!"
Yumiko had every right to be surprised. The University of Tokyo, or Todai, is widely considered to be the most prestigious university in all of Japan and ranks among the highest in Asia. Kyoko smiled meekly and chuckled to herself.
"Surprising huh?" Kyoko remarked with Yumiko nodding in agreement. "You know, when I thought about it, I really only chose my concentration to make my parents happy. Don't get me wrong, I like what I studied back in college, but looking back, I realized I had no passion for it. Really, I would've preferred to study literature."
"I see..."
"But you know, I'm happy with where I am now! No complaints! You know, I think I want to become an editor like Hikigaya-san!" The younger woman clasped her hands together and smiled wide. "What about you Senpai? How'd you get into the industry?"
Yumiko took a moment to reflect on the question posed to her.
"Hmm. I fell into it, I guess. I mean, I've read stuff like Sailor Moon when I was little, but you know, it wasn't like I was totally into manga. After I got my marketing degree at Chiba University, I had a pretty hard time finding a job. But a really good friend of mine in the animation industry knew a couple of people who worked for this company and referred me to them. And well...I'm here now. "
"Cool! So where do you plan on going from here?"
Yumiko blinked in response. In truth, she really didn't know the next direction she wanted to take in her life.
"...I really don't know."
'And I wish I knew.'
The two women walked along the busy streets of the Tokyo metropolis unsure of what to do next. The cacophony of passing cars; horns blazing, engines revving; along with quickly fading sun; the pitter-patter of footsteps, the chatter and the vibrant billboards came together as if to form a neon light orchestra.
They found themselves in front of a contemporary-styled bar, not far from a train station in the Marunouchi business district.
"Kyoko, you still wanna go for a drink? My treat." Yumiko offered after a fair bit of deliberation.
"Sure, Senpai. Sounds fun."
Making their way towards the bar, they took the outermost stools towards the left of the bar.
The bartender, a woman with silver hair tied up in a bun, who was busy cleaning several glasses, noticed the pair's presence and approached them to ask how she can be of service.
"Hi there. What can I get you...ah?"
"Hi, I'd like a glass of...hu-haah?"
A familiar series of ferocious glares occurred between the two women.
"Ah?"
"Hah?"
This woman, whom Yumiko now remembers as Kawasaki Saki, softened her look and regained her composure. Setting a now-clean shot glass down with the rest of the clean glassware, she turned towards Yumiko.
"Well, I never expected to see you here Miura. What can I get you two?"
"I could say the same for you Kawasaki. I'll just have a glass of whiskey. Anything will do. Make it neat."
"Sure. Coming right up." Saki nodded. Turning towards Kyoko, the bartender asked, "And you?"
"Umm...Sapporo is fine." The younger woman replied.
"Sure. I can get that for you miss."
After handing Kyoko her beer, Saki went off to the side to prepare Yumiko's drink, the blonde decided to take note of her surroundings. The establishment was garnished with ultra-contemporary furnishings draped in either white and red that contrasted nicely with the black marble tile work. The majority of the patrons were young twenty-thirty somethings who were most likely young professionals fresh out of college. There were several billiard tables and a section of the place was dedicated to the VIP and karaoke rooms.
'Kinda pricey, but this place doesn't look too bad. Maybe one of these days this could be the place where I invite Hina and Yui for a girls night out.'
And then, there was the sound of glass hitting the counter and Yumiko turned to face the origin of the sound.
"Here."
"Thanks."
Yumiko picked up the glass and held it close to her lips. The nose had notes of basil, pine, and green apple. Upon taking a sip and letting the drink wash over her palette, Yumiko took note of the hints of sweet pears, mint and kiwi. It's finish was both slightly smoky and somewhat like green tea.
"Suntory Hakushu 12." The bartender replied with a wry smile. "If you were wondering."
The blonde uttered a refreshing 'ahhh' as she finished. "It's good."
Saki nodded, acknowledging Yumiko's comment. "It's a favorite of many of the regulars." The bartender then scanned the room, noting the relatively lacking number of patrons compared to their usual fare.
"Hmm. It's quiet today." The bartender commented. "So what brings you here?"
"I'm just having a drink with my kohai." The blonde replied, gesturing towards her companion. "Kyoko, this is Kawasaki Saki. I went to high school with her too."
"How cool! I never expected to meet a bunch of Senpai's high school friends today!" Kyoko gushed.
"Ah?"
"Hah?"
The two older women blinked and replied in unison. Both looked at one another and shook their heads gently before turning to Kyoko.
"I wouldn't exactly call Kawasaki a friend." Yumiko remarked.
"Agreed." Saki replied.
"We were just classmates. Nothing more." The blonde concluded.
"I see." Kyoko nodded.
Afterwards, Kyoko and Yumiko quietly conversed among themselves. Saki took this as a sign to get back to whatever she was doing previously. When she noticed the blonde had finished her drink, the bartender re-approached her to inquire if she would like more.
"Miura, would you like another glass?"
"Sure." Yumiko replied. As the silver-haired bartender made her way to prepare her drink, Yumiko decided to make conversation with her former classmate. Since she was feeling a bit buzzed, the blonde felt rather chatty.
"Hey Kawasaki. How long have you been working here?"
"I've been here since I was...what? Twenty? So I guess around four or five years or so." Saki replied nonchalantly as she placed the whiskey-filled glass in front of the blonde. "Anyways, I won't be here for much longer. I've just turned in my resignation."
"Huh? You got another job?"
Saki nodded.
"Yeah. Ebina helped me land a design gig. I'll be starting in a few weeks."
Yumiko's ears perked at the mention of her friend.
"Ebina?"
"The same Ebina you know. What of it?"
"Nothing." The blonde paused for a moment and stared at the depths of liquor in her glass. "You know, she helped me land my current job too."
"Oh yeah? What do you do?"
"Me? I'm just an office worker. I work at a publishing company."
"I see. I would've imagined you doing something else, Miura." Saki commented. She nodded off to one of her regulars who was calling it a night.
Yumiko pressed her glass softly against her lips and sighed deeply.
"...Yeah?" She drawled.
Saki hummed affirmatively.
"Mmhmm. I figured you would've entered the fashion industry. You always were the fashionable type. What did you study anyways?"
"Marketing."
"Oh. That makes sense. Weren't you in charge of marketing for Ebina's play during the culture festival all those years ago?"
"Yeah..." Yumiko replied.
"Hmm. Shouldn't you have tried pursuing related to what you wanted to study?"
"Yeah...I suppose you're right…" Yumiko thought back to her conversation with Kyoko earlier and felt a small pang of unpleasantness as she answered. Everyone around her seems to be going along their chosen path and yet she still finds herself still stuck at an impasse. Yumiko shook her head to chase away those uncomfortable feelings.
Taking note of the current level of liquor that remained in her glass, Yumiko gestured to the bartender. At the moment, Yumiko decided that more liquor was the best course of action.
"Kawasaki, can I get another?"
"Sure."
Some time later, when Kyoko was clearly no longer able to hold on to her liquor, Yumiko decided to call it a night. Thankfully, Saki had called for a cab for the two several minutes prior to the blonde announcing their departure.
Soon after, Saki and Yumiko carried Kyoko to the taxicab waiting out in front. After successfully buckling up the younger woman, Yumiko turned to the bartender and gave her a slight smile.
"Kawasaki. Thanks."
Saki simply acknowledged Yumiko's gratitude with a nod as Yumiko took a seat next to her coworker. Right before Yumiko was able to close the door, the bartender called out to her in a cool, stern, voice.
"Miura."
"Yeah?"
"You really shouldn't take life so frivolously." There was wisdom and a tinge of kindness as she spoke.
Yumiko could only nod in response.
As Kawasaki faded into the distance, Yumiko rested her palm against her cheek and stared out the window, contemplating Kawasaki's final words.
A/N: Man, it has been a real long time since I updated (and that goes for all my stories!). I was supposed to publish this chapter months ago!
Sorry.
Things happened and I guess I found myself stuck in a rut.
Anyways...to those who have been waiting for some sort of update for this fic or any of my other fics, thanks for waiting. I appreciate it. I have no idea when I'd publish a future update. I'm still trying to find my stride, but I do hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
Indeed, this is eventually going to be a Yumiko x Saki fic. Eventually.