Summary: Yamazaki reconsiders the contents of his wardrobe.

Based on the bonus chapter in volume 6.


Closet II


The empty space was now bursting with shirts and vests that he didn't buy for himself. He had scores of colorful slacks and designer jeans, and dozens of shirts and jackets that he couldn't afford on his junior architect salary. Even if Yamazaki scrimped on the non-essentials, he would have gone bankrupt six months ago if he had charged all these items to his credit card.

This wardrobe belongs to her, Yamazaki thought. Every single thread here belongs to Miwako-san.

Yet like every cuckold in love, he was the last to know the truth that his lady was playing him for a fool.

Everyone at Fujiwara Architects knew that the firm funded Yamazaki's designer wardrobe. The guy from Accounting was rather vocal about the problem, everyone else kept their mouths shut upon the threat of death by doggie tongue bath. Miwako-san and Leader made a threatening combination when cornered.

Yamazaki, of course, remained blissfully unaware of the situation. All that he knew was that if she demanded all the clothes back on a whim, he would have nothing left on his back except a badly inked tattoo and some questionable Wile E. Coyote boxers. He had tossed out all his old togs long ago, to make closet space for her monthly gifts.

He thought the world about Miwako-san, of course. It never occurred to him that she wanted him to look like a buffoon.

Yamazaki was merely grateful that she knew that he was alive. The fierce joy that emanated from that thought made him stand up taller and straighter. He couldn't help but smile more. Her gifts made him work smarter and faster. He couldn't help, sometimes, to strut around the neighborhood and feel like that he owned the world.

His confidence level soared with each new shirt, no matter how garish. He could take on peacock feathers, neon sequins, embossed metallic robots, animal prints and heraldic devices on any shirt that came bearing the words "from Miwako-san."

Yamazaki took a faintly macho pleasure in the idea that her hands must have fingered the fabric at some point or another. How could she have not, when she selected each item with such loving care?

It was almost as good as the thought of her one day touching him intimately for real. The hope was distant, but still... wasn't he allowed to dream?

And Yamazaki's daydreams of Miwako-san always made him smile.

And that's the charismatic self those fashion photographers of M Street Magazine always captured: a young man smitten, for better or for worse, with his older female colleague. Optimism always turned on the light bulb of charm inside his head, illuminating his smile from within.


Sorry, I could NOT resist writing this vignette for Yamazaki and Miwako-san. They have got to be my favorite josei side-characters. XD

I will write more when the mood strikes me... it all depends on whether a new volume comes out that inspires me.

Feedback, by the way, is always lovely. Hint, hint.