Thank you so much for all of the encouragement! Really, I'm glad you all enjoy it. Also, much thanks to Akayuuki for directing (probably a significant amount of) readers here. I'm honored to even be mentioned on your blog.
Also, please excuse any minor errors of the second half. I was (am) half-asleep when I wrote that part, but I wanted to finish it before I went to bed.
Hisa shifted the bags she carried higher up on her shoulders to make it easier for her to press the intercom switch at her front gate.
"Takei residence. Please state your business," the cold mechanical voice came through, sounding bored. Hisa had to stifle a giggle at hearing the familiar drawl of her household's current maid. Haru Sato, age 23, a woman with a temper as short as her name. She had come into their service scarcely a year ago, and had become a permanent fixture of their family, to the surprise of everyone, the woman herself included. No one had thought that this abrupt young lady would stay longer than a week, but her quick thinking under unusual situations and reliability proved indispensable, so they put up with her occasional snarky commentary.
"It's Hisa," the girl said shortly, knowing how the other female detested flowery speech.
As she waited for the gate to be opened, Hisa looked upwards at the new tiling on the gate's roof. It was previously a dark red, but was now replaced with a slate gray. She wondered what caused the sudden change; her father was not the sort of man who gave into whims easily.
The large gates creaked open slowly, revealing the small Japanese-styled mansion. Hisa couldn't help but stare it at for a moment, reveling in how this opulant – to her, anyway – place was now her home during her breaks from school.
"I'd like to say 'Welcome home, ojou-sama,' but you seem preoccupied outside the front gates," her maid noted dryly. She was dressed in a somber dark purple everyday kimono. "Shall I shut them and come back for you later?"
"Ah, no, that's all right," Hisa answered haltingly, surprised at the woman's sudden appearance - or, not so sudden, if she had been more aware of herself. "It's good to be back." She smiled at the maid, who took her duffle bag, while Hisa kept her backpack on her shoulders.
"It's good to have you back, ojou-sama," she replied a little theatrically.
Hisa smirked at that and allowed herself to be led inside on the stone-lined graveled pathway. The countless pieces of rock shifted under their feet, and the girl couldn't help but entertain thoughts of sinking into them as if they were quicksand. She marveled at the various plants that sprung up around them.
She turned to the older woman. "These weren't here when I left for Tokyo, were they?"
"No, your memory serves you correctly," Haru agreed. "These were planted under the direction of Rin-sama. I believe the previous stone garden disagreed with her. "
They both shared an amused look at that, knowing that her mother would have been much more empathic than how the maid described it. While her father may not be a whimsical man, her mother certainly was.
"Where is mother, by the way?" Hisa asked suddenly.
Haru shifted the duffle bag slightly as she walked. "Rin-sama is out again, no doubt looking for more things to buy for you."
The younger girl laughed at that. "Really? I'm glad she's still as energetic as always."
"I wonder if that's the proper interpretation of it…" the maid murmured thoughtfully.
Hisa tsk'd in mock-chastisement. "Is that the proper way to talk about your employers?"
"My apologies, ojou-sama," she replied seriously.
"Sarcasm isn't allowed, either," the girl continued.
"Yes, ojou-sama."
They looked at each other and grinned wildly, holding in their laughter, lest they disturbed the peaceful quiet of the mansion.
"Ah, I've really missed you, Haru-san," Hisa declared, wiping away a tear from her mirth.
"We've missed you very much as well, ojou-sama," she responded. "Goshujin-sama should be in his study, if you wish to meet with him presently."
The redhead nodded. "Thanks. I think I will. And what of uncle?"
"He's still away in Hokkaido for business," the maid replied shortly.
"Ah." Hisa nodded, understanding that 'business' translated into 'playing an important match as a rep player for the yakuza'. "Any idea when he'll be back?"
"I'm afraid not, ojou-sama. He said to send you his regards when you arrived."
"Well, at least he was thinking of me," she murmured thoughtfully.
"He always is. You're horribly spoiled that way," Haru teased.
"There's nothing wrong with that. I've become a highly accomplished young woman, haven't I?" Hisa twirled once and posed.
Haru gave her a flat look. "I'd clap for you, ojou-sama, except my hands are currently full."
"Yes, yes, thank you for your efforts," the girl responded, only half joking. She really did appreciate Haru's hard work.
The two paused as they entered the mansion and took off their shoes, switching them with nondescript slippers instead.
Hisa turned to the other woman. "Would it be too much trouble for you to also take my backpack up to my room?"
"No, it would be my pleasure, ojou-sama." Haru took the offered backpack and carried the two bags off in the direction of Hisa's room.
"Hm, now then…" she murmured to herself once the other's footsteps faded away into the distance.
She tied up her hair into two pigtails as neatly as she could, hoping her father wouldn't mind her somewhat disheveled appearance. The train ride had been long, after all, and with the way people were shoved up against each other and jostled about, it's hard to keep from becoming rumpled up like a piece of paper. She began to push up her right sleeve subconsciously before shaking her head and bringing it back down. This wasn't a mahjong match, so why was she nervous?
Hisa checked herself quickly using a hallway mirror. She tried to tuck a lock of hair that had escaped her pigtails behind one ear, but it refused to stay there and slowly drifted back to the side of her face. An exaggerated sigh directly aimed at it made the lock flutter in the air for a moment before it planted itself once more against her face. The girl shrugged and decided to write it off as another one of her many charm points.
She reached the screen door that separated the hallway from his study, and kneeled in front of it, tucking the skirt of her school uniform underneath her legs. She slowly opened the screen door slightly and paused, which warned her father that the door would soon be opened fully. Then she slid it wide enough to let her through, and entered by sliding on her knees, which were covered by her skirt. She turned around to shut the sliding door quietly, and finally faced her father.
Daichi Takei stared at her in utter confusion, carefully putting down the pen he was holding. "I'm delighted to see you, daughter, but was it necessary to enter so formally?"
Hisa stood up and walked over to the opposite end of the large table where her father was going over some documents. He looked particularly grand today in a dark blue kimono, which she had never seen before. She sat down once again on her knees, her body getting used to sitting on the floor again after months of sitting in chairs.
The girl grinned at her father. "I thought I'd go with the theme of this setting. Life would be boring if we did everything the same way we always do," she reasoned.
He cracked out a smile. "That's certainly true. However," he advised her, "you should get used to these living arrangements if you plan on going along with Hitoshi-kun's plan."
Ah, so that's why she was nervous. Only he would bring up the topic so frankly, and she respected him too much to dodge it.
"I'm sorry, father." She bowed deeply, her pigtails touching the floor. "I'm still hesitant about the whole affair."
"I see. Naturally, that means you haven't decided on a date, either?" He asked rhetorically.
The silence was all the answer he needed, and Daichi sighed wearily.
"You cannot keep him waiting for long, Hisa."
The emphasis he put on the word 'you' made her flinch from her position on the floor, and she slowly rose to meet his grave eyes. This was her decision, and hers alone. A part of her wanted to break off the engagement and avoid the part of growing up that everyone expected her to fulfill. To become married, abandoning all hope of embarking on a successful career, dedicating her life to one man, and then shouldering all the responsibilities of raising children alone while that man was away working... It was a bleak future, but what of the alternative? Watching as her family is once again impoverished, except this time it would be all of her own doing? She wouldn't have the excuse of ignorance like last time. She had to make sure it is the last time. But at the cost of her future? She might not know what she wanted to do with it, but an uncertain future was preferable to a chained one.
"I considered placing it after I graduated from university, father." Her eyes were hopeful that he would approve, but she kept the rest of her face schooled into calmness. It wouldn't do to appear weak and childish.
"If that is what you wish. Of course, my acquiescence means little. Ultimately it's up to you and Hitoshi-kun." He frowned slightly. "But bear in mind that the longer you put it off, the greater the chance that your doubts will grow into serious misgivings, which will make it impossible for you to carry out your promise."
Hisa bowed again, thankful that he at least did not strongly object. "I understand, father."
"But enough of this serious talk," Daichi said dismissively with a wave of his hand. "It's good to have you at home once more. Your mother will be pleased to hear you've made it back safely. Is our old apartment still treating you well?"
She smiled in relief at the change of topic. The guilt that knotted up her insides whenever it was brought up started to ease into the back of her mind once more.
"It is," she smiled. "I feel a little lonely being there by myself, though. Living there with you and mother, and of course uncle, made it seem smaller than it actually is."
"That's understandable." He nodded. "I hope being student congress president hasn't affected your grades any?"
"Ah, no," she denied, glad that he was one of the few people who got the name her school's elective assembly correct. "We don't do quite as much as one would think, to be honest. I have more work as the president of our school's mahjong club, ironically enough." She decided not to mention that she often left most of the work up to the student congress' vice president.
"Is that so? I hear you qualified for the team nationals."
"We did. I think uncle would be surprised at who we managed to pull in this year." She frowned thoughtfully. "Well, not surprised, exactly. More like annoyed."
"They're 'loved by the tiles', are they?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"One of them, at least. The other is a very logical player, and our last is good only during the east round," Hisa explained succinctly.
"I see. And how did you fare?"
"Well enough. To be fair, the players I went against were merely above average. My underclassmen had the misfortune to be pitted against those who were… shall we say, 'abnormally lucky'." She smiled. "But that's what made it interesting for them, I think. I'm just glad we were able to find enough people for the tournament."
"Hisa, what did I tell you about false modesty?" Daichi narrowed his eyes at her in amusement.
"I'm sorry, father," she replied, grinning. "I meant to say that I was fairly sure we would be able to advance to the nationals, and now that we have, there's a high chance of us winning the title."
He nodded in approval of her rephrasing. "Youth should never be wasted, and it's good to hear you're putting yours to good use."
Hisa eyed her father in surprise. "You don't… you don't think you're old, do you father?"
Daichi chuckled. "My bones certainly think so. As for me, I'd rather not take any chances."
"Hm… You should take better care of yourself, father. Maybe I should ask Haru-san to let me borrow the kitchen tonight to make you my special soup," she suggested excitedly.
"No!" Her father suddenly stood up. Hisa stared at him. He sat down, nonplussed, and repeated himself. "Ahem. I mean, no, that's not necessary. You must be tired from the long train ride. I'll be sure to tell the cooks to prepare your favorite side dishes tonight, instead. You should go rest up before then, Hisa. Hopefully your mother will be back soon."
She continued to watch him warily, but agreed to take her leave.
As she slid open the door to her room normally, she noticed a wrapped package on the table in the middle of her room. Seeing it made her smile, since the only person who would do something like that was her mother. Hisa gingerly walked over to it, and unwrapped the package carefully, revealing a stationary set. She turned it over in her hands bemusedly, wondering when she would ever use it. Most of the people she contacted with were done so through the computer or her mobile phone. Well, considering how rarely she saw her mother, perhaps she'd start using it to maintain communications with her.
It wasn't that her mother was hard to find, exactly, nor did she experience wanderlust. The love was there in their relationship, but Rin Takei was a very shy woman. Painfully so. The more she cared for a person, the less she could stand being in the same room with them without running out of the door in anxiety. One could say that she was a social perfectionist, and that if her social interactions were less than flawless with the people she loved, she would break down. It was probably a sort of mental disorder, Hisa mused, but everyone just treated it as another odd quirk of hers. After all, the only people it affected were her husband and only child (how did she manage to even conceive, considering her circumstances?), who both accepted it and loved her unconditionally despite it. Besides, the woman did show that she cared in other ways, like showering Hisa with unexpected little gifts that were thoughtfully picked out (never had one gone to waste – something always came up that required Hisa to use them, if their practicality wasn't already apparent).
The sliding door was suddenly opened a fraction, and Hisa turned to face her room's would-be visitor. When it was opened fully, Haru entered bearing a tray with a cup of hot tea and a small plate of snacks. She placed them on the table and hugged the tray to her chest lightly afterwards.
"Thank you, Haru-san," the girl said in grateful surprise. She still wasn't used to this sudden change in lifestyles.
"You're welcome, ojou-sama." She added, "Try not to eat too much, for various reasons."
"Yes, yes, thank you for your efforts." This short exchange had become routine for them, and each found it amusing in a small way.
When the maid left, Hisa put away the stationary set in her desk. She turned to glance over her room. It was different from the one in the apartment in Tokyo in a few key ways. For one, most of the floors of her house were covered in tatami mats, including her room, while the apartment was mostly wood or covered in carpet. Her bed here was a futon, stored away behind the sliding doors of her closet. Honestly, she much preferred the raised bed of the apartment, but she was glad to even have a bed at all, so she never complained. Her room at home also had more general space, which was made obvious by the decent-sized table sitting in the middle of it, as well as the two filled book cases lined up against the walls, neither of which were present in her room in the apartment.
Then she noticed something that had not been there before. A katana which rested above a short stand near her window. Hisa narrowed her eyes at it. While the gift from her mother had been welcome, this gift was not, as she similarly knew who sent it. Hitoshi. It was starting to feel like gentle pressure from him, or, if she wanted to phrase it less charitably, bribery.
She sighed and lied spread-eagled on the tatami floor, staring up into the ceiling.
Her tea became cold without her noticing, its last wisps of heat disappearing before it ever reached the ceiling she was staring so intently at.