Story 4 – Nightly Terror
The storm was raging outside, thunder rumbled every so often and the rain rattled heavily against the roof. It was unexpected too; true, it was the rainy season but the weather forecast had predicted good weather for that day. And it had indeed been sunny during the day, but a few hours after the sun set heavy clouds had gathered out of nowhere and it started pouring, much to the misfortune of anyone who had business outdoors.
Fortunately Harima and Eri had no business outdoors; both of them had got home before the rain even started and there was no need to go outside again. They had no work the next day and no errands that couldn't wait, so they couldn't care less whether it was raining outside or not. If anything, it made for a better atmosphere for their horror movie night.
They had been together for a little over a year now, and during the course of that time they had discovered several new things they liked to do as a couple; one of them was renting movies on videotape and watching them together when they had free time but didn't feel like going on a date, like tonight. Quite often they happened to rent horror movies; neither Harima nor Eri was overly fond of horror movies, but lately they had come to appreciate their usefulness. For instance, they gave Harima a great excuse to sit close to Eri and hold her in his arms so that she wouldn't get scared; and they gave Eri a great excuse to turn away from the screen and bury her face in his chest whenever a particularly scary scene was showing. And then of course he would caress her hair and kiss her to comfort her, and, well…to make a long story short, most of the time they'd wind up making out or even doing it right there on the tatami mat, the monsters on the TV screen long forgotten.
That's what seemed to be the plan for tonight as well; dinner was finished, their two pets were fed and were sleeping in the next room so as to be sheltered from the rain, and now the two of them were settled in the living-room to watch a horror movie they had rented the other day. They put the tape in the VCR and sat across the TV to watch; Harima had Eri sit in front of him between his spread legs, so that she could lean against him. The movie wasn't particularly interesting; it was a grade-B American movie called 'Giant Zombie Invasion 3', which looked scary enough on the cover when they saw it at the video rental store but turned out to be the usual boring story of the brave hero and heroine trying to escape a town infested with hordes of zombies – the only difference was that the zombies were rather large in size, hence the title. But Harima didn't really mind that the movie wasn't any good; either way he would much rather occupy himself with his beautiful, freshly-bathed girlfriend than with some stupid zombie movie. Therefore it wasn't long after the movie had started when he stopped looking at the screen entirely and focused on Eri instead; he started leisurely running his fingers through her hair, then slowly moved them to the side to reveal her smooth white nape…and then he bent his head down and began placing light, playful kisses on the silky skin. Eri squirmed uncomfortably; she wasn't especially interested in the movie either, nor did she object that much to fooling around with her boyfriend instead, but she always tried to put up a little resistance first. She felt it wouldn't be proper of her if she gave in immediately, not to mention he got a lot more passionate when she played hard to get (although she'd never admit that was one of her reasons as well). "Kenji, I'm trying to watch the movie here…" she complained.
"And what's the problem?" Harima asked in fake innocence, still tracing the side of her neck with his lips. "You mean I'm distracting you?" As expected, he wasn't put off in the slightest; he knew her well enough by now to realize she wasn't really displeased by what he was doing to her.
Eri huffed in frustration, trying her best to appear indignant, although she was fully aware that her performance wasn't nearly convincing enough to fool him. "Geez, always doing whatever you want…See if I care, I'm just going to ignore you and watch the movie!" and she pointedly turned away and resolutely fixed her eyes on the screen. But Harima wasn't discouraged, he just smiled and carried on teasing her neck.
Much as she wanted to act tough, Eri was finding it increasingly difficult to ignore his advances; it didn't help that the movie was way too boring to hold her attention for long. For a few minutes she managed to keep her eyes on the screen, where the protagonists had gotten ahold of a machine gun each and were presently gunning down what appeared to be entire battalions of oversized zombies; but soon enough she was completely fed up of watching this stupidity. She wanted however to hold out a little longer, so while trying not to turn towards Harima her eyes unwittingly began to wander, drifting absentmindedly around the room. At some point she happened to look towards the sliding door near the kitchen which led to the back yard of the house; and then she noticed and jolted in shock.
On the semi-transparent rice paper a shadow was silhouetted, clearly outlined against the brightly lit square of the door. It was huge, about the same height as the door itself and quite broad too. The shape of the shadow appeared human, and upon more careful inspection Eri noticed it somewhat resembled herself when she was a high school student; she could discern a skirt, and a pair of pigtails on the head. A woman, then? But no normal woman could possibly be this big! Surprised and confused, and also maybe a bit influenced by the stormy night and the gigantic zombies she was seeing on TV just now, Eri could not help letting out a yelp of terror which she immediately muffled by clapping her hands to her mouth.
Harima on the other hand hadn't realized any of this just yet, occupied as he was with putting the moves on her. "It's just a movie, silly," he chuckled with his head still bent down, snaking a hand underneath his girlfriend's blouse; but for once Eri paid no attention to his caresses. "Not that! Over there!" she cried in alarm, pointing at the shadow.
Harima looked towards the door and immediately tensed up as well; he was by no means a faint-hearted guy but that enormous pigtailed shadow on the door would be enough to creep anyone out. "Please tell me that's your older sister you never told me about," he said apprehensively.
"I'm an only child, Hige," Eri said, her voice shaking slightly as well. For an instant they stared at each other anxiously; then Harima's jaw set and his eyes glinted decisively as he regained his fighting spirit. He couldn't afford to give in to his fears; he had his woman to protect. "Well whatever the hell that is, Harima Kenji's not going down without a fight," he growled in a low voice and swiftly got on all fours, gesturing at Eri to follow his lead. Together the two of them crawled noiselessly towards the door behind which the shadow stood, trying to keep as close to the floor as possible and taking cover behind whatever piece of furniture they came across so as not to be seen. Finally they arrived within striking distance of the door and took position at a small side table nearby, crouching behind it.
"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Harima whispered into Eri's ear as quietly as he could. "You get over there," he pointed at the side of the door which was closest to the kitchen, "and when I give you the signal pull the door open fast. With any luck I'll be able to take this…thing by surprise; but if it gets to me first, you're going to run out the kitchen door and not look back, got it?"
"No way, I'm not leaving you!" Eri protested, struggling to keep her voice down. "Ojou, this isn't open for discussion," Harima whispered authoritatively, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him. "Promise me." Eri fidgeted under his intense gaze for a few seconds, torn by this dilemma he was forcing on her. She understood he was trying to ensure her safety, but how could she possibly run away and abandon him at the mercy of that monster? But she knew he wasn't going to take no for an answer; and when he got serious like now it was impossible for her to disobey him. After hesitating for several moments, at last she managed to nod her head in agreement, although deep down she wasn't sure at all she'd be able to keep her word if he got hurt.
When he saw her nod, Harima's eyes softened just a little. "Good girl," he muttered, giving her a light peck on the lips. "Don't worry, I can take down just about anything…besides, it'd be totally uncool to lose a fight in front of you." Eri tried her hardest to smile at him; she really couldn't care less about being cool, all she wanted was for him to be safe; but right now it was encouragement he needed, so that's what she was going to give him. "Yes it would," she said bracingly, "so make sure to kick that thing's ass real good, you hear me?"
"Roger that," Harima said with a small smile and then he caught her face between his hands and kissed her again; the kiss was brief but deep and full of passion. Then he pulled back and motioned her to go. Eri crept quietly to the side of the door he had pointed out to her, while Harima squatted behind the table with his eyes fixed on the door, ready to spring into action.
Eri moved in position next to the door and grabbed it from the side with both hands, ready to pull it open. Then she turned to look at Harima and he nodded, giving her the signal. Eri pulled forcefully at the side of the door, opening it quickly, while at the same time Harima leaped up from behind the table and with lightning speed lunged out with his trademark Hurricane Kick.
But for all his swiftness he missed; the creature behind the door evaded his kick in an amazing display of reflexes and before Harima could deal another kick it sidestepped him with ease and entered the room, and then…bowed to him saying respectfully, "A very good evening to you, Harima-sama, and please pardon my intrusion."
Considerably surprised to be so politely addressed by the supposed monster, Harima stopped in mid-strike and raised his head to take a closer look; and now that his opponent was no longer just a shadow behind a door, he began to notice several details he had not been able to detect before. The foremost among them was that, although the intruder wore a high school girl's uniform identical to the one Eri used to wear not long ago and a blond pigtailed wig as well (both drenched at the moment), 'it' was definitely not a woman, but a man. More specifically, a man about 1,95m. tall, with a physique even more impressive than Harima's, an eye patch covering his left eye and a very manly mustache. In short…
"Nakamura?! Geez louise, man, you scared the crap out of me," Harima exclaimed in astonishment. "My deepest apologies for startling you; I assure you I had no such intention," Nakamura said, bowing in front of him again; then he turned towards Eri who had approached them in the meantime and bowed to her as well. "My humble respects, Ojou-sama, and I hope my sudden visit does not inconvenience you in any way."
"Nakamura, you know I'm always happy to see you, but why didn't you ring the doorbell like a normal person? And I believe I've told you to stop dressing up as me!" Fond as she was of her faithful butler, Eri had never been able to understand this habit he had to crossdress in her image.
"Ah, you see…when I arrived here it occurred to me that you might be asleep at this hour, and of course I wouldn't want to disturb your rest; then I noticed that the lights were on in this room and I thought I should make sure you were still awake before ringing the doorbell. I was attempting to do just that when Harima-sama almost took me by surprise," Nakamura explained. "As for my attire, I know that my normal appearance can be somewhat intimidating, especially after nightfall, and I did not wish to cause unnecessary fear to any innocent citizens I might encounter on my way here. I thought that as a high school girl I would blend in more easily and not attract too much attention."
"Oh sure, because there are tons of two meter tall high school girls with mustaches in the streets these days," Harima said irritably. Then, taking in Nakamura's drenched appearance he sighed and added, "Anyway, let's get you inside for now, you're sopping wet. Ojou, get the man some towels, I'll fix him something warm to drink."
"Oh, I wouldn't presume to…" Nakamura started saying, but Harima was in no mood to listen to any objections on his part. "Just sit down and get that damned wig off your head, you're creeping me out," he ordered assertively and Nakamura found himself instinctively obeying his command. Albeit a commoner, Ojou-sama's fiancé displayed some remarkable leadership skills at times.
Eri hurried to another room and returned shortly afterwards with a few towels and a change of clothes which she handed to her butler, and then she went to join Harima who was making tea in the kitchen, leaving Nakamura on his own to change. After giving him sufficient time to get out of his wet clothes the two of them went to rejoin their guest in the living-room. Neither of them could help snickering when they set eyes on him; Nakamura presented a rather interesting sight at the moment, dressed as he was in a pair of Harima's cargo shorts and a T-shirt labeled 'Easy Rider' and stretched to its limits. "Lookin' sharp there, Nakamura," Harima told him in an amused tone. "You should go with that style from now on; I bet you'd be a smash hit with the ladies."
"I'm afraid that would not befit either my age or my station in life, Harima-sama," Nakamura replied gravely; apparently the joke was totally lost on him. "But seriously, Nakamura, it's not like you to show up like this without calling first," Eri said, somewhat concerned. "I hope nothing's wrong with my parents?"
"Oh no, absolutely not. Master and Madam are quite all right; I spoke with them on the phone just yesterday," Nakamura assured her. Eri sighed with relief and then asked him, "Well then, why didn't you call and tell me you were coming to visit…and also, how did you manage to get so wet? Did you park very far from here?"
"Actually I came here on foot; I'm afraid my personal vehicle is undergoing repairs at the moment," Nakamura told her.
"Why didn't you just take the limo?" Eri asked again. "Ojou-sama, I could never take Master's car for my own use!" Nakamura said, scandalized. "In any case, I had not anticipated the rain; the weather was fine when I set off to come here, which is why I neglected to bring an umbrella as well. As for why I did not inform you of my visit beforehand…it was a last-minute decision and I did not wish to upset any plans you might have, and also…" he hesitated a little, "I believed my reasons for coming here would be rather difficult to explain over the phone."
"Now you're really starting to get me worried," Eri said, troubled by his words. "Please tell me what's going on…but wait, you should call the mansion first and tell Masaru you're all right. He must be worried about you taking off on foot in this storm, so you'd better reassure him."
"Oh, Masaru is not at the mansion right now; he's gone to the second residence since yesterday," Nakamura informed her.
"What's that second residence?" Harima asked curiously. "It's that Japanese-style mansion I took you to when we were trying to break my arranged marriage," Eri explained to him. "But what is Masaru doing over there?"
"Madam asked for him; one of her business associates will be in the area for two days and she offered him the place during his stay," Nakamura said. "Apparently he is an important client and Madam wants him to have the best treatment possible; so she wanted Masaru to supervise the maids at the second residence during her guest's stay. He is, after all, the most accomplished maid in the Sawachika household," he added with a touch of pride.
"Actually, Ojou-sama…I have to confess I took advantage of Masaru's absence to come visit you tonight," he went on with a troubled expression. "You see…I would like to consult with you about him."
"About Masaru?" Eri asked, worried by her butler's tone. "Why, what's the matter with him?"
"I'm not quite sure how to describe it…that's part of the reason I would like your advice," Nakamura said. "Alas, an old man like me cannot always comprehend the troubles of youth so well…I thought that, perhaps, you who are closer to Masaru's age would be better suited to understand his problems."
"Since when are we close to that guy's age?" Harima asked in surprise; it might have been because of Masaru's size, but he'd always been under the impression he was much older than them. "But of course you are, Harima-sama," Nakamura said to him. "Masaru turned twenty-four just two months ago; he is only five years older than you."
"Wow, all this time I thought he was at least ten years older than that," Harima said, even more surprised. "So, what's wrong with him anyway?"
"Well…like I said it's difficult to describe…but he seems to be somewhat restless these days," Nakamura started explaining. "He appears to have what you might call mood swings…sometimes he is in high spirits, and at other times he looks quite depressed. He performs his duties as excellently as before, but I can tell that he is troubled about something," he concluded with his brow furrowed again.
"Amazing you can tell all that just by looking at him; every time I've seen him, that guy always has the same expression," remarked Harima. "Hige, Nakamura is Masaru's foster father and he's known him for fifteen years now; of course he can read him better than the rest of us," Eri told him. Then she turned to her butler and asked, "Did you try asking him about this problem of his?"
"I tried questioning him discreetly, but you know Masaru…he is so very shy and has such a hard time talking to others, even me, his father," Nakamura said, shaking his head in disappointment. "If only I had an inkling of what worries him I might be able to talk about it with him more easily, that is why I thought I'd ask you who are more familiar with young people's problems."
"Well, let's see…for starters, has anything unusual happened at the mansion lately?" Eri asked. "For instance, did Masaru have any trouble with his work?"
"I don't believe so; like I said, Masaru has been fulfilling his duties perfectly as always," Nakamura answered. "Madam herself was telling me only a few days ago how highly she thinks of him as a maid, when she asked me to borrow him for her guest's needs."
"Then, what about money troubles?" Harima asked in turn. "Since he's so shy like you said, maybe he's run into bad guys and they're shaking him down for cash or something."
"I don't see how that would be possible," Nakamura said, shaking his head again. "Masaru may be reserved, but he is not a coward. When I first met him, he was only nine years old and yet he had the courage to point a gun at me and pull the trigger; he was braver than most grown men I've ever known," he said solemnly. "And when he became my adopted child, I trained him in martial arts myself; and I believe it is not just my fatherly pride speaking when I say he is more capable than most people when it comes to defending himself."
"That's true," Eri agreed. "It was one of the reasons Father assigned Masaru to my service when I first came here; he wanted my personal servants to be able to protect me in any situation. No, I don't think this is it either…maybe it's something more personal. Could it be that he's had a falling out with someone…a friend or something, and he's feeling down about it?"
"But, Ojou-sama, Masaru doesn't have any close friends here," Nakamura said. "I never objected to him making friends, but all this time I've known him his only purpose in life was to become a good maid and he's never shown interest in anything else. As far as I can tell, he only has contact with people related to his work, like other members of the staff or household suppliers…and to the best of my knowledge he always gets along well with them. Besides, he's such a good boy, I just can't see him getting into a fight with anyone."
They talked it over for quite a while longer, but none of them could come up with any plausible reason for Masaru's unusual behavior. After an hour or two of debating, Nakamura declared he ought not to impose on Ojou-sama's rest any longer, since it was already way past her bedtime. Because it was still raining outside, Eri and Harima convinced him to spend the night with them since there was no one waiting for him at the mansion anyway, and they laid out a spare futon for him in the guest-room next to their bedroom before going to sleep as well.
When Harima was done brushing his teeth he returned to the bedroom to find Eri already tucked in their bed and gazing out the window, deep in thought. He got under the covers as well and put his arm around her, and Eri shot him a severe glance. "Hey, no hanky-panky tonight; it's not just us in the house," she said in a warning tone.
"Yeah, I know, wouldn't want to give the old man a heart attack," Harima said in resignation. Still holding her he gave her a searching look for several seconds and then asked her, "So, what are you going to do?"
"About what?" Eri asked in turn, somewhat surprised. "About that maid of yours," Harima said. "You're worried about him, aren't you?"
"Well, yes, I am," admitted Eri, furrowing her brow. "If Nakamura says he is not his usual self, he's probably right; he's known Masaru for longer than anyone else after all. And of course I care a great deal about the welfare of those two…ever since I came to Japan they always took care of me, and not just because of their job as my servants. The devotion they've given my family and me personally goes way beyond that…it's the kind of loyalty that can't be bought by money alone. That's why I want to be there for them as well to the best of my ability when they need my help. If only I had some idea of what could trouble Masaru so much…it has to be something extraordinary, because all this time I've known him I've never seen him shaken by anything."
"Yeah, that fellow's pretty unusual himself," Harima agreed thoughtfully. "Even without counting that poker face he's got, that story alone about him shooting your butler when he was still a kid was pretty weird. Makes me wonder how it happened."
"Oh, that was back when Nakamura first met Masaru fifteen years ago," Eri said. "Nakamura told Osakabe-sensei that story a while back, didn't she ever mention it to you?"
"Pah, d'you reckon that woman's the storytelling type? The only thing she's interested in is getting drunk and bullying me," Harima scoffed with a grimace. Eri let that comment pass; after she and Harima became a couple at some point she had realized that his relationship with his cousin had always been less than ideal, although deep down both of them cared about each other. She nestled more comfortably against him and started recounting the story of how Nakamura and Masaru got to know each other.
"I've already told you that before Nakamura became a butler he used to be a soldier – a mercenary," she started saying. "About fifteen years ago he was on a mission in Africa, to rescue the president of some small country in the middle of a civil war. The rebel forces had set the presidential palace on fire, but Nakamura and his team managed to get the president out safely. They were just about to leave when someone said there was a child still inside the burning palace, and Nakamura turned back to find it even though he was ordered not to. He went back inside and found a small child, the son of a Japanese maid serving in the palace; unfortunately she had been shot to death in the crossfire earlier, as Nakamura found out afterwards."
"And that kid was Masaru?" Harima asked. "Yes," replied Eri. "When Nakamura found him, he was in shock; well, that was to be expected of a child who had just witnessed such a massacre. He had a gun with him, who knows where from; maybe his mother had given it to him in the hope it would help him protect himself. Nakamura tried to calm him down, but Masaru was too scared to listen to reason; and when Nakamura attempted to approach him he took a shot at him with the gun. Fortunately he only gave him a flesh wound; and then he was so appalled by what he had done that he dropped the gun and so Nakamura was able to get near him. In the end he managed to get through to him and get him out of there safely."
"The two of them were inseparable from that time onwards," she carried on. "Nakamura often talked to me about that…he's told me that this was the first time he had truly bonded with someone. You know, he was an orphan too and had never had anything even close to a family. He had become a soldier because he had thought that this way he would at least put his fighting skills in the service of the greater good; but it wasn't long before he realized there was nothing noble about the missions he was being sent on. As the years passed he became a disillusioned man, with no purpose in life; but his meeting with Masaru changed all that. He finally had someone he wanted to hold dear and protect, and this gave him the driving force he needed to turn his life around. In order to be a fitting parent for Masaru he quit being a soldier and became a butler instead, so that he could help the boy fulfill his dream of becoming a maid one day. I think that alone is enough to show how important Masaru is to him."
"Yeah…I think I know what this feels like," Harima said pensively, recalling his own time as a street punk and how his love for Tenma had saved him from that miserable existence. Then he turned towards Eri and smiled a little. "Well, it's natural that you'd want to help those two out, since they've always looked out for you like you said. And I'd like to give Nakamura a hand as well; all in all he's been good to me, although I got to say sometimes he gives me the willies with that crossdressing habit of his. But you know, sitting around worrying our heads off won't get us anywhere. If we're to help your maid with his problem, we've got to find out what it is first."
"You're right about that," Eri nodded in agreement and grabbed her cell phone from the nightstand. "Who are you going to call at this hour?" Harima asked, a bit taken aback.
"Akira," Eri said. "We clearly need more information about this matter, and she's the best one to provide it."
It took her no more than a few minutes to explain the situation to Akira and request her assistance. Fortunately her friend didn't need much convincing, since she always enjoyed investigative work; about ten minutes later Eri shut her phone and declared with satisfaction that Akira had promised to look into Masaru's predicament and that she would get back to them as soon as she had anything concrete to report to them. Confident that their friend would get to the bottom of this, the two youngsters turned the lights off and fell asleep in each other's arms.
The next morning the two of them had breakfast together with Nakamura (he had got up at the crack of dawn and prepared them a breakfast fit for royalty, as thanks for their hospitality last night). Shortly afterwards Nakamura put on again his now dried high school girl's uniform and set off for the mansion; Harima and Eri saw him off, both of them secretly wishing he would not get arrested for public indecency on his way there.
About a week later the young couple was at home again, all on their own. It was early evening and the two of them were sitting in one of the rooms they had converted into a study, working; Harima was drawing the storyboard for the new chapter of his manga while Eri was busy writing a college essay. Deeply absorbed in their work, both of them raised their heads in surprise when suddenly the doorbell rang.
Akira was at the door, with a file folder under her arm and her usual inscrutable expression on her face. Eri and Harima showed her inside and served her a cup of tea, all the while wondering about her sudden visit; she wasn't in the habit of dropping in without calling them beforehand. "I hope I didn't interrupt your work," Akira said after having taken a few sips of her tea.
"That's cool, we could use a break right about now anyways," Harima told her. "So, what else is new?"
"Well, I was in the area and I thought I might as well drop by and give you an update about the investigation you asked me to do," Akira said in a very professional tone. "I am fairly sure I have discovered the cause of Suzuki-san's unusual behavior."
"Really? You've found out Masaru's problem?" Eri asked eagerly.
"I wouldn't call it a problem exactly," Akira said. "In any case, it isn't anything particularly mysterious…a simple investigation was enough to determine the truth behind this situation. Well then… first and foremost, you will be pleased to know that Suzuki-san's well-being is not in danger of any kind."
Both Eri and Harima sighed with relief. "Well, that sure is good to know," Eri said. "But surely you have something more specific to tell us…you said you've found out what's troubling Masaru, so what is it?"
Akira allowed for a dramatic pause and then said, "Well, to put it quite simply…he is in love."
She was expecting an equally dramatic reaction from her two friends, and she was not disappointed. "Masaru is…?!" "We are talking about the same guy, right?" Akira was quite amused to see the flabbergasted expressions on Eri and Harima's faces, but as usually she did not let her amusement show.
"I don't see why you find this so hard to believe," she said composedly, taking another sip of her tea. "It is not exactly uncommon for a young person of twenty-four to fall in love, you know."
Eri and Harima stared at each other for a few seconds, allowing Akira's words to sink in. "I…suppose it isn't…it's just that Masaru never struck me as the emotional type…" Eri finally said slowly. "But I guess you're right…he is a young man after all, there's no reason that he shouldn't fall in love someday."
Her face brightened even more as she went on to say, "Anyway, I'm glad he wasn't caught up in anything dangerous after all." She chuckled a little and added somewhat excitedly, "But I have to admit, I'm a bit curious what that girl he loves is like…I really can't imagine what Masaru's type would be."
"Oh, it's this young lady here," Akira said, extracting a photograph from the file folder she was carrying and showing it to them. "Her name is Kotani Kimiko, twenty-three years old, and she is the daughter of Kotani Haruo-san, the owner of Kotani Cleaners. It's the dry-cleaning store where Nakamura-san is sending your house's laundry; I suppose that is how Suzuki-san got to know her. She has one older brother and one younger brother, no boyfriend at the moment, she is fairly skilled at housework but not a very good student; she didn't go to college after finishing high school and chose to work in the family business instead. In free time she usually hangs out with her three close girlfriends who were her old classmates from high school, her favorite pastime is hand-knitting stuffed animals, she keeps a pet cat named Shirako and she prefers white and polka-dot underwear."
"That's…very detailed, Akira," Eri said awkwardly, trying her hardest to convince herself that her friend's thoroughness in investigating was not creepy at all. She and Harima leaned over to take a closer look at the photo Akira had given them. The girl on the photo looked like your typical 'nice girl next door'; she had shoulder-length black hair tied to the side in a loose ponytail, innocent eyes and a friendly smile. She wasn't breathtakingly beautiful, but had a simple and refreshing charm.
"Well, she seems a nice girl, I guess," remarked Harima and Eri nodded in agreement as well. "So, are those two dating right now?"
"No, to the best of my knowledge this is a one-sided love on Suzuki-san's part at the moment," replied Akira. Eri sighed a little and said, "I suppose that makes sense…like Nakamura said, Masaru is a very timid person…he probably can't work up the courage to confess. But what about this girl…Akira, do you think she likes him as well?"
"It is my understanding that she has a good opinion of him, and they are on friendly terms," Akira said. "Suzuki-san is indeed reserved and not very talkative around her, but they have talked to each other on a few occasions, mostly about housework matters. But I'm afraid I can't say for sure if she is romantically interested in him at this point; personally, I believe the only way to find out for certain would be if Suzuki-san confessed his feelings to her."
"Yes, I think you're right; in the end, it's all up to him," agreed Eri. "Well, we can at least be at ease now that we know what's the matter with him; thanks a lot for the help, Akira," she added gratefully. "Next time, let's go to that teahouse you wanted to try out, my treat. So, are you staying for dinner, since you came all the way here?"
"No, I'm afraid I don't have the time right now; there are some other issues I need to attend to," Akira said mysteriously and got up. "I am glad that my investigation was helpful to you; if you require anything else don't hesitate to ask me. We'll be in touch." On that note she bid them goodnight and departed, leaving them on their own again.
After dinner was over, the two of them sat down again in the living-room. Harima was a bit surprised to see Eri snuggling absentmindedly next to him, lost in thought once more – even when her mind was elsewhere, it wasn't something she did often. "Well, aren't we cuddly tonight; not that I'm complaining," he said with a smile, pulling her closer to him. He stared at her for a few seconds and then asked, "So…now that you know what's the matter with your maid, what are you going to do? Tell your butler about it?"
Eri thought it over for a few moments. "Hmm…I don't think I should tell him everything we've learned…for one thing, I'm definitely skipping over the part about the underwear of Masaru's intended one," she said eventually, and Harima nodded approvingly. "Maybe I could suggest to him that Masaru might have romantic troubles, as an idea I thought up on my own…then Nakamura can talk it out with Masaru and find out the rest directly from him. After all, this is Masaru's personal affair and he should be the one to tell his father about it, not us."
"I think so too…it's not our place to babble about other people's private business left and right," agreed Harima. "I wonder what that butler of yours is going to do when he hears about it…well, from what I've known of him so far he's the supporting type, so he'll most likely try to help his kid out with his first love."
"Well, so long as he doesn't try to help him the same way he tried to help me," muttered Eri as if talking to herself, and Harima raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Huh? Why would you say that?"
"What do you mean why, you know what I'm talking about," Eri said, surprised as well. When Harima continued staring at her blankly she added, "You know, back in our second year when I invited you over to my house to make the field trip album and Nakamura ambushed you in my bath dressed as me, surely you haven't forgotten that?"
"Ugh, please don't remind me; seeing that guy coming at me out of the blue with nothing but black lingerie on probably scarred me for life," Harima said shuddering. "But why are you bringing that up now?"
Eri stared at him incredulously. "Wait, all this time…you never wondered why he did that back then?" she asked in disbelief.
"Er, no…I just thought he was being weird," Harima said, puzzled. Eri sighed and said, "No, that wasn't it…I mean, he was being weird, but he had a reason for pulling this stunt on you."
"Reason? What kind of reason?" asked Harima, more surprised than ever. Eri blushed deeply and averting her eyes from him she mumbled, "W-well…oh dear, this really is too embarrassing…the reason Nakamura did all this was…t-to help me seduce you."
Harima gave her a completely baffled look. "Excuse me, come again?"
"Well, you see…" Eri started explaining with a steaming red face, "around that time I had started…having feelings for you, and I was trying to get close to you…And at some point Nakamura noticed it, as he always noticed everything about me; and he wanted to help me out, I guess. So…when I asked you to stay over that time and you went to take a bath…he suggested that I try this 'run into each other in the bath' thing with you."
Harima's eyes went even wider. "Sorry, wasn't that guy supposed to safeguard your chastity or something?"
"I suppose he thought that my happiness was more important, and for some reason he assumed this would make me happy," Eri said, still beet red. "At any rate, I refused of course; I couldn't possibly do something so indecent," she went on. "And since I wasn't going to go along with Nakamura's suggestion…he decided to take my place."
"Take your place?! Why in the hell would he think he could take your place in that kind of situation?" Harima exclaimed, dumbfounded. "I mean, did he actually expect me to get turned on by seeing a guy more muscular than me in women's underwear? That would only work if I was batting for the other team, and I really don't see how that would help you!"
"Look, it doesn't make any sense to me either, okay?" Eri said irritably. "Anyway, I hadn't realized what he did back then; I only put two and two together when you told me about how he ambushed you a year later. He meant well, I suppose, but his methods were a bit unorthodox…okay, very much so," she added, catching Harima's disapproving look. "I only hope he'll be more…conventional in supporting Masaru than he was with me."
"Yeah, I hope so too; wouldn't want the lad to go through that kind of shock," Harima said, giving another shiver as he recalled the harrowing sight of Nakamura in a blond wig and black lacy underwear. Then he thought of something and turned to Eri again with a horrified expression. "Say…that underwear your butler was wearing back then…don't tell me it was yours?"
"What are you saying, you idiot? Use your brain a little!" Eri burst out indignantly. "Nakamura might dress up as me, but he would never use my own clothes to do it; besides, how could my size possibly fit him?"
"Oh, I guess you're right about that; phew, that's a relief," Harima said, looking considerably relieved. Then something else occurred to him and stared at her curiously. "So if you already had feelings for me back then…how come when I told you to give up on me a few weeks later you insisted so much that you didn't like me?"
Eri shrugged her shoulders, facing away from him. "At the time I still didn't want to admit it, not even to myself," she said in a low voice. "In fact, I wasn't at all sure of my feelings, much less of yours…I wanted to be near you, and whenever we were together my heart was always beating so fast…but I didn't know what this feeling was, and I think I didn't want to know either. You were the only one who threw me off balance so much…it scared me and I didn't know what I should do, how to act around you; I was attracted to you but I couldn't figure you out and that made me really insecure…that's why I insisted on keeping you at arm's length. I think Nakamura saw this as well, and that the reason he pushed me so much to get closer to you was because he wanted me to be more honest with myself."
Harima remained silent for a few moments and then he said thoughtfully, "Well, maybe it was for the best that you couldn't be honest with yourself…it wasn't a very good time to be in love with me back then. When I think that you could really have given up on me then like I told you to…" His eyes darkened and for a few instants he seemed genuinely frightened by that thought; his grip tightened around her as though he never wanted to let her go. He pressed his mouth against the side of her head and murmured, "…Hey…we've spent enough time worrying about other people these days…how about we forget about everyone else just for tonight, huh?"
"Now look who's being cuddly," Eri purred softly, smiling up at him. A tender kiss followed, and, sure enough, soon all thoughts of the outside world were banished from their minds.