Special thinks to Cytrus. I've fixed two of the three details you've mentioned. The last will be edited later, when the thought of writing mahjong doesn't fill me with dread.
I wanted to post this sooner, but various circumstances have conspired against me to prevent that from happening.
And yes, you've caught me - I have no great love for Henry David Thoreau (philosopher of the 1840s, mostly known for his works Walden and Civil Disobedience, the former of which makes me rage in incredulity).
Someone please tell me if these two were behaving too OOC in this chapter. I'm a little less confident than usual about that.
Hisa tucked her arms inside of her sleeves as she continued to lead Mihoko around the small mansion. Truth be told, she hadn't expected to meet her after the training camp, even though she really enjoyed playing with the Kazekoshi captain. Coming across her at the store and then inviting her over had been pure luck and impulse. Come to think of it, she did tend to win her matches using those two principles. Maybe this was the beginning of something interesting. It certainly had been a while since she had a friend she could call a rival.
"By the way…" The blonde girl started to ask hesitantly.
"Hm?" Hisa turned from the living room to face her.
"May I ask why you are wearing a yukata?" She asked curiously.
"Oh, this?" She gestured vaguely at it. "Don't tell anyone, but I was feeling lazy when I woke up this morning, so I decided to wear this." Noting the other girl's still puzzled look, she explained further. "It used to belong to my father, which is why it's so plain. I stole it from him when I was younger and had Haru-san adjust it when I grew enough to wear it." She paused thoughtfully. "To be honest, I still don't think he's noticed it's been gone all these years."
Hisa was gratified to see Mihoko giggle in response to that. The other girl always seemed so earnestly serious that she felt almost compelled to make her smile as often as possible. She couldn't explain it; it was like a challenge that she couldn't resist.
The redhead continued up the stairs. "This floor mostly holds our bedrooms. I'd show them to you, but..." She looked away guiltily and continued in a quieter voice, as if the person mentioned could be summoned by name, "Haru-san would definitely catch me."
"Is… Is Haru-san really that scary?" Mihoko asked in concern.
"Well, that's one way to put it." Hisa neglected to mention the older woman's habit of implying that one of her employees had unnecessary intentions whenever they did something - such as trying to do this and that with a guest in her parents' bedroom. She changed the subject hastily. "In any case, I'll show you my room, and we can relax there until you have to leave. I have some books that I think you might like."
The blonde girl reddened and stammered out, "U-Ueno-san's r-room…?"
Hisa blinked at this nervous reaction. "Or we could just go back to the library?" She referenced one of the rooms they visited earlier, which was crammed from floor to ceiling with various books. She continued worriedly, "I'm sorry, was I being rude again? I just assumed friends usually talked with each other in their rooms, but I haven't had many people our age over our house, so I could be wrong…"
"N-no! That's not it!" Mihoko waved her hands out in front of her in protest. "I w-was just surprised." She took a deep breath. "I don't mind at all," she smiled nervously.
"That's good." Hisa smiled back in relief, and then laughed suddenly. "Ah, that was awkward. I haven't been that nervous since the beginning of high school. Anyway, here it is – my glorious room." She slid open the door dramatically, standing off to the side.
"A katana?"
The other girl's unexpected question threw Hisa off-balance, and she silently cursed herself for forgetting to hide it away from plain sight. Her mind raced for a believable explanation and she settled on one. "It was a gift from my father. He thinks I should be prepared to defend myself in case anything ever happens. It's a little bit overkill, though…" She laughed nervously, offering a silent apology to her father for tainting his image.
Mihoko nodded in apparent understanding. "I see… Father also often says things of a similar nature, although it's hard for me to tell if he's joking or not."
Hisa's eyes lit up at this mutual understanding. "Right? I appreciate the sentiment, but the actual likelihood of something happening to us is pretty low. Fathers worry too much. It's tough being an only daughter."
The blonde furrowed her brow in confusion. "But I thought you had brothers…? We just met them earlier."
Hisa wanted to smack herself for slipping up so soon. "Yes, but both of our families only have one daughter, right?" She was glad her brain worked well under tight situations. It probably didn't hurt that she played that way, too.
"Ah, you're right." Mihoko nodded agreeably, all of her suspicion gone.
The Kiyosumi leader walked over to one of her bookshelves. She ran her hand over the top of one of the rows fondly. "In any case, you read a lot, right?"
"Relatively speaking," her friend replied modestly.
She raised an eyebrow. "Even philosophy?"
"That… not so much." A blush. "I find that I don't do very well with abstract theories." She quickly added, "But I do like what I've read, however, even if some of it is a bit impractical. I don't see the benefits of living alone in nature without any contact with other humans. Humans are a very social species, aren't we? I would think a person would go crazy if they did that."
Hisa smirked at that, having a good guess at which author the other girl had read. She took out a few seat cushions from her closet and placed them at the table for the both of them to sit.
"That was Henry David Thoreau, I think." She struggled a little with the pronunciation of his name. "I'll admit, he's not the best person to read when you first start getting into philosophy. To be honest, I absolutely hated reading his stuff when we went over it at school. I ended up having an argument with my teacher over how his writings practically dripped elitism from its pages and, I absolutely agree with you on this, there really was no point in living in the woods just to feel special about it. If you wanted to do that to learn more about yourself and the world, then you should come back to civilization and spread what you've learned. I hate elitists," she finished vehemently.
When Hisa finished her rant, she found the other girl staring at her. She blushed at the intensity of it.
"I said too much, didn't I? I know he's been dead for over a century, but he really gets under my skin," she explained weakly.
Mihoko shook her head vehemently. "No, that's not it at all! I just…" She paused to gather herself, and then continued quietly, "I thought Ueno-san looked really cool just then."
Another blush spread across her face, and Hisa looked at her in concern. This girl really blushed a lot. It could just be the unfamiliar house that made her nervous. That explanation seemed to make sense to her and she put it out of her mind.
"Really?" She asked in surprise. At the other girl's quick nod, she said graciously, "Thank you. That's the first time anyone's ever said that to me about my rants."
"It wasn't a rant," Mihoko stated plainly, and Hisa looked at her in mild bemusement. "It was an honest expression of Ueno-san's feelings. If others can't accept that, then they shouldn't expect others to listen to what they have to say, either."
"That might be a little harsh, but I understand what you mean. It's a really selfish world we live in, isn't it? I was surprised when everyone accepted my invitation for a combined training camp. I know we talked about this before, on the day you accepted, but it still amazes me even today. You'd think that the other schools would still be bitter about losing, but no. In fact, I'd say we bonded even more over mahjong, rather than become enemies over it. It's really so much more than a game."
"Another honest expression of Ueno-san's feelings," Mihoko teased lightly. "But yes, I do agree. I'm very grateful to mother for forcing me to play mahjong when I was younger. It was… frustrating for me, at first. Mother is something of a tactician, you see, and the other two people were my aunt and my older cousin. My aunt reached the international championships at one point, and my cousin is currently on the Tokyo University mahjong team. I'm sure you can imagine how my first few games went."
Hisa winced empathetically. "Ouch. I'm guessing they didn't hold back, either?"
Mihoko nodded. "They considered it rude to do so, even with a beginner. Needless to say, I wanted to quit not long after the first day of playing. It was only after I luckily managed to avoid last place in a match that my cousin gave me encouragement." She laughed a little. "Well, coming from him it was encouragement. It helped me keep going, although I was never fond of it until a few years later."
The Kazekoshi captain's voice turned melancholy towards the end. It made Hisa curious, but she knew enough not to ask for a more thorough explanation. The other girl had already told her plenty already, and she wondered if it was normal for her to say so much to a new friend. On second thought, it probably was, given her open and kind personality. Hisa decided to respond in kind, although it cut at her to have to hold back a few details in order to keep her yakuza connections a secret. Lying never felt good.
"I know what you mean," she said sympathetically. "My uncle taught me mahjong, and he was the same way." Hisa adopted a gruff tone to imitate her uncle. "If you don't like losing, then get stronger."
They both giggled at that.
"I understand what he was really trying to say now, but back then, it really made me mad. I swore I'd do everything I could to win against him. After a while, I even managed to learn how to switch the tiles on the table without anyone noticing. I won a few games doing that." At seeing the look on Mihoko's face, she explained hastily, "But I stopped soon afterwards. I thought I was really clever, but then uncle started to do the same to me in a game, and even though my hands were quicker, his were more nimble through experience. He completely destroyed me in that game and I never tried doing that again." She grinned ruefully at the memory.
The blonde nodded seriously. "Cheating can never lead to success."
Hisa winked teasingly. "Ah, but cheating and skill can lead to many great successes."
"Ueno-san!" Mihoko said reprovingly.
"Just kidding, just kidding," she replied with an easygoing smile. Her eyes took on a devilish glint. "Mostly, anyway."
"Ueno-san…" Her voice trailed off warningly.
Hisa spread her hands helplessly. "What can I say? I can't help it sometimes. My fingers get itchy."
"Really now, I can't tell if you're being serious or not anymore." The blonde frowned prettily.
"All right, you caught me. I really was joking. I haven't done that in a game since that day." She added, "But sometimes I check it on an empty table to see if I can still do it. You never know when it could come in handy."
The other girl only shook her head in response.
"I know!" An idea crossed her mind and she took a hold of Mihoko's fingers from across the finger. "I can teach you! It'll be fun, I promise. Okay, now, you see this part of your fingers? You…" Her voice trailed off as she realized the hand underneath her own had become rigid and unmovable. She looked up to find herself an inch away from the other girl's face, which blushed an entirely new shade of red. Oh, that's right - personal space. But a small, evil part of her wanted to test something, so she stayed right where she was.
She waved a hand in front of the other girl's eyes. No response. She decided to try something else. Lifting her free hand, she slowly brought it towards the other girl's face, slowly pronouncing her name as she did so. "Mi-ho-ko-chan." At –chan , she poked the other girl's cheek, which was still as soft and smooth as she had remembered.
"H-hai?!" Mihoko scrambled back in surprise, suddenly brought out of her trance. Hisa became worried the moment she saw where the blonde was heading, backwards straight into the wall, where she was sure to hit her head. At the speed she was moving, her head was likely to crash into it hard, rather than just bump gently into it.
She moved swiftly, grabbing the nearby seat cushion as she jumped over the table towards Mihoko. Hisa quickly calculated how long it would take for her to beat the other girl to the wall, and realized she wouldn't make it if she just ran. She opted to slide. When her body fell short of reaching the wall, she used the hand that wasn't holding the cushion to propel herself forward a little more and jammed the cushion between Mihoko's head and the wall.
Hisa sighed in relief as she felt the soft thud of impact on the cushion, and she rested her head on the pillow underneath her. That was convenient. If she knew there was a pillow here, she wouldn't have wasted time grabbing one near the table. Wait, pillow? She didn't remember putting a pillow near the wall.
She opened her eyes to find an eyeful of Mihoko's shirt and quickly jumped back.
"Well, that was fun. It's been a while since I used that much physical energy." Hisa laughed nervously, trying to ignore the fact she almost caused her guest to gain a possibly fatal head injury. No one was hurt, and nothing was broken. That's what's important, right?
She was expecting the blonde to be angry, or even walk out of the door indignantly. What she didn't expect, however, was her to fall apart right there and start crying.
Ah, this isn't good. This isn't good at all.
A quick scan of her desk found that she had no tissues, which normally was not a problem. She never got sick, and she never spilled anything. She also rarely had guests in her room, as she stated earlier, so there was no justifiable reason for her to waste space on a box of it.
Hisa decided to offer the sleeve of her yukata as a handkerchief, giving Haru a silent apology for the scrubbing she'd need to do to get the human liquids out of it. Thankfully, Mihoko only used it to wipe her tears away, even though two small rivulets still trickled down.
"There, there…" She petted the top of the blonde's head comfortingly.
"I'm sorry," came the muffled voice behind Hisa's sleeve. "I've imposed on Ueno-san as a guest, and I've been nothing but a bother ever since I've been here. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"
Hisa was taken aback by this sudden and completely untrue confession. She responded by hugging the girl in front of her fiercely. She didn't know what would cause such a nice girl to compulsively assume all the blame whenever anything unfavorable happened, but she knew it was something she would never leave her alone to deal with herself. She couldn't explain this inexplicable urge to help the girl before her. It certainly wasn't as if she was helpless or weak – far from it. Her actions during the tournaments and the combined training camp proved she was a strong and capable girl, if a bit too soft on her teammates. But with the way she was right now…
The redhead gripped her tighter and rubbed her back. "It's okay; it's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. Shh. No one's going to blame you; no one's going to hurt you. It's okay." She continued repeating herself in that same train of thought until the girl in her arms stopped trembling and her breathing slowed down.
"Are you all right now? Do you want me to get some tissues?" As she felt a small nod in the crook of her shoulder, she moved to stand up. A small amount of resistance in her clothes pulled her back and she looked down in its direction. She found Mihoko's fingers clutching at her yukata and a look of helplessness from the girl herself. Hisa smiled comfortingly and sat back down in front of her, close enough to reassure her, but leaving enough room between them to talk comfortably.
The blonde reluctantly let go of the cloth between her fingers and took a deep breath, gathering herself. She sat back on her heels and folded her hands on her lap. Hisa was amazed at the apparent calmness of the girl and how easily she pulled herself together. It was also a little worrying. Just how often did this sort of thing occur?
"I… I'm fine now. Thank you, Ueno-san." She smiled gratefully, eyes red and wet from the leftover tears. They had stopped flowing at this point. "That was… probably horrible for you. I'm sor-"
"No apologies," she cut in firmly. At the stricken look in the other girl's eyes, she repeated more gently, "No apologies from you. We're friends, so I can do at least that much for you. If anything, I should be the one apologizing. So… I'm sorry. I put you in that sort of uncomfortable situation selfishly, without considering if you would be bothered by it at all. I let my curiosity take over my sensibility. I'm sorry. Please forgive me." She bowed formally, her forehead touching the cool tatami mats.
She felt a hand touch her shoulder lightly, and she looked up. Mihoko was smiling sadly. "Please don't do that, Ueno-san. I might cry again. I owe you too much already."
"Ah… yeah, maybe," she replied awkwardly, straightening up. A thought crossed her mind as she was struggling with what to say next. "Would you like me to show you to the upstairs bathroom? No one should be on the second floor during this hour, so you'd have some privacy while you wash up." She grinned optimistically as she added, "That way you'll be ready for dinner. If your parents don't mind, I'll have to insist that you stay. It's the least I can do. No, really. Please." The last part was said in response to the protest that was building up in the other girl's eyes.
"All right." Mihoko smiled in reluctant defeat.
Hisa waited outside the door of the bathroom as the other girl washed her red face with cold water. She called out over the sound of running water, "Would you like me to call your house and ask for permission while you're in there? All of our phones are new, so…"
The water was turned off. "Yes, please. Thank you. Normally I'd prefer to do it myself, but that's rarely possible."
Mihoko opened the door and was met face to face with Hisa, who was leaning against the wall opposite the door. The redhead waved merrily with a casual, "Yo." Mihoko blushed and looked away. Hisa frowned slightly. Maybe that blushing would go away with time. She didn't want the girl to be uncomfortable around her. That would make for an awkward friendship.
"Well, I'll go do that. Feel free to look around my room, except for my desk. I keep a few electronics in the drawers," she explained helpfully. "Otherwise I would let you browse through them to your heart's content. I like to share my questionable goods with my friends." She winked conspiratorially and went with the other girl to her room, where she made the call in front of the girl. She figured it would be even ruder to talk to the girl's parent away from her, as if she was hiding something.
"Ah, hello. This is Hisa Takei. Your daughter came over our house today. No, no, everything's fine. She's not a bother at all; it's been a pleasure having her here. Actually, I called to ask if it was all right to let her stay for dinner at our house. Ah, okay." Hisa turned to Mihoko, who looked at her curiously.
"Your mother wants you to shout into the phone from where you are, just to make sure you're really okay." The expression on Hisa's face clearly asked if this was normal, but Mihoko didn't answer the unspoken question.
"She's the friend I called yesterday! Her school finished in first place in the team tournaments! I'm perfectly fine!" She called out.
A sound of affirmation was heard in response and Hisa put the phone back to her ear.
"Mrs. Fukuji? Really? That's great! She can eat everything, right? No allergies to speak of? Great! Thank you very much, Mrs. Fukuji. We'll even drive her home for you. I completely agree with you that the streets are unsafe at night. I'll drop her off personally at your front door before 8 PM. Thank you again. Goodbye."
Hisa winked again at Mihoko. "See? I can be polite and proper when the occasion calls for it. Just don't tell my family; otherwise they'll make me act that way all the time, and that wouldn't be very fun now, would it?"
The other girl giggled at her carefree attitude, which relieved Hisa. She was worried that the mood would remain awkward or melancholy between them after what just happened.
"Ueno-san…?" The silence had grown too long and Mihoko was the first to cut it.
"Ah, that reminds me," Hisa announced. "If it's not too much trouble, would you mind calling me 'Hisa' from now on? Ueno-san feels… really formal. But only if you're comfortable with it, so don't force yourself."
The blonde looked taken aback by the suggestion, but she tried it out anyway.
"H-Hi…sa…-san."
The blush came back again and Hisa internally sighed. Well, it was a start.
"Don't worry about it," she said reassuringly. "I'm sure we'll start calling each other by our first names sometime before we graduate."
"The thought of graduation somehow feels nostalgic, doesn't it?" Mihoko suddenly said.
Hisa blinked. "Yeah… I can't disagree with that. I've been spending extra time on the roof of the mahjong building at Kiyosumi just so I can soak up as much of the summer Kiyosumi air as possible. I know it's really sentimental, but I just don't care. I'll probably do the same during fall and winter. You know the feeling, right?"
The other girl nodded, smiling. "I do. And somehow you feel as if you're in an entirely different world when you look at your underclassmen. It's as if you've already moved into the working society and away from trivial things like school festivals. I don't know how I'll keep myself together doing graduation."
"Me too," she agreed. "Well, everyone expects me to just accept it with a smirk and a wave, so I guess I'll do that. Being the leader is tough; you can't show weakness or else your whole team falters. But at the same time, I'm really proud of them, too."
"Exactly. They've all improved so much. It's hard to remember that they're the same people that just joined the club almost days ago. I'll really miss these days," Mihoko said fondly.
Hisa suddenly laughed. "Look at us; we're talking like old men reminiscing over our memories. We'll be in our respective university mahjong clubs, right? We'll do fine, especially you. You seem to have this ability that makes everyone dote on you. I couldn't pull that off even if I tried."
"Ah, no, it's not like that! I just do what I can. Ueno-san is more impressive. She managed to pull her team to its first ever prefectural victory. I couldn't even do that for them during the two years I was captain. I… should have done more," she admitted quietly.
"Putting yourself down is not allowed," Hisa declared firmly. "You're one of the best players I've seen in my age group, and you're easily at the national level, as you've proven. You're kind, and your teammates all love you. It's hard to have that kind of skill and heart."
Mihoko blushed lightly at the torrent of praise. "Th-Thank you, Ueno-san."
"The thought of university still bothers me, though. I really have no idea what to study or where to go. Maybe I should just go in economics. You can't really go wrong with that, right? Or maybe I could go for philosophy. The arguments would be fun in those classes. I can already imagine the frustrated looks my professors will give me." She smirked at the thought.
The other girl shook her head. "I think that would be cruel of you, Ueno-san. But if you ask me, I think you should study something you actually enjoy. I mean, once you marry you'll be a housewife, anyway, so you should make use of what time you have left."
Hisa stared at her in stunned silence, missing the hopeless tone in Mihoko's voice as she said that. The other girl had practically echoed her earlier thoughts about university right back at her. Maybe this was a sign. She really was fated to have a chained destiny.
She shook her head. No, no. She made her own destiny, her own luck, and right now, she was waiting on her specialty: the hell wait of her life. She couldn't lose. Her tile will come.
"Ueno-san?"
"No," she replied, to the confusion of Mihoko.
"What?"
"Ah. I meant I don't plan on becoming a housewife. I'll become successful on my own terms, and keep moving forward," she said determinedly. Then she added, "You should, too. You're too talented to waste your life away as a housewife. No offense meant if you actually looked forward to that, but that's what I think."
Mihoko smiled. "Thank you for that, Ueno-san, but I will do what I have to. The least I can do is make the people that I love happy in repayment for all they've done for me."
Hisa frowned. "That sort of thinking isn't allowed here. What do you want to do, Mihoko-san?"
The sudden use of her first name caused her eyes to widen in surprise.
"I… I…" She looked down, apparently at a loss for words.
"That'll be your homework for this summer," the redhead said lightly. "Anyway, there's the bell for dinner. Come on. If we're lucky, we might have sushi tonight! If you don't hurry, I'll take all of the fatty tuna for myself. I won't lose to anyone!" She smirked over her shoulder as she goaded the other girl into racing against her.
"W-Wait! Ueno-san!" Mihoko almost tripped over herself in her rush to catch up.
"You look like you had fun." Mihoko's mother smiled at Mihoko as she walked back in after calling out that she was home.
"I did," she smiled, a little breathless from running out of the parking lot into the apartment complex with Hisa. It had started to rain during dinner, and the redhead had made it a game to see who could make the other more soaked from stepping on puddles. Mihoko pulled in the girl from behind her.
"Mother, this is Hisa Ue--- I mean, Takei. Hisa Takei."
The redhead grinned at the use of her last name and bowed grandly. "Hello Mrs. Fukuji. I was wondering if I could ask for your daughter's hand in marriage. She'd make an excellent housewife, as I'm sure you've noticed."
"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What are you saying, Ueno-san?!" Mihoko's face was such a dark red that one would almost assume all of her blood had jumped there in a heartbeat.
"I wouldn't mind, although she does have a bad habit of snoring in her sleep," Mihoko's mother replied airily.
"Mother!"
Hisa and Masuyo both laughed.
Mihoko's mother wiped an amused tear from her eye. "I'm sorry, dear, but you really are too easy to tease. I'm glad you two became friends. I'm sure that with you around, she'll be able to enjoy herself more and take life a little less seriously."
"Likewise, Mrs. Fukuji. I'm sure she can teach me a little more about responsibility, too," Hisa replied modestly.
"Oh, has she mentioned anything about a mahjong parlor?" Masuyo asked.
"Yes," Hisa lied easily, sensing that the other girl was instructed to talk about it with her. "However, it's been a long day, and we talked about so many things. I'm afraid I've forgotten most of what she said. I'm sorry, I have a horrible memory."
"That's all right," Mihoko's mother said kindly. "My sister owns a mahjong parlor, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in visiting with Mihoko-chan? Players of all ages from the surrounding area frequent it, and they have a weekly tournament. It's nothing as grand as the prefectural tournaments, of course, but it should be a fun way to spend part of your summer, if you're not too busy with studying."
Hisa's eyes lit up. "That sounds interesting. I don't mind coming at all. Please call me whenever you make plans to go; I'd love to go with Mihoko. Although she probably makes both kids and adults cry from her skill."
Masuyo laughed. "That's not too far from the truth."
"Oh, I can't believe you two at all," Mihoko said in quiet frustration.
"Don't worry about it," Hisa said teasingly. It was starting to become her trademark response to the other girl's worries. "All right, I'll see you later."
"Take care!" Masuyo called.
"Good bye, and thank you!" Mihoko called out.
