A/N: Greetings, whoever-you-are! This chapter and a few next ones will explore more of the supporting OCs. Believe me – it is all important for the story to make sense in the end. I sincerely hope that you like this chapter and are kind enough to post a review. :P
The verse I used in this chapter is from the poem I Am Not Yours by Sara Teasdale.
Disclaimer: I do not own City Hunter or its characters. Neither do I own the aforementioned poem.
Saki: Holes
"No, Mr. Onoda. You cannot say 'They didn't paid for it'. You have to say 'They didn't pay for it'. Because we are already using the past tense form of 'do', i.e., 'did', we cannot use the principal verb in the past tense too", I explain and circle the word 'paid' on Onoda-san's homework. He studies my face longer than he studies his mistakes, as he always does. I lean back against my chair and say,
"I must say though that you are doing very well. And your grammar is not as bad as you think. You just make a few common mistakes which everyone does once in a while. So, for this week, here's your performance sticker…"
He pulls away the sheet towards him and my hand is still in mid-air, holding the sticker. He clears his throat lightly,
"I don't want the sticker"
I try not to smile at his embarrassment. I say,
"It's a part of your learning procedure. Now give me your homework"
I reach for it, but he puts it in a drawer. I raise an eyebrow at him and shake my head. He says seriously,
"I am not a child. I am good without the sticker"
"Fine, not good"
He looks at me disbelievingly as if I just asked him to impregnate me. He places his elbows on the table and looks at me gravely,
"Miss Saki, I do not want those stickers. I am fine without them"
"Well", I reason with him, "These stickers are not as embarrassing as the ones I put on my regular students' homework. See… this one just says 'Well done' and then there is a little place for my remarks which will help you to check your performance. If you like Astro-Boy, I have those stickers too"
As expected, he doesn't find my joke to be funny. He puts the homework sheet before me and looks away,
"The one you were going to put earlier"
"Use a complete sentence, please"
"Put that sticker on this page you were going to use earlier", he says, without looking at me.
"Uh-uh", I correct him, "Are you sure you should be using an imperative sentence here?"
He glares at me with less intensity and hatred than usual before saying,
"Could you please use the sticker you were going to put on my…"
"Homework"
He sighs inaudibly,
"…on my homework before?"
"Yes, Mr. Onoda", I peel the back of the sticker, "I would love to do that"
He observes me in silence as I paste the sticker on top of the first page and write a remark:
Keep it up, Mr. Onoda. You can do it!
I hand him the paper and give him a big smile as his expression softens on reading the remark. He looks at me for a moment before saying,
"Thank you"
"You are welcome", I bow my head a little and proceed to teach him about the use of direct and indirect speech.
It is Saturday and I am happy at the prospect of receiving the first installment of my payment from Onoda-san. With this small yet significant amount, I can pay off the newspaper bill and buy Kenji a new pair of shoes. I was going to buy myself a new dress because Sobo has been eating my ear off about it, but this morning…
I was putting Nene's hair in little pigtails when Mary came over and offered to do it. When I moved away and turned in the direction of the door, I caught the glimpse of Kenji walking towards the front door. I walked towards him and then behind him. He sat down on the steps to wear his shoes. I asked,
"Where are you going?"
"To a friend's place"
"When will you be back?"
"Before dinner"
"Holes"
"What?", he looked back at me. I stooped over and picked his right shoe,
"Your shoes have big holes"
He snatched it from my hands and put it on,
"I am going to get these fixed today"
"Don't", I said and he looked at me questioningly, "We will buy you a new pair"
"I don't want new shoes. And if you buy me new shoes, you might as well throw them in the sea because I am not going to wear them", said he and bolted out of the door.
I stood in the door and yelled at him,
"Why? Kenji!"
He said turning towards me, walking backwards,
"If I were you, I would be buying myself a new dress for my friend's wedding"
And so, when I get the payment today, I will buy Kenji a new pair of shoes. If I had never noticed, he would have worn those shoes till the end of time. Now, I just have to finish today's lesson. The thought of buying something new for the kids is so liberating that I am even smiling at Onoda-san today.
There is one thing though which is bothering me. Aimi had said that on weekends, the lessons would be held at Onoda-san's house. But here we are, in his office. There's no one else in the Onoda Corporations building today, just me, Onoda-san, the guard who stands outside his office and the guards near the main entrance of the building. This means only one thing – Onoda-san killed everyone in his office! Ha!
I smile to myself at the thought while Onoda-san writes answers to a few conversion questions. That would make an interesting plot for a thriller novel. But the truth is that everyone is at home, enjoying the weekend and Onoda-san is working. Could he be a workaholic? He seems like one. But then again, he is too young to do all work and no play. Look who is talking – I work all the time too. Hideyuki works all the time as well. At least, we both have the comfort of having a loving family to welcome us home. Does Onoda-san have that?
Once the lesson is over, I wait patiently for him to give me my 'salary'. He will have to give it himself as there is no typical table worker in the whole building. He puts his notebook in the drawer and looks at me,
"Would you like to receive your payment today?"
I nod in response. He pulls out a check book from another drawer and begins writing on it while saying,
"My assistant is not here on weekends. If he were here, you would have received your payment in cash. It looks like I am going to have to write you a check every weekend"
"Write to you", I correct him. He looks at me sternly, his pen still moving. He hands me the check and says,
"Next Saturday"
"Thank you", I take the check and put it in my purse. Onoda-san asks,
"Are you not going to verify if I have put the correct amount?"
I am surprised at this question but I say,
"Employer-employee trust, Mr. Onoda"
He looks at me with his patent observant stare as I bow and walk out of his office.
The good thing about not having too many clothes is that you don't have to waste your time choosing the perfect one. It takes me only two minutes to decide that I should wear the mauve colored dress. Because the only other colored dress I have is no more in a condition to wear. Well, I did need a new kitchen napkin. Now I just have to stitch a new button to…
"Oneechan!", Hikari comes in running, "Kenji-oniisan found the box!"
I throw the dress on my mattress and rush to the boys' room. I stand by the door to note Kenji's reaction on opening the box. He reads his name on it as the children crowd around him. His eyebrows knit together in a frown on discovering the new shoes. He casts a glance my way and says,
"I had told you"
As I had taught them in the evening to, the children coo around him and tug at his clothes,
"Oniisan, wear the shoes. Please!"
Jiro climbs on his shoulders and shakes him vigorously,
"Onniisan, wear the shoes!"
Kenji glares at me before finally giving in and putting on the new shoes. They look sleek. I smile at him widely and ask,
"Do you like them?"
He smiles reluctantly, a smile everyone sees very rarely, and says,
"I love them"
"And we love the shoes too. Now, pillow fight!", Taichi announces and I have to intervene.
I find myself sewing on the button to my dress once everyone has fallen asleep. A knock on my door makes me look up and say,
"Come in"
Kenji slides the door aside and enters the room. I ask, very surprised,
"What happened? Why are you not asleep?"
He sits on the tatami mat and slides a box towards me.
"Open it", says he.
I do as told, only to sigh and look at him tiredly in response. The box has a lovely green dress which looks quite expensive. I shake my head and close the box,
"Why, why, why? Why did you buy me a new dress? And how did you get the money? Good God. Have you been hanging around with those…"
"I worked for this", he says sincerely, "I was going to take a loan from my old… hey! Sensei! I didn't do it! I was going to, but I didn't!"
I stop hitting him on the head with my pillow and ask,
"Where the heck did you get the money from to buy this then?!"
"I told you that I worked for it. I lifted a few loads and… you are crying?"
I wipe a stray tear and mumble,
"I am not. I just… it's very uncharacteristic of you to do something like this"
"But I did it, didn't I?"
"You didn't have to! I already have this dress", I show him the dress I want to wear at the wedding.
He says,
"You wear that dress at every wedding and whenever we travel out of town"
"But…"
"It's the least I can do for you"
"You don't have to do anything for me. I am your guardian, not the other way around"
"Just wear it to the wedding"
I hold the dress in my hands. It is beautiful. And the gesture is beyond beautiful. My first new dress in three years… I simper gratefully at Kenji,
"Thank you, Kenji"
"Don't mention it. And it wasn't my idea really…"
I almost jump in the air as Kenji adds, "…Makimura Keiji chose the dress"
"Hideyuki-san?", I look at Kenji with an open mouth. He nods.
Noticing my flushed face and my gaping mouth, Kenji explains,
"I had finished my work and I went to that shop your trashy friends keep talking about whenever they come over. I met Makimura Keiji there with some girl"
"A girl?", Miss Nogami's face flashes through my mind.
"His sister, probably", he says, "She was wearing a school uniform. She was trying on a hundred dresses with her friends. Makimura Keiji just stood aside while the girls shopped. He saw me and I told him that I was there to buy a dress for you. He asked me to tell him how I got the money and why I was the one buying you a dress. When the sales person was showing me the dresses, he suggested that I buy this one. He said and I quote, 'If I were to make the choice, I would dress your Sensei in this'… Why are you crying again?"
"I am not crying, silly", I dab at my tears and grin, blushing profusely, "I am touched"
"Oh plunge me deep in love – put out my senses…", I twist and turn playfully on my mattress, smiling, reciting a love poem,
"Leave me deaf and blind.
Swept by the tempest of your love,
a taper in a rushing wind"
I muzzle my face into the pillow and giggle. The lush green dress is in my cupboard, waiting to be worn to Aimi's wedding day after tomorrow. I cannot even begin to describe how precious that dress is. Kenji toiled for a whole day to buy it for me. When I get my salary this month, the first thing I am going to do is return Kenji's money. I can't live with the weight of this favor. To me, it sure is a favor.
And I wonder why Hideyuki chose that particular dress. I have never worn such brightly colored clothes before. Maybe he did that because he thought it would look good on me. And that means he knows what kind of clothes and colors suit me, which also means he has observed me enough to know all that… or pictured me wearing something like that.
I close my eyes and cover my face in embarrassment. This man has turned me into a lovesick teenager. It's no wonder that I find myself talking to the silhouette of the same man in my dreams,
"My darling, Hideyuki, if you wish to dress me in anything, dress me in your love. That is something I will wear even after death".
***BANTER TIME!***
Vicki: (frowns) If we don't hook up Saki with someone at Aimi's wedding, it will be a huge shame on us.
Diana: (bangs glass on table) I agree. That girl has suffered from the curse of virginity for long enough.
Aimi: (smokes a cigarette) Ladies, don't do anything drastic. If Saki gets to know that you are planning something, she will bludgeon you with pillows. And probably never talk to us again.
Hitomi: (takes another swig of her drink) Well, we can't just let her ruin her life like this!
Mayumi: (nods fiercely) I agree. I suggest we hook up Saki with Aimi-chan's rich brother-in-law. Am I right, Kiriko? Kiriko?
Vicki: She passed out. (Kiriko lies face down on the table)
Aimi: (beams at everyone) You all can stop worrying. I already have a good plan for tomorrow.
Diana: (excitedly) Yes! That's what I am talking about! What are you going to do?
Hitomi: (double excitement) Trap them in an elevator?
Vicki: (triple excitement) Drug them?
Aimi: Actually, the plan is… (notices me) Is that hipster eavesdropping on us and writing down what we are saying? Hey!