Later that day, while everyone was (presumably) sleeping off their hangovers, Minori took her laptop and went to sit in the guest lounge.
"How to change major – Todai," she mumbled to herself as she keyed it into the Google search bar. She had an idea for what she could do to help Seiichi, and she wanted to see how feasible it would be.
Skimming the page on the school website, she thought it seemed fairly straightforward – submit a form and they'd see whether you were qualified.
Then she Googled financial aid options and scholarship possibilities, and that was far more complicated.
"Oh, no," she murmured, frowning, as she scrolled through all the different scholarships available, each with a long set of requirements, some with bonds.
Remembering what Seiichi had said about wanting to be a professor, she narrowed her search down to research scholarships, and ones that included Master's degrees as well. That narrowed the search down significantly, and she read through the requirements and application procedures for each, taking notes about what to do.
It appeared that there were several essays to write, but as luck would have it, the essay prompts were similar enough that it would be possible to submit the same set of essays for all of them, which made it far easier for Minori to write them after coaxing reflections from Seiichi about his favourite literary works, meaningful experiences in his life and why he wanted to pursue an education in the fields he'd chosen. It shouldn't be too hard – they'd spoken about all of those things in varying stages of inebriation before.
Thus started what she termed, perhaps overly dramatically, as the Great Deception, tricking Seiichi into helping her help him apply for everything he needed to become a professor… or at least change his major.
Meanwhile, a different plan was being hatched elsewhere in the same hotel. Sho, after waking up from his nap, lay starfished across his large bed thinking about how empty it seemed now that he had had Minori in it.
He wondered if she'd be open to being in his bed again, and decided to put his mind to trying. After all, she didn't have any intention of staying in showbiz, which meant no mess after the affair ended. And if she did want to… well, it would only benefit her to be involved with someone as prominent as he in the industry, he thought, chortling to himself slightly.
But how to go about it? Sho had never had much experience chasing girls – they usually threw themselves at him, and all it took was him showing the slightest bit of interest in them for them to tumble right into his arms (and his bed). It wasn't like he'd ever had to put in much effort.
He frowned. This might be harder than he thought.
He thought back to what all those girls had done for him – generally he didn't take much interest in them, other than the pretty ones, but the one that stood out the most to him was Kyoko. After all, she'd been such a significant part of his formative years, always there, smiling at him, doting on him.
Maybe that was a good place to start? He figured he might as well – Kyoko's quiet devotion had, somehow, gotten him hooked without even realizing it. He grimaced at the thought. It was so pathetic that he, the most popular idol in Japan (that Hizuri bastard didn't count, he was an actor, not an idol) had become infatuated with a plain Jane like Kyoko. In his musings, he casually omitted the fact that Kyoko was now one of the most sought-after actresses not just in Japan, but in the world.
The only question left was how. After all, it wasn't like Minori was generally a damsel in distress. She was usually the one who looked after the others. Maybe he could start with bringing her snacks and drinks when he saw her sitting alone, which wasn't much, but it was possible that striking up conversation would give him more ideas.
Sho really wasn't used to having to chase girls like this, but he supposed it was worth it. He'd heard it said that fruits of your labour were sweeter, although he hadn't had much opportunity to test that theory when it came to girls, since it wasn't like he'd ever had to work for them.
Satisfied with his new plan, he rolled over and went back to sleep.
Back in Minori's room, Seiichi was still lying in bed, asleep. Minori had popped back in after her convenience store run with painkillers and dug around in Seiichi's stash from last night for some food that would be easy for him to eat. She settled on onigiri and instant miso soup, and laid it out by the painkillers on the bedside table so he would see it when he woke up.
When she returned after her research session, he was still lying there in much the same manner she'd left him. Looking at him slouched pathetically in Kumiko's bed, having messed hers last night, she wondered how someone like him could possibly become a professor and have any sort of gravitas in the future.
Sighing, she poured a cup of warm water from the kettle and went to wake him up.
"Seiichi," she said softly, patting him as she sat next to him on the bed.
He groaned and curled into a tighter ball. "Noooo…" he moaned into the sheets.
"Seiichi, come on, take your painkillers," she coaxed, pulling him into her lap and brushing his sweaty hair away from his forehead. She picked up the pills and held them in front of his mouth, then putting the cup of water to his lips to help him drink.
"You're such a child," she said, shaking her head when he grudgingly ate the pills.
He huffed in protest, but squirmed up so he was propped up by the pillows resting against the headboard.
Minori handed him the onigiri, then picked up the instant miso soup to pour water into it as he unwrapped it and started munching slowly.
"Where's everyone?" he asked.
Minori found a spare chopstick to stir the miso soup. "I haven't seen Kumiko or the boys all day… Aiko and Hanae were in their room the last I saw them, and God knows where Akari and Hiroichi are, although I'm sure they're fine. They didn't even go drinking last night."
She handed the plastic cup back to him and he took a sip. "Hmm, that's true," he said. "What are your plans for the rest of the day?"
"Well, I thought I'd explore Otaru a little more, since we have to leave tonight."
Seiichi perked up. "I want to go too!"
She looked at him skeptically. "Are you sure you're up to it?"
He nodded eagerly.
Minori shrugged. "All right, go take a shower and see how you feel after that."
He grinned at her, then stuffed the last of the onigiri into his mouth. "Okay, see you!" he said, picking up the miso soup and going back to his room.
Minori rolled her eyes and picked up her Kindle, settling into the stuffed chair. She fully expected him to call back in twenty minutes to say he was going back to bed.
Half an hour later, Minori was leaving the hotel alone, her predictions having come true. Since it was turning out to be quite a warm day, she was dressed casually in a camisole, jeans and sneakers, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She'd foregone makeup for the most part, just filling in her brows quickly.
As she was walking out of the hotel, she heard someone calling her name and turned to see Sho behind her, waving. He was dressed in what seemed to be a rather impractical outfit, a black t-shirt under a black leather jacket and black leather pants.
"Good afternoon, Fuwa-san," she said as he came up next to her.
He smiled at her rakishly and she tried not to flush. "Please, call me Sho," he said casually. "After last night, I'm sure we're on a first name basis."
He watched carefully for her reaction to him bringing up last night, and wasn't disappointed. She couldn't hold back the flush this time, and ducked her head shyly, although since she wasn't wearing any makeup the colour on her cheeks was obvious to all.
He had to control his satisfied smirk before she looked back up and saw. She wasn't oblivious to his charms after all.
She coughed awkwardly. "Right, okay," she mumbled, going to tuck the baby hairs framing her face behind her ear. She suddenly wished she hadn't tied her hair back – it would be a lot easier to hide behind her hair.
"So, where are you headed?" he asked, offering her a reprieve.
"Oh, I was actually just going to explore Otaru a little. I've never been here," she explained enthusiastically, a little bounce in her step as she clutched the straps of her mini backpack.
"What a coincidence, me too!" he said. This was a lie. He had been to Otaru before on tours and had no interest in wandering around like a lost kitten. He'd been headed to the convenience store to buy some snacks, in a huff because Shoko wouldn't get someone to do it for him, when he saw Minori in the lobby about to leave, but he recognized a prime opportunity when he saw one.
They fell into step together, walking in comfortable silence for a while, until Sho broke the silence by asking about Minori's college experience so far. That started an easy conversation that covered law school, his shenanigans in Tokyo and their current tour as they went to the music box museum and glass works shops. Decidedly off-limits were any mention of Kyoko and Kuon, Kyoto or their families.
They did somewhat mention it at the last stop of their mini-tour, the LeTAO cheesecake shop. When Minori took her first bite of the cake she let out a positively indecent moan, and Sho looked on with a mixture of amusement and horror, very conscious of the stares of other customers. He supposed he should be grateful that the paparazzi hadn't found them yet, or their "date" would be splashed across the front page of all the tabloids.
"Oh my God, this is so good," she exclaimed with her mouth full, her fork already going back for her second piece.
"Haven't you ever tried some?" he asked.
She shrugged. "This is a bit of an expensive snack and there was never really much money around the house," she explained, looking slightly like a chipmunk with her cheeks full.
"I suppose so," Sho said, watching her. He'd declined a snack since he didn't care much for sweet foods. He rested his chin on his hand, elbow on the table, as she polished off the cheesecake handily. When she was done, he signaled the waiter over, slipping him his credit card despite her protests.
"No, think of it as a gift between colleagues," he insisted.
"Oh… thank you," she said, blushing slightly. Through their little excursion today she'd really gotten to know him better, and she was surprised at how much he'd changed since their younger days. She wondered if this was all an act, but dismissed the thought quickly. There was no reason for him to try to impress her, first of all, and he wasn't that good an actor. Maybe he really was growing up.
The thought started creeping in, unwelcome and unpleasant, that maybe if he'd been this nice to Kyoko all along she wouldn't be with Kuon now. It was certainly likely, but she didn't really like thinking it because she really liked Kuon and the two of them made a wonderful couple.
Now that the idea was in her mind, she couldn't help but feel a niggling sense of pity for Sho, that he seemed to be able to captivate every girl… except the one he wanted, and the irony was that if he'd had whatever epiphany he'd had just a little earlier, he might have had her.
Hi guys! It's been a while.
I've been really occupied with other things over the past few months, and frankly, not very sure what to do with this story after the last chapter, but I hope you enjoyed this nonetheless. I'll try to write more, but I don't have a very firm idea of how I want this to progress, just an overall plot goal.