Yoshiyuki was granted a position as an all-around help at the supervisor's office. It was sort of a promotion, his pay increased some, for one, but more than that he was working at the admin now and was actually in line to be an admin himself… after maybe five years? Sigh. But his second boss, the one who promoted him, was an agreeable lady in her fifties, and she coached him on a number of tasks, even on keeping the books. For his part, he willingly took on extra work despite the more comfortable setting and Mrs. Nakamura didn't have to ask him to do overtime so often.

And he got a much nicer if only slightly bigger room to himself close to the office.

Anna had given him her own number and they kept up a surreptitious relationship through email; calling might arouse suspicions at home much sooner. She still asked him from time to time if he could get news about the old club members, such as any info about Shuka whenever the cruise calls. She wasn't performing there anymore. Perhaps she was in maritime school as she always said she'd do back in Nankaisei. The other way to gain intel was to cross back over to Otou-san to check on the Nittas, maybe talk to Anju if she happened to be around, but he still didn't have any inclination to take the trouble. Anna did mention she was contacting Nanaka, though she never told him how it went.

Until about two months later when Nakamura-san told him she was planning to send him to university next year at the hotel's expense, so he could ascend the ranks much quicker, and make ready for a successor for herself when she retires.

He never thought he'd hear that u-word again. It kept him up at night, not just because of the exciting prospect. He finally felt he had what it takes to see Grandma… tell her that her dreams for him were at last coming true.

#14. Do Love Songs Last Longer?

He got a leave from his boss for a week and boarded the afternoon boat to Otou-san as he had missed the morning trip. He arrived at his old house at around four-thirty and found it shuttered. So Granny's still in the hospital? He should have called the Nittas first; anyway he's doing it now, sitting on the porch and facing the strengthening wind from the ocean. "Hello?" he struggled to voice out against the wind. They were also hard to hear. "Are you still there?" He cupped his hand over the phone. "Hello?"

"Do you have to go to the hospital right away?" said Mr. Nitta. "Stay with us for the night."

"I have to see for myself."

"Alright. Ma and I will follow."

The last visiting hours were from seven till nine, but the staff graciously let them stay till midnight. "She was talking about you time to time," explained a nurse, "asked if you'd already come here. But she's mostly OK. She still has a mild flu, though, so you'd want to keep a certain distance."

They found Granny asleep. The nurse checked the vital signs and life support while he at bedside holding her hand. "She's doing fine," said the nurse. "Another month of this and we can let her go."

The Nittas didn't hang around for long. At half-past nine they stood to go. "You make sure to stay over at us," reminded Mrs. Nitta. "Just ring the bell. We'll get the door even if it's two in the morning."

The next hour was deafeningly silent as Yoshiyuki followed every little breath and each minute pulse of Granny's. For a bedridden patient, she hasn't really lost weight; she was much the same as he left her. He wasn't sure if she had it rough the past weeks, but if so then it was an impressive recovery. Her body was old but stubborn, defiant and proud, proud as she was in her quiet but hearty way. Did she still remember him? Certainly not because her mind had regressed, far from it, but will she still call him "Yoshiyuki-san" somehow? He had barely progressed along this train of thought when the old woman began to cough softly, and then woke up in a fit of wheezing as he looked on worriedly. Shall he call the nurse?

She saw him through sleep-clouded eyes, saw him holding onto her. "I… I had a dream. You were little, maybe nine or ten… You were leading me by the hand through our tomato garden… you were holding me… it's for real?"

He tensed up. He wasn't that prepared to talk to her right now. Not now, please.

"Is it really you… Yoshiyuki?"

"…"

Yoshiyuki…

"…"

He reached over and hugged her in bed, holding back tears. "I'm here, Granny."

"They say you're with the Nanjous. I knew you wouldn't drift too far away from here." She hugged him back and squeezed him to herself.

A little later they were sharing some macaroni soup. Granny was blowing her nose on some napkins. "When are you beginning your studies, son?" she asked of Nakamura's plan.

"It really depends on the hotel. If all goes well, next year."

She sighed. "Not soon enough. You come back to me when you're ready to go so I can look over a proper suit for you."

A slight mist descended outside and made dew on the leaves.

"Did you meet Miss Nanjou?"

"Huh?"

"The heiress. You and your friends visited her once, didn't you?"

"Well, I…" How to put this? "I talked to her." Awkward silence. But then there was her burning stare yet again. He'd still try to keep this secret, though. "Are you assuming things about us?"

She shrugged. "It's not impossible."

"You actually think it's possible for your wayward kid to snag a princess?"

"My wayward boy can catch a university now, I'm sure he can catch the eye of anyone he wants to."

He felt a warm glow in him in spite of himself. "You really place a lot of importance on uni, huh?" Cough. "You think Nanjou-san will be alright for me?" What are you saying? he chided himself. Of course Granny will be fine with her, she's rich and all…

"She looks nice enough," she said, "but families like hers value their privacy a lot so that's all I know. I'm afraid I'll have to leave it up to you as you're the one on the field… if you ever do end up together."

Afraid? But Anna is a wonderful person, isn't she? She accepted me in spite of my lowly status. There couldn't be anything we could fight over, right?

"I don't think you're a gold-digger, so I trust you're able to see beyond her money. Honestly, I believe in carving out your own place under the sun no matter how hard it can be, so when it comes to money or happiness, or anything really, you should learn not to count on the other person for absolutely everything.

"Look at me, I chose to keep earning my own keep and live in my own house even though I could have just asked your father or leaned completely on my pension."

"…"

Sigh. "I guess I underestimated you, Yoshiyuki. You got to where you are now without any help from your family. I know it's going to be needlessly tough for you with your grades, but maybe I should have let you face up to the consequences every once in a while."

Well, it was tough. He'll give her that.

"So now I can leave you to navigate around Miss Nanjou. But you know, if you can get a hotel heiress, it shouldn't be hard to get your own family back, don't you think?"

About that… She's got a point, but he wasn't so ready for that one. I'm sorry, Granny, I still don't know.

"Can you let me rest for a bit, son? You gotta go back, too, you got a workday ahead of you."

He kissed her on the forehead and pulled the blanket over her, but stayed on holding her hand until she was sound asleep again.

He didn't take until two in the morning to get to the Nittas, but he was astonished to find the couple still up past midnight awaiting him, sitting up half-asleep on the bench at the lobby.

"Oh please," insisted Mr. Nitta when he apologized for the trouble, "you're a true son of Nankaisei and you haven't been here in ages!" They led him to the dinner table where they had covered a late-night feast.

The house was empty save for a young couple sound asleep in one of the rooms. All the girls were away, the two elder ones busy preparing to open an office in Nagoya while Anju "just got a job at voice acting," said Dad with a fond smile. "At a small studio. Uchida-san had her audition for a recording company, but then they said it's better she get studio experience first. Hahhhh. I can't say she's very good at singing, but she's loud, I'll say that."

"How long has it been since she was here?' asked Yoshiyuki. "Does she even care about the islands anymore?"

"Of course she does!" said Dad. "She calls about twice a week. I'll give you her current number so you can chat with her when she's free."

"Can she do something for Nankaisei?" This one for Anna. "Like, er, say, an adopt-a-school thing."

The couple only looked uneasily at each other. "You know the school is facing closure, right?" said Mom.

Oh, he heard about that, alright, somewhere. "But there isn't any official word on that."

"Do we really have to wait for that? We were thinking to ask you if you caught any word on it because Piazza is the biggest contributor and the only sponsor to single-handedly influence the school board. If I remember well it's Miss Nanjou representing her father there am I right?"

But Anna wants to keep it open, was what he thought to say.

"I'm sure they wouldn't want to throw any more money into the academy. It's running out of freshmen already. And you still want to, what's it again? Adopt?"

"Even just for this year?"

"Why bother?" said Dad. "You want to leave a name, that's why you'd want to 'adopt' someplace. If that place won't be around, where would your name be? It's no use."

The conservation drifted over to more lighthearted topics and after the meal he lay in bed in Anju's room, where the μ's posters still graced the walls and the door, though the one on the ceiling was gone. Did she take it with her to the studio? Silly girl as always. He already missed being at Piazza and would have preferred even the barracks, but of course who will carry on the legacy of the club, for Anna and for himself, if he didn't come back here to Otou-san? In fact, he reckoned he might have to make three or four more visits to get halfway decent leads to the ex-members. But there's no mistaking where his life is.

"You're Piazza property now," Anna had said.

Ahhh, Anna. He was hers. That was so delightful to hear. It's about time he (touched base) so he sent a text about his visit and lay back, dreaming of seeing his girl again.

It wasn't even ten minutes when the phone rang. It was a call—a call! He scrambled to get the phone. "Yoshiyuki?" went a childlike voice.

"…"

"Yoshiyuki, can you hear me? Is there a problem with the line?"

"Nothing," he breathed. "I just like to hear you talk. You sound so good on the phone."

"Quit kidding me, it's only because it's your first time talking to me over the phone. Well, when is your Grandma getting out of the hospital?"

"About a month, they said, but I wouldn't count on that. Granny just got the flu and anything can happen."

"I'm so sorry to hear that. How much more do I have to give to make her OK sooner?"

"No, no. She's actually better now. We can wait it. The Nittas and I are both helping her out, and she has a hospital plan."

"That's still pretty tough on you. Save your money, dear, you worked hard for it. Enjoy your pay, get what you want with it."

"I just got a call from Anna Nanjou. What else would I want?"

He heard a soft gasp.

"If you insist on it, then I'd get my salary to pay for extra hours to extend this call."

No response.

"I'd give a year's pay to get that kiss again, and I'll just get by with instant ramen."

Pay-to-kiss, eh? "Yoshiyuki," growled Anna. "You make it sound like I'm for hire."

"Wha—W-Wait, it's not like that!"

"Humph."

"I'm sorry, babe, come on, It's just… It's been so long. Why, a call is already an upgrade from nothing but e-mails. I don't even know if it's your maid sending your texts for you."

"It's me, stupid!"

Chuckle. "It's joke."

"Humph. Don't pirate my taglines."

"Look, I know you're priceless. OK, hear this. I, the mighty Yohan, will yield my mortal body to you for enslavement. Take me anywhere, even to your own room."

"Now that's just sneaky, Yoshiyuki!"

"Ahahahah!"

Anna just clammed up stubbornly whilst he laughed, but gave in anyway and laughed with him. "Oh, Yoshi… you glorious idiot."

"I will always be your very own fallen idiot."

He did not see her blush. "Well then," she said, "if I wanted my very own Yoshi, I'd rather have him as a digital assistant. Ehem… Yoshi, what will be the weather tomorrow?"

"Cloudy with a chance of meatballs."

"Alright… Can you please add stir-fry vegetables to my shopping list?"

"Stir-fried veggies have been added to your cart."

"Ooh, you're like a magic! Ahem. Yoshiyuki, what's the square root of negative twenty-four?"

"Unfortunately the square root of any negative value is considered an imaginary number until the IUPAC decides on a definitive value for the same."

"Clever. Yoshiyuki, are you aware of your own defects?"

"Yes, in fact, I have an erratum: IUPAC is a union of chemists, not mathematicians."

"So. You know I've been to international school." Now, for the kicker. "Yoshi, tell me a joke."

"Cuppitaleesm iz ze besst ekunumik syztum."

"Blech!"

"Xaxaxaxaxaxaxa!"

Anna by this point was having trouble dealing with being cheesed out, laughing, and even more blushing all at the same time so she switched back to business. She cleared her throat loudly. "Did you get Nitta-san's studio?"

"Oh. Uh, sorry I forgot to ask. I'll have it tomorrow before I go."

Sigh. "I still can't get through to Nanan-chan, maybe I'll just ask Uchida-san's father on his daughter's whereabouts when the ship comes in."

"OK. I'm sure you can reach wherever she's schooling, I'm sure they won't refuse you."

"…"

"Anna?"

"Ah…. Sorry, I'm just worried."

"About what?"

"Nanaka still won't talk to me. She's so close by and she won't talk to me. You know, Yoshi, if it hurts me to be hated by one of our club members, being shunned by Nanaka hits doubly hard. We've known each other since we were kids."

"Don't mind that. She's just not ready to talk."

"It's been a long time now. Yoshiyuki, she can't do this. She's so close…"

"Anna, I'm here. Just think of that. Look, I promise I'll go to the dive shop on my next trip out. Leave the whole ruckus to me."

"Yoshiyuki…" she said in a trembling voice. "I'm so sorry to trouble you…"

"That was the original plan, right?"

"Yoshiyuki…" Her sobbing now leaked over the line. "Thank you… Thank you…"

"I'd do anything for Princess Anna."

"I know."

She kissed the handset and let him hear it at the other end in the stillness of the night air. He did the same. They then repeated, now both of them at once, now longer… longer…

Tuesday saw the return to the hotel, and Wednesday to work. Much to his dismay, work had piled up in his absence and even Nakamura-san had her hands full. "Just take it easy," she counseled. "Break down the load into chunks." But as he had already made it a point to go the extra mile in the office, offended by the mere sight of the heap, he got down to it immediately and worked on the whole day even at lunch.

The extra miles racked up well into the evening and by half-past seven he was dead beat. There was still quite a bit so the next day he repeated his mechanical-shovel routine. The supervisor was astounded. She thought to do away with the backlog in about a week and even hoped Yoshiyuki can pull it off in four days—but not really two. "He must be in a hurry to get promoted," she mused to herself, and half-jokingly set down a huge glass of fruit cooler to keep him from "overheating."

But come Thursday a rush of tourists checked in and the both of them were called on to assist. It was toward the end of that day when the boss began to notice sneezing and coughing. Taking him aside, she said, "Son, the guests might see you. You can go now. I can handle this from here." So he went back to his room embarrassed, took a pill and resolved to clock in earlier the next day.

He did get up at five the following morning. He sat up in bed—and couldn't stand up.

His flu worsened as the day wore on. At around lunch Nakamura herself came in with a servant to deliver his meal. "You've earned your sick credits," she reassured him. "No need to worry about your pay getting slashed."

He wasn't worried about his pay, but he wanted his daily dose of Anna so he sent her an e-mail, not telling her he's sick, though, just some extra lovey-dovey in these trying times. He sent three in all for today. Maybe she'll call again tonight.

Oh… that kiss…

He thought to stay up till midnight as before, but weakness overtook him and after the nurse's rounds he blacked out at around nine.

When he woke up at six the following morning, he found an untouched dinner by his bedside. But it was the phone he was interested in. He felt about for it and accidentally pushed it to the floor. Supremely frustrated he crawled out of bed and dropped to the floor in a thud, the phone just barely out of reach. Through the pain he tried to get to it with outstretched hand, before exhaustion set in and shut him down.

"Minase! Minase!"

Hm—?

He was in bed again.

"Minase!"

Nakamura-san and the nurse stood over him staring down in concern. He was surprised to see them with that look, so he quickly sat up… only to be arrested by a sudden dizziness. "Lie down, Minase!" snapped the boss as the nurse lay him down. "What were you doing on the floor? Were you trying to stand up? Seriously now."

She had the cold dinner taken away and replaced with a hot breakfast. Before they left he asked for his phone. "Now, Minase my boy, you must rest completely."

"I… I gotta call… I gotta call my Grandma."

Nakamura only raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Very well." To the maid, "Kana, return in an hour and take the phone away. We can't afford to let our star employee wear out, now, can we?"

As soon as the door closed on him he frantically checked the inbox. Nothing. No new messages. He looked over the call log. Not a single missed call from Anna. What in the world is going on?! Didn't she receive anything? He dialed. Unattended?!

There better be a very good explanation for this.

But no explanation was forthcoming at the moment. Instead, he tossed and turned about and rolled all over bed, now fantasizing their reunion, now raging at her for being unavailable when he needed her the most. Did her folks catch her in the act and confiscate her phone? There was no answer. There was no choice but to wither away in agony.

Hours later he woke up to intense sweating and hunger pangs-a sign that the fever was at last relenting. It seems the rest had already put him on the path to recovery. After the meal he went into another deep sleep.

Finally, he was able to more comfortably walk about the next day, if still a bit lightheaded. After a checkup at the hotel clinic he tried to return to the office, but Nakamura-san told him to relax for yet another day just to make sure. Oh, OK… The flu had messed him up pretty badly. Everything feels vaguely off. It's like he woke up in another century. Of course, it's not the flu anymore, but a certain lingering sense of unease. What?

"How were the guests, Madam?"

"Oh, it all went well. Now don't you worry, son, that was the last cruise ship we had back there. The next one's still to come in a week, if I remember correctly.

Huh?

"Um, Minase, are you alright?"

"…"

"Are you still feeling something?"

"Madam… There wasn't a single cruise the whole time I was in bed?"

"No, none. It would be really hard for me to visit you if there was."

Anna had said she'd talk to Shuka's Dad, but but there's no Dad to speak of the whole time.

Now, on to the next question. Did Miss Nanjou have a problem with her family? It would be incredibly awkward to ask something so high up. Besides, if they really did find out, he would have been summoned again. Or maybe—No way. There's only one explanation that made sense, but… it can't be!

"Madam," he finally said, "I'd like to go outside for a change. I'll be back by dark."

"Ah, yes, much better. The island is beautiful it'll be the perfect therapy. I'll lend you the chauffeur."

He asked the chauffeur to drop him off at the foot of the rise leading to the dive shop, saying he'll call for him later. From there, it's less than half an hour's walk.

Anna. You can't do this to me.

By the time he arrived at the longhouse, he was nearly out of breath, but the rest of him was still (on edge) and his eyes scanned the area with a silent fury. "Oh, may I help you?" said Mr. Mori coming out of the frog gallery. "Does my Nanaka know you?'

"Oji-san, did a wealthy lady come this way by any chance?"

"Ah—why, yes, the heiress of Piazza Hotels is here with us right now. Are you her boyfriend or something?"

"Huh—Er, I-I'm just an admin aide," he answered evasively.

Hearty laugh. "Maybe you're a bodyguard. I was starting to get worried over Miss Nanjou. She came here all alone in plain clothes with only her driver and then she told him to go back. Good thing she slept here for three days and not once were we invaded by kidnappers. I already phoned their butler that she's in good hands so her family won't have anything to worry about."

He hurried past the man all the way to the spacious open-air "deck", and found the both of them there, leaning on the railing and looking out to sea by each other's side. Anna wore only a loose fitting T-shirt that was a bit large for her. Nanaka sensed him approach first. "Ah… Oh, hello, may I help you? Wait, you look familiar—" But Yoshiyuki already shot his hand toward a shocked Anna—which Nanaka caught in time. "What's the meaning of this?!"

The two of them struggled as Anna watched on fearfully, each of them about as strong as the other, but in the end Nanaka prevailed as she managed to put his hand down and keep it down. "You can't do this to a guest! Please show proper respect to the host!"

"Your guest? She's my girlfriend!"

"What?" Her grip relaxed somewhat, but she was still indignant. "So you're Yoshiyuki. But why…? Don't you remember me? Is this how you act in front of an old friend?"

"Yoshiyuki…" Anna finally said. ""I can't believe you can be so shameless. Barging in like that!"

"Alright, castigate me all you want! Castigate me on top of my being sick and all alone for three days!"

The girls were stunned, but, "How could we have known?" said Nanaka. "You should have just phoned us." At this, however, Anna stiffened up and looked away in guilt. She had left her phone in her room. What is she going to say now? She can feel his stare burning into her skin. But Yoshiyuki had finally gotten a hold on himself and decided not to slug it out with her in the open.

Grandpa arrived and was bewildered seeing his granddaughter's hand on the man's arm. "What happened? Is he making a ruckus?"

"Lovers' quarrel." Sigh. "Our dive shop isn't quite built to handle this sort of thing. Anna, maybe you should go on ahead to the hotel."

The couple stared hard at each other before Yoshiyuki broke off of Nanaka's grip and turned to go. "I'm sorry for the trouble, Miss Mori. Let your guest stay here a day longer if she wants to." He swept away from them, holding himself back, fuming.

He was nearly halfway across the deck when he stopped and turned to look back at them… and hurry back in embarrassment. He forgot his phone in the car and had no way to call back the chauffeur.

"Mr. Mori, I, uh, can I borrow you cell? I…" How to explain this?!

Anna could only gape at him whilst the Moris stifled a laugh. "Well," said Nanaka, "I guess that shaved off a little tension. We got a boat. The hotel's only minutes from here."

The Moris made the two sit together in the boat but they didn't talk at all the whole time. As soon as they arrived Yoshiyuki went straight to his room. The whole day he lay on his bed staring at nothing and wondering if he should cool off on their relationship. But he was also afraid she'd break off for good if he let things stand for even week. This was a girl who can abandon him for three days without warning… Then again, she can't really do that unless she had dumped him already, maybe?

At around evening he fell asleep, and hours later he was awakened by a persistent ringing of his phone. He sat up and found it was twenty minutes till midnight. It's Anna. Should he pick up? Well, he decided, he isn't like her so he answered.

"Are you happy now I'm the one calling?" she said.

"Why did you bother?"

He heard her take a deep breath. "I left the phone on purpose. I went to Nanaka to surprise you and… lift our morale on finding the other club members."

"That's a pretty convoluted excuse. Can you craft a better one?"

"I knew you'd say that. Well, I don't care any less if you don't believe me, all I know is I did my part."

"I told you I'd be the one to do it."

"I told you I'll surprise you. Besides, how much longer would it take if I waited on you? You said you were sick."

That stung. "So my sickness is just another petty alibi now?"

"It's not like that!"

"It is! How couldn't it be? Having the time of your life for three days without me?"

"Yoshiyuki. A close childhood friend of mine who I got to talk to only now. Only now! Can't you give us that space?"

"What about our space? Nothing but e-mails, nothing but calls, seriously, Anna, we're lovers!"

"You really think I can just come down to your room and not make a commotion?"

"You did, Anna! You did! Can't you disguise yourself again?"

The silence at the other end of the phone was telling, punctuated only by a sharp gasp as though she had cut herself on something. "Hello?" he demanded. "Hello?!"

"You." That voice. "You really got the hide to order me around like that… just because we have a relationship?!

"Know your place, Minase, I'll be owning this place you're working in someday and no matter how much you advance you'll always be a simple employee.

"I can pick royalty for a husband. This love you speak of, it's nothing but a pastime for us people at the top. In the end, we pick the appropriate connections so we can enhance our own place in the world, while the likes you grind endlessly just to—"

He hung up.

For a good long while he stared at the phone and would have wanted to throw it, a fair enough reaction if his girlfriend was simply being stubborn about leaving him to the sickbed for three days… but…

Instead, his vision was clouded with tears. Minase. She has just cut him out of his life. He should have known. He had punched far, far above his puny weight. So this is how it is to be the lover of a princess—the pretty tales of childhood were all lies. The daring little pauper winning the hand of the king's daughter and lives happily ever after.

"It happens in real life, though," he had told Dale, so long ago.

What idiocy.

Of course she can abandon him for three days without warning, and then cut him off. He would have just laughed at that 'love is just a pastime' thing, laughed it off as a stereotype if only she didn't…

How could you have been so absolutely moronic, Yoshiyuki Minase?

Minutes later, an e-mail came. Yoshiyuki, sorry about that. Let me finish explaining, OK?

How can I possibly forget that? You're royalty. I'm nothing. It's a fact.

Can you please stop whining? It's your fault I said that.

"…"

Alright, I'm really sorry. Please just accept my apology so we have nothing more to argue about.

"…"

I just don't want to be useless. I want to make it up to you for my part in the club's disbanding. I want to make up for everything I've ever done wrong in my life.

The fury returned to him. Couldn't you quit yakking about the club for a moment? Don't you give another air about us? You told me. As long as you have me you'll have them, right? So take care of me first!

You never let yourself understand what I feel.

We're the same, Anna. You rub your status in my face and then tell me to forget it like it wasn't a slap in the face. Slaps in the face are just child's play for you.

That's just mean of you. You don't know me well enough….

…..We only got started.

The next morning he tendered his resignation. "This is so random, Minase," remarked Nakamura. "Have you… Have you found a better place than here?!"

"It's not like that, senpai, it's just that it's probably better for me to hop around while I'm still young enough."

"Your chances of promotion are good enough here. Please don't waste your time."

"I have decided, senpai."

The boss gave him a pained look. "You'll be a huge, huge loss, son." She cleared her throat loudly. "Your appointment here was with the personal knowledge of Miss Nanjou, so I'll have to seek her approval for this, as well. If you absent yourself from work after today, know that you pay will be forfeited accordingly even if you're reinstated with our company."

"I understand, senpai." He bowed. "My deepest apologies."

Next Time. #15. On Our Own