A/N: Heeeey! This one is back at it again, new chapter, what up!
Joking aside, I did feel like this thing wrote itself - one small snag notwithstanding - so here it is. I'm making it a three-parter after all, because I feel it flows better that way. No reason to force myself and have something turn out subpar. So, I'm taking my time and hope this finds you well, covid-free, ailment-free in general and in a good place. And if not, I hope this takes you out of your every-day life just a little!
Anon, you're so sweet. I love you. I love you all. Next chapter start!
Title: Serendipity
Genre: Romance, Humor, Meet-cute on repeat
Alternative Universe: Modern day, holiday special
"Hajime, no! Stay; stay; STAY!"
Alerted by a desperate, maybe familiar voice calling out his name, he instinctively snapped his head to wherever the woman was calling out from, only to be greeted by the most peculiar sight: a huge, black, fluffy dog was coming right at him, full throttle! His knee-jerk reaction was to crouch in a position, from which better to dodge – not out of fear for the animal, rather than reopening his stitched wounds – but it seemed, last moment, and last shouted command, the dog paid heed to the owner and stopped one metre short.
"Hajime, we do not run after cats and almost knock people over! We don't!"
Yeah, now he was sure of two things: Hajime was the dog's name; and the voice was indeed familiar for, the woman who was seen approaching, mortified, was none other than Takagi Tokio. Sure, she was wearing sporty clothes and her hair were a mess, but it was her.
"I'm so sorry if he scared—..." She stopped talking when she looked at the nearly-assaulted man; a moment's pause in complete silence. And then she burst out laughing. "Oh, oh, oh my dear Buddha," she managed to stutter as she wiped a tear away "it's you. How...typical."
As if a light bulb went on in her head, she turned to glare at the dog, hands on her waist. "And he almost knocked you over, while you're still recovering. I'm very sorry. He's a very good boy, and very disciplined, in general," she excused but still saved some bite into her tone, making her dog bury his huge head in her lap "but today that cat set him off. And it was either let go or get my shoulder dislocated...I know it isn't an excuse, because if he had hit you, he'd have hurt you, but he's not really scary."
She started petting him then, because the dog simply kept pushing into her if she hadn't.
"I wasn't scared, but yeah, we'd be a bad match." They both chuckled; then he gave her a look. "But really? You named your dog Hajime?"
She pursed her lips, knowing that was coming. "He's my first dog and I found him on New Years," she defended her decision and almost knelt down next to him "and he's my baby."
"Don't want any real children so you're compensating with a dog?"
"No," she complained, "but that's not something to bring up so casually."
Still, he wasn't listening. "And if you just can't have any, you can always adopt, more than just a dog."
"Hajime! That's, no, I—you know what? That is none of your business."
"You're not wrong." He shrugged; she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I was just about to call you. My sister and her husband agreed." Her pleasant surprise was written all over her face. "Just give us the details."
"That's perfect! She'll be taking him, I presume?"
"No, actually, I will; his parents will both be working at that time. Their leave starts after New Years."
"Oh alright. So, do you want me to come with you?"
He seemed a little confused. "Where? To the doctor's?"
She mirrored his expression, only a little exaggerated. "What?"
"What?"
There was a second of quiet; then she realised. "Ooooh, you are going to the doctor's now. No, no, I meant about the train ride. You mind me coming along?"
Finally, her giant of a dog decided to extricate himself from Tokio and started looking to the side and Tokio started walking. Saitou followed, thinking.
"I'm guessing Eiji would want that; ton of things to talk about."
"Do you? I mean, call me crazy," she started defensively, a little self-conscious "but I have a feeling you just barely stand me."
Her words took him aback. "No," he carefully waded through his thoughts to find the appropriate words "you're just...weird. And highly unpredictable; I don't know how to deal with you."
"Heh! That's frightfully honest."
"Why should I lie?"
"So, where's your doctor?"
"Another block away."
She seemed impressed. "You walked all the way here? It's an hour and a half away on foot from your house, right?"
Just as he was about to get suspicious about her knowing where he lived, he remembered she sent people for the TV. "I need the exercise, since I can't do anything other than walk until I'm in good health. It's plenty, for an injured person."
"It's plenty for anyone; I walk approximately three hours a day because of Hajime," she nodded to the dog "and it's more than enough."
"He's a big dog, so I bet it ain't all that easy keeping up with his pace, not to mention he must pull you around a lot."
"No," she comically drawled, rubbing behind his ears "he's such a good doggy; the most gentle giant; my sweet monster. Yes he is; he is; he's the goodest, biggest boy!"
He was pretty sure, should Hajime stand on its hind legs, he evenly matched him in height; he could easily drag Tokio around, if he wished. The fact he was so well-behaved was all thanks to how Tokio raised him and the dog's calm disposition. It was amazing to see such a potentially dangerous animal, so docile. It was interesting; slightly amusing how much she doted on him.
"So where exactly is your doctor? I know you'll probably think too much information or something, but I live around here, so I can take you there and once you're in your appointment, I can bring you the tickets for the train—and the hotel bookings."
"He's on the next right turn, first apartment complex. But we have family in Tokyo, we can stay with them."
She snorted. "So do I, but I ain't in the mood to see any of them, not so close to the holidays." She shrugged. "So, I got myself a nice penthouse at a very cool upscale hotel. I booked you guys a fairly nice room in the same hotel, so transport can be easier. But," she held one hand up defensively "if you want me to cancel it, that's fine."
He shook his head. "If you've already booked it, it's fine."
"Fair enough; we leave the day after tomorrow by the way, so tell your sister to get your nephew ready." She considered. "Get your stuff ready, too, I suppose. Not too much—but pack two sets of shoes for sure. And—"
"I've traveled before, it's okay," he said it calmly but she could see the sarcasm in his raised eyebrow and concealed smirk, so she gave him a look of her own. It made him actually smile and she mirrored his mirth.
"So, this is your doctor," she said then and came to a full stop.
He nodded. "I'm his five thirty, so I'm going right in."
"I'm going to pick up your tickets and details now and I'll wait around here, if you're still in when I come back. If you come out before me, wait here."
"Seems reasonable." He smirked again. "Thanks for walking us both, I guess."
She threw her head back, laughing, not expecting that joke. "You're welcome."
It was twenty minutes later she came back and she had to wait until he was out; when he reemerged and managed to get a good look at the tickets an eyebrow raised. "We have a compartment all to ourselves?"
"I have a dog; I hate bothering people. Or people bothering me for having a dog. So I usually book a compartment big enough for the both of us. But he's huge, so..."
Saitou, for the first time truly surprised, looked at the dog. "You're taking him with you?"
"Naturally, since I can afford it. I won't saddle someone else with my responsibilities. And the hotel accepts pets...of all sizes." She chuckled. "We've been there before; they were wary at first, but they got used to him." She shrugged. "They love him at HQ, too. I've taken him there every single time I made the trip and they adore him; he's too well-behaved and he's great with all ages."
"I was just about to point out Eiji is a little scared of dogs."
She seemed bewildered. "How come?"
He scoffed. "A wild dog bit him; it was entirely my brother in law's fault and Eiji was very young at the time. He gets along with domesticated ones, after some time, but none have been so big so far."
She beamed. "Like I said, Hajime is great with all ages! He will even let him ride on his back, if he wishes to; he's very patient."
"...we'll see. But I am going to make it very clear to you, if he's in any way scared, I'll have to change seating arrangements. I don't want to torture him."
"That's okay, I don't want to torture the kid either. How about we arrange for them to meet tomorrow and if it doesn't go well, I book you another ticket?"
"Sounds actually decent." He considered. "We'll meet you at five, downtown, in front of the big supermarket; we'll go for a walk, see how they interact."
"Works for me! See you tomorrow."
And the meeting was deemed a success; maybe it had to do with the fact the dog and his uncle shared a name; or height, when the dog did stand on his hind legs for a moment and almost reached the tall man. Or maybe, because Tokio, but most importantly the large black floof, allowed him to get on his back and ride him like a pony. Hajime seemed to enjoy the new playmate, too and was all but ecstatic at the exercise he managed to get because of Eiji. Human Hajime thanked her and renewed their date for tomorrow at seven, at the train station. Since their compartment was all to themselves, they only had to be there barely twenty minutes earlier.
"This is not a complaint," he clarified, looking at her for a second to make sure she followed "but why book us so early after all?"
"Well, I wanted to get there at a certain time and since I thought there was no way you'd rather ride with the dog, I just booked it to my liking." She shrugged. "It was only after I gave you the tickets I realised I didn't ask you about it."
"I don't care to be honest," he admitted "I'm just glad they're finally spent."
"Agreed," she emphatically concurred and felt herself a little more tired just thinking about the train ride so far.
Both dog Hajime and the young Eiji were soundly sleeping on the seats opposite them. Eiji was basically sprawled all over, on his back, while the canine lay half on him, half on the rest of the seats. There was a lot of room in between them, seeing Tokio had chosen this compartment so her dog could walk about, thus the space there was inhabited by luggage. The two adults, on the other hand, were lounging next to one another, keeping a watchful eye. They had exhausted themselves jumping up and down, wrestling and doing all sorts of dangerous – for a train – things. And, because it was morning, Eiji had a lot of energy; and so had dog Hajime. And they made the ride so far crazy...but now, they had finally winded down.
He grumbled, tired, massaging the back of his neck. But that movement hurt his wound a little, so he refrained. She noticed.
"Are you sure you're alright for such a long trip?"
He simply waved her away, opting for his other hand; now, no signs of pain were visible and he seemed to enjoy the knot being eased. What a stubborn man. She shook her head, disappointed. Although she really had no clue as to what his life is like, she figured there was a lot of stupid pride involved in it. At least, after that, both adults got to relax and spend their time as they wished—Tokio took out a book and Hajime took out his phone. She only pried for a second and then immediately regretted it, for she glimpsed a rather gruesome photo of some dead person and underneath it a caption that wrote "thoughts? need a little help and Okita won't answer".
Oof, never again. But wasn't this some sort of breach of trust or security, to show people crime scene photos? She rather not dwell on it too much.
.
"Oh, welcome back Tokio-sama!"
"Hello, hello; it's good to be back."
The man behind the reception and her exchanged smiles. "We are happy to see you brought your dog, again." The inside joke was not wasted on them. "Just give me a second to confirm your time of arrival and I shall be providing you with your key."
He started typing away; she smiled a little awkward. "With my keys; plural."
When the man stopped typing, she felt something going wrong; then he looked up at her and blinked. She blinked back. "Pardon me?"
"I have booked two rooms: the penthouse and a room right underneath it, on the east side."
The man opened his mouth and closed it again; then, he looked back to his computer. "I...only have the penthouse booked in your name."
"What? Really!?" She shook her head. "I know for a fact I booked two rooms; I talked on the phone with a woman. Can she be reached?"
"...Tokio-sama, I'm sorry to say we are fully booked. The second room you want is already given to an elderly couple, too, they came not an hour ago." She gawked; the man seemed to panic. "B, but why don't I call someone and ask them—?"
"Wait, wait, stop; give me a second."
She walked a good five metres away from the reception; seeing the hotel and its lobby were huge they were in no one's way there. Naturally, both Saitou and Eiji heard what happened and the former was ready to leave, so she rushed to excuse herself. "It's a misunderstanding, I swear; I did ask for—"
"I believe you," he assured her "but the fact remains, we don't have a room. It's not a big deal, though, really; I can call my brother and he can put us up."
"No, no, I promised you a room. I feel terrible." She sighed. "That man feels terrible, too. There must have been a mix-up with the name...look, if you don't mind, we can all stay at the penthouse. It's an entire floor, really, and I only choose it because of Hajime, because this way I don't bother anyone." She shrugged. "It has, like, five bedrooms; and the common areas are huge. And it has at least three bathrooms, too. We can room together, it's no big deal."
"I don't know."
"Please, uncle, please! I can play with Hajime whenever I want!"
"And, like I had originally planned, transportation will be much easier—that's why I wanted you here with me. Come on, Hajime, don't be difficult."
He tried to refuse once again, but Eiji literally grabbed onto his leg, begging; she intensified the stare. "I promise I'll buy you a chocolate mousse from the hotel as soon as we're settled in...!"
Alright, he wasn't made of stone. He gave in. "Fine; it's only two days, how bad can it be?"
Thrilled, Eiji hugged him tighter and the dog barked, feeling their excitement. Tokio simply took off running to the reception. "Yes, hello, I'm back; it's okay, just give me the key to the penthouse."
"Are you sure?" She nodded. "I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience, Tokio-sama. I will look into this immediately and I hope I can explain this mess as soon as you're settled in."
"That's fine; thank you." He gave her three copies of the key – a validation card – and she went on her merry way. "Let's go." She handed Eiji and Hajime their card and led them to the elevator. "Next stop, the very top floor."
When the elevator dinged, the doors slid open, to reveal a huge and quite lavish living room. Every furnishing and decoration was modern, wooden and pristine; a very imposing flat screen TV greeted them, as soon as they took a right turn, with more sofas and tables. Everything looked clean and new. For a very long moment, Eiji simply stood there, staring at everything mesmerised. The next, dog Hajime nudged him with his snout and he must have been ticklish for a laugh escaped him and then simply started running everywhere, shoes kicked off.
Tokio, on the other hand, just as soon as she'd entered had produced wipes to clean dog Hajime's paws and then took off her shoes, going further inside. Hajime, with one eye on the kid and another on the layout of the room, took off his shoes and attempted to go further in.
"I usually take the room on the left," she informed, already heading there; all the doors were open on purpose, so he could see it was a bedroom. "Once the living room ends, there's a small hallway that has nothing but bedrooms; they all have their own bathroom, too. If you don't want Eiji sleeping in a room of his own, it's fine; all beds are queen size."
He waved her away. "Just keep an eye on the kid; I'll go for a bath, right now." She gave him a thumbs up. "If he gets too loud, just call your dog; he'll follow."
"Go have your bath, Hajime," she shooed him away as she picked up her suitcase, not wanting the wheels to drag on the carpeted floors.
After leaving it in her bedroom and putting her things in order, she took out her laptop and headed to the living room. She picked her favourite corner sofa, and sat back. Laptop in front of her on the coffee table, she connected to the wi-fi and started looking at her emails and such, all while keeping an ear out for Eiji. He was constantly talking to the dog and laughing with joy, jumping on beds – testing them, as he had informed his uncle who gave a shout right before he took his bath – and being all around an enthusiastic child. But, being escorted by her dog, it made a little more noise than expected. Even she had to whistle at dog Hajime a couple of times to indicate they needed to be quieter.
"Eiji, come here for a moment."
When he didn't listen, she simply commanded the dog to come to her, which he did, and there was Eiji trotting behind him. "Eiji, what do you want to do for today? It's still early, so we can definitely go have a bite down at the hotel's restaurant and then go sight-seeing. Would you like that?"
"Yes, yes, yes! Can we buy stuff for mum and dad, too? They'd love some fridge magnets or a mug!"
"Whatever you want honey; once your uncle's ready, tell him to come here so we can make our schedule, yes?" He nodded wildly; still, he couldn't sit still for too long, buzzing with excitement. Well, he did sleep for three hours on the train ride, he was bound to be energetic. "Go play some more," she advised—Eiji took off running, dog Hajime hot on his trail.
Shaking her head, she went back to her laptop.
When Eiji burst into his uncle's room, who was still changing, he got a little lecture about manners. Once that was over, which he didn't seem to pay much attention to, Eiji happily informed him of what Tokio had said; nodding, he buttoned up his shirt, pocketed his cell phone and headed to the living room. He found her conversing with someone over some program in her laptop, wearing headphones as well as a different set of clothes than the ones she arrived in, leaning towards her screen. She was facing him, meaning the camera of the laptop could not pick him out and he sat opposite her, with a nod.
"Yes mom," she drawled, rolling her eyes that landed on Hajime and she acknowledged his presence with a nod. "I told you, it's not business, I'm on leave, but it's business related; I'll be at HQ tomorrow. Once I'm finished, we can go have a coffee or something but no earlier than that." She clicked her tongue. "Mother, if I wanted to stay at your place, I'd have told you of my arrival before it happened. Yes; no mother, just you and me." She gave her mother a very exasperated look, which he thought wasn't too far from how he would look at his mother occasionally. "If you want to bring someone with you, they better be blood related to me or married to a blood relation of mine, or be an animal, otherwise I'm not staying."
Oh yeah, just like his mother. He felt sorry for her right then and there.
"I'll have Hajime with me, you know I won't leave him behind. I don't care if it's freezing! Wear a warm coat, I know I will; yes mother, bye. Give my best to daddy, I can see him making faces at you from the background. Oh, hi daddy," she burst out laughing "I love you, too. No, I don't take mom too seriously. Bye now. Yes, of course you can come—we're blood-related aren't we?" She laughed out loud again and the man must have been laughing with her, because even he could hear it, through her headphones. "Bye; love you both."
She pressed a button and took her headphones off, cracking her neck. "Oh dear Buddha, they are exhausting," she muttered and crossed her legs lazily. "Hey," she said then, falling back on the sofa.
"My mom's like that, too," he commented "just power through it."
She gave a weak laugh. "From what Eiji let slip, your mother has some reason for it." He seemed curious. "The fiance who walked away," she explained.
He shook his head. "Mother never liked her and we were together for a very long time; we were engaged for half a year when she upped and left, but we were in a relationship for about eight years before that."
"Oh."
"Yaso was deemed too...something, from the moment she met her. When I proposed, I think my mother was willing to make truce, for the sake of her future grandchildren." Tokio laughed at that. "But when she called it quits, oh, I could see the relief on my mother's face."
"Poor you, you must have been devastated, if you were together for so long."
"I got by, I got over it." He shrugged. "Helps to have good friends." She seemed to agree to that very, very much. "It was two and a half years ago, anyway. But, since my mother felt justified in disliking Yaso, now she's on a mission, thinking she knows best." He clicked his tongue. "She doesn't."
"Why did she leave, though? Seems kind of...out there."
"There was no cheating involved, if that's what you're getting at," he shut her down with a sardonic smile "from neither party. It's just...she had enough, apparently. In retrospect, I think she was planning on leaving me before I proposed, but she got overwhelmed and said yes. Her parents loved me. And we were together for a long time; maybe she felt she had no other choice. But it finally became too much and left."
"...I'm sorry to hear, though I can understand. The reason my mother is so up in arms about my personal life is because when my boyfriend of six years got offered a job in another country, instead of proposing to me, as he should have according to my mother, he called it quits."
"Oh, that's harsh. Yeah, your mother isn't that wrong; if you're with someone for so long and you're about to take such a big step, if you love them, usually that's when you pop the question."
She made a face. "Or, you think of this as an opportunity to put your life in order and see what does not belong." A pause. "It was me; I didn't belong in his life." She shook her head; he nodded his head in understanding. "I wouldn't have been so bitter about it, to be honest, if he hadn't gotten that job opportunity because of me."
"What?"
"He'd just been laid off and he was feeling too sorry for himself, so I took the initiative of introducing him to some people; because I vouched for him, to an extent, he was offered two interviews, both good jobs, both wanted him. Guess which one he chose." He grimaced, distaste evident. "Yeap, the one who took him to freaking France."
"That's cold."
"And, as if all that wasn't bad enough, do you know what's the absolute cherry on top of the cake?" He braced himself. "He wasn't even the one to break up with me; I had to do that for him, too."
"Oh come on."
"Oh yeah; he tells me he's going to France, three days before he leaves. I knew before that because the guy I introduced him to, called to thank me" she rolled her eyes; he shook his head "and I'm like, this stranger cares more. Anyway, he was leaving for something big, I didn't want to make it hard on him, so I said nothing, but he said nothing either; so, three months later, I had time off work and I fly to France, just to see him. Because, honestly, we had almost no contact. I mean, I get it; he was busy; but no one's that busy. So I go over there, we have a nice dinner, we walk on the pier and he drops the bomb: he's asked to sign a five-year contract. I told him how proud I was and how he deserved it and then I inform him of my own news, the contract with Sony. He congratulates me and says how lucky I must be feeling and all that...and he never, ever, ever asked what was gonna happen between us. Yeah, I got the message. I was thinking of ending things anyway but that's when it became clear. I spoke the words, he gave me some bullshit answer about how it was not meant to be, pretended to be sad for the rest of the night and I never heard from him again. Other than a thank you note when he got a promotion, a month later."
Her sigh was monumental. "And now, almost three years later, I'm the youngest, highest paid CIO, basically, in the corp. I didn't do too bad for myself. Maybe he was right about needing to stay in our respective countries, jobs and fields but he could have been nicer about it. I did feel used and that's a rarity for me. I won't say I don't do things for people, but I know why and when I do it; and I don't feel like I was taken advantage of. At that day, that week, I did. And from someone who was supposed to love me. It sucks." She shrugged. "I'm still bitter but, it's the "how could I have been so blind" bitterness, not because he's no longer here. It's better he's not—imagine if he had proposed and for some ridiculous reason I'd said yes—I'd have wasted many, many more years before he finally revealed his true colours."
"It does suck, not gonna lie."
"Yeah, well, I hope his life is good because I worked hard for that; he always had self-confidence issues, and I did always feel like he was comparing his life to mine, so that must have played a big part in it—but I no longer care. It took me the better part of a year, but I no longer care. I wish him all the best, just away from me."
"That's a step." She smiled. "A big one."
"So, mom's a little overwhelming now, trying to find me men left and right." She shook her head. "I love her, but she has to understand, it's my life."
"They never will." he was absolute. "They think they know best."
"Which is why I didn't want to stay with them," she finished, gesturing all around her. "Even over the proverbial phone, she tries to play match-maker. Imagine if I stayed there. Anyway, enough of that! It got depressing. Where do you want to go after lunch? I promised your nephew sight-seeing."
"Hm...we could work out an itinerary for today; maybe some gift-shopping, too. I know a couple of things my sister has been dying to get from Tokyo. What about tomorrow? It's the tour to HQ first and then you're gonna meet your mom, right?"
"Yeah, just a couple of hours, not much more."
"So I have plenty of time to visit brother with Eiji; then we can go for some more sight-seeing."
"Then a quick bite and we leave. Although, we could go sight-seeing today all day and leave all the gift-shopping for tomorrow."
"Huh. We'll ask Eiji; maybe he'll get bored if all he does is sight-seeing."
"Sure. I'm dressed for lunch, anyway, and I see you are, too so—" That's when she whistled loudly; he winced but said nothing when he immediately heard the thundering footsteps of her large dog. As coincidence would have it, Eiji followed suit. "Who's a good boy?" She gave the dog a treat. "Eiji, you go get dressed now, we're leaving."
"Is Hajime coming with us, too?"
"Of course he is!"
Thrilled, he ran to his room to change – ignoring his uncle who told him not to run around – and both adults stood, looking for coats. "If you feel like it'll give you a problem, I can take the dog off of your hands when you're with your mother. She's right to be worried, it's cold and if you have him, you'll have to be seated outside. I'll go to my brother's and he likes dogs, so it's no issue. Plus he has four children—they'll be over the moon."
"That's...nice of you." She considered. "I don't really trust people with him, so this is what we'll do; you take him for today and if I see he listens to you, you can take him off of my hands with my thanks."
His smirk mellowed to a smile. "Fair enough," he conceded, distantly recalling how Okita was with his own dog, before the pooch passed away of old age.
While they were having their lunch, the mystery of the disappearing hotel reservation was resolved: while the woman on the phone altered the booking correctly – as Tokio had forgotten about her guests through the internet and had to call to include them – when the next shift came, the program they were using recognised the two entries as a duplicate booking and asked if they wanted it to merge. Not thinking much of it, the woman on the next shift pressed yes and the two became one, but the other room was erased. She told them it was no big deal, the penthouse was huge, but they felt terrible...so they bought them their entire lunch and gave them a complimentary full breakfast for tomorrow, free of charge. Well, she wasn't an ingrate; she thanked them and enjoyed the free food.
She did refrain from getting Hajime a mousse though; she had promised to buy it for him, so instead of ordering dessert at the table, she opted to do it while sight-seeing. The man said nothing, but she could tell he appreciated the gesture from that side-eye he gave her when they went into one of the most famous patisseries in Tokyo, with the excuse she wanted to get something nice for her mother.
Honestly, that mousse was just as good as the one he was used to; alright, it was better. He thoroughly enjoyed it. Eiji enjoyed his ice cream, too, even if it was winter—Saitou let him have it. And Tokio happily drank her hot, liquid melted chocolate with real caramel brownie bits swirling inside, as they walked the streets of Tokyo, headed to one destination after another. The only shopping they decided to do that day was only from gift shops at the temples or museums they visited and it was deemed enough for the day—trinkets and such.
But there were two things she found out from their outing: one was, human Hajime was incredibly good with dog Hajime. Was it the height? Was it the fact he had gotten used to not only obeying but also giving orders? She didn't know. But dog Hajime was obedient to a fault. He caused no issues and if he tried to, human Hajime put him in line. The second was...everyone thought they were a family. They looked like one, way too much. Wherever they went, they offered a family discount on tickets and since Eiji wasn't ten yet, sometimes he got half the price on the ticket, some they waved it altogether. She didn't mind...but it felt weird. It was too much hassle trying to explain the situation, too, as evidenced by Hajime giving up mid-sentence and simply giving up. Even back at the hotel they seemed to make a similar assumption, as they were gifted a champagne with the accompaniment, a kid-champagne, with confetti and silly string and a huge bone for her dog. Ridiculously cute, really.
"They may make mistakes, but they definitely know how to make up for them," Saitou commented absently, as he popped a shrimp in his mouth.
Both their glasses were already filled; they were sitting next to each other on the biggest sofa, leaning back, while confetti and silly string had been strewn all around them. Eiji had had his fill of sparkling lime-flavoured soda and making a mess twenty minutes ago, when he excused himself with an equally tired but fulfilled dog Hajime who had all but gobbled up his huge bone.
"Aha," she corroborated, picking up a muscle, still in its shell. She pried it wide-open gently, and ate it.
"Cheers." He raised his glass expectantly; she met him with hers.
"Cheers," she repeated and they took the first sip. Ah, it was so sweet...! The alcohol stung a little but that was the good part. She sighed content. "I love their spirits."
"A little too sweet for my tastes, but I don't even drink champagne—maybe had it twice my entire life."
"Treat yourself, friend," she countered taking a shrimp, too. She plunged it into the cocktail sauce next to it and only then did she eat it. "Treat yourself." She savoured the bubbling with the taste of the shrimp. "I wish I could stay another couple of days...!"
"What's stopping you?"
"I have to be back by the day after tomorrow, because I have scheduled a general maintenance on my apartment. Gas, something in the bathroom needs changing and my kitchen sink cracked."
"That's stopping you." She nodded; he huffed. "I wish I could go back to work already...!"
The look she gave him was suspicious but entertained. "I thought you took the leave so you could have New Year's off and three days to stay at your mom's."
"Well, I did, but because of the stabbing, the doctor gave me an extra week and I, ugh...I hate inaction, especially for such a long time. Four weeks is too much." Then, he realised something. "Wait, how do you know that?"
Like a deer caught in the headlights, she froze; he turned to look at her.
"What do you mean? You told me so."
"I told you we'd be spending New Year's at my parents." Oh no; he looked at her closer, smirk scolding. "I never said anything about a long weekend." She looked away, awkward. "Tokio..."
"I could hear you, when you were on the phone with your mother." When he was about to further inquire what the ever-loving crap she meant, she elaborated. "When we first met and you gave me your spot."
"No way." She became beetroot red; he stared harder. "Were you eavesdropping?"
"N—no!" His eyebrow raised; she became even redder. "I didn't do it on purpose! But you were right there in front of me and there was nothing better to do so..."
"Unbelievable."
"Oh hush," she snubbed, throwing the shell of a muscle "it got you to Tokyo, sipping champagne and eating shrimp; you're fine." His stare became challenging. "Hush," she repeated, only less bossily and more teasingly "drink your bubbly and leave me alone."
"Come to think of it, despite feeling very tired, I don't even need to take a painkiller—the alcohol worked well."
"See? It has its perks." She took a large sip and emptied it. "I will need all the alcohol I can get tonight, if I am to contend with mother tomorrow." Just as she was about to move, he saw what she meant to do and did it for her, by refilling her glass, draining his and proceeding to so the same for him, too. "We're gonna finish it, right?"
"You haft' ask?" They clanged their glasses again and although none said bottoms up, they both drank all of it. "It ain't all that much to begin with."
"We can always order a second one; we're just gonna have to pay for it."
"I don't mind paying for it," he mused out loud, refilling their glasses and handing it back to her, but she stopped moving.
"Hey," she was for some reason upset "you're my guest; I'm paying for it."
"You've paid for everything else," he protested "I'm paying for this."
"No, you aren't."
"Don't be contentious."
"Right back at you, officer."
Instead of saying anything else, he picked up the phone and dialed the reception's number. She was too tired to move, but didn't stop him not because of her exhaustion but even if he did order the new bottle, there was no way he could pay for it; these things are billed to the room and are settled at check out. So she shrugged and thanked her luck it was him who decided to stand.
"Hello, this is Saitou Hajime from the penthouse. We appreciate the gesture; we're enjoying it as we speak. It's just, we'd like another one. No, no, you don't have to—no really, I—...well, if you insist. Thank you again." He hang up. "Apparently, the manager happened to answer the phone and decided to send another one, complimentary of them."
She laughed boisterously; she immediately regretted it, stopping, in hopes it wouldn't wake Eiji. "Guess no one's paying for it, after all."
"Don't feel bad," she tried to console him "and if you really want to get me something as thanks, I'm always a sucker for a good book—maybe some stationary, too."
"Huh."
"I've had my eye on a new pen for ages."
"Sounds pretty decent," he concluded; she winked and drank.
When the first one was almost over and they had to share the final drops, the elevator was heard and the new one was carted in, by a very sharp looking server.
"Thank you very much sir," she gushed, thrilled at the sight of strawberries and whipped cream accompanying them. She then stood, went to examine the new trays as well as bring the other trolley, with the empty trays, closer to the man. Without Saitou spotting her, she took some money and put them in the man's hand "we are very much obliged."
"Thank you, madam," he bowed and made sure the money wasn't visible "have a pleasant evening and, once more, please accept the manager's sincerest apologies."
"We accept them, gladly. Good night sir."
Once the elevator doors closed, Saitou gave her a look. "Really now? You thought I didn't see you tip him?" She hummed, non-committal. "I'm not saying you shouldn't have, but don't do it in secrecy..."
"I thought you'd try to out-tip me."
He snorted. "I don't carry that kind of cash, your highness." She chuckled. "Now bring that over—are those fresh strawberries?"
"Oh yes," she assured with gratification "with whipped cream."
"Thank Buddha they messed up our reservations." She started laughing, as quietly as she could, pushing the cart to the sofa. "Those do look delicious..."
"Help yourself, good sir; fresh fruit abound." She grabbed a strawberry and swiped some of the white cream. She bit into it and hmmmm, it was divine. "I was wrong; it's chantilly cream."
"Even better," was all he commented but he couldn't be bothered to do anything other than extend his hand and he couldn't reach it yet. "I don't mind chantilly cream as an accompaniment to the main dish." He tipped his glass. "Come on; we're running empty."
"Don't be so impatient," she chided him, but swiped some more cream with another strawberry. Instead of eating it though, she offered it to him. "Here; keep busy."
He easily ate all of it in one bite. "Oh that's good...!"
"And," she finally got around to popping the champagne and pouring it for both of them "wait until you try them together."
She offered him a naked strawberry and took one for herself, too. She took a big bite, he mimicked her and before she swallowed it, she took a sip of her drink; he followed her example. "Mmmm," she savoured the taste, eyes closed, falling back on the sofa next to him "it's sizzling."
"It really is," he could only agree, almost as blissful as her. "Man, this night's going better than I ever imagined."
She scoffed. "I take that as an insult."
"No, no, no, no, don't; really. I'm just incredibly unsociable." His honesty made her open her eyes in amused disbelief. "I really am; but you're incredibly..."
"Unpredictable?" she supplied the word, seemingly innocent; he easily remembered calling her that two days ago and smiled.
"Sure; let's go with that." Using his leg, too lazy to stand, he brought the trolley even closer. "Here; you be the hostess from now on."
Fair enough; he did pour for the both of them for the first bottle.
Without complaints, she accepted. Instead of only keeping his glass filled, she decided to serve strawberries as well. Surprisingly, he obliged every time she attempted to feed him. Why did she do it? She had no idea. Why did he not mind? It was the drink, really. He hated being fed, like a toddler. Well, the connotations were much more adult this once, and it did feel nice he was being pampered, he wouldn't lie. It was...a welcome change of pace. It was certainly a huge improvement to getting stabbed in the middle of the street.
Treat yourself indeed.
Now as to why she was willing to put herself through that, he did not know; and so long she kept offering strawberries, with or without the cream, or sometimes just the cream, he didn't care either. If one asked her, she didn't know either; she just felt like it! Was it going above and beyond? Sure. She didn't have to extend herself every single time and then lean over him, but somehow, it looked nice, in her mind's eye. He was almost lying on the sofa, sprawled out everywhere, with his glass in his hand. He was still hurt, too, so it must have been even painful to keep reaching for things, so she figured she'd make his life easier.
Was she flirting at the same time? Absolutely. He didn't seem to register though or, if he did, he failed to mention, so she kept doing it, in hopes he eventually would. He didn't.
A couple of hours later, they looked at one another and it looked like their thoughts were the same, for when she looked at the now empty bottle guiltily and asked "a third one would be too much, wouldn't it?" he seemed to agree instantly. "I mean, yes, we can drink it, but should we?"
"You have to meet your mother tomorrow; better not." She heaved a deep sigh but he snorted. "At least you only have to see her for a couple of hours."
"It's the holidays, I swear; she always gets too excited. It's because all of my siblings proposed or got proposed to on New Year's."
"How many of you?"
Her laughter showed him she was prepared for that question. "Five; brother, two sisters—twins, me and last but not least, our youngest sister; all of them married, but me."
"Even the youngest?"
She nodded, disappointed. "She's twenty five and has been married for two years," she said the last two words as if accusing her. He had to chuckle.
"It's not a bad thing she found the person she wants to spend the rest of her life with so soon; if anything, it's admirable." A smirk. "Don't be jealous."
"Jealous? Pffff, sure, be jealous of being known as some guy's wife for the rest of my life with no—..." she stopped, shaking her head. "Each their own; all I know is I'm the only one single and my mom's made it her mission in life to bother me about it."
"We are three. My brother has four kids; sister one, both happily married. And then there's me." They shared a self-depreciating smile. "Point is, I know how you feel. Just don't let her get to you."
"I'll try...thanks for the support."
"Thank the champagne."
A lopsided smirk. "Liquid courage."
"You can say that again."
"Liquid courage."
Shaking his head, his vision swam a little as he quipped, "idiot."
.
"Uncle, Tokio-san, why are you here? Get up, up, up!"
They barely had time to register what was going on when both felt a huge weight on top of them; dog Hajime decided it was the best wake up call to jump on top of his owner, while Eiji quite literally threw himself on his uncle. A collective "ah!" was heard when all humans felt pain one way or the other and the adults finally opened their eyes. Alerted to the pain, of course, the dog started licking her face away, forcing her eyes open. When they finally stopped seeing blurry, she saw, across from her, Saitou struggling to keep his composure and poker face as his nephew had jumped on him and must have landed somewhere close to his wound. Being on opposite ends of the huge sofa, they looked at one another with understanding and actual pain.
"Good morning to you, too," Hajime managed, without sounding anything other than groggy. Satisfied by the response, Eiji got off of him. But dog Hajime, smelling his pain, came to lick his face, too. "I'm good, I'm good," he assured the canine and pushed off of the furniture. He looked at his watch to see it was still very early, maybe seven, so they had time. "I'm going to take a bath."
"Me, too," she immediately commented.
"Once we're ready, we're leaving for breakfast and then Sony, so, Eiji," he turned to the boy "be ready when I am."
"Yes uncle!"
The kid ran off, dog after him; they both sighed. "At least we refrained from that third bottle," she strung together, at which he found it in him to smile.
"At least."
The day turned out far less exhausting than it started though; the hearty breakfast, combined with tons of caffeine, invigorated them! When they went to Sony HQ, the welcome was great, too and put everyone in a good mood. Not to mention the detailed tour as well as thorough explanations people gave of their job descriptions and their duties made Eiji feel respected and appreciated and that was more than rewarding. When they reached Tokio's field and actual team, she was just as thorough as everyone, if not more and when they offered Eiji some actual practice with their actual code, the kid could have exploded from giddiness.
Hajime felt grateful. Not many people would have done what she had and for a stranger, too. He sort of forgave her nosiness, when it amounted to this. Also, he could easily see how a person could take advantage of her kindness and belatedly became a little upset at the guy she used to be with. Sure, she did it from the bottom of her heart and she did not regret it, but he definitely used that to his favour. In the end, one could argue, don't we all use others and allow ourselves to be used? Yes, in a way...but not such a direct way. It really didn't sit well with him. Hopefully, she was as over it as she claimed.
Dog Hajime on the other hand, felt blissful; people were giving him treats, belly rubs and behind the ear scratches all the time. And when the time came for them to leave, well after twelve, he was handed over to human Hajime who took him to a place he had never seen before, full of new friends! Six, to be exact, and four of them were small, and two could fit on his back at any given time—even three! They weren't even heavy. They smelt nice and they were very loving. They did pull on his ears and tail once or twice but stopped when a big friend told them not to. Dog Hajime had the time of his life, running about with small humans both inside and outside of home. And when he was reunited with his owner, he was overjoyed!
"How's my baby? Did you have fun?" He barked. "You had fun, didn't you?" He barked again. "Yes, you're a good boy; the goodest boy." He licked her face away and she simply stayed there, petting him as she exchanged pleasantries with Saitou and Eiji..
"So, how was your coffee?" Hajime asked, meaningfully.
She smiled. "Thankfully, uneventful." She pushed herself up. "Dad came along, so everything went smoothly."
"Fathers help with that, indeed."
She laughed. "I just hope I don't take after her in the certain department if or when I have children."
"You'll find some other way to annoy, I'm sure."
"Hey!"
"What does Tokio-san mean?"
"She means she loves her mother but no one's perfect. Now, who's ready to go shopping?"
"Yes please," Tokio felt revitalized at the prospect of buying that one skirt she had her eye on for the longest of times—that pair of dress pants, too and the smile on her face was huge. Plus, she had gifts to think of, too. Oof, today would be long.
By the time they had finished their shopping, it was high time they returned to the hotel to pick up their stuff and settle the bill. Seeing check out was at twelve, she paid them to keep their luggage and since she was a returning client, they allowed her to pay for all, once she returned to pick up her things. When she did, she insisted they charge her either the breakfast or one of the two bottles, but they vehemently refused. Seeing there wasn't much she could do, she simply paid her tab, promising to return and left with the rest.
.
"I'm still hungry," Hajime commented, looking outside the window.
It was dark outside; the lights were flickering by in incredible speed, almost mesmerising. They were well into the third hour of their trip and both dog and child had collapsed on the seats, snoring, for over an hour. Once the droning sounds of their heavy breaths became nothing but white noise, he could finally concentrate again. He had looked at his phone, to offer some more help to some colleagues and when he was satisfied he did all he could, he turned to just...being. But his hunger had not been adequately satiated when they went shopping and grabbed a quick bite nor when he ate a sandwich in the train.
She never stopped reading. "It'll take about another couple of hours to get to Kyoto; if you feel like you'll starve by then, go grab a bite, I'll watch them."
"I don't wanna move."
She snorted. "You want me to get you something?"
"No, I'm just complaining about it."
"Unbelievable."
"What? I can't complain?"
"No, please, complain away."
"I'll get some soba once we're back," he said it with drive "with beef; plenty of beef."
"Well, red meat is highly suggested for people who have suffered blood loss," she commented absentmindedly, "and or are in pain. It's normal to crave it."
"...I didn't know that."
"You're not bleeding now, are you?" He looked at her as if she was crazy, but she felt his eyes and stopped reading to look at him. "Eiji jumped on you pretty clumsily this morning."
"Ah, no, it's fine. It hurt but it didn't reopen. Considering I'll be getting rid of the stitches in two days, it's safe to say it's intact."
"But you checked it?"
"I had a bath, I checked it."
She shrugged and went back to her book. "Still, if you do want me to get you something just tell me."
"I'm fine; I was just complaining."
"Suit yourself."
Turns out, Saitou Hajime likes to complain about food; nothing else, just food. He never complained about his pain, about how long they took in dressing rooms, leaving him with a dog and a bunch of stuff, or even how much something cost. No, he had been quiet then. But not when it came to food. Shaking her head every time he would say something or another, she quietly filed away the information about his tastes and his behaviour. She didn't know why she did that of course; formally, their acquaintance was over as soon as they stepped out of that train. She did ask for Eiji to become her unofficial student of sorts, like an apprentice, but that was up to him and his parents from then on. But something told her, she would see him again.
Or, she realised with a start, hoped.
For a fleeting moment, a conversation she had with her mother flashed right before her mind's eye, just as she was looking at him – while he complained away about food again – and she felt her cheeks grow red. Oh no; she, she wasn't starting to...like the man, did she? Looking immediately away, she had to swallow her own thoughts and words lest they betrayed her. With great effort, she managed to keep them all at bay and behave as normal as she could. Suddenly, the compartment was too small for all of them, yet the idea of stretching her legs didn't sound as appealing as she thought.
Oh what the hell? She would probably never run into this person again, yet she had started developing feelings. Way to go Tokio. It was because she'd been alone for so long, she couldn't excuse it any other way.
And when they arrived, and child and dog stirred, Saitou and her had been the responsible adults, moving things, grabbing leashes and gathering their wits about them. They unloaded without leaving anything behind, and then they got off the train, each headed their own different way.
"Okita is picking us up; do you have anyone to take you two home?"
She nodded. "I have arranged for a taxi; emailed them while still on board to let them know of a dog and plenty of bags, as well as a small suitcase," because she sure as hell couldn't handle being in such a small space as a car, with him, no. She'd do or say something stupid and there was a kid there, too so, no.
"Are you sure—?"
"We won't fit in one car and it's fine really. It's already paid for and everything."
"Huh."
He was a little numb then. He hadn't expected her to be so prepared – why though, he didn't know, seeing she was the one who drew up their schedule and everything – so he wasn't prepared to say goodbye yet. It sit a little wrong with him, again, but this once, he couldn't tell why.
"It's fine, really," she repeated slower, as if speaking to a child. "They just sent me a message with their plate number because they're almost here."
"Alright, as you wish." She smiled. "Eiji," he called out to his nephew who was bothering the dog, just to keep busy. "Come say goodbye to Tokio-san."
"Goodbye, Tokio-san! I had a great time," he exclaimed as soon as he stood in front of her. "I will speak to mom and dad about the thing, I hope they let me! Thank you very much for the trip, it was lovely."
He then proceeded to hug her; she returned it warmly, though had to keep dog Hajime at bay—he didn't like hugging and would try to break it up every single time he witnessed it, especially when it involved his owner.
"Thank you, too; your uncle has my number, so we can keep in touch, yes? And if your mum says it's okay, we can have direct communication about projects."
"Yes!"
"I hope she says yes; it was a nice trip, I had fun, too." Then she let go, dog Hajime getting off of her. "I really did," she made perfectly clear to human Hajime who was just standing there, not knowing what to do with his nephew who started saying goodbye to the dog.
He gave a small bow. "So did I, surprisingly. And I don't even like traveling." Oh, more information. "But you were a decent traveling companion, I won't lie. You carried your weight."
"Prick," she snubbed but the smile was there. "So were you, I guess. Goodbye, Hajime. It's been nice."
"Goodbye Tokio, Hajime," he said in return and after another small bow and a scratch behind the ears, he simply watched her disappear behind rows upon rows of cars until she was gone. An odd sense of...something wafted about.
"Well, come on, Eiji. Okita is waiting for us."
"Oooh, I can't wait to tell him all about our trip! I hope we see Tokio-san soon, too!"
Huh; that was weird. He was just about to say "me, too". Deciding this was a rabbit hole he did not want to get down, he simply pushed it down. He wasn't going to see her again, anyway; what was the point of hoping to?
A/N: Who's gonna tell them? Who's gonna tell them? Lol.
Hope you enjoyed! Have a nice day, have a nice week and hope you have a lovely time whether at home, at work or wherever! Love you. Be safe. Leave a review on your way out and let me know what you thought. Buh-bye!
Till next time,
FAI.
