Kamiyama Seijuro yawned as he was called upon the day where the least amount of traffic will flow through the Imperial Theater; which was strangely Tuesday of course. Since the situation called for so it was also a low staff day. Since he hasn't been around long enough he was a go-to for working on a low staff day. And with that, it meant he was going to be the janitor for the day.
Surprisingly, he was supposed to watch over a new girl, a Sawamura Haruka. She wasn't joining in as a stage member, the Theater didn't have enough budget to manage that. Instead, she is to be appointed as a staff member that did a little bit of everything, but mostly janitorial work. Rumor had it that more than a couple of strings were pulled just to have Kanzaki Sumire hire her. Though that sounded a bit farfetched really. If strings were pulled then the new girl would've been hired as a member of the stage, but then he would be doubting on Sumire's abilities. He's seen how she deals with the Yakuza who try to strongarm her with taking over the theater with a strong face and more than a couple of ways of telling them to leave.
Sakura had decided to also help out on the low staff day, but her job at the moment was to basically do laundry for any dirty costumes; needless to say, she was going to have her hands full. Seijuro kept a smile on his face as Haruka managed to find him, a mop and a bucket in her hands.
"Sawamura-san, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I take it you're ready to do some cleaning?"
To Seijuro's surprise, Haruka frowned a bit, "Please, call me Haruka. I know it's a strange thing to ask a person you just met-"
"Alright...Haruka-san." He could've sworn he heard a small jingle in his head as Haruka smiled.
"Thank you Kamiyama-san. I'll be in your care for the rest of today."
Haruka bowed a bit. Kamiyama almost felt the need to make a small remark that she should call him by first name too, but he had a small feeling it might cause more trouble than its worth. On a different note usually, young women like Haruka have aspirations to be an actor. He'll probably ask a bit later, for now, they had to clean the main stage and the seats around it.
Of course, the main stage is cleaned every day, especially after a play, but it does well to keep the place tidy to prevent any unneeded accidents. Haruka took the liberty of mopping up with an appropriate amount of soap and drying in small sections to prevent the water from creeping under the boards.
Seijuro meanwhile swept around the base permitter and made sure nothing got between the cracks of the seats. There wasn't anything that needed any heavy-duty cleaning at the moment, but he couldn't be too sure.
He paused a little bit later since he was curious about the woman he was working with, "Haruka-san."
Haruka didn't stop drying a specific spot, but she gave a small noise to indicate that she was listening.
He cleared his throat to give himself a precious second or so to clarify his question, "There's a rumor going about that some strings were pulled to get you here. Though honestly, it seems a bit farfetched that you would have strings pulled just to get hired on as a janitor...right?" Usually when one's strings are pulled someone like Haruka would've been in a much higher position than this.
"No that's true."
"Thank goodness I though-" Seijuro coughed a bit and shook his head a couple of times, "Come again?"
"I'm sorry, Kamiyama-san. I know it's a little unfair, but someone really wanted me to get any type of job that was a low risk at the moment. Honestly, they did it out of nowhere and next thing I know I'm getting interviewed by Kanzaki-san."
"Hold on! Go back! You had some strings pulled for you just to get a janitorial job?" Kamiyama had gotten a little bit closer to the stage.
"It's a jack of all trades type of deal really." Haruka had gotten up from her position and bowed a bit to the man.
Seijuro placed a hand behind his head at the sudden bow and tried to reassure that the gesture wasn't needed, "I know, but I'm surprised you didn't try to use your connections to be an actor. I mean a lot of people want to try for that opportunity. Especially in the Imperial Theater."
Haruka shook her head, "Not really. I can sing a bit, but I can't act. Plus acting wouldn't let me see my kid. I've heard the stories of children of actors not getting along with their parents."
"I guess that makes-" Seijuro took a moment to process what she actually said, "Wait-"
"Just kidding, I don't have a high interest in acting. I just need a stable job to support my kid, Haruto-chan." She either didn't read the expression on Seijuro's confused face, or she read it and was toying with him. He didn't know which one sounded better.
Before he could voice his own question about Haruka's age someone's very familiar to him voiced her own.
"Ehhh!? You have a child?" He spun around to see Sakura had decided to visit them and she quickly made her way to the stage to talk with Haruka.
"Sorry I didn't tell you earlier, Sakura-san."
Sakura shook her head and put her hands up a bit, "That's fine, Haruka-san."
Seijuro wasn't sure if he wanted to sigh at the fact that the two were already on a first-name basis with each other. Haruka probably just explained her first name thing and Sakura wanted to be called by her first name if she was calling Haruka by her first name. Not that complicated really. If he did it it would've caused a misunderstanding later, he just knows it.
"Are you older than you look?"
"No, not really. I'm only 24 years old."
Seijuro almost comically fell over the seating, he could've sworn Haruka was younger than that. One look at her figure would make one assume that she just got into her twenties or probably about to enter her twenties.
"Really?! You don't look a day over 19!" Sakura got a closer look at Haruka's face; she didn't do much just place her hands in front of Haruka's face, but no contact was made as she seemed to imitate what one would see in a silly picture.
Seijuro shook his head and absentmindedly checked around the theater for anything that would be labeled as dirty. Always need this place to be tip-top shape unless they get some very angry customers.
Sakura continued to speak to Haruka as she moved her hands away from the woman, "How do you manage to look so young?"
Haruka's mind flashed images of her dancing, fighting, dance-fighting…"I guess I just eat really healthy foods!" Granted she only recently started fighting ever since her guardian was announced dead all those years ago. Thugs would start to look for fights or try to kidnap her now that he was gone, but the thing about hanging out with men who constantly get into fights is that she somewhat picked up on how things go. She found her own style that somewhat imitated her guardian, but was distinct enough to be her own.
Sakura simply laughed, "Really? What would you recommend?"
Haruka paused and took a moment to think of something before she responded. She was familiar with eating healthy foods as an Idol she had to keep her image by both exercising and eating healthy foods. She didn't manage to fall into the traps of eating nothing, eating simple greens, or puking out everything that goes into her body. She had a range of delicacies that she could choose from, but she probably didn't have to pick anything too foreign. She gave a look at Sakura's yukata to somewhat confirm that she didn't need something outlandish or foreign. Though food isn't the only thing to keep your body healthy and young-looking.
"You could go for some simple Natto and White Rice. Seafood is a good alternative too. Eat a good amount of noodles filled with nutrients too. Don't forget that eating isn't the only thing you need to do; you need to exercise as well."
Haruka flashed a smile on top of all of that and Sakura's eyes sparkled, "I'm already eating a lot of those already and exercising with my kata practice! You mean I won't look too different a couple of years from now?"
Seijuro silently chuckled, "Still look similar to when we were younger."
Sakura at this point decided to help out a bit with cleaning the stage as well. She said that she was almost done with the costumes anyway. She's actually done the costume cleaning multiple times before and knows what to do with each and every costume and how to clean them. The knowledge just comes from repetition.
Seijuro had decided to take a bit of a break on the second floor after checking the area on said floor. As expected there wasn't much to completely clean over, but it still helped to always check three times over. He looked down to see that the main stage was getting the final touches to clean it by Haruka and Sakura. The stage was a special place that needed the utmost care, it's where the audience will look at completely and anything out of place will be distracting. The audience needs to be immersed in what they're seeing and a little imperfection can go a long way. One could almost say the ones who clean the stage might work harder than the performers.
Seijuro was about to get back to whatever he was about to do next when his body told him to stick around a little longer. A sly smile appeared on his face as he knew something…'nice' would pop up. One could say that his body sometimes moved on its own; usually, it leads to good things, but he decided to crouch down so that his entire body couldn't be seen from the first floor. He had a feeling it was going to be one of 'those' types of situations.
The stage practically sparkled as the lights above it were reflected on them. From behind the curtains Sakura and Haruka emerged, they finished cleaning the backstage and were simply with it in its entirety. The bucket used earlier was being held in Sakura's hands.
Seijuro had a slight idea about where this was going.
"Do you think I'd be able to see Haruto-chan around the theater?"
"I'm not sure, Sakura-san. I don't plan to bring Haruto to where I work. I don't want to impose him on anyone here."
Sakura shook her head and put her hands up defensively, "I'm sure he won't impose on anyone here. You can just show him around on your off da-"
The perfect cleaning of the two from earlier turned out to be their downfall as they both slipped on the perfectly waxed stage. The bucket flew out of Sakura's hands and up into the air letting out all the water. Sakura simply flopped back to the ground on her rear, but Haruka did something interesting.
Like a cat, she contorted a good amount of her body to do a flip from her previously disadvantaged position and essentially land back on her feet. She basically did a weird backflip, however, it was short-lived as the waxy floor was still beneath her and caused her to fall onto her face. Seijuro almost laughed but resisted to not give away his position.
The water from the bucket came down on the two girls and Seijuro simply enjoyed the view. Sakura had some of Yukata become undone from the water splashing down on her and exposing a bit of what she wore underneath it. However, the light blue from the Yukata didn't reveal much. It was still good for his eyes nonetheless.
Haruka, on the other hand, had the water completely soak her back and expose it despite the white hoodie and red shirt she was wearing underneath. Since the water was more concentrated on her back Seijuro could almost get a good look at her nicely toned back and a bit of a tease from her finely tuned muscles. She was a lot stronger than she looked in the hoodie, but his mind was mostly focused on the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra. At least the lack of straps on her back seems to indicate so. Seijuro mentally cursed that Haruka didn't land on her back.
He was about to find a way to sneak away from the scene when his mind suddenly focused on the scene in front of him once again. 'Could this be… a Revelation?'. He experienced his first Revelation not too long ago, he can only wonder what he could learn from the scene below.
"Are you alright, Sakura-san?" Haruka groaned and managed to get on a single knee.
"I'm so sorry, Haruka-san!" Sakura tried to get back up quickly but slipped back onto her knees.
Haruka managed to get up and take a step forward, but slipped and was sent tumbling towards Sakura. Her instinct was to dive roll, but it would end up hurting them both more than tumbling into each other. Haruka slammed into Sakura and caused them slide off stage and onto the ground in front of the audience seats. It would've made an amazing slapstick routine if it wasn't entirely unintentional. Haruka landed face-first into the ground and Sakura landed with her rear in the air. The two groaned in mild pain as they took a moment to try and recollect themselves.
Seijuro took a moment to think about the..scene he just witnessed, but his mind was drawing up blanks at the moment. Like he missed the point of focus his mind was showing him. In any case he just had to head downstairs and try not to laugh while he was at it. Nor should he reveal that he was watching the whole time. It was gonna take a bit more time for them to clean up the stage...again.
Seijuro Revelation: Hell's Gauntlet ⅓ witnessed.
….
"And that should be it for the day. You did a good job, Haruka-san. Can't wait to work with you again."
Seijuro and Haruka did the rest of the cleaning around the theater. Sakura had her own duties to do after the stage incident and he continued to show Haruka the places she was allowed access to clean and whatnot. It was quick and efficient work and Haruka mostly told him about Haruto when he had nothing to say. He didn't mind it one bit though. He's just glad to have someone to talk with that isn't immediately wary of him because of his new leadership status. He knows the basics of gaining trust says it takes time, but he has a feeling it might take a bit before he can prove himself to them.
He outwardly sighed and tried to make his mind wander to think about something else, "Hey Haruka-san. Who's the father to Haruto-san. If you don't mind me asking."
"My Husband, Usami Yuta…" Haruka looked down at the ground, "He's...missing at the moment."
Seijuro inwardly cursed at himself, "Sorry, didn't mean to-"
"He's actually been kidnapped. And I tried to follow their demands to get him back, but it didn't work."
Seijuro kept silent on the matter for a moment, she looked like she had something more to say. He saw the fire light in her eyes and could barely see the faint white aura that slowly enveloped her being.
"I'm going to find them and bring back my husband. My baby misses his father and I'm going to destroy whoever makes him cry."
Seijuro saw her clenching her fist enough to make a small crackle sound, but he could feel her drive. He could practically feel her passion and drive. He smiled as he placed a hand on Haruka's shoulder.
"Alright! I'll help you out when the time comes!" The jingles in his head once again sounded as Haruka calmed down and smiled.
"Thank you, Kamiyama-san." Haruka's smile changed into a smug smirk, "I wonder what Sakura-san's expression would be at this scene here?"
"I know some else's reaction would to immediately call me a pervert."
The two chuckled at their own predicament. It was the end of the very slow day after all.
….
Golder stretched and finally laid down on the comfy futon provided to him by Saejima. She was kind enough to provide a place for him to stay and a job, but he didn't want to push his limits on asking for a western bed. He's gotten used to it anyhow. It was a busy day today and his muscles were happy to finally be resting and ready for bed.
His mind wandered back to a few days ago with his encounter with the local Yakuza. Especially his encounter with the paid homeless men. Some criminals were dead-set on killing him just for associating with them. He was stupid for not trying to defend himself then, but he could only blame that for being shocked. He's been in a fight with other hockey players in the rink before and they do get crazy at times...so he should've defended himself right?
Now that he thinks about it there's probably a gang war or something going on..oh well what's in the past is what's in the past. It's not like he's going to get in a lot of street fights or something.
…
Yagami placed his legs on the desk in front of him in the hotel room that he and Akiyama had convinced the owner to give to them. It was more of a -beat the crap out of the guards guarding the casino and they get free rooms as long as they don't tell any of the regular patrons. They were barred from using it themselves, but a small price to pay for a good room to himself.
Around the room were scattered notes of his own investigation of the place they're in. He's gone over some of them with Akiyama and Haruka, but left them to their own devices should they want to learn more. He hasn't found any true leads on Haruto, but he had a feeling that he should open the Yagami Detective Agency- ALT 1940's branch sooner or later. Keep a steady income for himself...er.. Steady is used loosely though.
He lit up a cigarette and chuckled to himself, "Can't believe I'm accepting this bullshit. But I'm living the dream of any Mecha fanboy." He wrote down another note to look into more of this Spiracle stuff.
…
Akiyama yawned as he watched Haruto play by himself. He honestly should've expected this since Haruka was now working, but talk about being paranoid. She boarded the windows and had three types of locks on the doors. He knows that they, whoever they are, can strike at any time to grab Haruto, but they had multiple opportunities to do so already. But his instincts told him that Haruto and Haruka were in the clear. Their part of the game was over until they were needed later.
To what end he did not know. He's done his own investigating parallel to Yagami, but he's only pulled together what they already mutually figured out. He wasn't a detective like Yagami, but he'll be damned if he didn't try to figure things out.
Akiyama believed he should relax at some point. Things were clearer and seemed more direct when he could be just relaxing at any time he wanted. People will call him lazy all the time, but he gets results and he worked hard to be that lazy damn it!
"Oi. Haruto. You gonna get yourself killed if I take a siesta?"
Haruto looked at Akiyama and shook his head.
"Good. Just don't do anything stupid; like I would and we'll be fine."
Akiyama shut his eyes.
"Sleep tight, Uncle-Aki."
And smiled.
….
Well, that should be it for the 5 chapter thing before the release of Shin Sakura Wars in English. They're just calling it Sakura Wars here, but it's fine. They're aiming for April 28th release- so expect more chapters to come out about a month or so after it. Complete the game by then to try my hand at continuing this fic and all. I can't wait for Yakuza 7 to release in English too.
Just tell me what you're thoughts so far for this and leave anything else you would want to share in the reviews- I really appreciate them. If there are any questions feel free to PM them or ask in the reviews and I'll PM later.
With that, I'm signing off for now. And I hope to see ya'll in a couple of months.
