Chapter 6: Voyage Home/ Some Surprises
The steam whistle blew loud and long. Ogami leaned over the rail and breathed in the sea breeze.
He smiled sadly as he heard families saying goodbye to each other.
There would be no send-off party for him this time -- Paris was a train ride and many hours away from Marseilles.
It would be a long trip back to Japan but he had letters from every member of the Paris Hanagumi to read.
Ogami Ichiro missed them already.
The steam whistle blew again, signalling that the ship was about to leave the dock. Ogami took one last look and said his final goodbye to France before proceeding to his cabin.
* * *
Teito
December
Ogami Ichiro looked around the too-crowded docking area. He scanned the sea of people and squelched the feeling of disappointment when he couldn't find what he was expecting to see. It is early in the morning. Maybe they were expecting the boat to arrive a little later.
He picked up his heavy suitcase and headed for the taxi stand.
* * *
The theater was unusually quiet. Ogami frowned as he checked his watch. It's almost 8:30. Where is everybody? He peeked inside the ticket office expecting to find Kasumi sorting some files or Tsubaki organizing the theater merchandise.
They were not there.
He made his way up the flight of stairs. It's too quiet. It's as if no one is here. He made a quick detour and pressed his ear to Reni's door. He didn't hear any sound -- which was not out of the ordinary, considering that Reni was a very quiet person.
He checked Kohran's room next but he didn't hear the usual buzzing of machines or the occasional explosions either.
This is strange.
He decided to investigate the matter.
Something must have happened to them.
He left his suitcase by his door before knocking on Kaede's door.
"Kaede-san? Are you in there?"
When he didn't get an answer, he started to worry.
He felt his stomach grumble with hunger and realized that it was time for breakfast. If they aren't there eating ...
His heart started pounding wildly in excitement when he heard familiar voices coming from beyond the dining hall door.
"Kanna-san, you seemed to have forgotten that I am in-charge of this party. Let me remind you again that we agreed on this --"
"Relax, Crow-chan. You're just feeling a little stressed because you didn't get to have your usual beauty sleep. (Ahem) Not that it helps, anyway. I'm just trying to make improvements on your plans."
"Improvements? Crow? What do you mean my beauty sleep does not help? How can you improve on the perfection that I, Kanzaki Sumire, top star of the Teigeki, have planned?"
"Kanna, Sumire -- Iris does not like hearing these arguments so early in the morning. We are supposed to be working together to welcome Oniichan properly."
"Iris is right. It is bad enough that I had to wake up so early. Chuui-san will be here in a few hours and this place is a mess."
Ogami stifled a laugh. He pushed the doors open. "I'm home! I --" His enthusiasm died in his throat when he discovered that --
"EEEK! Chuui-san, you're such a pervert! How can you barge in here like that? We're still in our nightclothes! This is unacceptable!"
Ogami blushed. "Orihime, everyone, I'm -- I didn't know --"
"And what's worse, Oniichan has ruined our surprise party for him! Sakura, Reni, do something!" Iris wailed.
Reni, dressed sensibly in a pajama set rubbed her chin. "It seems my calculations about Taicho's time of arrival were a bit off." Her voice sounded uncharacteristically sheepish.
"What do you mean 'a bit off'?" Sumire struggled to pull together the lapels of her robe. "You said, 'Based on the ship's speed, tidal movement, and wind direction, I am confident that the Taicho's ship will arrive at 1200 hours.'"
Sakura giggled at Sumire's impression of Reni. She walked over to Ogami and smiled. "This is some welcome party, isn't it?"
Ogami nodded mutely. From across the room, he could see Maria holding a platter of food as she, too, stared mutely at the chaos in the room.
The fanfare was interrupted when a loud explosion came from within the kitchen.
Kohran wobbled out, her eyeglasses all askew. "I'm okay. I'm okay. It seems my latest invention doesn't work."
"I can see that." Orihime muttered.
"Oh, Ogami-han. You're back." Kohran opened the kitchen door and billows of black smoke came out. "Hey, Ogami-han is home!"
Ogami didn't know whether to laugh or not as Manager Yoneda, Kaede and the three office ladies paraded out of the kitchen, coughing and covered in soot.
"Welcome Home, Ogami." Manager Yoneda managed to say between coughs. "As you can see, we've all been busy preparing for your arrival."
"Yes, I-- Thank you. This is -- an unexpected -- surprise." He scratched his head and started to laugh.
~ End! ~
Author's Notes:
- In the "Benitokage Kayou Show", Kanna refers to Sumire as "Karasu-chan", which translates to "Crow-chan."