Things Forgotten
Yusaku took a break from cleaning out his closet and sat down on his bedroom floor. It was Saturday; one week since he had started his part- time position as a teacher's assistant to Ms. Green, and he already felt like a different person. Ms. Green was paying him 2,000 yen an hour, which was more than he had ever earned (A/N: Does that sound like a reasonable pay for an easy part-time job, people? Please let me know; if it's not, then Yusaku will get a raise!) After struggling to find his calculator, Yusaku found out that he would earn about 36,000 yen a week ($360), which was more than he had ever earned in his life.
Yusaku continued to clean as he thought about how well his plans were working out. Once he had finished cleaning his room, he planned to go to a furniture store and get himself a real bed, along with a few other things. He hadn't dealt with the most of the other things on his list yet… except he had already had to deal with Kozue…
~*Flashback*~
This past Thursday, Yusaku had been up in his room when…
"Yusaku!" Kyoko called. "Phone for you!"
"Who is it?" Yusaku yelled back.
"It's Kozue!"
Yusaku's mind froze. "Umm… can you tell her that I'm not home right now and I'll, err, call her back later?"
"…Okay…" Kyoko replied uncertainly.
Later that evening, Kyoko asked Yusaku what was going on with Kozue. "Why don't you want to talk to her?"
Mrs. Ichinose, who was passing by in the hallway, answered the question for Yusaku. "He's a busy man now!" she cried, smiling up at Yusaku.
"Man…?" Kyoko mumbled in disbelief. It *was* strange: Mrs. Ichinose rarely referred to Yusaku as a man.
"Yup, he has a real job! And he's even fixing up his room a bit. Before we know it, he'll be a actual gentleman!" she chuckled.
Kyoko looked surprised at first, but then her look switched to confusion. "But why are you avoiding Kozue??" she repeated.
Yusaku blushed and muttered something about being tired as he scurried away down the hallway. But as he walked away he heard Mrs. Ichinose whisper, "Hehe, he's got his heart set on you, Kyoko!"
Kyoko grumbled. "Oh, please!" And unknown to Yusaku, she blushed.
Yusaku heard Mrs. Ichinose continue walking down the hallway, laughing to herself.
~*End of Flashback*~
Yusaku still hadn't called Kozue back. He wasn't sure that he planned to… he didn't know how to tell her that their relationship was over. He knew it would hurt her. But he had to be honest with himself…
Yusaku wondered if Kyoko really noticed the things he had been doing lately. He would have to start working on the next few steps on his list; tomorrow he'd help out with some of the housework. He just had to make Kyoko notice how he was improving himself and getting rid of his bad habits…
~*~
It was Monday afternoon, and Yusaku was helping Ms. Green set up the classroom before the preschoolers arrived.
"Oh, Yusaku," Ms. Green exclaimed, "I wanted to know if you would be interested in joining me for dinner this evening. I made a reservation at a very nice Italian restaurant… and I thought you might like to come along."
A thought bubble appeared over Yusaku's head saying, "Is she asking me on a date?"
Ms. Green apparently read his mind, because she added, "It doesn't have to be a real date if you don't want it to be but…" she lowered her voice, "… I really like you, Yusaku, and… I don't mean to sound forward, but if you don't have a girlfriend, I…"
And Yusaku looked into those sparking eyes and his mind went blank… he forgot Kyoko existed, forgot how he was trying so hard to impress her… he barely heard himself mutter, "Yes, of course I'll come…"
"Thank you, Yusaku!" Ms. Green cried. "I can't even explain how much it means to me…"
Author's Note: Okay, this is it. This fic has been up been up for over a month now, and I have gotten reviews from four people. Four people! And to make it worse, very few (like 1 or 2) reviews have been enthusiastic. Unless I get some more reviews that are more enthusiastic/from more people, I'm just gonna take a break on this fic because even though I have ideas for it, I have to push myself to work on it because I don't really have any reviews to inspire me. So if you are reading this, please give me a nice review, and if you know anyone else who reads Maison Ikkoku fics, please tell them to read my fic, because I really want to write this fic but without the support from reviews it's really difficult. Thank you to anyone who is reading this.
Yusaku took a break from cleaning out his closet and sat down on his bedroom floor. It was Saturday; one week since he had started his part- time position as a teacher's assistant to Ms. Green, and he already felt like a different person. Ms. Green was paying him 2,000 yen an hour, which was more than he had ever earned (A/N: Does that sound like a reasonable pay for an easy part-time job, people? Please let me know; if it's not, then Yusaku will get a raise!) After struggling to find his calculator, Yusaku found out that he would earn about 36,000 yen a week ($360), which was more than he had ever earned in his life.
Yusaku continued to clean as he thought about how well his plans were working out. Once he had finished cleaning his room, he planned to go to a furniture store and get himself a real bed, along with a few other things. He hadn't dealt with the most of the other things on his list yet… except he had already had to deal with Kozue…
~*Flashback*~
This past Thursday, Yusaku had been up in his room when…
"Yusaku!" Kyoko called. "Phone for you!"
"Who is it?" Yusaku yelled back.
"It's Kozue!"
Yusaku's mind froze. "Umm… can you tell her that I'm not home right now and I'll, err, call her back later?"
"…Okay…" Kyoko replied uncertainly.
Later that evening, Kyoko asked Yusaku what was going on with Kozue. "Why don't you want to talk to her?"
Mrs. Ichinose, who was passing by in the hallway, answered the question for Yusaku. "He's a busy man now!" she cried, smiling up at Yusaku.
"Man…?" Kyoko mumbled in disbelief. It *was* strange: Mrs. Ichinose rarely referred to Yusaku as a man.
"Yup, he has a real job! And he's even fixing up his room a bit. Before we know it, he'll be a actual gentleman!" she chuckled.
Kyoko looked surprised at first, but then her look switched to confusion. "But why are you avoiding Kozue??" she repeated.
Yusaku blushed and muttered something about being tired as he scurried away down the hallway. But as he walked away he heard Mrs. Ichinose whisper, "Hehe, he's got his heart set on you, Kyoko!"
Kyoko grumbled. "Oh, please!" And unknown to Yusaku, she blushed.
Yusaku heard Mrs. Ichinose continue walking down the hallway, laughing to herself.
~*End of Flashback*~
Yusaku still hadn't called Kozue back. He wasn't sure that he planned to… he didn't know how to tell her that their relationship was over. He knew it would hurt her. But he had to be honest with himself…
Yusaku wondered if Kyoko really noticed the things he had been doing lately. He would have to start working on the next few steps on his list; tomorrow he'd help out with some of the housework. He just had to make Kyoko notice how he was improving himself and getting rid of his bad habits…
~*~
It was Monday afternoon, and Yusaku was helping Ms. Green set up the classroom before the preschoolers arrived.
"Oh, Yusaku," Ms. Green exclaimed, "I wanted to know if you would be interested in joining me for dinner this evening. I made a reservation at a very nice Italian restaurant… and I thought you might like to come along."
A thought bubble appeared over Yusaku's head saying, "Is she asking me on a date?"
Ms. Green apparently read his mind, because she added, "It doesn't have to be a real date if you don't want it to be but…" she lowered her voice, "… I really like you, Yusaku, and… I don't mean to sound forward, but if you don't have a girlfriend, I…"
And Yusaku looked into those sparking eyes and his mind went blank… he forgot Kyoko existed, forgot how he was trying so hard to impress her… he barely heard himself mutter, "Yes, of course I'll come…"
"Thank you, Yusaku!" Ms. Green cried. "I can't even explain how much it means to me…"
Author's Note: Okay, this is it. This fic has been up been up for over a month now, and I have gotten reviews from four people. Four people! And to make it worse, very few (like 1 or 2) reviews have been enthusiastic. Unless I get some more reviews that are more enthusiastic/from more people, I'm just gonna take a break on this fic because even though I have ideas for it, I have to push myself to work on it because I don't really have any reviews to inspire me. So if you are reading this, please give me a nice review, and if you know anyone else who reads Maison Ikkoku fics, please tell them to read my fic, because I really want to write this fic but without the support from reviews it's really difficult. Thank you to anyone who is reading this.