COURTSHIP
A Motor City Baby Fanfic
by Peregrine Vision
4 - In Which Ayako Hatches A Plan
"HOT!!!"
Only half awake but unable to get back to sleep, Mitsui tossed in his damp sheets. He was wearing only boxer shorts, the fan was on and all the windows were open, but the apartment was like a tin box on the burner.
He flopped onto his stomach like a landed fish. "Argh, I can't stand it!" he growled, stretching. "The joys of summer, my foot." He hauled himself upright and grabbed a towel and a fresh pair of shorts that hung on a clothesline above his bed. "I need a shower."
Like all the smaller apartments in the compound, Mitsui's apartment had no bathroom. In other words, he had to use the common washroom on his floor if he needed to go to the toilet. For a shower or bath the 6-mat apartment owners had to go downstairs and round the corner to the public bath. It wasn't too bad; this was common practice in Japan, especially in the cities. Japanese bathing was a social event, and Japanese citizens adjusted accordingly.
Mitsui grabbed the small basket of bathroom stuff from its place on the coffee table, wrapped the towel round his waist and went out, not bothering to lock up. He never did.
This was Mitsui's habit. During school days he always used the school showers, but this was summer, and so every day, sometimes twice a day, he went downstairs and round the corner for a nice cold shower. On days when he'd practiced particularly hard, he had himself a long soak in hot water as well, to soothe his muscles. It was something he'd always done, as long as he'd lived in that apartment.
Which was why he was so shocked when he turned the corner and walked right into Ayako.
She was wearing a light summer dress that would have left Miyagi on the ground, bleeding gently from the nose. Her hair was down instead of in its usual cap and ponytail. She looked rather pretty, not much like the tough team manager.
But all Mitsui could see was the bath basket and towel she carried.
"Wh-Wh-WHAT are YOU doing here?!"
Ayako looked surprised. "Mitsui-senpai! Do you live near here?"
"Around the cor--" Mitsui was painfully aware that he was only wearing a pair of boxers and a towel over them. Well, at least it wasn't just the towel. Not since the time it had fallen off while he was heading home. "Do...YOU live here?"
"A couple of blocks away, with my family." Ayako laughed. "Our water's cut out for some reason, and I wanted a shower, so..." She smiled winsomely, but her sharp eyes traveled downwards.
Mitsui turned bright red. He wanted to snatch the towel to his chest like a girl caught undressing in a comedy show. "Will you quit that? It's embarrassing."
"Sorry," she said, grinning. "Force of habit. Shall we go together?"
They fell into step as they entered the bath, just far enough away that they didn't look like they were with each other. Men and women never went on dates to bathe. That would be...creepy.
"Miyagi's not around, is he?" Mitsui asked, wincing. The last thing he needed was that guy turning up when he was half-dressed anywhere near Miyagi's precious Aya-chan.
"No." Ayako sighed and rolled her eyes. "Can we not talk about it?"
He shrugged. "Fine. Wasn't expecting company anyway."
Ayako giggled. "Consider yourself lucky it's not a unisex bath."
The thought gave Mitsui the cold creeps.
* * *
Men and women bathed in opposite wings of the building (thankfully) so Mitsui had his shower in peace. He wouldn't have put it past Ayako to yell a conversation over a separating wall. Really, that girl was way too familiar with the team.
He scrubbed and showered quickly, but when he got out she was already there in that pretty dress, smiling her savvy smile. Sometimes he had to wonder if she had some kind of special power.
"I have an idea," she said brightly. "I always get the best ideas while I'm in the bath."
"Thank you," said Mitsui sourly. Now it would take all morning to get rid of that image. And how had she found the time to take a bath? "And what do you mean, an idea?"
"For getting Tsukiko-san out of her house."
"Oh, it's Tsukiko-san already, is it?"
"Don't be so sarcastic. I feel sorry for her. She obviously needs to get out more."
Mitsui tsked under his breath. "I just hope the shock doesn't kill her."
"Can't you try to be nicer?"
"What idea is this, anyway? And what makes you think I'm going to do it? I'm not spending any more time with Lady Wisteria Blossoms than I have to."
"Lady who?"
"Lady Wisteria Blossoms. You know, like the story."
Ayako still looked blank. Somewhat embarrassed, Mitsui had to explain about the Genji story while they were walking out.
They had reached the corner when Ayako laughed.
"What?"
She elbowed him playfully. "I guess," she said, "that that makes you Prince Genji."
Mitsui's mouth fell open. Finally, he managed to say, "Eyucch."
"Well, my house is off this way. I'll need to work on this idea for a while. I'll see you around then, Genji-senpai." With a cheerful wave she strode off across the street, leaving Mitsui in his towel on the sidewalk.
"That's disgusting!" yelled Mitsui after her. "And WHAT damn idea?"
But either she didn't hear, or (more likely, thought Mitsui) she pretended she didn't. Clutching his towel in one hand and his basket in the other, Mitsui went down his street, muttering imprecations on all womankind, one feisty team manager and one Lady Wisteria Blossoms in particular.
* * *
His mother called that evening. Apparently Yamanazuki-okaasama wanted them to come to dinner at the bride's residence that Tuesday night.
"The WHAT?"
"Their house, she means."
Mitsui set his teeth. "I know that, Mother. What I'm asking is why you're already calling that girl 'the bride'." He wasn't even going to mention "Yamanazuki-okaasama".
"Hisashi," said his mother, her voice falling into the all-too-familiar "how could you treat your poor mother this way" tone. "Your father and I are getting old. We have no other children, and can have no other children. You are not just our only son, you are our only child. It is our cherished dream to hold grandchildren in our arms before we die."
Your cherished dream, maybe, thought Mitsui, his ears aflame. Only mothers could be this embarrassing. He was only in high school, for crying out loud! Who on earth wanted to have children at this age?
"Tsukiko-chan is a sweet, polite and highly accomplished young girl. In fact Yamanazuki-okaasama tells me that she is to cook Tuesday's meal with her own hands. It's hard to find such girls these days."
Well, yes, that's because they've gotten smarter since the bad old days. But it was useless to voice his opinion where his parents were concerned, so he settled for leaning back in bed and rolling his eyes.
"Your father is a very close friend of Yamanazuki-san's. They've been friends since they met at business college. It would make your father very happy if you and Tsukiko-chan married. Then you and your children could take ownership of Yamanazuki-san's company."
"That's just the point, Mother!" said Mitsui, thoroughly annoyed by now. "Getting married wouldn't 'make my father happy'. He'd just tell me to do it and expect it to be done. It's not a life change for him, it's just another business merger. You know what he's doing? He's selling off his only son. No, his only child." He imitated his mother's voice, out of pure spite. "And your friends aren't any better. They brought their daughter up to be a servant, and they expect her to be that way for the rest of her life. That's not marriage, that's slavery. We're not even of legal age to marry yet!"
"Hisashi." The voice on the other tone was considerably chilled. "I'm sorry to hear you take such a poor view of your parents' concern, and our efforts to provide you with a future. Perhaps it would surprise you to learn how many other young people would be grateful for this arrangement, especially after abandoning their education and their duties for so long, and insisting on choosing to pursue a hobby beyond sensible limits."
That was the final straw. Mitsui's eyes narrowed, and he gripped the phone hard as he hissed, "All right. You know what? You asked me a favor. I gave it. It's over. You're no longer supporting me, and I don't owe you anything. You can just go to that dinner without your son. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not your son anymore."
"Hi-Hisashi!" cried his mother. "How can you say that!" Her voice trembled alarmingly, all the chilliness gone. "Please, don't say such things. I apologize."
Mitsui blinked. "What?"
"I'm sorry. You are still my son. I am only doing this because I love you, and I miss you, and...and I am so worried..."
She wasn't saying "we". She, personally, his mother, loved him, and missed him, and worried about him....
In any other case, he would have thought it horribly manipulative of her, and perhaps it was. But she never talked of her own feelings. She always talked in conjunction with his father, as if she herself was just an extension. She hardly ever used the word "I". And even if she was being manipulative, the feelings themselves must be sincere. That definitely counted for something.
Ah, shit. I'm going to give in again, I just know it. Mitsui sighed.
"Don't cry, Mother. I'll go."
"Oh, Hisashi-kun, I'm so glad." He heard a sob, and then the faint sound of a nose being discreetly blown. "Thank you."
Uncomfortable with this rare show of emotion, Mitsui muttered, "All right. What time is it, anyway?"
After getting the time, and having a brief argument over taking his bike to the Yamanazukis, Mitsui hung up and lay back in his futon. He stared up at the clothes strung up over his bed.
Closet space was limited, so he hung the extra clothes on a nylon line over his futon. He slept on the floor like any other Japanese, so there was still a bit of head room, if he didn't sit up too straight. The view from the bed, though, was like an interior designer's nightmare. Mitsui didn't really care; he usually had other things to think about.
He really didn't want to see that family again. The more he saw of them, the closer that brought him to an actual engagement. That was the last thing he wanted to think of.
Why had his parents suddenly decided to get him engaged? Why now, when it was his last school year and his last chance both of being the Inter High champion and an actual graduate? Was there a special reason, or were they just taking the parents' privilege of rearranging his life without consulting him?
Not for the first time, he wondered how Tsukiko could just lower her eyes and take it in the teeth, as it were. It was bad enough for him, and he was going to get to be the boss. Tsukiko was resigning herself to a lifetime of bending to someone else's will, cooking their meals, washing their clothes...
Bearing their children...
Mitsui gulped, and went red again. That, he DEFINITELY didn't want to think about.
He picked up the remote to the small Sony television at the foot of his bed and flipped through channels for a while, to distract himself. Just when he had found a good program, though, the phone rang again. He rolled his eyes and reached for it. "Moshi moshi."
"Ne, Genji-senpai."
"Wh--" he sat up, his head brushing the various articles of clothing that hung over his bed. "AYAKO? HOW did you get this number?"
She made a little "tch" sound with her tongue. "Basketball club records, of course. As the team manager I need to reach the team any hour, on the hour."
"I'm sure you do," he replied, with all the sarcasm he could muster.
"Now, now, Genji-senpai. You know the Firefly Festival is coming up, right?"
"What? What festival?"
"Oh, for goodness' sake, you boys are all the same. I expected you, at least, to know. But apparently, outside the basketball club, the world doesn't exist."
Mitsui grinned. "Is it supposed to?"
"Idiot. Listen! It's this weekend. I want you to get Tsukiko-san's parents to let her go out with us."
"Who's us?"
"Me and Haruko-chan and her friends, Ryota, and probably Akagi-senpai and Kogure-senpai. You can say it's a group date; they'll probably like that. I just want to meet that girl, get her out of the house, find out what she's like. She sounds interesting. I talked to Haruko-chan and she wants to meet her too."
Mitsui privately thought that Lady Wisteria Blossoms wasn't interesting at all. But he could never understand why girls did certain things; it was usually best to leave them alone. "Fine. We're having dinner with her family tomorrow night; she's cooking it herself, would you believe. I'll try and ask then."
"Okay, thanks, senpai. Not knowing when the Firefly Festival is, honestly. At least Ryota knows."
"Asked you out, huh?"
Mitsui congratulated himself. Embarrassment radiated from the phone. If it could have blushed, it would have. Time to get a little of his own back.
"Look," he said. "It's no business of mine, but this Lady Wisteria Blossoms thing is no business of yours either, so I figure all's fair between club-mates. You obviously like Miyagi, and he just about worships the ground you walk on. So why do you insist on squelching him at every opportunity?"
"I, I don't squelch him!"
"You do. You put him down all the time. He can't ask anybody out because of you. Red head actually told me, with tears in his eyes, mind, that he felt sorry for Miyagi. And this is the notorious guy who's been rejected by FIFTY girls, according to those friends of his. So if he feels sorry for Miyagi, I can't imagine what you're doing to the poor shortypants."
"I'm not doing anything!" This was the first time he'd ever heard Ayako on the defensive. She sounded surprisingly upset. "It's his own fault! I never asked him to turn into a useless cow-eyed idiot every time I show a little encouragement. It's so...stupid! He's so good when he's concentrating; he can keep his eye on six different people at once and still think three minutes ahead of everyone. But he gets so hung up, and it just makes me mad! You'd think he'd have learned by now how not to distract himself!"
"But he only knows basketball, Ayako," Mitsui said, with all the detached sensibility only someone on the outside could have. "It's girls he doesn't know. And he really likes you. What's wrong with that?"
"You're just as dense; you'll never get it. Isn't it obvious, senpai? He's so much better when I'm not around. He's smart, and funny, and brave, and...and unsquelchable. But I just talk to him and that sexy guardsman is replaced by a babbling idiot who doesn't know any words except 'Aya-chan...'" She sighed. "I can't take it. I don't want to let him know how I feel until he gets over that stupid habit."
There was a long pause as Mitsui, with great difficulty, tried to fold his head around the idea of that short twerp as a "sexy guardsman". He couldn't manage it.
"Senpai?"
"I give up. We'll figure something out."
"We?"
"Sure." Mitsui smiled into the phone. "You're helping me with my problem, right? Or I hope you are. So I'll try and help you with yours."
"Really?" You couldn't put more surprise into Ayako's tone if you used a shovel.
"One thing at a time. Firefly Festival, right? So...when's that?"
"This Saturday. The local shrine is hosting it." There was a pause, then she said, "Thank you, senpai."
"Whatever."
And it was only when he hung up that he realized he'd just been coerced into spending more time with Tsukiko, plus he'd promised to help Ayako with her love life. He groaned and fell back into the futon.
"I just want to enjoy my summer!"
-end 4-