Here's another update. Thanks to Animemaniagirl for my first review; 'preciate it.

And since it'd be kind of difficult to have the husband of our Miss Shimizu be nameless, I now hereby dub him Yukio. It's just a random name I picked out from a Japanese name list, so no, there isn't any deep meaning behind the process. R&R and enjoy.

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Worthless Efficiency – Chapter 2

Hideki's eyes moved from the window to Shinbo, and back to the window. He didn't see what was so interesting outside to his companion, and so..

"Wush wroh rish jou?!" Hideki burst out as he stood up from the table, pieces of his favorite pastry prone to fly out at his every word. Shinbo looked up in surprise, then lowered his again worried gaze towards his untouched sandwich. He shouldn't have started to think about Takako, but that in itself was difficult, and to hide that from Hideki...Well, that was impossible. The guy might have failed school, but he could not – and would not – fail a friend, particularly Shinbo himself. In that way, Shinbo felt gratified; yet, today was not the day for Hideki to empathize with him.

Shinbo's eyes darted left and right, thinking of what he was to do. After a brief silence, a sudden, reckless dash from his seat determined Shinbo's future course of events. He would not compromise; he knew something was wrong. Whether Hideki would attempt to stop him was not his problem, though Hideki could be an obstacle set on his path towards Takako. Hideki's shouts reached his ears but never his brain, and Shinbo thrust his hand into the bakery's glass door open. Down quiet streets, across gift shops and galleries...He kept running faster and faster.

Because with every step he took, he reminded himself that he did not know where Takako was. The frustration burned inside of him and took over his reasoning. There was no moderation; there was only the distance between her and himself.

"Is Shinbo alright?" asked Mr. Ueda to Hideki. At first, no response. Hideki's head was lowered, and his dark brown hair covered expressionless eyes. It was true; Hideki felt as if he could empathize easily, but it was not so easy to always feel so genuinely concerned for others. The thought almost sounded uncompassionate, but he was only human, wasn't he? It just didn't seem fair to him that others took his feelings for granted, that he was always assumed to be a certain character.

"Hideki...What's going on?" Yumi gently coaxed. Though there were attempts as these to lighten the atmosphere, all were unfruitful and only lengthened the already awkward silence about them. The bakery was empty, save for these three, and Hideki resolved to sit back down and not let the worst of his feelings overpower him.

Hideki shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Nothing, I think. Who knows? Shinbo might've had to go. You know, really had to go." Yumi laughed, but gradually turned quieter after seeing Hideki's grin fade away. It was assumed, as Yumi concluded, that everyone just had to leave everyone else alone.

No one had a keener enjoyment of walking through neighorhoods than Takako did at the moment, though she was only half conscious during her promenade. It was imperative that she make her trip today and finish the meeting with alacrity and indifference. Alacrity, to not stir up old feelings, and indifference, to counteract any feelings should they threaten to bring more anguish into her heavy heart. Her tears had dried long since then, and she walked with a sense of purpose in every step though a hint of a façade poisoned her every movement. She still remembered the message left on her answering machine, the tone of his voice.

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Flashback – One week ago

She held the usual in her hands: a can of beer in one hand and a load of uncorrected papers in the other. Takako Shimizu, a professor. Takako Shimizu, an ex-wife. Takako Shimizu, a woman with a conviction to help others, a conviction that tore a man apart.

It wasn't that she knew what wrong she was doing to her husband and continued to torment him on purpose, persay, but it was more on the terms that she didn't know what the hell she was doing wrong. Everyday, an e-mail in the morning and an e-mail at night. Everyday, a packed lunch before work and a dinner that wasn't half-assed when he came home. Every. Single. Day. She thought she was doing everything perfect, and she was. Even when she was angry about who knows what, she would subdue her anger and get by with a spotless personality. And when it came to making love, well, you couldn't argue with that. What was wrong with her, then?

That was just it. She never made a mistake.

After correcting her last paper, Takako stretched her arms out and drank the last few drops from her now lukewarm beer can. An involuntary yawn escaped her lips; her eyes became heavy, until they rested upon the answering machine's voicemail light. It blinked green, notifying her of a recent message. Her right hand reached over to the voicemail button, which sent over a familiar voice, yet who it belonged to cut her short of breath.

"Eh...It's been a while, hasn't it? I guess I don't know what to say, really. 'Good things come to an end' doesn't really work, and 'love is only an illusion' doesn't really cut it either. Guess 'look to the end of the rainbow' might be the best, because I...well, I guess I'm just going to hurt you with what I'm going to say. I don't know how you're going to feel, because admittedly, I don't feel so bad saying what I have to say to you...

...What I'm saying is, if you have time, come home. Don't know where that is? I'll give you a week to remember it. Not that you have to come, of course. To be honest, I don't really want you to come. I don't even know why I'm asking you now. It's probably my guilt that wants to talk to you when you come over, but...Well, 'better late than never.'"

She paused. The answering machine announced that the message ended and turned off afterwards.

"That...That was just, the corniest thing ever. Really, engineers...They can't make speeches for beans."

She snickered. Then just laughed outright. What in the world was that? All those bottled up feelings for him splashed back over her, and a feeling of ecstacy cured what harsh thoughts she had about his inconsistency with her. While she granted herself freedom to submerge herself in this temporary bliss, a knock on the door froze her instantly. She had forgotten who she was leaving behind while this all occurred.

Another knock.

"Takako! You're not playing tricks on me, are you? Aw, come on, Takako..."

With a light laugh, Takako managed to get to the door without saying a word. She opened the door and wrapped her arms around Shinbo, hasty to erase any suspicions he might have made. Shinbo was undeniably surprised at the way Takako carried herself today, but he would save his musings for later. Leaving his shoes by the door, he walked towards the table and stretched before putting his book bag onto the ground. The same green answering machine light Takako noticed earlier caught his eye, and he asked aloud if Takako had heard it and who it was from. Caught off guard, Takako had no time to chastise herself while she deleted the message and called out 'delete' to the machine. The machine replied that the message was now gone, and Shinbo sat in dumb wonder what in Heaven's name was wrong with her today.

"It...It was a prank call, I'm sure, "Takako said with an apathetic look.

"What'd they say?"

"Oh, just threatening to take over the world, or something like that.

Something like that. It was true, her ex-husband really was threatening to take over the world. Her world. What she felt comfortable with, he was planning to rip apart and make her suffer again.

Maybe giving her a week wasn't a bad idea after all. She had grown vigilant and thoughtful after that day, so any passions and unfathomable ideas were apt to die before executed. Whether she would meet him or not was already decided the day she received the voicemail.

She would. Of course she would.

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End Flashback