Chapter 9
By Crystal
Author's Notes: By the way, I'm going camping on Wednesday till Thursday, so I might not update on Tuesday and I certainly won't be updating on Wednesday since I'm sleeping there! And I don't have a laptop. Darn! I'll try updating on Tuesday, but I have to sleep early since I have to get to school by seven. *groans* Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
*Screw the disclaimers ^^;;*
A week had already past in Kyoto and they both found a job. They both worked at the Shirobeko. Soujiro was the cook's helper and Toshiko was a waitress. Soujiro worked full time and Toshiko simply had shifts. They had decided to stay for another week because working for only a single week wasn't enough money for the travel, and they had both secretly been saving money for something.
Toshiko had been saving money up for a new set of clothes for Soujiro, his worn out ones was making her feel bad, while Soujiro was saving up for a some hair accessories that would match the kimono Aoma-san gave her. They saw each other rarely in the mornings because Soujiro started working early in the morning and Toshiko started work at ten. They would most likely end up seeing each other at night and having dinner together.
After work, Toshiko would secretly go to a clothes shop looking for a new pair of clothes and seeing which one was made of the nicest material. Sae-san would sometimes leave the Shirobeko with Toshiko after her shift and give her some ideas of what she should buy for Soujiro. Sae-san would end up teasing Toshiko until her face was completely red or until she begged her to stop and admit to her that she liked Soujiro.
Sae-san gave them both a good amount of money for each. After a few days of looking at the clothes, the two women had both chosen a slightly darker blue than his original gi, a while polo shirt and very dark hakama. They had both agreed on that Soujiro looked best in blue. Green was not fitting, yellow just didn't sound right, red wouldn't look nice and magneta didn't seem right either. So they had chosen blue.
Soujiro on the other hand didn't have time to look at hair accessories and told Sae-san to buy Toshiko some hair accessories that would look nice and match the colours. He described the kimono very detailed to Sae-san, therefore, Sae-san knew exactly what they had been planning for each other, though she did keep her mouth quite shut. Both of them had no idea they were helping each other getting stuff.
One day while Soujiro and Toshiko was having their breaks, Sae-san came over and sat to talk with them. There was no customers in the restaurants and the other workers left for home, the cook had left to buy some stuff. Soujiro had full time so he wasn't going to leave anyhow, and Toshiko had double shift that day.
Sae-san smirked evilly as an idea formed in her head, Tanabata was only a week away, and she was going to do whatever she could to get them going together. "Hey Toshiko, Soujiro, you know that Tanabata's only a week away? You two should go out and have some fun together!" She said cheerfully, hoping Soujiro knew what she was hinting at.
Soujiro, being the what-is-love person did NOT get the hint at all, "I don't know, it's just a plain festival every year where everyone goes."
Sae saw the disappointed look on Toshiko's face while Soujiro was looking straight at her, "It's not just a plain festival," she snapped, "You could wish whatever you want to wish for, it's special and it's only once an year!"
Toshiko shrugged and hid her disappointment, "Yeah, Soujiro's right, it's just a plain festival." She stood up, "Sorry, I'll be right back." And continued her way to the washroom.
Soujiro's face showed confusion at Toshiko's sudden coldness and Sae mentally slapped her head and murmured under her breath, "Soujiro, you're a baka." Which she knew he had no trouble hearing at all. She knew a skilled warrior when she saw one, but like Toshiko, she was surprised at how the short kid could have been such a skilled swordsman, of course, she never asked anything about his past. If he wanted to say it, he would say it in time.
"Eh?" Soujiro turned from the retreating form of Toshiko to Sae. "What did you say, Sae-san?"
"You heard what I said, Soujiro."
Soujiro tilted his head, "Yeah, I heard quite well. But why did you call me that?"
Sae sighed, "You are clueless." She paused, "Toshiko. Wants. You. To. Take. Her. To. The. Tanabata." She said, emphasizing every word.
Soujiro's eyebrows knitted in confusion, "No she doesn't, she said it was a plain festival and she agreed with me."
"I'm a woman, Soujiro. I know when another woman wants a man to take her out for some special occasion, and you are going to take Toshiko to the Tanabata. I've already gotten the hair pin for you. You are going to take her to the festival and I'll drag you there myself it that's the last thing I do." Sae finished her speech and sat down, suddenly aware that she had stood up and her hands were punching the table when she had said the last sentence.
Soujiro stood there in complete silence, "Hai, hai, Sae-san. I will take her to the festival, but watch your hand, you might hurt your fist if you keep punching the table like that" He gave a smile.
Sae sighed, "Don't you ever get tired of smiling, Soujiro?"
"Iie. Anyhow, thanks for buying the hair pin for me, I'll pay you back tomorrow."
Sae stood up, "Anyhow, could you watch the Shirobeko for a while? I want to take Toshiko shopping for a while, we won't be late for her shift to start. We'll be back in about two hours!"
Soujiro sweatdropped at Sae-san when she stood up, disappeared, and reappeared, dragging a Toshiko behind her.
* * * * *
"Demo Sae-san! If I buy the clothes today, I'll be spending all the money I saved up all week, and I won't be able to feed myself!" Toshiko said at the clothes store.
"I'll pay for half today, then you can pay me back at the end of next week, okay?" Sae asked and she replied with a nod, "Good. Danaji-san, this medium blue gi, white polo shirt and the dark blue hakama. Oh, and a pair of socks too!" And she turned around to Toshiko, "We need to get Soujiro a new pair of waraji too! His are getting worn out."
Before Toshiko could say anything, an overly excited Sae had dragged her out the shop with a bag of clothes and into a shoe store. As Sae finally stopped, Toshiko said, "What are you getting so excited for?! I'm just buying him a pair of clothes!"
Sae winked at her, "I talked Soujiro into going to the Tanabata with you." She expected a very happy Toshiko, but instead, she was wrong. Toshiko gave her a quick smile, and Sae asked her what was wrong.
"It's really nothing, really. But if you talked Soujiro into going to the festival with me, then there's no point in all. I don't want it to be like I forced him into it. I want him to go there with me if that's what he wishes." She added with a sad smile.
Sae put her hand on her shoulder, "Soujiro likes you. That's all I'm going to say." She turned over to the person at the counter and bought a pair of waraji and they headed back to the Shirobeko with Sae telling Toshiko that Soujiro likes her a lot.
Toshiko just kept quiet and let Sae talk on and on about whatever she was talking about. She wasn't paying much attention and her eyes suddenly lingered on the bag she was carrying. "Sae-san! What am I suppose to do? I can't bring this to the inn or he'll know and if he sees me enter with that bag, he's going to know! Either way, he's going to know." She pouted.
"Now, now, don't worry, I'll hold it and tell him it's for my boyfriend." Sae held the bag.
Toshiko grinned, "A boyfriend, eh?" And watched triumphantly as she received a glare from a blushing Sae. "We're back, Soujiro!" she said as she entered the Shirobeko.
"Okaerinasai, Toshiko, Sae-san." Soujiro gave Toshiko a smile.
Sae said, "I'm going to put this stuff back in my room, be right back." And walked in the direction of her room.
"Ano...Toshiko? Do you want to go to the festival with me?" Soujiro tilted his head cutely as he asked.
Toshiko tried to hide a blush as she smiled back, "Hai, Soujiro."
Then was interrupted by Sae calling to Toshiko, "Toshiko! Come in here for a second!" Toshiko gave Soujiro a quick smile look and ran towards Sae's room.
Soujiro smiled a true smile, unlike the one he had smiled when he was Tenken no Soujiro. He was happy Toshiko accepted his invitation, he'd have to thank Sae-san later for talking him into asking Toshiko to the festival. He was afraid of rejection, even though he now knew that Toshiko likes him. He sighed, he'd have to see her in that beautiful kimono Aoma-san gave her, and the hair pin Sae-san chose. He thought back to the incident a week ago in Otsu, he'd have to ask Sae-san to buy hakubai-kou. He was sure she'd smell nice in it, he didn't want her using her sister's, since it DID belong to her sister, and it might not be usable, after more than a decade in the drawer of a desk.
Author's Notes: Thank you for reading this chapter, hope it's not too short, *checks word count* anyhow, I hope you enjoy it and thank you to those who read my story and reviewed. Probably another 4 chapters until Tokyo. I don't know. Thank you all and Sayonara!
Gi - Traditional shirt worn by men (Think of Kenshin's MAGNETA shirt.)
Hakama - Traditional pants worn by men.
Baka - Idiot, stupid
Hai - Yes
Iie - No
Waraji - Soujiro's shoes
Okaerinasai - Welcome home (That can be used as welcome back, right?)
Ano - Say...
Hakubai-kou - White plum perfume
By Crystal
Author's Notes: By the way, I'm going camping on Wednesday till Thursday, so I might not update on Tuesday and I certainly won't be updating on Wednesday since I'm sleeping there! And I don't have a laptop. Darn! I'll try updating on Tuesday, but I have to sleep early since I have to get to school by seven. *groans* Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
*Screw the disclaimers ^^;;*
A week had already past in Kyoto and they both found a job. They both worked at the Shirobeko. Soujiro was the cook's helper and Toshiko was a waitress. Soujiro worked full time and Toshiko simply had shifts. They had decided to stay for another week because working for only a single week wasn't enough money for the travel, and they had both secretly been saving money for something.
Toshiko had been saving money up for a new set of clothes for Soujiro, his worn out ones was making her feel bad, while Soujiro was saving up for a some hair accessories that would match the kimono Aoma-san gave her. They saw each other rarely in the mornings because Soujiro started working early in the morning and Toshiko started work at ten. They would most likely end up seeing each other at night and having dinner together.
After work, Toshiko would secretly go to a clothes shop looking for a new pair of clothes and seeing which one was made of the nicest material. Sae-san would sometimes leave the Shirobeko with Toshiko after her shift and give her some ideas of what she should buy for Soujiro. Sae-san would end up teasing Toshiko until her face was completely red or until she begged her to stop and admit to her that she liked Soujiro.
Sae-san gave them both a good amount of money for each. After a few days of looking at the clothes, the two women had both chosen a slightly darker blue than his original gi, a while polo shirt and very dark hakama. They had both agreed on that Soujiro looked best in blue. Green was not fitting, yellow just didn't sound right, red wouldn't look nice and magneta didn't seem right either. So they had chosen blue.
Soujiro on the other hand didn't have time to look at hair accessories and told Sae-san to buy Toshiko some hair accessories that would look nice and match the colours. He described the kimono very detailed to Sae-san, therefore, Sae-san knew exactly what they had been planning for each other, though she did keep her mouth quite shut. Both of them had no idea they were helping each other getting stuff.
One day while Soujiro and Toshiko was having their breaks, Sae-san came over and sat to talk with them. There was no customers in the restaurants and the other workers left for home, the cook had left to buy some stuff. Soujiro had full time so he wasn't going to leave anyhow, and Toshiko had double shift that day.
Sae-san smirked evilly as an idea formed in her head, Tanabata was only a week away, and she was going to do whatever she could to get them going together. "Hey Toshiko, Soujiro, you know that Tanabata's only a week away? You two should go out and have some fun together!" She said cheerfully, hoping Soujiro knew what she was hinting at.
Soujiro, being the what-is-love person did NOT get the hint at all, "I don't know, it's just a plain festival every year where everyone goes."
Sae saw the disappointed look on Toshiko's face while Soujiro was looking straight at her, "It's not just a plain festival," she snapped, "You could wish whatever you want to wish for, it's special and it's only once an year!"
Toshiko shrugged and hid her disappointment, "Yeah, Soujiro's right, it's just a plain festival." She stood up, "Sorry, I'll be right back." And continued her way to the washroom.
Soujiro's face showed confusion at Toshiko's sudden coldness and Sae mentally slapped her head and murmured under her breath, "Soujiro, you're a baka." Which she knew he had no trouble hearing at all. She knew a skilled warrior when she saw one, but like Toshiko, she was surprised at how the short kid could have been such a skilled swordsman, of course, she never asked anything about his past. If he wanted to say it, he would say it in time.
"Eh?" Soujiro turned from the retreating form of Toshiko to Sae. "What did you say, Sae-san?"
"You heard what I said, Soujiro."
Soujiro tilted his head, "Yeah, I heard quite well. But why did you call me that?"
Sae sighed, "You are clueless." She paused, "Toshiko. Wants. You. To. Take. Her. To. The. Tanabata." She said, emphasizing every word.
Soujiro's eyebrows knitted in confusion, "No she doesn't, she said it was a plain festival and she agreed with me."
"I'm a woman, Soujiro. I know when another woman wants a man to take her out for some special occasion, and you are going to take Toshiko to the Tanabata. I've already gotten the hair pin for you. You are going to take her to the festival and I'll drag you there myself it that's the last thing I do." Sae finished her speech and sat down, suddenly aware that she had stood up and her hands were punching the table when she had said the last sentence.
Soujiro stood there in complete silence, "Hai, hai, Sae-san. I will take her to the festival, but watch your hand, you might hurt your fist if you keep punching the table like that" He gave a smile.
Sae sighed, "Don't you ever get tired of smiling, Soujiro?"
"Iie. Anyhow, thanks for buying the hair pin for me, I'll pay you back tomorrow."
Sae stood up, "Anyhow, could you watch the Shirobeko for a while? I want to take Toshiko shopping for a while, we won't be late for her shift to start. We'll be back in about two hours!"
Soujiro sweatdropped at Sae-san when she stood up, disappeared, and reappeared, dragging a Toshiko behind her.
* * * * *
"Demo Sae-san! If I buy the clothes today, I'll be spending all the money I saved up all week, and I won't be able to feed myself!" Toshiko said at the clothes store.
"I'll pay for half today, then you can pay me back at the end of next week, okay?" Sae asked and she replied with a nod, "Good. Danaji-san, this medium blue gi, white polo shirt and the dark blue hakama. Oh, and a pair of socks too!" And she turned around to Toshiko, "We need to get Soujiro a new pair of waraji too! His are getting worn out."
Before Toshiko could say anything, an overly excited Sae had dragged her out the shop with a bag of clothes and into a shoe store. As Sae finally stopped, Toshiko said, "What are you getting so excited for?! I'm just buying him a pair of clothes!"
Sae winked at her, "I talked Soujiro into going to the Tanabata with you." She expected a very happy Toshiko, but instead, she was wrong. Toshiko gave her a quick smile, and Sae asked her what was wrong.
"It's really nothing, really. But if you talked Soujiro into going to the festival with me, then there's no point in all. I don't want it to be like I forced him into it. I want him to go there with me if that's what he wishes." She added with a sad smile.
Sae put her hand on her shoulder, "Soujiro likes you. That's all I'm going to say." She turned over to the person at the counter and bought a pair of waraji and they headed back to the Shirobeko with Sae telling Toshiko that Soujiro likes her a lot.
Toshiko just kept quiet and let Sae talk on and on about whatever she was talking about. She wasn't paying much attention and her eyes suddenly lingered on the bag she was carrying. "Sae-san! What am I suppose to do? I can't bring this to the inn or he'll know and if he sees me enter with that bag, he's going to know! Either way, he's going to know." She pouted.
"Now, now, don't worry, I'll hold it and tell him it's for my boyfriend." Sae held the bag.
Toshiko grinned, "A boyfriend, eh?" And watched triumphantly as she received a glare from a blushing Sae. "We're back, Soujiro!" she said as she entered the Shirobeko.
"Okaerinasai, Toshiko, Sae-san." Soujiro gave Toshiko a smile.
Sae said, "I'm going to put this stuff back in my room, be right back." And walked in the direction of her room.
"Ano...Toshiko? Do you want to go to the festival with me?" Soujiro tilted his head cutely as he asked.
Toshiko tried to hide a blush as she smiled back, "Hai, Soujiro."
Then was interrupted by Sae calling to Toshiko, "Toshiko! Come in here for a second!" Toshiko gave Soujiro a quick smile look and ran towards Sae's room.
Soujiro smiled a true smile, unlike the one he had smiled when he was Tenken no Soujiro. He was happy Toshiko accepted his invitation, he'd have to thank Sae-san later for talking him into asking Toshiko to the festival. He was afraid of rejection, even though he now knew that Toshiko likes him. He sighed, he'd have to see her in that beautiful kimono Aoma-san gave her, and the hair pin Sae-san chose. He thought back to the incident a week ago in Otsu, he'd have to ask Sae-san to buy hakubai-kou. He was sure she'd smell nice in it, he didn't want her using her sister's, since it DID belong to her sister, and it might not be usable, after more than a decade in the drawer of a desk.
Author's Notes: Thank you for reading this chapter, hope it's not too short, *checks word count* anyhow, I hope you enjoy it and thank you to those who read my story and reviewed. Probably another 4 chapters until Tokyo. I don't know. Thank you all and Sayonara!
Gi - Traditional shirt worn by men (Think of Kenshin's MAGNETA shirt.)
Hakama - Traditional pants worn by men.
Baka - Idiot, stupid
Hai - Yes
Iie - No
Waraji - Soujiro's shoes
Okaerinasai - Welcome home (That can be used as welcome back, right?)
Ano - Say...
Hakubai-kou - White plum perfume
