Chapter 5: Scratching the Surface
Disclaimer: I don't own RK, Starbucks, Microsoft Windows and Google.
Kaoru Kamiya gave her legs a nice long stretch as she slumped into her seat. "I'm finally done!" she groaned in relief. She had just finished finalizing grades and the necessary paperwork to send them out to the respective students. The hectic week was finally coming to an end and Kaoru could look forward to the long weekend.
There wasn't going to be school on Friday until the next Monday, so she decided to give her room a thorough inspection before she called it a day. She checked to see her cabinets and desks were securely locked, arranged the kids' tables and chairs, and carried her student's window-side garden outside to leave them there for the long weekend. Kaoru gave her homeroom a once over and when she was satisfied with how everything was arranged, she gathered her stuff and headed over to the teacher's lounge to drop off some papers and get a cup of tea.
Woodrose teachers' lounge actually looked like a lounge. The administrators and owners of the school saw the importance of having a place where their faculty could actually relax when work was just a bit too much. They weren't stingy in providing the materials needed to build a sanctuary amidst the chaos.
Kaoru couldn't get over how lovely the lounge was. It was a cross between a patio, a library, and a Starbucks. The walls of the lounge were thick glass with an edgy design of being cracked. The right side of the room housed a coffee and vending machine, and a mini bakery run by the cleaning ladies. There was also two big conference rooms located inside. Modern yet comfortable circles of couches were found on the left side of the room along with an excellent sound system and some books and magazines. The ceiling was Kaoru's favorite part of the room. The builders incorporated the design of a sun roof and mounted up an irregular shaped canvas that spanned the entire room. It was an art piece and at the same time, a means of shade when the sun got too hot or bright. On its sides, they hooked mini spotlights. All in all the room was very contemporary, much to the delight of the younger faculty of the school. The mature and older staff was just happy that they could get a decent beverage without having to go out of the school.
"Hey Kaoru-san!" greeted cheerfully by Tomoko Yanagi, a second-grade teacher. "What are you doing here so late?"
"I'm just dropping off a few papers." Kaoru replied with a smile. Making her way to the corner or the room, she slid in a thin folder at the cubby hole of their department head.
"Don't tell me you're done with the grades already?" Tomoko asked enviously, eyeing the folder.
"Yeah, I am." Kaoru answered meekly.
"Argh." Tomoko sighed dramatically. "I've never met anyone so responsible in my whole life."
"Are you trying to give a compliment?" Misao asked with a wry grin. "You could do better you know."
Kaoru thanked Misao with her eyes. Misao was one of her good friends at work. She was genuinely happy for her when she found out about her raise and acceptance into grad school.
Some of the faculty was giving her a hard time when they found out about her modified salary. As a fresh graduate, she wasn't supposed to receive a raise until she had been employed with the school for at least 2 years. When the administration found out about her acceptance to the very competitive and prestigious graduate program, they were extremely delighted and decided to give her a raise. Her salary was now equivalent to the faculty who were employed longer than her.
Quickly changing the subject, Misao grinned mischievously. "So, Kaoru, have you seen the infamous Mr. Yukishiro these past two months?"
Kaoru couldn't help but laugh. "No, I haven't."
Misao's couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. "Really? Almost all the parents in your class scheduled an appointment with you after the PTF."
"Yeah, but he usually talks to Katsura-san, then Katsura-san relays the information to me."
"Isn't that a bit of a hassle?" Misao's eyebrows furrowed in curiosity. "Why doesn't he just talk to you directly?"
"I don't know." Kaoru shrugged. "And I really don't mind. He seemed uncomfortable talking to me during the PTF so I'm not at all surprised." At Tomoko's excited response, Kaoru immediately regretted voicing out that last comment.
"Really!" Tomoko put her finger on her chin thoughtfully. "He seems the type to be pretty suave with the ladies." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"Well, maybe it's just me." Kaoru laughed good naturedly at Tomoko's expression. "Please pass the salt' and 'Excuse me' were only the two things he said to me all night."
"Maybe he's gay." Misao whispered conspiratorially. Her remark caused the three ladies to erupt into giggles.
"I certainly hope not." Tomoko managed to sputter out. "I gave the guy my number!"
"Oh you did not!" Misao let out a hearty chuckle.
"Gay or not, he is pretty cute." Kaoru admitted to herself more than to the others. She tried to deny the feeling of disappointment she felt when she didn't receive any requests for an appointment from Mr. Yukishiro. And she certainly didn't want to delve on her internal reaction after finding out Tomoko's dealings with him. She kept telling herself that she was merely attracted him for physical reasons.
"Kaoru, dear, he is not cute." Tomoko's face was a cross between a smirk and a grin. "I don't think cute could make me come just like that."
Kaoru's eyes widened in shock, while Misao laughed even louder. "Damn, Tomoko." Misao shook her head in amusement.
"And not only is he the hottest male specimen this little teacher's seen but he's also rich and smart." Tomoko added. "He's the real deal, ladies. He's the 21st century Prince Charming."
"I'd have to disagree with the Prince Charming bit." Kaoru rolled her eyes as she remembered the night of the PTF. "He's as charming as a block of wood."
"How'd you know that he's rich and smart?" Misao looked at Tomoko curiously.
"I googled him." Tomoko replied with nonchalance.
Round 2 of giggles commenced. "You googled him?" Misao wheezed out, her breath coming is short rounds from laughing so much. "You, Tomoko, are a piece of work."
"I was curious okay!" Tomoko retorted defensively.
"And what did you did you find out?" Kaoru couldn't help but feel a bit of interest at Tomoko's Prince Charming.
"Wouldn't you like to know, Kaoru-chan?" Tomoko's voice was teasing but her eyes took on a bit more colder, threatening look.
"Same reasons as yours. Just satisfying my curiosity." Kaoru replied evenly, catching the underlying tones of her question.
Misao, who seemed totally oblivious to the sudden tension between the two, whined. "Yeah Tomoko! Don't leave us hanging!"
"Well, he's a senior associate at the Seijiro and Himura law firm at the young age of 25. He graduated from Tokyo University with a double degree on accounting and economics. He then proceeded to Harvard to take his law practice. His father was the late Senator Hoji Yukishiro, who was responsible for the education policy passed 5 years ago which resulted to a unbelievable increase in rate of literacy and college graduates here in Japan. His mother is the real estate genius that built her empire of a company from scratch."
"Masami Yukishiro." Kaoru confirmed quietly as she often heard the name on the lips of her parents whenever discussing plans for the family business.
"Exactly." Tomoko agreed. "So you can just imagine the size of his inheritance. And mind you, his inheritance and trust fund are two very separate and different things. This guy is so loaded it's ridiculous."
"Why is he still working then?" Misao couldn't believe what she was hearing. A real life celebrity was in their midst. It was overwhelming to say the least.
"I asked myself the same thing." Tomoko shook her head in amazement.
Kaoru mused quietly. As she was listening to Tomoko's narration, Kaoru thought that she had him all figured out. He was high society. He probably had tons of women falling over themselves just to get to talk to him. She probably struck him as plain, ordinary, someone who wasn't worth the time to talk to. The thought should've angered Kaoru but she felt nothing but indifference. He was unattainable. He was in the same league as Orlando Bloom and Tom Cruise and all the other men she had teeny-bopper crushes on.
Tomoko broke the silence and announced cheerfully, "And that concludes our story time kids!"
And right on cue, Misao and Kaoru went, "Thank you, Teacher Tomoko!"
The three girls were giggling once again as they gathered their bags and headed for home. As Kaoru was climbing into her dark blue Accord, Tomoko called out to her, "I'll see you later, Kaoru-chan!"
Kaoru waved in response and drove off, but not before seeing Misao rubbing her temples as if nursing a headache and Tomoko putting her hands on her mouth, gesturing as if she had something she wasn't supposed to say. She regarded her colleagues' odd behavior for a minute, but dismissed it quickly as it came.
Walking in the dim cool apartment was a relief to Kaoru especially for her eyes. The sun had been too much to bear as she made her way inside the building. It was hard to believe that it was the middle of September. The sun seemed to be squeezing in as much sunlight as possible before the fall season officially begins.
Kaoru slipped of her beige ballet flats and almost groaned at the comfort of the cool hardword floor. She wanted nothing but to lie down at the couch, maybe watch some FRIENDS reruns, and take a nice long nap. But her brain was making her notice the slight mess the kitchen was in. Muttering something about Megumi's obsessive-compulsive tendencies, she changed out her skirt and blouse and donned on Aoshi's old basketball varsity shorts and a sleeveless shirt.
She quickly started on her "afternoon chores" by cooking rice. Well, technically, she wasn't cooking it due to convenience of rice cookers. Rice was the only thing she couldn't char to a crisp, chop beyond recognition, or boil into nothingness so the chore was given to her.
Before starting on the dishes, she turned on the stereo and popped in the new Joss Stone CD. Playing music while working was a habit she acquired during 6th grade and it's been with her ever since. She always did chores better with music in the background.
After rinsing the last dish, and wiping of the counter table and stove, Kaoru made her way into the living room and started fluffing up the pillows and straightening magazines and the various furnishings. She was about to drape herself on the couch when she caught site of the inside of Megumi's and Aoshi's rooms. 'To clean or not to clean, that is the question' she thought to herself as she surveyed the rooms.
Kaoru was having second thoughts in cleaning up the rooms because she was afraid that she might be violating some privacy rule. It wasn't really voiced out or officially stated, but just because they were living together, it didn't mean that they were entitled to each other's business. The three of them took their privacy seriously, especially the two older ones. As Kaoru pondered the pros and cons of cleaning up, she opted for just fixing the bed, but by the time she was finished she ended picking up dirty laundry, lining up shoes, and stacking up random documents.
"Hopefully, they won't get too mad." Kaoru sighed as she turned off the lights in the rooms.
Mentally checking off her chores from her list, she hurried into her room, grabbed her laptop, and snuggled comfortably against the cozy red couch. She flipped open her laptop and her ears welcomed the familiar welcome jingle of Microsoft Windows as it opened up to her profile. Kaoru glided her fingers on the touch pad and clicked open her web browser. A bubble of anticipation rose in her as her email assistant greeted with the notice, "You've got mail."
Kaoru loved getting mail. She delighted in the idea of correspondence, whether it be by the old-fashioned way or through email. The first grade teacher made sure to keep in touch with high school and college friends by sending them e-cards accompanied by personal messages during their birthdays and certain holidays. During gatherings and reunions she would be teased for it but afterward, most if not all of them would always approach and thank her for her thoughtfulness. She avoided sending forwarded messages because they were annoying and impersonal.
As Kaoru clicked on her inbox, she hoped that it wasn't some ad or promotion. The page was finally completed loading. As the name of the sender appeared, she leaned back against the couch in surprise.
Sender: Himura Kenshin
Subject: Hey.
Kaoru eyed the sender skeptically. Thoughts of doubt and unanswered questions filled her mind. "Why is he emailing me? He never bothered to reply to my initiation of correspondence before. Why now?"
She knew she could easily find answers to her questions by opening the email but she was hesitant. Her emotional self preservation instincts were kicking in. She groaned at the familiar feeling of apprehension. "This is stupid." She declared to herself, shaking her head as if trying to remove her uneasiness.
Moving her index finger, she placed the arrow cursor on the email link to open it, but before she could read the contents of her email, she was distracted by sounds of someone opening the apartment door. It revealed a tall young man looking quite bothered. Cocking an eyebrow at her brother, Kaoru watched him go over to the fridge to get water.
"Hey." Aoshi Shinomori seated himself beside his sister and propped his sneaker-clad feet on the coffee table across.
Quickly closing her laptop, Kaoru looked at her brother curiously. "Are you okay? You seem… rushed." Kaoru knew her brother to be the put together… composed. He didn't rush. He hastened.
"Oh, yeah." Aoshi took a long sip of water. "Meg called me up saying that we have reservations at that new Thai place three blocks down. She said to me meet us there for dinner."
"Reservations? What's the occasion?" Kaoru inquired. Megumi always preferred home-cooked meals than going out.
"I don't know. She just said to meet her there and dress nice." Aoshi shrugged, reaching over to get the remote control.
"I was hoping to stay home tonight and relax." Kaoru sighed. "Oh well. Just as long she's paying." She stood up and forcibly removed her brother's feet of the coffee table. "And keep it down." She added sternly before walking inside the room.
As soon as Kaoru's door closed, Aoshi propped his feet up the table. The action was immediately followed by a menacing shout, "AOSHI!"
After muttering something about obsessive-compulsive women, he kicked off his sneakers and lay down at the couch for a nap.
A/N: Hey guys. Sorry it took so long. I just have so many ideas for this story that I can't focus on this chapter. And I'm not satisfied with the prologue too so it's also in the works. Anyway as we speak I'm already writing the next update. Sorry too for the typos and grammar. My beta is currently battling government and general psychology. I don't have the heart to ask her to edit this seeing as she already has enough work as it is. So I really need another beta.
WANTED: Beta who will put up with my all my endearing characteristics (random, weird, impulsive, etc.) and grammar errors. (It's really a wonder why aced Comp and Rhet.)
Please read and review!
This chapter is dedicated to YURU!