Disclaimer: Belongs to Watsuki Nobuhiro. Always.
Chapter VI
He smirked as he leaned comfortably on his chair. 'It's been really interesting to interview these girls…' with Amakusa-san's soft, timid responses and Takani-san's intelligent and somewhat shrewd answers, and now Kamiya Kaoru's honest and amusing answers, he's going to have a hard time deciding.
Turning around, he asked casually, "So, what do you think, Enishi?"
Leaning on one of the pillars with a wide grin plastered on his handsome face, the platinum-haired admitted, "I never realized that your show could be quite amusing, Tou-san..what have you been doing? An interview?"
"I've been telling you that, haven't I? You wouldn't believe me then…, and yeah, I just finished the last interview", the older man said good-naturedly.
"Well.. now I do.. by the way, the reason you sought me out…?"
"I've got a proposition for you", the older one grinned sneakily.
….
A deep sound of chuckling was soon heard. " … I see, no, I don't see, but, well, it does sound interesting.. come to think of it..", he ended on a positive note, smiling slightly.
"You agree then..".. it was more like a statement
"You bet.."
Walking out of the office, a familiar voice enquired, "How was the interview, Sir?", Okina approached the older man with a curious look evident in his eyes. "Well… it's been interesting.. so far..", the middle-aged man deliberately avoiding direct answer. "By the way, don't let Hiko or Kamatari steal the limelight on the show tomorrow", he added, smirking.
From the opposite end of the office, the spiky platinum-haired man was rather reluctant to admit it, but he's been thinking about a certain raven-haired girl that he bumped into several times in the past few weeks.
She was… refreshingly different..
Now, why did he have a feeling he's going to see her again?
Tokyo
Lounging in the living room's sofa after dinner, Yahiko muttered worriedly, He's been worried sick for the past couple of days, pacing back and forth next to the telephone, waiting for Kaoru to call, somehow. " Ugh… that Busu… I want to whack her for making us worry like this"
Soon, he turned on the TV and was engaging himself in a channel-changing routine using his feet.
"The latest news from Tokyo station 7…" 'flick'
"Mori…aishiteru", Yahiko flinched at seeing the teary chick drama. 'flick'
"The science researchers of Tokyo University concluded..!" Pretty self-explanatory.. 'flick'
"This is the right season for fishing…especially for the salmon and the yellow-tail.."… Bah!. 'flick'
"Nihon-Dreams won! For the umpteenth time this season, the unbeatable giants from Nihon Dreams play such an impressive.." 'flick'
…
Yahiko was getting bored. Nothing good was on TV.. Yawning, he attempted to turn the power button off. Accidentally his feet knocked the remote control, causing it to free-fall towards the tiled floor.. "Kuso!"
'flick'
"Welcome to the show that has bewitched all of Japan. The special episode of "Extraordinary Joe for the Ordinary girl".. the show's host said genially.
"Another one of those baka reality TV show, from the sound of it…" Yahiko grumbled aloud, his hand lazily reached out for the fallen remote control. Now, where did it fall.. The spiky-haired crouched low, his back facing the TV screen, as his hand reached out to retrieve the remote.
"Tonight, we've a special episode, and we're keeping you in suspense until the last minute… But, first, let us meet our beautiful and talented semi-finalists…. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd love to present you Miss Takani Megumi…" the red curtain was lifted up, revealing a beautiful lady wrapped in an expensive-looking lavender dress, looking out to the audience with a small aloof smile.
"… Miss Amakusa Sayo!", the second red curtain from the center stage was lifted up to reveal a pretty brown-haired girl with a soft, chocolate eyes, waving gracefully to the audience.
"And … Miss Kamiya Kaoru!"", the last curtain was lifted up, revealing a beautiful girl with azure blue eyes and a dazzling smile.. The audience applauded for the three contestantscheerfully.
"Tch… all this reality show is bugging me to no end", Yahiko remarked, hearing it. "Ah-ha! There it is..", he scooped up the remote control lying beneath the sofa. Suddenly he frowned. " Waitaminit! Did I hear correctly?", abruptly, his head turned around so fast.. too fast to hit the wooden table just above his crouching form.
Thud!"Awwghh!", he howled painfully, feeling the newly formed bump on his forehead.
Still, the painful thud didn't deter him to look up, and gasped loudly…
…
Bu…bu..busu.. .Kao…ru…was on TV!
Rubbing his eyes resolutely, he thought it was all his imagination..
The form of Kaoru in cobalt blue dress, with her azure orbs sparkling merrily…
This is the probably the worst his imaginative mind has ever been playing him up…
But, then again, it could be for real..
Gulp..
The remote control slipped off his grasp as he scrambled to his feet, intently watching the screen.
Hurried sound of footsteps could be heard as Kenshin peeked out from the door. "Yahiko, did you just hurt yourself?", he asked with concerned look on his face, and a dish on his hand. Yahiko ignored the red head completely, his hand absently gesturing him to be silent. Wrinkling his eyebrows in confusion, his amethyst eyes followed the direction of Yahiko's brown ones.
The dish fell down in a shattering noise as Kenshin's eyes bulged out considerably. "Shush, Kenshin… keep quiet!", Yahiko scowled.
Reaching for the sofa, the two of them resumed watching the show intently.
The audience in the studio applauded as the three finalists were revealed. Kaoru was so nervous, she would just flee away given the chance.. Why did she join this reality show again? She couldn't recall why..
Her eyes darted to the drawn curtain from across the room. So, that is the secret first prize.. wonder where they put the money..
"There are two consecutive rounds tonight, and the first winner will have a right to lay her hands on our Extraordinary Joe….the second prize winner will have the right to lay her hands on the half million yen that we've prepared… The winner will be decided with the assistance of both the audience and our Extraordinary Joe himself.. "
Yahiko cursed under his breath. "Baka Kaoru.. why is she entering such stupid show? Is she looking for a boyfriend or something!"..
Kenshin was more quiet in his response… "I think that she has more reason than that…"
Yahiko turned to face him and snorted, "How so?"
"Well… we're not exactly very well-off Yahiko.. and though Kaoru always stayed quiet, I'm sure she couldn't stop worrying about our welfare…she's been selling Ojii-san's paintings too… and singing part-time doesn't earn much money, although she does have a beautiful voice, that she does ", he bowed his head solemnly.
"And her joining the show might help, how?", he asked stubbornly, "It's not like we're unemployed.."
"I seriously doubt if she's seeking the first prize.. if I guess correctly, she probably wanted to win the monetary prize.."
Yahiko frowned, taking in his word slowly. "It's impossible.. she can't compete with those beauty queens.. "
Kenshin smiled, "You really think so? Take a closer look at your sister..", he gently coaxed the teenager.
Yahiko did. And he had to admit that she never looked that girlish.. she always denied that side of her. Mumbling softly, he said, "She shouldn't do such thing..If only she'd tell me, I'd be willing to work double shifts…"
Kenshin smiled gently, "Don't push yourself too hard, Yahiko, that's exactly why Kaoru's been worried.. with both of us working day in and day night, yet, we still don't have enough money to live comfortably.."
"Still she should know better.. she travelled to Kyoto on her own.. Baka Kaoru!", the youngster shivered, thinking of what could happen to Kaoru when she traveled without an escort, to a town twelve hours away from Tokyo.
Suddenly his eyes lit up with an idea, "Kenshin, quick, we've got to go to Kyoto now… we've to drag Kaoru back home.. I don't care if I have to work triple shifts at Akabeko… ", and with that, he pulled the red head's gi, effectively choking him.
"Ack! Orororororo…"
It was almost 9 o'clock at night when they boarded the last train to Kyoto.
Aishiteru: I love you
A/N: ...