CARNATION
Author: Yumari
Disclaimer: Taiho Shichauzo! (You're Under Arrest!) © Fujishima Kosuke, Kodansha, Studio Deen, TOEI, Bandai Visual, and everyone else involved in the creation of this wonderful, wonderful anime/manga series. No infringment intended. No profit gained.
Chapter 3
"Kouki, meet the section chief of Bokuto Station. Kachou, meet my younger brother, Kouki."
Kouki grinned and held out a hand. "Nice to meet you, mister...?"
"Huh? Oh!" Kachou exclaimed, chuckling and shaking his head as he stood to take Kouki's proferred hand. It took a few seconds before the initial surprise finally subsided, and he felt so stupid for looking so lost infront of Kinoshita. Trying his best to regain his composure, he shook the boy's hand and gave him a warm smile. "Chou Hana. But everyone just calls me by my rank - 'Kachou'. It's nice to meet you, too."
Releasing Kouki's hand, Kachou sat back down and turned to Kinoshita. "But I thought your family's in Kyoto?" He had known Kinoshita way back when she was still a fresh new recruit at the Headquarters, so he knew some things about her family background.
"That's right," Kinoshita said as she pushed the plate containing half of the cheesecake she ordered towards her brother, who sat down beside her. "But he's staying with me for a while."
"And if I pass the entrance exam at Tokyo U, I might stay here permanently - until I finish school that is." Kouki added after thanking his sister for the cake.
"Ah, so you're going to Tokyo U?" Kachou took a sip of his coffee. From behind his cup, he observed the two. He hadn't noticed it earlier, but Kouki's eyes bore a striking resemblance to his sister's - but unlike Kinoshita's, which always looked cold and unimpressed, the boy's was alight with youthful exuberance. Actually, Kachou doubted if anyone could immediately tell that they were siblings at first glance. Kouki struck him as the sporty, outgoing type (kind of like Tsujimoto), whereas Kaoruko's the quiet, serious type. Almost everything about Kouki screamed "FUN!" - from his dark, spiky hair to the silver stud he wore on his left ear to his clothes. He had a profile of a rockstar in the making. But while rockstars were quite known for their "attitudes", Kachou saw no problem with Kouki; the boy was actually wellmannered.
"Yup! Hopefully, I passed the exam." Kouki replied proudly before taking a bite of the cheesecake. "Wow, this is good!" He exclaimed, turning to the elder Kinoshita, who smiled and swatted away the strands of hair that fell infront of his eyes.
Kachou couldn't help but smile as he watched the interaction between the siblings. They were obviously very close, and from the assistant inspector's eyes, he saw nothing but overflowing love for the boy.
"The examination took place the other day, so I'm free to bum around before returning to Kyoto," Kouki added as he now took Kinoshita's coffee cup and brought it to his lips. The smile on the boy's face turned to a pout, however, when he heard what his sister had to say about the bumming around.
"You do just that and I'll send you back to Kyoto in an instant."
The two siblings glared at each other for a good couple of seconds before the elder finally sighed, saying: "We both know that I wouldn't be able to get rid of you even if I tried."
Kouki turned to Kachou and grinned. "See how much she loves me?"
Kachou smiled back. He had once wondered how the assistant inspector would be as an older sister, and he's starting to find that out now.
Kinoshita sighed again and shook her head. Looking at her watch, she told Kouki to hurry up so they could go already. Turning to Kachou, she then apologized for taking too much of his time.
"It's okay," Kachou laughed.
"But won't you be going to work early tomorrow?" Kinoshita asked with concern. "If you want you could go ahead already. I'll just take care of everything here."
Kachou shook his head as he set his empty cup aside. "No, it's alright," he insisted.
"Alright."
During the entire length of the two's conversation, Kouki had already drunk the contents of the cup, but pretended to still be drinking while he watched on. He could feel it; there was definitely something in the way the chief spoke and looked at his sister. Intrigued, he wanted so much to find out what it was, but he knew he couldn't pretend to still be drinking or eating when both the cup and the plate were already empty. That would be so... Weird.
"I'm done," Kouki announced after a while, and Kinoshita motioned to the waitress, Akiko, for the bill. Akiko came shortly after, and Kinoshita drew out her credit card.
When the table had been cleared and Kouki had finished using the restroom, the trio exited the shop. The Kinoshita siblings walked towards a white Mazda RX-7 FC, and standing by the car, bid their goodbye's to Kachou.
Kachou bid his goodbye's as well and watched as they got in the FC. He waited until they pulled out of the parking lot before crossing the street back to the station.
Kouki watched Kachou from the rearview mirror as he drove. Beside him, his sister had reclined the passenger's seat and was already on the verge of sleeping, her short chestnut brown hair obscuring her face from view. Kouki glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, before looking back at the rearview mirror to see the chief cross the street. "He's a nice guy," he said with a grin. Saying that, he didn't really expect a response from his exhausted sister, it was more like thinking out loud, but Kaoruko nodded anyway, murmuring her agreement.
Kouki's grin turned into a knowing smile.
The next morning saw Bokuto's Traffic Department chief nursing a massive headache. With the newspaper spread out before him, Kachou tried to make sense of what what was printed on it but to no avail. "How come I've never seen these kanji before?" he thought out loud.
"Anou, Kachou... Are you alright?" Aoi, who was standing infront of his desk, asked. Kachou looked up to see their resident cross-dresser holding a couple of folders and looking down at him in utmost concern.
"Ah?"
"You've been staring at the newspaper for almost an hour already, sir." Aoi pointed out with a small smile. "Are you alright?"
It took him a while to comprehend what came out of Futaba's mouth, and once he did, he nodded his head. "Yes, I'm fine." He then looked at the manila folders Aoi was holding. "Are those for me?"
"Yes, sir. They came from the Headquarters just now."
"Headquarters?" Kachou blinked at the folders. "Thanks," he mumbled, taking the folders from Aoi and placing them on top of his morning paper.
"You're welcome," came Aoi's response before walking back to his desk.
"Kachou seems a little... Weird," Yoriko said when Aoi had returned. Aoi looked at his partner and nodded. "I noticed, too," he said.
"Do you suppose something happened last night?" Yoriko asked softly, moving her chair over to her partner's desk. Aoi tilted his head sideways and cast a quick look at their chief. "I guess so. I wonder what it is..." he whispered back.
The partners were so busy observing Kachou from behind the pile of papers on Aoi's desk that they didn't notice when a certain Natsumi Tsujimoto had gone up to them.
"Yo!"
The two jumped at the other officer's sudden arrival. "Natsumi!" they exclaimed in unison. "Miyuki!" the added shortly after noticing that Miyuki was there, as well.
"Hey," Miyuki smiled before moving to her desk.
The two had just gone from an early patrol, and while Miyuki headed straight towards her desk, Natsumi walked over to where Aoi and Yoriko were. Grinning, Natsumi sat down on the empty chair beside her bespectacled friend. Aoi smiled back. For the past few months, they rarely ever saw Natsumi because of the special training program Kinoshita-keibuho invited their friend to join, but now that the second module of the training has just ended, Natsumi's back with them again, albeit only for three weeks.
"I saw you two staring at the chief... So!" Natsumi clapped her hands together. "What's up?"
The partners looked at each other. "That's what we were wondering about, too," Aoi said.
"He's been acting a little weird." Yoriko added, pointing slightly towards the chief.
"Eh?"
Yoriko shrugged.
From her desk, Miyuki sighed. "He might have just gotten tired of the endless preparations for the station's anniversary."
At the mention of the word "anniversary", all talk about the possible reasons for the Kachou's weird behavior was immediately set aside as Yoriko suddenly remembered something. "AH!" She cried out, causing everyone inside the office look at her.
"Oi, Nikaidou, what's wrong?" Came the chief's inquiring voice.
Yoriko immediately stood up and bowed to the chief. She smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Kachou! But I almost forgot about the banner and the invitations." Yoriko had been designated to take care of the decorations and other paraphernalias for the upcoming Festival, and she was supposed to report to Kachou about that that morning, but since she had been too engrossed in observing him, the Festival momentarily slipped from her mind. But apparently, it also slipped from the chief's.
"Oh, yeah," Kachou blinked, suddenly remembering that they were already supposed to put up the large banner they made last night. "Where is it?"
"It's already done, Kachou. And the invitations, too - we could already give them out. Saori and Keiko had already gone to get them from the printing office. They'd be here any minute now."
Kachou nodded. "Good, good. The invitations... Maybe you could give them out while you're on patrol?"
There was a pause as Yoriko considered the chief's suggestion. "Sure, Kachou."
At Yoriko's affirmative response, Kachou pulled a pen and a sheet paper from his drawer and began to write. "Okay then. You and Futaba deliver the ones for Jouten Station."
"Hai! Leave that to us!"
"Tsujimoto and Kobayakawa, Headquarters."
"Roger!" came Natsumi's response.
Kachou continued on with his checklist of stations to which the invitations should be delivered and the officers in charge of them. Saori and Keiko arrived some time later, and at Kachou's instruction, started distributing the invitations to all the officers assigned to deliver them.
When Natsumi and Miyuki got their bundle, the former stretched her arms upwards. "Yosh! Let's go give these out!"
Miyuki raised an eyebrow at her partner's enthusiasm. "You're just dying to escape from the paperwork," she pointed out with a smirk.
Natsumi gave her partner a toothy grin.
Kouki had heard of his sister's reputation; female officers like her who are high up the ranks are a rarity, and so he expected that she would be well respected. But when he accompanied his sister to work the next day, he realized the she wasn't just looked highly upon.
She was feared.
The moment Kaoruko Kinoshita stepped inside the station, the lower-ranked officers at the lobby immediately cleared the way for her, each of them either bowing or giving crisp salutes as she walked past them. Needless to say, the younger Kinoshita was at awe.
"Some treatment this is..." Kouki muttered under his breath as he looked from side to side.
"Kinoshita-keibuho! A moment, please!"
The siblings were about to go up the stairs when a male officer suddenly called out. Kinoshita looked expectantly at the officer. "What is it, Hamasaki-junsa?"
When Hamasaki had reached them, he held out a manila folder. "This came from the programs committee. It's a report regarding the drill last night."
"Is that the drill where your car got busted?" Kouki asked his sister, as he hovered over Hanasaki, whom he realized to be a good couple of inches shorter than him.
"Eh?" Hamasaki blinked, slightly jumping at Kouki's presence. "Who are you?"
Kouki opened his mouth to respond but Kinoshita did the introducing instead. "Kouki, this is Senior Officer Wataru Hamasaki. He's from the intelligence department." Then, turning to Hanasaki: "Hamasaki-junsacho, this is my younger brother, Kouki. He's our guest today."
Hamasaki's eyes widened. "Brother?" Turning to Kouki, the officer immediately bowed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that the assistant inspector has a brother. It's nice to meet you, Kouki-san."
Kouki bowed. "It's nothing, sir. Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Hamasaki."
"Hamasaki-junsacho."
Hamasaki straightened up and faced Kinoshita. "Yes, ma'am?"
"Please drop by my officer later at four. I would have finished reviewing this by then," Kinoshita said, tapping the folder. "Will this be all?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Okay then, we'll be going now."
Hamasaki gave them a final bow then started walking back where he came from. As the Kinoshita siblings started going up the stairs, two young female officers started making their way down. One of them caught Kouki's eyes - she had long, wavy brown hair, and a really cute face, so he decided to lag behind his sister so he could have a good look. The two were talking and giggling about some guy they met so loudly that Kouki swore they could be heard all the way to the lobby. Kinoshita also noticed them and decided to fix them a good look.
"The two of you," Kinoshita started, visibly irritated. After all, who wouldn't be irritated, if at eight in the morning, you'll be hearing such loud chatter - about boys, of all things?
The girls stopped dead in their tracks, realizing whose voice that was. They turned slowly and cowered under Kinoshita's glare. Even Kouki stiffened when he saw his sister's terse expression.
Kinoshita crossed her arms. "The station isn't a marketplace. While we do not restrict you from doing as you please you could at least practice being discreet around here. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
The two officers looked at each other, then back at Kinoshita. "Yes, ma'am," they replied meekly.
"Good. " With that, Kinoshita motioned to Kouki and turned on her heels. As the two officers looked on, Kouki gave them an apologetic smile before following his sister, only to regret doing it when he heard what they had to say as soon as their backs were turned.
"That woman," one of them started. "Who does she think she is anyway?"
"Uh... Kinoshita, THE assistant inspector?" the other one answered dumbly.
"I know that! But that doesn't give her the right to embarass us - especially not infront of that cute guy!"
"Oh, yeah, I noticed him too! Who is he? Why's he with her?"
"I dunno. But surely she's not her boyfriend or anything, right?"
"Oh, of course not! I doubt someone like her could ever get married - much less have a boyfriend!"
Then, there was laughter.
Unknown to them, "that cute guy" had lagged behind his sister. He didn't intend to listen in, but when he heard one of them mention his sister's name, he knew he just had to find out what that was about. As he leaned on the wall with his arms cross before him, a deep frown marred Kouki's handsome features.
"Kouki?"
Hearing his sister's voice, he shook the building anger off his system. He cast one final glance to where the two officers disappeared, and with a deep breath, jogged up to where Kaoruko was. "Coming!"
He didn't have to be a genius to to be able to tell that his sister was upset about something. The way her eyes would darken, and the way her lips would thin gave everything away. He noticed the signs while she was busy looking for something inside her drawer. Hadn't he known better, he would think that it was all just because she can't find whatever it was she was looking for, but he can read her perfectly well. There was something else that was bothering her.
Of course, he could always just ask her if she was okay rather than just assume things, but that was never his style. And it was never Kaoruko's style to say what she really feels. It may seem weird, but that's exactly how he got so attuned with his sister's emotions - she wouldn't say anything, and he couldn't even dare to ask her, so he just depended on his vibes.
She left him in her office that afternoon for a meeting, and Kouki was bored. He sat on her chair, his legs propped up on top of her desk as he fiddled with her laptop. "Solitaire. The game old maids play," Kouki said flatly as he browsed for games and found only that. He felt guilty for implying that his sister was an old maid, but for goodness' sake! The woman should get married already!
He then remembered what the two officers said about Kaoruko that morning, and his blood boiled in an instant. Maybe that's the probably the reason why his sister had been upset: she might have heard them, too. Kouki frowned. His sister sure didn't look like it, but she's actually one of the most sensitive persons he ever knew. She just almost never shows that side of her.
When he didn't find anything entertaining enough on the laptop, Kouki sighed and swiveled on his seat to face the window behind him. He just stared outside until he fell too deep in sleep to even hear two people enter the dimly-lit room.
"Kinoshita-keibuho?" Natsumi rapped her knuckles on the door to Kinoshita's office before twisting the doorknob and slipping right into the room with Miyuki behind her.
"It doesn't look like she's here," Miyuki said as she scanned the room. It was a little smaller than those of higher ranking officers, but it was extremely well-kept (as one could expect from Kinoshita-keibuho). Her desk was at the middle of the room, with the chair behind it facing the window behind it. There was a hefty amount paperwork on her desk, too, and it seemed to Miyuki that the stack of documents on Kachou's desk paled in comparison to that of the assistant inspector's. A laptop sat to the left of folders, and next to it was a slim vase containing a single flower. Two two-seater sofas and a coffe table between them were placed perpendicular to the desk. Paintings also hung on the walls, but that was as far as Miyuki could make out as the lights were off, and the room was illuminated only be the slivers of sunlight that had seeped through the blinds.
Natsumi placed her hands on akimbo. "Eh. Where could she be then? That officer we met on the way said she'd be here."
"Well, I guess we could just leave the invitation on her desk," Miyuki suggested.
"Guess so." Natsumi took out the invitation they had for the assistant inspector from their little paper bag and walked towards the desk. When she was a good couple of feet away, a head suddenly lolled sidewards from the turned seat behind the desk.
"AAAAAAAAAH!" Natsumi cried out, alarming her partner.
"What is it!" Miyuki asked as whipped her head around so fast she swore she could have suffered from a whiplash.
"The-there!" Natsumi pointed towards the head with a shaking finger. Following where Natsumi pointed, Miyuki's eyes grew wide, and in an instant, she clamped her hand on her mouth.
All the racket awoke the "head". Its dark eyes blinked open and glanced at the two officers cringing in fear in the middle of the room.
The duo then realized that it wasn't some random head... It was a head of living, breathing person. Disentangling themselves from each other, they brushed and pulled their uniforms free of wrinkles and looked at the head - err, person - warily.
The chair then swiveled around to reveal a dark-haired eighteen-year old boy. Sleepily, he casted them a questioning look. "Uh... Who are you guys?"
Natsumi frowned. "Oi, we should be the one asking you that! Who are you and what are you doing here, scaring us like that?" She demanded hotly.
"And what are you doing inside the assistant inspector's office?" Miyuki added.
The boy blinked again, surprised at the barrage of questions they threw at him. "Scaring you? What did I do?" He asked back, his fingers scratching at his neck as he stifled a yawn.
Miyuki smiled apologetically in place of her partner. "I'm sorry, but we thought you were some ghost or something."
Kouki raised an eyebrow. "O-kay?"
"So, who are you?" Natsumi asked again. For some strange reason, the boy bore a striking resemblance to someone she knew.
With a chuckle and a stretch of his arms, Kouki got off the chair. He walked towards them and bowed. "Kouki Kinoshita. Brother of the assistant police inspector here, Kaoruko Kinoshita." He smiled. "Nice to meet you."
"EH!"
"Oh, so you've met Kachou?" Natsumi asked before bringing the cup of oolong tea to her lips. At Kouki's request, she and Miyuki decided to stay and keep him company until Kinoshita-keibuho returned. Miyuki had been against it at first, since they still have to go on patrol, but her partner managed to persuade her otherwise anyway. So there they were, sitting inside the assistant inspector's office and having a little chit-chat with the older woman's brother.
"Yup. Kachou was with my sister last night."
Natsumi promptly choked on her tea at that. Miyuki's expression was milder; she just stared at the boy with wide, violet eyes.
"They were together last night?" Natsumi asked in between coughs.
Kouki nodded. "Yeah. There was some sort of drill last night and ane-chan was a part of it. Kachou was, too."
"Oh."
The boy shrugged. "But I dunno. They looked like they were in a date or something."
Natsumi was going to ask for more details, but hurriedly shut her mouth when the door suddenly opened. Seeing who it was at the door, she and Miyuki immediately stood on attention.
"Ah, Kobayakawa-junsa, Tsujimoto-junsa," Kinoshita said, surprised at their presence. "What brings you here?"
Natsumi smiled sheepishly. She picked up a cream-color envelope from the coffee table and presented it to Kinoshita with both hands. "We dropped by to personally deliver your invitation for the upcoming Bokuto Station Festival."
"We would be extremely honored if you could come," Miyuki added with a bow.
Taking the envelope from Natsumi's hands, Kinoshita gave Miyuki a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I won't miss it."
"Thank you very much!" The partners said, bowing once more.
Kinoshita walked over to her desk and took a seat, and deftly placed the invitation inside her drawer. When that was done, she looked up at the two officers and gestured towards Kouki. "You've met my brother, I presume?"
"Yes, ma'am. He's a really nice guy." Miyuki said. Behind her, Kouki beamed at Kaoruko.
Kinoshita looked past Miyuki to raise an eyebrow at Kouki. The boy gave her a lopsided grin.
With a shake of her head, Kinoshita turned once more to the partners. "Anyway, I assume you still have work to do?"
Natsumi nodded with a sheepish smile. "Sort of..."
The older woman gave Natsumi a scrutinizing look. "Sort of? Tsujimoto-junsa, surely you're not thinking of taking a detour from your duties?"
Natsumi gave Kinoshita a sheepish grin. She got me there, she thought guiltily. Beside her, Miyuki laughed softly. "You've been seen through, Natsumi," the raven-haired officer whispered.
Sighing dejectedly, Natsumi started bidding her goodbyes to the Kinoshita siblings, and with a salute, moved towards the door with Miyuki.
"Take care!" Kouki called out with a smile before the door closed behind them. Turning to his sister, the smile instantly faded when he saw her looking expectantly at him.
"What?"
Kinoshita pointed to her laptop. "Solitaire?"
"I was bored!"
"I never knew that the assistant inspector had a brother."
"I never knew that she and the chief were dating."
From the driver's seat, Miyuki raised an eyebrow at Natsumi. "It wasn't confirmed."
Natsumi snorted. "So? Kouki said they were."
"Kouki said he supposed," Miyuki laughed. "Is it just me or am I hinting jealousy?" Even though Toukairin-junsacho had gone back to Toyama, he and Natsumi still meet every now and then. It was a long-distance relationship, with both parties usually very busy. But that was never really a problem between the two lovebirds. They were going strong, and Miyuki knew that Natsumi was slowly getting over her giddy schoolgirl crush on Kachou. Still, she enjoyed teasing her about it just for the heck of it.
It was now Natsumi's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Jealous? Why would I be jealous? I'm just intrigued, that's all."
Miyuki continued to laugh. "You're so defensive! But, yeah... I'm kind of curious, too. I wonder what they talked about over coffee..."
"How would you know they had coffee?"
Miyuki smirked. "I dunno. I'm just making an intelligent guess. They were together in a cafe, after all."
Natsumi leaned back on her seat and let out a whistle. "You know, I don't think I ever saw the chief show interest in girls..."
Miyuki nodded thoughtfully. "Same here."
"Now that I think of it, I never even heard that he'd been in any relationship."
"Yeah, me too."
Natsumi's lips twitched. "I guess that's probably one of the reasons I was so attracted to him in the first place. The guy was SO available!"
Miyuki laughed softly. "I thought you were over him already?"
"I am! Miyuki!" Natsumi whined, her face all flushed pink.
As Miyuki continued to laugh, her partner just shook her head and looked out the window.
"I wonder..."
"Hm?"
"I wonder how Kachou will be in a relationship..."
There was a long pause as Natsumi thought about that. Miyuki, on the other hand, continued to drive silently.
Then she realized something.
"Natsumi?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's not tell the others about this first, ok? They might jump into conclusions and such."
"OK." Natsumi jutted her right thumb up in an affirmative response.
But of course, the deal with Kachou and Kinoshita being such a juicy gossip-worthy topic, the promise just had to be broken.
"WHAT!" came Yoriko, Saori and Aoi's collective gasp.
"Yup." Natsumi nodded. Beside her, Miyuki buried her face in her hands. "Natsumi, I thought we weren't going to say anything about it!" she hissed under her breath. But Natsumi was already surrounded by the other three officers and was being assaulted with a barrage of questions.
"Are you sure? Kachou and Kinoshita-keibuho?" Saori asked, her eyes wide in disbelief. Kachou was always so evasive when it came to matters of the heart, and the assistant inspector never struck her as someone for relationships. "That's just so unbelievable!"
"And unexpected. But you know what they say, romance blooms in the most unexpected ways." Aoi pointed out dreamily.
"Yeah, but I want to know the DETAILS!" Yoriko said in a sing-song voice. There was a mischievous glint in her eyes, one that said "I have to know now, or else!".
Natsumi sweatdropped. "Well, I'm not exactly sure of the details..."
"That's because it's only an assumption that they were!" Miyuki sighed from behind the group. With both hands on her hips, she gave the four a disapproving glare. "Natsumi, you heard what Kouki said. Our chief and the assistant inspector were together in a drill. They just happened to eat out together afterwards. He only 'supposed' that they were on a date because they 'looked' like it."
As Miyuki ranted on, Natsumi, Saori, Yoriko and Aoi could only blink. Even when Miyuki was already done, they just continued to look at her.
Aoi was the first one to snap out of it. "Kouki? Who's Kouki."
Miyuki sighed and plopped back down on a chair. "Kinoshita-keibuho's brother. We met him when we went there."
"There you go!" Yoriko exclaimed all of a sudden, her hand shooting up in the air as if claiming victory.
"What?"
"All the more reason why we should take it as true. It was her brother who said so!"
"I never knew that the assistant inspector had a brother," Saori said thoughtfully.
Yoriko was momentarily silenced. "Yeah. I never knew, too. BUT! The point is that they were dating and it came from the brother himself..."
From her desk, Miyuki groaned. They weren't getting to let it go that easily. She just knew it.
Elsewhere, Kachou gave a resounding sneeze. Oh no, don't tell me I'm now catching a cold!
Upon realizing that his headache wasn't going away any sooner, Kachou decided to just go home early, and make up for his remaining hours the next day by not taking his day-off. With a sigh, he trudged down the shop-littered streets of Kinshichou district. He thought he'd make a stop at the drugstore before heading home.
Past random shops and random people walking about, Kachou, with his hands inside his coat pocket and his eyes close to drifting shut (he was THAT desperate to lie down and have a nice, long sleep), stopped mid-step when he noticed a familiar looking boy at the front of a... Kachou's eyes drifted towards the glass pane where lacy women's undergarments were on display. The boy momentarily forgotten, blood rose up his face as he tried to avert his eyes. Of course, he failed miserably.
"Mr. Chou!"
And it took someone calling his first name to snap him out of his trance-like state. "Huh?"
There, at the front of the shop was the boy he noticed a few seconds ago - waving at him. He had dark eyes and spiky hair, and wore a white shirt that said:
(arrow up)
THE MAN
THE LEGEND
(arrow down)
with a pair of khaki shorts and brown leather slippers. Kachou's brows furrowed. Really, kids these days, he thought with disdain. But then, Kinoshita apparently didn't have a say on her brother's choice of shirts… "Kouki?"
The boy nodded with a grin. "Glad you still remember me, Mr. Chou."
Kachou inwardly winced at the sound of his first name. Ever since he had been assigned to Bokuto Station and promoted as section chief, he hadn't been called anything but 'kachou'. He had gotten so used to his title being used to refer to him, and so did everyone else. Hence, nobody called him by his real name anymore. Nobody, except his mother, that is. "CHOU HANA! When in heaven's name do you intend to ever get married! When you're already old and gray and stricken with arthritis! I only have a few years left to live, you could at least give me a grandchild before I die!" Kachou inwardly groaned as he recalled his mother screaming at him at the other end of the phone when he called her up on her birthday.
"Just Kachou, Kouki," he said with a wave of his hand. "And what are you doing, standing infront of shop like this?"
In response, Kouki made a face and jutted his thumb towards the shop. "Tagged along with sis."
"Oh?" And Kachou's eyes immediately left the boys face and travelled straight to the shop. "She's shopping?"
"Yeah."
"Oh."
Kachou didn't know when he started or for how long he just stood there, staring once more at the shop and the, ahem, very inviting displays, but it must have been long enough for him to have had enough to daydream about a certain short-haired woman with creamy fair skin and small, rosy lips wearing a pair of lacy -
"What color?" a voice asked.
"Pure white," came the older man's immediate response as he continued to daydream.
"White, eh?"
The sound of chuckling brought Kachou back to his senses, his head snapping sidewards to see Kouki grinning wildly.
"You didn't just -" Kachou started, hoping against all hopes that he didn't just say what he thought he did, and that Kouki didn't hear it.
"You bet I did!" Kouki said, much to his horror that the color from his face drained. If Kouki did as much as tell his sister about his, ahem, fantasy about her in a lacy white lingerie, he'd be as good as dead. But Kouki, being the cool type of brother that he was, just waved at him and assured him that he wouldn't tell.
That got Kachou drawing a sigh of relief.
"Kachou?"
But his heart almost jumped out of his throat when he heard the familiar sound of her voice.
Turning around, he saw her looking at him and Kouki with curious eyes. "Ah, Kinoshita-keibuho," Kachou greeted her nervously.
"What are you doing here?" she asked as she hefted the paper bag she held onto her shoulder. She was wearing a simple pink blouse and a pair of light brown capris, and Kachou just couldn't help but notice how she almost looked normal. Not that he found her weird or anything, but most of the time he saw her she was either in uniform or in a business suit. Kinoshita in casual clothing was just about as rare as her shopping for lingerie.
"Was on my way home. I saw Kouki here and thought I'd say hi," he said with a smile.
"Ah, I see."
"And since sis' done with shopping, it's time to go home!" Kouki exclaimed from behind him. He'd been dying to go home after all the walking he and Kaoruko did for the past hour and a half, but as he ran to his sister's side, a light bulb suddenly lit up in his head.
"Would you like to join us for dinner, Kachou?" Kouki looked at the older man with an eager smile, and to his sister said "He could come with us, right?"
Kaoruko ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, I guess."
"Cool! So, what do you say, Kachou? My sister cooks really well!"
Kachou rubbed his neck uneasily. "Well, I dunno..." For some reason, he found it strange that Kouki would still invite him over after what happened earlier (the whole 'white' thing) but at the same time, he was very eager to accept the invitation as well. He may be feeling a little off, but he just couldn't let the opportunity to be invited into Kinoshita's home and have a taste of her cooking - she cooks! - pass him by. He just can't!
"Oh, come on, Chou-san! It'd be great to have you around!"
From Kouki's right, Kaoruko raised an eyebrow. Really, just what are you up to? she thought suspiciously as she looked at her brother from the corner of her eyes.
Kachou's smile became more uneasy. "Well, I guess it'd be such a shame to pass up this invitation, eh?" He tried his best to be – what do you call it? Shy? - about it, but his eagerness just won't be suppressed.
"You bet it is!" Kouki said with a laugh.
And with that, they all headed to Kinoshita's apartment.
Tsuzuku
Author's Note: "WHAT! You took this much time and all you can come up with is THIS! WTF!" Yeah, yeah... I know you are probably saying the same thing after reading it. So sorry! This should have been up a long time ago, but I just kept changing things here and there - I couldn't make up my mind about what I wanted to happen here! Really. To be honest, I already have outlines for what happens in this and all the succeeding chapters to guide me but I didn't get to follow the outline for this chapter at all! In fact, I think I'd end up not following the outlines anymore! Waaaah! Add to that the fact that I've been really busy in the past weeks to give all my attention to this story. Sorry, sorry... Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon. I'll try not to take too long in it, especially not since I'm already in my summer vacation (although technically, I don't have any summer vacation at all since I'll be spending this week getting my course cards - grades - and prolly enrolling before starting on my practicum next week! Nice, huh!). But anywayz... I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter (even just a bit!). And I'm also sorry if Kachou and Kinoshita hadn't interacted much here. Don't worry you'll have lots of KxK next time. XD So… Please review and tell me what you think!
Oh, and yeah!
You might be wondering about the whole Chou Hana thing… Now, now, I didn't name Kachou just like that… I know this might be a spoiler of some sort, but in one episode in the 2nd season, while Natsumi was talking to Oshou, the old man mentions something about Kachou's name: hanachou (or hana chou). Or flower butterfly. While he didn't say that it was actually Kachou's name, it was a sort of metaphor to it. Soooo… I decided to use it. XP There're also some Japanese YUA fanfic writers who also use that (one of which is a certified KxK-er, weeee!), so I don't see any problem in doing so as well. I mean, that, after all, is the closest thing to Kachou's name, right? What would be so wrong, imho, is if I invented an entirely different name when there's something I could use and actually came from the anime. Hehe. And that's about it!
So, yeah... Reviews!