Number Seven: Windmill, Windmill…
Kiyoko Yasukah became part of the management team later that day. She calmly told the new members of the team who she was – leaving out her escapades as a man earlier in the year, however. Mamori didn't blame her.
Kiyoko was one of those people who would work hard no matter what. It didn't matter what the task was – Kiyoko would do it to the best of her ability. No one (save Hiruma) had anything bad to say about her. In fact, the three Ha Brothers (Shozo Togano, Koji Kuroki, and Kazuki Juumonji, who weren't brothers at all, but Hiruma's nickname had stuck) seemed especially taken by Kiyoko and offered to help her out often, only to be soundly and softly rejected.
"How can anyone look so graceful while declining someone?" Montaro Rai – or, as he had been called erroneously on many an occasion, Monta (that nickname had stuck, too) – asked Sena one day after she had told the Ha Brothers that she could clean up the casino by herself, thanks. Sena shrugged.
"I don't really know," Sena said. "She's in Tea Ceremony, and they say she's one of the most gifted in there."
"How can pouring tea could be considered a gift?" Monta asked. Sena shook his head.
"I don't know."
Kurita and his new apprentice, Daikichi Komusubi, were practicing with the tackle dummies. Another new kid, the scrawny, bald Manabu Yukimitsu, was working on the dash while Mamori timed. Hiruma was yelling at Kiyoko for working so slowly, and then told the Ha Brothers about some photos. They got back to running with Mamori.
Night slowly fell. Kiyoko diligently continued to sort through the videotapes of football games in the casino as she watched everyone leave, one by one. She wasn't surprised to hear a door slam behind her as she put a tape of the Koigahama-Deimon game underneath a taped episode of Sports-A-Go-Go.
"Do you live here?" Kiyoko asked. "It's rather late."
"What about you?" Hiruma snapped back.
"If I didn't finish, someone would shoot me in the head," Kiyoko explained, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Hiruma rolled his eyes.
"I think I liked it better when you were a man," Hiruma frowned before he began to boil some water.
"What are you doing?" Kiyoko asked.
"Making tea," Hiruma said bluntly. "Since when do you care what I do?"
"Since when do you drink tea?"
"Ever since it got cold at night," Hiruma answered. The teapot whistled. Hiruma turned off the stove and poured some water into one of the spare mugs by the slot machines. "Do you want some?"
"Huh?" Kiyoko responded, dumbfounded.
"Tea," Hiruma stated flatly. "Do you want any?"
"Oh," Kiyoko said, startled. "I… Okay, sure. Why are you offering me some?"
"It's fifty degrees outside, there's no heater in here, and you're wearing a short-sleeved school uniform and a skirt. You're probably freezing."
Kiyoko raised an eyebrow. Hiruma hadn't so much as looked at her since he entered the room, so how would he know what she was wearing? He plopped two tea packets into the steaming water and handed a cup over to Kiyoko. Kiyoko bowed her head slightly.
"Arigato," Kiyoko thanked and watched as the water turned a light green. "Green tea?"
"How the hell should I know?" Hiruma answered. "It's Kurita's tea. Not mine."
Kiyoko nodded, taking a drink from the cup. "It's good."
"I guess so," Hiruma shrugged, sitting down at a chair by one of the slot machines. He sighed.
"You're turning red," Hiruma observed brazenly. "Why?"
Kiyoko jumped before calming herself down. "The tea is very warm…"
"You're lying," Hiruma spat out. "Well, the tea IS warm, but you're not red because of that."
Kiyoko frowned. "What makes you think that?"
Hiruma glared at Kiyoko as he took a sip of the tea. "You were blushing before I started making tea."
Kiyoko bit her tongue discreetly. Busted.
"Why are you so interested in it?" Kiyoko asked. "Do you just want something to add to your little black book?"
Hiruma looked away from Kiyoko's knowing gaze. "I'm just trying to start a conversation, damn it."
"You're not doing a very good job," Kiyoko told him.
"I figured as much."
Kiyoko took another sip of tea. "Do I have to show up tomorrow morning, too?"
"Maybe," Hiruma answered. "It depends on why you won't be here."
"Tea Ceremony is preparing for their final presentation," Kiyoko explained serenely. "I need to be there every morning until Sunday."
"You better work hard to make up for it, damn manager," Hiruma told her, taking another sip of tea.
Kiyoko sat in silence.
"Will you stop staring at the ground? It's really irritating," Hiruma instructed. Kiyoko rolled her eyes.
"Do you hate silence or something?" Kiyoko asked.
"Or something," Hiruma answered calmly before taking another sip of tea.
A/N: Yes, chapter four's title was taken from 'What You Waiting For?' by Gwen Stefani. I'm waiting for other responses! I love playing mind games with people… I'm too much like Artemis Fowl…
A/N 2: There were a lot of random little chapters like this in the original draft of Sleeping With The Television On (which was originally called The Suzuki Method, after the musical teaching technique created by Shinichi Suzuki). Most of them involved how Moto became Kiyoko without arousing suspicion. I took a lot of them out, but this one remains because I like its quaintness.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Eyeshield 21. Woot.