Of Deadlines and Dates
Mouth wide open in an attempt to take a bite out of her tuna sandwich, Chihaya caught the sound of footsteps approaching her table where she sat with some of her friends some thirty steps away. Momentarily frozen from biting into said mouthwatering sandwich while she was trying to see if she could identify who it is without turning her head, she shrugged to herself when she didn't recognize whose footsteps it is and tried to eat her food.
Well tried, because no sooner had she lifted it once more to her lips, a shadow loomed over her and a voice cut across the gap, in a fake, wince-inducing, suave tone, "Would you like to go out with me tonight, Chihaya-chan?"
Said girl looked around her to her friends, almost as if she couldn't believe this guy was speaking to her. Said friends flashed mischievous smiles at her before turning away and eating their own food. Uh, I could use a little help here…
Feeling incredibly awkward and nervous, she looked down and stammered out, "N-no, I can't. Sorry."
The smile the guy was wearing brightly faltered a little, but remained nonetheless. "Well maybe next time then, gorgeous." He then sauntered away, dignified and head held high.
"Gorgeous." The guy sitting beside her imitated, flailing his fork around dramatically and lowering his head in what looked like an attempt to bow while he was sitting. "If I knew making you wear a gypsy dress for a fashion show, flash those curves and belly button would get you to be asked out for the fifth time this week alone and be called gorgeous, I would have done it myself!" a proud gay, Miki-chan, short and girly version of his real name Mikihiko, exclaimed flamboyantly before laughing.
"Ish not fwunny," Chihaya argued around her sandwich which she was finally able to take a bite out of, "Iwagin jwust beewing ashked out – "
"Swallow it all down first, Chihaya-chan," Oe Kanade cut across her, grinning and sounding worried at the same time. "While we understand what you were trying to say, we don't want to risk you choking. I don't want to be killed by Mashima-kun."
Blushing prettily at the mention of her boyfriend, she hurriedly started chewing and swallowing, nearly choking herself even more had she not been handed water by Kanade immediately. "Sheesh! I just warned you, Chi-chan!"
"Mashima-kun ne…" Chihaya's friend from her class in Japanese lit, Soma Rin, (even though Isuzu is her given name, they call her Rin which was an alternate reading of her name which far more fit her than Isuzu,) "in all the months we've known each other we have never met this boyfriend of yours."
Chihaya, who by this time had successfully swallowed the offending piece of the sandwich, reddened even more but responded, "He's quite busy. You know Tokyo U med school is not exactly a walk in the park."
"Well it will probably be nice if he managed to drop by one of these days and we get to say hi and meet him for a little bit." Miki-chan said, undeniably curious. Chihaya is not exactly the most talkative girl out there (unless you're asking about karuta) and the only things they know about the boyfriend is that he is in med school, he and Chihaya were childhood friends, and that their relationship took about eleven years before being realized at all.
"You are beautiful, Chihaya-chan, but part of the reason why you were also being asked out so much is probably because no one has seen much of him yet." Rin's steady boyfriend, Soma Hatsuharu (Haru for short), said in a deadpan manner. On most days he sounds bored and uninterested, but once you know him well enough you'd realize it was really just the way he spoke and not an indicator of his disinterest. Rin jokingly elbowed him on the ribs (probably with the undisguised compliment), to which he chuckled and kissed her on the cheek.
"No, it's just the dress I wore for the fashion week," she disagreed, still unused to receiving a direct compliment from a male who is not interested in her romantically, one of the few things she was grateful for.
Fashion week is created solely for the students from the Faculty of Letters, and since Kanade is majoring in fashion and culture and Miki in arts and design, they worked together to design a dress worthy of the runway. Everything had gone well, Chihaya even seeing the design and praising them both, until the day itself, when their model had caught a serious case of cold. Kanade was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and Miki at his wits' end, when their professor, who had seen Chihaya one too many times, suggested that they ask her to be her model.
It coincided with the week after her grueling week of exams from the Faculty of Education, she was free and not wanting to have the two begging, she had agreed to be the victim. At least she did her hair and makeup (learned from her brief stints of modeling for Kanade's family kimono store and her model elder sister Chitose) tried to mask her nervousness by thinking that it was just like playing karuta in front of an audience, took a deep breath, smiled and walked out into the runway. The rest, as they say, is history.
It was worth it, seeing how relieved and happy the two are, cheering like madmen from the sidelines, and she was happy, knowing that she had helped them. Not to mention that after the show and she was already back in her dressing room that she was surprised by her boyfriend for a visit, and after seeing her in the gypsy dress which stopped at her midriff, baring her belly and curves, she was greeted by perhaps one of the most passionate kisses he had dared to give her in public.
The memory still made her flush pleasantly to this day.
She jumped out of her reverie when her phone vibrated with a notification. She fished it out of her pocket, remembering with slight dismay that she had yet to send some photos of her current activity (something she had teased him with since she doesn't see him for most of the week and he had reluctantly agreed to it after admitting to her with a straight face that he misses her every day, effectively shutting her up) knowing that he had beaten her once more to it. She made a mental post-it note to send him some photos later.
She clicked the little envelope and opened it, it opening to picture of a cafeteria where he appeared to be eating with some of his friends, Shiba Katsuto who she knew is majoring in molecular biology, Usui Takumi who, like her boyfriend would be majoring in surgical sciences, and Kurahashi Miori, whose preference would be neurosciences. Their table appeared to be a mess of food and books, and the picture was taken while Katsuto was in the middle of biting into a what looked like a large stack of bread, Miori busy laughing, and Takumi poring over a huge book while holding a sandwich.
From: Taichi
Subject: Hey airhead
11/09 12:38
I've got some free time this Saturday. You mentioned you'll be finished with your Genji drama stage prep this week, so I'll come pick you up.
Don't be late.
"Oooh. Got an email from the super-duper Mystery Boyfriend?"
She looked up from her phone. "I'm sorry what?"
Miki-chan responded for all of them. "Gorgeous, your face is a dead giveaway. It says I've-just-received-a-message-from-the-love-of-my-life. Pray tell, what is it this time?"
Chihaya shyly lifted the phone and showed it to them, making them go ooooh once more. "So he's coming to see you this weekend eh? Maybe we'll finally get the chance to meet him." Rin said, smiling almost devilishly, in her opinion.
Miki-chan returned her phone. "About time too. I mean not everyone here went to the same high school and had the privilege to watch you two fall in love with each other, you know. And it's also just about time that I get to see some quality hunk of meat around here!"
Chihaya reached over and whacked Miki at the arm with her half empty bottle of green tea, "Baka Miki-chan. You can go and stuff that quality hunk of meat fantasy up to your you-know-what."
With a headache threatening to begin forming somewhere on her right temple, Chihaya did all her best to drag herself into Rin and Haru's shared apartment, a few blocks away from their university and was spacious enough to fit all their classmates had they not been divided into groups. Their Japanese Folklore professor's final project for this semester is for them to showcase what they have learned so far, and with the success of the Faculty of Letters' Fashion show, their Dean, known for his love of live stages and his flair for the dramatic, suggested something to be performed in front of an audience and their Department's Managing Director.
She had suggested karuta (of course, aside from being the sport she loved, it has a great connection to Japanese Literature), but since not everyone in their class is a player and had no time to learn much in three weeks' time, the idea was stomped out, much to Haru's dismay (his somewhat eccentric way of thinking made him interested in it, and Chihaya was thinking if she could drag him to Shiranami Society soon) and they had to resign to the idea that they would be staging a play for the Tale of Genji, in all the level of a professional theater.
She had just entered the foyer when her phone vibrated in her coat's pocket. She opened it to see a message from her boyfriend. There was another photo attachment, where it was taken from what looks like an apartment, books around the coffee table along with Shiba, Kurahashi, Usui and another girl with dark hair who she didn't know. She wouldn't ask though. She then scanned the message itself.
From: Taichi
Subject: Help
11/09 17:25
All I'm seeing are books and these knuckleheads. Got some time, airhead?
Disregarding her bag to the side for the moment, she straightened up from placing her shoes to the side and went to the living room, where no one is in yet since Haru and Rin are both in the garden with the rest of their group. She pressed 'call', and it rang once before it was picked up.
"Chihaya. Thank goodness. I hope I'm not disturbing you or anything."
God, it felt so good to hear his voice. Even if it was just through a phone. A month seemed to be so long apart even for them.
"No, we're just about to finish with the props anyway. You sounded desperate, thought I should come to the rescue, and fast."
He laughed softly, probably in an attempt to keep his voice down. "Actually, you just saved me from the crossfire."
He went quiet for a bit and she listened to the background, already picking up raised, arguing voices. "Hmm. Sounds to me like you should start hiding somewhere there. Where are you?"
"We're at Usui's apartment. We're trying to decide on a topic of our research paper and already the fangs are bared and the claws are out. Seriously, this is creepy."
Chihaya smiled at his statement. "I thought it was hard to decide what to perform for Japanese Folklore when it was just us. Who knew that for all you nerds, deciding on a topic for research paper is even harder?"
She could almost hear him rolling his eyes at the other end of the line. "Sue you." But then she could hear the tone of laughter in his voice, and she was just all for hearing that endearing, quiet laughter of his.
It has been two years since they have both entered Tokyo U, two years since their falling out, and two years since their reconciliation. After his messy confession, Chihaya's break from karuta, up until their reconciliation before one of the most important matches in her life, she had given her feelings much thought. The night before her challenger match, she had asked Taichi to walk her home and they stopped to rest under a Cherry Blossom tree in full bloom, where she basically word-vomited her feelings for him before running away, asking him to accept her feelings if she wins the match.
She lost the match to Shinobu-chan, and she was basically resigned into being rejected by Taichi, and not wanting to face him out of embarrassment she had made her way out of Omi Jingu silently.
She had underestimated him and his knowledge of her habits though, as he had he caught up to her in the gates of Omi Jingu and demanded to know if what she told him the fortnight was the truth. She was crying a lot embarrassedly, trying her best not to have a runny nose in front of the man she loved and screamed that she indeed, was an airhead for not realizing her feelings sooner. He had wiped her tears, given her his handkerchief to blow her nose on and when she had calmed down enough, he took her face in his hands and kissed her, enough to convey that he still loved her, had always done so in spite of his earlier claims that his feelings for her were fading, and that Queen or not, she still is his tomboy airhead.
It had been two years since then. Though most of the time they were spending their time almost not seeing each other due to their hectic schedules, when they do have a short blissful break they would spend it with each other, the distance and the length of time they haven't seen each other making their dates just much more romantic.
"Let me know who survived with a photo again, okay?"
"If I'm lucky enough to be one of those, I will." He was chuckling. "What do you recommend I do to calm them down?"
"Get them Snowmaru green teas. That helps me a lot."
"Chihaya… they'd probably throw those bottles back into my face. Not everyone here is a sucker for that snowman."
She rolled her eyes. "Feed them then."
He sighed, in a long-suffering tone. "I had a feeling it would come to that. And you? Are you eating soon?"
"I just came back from the grocery store and bought some tea and snacks for everyone actually, since we're at Rin's and Haru's apartment. Finishing props, like I said earlier."
"Ah, for your live Tale of Genji stage. Gotta admit, for a minor subject, your Japanese Folklore subject feels too much like a major subject."
"Don't I know it. They're not satisfied with the fashion show, they also want a live stage."
"Well, at least for the fashion show it's easier to wear the gypsy dress than Heian-era junihitoe. At least it's better-looking in the pictures."
She gasped. "I forgot you have pictures of that!"
"You don't have to worry, those pictures are not in the least bit incriminating." Well, she was inclined to believe the opposite now. Darn Miki and Kana-chan for sending him those pictures.
She heard him pause, then sigh again after a minute. "Ne, I'm gonna have to step in and referee now if I don't want a bloodbath here – Usui's made a run for it already. Gotta go, Chihaya."
She laughed. "Take care not to get blood in your clothes, Taichi."
"I won't." She knew he was smiling with the way his voice sounded. There was another pause, then, "I miss you. See you on Saturday, Chihaya."
Her heart skipped a beat. "I miss you too. See you, Taichi."
"Soon." He promised.
Then the line went off with a beep, and she was missing him all over again. Saturday couldn't be here fast enough.
"Ow! I just nailed my finger again, dammit!" One of Chihaya's groupmates exclaimed as he accidentally hammered his finger up into what was starting to look like an old well now as opposed to it being a normal-looking box earlier.
"Remind me again why we have to do a live stage for a minor subject?" Rin hissed, her fingers furiously working on what appeared to be a female's headdress, threading and weaving beads into it.
"Because the dean said so?" Haru, who was draped over the said well that one of their classmates was hammering into earlier to avoid having it fall apart, responded in a deadpan tone.
Rin looked on the verge of screaming or ripping the headdress she was painstakingly working on apart. Or probably do both. "I couldn't believe I'm doing this stupid thing all over again!"
And then there was her, Chihaya, slumped over a scholar's headpiece, nearly going cross-eyed while she attempted to thread a black tassel thorough the delicate finger work detail included in the headpiece. Sure, it was just a live stage, and they probably should have bought some headpieces to ease their work, but Chihaya agreed with Rin – there was no glory in going easy for this.
She so wanted to regret this belief of hers now.
How did things end like this? Well, the first two weeks of the month had gone like a dream, the class having rehearsed and the props almost completed. Just a few which needed adjustments, but nothing that could cause a delay. The class had been looking forward to a good weekend, as most of the work was almost completed by Wednesday of the third week.
Then a storm hit over the Kanto region by Thursday morning.
The props were stored in a makeshift shed in the Somas' apartment, but nobody expected the typhoon to be one of the strongest, or one of the biggest headaches they would ever have. The shed collapsed, and only a number of the props, most of them being the minor ones, could be salvaged. The rest had to be done nearly from scratch.
It reminded Chihaya so much of her high school karuta team's own attempt to stage the Tale of Genji, and it's fail due to a storm as well that it was so scary.
To make matters worse, instead of the play being staged by the end of the following week, the Managing Director requested to have it moved by Tuesday, since he had changes in his schedule and he couldn't afford to miss his students' 'masterpiece'.
The students tried their best to work in between their breaks, but Thursday night and Friday breaks are just not enough. In the end, they all resolved to finish the majority of the props by the weekend, even if meant using up their weekends.
And Saturday is when she was supposed to be picked up by Taichi from her dorm.
18:00. Taichi had left his building by then and should be coming for her after he had cleaned up. That was thirty minutes ago. Her phone had pinged with a notification earlier but she was too busy finishing this piece that she was only able to read it now.
From: Taichi
Subject: Yo, daddy bear girl
11/14 17:30
I'm at your dorm now. You're not done yet?
She texted him a reply, apologizing since she really couldn't do anything to thread faster. He had responded that he'll get some coffee and mocha cake for himself first and jokingly said that he was relieved at not having to share, but Chihaya had not responded at all since then.
18:45. Where had the time gone? Chihaya lost count of the headpiece that she was attempting to fix. She dropped it aside in favor of calling Taichi, but he wasn't picking up. Not good. Had she succeeded in making him mad for making him wait for nearly two hours now?
"Gorgeous, weren't you supposed to be meeting Mr. Mysterious Boyfriend?" Miki-chan piped up, albeit exhaustedly, from his place by the floor, fixing the last layer of one of the two junihitoes they had salvaged. In spite of being in a different department, he had offered to help out since none of them were good at handling clothes (to his horror), and since he wanted to meet Chihaya's elusive sweetheart, he had resigned to sacrificing himself for the greater good. Chihaya had suspected that he had forgotten this other reason a while ago, being subjected to the pressure as they are, and only just remembered this now.
She glanced at her reflection from the dining table glass. Her hair that she had pulled into a ponytail had already come loose, her lip gloss had already lost it's shimmer and the little amount of mascara she had applied had small blots near her eyelid. No way is she seeing Taichi like this.
But she missed him a lot already…
Rin looked up, momentarily forgetting her ire. "If I were you, I'd be rushing to get ready for him to pick me up. Go get ready, Chihaya."
She was more horrified at the prospect of leaving them. "But we weren't done here with most – "
"All that's left is some of the spears to be fixed. I'm sure we can handle this on our own. You mentioned you haven't seen each other for a month now since his educational trip to Kyoto, so… go ahead, Chihaya-chan. Please." Haru looked up from where he was taking a short break from the couch.
She turned to Miki, who smiled supportively, and back to Rin-chan who's doing the same. She felt the waterworks begin but she shook her head fiercely, and surprised them all by slapping her cheeks hard.
"No, I can't. If I leave here I would never hear the end of it from Taichi. It would be unfair to him if I just get distracted since my brain would do it's best to wander back here, and he'll just push me to finish here instead." She smiled, despite looking about ready to collapse from exhaustion. "He's that kind of man."
"Well, two hours is no joke though." A baritone voice cut across their chatter.
Chihaya nearly gave herself a whiplash as she – and their classmates, turned to look at the direction from where it came, seeing a rather distracting, very handsome guy standing at the foyer. Kanade was standing at his side, giving them a small wave.
The first words out of her mouth were: "You don't happen to be a ghost, are you?"
Her friends, including their classmates who happened to be listening, cracked up. Taichi rolled his eyes, stepping forward as he did so, Kanade moving into the other direction carrying what looked to be cups of coffee and some snacks, winking at Chihaya as she passed her by.
Rin managed to calm everyone down and urged them to go back to work as Kanade started handing out drinks, all the while she had already ran to Taichi and his arms.
Her boyfriend chuckled when he had gotten a good look at her. "Sheesh. You must be pretty frazzled if you haven't had the time to dab properly at your mascara."
She was too busy relishing the fact that she was seeing him again to even be annoyed at the jab. "How did you even find this place?" Then realization hit her. "Kana-chan?"
The aspiring doctor rolled his eyes once more. "You really need to give me some of your friends' addresses especially if something like this happens. Figured I should call Kana-chan to help me find this place. Luckily for me, she's about to go here."
"Sorry." She apologized, and he tightened his arms around her.
"Don't be. I worried you didn't I?"
She shook her head. "I'm just not sure how to make it up to you."
He dropped a kiss on the crown of her head. "Don't sweat it. So… I'm guessing these are some of your friends?" He asked, looking over to where Rin, Miki and Haru were now working closely together.
"How did you even know it's them?" She asked, not hiding her surprise.
Taichi chuckled as he took her hand and towed her forward. "Easy. All I had to do is spot Miki-san." He then bowed to the three. "Hello, I'm Taichi. Chihaya has told me a lot about you. Thank you for looking after her." He rolled his sleeves, all the while smiling. "Now… how can I help?"
The three were stunned into silence, before looking at each other, before finally breaking into laughter. "It's nice to finally meet you too, Mashima-san! And we would definitely appreciate another pair of hands! Follow me." Rin winked at Chihaya before steering her boyfriend away from them.
Haru followed them with a gaze, a small smile at his lips. "Mystery. I have never seen Rin take to someone that quickly." Chihaya looked at him questioningly. "She usually hisses at them the first time she meets them." He explained once seeing her expression.
The brunette sweat-dropped. "R-Really?"
Miki stood up, linking arms with her. "Well, that is no surprise. Mashima-san is a boy after my own heart. Not only is he a quality hunk of meat and quite generous," he winked at her, referring to the snacks her boyfriend had bought them, "but his heart is all the more precious. You are one lucky girl, Chihaya-chan. Don't ever let him go."
It was amazing how two more pairs of hands can help. They actually finished the props an hour later, which caused them to celebrate, the girls nearly crying in relief, the boys high-fiving one another. The satisfaction of having to create everything from scratch and seeing them complete once more gave a different exhilarating feeling.
"Alright, props group! Time to par-tay! ~ "
It was 8:15. As everyone was already in the partying mood, Taichi grabbed her hand. "If we hurry up we can still make it."
Chihaya was confused, kinda dizzy from exhaustion but willing to follow him everywhere he wished to. "Make it to where?"
"The Daddy Bear exhibit in Tomoeda. Come on, Chihaya."
She gasped, unable to believe what she heard. "What!? I didn't know about that!"
He grabbed her bag and her coat for her. "That explains how busy you were the past month. Come on."
She held him back with his hand. "You haven't even eaten yet."
"We both haven't eaten yet. Let's grab some sandwiches, eat those on the way then dinner afterwards. Sound good?" He was pulling her along, but she held him back again. "Chihaya – "
She cut him off. "Taichi, you may just find the exhibit a nuisance…"
He pulled her towards him again. "I may not be his biggest fan. But anywhere we spend our date is fine with me. As long as we're together. And happy."
She was incredibly touched. "Taichiiii…"
He knocked her on the forehead. "You can tell me you love me later. For now, hurry up."
Chihaya took the chance to tiptoe and sneak a kiss on his cheek, laughing as they finally made their way quietly out. Miki, Haru, Rin and Kanade looked on with approving eyes hearing her laughter. They deserved this break. Go on, you two.
Yep. Just a light-heated one-shot fluff. After all the negativity around us, I just needed a little positivity.
Let me know what you think, guys, as usual.
Love lots,
Michiko