This wasn't how my updating was supposed to go. Not at all. Things got weird. Then...I guess I sort of got distracted by someone. Then things got hectic. Then I was watching Hikaru no Go... Well, I'm just sorry, guys. As weird as it sounds, with school I might be updating more often, seeing as I spend my time in the computer lab between classes. I also want to finish this by the end of the yeah so I can work on a Shaman King anime music video for Anime Boston, but that doesn't mean I'm going to rush and wrap it up in three chapters. You'll get the ending the way it was supposed to be.
Oh, by the way, last week was the fic's second anniversary! Time goes by fast, doesn't it?
Notes: Xue's ringtone is the song "Happy Days" by Otsuka Ai. She and the writer of the lyrics own all rights to the song (aka, Jezzy isn't talented enough to write lyrics).
In case you haven't noticed, Rong is the one who's adamant about the divorce. Yes, I'm aware she's come down with "bitchitus". Also, there's a lot of ANGRY CAPS OF DOOOOM in here. Sorry if it hurts your eyes.
A Gift of Love – Chapter Eighty-One: Loving and Fixing...Sort Of...
Xue opened her eyes to the sound of a crackling fire. She sprang awake, sitting up quickly, only to begin a coughing fit.
"Woah, woah, woah. You should just lie down for now. You were soaked to the bone when I brought you in."
Xue froze, then slowly looked up into Tadashi's eyes. She shrieked, slapping him and pushing him away. He fell back against the carpet and held his cheek.
"Jeez...You really don't know how to appreciate someone's help, do you?" he said in an annoyed voice.
Xue was too busy looking down at herself, realizing that she was in one of his shirts, but had no pants on. "What the hell is this?!" She glared at him. "If you touched me, Tadashi, I swear to the Great Spirits I'll beat you up so badly, you'll be begging for death."
'Great Spirits'? What? He sighed. "No, I didn't touch you. I'm not a complete scumbag."
"Just mostly."
"That was unneeded."
"STRIPPING ME was unneeded."
"You don't remember ANYTHING, do you?"
They stared each other down. Finally, she relented.
"No, I don't."
Tadashi sighed again and held up the soggy, torn pieces of paper. "You were passed out in Odori Park clutching these, and your cellphone was ringing off the hook."
"You didn't answer it, did you?" she snapped.
"No, I didn't. That song's kinda catchy."
"Good..." She scowled and clutched the blanket covering her. "Let them worry for a while." She looked out the window to see that it was dark out. "How long have I been here?"
"A few hours. It's almost seven now." Before she could move, Tadashi reached over to feel her forehead, then her cheek. "At least your fever's gone down."
She pushed the hand away. "Why'd you bring me here?"
He smiled at her weakly. "Actually, I followed you. You bashed into me, and I saw that you were crying, so I followed you to see what was going on. I'm glad I did. Those jerks from Futou High must've been following you, too. I beat the shit out of them and sent them running. 'Wish you could've seen me; I bet I looked pretty damn cool."
She blinked at him. "You beat them up?"
"Hehe, yeah." He used his index finger to wipe under his nose. She must be touched by the way I defended her from those idiots.
"That's surprising, considering what a scrawny tart you are."
He sulked. "Can't you ever say anything nice to me? I just saved you, you know."
She studied him, then looked down. "You're right...sorry. I'm just thinking about a lot of things." She leaned over and bit her thumb.
He raised his eyebrows at her, then looked at the torn pages in his hand. He sifted through them.
"'Husband does not make enough money to sustain family. Seems to care more about his dreams than the livelihood of his family.'"
Xue's eyes widened.
"'Intimacy in bedroom has suffered and is now nearly nonexistent. Words of affection hardly ever exchanged.'"
She looked up at him. "Why are you reading that?!"
"'Holds role of housewife against spouse, despite the fact that there was only time for one parent to go to a university because of child.'"
Her eyes shot open. She grabbed the papers from his hands and tried to flip through them, but they stuck together. Any she did manage to were unreadable.
"Mom...why would she write something like that? She knows Daddy doesn't really think like that...They're just frustrated. And he's right, Mom should get a job, even just a part-time one. There are still things she can do even if she wasn't able to to college." She froze, her eyes widening in horror as it dawned on her. "It's my fault...I just made everything harder for them...If I hadn't been born, then...they...Mom and Dad wouldn't be..."
There was a clanging sound of metal, and the papers were ripped from her hands. She looked up in time to see Tadashi toss the pile into the flames, taking with it the words that had stabbed her so suddenly. For a moment, she just stared at the fireplace, then glanced over at him, the fire reflecting off his dark eyes.
"W-Why did you do that?" she asked finally.
He didn't look at her. "You shouldn't read horrible things like that. If you do, then you'll just feel sorry for yourself, and you'll start to believe that it really is your fault, when that couldn't be further from truth. Show me a case where a divorce was the child's fault, and I'll buy you Tokyo Tower."
She clenched her fists. "What the hell do YOU know? Stop getting in my business, anyway! This is something I have to deal with on my own!"
"No, it isn't!" he cried, snapping his head over at her. "This is something your parents have to deal with. As much as you wish you could save their marriage, if they don't think it's possible to resolve things, then you can't do do a single thing about it! You're powerless in a situation like this!"
"SHUT UP!" she screamed, covering her ears. "I CAN do something about it! I CAN!! I just need to figure out what it is!"
Tadashi frowned, then grabbed her shoulder and slapped her across the face. "You're not some angel that can fix things with a holy touch! You're a human being! You're just a third-year in high school! You can't save your parents from this fate! If they're determined to separate, then they're going to!"
She froze, then curled up in a ball, hiding her face. "I don't want to live with just one of them..."
"You may not have that choice."
"Shut up...just shut up. You have both of your parents. You can't imagine just how responsible I feel."
"You're wrong."
She looked up. "What?"
Tadashi looked at the ground, then pointed to a picture on the mantle above the fireplace. "You see that?"
Xue looked up to see a photograph of a high school girl in a cream colored uniform. She was smiling happily in front of some flower bushes, her dark blue, almost black, hair flowing behind her. A feather earring hung from her left ear.
"Yeah...What about her?"
He smiled sadly. "That's the only picture of my mother that I have, both in this house and in my mind."
She looked back at him. "...She's dead?"
He shrugged. "Who knows? She left me and my dad right after I was born. She was a high school student. I guess she didn't want to take care of a kid at her age, not that I can blame her. Haven't heard from her since."
"I'm sorry...That must be hard."
He forced a laugh. "At least I never knew her, so I can't exactly miss her."
She rested her chin on her knees. "I don't want to have to have that chance. I want them to stay together."
He glanced around, at a loss of what to say. There's only one thing to do now... He left the room, then came back. "Oh Xue-chaaaaan...Guess what I haaaaaave!"
She groaned. "What."
"Ta-da! Your clothes!" he cried, holding up the garments.
She looked up, a small smile on her face. "Thanks...I-" She froze as she realized he was holding her bra.
"Hm, 34B...not bad..." he said in a thoughtful voice as he looked at the tag.
"HEY!" Xue jumped up, her face red from anger and embarrassment. "Give that back!"
Tadashi whistled. "Nice legs."
She looked down to see that she was only wearing a shirt; no pants. "You...You...YOU!!" She slapped him, taking back her clothes and hurriedly putting on her skirt.
"Sorry, Xue. I couldn't help it. I just can't stand you acting so weak and vulnerable. You're much more attractive when you're feisty," he said with a laugh. He looked up to see she had grabbed a large, thick book and was holding it over her head.
"I'm going to kill you!" she yelled as she started whacking him with it. "You have no right to look at my body, you bastard! I don't even let my FAMILY see it, so there's no way in hell you're ever going to!"
He looked up timidly. "But what about when we have sex?"
She paused, as if to try to tell if he was serious or not, then whacked him again. "I'm not going to be another notch in your belt! I'd never go out with someone like you!!"
After he had been felled to the ground, she dropped the book on his head. The cover stared back up at her, and she squinted at it.
"Goddess Sweets? Isn't that the most popular shoujo manga magazine in Japan? What's this idiot doing with it?"
She picked it back up, flipping through the pages. A post-it note was stuck on the edge of one of them, and she skipped to it. On it was a manga panel oozing romance and stuffed with fluff. Other pages selected included the mail bag page, and articles that dealt with how girls felt about love and how they liked to be romanced.
"Is this were he comes up with those stupid lines?" she scoffed, dropping it on his face again. She gathered her clothes and began looking for a bathroom to change in.
It took her forever to find one, it seemed. This wasn't an apartment, it was an actual house, one of few she had been in. She started to wonder just what it was that Tadashi's father did for a living. How could they have so much money if only his dad was working?
She heard a door slam, and quickly put her clothes on. She peeked out and walked back to the room she had been in previously.
A tall man with a mustache was talking to Tadashi, who was busy folding up the futon she had been sleeping on. The photo of Tadashi's mother was gone.
"Sorry I'm late, son," he said with a sigh. "At the last minute, some parents called in about their daughter going missing, so I was chained to the desk for a bit longer."
Tadashi smiled at him. "It's okay, Dad. I know stuff comes up. Your dinner's in the fridge. I waited so we could eat together."
"Thank you, Tadashi. That was thoughtful of you." He loosened his tie and turned.
Xue moved to step behind the wall, but Mr. Meihou saw her. She froze, not knowing how he was going to react to a girl having been in the house while he was at work.
Instead, he sighed. "Is this a new one?"
She blinked. H-He doesn't care?! He wouldn't care if his son was having sex with random girls while he's at work? What the hell...Dad would kill any guy that was home alone with me. She made a mental note to invite Tadashi over about ten minutes before her father got home from work.
Tadashi looked up to see her standing half in the dark. "Oh, no. She's just a girl from school. She was having a tough time, so I brought her over." He looked up at his father with large eyes. "...Is that okay?"
His father stared at him, then nodded minimally. "Just as long as she goes home soon, I don't mind." He turned and offered her his hand. "Meihou Kaiin."
A police badge on his breast reflected light, the word "chief" apparent to her. She grasped the hand and shook it as firmly as she could.
"Usui Xue, sir. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."
His eyes widened. "Usui? You wouldn't be..."
Oh shit...Me and my big mouth...
"What's up, Dad?" Tadashi asked coming up behind them.
Kaiin whirled around to face him. "Where did you find her?"
"Odori Park. Why?"
"She's the reason why I was held up at work," he said looking back at her. "Her parents called the police station about two hours ago, hysterical because she had run out of the house after a disagreement, and they couldn't get a hold of her."
Xue frowned. Disagreement? They were trying to file for divorce!
"In any case," he continued, grabbing her wrist, "I have to take you home. Your parents are probably still calling the station as we speak."
"Let me come, Dad," Tadashi pipped in, noticing Xue's displeasure. "She'd probably feel better than just having you there."
His father studied him, then released her. "Alright. Just hurry up. I want to have my dinner."
"Right." He took Xue's hand, though she mildly flailed. "Come on, I'll even walk you up."
But she was staring at the ground. "How very kind of you..."
As they sat in the back seat of Kaiin's car, Tadashi leaned over to whisper in her ear.
"So, how are you going to thank me for saving your ass?"
She glared at him. "I don't have to do anything. I never asked for your help."
"Hm, a little ungrateful, aren't we? I'd like to see what you would have looked like if those flunkies from Futou High had gotten their hands on you."
Xue grit her teeth. "Fine...What the hell do you want?"
"Make me a bento for lunch tomorrow," he said without any hesitation.
"W-What?"
"You heard me. White rice is fine, but if you could put, you know, a heart or a happy face on it, that'd just make it better. Maybe meat or fish or something with it. But if you could get me some umeboshi on the side, that'd be cool, too. Oh, and don't forget the chopsticks!"
"Oh, I won't. What else would I stick up your nose?" she grumbled to herself.
"This is it, right?"
She shifted her eyes as the car pulled up to her family's apartment complex. "Yeah...Thank you..."
Tadashi got out with an umbrella, and offered her his hand, but she turned away from it, choosing to get out on her own. He persisted, following her closely up the stairs, trying to prevent her from getting wet. She kept speed walking to get away from him, but he finally grabbed her wrist and pulled her under the umbrella.
"At least try to act like you appreciate the fact that I dried your clothes for you," he said sarcastically.
She looked away from him. "I'm not looking forward to this. They're going to be so pissed." Her head drooped. When he tried to put his hand on her shoulder, she jerked away from him. "Don't touch me. The last thing I need is you putting your filthy hands on me. I don't know where they've been."
He looked slightly hurt, but glanced up as they approached her door. He pulled on her arm again to make sure she would hear him.
"You're wrong about me, Xue," he said quietly. "I'm not like them. I don't go out with girls to have sex with them. Yeah, it used to be my goal, but I don't care anymore. I want someone to be with. I'm honestly looking to fall in love with someone and make them happy."
She glared at him. "So why are you wasting your time with me?"
He reached out and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close so he could kiss her. As she looked at him with bewildered eyes, he smiled weakly and rested his forehead against hers.
"You're the one I want, Xue," he said quietly. "You're someone I can see myself falling in love with...You're the person I've been saving myself for. I know that if you just give me the chance, I can make you the happiest girl in the world."
Xue's breathing hitched. It was like a line from that manga magazine he had, but he wasn't copying it word for word. The same idea was there, but his own words and emotions were shining through.
It's...It's almost like...he means it...
Her body quivered before she shoved him away and ran into the apartment, slamming the door. She leaned against it as she stared at the floor, trying to analyze what had just happened.
But after slamming the door so hard, of course she wouldn't have time to do that. Loud, hurried footsteps could be heard mere moments before her parents appeared. They stared at her for a few moments, then HoroHoro ran and thrust his arms around her.
"Thank the gods..." he whispered. "You have no idea how worried we were!" He looked at her, the hold he had on her shoulders tightening by the second. "Where did you go? How did you get home? Did you eat?" Without waiting for her to answer, he started pulling her toward the kitchen. "Let me just heat up dinner for you..."
Rong blocked the way. "I'm glad you're home. Don't do that again," she said darkly. "Where are the papers, Xue?"
"Rong, that doesn't matter right now!" HoroHoro cried. "Let's just make sure she's taken care of, then if you really feel like we need to worry about some stupid pieces of paper, then we'll get into it, but for the time being--"
She threw up her hands. "That's just it! You just personified why I got those papers in the first place! You just run away from issues that need to be dealt with, like a child! And to think you acted surprised when I got them! I mean, honestly-"
"...Shut up."
"W-What did you say?"
Her daughter glared up at her. "I'm pretty sure you heard me. Stop talking crap about Dad. Neither of us appreciate it."
Rong just stared at her, bewildered, then the scowl was on her face again. "Oh sure, you defend him. I'm always the bad guy here!"
"That's right, you are! And it's your own damn fault!"
HoroHoro tried to get between them. "Xue..."
She ignored him. "Have you even noticed that YOU'RE the one who starts every fight?! For the love of Okikurmikamuy, Mom, you nitpick SO much! You LOOK for things to fight about! Just last week, you berated him because the chicken he bought just so happened to be spoiled; so that means that Dad's incompetent and that he can't do the shopping anymore! It of course has NOTHING to do with the fucking store or the place where the chicken came from! That's right, it's all DAD'S FAULT!!"
Rong seemed about to defend herself, but Xue didn't dare stop.
"And do you ever think about how fucking lucky you are to have Dad for a husband? Hell, even when he was just your one night stand? He COULD have just let the door hit you in the ass on your way out and sent you back to China, BUT OH WAIT HE DIDN'T. You said he was 'excited' that you were pregnant and that he 'wanted' to be with us, and that it meant the world to you! Well guess what, HE STILL WANTS TO BE HERE EVEN THOUGH YOU BITCH AT HIM EVERY OTHER SECOND! IMAGINE THAT!!
"And it's so obvious that you haven't thought this through AT ALL. Where are you going to go if you and Dad separate, huh?! You'll have to move out and – GASP – GET A JOB, WHICH YOU COULD JUST DO RIGHT NOW! Oh, but then you'd have one less thing to fight about, so OF COURSE you can't do that!!"
"Well, that's--"
"And just so you know, if you do decide to go through with it, I'm staying with Dad. Seta will go with you because he doesn't want you to be alone, but that doesn't mean he loves you more or anything. But seriously, where the fuck are you going to go? You think Ren and Pin-Mei will just welcome you back with open arms?! They have their own family, and Li is their bodyguard now. Sure, Pin-Mei would convince Ren to let you stay, but you'd just be a bother to them. Oh, but don't worry if they eventually throw you out! The Wei family will let you live at their estate once Hell freezes over! So you have nothing to worry about!"
Then there was silence. Rong just stared at her. "How can you say those things to me? I'm...your mother..."
"How can you berate Dad when he's doing his best to support us?" Tears blurred her vision. "How can you say such awful things to him when he's your soul mate?"
Rong and HoroHoro's eyes locked. She looked at Xue again, whose glare showed no signs of letting up. Her hand slowly covered her mouth, her eyes beginning to burn as she took a few steps back. Without saying a word, she turned and quickly walked down the hall, going into the master bedroom and slamming the door. When it clicked, they knew she had locked it.
HoroHoro looked down at his daughter. "I know you were trying to helping me, but you can't treat your mom like that. What she's said to me wasn't even half as bad as what you said to her."
Xue didn't look at him. "Just...hold on a little longer, Dad, okay? I...I know things'll work out somehow...Just don't give up yet. Please. Mom still loves you, I know she does. But right now, she needs you. You should go to her."
He stared at her. "Xue...did you say all that just so--?"
"She needs you. Go."
After staring at her for a few more minutes, HoroHoro turned, got a butter knife from the drawer, and headed for the room he and his wife shared. Xue's gaze didn't leave the floor.
"This is all I can do for now," she whispered. "He...He's right...I'm powerless..." She closed her eyes and bit her lip as the feeling sunk in. "There's nothing I can do."
She leaned against the door frame as her father worked at the locked door. When it opened, she sighed quietly, hoping that something good would come from what she had done. A cold breeze came from the open window, and she shivered, clutching her arms. Her mother sobbed, and her father consoled, the door finally closing and locking again. Xue slumped to the ground, her expression blank.
Outside the apartment, Tadashi finally picked up his umbrella, closed it, and headed back to his father's car.
The next day, Tadashi looked up as a small box was dumped on his desk. He blinked and looked up.
"There's your fucking bento," Xue growled at him, then stomped away to join her friends, who were waiting for her at the door.
His eyes followed her until she was out of sight. After staring off into space for a moment or two, he looked down at the bento. To be honest, he hadn't expected her to follow through with it. He had been half joking anyway. Nonetheless, she had actually put all this work into making a lunch for him.
He closed his eyes as he remembered the yelling, the screaming, and the crying that had come from the small apartment the night before. The few words he had seen on the soggy divorce papers were engraved in his mind. He could still hear how she had screamed at him in frustration the day before that. He had told her last night that there was nothing she could do, but he himself wasn't willing to accept that.
I heard them talking about money...If there was a way I could solve that problem...
He wanted to laugh at himself. Of course there wasn't anything he could do.
I guess there really isn't a way to solve this for her – to make her smile.
Tadashi shook his head, then unwrapped the napkin that covered the bento box and opened the lid. Inside, rice and meat were nestled next to each other. He smiled when he noticed that two umeboshi were used as eyes while a few small vegetables were used to create a happy face. It faded when he realized how he had asked her to do that when she obviously wasn't overflowing with happy thoughts.
When his guilt finally dissipated, he picked up the cheap wooden chopsticks inside, broke them apart, and quickly began stuffing the meat and rice into his mouth. After he swallowed, another smile formed on his lips.
"Nothing less than heavenly."
At three o'clock that afternoon, Tadashi strolled out of the building, planning on joining his friends at the arcade before a quick "study session" at Gyuu's house.
"Dude! Watch out!"
Tadashi looked up to see a member of boarding team heading for him at full speed on a skateboard. He took a few steps back as other students scattered to avoid the boarder, who whizzed past them, hit a rock, and came crashing to the ground.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he went over to him.
The skater looked up at him. "Dude! Look at my board!" he cried, holding up the two halves the board had split into. Tadashi could see duct tape on the broken ends. Obviously, it hadn't been strong enough to keep the board together.
"Wow, sorry...Was that my fault?" he asked.
"Nah, it's the budget's fault – or lack thereof," another voice grumbled.
Tadashi and the defeated skater looked behind them to see the captain of the boarding team scowling at the damaged equipment.
"M-Masahiro..." Tadashi heard the boy stutter.
The captain, a tall boy with bleached hair and a half-unbuttoned uniform, apathetically put down his own skateboard and grabbed a splintered half of his teammate's. He clenched it, then threw it at the ground, his face suddenly creased with anger.
"My brother worked hard to get this team established, but the school still doesn't take it seriously! They give us the cheapest, crappiest equipment, then refuse to give us any funds to buy new gear when the shit breaks! How the hell are we supposed to compete like this?!"
Tadashi looked at him cautiously. "Couldn't you guys just buy new stuff yourself?"
Masahiro glared at him. "You're the son of the Chief of Police, right?"
"Yeah..."
He scoffed at him. "Of course you talk about throwing money around – you've got enough of it. Come on, man. Do you even know how much a new skateboard costs?"
Tadashi took a step back. "Well..."
"If you want the board to last, you have to spend upwards of ten thousand yen. Sometimes, even up to twenty thousand! No amount of funding or legal fund raising is going to cover THAT price tag for six members' boards and pads. Unless you and your pops want to sponsor us and foot the bill."
When Tadashi didn't reply, he laughed, then helped his teammate get up. They picked up the broken skateboard, walked back around the school building, and disappeared.
"That jerk didn't even thank me for making him lunch! I mean, yeah, I said I would to pay him back for a favor, but OH MY GAWD ARGH!! It's like...MANNERS – GET SOME!!"
He whirled around, expecting to see Xue, but instead saw a second year girl surrounded by her friends, heading toward the gym. It hadn't been about him, but it made him realize that he hadn't even tried to thank Xue. Surely by now she was with the ballet troupe, so he couldn't do it today. He had already washed the bento box, so if he just wrote her a note thanking her, it should be fine.
"Yeah, that's all I need to do, right?" he kept murmuring to himself long after he'd passed the school gates. Surely it would be. Maybe. Xue had avoided him the whole day aside from those brief moments of giving him his lunch. How was he going to change the way she felt about him? Her venomous tone, the harsh glare he was always greeted with...
Maybe it's hopeless...
"Wh-WHOA!!"
Tadashi looked up to see a crooked pillar of boxes teetering, the arms that held them shaking uncontrollably. They looked dangerously close to crashing to the ground. Quickly, he dropped his book bag and grabbed the top two boxes, leaving one in the arms of their owner. Once they had been steadies, he heard a sigh of relief.
"Thanks a bunch, kid. If you hadn't appeared, these boards would be history!" A cheerful man peeked around the boxes and smiled at him. "You're a life saver!"
Tadashi smiled back. "Don't mention it. Do you need help carrying them or something?"
"Would you mind? I just need to get the door open."
"Sure, no sweat."
The owner reached into his pocket, pulled out the key to the shop, and unlocked the door. He showed Tadashi in to the back, where he told him to set the boxes down.
"Thanks again. That would have cost me a little more than a few yen if the merchandise had been damaged," he said gratefully.
"Like I said, it's no problem." Tadashi patted one of the boxes. "What's in them anyway?"
"Skateboards. I figured I might get some business if I put the snowboards on sale and stocked up on those instead." He sat on a wooden crate.
He nodded. "I see..." He paused, wondering if he should prod. "Why? Times been tough?"
The man hesitated before nodding with a nervous smile. "Heh heh...yeah. The Missus thinks I should give up and get a "real job", like I'm selling lemonade or something."
His helper smirked. "Yeah, I know. Women think they know us like our moms do, when they really sometimes couldn't be more wrong."
The shopkeeper gave a shaky chuckle, then allowed it to fade as he shrugged. "Maybe she's right. Who knows? But even if I wanted to give up now, my daughter would probably never let me hear the end of it."
Tadashi looked up. "Your daughter? Why? Is she a firecracker?"
There was a twinkle of fatherly pride in the man's eyes. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. As hard as her mom is trying to get me to give up on the shop, she's trying to drive me to keep it open and stick it out. She always reminds me that it was one of a few dreams I had – to have my own store like this." He studied him. "You look like you're her age, and you wear her school's uniform, so you might've seen her around."
"Yeah, maybe..." Tadashi sighed and looked at the ground. He'd seen plenty of girls. He knew nearly all the names of the third year girls, and many of the second years'. Still, there was only one he wanted right now, and he didn't want to accept the fact that he might not be able to win her.
"Here."
A picture was shoved in his face. His eyes widened.
There was Xue, posing in a black leotard next to a balance beam. A shorter girl dressed in red with long navy blue hair and yellow eyes stood next to her, blushing nervously.
He wanted to go on a tangent, exclaiming that he in fact searched for her everyday, and how attractive he found her and how hard he was trying to win her affection. Instead, he hid his excitement.
"Yeah, she looks familiar. I think I've seen her around the halls or cafeteria or something."
HoroHoro smiled as he looked at the picture again. "She's a regular fireball, alright. Did gymnastics until the ballet team captured her and made her one of their own. Kinda wish she'd go back. Nothing like watching your adorable...beautiful daughter flip around, that cute look of concentration on her face..."
He was gazing at the photo, all the happy memories of her accomplishments and the sting of watching her anguish over defeat returning. When he and his wife would sit next to each other, grasping each other's hands tightly and holding their breaths, wondering if their daughter would stick her landing, then jumping up and down, hugging and kissing when she did.
"Um...Mr. Usui, sir?"
He looked up. "Hm?" Then he realized what he must have looked like to this stranger. He cleared his throat. "Yeah..." Quickly, he placed the frame back on his desk, his back turned. "I told her I wouldn't give up on the shop, but the truth is..."
Tadashi saw him clench his fist, and lowered his eyes. "You're feeling the crunch."
HoroHoro turned and forced a smile. "If sales don't improve by the end of the summer, I'm going to close down." He couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from falling as the smile became sad, then faded altogether.
"But isn't this a dream of yours? Something you've always wanted?"
He turned away, speaking in a voice so low Tadashi couldn't hear.
"...Some things aren't worth wrecking your marriage over."
The timer went off, and Tadashi turned the meat over in the marinade. He stabbed the length of it over and over again with a fork, making sure that the wine would flavor every last inch of it. He sighed, thinking about the people he had met that day and the problems each were facing. His hand wandered too close to the stove burners, and he jerked it away as it stung him. As he sucked on his finger, he tried to figure out if there was a way to help any of them.
Masahiro and the boarding team need new equipment. Mr. Usui needs business... Jeez, if the budget wasn't so cheap, then they could just buy from him, and then everyone would be happy. If Mr. Usui had the money, he could just sponsor them. That way, they'd get their boards, and he'd get advertising. That'd be the ultimate deal. Too bad...
The economy had gotten better within the past few years, but it still was nowhere near as good as it was during Japan's prime. A lot of people were still struggling financially. Tadashi knew he was lucky that, as the Chief of Police, his father had a hefty salary. He got an allowance, and worked once in a while at a bakery as a cashier (he couldn't write "Happy Birthday" on a cake to save his life), so he himself had money to spare.
As he ran his finger under some cold water from the sink, the mail sitting on the counter beside him caught his eye. The envelope that sat on top was addressed to him from Hokkaido Bank Ltd.
That must be my statement. I haven't been spending all that much money lately, except for the subscription to Goddess Sweets.
He picked it up after he dried his hands and opened it. Sure enough, inside were the statements for his checking and savings accounts. His savings had nearly seven hundred thousand yen, while his checking had about ninety thousand. He folded the papers up and returned them to the envelope.
That should have been the end, but he took the papers out again, studying them, the wheels in his head turning slowly at first, but gradually speeding up as the thoughts became clearer. He found his checkbook and put it in his bag.
"If they don't have the money," he said aloud, "then they need sponsors.
"If they can't sponsor each other, then they need to find people with money to throw around. Well, I found them, but I'm going to sponsor both of them. Not for the boarding club. Not even for Mr. Usui's store, really."
He looked up at the fire place, where, next to the photo of his mother, was a picture of a sleeping Xue he had taken the night before.
"...I'm doing this for her."