Chapter 7: Surprise Date
After school on Monday I take the train to downtown Osaka. I have an appointment with Souma Yuzuki at her main office located on the seventh floor of an incredibly tall building. I repaint my surroundings to that of a behavior correctional facility. I sit in the stale waiting room with other delinquents slouching in their seats; some are handcuffed to the armrest. They all have tattoos and piercing, and they wear clothes that go beyond inappropriate for even the lowest of professional environments. They look at me like I do not belong as I sit with perfect posture in my iron pressed school uniform. At the counter a macho man in uniform watches over us disgustedly and idly taps his beating stick on the counter. I keep my eyes downcast as I wait for Detective Souma, my assigned probation officer, to finally call me to her office.
"Uematsu Sakura?" a lanky intern at the facility calls my name. I get up, cross the room, and ignore the whistles from the slum dogs. I step into Detective Souma's office, and she greets me with a warm smile. We begin with the usual icebreaker questions until I get comfortable. She asks me about my life, how I am doing in school, the new people I have met, and if things have gotten better since I nearly beat up a student. She borderline commands me to be on my best behavior because this is my last chance.
"Have you spoken with your old friends, Yumi and Takako?" she questions me. I think about it before answering.
"No, I haven't."
"Perhaps it would be a good idea if you rekindle your friendship with them," she says and I look at her dumbfounded. "Why would she want me to hang around my gang when she wants me to be on my best behavior?" I think to myself just before her statement pulls me back into reality.
My eyes flicker to adjust to the remodeled scene before me. We no longer sit in a dimly lit and stale room with piles upon piles of case files. The foldout chair I once sat in is now a doughy leather couch, the room is bright, and Detective Souma no longer wears a tan trench coat and fedora. Before me, Yuzuki-sama is dressed in black leggings, brown knee-high boots, and a gray tunic top. She sits cross-legged in the chair across from me with her pen and notepad balanced on her lap. She observed my wide-eyed expression with interest and scribbles something down in her notes.
"Sakura-chan," she sighs, "eventually you will find that the castle you built won't be able to shelter you for long. Eventually, the demons you are hiding from will penetrate your walls, and you will have to face them. They will only get stronger the longer you avoid taking them down."
I hear her words, but I do not take them into consideration. Knowing this, she does not touch on the subject again; opting for telling me she will wait until I am ready. Our session is over, and she sees me out.
"I will see you in a few months, Sakura-chan," she says as she holds the door open for me, "Good luck on your final exams this week!" I offer her a small smile and nod as I step out.
The walk back to the train station is uneventful. I stare blankly ahead and allow my body to maneuver me through the crowd; dodging girls with hands full of shopping bags in preparation for summer break. I recall being amongst them at some point. A smile plastered on my face as I make my rounds at the shops with my girls. Lucky for us, the crowd kept the sales associates busy while we helped ourselves to swimsuits, sandals, sunglasses, and everything else beach goers would need. As normal I dive into a fabricated past life on the train ride home. It is a ritual for me, whenever I go on long rides or have a moment where my mind can wonder; I build over each genuine memory with care so that a gleam of reality cannot pass through. Once the familiar buildings of the area I live in come into view, I have carefully plastered over every detail right before school started. With satisfaction, I get off the train and make my way home.
As always, appointments with Yuzuki-sama always drain me. She is a link, to my actuality, that I am forced to see. Whenever she comes into play, I can feel the world I built up begin to crumble; and I need to get away from her before they reveal myself to what I have been hiding from. I step into my apartment building with wondrous plans for a nap, but that all changes at the site of a silver-haired man sitting in the lobby.
Inutaisho-sensei, I mean Sesshomaru, turns his gaze up at the sound of the door closing and our eyes meet. Suddenly, I am enlivened but mostly annoyed. "I really just want to take a nap. Just leave me alone." He stands up and makes his way to me. I turn to go out the door, but once I have it open he places a palm above me shutting it. I sigh before turning to look up at him.
"We had plans to meet at the café after school, did you forget?"
"If you call choosing not to remember forgetting then, yes, I did," I say deadpan, "I'm sorry. I had a mandatory appointment that I forgot about."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't have a phone."
"Before you left school?"
"I was running late."
We silently step apart as one of the residents needs to get through the door.
"Shouldn't you be worried that someone will see us?"
"No one at the school lives on this side of town. As long as we stay in the area we should be fine," he replies, and I look at him with doubt clear in my eyes.
"And how do you know?"
"I have my ways," he responds lowly.
With a sigh, I turn and head for the stairwell. At the bottom, I pause and look back at him as a signal to follow me. With each flight I thank the higher power that no one else was in the lobby (not counting that man who was in a hurry to leave). We step into my apartment and take off our shoes.
"Are you hungry, Inutaisho—I mean—Sesshomaru?" I ask correcting myself once his eyes narrow at the sound of his family's name.
"No, not right now."
"Good because I wasn't able to get any shopping done yesterday," I say making my way to the couch.
"I wonder why," he says following me then taking a seat.
"I had to deal with a strange man who confessed to stalking me, and then he asked for a chance to go steady," I say to him with a smug smile, "Would you like to watch a movie?"
"If that is what you want to do," he says with amusement on his face, "What do you think of the strange man?"
"He's foolish," I say getting up and making my way to the bookshelf that also holds all of my movies, "Willing to risk his career to feed into his infatuation with a student."
I scan the shelves before feeling arms wrap around me. Sesshomaru rests his chin on my shoulders and whispers into my ear, "I believe he is more than infatuated. Otherwise he wouldn't bother. Why did you say yes to him?"
At the thought of my reasoning, I bite my lip to hold back the smile that wants to split my face and hide behind my pride. "I said yes because I was curious to see how he can make it worth it for me. Do you like foreign films?"
"Depends, what country?"
"United States."
"You appear to have multiple films from that country."
"They know what they're doing when it comes to films."
"Pick a short one. There's a restaurant I want to take you to before they close."
"Are you sure we should be going out in public together?" I ask Sesshomaru as the credits roll, "It sounds like the stupidest thing we could do next to making out in the hallway at school."
"That can be the next thing we do," he says standing up, "I told you, no one from Shikon Academy lives on this side of town. The place I wish to take you is the last place we would see any of your classmates or any of the faculty for that matter."
"Let me at least change out of my uniform."
"You may want to wear something along the formal side."
"How formal?" I ask making my way to my dresser.
"Semi-formal."
I pull out a red v-neck bandage dress that hugs my curves and black pumps. Then I make my way to my bathroom to change and apply more make-up. "I should try to make myself look older," I think to myself, "Then, if anyone sees us they hopefully won't recognize me." I finish with my nighttime bombshell makeup and take a step away from the mirror. Satisfied that I barely recognize myself, I move onto hair. I undo my bun and let the soft curls cascade down my back. Then I part my hair to the side and pin it in place. All finished, I grab my uniform and the hangers and step outside. "Damn right I'm going to strut across the room," I think to myself as I make my way back to the dresser while putting my uniform on the hangers. I inwardly smile to myself when I catch Sesshomaru gaping at me from his seat on the couch. I exchange my uniform for a thin leather jacket and shrug it on.
"Ready," I say in an upbeat tone as I turn to look at Awestruck-sensei. I make my way to the counter to grab my wristlet.
"Leave it. You won't be needing it," he commands in a tone not to be defied. My hand moves over from my wristlet to my keys.
Sesshomaru leads me to his car parked on the side of the building and opens the passenger side door to let me in.
"You look ravishing," he says to me as he steps in.
"Thank you. So where are we going?" I ask as he puts the car in motion.
"Just a restaurant someone I know owns. He just recently opened it, but I haven't had a good enough reason to stop by."
"Supporting your friend in his business ventures sounds like a good enough reason."
"I prefer dining in and only going out for very special occasions," he briefly glances at me with a small suggestive smile.
I nod in response and turn to look out the window. The buildings grow taller as we drive deeper into the city, and the crowds on the sidewalks thicken. I mentally smack myself for not remembering to bring my sunglasses to hide behind while out on the streets. "Relax…" I hear Sesshomaru whisper upon noticing me shifting uncomfortably in my seat. Very soon we pull up in front of a ritzy building with a valet attendant waiting on the side. Said attendant opens the door for me, and I step out as Sesshomaru rounds the car and hands him the keys. Sesshomaru places his hand on my lower back and leads me up the steps through glass double doors to a marble podium.
"Where can I direct the both of you to, sir?" this next attendant asks with a wide smile.
"Mushin's Bistro," Sesshomaru blankly says.
"Take one of the elevators on your left to the 14th floor."
Sesshomaru grabs my hand and heads to the left. Before I budge, I motion to the attendant that she has lipstick on her teeth. Quickly she wipes it off, and I signal her thumbs up before Sesshomaru tugs my hand harder. "Code to Live By Number Two: Always look out for a sister. Unless sister proves to be a [expletive that in English would rhyme with the English word hunt]." We ride the elevator up to the 14th floor, and it is a quiet ride. When I find that I cannot make out our forms in the metal in front of us, I peek up at Sesshomaru from behind my hair. His face is blank, as usual, and he watches as the numbers at the top of the doors light up as we pass each floor. My stare goes from him to our entwined hands as I try to figure out what he may be thinking (which is pointless). Suddenly, he looks down at me so I quickly turn my head forward. When I think it is safe I peek back up at him. He continues to watch the numbers only this time he has a smirk on his face.
The doors finally open, and we are greeted with lush carpeting and a panoramic view of the city. Still holding my hand, Sesshomaru leads me to the right where people are falling into line to enter what looks to be a lavish restaurant. We walk outside the velvet ropes, passing the people already in line, until we reach another podium that stands to the side of more glass double doors framed by velvet curtains.
"Inutaisho for two," Sesshomaru curtly says to attendant number three.
"Ah, Inutaisho-sama. We have been expecting you. Right this way please," he says and motions to the double doors with a white-gloved hand.
Through the double doors waits a hostess who leads us to our table. We walk across the restaurant and I look around thankful that Sesshomaru still holds my hand. Otherwise I would run into tables and chairs. The restaurant is dimly lit. I cannot see the ceiling, but dark red curtains seem to fall from somewhere separating the booths to make them more secluded. On each table is a single lit candle, and the tables are widely spaced apart. On the opposite end from the booths is a stage where a grand piano stands with a pianist playing soft music. We reach our spot; a booth situated in the corner giving us maximum privacy and a view of the entire restaurant.
"Here are your menus as well as a wine list," the hostess says as we take our seats across from the other, "Your server tonight is Hachiemon."
The hostess smiles then leaves. I scan the menu thinking to myself, "Damn, everything is pricey! I wonder how he will be able to afford this on a teacher's salary. Yeah, it's that pricey…" After a moment, our server comes up and he is quite skittish yet adorable. I love him immediately.
"Would you like anything to drink sir and madam?"
"I will have a glass of the Purple Moon Shiraz," Sesshomaru says. Hachiemon nods and turns to me.
"I will just have a water, thank you."
"I will retrieve those for you. Would you like another moment to look at the dinner menu?"
"Not necessary," Sesshomaru says and orders the steak. I smile when Hachiemon turns to me and I order a seared ahi salad. He takes our menus and goes off.
"A salad. For dinner?" Sesshomaru scrutinizes me.
"I prefer to eat light at night. Why would you need energy from a large amount of food if you're going to go to sleep a few hours later?"
"Who said I was going to let you sleep in a few hours?" he lowly rebuttals.
Hachiemon returns with our drinks just as my cheeks begin to flush. Sesshomaru takes a sip of his wine and nods in approval. With that, Hachieman scurries off.
"Want a sip?"
"No, thank you."
"Would you like your own than?"
"I'm not of drinking age."
"I won't tell."
"Wino-sensei, are you trying to get me drunk?" I ask him with my best innocent face.
"So it's Wino-sensei now," he says with a challenging smile, "What other nicknames do you have for me?"
"Jackass-sensei, Stalker-sensei, Wino-sensei, and—just three," I say holding my fingers up.
"Sounds like there is a fourth."
"I haven't outwardly called you that one yet, so it doesn't count," I consider the nickname I gave him in my head when I finished changing earlier.
Our dinner arrives and we quietly eat stealing glances at the other between bites. "This salad is delicious. I know it's just a salad, but it's freakin' delicious. His steak smells good, too. Why didn't I get that? Maybe next time we can go out for lunch, so I can order a real meal. Mmm, ahi…" We finish our dinner and our plates are cleared. Once Hachiemon leaves with the bill, a tall gentleman wearing a fine suit makes his way to our table.
"Sesshomaru, I'm glad that you have finally found time to stop by!" he enthusiastically says while resting his arm at the top of the booth on my side and leaning in. "And who is this lovely lady? An exceptional upgrade from Sara I should add."
"Miroku, this is Sakura. Sakura he is the restaurant's owner," Sesshomaru says sternly.
"And friend of Uptight-sama over here," Miroku winks at me while extending his hand to me. I shake his hand with a smile and compliment his lovely restaurant. Then I turn to Sesshomaru holding up four fingers and mouthing 'Uptight-sensei'. He smirks back.
"I hope that you have enjoyed your meal tonight. When Hachiemon told me that it was your order I went back there and made it myself."
"If that were true we would both be on the way to the emergency room," Sesshomaru says with one arm draped over the booth and the other on his glass.
"Hahaha, you caught me! My wife, Sango, handles the menu and presentation. I just operate," he says with a grin turning to me. "Well, I should let you two get back to your date. It was delightful to set eyes upon you, Miss Sakura."
Miroku holds my hand and places a soft kiss on my knuckles. To my relief, Sesshomaru clears his throat causing Miroku to set my hand down and run off. I turn to look at the newly dubbed Uptight-sensei and immediately recoil. He looks at me with eyes narrowed and a frown on his face. Before I can utter a word, Sesshomaru gets up.
"We're leaving," he says.
Holla for Chapter 7!
Wow, the view count for this story broke 250 these past few days. Thank you all so much! Also, Purple Moon Shiraz is a wine that you can find at Trader Joe's. It's one of my favorites! It's also not very expensive, but in this story it is since it's offered at Miroku's super fancy (Iggy Azalea status) bistro. ;)