Chapter Three
She knew it had been too good to be true. But it was her own fault for even getting her hopes up in the first place. How many times had she restrained herself from feeling anticipation; expecting something good to happen? How many times had she put a chain on her heart, making sure her spirit did not lift itself too high while knowing that there was a possibility that it could be pushed over to make the fall even more painful than it needed to be? Too many to count. She had no one but herself to blame for such disappointment. The world slowed down as though time was pulling itself through *mochi. She blinked, almost unevenly, and felt some part of her go dumb. Regardless, she continued with her chore because, for the life of her, Misaki could not find it in her to be surprised. She simply could not.
Some part of her wished to cry and scream and rip her hair out by the roots – but she refused to hand over the victory of grating her nerves. Another part of her wished to bury herself alive. A third part of her, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to throttle the trying man and then toss his body into predator infested waters.
'Breathe Misaki, breathe,' she told herself. One glance at his face and she had to repeat the thought more forcefully, willing herself to not commit homicide. 'He will get tired of harassing you and then go away on his own.'
Thus, for nearly fifteen minutes, Misaki was forced to deal with her neighbour's incessant babbling about how 'nice the day is' and how 'boring breakfast was' and 'did she think he needed to lose some weight'. And with every passing second, Misaki was sorely tempted to take one of the many yukatas she hung up, wrap it around his neck, and throttle the life out of him. Reminding herself about Satsuki's disappointment with her was necessary time and time again.
"You know, Tsubomi-chan," Misaki's teeth clenched. Why did he insist on such a ridiculous name? "It isn't very nice to ignore your friendly neighbour." It was plain to see that she had no intention of being a good person around him; furthermore, Usui Takumi was a delusional nutter if he considered himself a so-called 'friendly neighbour'. "Are you listening?"
"No," she said curtly. For a moment, he became quiet and she nearly thought that the man decided it would be best to leave. Her hope crashed and burned without mercy when his mouth opened again.
He continued to echo the ridiculous name he made up for her but upon the realization that she was trying to appear unprovoked, he switched tactics. The nuisance-neighbour-from-hell went on about describing how boring his day was yesterday and how boring his customers were. Unwittingly, she found out much about him in the span of his babble; he was a business-man of sorts and that, just as she suspected, was a layabout when there was no one to provide his services to. But, he truly began stretching her patience thin when he began to pick on her – as though he had not already caught a glimpse of what she did for sustenance – and how she seemed like a frumpy old lady in the body of a child. It was becoming harder and harder to keep her hands from chucking her basket at him or rip her hair out by the roots (preferably the former, because she needed her hair for her training).
"Misa-chan!" As though an answer to her silent prayers and a way to keep her from imprisonment, fate sent Subaru in her direction with a kind smile and a basket filled to the brim with dry clothes to iron – a chore that would let her escape the prison that was her nightmarish neighbour! Misaki turned her back to the man and she could swear that never before had she felt such absolute, sincere adoration in her life. Truly, her older sister was an angel in disguise.
Behind her, the neighbour continued to spew drivel. But Misaki's shoulders sank and she felt like dropping dead with a groan when he chirruped, "I see. Your name is Misa-chan. That's unexpectedly cute, you know." He gave an obnoxious chuckle, the bogusness of it rubbing raw against her eardrum.
Teeth gnashing together, Misaki had to motivate herself: Subaru was already half way across the yard with her escape ticket and that in order to receive it, she had to quickly finish her part of the task. Hence, she put all her effort into hanging up the rest of her clothes – movements faster than anything she had ever done, since her life depended it on it – and to help block out his droning voice, she recited to herself a passage from a book Aoi had loaned to her (after much pleading and flattery) last week.
It was an insightful book, full of lots of instruction and wisdom. Though, it was not made with the intention of providing advice for the life of an ordinary young girl, there was still much she took to heart. 'In every army, the five developments connected with fire must be known, the movements of the stars calculated, and a watch kept for the proper days.'
Then her neighbour went from commenting to singing her name in various, monotonous tones. "Misa-chan. Mi-sa-chan. Misa-chan." Could he be any more obnoxious and stupid? She prayed that he wasn't.
Misaki trekked on painfully, her movements becoming ferocious in her attempt to escape: 'Hence those who use fire as an aid to the attack show intelligence; those who use water as an aid to the attack gain an accession of strength.'
Then he stopped singing long enough to give a backwards compliment: "A cute name for a scary little girl." Again with that obnoxious, fake laughter.
'Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise; for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.' Just two more pieces of clothing, she had to remind herself.
"Nevertheless, you're still a Tsubomi to me." So very, very, very obnoxious…
"Good morning," Subaru said, having finally approached Misaki. While it had been a surprise to finally see the highly-favoured neighbour, it was even more so to see her young trainee conversing with him. "You must be the neighbour Satsuki-sama mentioned. Usui Takumi-kun, I presume?" He nodded. Misaki noticed that he had completely sobered up. His expression was one she had not seen since they first met. "I am Subaru. It is a pleasure to meet you." She bowed graciously and Takumi reciprocated the gesture in kind. "I see you are already acquainted with Misa-chan." She noticed the young girl huff and was slightly taken aback. It was rare to see Misaki so casual and without pretence in front of strangers. Subaru smiled down at the girl. "I didn't realize you've already became such quick friends with the new neighbour."
'I didn't…' She missed the dark expression that fell over Misaki's countenance, twisting her lips into something of a grimace. Yet, the girl was disinclined to telling Subaru otherwise, thinking she would find out soon enough that the term 'friends' was out of the question. On the other hand, Takumi had to refrain from smirking at her obvious aversion to the other woman's words and the twitch in his jaw did not go unnoticed by Misaki.
"Satsuki-sama mentioned you perform *irezumi." Misaki had to hold her tongue to keep from making a snide comment on him having a job in the first place with the way, she assumed, he lazed about his house the entire day.
Takumi simply nodded. "That's right."
"Do you have many customers?" He nearly sighed, not wanting to engage in small talk. Far too often, Takumi was forced to evade the hounding of persistent women with a manic, plotting look in their eyes. Their tenacity was just as bothersome as their inability to handle rejection when he wanted nothing to do with it from the beginning. He was grateful, at least, that Subaru did not seem suspicious or scheming. Then again, once could never be too careful.
"I have established a few," he answered nonchalantly.
"That's nice to hear," she said genuinely. She looked down to Misaki expectantly and with a heavy sigh, she bobbed her head curtly – just a tiny incline – in humoured agreement. "Our Erika-chan is also very interested in having *irezumi done. She was very pleased to hear that such an artist moved in as our new neighbour."
"I am usually free." Misaki could attest that statement with pleasure. In fact, she might even add that he was a languid and troublesome person to boot. "She is welcome to come in whenever the time suits her." Misaki immediately considered talking Erika into getting a very complex tattoo done in the morning hours. It was the perfect plan to avoid the irksome neighbour for a few days and relive the peace she had during laundry time before their unfortunate meeting.
"I'll let her know then." Misaki was relieved to see her pick up a basket and quickly hoisted up her own, eyes darting to the secure confines of the Okiya – the haven in which there would be no Usui Takumi. Unbeknownst to her, Takumi was also rather eager to retreat. "It was very nice meeting you, Usui-kun." And there was the cue Takumi was looking for that would allow him release from conversation.
"Please treat me favourably." He bowed again and was already slowly inching back. Subaru did not notice it and even if she did, she did not say anything as she repeated the gesture kindly.
"Yes, of course. Same with us." Grudgingly, so as to not disappoint her elder sister, Misaki also (stiffly) bowed to her neighbour. When Subaru had turned her back, she caught the way he sneered and she glared at him before veering her face away proudly and following the older woman.
As calm as Subaru had been when talking to their new neighbour, she was not nearly as collected when she told the other women about conversing with the handsome young man just over the fence. It would be wrong to say she gushed over him, considering her naturally gentle tone, however, the excited flush that came over her cheeks was impossible to miss. Misaki had left her older sisters to their swooning and tittering but even as she passed by an hour later with her laundry basket full of neatly pressed and folded clothes, she rolled her eyes. They were still gushing over Usui Takumi.
Particularly Erika, whose pitchy squeal and girlish giggles Misaki heard from all the way at the end of the hall. She assumed that Subaru had told the other girl about his agreeing to give her a tattoo. 'I don't understand what's so great about him anyways.'
As far as Misaki was concerned, she would be eternally grateful if she never had anything to do with that man ever again. But, fate did not show her such kindness as the next morning - like gruelling clockwork, it seemed – Usui Takumi showed his arrogant face again and opened his abnormally large mouth to chip away at her ears and sanity with his chatter. Half way through the torture, Misaki was surprised to see Erika come out and she wondered with a sigh if the baton of "helping" was being passed on between the older girls as an excuse to meet the celebrated neighbour.
Sending a cursory glance towards her neighbour, a smug smirk tilted up the corners of Misaki's lips when his chatter died down. Erika had, as she had already predicted, the excuse of offering her help but occupied her eyes more than her hands. Misaki noted that for all the nonsense he uttered around her, he was poor at communicating with the others and used the same mechanic pleasantries he had with Subaru. Needless to say, it amused her greatly and lifted her spirits as she finished up with the laundry.
With her newly gained vigour, she completed her chore and smirked at Takumi as he stood, bored stiff by Erika's monologue on her interest in *irezumi. Some part of her had the heart to pity the man, but for the most part Misaki's world felt wondrous again and she parted with a word of farewell to her elder sister and the haughty lilt of her lips towards that infuriating Usui Takumi. And so it went that her sisters had indeed decided to pass the baton on, accompanying her to the backyard with the half-hearted intention to help and the inescapable temptation to engage their neighbour in what they assumed was a riveting conversation.
It was also exactly twelve days later that the other girls at the Okiya had decided that Misaki was fine doing laundry on her own and did not need any 'help', as they so nicely put it. In reality, they clued in, after a few days of his absence, that perhaps they were forcing their company too much on their new neighbour. Takumi's morning visits had become cautious. So, on the first morning where she was left unaccompanied, Misaki spied, from the corner of her eye, the lean silhouette with messy hair in the neighbour's window. It lingered for a moment before disappearing and her neighbour came out of his house, the day's paper tucked under his arm. He slowly walked over to the thick green hedges that doubled as the fence between their two yards and slouched against his tree, staring at her impassively.
For the first time since she met him, Misaki stopped doing the laundry of her own will and looked up at her neighbour calmly. There was no yelling, no bantering, no blushing, no teasing. It was simply quiet. A part of her missed the company she received, the liveliness that briefly touched her too-serene mornings. She waited for him to say something, wondering if his teasing ways had been cured.
She blinked for a moment and his lips had tugged down into a boyish pout. "You are a very cruel person," he said. Misaki did not know what possessed her to do it, but for the first time since they met, genuine laughter bubbled out of her throat and into the air around her. "To think you could be so mean," he said wryly, watching her entire body shudder with amusement at his expense. Takumi's words only made her double over and clutch her stomach. Her laughter was infectious and, unable to help himself from catching such an outbreak, he also chuckled.
Vengeance was sweet and the irony of how it was served – as incessant chatter – was even sweeter. They were finally even. Fate had done her a kindness after all.
Having learned their lesson and earned quite a scolding from Satsuki when she learned of the girls' harassing their new neighbour, Erika took her previously proffered invitation whole-heartedly. This time had more to do with her interest in getting a tattoo – although, there was the obvious knowledge that it was not strictly to get a tattoo.
Over the next week, during her free time in the day, Erika visited the neighbour's house to get her much-anticipated tattoo. And every time she would return, she would proudly show the other girls another part of the tattoo that was completed – with the exception of Misaki, who really had no interest in it. She was unable to stay for a lengthy amount of time to have it done so Takumi kindly did the most he could with the time he was given. He was careful not to rush it or it wouldn't be worth paying for – according to a swooning Erika, those were his exact words.
Takumi, on the other hand, had been very grateful to find that his enthusiastic neighbours were no longer as intrusive and pushy. They respected his space, not to mention his disinclination for idle conversation. He had been wary when he agreed to provide his services to the most persistent of the woman – Erika, if he recalled her name correctly. But, it had turned out to be fine. He was grateful to see that she was mostly quiet throughout her frequent visits. He had been impressed by her endurance, hardly flinching from the pain of the needles when so many of his customers, large and hefty, broke down into tears from the pricks. To his surprise, she had once fallen asleep as well. When he relayed this to Misaki, the young girl merely shrugged; her face did not betray any sign of disbelief or surprise at his words. Her lack of response, however, prompted him to bother her with other pointless things ("Say, Tsubomi-chan. Do you drool in your sleep?") and she wished she had just feigned some sort of reaction to get him off her case.
All things considered, Misaki felt that Erika was slowly climbing up the ranks of the pests – where Usui Takumi stood as the Brigadier General of Nuisances – with the way she would take any and every opportunity to flash her tattoo. Misaki could not remember the last time she had felt so relieved when her sister announced that her tattoo would finally be completed. By the time it was done, Erika had come and was eagerly boasting the beautifully finished butterfly-koi fish. Having ignored her constant pestering the entire week, Misaki got her first look of the tattoo when she went to the *onsen with her sisters. Luckily, Erika was permitted access into the house – despite her tattoo – and considering only the women from the Okiya were at the bath house tonight, she proudly strutted about to show it off before descending into the steaming water.
She sat next to Misaki and turned around to rest her arms on the edge of the bath. Then, with a grin she asked, "Usui-kun did a good job on it, didn't he, Misa-chan?" The girl in question looked at the tattoo, curiosity having finally gotten the better of her. It was fairly large, but not as much as the ones the *yakuza usually sported. Nor was it nearly as ostentatious.
It was elegant on the voluptuous Erika. The fish swept from the tail at the corner of her shoulder blade to where it spiralled around a sprig of pink ericas down to the handsome creature's head on the dip of her waist. Bursts of water curled out from underneath its fins and tail in the same way ivy leaves bent out from their vines under the sun.
Out loud, Misaki would never admit exactly how beautiful the art was. Although the other girls crooned over receiving a tattoo and how lucky she was to be in the proximity of such a handsome man, Misaki inspected the tattoo's details. She noticed the way he made the shape flow as though it were really a fish swimming in water and the ranges of a single colour that allowed for a nice transition and shade in its scales. However, the most beautiful part was the flowers and the precision with which they were etched. Bell-shaped with lavender-pink petals and a dark eye in its centre, the ericas looked like they were truly ready to blossom right on Erika's skin. After much internal debate, she had decided to ask her sister if she could feel it. With a cautious finger, she stroked Erika's shoulder and was a little surprised to find that the texture was like regular skin. Though it was still a little tender, she noticed upon closer inspection that there was actually a very thin outline of black ink about the shapes; it was smoother in comparison.
All in all, Erika had stepped out of the onsen that night a very smug women, having received a very genuine compliment from Misaki: "It looks very flattering on you, *Nee-san." So much so, she went as far as to brag about the compliment in front of Aoi when they came across him on the way home. He only rolled his eyes at the grown woman's juvenile behaviour.
Thus, Misaki endured another week of shameless arrogance from Erika. Whenever anyone asked if it was painful at all, she moaned about the way it was downright excruciating but she held on for the sake of it. Misaki was the only one who knew better. Then, with a coy smile, Erika blathered on about how gentle and kind Takumi was about it, making both Aoi and Misaki scoff. Aoi, Misaki perceived, was pleased by the fact that she was not as stupid to become wholly infatuated by the gorgeous boy ("Man, Aoi-chan. Man," Erika corrected with great emphasis) next door.
For all his demerits, Misaki had to admit – only to herself, of course – that Usui Takumi was a tattoo artist with exceptional talent. She half considered recognizing his skills aloud (she had a hunch that he was waiting for it) but quickly shot down the thought every time he showed up with that stupid grin when she was out doing the laundry. If only he could get more customers to tattoo earlier in the day so he wouldn't have any time to bother her. She sorely requested to God that her prayers be granted. From the way Takumi showed up every morning, ready to start his day by delivering a hearty dose of harassment, she could easily tell that such a wish would probably not come true at the moment. Besides, for all the trouble he caused, Takumi's presence in the morning was slowly becoming a part of her regular day – if it was not already.
As soon as he opened his (stupid) mouth, she thought with an exhausted sigh, 'You're doomed, Misaki.' At the same time, it was necessary for her to determinedly ignore the absurd amity and ease she did not want to but still felt around the, as of late, not-so-new neighbour.
"Morning, Tsubomi-chan. That's an interesting expression you have. I've never seen so many wrinkles on a child before. If I didn't know better, I would guess you were at least fifty," he remarked.
"Shut up, old man." Amity and ease? No doubt, Misaki was clinically insane.
She felt a certain amount of frustration this morning as there was so much laundry that Satsuki thought it would be enough for her to do that and leave her other chores to those of her sisters who had some time to spare. There was five times as much laundry as there was on a normal day and she would be pressed for space when hanging them up. She scanned the area, trying to plan out how she would hang the laundry so there would be none leftover because leftover clothes meant hanging wet clothes around the Okiya and that meant having to listening to Honoka's taunts about being unable to do her jobs properly.
"That's a lot of laundry you have there," Takumi quipped, breaking her from her musings. She pointedly ignored him and tried to focus on her task at hand but he was making it difficult with his nattering. "I can help you with your problem."
With bloated pride and her usual unwillingness to entertain pity-parties, Misaki ground out a curt, "I'm fine, thank you."
Takumi stared at the back of her head with a deadpan face. He didn't say a word afterwards, opting merely to sit back and watch the little girl's staunch concentration. She kept looking back at her laundry as though hoping the amount of it would magically reduce itself with each glance and quickly grew frustrated. A smirk tugged on his lips when she stood with her hands on her waist and a mighty glower on her face at the lack of lines to hang the rest of the laundry; her plans weren't working. There wasn't enough line or pins for everything.
"Hey," he started again only to be cut off with a furious scowl.
"Can't you go bother someone else?" Was it too hard to let up on his games for just one day? She must have been possessed when she had missed his company so many days ago.
Takumi neither smiled nor smirked at her and if she was surprised by this, Misaki did not show it. She only hoped that he would have the decency to just leave her be. "Put the large clothes on the end and more of the smaller ones in the middle. They dry faster so you can bunch some of them together." Misaki, however, was surprised at the advice she was receiving. She opened her mouth to tell him off again, to let him know she really did not require his help and to shove his sympathy up his posterior while he was at it, but was never given the chance to say so. "Use one pin between two of the smaller things so you can have at least one for the bigger pieces. And if there's still not enough room, you can hang the rest later because it's supposed to be relatively warm today so the smaller pieces of clothes will dry fast and you can take them inside earlier."
When she was sure that he was done lecturing her, Misaki was prepared to yell some choice obscenities but froze. She mulled over his advice and, after looking back at the laundry for a second, found that it could work well. Glancing back at Takumi, she found him peering into his newspaper and apparently reading it. That was a first, she thought. Wordlessly, she went and fixed the laundry as he had recommended. It worked superbly and after making quick work of the laundry, she was surprised to find herself left with only a basket of washcloths. After some of the thinner yukatas dried up, she could put out the rest of it in the afternoon. She peered back at Takumi and saw that he was no longer out on the porch. For the first time ever, he had gone back in early.
Misaki felt confused and very guilty. Realizing that there was no point to staying out any longer, she piled up her baskets and went back inside. Satsuki was surprised to see that she was done so quickly and after explaining how she planned to hang out the rest of the laundry afterwards was praised. As a reward, Satsuki told her that she had cut up some fresh cucumbers – one of her friends had dropped them off to her as a treat – and that she was free to have some.
"After all," Satsuki said brightly. "It's warm out and from the way you're sweating, it must not have been easy hanging up all that laundry." Crouching down, the Okiya's mother soothingly wiped the perspiration that had built up over Misaki's forehead with her handkerchief. "You should cool off before noon time."
Misaki gave her a tentative smile and thanked her. Nevertheless, something was eating at her. 'You didn't thank that stupid old man,' her conscious supplied helpfully and for all her stubbornness, she was not one to deny the truth. She would have been out for much longer and had even more work to do if Takumi had not helped her.
Just as Satsuki said, bowls of sliced cucumbers sat in the middle of the fridge and as her fingers itched to grab some, she refrained. Closing the door to the cool snack, she instead helped herself to a glass of water. She greedily guzzled it down and as she finally quenched the thirst she was unaware she had built up, Misaki got an idea. For the rest of the day, she made it her goal to not seem distracted. She did the rest of her chores, helped her sisters with theirs, and trained properly with Subaru when her regular customers arrived. In between her tasks, however, she also peeked out of the back door, through the laundry, and into the yard of her neighbour.
One time, Aoi, who had dropped by after school as usual, found her peering out of the back door. Not seeing her obnoxious neighbour, Misaki turned around with a heavy sigh but ended up squeaking as she was startled to find him right behind her. "What are you doing," he asked slowly, expressing something between disbelief and disgust.
"Um, that is," Misaki started, not knowing how she would explain herself. Her hemming and hawing at his question only caused his face to become more and more exaggerated in its expression. She realized that she was not helping herself by being so evasive. "It's not what you think," she said firmly.
"Right," he sneered, obviously not believing her. And here he had thought she was different – after all, she was the uncouth weirdo he knew as Misaki – but he supposed he should have known better. Girls would be girls and obviously, Misaki harboured a secret crush or something on their neighbour. He didn't understand what was so great about that tattooing-chump anyways. "So, what were you doing looking out at the neighbour's house?"
"I owe him a debt," she stated plainly. Apparently, it did not have the affect she was hoping for as Aoi became increasingly alarmed.
"What. Did. You. Do?" Better yet, what did the other guy do? Misaki was nothing if not a goody-goody model citizen.
Aoi was loud and she had to shush him so he did not end up blowing things out of proportion or, worse, having her caught by her sisters. Honoka would never let her live it down if she found Misaki doing something nice for the neighbour she constantly scowled at the mention of. In a harsh whisper, she said, "Nothing, nothing, I swear!"
"Then tell me why you owe him," he hissed back.
Misaki sighed. While he was much more mature than the other boys she had seen around the town, Aoi could still be so immature sometimes and she much preferred it when she was his usual sharp self. "He helped me with my laundry so I have to thank him."
Aoi's tight countenance dropped and he was back to his usual scowling. "Is that all?" Huffily, he stomped off without an explanation and muttering darkly about 'unnecessary worrying' and 'false alarms' and 'what an idiot' under his breath. As puzzled as she was, Misaki was relieved that she solved that problem quickly.
By the time it was close to sunset, Misaki decided to take another look out the door. Seeing as it was a no-show, she sighed and wondered if he only came out in the mornings just to bother her. He probably did. That sadistic jerk, she thought darkly. Just as she was about to close the door, she noticed the back door to her neighbour's porch open and watched in surprise as Takumi stepped out of his house.
'Finally,' she thought as she quickly grabbed the bowl from the fridge and stepped out of the Okiya.
After making sure to close the door behind her, she quickly pattered her way over to the hedges. Takumi was utterly dumbfounded when he noticed the little girl from next door was running up to him excitedly. Whatever he had been expecting when he stepped out, this was not it. It was a completely different behaviour from her usual short-tempered and surly disposition. To be honest, he couldn't recall seeing her with anything but a creased forehead and frown on her mouth when it came to him. With a few exceptions, of course. She ran up to the hedges with flushed cheeks – the length of the Okiya's backyard was a larger distance on her stout legs than it would be for him – and bright eyes. For her to look so excited, he wondered if he was dying early or she had placed a curse on him but was further surprised when she held up a covered bowl in her hands. Seeing her stretch on her toes just to hand it to him, Takumi instinctively took it from her and then wondered if it was a death trap.
His mystification over this ordeal must have been very apparent because Misaki quickly clarified, "There are fresh cucumber slices in there. It's really hot today so they'll cool you off."
"I see." It was all he managed to say, still unsure of exactly what was going on. Perhaps she was trying to poison him?
"I saw nee-san's tattoos, as well," Misaki said out of the blue. Takumi had to work to keep up with the jump of the topic. She was such an unpredictable child. "I think they're very pretty and well-done. I respect that you didn't skimp out simply because you felt she was troublesome. I've never really considered tattoos artistic however the way you did it made it seem natural, as if everything grew on her skin, and it looks very elegant on her." Her words were blunt and said in a very matter-of-fact tone. "Even though you're still a lazy jerk, I no longer think you're incompetent. I acknowledge your skills."
For a few seconds, Takumi stared at her dumbly while she looked up with the same unaffected austerity since she began talking. However, her expression quickly became alarmed when his lips curled up into a smile. "Is that so," Takumi asked wryly, smothering his chuckles behind a fist. She was unbelievable!
Misaki gaped at him, going from shock to spluttering anger. "I-I-I take it back!"
"You can't take back a compliment." Although, technically, she had insulted him in between her appraisal. Nevertheless, the details were insignificant compared to the pleasant surprise he felt. Takumi never imagined she would willingly say nice things about him to begin with.
Misaki huffed indignantly. She never heard such a rule ‒ mostly because Takumi made it up ‒ but there was no way she would accept it. So with all the smugness of an accomplished rebel, she sneered, "I just did!"
Takumi snorted at her childishness. 'What a brat,' he thought with some ounce of fondness. Then, pulling off her signature move, she proudly spun on her heel and stalked back to the Okiya.
She only paused when she heard him call out behind her, "Misa-chan." She spared a glance over her shoulder and grumpily asked him what it was that he wanted now. Instead, she was met with the astonishing sight of him smiling ‒ not smirking or leering, but genuinely smiling. "Thank you."
The back of her neck suddenly burned and she decided, even though the day was slowly coming to an end, it was still too hot outside. She turned her face away from him. "It was nothing," she muttered, not caring whether he heard her or not. She had already repaid her debt after all and with that burden off her shoulders, Misaki walked back into the inn pleased with herself.
Seeing as she was gone, Takumi settled on his porch and unwrapped the plastic from the bowl. Just as Misaki said, the cucumbers were crisp and refreshing in the humid afternoon. He grinned to himself because whether she wanted him to hear it or not, he did hear her seemingly indifferent response. For a hard-headed brat, she could be endearingly honest as well as kind ‒ in her own aggressive manner.
'And unpredictable, as always,' he thought while munching on the cool snack. 'Not that that's a bad thing.'
Yes. It was just another regular day.
Author's Note: Hm... I can't help but feel that the ending seems rushed. Let me know what you think. Thank you for the feedback. I hope that more people will follow this story as it moves along and give me feedback, comments, or whatever it is they choose to write. Drop by for a hello, if you wish! :) I know it's (very) slow right now but I hope to pick the plot up quickly. I want to address the people who kindly reviewed and will do so on my profile.
*Translation and Terminology Notes:
Mochi: a Japanese rice cake made from a sweet, short-grained rice that is usually rather sticky which makes it easy to pound into a paste and then mould/shape it as one desires. Not to mention, it is absolutely delectable! But the main idea here is that it's some really sticky and gummy stuff, y'know?
Tsubomi: it means "flower bud" in Japanese - in this case, a little pun considering our heroine's name. Since, Misaki translates as "beautiful blossom." Get it, because she's still a child, she's a 'bud' rather than a 'blossom'. Ah-ha-ha-ha... no? On another note, didn't I already note this in the last chapter or something?
Irezumi: I'm pretty sure it was in the last chapter, too. But, as a recap, it is the art of tattooing in Japanese which or "insertion of ink" to permanently decorate skin.
Onsen: as described by the very useful Wikipedia, it is a term for "hot springs", although it is also used to describe the other bathing facilities and the inn around the hot spring in general. It is specific to the outdoor hot spring variety, different from sento, which are an indoor public baths.
Yakuza: in the most basic of terms, I suppose one can refer to them as the 'Japanese mafia' that is also known as the gokudo. Again, according to Wikipedia, Ruling Emperor of Worldly Encyclopedias, they are members of transnational organized crime syndicates but are (in)famous for their strict code of conduct and their organization.
Nee-san: again, the way she addresses the others is different from the more formal way she addresses Subaru (Onee-sama) since the latter is her mentor.
Extra - Erica: the English name for the evergreen flowers that are, when Japanese is romanized, known as Erika (hence, Erika's name in the story... yaknowwhatImean?).
..::::~ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ~::::..