Author's Note: PLS READ A/N!
Harumi's in college by the way, so please don't be confused. In Philippines, students transfer room to room depending on what subject they have next…but I think that all colleges in different countries are like this, I just don't know. So, I'll point out the lessons Harumi is taking up in this chapter. Lol. Oh by the way, if you are wondering where I got information about Souma, trust me, it's all made-up. It's for the sake of the plot.
Also, please assume that this is where the episode SPOILERS AHEAD: where Yachiyo and Satou finally…got together. You know, as lovers. Again, also assume that this is where Takanashi realized and accepted his feelings for Inami and as well as the part where Aoi reunites (well, not really) with her family.
Also note that in Japan, texting requires their own addresses from their cell and, to call, they also require their phone number. I don't know why it's like that in Japan, but, yeah, I'll just go with that.
Sorry for the looooong wait. School is a real b*tch. Hahaha. Anyway;
Disclaimer: I do not own Working! or the characters in it. I only own my OCs and the plot line.
Chapter III – #Sachiyo and the Deal…and wait, a birthday! PART I
|| January 12, 20** || Monday || 9:00 AM
Birds chirped as it flew outside Harumi's window, which was only beside her. She listened quietly while she wrote notes in math peacefully. The wind breezed and some papers from Harumi's desk flew away. Harumi was about to stand up but one of her classmates in English took the deed to pick up the fallen papers on the floor. Harumi looked at her classmate, named Hirakawa Ren. He had a pale skin and sharp blue eyes with dull black hair.
"Here," Ren said, putting the papers on her desk. Harumi nodded. Ren waved in return and was about to walk away but then he heard Harumi say, "Thank you." His body took a 90o turn to the left as he stared at Harumi with wide eyes.
"Did I go deaf for a moment?" Ren asked nobody particularly. Harumi made a small smile towards him than also made him blush madly. She smiled! He didn't know what to feel about this. The quietest girl in school finally talked and smiled! Smiled! This was just too bizarre. But…something wasn't right. Her smile seemed to be…sinister. Wasn't that a good sign? He debated whether he should ask her or not but…he decided not to. It might bring trouble.
Whilst Ren thinking that, Harumi was thinking of various ways to make Inami-san confess, though, what made her smile is thirst for victory to Souma. She was really not that evil when it came to other people's relationship, but it was for a deal, and she wanted to win this one.
|| 11:45 AM ||
The school's bell rang out loud as it gave the signal for lunch time in Harumi's school. She sighed as she fixed her notebook, pencils and eraser back in her bag. She took her bento out of her bag and sat comfortably in her desk.
As she was about to eat her bento, a sudden loud bang was heard. She sighed and ignored the loud bang coming (probably) from their door. She calmed herself down. Preparing her chopsticks, she was about to say 'itadakimasu', but she was stopped as a she received a sudden hug from behind.
She froze. Who could this person be? Acting all close to her? She casted a side glance behind her, and sighed, relieved that it was only her little brother.
"Harumi-nee-chan!" Hiroki whined, hugging her even more tightly. Harumi sighed and patted the hands that hugged her waist. She was embarrassed, though not really obvious in her expression; her classmates in Mathematics in the room were staring at her at the blunt display of affection between the two siblings.
This time, she gently took his hands of her waist and faced him, tilting her head, asking what's wrong. Hiroki pouted, "I forgot my project, and I don't have the keys for the entrance at home," Hiroki finished. Harumi sighed, contemplating if she should trust her brother or not. There had been one time when he lost the duplicated key for their entrance at home because she trusted him to keep it safe.
After quite some time, she finally decided it wouldn't hurt to give it to him. Besides, many of her classmates were staring at them, flabbergasted to see Harumi act like this for the first time, though some people minded their own business like Soum-
Wait, what?
Harumi's eyes widened as she observed himjust outside their room, talking to someone. It was his usual face, smiling, and the person he was talking to was somehow fidgeting.
"Nee-san? What's wrong?" Hiroki asked as he observed her sister, with her eyes widened and a small gape at her mouth. He turned to see what she was looking at. At the door outside, there was no one he could see, except for students passing by here and there. He turned back to his big sister, who was calming herself down, then wore a disappointed expression.
She was excited, so to speak. She might have discovered where Souma's university is, and coincidentally, it was her university too. But all those feelings were washed away as single blink from her eyes, made the two disappear. But…she could always investigate later; besides, she had to make Inami confess first.
Something, or rather someone, tugged at her sleeves. She turned to look at Hiroki, who was questioning her with his emerald eyes like hers. She shook her head, silently saying it was nothing. Hiroki was curious but he didn't press on the topic.
Finally calming down from that rather abrupt event, she searched for the keys in her bag. After a while, she gave it to Hiroki. He smiled and said thanks. He stood up and waved at her, saying, "Goodbye nee-san! Thank you for the keys!"
"Don't lose it again," Harumi replied, smiling slightly, letting her guard down. She didn't realize the fact that she was at a room full of people, thus, letting her guard down. Hiroki beamed, still waving as her got out of her classroom.
Though the smile was faint, none of her classmates expected that. Harumi, the quietest, reserved, and the person who never spoke to them, just did that.
.
..
…
Is this the power of brotherly love?
Harumi, having ignored her classmates' stares, continued on with her bento, not really caring for what was happening around her. She just hoped that she could focus both with Inami and Souma's situation at the same time, without getting distracted.
|| 3:24 PM ||
Harumi yawned as she entered the back door of the restaurant. She was a bit sleepy but she had to work, so, no choice. She entered the girl's changing room and started to undo her uniform. While she had done those, she, again, thought of several things that would make Inami-san confess her feelings to Takanashi-san. She didn't want to lose the first thing in a challenge, especially with Souma-san.
But…the memory of seeing Souma just a while ago still bothered her and she also wanted to press on that specific topic. Did she just discover where the -oh so secretive Souma - schooled? If so, then she might have been really lucky. She heard from Takanashi that he was the most secretive, and the others agree, though Taneshima may look at it differently; thinking Souma is lonely, which is Yamada's fault too.
She heard a creak outside, guessing it was the door being opened by someone; though she didn't pay any attention to it. It may be just one of their employees, checking if the door to the break room was locked or not.
With one last final sigh, she exited out the girl's changing room, facing Souma who also just got out the Boy's changing room. They exchanged stares, a bead of sweat forming on Souma's temple.
This was bad. I though she just got out the changing room?! Wasn't that creak coming from their door's changing room?! Souma thought, panicking.
He had to make some excuse, for he knew that Harumi saw him there, at their university. Yes, their university.
He wanted to keep his life a secret, and it wasn't going well since he hadn't expected Harumi see to him outside her classroom. Souma knew that they had the same university, and he had been avoiding her since. This time though, he was distracted because of the person he talked to earlier, which, he guessed, Harumi also saw. He immediately hid, just as she blinked and with her brother slowly casting a glance at where she was looking at.
It was a nerve-wracking situation, but…he contemplated whether which was even more nerve-wracking right now that they were having a staring contest. Sometimes, his guessing skills just weren't helping.
Harumi stared at Souma, suspiciously eyeing his hand that held the doorknob. He just got out of the Boy's Changing Room at the same time where she also got out. Now, wasn't that suspicious. Did this mean that, she, seeing Souma in her university, meant that he also went there? Students in their university had the same schedule of class dismissal, at 3:00 PM. She hadn't seen him, or run into him on the way to the restaurant though. But…just maybe, he may have hid, all the while avoiding her on the way.
Also, changing in their restaurant's chef uniform was kind of hard, considering that Harumi was kind of slow paced. Yes, she is slow paced, a reason why she wakes up so early. Harumi guessed that Souma would have known this kind of information, but she didn't really care. Right now, they just needed to start a conversation in the awkward aura surrounding them.
Well, if someone would be willing to start one. Both were too tense and they didn't want to get more upset than they already do.
"Wha—" Harumi and Souma both started, but stopped midway, as they realize that Harumi/Souma was going to talk. Both of them waited for each other to talk…
Certainly though, silence greeting you wasn't the best medicine to ease your worries realizing how thick and awkward the situation is. Harumi sighed, finally having enough of the silence. She turned around, and walked away like nothing happened. It was Harumi's solution whenever something awkward occurred. Though, she stopped halfway and turned around to face Souma, who flinched in return.
"I won't tell anyone."
Souma widened his eyes, surprised –or terrified- that Harumi said those words. He continued to watch Harumi as she walked away as if nothing happened. Harumi finally having disappeared from sight, he sighed deeply. The university he was going to was now exposed freely to Harumi, that, he was sure of. Harumi wasn't dense and dumb. In fact, she was intelligent and analytical, which adds to his worries. He sighed yet again.
He was doomed, for sure…but can he trust the last sentence Harumi gave her?
He doesn't know.
Rubbing his temples, Souma sighed.
|| 4:04 PM ||
Harumi wanted to forget the awkward situation she had an hour ago -though it will be etched in her mind that she goes to the same university as Souma does- so here she was, confronting Inami. Inami just arrived earlier, and Harumi took this as a chance to make her move. As Inami was done with changing her clothes, she got out of the changing room and found Harumi taking a break…she supposed. Harumi immediately turned to look at Inami, who seemed to flinch at the sudden stare Harumi gave her. Did she do something? Inami thought.
"Inami-san, I have something to talk about with you. Could you spare me some of your time?" Harumi asked politely, though it might not seem to be the case as Inami felt cold sweat on her temple. Inami glanced at Harumi's eyes and it was written that if-you-don't-talk-to-me-I-swear-I'm-not-going-to-spare-you-alive. It was rare –rather, her first time- seeing such hostile emotion in Harumi's eyes. Inami nodded, afraid of what was awaiting her.
Harumi stared at Harumi, not aware of the message of her eyes she gave to Inami. Inami slowly took one of the chairs and sat down on it.
"W-what is it that you wanted to talk about, Takukega-san?" Inami asked, feeling herself slowly calming down. Harumi turned her head left and right, checking if someone was near, if so, she needed to find a place to talk with her with no one around. Yes…this is how Harumi values bets and gambling. Confirming there wasn't anyone near; she turned to look at Inami, who seemed curious but afraid at the same time of the sudden confrontation Harumi gave her.
"Everyone must see this! IT'S URGENT!"
Both Inami and Harumi fell down their chairs at the sudden shout of the familiar purple headed girl. Inami hastily got up and went to Harumi to help her up. Harumi took Inami's hand and turned to look at Aoi, who was swinging her hands up and down, as if panicking. Inami also turned to look.
"What's wrong Aoi-san?" Inami questioned. Harumi nodded, also wondering. Aoi pouted, "Just come with me!" With that, both girls were pulled by Aoi's hands wrapping around their wrists. They arrived at the storage room door, wherein all of the Wagnaria Crew peeking inside. Harumi and Inami both had beads of sweat on their temple. Aoi gave a sign with her hand for them to join in the crowd outside the door. Harumi shrugged while Inami just submitted to the demanding girl.
Harumi was tall, so it was a bit easy to see what was going on inside the storage room. As she looked at the scene, her mind processed until her mind snapped and she blushed (mentally). Yachiyo and Satou were hugging each other! What happened when she wasn't here? This was so sudden…but Harumi felt that this was for the better. Yachiyo and Satou deserved it. Harumi smiled slightly. She heard that Satou was friend-zoned for quite some time-years- because of their manager whom Yachiyo always talked about to Satou. Harumi commended him for that patience he had…plus, Souma also worked with Satou quite some time with them, and that would be frustrating since Souma was…a handful to deal with.
She thought that it was weird to see them as good friends; witnessing some beating up sessions going on with the two boys, and it often happened, since Harumi was there as a witness. She chuckled mentally; amused by the bickering between them, even though it was on a friendlier approach (for her).
She wasn't sure how Yachiyo and Satou's relationship would progress but she was sure it would greatly improve in time.
|| 5:06 PM ||
After the sweet scene between Yachiyo and Satou, the whole crew returned to work (except for Aoi and Kyoko). The newly formed couple was happy but embarrassed that all of them witnessed their private moment. All of them were spared from Satou's beating, but Souma and Aoi didn't, since both of them were teasing the two too much.
Harumi silently cut the vegetables clean, passing it to Souma who was also working, which was surprising since he makes the others work for him, instead of doing it himself. There can be times wherein he was nice and willing to help, but Harumi begged to differ, since his sadistic personality won't fade away.
"Are you done with the deal we made?" Souma asked, as he cooked the food in the pan. Satou was also cooking, but it was a different dish. Harumi shook her head. Souma hummed, pretty happy about…something. Harumi dreaded what he was happy about. She had noticed the changes. Satou silently listened to the two interact, he wondered what was going on between the two, it's not like he was dense, he noticed that they talked a lot more and…Harumi was giving Souma the looks of suspiciousness more often than before. He was sure that Souma did something.
"I already made Takanashi-san accept his feelings."
*THUD*
The sound of the knife that straightly went through the potato.
Harumi cut down the huge potato quickly in half, immediately after hearing what Souma said. Souma flinched, seeing the approaching beast mode Harumi had. Satou was also shocked, but not as aggressively as Harumi. What was going on between these two? He sighed and only continued working; he wasn't letting these two ruin his day after…the surprising development he and Yachiyo had.
Harumi was right, something happened, and it wasn't good. She noticed the changes in Takanashi's behavior towards Inami and she wasn't pleased by it. She was pleased that he had accepted his feelings, but in their situation right now, just no. Takanashi was approaching Inami more and more and was giving more clues that he had a deep affection towards Inami. Harumi wanted to finish their deal first but she was stupid enough not to think that Souma had the upper hand in their deal since he was doing this for a couple of months; meaning, he was already convincing Takanashi before Harumi even came to Wagnaria. Oh how stupid of her.
Souma observed Harumi; bangs were covering her eyes and it made a shadow on her face. Harumi sighed, clearly defeated by the fact that he had done this in one day. She faced Souma, who turned off the stove and also turned to look at her.
"Congr-" Harumi's greeting was stopped as she saw the smug look on Souma's face, with black sparkles, to add to her dismay. She stared at him for a little while, but she sighed and returned back to her work, and continued chopping the potato, which had a very clean cut in half. What did she expect; Souma being terrified because he won and she's disappointed? Please, why did she forget that he's a sadist? He enjoyed her disappointment and utter defeat in their deal. Wait…
It is a deal, so there must be something more to it than she thought.
Beads of sweat formed in Harumi's temple. This was bad. Little by little, she was losing her patience in dealing with Souma.
"Aww, Takukega-san, please continue on what you were about to say a while ago. I would appreciate it!" Souma said, smiling satisfyingly, enjoying his torment on Harumi. She remained poker face, but Souma knew better than that. Then, an idea popped into Harumi's mind.
Harumi smirked and said, "Forgive me, but I think it's unfair for my part to make Inami confess while you just made Takanashi-san realize and accept his feelings. And, you had the upper hand since Takanashi was here even before I had arrived and started working here in Wagnaria." It struck a lightning in Souma. However, an evil though slipped into his mind.
"But it was a deal. And we both agreed onto it, with Yamada-san witnessing it. Although I may have the upper hand, you were…dense enough to not realize this before, but only now." Souma smiled smugly again, leaving Harumi in silence as she realized that she just added fuel to the fire. Harumi sighed.
"Fine, what do you want?" Harumi asked, Souma returning to work with her. Souma pondered over it a bit. The he chuckled, causing Harumi to tense up. Whatever on his mind right now was not a good idea, Harumi guessed…and if someone were to interrupt them right now - even with the interruption that happened with Inami and her a while ago in the break room, Harumi would go 'kind of' berserk on that poor person - but this time, in Souma's case, if someone would interrupt, she would be eternally grateful for this person for letting her escape from Souma's tricky and evil schemes.
"I'll save it for now, it might be useful in the future, we never know," Souma smiled as (again) black sparkles flew around him. Harumi sighed audibly, completely understanding why Souma put his deal on hold; it would be useful for him in blackmail. It wasn't the weakest point Harumi had, but Souma still got his way, and it annoyed Harumi but it amused her too at the same time. It was a weird feeling, but how the hell was she amused by this kind of thing? She had no idea…or maybe she just had a little bit of a sadistic side and one, ONE, percent of being a masochist. She wanted to punch herself several times realizing this last year, but months passed by, and she just didn't care anymore. It was stressful.
"Fine," Harumi finally said, slowly calming herself down. Satou cleared his throat, gaining their attention.
"I wanted to ask something. When did this deal start?" Satou wasn't one to pry on someone's business, but he guessed it wouldn't hurt to know what was going on between the two. Satou continued on cooking the veggies. Harumi and Souma stared at each other, contemplating whether to tell him or not. Souma only shrugged. Harumi sighed back at him.
"It started yesterday, I was agitated to do the deal, but it's nowhere near only his fault, it's also mine too; for being stupid enough to accept the challenge," Harumi sighed as she finished talking.
Souma chortled; amused by the fact that Harumi admitted that she was stupid enough to accept a deal that she did not have any advantage over Souma. Satou blankly stared the duo, surprised by Harumi's bluntness and Souma's reaction. He wasn't sure if he would call this a healthy relationship between two co-workers. Satou sighed and just continued to his work.
"I can't believe you Takukega-san. You-you're too funny!" Souma said as he continued to laugh. Harumi stared at Souma with soulless eyes. Suddenly, Harumi took a ladle and took a stance. She hit Souma at his head; he flinched at the contact, it was a really strong hit that he felt nauseous for a moment.
Satou stared; surprised that Harumi finally took a shine on how annoying Souma was. He was also a bit amazed at how Harumi handled her patience well on Souma; he didn't last that long with Souma.
Harumi harrumphed and went back to her work. It seems that her patience snapped at Souma. Souma lay lifelessly on the floor with his back leaning on the counter. Satou sighed and also went back to his work, he was way too distracted by twos' interaction earlier and he needed to get back to work.
"Harumi-san, can I ask- EH?! Souma-san?!" Taneshima screamed as she saw Souma on the floor, with clouds over his head. Harumi, however, took no heed to her surprise and only tilted her head to ask what Taneshima wanted. Taneshima hesitated whether she should ignore Souma (since she was used to Satou beating him up, not that she knew Harumi did this one though), or to answer Harumi. She gulped and took the latter.
"U-umm, I wanted to ask you a favor," Taneshima said while approaching Souma, giving a hand to help him stand up, she couldn't bear to leave him like that. Harumi's left eye twitched as she saw Taneshima helping the devil. She could see that, Taneshima was too nice for her own good. Harumi sighed and muttered ", Go on."
Souma's surrounding sparkled and accepted Taneshima's help willingly, standing up carefully. "Thank you, Taneshima-san." Taneshima nodded in return to his thanks and turned around to face Harumi, who already stopped working.
"I see you are on your break now, Harumi-san! I wanted to have you buy something for me. I know it's weird to ask you something so suddenly but I really need it tomorrow! It's far from my break too! Can you help me?" Taneshima pleaded as she faced Harumi. Harumi nodded, mesmerized by her puppy eyes. Taneshima beamed.
"Thank you! Can you buy these things I listed on the paper? I'll give you the money. Here!" Taneshima said, as she gave Harumi the paper and her wallet. Harumi pondered on how Taneshima trusted her so easily with her belongings.Why? Why could Taneshima trust her so easily?
*We trust you ok?
*We're counting on you.
=====
It was silent for a moment before Harumi responded.
"How can you trust me so easily Taneshima-san?" Harumi point blank pointed it out. This surprised Taneshima, Souma and Satou in the kitchen. It wasn't that they were surprised she talked, but the way she implied it, sounded so…vulnerable. Although Taneshima was surprised by this, she only smiled later on.
*WE TRUSTED YOU!
*This is your entire fault!
*Why Harumi…?
*I can't believe you did this to us…
*GO DIE IN A DITCH!
*Sorry, I don't like people like you.
"It's because I think you're a nice person, despite your rare tantrums! Hehe." Taneshima happily admitted and beamed, surprising Harumi, enough to widen her eyes.
=====
*I still believe in you, Harumi.
=====
Harumi ducked her head down suddenly. A light blush was evident on her cheeks.
"Ok…I'll do it," Harumi looked straight ahead at Taneshima and smiled warmly. Souma and Satou stared, surprised in seeing Harumi smile sincerely. Satou was out of his reverie, but he looked to Souma and saw him still staring at Harumi's face. Without much of a surprise for Satou, Souma took his camera and took a picture of the girls. Satou sighed, was Souma going to change or will he stay like an idiot for the rest of his life? He sighed; he didn't know the answer to that. A few moments later, Taneshima beamed and hugged Harumi.
"Thank you so much Harumi-san! And look, you're smiling! I don't know why, but you look so pretty!" Taneshima beamed again. Harumi mildly blushed with her smile slowly fading away.
"Uhh, thanks I guess." Harumi embarrassedly said and awkwardly hugged Taneshima back. Satou sighed, going back to his work. Souma remained unmoving and continued to look at the two girls, or rather the tall girl. He really wasn't expecting Harumi to smile like that, but then he shrugged it off and smiled himself. She was changing slowly; he guessed it was mostly thanks to Taneshima. He went back to work later on.
He really was looking forward to Harumi's bipolar status. He chuckled as he took a look at the picture he got. Ohohoho~, this was going to be an epic blackmail for her.
A/N: And on that note, this will be the part one! Sorry for the really long wait! Part two will be uploaded soon! Please look forward to it! I got the feeling with the previous chapters that I didn't put too much expressive thoughts on how the characters felt, and I think that some may get confused with how I portrayed Harumi here. Anyway, the next chapter will be as long as this one! And thank you so much for the reviews, I am going to reply on the next chapter. I am pretty excited about the next chapter, I hope you are too! I am so hyped up with the reviews and critics that you gave me that I had to upload two chapters in one week! Again, look forward to the next chapter, I will be replying to your reviews there! A question, should I continue with the expressive streak on the characters? Oh, and tell me too if they are getting OOC and if I made any mistakes! I did my best here, I hope it isn't too cringe-y, I put a lot of thought into this. XD I'll explain more in the next chapter.
Ok, see you guys in the next chappie! Byeeeee~!