AN: M'kay. I think I got Ryoma's character (and everyone else's character) completely wrong. Sue me. T_T
Warning: From here on, the story might involve implications of Ryoma-juniorXSakuno, so, if you don't like stories with age gaps, maybe this isn't for you? HAHA. Unfortunately, I'm a sucker for them. OTL Though I guess there were already hints in the earlier chapters?
Not beta-ed.
0.0
Chapter 8: Interrogation
"Yo, how's life my dear brother?"
'Brother? Ryoma-kun has a brother?' Sakuno thought, wondering why 'Alyssa-chan' sounded like a man.
End of Recap
0.0
"Hello?" Sakuno replied with sheer uncertainty. Alyssa-chan sounded like a girl's name, but it was as clear as the sun that the person currently speaking is that of the male species.
"I'm really sorry!" She bowed even if the person on the other line wouldn't see; she had to remind herself to remove that habit of hers. "Echizen-san is currently away and left his phone," she explained.
Though, really, a mere babysitter would not just pick up his employer's cellular phone. If the person on the line would probe her about her insufficient excuse, she probably wouldn't be able to defend herself. And, most likely, she would end up cutting the phone conversation. That would be highly dubious.
"I see."
Sakuno mentally sighed when the person pardoned her suspicious behavior.
She sat on the edge of the bed, feeling the effects from yesterday's sake (and because her knees were shaking from the fear of being asked). Her hand gripped on the phone tighter as another wave of pain thrust her head. It was one of the reasons why she didn't like drinking, getting an unbearable headache after all the euphoria from the night before.
"So how's Ryoma doing?"
Sakuno couldn't help but get a little confused. She couldn't figure out if the man on the phone was talking about his brother or his nephew. After a deep thought, she bit her lower lip and answered, "Si-sir, Ryoma-kun is doing fine. He's currently with his son…uhm…with Ryoma-sama at school."
To her bewilderment, the man on the other end chuckled. "You must be close to him, eh? For him to allow you to call him like that?"
"Ah!" Sakuno shook her head vigorously, her free hand waving in front of her as if she was defending herself from a visible enemy. "N-No!" She couldn't understand; it seemed as if Ryoma's brother could see through her. "I just assumed that I can address him that way, sir. I'll be more careful from now on," she explained.
She was well aware that the man wasn't in any way trying to sound antagonistic, and the man didn't even ask for her to explain things. However, she felt the need to clear the situation up; after all, she wouldn't want to be misunderstood by the man just like how Kyoko-sensei had misinterpreted the fiasco Sakuno had gotten her self into the night before.
"I see. You're my nephew's girlfriend, right?" he asked with a sly tone.
Oh how Sakuno wished she didn't answer the phone.
"Uhm…that is—"
"The news is all over our family, y'know? That Ryoma's son is having a romantic relationship with a woman twice his age."
Sakuno raised a brow as she computed. She wasn't that old, surely?
She shook her head. Now was not the time to worry about little details. "It's nothing like that. E-etou…" Her heart was pounding fast. She couldn't save her self from the tight spot the man put her in; it was as if she was a criminal being interrogated for the murder she had done.
"I do think that you should be punished for what you did. Kumiko is being soft on you. If I were you, I would go for the father. That is…if you just want the money."
Sakuno could feel the hairs of the back of her neck start to prickle. "I would never— Ryoma-kun is already a married man!" she said, raising her voice slightly louder than she normally would, as she found herself getting angry at the man's accusation. "And Ryoma-sama and I agreed to have this relationship. Ku-Kumiko-san even agreed to it."
What was she saying really?
It wasn't like her relationship with Ryoma-junior was anything serious, but she didn't plan to turn her back on the child when she agreed to be his girlfriend.
"Hn, so you like the kid?" the man asked.
"O-Of course!" she exclaimed, more to convince herself than to answer the question.
She heard a sigh escape the man's lip. "This would be a problem," he muttered almost inaudibly.
"Wha-What?" she asked uncertainly, her brows creasing in confusion. She was about to inquire once again when she heard no response from the other line, but was surprised the moment the phone was snatched from her grasp.
Her mouth formed an 'o' as soon as she realized who the intruder was. She was so dead. She attempted to speak, but, no voice could escape from her lips, her thoughts unable to form a coherent sentence.
Luckily, just like Ryoma's brother who was oddly named 'Alyssa-chan', the man opted to pardon her actions. That is, for the time being.
"This is?" Ryoma asked on the receiver as soon as he lifted the phone to his left ear.
She couldn't hear what the other man was saying but, based from Ryoma's reaction, it was probably not pleasing as well.
"You two stay out of it," replied Ryoma as he briefly glanced towards Sakuno's direction.
Nervously, Sakuno shifted her gaze downwards.
"I'm returning to Australia tomorrow."
Ryoma paused as he listened to the man on the other line.
"Shut it."
Another pause.
"One week. If this won't work you'll stop messing with my life." At that, Ryoma shut his phone and turned towards her.
Sakuno closed her eyes, preparing herself for the worst and silently saying goodbye to her job. It couldn't be helped; she got unprofessional by telling Ryoma's brother of her relationship with his brother's son. Not to mention the fact that she slept on her employer's bed yesterday and that she wasn't able to get up early that day. She was lucky enough that she still hadn't gotten an earful from Ryoma right then. Not that Ryoma was the type of person to yell and nag at someone for his wrongdoings.
Her internal monologue halted once she realized that the other person inside the room chose to remain silent. It wasn't like she wanted to get terminated right then, but to not be berated after all she had done was probably scarier. Why? She had no idea. She just didn't feel that she had the right to stay after her inexcusable behavior.
Even if she was scared as hell, she raised her head to meet the golden eyes of her first love.
"I'm sorry," were the first words that her mouth was able to utter.
"You should be."
Well, that was blunt.
"And I'm also sorry for yesterday," she added. "I got drunk and vomited on you." She flinched at her own words. She just wished the ground would swallow her whole right then. "I've been a little irresponsible—"
"A little, huh." Ryoma replied and plopped down on the bed beside her. "That must be an understatement, Ryuuzaki."
Sakuno's eyes widened. Not because of Ryoma's sudden movement but because of the way he called her with such familiarity. Her head slowly turned towards his direction, a little too shocked of the possibility that the man had any memory of her.
"He's setting me up with you," he said and raised his phone to refer to his brother.
"Ahaha," Sakuno laughed awkwardly and waved a dismissive hand, pushing her earlier thoughts away. "That's…well…you're married so don't be bothered by it. I know where I belong."
That was right. She nodded inwardly and slapped herself with the reality. Whether or not Echizen Ryoma could recall anything about her should not concern her. The man was already married. Is already wedded with a good woman. She shouldn't even be thinking of her chances because, in the first place, there wasn't one.
Weird, she thought. She actually declared that she was over the fact but it stung a little.
To her surprise, the man merely raised his left hand. The calloused hand he usually used whenever he gets serious in tennis matches, and the same hand that would caress the hand of a woman that could never be her. She wondered if she was still tipsy from all the sake she drunk the night before; she definitely was getting emotional just at the sight of Ryoma's hand.
"I'm not wearing a ring right now," he casually mentioned causing Sakuno to snap her head, once again, to his direction. He smirked, probably satisfied by the reaction he got.
"The left side has always been the evil side of people (1)," he continued.
Where Ryoma got the notion, Sakuno had no idea.
"Rings are supposed to be used to seal it."
Sakuno's brows creased further in confusion. "What are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying that my evil side isn't sealed yet."
"Why—" her statement was cut short by her companion's sudden statement.
"Let's try it." He grinned. "I'll be staying here for a week. If you can make me fall in love with you, I'll forget about the wife you're talking about."
At that, Ryoma stood up and raised his left hand, exiting the room.
Sakuno could only gape.
'What did he say?'
0.0
She had been inside her room for hours now. It wasn't like she was afraid – oh God, who was she kidding? She is scared as hell. Even if she attempted to deny and ignore it, she was frightened by Ryoma's invitation just a few moments ago. She was scared and confuse because, deep down inside, she knew that even if she knew what the right thing to do was, she would disregard it and start doing what's immoral.
Her hand slapped her face for the nth time. As she looked at her red and swollen face at the mirror, she couldn't help but sigh. She knew that she wouldn't have to go through all of this if she would just decide to resign. It wasn't too late. After all, there were other jobs around the corner. In fact, she could very well find a better job that would offer her a better salary, and a work that wouldn't require much of her time at that. The only benefits she could see at staying at the Echizen's residence were the free food and shelter. And well, she got to see the ever famous super star and tennis player Echizen Ryoma. But, compared to the heartache she was experiencing right now, those were nothing.
"What am I saying?" she asked herself as she held her head with both of her hands.
Dealing with it should not be a problem. Besides, she said it herself, she knew where she belonged. She was aware where she should place herself and therefore shouldn't have any qualms about anything. She wouldn't have to sacrifice her job for inconsequential reasons.
With a renewed determination, she stood up and dusted off her uniform. Staying inside her room wouldn't solve anything. If Ryoma wanted to play his games, she should just let him be. Who would want to be involved with a man who couldn't control himself even if he already has his wife? Sakuno decided that it would be best to ignore the man. Her job is to take care of his son. Anything beyond that would be irrelevant.
As soon as she opened her room, she checked the premises. She knew she wouldn't be able to completely keep herself away from Ryoma, but if she could just minimize the moments they would see each other, what with the large mansion they were currently residing in, then there would be no problem.
She looked on her wristwatch to confirm. 5 o'clock in the afternoon, it read. Ryoma-junior should be home by now. If she and Ryoma would see each other with the kid around, she would be safe, too. After all, Ryoma surely wouldn't be that bastard to openly flirt with other women in front of his own son. And she was his son's girlfriend to boot! Not that it was anything serious but still—
"Yo, nee-chan," someone called from behind.
Sakuno didn't have to turn her head to know who it was. "Ryoma-sama?"
Her sole shield and refuge. Ironic, really, since it should have been her who should be more reliable between the two of them.
"You're here," she added with a smile of relief.
"No, I'm not," the kid answered sarcastically and started walking, both his hands hidden inside his pockets.
At times like these, Sakuno couldn't help but think how cool the child was for his age.
"Aren't you going to say something to me?" the child asked as his girlfriend-slash-babysitter followed his lead.
"Nothing in particular, Ryoma-sama," Sakuno answered, still unsure whether or not she should tell Ryoma-junior about what his father did earlier. After all, it could very well hurt the child – to know that his father was being adulterous, that is.
Although, when it comes right down to it, Ryoma probably wasn't even serious. She was just taking everything to heart. If she would just forget about what happened earlier, and, if she would continue to ignore Ryoma's existence and endure it for one week, then half of her problem is solved. The other half, however, the mysterious caller from earlier, should be dealt with immediately.
"Ryoma-sama," Sakuno called as her paced increased. "Do you know that Ryoma-kun has a brother?"
If Sakuno wasn't being attentive, she would have missed how the kid momentarily stiffened at her question. "Of course, I know," Ryoma-junior replied. "He's my uncle."
Sakuno sighed, thinking if she was just imagining things. "Right, it was silly of me to ask," she admitted, slightly embarrassed. "He called earlier and told me how everyone already knows our relationship." She bit her lip in hesitation. "I think it's best if we would stop it?"
"Did he tell you to break up with me?" he asked, still not facing her direction.
"Not exactly," Sakuno answered, wondering why on Earth she was having such kind of conversation with a nine-year-old kid. She wanted to say that Ryoma-junior's uncle did say that she should leave the kid alone and go for his father instead though. However, she opted to keep her mouth shut knowing that it wouldn't do the relationship of Ryoma-junior and his father good.
"If he says so," the kid agreed. "Then I guess we have to break up, nee-chan."
Sakuno stopped on her tracks.
"What?" Ryoma-junior asked as he turned to face her.
"Well…I was just…" Sakuno trailed with a smile; she didn't it coming. "I wasn't expecting that you'd agree so easily," she said her thoughts out loud.
"I don't mind continuing if you don't," Ryoma-junior uttered with a raised brow. "Do you?"
Sakuno laughed and kneeled in front of the kid so that they would look at each other's eyes, "I'm fine, but thank you, Ryoma-sama," she said and placed a hand on his head.
Ryoma-junior huffed and swatted Sakuno's hand lightly, turning around. "My dinner, nee-chan," was his reply, raising a hand to wave goodbye just like what his father did earlier.
She let out a sigh. Truthfully, she wasn't anticipating the response Ryoma-junior gave. If anything, she expected a lot of teasing or even childish remarks and even end up not having the thing resolved. But no, this time, the child chose to zip his mouth and obey. It wasn't like she was expecting him to put up a fight, quite the opposite, in fact, since she had just been hoping to live and do her job as the child's normal babysitter. However, his actions just screamed suspicious to her. It was as if…Ryoma-junior was suddenly held by a string by an invisible puppeteer.
Pursing her lips, she called out, "Ryoma-sama, wait up! What do you want for dinner?"
Right then, she chose to forget her suspicions for a while and start making the child's supper.
Sakuno paused on her tracks as soon as she entered the dinning hall. There, sitting in the round table with his kid, was the least person she wanted to see.
She bowed her head as a greeting, purposely averting her gaze away from the tennis prince's scrutinizing stare (or so how she imagined it). That aside, she made it sure to get her point across that she, in no way, planned to play the game Echizen Ryoma intended to do. With that, she proceeded towards the kitchen to do the dishes.
"So," the kid started. "What did you do to my ex-girlfriend? She's been listless since I saw her."
Sakuno sighed, wondering how Ryoma-junior could talk to his father as if he was just talking to a friend. And she wondered why he was talking as if she wasn't there. She could hear them; Ryoma-junior should be well aware of that.
Probably, it was just another way to tease her, she mused.
She wouldn't give into it.
Determined, she started chopping down her ingredients. If there was one activity that could soothe and calm her panicking soul, it would have to be cooking…or, yes, talking to herself inwardly. She was probably stressed out a lot these days as her internal monologue seemed to be getting more and more frequent.
"I told her to make me fall in love with her," Ryoma answered casually.
Too nonchalant for her liking that she almost chopped her index finger.
If things would continue, she would most certainly lose her arm later.
What Ryoma said was definitely out of the script. She had to go all her way to stop herself from telling the kid anything because she was afraid that their father-son relationship would be damaged but he was there, the irresponsible father, spilling everything to his kid. It was so frustrating that she almost wanted to throw the knife to Ryoma's head and shoot him dead. Well…that was an overstatement, of course. But, even so, she always felt that the Ryoma was jerking her off around like she was some kind of a toy to play with.
"Ah…sou?"
It was embarrassing, but her jaw literally dropped at the kid's answer. It was the least thing she wanted to hear from him!
'Was it really entertaining for them to make fun of other people's feelings?' She thought, forcing back the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.
No, she wasn't crying because she was hurt. She was crying because she hated injustice. It was just frustrating that she couldn't do anything about it because they were her employers. And besides, she wasn't even shedding a tear in the first place; she was managing her emotions well, and it just made her proud that she didn't lash out in front of the two men behind her.
The whole thirty minutes of cooking was, for the lack of better word, torturous for her. She couldn't understand why she was preparing dinner for Ryoma, too, when she was just supposed to babysit his son and monitor if the child would eat his supper well. Everything was messed up and complicated that she just found it too tiring to care anymore.
"Here," she muttered with a forced smile as she placed the meals and utensils on the table.
She was forced to stop when she found the two boys staring at her. "Wha-What?" Sakuno stammered as she clumsily tried to fix her hair.
Two Ryoma's staring at her. 'Is this even legal?' she thought and averted her gaze from them as soon as she found both of them smirking.
"Not going to eat with us?" the kid asked; she could definitely hear his grin.
How was that even possible, she had no idea.
She shook her head. "I personally think that it's not proper anymore," she said, purposely not mentioning the fact that she broke up with Ryoma-junior. After all, she would never be able to predict what Ryoma would think once he learned of it. She just hoped the child would get the cue.
"Hn," Ryoma-junior merely muttered. Thankfully.
Just when she was about to excuse her self from the dinning table to help the other maids in cleaning the vacant rooms of the mansion (even if it wasn't really a part of her work, take note), the telephone suddenlyrang. A perfect justification to leave.
Before the two men could have spoken a word, "I'll get it," Sakuno volunteered herself and hurriedly went off towards the hall where the white phone was situated.
Rubbing her hands on the blue apron she was wearing, she picked up the phone to her left ear. For some reasons, she was feeling nervous just getting near the phone. Blame it to all her bizarre encounters with both Ryomas' cellular phones.
"Hello? Can I have my son on the phone?"
Sakuno breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Kumiko-san's voice on the other end. At least dealing with her was better than Ryoma's brother.
"Uhm, sure! I'll call him," Sakuno said as she readied herself to leave.
"Sakuno-chan? Is that you, dear?" Kumiko-san inquired rather enthusiastically. "I was just about to ask him about you!" she added with a laugh. "So what happened? After I left you, that is."
"E-Etou…" she trailed, a little unsure how she should answer the question. "Well…Your husband came and—"
"Really?" Kumiko-san replied in a disbelieving tone. "Honeybunch!" she called; her voice loud but seemingly away from the phone's mouthpiece…as if she was calling someone on her end.
Sakuno shifted her gaze upwards in deep though. "Ah, if you're looking for him, I'll call him from the dinning area. He's currently eating with your son," she said, unconsciously twirling the phone cord in her fingers.
"Eh? What did you say again, dear?" the older woman sounded befuddled as much as Sakuno was. "That can't be, honeybunch is just with me a while ago." Kumiko-san's tone rose at her last word making it sound as if she was asking.
"E-Eh?"
If Sakuno remembered it correctly, Kumiko-san went back to Australia two days ago.
"What are you doing there? Chitchatting on the phone? Carefree now, aren't we?"
Sakuno almost jumped at the sound of a voice behind her.
It was Kyoko-sensei, her mentor.
She bowed her head; the woman was not frowning, so she was assuming that it was just a remark to warn her. While it was still early, she had to take heed of it and resume with her work.
"A-anou, Kumiko-san, I have to leave!" Sakuno managed to say in panic as she felt her back being watched closely by her mentor. Well, Kyoko-sensei would probably understand once she explained it to her later. Besides, Ryoma-junior was currently eating his dinner; it wasn't like the kid needed constant surveillance. He was as independent as he was. "I'll just call Ryoma-kun for you."
Without hearing the other woman's reply, she placed the phone on the table gently and hastily went back to the dinning room but not after bowing slightly towards Kyoko-sensei's direction to excuse her self.
"Ryoma-kun, Kumiko-san is on the phone," Sakuno called.
She wondered why both of them seemed to freeze as soon as Kumiko-san's name was mentioned.
…To be continued
A/N: /wipes sweat. Luckily, I was able to finish a chapter before my semester break ends. I'm really sorry for the infrequent and crappy updates. I know I deserve a slap on the face for this work (I'm not even sure if the story is still worth reading) but please forgive me! If you noticed any grammatical mistakes, or if you felt that the characterization just sucks, feel free to tell me. I'd like to know your opinions especially on this chapter since I'm aware that my writing skills are getting rusty. T_T That aside, thank you if you've reached this part. /bows her head low. And oh, I personally think that there are a lot of unnecessary descriptions in this chapter. As mentioned, this isn't edited yet, but I'll try to work on it ^^'
(1) I got this idea from Majo no Jouken. They said that the evil side of women has always been the left side, that's why when they walk on the isle or stand in front of the altar, customarily, they are positioned on the left. It is also said that rings are used to seal it XD Anyway, I'm pretty much aware that it's applicable solely to women, but, for the plot's sake, let's pretend it's not?