I'm Missing You
Everything seems to be falling apart for the guy formerly known as Desarm, when his love decides to focus on running her father's company and leaves Japan for America. But is that all that's keeping Hitomiko Kira there? Hitomiko and Saginuma centric.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inazuma Eleven or any of the characters. They are solely the property of Level 5.
Italics- for thoughts, memories, emphasis or letters/emails.
Rest
Hitomiko woke up feeling slightly groggy and very hungry. She also had a dull headache, but that mercifully went away when she rubbed her temples. 'Wait wait. How did I end up in my room?' she wondered. 'What time is it?!' She grabbed her clock and her jaw dropped at the display: it read 5:12 a.m. She had been out of it for all of the afternoon yesterday. Looking down she found she was wearing her comfortable blue cotton pyjamas, which she hasn't worn for ages for the simple reason that Saginuma bought them for her. Briefly wondering who dressed her (and blushing at the idea that it might have been Saginuma), Hitomiko swung her feet out from under her blanket, and sat on the edge of the bed, her head in her hands. When she was able she looked up and stared at the white wall across from her. Calmly putting aside her horror of losing time, Hitomiko began to recall what had happened after she had fainted.
She had woken up on a hospital bed to find an elderly, kindly-looking nurse taking her blood pressure, while Hiroto and Osamu sat around with worried expressions. They perked up the instant they saw she was awake. While the nurse silently continued with her administrations, Hiroto wasted no time in reporting Hitomiko's collapse and Osamu's rescue. It seemed like all her all-nighters had finally taken its toll on her. Osamu, her silent hero, averted his gaze to the white tiled floor. Hitomiko was instantly reminded of how sweet he is when he's modest.
When the nurse (her name tag said Browne) finally took the apparatus off Hitomiko's arm, she told her in a gentle but firm tone, "Your blood pressure was really low, and you obviously are not getting enough sleep and nutrition. You will need medication but more importantly, you must rest. Most probably for a few days."
"What!? But I can still work, right?"
The nurse had sighed and for a moment Hitomiko was reminded painfully of her dear mother. "I suppose you can, but I suggest you take it easy completely."
Then Hiroto butted in. "Big Sis, you need to take a break! The office isn't going to fall to pieces just because you're not there."
She would've retorted if Osamu hadn't spoken up in that low, calm tone that she hated and loved. "Please, Hitomiko." Just that short sentence; that was all it took for her to agree for at least a couple of days' rest (as long as she spent it sleeping rather than working, she should be just fine and will get back to work immediately). Then at last Nurse Browne set them free. It was the minute they had stepped out the building that Hiroto suddenly took charge, declaring that both he and Saginuma would accompany Hitomiko to her apartment and they will make sure she rests. Much to her horror, Osamu had agreed in a heartbeat.
She must've fainted again at that point because that was the last thing she remembered. No wait, she did wake up a couple of times on the way home but then that was it.
She groaned into her hands. 'Unbelievable!' she seethed. 'I spend all this time trying to get away from Osamu, and now he's here in my home!' Won't he give up already?
Ah, speaking of which... Hitomiko slowly got off the bed and went to the bedroom door. Pushing it open, she was rewarded with nothing but silence. Down the hallway she saw a small glow from the living room. Approaching it, she poked her head around the corner, and smiled ever so slightly at the sight before her. Underneath a tall lamp, the only light source currently switched on, , Osamu was deep asleep in the armchair, head bowed, arms folded and ankles crossed, and a book close to sliding off his lap; the picture of peaceful. He snored quietly. 'He's really quite mellow now,' Hitomiko mused, gazing down at the sleeping youth. She watched as Saginuma frowned in his sleep and then relaxed again.
He just took on everything so seriously, from soccer to... well, life. He was certainly more grown-up than any adult she knew. But then, that is what attracted her to him, that passion and drive that lit a fire in her too. His maturity and dependability that allowed him to understand her better than anyone else belied his seventeen years. Even so, she also liked it when he was softer with her, loved that sweet, kind, teenage side that was reserved only for her- 'Wh-what the hell am I thinking?! I shouldn't be thinking these things anymore!' She shook her head violently, trying to dispel those forbidden thoughts.
Then she looked over at Hiroto. Her brother, on the other hand, was sprawled face-down on the sofa. He looked like he had dropped from exhaustion; she wondered what he had been doing to put himself in that state. 'You haven't changed in the least,' she thought, shaking her head. 'Still trying to do more than you can handle.' Just like she does.
She had to admit, besides for their love for Father, trying to do things on their own was something she and Hiroto at least have in common. Hiroto unconsciously buried his face into the sofa, pressing his face in deep and mumbling incoherently. Hitomiko's mouth twitched at this action… at this moment, he really did look like the typical teenager. When they first met the red head had been a quiet toddler, too shy to play with the other kids and he only ever really brightened up when her father came to visit Sun Garden. 'He was so cute and tiny back then; now look at him, a young adult who tries too hard to carry the whole world on his shoulders.' He really looked a lot like him, even in sleep…
"Miss Hitomiko, are you sure you want to do this?" Hitomiko sighed at her assistant's question, which he had repeated about 3 times already and each time she had answered the same.
"Yes, Stephan, please reschedule the Board meeting for next week, Friday."
Stephan asked one more time, "Are you absolutely sure? The meeting has already been resche-" Finally Hitomiko lost her patience. "For God's sake, so what?" she hissed in annoyance. "They may be the Board, but I'm the goddamned president!" and with that she hung up on his stunned silence, and then leaned back into her pillow. She flung an arm over her face in frustration. 'Damn, why do I have to get sick?!' Was it her or was everyone falling sick all over the place? But it can't be helped; she needs to rest so that she can get well to go back to work. That may include removing the stressful elements like the all-nighters, the diet of cup noodles and coffee, the constant poring over the computer which certainly did nothing for her eyes. She sighed wistfully. If only it were possible to get rid of the Board too, and then her stress-filled days would be over. As of yet, the most she could do now is delay having to meet with the old windbags until Friday, although doing so could return to bite her. As much as she didn't like the Board, having to make last-minute rescheduling of a meeting – however incredibly dull and superfluous the meeting might be – sets a bad impression, not that they are ever impressed with her efforts to get Kira Industries back on track in the first place. It was like they thrived on making her job even more difficult than it already was. Hitomiko often wondered if they had given her Father just as difficult a time too when he was president. Or maybe the old men just resented her for taking over?
She smiled a little. The looks on those wizened faces when she arrived nearly half a year ago and announced that she was taking over the president's, her father's office were priceless. Since then the old men have been trying her patience and sometimes undermining her authority as president – they even drop rather obvious hints of how much better the company will be if one of them was in charge.
She didn't want to think of what that despicable group might be plotting during her absence.
"Dammit!" she moaned softly. She shifted her arm and stared up at the ceiling. Well, there is nothing she can do about it now but focus on catching up with her rest. Hiroto was right; the office wouldn't fall apart without her there. After all, Kira Industries had survived having its last president arrested and several other intrusive investigations from God knows how many other authorities. She can afford two days off.
Who knows, maybe she can use this to her advantage somehow.
"Hitomiko?"
She sat up at the sound of Osamu's voice at her door. "Yes?" she replied coolly. The young man behind the door remained silent so she said, her voice touched by impatience, "Just come in already, Osa- erm... Saginuma." Damn, she nearly messed up there. She had to regain that distance between them by calling his last name; the familiarity should've been the first thing to go, it was her mistake to keep thinking of him as 'Osamu', her former lover. But she only realized her other, more recent mistake when Saginuma pushed open the door and entered the room. Seeing him standing at the threshold, Hitomiko was instantly reminded of the youth's frequent bold entries into (or break-ins, as she termed them) her home back in Japan. He would sneak out from the Sun Garden compound and actually trek some three or four blocks to the Kira mansion just to see her. They would talk, watch a DVD, cuddle tenderly, or just passionately make love. Although she scolded him for recklessly doing such things, she really did enjoy their nights together; no kids, no servants, no school, no work, no soccer team – just them freely being together in all sense of the word.
Hitomiko felt her face flush at the memories and she quickly looked away, turning her eyes to the suddenly interesting pattern on the cuff of her pyjama shirt. 'Dammit, this isn't the time to think like that!'
"Yes, what is it?" she asked, pretending to rub her eyes so that the embarrassing flushed face couldn't be seen. Good thing he stood at the door and respectfully kept his distance, but dear Lord, forgetting how irrational he could make her just by being himself isn't going to be easy when he was right in front of her!
"Have you had breakfast yet?" Osamu asked. Hitomiko blinked and frowned at the figures on the clock. 7:35 a.m. blinked back at her – she had been awake for about 2 hours. For some reason, she felt a little strange, like there was something she should be doing but she wasn't doing it. Then it came to her. 'Oh, of course! 2 hours ago I would be in my office, well immersed in work and Stephan would be bringing me coffee.' She'd gotten so used to being at the office at the crack of dawn, it felt weird now to still be at home in bed. Remembering that Osamu was still waiting for her answer and she was sitting in a tumble of blanket and pillow… she hurriedly got off the bed. "No, of course I haven't Osu- Saginuma," she answered, tossing her hair haughtily, pretending her heart was not suddenly drumming against her ribs. She had just fully taken one look at her love- former lover (she has to stop forgetting that!), and realized his white t-shirt was stretched tight against his chest, the short sleeves served to accent the toned muscles of his arms... the same chest and muscles Hitomiko had run fervent hands over many times before. "And you, Saginuma?" she asked, now running her fingers through her hair, mentally cursing him for wearing the damn t-shirt.
"No. I wanted to check on you first," he replied. If he heard her address him by his surname, he gave no sign that he'd noticed. Hitomiko narrowed her eyes slightly. Was this really the same guy who had boldly followed her to America and had stubbornly declared his love to her in an alley? 'Hang on, why am I getting annoyed?'
"Well," she said briskly, as she stood up from the bed, and went to the door. "Breakfast isn't going to make itself."
"Where do you think you're going, Hitomiko?"
Hitomiko, who needed to get out of the room before her resolve weakened again, was annoyed to find the exit blocked by the very thing she wanted to get away from. "To the kitchen," she answered pointedly. "To make breakfast."
Saginuma sighed, closing his eyes briefly and then opening them again to gaze down at her. "You can't," he said firmly. "You are supposed to rest."
"You're joking!"
"If you think I am, then you're attributing me a sense of humour I didn't know I had."
"But I'll just be in the kitchen! It's just down the damn hall!"
"Please, Hitomiko. Just this once." The woman turned her back to him and went back to her bed.
"Fine!" she huffed darkly as she pulled the large blanket over her legs and leaned against the pillows, arms folded. 'Damn, every time he does that, I can't resist,' she fumed, tossing her hair in annoyance.
"I'll bring in your breakfast when it's ready," Saginuma added over his shoulder as he left. Hitomiko sighed heavily, relaxing further into her pillows. Breakfast in bed is tad too much, even for Saginuma. It's not like she was too sick to move... When will she get over this?! Suddenly the next two days looked to be very long indeed... two days of nothing, how will she make it? "Argh! I can't sit here just doing nothing!" she snapped at the empty room. "Oh great, now I'm talking to myself," she muttered darkly. She pushed the blanket right off the bed and planted her feet firmly on the ground. "Honestly, who does he think he is – my husband?" she continued, pulling her pyjama top over her head, her pants following. He had continued to call her Hitomiko even when she used his surname; maybe she should remind him to call her Kira from now on, with the honorific san for good measure.
After she was done agreeing with herself on this course, and pulling a shirt on, another matter came to mind. Hitomiko narrowed her eyes as she recalled Dr. Haruno's request for the Aliea Academy documents. It bothered her little that the young doctor knew of those research and experimentation files (though it bothered her to think children being experimented on, period!). After all, Dr. Haruno was a scientist as well, sort of, so the expectation that even a secret project should be recorded somewhere is certainly common sense. The problem however is that most of the files had been taken away as evidence by the police and the other documents were destroyed in an explosion at Aliea Academy's headquarters on Mt Fuji. And it gets better: the very scientists who were on board with the project had since disappeared. The work they left behind was probably incomprehensible to others... Hitomiko frowned. "This is going to be more difficult than expected."
Meanwhile in the kitchen, Saginuma was in the middle of raiding the place in search for breakfast when Hiroto slouched in. After watching him for a few moments Hiroto mumbled blearily, "Well, aren't you the forager."
"So, what are we going to do about those documents?" Saginuma asked, ignoring the jibe. Hiroto had been very busy yesterday, pushing himself to exhaustion with whatever it was he had been doing; he can allow the younger boy a moment of sleepy bad humour. He paused in his futile search for edible items in the (more or less) empty fridge and pantry ('Just what the hell has Hitomiko been eating this whole time?') to slip into the chair across from Hiroto, who now sat at the dining table. The younger boy had been staring off thoughtfully into space, his chin on his left hand while the fingers of his right drummed on the table and he now frowned at the question and did not answer. He had already explained earlier that Dr. Haruno needed the research documents compiled by the scientists working on the Aliea project, some of which should include the modifications that were done to the Sun Garden children, in order to build a case to get funding. However, for obvious reasons, the files were not likely to be handed over to them so easily. Acquiring the reports is their first obstacle. Saginuma decided that it would be useless to discuss it further if even Hiroto didn't have an idea on how to get them. 'Tch, just when there's hope, an obstacle appears to hinder us!' Saginuma fumed irritably. A dull throb from behind his eyeballs forced him to think happier thoughts to prevent another dizzy spell (soccer; Hitomiko; breakfast; that new book he was reading; Hitomiko). Another sick person is the last thing they need right now.
"Don't worry, it'll work out," said Hiroto suddenly, his lips curled into a smile. Saginuma cocked an eyebrow at the other's sudden optimism. But he sensed that even Hiroto couldn't pull off his usual confidence this morning. He chose not to comment further. Instead, he drew himself to his complete height and announced that he shall go out and buy some food. "Wait!" Hiroto said suddenly, leaping up from his seat. Saginuma flinched at the interruption and looked at his friend in askance (and a little of annoyance). Hiroto gave him a sudden genuine grin and explained that he will go buy breakfast, so how about Saginuma stay with Hitomiko, to keep her company and stuff. Before the tall male could stop him, the young redhead was already bundled up in his jacket and then out the door. The atmosphere in the room got a bit awkward when the former alien turned to find Hitomiko, dressed informally in a light blue short sleeved t-shirt over matching sweatpants, standing at the counter in the kitchen, staring right at him. It was obvious she heard what Hiroto was really implying, from the way her eyes narrowed in his direction. "He knows, doesn't he?" she asked. Saginuma nodded. "And… uh, is it only Hiroto who knows?" Again Saginuma answered with a nod.
Hitomiko sighed and then, to his surprise, she came over to join him at the table, taking Hiroto's vacant chair. The two of them sat in silence for a while, him wondering what to say to Hitomiko that won't make her snap at him, and her mentally cursing Hiroto for this situation; both avoiding eye contact. 'Actually,' Saginuma thought. 'This is exactly the same way we were in the beginning, before I got up the courage to ask her out.' But as comforting a thought as that was the silence got more strained to longer they sat there.
Hitomiko finally couldn't take it anymore; she leaned back, folding her arms and stared evenly at the young man across the table. She asked as civilly as she can, "So Saginuma, what have you been up to since I left Japan?" The addressed youth blinked in surprise at her question but told her anyway. There was nothing new as Hiroto had already told her most of it that night he visited her, but she wanted to hear it from Saginuma himself. As he spoke, Hitomiko watched him closely, falling back on to the old habit of observing him. He always got more relaxed when he talked about mundane things, just like now as he related tale after tale of the various part-time jobs he took. She had to hand it to him, when Saginuma got talking he can really tell a story. He confessed that he did it all to save up for the fare to America, causing Hitomiko to scowl and making him smile cheekily at her embarrassment. "D-don't laugh, dolt," she huffed, flipping her hair back. "You really wasted your time coming here." But Saginuma smiled at her knowingly, as if he was saying, "We'll see about that."
Hiroto waltzed through the supermarket aisles, glad that his sister's apartment building was at least close to the shopping district. It was still early so only a few people were out and about with the same idea as Hiroto. His mind briefly wondered back to the apartment, and he felt a bit bad about leaving Saginuma hanging like that. But his shook his head. 'Saginuma is a big boy, he can handle himself.' But he couldn't help but still be worried for him. Hitomiko isn't the head-in-the-clouds-dancing-in-the-air sort of person when it came to romance, he knew she was far more pessimistic… maybe pessimistic is too harsh but Hiroto honestly couldn't think of his sister really being in a relationship of the amorous sort. She had it hard enough with familial relationships. Who would have thought the brisk and efficient Hitomiko Kira to be in a secret, forbidden relationship, the stuff of romance novels?
'But you sure are full of surprises, Big Sis,' he chuckled softly.
As he examined the shelves he did not perceive the presence hidden in the next aisle, watching his every move through the gaps in the shelves. The watcher waited when red head stopped and followed at a distance whenever he moved, and each action was written down in a small notepad. At last Hiroto went to the counter, paid for bread, eggs, bacon, bagels, a carton of milk and a box of tea-bags, and then exited the supermarket with his purchases. He was followed all the way back to the apartment building, but his unseen hanger-on did not trail him in, instead deciding to hail a cab and head to Kira Industries. Once there the spy went straight up to the office of Board member Koji to report. The old man was at his desk as usual. His lined face gave nothing away as he listened to the insubstantial report and then he waved his spy away, with instructions to keep up the surveillance on Hitomiko Kira's "guests". There were still some other things that needed investigations and anyway there was always another spy within the building. Can't leave the president of Kira Industries to have her own way, can they?
Hello minna-san! I'm back, and yes, this fic is still alive! Ah yes, Koji, like Stephen, is not a canon character from any anime; I don't think it needed to tell ya'll but I thought it might be. Ya'know OMG I was so lost, and just lost, you have no idea how lost I was *sob* I have no idea why this chapter was so freaking hard! But I finished it at last; I was practically jumping out of my squeaky swivel chair in joy! I am now looking forward to starting on the next chappie!
Anyway, please do R&R, it's what keeps me from going off on an undetermined hiatus… oh wait….