Title: Sawada Shin's Day Off
Summary: One man's struggle to take his mind off his homeroom teacher.
Rating: T
Disclaimer: The usual blurb (i.e., Gokusen and its characters belong to Kozueko Morimoto; OHHC and its characters belong to Bisco Hatori).
Spoiler warning: The events are centered around Chapter 9 of vol. 7 of Gokusen.
A/N: Work in progress.
Paradiso
Sawada Shin's date came in the form of a bubbly sixteen year old girl named Hiromi. While she didn't turn out to be the sexy vixen that Ucchi fantasized, Shin understood that she was what people conventionally referred to as the kawaii type. "She likes ikebana and chanoyu," was the full extent of Kinoshita's introduction. Flower arrangement? Tea ceremony? You've gotta be shitting me, he silently cursed Kinoshita to a thousand years of bachelorhood.
The course of the date faithfully followed the time-honored scripts of shoujo materials. They strolled through all the requisite trendy shops in town, and Shin somehow got cajoled out of 3000 yen for some trinkets Hiromi wanted; they spent some time at an arcade and had their commemorative pictures taken at the photo booth. He went with her lead docilely, voicing no objection over the itinerary she prepared. It wasn't a roaring good time (like sleep-walking, except that I'm wide awake, he thought), but he felt more like his old self, of the pre-Yamaguchi vintage.
"Oh! Oh! Let's go there next!" Hiromi pulled him toward a building with an ornate sign that read Caffe Paradiso. "My friends say they have the best tiramisu!"
"Isn't this place amazing?" She squealed. "Don't you agree? French cafes are the best!"
Except that this place is clearly trying to be Italian, you dolt, Shin flashed a contemptuous grimace, but Hiromi was too busy gushing over the cherub-studded fountain to notice.
"From what they charge, you'd think they could afford a few more lamps," he muttered to himself.
"Aww, no no, I think the lighting in here is perfect!" She giggled. "It's very ro-man-tic," she said emphatically, taking this opportunity to scoot her chair even closer to his.
"My friends will be soooo shocked to see us like this! Ha ha! They think you look like MatsuJun, you know, the actor from Hana Yori Dango? It would be sooooo funny if the paparazzis mistook you for him, right? I read a story like that in a manga just the other day! Hee hee!"
A shoujo otaku on top of Ikebana and chanosu? She's a little scary! Shin poked at the artfully presented pastry with his fork. The distraction strategy was a stupid idea after all. My wallet is already done for, and I'm not sure how much more of her blatherings I can take... Through the window, he idly scanning the busy street scene outside. A slender figure in pigtails suddenly snapped into focus; she was holding hands with a man. Yamaguchi!? A sudden bolt of energy jolted his body, and the uneasy restlessness he felt earlier returned in a flash.
Eh? No. False alarm. It's just a 'tween and her father. He slumped back into his chair. Moron, what were you expecting? Even if it were her, what's it to you? Besides, it's not like you can abandon this ridiculous date in the middle. It was a point of pride for Sawada Shin -- once he started something, he never failed to follow through.
"... and the song was like, so amazingly moving, y'know? The first time I heard it, I totally cried, and ..."
Shin drifted in and out of Hiromi's chatter. Discreetly, he checked the time. Damn, has it really only been 10 minutes? No choice but to sit here for a while longer then. In fact, he was surprised to discover that the entire duration of the date had not past the 30 minute mark. When he was on one of the stake outs with Yamaguchi, hours passed by in the blink of an eye. He chalked it up to "the excitement of being on an interesting Yazuka mission," but if he were honest with himself, he would have to acknowledge that time always slipped away quickly when he was next to her, whether it was a conference on the school rooftop or at that dopey school festival or just everyday class time.
"... from Dior, and it's maybe too revealing! I don't wanna wear it in public, but if you..."
If this were a date with Yamaguchi, where would we go? The idle thought crept in to his mind from nowhere, and it embarrassed him.
"You're blushing! That's so cute, Sawada-kun!"
Shit. Must. Get. Away. Now!
"Oi, whadaya say we blow this joint." Shin was so relieved to have escaped the claustrophobia-inducing Caffe Paradiso that he hardly noticed that he had descended with Hiromi right into the den of Madame Hades, Fortune-Teller of Love.