"Yes...yes, ten o'clock will be fine. We'll be expecting you."
Kurusugawa Hajime set the phone handset back in its cradle, then let out a long, deep shudder.
"Hajime, dear?"
He glanced at his wife, saw her round, pleasant face marked by worry. That was all this day seemed to have brought them both. Worry for his daughter's well-being when he'd first heard the rumors, then worry over his job and his family's future when his superiors had made their positions clear. Then worry shared and redoubled with Eiko when they'd talked. Then Himeko had chosen to defy them—Himeko, who was ordinarily one of the most sweetly well-behaved children he could imagine. She'd actually worked herself into a frenzy and run out of the house sobbing, and then had come more worry about what trouble she'd get into in such a state.
Then had come the phone call, and worry over Himeko's safety had been replaced by worry over the consequences of her actions. She'd said that she'd refuse to give up this infatuation, and she'd blatantly disobeyed him. How else to explain that she'd wound up at the house of her so-called girlfriend? She'd gone and run straight to the Himemiya girl. Terror had gnawed at him, worry plain on Eiko's face as well. How far is she willing to take this? Until she destroys us all?
Maybe that was so, because by going to the Himemiya house, Himeko had insured that things would reach some kind of conclusion. There would be no quiet breakups, no apologies to his supervisor. She had apparently prevailed on her love interest to take her in, and that meant the Himemiyas themselves would be directly involved.
At nine-thirty in the evening, that fear had manifested, had come to pass.
"That was Himemiya Seiji-sama, Eiko."
"Is he...?" She couldn't even bring herself to say it, but Hajime knew what she meant. He nodded, then finished the thought for her.
"He is the son of the family head, the heir to the Himemiya Financial Group and the acting head of the family in Mahoroba." He remembered these details from articles he'd read, interested, when he'd found out before the move that the thousand-year-old family that owned his employer had originated in the small coastal town. "And...the father of the girl Himeko is infatuated with."
"Oh, no," Eiko whispered.
Why did this have to happen? he asked himself for the thousandth time. Why couldn't Himeko be a normal girl? Or, if she had to experiment with a girl's-love romance—or even if she'd been speaking the plain truth when she'd told them flatly that her interest in her own sex wasn't a sudden infatuation but a long-standing fact—then why couldn't she have picked anyone—God, anyone!—else to have her crush on? A daughter having a lesbian romance was scandalous and embarrassing, but that was all. Himeko had gone and dragged the Himemiya family into the scandal. Pitying looks and snide mockery in the break room had instead become a reason for discharge, no different than if he himself had landed the company on the front page of the tabloid news.
"What did he say?" she found the courage to ask after a long silence.
"The Himemiyas want to talk with us, face to face, about the situation with the children."
Eiko gasped again.
"It's...it's come to that?"
"Himeko went to their home. I offered to come pick her up, but he said that no, he would bring her back home tomorrow when they came to meet with us." He sighed bitterly. "She'd gone and dragged Himemiya-sama personally into this. He and his wife will be here at ten tomorrow to 'discuss the matter of our daughters' relationship.' I'm sure you understand. All we can do is apologize with all our heart, but Himeko...after today, I feel like I barely know her. Like...she might do anything. And where does that leave us? And Shiro? And Himeko herself, even?"
Eiko looked at him with mute entreaty and he pulled her into his arms, trying to convey to his wife a reassurance he himself didn't feel. His eyes flicked around the small room, at the new arrangement of furnishings and space he still wasn't used to. They'd lived there only a week, hardly enough time for it to be called a home, and yet the thought of leaving threatened to drive him to tears.
~X X X~
The morning sun was bright, spreading the soothing warmth across the sleeping form on the bed.
"Himeko."
There was no reaction; the blonde slept on, her tousled hair spread out across the pillow.
"Himeko." More insistently, now, it seemed to make at least some headway; though her eyes didn't open, her lips moved.
"Go 'way, Shiro; don' wan' get up."
"Hi. Me. Ko!"
"Waaah!"
She sat bolt upright in bed, eyes blinking madly; Chikane thought she looked so cute that she burst out giggling.
"Chikane-chan! That was mean!" Himeko pouted. "I'm still sleepy."
"Sleepy, indeed, if you mistook me for your little brother."
Himeko blinked in surprise.
"Ehhhh?"
"I believe your exact words were, 'Go 'way, Shiro.'" She struck a sexy pose, with her hands behind her head and back arched. "Do I look ten to you, and male?" she added, pouting playfully.
"Oh, you." Himeko threw a pillow at her; laughing, Chikane caught it.
"All joking aside, it's time to get up, Himeko."
"Huh? Howcome?"
"It's eight-thirty. We're supposed to be at your parents' house at ten."
"Ah! That's right!" She started to leap out of bed, got her feet tangled in the covers, and fell out of bed, her waist bent at the edge of the mattress so that she faceplanted on the thankfully soft carpet and had her rear end stuck up in the air. Chikane leered openly, then offered Himeko a hand up; both girls giggled together and shared a quick good-morning kiss. It felt so good, so right to be back together with Chikane again.
That thought, though, got the butterflies going in Himeko's stomach once again. What did Chikane's parents want to say to hers? Would it help them be together? Would her own parents be furious at her disobedience as well as at her relationship? There were so many potential problems! She hoped it would go all right, but...
Himeko showered and brushed her teeth, then dressed in her school uniform, which had been laundered overnight, although she borrowed a pair of socks to go with the shoes since her tights had been ripped. She was kind of surprised that Chikane hadn't tried to lend her clothes as well, but that actually turned out to be part of her plan.
"We don't want your parents to start thinking about you borrowing things from your rich girlfriend," she said. "It's impossible to avoid the prestige of the family name, but I don't even want to hint that you might be out for a financial advantage." Chikane sighed, then frowned. "I can't stand that I even have to think about that. I hate that people can be so small-minded."
"Chikane-chan..." Himeko touched her lightly on the arm. "Please don't be angry. It's not their fault. They just want to make sure I grow up to be a good person." She shook her head, then added, "No, if it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I knew that we would meet again, and that we'd be lovers when we did, but I didn't prepare for it. I could have told my parents about you they way you told yours about me, but I didn't. I didn't even have the courage to tell that that I knew I'd be with another girl. If I'd at least confessed my sexuality, they wouldn't have been so shocked."
"Himeko." Chikane tapped her on the nose chidingly with her forefinger. "We've talked about your claiming things are your fault when they're nothing of the kind."
"But, Chikane-chan—"
"No, no, and no again. You're giving me credit for courage, but anything I said wasn't bravery, it was a plan. Me, preparing the ground in advance for what I knew would come. That isn't courage, it's minimizing risks; it's avoiding danger, not facing it. Yet once again I failed to account for something important when planning out my life." She chuckled softly. "Perhaps I should turn in my Evil Mastermind's license, hm?"
Himeko laughed.
"You'd better do that anyway. You don't do evil very well. You couldn't even get your own victim to believe you." This time they both laughed, before Chikane slipped her arms around Himeko's waist and pulled her close.
"I love you, Himeko."
"I love you too, Chikane-chan. No matter what happens, for good or bad, I'll always love you." She tipped her head back, and Chikane's mouth descended on hers, soft and yearning. Himeko's hands slid across her lover's back, feeling the sleek play of muscles beneath the lightweight white sundress.
"It's so hard to tear myself away from you," Chikane sighed. "We'd better get going, though. I don't want to make us late."
Himeko nodded, letting Chikane go with regrets that matched the other girl's. They went downstairs, where they were greeted by Chikane's parents in the breakfast room. The meal was delicious, but Himeko was so nervous she could only eat a few bites, drawing sympathetic looks from all three Himemiyas. When they'd finished, Seiji led them outside, where the long, silver limousine was waiting at the base of the steps before the mansion portico. The driver opened the door and they got inside, and in a few moments the car was underway, gliding smoothly down the walk and out through the gates.
~X X X~
Kurusugawa Shiro's jaw dropped as he saw the limousine turn into their driveway and pull to a stop. He figured any car like that must have been making a U-turn or something but no, the moment it stopped, the engine turned off.
It was just one more strange thing in a series of them that had begun when Himeko had come home the previous afternoon. Sure, life had been weird enough as it was, getting hauled out of the only home he'd known and dragged across the country to some little town in the sticks, the exact opposite of city life in Chiba. Himeko had been all excited about it from the instant their dad had named the town, like she was all for it and happy to leave her home and friends. Getting Kuro had been really great, of course, but getting used to the new place was tough, to say nothing of a new school, coping with homework and being "the new kid" where most of the class had lived their all their lives.
But last night, things had gotten really weird, even scary! First, Himeko had said she'd she'd joined the kendo team, which was strange enough. His sister was such a girly-girl most of the time that she was a total loss. She was like, the exact opposite of an athlete! Then, though, the scary stuff had started. Their parents had gotten so serious, and then sent him out of the room. He figured Himeko was in big trouble, and that was crazy! Himeko never got into any trouble at all except by accident; she was so boring that way!
There'd been yelling and shouting, then, though on both sides, and Himeko had run off. His dad had gone out to look for her after a while, but come back alone, and a short time later had gotten a phone call which had made him really mad. And Himeko hadn't come home! Shiro had asked what was wrong, but they wouldn't tell him. This morning, she still wasn't back, and his dad was still angry, and his mom had been crying. Something really awful was happening, and they wouldn't tell him!
A driver in a pearl-gray uniform got out of the car and opened the door like they did on TV. A short man in a dark suit got out, then extended a hand to a woman carrying a file folder and helped her out too. There was something about them, the boy thought, that fit with the car. He didn't really understand it in the way an adult would, to put it into words, but it seemed natural to them to be surrounded by fancy stuff, not weird or out of place. If he'd seen the people first, he'd have expected this kind of car and it'd have seemed wrong if it hadn't been there.
The third person to get out of the car was of the same type, a tall, elegant girl in white with dark hair down to her knees. Shiro was of an age where he pretty much assumed that girls had cooties unless proven otherwise, but this one was dazzling, like a movie star or something.
The fourth person was Himeko.
"Hime...oneechan?" Shiro gaped. What was his sister doing with people like this? He scampered for the door.
"Otousan! Okaasan!" he shouted as he fumbled with his shoes. "Hime-neechan's home! She's with some people in a limo!"
That his parents didn't seem at all surprised was just one more strange thing to add to the list.
~X X X~
Kurusugawa Hajime's heart was in his throat as he met the Himemiyas at the door. He barely noticed that Seiji was a head shorter than he was. He did notice the way Himeko clung to the hand of the teenaged girl who had to be her "Chikane-chan," saw how the girl gave it a quick squeeze in turn before releasing Himeko to let her step into the foyer and perform the introductions.
"Otousan, Okaasan, may I present to you Himemiya Seiji-sama, his wife Himemiya Hayate-sama, and their daughter Himemiya Chikane-ch—san. Himemiya-sama, these are my parents, Kurusugawa Hajime and Kurusugawa Eiko."
"I apologize for the state of our humble home."
"No, the fault is ours for requesting that you accommodate our wish to meet here," Seiji responded politely. Neither he nor his wife gave any sign of the emotions they must have been feeling; their polished manners were securely in place without a chip in the facade.
He led them into the family room where they would hold their discussions. It was a Japanese-style room, and he wondered if Western chairs would be more suitable for his wealthy guests, but this was the only room large enough for them to sit comfortably.
"Can I offer you a cup of tea?" Eiko said. "I know that it won't be as good as you're used to, but..."
"A cup of tea would be lovely, thank you," Hayate replied.
They seated themselves on cushions around the low table, Eiko distributing the cups of green tea before joining them. It was, not surprisingly, Himemiya Seiji who began.
"I believe that we all know why we are here," he said bluntly. "Our daughters have initiated a relationship and, moreover, made it public. We are now presented with a variety of issues concerning which, hopefully, we can reach some form of mutually acceptable resolution."
"Otousama," Chikane said, "may I say something before we begin?"
"Certainly, Chikane."
Hajime thought that she might launch into some kind of impassioned defense of their actions, but instead she bowed to the Kurusugawas.
"I must apologize to you for my actions in making Himeko and my relationship one open to the public. I did so thinking only of my own selfish happiness, without consideration for what it would mean to her family. I can't ask for forgiveness, but I am sorry for what I did, and I wish that I could have handled things in a proper way."
"Chikane-chan..."
She sounded sincere, though with her polished grace it was hard to tell.
"I appreciate your candor, Himemiya-san," Hajime told her, trying to stay polite. Turning to her parents, he went on, "For my part, please accept my deepest regrets that this incident should have happened at all. Please do not hold this against my daughter, for becoming involved in this matter or for troubling you again last night. Though foolish, she is young and the passions of youth led her astray; it was my fault and my wife's for not properly anticipating this as adults and acting appropriately to prevent your name from being sullied."
The formality of it all makes my tongue ache, he thought. A simple salaryman has no place talking to people like this.
"Kurusugawa-san, forgive me, but you seem to be laboring under a misapprehension," Seiji said, raising a hand. "We have no desire for revenge or to inflict punishment. My wife has thoroughly reviewed your employee records—" Hajime's eyes flicked to the file she carried, but Seiji shook his head. "No, not that; that file is something different we will come to presently. You appear to be a loyal and competent professional, who earned your recent promotion through merit rather than by contacts and cronyism. Such individuals are valuable; they form the backbone of our business operations. It was utterly inappropriate for your supervisor to conflate a private, family matter with company business. The relevant parties will be informed of their errors."
Hajime was thunderstruck. That Himemiya would take such an attitude seemed impossibly generous, but there it was; he had the man's word on it. Beside him, Eiko gasped, her face lighting up, and Himeko had the same reaction. It was as if a giant weight had been lifted from him; he scarcely knew how to react.
"Thank you, Himemiya-sama," he said—although in truth, babbled wouldn't have been too far off as a description. "Your generosity...it—"
"You should thank your daughter, Kurusugawa-san," Hayate interjected. "She was the one who brought this matter to our attention so that we could act before it was too late." Her eyes flicked towards Himeko and she smiled. "Really, child, do you intend to blush at everything I say? At this rate you shall give me a complex."
"Um...I'm sorry, Himemiya-sama. I can't really help it."
"Well, we'll work on that, as well as this 'Himemiya-sama' nonsense. We did discuss this yesterday."
"Yes..." Himeko murmured, blushing even more furiously.
"You should let her have her way, Himeko," Chikane tossed her. "Okaasama has my stubbornness, you see."
The way she addressed Himeko, without honorifics at all, made Hajime want to twitch. Of course, it could have been appropriate between them if meant in the sense of lord-to-peasant, where the respect shown by the use of an honorific was not necessary, but under the circumstances he was sure that it was, instead, a matter of the emotional intimacy between the two girls. For himself, he couldn't comprehend it. Forms of address suited to lifelong friends, passionate protestations of love when confronted, kissing in public—and all within the space of scarcely more than two days. He couldn't understand how such a bond could exist, one that formed that deeply that fast.
He sipped tea, giving himself something to do while trying to make sense of it all. Across from him, Himemiya Seiji did the same, then set his cup aside.
"Now that the peripheral questions have been dealt with," Chikane's father stated, "we can progress to the less urgent but, I believe, more important matter at hand. Namely, what are we, as parents, going to do about this relationship between our daughters?"
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