First, it hurts— [side story]: When Hitomi met Naohiko.
Depictions of brief sucession mentioned on the main story, First, it hurts—, a Naoya Zen'in x Reader fic, which you can find here! (totally recommend reading that first :>)
Summary: While Hitomi and you were working on fixing a few garments, Naohiko makes a sudden appearance. You fully expect him to be insufferable, as he often is, leading you to fear for Hitomi's safety. You'd be soon surprised, however, that not only is she capable of handling herself, but that he's also perceptive to her words.
You inevitably believe there is more than what meet's the eye, Hitomi refuses profusely—but reality begs to differ.
Chapter warnings: none :> except that Naohiko is a jerk and Hitomi is a tsundere. Who would've guessed?
A/N: Now this... is a side story I would've neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer imagine writing in a thousand years. I mean, it was just so out of the nowhere, and yet, it made sense. hehe. At least for me 😅🤭This succession was referenced over here, in chapter 29 :>
I enjoyed expanding a bit more on Haruko, Hitomi, and somewhat Naohiko. Their characters tend to get a bit lost in the great scheme of things, so it was definitely refreshing to write this piece of fluff haha. Also, I'm going to write their character profiles and whatnot, I'm just having a rough time with them cause goddam… I haven't even planned most of their background, or at least in a detailed matter 😂 Will let you know when that happens.
Also, I have some extra notes at the end of the chapter over at the ao3 version; I don't usually like putting notes at the end in tumblr's format so... hehe. Just letting you know if you want to read them :>
As always, reblogs, likes and comments are always appreciated ❤❤ Happy reading!
Ao3 link.
In more ways than one, Haruko considered this to be her first official job.
Didn’t mean she wasn’t aware of what duties looked like —given the rough circumstances of her upbringing, that’s all she’d ever known— but it was the first time she was given one that came with rather handsome benefits: such as a permanent residence (even though it wasn’t hers per say, it was still infinitely better than moving from one inn to the other) daily warm food (the days of wondering what she’s going to eat are nothing but a distant memory) and most importantly, a hefty paycheck that will not only help support her, but her family as well.
That last being the most important point of them all, always has been, but even more so as of lately due to a newest addition! That being a beautiful baby girl, born just a few months before getting this job. In other words, another little sister to dote on!
Haruko knows very well she doesn’t have much of a say in what her and Hitomi’s money is being used on once in their mother’s hands, but she at least hopes it’s going towards adorable clothes for her baby sister, as well as professional photoshoots and postage for them to see!
Unfortunately, as expected from a workplace, those would be the only privileges she would get. And all that she had to do to conserve them was one simple thing, what she was hired for: cook.
Cooking was a skill that, if her memory served her well, she was always naturally inclined to. It was both the easiest and tastiest way to distract her and those around her, from their hash reality—oh, how she loathed the times she wasn’t able to indulge in it.
Thanks to her consistency, she polished her skills enough to be rightfully recognized as talented, and what started as a hobby soon became a profession, landing her an opportunity at the prestigious Zen’in estate.
Haruko, as excited she was for this change of course, she was also… concerned, for she wasn’t given a single piece of information about them or their lifestyle, or even an example of the work environment she was going to be in (She already had a basic idea due to her allegedly being hired on the spot, which for many this hinted a terrible background. But Meiko, the housekeeper, refuses to admit such accusations), only that she was to “obey their every whim” and that was it.
This only made her intrigue for her new employers grow bigger and bigger, but upon realizing Meiko wasn’t to give her anything else outside her duties, she resorted to filling in the blanks herself: the Zen’in were rich. Like, rich rich. Stupidly so, evident by lavishness that suffocated her throughout the extensiveness of their property on her first tour around the estate.
«What an unexpected twist of events! I never thought I’d have the opportunity to see a mansion like this one!» she mused as she observed the thousands of luxuries she’s never even heard of in her life «It’s like straight out of a fairy tale!»
Either way, that topic would be something that she’d grow accustomed to with due time, quickly escaping her curiosity in favor of adapting to her new life and job.
Kind of. As much as she wanted to do that… she found it incredibly difficult to do so. Because it’s only here that she realized there was a vast difference when it came to doing what she wanted, when she wanted and how she wanted it, to what others expected from her—The love and joy she once had for her hobby soon turned into a tedious nightmare, not even her favorite thing to do while cooking, which was getting a sample of whatever she’s preparing at the moment, was to save her from Zen’in regulations.
Haruko would, unfortunately, find out the hard way.
“What are you doing?!” Meiko shrilled as soon as she saw Haruko take a spoonful of the soup before her and take it near her mouth. Even if it was taken from a different spoon from the one she was using, an action performed under the most sanitary conditions, the housekeeper still labeled her actions as the highest of transgressions—she might as well spit on the kettle itself! “Drop what you’re doing, immediately!”
“Wh—what?!” Haruko cried, wide eyes and skin pale as she swirled in the direction of the piercing voice, all while continuing to carefully blow on the hot sample she managed to sneak moments prior—completely oblivious to the incriminating nature of her actions “What’s going on?!”
“What do you mean what’s going on?” The older woman scowled as she stomped her way towards the young cook, her fiery gaze showing an unwavering determination of snatching the spoon out of her hand.
Which Haruko had intercepted as soon as it present itself, consequentially forcing her to plunge the utensil into her mouth before the woman was even able to grasp her arm, caring less that the liquid was still boiling hot and swiftly swallowing its contents, much to Meiko’s shrieking dismay, who couldn’t do anything but allow her mouth to fall wide open as she observed blatant disrespect occurring before her “WHAT?! You—You spit it out! Spit it out, now!”
“It’s—I was just—” Haruko stammers as Meiko proceeds to harshly grab her by the shoulders and rattle her, as if trying to induce her into throwing up, which no matter how hard she tried, she would not relent—cause even if she was caught in the act, she’d be damned to waste perfectly good food! “Stop! I was just trying it! To see if it’s good!”
“Oh, no. I don’t think you’re just trying it! I’ve watched you for a while—you see? I’ve seen how you made it a habit to pick on the food whenever you think no one is seeing” Meiko bickered “I thought I made it clear when I hired you—the food is for the master’s only, not for commoners like you! Ah, why can’t you be more like your sister? At least she knows not to meddle in things that are not her business!”
In that way, Haruko was never, truly, like her sister.
Ever since a young age it had been blatantly obvious that she and her sister were, although physically similar, contrastingly different.
Hitomi, even when she was the youngest of the two (not anymore) was always the calm, observant, rational, non-intrusive one. The one that committed to any given instruction, down to the smallest details, and without complaint—even exceeding expectations.
So it wasn’t surprising to hear that she’d adapted well to the Zen’in estate and its innerworkings—Haruko couldn’t recall a moment where anyone complained about her, contrary to her of course, whom the housekeeper seemed to have a personal vendetta against.
But in that matter, she can’t say she’s envious of her sister, because thanks to her continuous commitment Hitomi has been dumped with nothing but layers and layers of work—on her on words:
“From simple stitches to straight up making new garments—there’s not a moment of tranquility for myself! You’d think I’m the only seamstress here!”
The last thing she knew of her sister’s tasks was her tending the clothes of the small… army? Or whatever they were (Haruko definitely doesn’t know, and yet again, this only adds another layer of mystery towards them) and fix them back to their previous state, good as new some dared to say, or even better.
And with a very specific stitching, Hitomi disclosed, which added once again to the mystery surrounding the famed kukuru unit and the Zen’in family. Just what did they do that required such specifications from her sister, but yet, couldn’t be divulged to them so freely?
Guess she’ll never know, at least not right now, when all of her thoughts were struck by the horrifying sight of Meiko grabbing the kettle, walking over to the sink, and dumping its contents on it.
“Wha—what arE YOU DOING?!” Haruko cried while rushing to the housekeeper, doing her best to stop the older woman’s errant charade, but it was too late. All of the soup was completely gone, drained down the sewer, never to be seen again… “Noooo!!! That—That was perfectly good food!” she wailed; eyes stuck on the sink as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.
“From this point forward, this is what will happen to all the food you dare touch” Meiko warns as she throws the container onto the sink, clanking loudly upon hitting the surface. “As you said, I just threw away perfectly good food for no apparent reason—in the eyes of anyone else, this could be labeled as a loss. And naturally, if I keep doing so the masters will eventually become suspicious, suspicious enough to demand a reason behind this unprompted wastage. Now, I’m usually the one to deal with these matters, but I’m feeling rather generous today to let someone else take the lead. Can you guess who I have in mind?”
Haruko doesn’t answer, nor does she need to, for Meiko understands her message was efficiently delivered upon seeing the way her face drops.
“That’s right” Meiko frowns “You. And if you don’t want that to happen again, keep your mouth shut and your hands to yourself!”
The housekeeper exits the kitchen soon after that, but not without leaving behind a proper punishment for her transgression, which was redoing that day’s meal from scratch, as well as forbidding her from eating until she’s cleaned all of the kitchen… by herself. Undoubtedly, Meiko’s attempt to shove indoctrination inside her head.
This was the other side of the coin when it came to cooking, the one Haruko did not like and couldn’t do without feeling she was slowly dying inside. Thus it came to no one’s surprise that Meiko would choose something like that as castigation for her.
With occasional snickers from nearby servants, to laments of those who wouldn’t wish this kind of predicament even to their worst enemies, Haruko was forsaken to scrub, scrub, and scrub the dirty plates, remove all grease from kitchen appliances, and put everything back in place once the masters were done—all while ruminating in the horror of the murder she’d witnesses a few instances ago, as well as the sadness of having to skip out on trying the fantastic meal she’d prepared; apparently the family was commemorating one of the many achievements of the heir, and so, only the best was to be served that day. Oh, how horrible indeed.
Trying to shake off the disappointments of her actions, and the fact that she won’t be able to eat until she’s done with this task, her mind takes this moment to recognize she hadn’t met either of the masters, or at least… not in distinguishable matters.
She at least knows some of their names, such as Ogi, Jinichi, and the heir Naoya, son of Naobito, the leader.
But outside of that? They’re all a mystery to her. It’s like they don’t even exist to her—they’re just faceless figures that pay her salary and let her live there. Ones that were to be nothing but a blur for her, that is, until their peculiar tastes helped her distinguish them from one another.
For example, Naobito likes to drink alcohol whenever he can. It’s why the fridge, as well as some cabinets around the kitchen (and some rooms of the estate…), are filled to the brim with sake and other imported beverages. The reason why she had to learn all about these “hangover remedies” from one day to the other. At one point, she truly believed that the Zen’in were harboring a house full of raging alcoholics… when in reality, it was just one.
The next one is Ogi, his younger brother, the vegetarian. Through and through—No meats of any kind, that being: red meats, white meats, or even seafood. Nothing, just… vegetables and fruits. Sometimes he’ll even skip on having any other animal-derived products such as egg, or dairy, in favor of eating… well, plants. With some rice on the side if he was feeling particularly adventurous. Haruko wonders how a man like that (or a complete family, she’d later discover) could even exist, wondering if he didn’t miss the good ol’ taste of a nicely prepared steak, or freshly caught fish… or even be married, with kids! Thankfully, her duties rarely pertain to him, with his wife, the ever-frightening Junko, tending personally for him.
From there, Jinichi. He’s the easiest to describe: he likes to eat. A lot. And everything too. Haruko is her happiest when it comes to preparing his meals, because she gets to cook for virtually hours on hours, and with ingredients of the finest quality she has never ever dreamed of seeing in her life! Of all, he’s the only one she’s genuinely curious to know better.
Does he only like eating, or does he also like cooking? Would he like to indulge in a conversation of how his food is made, or does he prefer to eat in complete silence? Is he the kind of person to send his compliments to the chef, or takes these gestures for granted, for she’s just another member in the staff’s entourage? Lastly, is he a slow, or a fast eater? She hopes to get the answer to these questions one day.
And lastly, but not least, the heir. Now he’s a figure that she’s not really that interested in unveiling due to the nasty comments that seem to plague him wherever he’s brought up. From being labeled as a complete tyrant, to nothing more than a brat, he’s what many would consider a… flee on sight kind of person.
She’s yet to make a definite decision regarding him away from external factors; but even then, she can’t help but wonder just how accurate were the nasty comments some of the staff would say whenever his entourage wasn’t around. If they were true, then she was glad she had been able to avoid experiencing them first hand… until now that is.
From there, she still had to conclude what kind of food he liked according to her experience, since whenever he was home the kitchen was tasked to prepare all kinds of delicacies. Well, even with this distinctiveness, Haruko was still able to find a common denominator amongst them all: miso soup. That, and the way she always has to prepare a bit more whenever he’s around naturally leads her to assume that of all things he’s tried in his life, this was one he liked the most.
It’s undeniable that many mysteries remained regarding their existences, from their type of personality, to what they like to do in their free time… and what they did for a living to uphold their rich lifestyle—and that was only for the ones she knew of, there were apparently still many more to uncover…
Normally, most of the staff members would’ve kept in their lane and minded their own business—but Haruko’s unrelenting inquisitiveness and need for information was… well, perseveringly what set her apart from the rest. But she shouldn’t be blamed so severely, after all, is what kept her alive throughout these boring moments.
«I’ve never seen this kind of secrecy with my previous employers» Haruko sighed as she reached over for the nearby latex gloves, sliding her hands into them before starting to work on the pile of dirty plates inside the sink. «Makes me think they’re trying to make up for something, maybe they’re ugly? Is that it?»
“Hey”
«Hmm, no. I think I would’ve heard that by now, considering how gossip seems to fly amongst the staff» she concludes, starting to diligently scrub the inside of a kettle with a sponge «Does that mean they’re handsome… no. Of course not. Just because they’re not ugly doesn’t mean they’re handsome! But imagine that? A hottie for a boss? I wouldn’t mind that, hehe!»
“Hey!”
«Though, of all people, I think I’d rather not see the heir. He sounds horrifying! A man like that can only be hideous both on the inside and the outside. But I do wish I could see Jinichi-sama. What kind of man would enjoy my food so delightfully…?»
“Uh, are you deaf?! Helloo!!!”
«Maybe I’ll be lucky to ever see the light of day after I’m done with these dishes, if Meiko-san doesn’t find it in herself to punish me with even more work» she sighs once more, placing the kettle upside down and besides the sink for it to dry before moving onto the next plate.
But before she was able to do as much, a strong grasp took hold of her shoulders, abruptly rattling her back to reality. It’s so brusquely, that she’s forced to drop whatever item she was holding back down to the sink, loudly crashing with the rest of the utensils, but not as powerful as her now thundering heart and sharp gasp.
As if it were a severe case of déjà vu, Haruko quickly reacts by swirling her head—wide-eyed and ears ringing— onto the direction of the culprit behind this crude interjection, fearfully wondering what exactly did she do wrong this time. She was being extra careful too! Oh, why did fate have to be so cruel to her today?!
Haruko is mentally preparing herself to receive Meiko’s stern face as soon as she’s done turning around, because she’s the only one who had manhandled her like this in the past. No one else had the audacity to do so… so by process of elimination, all pointed to her.
Thus, to say that she was shocked upon seeing that the person who bewildered her—far from being the housekeeper or even her sister—was someone she had never seen in her life… was an understatement.
A tall man with piercing gray eyes, slightly disheveled dark hair, deep as the night, with sharp features that only made her feel miniscule, was there instead, to receive her.
His imposing presence and intense stare, asides from rendering her speechless, also reminded her of a cat—no, a bigger, more menacing feline. Like a lion. One that’s ready to pounce on its enemy given the opportunity due to the intensity in which he silently continues to scrutinize her—and as if that wasn’t disturbing enough, her inability to recall when he entered the kitchen only worsened her petrification.
Well, if she hadn’t been so enthralled in creating the fictional, fantastic version of her employers, she would’ve noticed the approaching sounds footsteps long ago, which had begun just a few feet away from the kitchen door, passing through the frame and making their way to her side, the man repetitively calling out to her as she simply plunged deeper and deeper into her thoughts—and… and were those tears on her face?? Seems Haruko was still affected by the wrongdoings committed against her food even after hours of its occurrence—only to be treated with silence, which inevitably made him assume he was being intentionally ignored.
But moving past the murderous intent lingering behind his sharp eyes, the second thing that managed to catch her eye were his strikingly good looks—which managed to overcome her fear, now filling her with embarrassment, which surfaced through her reddening cheeks and the further tightening of her throat.
Features that were to be unrecognized by the young man as he eventually relented his strong hold on her, having deemed her full attention on him, and returning to the main topic at hand—not without chastising her, of course.
“It should be mandatory to get the staff’s ears checked before hiring them—seriously, what were you doing? You wash dishes with your hands not your ears, there’s no excuse for you to not have heard me!” He scowls, and Haruko, who was originally fascinated by his charming looks, abruptly pulls back to the present with his crude words. Her fantasy shattered upon being reminded that good appearances don’t often align with good spirits.
If she had to describe this awful sensation, it would be nothing less than being “swiftly slapped across the face” or “being dumped with a bucket full of ice-cold water”—disappointing interpretations indeed, but not enough to discourage her, since Meiko was often much worse than that. “Anyways, I’m not here to question the housekeeper’s decisions, I’m here for something else”
“How may I help you?” Haruko, after overcoming these emotional trials, queried while straightening out her rumpled skirt due to the commotion, careful enough to not dampen the fabric with her soaked rubber gloves, before finally lifting her gaze to him.
He holds on to his answer, apparently in favor of squinting his eyes at her, as if he were scrutinizing (even more) her mere existence—a contrasting, unexpected behavior from someone to have after relaying how much of a big deal it was to not be attended.
The longer he kept her on edge, the louder and faster her thoughts seemed to become, to the point where she thought she was going to blackout or something due to the lack of an answer!
Being cornered by a handsome (although a bit rude) mysterious young man was certainly… not what she envisioned. It’s not touching or romantic, it’s absolutely atrocious!
The silence was killing her—oh, what could this enigmatic man want with someone as innocent, hard-working, and absolutely wronged due to her circumstances, as her?! Is he there to double down on Meiko’s actions and make her life even more unbearable?? Or worse…
Is she about to get fired?!
That’s it. This is her end. Her life on the Zen’in estate, after only a few months, cut short due to her nature. Oh, what will her mother think?! Her poor baby sister is going to starve!!
“Where is your sister?”
Now that…
That was something she did not expect.
Dumfounded, she immediately raises her eyebrows, eyes rapidly blinking, in an attempt to reset her conscience or something and confirm that his words hadn’t been a misjudgment from her ears, or perhaps even some kind of foul play intended to toy on her already tortured soul, now involving her sister! Would Meiko really go that low just to prove a point?
Logically thinking… No. She wouldn’t, at least… not with someone as “insignificant” as her, as she always liked to compare when in the hierarchy of things, and certainly not against someone as talented as Hitomi, as stated before by Meiko.
Or maybe someone from the staff decided to play along??
Impossible, she holds a rather amicable relationship with everyone she works with. Yes, even if some of them were mocking her predicament, it was nothing… that serious (or so she believes) and if anything, they always compliment her food! So there’s no way they could’ve planned this cruel joke on her…
That only leaves one last possibility, the most exciting and hopeful of them all: the one that declares that this man… was looking for his sister… for no other particular interest… outside of a personal one?!
Once the dots connect, Haruko gasps.
Pushing through the awkwardness of being abruptly plucked from the realm of her thoughts, to encounter a rather stern yet alluring face that only a few could withstand without quivering in the spot, a sudden revelation appears. One that manages to slowly drift away her anxiety and replace it with interest (nosiness, really), eager to know how accurate her version of events is and what this could mean for her sister!
“Why—Why do you need to know that?” Haruko casts the bait by feigning indignation, hoping that this would either reveal his true intentions with Hitomi, or at least move him a step closer to. Yet, as much as she tries to act indifferent to this whole situation, she couldn’t dare look him in the eye—he remains, even with her newfound interest, very much intimidating.
“That’s a first” Naohiko scoffs to himself, a general comment thrown to the air with no expected response in mind, so it naturally passes undetected to Haruko. Still his intentions lay clear beneath his words to those that dare ponder further, revealing that his surprise not only pertained to the witnessing of her theatrical reaction for a simple inquiry, but for the questioning of his orders as well.
Were new hires always this… peculiar?
“You’re Hitomi’s sister, right?” He goes on, with a tone that would make anyone feel stupid for asking something so obvious—Haruko ignores it, in fact, she’s thriving on the fact that he knows who she is! That could only mean one thing…
That he’d done her homework regarding her sister! He was definitely interested in her, because why else would he investigate her personal life if he didn’t?!
She can’t help but inwardly smirk with joy at the thought.
“Yes, I am” Haruko plays along. “But how do you know that?”
«Is she for real? Can’t she see it’s blatantly obvious?» Naohiko huffed “Because you two are identical—like, eerily so. If it weren’t for the short hair, I would’ve thought you were her”
It’s not the first time Haruko is told that she looks like her sister, or vice versa—if anything, it was a pretty common observation when they were younger.
As time passed of course, the two began to grow out their individual features, as well as style each other in the way they liked; but back when their individualism was short, their mother often opted to dress them alike just of the fun of it—hair and everything—and this would even lead them to be confused as twins.
Could this mean that either… She looked as young as Hitomi, or Hitomi looked as old as her. Well, one year doesn’t really make much of a difference, but it’s sometimes that the sisters would sometimes jokingly discuss from time to time.
“Oh, so you’ve met her” Haruko emphasizes and close to his breaking point, Naohiko groans while rolling his eyes.
“Oh my god, just tell me if you know where she is, it’s an urgent matter!” he demands, and his words just make her already labored heart beat faster out of excitement!
«A confession, perhaps?!»
If that’s the case, she won’t stand in the way of love!
“She’s supposed to be at the south wing, helping the other seamstress” Haruko eventually divulges “But be careful! She’s quite… eccentric when she’s working, and might even—”
But before she was even able to finish her sentence, the man had left the same way he had seemingly arrived, quickly and without a trace, leaving her behind with nothing but her train of hyper thoughts for an exciting, unforeseen succession unraveling before her eyes.
Even when she was one to dislike being rudely dismissed, she took no offense to his action, simply labeling it as his own eagerness to find her sister! And how could she be upset by it? She’d do the same if she was in his shoes!
If anything, his actions gave her a much-needed boost of energy to finish her work, absolute motivation to find out what is next for Hitomi’s unforeseen admirer! Oh, will a relationship bloom from it?! Is he to be her future brother-in-law? She couldn’t wait to hear all about it!!
But for now, she’ll limit her attention to cleaning the kitchen.
After her seemingly endless shift was finally done, the first thing that Haruko does after saying her goodbyes to the lingering staff and leaving behind her “uniform”—an apron and a bandana— is head straight to her and Hitomi’s shared bedroom, where she knows is to be getting ready for the night, intending to barrage her with all kinds of questions pertaining to the succession she imagined already occurred a few moments ago.
It's all that has tormented her mind since happening, keeping her occupied, fueling in a way to survive through the tedious punishment Meiko had given her (making the housekeeper’s intentions useless, for Haruko didn’t learn anything about discipline—certainly not by gossiping of one of the masters!) and get to the end of the day.
But even when she was literally dying to know what happened, she managed to portray an incredible sense of restraint by giving them enough time to have their conversation—Haruko wasn’t about to finish her work and then find out that her sister hadn’t spoken to this young man just yet!
In that way, could one say that Meiko’s punishment wasn’t as fruitless as it seemed…?
So in between a combination of doing the bare minimum, as well as rushing her work from time to time to appear committed, she manages to adequately clean everything to perfection before scampering through the halls, quietly to not get herself into any more trouble, but quick enough to reach to her destination without wasting any more time than necessary.
Haruko eventually arrives at the chambers, with her cheeks red and quick gasps, but this wouldn’t stop her, not even when her chest pleaded her to stop for a minute to regain her breath, as she moves on to abruptly slide the doors open and storm inside.
Her entrance had been, in accordance to her behavior, so alarming and sudden that the half-dressed woman inside didn’t have enough time to process what was happening, forcing her to screech as a reaction.
“What the—HARUKO! Couldn’t you have knocked?!” the seamstress—although slightly more relaxed upon finding out who was the perpetrator behind the intrusion— sternly berates her as she rushes to cover whatever modesty she had left with her nearby clothes, the shivers she was experiencing from the cold night while changing into her nightgown were promptly discarded and replenished by the blazing agitation and indignation of her sister barging into their room.
It's intense enough for her to urgently ask Haruko to close the door immediately, less she wants her to be exposed to an unwanted passerby?!
“Close the door already! Don’t you see I’m changing?! How would you like it if I did the same to you?!”
“Oh, sorry, sorry!” Haruko breathes and in one swift movement, slams the door shut behind her. The two sisters silently look at each other, as if giving enough time for both to compose themselves. Once their breathing begins to calm down, the cook takes the first step by walking towards Hitomi and taking a seat just beside her on their conjoined futons.
Hitomi doesn’t bother to ask why she’d barged so agitatedly into their room once her heart adopts regains its healthy patter, opting instead to resume changing into her pajamas, greeting her sister while doing so—After all, it was of a common occurrence for Haruko to be all hyperactive when in a new environment.
Not that she never used to react by matching her energy, exerting herself to grow worried about every single time she arrived like this, until she eventually that realized most of Haruko’s attention dwelled in… well, not irrelevant things, but certainly not urgent, and it soon became a “crying wolf” situation between the two.
The youngest of the two still cared for her, that much is indisputable, she’s just learned to… be selective on when to “freak out”
Taking that into consideration, Hitomi could already guess what her reaction was all about.
The seamstress had learned of the small incident that occurred with Meiko just a few hours ago, and she inwardly sighs at the notion of having to hear her sister complain about this.
She’d already lost count of how many times she’d told her this, but if she’d only listened to her advice, which was to obey what the housekeeper ordered and abstain from trouble… well, she wouldn’t be getting into so much trouble to begin with!
Ah, sometimes she feels as if she were the older sister, and not the other way around.
Well, this wouldn’t be the first time she was right when discussing her sister.
However, she would be wrong in guessing that tonight’s conversation would pertain to Meiko at all.
“You won’t believe what happened to me today!” Haruko begins, slightly ruffling her hair so as to remove the imprint of having to wear all-day her bandana, before grinning and crossing her legs “But before I go on, did someone come looking for you today?”
“Looking for me?” Hitomi murmurs, standing up and reaching over for a brush on their small vanity table before heading back to her sister’s side and starting to work through the knots of her long, brown hair. “Yeah, why do you ask?”
“Oh, he did!” Haruko gasps and Hitomi, who was already confused by the relevancy of this question, sinks further into her confusion, turning her head to face her sister as if the explanation rested on her playful features. “How long has this been happening?!”
“You need to be… more specific, Haruko. I have no idea what you’re talking about”
“What do you mean you have no idea?! There was a tall pretty boy looking for you a few hours ago! I told him where you were and that was the last I heard of him, but he knew that you and I were sisters so that means that he knows you well!” Haruko excitedly explains, as if retelling her favorite scene from a tv show. And for her, that might just be it.
But Hitomi, who had never been one to partake in such things due to her attention lingering on seemingly more important things, could only sigh and grumble out of displeasure.
“Haruko…”
“Why didn’t you tell me about him, hm? You know you can tell me anything! Oh, did you think I would like him too and steal him?? That hurts me, Hitomi! I hope you know I would never do something like that to you!”
“Haruko”
“Of course not! You’re my sister and if you’re happy with him I’ll fully support you! But wait, Meiko said something about not being able to date!” she gasps, clasping her hands over her mouth at the sudden implication of the indecent “Does that mean this will be kept under covers, a secret?! Am I the only one that knows of this??”
“Haruko!”
“I shall keep your secret! They will have to kill me if they ever want to get the truth out of me, and even then, I’ll take it to the grave!” the cook proudly declares “You can put your secret in my hands, sister, I will gladly put my life on the line for you!”
“HARUKO!” Hitomi interrupted “Stop! Where did you even get these ideas from?! And what pretty tall boy are you talking about??”
“You have MORE THAN ONE?!” Haruko yelped a bit too loudly and Hitomi immediately tackled her, careful enough to not drop her back to the futon, but efficient enough to clasp her hands over her mouth and silence her. Of all things that she would have understood from her words, that’s the interpretation she decided to take?!
“No, you idiot!! I mean—why can’t you be specific for once about the things you’re talking about??” she flusters “Who went to see you?? And promise me to only respond to what I ask you in your indoor voice, or I won’t lift my hands from your mouth and I’m going to sleep on top of you!”
Haruko frowns, groaning before nodding one, two times, agreeing to her terms. It was just too juicy of a topic to speak in such a controlled tone, but if she was to get to the bottom of this (and live for the next day) then she’ll compromise.
Hitomi, although a bit hesitant, is eventually convinced by her gestures and slowly begins to peel her hands from her mouth—silently praying that this hadn’t been a mistake.
“It was a tall man, with dark hair, gray eyes. And he kind of looked like a cat—no, like a tiger or a lion!” Haruko heatedly whispered “Very intimidating. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man like that before, and I certainly didn’t think that he’d be your type!”
“Please don’t say that” Hitomi sighs, crossing her arms while carefully going through her sister’s words in efforts of figuring out who she was referring to.
«Tall, dark hair, gray eyes… Just who is she talking abo—oh!»
And then, it all clicks.
When it does, the seamstress’ confusion is quickly thrown out the window and replaced with embarrassment—no, frustration would be a more accurate description—for infuriating reasons that would be revealed soon enough.
“What’s wrong, Hitomi?” Unable to ignore the blatant anger on her sister’s face, Haruko asks.
“That’s—What exactly did he ask you? And what else did you say?!” Hitomi fretted. What happened to keeping an indoor voice?
“No—nothing!” she flinches, caught off guard by her sister’s unusual outburst. But even with this uncommon commotion, Haruko is not to deny that getting to see her sister flustered for the first time in her life was very… entertaining. “I mean—nothing bad, he just asked about you and I told him where to find you, he was quite rude though, he didn’t even say thank you!” she says, carefully leaving out the fact that she was toying with him at one point… for it might get the wrong message across.
“Of course, he wasn’t going to say thank you!” Hitomi groans, her concern reaching new highs by each passing second. “Do you even know who he is? He’s one of the masters, Naohiko-sama!”
“One… one of the masters?” Haruko doubts, slightly pressing her brows together “What do you mean one of the masters…?”
“It’s exactly as it sounds, Haruko—He’s one of the many sons of the leader! You’ve met the other, right? Naoya-sama—That’s his brother! Oh, don’t tell me you actually did something you weren’t supposed to!”
“No! Of course not! As I said, nothing bad. If anything, he was the one that was rude!” Haruko justifies, as if this could amount to anything when it comes to the job she’s going to inevitably lose thanks to her uncontrolled silliness—oh, why must she always be like this?
And as if Hitomi could read her mind, she warns.
“Not that I support that kind of behavior, but you have to be careful if you want to keep this job! Aren’t you already on thin ice with Meiko-san??”
“Oh… so you heard that…?” Haruko chuckles nervously, instinctively scratching the back of her neck. Hitomi sighs.
“I think everyone did—it’s all my mentor could talk about. Besides, I assumed something was up when you didn’t join me for dinner”
“Yeah… I was forced to stay behind while everyone left!”
“That’s why you should be careful with how you behave! More so with the masters… specifically with him—he’s… I don’t know how to say it, odd?”
“Odd?” And as if the worry of her losing her job wasn’t as important, she refocuses on what exalted her in the first place by prodding Hitomi and her perception of this young master. “What do you mean by odd?”
“We could start by how he went looking for you just to ask for me? Isn’t that weird by itself? He’s one of the masters! Couldn’t he just ask the housekeeper or something?”
“Now that you put it that way, I guess it makes sense. Maybe he just wanted to get a precise answer since, you know, we’re sisters and all that—but that’s not important! What’s important is… why was he looking for you in the first place?” Haruko tilts her head to the right, before a devilish smirk begins to part her lips “Hmmmm???”
“Oh, stop it” Hitomi rolls her eyes, playfully slapping her shoulder while her sister chuckles. “It’s just that he… well, he’s been following me for a while now, and I have yet to figure out why”
“How long has that been going on?”
Shortly after she started working with the kukuru unit.
Before that, Hitomi was able to enjoy a life of uneventful days, filled with nothing more but audits she considered menial for someone of her ability.
The seamstress before her, her now mentor, thought it necessary to test her knowledge before pushing her onto heavier tasks. After all, she was only 17 when she got admitted into the Zen’in estate, so how much would a young girl like her know about sewing?
Apparently, a lot. Because whatever obstacles seamstress placed, Hitomi was able to overcome them easily and quickly—coincidentally, the two most sought-after features for someone in her field
From there, her mentor moved her up to something a bit more difficult, and that was, to create a whole new garment from scratch, while using one of the most expensive fabrics she could find.
It’s an examination that most tailors, even those that are highly experienced might find intimidating from time to time in fear of wasting materials, but not for Hitomi, whose performance was not only satisfactory for her, but for her “client” as well, who promised to commission her in the future shall the occasion arise.
They’d be the only to leave feeling accomplished, because all that Hitomi could think of this job was: «how disappointing. I was expecting a challenge»
Now that her skills were adequately assessed, the senior seamstress decided to put her talents somewhere she thought necessary, and that takes us to the first point.
The kukuru unit were popular amongst tailors and not because they were the best dressed of the estate, but rather, for their obligation in ruining their uniforms. By their consistency, one could even say they did so intentionally, as if trying to get a rise of those poor souls that were left behind to tend to their mistakes.
Everyone knew these things were due to the nature of their job, but that didn’t mean the workers couldn’t complain, or retaliate in that matter, about it. Eventually leading some to simply… not do it. Or do a poor job once one of the members dared complain—which was rare on its own since the Zen’in weren’t known for being avid defendants of those they considered less.
Thus, Hitomi’s mentor thought she’d struck gold when she came along. With someone of her outstanding talent, she could easily dump her with all the things no one wanted to do and that’d be the end of it!
Everyone would be happy, and yes, including Hitomi, whom even though she didn’t take long to catch the seamstress’ intention and slightly resent her for that, as well as the simplicity of the job and the sudden increase it represented on her workload (didn’t she want a challenge?) still took this task with great pride since it was at the end of the day, something she continued to greatly enjoy.
And that seemed to be the story of her flourishing career at the Zen’in estate… that is, until her arrival to this new “department” suddenly made her responsibilities a bit… intriguing.
Hitomi had gotten the idea, due to the amount of work she was getting, that she was to be both the only person to do the job, and the only one who cared to do so.
Sure, her mentor was there too to help her from time to time, but as days went by, she came to the conclusion that this was only to appear… relevant to the staff, for in due time, according to the words the housekeeper confided her with, Hitomi was fated to be her inevitable replacement. A dreadful conversation she’s thankful for not being responsible for.
Either way, she knew that whatever happened outside her needles and fabrics was not to be of her business, simply staying on her lane and enjoying that fact that now, finally, after all those tedious, ridiculous examinations, she could do her job in complete solitude, without a shadowing mentor, just as how she liked it.
Or at least, that’s what she thought would occur, until one unremarkable weekday morning, fate decided to prove her wrong.
It was as clear as day to notice such discrepancy: the distant presence of someone looming just around the corner, from the usual quiet, empty halls, that is.
Hitomi didn’t think much of it at first, outside of labeling it the expected curiosity of the inhabitants towards the newest addition to their staff. But as this continued to happen, weeks into her being hired, she began to believe that this “attention” had stopped being from simple intrigue, and now, it was borderline concerning.
With enough diligence, Hitomi was eventually able to distinguish the unsolicited presence to be from a young man, one of the masters, as her mentor would eventually reveal.
Naohiko, she’d discover later on, had limited himself to observe her at a distance, with few exceptions of approaching her to either add more garments to her pile of work, or lay down more unprompted gestures in the shape of comments, such as “are you doing all of these yourself?” and “don’t mess them up”
All things that bothered her in a way one could only imagine. As she said before, she was never one to like crowds she didn’t previously approve of, or commentary from people she deemed ignorant about the subject if she hadn’t asked for it.
But perhaps the one thing that irritated her the most, was that even with all of these things… he never dared approach her directly. Not even to introduce himself. He just barged into her workplace, doubled her tasks, gave her unwanted commentary, and left!
And that’s how it continued to be up until that day.
But if her animosity for having someone trailing her wasn’t enough, her natural overprotectiveness over her family further ignited her anger towards him upon hearing that not only did Naohiko had the audacity to seek her sister the moment he didn’t caught wind of her, but he had also been rude to her!
With Haruko’s disclosure of events, it’s obvious that this situation is not going to end anytime soon, unless someone does something. And that someone was to be her.
Thus, after briefly explaining who this incredibly exasperating man was to her, effectively brushing away any indications of a romance flourishing between the two (kind of, Haruko wasn’t about to die on that hill just yet), Hitomi took on a new responsibility, which was to put an end to both his stalking and save his sister from whatever funny idea he might get!!
She was well aware of how hypocritical this was going to sound coming from her, considering how much energy she spends warning her sister to behave according to the surroundings in efforts of avoiding trouble; but because of that is why Hitomi thinks it’s of absolute importance that she does this herself!
Haruko has been struggling with adapting to her new lifestyle due to her nature, the housekeeper already having a close eye on her was bad as it is… so she certainly didn’t need anything else obstructing her stay here.
This is where Hitomi’s reputation steps in. Because she was much closer to the housekeeper, having a more respectable relationship with her compared to her sister, she knows that if she were to act… improperly, she more likely than not leave unscathed—perhaps with a small warning—but nothing she can’t handle.
It was set. She’ll wait for the moment Naohiko approaches her, and then, she’ll tell him to leave them alone once and for all.
The anticipated moment arrives just as planned, if not better than expected—Naohiko’s shadowy presence becoming apparent at the corner of her eye just minutes after starting her duties.
Hitomi had waited for this moment since she closed her eyes the night prior, patiently, diligently counting the hours, if not minutes, she’ll finally be able to see him and confront him and his stalking, imprudent charades.
She’s thankful that today her mentor had decided to not accompany her, leaving her completely alone to do what she had in mind. There was to be no one to put a stop to doing the (wrong) thing she was about to do, lessening the chances of her being reprimanded.
The young seamstress keeps quiet, feigning that all of her attention is on the torn garments before her and not on the figure at the distance who now began to approach her.
Hitomi manages to briefly lift up her gaze from her work and take a glimpse at his direction, quickly noticing that he was not empty handed for the day: Naohiko was carrying a few garments she supposes wants to be fixed by her, the reason behind his movement.
Even with her carefully concocted plan, she’s still able to squeeze in a quick minute to question his actions. Why did he personally bring his clothes? Doesn’t he have staff to do that for him? For a weirdo like him, probably not.
«But that’s good for my cause» she muses as she hears his footsteps coming closer and closer «He’ll be walking right into my trap»
And once his shadow is casted to her side, signifying his closeness, her plan begins.
“I heard you went looking for my sister the other day”
Naohiko, who had limited his interactions with her to minimal hums and glances, stops. Holding the garments he was intending to put down on her already big pile of work just a few inches above it before turning his head to see her, manifestly bewildered.
“I… did” he cautions, taking a step back to get a better look at her and her stern face. He’s never seen her like this, she’s always so… emotionless when working. Naohiko thinks he likes her previous emotions a bit better. “What’s it to you?”
Predictable, is what Hitomi thinks. More when considering the words Haruko used to describe him—rude. What a way to respond.
“A problem” Guess he’ll have to try harder if he wants to intimidate her! “That’s what it is to me”
“I fail to see how that is anyone’s problem, really” Naohiko retorted “I was just asking for directions since you weren’t here when you were supposed to”
«Supposed to?» Hitomi scrutinizes «And how would he know that? Don’t tell me he knows my schedule now!»
“All complaints and questions of my whereabouts should be handled with the housekeeper directly” She says “Thus, I’d appreciate it if you kept things professional by leaving my sister out of this—She’s in a completely different assignment, after all”
“Not that I intended to look for her again” Naohiko groans, rolling his eyes “It’s not her I’m interested in anyways”
She already had a basic understanding that someone as persistent as him would certainly be interested in her one way or the other, but for some reason, Haruko’s teasing tone from last night’s conversations suddenly flashes across her mind.
I think he liiiikes you.
Hitomi shakes the jest out of her mind as soon as it appears. Not only was it uncalled for, but completely baseless. Nothing but the result of Haruko’s imaginative creation and her need to salvage herself from boredom.
Naohiko was just being weird, rude, and highly condescending. There could be no other motive behind his words but to make less of her.
…Right?
“What about me interests you?” she coaxed, her curiosity for his defense prompting her to do so.
“You, of course, and your amazing skills” Naohiko admits, and the tone he uses could only be described as… irritation? One that pertained to having been interrogated with a stupidly obvious question, which had an even more obvious answer at that.
But she doesn’t share that sentiment, at all, because for the first time in her life, she’s caught off guard by his words.
Of all things he could’ve said, such as something about appearance—like most men would often do, because what else could he possibly say about her?— he decided to… comment on her work, further intriguing her.
“Me?” Hitomi probes, blinking.
“Do you see anyone else here?” He scoffed “Yes, of course you! I don’t want anyone else touching my clothes if it isn’t you!” And as if to make a point, he finally throws his clothes on the nearby pile. “I knew it was someone new when I got my stuff back—kind of hard to ignore since the work from the other seamstress was always so… brutish, like she doesn’t care how it looks as long as it’s fixed, or that we’re paying her to do so!
But you’re different. Your seams are always so clean, sturdy, yet delicate. There’s a certain craftsmanship behind your hands that not only shows that you know what you’re doing, but that you actually enjoy it too. Passing my fingers through your orderly stitching feels like—I don’t know, liquid gold or something, like warm bread fresh out of the bakery—So yeah, it's obvious I’m interested in you. You’re the best goddamn seamstress in the estate, probably the whole city too, and I’d be stupid to not take advantage that I have you here at arm’s reach”
At this revelation, all that Hitomi can do is stare at him, dumbfounded, while trying to process the barrage of commendations she’d been tackled with.
It’s… completely different from the outcome she expected upon interceding this situation, not even in her wildest dreams did she think this would be the path this confrontation would take.
This would be the first time anyone has ever appreciated her work the way he has done. Yes, she’s heard positive comments from others in the past, beginning with her mother and sister, and the occasional addition of the housekeeper, but outside of that, it was either dismissing reminders that this was her job, so performing less than expected wasn’t an option, or excessive amounts of work she ultimately decided to take as regards for a job well done.
Never, in any point of her life, had she’d been blessed with such a beautiful description of her work, even when the delivery was a bit harsh from his end, that one might think she was being pranked. Did he even notice the things he’d just told her?
Well, even if he hadn’t… his consistency was enough to prove that he at least, deep inside him, genuinely meant some of them. One could even think his appreciation went further than that, considering how he went on and on about them…
And to make matters more impressive, he was also the first person that appreciated her work since arriving to the estate. She’s worked with other masters, with Naobito, Ogi, and none of them had ever spoken a word towards her skills. And really, she was ok with it—there’s something about their distance that she found calming.
But Naohiko, in other words, didn’t care. And such an approach achieved him one of her milestones—he, a master of the Zen’in clan, had personally recognized her.
An honor that, alongside the authenticity behind his actions and words, was something that slowly, but surely, began to warm her cheeks.
But it still wasn’t enough to impress her away from the main objective behind their conversation, promptly returning her back to earth—although remaining humble enough to recognize his words.
“Thank you, but I’m still going to ask you to stop seeking my sister” she says, eyes darting down to the ground for a quick second, an effort to clear her slightly turmoiled head, before returning to him.
Considering his background, Hitomi expects him to go on about how it was none of her business, that if she wanted him to leave her sister alone then she should stick to her schedule or something.
But just as it happened moments ago, she’s to be received with another surprise.
“Ok” he concedes “Only if you promise to tend for all my clothes from this point forward”
With a catch, of course.
“I will not make such promises” Hitomi deliberates what is the most adequate response in this situation, considering that is not something for her to decide. If he wants to achieve such a thing, he’ll have to discuss it with Meiko.
“Alright, seamstress. But don’t say I didn’t warn you” he smirks. Naohiko continues to be an enthralling mystery to her due to his… peculiar reaction to her rejection.
“The least you could do is call me by my name—Hitomi” she says, unimpressed by his response. Even with his kind words, he manages to continue being a jerk. “If you’re going to threaten me, or if you want me to consider your request, that is”
“How… interesting, seamstress. Guess you’ll just have to wait and see” Is all that he responds with, giving her a chuckle before turning around and then disappearing into the halls.
Hitomi is left behind to wonder what his eerie words meant, as well as ruminating on the way she referred to him before his departure. Does she regret what happened? Personally, no. She did what was right, therefore no one can say she didn’t try.
Well, maybe she was a bit regretful. Her concern lying with her sister and the possible consequences she had unleashed on her due to her boldness. If only she didn’t get distracted by his compliments, then maybe things would have gone differently!
Nonetheless, what’s done is done. And all that she, and Haruko, can do is prepare for impact. For the moment Naohiko either decides to complain about her “courage” with the housekeeper, or the letter of their termination, whatever comes first.
And as day passed by, Hitomi grew more and more anxious at the seeming silence of Naohiko, trying to figure out if he’s already done something to their detriment and she had yet to notice, keeping a close eye on the housekeeper and any lingering rumors affecting their employment, or worse, the involvement of other masters…
Eventually finding out that not only neither of these concerns had occurred, but instead, he’s decided to take a completely different approach.
And that is, help her.
Whenever she voiced the need of, let’s say, thread, needles, or even a new sewing machine because the old one was beyond repair, not a day would pass before she’d have them delivered straight to her, wherever she might be, ready for usage.
Still, these deliveries could’ve been done by anyone, right? How was Hitomi so sure that it was Naohiko behind these orders, when it easily could’ve been the senior seamstress instead?
Well, because all of them were accompanied with a note that often said “Nice excuse—but you’ll need to do better than that if you want to skip work” Hitomi always rolled her eyes when reading such words, another indication that this had been the work of none other than Naohiko himself.
Not even her mentor, who had worked in the Zen’in estate far longer than Hitomi, got to enjoy these privileges in her time, simply limiting herself to file in said request with the housekeeper and hope there was some leftover budget to oblige such purchases.
Thus, if there was any lingering doubt of his appreciation for her work, it was completely eradicated with these gestures. And Hitomi… well, she began to feel a combination of feelings. Starting with confusion, embarrassment, but most of all… fascination.
And why wouldn’t she? She was getting state-of-the-art equipment to do her work to begin with. From there, Haruko has yet to say anything about Naohiko, that isn’t of a teasing nature of course, worsening when she caught wind of his gestures towards her, so at least… that’s dealt with.
These were all things she certainly found… interesting. To the point she was even compelled to repair his clothes exclusively, just as he requested.
Yet, as much as she was being impressed by him, she knew that she couldn’t approach her work in this matter. Hitomi didn’t want this to affect her job in any shape or form. Whatever he wanted to do, whatever intended with her… it would have to remain strictly professional. So, she had to show impartiality in fairness for all of those she was working for.
…
…
…
Fine. She’ll admit that after all the attention he’s given her, she did concede in at least one thing, that being allowing him to “supervise” her (as he’d like to say) whenever she was working on his garments.
A deal that was already struck without her prior consideration, it’s just that now she finally gave it her approval.
Turns out Naohiko could be quite enjoyable to have a conversation with, when he wasn’t being a jerk, of course. Which he continued to be even when she was helping him out, but the more they got to talk with one another, the more comfortable Hitomi felt to put a stop to his brattish ways whenever he got out of line.
Naohiko wasn’t very reciprocatively to her efforts, but he eventually learned to accept them. A bit. Kind of. Eh, there’s still much work to do.
But moving past that, she really enjoyed her conversations with him. With Naohiko being an avid movie enjoyer, his retellings were always lively.
Whenever speaking of his latest watch, he’d describe the scenes with such… impact, that she felt as if she were in the actual cinema watching the movie alongside him–which was something that she greatly enjoyed more, considering she wasn’t able to enjoy such things due to her limited lifestyle.
And Naohiko, on the other hand, also seemed to enjoy her company. Being able to discuss the things he liked without being interrupted or dismissed immediately after beginning was… certainly a privilege of his own he never thought to receive in his life.
Even though there were moments he wished she’d just seen the movie so she could give him some commentary about certain scenes or plot-twists. Well, that was to be nothing more than a small setback in the great scale of things. He still looked forward to their conversations, and if he truly wanted her to witness a certain keypoint with her own eyes, he'd set up a T.V. and invite her to watch said movie, or even take her to the movies. Find out what kind of genre is her favorite white at it… Ah, someday.
Given their growing familiarity, it was only natural that these conversations would begin to occur more and more often, expanding from the moments she was working on his garments to general sewing tasks… or when she wasn’t working at all.
For today, Naohiko found time to accompany her while she was working on a rather important project, creating a kimono for one the future wife of one of his many relatives.
The fabric was of a lovely navy blue, decorated with patterns of white flowers and golden intricacies—perfectly matching the seasonal trends. There was such beauty with the combination, that the second eldest of Naobito’s sons chose it as a topic of discussion.
“You like fabric, don’t you, seamstress?” he says. Naohiko is sitting beside her, intently watching her focus on the work at hand as he lazily leans back on his arms.
“Hitomi” She cautions, eyes diligently on the sewing machine so as to not sew her finger. She’d press the pedal ever so softly from time to time—the fabric for that garment was one of those that, if not cared for carefully, will move alongside the machine. An inconvenience for sure, but she’ll get over it soon enough. “But I guess. Would be kind of ironic if I didn’t, considering what I do for a living”
“I thought so” he says, eyes now on her hands. Naohiko wonders if she’d pricked herself before with a needle, or has she always been this cautious? “I’m just saying so because the villagers are going to set up a market tomorrow, and sometimes a merchant comes with really good fabrics—thought you’d like to know”
“Is that where you get your clothes?” Hitomi asks. She’s noted that his clothes were far from average when it came to quality, leading her to believe that aside from being a movie critic, he was also a fashionista. Would make sense considering his attention to detail with her stitches, no regular mortal would bother to care about such a thing if they didn’t like fashion, at least a bit. “I guess I could check it on my day off, tomorrow”
“Really? What were you planning to do?” he tilts his head.
“Nothing much” she admits, taking her foot off the pedal once stitching the pieces together, pulling it towards her to cut the remaining thread and move onto the next section. “Probably send a letter to my mom, or just hang around at the estate with my sister since she still has to work”
“Well, your sister is going to be here every day so I still think you should go down to the village and look around, maybe buy some fabrics to make something for yourself. The mail is also there so, two birds one stone”
She hums pensively.
“What?” he raises an eyebrow “I mean, surely you know how to make something for yourself”
“Obviously” she murmurs, still looking at her work. “It worries me there was even a doubt about that”
“Not from me” Naohiko responds “Because I know for a fact that there's no one else that can do what you do”
Hitomi holds back a smile. She could listen to that phrase all day…
“Ah, well, that’s just my suggestion” He shrugs “Thought it was a good one since you seem like the type of person that would look good in everything, I mean, you’re pretty and all, that’s already a huge advantage on your side”
At his words, Hitomi’s mind comes to a screeching halt—both figuratively, and literally.
Naohiko’s implicit admission, and the implication behind them, not only managed to render her mind blank —still attempting to process the veracity of them, while being nothing less than shocked— but also, rattle her out of her focus by making her accidentally press on the pedal a harsher than desired, derailing her stitching to go beyond where she intended to finish; and as if that wasn’t enough, crookedly as well.
The rigorous sound of the sewing machine manages to momentarily snap her out of trance, forcing a quick gasp out of her as soon as realizing her mistake and hastily reaching for the seam ripper in an attempt to salvage her work.
But even with these combinations of successions effectively spiraling her down a turmoil of thoughts and emotions, between worries that her work might become unfixable if not proceeding accordingly and attempting to put the blame of her distraction on him, there was one question that prevailed amongst all.
Did he… did he really… just call her pretty?
That fact is to be undisputable, even when Hitomi still had doubts of it, but whatever the motives behind those words, they would continue to remain a mystery as he moves on to tease her with his following words.
“What happened there, seamstress?” Naohiko says, doing nothing to hold back his hyena-like laughter, entertained by her reaction. He’s completely oblivious to the inner workings that lead her to act that way, and his actions are certainly not doing anything to help him understand. “Thought you were the best in the area, haha!!”
“Oh, shut up!” she snaps, face tinted red as she furiously continues to rip the seams of her askew work. He simply continues to jest “If you’re not going to help, then don’t bother me!”
“Why are you so angry? You’re not hurt, are you?” He asks, inching closer to take a better look at her hands, carefully grabbing her wrist to do so—her cheeks further flare at the motion. “See? Nothing bad, learn to take a joke from time to time, Hitomi. Life is much more than a wrong stitch, but if it bothers you so much, I’ll buy you more fabric.”
Embarrassed and emotionally exposed, but mostly the first, the seamstress pulls her hand back to her chest as soon as she could, leaving it there as her mind plunders yet again, into another turmoil of emotions.
Oh, she’s definitely in it now. In Naohiko’s trap, that is.
The one that intended to humiliate her, of course. Because why else would he say something like that if it wasn’t with that goal in mind? And after all she’s done for him…. Offering exclusivity to his garments when he knew damn well that wasn’t available in her options! How infuriating indeed.
Hitomi was only grateful that her mistake wasn’t that grave to begin with, a quick fix once she regains her composure and that she’s relatively unharmed, aside from getting emotionally flustered.
As well as relieved that Haruko hadn’t been around to see such an exchange, because if she had, it would be more than obvious that she’ll never get over it. Her sister would be prompted to go on and on about how he likes her and what not, till the end of time.
Or at this point, how she’s starting to like him too. Because even when irritated by his actions, she still managed to find some charm behind th—.
What?
Did she just… did she just think that?!
No, of course not!
She doesn’t like him. That’s absolutely ludicrous. Hitomi doesn’t like him; she only likes his words— and that’s completely different.
After all, who doesn’t enjoy being recognized by their work and skills, ones that she’d honed throughout years and years of dedication? And only for this moment, appearance as well? Everyone, that’s who!
It was only natural that Hitomi would feel somewhat… mesmerized by these attentions, and subsequently the person they came from—beginning to think that he wasn’t so bad looking himself—
Oh, there she goes again, getting distracted by him!!
Besides, she had to remember that any kind of fraternization amongst staff members was strictly prohibited—more so with the masters! — and Hitomi cared too much for her job and what it meant for her family to be clumsy and lose it!
So, in other words, even if she wanted to… pursue something, she knew she couldn’t.
If only her sister’s persistence (or perhaps quick observation?) weren’t the first ones to make such commentary, perhaps she wouldn’t be in this dilemma to begin with. Life was certainly easier when all that she had to worry about was doing her job correctly, sending money to her family, dote on her baby sister, guide her older sister, and overall… survive.
But even when she’s carefully planned all of her life up to his point, she won’t deny that of all things she imagined happening at the Zen’in estate, getting close to one of the masters was certainly not amongst them.
Despite this discrepancy, she’s not going to allow herself to indulge in it. Not even when she already began to find some charm in Naohiko’s… vices and virtues, it was something that had to stop right then and there, for her sake.
That doesn’t mean she can’t write about it to her mom next time she goes to the post office, or that she’ll be able to stop her sister from spreading the wrong idea, already envisioning how she’s going to pester about it from the moment the sun dawns to when it sets—although Hitomi suspects she’s already past that point.
Or even… perhaps… daydream about an alternate universe where she’ll be able to pursue a relationship with him… without it having to interfere with her other responsibilities, getting to enjoy his attention full heartedly, from time to time.
No, that will not come to be.
She will never accept wanting to revel in such a thing. She’ll never concede to his unprompted attention, irritating companionship, or even dumb antics.
Hitomi will never admit Naohiko’s presence in her life…
At least, out loud.
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