@luckymmsg: When I'm imagining the characters, I usually just write downt the first person that came to my head. There are actually a few more members who will appear in the story...
@haruhi16: Kojiyuu is my OTP, so I love writing about them!
@Haruko: I need to throw some perverted squirrel parts in there...
@kahem: I need some lighter parts to balance the angstier Kojiyuu parts, so Mii-chan is perfect!
Day 08: December 21stUtsunomiya, TochigiHaruna stood in front of a familiar house in the early morning. She smiled when she saw the sign that read 'Oshima' hanging from on the front gate. She walked to the front door and rang the door bell.
After a few seconds, a woman with shoulder length hair opened the door.
"Good morning." The woman smiled politely. "May I help you?"
"Ah, I'm looking for Oshima Yuko." Haruna asked hesitantly.
"Micha, who is it?" Yuko asked as she walked to the front door. A bright smile appeared on her face when she saw Haruna standing here. "Nyan Nyan!"
"Good morning, Yuu-chan."
"What are you doing here so early?" Yuko asked as she gave Haruna a hug.
"I wanted to see Oji-chan and I thought I could go to the supermarket afterwards and help out a bit."
Yuko shook her head. "You are on vacation! You should relax. Go do some sightseeing with Mii-chan and Takamina."
"The two of them are still sleeping. They are planning to go sightseeing around the city later, but I already know the city very well so I don't need to explore more. Besides, I just want to spend some time with you."
Yuko reached for Haruna's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Nyan Nyan..."
"Ahem."
The two of them snapped out of their trance and turned to the other person standing in the hallway.
"Micha! I'm so sorry! Let me introduce you. Nyan Nyan, this is Jiji's caretaker, Nonato Misato. Micha, this is Kojima Haruna."
"Kojima-san, it's nice to finally meet you." Misato shook Haruna's hand. "I have heard a lot about you."
"It's nice to meet you, too." Haruna smiled warmly.
"So I guess I know why Yuko-chan has been so happy all morning." Misato said in a teasing voice.
"Micha!" Yuko protested.
Haruna blushed. "Hey, Yuu-chan, is Oji-chan up already?"
Yuko nodded. "Yup, he is up already. Why don't you go and see him while I finish preparing his breakfast with Micha?"
"Okay." Haruna nodded as she excused herself. She walked out of the front entrance and down the familiar hallway. She stopped in front of Yuko's grandfather's room and knocked softly.
"Please come in."
Haruna slid the door open and stepped into the room. She smiled brightly when she saw the man sitting on the bed.
"Oji-chan!"
"Ah, Haruna-chan!" Kentaro smiled warmly when he saw Haruna. "Yuko didn't tell me that you have come back."
Haruna walked closer to the bed and sat down in the chair next to it. "I just came back last night."
"Are you going to be staying long?"
"I'm just back for the Christmas holidays. I have to leave after Christmas since I have some affairs to take care of in Tokyo before the year end."
"I see." Kentaro nodded. "I'm sure that Yuko is very happy to see you."
"She is. I'm really happy to her too."
"That's good. Yuko is always happier when you are around. Every time after you leave, she would cry in her room. She tries to hide it from me but I could tell."
"I'm sorry, Ojii-chan, for hurting your granddaughter." Haruna looked down at her lap.
Kentaro shook his head. "Sometimes, I wonder if I'm the one who is holding Yuko back. If it's not for me, Yuko would have gone to Tokyo with you."
"Oji-chan..."
"When Yuko was younger, she used to talk about what she wanted to be when she grew up all the time. But as she got older, she had stopped. Maybe she realized that she had to take care of the supermarket."
Haruna remained silent as she listened to Yuko's grandfather talked.
"I want my granddaughter to be happy and I know she is happy when she is with you."
Haruna was about to answer when Yuko appeared in the doorway.
"What are the two of you talking about?"
Yuko walked closer to the bed and stood behind Haruna.
"About you, of course." Kentaro replied with a smile.
"Must be good things then." Yuko said as she wrapped her arms around Haruna.
"Why's that?" Haruna asked as she reached up and held Yuko's hand with her own.
"Because I'm perfect so there's nothing bad for you to talk about."
"In your dreams!" Haruna poked Yuko's dimple with her finger.
Kentaro chuckled softly at their interaction.
"The breakfast is prepared, Jiji. Micha will be bringing it to you in a little while. I'm going to go to the supermarket now. If you need anything, just tell Micha or give me a call on my cell."
"Don't worry so much, Yuko. I'll fine here with Misato-chan."
Haruna stood up and bowed slightly. "I'm going to go with Yuu-chan. I will come back again to see you, Oji-chan."
"I look forward to your next visit, Haruna-chan. We will talk some more then."
"Goodbye, Jiji."
Yuko took Haruna's hand and they walked out of Kentaro's room. They went to the kitchen and after saying goodbye to Misato, the two of them left Yuko's house. They walked along with the street chatting about different things. It was a very cold morning, but Yuko did not feel cold at all. Maybe because Haruna was there next to her. It made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. The usual walk from her house to the supermarket seemed shorter with Haruna by her side.
They arrived at the supermarket and opened the gate. Haruna helped Yuko prepared everything for the opening. The other staffs arrived one by one and they opened the supermarket right on time. Haruna went around the supermarket and helped out the various areas wherever needed. The staffs were very nice people and Haruna really enjoyed working around the supermarket.
Just as she was re-stocking the inventory, she heard someone calling her.
"Hey Nyaro!"
Haruna looked up to see Mariko walking down the aisle. "Mari-chan!"
"The squirrel working you already?"
Haruna shook her head. "I didn't want to sit around and do nothing, so I offered to help."
"Nyan Nyan, I..." Yuko was calling out for Haruna when she noticed Mariko. "Oh, Mari-chan!"
"Being a slave driver, squirrel?"
"No, I'm not! I told Nyan Nyan that she doesn't have to be here, but she resisted. Anyway, what are you doing here?"
"I need to get some flour for the restaurant."
Yuko nodded at Mariko’s response when she noticed Yuki, who had just arrived at the supermarket.
"Good morning, Yuko-chan and Haruna-chan.” Yuki smiled. “Oh hey, Mariko-sama."
"Did you just drop off your
Mayuyu at the university?" Mariko asked in teasing tone.
Yuki looked at Mariko in surprise. "Not you too! Who told you about Mayu?"
"Atsuko did."
"I've got to have a talk with Acchan. Anyway, Mayu is not my girlfriend."
"You have been going out with her, but you are still not calling her your girlfriend.” Yuko shook her head in disapproval. “How Black of you!"
"I haven't even asked her out yet!" Yuki answered quickly then she realized what she had just said.
"So, does it mean that you will eventually ask her out?" Mariko asked.
Yuki let out a long sigh. "Okay, I'm going to leave before the two of you drive me crazy. I'm going to go to the back room and check on the inventory for the noodles."
Mariko and Yuko gave each other a high five as Yuki walked away.
"The two of you, don't be so mean!" Haruna scolded.
"We are just trying to help her! She has the hots for Mayuyu, but she is just too scared to ask her out.” Yuko explained. “So, we are just trying to give her some gentle nudges in the right direction. Right, Mari-chan?"
"Yup!"
Haruna shook her head. "Okay, I’m going to leave you two here and see if Kashiwagi-chan needs any help."
Haruna left Yuko and Mariko and walked to the back of the supermarket. She found Yuki standing in front the shelves in the back room with a clipboard in her hand. She was checking the inventory with a frown on her face.
Haruna knocked softly on the door and walked into the room. "Kashiwagi-chan, are you okay?"
Yuki turned towards Haruna and nodded. "I'm okay, don't worry."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm not really mad at them. I guess I'm more mad at myself."
"What for?"
"Because they are right, I still haven't asked Mayu out yet. I... Um..." Yuki paused slightly. "I like Mayu, but I'm scared of how she is going to react if I confess to her."
Haruna smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry, Kashiwagi-chan. I'm sure that you will find your courage soon and everything will work out."
"Thank you, Haruna-chan." Yuki smiled before turning back to her clipboard. "So, how has your day been working at the supermarket?"
"Everyone here is so wonderful and so friendly."
"We are not a major supermarket, but we still manage to compete with the major chains mainly because of Yuko-chan. The staff and our customers love her."
"I know she puts a lot of effort into running this supermarket. This used to be Oji-chan's baby, but now it's becoming Yuu-chan's prized treasure."
"Yuko-chan wakes up very early in the morning since she is usually the one who opens the store. She will go home just before closing time to relief Misato-chan. Then she will cook dinner for Oji-chan and put him to bed. By the time, she is done with everything, it's very late. So, she doesn't really get a lot of rest each night."
Haruna frowned as Yuki continued.
"Even though she is tired, she would come into the supermarket each day full of energy. She is always smiling despite her tiredness. Yuko-chan is really an amazing person."
"Ne, Kashiwagi-chan, has Yuu-chan ever complained to you about struggling to balance between managing the supermarket and taking care of Oji-chan?"
Yuki shook her head softly. "Yuko-chan keeps a lot of things to herself. In front of everybody, she is always smiling. But I'm sure she is just putting up an act because she doesn't want other people to worry about her."
"She is quite stubborn when she wants to be."
"I tried to talk to her about it. I told her that she doesn't have to face everything by herself. She can share some of the burden with Acchan and me, but she keeps saying that she is fine and told us not to worry about her." Yuki sighed.
"Yuu-chan..." Haruna said in a worried tone.
Yuki smiled at Haruna. "I'm okay here. Why don't you go back to the office and see if Yuko-chan needs help?"
Haruna nodded in agreement. "Thanks, Kashiwagi-chan."
Haruna walked out of the back room and in the direction of the office.
"Yuu-chan..." Haruna walked into the office to see Yuko asleep on the desk, with various documents scattered around her.
Haruna stood by the door and watched Yuko for a little bit. Then she walked over and picked up Yuko's jacket that was lying on the couch. She gently put the jacket over Yuko. She gathered the documents that were on the table and put them into a neat pile next to Yuko. She walked back to the doorway and looked at Yuko's sleeping form for a few minutes before quietly closing the door behind her.
Day 08 End
Topic: (Kojiyuu) Where The Heart Is - COMPLETED (Read 26250 times)