[MACCHAN CREATIONS] Chapter Two: ZUTTO
Title: Zutto
Pairing: Hikaru YaotomeXOC, Yabu KoutaXOC, Takaki YuyaXOC
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama, romance, tragedy
Summary: Nishihara Akira is a daughter of the famous Nishihara Tadashi, a business tycoon. Hikaru's father, who was happened to be Akira's butler, died in heart attack. Akira's father trusts Hikaru's father so much and as a promise, he asked Hikaru to live in their mansion, he will continue to go to school but on one condition, he will be Akira's personal butler in exchange of his late father.
Word count: 1, 798
Author’s note: Sorry for some minor grammatical errors. English is not my primary language. >.<
PROLOGUE | CHAPTER ONE: The Fateful Meeting |
TWO
In disbelief, Akira looked at her new butler, thinking what he is doing and why he was assigned as her new, personal secretary. She was just thinking about him last night without knowing the reason why. She couldn’t eat normally because she thinks that it was awkward to have a new butler after seventeen years not to mention he is at the same age.
She went outside after eating. She saw her father talking to her new butler, and Yaotome Satoshi’s son, Hikaru. She noticed that Hikaru was wearing a school uniform which was the same as hers. Akira went closer and asked so many questions. Girls are like that. They question every detail in the picture.
“Yaotome Hikaru will be your new butler from now on. After Satoshi-san died yesterday, I decided to visit him. From his late father’s stories before, I already knew that he is alone and nobody will support him financially since Satoshi-san died. Also, his mother is in Okinawa. That’s why I will ask him to live with us-he will go to the same school with you, providing him clothes and food but as an exchange, he will be your personal butler. Maybe that’s already enough, Akira,” explained her father with a serious look.
Akira nodded at her father then turned into the new butler and said, “Please to meet you, Hikaru-kun.”
He bowed back and said in reply, “Please to meet you, Akira-sama.”
Akira smiled but she didn’t want to be called Akira-sama by someone who is the same age as her. Not only that, he will go to the same school where she goes. Maybe, students will find it strange. Nobody has heard and has thought someone who will bring her personal butler in school. Worse, a schoolmate. Spectacular, indeed.
They were too early for school. Inside the car, Akira, for the first time, didn’t find it boring to listen to her new butler. She find it amusing because he seems to be serious about being a butler.
“Since it is Thursday, you are scheduled to have linguistics class. But your father cancelled it,” Hikaru said, looking at the black organizer which belonged to the former butler. Akira, from the backseat, was looking at Hikaru’s handwriting with a smile on her face.
“He has a nice handwriting,” Akira thought. Hikaru noticed the awkward silence and looked at her, asking, “Aren’t you going to ask why?”
Akira came back to reality and said, “Then, why?”
“It is because of my father’s funeral. We are going to go in the funeral after school.”
Hikaru’s voice then, became lonelier. Akira didn’t want to say it, but she can feel his solitude and emptiness in his heart. That emptiness was the same emptiness she felt when she was longing for her mother’s tender loving care and her brother’s presence.
They arrived in the school earlier. It was just 10 minutes past six. Hikaru went down first and opened the car door at the back. Akira went down without saying anything.
It was still quiet along the corridors. Akira felt awkward with the silence. She broke the silence by asking her butler, “Ne, where will be your classroom?”
“3-A,” he said in reply without even looking at her. Akira smiled and said politely, “Then, we are classmates!”
“Y-Yeah...” Hikaru said in a low voice. He was so cold to her but for some reasons, she found it amusing. It was the first time that a certain guy the same age as her was cold. But that’s understood since he was still lonely about his father’s death.
“What am I thinking?” Akira thought for the second time as she giggled a bit.
“What are you laughing at?” Hikaru asked.
“N-none,” she replied.
They entered the classroom and noticed that there was already one student inside who happened to be the scholar student (and Akira’s friend,) Yabu Kouta.
“Good morning, Yabu-kun.”
“Good morning,” he smiled back until he noticed the guy who was with Akira. He was about to say something until Hikaru asked, “K-Kouta?”
“Hi...Hikaru?!” Yabu said. His eyes widened and with a smile on his face, he suddenly hugged Hikaru and said, “It’s been a long time!”
“What are you doing in here?” Hikaru asked pushing him a bit.
“I happened to be a scholar,” Yabu said, “You?”
“Oh, I’m her...I’m her butler,” Hikaru said. Yabu looked at Akira and asked, “Are you serious?”
“Well, I think you can say that,” Akira said half-jokingly.
“Hikaru was my childhood friend. We were together since kindergarten up to junior high. After that, we haven’t met for two years. I actually didn’t expect him to be here,” Yabu smiled.
“Oh...I see,” Akira said.
They were in the balcony of the classroom, talking about a lot of things. They didn’t know that some students who arrived, specifically girls, were looking at the unfamiliar student.
“Ne, isn’t he cool?”
“Yeah, he is!”
“I wonder who he is.”
Time was so fast. The bell rang for the first subject. As the homeroom teacher enters, he said, “Please keep quiet. We are going to introduce you our new student.”
The girls from 3-A were getting excited. Some were murmuring. Some didn’t care and lived in their own, little world. Hikaru was standing beside the teacher and said, “I’m Yaotome Hikaru. Please to meet you.”
After bowing, the girls started to get more excited. Their homeroom teacher broke the ‘chaotic’ atmosphere and said, “If you are going to notice, he is always with Nishihara-san. That’s because he is actually Nishihara-san’s personal butler or let us say...her guardian.”
“Eh? Really?”
“Another commoner?”
“But I don’t care...he’s handsome ne~”
Hikaru sighed, disliking the atmosphere from the start. His homeroom teacher asked to sit in a vacant seat beside Akira and behind Yabu. As he sat down, Yabu looked at him and said, “This is a school for the rich, you should be used in those bunch of rich kids.”
“I know,” he replied.
“Yabu-kun, please sit properly. We are going to start the class now,” their teacher said. Yabu sat properly and started listening to the lesson.
Lunch break came. The three of them went at the rooftop. Akira was sitting and breathing deeply. Facing towards the strong wind and said, “Ah~ this feels good~”
The two guys were looking at her. Yabu said, “She’s different from other rich kids in here. You’re lucky to have her as your boss.”
“I can see it,” Hikaru replied. Akira looked at them and said, “I think I heard my name. Are you talking about me?”
“No,” Yabu said. Hikaru didn’t say anything and sat down in the bench.
“I didn’t expect that there is such place in this school,” Akira said, “It feels good.”
“This is my place when I need peace of mind,” Yabu replied. Akira suddenly remembered something and asked, “Ne...did Takaki-kun did something to you?”
“No...why?” Yabu asked.
“Oh...it’s nothing. Just be careful,” Akira said in a worried manner.
“Are you okay, Nishihara-san? It seems like your mood changed when you talked about him. Did something happen?” asked Yabu.
Akira remembered what Takaki have said to her the night before. He is not an ordinary guy. If a certain guy gets closer to Akira, he gets rid of him. That happened to her for how many times since they got engaged. That’s why Akira didn’t have many friends.
And it scares her; she doesn’t want it to happen again.
Afternoon came, Akira changed into her mourning kimono after school. They went to the funeral and had some ceremonies. As they cremate the late Satoshi’s body, Hikaru bowed down and tried to stop his tears. Akira’s tears rolled down. Other staffs from the mansion were there, too.
After the funeral, everyone went home. Inside the limousine, Akira’s father, Akira and Hikaru were inside.
“So how is school today?” her father asked.
“Um...it’s okay and-”
“Yaotome-kun, could you please speak on behalf of my daughter?” her father interrupted.
“Eh? Um...Akira-sama was doing well in school...and...”
He looked at Nishihara Tadashi’s fierce look, as if waiting for a more specific explanation.
“She...excels well especially in the English subject,” he said.
“I see...” he replied. Akira didn’t say anything but she held her fist tight. Thinking, she is not mute. She is not a robot to take care off for the sake of something. She is human-she can talk and she can think.
Night came, she had her bath. She dressed up and dried her hair using hair dryer and went out of the bathroom, wearing her sleepwear and robe. Hikaru went closer and explained what will be the schedule for tomorrow and went out. As he was going out, Akira spoke which made him stop.
“Ne...Are you okay?” Akira asked.
Akira knew how sad he was. But he couldn’t help to work in the mansion because he won’t survive by living in the street, collecting a single dime. He sighed and said, “Sorry but let us not talk about our personal lives. You are my boss and I’m just your servant. Talking about such personal things is way beyond our connections as a worker and a boss. It’s none of your business.”
“I...It’s my business,” Akira suddenly said carelessly. She didn’t know why she has said such thing in front of a stranger whom she just met yesterday.
“Why?” he looked back and asked. Akira couldn’t speak. She looked at him then sighed.
There was a long pause between them. Hikaru, without saying a word held the doorknob. Akira had the courage to speak and said, “You are not alone, okay?”
Hikaru sighed as he went out of his boss’s room without saying anything. As he closed the door, he leaned. Confusion was on his mind, thinking about so many things.
Akira, on the other hand, couldn’t understand herself. She didn’t understand why she was worried about him that much. Since they have first met, these kinds of feelings were getting stronger. She didn’t know what to call it. She didn’t realize how confuse she was.
She sat on her bed and think. This time, there was no father-daughter relationship running on her head, there was no mourning running on her head, there was no fear about Takaki, either. Her mind was only filled with that butler. Her mind was filled with Hikaru. She didn’t know why.
She lied down on her bed. At that night, didn’t get a single sleep. She didn’t know why she was thinking too much about him. She thinks about him and her heart was filled with loneliness and confusion at the same time. She didn’t know what to call that feeling. But there is one thing she didn’t want to believe, she didn’t want to call it love.