[One-shot] 100 yen
Title: 100 yen
Pairing: Koichi Ariake x Sagi (Ryusei no Kizuna)
Genre: Fluff, fail attempt of weird, het
Rating: PG
Summary: Koichi remembers the effect an unknown girl had on him as he comes out from jail.
Note: This is for yoshiblack16 who asked for this pairing in the je_philippines fundraiser.
Warning: Unbetated!
*****
100 yen
Just one sign.
Even a post-it on the door would be enough.
So when Koichi saw all those bills plastered all over the restaurant he didn’t know how he felt. Was he relieved? Was he surprised?
For sure he was lost. Why did his sister chose bills as a sign while he simply suggested a post-it.
“AXEL!”
Of course, that explained everything.
The young woman jumped on him as he entered the restaurant. Everything was quiet for a short second before his vision blurred and became as dark as the color of the girl’s hair. It wasn’t his precious sister as he hoped but that strange, unknown woman.
Well, she wasn’t as unknown as Koichi thought.
Unconsciously he wrapped his arms around the thin waist and rested his chin in the crook of her neck, her nice scent invading his nostrils and giving him the idea of what freedom felt like.
With just a hug, Koichi remembered how it started.
The first night they met. She was drunk, or that what he thought. She was evasive, spoke of things she didn’t even know and was kind of blunt. Koichi has never been at ease with females before but that woman wasn’t like the others. She was like him; he could feel it right away.
She was strange too. Stranger than him but it was okay. Koichi wasn’t the type of man who had a lot of friends; he was too busy with looking after his siblings and chasing his parents’ murder anyway.
That girl gave him that little moment of rest he didn’t even know he needed.
So during that first night, they spend their time together. Just the four of them: Koichi, the unknown-girl, a bottle of sake and their little conversation.
It was great.
“Big brother!” The voice of his sister came to his ears and for the first time he didn’t pushed the unknown girl away. On the contrary he kept his arms around her waist and simply acknowledged his sister’s presence by a nod towards her.
Koichi remembered the first time his sister and the unknown-girl met. It was the night after they had spent a night together.
Don’t take it the wrong way! They didn’t do anything wrong!
Since the first time they met, they had seen each other regularly. At first it was once a week; the woman coming in Koichi’s restaurant already drunk (even though by the third night, Koichi knew it was only an act). They spend the whole night talking, chatting about nothing serious (every serious topic was ignored by one of them. If the girl spoke about Koichi’s parents he would talk about something else. When Koichi asked her what was her job she would talk about how beautiful the moon was). They never talked about private things, they didn’t know each other at all and yet, Koichi felt like with every minute that passed he knew her more and more.
Usually when they would call it a night, the unknown girl would say goodbye and leave the restaurant. However, that night she simply pulled out a tooth brush from her inner pocket and asked if his bedroom was upstairs as she was already climbing the stairs. Koichi stood in the middle of his restaurant, his eyes focused on her body as she disappeared into his bedroom.
What was that? When did he even suggest her to stay here? And what about that toothbrush?
Koichi looked around him quickly as he checked that no one had seen her which was ridiculous because there was no one here since it was past midnight.
“Axeeeel! Where do you put your pajamaaaaas?”
He could hear her fake drunken tone coming from upstairs and he freaked. Koichi opened his eyes wide as he realized that there was an unknown woman in HIS bedroom, looking through HIS stuffs and calling for HIM.
Without wasting another second he rushed through the stairs, missing the first step and almost fell but it didn’t stop him from climbing as fast as he could.
When he entered his bedroom she was already sitting in front of his computer, reading his script for his next swindle and wearing HIS sweatpants and tee-shirt.
“Don’t you know how a guest should act, really?” Koichi wined as he closed the door behind him.
Strangely he wasn’t mad at her or even embarrassed; he was simply tired of her. Just like when you’re tired of your little brother because he always wins against you and you can’t be mad at him because he’s cute.
It didn’t mean that Koichi thought she was cute. She wasn’t ugly though.
“You’re good you know?”
Koichi looked at her, focusing on her presence and forgetting his stupid thoughts. She was reading his script for his next swindle, something that you usually didn’t want other to see!
Still he wasn’t mad at her.
“What do you mean?” He asked as he sat next to her.
She closed the laptop and shifted a bit so they were face to face.
“You and I are similar. We know what people think and how they will react.”
Koichi scratched the back of his head “I don’t think we’re similar. We’re totally the opposite in fact. You like to speak a lot and you’re a bit too much energetic for me and-”
“Axel, can you turn off the light? I want to sleep!” She called as she was already laying under the bedcovers. Koichi was too deep in his explanations that he didn’t notice she wasn’t listening to him and went to sleep.
As always, he did as he was told but when he was going to turn off the light he realized something. She was going to sleep in HIS bed!
“Y-you can’t sleep in my bed.” He rushed towards the said bed.
“Why not?” She simply asked before hiding her face under the cover.
“Well, that’s my bed! Where will I sleep if you take it?”
She moves a bit and patted the place next to her, a smirk at the corner of her lips.
“This is a single size bed, you know?” Koichi sighed.
“You’re too much talkative too you know!” She said in an exasperated tone before pulling on Koichi’s arm, making him fall on the bed next to her.
He tried to get her off of him but to no avail. After a while, Koichi simply stopped moving and accepted his fate: sleeping with an unknown girl on top of him. The nice scent of her hair tickled his nostrils as she fell asleep, her head on top of his chest.
“Night’ Axel.”
“Mm…”
See? Nothing wrong happened that night! They were just two grown up adults that decided (or at least one of them were slightly forced) to share the same bed. It happened often with his siblings; it was just that that time (and the next that would follow) it wasn’t a sibling….that’s all!
“Hey big brother! You’re home already!” Koichi turned around to acknowledge his brother’s presence.
“Here comes the rice cracker…” The unknown girl said, tightening her embrace.
“Who are you calling rice cracker you-”
The bell of the front door rang, telling the four of them that a customer entered the restaurant. They turned around and looked at the newcomer. The mood became heavy with the long silence.
The man who entered bowed slightly at Koichi. “Welcome back.”
Koichi smiled slightly “I’m home.”
Togami Yukinari.
It was because of him that everything happened. He was the man Shizuna had chosen; he was the one who promised to look after his dear and precious little sister. He was the one responsible for all this mess.
Koichi glanced at the shining ring around Shizuna’s finger.
It was because of Togami-san that their family could have a happy ending.
“I need you one last time. Can you come tonight at the usual place?” Koichi asked her.
“I’ll do anything for my precious Axel!” She replied amused before leaving the restaurant through the back door.
Koichi chuckled as he keeps stirring the curry. He had made a choice. Tonight everything would be his last night of freedom. Starting the next day he would surrender to the police. Koichi was scared. Not for him but for his siblings and particularly his little sister. He knew he had asked Togami-san’s help and he definitely knew that the man was a man of his words but still he was worried.
So that night, as he was waiting at the harbor Koichi thought deeply, his fingers playing with the little box inside his pocket. For once she didn’t come in a surprising manner. There was no expensive car, nothing surprising at all. She simply walked towards him, coming from the night, the soft glow of the street lamps lightening her path, her footsteps echoing into the silent night. If he didn’t know her better, Koichi would think that she knew he was up to something.
“Axeeeel!” She called happily and waved before running towards him and hugged him tightly.
She was surprised when she felt him hugging back strongly.
“Why are you calling me Axel? It’s not my name and you know it.” He asked her, never letting go of her.
She smiled sadly, even without telling her, she knew that it was the last time they saw each other.
“It’s better for you if I don’t know your real name.” She answered seriously.
Koichi hummed in response. “Just as it is safe for me to not know yours, right?”
She nodded then broke the embrace. “So you wanted to see me? What kind of job do you have for me tonight? Do you have the payment?”
Koichi’s fingers curled around the little black box inside his pocket. “Yes.” Then he pulls out a 100 yen bill from his inner pocket.
“You’ll receive one a month.” He said as she took the bill from his hand. “Follow her everywhere, become her shadow if needed and help her whenever she needs.”
“For one bill a month?” She asked, her eyes focused on his.
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
“Will you write me a letter?”
“No.”
They both smiled then they went their own way. No sweet words, no kiss, not even a farewell. They left just like they were used to it.
Every month Koichi wrote a letter to his sister, asking her and his brother how they were doing. He never asked about the unknown girl and never did his sister write about her. Nevertheless he knew she was near his siblings and so, each month a 100 yen bill was inside a letter. Quickly, the monthly payment became a weekly payment. With each letter there was a bank bill. It was Koichi’s manner to tell the unknown girl that he was thinking about her.
A hidden message.
“I used all the bills you send to me for the message on the restaurant.” She said as Koichi sat in front of her at the table behind the pillar. There was just the two of them inside the restaurant. It was closed already, all the customers and the staff had left.
Just the two of them. Just like in the past.
“It wasn’t enough though, so I used the ones you gave me before you went into jail.” She added before eating the hayashi rice Koichi had just cooked.
“Thank you for looking after them the whole time.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled “Anything for my Axel!”
“Sagi,” Koichi said her name in a soft but serious tone.
She lifted her head quickly, astonished.
Koichi smiled and looked at the wall next to him, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Then he put a small black box next to her hand while he kept looking at the wall. “Thank you for everything.”
Sagi swallowed the rice she had in her mouth before taking the box carefully. When she opened it, a huge smile appeared on her face.
“Axel!” She shouted as she recognized the earrings. She wanted to jump on him but the table was in the way, and she spilled her glass in the process.
Sagi calmed down a bit, stood up and walked around the table in order to hug Koichi properly. He hugged her back and whispered in her ear.
“Call me Koichi.”
[Fin]
Pairing: Koichi Ariake x Sagi (Ryusei no Kizuna)
Genre: Fluff, fail attempt of weird, het
Rating: PG
Summary: Koichi remembers the effect an unknown girl had on him as he comes out from jail.
Note: This is for yoshiblack16 who asked for this pairing in the je_philippines fundraiser.
Warning: Unbetated!
*****
100 yen
Just one sign.
Even a post-it on the door would be enough.
So when Koichi saw all those bills plastered all over the restaurant he didn’t know how he felt. Was he relieved? Was he surprised?
For sure he was lost. Why did his sister chose bills as a sign while he simply suggested a post-it.
“AXEL!”
Of course, that explained everything.
The young woman jumped on him as he entered the restaurant. Everything was quiet for a short second before his vision blurred and became as dark as the color of the girl’s hair. It wasn’t his precious sister as he hoped but that strange, unknown woman.
Well, she wasn’t as unknown as Koichi thought.
Unconsciously he wrapped his arms around the thin waist and rested his chin in the crook of her neck, her nice scent invading his nostrils and giving him the idea of what freedom felt like.
With just a hug, Koichi remembered how it started.
The first night they met. She was drunk, or that what he thought. She was evasive, spoke of things she didn’t even know and was kind of blunt. Koichi has never been at ease with females before but that woman wasn’t like the others. She was like him; he could feel it right away.
She was strange too. Stranger than him but it was okay. Koichi wasn’t the type of man who had a lot of friends; he was too busy with looking after his siblings and chasing his parents’ murder anyway.
That girl gave him that little moment of rest he didn’t even know he needed.
So during that first night, they spend their time together. Just the four of them: Koichi, the unknown-girl, a bottle of sake and their little conversation.
It was great.
“Big brother!” The voice of his sister came to his ears and for the first time he didn’t pushed the unknown girl away. On the contrary he kept his arms around her waist and simply acknowledged his sister’s presence by a nod towards her.
Koichi remembered the first time his sister and the unknown-girl met. It was the night after they had spent a night together.
Don’t take it the wrong way! They didn’t do anything wrong!
Since the first time they met, they had seen each other regularly. At first it was once a week; the woman coming in Koichi’s restaurant already drunk (even though by the third night, Koichi knew it was only an act). They spend the whole night talking, chatting about nothing serious (every serious topic was ignored by one of them. If the girl spoke about Koichi’s parents he would talk about something else. When Koichi asked her what was her job she would talk about how beautiful the moon was). They never talked about private things, they didn’t know each other at all and yet, Koichi felt like with every minute that passed he knew her more and more.
Usually when they would call it a night, the unknown girl would say goodbye and leave the restaurant. However, that night she simply pulled out a tooth brush from her inner pocket and asked if his bedroom was upstairs as she was already climbing the stairs. Koichi stood in the middle of his restaurant, his eyes focused on her body as she disappeared into his bedroom.
What was that? When did he even suggest her to stay here? And what about that toothbrush?
Koichi looked around him quickly as he checked that no one had seen her which was ridiculous because there was no one here since it was past midnight.
“Axeeeel! Where do you put your pajamaaaaas?”
He could hear her fake drunken tone coming from upstairs and he freaked. Koichi opened his eyes wide as he realized that there was an unknown woman in HIS bedroom, looking through HIS stuffs and calling for HIM.
Without wasting another second he rushed through the stairs, missing the first step and almost fell but it didn’t stop him from climbing as fast as he could.
When he entered his bedroom she was already sitting in front of his computer, reading his script for his next swindle and wearing HIS sweatpants and tee-shirt.
“Don’t you know how a guest should act, really?” Koichi wined as he closed the door behind him.
Strangely he wasn’t mad at her or even embarrassed; he was simply tired of her. Just like when you’re tired of your little brother because he always wins against you and you can’t be mad at him because he’s cute.
It didn’t mean that Koichi thought she was cute. She wasn’t ugly though.
“You’re good you know?”
Koichi looked at her, focusing on her presence and forgetting his stupid thoughts. She was reading his script for his next swindle, something that you usually didn’t want other to see!
Still he wasn’t mad at her.
“What do you mean?” He asked as he sat next to her.
She closed the laptop and shifted a bit so they were face to face.
“You and I are similar. We know what people think and how they will react.”
Koichi scratched the back of his head “I don’t think we’re similar. We’re totally the opposite in fact. You like to speak a lot and you’re a bit too much energetic for me and-”
“Axel, can you turn off the light? I want to sleep!” She called as she was already laying under the bedcovers. Koichi was too deep in his explanations that he didn’t notice she wasn’t listening to him and went to sleep.
As always, he did as he was told but when he was going to turn off the light he realized something. She was going to sleep in HIS bed!
“Y-you can’t sleep in my bed.” He rushed towards the said bed.
“Why not?” She simply asked before hiding her face under the cover.
“Well, that’s my bed! Where will I sleep if you take it?”
She moves a bit and patted the place next to her, a smirk at the corner of her lips.
“This is a single size bed, you know?” Koichi sighed.
“You’re too much talkative too you know!” She said in an exasperated tone before pulling on Koichi’s arm, making him fall on the bed next to her.
He tried to get her off of him but to no avail. After a while, Koichi simply stopped moving and accepted his fate: sleeping with an unknown girl on top of him. The nice scent of her hair tickled his nostrils as she fell asleep, her head on top of his chest.
“Night’ Axel.”
“Mm…”
See? Nothing wrong happened that night! They were just two grown up adults that decided (or at least one of them were slightly forced) to share the same bed. It happened often with his siblings; it was just that that time (and the next that would follow) it wasn’t a sibling….that’s all!
“Hey big brother! You’re home already!” Koichi turned around to acknowledge his brother’s presence.
“Here comes the rice cracker…” The unknown girl said, tightening her embrace.
“Who are you calling rice cracker you-”
The bell of the front door rang, telling the four of them that a customer entered the restaurant. They turned around and looked at the newcomer. The mood became heavy with the long silence.
The man who entered bowed slightly at Koichi. “Welcome back.”
Koichi smiled slightly “I’m home.”
Togami Yukinari.
It was because of him that everything happened. He was the man Shizuna had chosen; he was the one who promised to look after his dear and precious little sister. He was the one responsible for all this mess.
Koichi glanced at the shining ring around Shizuna’s finger.
It was because of Togami-san that their family could have a happy ending.
“I need you one last time. Can you come tonight at the usual place?” Koichi asked her.
“I’ll do anything for my precious Axel!” She replied amused before leaving the restaurant through the back door.
Koichi chuckled as he keeps stirring the curry. He had made a choice. Tonight everything would be his last night of freedom. Starting the next day he would surrender to the police. Koichi was scared. Not for him but for his siblings and particularly his little sister. He knew he had asked Togami-san’s help and he definitely knew that the man was a man of his words but still he was worried.
So that night, as he was waiting at the harbor Koichi thought deeply, his fingers playing with the little box inside his pocket. For once she didn’t come in a surprising manner. There was no expensive car, nothing surprising at all. She simply walked towards him, coming from the night, the soft glow of the street lamps lightening her path, her footsteps echoing into the silent night. If he didn’t know her better, Koichi would think that she knew he was up to something.
“Axeeeel!” She called happily and waved before running towards him and hugged him tightly.
She was surprised when she felt him hugging back strongly.
“Why are you calling me Axel? It’s not my name and you know it.” He asked her, never letting go of her.
She smiled sadly, even without telling her, she knew that it was the last time they saw each other.
“It’s better for you if I don’t know your real name.” She answered seriously.
Koichi hummed in response. “Just as it is safe for me to not know yours, right?”
She nodded then broke the embrace. “So you wanted to see me? What kind of job do you have for me tonight? Do you have the payment?”
Koichi’s fingers curled around the little black box inside his pocket. “Yes.” Then he pulls out a 100 yen bill from his inner pocket.
“You’ll receive one a month.” He said as she took the bill from his hand. “Follow her everywhere, become her shadow if needed and help her whenever she needs.”
“For one bill a month?” She asked, her eyes focused on his.
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
“Will you write me a letter?”
“No.”
They both smiled then they went their own way. No sweet words, no kiss, not even a farewell. They left just like they were used to it.
Every month Koichi wrote a letter to his sister, asking her and his brother how they were doing. He never asked about the unknown girl and never did his sister write about her. Nevertheless he knew she was near his siblings and so, each month a 100 yen bill was inside a letter. Quickly, the monthly payment became a weekly payment. With each letter there was a bank bill. It was Koichi’s manner to tell the unknown girl that he was thinking about her.
A hidden message.
“I used all the bills you send to me for the message on the restaurant.” She said as Koichi sat in front of her at the table behind the pillar. There was just the two of them inside the restaurant. It was closed already, all the customers and the staff had left.
Just the two of them. Just like in the past.
“It wasn’t enough though, so I used the ones you gave me before you went into jail.” She added before eating the hayashi rice Koichi had just cooked.
“Thank you for looking after them the whole time.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled “Anything for my Axel!”
“Sagi,” Koichi said her name in a soft but serious tone.
She lifted her head quickly, astonished.
Koichi smiled and looked at the wall next to him, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Then he put a small black box next to her hand while he kept looking at the wall. “Thank you for everything.”
Sagi swallowed the rice she had in her mouth before taking the box carefully. When she opened it, a huge smile appeared on her face.
“Axel!” She shouted as she recognized the earrings. She wanted to jump on him but the table was in the way, and she spilled her glass in the process.
Sagi calmed down a bit, stood up and walked around the table in order to hug Koichi properly. He hugged her back and whispered in her ear.
“Call me Koichi.”
[Fin]