Tag Archives: akaikujixyaku

by

DATE-O START! || akaikujixyaku

akaikujixyaku:

Honestly, it put the young journalist on cloud nine to see the little ploy he’d come up with, and he’d even chosen a clear, efficient model. (Hers wasn’t much different in all actuality, she’d just bought extra lenses and a slight upgrade). The manner in which he’d leapt almost jauntily to chauffeur her in to the car only expanded her beaming smile, and earned another spring of light, bell-like laughter.

“And they say that chivalry is dead— thank you, Hakuba-sama. You look rather dashing yourself, to nobody’s genuine surprise." Sure it was easier for someone to have the attention on her, but she was hardly the kind of girl who’d been doted over in the past, so no matter how comfortably she settled into the conversation, it seemed the colour in her cheeks wouldn’t die off easily.

image

"I’ll not keep it waiting any longer, good sir." She returned in a half-lofty, half-laughing tone, moving past him with a mock curtsy, before nestling securely into her seat. And a real swell chariot it is, yowzah. She thought admiringly while she awaited his return to the driver’s seat, before turning her smile back his way, "Is destination one to be a surprise, or am I allowed a courtesy hint to puzzle over on the way”

(Unlike most occasions, she hadn’t any discomfort or want to complain about being in a car. Go figure.)

Once her door was closed, quiet and firm, Hakuba moved back to the other side of the car, reaching in to pick up his camera, first. 

“Hmm… Well, if we’re playing role-reversal here, you ought to be the detective, I think.” He took another photo, then lowered the camera to show a broad-grinned lip bite. “Of course, I’ll give you some clues, first." 

He let himself into the car, buckled his seat belt, and put the lens cap back on the camera, safely stowing it in a compartment just under the gear shifts. "The clues I’ll give you are as follows: bones, but not grave; flora, but not floral; plane, but not airport, and… ancient, but not outdated." 

Hakuba started the car, which revved with a delicious purr, and pulled away from the curb, en route to their first stop.

by

DATE-O START! || akaikujixyaku

akaikujixyaku:

image

Now Emi wasn’t, by any means, a high-maintenance sort of person. Minimal makeup, consignment and antique clothing preferred, and almost no sense of vanity. Usually she rolled out of bed, washed her face, took a shower, threw together an outfit from whatever three pieces she could grab from her closet first (that looked cohesive) and ran out to embrace the day. This day would be very different.

Now the young Himura had been to a few parties with friends, and occasionally went out to town for the evening with a couple of girls, but this would be her first event formally categorized as a date. 

Terrified is a fairly accurate word to describe the first emotion she experienced after waking up (fairly late in the morning, around ten).

Of course, it was in company with excitement and overjoy, since… well, c’mon. It’s not a secret to anyone (by now) how much she admired the young man who was going to be arriving later that day. If anyone was going to make a first date memorable and worthy of that honour, there was a good chance Hakuba would do wonderfully.

So the morning began with an intense hygenic runthrough, (almost thirty minutes just perfecting her teeth), and then transitioned into an hour of different hair stylings. Too formal? Not formal enough? Pull it up? Leave it down? Maybe straighten it- oh bother. Eventually, she decided on pulling all of her bangs away into a neatly tucked side-bun, leaving the rest down. Finally, she could organize her apparel. And if her previous preparations had been compared to hurdles, this was a whole obstacle course.

I won’t bore you with the details, but by the end of it, there were eight dresses, six pairs of shoes, five skirts, four blouses, two jewelry boxes and one pantsuit which had all been considered, and discarded. But hey, (even if she wasn’t sure), the result was lovely enough to make up for all of the effort put into it. (She was careful to select a dress which just completely covered her tattoo. If the tips of some feathers showed when she sat, it wasn’t a big deal). And by the time all of that was sorted, and she’d put the finishing touches on (mascara, lipgloss, eyeliner) she had only a half hour to wait.

As the minutes closed in, and she grabbed her purse by the door, she looked at the compartment where she stored her camera, (reversible) jacket and (collapsible) red helmet. There was no reason why she would need them, right?.. Just in case. They nestled in the bottom of her bag (save the small camera), neatly, before she drew in a huge breath, exhaled, locked her door and made (ran) her way down the three flights of stairs, stalling at the bottom, and ogling for a moment the front door of her building. “No time like the present." She murmured, before checking the time on her phone. Perfect. The minute turned almost exactly when she reached the door. (She remembered something about him having a time niche).

And there she found herself opening the front door to her apartment complex, face-to-face with-

A camera.

image

"Eeeh?" She immediately blinked in surprise, before smiling in a baffled sort of way, "A press ambush! Now that’s hardly fair at all!" She avoided folding her arms, but nervously pulled some hair behind her left ear while making her way closer to his car, "Already turning my tricks back on me, Kameraman-kun! I only wish I was more photogenic.”

While Hakuba’s camera was, no doubt, of less caliber than Emi’s, it was still an expensive digital SLR. Which meant that the detective was able to take a lot of photos very quickly. As she got closer, though, he set it down in lieu of letting himself out of the car so that he could jog around and get her door.

"Nonsense, Himura-san! You’re quite lovely.” She really was. Hakuba made sure to give her a quick once-over, just barely obvious enough for her to notice if she were watching. Then, he smiled with ease, already much more relaxed with the whole affair. After all, his attention was now on her instead of himself, which helped things considerably. 

The detective reached for her hand with one of his own, and the car door with the other, swinging it open with a bow of his head. 

“Come along, my lady- your chariot awaits." 

by

DATE-O START! || akaikujixyaku

image

Plans were made and argued over, then finally settled with evening tea. Early morning found Hakuba calling around to make reservations, track down information, and ensure that all of said hard-won plans would not go to waste because of a simple oversight. In many ways, planning this evening excursion was a lot like working on one of his case files. The major differences being that one was geared toward entertainment and the other resulted in a paycheck. 

Regardless, with plans safely made and suit freshly pressed, Saguru Hakuba ignored his mother’s well-wishes of ‘good luck,’ ‘have fun,’ ‘make good choices,’ and ‘tell me EVERYTHING when you get home’, and got into his car. Then he checked to make sure that he had everything he’d meant to have packed. Which he did. And then he checked again. 

Finally, after another completely compulsive check of both his wrist and pocket watch, the romancing detective sped out to the motorway and toward the address that had been emailed to him previously. 

if he’d been honest with himself, he would admit that he was slightly nervous. Formal outings like this were unusual for him, despite how much flirting and carrying on he routinely did. Actually, the more he thought about it, he couldn’t remember when it was that he’d last gone on an official date. Uhm. Months…? Possibly taking Koizumi-san out before she tore his heart apart? Hm. Awkward…

He grimaced, trying to push back the memory by going over his plans again. It was going to be a good evening for them both, he was determined! Nothing would go wrong because he had planned and organized and checked! It would be perfect! Yes, good! 

All too soon, he arrived at the address with a little bit of time to spare. Which was good, really, because that meant that he could get his camera out, as planned, ready to start taking photos the moment Emi came out of the building. It was part of his design, after all, and a devilish one at that. 

by

An Email from Mother || akaikujixyaku

akaikujixyaku:

The flush once again settled on the ridges of her cheeks, except not so hot, nor deep in intensity, just a rosy dust marking her (not so secret) enthusiasm over the situation. She was quite lucky, wasn’t she? “I look forward to it.

And I wouldn’t say they’re that terrible, she’s just every other nosy, good-hearted mum, right? Hh-hhm. In any case, consider it sent, I’ll have it to you as soon as I can— I’ll be downstairs by five’til so you shouldn’t have to buzz my room." As charming as it may be to be picked up at her very own door, she wouldn’t have him scaling the three flights of stairs to get there. 

"I suppose that ties it up pretty nicely doesn’t it? I look forward to seeing you in the afternoon.

Sayonara, Hakuba-sama.”

image

Really, Hakuba was incredibly fortunate that of all of the people to be tasked with this assignment, Emi had been the one. Hakuba smiled as he listened to her on the other end of the phone, genuinely pleased with her conduct, tone, and wit.

Marion took this as a good sign, biting her lip with overjoyed anticipation, watching all too closely. 

“I’ll look out for the email, then, thank you. It was an absolute pleasure speaking with you, Himura-san, and I very much look forward to seeing you soon.”  

Hakuba waited just a moment after that before hanging up, letting out a sigh of relief immediately after.  

“See?! What wasn’t so hard!”

“Mum… Mum, you know she could hear you, yes?”

“Oh, psh, she probably thought it was funny.”

“…Right. Well, I’m going to go plan this date now, if you’ll excuse me.”

“You sure you don’t want any help, Saguru-chaaan?”

“God. Mum. No. ….Stop following me!”

“But you’re blushing! It’s adorable!”

“MUM!”

…it was going to be a long night.

by

An Email from Mother || akaikujixyaku

akaikujixyaku:

image

Now that was much better. Go you for not royally botching that Emi, A+ in the boy interaction this afternoon. When he jested (or at least playfully mentioned) turning the tables on her, she chuckled again, musefully, and placed her spare hand on her hip. “Now that sounds like a truly interesting proposal, I’m obviously a notorious secret keeper, and so prestigious. Never actually accepted an interview before," That was more true than her joking let on, when she thought about it. And plenty had tried. Oh had they tried.

"Maybe I’ll make an exception, but you’ll have to earn it!~

Four pm sounds perfect. I’ll do everything in my capability not to get swept off by some glorious story in Cambodia"—(or something equally as ludicrous)—“in the meanwhile." She offered with some jest, before leaning into the phone a little, elated expression still fixed, "Now will you be needing my address, or has inventive Miss Marion already procured that on your behalf? Hhh-hm.”

“I’ll do my utmost to earn the privilege of being the first to interview you, then. As for your address, if you’d be so kind as to email it to me, that would be wonderful. I would much prefer to get the information from you, with your permission, than to encourage mum’s terrible habits.”  

Hakuba spared a pointed look at his mother, who waved a hand dismissively.

by

An Email from Mother || akaikujixyaku

akaikujixyaku:

image

Wowzah this wasn’t a charade even a little. He sounded a (lot) little uncomfortable on the phone, which almost made her laugh- instead, she just beamed and darted her tongue across her lower lip. “Not at all, Hakuba-sama, you’ven’t any reason t’be sorry. I was actually very… interested (?) to receive your mother’s message, eheh. And unusual’s my lifeblood in any case, so that’s hardly a reason to discount it." 

She could hear Marion (shouting) whispering encouragement in the background, and couldn’t help a laugh at that, before pressing her lips against the knuckle of her index finger, shaking her head a slight. He was just as baffled by the situation as she was, it seemed.

"I’d be very interested in the chance to spend a day with you, Hakuba-sama— believe it or not, you’ve remained one of my favorite interviewees to date— and I think it’ll be nice to see you outside of such a grim atmosphere, hm?

Plus, I’d wager I’m much better company when I’m not attacking you with questions.

So, what about it? Sound alright?”

“Ah, thank you for the kind compliments, Himura-san! I’m very pleased to hear that. Yes, that sounds wonderful…” He smiled, and the tone of his voice reflected it. “You know, perhaps I could interview you for a change?" 

Behind him, Marion whispered. ”Smoooooth, Saguru-chan…“

To which Hakuba rolled his eyes. "Ah. Tomorrow, then. Four pm? I could pick you up in my car." 

by

An Email from Mother || akaikujixyaku

akaikujixyaku:

image

Emi’s plans were never made very much ahead of time, so when she tried to run through her calendar for the week, nothing came to mind, “R-Right, Marion, I’ll remember that, eheh, I’m pretty much free all week…" Sweet girl, Emi dear, this lady sure seemed to know a bit more about the young journalist than she knew in return. But then, she’d probably done her research (and with a husband like that, her reach would be pretty far). Had she really been that impressed with the articles she’d done for local magazines? It wasn’t as if she’d been able to tie the Scarlet Feather publications to her… Right? Right.

It was still funny that she would be the one chosen for this, though. Shucks. (Emi seriously didn’t think she was nearly as charming as this lady believed).

"O-Oh, Miss Marion, are you—?" She was already off the line. Thank god she wasn’t in the same room as these people right now, because as soon as she realized that she was actually putting Saguru-sama on to discuss this (crazy, wild, amazing) unexpected plan, she turned red from underneath her cheekbones all the way up to the tips of her ears. "Eh, Hello?”

There was a moment more of silence before some shuffling and then, finally, “Ah- hello.”

It was the young detective himself, holding the phone against his ear while Marion lingered very close by, watching his every move. Hakuba held back a sigh of despair, pulling the corded phone a little further from the receiver so he could straighten up into a more comfortable stand.

“Himura-san? Ah, thank you for taking time out of your schedule to speak with me… Ah, please, allow me to first apologize for the, uhm, unusual nature of this… ah…”

“Saguru! Just talk to her! It’s NOT THAT HARD!" Marion hissed at him in a whisper loud enough that most of the household could hear it.

Hakuba rubbed at his forehead wearily. "Are you available tomorrow evening, perhaps? I should very much like to take you out about town if.. ah, if you’re interested…”

“Of course she’s interested! That was the whole point of the email, Saguru-chan!”

“…Ah, if you’re interested, Himura-san.”

by

An Email from Mother || akaikujixyaku

akaikujixyaku:

♪♫*New Email Message*♫♪

image

Great. It was probably Iro ‘Where’s the new article O’great artist?’ ‘I’ven’t heard anything in days, did you finally get yourself killed? Can’t say I didn’t warn you, cheh.’ or something else of an editor’s usual disturbance, (needless to say, she was pulling her phone up with a less than optimistic attitude. But you’ll forgive that, she’d been out late working on just such a story, and was running on nothing but the glorious thing which was caffeinated tea). However, her tired eyes flickered more open, and mind veered to life when she realized that she didn’t recognize the sender. Strange. She didn’t give her email to many people. But it didn’t ring spammail- and it hadn’t been filtered out by her virus defender.

(Curiosity always got the better of her anyhow)

It took all of three seconds to reach the name ‘Marion Hakuba’ and in all honesty, the phone nearly dropped right out of her fingertips— (luckily, she treasured the item too much to let it fall. Cat like reflexes engaged), she caught it with some scrambling, breathing out and pulling it back up to eye level, determined to get to the message’s end this time, even if it meant holding her breath. And good on the young Himura, she made it that time. And promptly went back and read it over again, and again, and twice more over.

(It wasn’t even so much that she didn’t think it was credible, because everything looked in order about the message, it looked very professional and not at all suspicious— point was, she just didn’t understand what was happening, because all of her logical processors had, decidedly, quit. No two week notice, just up and whoosh gone they were)

image

Now, she’d interviewed him… once? Twice maybe, sent questions, nice emails (nearly fanmail, but still with a casual inquisitive nature), and they’d had various small virtual interactions, however… just how on Earth had this come about— He has agreed to my terms — now why in the world would he go and do that oh my goodness what how why what. Did mothers really do this? Seriously? It seemed so… invasive. But then she did call herself the meddling mother, so it seemed like she’d come to terms with the facts of the matter… And on at least a few points, she did understand. Emi’s American heritage and decidedly American appearance had done it’s fair share of alienating her when she was young, (it was her determination and later developed extroversion which earned her the friends she had), and certainly could make her feel a little displaced in some social situations. But Sagu- Hakuba-sama, didn’t seem the type to let that get in his way!

He was so charming, so suave and likable! (A little bit conceited sometimes, sure, but who wasn’t when they were that smart? Sheesh)— it didn’t make sense to her at all!.. 

Still…

An email had cropped up offering her a formal outing (date it was a date) with Saguru Hakuba— Even from just a professional standpoint, there was no way she should pass this up, right? (As if it was really her career choice that was governing this decision at all).

Was he really okay with it?..

….

image

*♪♫♪♫♪♪♪*

“Yes, eh, hello? Mrs. Hakuba— Hakuba-San— oh, rats, Madame Hakuba? Yes, I was calling about the email you sent me… As long as you’re certain that Saguru-sama- I mean, your son, is alright with the arrangement.. I’d very much like to be of any help that I can.”

image

“Oh yes, yes, yes, of course he’s all right with it! I’m so glad that you called, Emi dear. This is wonderful news. And please, call me Marion. Oh, such a sweet girl you are. What nights are you free this week? We’re unfortunately stuck doing a charity benefit this weekend, but would any other time be acceptable? Oh, perhaps I should have him talk to you and arrange this… I can’t meddle with every little detail, can I? Hee hee! Hold on, let me get him~”