Chapter 64: Today in Kyoto
"Are you sure I need to sit beside Night?" I whispered to Rika as we get on the private plan grandpa Kenta prepared. It has lots of seats so why should I sit beside that guy?
"It’s because we need to show the relatives that you two are lovey-dovey."
What? No one told me about that. "But I don’t want to," I whispered to Rika’s ear. Before she could even push me onto the chair beside Night, Tomoe sat beside him, which causes me to sit in front of the two of them. ’Oh no. This is worse than sitting beside Night.’ The seats are facing each other after all.
Kenji sat beside me and I can already feel that he was smirking without even looking at him. ’Ugh. I already hate this.’ I thought as I wear my eye cover before I could see something. ’It’s better to act oblivious to what Tomoe’s doing. I mean, who am I to stop her from being with Night?’
"Does it bother the lady that lady Tomoe’s sitting with the young master?" Kenji whispered to my ear causing me to roll my eyes. "Do you want us to change seats?"
"Shut up. I’m trying to sleep."
The airplane took off and I can hear other people’s voices. Kenji already gave me my phone but he keeps teasing me about El and it’s not funny. Not even the least. "What? Did you really fall in love with that smooth talker named El?" Kenji whispered again causing me to remove my eye cover.
"Would you please stop mentioning his name?" El doesn’t know anything about me, and I’m making it stay that way. "He doesn’t know anything so stop mentioning him."
Kenji raised an eyebrow with a smug look on his face. "Stop it."
"Stop what?"
"That look."
"What look?"
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Think whatever you want." After saying that Kenji giggled. ’It’s annoying.’ But I chose to ignore him as I wore my eye-cover again. I’m getting ready in case socializing with Night’s relatives will be tiring. ’It’s better to be ready than sorry.’
As I drift into dreamland, I heard Tomoe’s voice speaking in Japanese and all I understood was the word ’suki’. Which I think means ’like’, as in romantically. ’She’s confessing her love for him in front of his fiancée. Tomoe has the guts, it’s commendable.’ I thought as I fell asleep.
We arrived quickly and Rika woke me up. "Please be ready." She said with too much worry in her eyes. Is she afraid that I’ll get treated badly because Tomoe doesn’t like me? I mean, that’s reasonable, to be honest. They’re used to being with members of their group only. Even if grandpa Kenta keeps saying that I am part of his family because of my father, I’m still a stranger.
’Now I’m scared of how those people will react.’
After getting off the train, we rode the car that Asahi drove to the main house. We’re in Kyoto, Japan! But I don’t think I can say that I want to tour the place because I know we didn’t come here to play and have fun. ’I’m here to suffer.’ I looked out the window and saw the beautiful scenery, even though it was freezing cold, it was still beautiful. Since there’s no snow in the Philippines, seeing how white the whole place is, it’s making me happy.
"It’s so pretty," I said aloud.
"Yes, it is, young miss," Rika said with a smile. That reminds me, do Rika’s parents live in Kyoto? "Young miss?" I didn’t realize that I was already staring at her face. "Is there a problem with my face?"
I shook my head. "N-No. I just remember that I don’t know where your parents live."
Rika smiled as she scratched her cheek. "T-They’re not in Kyoto." She said while averting her gaze.
"Then where? I wish to meet them and thank them."
Rika blushed. "T-They’re in Hokkaido." Hokkaido? Is that far from Kyoto? "It’s really far, and the weather’s really not great s-so we can’t visit." She said.
"Is that so? Then I’ll meet them next time." I smiled. "I’ll thank them for giving birth to such a loving and caring person."
Rika had her head down and averted her gaze, I wonder why she did that so I just patted her head. "I’ll meet them later anyway," I said because it looks like she was sad about it. Does she miss them? ’I don’t really understand but that’s what I thought.’ We started talking about other things, and Rika told me about all the beautiful places in Japan that she also wanted to travel to. "You haven’t traveled the whole of Japan yet?"
Rika nodded. "I didn’t have the time." Right, not everyone can just travel their whole country. First, they must need money and they also need to work to gain money. But Rika’s still a child so there’s no way she can travel on her own without money.
"We have arrived, milady." Asahi said with a smile, but when I looked out of the window, I saw a huge gate. It made me gulp as Asahi opened the door for me. ’It’s freezing cold!’ I hugged myself due to the strong wind that blew on my side. This caused me to close my eyes as I stood still in front of the car.
"Hello there." I was forced to open my eyes after someone greeted me in English. A woman with short hair reaching above her shoulders wearing a yellow yukata with white and yellow flowers designed on it. It has an orange belt, ’I don’t know what they call it.’ "My name is Himari, and I’ll be leading the lady to her room." She said with a smile.
The ambiance around her causes me to feel a sudden comfort. Like an older sister type of comfort? I don’t really know since I don’t have siblings.
"Himari-sama?" Rika called for this person’s name. "Why would Himari-sama do that?" She asked in Japanese which I didn’t understand.
Himari patted Rika’s shoulder as if comforting her. "Well then, shall we go?" She said and I just followed her from behind. "It must have been hard traveling this time of the year." Based on how Rika called Himari with the honorifics ’sama’, it means she’s not a servant or attendant here. But who is she?
"We’ll care for the lady later as told by the oyabun. Please rest in your room for a while." Himari said with that gentle smile as she left Rika and me in front of a room. I guess this will be my room. Kenji and Night aren’t around since they rode a different car. Of course, Tomoe’s with them.
"Well then, if I may excuse myself." She said as she left. ’Why was she being so formal?’ It’s kind of awkward so I just entered the room and Rika followed me inside.
"Who was that person?"
Rika placed my luggage near the closet. "That was Himari-sama. Daughter of Ichiro-sama, and the young master’s cousin." She said. ’Then Ichiro must be Night’s uncle?’ "She’s currently the one taking care of Shiho-sama, and she’s older than the young master by a year," Rika added. I didn’t need that much information, but I guess there’s nothing wrong with learning more.
"Don’t I need to learn more about the members of the Yamaguchi-gumi?"
Rika tilted her head with her forehead creased. "Lady Tomoe didn’t teach the miss about it?" She asked me back. ’What does she mean by that?’ "The miss must learn about Suuji and the names of the high-ranking members since the group goes with code names and it should be the first lesson for the miss to learn."
What? I didn’t hear anything about that at all. "Tomoe taught me about brewing tea." Rika tilted her head which made me tilt my head too.
"Why would the miss brew tea? I’m the miss’s attendant and I know how to brew tea." EXACTLY! That’s what my question was before but Tomoe told me not to question rules. "Does the miss didn’t learn anything about the Suuji?"
I shook my head. "I don’t even know what Suuji means." Rika started putting my clothes inside the closet while I lay on the bed. It makes me think that Tomoe did it on purpose to let me humiliate myself in front of their relatives whom I don’t know. "What should I do?" What’s scaring me the most is that I might not survive if these people started hating me just like Night. I’m already receiving enough hate. I don’t want to add more.
"Suuji is the hierarchy in the Yamaguchi-gumi." Rika said after finishing tidying my things. "Shall I get snacks and beverages for the lady?"
I shook my head. "No. I would rather you explain the things I need to know." It’s unbelievable that Tomoe taught me things I don’t need to learn and didn’t for the things that I should know. ’I know she hates me but I can’t believe that she’ll do this after being tasked to become my teacher.’
All I can do now is sigh.
Rika sat and tidied the room more while talking. "As I said, Suuji is what you call the hierarchy in the Yamaguchi-gumi. It means the lower the number, the higher their position." Number? "It is only applicable to the children of the oyabun." She added.
"I don’t understand."
Rika giggled as she prepares for a warm bath. She has lots of things to do I guess? "It means that the oyabun’s strongest child will gain the nickname Ichi or one in English. That person will be the first in line to become the next boss of the group."
"So Night’s nickname is Ichi?"
Rika shook her head. "The owner of that name was Kiyoshi-sama. He is Hiroshi-sama’s twin brother." Hiroshi? Isn’t that the name of Night’s father?
"Where is he now then?" I have lots of questions, but a sudden knock on the door disturbed it all and Rika couldn’t answer any of them as she opened the door.
"S-Shiho-sama?"
My forehead creased. ’Shiho?’
