Today my mind is a restless wanderer. As I read over the words of the book I'm reading, none of it is really taking root. I find myself more concerned with how far it is to the end of the chapter than the actual content of the story, missing whatever feeling the author was trying to evoke from his audience.
 
Yuuko: "Now where did I put that cart?"
 
Yuuko's pacing back and forth is starting to distract me. I turn the next page extra loud in annoyance.
 
Misha: "Yuuko? Are you here?"
 
Misha seems to appear out of thin air in the middle of the school library. How does someone so loud manage to walk up so quietly?
 
Misha: "Oh, hi Hicchan! I didn't know you were here."
 
She says, looking down for an instant.
 
Hisao: "Hello."
 
I say with a little wave. I really want to dive back into my book, but all these distractions are breaking my concentration.
 
Hisao: "Yuuko's on the other side of the shelf to the left."
 
Misha: "Thanks."
 
My eyes go back to the words on the page, but none of it is registering as I listen to their conversation. I think I just don't really feel like reading right now and I'm forcing myself to get through this chapter just to do it. I close the book and eavesdrop.
 
Misha: "Shicchan would like to ask if you'd babysit her brother for tonight."
 
Yuuko: "B-babysit? I've never done that before."
 
Misha: "You'll be fine. You take good care of the library."
 
Yuuko: "Oh, but I don't know. Books don't move or talk or break things like kids do."
 
Misha: "Hideaki's not a bad kid at all. You'll like him."
 
Yuuko: "I... I guess so..."
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
That evening Yuuko arrives at the Hamakichi doorstep and drops her suitcase. She waits before knocking. After the clicking of
 
the lock, the towering form of Jigoro greets her.
 
Yuuko: "Oh God, is this the right house? I'm sorry!"
 
Jigoro: (scoff) "Apologizing when you haven't committed a wrong? Pathetic. Who are you? You're not trying to sell me
 
tupperware are you? I already have a full set of high quality air-tight, waterproof containers for my leftovers."
 
Yuuko continues to shake in terror, at a loss for words.
 
Yuuko: "I'm... Yuuko... I'm the babysitter..."
 
She bows deeply and fervently, much like she does while taking orders at the Shanghai as a waitress. Jigoro laughs.
 
Jigoro: "Well why didn't you say so? Come in."
 
Yuuko arrives in the living room to see Hideaki on the couch, playing with a DS. He seems to be in the middle of an intense game. Or maybe, knowing the Hakamichis, he's just approaching an otherwise relaxing game with intense ferocity.
 
Yuuko: "You have a very pretty daughter, sir."
 
Jigoro becomes upset. One would think Jigoro just witnessed someone slash the tires of his car.
 
Jigoro: "That's my son. Who recommended you? Your skills of observation are absolutely rank."
 
Yuuko shrinks back in terror again at his snappy response.
 
Yuuko: "Your daughter's friend, the pink-haired one, told me about the job."
 
Jigoro: "Do you take orders from loopy teenagers? Disgraceful."
 
Jigoro lets out a slow breath and closes his eyes before sitting down and reaching for a glass of tea. With his pinkie
 
finger, he grabs the cup by the handle and sips up the last of it before turning it over in a smooth motion and then lifting the saucer it rests on with his index finger and thumb.
 
Jigoro: "First you must prove to me that you can take care of this house. I will give you one chance."
 
Yuuko's eyes pry behind him to spot his biography displayed proudly on the family heirloom table next to the china. In Jigoro's mind, it probably belonged there.
 
Jigoro: "I'm going to give you one guess as to my favorite book."
 
Yuuko: "Would it be... this?"
 
She points to the biography book. Jigoro's eyes grow wide in surprise and he nods approvingly.
 
Jigoro: "I was wrong about you. You seem pretty smart. What do you do for a living?"
 
Yuuko: "I'm a librarian." she whispers the next part. "And a waitress."
 
Jigoro: "Well then, you won't make a mess of things. I will return tommorow morning at six."
 
With that, Jigoro takes his tea cup and saucer to the kitchen to wash them and leaves the house soon after.
 
 
 
With Jigoro gone, Yuuko takes a look around the living room and sits down on the couch next to Hideaki, who is still clicking away. Yuuko peers down with a smile.
 
Yuuko: "Hello."
 
She greets him warmly.
 
Hideaki: "Hi."
 
The boy responds in his usual monotone voice without looking up.
 
Yuuko: "How old are you?"
 
Hideaki keeps playing, uninterested in conversation of any kind. An hour later Yuuko is slumped on her palm, bored out of her mind. The room looks so messy to her, but even if she rearranged all the mismatching furniture, it seems like it would be impossible to make it look any better. It's an odd hodgepodge that somehow manages to belong. Hideaki finally turns off his handheld system and goes to the kitchen. Yuuko gets up and follows him.
 
 
Yuuko: "Is there anything you want for dinner?"
 
She asks as Hideaki searches the refrigerator, grabbing a chocolate cream pie in a partially crumpled tin pan. Yuuko worriedly frowns.
 
Yuuko: "I don't think you should be eating desserts before dinner."
 
But Hideaki has already shoved the pie slice into his mouth.
 
Hideaki: "Who says? Dad isn't here."
 
Yuuko: "But I am. I'm in charge while he's away. And you really shouldn't talk with your mouth full. It's disgusting."
 
Hideaki shrugs and leans on the chair.
 
Yuuko: "What kinds of food do you like?"
 
Hideaki shrugs again to the extremely broad question.
 
Yuuko: "Ok... what does your dad usually make you for dinner?"
 
Hideaki grabs a banana off the counter and peels it slowly.
 
Hideaki: "Food."
 
Yuuko: "Argh, I know but what KIND of food?"
 
A smile crosses Hideaki's face at Yuuko's aggravation and he bites the end of the fruit off.
 
Yuuko: "I need to make something and cooking takes time so I'd like to get started now."
 
Hideaki: "Duck."
 
Yuuko: "What?"
 
She replies to the contextless word.
 
Hideaki: "Duck. I like eating duck."
 
Yuuko: "Ok, do we have any?"
 
She opens the freezer and searches, but Hideaki follows up his earlier statement, stopping Yuuko in her paces.
 
Hideaki: "We don't have any right now. We have it every holiday though."
 
Yuuko: "Well, what else can we have then?"
 
She asks, closing the freezer door.
 
Hideaki: "I'd really like duck."
 
Yuuko: "You're saying you want us to go out and BUY a duck?"
 
Hideaki: "That's a good idea! Can we go?"
 
He looks up with a cute smile that breaks Yuuko down. Her mouth twitches, trying not to betray any emotion.
 
Yuuko: "A-alright. I don't have a lot of money though."
 
'What is with this kid? He seems like a spoiled brat, but he's so cute in that little sweatervest and those shorts and those stockings...' Yuuko thinks before shaking her head clear.
 
Yuuko: "Ok, we'll go to the store, but only if you stay good for the rest of the night."
 
 
 
 
 
After a trip downtown that costs Yuuko more than she had hoped, the pair arrive back at the house, frozen duck in hand. She washes the fowl and searches the shelves for a cookbook. Meanwhile, Hideaki is sitting at the kitchen counter twirling a carving knife in his fingers.
 
Yuuko: "What are you doing? You're not allowed to play with knives!"
 
She worriedly snatches the knife from his grip and deposits it onto the counter. She wipes flour from her fingers that was left on the shelf she had spent the last minute looking up and down. It turns out there is a tattered cookbook sitting on its side on top of the bag of flour the shelf must have been dusted with. What an odd arrangement this kitchen has. Shizune obviously didn't get her sense of organization from her father. Yuuko pulls out the cookbook and flips through several pages with graceful dexterity.
 
Hideaki: "I wasn't playing, I was training. I don't have a real sword yet, but if I'm to follow in Dad's footsteps, I need to know how to handle a sword."
 
'I'd hope he wouldn't follow in his father's footsteps from what I've seen of him' Yuuko thinks to herself.
 
Yuuko: "Uh, what does your dad... do exactly?"
 
Yuuko cradles the book in her arms as she gives Hideaki a quizzical look.
 
Hideaki: "He's a businessman."
 
Yuuko: "With a sword?"
 
Hideaki: "Any real man worth his salt carries a sword. With each day, I want to gain more manly points. Once I level up, I'll be that much closer to being worthy of inheriting the company."
 
Yuuko looks over his attire.
 
Yuuko: "I'd say you have a ways to go."
 
She says as she turns back to the cookbook. She tries to peel apart two pages that have been stuck together from a spill of vanilla extract on the corner of the pages.
 
Hideaki: "Try the knife."
 
Yuuko slips the blade between the pages and seperates them.
 
Yuuko: "Thank you. That was helpful."
 
Hideaki smiles.
 
Hideaki: "Is there anything else I can do to help?"
 
Yuuko's eyes scan the recipe for roasted duck as she speaks.
 
Yuuko: "Hmm, can you set out a tray for me please?"
 
Hideaki: "Will do!"
 
He salutes and takes out a metal tray.
 
Yuuko: "Now we need some seasonings."
 
 
 
She lists off the spices the recipe calls for and before long, Hideaki and Yuuko are a well-oiled machine, preparing the night's feast. The tension between the two seems to ease the more time they spend working together. By the time the bird is fully prepared, even Yuuko's mouth is starting to water at the thought of dining on their culinary creation.
 
 
Yuuko: "Now we just need to put it in the oven and we're all set."
 
Hideaki turns the dial and turns to Yuuko, who is carrying a wobbling tray.
 
Yuuko: "It's fine, I can handle it."
 
Hideaki opens the door and Yuuko smashes the bird against the top rack, flattening its sternum. She steadies herself and pushes it back in, crashing the tray into the side of the oven.
 
Yuuko: "Oh dear..."
 
Hideaki takes the other side of the tray and the two of them lift the duck into the oven and close the door.
 
Yuuko: "Thanks. That was exhausting."
 
 
 
The two segue back into the living room.
 
Yuuko: "So, read any good books lately?"
 
Hideaki: "I don't really read. Only for school. It's boring."
 
Yuuko: "No it's not. You can learn a lot from reading. Especially history. It's fun."
 
They sit down on the couch. Hideaki crosses his legs and Yuuko adjusts her glasses, clasping her hands together before speaking again.
 
Yuuko: "At the library I work at there are a lot of adventure books. It's healthier for your brain than just playing Playstation 3 games."
 
Hideaki: "But Playstation 3 doesn't have any games..."
 
Yuuko then notices they don't even have a tv in their living room, so they wouldn't be able to play any video games at all in the first place. Hideaki then begins to ponder about something.
 
Hideaki: "Hey, how do the blind students at that school read?"
 
Yuuko: "We have special books that are printed in braille and there are a few audiobooks too."
 
Hideaki: "That makes sense. My cousin is blind. She goes there."
 
Yuuko: "Really?"
 
Hideaki: "Yeah. Usually her older sister is the one who watches me when Dad is gone."
 
Yuuko: "I see."
 
Suddenly an idea crosses Hideaki's mind.
 
Hideaki: "Hey, do you want to play a game?"
 
Yuuko: "Alright."
 
Hideaki: "We have a lot of board games, but my sister took most of them to her school. We used to play Risk a lot when she was here, but I was never able to beat her. That's why I bought it myself to practice with. The next time we play, I'm going to win for sure."
 
Yuuko: "Your family seems pretty competitive."
 
Hideaki brings the game out and explains the rules. Although it sounds complicated, Yuuko agrees to play along. Ten minutes into the game however, she feels lost.
 
Yuuko: "I honestly don't know what I'm doing."
 
She says as she absentmindedly places a green game piece on Brazil.
 
Hideaki: "How about a different game?"
 
Yuuko: "Maybe I should check on the food."
 
Yuuko gets up while Hideaki cleans up the board game and walks into a smoking kitchen.
 
Yuuko: "Oh NO!"
 
She frantically opens the oven and reaches inside for the blackened duck, burning her fingers when she touches the hot tray.
 
Suddenly, Hideaki hears a shriek from the other room.
 
Yuuko: "Oh no, oh no! Please don't burn the house down! Please!"
 
Hideaki rushes into the kitchen and sees Yuuko blowing on her hands to cool them as dark smoke rolls out of the open oven.
 
In a quick instinctive motion, he grabs some potholders and races for the tray. Yuuko stands behind him and clasps onto his covered hands, lifting the bird out of the oven with him together. She moves to the counter as Hideaki steps towards the table and they trip over each other's legs, dropping the duck onto the floor.
 
Yuuko: "I can't believe this! The dinner is RUINED! Oh, whyyyy?"
 
Hideaki: "It's ok, the actual duck never touched the floor, see?"
 
Indeed the burnt bird was still sitting safely on top of the tray. Still, what use was it if it was inedible anyway? Yuuko wipes the sweat from her forehead and blinks the tears out of her eyes. She lifts the tray onto the table and fans the remaining smoke out of the oven before shutting the door and turning the oven off. Turning to the duck, she takes the nearby knife and starts cutting into it. Splinters of ash fall with each motion of the knife. Underneath the burned exterior, there is still some meat to be found. Yuuko works over the next half an hour to salvage what is left to scrap together a meal and adds steamed carrots and some plain rice on the side.
 
 
At the dinner table, Yuuko and Hideaki sit across from each other. Most of the meal passes in silence, save for the sounds of utensils and a few crunching sounds from chewing what was supposed to be a tender roast duck.
 
Hideaki: "Mmm, thanks Yuuko. This is great."
 
Yuuko smiles and gives a nod of appreciation for his appreciation. Even if the dinner was a disaster, she feels glad that with a little effort, they were still able to make something that worked from the mistake.
 
Hideaki: "You're a better cook than my dad."
 
Yuuko: "Oh?"
 
Looking behind her, Yuuko looks at the clock to see that it's already 9:30 at night.
 
Yuuko: "After this it's time for bed. I don't want to get in trouble with your father again."
 
Expecting him to protest, Yuuko is instead met with compliance from Hideaki.
 
'What a relief.' thinks Yuuko.
 
Hideaki excuses himself from the table and retires to his room. The remainder of the night is spent quietly cleaning up the mess in the kitchen as Yuuko mulls over her performance for the night.
 
Yuuko: "Not a bad job if I do say so myself. I saved the dinner and everything went better than I thought it would."
 
She sits down on the living room couch, exhausted, and looks around the room once more.
 
Yuuko: "This house seems so big. It must get lonely here."
 
'Or maybe I'm just too used to my own apartment, so anything bigger feels TOO big.' she says to herself.
 
Her eyelids begin to feel heavy as her thoughts begin to calm. The beige walls give off a comforting, warm color that puts Yuuko at ease. She stretches her legs out onto the couch and curls them up on her right side. With a silent cat-like yawn, Yuuko rests her head on the couch's armrest and within seconds of closing her eyes, falls fast asleep. A peaceful, dreamless slumber. From atop the stairs, Hideaki creeps down and takes note of the sleeping Yuuko. Without a sound, he sneaks back up to the upper floor. A strand of Yuuko's hair falls across her face as her head turns gently downwards. Hideaki returns with a thick plaid wool blanket and quietly walks over to the sleeping redhead. He takes a minute or two just to watch her breathing. With a warm smile, he drapes the blanket over Yuuko's body up to her neck. Yuuko seems to smile in her sleep, though Hideaki isn't sure if his imagination was merely fabricating it. Carefully walking back up the stairs to his room, he turns around once more to shut off the light.
 
Hideaki: "Good night Yuuko."