Chapter 03: Formulating a Plan
�Are you sure about that?� he asked. �You�ll want to spend thousands of yen that you don�t have.�
�Exactly the point. I want to get a job and help your family out.� Toshiro raised his eyebrows as he shut his locker.
�Can you�you know�do that?� he asked very slowly.
�I can do anything,� Reina said with a smile. �Except fall in love, of course,� she thought as an afterthought.
�Well, if you really want to. We�ll need to take the bus.� Toshiro dug around in his schoolbag for his wallet, a small black leather one that was showing signs of wear. Once it was found, he opened it up and looked in the folds for change. �The bus costs 100 yen per person. Here.� He took out a small silver coin and gave it to Reina.
�Thank you,� Reina said gratefully. �You didn�t have to do that.� She put her coin in her blazer pocket, followed by her hand, which she used to protect her bounty.
�But I wanted to.� Toshiro held the front door of the school open for Reina and waited for her to pass through before he walked outside.
�I think I found one of your good points,� Reina said sweetly.
�Good points?�
�Sure! It�s part of my job to figure out the good points about the guy I�m assigned to. That way, I can tailor myself to fit his individual needs a lot better.� Reina gave a thumbs-up. �So far, I�ve discovered that you�re very generous.� The 100-yen coin in her pocket was becoming hotter. �Even to complete strangers.�
�Yeah. I want to know more about you, too, though. Do I get to?� Toshiro asked as he mentally charted a course that would take Reina and him down to the nearest bus stop.
�Compared to you, I�m boring,� Reina said ruefully.
�I�m sure you�re not. I�d like to know how you fell out of my computer, personally.� Toshiro chuckled.
�It�s complicated,� Reina said quietly. �Don�t worry about it.� She swatted the air as if to swat away the current topic of discussion.
�Okay, I trust you. Have you ever helped anyone else out before?�
�This is a question I can answer. No, I haven�t. I�m new. You�re my very first.� Reina blushed.
�I hope I�m a good first,� Toshiro said kindly as he saw a small sign labeled �Kanpeki Bus.� �Here�s the bus stop. Kanpeki only got buses a year ago. This place is so small that it barely needs them.�
�Do you like living here?� Reina queried. �Stop me if you don�t want to answer.�
�Kind of. I mean, the small town feel can be nice, but it can be annoying, too. Everyone at school knows everyone else�s business, and that�s never a good thing.� Toshiro sighed and looked at a pebble on the ground.
�Do you think anyone�s going to say anything about seeing us together?� Reina blurted out.
�I�m not sure. There aren�t any really mean gossipy girls at our school, so I don�t think you should worry about anything slanderous, but if someone just jokes about it to you tomorrow, just laugh it off. That�s my advice.� Toshiro saw a bus approaching in the distance. �Here�s the bus. Try to sit next to me so I can tell you where to get off.�
�Is there a map of the bus routes available anywhere? I can memorize things like that quickly,� Reina bragged.
�There�s one on the bus, but since there are only two routes, you don�t need to worry about memorizing anything overly complicated.� As Toshiro finished his sentence, the bus puttered to a stop and threw open its doors. Toshiro waited for Reina to get on and deposit her money in the collection slot before he got in, deposited his money, and got a small leaflet labeled �Kanpeki Bus Routes� for her. She sat down in one of the blue plastic seats and he decided to stand next to her, watching her as she systematically read every line of the bus routes and nodded here and there to show her understanding of the material.
�Done!� she chirped.
�Really? Can you tell me which line the Kanpeki Superpark is on?� Toshiro asked.
�A challenge, huh? It�s on the blue line. What is the Superpark?� Reina asked.
�Superpark is like a big playground, a small amusement park, and a water park all rolled into one. People come from all around to go to it,� Toshiro explained.
�It sounds like fun. Will you take me there sometime?� Reina asked.
�I think that could be arranged.� Toshiro nodded.
�Then it�s a date,� thought Reina, smiling to herself. She was happy all through the mercifully short, yet bumpy, bus ride to Town Center, where she was astonished by how it looked. Town Center was a metropolis of pearly white buildings, some marked by colorful signs, bordered by a sea of pavement used for parking lots. The buildings were also flanked by lush green trees in an obvious attempt to balance out all the man-made aspects of the area, which only helped add to the general atmosphere. Reina was as overjoyed as a little kid in a candy store, but she became even more so when faced with the Town Center map, a candy-colored cornucopia of possible places to get employment.
�Anywhere that looks good to you?� Toshiro asked, derailing Reina�s train of thought.
�There.� Reina pointed to the location of Jellybean. �They sell accessories, don�t they?�
�Yeah, for girls only,� Toshiro replied succinctly.
�Well, you�re looking at a girl right now, aren�t you?� Reina asked playfully, sticking her tongue out slightly. �I�m going to go ask them for a job application.�
�While you�re doing that, I�m going to go to the bookstore and ask my boss when I�m supposed to work again. I forgot.� Toshiro shrugged. �You know where the bookstore is?�
�Zone 1,� Reina barked.
�That memorization thing is amazing.� Toshiro was clearly in awe.
�A lot about me is amazing,� Reina replied with a giggle as she turned on her heel and went off towards Jellybean, which required walking past, among other things, a music store, an ice cream stand, and a perfume shop. This showed her the range of things people shop for at a place like Town Center. She was also given an opportunity to see what people were like up close, something she had never seen before.
Jellybean�s marquee window was festooned with all manner of accessories, from multicolored bracelets to shining rings on a mannequin finger to a menagerie of earrings. Reina was momentarily fascinated by how beautiful it all was, but then she snapped out of it and went inside. On the left side of the admittedly tiny store were purses, bags, room d�cor, and car accessories. On the right side were earrings, hair accessories, necklaces, bracelets, and makeup, all of which was alien to Reina. She allowed a small �wow� to escape from her lips before the only person working there at the time came up to her.
�Can I help you?� asked Miuna.
�Oh! Hi there, Kimura-kun,� Reina said politely. �I didn�t know you worked here.�
�I�m alone today,� Miuna explained. �Can I help you find anything?�
�A job application,� Reina answered with a smile. �I�d like to join you here.�
�Cool,� Miuna said, nodding. �I�ll go get that from the back.� She disappeared behind a door marked by a full-length mirror and returned a few minutes later with a piece of paper. �Would you like to fill this out now?�
�Could I?� Reina asked.
�You could.� Miuna held her hand out towards a stool, which was attached to the area of the store used for ear piercing. She handed Reina a pen and allowed her to go over to the stool. Reina sat down, put her paper on the table, and began to have a look at her new surroundings. She saw a piece of thick plastic decorated with all the possible choices of earrings. There were twelve different kinds of small, circular ones labeled �birthstones�. This innocuous label gave Reina a bad taste in her mouth, however, as she realized that she had no birthday and therefore no birthstone. There were gold ones, silver ones, cross-shaped ones, ball-shaped ones, and even tiny hoops. Next to this piece of plastic was a set of small white boxes labeled �Piercing Kit�. Reina took this all in and then started on her application, but her mind kept thinking about how she would look with earrings.
Name: Ogawa Reina
Age: 16
Birthday:
Reina paused, her pen floating over the paper, unsure of what to write down. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she tried to think of a suitable day to call her birthday. She shut her eyes and chewed on her lower lip before the day finally came to her: July 20. To find her birth year, she simply subtracted 16 from the current year and wrote that number down.
Address:
Phone Number:
She froze here, too.
�Kimura-kun, I�m, um, feeling a bit hungry. I�ll be right back,� Reina told Miuna, who was busy rearranging sets of necklaces to form a heart.
��Kay,� Miuna replied absentmindedly. Reina took up the piece of paper and the pen and rushed out into the main corridors of Town Center, hustling towards Zone 1 as fast as she could, not bothering to notice her surroundings this time around. When she reached the bookstore, appropriately named Kanpeki Booksellers, she ran inside and searched for Toshiro�s head above the row upon row of books, books, and more books. She eventually found him in the midst of the giant magazine section.
�Toshiro,� Reina said quietly, so as not to shock him. �Toshiro, I�m having a problem with the application.�
�What�s wrong?� Toshiro asked immediately, putting down the magazine he was reading.
�I don�t know my address,� Reina said helplessly, handing the piece of paper to Toshiro, along with the pen.
�Here, I�ll just say it to you. You�ll memorize it, won�t you?� he joked, winking as he gave the pen and paper back to Reina. �We�re at 3-5-2 Satokibi, Kanpeki, Niigata 354-8792.� Reina scribbled this address down. �You might want to add Apartment Number 802 to that.� She did. �And the phone number is 0256-167853. So, you�re applying to work at Jellybean?�
�That�s right.� Reina nodded.
�Maybe we can commute to work together,� Toshiro suggested.
�That would be nice.� Reina smiled. �I�m going to go give this application back now.� She was thinking of telling Toshiro that Miuna worked at Jellybean, but decided against it right before the words left her mouth. Instead, she smiled and went back towards Jellybean, where Miuna was busily filing her nails and looked up only when the chimes signaling the entry of a customer sounded.
�You�re back!� she exclaimed in genuine surprise.
�What, you thought I wouldn�t come back?� Reina joked as she sat back down on the stool to finish her application. The rest of the application contained only questions that Reina could answer, which was a relief for her. When she was done, she handed the application back to Miuna. �I hope you will consider me for the position.� She bowed deeply and was going to leave the store, but then an idea came into her head. �Kimura-kun?�
�Yes?�
�How much does an ear piercing kit cost here?�
�4000 yen.�
�Thanks.� Reina bowed again and went back into the main corridor, ready to go home, an idea bubbling inside her mind. She would work at Jellybean, get closer to Miuna that way, and eventually get Miuna and Toshiro together. However, there was a certain tint of selfishness to the entire scheme, as Reina also included provisions for herself to get 4000 yen, get her ears pierced, and buy more accessories instead of having to share Rika�s.
CONTINUE to Chapter 04: A Date with a Third Wheel Attached
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