Wayside - 1920s Japan Dramedy

「So, Micchan.」 Kazuma flippantly regarded the petite girl prancing down the bustling street next to him. Truly, how she managed to keep such an upbeat gait in those wooden shoes was a mystery he’d never unravel. 「Tell me again how you met this swarm?」 He smirked as Mieko flashed him a vexed frown, comical in appearance on her soft features.

「They’re all very respectable, for your information! They’re not bugs…」 She huffed and lowered her brows.

「I met Al’s niece first, she bumped into me near Tennōji Zoo, and I already told you about the whole kimono debacle. She was mortified.」 She giggled at the memory. Kazuma drummed his fingers against his suit jacket.

「And you said I’d get on well with this niece of his, how promising…」 He trailed off, tipping his hat as he ruffled her hair. 「I should be thanking you, dear!」

Rolling her eyes, Mieko tisked and bopped her head away from his teasing. 「Well what I said was that you’d get along well with all of them, but of course your mind is racing towards only one thing as usual.」 She murmured the last bit in exasperation.

Mieko loved Kazuma, he was her protector, her confidant for the past eleven years, but along with that rapport came a constant nagging worry about his whereabouts and his...activities. She watched with joy and pride as he climbed his way up the ranks in the business world, but with every new success and achievement came throngs of women aching to weasel their way into his life.

He wasn’t stupid, he knew what most of them were after. Whether it be his looks or his success, most of the time both, the fact of the matter was that Kazuma was already in his thirties and still unmarried. He was more than open to having girlfriends, he’d simply indulge in physical intimacies and send them on their way with no thoughts of marriage taking up space in his head. Cruel, some would call him, but both parties received at least half of what they were chasing after instead of nothing at all.

He had told Mieko about four years ago before he left for the States that he never planned on getting married.

Call her fickle, but she still wanted what she thought would be the best for him—a happy life with a nice lady who loved him, loved him for the right reasons.

「I’m sure this little friend of yours will be delighted to have a local be her guide for a day or two...」 He smiled down at her, already getting ahead of himself.

「Well if this goes through, you’ll be seeing each other much more often than that, so don’t make an ass out of yourself.」 She warned. 「Probably more often than me even...stupid father, stupid calligraphy lessons, stupid Mister Fosters…」 Kazuma chuckled as he noticed her steps becoming louder as frustration overtook her.

「Why, Micchan, how hurtful of you to assume that I’d be nothing less than a gentleman!」

「I said don’t be an ass, I never said you wouldn’t be a gentleman.」 She elbowed him in the side. 「You can be both, you know.」

「Speaking of that combination, after I left the other night, how was your father?」 He casually inquired, aloof gaze scanning across the many shopkeepers and merchants selling wares alongside them.

If Kazuma had said that to anyone else, he’d probably have gotten socked in the face and a kick in the groin, but Mieko rolled her eyes as if the exchange was a daily occurrence.

「You know how he gets when you don’t keep in touch with him, and you haven’t bothered to stop by save for the first time when you got back and twice last week.」

「Well what am I supposed to do, just drop in unannounced? If he really wanted to see me before yesterday, he’d have sent for me earlier. And last week was a joke, a meaningless meeting about my report presentation.」 He disregarded her pointed statement with a wave of his hand. 「The man sends me overseas for three years with barely any contact and then breaks a sweat here if I don’t come to his home every day, it’s asinine.」 He furrowed his brows.

Mieko couldn’t help but feel a twinge of resentment at Kazuma’s complaining. He was always moaning and groaning about how her father was on his case, but at least he cared! Her father valued what Kazuma had to say, respected his wishes and permitted him to live a life more or less free from his judgemental ogling, save for the occasional visits. That was more than Mieko could ever hope to achieve, and she was his own flesh and blood. At this point, she was genuinely fearful that she’d eventually become a shut in, forced into a life of calligraphy and reading obtuse poetry while the world outside roared on without her.

She lowered her eyes and focused her attention to the ground before her instead of Kazuma. He really didn’t know how good he had it sometimes.

「Easy for you to say, at least he actually cares about how you’re feeling. My father actually respects you.」 She felt as though she were stabbed with a knife as Kazuma’s boisterous laughter silenced her inner moping.

「Hah! Dear, your father would wipe his shoe with me if he had the chance, that’s not exactly what I’d call respect.」 His grin strained as he managed to conceal the chill that coursed through his bones.

Mieko kicked a stone on the ground in front of them, cheeks puffing out to contain her laughter. 「Why you should be flattered, Kazu, I’d bet he even has specific preferences for that. You could consider it an honor, no?」

She yelled out, puffing out her chest and placing her hands on her hips. Her eyes creased in the corners from laughing as Kazuma attempted to shush her up, dreading that one of his associates were to be nearby and hear such an embarrassing exchange between the two of them.

Watchful eyes and eager ears waiting for any news about the Takahara family, good or bad, could be found everywhere in the city.

In reality, it was Kazuma’s own reputation he was afraid of damaging, but he would never admit it, even to Mieko. Her father had enough money to where reputation didn’t even matter, but Kazuma? He was getting there.

「Oh Kazu, no need to be scared of public opinion, I’m sure your lady friends won’t think any less of you for being afraid of a sour old man!」 She pursed her lips together, appreciating the verbal freedoms modern day chivalry afforded her. Had they not been in public she’d never have gotten away with a saucy comment like that.

「And anyway!」 She spun around, stumbling yet again on a rock and grabbing Kazuma’s sleeve to steady herself. 「Woah—anyway...we’re here! I told you it’s not that far from my house!」

Kazuma bit his tongue as he surveyed the outside of the slightly dilapidated building Mieko was eagerly pointing towards. 「And you said there are three people living here? The man along with his fiance and his niece, correct?」

「Well I’m not exactly sure if Al and Yuko are married yet.」

He merely hummed in response. Like a shark stalking its prey he circled towards the door, his eyes jumping to and from the worn building and the others nearby. This one certainly had a significant amount of wear and tear on the outside, but he could understand how it would be rather charming to the average onlooker. In a...pitying sense.

He could back out now, apologize to Mieko and have them turn back and high tail it home to wrap up some reports on his actually successful ventures, and for a split second he considered the notion as he turned his head back towards the younger girl behind him.

God damn her expectant smile. It got him every blasted time.

With a strained grin of his own he raised his wrist as he turned to Mieko for permission to knock. 「Shall we?」

「No no, let me!」 Mieko skeetered up towards the worn wooden door that she had knocked on so many times before.

She rapped three times before they heard the soft patter of a woman’s heeled shoes. Mieko’s face lit up as she and Kazuma were greeted by Yuko.

「Ah! Mieko, we’re so glad you’re here!」 She flashed a charming smile while leaning her weight against the door.

Mieko had always admired Yuko’s effortless ability to style herself–like today, her sleek, modish bob shined in the sunlight all while her modest dress draped over her dainty frame exquisitely. Her lips were painted with a dark red lipstick that Mieko could only dream of pulling off.

Someday.

「No problem at all!」 She bowed her head slightly before bobbing up again. 「Thank you for having us! This is Kazuma, by the way, he’s very interested in hearing about Al’s ideas.」 She motioned towards Kazuma.

「Kamoi Kazuma. It’s a pleasure to meet you, I hope we can work together soon.」 He smiled before bowing in time with Yuko. “I believe Mieko has already told you, but I was actually in the United States myself for a stretch.”

Yuko’s eyes lit up as she cocked her head. “Oh, yes she has! Well, ‘a pleasure to meet you!’” She laughed and motioned for them to follow her inside. “I’m sure Alfred will be delighted to hear all about your experiences! Al!”

“Just a minute!” a man’s voice rang out from the living area.

“You didn’t clean that up yet!?” a squeaky, feminine voice followed.

“Calm down, it’s Mieko not the emperor!”

「Hmmm?」 Mieko smirked as she looked up at Kazuma, who merely chuckled knowingly, shaking his head.

Before he could respond, Kazuma noticed Yuko’s cheery demeanor gradually dimming towards something resembling exhaustion as she removed her heels.

Yuko looked at both of them apologetically as they took off their shoes, shoulders slumping forward in defeat.

「They’re...usually like this when they’re in the same room. Ever since Chicago.」

“Only because she’s such a stinker all the time! I swear, it’s like her father’s DNA completely skipped town when she was in the oven—oh.”

A tall man with slicked-back blonde hair popped his head out into the hallway. Wireframe eyeglasses askew on his long nose, his blue green eyes lit up behind his thick lenses.

“Hiya, Mieko! Great to see you, we’ve missed you these past few days!”

Before Kazuma could comprehend the situation, a whoosh of air passed him as Mieko ran up into the man’s open arms.

Thank whatever god out there that her father didn’t know about any of this.

“Hi, Al! I missed you all so much! Oh—!” Jumping back from his embrace just as quickly as she jumped in, she hastily walked back towards Kazuma, arm motioning up and down towards him. “This is Kazuma. He’s very happy to be here!”

Well that was certainly debatable.

Summoning as convincing a smile as he could manage, Kazuma simply nodded in Alfred's direction.

“Well, it's way too cramped to do introductions in here! Yuko, let's go into the other room, yeah?”

“Yes, of course.”

After addressing the booming man across the hall, Yuko gestured for Kazuma to step from the entryway to give her his coat.

While Mieko was seemingly distracted by some outlandish tale Alfred was regaling her with a few feet away, she took the time to give Kazuma her thanks.

「We're very happy and grateful that you're here to speak with us, sir. Truly.」

「The pleasure's mine, miss.」

Stepping up onto the floor, although he was charmed by her ladylike genuity, Kazuma sensed a hint of unease lacing Yuko's encouraging words of appreciation.

Why was he feeling jittery all of a sudden? He had absolutely nothing to be nervous for–this "Al'' guy was doing just fine, entertaining Mieko with some random story despite his livelihood literally being in another man’s hands.

「Mister Kamoi?」

Hanging up his coat on the rack beside the door, Yuko had taken note of Kazuma's bout of silence. After only making his acquaintance mere moments before, call it a woman's intuition or an extra sense, she could tell that this wasn't typical behavior for him.

Jolting from the sudden call of his name, he shook his head before looking down towards Yuko once more.

「Follow me, we'll all go into the room on the right.」 With a hand resting on her skirt and another gesturing towards a doorway, Yuko beckoned for Kazuma to follow her.

As they followed Mieko and Alfred through the narrow hall leading further into the house, Kazuma took his time to candidly inspect the state of the home's interior. It was certainly a home fit for a large family. Surely in normal circumstances, a family of three would be able to live quite comfortably in such a sizable space–but these clearly weren't normal circumstances, not even close. Kazuma suppressed a string of sneezes fighting to drop from his nose as he inhaled the dusty air and hints of mold pervading his senses. He brought a finger to his eyes as they began to water from the dust particles floating about.

His thoughts were becoming muddled again.

A familiar sense of duty and obligation swept through him, the reason being one which he had long since buried in the recesses of his heart.

He remembered how he felt while looking at the home from the outside, and as he rounded the corner into the room on the right, towards Mieko’s enthusiastic greetings and into the lion’s den, he reminded himself.

「Lu-chan!」

This was for business. This was not for charity.

This was not for a second chance.