Working Class
By: LokiGirl
Chapter 7: The Chips Hit the Fan
It was the first of the month, and time for the rent to be paid. Resolutely Tsukushi made towards the drawer where they kept Doumyouji's allowance money--currently their only major source of income. She hadn't as of yet pressed Doumyouji into getting a job, seeing how difficult the transition was for him. But there wasn't much more time left in his grace period. He'd have to get a job, or at least start looking for one soon. Sighing she picked up the envelope. It already looked depressingly thin.
She pulled out the bills she needed and looked at the money left inside in puzzlement. Setting the rent money aside she frantically counted what was left. It wasn't much. In fact it was barely enough for the month's groceries. Slamming the envelope down Tsukushi picked up the rent money and stormed out of the Makino apartment. First she had to pay the rent, but that wouldn't long delay the fate of her soon to be dead 'husband' who was currently serving detention.
The time ticked slowly by as Tsukasa vainly tried to keep his gaze away from the clock on the wall. Every time he looked it only seemed to make time move slower. It certainly didn't help that Suzuki-sensei had been glaring at him for almost the entire detention, especially since he was supposed to be writing an apology letter for using 'ore' instead of 'boku' or better yet 'watashi'. Suzuki-sensei had even mentioned something about 'watakushi', but there was no way Tsukasa was going to go there. It was bad enough that he was using polite language that had never passed his lips before, language that he only knew because it had been addressed to him. There was no way he was going to use words so humbling that his servants hadn't been made to use them on a daily basis.
The clock finally struck four o'clock and Suzuki-sensei took the letter of apology off his desk and left the room. Tsukasa sighed in relief and slouched back in his chair. Agitatedly he loosened his tie. He had survived once again and hadn't been expelled.
The classroom door slammed shut and he nervously re-straightened his tie. Cautiously he turned his head to see a livid Makino Tsukushi at the door. Her shoulders were heaving and her breathing heavy. Tsukasa sat up straight in his chair. "What's wrong Makino? I told you I had detention. You should be happy to see me," he said with false bravado even though he secretly wanted to cower before the attack of typhoon Tsukushi.
Tsukushi's eyes darkened before her face suddenly turned sweet--saccharin sweet. "Of course I'm happy to see you Doumyouji. Whatever gave you the idea that I wasn't?" Almost with a bounce she walked to Tsukasa's desk and sat down on it. Leaning towards him and running her finger down his jaw line, Tsukushi asked "Is there something you want to tell me Myouji-kun?"
Tsukasa gulped. He wasn't sure which Tsukushi he should be more afraid of--'Tsukushi the force of nature', or 'Tsukushi the Sugar Crumb Fairy'--either seemed to spell certain doom for the former wealthy heir. He gulped again, unsure of what to say.
From the classroom door that was now open a crack for perfect snooping purposes, Akira and Soujirou scoffed. It seemed that Makino had learned another technique to 'punish' Tsukasa and she was laying it on thick. Both knew that 'Myouji-kun' was in for it now.
Tsukushi continued on, unfazed by Doumyouji's lack of response. "It wouldn't have anything to do with the rent money, would it?"
"Re...rent money?"
"Mmm hmm, rent money." She stroked his cheek again. "Do you know where it's gotten to? I just can't seem to find all of it."
Tsukushi's fingers were soft and smooth, and the gentle caress they were performing would probably be quite enjoyable if her touch didn't seem to burn Tsukasa's skin with hidden rage. Sweating profusely he gulped a third time before trying to answer her. "I… I..."
Tsukushi smiled sweetly. "Yes?"
"I sent it to your parents."
"Oh," Tsukushi giggled, "you sent it to my parents, how fortunate for them." She smiled widely at him. "And so how does my generous providing man of the household intend to pay next month's rent?"
Tsukasa gulped again. "I ah... I don't know," he admitted lamely.
"You don't?" Her smile grew larger. "Well fortunately Myouji-kun, I know." The pretty grin that had been on Tsukushi's face suddenly turned into a scowl as she fisted Tsukasa's blazer and dragged him to his feet. "You get a job!" she screeched, "NOW!"
"Makino! Lower your voice," cried Tsukasa, worried that others might over hear Tsukushi telling the mighty Doumyouji Tsukasa that he needed to get a job.
"Fine," Tsukushi hissed, thrusting Doumyouji back into his seat, "You're still not getting out of this conversation."
"I never tried to…" Tsukushi threw him a venomous stare and for once Tsukasa had the wisdom to stay silent.
"Mimasaka! Nishikado! Get over her. I know you're listening."
"What about Rui?" whined Soujirou as he opened the door, "why doesn't he have to…" Tsukushi's venomous glare turned towards his direction and Soujirou quickly decided to follow Tsukasa's silent wisdom as well. It looked much better for his health.
Rui stepped between Soujirou and Akira with a yawn. "What is it Makino?"
"I wanted Doumyouji to do it the normal way--without cheating," Tsukushi made sure to glare at Tsukasa so that she was positive that he knew that it was entirely his fault, "but now he needs one immediately. So," Tsukushi paused to point at the F3, "one of you is going to give Doumyouji a job."
The F3 stared at Makino in shock. It was one thing to hear her talk about having Tsukasa get a job, it was a whole other thing to actually admit it was going to happen. Rui was the first to pull out of it. "Sorry Makino, my company's going through a restructuring, so we're not hiring right now."
Tsukushi looked at Mimasaka next.
"I could," he admitted, "but my business… I'm not sure if…"
Soujirou sighed. "I suppose I can find Tsukasa a job. It'll be delivery though, and it won't pay well."
"It doesn't matter Nishikado," Tsukushi stated with a shake of her head. "As long as it pays and it's something that even blockhead can manage."
And so it happened that ex-heir Doumyouji Tsukasa became the youngest and newest member of Nishikado Tea and Specialties delivery truck eleven.
Tsukasa dropped the box of tea leaves down and wiped the sweat off his brow. Near the end of March the weather was still cool with the last dying echoes of winter, but the fifteen walks between the restaurant's storeroom and the delivery truck Tsukasa had made carrying thirty pound boxes of tea and other Nishikado products had significantly warmed him up. The work wasn't hard after the muscles in his arms, back, and legs had gotten used to it, and it required very little thought, which gave Tsukasa plenty of time to think--something he never seemed to have in his previous life of luxury.
At first he had dwelled on the strict and unfair treatment he was receiving from the teachers at school. But as the month had gone on and more and more of his class began to talk about what they were going to focus their study on in Eitoku University, he began to worry more and more about his future. His mother had still yet to announce if he was to be attending Eitoku University, let alone the subject matter he was to study, and he feared that perhaps she wouldn't. That she had grown bored of the game she was playing and had given up on him altogether, and that for once, his destiny was completely his own to chose. It was a strange and unsettling feeling for Tsukasa, who, since the age he could first vaguely understand the concept of inheritance had known that his life had been preplanned for him.
And now, something that had been a requirement in his 'preplanned life' and something he now wanted almost more than anything rested on the benevolence of his mother. He had no delusions about going to college without his mother continuing their 'game'. He couldn't afford Eitoku on his own, and Makino had once stated that he couldn't pass the entrance exam of the worst high school in Tokyo, let alone a university entrance exam and it hurt for Tsukasa to admit that she was probably right.
When he wasn't thinking about his future he was thinking about the prom. The girls in his class were already discussing which designers had the better selections and how much they were 'intending' to spend on the dress. The price tags seemed to increase by the hour. Such conversations would have meant nothing to him only two months ago. At any time he could have gone and out spent them on a dress for Makino--which was what he had originally intended to do. But how was he to buy a dress, any dress, if all the money he was earning was going to the rent?
Wiping his brow again Tsukasa made his way quickly back the delivery truck and his supervisor. Without a word he lifted the last box and made his sixteenth and final trip into the storeroom. As he was heading back to the truck, Tsukasa finally noticed the help wanted sign hanging on the wall. They wanted a weekend pot washer, no experience necessary. An idea suddenly popped into his head.
Tsukasa quickly wrote down the information. After his shift was over he'd go and inquire about the position. In the month before the prom he could save enough money to at least buy some sort of dress for Tsukushi. And best of all, Tsukushi was working weekends at the dango shop. She'd never know until he surprised her with it.
"Doumyouji! Doumyouji!" rang a gruff deep voice. "Get your lazy ass over here. You're paid to haul, not dawdle."
"Yes sir!" replied Tsukasa with a smile.
He stood alone and confused. People were bustling by him without a glance. Some laughed with friends, while others made their way smartly through the open plazas with their rustling bags. But no matter what they were doing, everyone seemed confident and unintimidated by their surroundings. If he had half of their confidence, it would have been more than he could muster with his measly hard earned forty thousand yen in hand.
He had casually looked in the windows of his normal haunts: Chanel, Louis Vuitton, etc. and had cringed at the prices openly displayed. He didn't want to think of the prices of the clothes he would have been shown if he had actually walked in. Had that been how Makino felt every time he or his sister had dragged her off to shop or eat at an expensive fancy restaurant? That the zeros on the price tag could tie a noose around her neck and drag her into poverty for having the audacity to just stare at them?
Tsukasa sighed. He had no idea how to find a dress that fell within his new, much declined price range. After hours of searching he had finally broken down and had asked a group of girls where he could buy a prom dress. They quickly showed him a store they insisted was the best place. He winced at the bland tackiness of the store. Large 'for sale' signs were prominently displayed on most racks claiming ten to thirty percent off. Taking a big breath, Tsukasa gathered his courage. It was like no store he had ever entered before on his own, but it was in his common man's price range--after the sale markdown that is.
For once he was glad Eitoku had so many strange rules and policies made to separate the elite from the rest of Japan. While the rest of Japan had their proms in the beginning of March, Eitoku and Erin weren't graduating until the end of April. And since the students of Eitoku or Erin wouldn't be caught dead wearing formal attire from the type of store he was currently shopping at, the leftover dresses had been marked down.
Setting his pride aside, Tsukasa began to search the racks in earnest. No one would miss the inexpensiveness of the dress. The socialites of Eitoku knew money--and the lack thereof--when they saw it, but Tsukasa was determined to find a dress Makino would look absolutely stunning in, no matter its less than astronomical price tag.
A/N: Sorry for taking so long between updates. I finally got my first full time job and it's taken me a while to get used to it. Although I don't have as much time to write, I actually write more often--every week day during lunch now in fact. So while the chapters take longer to write, I'm actually writing them instead of just thinking about them.
Alright, next chapter I'm going to use Tsukushi's father's name. Should I use the anime's Makino Yasukichi or the jdrama's Makino Haruo? I'm slightly in favor of Haruo myself. I think it sounds better. Tell me what you think though, please!
I've decided that Eitoku has a different school calendar from the rest of Japan. Japanese schools usually graduate in the first week of March giving the seniors the whole month to take their entrance exams. The underclassmen go to school for the rest of March without any seniors until April 1, when everyone moves up into the next grade and a new school year starts. I just can't imagine how the manga chapters 20-34 all happened between February 1 (The day after Tsukasa's birthday) and the first week of March. I've also decided to eliminate the month break seniors have to sit through entrance exams at Eitoku since no one is actually expected to take anything but perhaps an Eitoku University course study entrance exam to get into some of the harder programs such as law and medicine. So Eitoku graduates the last week of April and starts a new school year May 1.