Under One Roof
By Chiharu Tanaka
A/n: Thanks so much to my friend Ryoki-chan for letting me use her idea!
Disclaimer: I do not own D.N.Angel whatsoever…
Chapter One: Premises, and A New Roomie
The soft pouring sound appeared at a lonely kitchen that rainy afternoon. The sound of rain hitting against the roof and falling onto the ground was deafening, yet bearable.
Dim lights gave radiance throughout the empty office. It was a shabby looking one too. The tables were dull grey, medium-sized, and arranged properly to form cubicles. Most of the worktables were filled with yellow slips of paper, a few stacks of paperwork, some old Pentium III running computers and pictures stuck onto the cubicle wall with thumbtacks.
The silence was broken when a young man, no older than 25, stepped out of the kitchen with a glass of warm water. His state-of-the-art frameless glasses hung casually on the bridge of his nose. His cold, meticulous cerulean eyes darted around the surroundings in the office. Slowly, he lazily raked his gentle sky blue hair and proceeded to his office with a yawn.
He walked over to the table; his table, that stood dully at one end of the room. On the table was more paperwork, his plasma-screen black desktop and his silver laptop. A phone was between the two computers. He set the glass on his table and sat down on his chair.
'Brigade Commander: Satoshi Hiwatari,' were the words on the little sign on his table. The young commander, Satoshi, looked outside at the open window, uncovered by blinds. Raindrops were stuck against the smooth surface.
"Pfft," he snorted, before taking out a couple of pink and white pills from his drawer. They tasted bitter, but that wasn't much of an obstacle. He popped them into his mouth and washed his frustration down with the water. The medicine showed its effectiveness a few minutes later, as he sighed with relief and massaged his temples gently.
He picked up a sheet of newspaper in front of him. He observed the red circle on one ad for a job that he circled earlier.
Position Open for Secretary
Qualifications: Diploma in Secretariat, experience in accounting and typewriting
Pay: Start with $ 3500 per month
Apply to: Investigation Department, Azumano Police Headquarters, Azumano City.
It was 3 days after he had posted that ad in the newspaper. Three long days of waiting. No one was answering his ad.
'I guess the unemployment rate in Azumano wasn't as high as I thought…' he pondered.
A striking flash of lightning soared across the sky, followed by roaring thunder a few seconds later. Satoshi did not even flinch. He look upwards to a clock and the time showed: 5:17 p.m.
The other workers had left more than seventeen minutes earlier. 'Those lazy asses…but that's what dad pays them for…' he thought groggily, pulling off the plug to his desktop. He walked over to the window and pulled down the blinds. He then packed his laptop into a bag and placed it on a couch nearby. He later put on his raincoat and picked up his bag and umbrella before deciding to leave the office.
Just as he was about to open the door, he heard footsteps outside. Thinking it was someone who left something in the office, he just swung open the door.
"Ahh!"
The scream of fright made Satoshi jolt up in alert. He came face-to-face with a young lady, right about his age. Her honey brown hair, pink blouse and navy denim skirt were partly drenched with rainwater. Her gentle golden eyes looked up pleadingly at him.
"I…I'm sorry," she stammered. "I'm here for the job…but it seems I've come at a…bad time…"
He just stood there, blinking slowly as he observed the young woman. After a few moments of thinking, he opened his mouth.
"Come in."
He led her inside his office and turned on the lights. He set his laptop bag and umbrella aside on the couch and took off his raincoat and draped it on the coat hanger.
He walked over to his table and sat down. "Please…have a seat."
The young miss nodded bashfully and sat down politely, clutching a plastic folder in her arms. She set it on the table and opened it and handed the papers inside to Satoshi.
Satoshi took the paper and darted his eyes over her resume. He then flipped the papers to look at a photo stated copy of her diplomas.
"Impressive…Miss Harada. You're hired."
Her bashful expression turned happy as a bright smile formed on her lips. "Oh, thank you, sir! I won't let you down!" she exclaimed happily.
As he arranged the papers back together, he just looked at her with a poker-faced expression. "You may start tomorrow, at eight. Your desk is outside. I will give you further instructions in the morning."
She beamed at him despite his cold demeanour and stood up. "Thank you, sir," she said, before taking her plastic folder, bowing and turned her heel to leave the office.
As he heard the door of the office outside shut close, he looked at her resume once again. 'Risa Harada…why does that sound familiar…?'
As he finally left the office ten minutes after young Risa had left, he walked over to the parking lot where his car was. He hopped right in and drove off for home. He reached his apartment fifteen minutes later.
He walked over to his apartment lot and opened the door with his keys. He tossed the keys onto the table and took off his raincoat. He took off his shoes and walked over to his room, where he left his bag.
He then walked back outside and noticed something. A few things from his apartment were missing. He walked into the living room area and found a yellow note over a spare set of keys and an envelope.
Hey, Hiwatari!
Thanks for letting me stay at your place for these past 2 months. You've been a great host. I have the rent inside the envelope. If you're wondering where I am now, I'm moving to my fiancée's apartment. Oh, and don't worry – I'll replace me soon.
- Takeshi Saehara
A confused eyebrow arched upwards. 'What does he mean by…I'll replace me soon?' he thought. Still, he pocketed the keys and envelope and threw the note into the bin. He shut himself inside his room again to change into more casual wear and emerged in a black long-sleeved shirt and khaki slacks.
He sat down on the sofa in the living room and turned on the television to hear the news. The weather man was informing the citizens of Azumano that there will be more rain in the next few days.
"Bloody shit," cursed Satoshi. "As if we didn't know that, asshole."
The news anchor woman was just mentioning about a terrorist bomb attack in Madrid when the doorbell rang. "Damn," he cursed again. 'Don't tell me Saehara forgot something? The idiot…'
He walked over to the door and swung it open harshly. His eyes shot wide open when he looked down upon his unexpected guest.
"Harada-san?"
"Sir! I'm…so sorry to interrupt you…"
"It's okay…what…are you doing here?"
"Ano…a guy called Saehara said there was a room in lot…89."
Reality hit Satoshi smack in the face. 'So…that's what he meant…bastard…' he cursed indignantly in his train of thoughts. His eyelids lowered slightly as he looked at Risa, drenched and covered with a damp denim jacket. She had a trolley bag with her – obviously showing that she was not from Azumano.
"…come in," he said finally.
Her little footsteps led her into the apartment, where she took off her pumps and walked onto the carpeted floor. The apartment itself was mainly painted with pastel colours, and the furniture was modern and non-obsolete.
"So…when did you contact Saehara?" asked Satoshi abruptly. He had never invited women to his house, that's for sure.
"Urm…yesterday afternoon…when I was still in Fukuoka…"
Silence filled the warm, dry air inside the house. "I see. Have a seat while I make you some hot chocolate," was Satoshi's brisk reply.
"Thank you…sir…"
She walked towards the living room where she took a seat on one of the sofas. Satoshi, on the other hand, was in the kitchen. As he waited for the water to boil, he flipped open his phone and dialled Saehara's number.
"Yo! Takeshi speakin'!"
"What is the meaning of this?" yelled Satoshi in rage, just loud enough not to reach Risa's ears.
"Oh, I see you have met Harada-imouto, yes? Isn't she spicy?"
"Explain, Saehara. NOW."
"Okay, okay! Don't get so touchy, Mr. Commander. Harada-imouto was looking for a job, so she called me up…I don't know how she got my number. Anyway, since I was moving, I thought she could stay at your place. It's not wrong, right?"
"Wrong, Saehara. I want you to fix this. NOW."
"Aw, c'mon – Hiwatari! Don't you pity her? I mean, the only available apartments here in Azumano is associated with gangs and mafias!"
"Saehara – I warn you…"
"Okay, okay. I'll find one safe enough for her, okay? Just let her stay at LEAST until next Thursday, okay?"
"You'd better, or I'll tell your fiancée about the porn magazines you keep under your bed."
"Okay…now you're scaring me. Oh – darling's calling. It's dinnertime. Ciao!"
"Wait –"
Before Satoshi could say another word, the line went dead. "Damnit…" he cursed again. He turned off the switch to the electric kettle and poured warm water over the cup with hot chocolate mix inside it.
"Here," he said, setting the cup onto the glass coffee table. He sat down across her and observed her carefully.
She bowed down slightly. "Thank you, sir." She picked up the cup and slowly gulped down more than half of its contents.
"Well, I've called…Saehara…and to make one thing clear, since this is my apartment, I'm not opening any rooms for rent."
In a split second, a hurtful look was spread all across her face. Her eyes were rimmed with tears, and her nose, cheeks and ears were getting pink.
"Oh…I'm sorry…"
Satoshi pressed his lips together. How was he supposed to deal with women? Satoshi Hiwatari doesn't deal with women. 'Oh great…she's going to cry, isn't she?' he thought miserably as his eyes started to soften at her saddened face.
"However…I'll make an exception in your case. Saehara will look for a new apartment for you in a week's time. Until then, you can stay here. I'll charge you accordingly at the end of the week."
A sniffle came from her nose. "Thank you so much…sir."
"Come on. I'll show you to your room."
She stood up and carried the trolley, since the wheels were dirty with puddle dirt. He walked into a long hallway, where two doors were on both sides of the wall.
"The one on your left…" he started, pointing to the richly painted mahogany door on his left. "Is my room. Never enter it, understand?"
Risa nodded quickly. She wasn't curious to know what was inside anyway. He walked on ahead to a second door on their right. It was identical to the first door. "This room will be yours for the next week. It was Saehara's…but I doubt he'll leave a mess in my house."
He opened the door and led her inside. The walls were painted a light mistral blue colour. There was a simple white dressing table with a large oval mirror at the near right of the room. A queen-sized bed, with a bedside table beside it was on the right side of the room, covered with blue and white patterned sheets, comforter and pillows. The windows were opposite the door she was standing at, and the curtains were lilac, with a translucent white under curtain beneath it. Near the windows was a simple writing desk and a lamp on it. A classic wardrobe stood at the left side of the room. Beside that wardrobe, on the far left of the room, was another door.
A look of awe struck her face. The room was so simple, so unlike her own pink room back in Riku's apartment in Fukuoka, yet it was so much more interesting.
"The door over there leads to the bathroom. If you need anything, I'll be outside watching television."
She bowed at him once again with a 'Thank you' from her mouth. He just turned away and proceeded out of the room, shutting the door close behind him.
A beaming bright smile on her face and a shade of flustered pink on her cheeks, Risa just hummed to herself happily as she set the trolley near the bed. She opened it up and pulled out a fresh and dry cream coloured blouse and ivory coloured plaited skirt out from her bag, as well as some undergarments. Smiling happily, she picked up a pair of pink towels, a bottle of shampoo, a bottle of conditioner, a bottle of facial wash and a bottle of body wash and forwarded to the bathroom.
Inside, there was a shower cubicle on her left made out of glass. The floors and the bottom half of the walls were tiled with a smooth latte brown coloured marble. The walls were painted almond white. A sink was on the right, with a medicine cabinet over it.
"Thank God…" she thanked, as she began to undress.
The rain was still pouring, but the dastardly duo lightning and thunder seemed to disappear for the moment. Satoshi blinked slowly as he watched the continuation of the headline news: suicide bombing in Madrid.
"So far, seventy two people are confirmed dead while more than a hundred are still missing. The search and rescue team are still searching for the remaining victims…"
Meanwhile, Risa was gently drying her hair with the towel she took out, and was sitting on the bed. She wrapped her hair with the towel and proceeded to unpack. She took out a few make-up items, some toner and moisturiser and set it neatly on the dressing table. She then took out all of her clothes and arranged them neatly inside the wardrobe.
As soon as she had finished unpacking, even to the last item – her toothpaste and toothbrush, it was already 7 in the evening. She quickly dried her hair thoroughly with her towel and walked outside.
She popped her head in the kitchen when she noticed Satoshi wasn't sitting on the couch. Expectedly, he was cooking something on the stove. Dinner, apparently.
"You really don't have to…" she started. He turned to look at her. He blinked once and opened his mouth to say something.
"You're my guest."
"I know…but I'm your secretary…sir."
"I won't repeat. That's an order."
"Yes, sir."
He then turned back to the spaghetti that he was cooking. Risa frowned and walked over to the living room and grabbed a seat on one of the couches. She let her hands support her chin as she set her elbows on her lap. 'What a strange guy…but I should at least be thankful that he let me stay…I mustn't be angry at him…he owns this place after all.'
"Harada-san…"
"Yes, sir?" she asked, perking up immediately.
"Dinner is ready."
To be continued…
A/n: Okay, to those who aren't clear: the two DON'T remember who the other is. That means, Risa doesn't remember Satoshi and vice versa. Makes it a little spicy, no?
Please read and review! This will be the last chapter I'm posting anytime soon…I'll be doing some work for school – but don't worry – I'll TRY to slip in a chapter or two in the next two weeks. Thanks and have a nice day!