悪魔は僕の部屋の中に
[Akuma wa Boku no Heya no Naka ni]
By Bayou
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Part 2
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"Kyou-chan!"
A familiar girl's voice called him out from the campus ground.
Kyou turned; it was Ryoko who was approaching him arm to arm with her boyfriend, Asuka. It was bitter to saw her getting along with her boyfriend. A painful stab on the heart, but he forced a natural smile.
"Oh my!" she squealed in surprise, seeing the patch on Kyou's cheek, "Is your face okay?"
"Oh," Kyou touched the patch, "Well, it’s a bit swollen and bruised, but not that it'll make me uglier than this," Kyou said jokingly, "I mean, a guy with a bruise on his face looks somewhat manly. Since I already have a tough look, I'm manlier than a manly man now, don't you think?" Kyou cracked a joke hastily, seeing Asuka was making regretful face.
But no one laughed.
"I see... Sorry for yesterday..." the girl apologized.
"Don't worry, I'm okay."
There was a moment of pause, making Kyou felt discomfort with the tense atmosphere.
"Hey, are you heading to the cafeteria?" Ryoko started the conversation again.
"Yeah."
He finished his morning classes and would be free for the rest of the afternoon. But before he'd go to his part time job, he decided to grab some lunch first.
"I owe you 2 lunches," she said, "And Asuka-kun suggested me to buy you the deluxe set meal for apologize."
"So I heard yesterday," Kyou laughed.
Asuka seemed bashful. He just grinned and said nothing.
"Say, can I save those lunches for rainy days?" Kyou asked, "I still have money to buy my own lunch today, and I always broke in the end of the month, just before my paycheck. You can buy me lunch then."
A familiar girl's voice called him out from the campus ground.
Kyou turned; it was Ryoko who was approaching him arm to arm with her boyfriend, Asuka. It was bitter to saw her getting along with her boyfriend. A painful stab on the heart, but he forced a natural smile.
"Oh my!" she squealed in surprise, seeing the patch on Kyou's cheek, "Is your face okay?"
"Oh," Kyou touched the patch, "Well, it’s a bit swollen and bruised, but not that it'll make me uglier than this," Kyou said jokingly, "I mean, a guy with a bruise on his face looks somewhat manly. Since I already have a tough look, I'm manlier than a manly man now, don't you think?" Kyou cracked a joke hastily, seeing Asuka was making regretful face.
But no one laughed.
"I see... Sorry for yesterday..." the girl apologized.
"Don't worry, I'm okay."
There was a moment of pause, making Kyou felt discomfort with the tense atmosphere.
"Hey, are you heading to the cafeteria?" Ryoko started the conversation again.
"Yeah."
He finished his morning classes and would be free for the rest of the afternoon. But before he'd go to his part time job, he decided to grab some lunch first.
"I owe you 2 lunches," she said, "And Asuka-kun suggested me to buy you the deluxe set meal for apologize."
"So I heard yesterday," Kyou laughed.
Asuka seemed bashful. He just grinned and said nothing.
"Say, can I save those lunches for rainy days?" Kyou asked, "I still have money to buy my own lunch today, and I always broke in the end of the month, just before my paycheck. You can buy me lunch then."
"Kyou-chan, stop being a super nice person, please. That makes me feel like I'm the bad one here," Ryoko pouted.
"If you feel bad about it, just accept my request," Kyou smiled and pat Ryoko's head, then turned to Asuka. "Oh, and I haven't got your name, yet."
"Oh, sorry," Ryoko apologized, "This is Mizusawa Asuka, my boyfriend."
There was a stinging pain on Kyou's chest again when he heard the word "boyfriend".
Asuka bowed politely toward Kyou who bowed back at him.
"And this is..."
"...the famous 'Yes man' Ooguma Kyou," Kyou cut in Ryoko's introduction and grinned. "So I heard that too,yesterday."
"Really sorry about yesterday, dude. That was my fault..." Asuka apologized.
"Nah, that's ok," Kyou waved at those apologetic words. "Lucky I didn't have broken jaw, if I had; I'll charge you for the hospital and the consolation money," Kyou grinned.
"You're somewhat different with the rumors," Asuka said, quite astonished, "You're..."
"Straightforward? A jester? Yeah, I heard that too, a lot."
Actually, "weird" was the word in Asuka's mind, but he swallowed it so he wouldn't make anymore damage then he already had.
"Well anyway," Ryoko butt in, "Thanks to you, we finally talked and solved everything's out," she giggled. "Oh," she pulled Kyou's sleeve to make him bend and whisper in his ear, "We're making out yesterday. He was a virgin, so he's kinda timid with that kind of thing."
"Ryoko-chan!" Asuka raised his voice in embarrassment, "You don't need to give him the detail!" he gritted his words.
"Kyou-chan is somewhat our cupid, you know," Ryoko pouted, "So he has the right to know everything about us..."
"If you feel bad about it, just accept my request," Kyou smiled and pat Ryoko's head, then turned to Asuka. "Oh, and I haven't got your name, yet."
"Oh, sorry," Ryoko apologized, "This is Mizusawa Asuka, my boyfriend."
There was a stinging pain on Kyou's chest again when he heard the word "boyfriend".
Asuka bowed politely toward Kyou who bowed back at him.
"And this is..."
"...the famous 'Yes man' Ooguma Kyou," Kyou cut in Ryoko's introduction and grinned. "So I heard that too,yesterday."
"Really sorry about yesterday, dude. That was my fault..." Asuka apologized.
"Nah, that's ok," Kyou waved at those apologetic words. "Lucky I didn't have broken jaw, if I had; I'll charge you for the hospital and the consolation money," Kyou grinned.
"You're somewhat different with the rumors," Asuka said, quite astonished, "You're..."
"Straightforward? A jester? Yeah, I heard that too, a lot."
Actually, "weird" was the word in Asuka's mind, but he swallowed it so he wouldn't make anymore damage then he already had.
"Well anyway," Ryoko butt in, "Thanks to you, we finally talked and solved everything's out," she giggled. "Oh," she pulled Kyou's sleeve to make him bend and whisper in his ear, "We're making out yesterday. He was a virgin, so he's kinda timid with that kind of thing."
"Ryoko-chan!" Asuka raised his voice in embarrassment, "You don't need to give him the detail!" he gritted his words.
"Kyou-chan is somewhat our cupid, you know," Ryoko pouted, "So he has the right to know everything about us..."
For a split second, Kyou was looking dejected, but he forced a smile that he was very sure looked so fake, it would give him away.
"You don't have to report your every single private life, Ryoko-chan," he said, "Kinda makes me feel awkward too."
"See? Told 'ya. Now Ooguma-san seems troubled," Asuka knocked his girlfriend forehead lightly with his knuckle, made the girl lolled.
Then she turned to Kyou as if she realized something, and said, "Kyou-chan, don't tell me you're also a vir..."
"Waaah!!" Kyou shouted unconsciously and covered Ryoko's mouth; blocking the rest of the sentence that would come out from the girl's mouth.
Now the three of them was standing still in silent and a very awkward atmosphere.
Kyou sighed quite aloud and removed his big hands from Ryoko's mouth. "Please be very careful of what you said in public, Ryoko-chan..." he said soullessly, "The walls and trees have ears here; and a very sensitive one too."
"Sorry..." Ryoko apologized.
"I better get going now," Kyou waved at them and walked away in weak, unstable steps.
"How about your lunch, Kyou-chan?" Ryoko shouted, as Kyou walking further from them.
Kyou waved again without turning, "I’ll just grab anything I can find on the way to my part time job..."
"I'm really sorry, Kyou-chan!! I won't tell anyone!" she shouted again, trying to encouraged him but somewhat in an unintentionally wrong manner, made Kyou bumped his face onto a lamp post on his path that he was too distracted to see.
* * * * *
Kyou sighed aloud in his cubical. Somehow he managed to arrive safely in his office though his mind was blank along the way.
He worked as a freelance illustrator in a famous magazine publishing. The company's illustrator team had their own office room, filled with only 8 desks lined in fours, back to back, and one room in the far corner for the section chief. The desk wide was 1,5 x 0,5 meters, separated by partition on each desks to make it a little private but practically was quite open. Kyou shared his work desk with other freelancer who worked in different shift with him.
A slap on his head by a bundle of paper made him yelped in surprise.
"What's with the sigh?" someone asked in a friendly tone, "Got dumped by a girl?"
That was a strike to the heart.
The one who said that was Kanoe Takashi, his superior in the office, a very talented illustrator. He was 25, only four years older than Kyou, but already became the section chief of the illustration division in the company. Not to mention that he was handsome too, a little bit narcissistic, a fashion freak, but friendly with everyone. The type who made Kyou felt very inferior.
"Buchooou*..." he whined, "Don't rub salt on my wound, please..."
"Oh? So it was true that you got dumped by a girl? And the patch also?" he tapped his own cheek to point out Kyou's covered bruise.
"Tsk!" Kyou clicked his tongue, irritated.
"Want to talk about it, Kumagorou-kun?"
"Kuma—what? Hey, don't change other people's name as you please," Kyou protested.
Kanoe waved his words away, "I'm offering you a help here, Kumajirou-kun. I'm willing to hear your rant, so be a little thankful."
"I think it's unnecessary to thank a person who makes fun of other people's name," the boy pouted.
"Yes Kanoe-san, don't tease your junior," suddenly somebody cut in to their conversation.
It was Shinonome Shogo from the children's magazine division. He was also an attractive young man; but different with the fashionable Kanoe with his leather jacket, he was dressed casually in jeans and brown plaid shirt over his white t-shirt. When the two of them standing side by side, it was an eye candy for everyone; not only for girls, guys would also unconsciously have their eyes on them.
"Thank you, Shinonome-san," said Kyou, smiling at the man who he thought was taking his side.
"Just call him either Kumagorou or Kumajirou, not both. Made up your mind," Shinonome add with plain face.
Though he looked very serious, Shinonome actually loved to crack a joke. The thing is, he barely had facial expression, so it's really hard to tell whether he was joking or not. Like earlier, he was actually joking, but he didn't seem like he was.
Kyou's smile faded when he heard what Shinonome said; the expressionless man wasn't on his side, but he was siding his best friend.
"Which one is cuter?" Kanoe asked Shinonome.
"I used to have a dog named Kumajirou," said Shinonome, ignoring the death glare from Kyou.
"Kumajirou then," Kanoe decided, "So, Kumajirou-kun, do you want to share your pitiful love story to us?"
"Not answering that," Kyou pouted, "Not until you stop making fun of my name."
"Heh, scrooge."
"By the way, Shinonome-san, what are you doing here?" Kyou said, ignoring Kanoe, "Handing over this month's task? Why bother coming all the way down here? You could've emailed Buchou, y'know. Or you're just making excuses to see him?"
Kyou was well aware of these two relationships. They were so close that it always misled people who saw their relationship. Or the rumors that flew around the office really had had strong basis, since they were childhood friend, a colleague, and now they’re practically living together.
"Yes I am," Shinonome answered calmly, barely winched his eyebrow.
Kyou was actually intended to tease Shinonome, but it seemed that he took his words quite seriously.
"Really Sho-chan?! I'm very happy to hear that."
And then, came along this calling with first name basis and flirting at each other that made Kyou sighed. Though Shinonome was aware in places where they could call each other in nicknames, Kanoe seemed not too care; he always called Shinonome, "Sho-chan".
"No, I really am making an excuse to go here," Shinonome replied straightforwardly, not aware that Kanoe was teasing him too. "I was bored sitting on my desk; writing and checking articles. I need to stretch my back a little."
"Kiriko will lash you if she realized that you're lazing your ass off," Kanoe laughed off his partner's ignorance.
"I've done most of my works, so I think its ok."
Kyou sighed again. Seeing those two in their own world, are something to be jealous of. He never had close friend before. Not that he didn't have any friends; on the contrary, he had tons of friends. But none of them could be considered as his best pal.
"You're sighing quite a lot, Kumajirou-kun," Kanoe smirked.
"This lovey-dovey thing of yours kinda makes me jealous, y'know. Pelase consider that I was just brokenhearted. Do me a favor; please. Go flirt in other place, not in the office. Don't you guys get bored in living, working, and hang out together 24/7, already?"
Kanoe chuckled while huddling Shinonome's shoulder, "I can never have enough of my Sho-chan."
A squeal of excitement was heard from the corridor outside Illustration division's room. The girls, who happened to be passing by the opened door, seemed to overhear the conversation.
"There goes the source of gossip. Soon there'll be weird rumors circling around the office about you guys," Kyou shook his head in disbelief.
"Oh, we can still add more spice in it," Kanoe kissed Shinonome's expressionless face on the cheek.
That act really caused a major uproar! The silent room that only contained 7 inhabitants—excluding Kyou, several outsiders from other department, and more stalkers in the corridor, suddenly went buzzing in commotion. Everybody was poking their heads over the partition of their desks to watch the sequence happened. It seemed that all of them were in all ear with their conversations.
Kanoe laughed, still clinging on Shinonome's shoulder, and shouted to eveybody, "Now you don’t have to watch gossip show on TV anymore. The live event is more exciting, don’t you think??"
The room roared in laughter. Kanoe was smart enough to brush off the upcoming weird gossips. Doing such thing made everybody thought he was only joking.
A knock on the door shut down the commotion, in a split second everybody was getting back to their own business.
A woman in semi-formal suit walked elegantly in to the room and asked, "Is Shinonome here?"
"I'm here, Kawaguchi-san," Shinonome answered.
Kawaguchi Kiriko was the head chief of children's magazine, Shinonome's superior. She was a very capable woman and rather strict at times. Outside work, she was quite fun person to hang out, and surely can handle liquor well.
"Are you done handing over the task for the illustrators? I really need my editor's ass glued on their seat to continue working. We’re a bit behind schedule here."
"Okay, Kawaguchi-san, I'll be back working," Shinonome nod obediently.
"Great. I don't want you to loitering around and bugging Kanoe, because I want to be sure that the illustrations for our magazine finished on time," she squinted at grinning Kanoe. "You always give me trouble for pushing your deadline over the limit," she said in strict tone, "It'll be a hassle for me and the layout team. I don’t want that to happen again."
"Yes ma'am!" Kanoe saluted.
Kawaguchi sighed, and Kyou was shrinking his body seeing bald attitude of his superior. I don't have anything to do with this, he said inside his heart.
"Oh, Ooguma-kun?" the woman called.
"Y—yes?" Kyou replied nervously.
"I like last month illustration for the short story. Keep it up," she patted Kyou's shoulder and went back to her department with Shinonome.
"Ok, enough fooling around everybody. Get your asses back to work now," Kanoe clapped his hand and encouraging his subordinate to work.
"The one who was fooling around was you," Kyou whispered between his breaths.
"What did you say, Kumajirou-kun?"
"Nothing..." Kyou averted his eyes from Kanoe's stare.
[to be continued]
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悪魔は僕の部屋の中に
[Akuma wa Boku no Heya no Naka ni]
By Bayou
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Part 1
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Ps. Title translation thanks to Maria. ^^
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* * * * *
It started a couple of hours ago, in a warm mid May, where the spring breeze was blowing through the gap of his half-opened apartment window. It was a cozy weather to laze around; the temperature was perfect so he didn’t have to turn the AC on. It was Sunday, where Kyou practically didn’t have anything to do; no classes, no part time job, and absolutely no date. So he was dozing off while trying to move from page 10 of the book he was reading.
Suddenly his cellphone rang, it was Sasagawa Ryoko; she called him out to meet her in a nearby café. She wanted to talk about something, she said over the phone. Feeling that the girl he had crushed on for a long time was giving him some sign, he rushed out of his apartment to the café just for knowing the truth that the girl already had a boyfriend and she's complaining about her love life at him.
He had been in love with her for over 2 years now, but never had the guts to confess. Something he regretted that day. Broken hearted, yet he still listened to the girl whole heartedly.
"He never kiss me, Kyou-chan," Ryoko complained, "Can you believe it? We're dating for over 2 months, but he never kiss me! I can't tell whether he loves me or not!"
"Wasn't he the one who confessed to you first?" Kyou asked.
The girl shook her head, "No, it was me. He only said thanks, and agreed to go out with me."
Kyou was broken inside, but he still gave the girl his best smile.
After an hour of conversation, the girl suddenly came out with an idea.
"Go out with me, Kyou-chan!" she said.
Kyou was almost bursted out the coffee in his mouth in surprise.
"What?!"
"Well, I sorta think of a fake date. You know, I want to show him off to make him jealous. Maybe he'll put more attention to me."
Not knowing Kyou’s feeling, the girl had unintentionally hurt him.
Girl sure is can be cruel, Kyou said inside his heart.
"Please, Kyou-chan?" the girl pleaded with her most seductive smile. She knew that Kyou could never reject.
Everybody knew that Kyou was the 'yes man' type. He could never reject anyone who asked him for help. So many used him for this, and some of them deceived the poor boy cruelly. Like borrowing a large amount of money from him and never returned it.
The 'yes man' personality came from his mother's. She taught him that, as long as he was capable to help, he must not reject the plea. Because a single little help, could be the root of something big. Like a ripple; it started with a single tiny drop that spread thoroughly the pond.
Everything went well in the countryside he lived in, because everybody cared and helped each other. But not in the big city. When he came to Tokyo to go to college, everything was different; everybody was their own person, they pretty much didn't care of each other, unless there was something up to it.
People said that he was an idiot, and he'd break in couple of months. But he did not; somehow he managed to survive for 3 years. His good deed returned at him without him noticing. He became good friends with so many people, and people surrounding him started to change; they started to care for each other without any other meanings inserted. But still, there were some cruel people who took advantage out of him.
"Kyou-chan?" Ryoko called him, pouting, "Do you want to help me or not?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Of course..." Kyou replied with uncertainty in his voice.
"Great!" the girl squealed in joy and clapped her hand, "C'mon, let's go!"
She called the waiter and asked for the bill. After paying, she took him by the hand and dragged him outside the café. She clung to his arms so close, made the poor boy's heart thumping like crazy, and he felt like he was going to have a heart attack.
It wasn't long after they left the café; suddenly someone grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him back; forced him to separate from the girl.
And before he took a good look at the other person, he received one hard blow on his right cheek, sending him to collapse on the hard pavement. Not having enough, the other person took him by his collar and ready to strike the second punch if Ryoko didn't stop him by clinging on his arm and telling him not to hit the poor boy again.
"Stop it Asuka-kun!" she squealed, "That's enough!!"
The inside of Kyou's mouth bled, and the blood ran through the side of his lips. His head was dizzy by the impact, so he didn't even bother to get up from the pavement. He could hear Ryoko's high pitch voice when she explained the whole thing in rapid speed to the other boy, who apparently was her boyfriend.
The jealous boyfriend took a good look at him while he wiped the blood off his lips and spat out the remaining blood inside his mouth.
"Sorry for that, dude," he offered him a hand and helped him up.
Kyou took the hand and got up. He rubbed his going-to-be-bruised cheek and grinned, "That was one hell of a punch, man. You could've broken my jaw."
"Yeah, sorry..." he rubbed his neck nervously, "I was losing it for a while because of jealousy."
"Good to hear that, eh, Ryoko-chan?" said Kyou to the blushing girl.
"I'm sorry that I got you in to this, Kyou-chan," she apologized sincerely, "I'll treat you lunch at campus tomorrow to pay you back, okay?"
"Better double it, for this unnecessary punch I've got." said Kyou jokingly.
The girl laughed, "Okay," she said. Then she left clinging on her boyfriend’s arm after bowing and thanking Kyou for the help.
"Was that the famous 'Yes man' Ooguma Kyou?" he still heard the boyfriend talked in the distance, followed by the girl's nod. "You've better treat him the deluxe lunch set meal, I'll pay half of the price. I gave him the best punch I've had there... I kinda feel guilty because of it..."
Kyou chuckled. The boy turned and blushed, realizing that Kyou overheard him. He nodded apologetically at him and dragged his girlfriend to walk faster.
"Okay, okay... there's nothing left to see here. Now scat, people. Get to your own business..." someone said.
Kyou turned around and saw a familiar face shooing people around, and he just realized that the argument before had become quite a scene.
"Imejima?" he called, "What are you doing here?"
Imejima Daisuke was in Kyou's Design class, also a member and cameraman for the campus newspaper club, that's why he always brought his camera everywhere. His height was average, but he had athletic figure and handsome face with a lady killer smile plastered on it. Also because of his cheerful personality, he was very popular in campus, and always invited to goukon. His flaw was only that he couldn't handle his mouth well, but still a fun person to hang around with.
"What? Me?" he asked back ignorantly, "Oh, I was just getting the news for tomorrow's campus newspaper," he grinned playfully.
"You were here all the time and not even bother to help me?" Kyou scowled, "And I presume that it won't be news you'll write, but a gossip report."
"First, I could see you're handling it very well there, man, no need for me to butt in. Awesome, taking a punch like that and still smiling. And second, puhlease, people loves to gossip. Besides, I never tell lies; I just add some spice in it. Y'know, more flavors for the readers."
Kyou sighed, "If you got me into trouble because of the gossip, I'll make you pay the favor in double, y'hear?"
Imejima laughed and slapped Kyou's back, "You may be big, Kuma-san. But you got the heart of a saint," he clasped his hands together in praying gesture as he said 'saint'. “You won't even have the heart to punch me even if I did put you in trouble."
"And I should take that as a compliment?"
"Don't pout, Kuma-san. I was just joking," Imejima grinned, "I swear to God to only write good news about the kindest hearted person in campus. I'll bet this news can make the girls goes 'aww' and swarming you around in sympathy."
Kyou sighed again, "I never knew whether you're praising me or just making fun of me."
"Both," Imejima laughed, "It was fun teasing you, Kuma-san."
"Stop with the 'Kuma', please. My name is Ooguma, say it properly."
"Y'know, the name only fit your first image. I mean, yes you're big, and your name means 'Big Bear', but after people know you, that name isn't fitting anymore. You're more like Koguma—bear cub, cute."
Kyou sighed for the third time. He really couldn't handle Imejima; he didn't know whether he should be angry or not. Imejima's words toward him had always containing two things, praising and teasing in one complete set.
Indeed, Kyou's height was exceeding 180cm—186cm to be precise—his rough feature from keeping his unshaven stubble made him looked tough and a little bit scary. But with his 'Yes man' personality, he's more like a tamed dog instead of a ferocious bear.
"Hey, with your height, why don't you become model instead? Catwalk model suit you, because if you became a magazine model, they might have to Photoshoped your face. Well, though you're not that ugly, a little 'touch up' is a bit necessary."
Now Kyou had enough, he walked away, leaving Imejima who was still talking by himself.
"Hey, wait up!" Imejima ran after him, "C'mon Kuma-san, don't be angry. I was just joking."
Without them noticing, there was a shadow of someone watching behind the shades of the trees.
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