Wisteria

5 - Interrogation

Yasuo ending up in a massive mansion with random people was the last thing he expected. The mansion itself was completely shocking, considering he had never seen anything as beautiful as whatever he had seen.

He believed those buildings only existed within fairytales, yet he stood in front of the wooden gates of the traditional minka. The girls pushed the doors open, revealing a large courtyard with neat cobblestone pavements. The winter season caused the cherry blossom tree to bear no flowers, yet the great tree stood strong in the middle of the courtyard, with little notes attached to the tree branches.

"My God..." Yasuo exclaimed softly, his eyes wide in awe. But there was no time to admire at the moment. Hanako had jabbed his back, causing him to grunt in pain. "Okay, okay! I'm moving!" He hissed, moving towards the large, traditional house.

As the three stepped inside, they were greeted by various staff members, young and old. A clamour began, as the young girls began to hustle with the two girls, and point at Yasuo in confusion.

"Set up the tea room. I need to talk to him personally," Hanako ordered. She pointed to another group of girls and snapped her fingers twice, pointing at Kaede. "Take her to her room. She requires a mourning session."

The girls nodded, quickly moving around to follow their orders. Hanako gruffly grabbed Yasuo's wrist and began to drag him along the hallways, eventually entering a room under the stairs. She slid open the doors, switching her combat boots to a pair of comfy slippers, before making a short, sharp whistle.

The girls setting the tea room jolted slightly, quickly finishing the room set up with perfection. Again, Hanako snapped her fingers twice as she pointed down at Yasuo's feet. "Get him some slippers, please." She muttered.

The girls quickly nodded, pulling a pair of fresh slippers from the cabinet in the corner of the room and kneeling to remove Yasuo's shoes. The boy couldn't help but wriggle his toes as the new slippers comforted his feet. He chuckled slightly, scrunching them while rolling his ankles.

Yet, the moment the girls exited the room, the door slammed shut, leaving Hanako and Yasuo alone. The girl sat down on the bamboo doma, with her feet tucked under. "Sit." She demanded, pointing to the opposite end of the table.

Yasuo reluctantly sat with his legs crossed, picking at his thumbnail. He began to scan the room, taking note of the very traditional paintings hanging among the walls. Yet the sound of tea pouring caught Yasuo's attention. "Tea?" Hanako offered in a strict tone.

"Uhh... sure." He mumbled as the cup was set in front of him. He wrapped his hands around the cup, glancing at each corner of the room to hopefully notice details.

As Hanako finished pouring her own cup of tea, she began to inspect Yasuo's outfit. She was no stranger to the outfit, even if she never wore it in her life. I mean, it was no use asking again since he mentioned that last time, but maybe she could ease the atmosphere a bit. "Construction worker?" She pointed out.

Yasuo was startled by her observation and quickly glanced up at her. "Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm a construction worker, specifically the seventh division." He muttered, adding a small chuckle at the end. The girl gave him a small, sharp nod, before narrowing her eyes at him.

"Seventh division? That's all the way in Osaka, or so I've heard. How on earth did you reach Fukushima?" Hanako asked curiously.

Yasuo shrugged. "I dunno. I volunteered for bingo night?" He mumbled, loudly sipping his tea after. Hanako's eye twitched slightly as she heard Yasuo drink his tea, yet she made no comment.

"Bingo night... I've heard about that too..." She murmured, staring at Yasuo's cup. "Alright then, Yasuo. Why did you volunteer?" She asked, glancing back up at Yasuo.