Jellyfish en Vogue - A Kuragehime or Princess Jellyfish Fanfic

Chapter 3 - Work Related Choices

 The conversation over the course of the meal had been light. They hadn't discussed anything over stimulating. Although Kuranosuke had to excuse himself to the bathroom for a moment when Tsukimi sighed contently as she was finishing her meal.

When he came back Tsukimi was shifting uncomfortably away from the waitress who was obviously not being as nice to her as she had been to Kuranosuke. "What does that hunk see in a frumpy looking girl like you?" The waitress hadn't noticed Kuranosuke approach.

"You were hoping for a tip," he paused to glance at her name tag, "Misaki?" Instead of waiting on a response he dredged on. "Your name may mean beautiful bloom but your attitude leaves a lot to be desired." Kuranosuke laid down enough money to cover the bill but the waitress did not receive much extra in way of a tip. He grabbed Tsukimi's hand and headed to the door.

Suddenly a portly bald middle aged man was stopping them. "Sir, please I apologize for that." In his hand the man held the money that Kuranosuke had just laid down. "Here, we will comp your meal for the poor service."

Kuranosuke nodded. He was seething mad at how Tsukimi was mistreated. He honestly wanted the so called waitress, Misaki, to apologize but he was afraid of how the words would sound coming out of his mouth when he was so angry. Luckily Misaki came over on her own accord. She looked at him. "Please forgive me. I have no excuses."

Yeah Kuranosuke still had a problem with this because she wasn't apologizing to Tsukimi. She looked at Kuranosuke the entire time with still a look of hope in her eyes. "It's not me you should be apologizing to." Kuranosuke said through gritted teeth.

"What? You want me to apologize to her?!"

The bald portly fellow looked at Misaki. "Where on earth did you learn such poor manners? Why on earth did I hire you? I'm rectifying this problem immediately. You're fired!"

Misaki opened and closed her mouth like a fish. She was flabbergasted. She stuttered briefly then whimpered and walked away.

A few minutes later Tsukimi and Kuranosuke walked the sidewalk heading home. "You didn't have to stand up for me like that." Tsukimi said shyly.

"Yes, I did." Kuranosuke replied. He wanted to assure her that she was not frumpy looking. He wanted to assure her that while she may not see it she was truly beautiful.

He inwardly smiled. Yeah, originally she was on the frumpy side. Who wouldn't look frumpy in dull gray sweats? But cute things about her had started etching a way into his heart. Over time he started to notice her quiet beauty. It was subtle that was true. He just had to dig underneath the surface.

"She was quite beautiful..." Tsukimi sighed dejectedly.

"No, she wasn't," Kuranosuke said through gritted teeth again.

"Kuranosuke, you know she was beautiful. She was the most beautiful waitress in the cafe."

Kuranosuke snorted. "She had surface beauty sure, but once she started opening her mouth she became the ugliest creature there."

Tsukimi looked at her shoes. She was sure he thought she was the second ugliest creature. She didn't want to dwell on it. But it still saddened her.

His hand reached out for her shoulder. "Please don't let her foul personality get to you, Tsukimi."

It was a sunny spring day and the weather was pleasant. Kuranosuke didn't really want to ride the train home. It was only one train stop they could easily walk it. But if Tsukimi wanted to take the train he would. "So, are we relaxing and taking the train today, or are we walking?"

"Actually, I was wondering if we could go to the park for a bit. It's such a pretty day."

Kuranosuke smiled at her. She was obviously becoming comfortable in his presence if she wanted to spend time with him at the park. He remembered a big moment they had in the park not so long ago. She had been feeling unsure and was emotionally hurting because his brother, Shu, had walked that man-eater, Shoko to her car. Kuranosuke had the rarest of opportunities to cuddle her in the park. To bad that punk kid had to ruin it by pointing and shouting 'lesbians'. Where the hell were that little creeps parents to teach the evil ankle biter some manners?

But the moment, while short lived, was one of his favorite memories with Tsukimi. He just hoped he could relive it again. Well except this time he wouldn't be clothed in his drag attire. Hopefully it would be happy moment instead of a depressing one also.

Tsukimi sat down under the same tree, on the same bench of the cherished memory Kuranosuke had just relived. She sighed. It was one of her sighs of nervousness so he looked across the playground and waited for her to get up the courage to say whatever it is that was obviously on her mind.

"I was thinking. I'm not sure we can run our own brand by ourselves."

"Hmm, you may have a point there." Kuranosuke had actually thought the same but he still wanted the two of them to be in charge of everything. He also was more then happy to let her believe the idea was hers alone.

"It's our dream so we should head the company still but I was thinking of maybe holding interviews for additional designers in the near future. Like maybe making a digital email flier for the online fashion school?"

As far as ideas went it was one of her bolder ones. She would probably be dealing with more 'stylish' but she was willing to do so for the dream. "What kind of look are we hoping for?"

"Maybe looks that still have an airy feel to them? But I was hoping for more casual looks. I mean we have a ton of formal attire ideas already."

"So you were thinking of having them email their portfolio?" Kuranosuke knew she actually hadn't thought of that. She had great inspiration but sometimes she needed more background support. It was part of what made them such an excellent team.

"No, that didn't occur to me. But that is a great idea. Seeing their portfolios would help us decipher if they can work their own dreams into ours."

Kuranosuke loved how she thought of the whole fashion concept as a dream. It would soon be reality. But the dream quality of it made her fight harder to make it a reality.

"Oh and we can put one of the pictures with the winning dress and trophy on the flier so it might give future interviewees an idea of the look we are trying to achieve."

Tsukimi nodded at Kuranosuke and smiled. "Yes, I like it!"