JUMBO & PATIENCE

Ayase Fuuka opened the front door to let the rail-thin, short-haired, chain-smoking Torako into the house. "Ah! Torako-san! Oneechan isn't...here," Fuuka said.

"Huh?" Torako asked. "But I thought..."

Fuuka shook her head. "Oneechan is here, she just isn't HERE."

"...huh?"

The younger girl sighed. "Just follow me, you'll see for yourself..."

The teenager led the older girl through to the kitchen, where Fuuka's older sister Asagi sat with her elbows on the table, the palms of both hands pressed against the sides of her face. On the table in front of her sat a most exquisite confection, a piece of rich red velvet cake with marbled white chocolate frosting topped with shaved dark chocolate, with a half-melted dollop of vanilla ice cream nestled beside it on the plate, the whole thing surrounded by a moat of hot fudge sauce. The cake sat completely untouched; Asagi was just staring morosely at it. The youngest Ayase sister, Ena, was sitting beside her, talking softly to her and patting her shoulder encouragingly. Asagi didn't even seem to notice Torako entering the kitchen.

"What the hell happened to her?" Torako asked, discomfited at the sight.

"She got brushed aside for a younger woman," Fuuka said bluntly and with absolutely no sympathy.

Asagi heaved a depressed sigh. Ena gave Fuuka a sharp, cross look. "Oneechan," she said in an irritated tone.

"Sorry, it's just...she's kicked me when I was down often enough. It's not every day I get a chance to get even."

Asagi muttered a very rude and physically improbable suggestion at Fuuka.

Torako raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I've got to know just who or what did this."

"'Or what' is more fitting than you know," Asagi said tonelessly.

"Oneechan!" Fuuka cried. "You don't have to be rude and mean-spirited about it."

"Yeah, it's not like you own him or anything."

"Or even rented him," Fuuka added.

Ena stared hard at Fuuka, cheeks pink. "That was so wrong on SO many levels."

"Is ANYONE ever gonna explain this?" Torako asked.

Fuuka looked at Ena. "Janken?"

"No way," Ena said, shaking her head. "You do it."

"But you were there for the really messed up part," Fuuka pointed out. "I was just here for the fallout."

"Then you tell that part and I'll tell the other part," Ena decided.

"Fair enough," Fuuka sighed. She turned to look at Torako. "You remember Jumbo-san, right?"

"Who could forget Jumbo?" Torako asked, exhaling a billowing plume of smoke.

"Well, he's had a crush on Oneechan since the day he met her, back during the summer," Fuuka explained. "Today, she decided she'd let Jumbo-san take her out on a date, just for the heck of it. So she goes down to the flower shop to ask him out..." Fuuka trailed off, glancing over at Asagi. "And he rejected her."

Torako's eyebrows climbed toward her hairline. "Jumbo rejected Asagi?" she asked.

"Yeah. He told her he's spoken for..."

* * * * *

Fuuka watched Asagi carefully spoon the hot fudge around her slice of cake and the scoop of ice cream sitting adjacent to it. "So, how'd it go?" she asked.

"Eh, he said he's got a girlfriend," Asagi said indifferently. "So that's that."

"Wow, really?" Fuuka asked. "I didn't know he was seeing anyone. And I thought for sure he was totally into you..."

Asagi shrugged. "Love is fickle and fleeting," she said.

"So that's what's up with the cavity bomb, eh?"

Asagi smirked. "No, I just felt like some cake and ice cream. I could care less about Takeda-san not wanting to go out with me; I only even asked because I was bored..."

* * * * *

Fuuka shook her head. "And that would've been that, except..." She glanced over at Ena.

Ena sighed. "Except, that's when I came in, and accidentally did this to Oneechan by telling both of them about something really weird that happened earlier..."

* * * * *

Ena had run into Miura and her mother just outside the building the Hayasaka family lived in.

"Hey, Ena," Miura greeted. "We're gonna do some shopping today."

"I see," Ena said. "Mind if I tag along?"

"Sure thing," Mrs. Hayasaka said. "When it comes to shopping, the more the merrier!"

They had stopped in a few places just to do some browsing, then had gone to a book store where Mrs. Hayasaka bought a novel she'd been looking forward to reading, and the two girls bought a few manga.

"Before we go grocery shopping, though, I want to stop by a florist and get a plant to put in the window," Mrs. Hayasaka said. "The one I had died and it wasn't very pretty anyway."

"Ah! If it's flowers, I know where to go!" Ena said. She frowned thoughtfully. "Now, where was his shop again..."

"Eh? You know a florist, Ena-chan?" Mrs. Hayasaka asked.

"Yeah," Ena replied. "Jumbo-san is a florist."

Miura jumped back in surprise, eyes wide. "EH?!" she exclaimed. "You're kidding, right? That missing link is a florist?"

"...missing link?" Mrs. Hayasaka asked, blinking.

"Mou, Miura-chan," Ena groaned. "Don't say such rude things about Jumbo-san..."

After asking around for a few minutes, Ena got directions to Flower Jumbo, and a short time later, they pulled up in front of the florist's shop.

"What kind of name is Jumbo, anyway?" Mrs. Hayasaka asked.

"You'll understand when you see him," Miura said.

The three of them entered the shop. "Welcome!" a loud voice boomed. "Ah! Ena-chan, welcome, welcome! And the little hula princess is here too!"

"Oi oi, knock it off with that hula princess crap," Miura grumbled.

"And—" Jumbo trailed off, blinking, as Mrs. Hayasaka stepped through the door behind the girls.

She saw Jumbo, and her eyes tripled in size. "You're HUGE!" she shouted.

"Kaasan, THIS is Jumbo," Miura said.

Jumbo vaulted the counter and approached them, bowing deeply. "Takeda Takashi," he introduced. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Please, anything you want in the whole store, it's on the house for such an incredibly beautiful lady."

Mrs. Hayasaka blinked at him, then blushed prettily. "Oh goodness...thank you, um, Takeda-san..."

Jumbo suddenly squatted down in front of Miura. "Oi oi, how come you never told me that an amazing bijou like this was your mother?"

Miura raised an eyebrow. "Beeeee...cause I never really thought of it? And because she's kinda married to my dad?"

Jumbo slumped. "Oh. Right. Of course." He trudged wearily over to the counter. "Anyway, just take whatever you want, it's still on the house, and it was a pleasure..."

Mrs. Hayasaka blinked. "What...just happened?" she asked.

"Jumbo-san is weak to pretty ladies," Ena said with a giggle.

"I see," Mrs. Hayasaka said. "Well, even though I'm married, it's very flattering to be called pretty."

"Yeah," Ena said, "who'd think someone with the same face as Miura-chan would be such an amazing bijou?"

"H-hey!" Miura cried. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?!"

Jumbo jerked upright sharply, blinking audibly. "Say that again, Ena?" he prompted.

"Huh?" Ena asked, confused. "What, about Miura-chan's mom looking just like her?"

Suddenly, Jumbo was directly in Miura's face, examining her.

"O-oi," Miura protested, stepping back in alarm. "Personal space, personal space! Get that huge ape face away from me!"

Jumbo stood, leaning in to examine Mrs. Hayasaka closely.

"Ah...um..." Mrs. Hayasaka stammered, perplexed and slightly afraid.

Jumbo crouched and studied Miura again, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "I see...so that's how it is..." he mused.

"That's how WHAT is?" Miura demanded.

"Miura-chan, you're around ten years old, right?" Jumbo asked.

"Y-yeah, so?" Miura challenged, confused and somewhat apprehensive.

Jumbo stood bolt upright suddenly, a serious expression on his face. "Then it's decided!" he exclaimed.

"Wh-what's decided?" Ena asked.

"TEN YEARS!" Jumbo exclaimed.

"Ten...years?"

"I'll wait ten years!" Jumbo declared. "So, Miura-chan, stay single until you're a super bijou like your mom!"

Miura jerked backwards, forming a warding gesture in front of herself, a disgusted look on her face. "What the hell?!"

"What happened to your crush on Asagi-oneechan?" Ena wondered.

"Asagi-san is very pretty, but I'm patient enough to wait for Miura-chan to be even prettier!" Jumbo exclaimed. "Love is like fishing, it's all about patience! If you catch a runty little minnow, throw it back! Sooner or later, you'll hook koi!"

Mrs. Hayasaka stared at the large man. "Wh-what...in the world...?"

"Uh...let's...um...pick out a plant and LEAVE," Miura suggested.

"Good idea," Mrs. Hayasaka replied, nodding...

* * * * *

Torako stared at Ena in disbelief. "You're joking."

"I'm dead serious," she said, shuddering. "He actually said he'll wait for Miura-chan to grow up..."

"He had to have been joking," Fuuka said. "He just had to..." She shook her head. "Anyway, once Ena finished telling us about it, Oneechan just kind of...broke." With a sigh, she added, "And she's been like that ever since..."

Torako, smoke curling from her cigarette and from her nostrils, observed the depressed, listless Asagi. "In that case, there's only one thing to do."

"What's that?" Ena asked.

"We eat her cake before the ice cream completely melts."

* * * * *

Late in the afternoon, Mrs. Ayase came into the kitchen to start dinner. Asagi was still sitting morosely at the table.

"What's bothering you?" Mrs. Ayase asked.

"I lost it all," Asagi said listlessly. "My cake...my giant...even my 'bi'...I've lost everything..." She slumped flat against the table.

"I...see..." Mrs. Ayase stared at her. "Well...hang in there..."

Ten years later...

"You may now kiss the bride."

A beautiful bride blushed prettily as her towering groom lifted her veil and stooped awkwardly to kiss her. After several seconds, he withdrew and stood erect, taking hold of his new wife's hands. Their family and friends clapped and cheered.

As they walked up the aisle together, leaving the chapel amidst a shower of thrown rice and streamers, Takeda Miura craned her neck to look up at her husband. "I still can't believe you actually waited all this time," she said.

"I always keep my promises," Jumbo said. "And like I said that day ten years ago, patience is everything."

Author's Notes

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Since 9/26/12