How a Tax Accountant Kicks Back

The last Sunday of June.

Ashley Ono, seated at the notebook PC on her low table, stretched her arms behind her head as Chihiro Hashima wrapped up cleaning duties on her kitchen/dining room combo.

“Whew… Finally done…”

Ashley’s office was also her place of residence. There was a rather ornate office adjacent to the dining room, but the thick, luxuriant easy chair wasn’t too comfortable for her, so whenever she had extended sit-down work, she did it in here. When she didn’t have clients stopping by, she generally went with a T-shirt and sweats, putting on a pair of black-rimmed glasses and tying her hair up into an onion-shaped bun. Seeing her in this state was a shock to Chihiro at first, but she got used to it quick—her brother acted much the same way before deadlines.

“Good job.”

She refilled Ashley’s cup with piping-hot green tea, taking care not to spill any as she slowly placed it on the table.

“Tee-hee-hee… Thank you,” Ashley said as she closed her computer, removed her glasses, took the band off, let her hair down, and sighed with a light smile. “I’m exhausted… Yes, truly exhausted.”

“Was it a big job?” Chihiro asked.

“Well…it’s taken almost ten months to get it fully wrapped up.”

“Wh-what kind of job was it?”

“…An inheritance case,” Ashley resentfully replied. “This wealthy businessman died, leaving two sons who absolutely hate each other. They started fighting just before I could submit the forms, and it’s been this huge morass ever since… I mean, they’d ask me things like ‘Whose side are you on, Ms. Ono?’ Like I had a personal stake in it or something. Ugh! The only ally I have in this game is money, you know. It’s my job to keep the government’s hands off as much of it as possible, but oh, how they carried on…”

“Wow, that sounds rough.”

“It was. The deceased was an old client of mine, so I took the job, as much as I didn’t want to. But inheritances are the one category of jobs that I absolutely hate accepting, because in my experience, two out of three times it’ll get messy.”

“That often, huh?”

“Easily. Of course, not too many of them get this ugly…”

Chihiro’s face clouded. “It’s kind of sad, isn’t it? Families fighting with one another for the sake of money.”

“Ee-hee! Aw, you’re so kind, Chihiro. But…yes, it’s true. Families really need to get along, don’t they?”

“Yeah,” she murmured, face resolute. “I really think so.”

About an hour later, Ashley and Chihiro were in front of a department store about a fifteen-minute taxi ride from her accounting office. After finishing a big job, Ashley had the habit of going on a shopping spree to let off steam. Unlike her earlier outfit, she chose a fetching red dress for her outdoor jaunt, her hair suitably teased and pulled to finish up the look.

“Ee-hee-hee! Where should we begin today?”

She laughed as Chihiro’s vision wandered to and fro, earning her an odd look.

“…What’s up, Chihiro?”

“Oh, um… I haven’t really been to fancy department stores like this one very much. I’m kind of nervous.”

“Are you?” Ashley peered at Chihiro’s reddened cheeks. “Well…in that case, why don’t I have you pick out some clothes for yourself?”

“Huh?!”

Before the confused Chihiro could protest, Ashley was pulling her up to the young men and women’s floor.

As Ashley looked at one fashion label collection or the other, she asked, “By the way, what kind of clothing do you usually wear? It can’t be sweats all the time, can it?”

Chihiro currently had on a drab track jacket.

“Um, well, I wear a jacket when I’m at work or visiting my brother’s place, but otherwise it’s pretty normal.”

“Meaning female?”

“Female…um, a lot of unisex stuff, mostly. Usually with jeans.”

“No skirts?”

“I don’t own any.”

“Not even one?”

“No. I had a few before, but I got rid of ’em when my mom remarried…”

“…What about your school uniform?”

“My school doesn’t have a dress code.”

“Oh,” Ashley said, looking a tad befuddled. “Hey, pardon me,” she said to a passing female clerk. “We’re searching for a super-girly-looking outfit that this girl here would look nice in, but could you help us with that? Like, as cute as you can find.”

“Huhh?!”

Chihiro’s head drew back as the clerk sized her up, head to toe, then smiled and gave a confident nod. “Right this way. This ought to be fun…!”

“Hee-hee-hee! Don’t you think?” Ashley agreed with an impish grin.

After an impromptu dress-up fashion show that lasted nearly an hour, Chihiro and Ashley left the show floor.

“I feel like I’m letting out three years’ worth of cuteness…”

Ashley smiled at the exhausted-looking Chihiro, currently slumped against a department-store bench.

“But you had fun, didn’t you?”

“I, um…yeah.” She nodded, her cheeks a tad flushed.

She had acted totally at sea the first little while, all these frilly and unfamiliar dresses and skirts, but over time, her excitement began to rise. Toward the end, she was picking outfits to try on herself.

“They all looked really good on you. I wish I could’ve had you try on more.”

Chihiro gave Ashley a crestfallen look. “I dunno… I didn’t want to cause the clerk too much trouble…”

“Well, if you were worried about that, you should’ve just let me treat you.”

She had to stop Ashley from purchasing all the outfits she exhibited even the slightest interest in.

“Oh, I really couldn’t have. You’re already paying me by the hour…”

“Those are two different things. I just wanted you to have some cute outfits, Chihiro. As a present.”

“…I know,” she protested, “but I can’t let someone spoil me with stuff like that. Not unless it’s a special occasion.”

“Wow. You keep a closer eye on money than actual tax accountants.” Ashley smiled. “Well, why don’t you have your big brother buy you some nice outfits sometime?”

“………”

Chihiro fell silent for a while before finally nodding slightly.

“Yeah.”