****** Don't need Titanic love. Just stay with me every nights. ******
"Well, it's really started to pour down seriously." While speaking to none particularly, Kaori looked outside from the living room's window. Earlier drizzling turned into full scale mini-storm rain. The house was awfully quiet without Ryo, who took off after lunch like a loose kite blew away from someone's hand by gusty wind and wandered aimlessly. Now, violent raindrops began to hit the window panel, and only the soothing sound of splashing rain was heard in the house. She touched the window glass with her right palm, strangely the chilled glass felt good.
Late Saturday afternoon, especially nowhere to go because of the weather turning into worse at every passing minutes, and none special to call, strangely she was trapped at home, doing nothing but starting outside absently. It didn't mean that she didn't have a social life. However, working with a man, who flipped around a monster gun like a Colt Python as if it were his arm's extension, it was just a little different type of life she led. How much different, that was something she didn't want to ponder around in rainy day like this one. She took her right hand away from the window and touched her cheek. The cool hand made her more focus on reality than daydream. There was a faint misty shape of her right hand on the window panel.
She cast her gaze to the video tapes on the coffee table. Yesterday, on the way back from checking Shinjuku Bulletin Board for possible client, she saw a certain huge movie poster on the window of a rental video shop. She couldn't help herself, and at next thing she was standing in the store, staring at the video tapes which were now quietly taking space on the small coffee table of her apartment.
The title of video was "Titanic."
For last few months, she had heard all kinds of stuff about this movie at wherever she went. At Cat's Eye, train stations, grocery stores, hair salon, schools. You named it. The all female population, old and young, endlessly sang its prize this and that. They moaned about how a lead actor, Leonard DiCaprio, was an eye-candy studmuffin, and how they wanted to be in the shoes of Rose, Kate Winslet played. Even in the rental video shop, she heard young women standing next to her getting exicted each other, voicing one hot steamy night watching "Titanic" together with their boyfriends.
Kaori continued to stare the video tapes silently. The problem was she couldn't bring herself to watch it. Even before the movie became available in video, she made every possible lame excuses she could come up when Miki, Kazue, Eriko, or one of her friends asked her to go to see "Titanic." It wasn't like she was shy or rebelling against the social fad created by the media. From the few clips she saw on TV, she believed the director did a wonderful job for bringing the life to this turn of century historical disaster. It was a just romance movie, and she wasn't afraid to watch it. So, she told herself in the rental video shop, but she ended up helplessly playing a staring game with the video tapes at home.
The story of Jack and Rose. Torn apart by the foolish social codes and class differences, they were Romeo and Juliet on the ocean liner. Their fate doomed from beginning, together with the sinking ship. Their tragic ending brought millions in tears. But, for Kaori, she just couldn't wallow herself by tragedy, fiction or not.
Death had been casting its shadow upon her life from earlier. Her adapted father was a detective, and her brother was also a detective once and later became Ryo's partner. So, constantly she lived back to back with the possibility of losing someone important on the line of duty in any moment. But, there was nothing could stop the approaching death. She lost both parents in teens, then soon her brother was gunned down when she was twenty.
Even her resolution couldn't prepare her for death of loved ones. All one could do was to find something or someone to latch on to go on one's life. Forget about pains in your heart, bury your sorrow under all good memories you shared with them, and keep moving ahead because you are still alive. When her adapted parents passed away, she had her brother. Then, that caring brother was taken away from her, there was Ryo. No birthday. No parents. No nationality. Ryo...a strange man with an unspeakable past. Contrary to his roguish pervert behaviors, inside he had a depth she couldn't understand in million years.
After Ryo, who would be there for her? Feeling familiar ache in her heart, Kaori hugged herself and leaned against the window edge. As usual, Ryo left her no words about where he was going. He preferred to sneak out the apartment, rather than announcing his outing to her. Whenever she saw Ryo's retreating back, she wanted to call out for him. Are you going to come back to me? Is this last time I see you? True, it was the dangerous world out there. Certainly killing City Hunter makes a person famous, and he/she can gain a lot of professional respect in the underworld.
Since she became Ryo's partner, she had come to so close to death, face to face many times. But, how much she stared at its eyes; she knew that she never got used to it. So even a fictional story of tragic love ended with death like "Titanic," for her it was exceptionally difficult to see. Tragedy and Death. They hit too close to home. Unlike the young women in the rental video shop, she wasn't bored enough to feel alive watching one's fictional misery, and definitely her non-existence love life won't be stale enough to put some zest by "Titanic." Yes sir, her life with Ryo was too exciting compared to any fiction; nevertheless, she wasn't sure who she was for Ryo.
Feeling a little good about herself by reaching some sort of conclusion in her mind, Kaori picked out the video tapes from the coffee table. While she was deep in her thinking, the rain which was pouring down one time turned into mild sprinkling. She'd better return these tapes for poor souls trapped in boring life day after day. As she dashed out the apartment, she bumped into Ryo who finally decided to come back to home. With cat-like grace, he sidestepped a little and caught staggering Kaori by her shoulders with both of his hands.
"Wow Kaori! Use your eyes! What's rush?"
"Ah...Ryo... I... I... I just go to rental video shop. Bye!" Spooked by sudden appearance of Ryo, Kaori stuttered. Not wanting to show what video tapes she had in her hands, quickly she tried to get away from Ryo.
"Hey, it's still raining. Take this!" Without waiting Kaori's reply, Ryo threw something at her. Reacted with one's instinct before using brain, Kaori caught a folded umbrella in air.
"You are my partner, right? It'll be a trouble if you catch cold or something. Just learn how to take care yourself. OK?" While tiredly opening a door, Ryo continued to lecture to Kaori, "you are a grown woman, not a child. Act like one. But, you can't be anyway..."
"Shutup! Jerk! It's none of your business." Throwing curses back to Ryo, Kaori angrily walked away from him but using the given umbrella as he asked.
Ryo's gaze, watching his partner's retreating back in street, was warm and soft, and there was a small smile upon his face.
****** Don't need Titanic love. Just stay with me every nights. ******
****** Note from Author: Well, personally HybridC have nothing against "Titanic." It's a great fictional story. Honestly, I don't know where this story came from, but it demanded to be written. So, here I am...after 3 hours quick writing... (It's very unusual for me to finish story in one sitting.)
For others who love City Hunter fanfic: There is another CH fanfic called "A Day after valentine's Day." If you love some crossover, try my City Hunter/La Femme Nikita story, "Can't Say Good-bye" at my homepage (http://HybridC.Is-Crazy.Com) or Fanfiction.net (http://www.fanfiction.net).
See you again soon. ---HybridC