He lost a friend, the person whom he loved the most, the person who would save him from everything wrong.
People always say that once in a lifetime means there no second chance. Well, he had gotten a second chance, which he blew to hell.
There would never be a third.
He didn't expect one either.
He had blown everything to hell; he humiliated his future wife in front of her family, her friends, his friends, their friends. He even humiliated her in front of Kai.
Damn Kai.
3 years ago, he had asked her to marry him, just so that he could stay with her, and everything was going to be great. He pretended that he needed more time to find Dranzar, and she played along. She even talked to Kai.
She was the best thing to ever happen him.
She was strong, she put up with all his crap, all his flaws, all his stupidity. And she forgave him for leaving.
Now, he wouldn't come back. Never. He would stay. He would stay in his respective cell, waiting for his food and he wouldn't bug her anymore. He wouldn't do anything. He wouldn't even make an effort to say sorry.
"Stop whining." He hated that voice. It tensed his every muscle and made anger fall upon him. "I said stop!" there was no kindness in his voice. "I need you in my office."
"No" He, Kairo, said in a voice maybe colder than his brothers'. "It wasn't a question, brother." And so the two of them walked, looking deathly alike, piercing everyone with their cold eyes.
"Sit." Kai ordered and pointed at a chair. "I'd rather not" Kairo mumbled, fighting with the urge to do as he was told to. "Again, it wasn't a question. Learn to listen, Kairo." Kai muttered.
"You don't control me. I have my own free will."
Laughter, rather fake, silent laughter, escaped Kai. "Oh really? Then tell me why you left your dearest Serenity?"
"Because you…threatened to kill her if I didn't." Kairo explained, seeing defeat as he spoke. "There you go. I do control you."
"Why did you take me here? I felt so comfortable in my cell."
"Well, it only took you two years." Kai spat.
"I want to go."
"I say you can't. I have someone I'd like you to meet."
"Who? Some poor guy whose future you destroyed?"
"Fascinating, but no." Kai mumbled and rubbed his forehead. "Please, Hailey, come in."
A woman, pretty and familiar in some sort of way, walked slowly into the room. She stepped up beside Kai, looking into the air as if there was nothing else to look at. "Who is this? The girl that brushes your teeth?"
She looked like she was going to yell at him, but she didn't, probably because of Kai. "You don't know her, Kairo?" he spoke, amused. "Well, no! And if it's your wife, I'll have to say, sorry Haisy, or whatever." Kairo muttered, the girl's red face entertained him; it looked like she was going to blow any second now.
Kai smiled, well, not really, but if he didn't look like he had a face full of botox, then you'd see a stupid little smile on his face as he walked across his office, out of it, and finally shut the white door.
"Why the hell did I bother to come all the way from home to talk to you, Kairo, if all you want to do is pretend you don't know me? Seriously!" Apparently, silence was no option.
"I don't know you!" Kairo said, trying to keep his anger down. "You have problems, Hiwatari, big problems." Hailey said and rolled her eyes.
…
Well, she was kind of familiar, after all.
"You don't look good, Kairo, you should try jogging, you'll feel wonderful. Seriously." Hailey said and crossed her arms. "Yeah, I bet they're going to let me out of my cell everyday to jog, outside, where I can easily run away. Thanks for the advice." Kairo spat and looked at the wall.
"Listen, I know you're not having the best time of your life, but really, Serenity isn't either. I mean-" She started but couldn't finish before Kairo interrupted. "Serenity?! Do you know her?"
"yeah, she's like, one of my best friends."
Kairo's eyes shut wide open. "You're Hailey, Rumen's girlfriend." He slowly said.
"Well, kinda. I'm not his girlfriend anymore." She said it as if it was the most common thing. He guessed it was. "Oh."…How interesting.
"How is she? Serenity?" Kairo asked and scratched the back of his head. "She's mad. I don't blame her. No one leaves like that Kairo. No one! And do you want to know what she said after you walked out that door?! She said; Oh." Hailey yelled and paused to breath. "And then she sat down at the floor, and everyone was asked to leave! You humiliated her in front of everyone!" she continued and scowled. "I know that." Kairo mumbled, dumbstruck.
"She took you back once before. I, we, told her to forget about you, but she didn't, she waited. And then you came, and she took you back! She took you back!" He already knew that. "And you left her." He knew that too. "What is she doing now?" he asked and for the first time, he looked into the girl's eyes, they hated him. "She's with Rino." She spoke.
"What?!"
"She's one of his cooks'."
"Oh."
"And you're here, sitting on your fat ass in a stupid cell because your brother told you to."
"That's not true."
"Well, then what is?"
His eyes were for the first time in years, filled with pure happiness. For once, he could smile, truly smile. "You're getting married, bro!" His best friend punched his arm and laughed. "This is a sensation!" "That's a bit too much, don't you think? Sensation? I mean, there is going to be bigger things. Right?" Kairo asked as he got nervous. "Well, There is the honeymoon. Oh, and don't forget, tonight! I'm so happy for you." Rino grinned, holding himself from laughing. "what do you mean?" Kairo asked, and turned to look at himself in the mirror. "You know, sex." Rino said casually. Kairo's face got red, and he felt terrified. "No." he said and returned to his normal cold self. "God, Kairo. Why won't you open up?" Rino laughed and grabbed Kairo's tie which was tied pretty badly around the owner's neck. "Pervert." Kairo mumbled and rolled his eyes. "Pervert in perverted times," Rino muttered while fixing the black tie.
"Oh My God. Flashback!" Jasmin laughed and pointed at Kairo's face. Yes, his old black face paintings were back. But only for today. "Yeah, whatever." Kairo muttered as his sister's fixed his hair. "Kairo Kinomiya. It's pretty weird that you take the wife's name." She said, hell, she knew how to make her brother mad. "I can't be a nothing forever." Kairo mumbled with a smile. "You'll always be a Hiwatari, Kairo. You're my brother." Jasmin said, sounding quite happy today. Weird.
"I…I had to leave." Kairo said and clenched his fists.
"No. You didn't have to leave. You chose to leave."
There was for the first time, silence. Real silence.
"What do you want to become, Kairo?" Hailey asked, a peek of a smile on her lips. Maybe she wanted to be a little kind? "Seriously?" She added, it might have grown a habit on the girl…no, woman.
"I don't know." He answered, but as he did, he came to understand how serious this question was. It was his life. And he didn't know anything.
"What did you want to do after you married her?"
"I…I don't know." Again.
"Seriously." She growled and got up from her chair. "I'll get Kai. Bye, Kairo. I hope Serenity will be over you now."
"She should have been years ago." He mumbled, as if nothing was his fault. "what?!" Hailey growled and punched Kai's desk. "I told her to move on before I went here the first time, you know, when I was 16." Kairo explained, which made the girl even more furious. "Well damn it to hell, Kairo! She loved you!" He knew that.
"I want you to promise me something." It was a sad moment, and the fact that he had stayed up all night to figure out what to say, didn't make it better.
The girl nodded, to stubborn to show tears. But god she was lousy at that. "I want you to move on. Cause I will. I can't have this over me. Since, I might not come back." He said it slowly, hoping for something without knowing what to hope for.
"S-so, you're breaking up with me?" The girl asked, without any emotion. And there was silence, there was always silence when they talked, mostly when she asked him questions.
"Yes. But not because I want to." Kairo replied and let go of Serenity's hands, not even knowing he had held them at all. "Oh." She said and looked down as he looked up.
"Can you please promise me that you'll…I dunno. Get a new boyfriend? Be forever happy? Not ever think of me again?" he wanted to make a joke, just to see her laugh once more, but he didn't. He never did. He never made her laugh like that.
"Please?" well, at least he put up a smile on his face, hoping that would make a difference. But guess what, it didn't. "I don't know." Serenity said. "It'll be the last thing I'll ever ask from you. Hell. I promise." Kairo muttered and looked at the airplane outside. "Okay. Promise you'll win and come back to me." She said, and Kairo snorted, just a tiny bit. "I promise." And then he walked, towards the gate.
"Bye."
Lies.
He had come to that point that he didn't care if he lied, it was just a common thing. Something he had to do.
Hailey sat down again. "Lets just talk." She said calmly and rested her hands on her lap. "About what?" He was getting annoyed; didn't she say she was leaving?
"People. Like we did before. Gossip." She replied and stared at him. "Rino kissed Jasmin."
"He did what?!" Kairo asked, shocked. "Yeah. But she just yelled at him because he was drunk." Hailey muttered. "He drinks more now." She added "We don't really talk to him much. He's so busy and angry." She looked at the window at the right. "why?" Kairo asked, looking back at the times with what he would call his best friend.
"I don't know. He looks better than ever, the ladies loves him, but he just totally rejects them all. Maybe he's gay."
"Hell no, I know he can be a tad over the line, but he would never go gay. He loves Jas…women to much." Kairo said and closed his eyes. "Jasmin?" Hailey asked, hungry to know every bit. "You didn't hear that from me." Kairo laughed, as did Hailey.
Silence.
Really awkward silence.
Seriously.
"Can I tell her that? Cause…I think she'd be glad to know the reasons for Rino's weird behaviour." Hailey said and smiled. "Yeah. She deserves to know. And tell her to watch her back. God knows what Rino might do. And tell her I miss her." Kairo said and looked at the ground. He had grown to finally like his sister. "I will." She laid her hand on his knee, as if to show him that she knew how he felt.
They sat like that for some time before Kairo raised himself from his chair, walking over to the only window in the room. "And Tell Serenity that she must never forgive me, and that she must stay away from me, cause, I might come back." He tried to smile, but something, someone, held him from doing just that.
"Back? To Japan?" asked Hailey, her eyes wide in what seemed like a cascade of feelings. "Yes. I still haven't got Dranzar." Kairo said and eyed her. "But that might just be a lost case already." He added.
"You're still into that foolish game?" Hailey asked. "That foolish game is what got me here the first time, which was the reason for this." He replied and leaned at the window. "But Kai might've gotten Dranzar already. I don't know. No one has told me anything." He muttered and walked towards her. "Anyway, how's your life?"
"I'm a PE teacher." "Poor things." She kicked his leg for that comment. "And I broke up with that band-guy. You know. The one I introduced to everyone when I was drunk?" she continued and cleared her throat. Kairo nodded. "Yeah. Ok. Great."
"Ermh…So, do you really think you'll go to Japan again?" asked Hailey, looking at him like Serenity used to do. "No," he replied, the tone of his voice making it sound like the surest thing. "Oh. Why?"
"I just remembered. I promised myself never to see back into my past again. Japan, you, Serenity, everyone, is my past." He mumbled silently. "Yesterday is history. Today is present. Tomorrow is a new day. I want to start anew."
"So, I guess that's bye then?" Hailey asked, she raised herself from her chair, walking towards the door. "Tell everyone bye from me." Kairo said, which was the last thing he'd ever say to them. "Bye." He had just figured.
"You'll have to leave." Shocked, he listened to his words. "Now." He knew there was no question about it. "I can't. They're expecting me. In there." Kairo pointed at the doors, the doors that would change everything. "I have to go now." He brushed of his black tuxedo once more before he walked up in front of the doors, his hands on the handles. "Do you love this girl?" Kai asked, obviously talking about Serenity. "Yes."
"Are you sure? You don't just do this to get away from me? 'Cause you won't. I'll always be here." There was never doubt in his voice. "And I'll torment you every single minute of your life. And her life." He spoke and grabbed Kairo's shoulders. "You'll never be happy. I win either way."
"Then why are you here?" the youngest of them asked, not letting go of the cold handles. "Because you're working for me. I'm your boss and I crave that you come back. And I must say, it's the best for all of us."
"Why?"
"I'm the only one here with power. If you don't leave, I'll have to do the cruelest thing I've done in my entire life." Kai muttered as he clenched harder around Kairo's shoulders. "I'll kill the ones you say you love, if I have too. I'll do anything for you to come back. You're a part of everything."
"So…" Kairo started as he turned around to see his brother.
"If you really love her, then you'll come with me."
Silence filled the room. Silence was a common thing. Silence was pleasure filling Kai's veins.
"Go." Kairo growled and pushed his brother's hands away. He opened the doors, watching the people sitting on the row of benches. Hoping this would be over soon.
"I will." Hailey mumbled as she closed the door behind herself.
She was stunning. Absolutely stunning. Absolutely a dream. A bad dream. A Nightmare.
How could every damn stupid bad thing happen to him? What was it with him that made him brake her heart every time he talked? Why did he have to do so?
Because he was told too.
"I love you." She whispered as she stepped up beside him "I love you too." He mumbled back to her and took her hand in his.
The priest went on with his damn speech. Kairo hadn't heard a word before the "Will you take Serenity Kinomiya as your lovely wedded wife?"
"I…" he started. "I…" He tried his best not to remember anything of what Kai said. "I…" But it was pierced in the back of his mind. "No." He said and cleared his throat. "I can't." He stepped down the stairs.
"I'm sorry." He mumbled and walked down the aisle, not meeting eye-contact with anyone other than Kai, who smiled in triumph.