Arc II- The Yellow Hyacinth
Aiko and Masashi had just begun eating a homemade strawberry and whipped cream sponge cake while watching a new action movie called 'Detective L' when the doorbell rang once. Then twice. Then three times. Curiosity piqued Aiko as she maneuvered over to the doorway and let in a very surprising visitor. Yamato.
Yamato sat down beside Masashi and in front of a fresh slice of Japanese-style sponge cake* and blurted, "Is Mei here?"
"Mei?" Aiko crosses her arms over the crisply ironed plaid wool vest she wore over a starched white long sleeve paired with a green bow tie. Mei was flushed and happy just a little over an hour ago and had rushed home heart racing to break the important news to her fiancé. In other words, Yamato had messed up in some way and both Aiko and Masashi were certain that a specific spoiled, inferiority complex excuse of a model played a role in it.
"Asami and I were shopping with her and saw her home. It's not like her to disappear out of the blue. Did ANYTHING happen?" She leaned extremely close to her former love interest, glaring with an intensity so bright and flammable that it would put Ai Enma (From 'Hell Girl') to shame.
Yamato paused breath, eyes widening further as her words sunk in. He remembered full well the last time the redhead confronted him like this. It was way back in their first year of high school when his modelling job and interactions with that Megumi person almost extinguished his relationship with Mei. The only thing more soul-shattering than that broken, quiet voice she had used when her love bracelet had broken was the broken look in her deep hawk feather eyes that glittered with unshed tears. This time, he wasn't sure if his gentle moth would forgive him. Hell, he wasn't sure if he could even forgive himself.
"I was arriving home from visiting my parents and Nagi when Megumi-kun appeared from nowhere and attacked me, pinning my body against a telephone booth. She demanded to know why I was still with a quiet, non talkative person and why those rumors she'd conjured failed to bridge us together. Then she found it appropriate to force a kiss on me." Yamato stabs a tiny three-pronged fork into a bit of buttercream and fresh berry. "Mei probably saw it and hates me though the note she left me says otherwise."
"Note?" Masashi asked, mouth overstuffed with fistful of the creamy sweet concoction.
"Right here." Yamato drew the folded patterned with olive branches and kittens paper from his jacket pocket. Aiko plucked it from his fingertips with the force equivalent to practicing calligraphy with a traditional brush and ink and scans over it with her index finger, refusing to allow her boyfriend so much as a glance at it. She handed it back to Yamato while still marveling over what an idiot he really was. It was probably true that an old dog/cat couldn't be taught new tricks.
"You idiot. Mei wants to see you. More importantly, she wants you to find her again." She took amusement in the shocked, widened expression before her. Up until that day, Aiko never thought that Mr. Popular Chameleon would ever stray one foot away from the crowd and show any anger emotions, much less of jealousy. It would be cruel to let such a rare, star-crossed relationship like that burn in flames.
As a result of her 'encouragement, Aiko began poking her manicured finger in his toned chest to emphasize her point.
"Mei needs you." Poke. "You need to avoid stressing her out-" Poke. "Especially in her current condition." Poke. "Or so help me I will arrive on your parents' porch and let out everything that happened." Poke.
A single strand of words stood out to Yamato as he sat frozen in the polished dark wood chair. "What do you mean condition?" He demanded in between mouthfuls of the cake.\
Aiko leans back in her seat, sighing. "Men are all alike. Unbelievably dense. Haven't you noticed any strange symptoms from her lately. Mood swings? Morning illness? Strange food cravings?"
Frantically, Yamato began counting each odd incident off on his fingers. "Mei snapped at me a few times for mixing up the ingredients in the New England Clam Chowder and tacos we made yesterday and sobbed while apologizing for hours. She also threw up three times on the mornings of last week but insisted she didn't need an ambulance. And just two days ago she requested hard boil ramen topped with shredded goat cheese balls, strawberry ice cream, and creamy calamari. But what does it all mean?"
Aiko slaps her head several times against the solid material of the dining room table, making the silverware and uneaten baked goods dance and jump. "It means you'll have a son or daughter in nine months." Lifting her head up from the previous act of masochism, she stares into flabbergasted dark gray eyes. "No wonder Tachibana was so conflicted over how to tell you since you are so dense."
Yamato leapt from the table, grabbing his outer coat and shoes. "Thanks for your hospitality but I need to continue my search. I'm going over to Asami's and Kai's before heading home and resuming tomorrow."
"Yamato." Aiko's calm, mature voice freezes the brooding youth in his footsteps. Turning around very slowly, Yamato mentally braced himself for whatever piercing words that would be directed at him.
"Be careful." Aiko cautioned him. "Mei wouldn't want any harm to come to you in any form even if she believes you no longer wish for her presence."
~the annoying 'X' button on my portable iPad keyboard keeps falling off~grr~ there is a limit to incompetency~~
(Three months later….)
The quiet hmm of keyboards being touched by slender fingers was the only sound in Sensei (teacher) Mei's kindergarten classroom after hours as she finished typing up the report card results for each of her adorable students. A light, gentle kicking in her now slightly swollen abdomen caught her attention every few minutes and she paused in her vigorous typing to caress the little life that made her acknowledge his or her presence ever since a few days ago. Although overbrimming with happiness as the reality of her child sunk in, it also made the short brunette miss Yamato and his warm voice as he told her he loved her each and every night.
Mei shook her head from side to side as she held down the 'backspace' key, deleting the rows of slashes and commas she'd unintentionally created while remembering their first meeting.
After she'd finally finished the last recording, Mei opened up a chrome browser and her email to contact Asami and the others as well as attaching the results of her latest ultrasound. She was more than surprised to find that her petite body was currently supporting two other lives, twin identical boys. Staring at the blinking, mocking cursor for a minute or so, Mei thought over what her words would be.
Dear Mama/Asami/Aiko/Masashi/Rin,
How goes life on the other side of Japan? I have found this job at Yuika Academy more than pleasing as the pay is generous and the children who I teach and take care of are more than kind and curious about my children. Needless to say they did ask their stuttering parents how children were created and why, which was a question left unanswered 'till "you're old enough."
My latest ultrasound is attached to this message and surprise! I'm having twin boys. It is alright if you show Yamato. He has a right to know after all. But I'm not ready to return to Kyoto yet. But someday. Kitto. (For sure). I miss everyone, my job at Bakery Farm, the old days in high school, etc. Respond soon!
With Love,
Mei T.
Mei stretched slightly as she ate the homemade bento box^ one of her new friends, Suzume Nakisawa had brought over earlier and consisting of bunny shaped onigiri^, stir fried noodles, octopus shaped weiners, mini eggrolls accompanied by special dipping sauce, and two twin strawberry mochi for dessert. Today had been slightly more tiring than last month and she knew that eventually she would need to take some time off for her children to be born. Luckily the headmistresses both had had children before and understood perfectly. Mei would continue working until her sixth month and spend two more months with her children before they could be taken care of in a daycare center.
After another hour or so when the sunset was only beginning Mei packed up her laptop and binders before locking the door shut and departing from a cheerful world of finger painting, games, and dress up.
As Mei boarded the subway her silent mahogany eyes scanned over the fact that every seat had been taken. But a shy teenage girl with pale blonde hair in braided loops and secured by silk hair bows stood up quickly, bowing toward her. "You must be tired. My seat is yours."
"Thank you." Mei spoke as she settled into the plush seat next to the wide window.
"Is being pregnant tough?" The blonde asked, eyes showing awe at Mei's peaceful expression.
"Iie. (No.)" Mei answered. "My twins are very calm and they keep me company since my fiancé has become estranged."
"I'm sorry to hear that." The young maiden offered her condolences. "But you'll definitely be fine. You've come this far after all."
When the girl's stop was announced-she waved goodbye until the last moment and then disappeared out of sight. And as if an angel had blessed her, Mei smiled genuinely for the first time in months.
~my playlist is driving my heart insane~are there so many songs that I've lost interest in?~~~Sigh~
"SHE'S WHAT?!" Was the first thing that escaped Kai's lips as he stared at the pictures and printed out email in Asami and Aiko's grip as they talked over hot chocolate and lattes in the park.
Aiko brushes off a stray, disobedient scarlet lock off her shoulder as her expression solemns itself even more, if that's possible. "You heard right. Mei's pregnant and thinks that Yamato no longer wants her around which is why she's somewhere in a different region of Japan."
"That idiot." Kai furrowed his fair eyebrows deeply as he thought of the endless torture tactics in ending that person's life. Why would anyone non senile or mental decide to crush the fragile heart of one delicate, good hearted girl, no, woman who has remained faithfully with them for over three years? Screw the prison sentences for homicide and manslaughter. Yamato Kurosawa needed to pay for this sin.
Bolting up, Kai grabs his hunter green messenger bag that Asami had swiped in order to sit him down for this last minute meeting and starts dashing off in the direction of his best friend's current residence, fists clenched.
Behind him, Asami and Aiko sweat drop as they watch the suspected Yakuza member sprint like his very life depended on it. Maybe they should have allowed either Masashi or Kenji to break the news more..delicately…
~~please wait for my unexpectedly defiant touchscreen computer to cooperate again…~~gomen nasai} for the trouble~~~
A swift, hard punch to the face was not what Yamato was expecting when he creaked the door open, half expecting it to be his now showing pregnant fiancée. These past few months had been utter hell to him, with waking up to an empty bed each day, leaving and returning to a silent house save for the heater and the water boiler with the occasional clatter-clank of the laundry machine that Mei had once assumed to be the sounds of an intruder and had him investigate while she hid herself under the covers. Needless to say he had teased her for quite some time after that.
Yamato caught Kai's calloused fist before he could do more damage beside a reddened cheek and asked, "So you've heard huh?"
"Of course!" Kai bellowed. "Why would you let her leave like that when you know full well that myself and countless others would sooner die than neglect her in such a vulnerable state? She's carrying two children for ****'s sake!"
"T-twins?" Yamato only looked at his childhood in further disbelief. This meant only more sadness for him. Two voices he'd never hear, two faces he'd never see, and two lives he'd have no part in. He only prayed that they would at least know his name.
"What are you doing, idiot?" Kai's rough voice woke him from depressing inner thoughts. "You honestly love her right? Then stop that pathetic pity party and start over. For now its best to let her recover until she returns of her own accord. Until then, its just too early to give up."
"Arigato~Kai."
Kai brushes it off. "Though I can be comparable to a yellow hyacinth at the moment or any other yellow flower%, I know that Mei is yours only. And her happiness is why I am helping you out."
(~^_^~) (*_0) (#_#) () () ()
It was a full moon when Mei finished cleaning up from eating Indian curry she'd self made and showered in a relaxing bubble bath with her favorite fragrances of
A 'Name Berry' book found itself in Mei's hands as she sat in a satin robe before a writing desk and leafed through it while smiling at all the name possibilities. The Japanese Names she'd ended up liking the best were Kichiro, Sora, Natsu, Hiroki, Katsumi, and Naoyuki. If only Yamato could be here to help her decide…
Mei sipped at the ovatine drink in front of her, abruptly halting anymore thoughts. Someday, she'd return to Yamato and introduce their sons but not now. The pain was still fresh after all.
Editor's Corner:
*Japan has a different sponge cake than the rest of Europe since it was 'altered' to fit their tastes. Strawberries and whipped cream topping the soft cake and sandwiched between layers is their original trademark. Please refer to 'Kitchen Princess Vol. 5'
^Onigiri-Japanese food consisting appearing in bentos (home packed lunches/snacks) and usually rolled in ovals or triangle shapes and wrapped in nori (seaweed) They can be kneaded into other shapes though.
}Gomen Nasai translates to 'very, very sorry' and is considerably more formal and polite than simply 'Gomen ne.'
%Yellow flowers-friendship, jealousy, one sided love.
