Chapter 3 : Discovering Takeru
Alerted by the alarm clock, Hikari reluctantly searched for the snooze button. She searched and searched and finally silenced the annoying alarm. She took the clock and took a look at it. The needle pointed 7 A.M. Hikari lazily got up from her bed and realized that she had fallen asleep without her pajamas. She yawned and went into the bathroom for a quick, hot shower. She dived into thought as the water soaked her body. Even in the morning after, her mind was still fixed at her first kiss. Is she happy that she kissed a handsome boy or is she regretful that she gave her first kiss away? She, herself, did not know. Hikari lifted her hand and touched her own lips.
"Maybe I'm thinking too much. I mean, I'm pretty sure I'll kiss other people in the future. Why am I so paranoid about it?"
She asked herself, but no answer came to her.
Hikari began to wash herself and finished showering quickly to eat breakfast before she left for school. She exited the bathroom, covering herself with a towel. She dressed herself in her room and headed to the kitchen where she made toasts. While waiting for the toast, she started to think how to approach Takeru. She was always friendly and had no trouble approaching a person, but somehow she didn't feel the same with Takeru. To her, the impact of Takeru's fury which she saw was immense.
"Whatever, I'll just act like he's a normal friend. Then, I'll see what happens."
Hikari reassured herself as she started eating the toast with a glass of milk.
"Hikari, did you make some for me?"
Taichi came out, rubbing his eyes, from his bed.
"Yes, I made yours too."
"Thanks."
"You should wake up sooner. You won't have time to shower if you keep on waking up late."
"Eh, I can always run to school."
"One of these days, you're gonna regret waking up late."
"Nah."
"Anyway, I'll be going. See ya later."
"Yeah yeah…"
Taichi responded while yawning loudly. Hikari picked up her backpack, exited the door, and walked for the school. On her way to school, she met her friends in the school soccer team. Ken and Daisuke saw Hikari walking by and came to her.
"Hi, Hikari."
"Good morning, guys."
"Are you always this early?"
Ken asked.
"Yeah. Better early than late, right? What about you guys?"
"Ken and I have soccer practice in the morning. We were just done with it and we were buying some bread and juice for breakfast."
"Oh. Must be tough."
"Yeah well, we gotta do our best to win at the championship."
"Good luck, you two."
Hikari said, smiling.
"By the way, Hikari, I heard that you almost got into a fight with Takeru. Is that true?"
Ken threw a question for Hikari.
"I wouldn't say fight, but I did get him angry…"
"What did he do to you?"
Daisuke quickly asked.
"He didn't do anything to me. He just gave me this scary look and that's all."
"Damn, are you serious? Just that?"
"Yeah."
"You were very lucky. Normally, Takeru would kick the person around until he or she begged for mercy on the ground. Don't ever do something like that again."
Daisuke warned Hikari.
"But then, that Wallace guy couldn't have gotten serious injuries."
"It is sad, but it's better to have one casualty and two, right?"
Ken added.
"I guess what you're saying is true, even though it's not nice at all."
"Man, only if I was also a martial artist master."
Daisuke grunted as he clenched his fists.
"I don't think he will hurt anyone ever though."
Hikari proudly spoke to the both boys.
"How come?"
The two asked simultaneously.
"I made friends with him yesterday."
Ken and Daisuke were surprised and dropped their jaws.
"YOU WHAT?"
The two shouted at the same time.
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Why would you make friends with him?"
"Yeah. You know what he's like. Don't you?"
"Well, I just thought he needed someone there to make him happy."
"That guy is emotionless. How would he feel happiness?"
"This is crazy, Daisuke. I can't believe Takeru made a friend with Hikari!"
"Come on, guys. I think Takeru needed a friend."
"What kind of insane man acts like that for friendship?"
"Guys, calm down and listen."
"Yeah, okay. Come on, Daisuke, let's calm down."
"Yeah."
After the two stopped yelling and regained calmness, Hikari began to talk about Takeru.
"Takeru's parents are dead and I think that's what affected him. And I think he's a good person, but never experienced the warmth of love for a long time. He thinks he's happy the way he is, but I want him to realize that it's not true. I think he knows that he's not happy deep inside."
"I guess that's possible, but it's really dangerous, Hikari."
"Yeah, what if he hurts you?"
"He won't hurt me. I'm his friend, remember?"
Hikari answered Daisuke's question as she smiled brightly.
"Hikari, he almost killed a student on a school campus."
Ken warned Hikari again.
"Don't worry, Ken. I'll make sure I don't get hurt."
"How?"
"I have an older brother to protect me. He can act foolish, but he's actually a strong person."
"I don't know…Against Takeru? I'm thinking he's not good enough."
"Who's your brother, Hikari?"
Daisuke asked her.
"Taichi Yagami."
The boys gasped upon hearing his name.
"Our school's varsity soccer team captain?"
"Yes, he is."
"Hikari, I didn't know he was your brother!"
"I should have told you. I'm sorry."
"No, no, no. It's okay. Man, this is cool. Ken, we're friends with the soccer team captain's sister."
"Yeah, this is amazing."
"Thanks guys. Anyway, don't worry so much about me. I got him to protect me."
"Considering Taichi is your brother, I wouldn't worry so much. Huh, Daisuke?"
"Hell no, Taichi can never lose."
The three resumed walking to school. Daisuke and Ken constantly talked to each other about Taichi and Hikari. They seemed excited to be close to Taichi. They arrived at school and soon parted ways to get to their home room. Hikari walked to her homeroom, but found out that she was early and there was no one in the room except for the new friend, Takeru. He seemed to be asleep, with his head against the table in the far corner. Hikari went close to him quietly, trying not to wake him up. When she was close enough, she realized that there was a photo under Takeru's arm which he used as a pillow. Unable to fight her curiosity, Hikari carefully slipped the picture out from his arm and looked at it. In the picture, there were four people. Takeru was in the middle, next to a similar looking boy. He had golden hair similar to Takeru, but little bit brighter. His hair style was more refined than Takeru's simple hair style. Behind the two were a man and a woman. Hikari knew that the woman was their mom because of the color of the skin and the hair. Unlike the mom, the father possessed similar body feature like the people which Hikari is, a Japanese. What was surprising the most was that everyone in the picture was smiling, even Takeru. Hikari had never seen such shining smile as if it lighted the whole world bright. Hikari felt relieved and sympathetic. At the same time, she was motivated to make Takeru happy to have him smile like he did in the picture. Hikari stared at the picture, focusing on Takeru. Takeru was a good looking person in the beginning, but he seemed even more handsome when he smiled. Lost at the smile of Takeru, Hikari had not realized that her heart has been beating quicker than usual.
"Mmm…"
Takeru moved slightly which made Hikari almost jump. She thought he woke up, but realized that he was just moving his posture in his sleep. Takeru's new posture revealed half his face. Hikari looked and saw that his sleeping face was actually cute contrary to his normal face. Eventually, her eyes wandered and reached where Takeru's lips were. This triggered the land mine in Hikari's mind.
'Will he notice if I kiss him in his sleep? What? What am I thinking? Bad Hikari! Bad! You're not thinking straight!'
Hikari shook her head to remove the thoughts which can be seen as urges when debated.
"Hmm~."
Takeru woke up and started to stretch his arms with his eyes still closed. Hikari sat still, not knowing what to do. Soon, Takeru regained consciousness and saw that Hikari was standing next to him with his family photo in her hands.
"Um…good morning, Takeru. Had a good dream?"
"…Whatever. Give me my picture back."
Takeru opened his palm and pointed towards Hikari. She took the photo and placed it on top of his hand gently.
"I'm sorry I looked at it on my own."
"It doesn't matter."
"You looked really good in the picture."
"I know I looked better back then."
Takeru said as he put his picture in his wallet.
"I'm not talking about that. You looked really good when you were smiling."
"Time changes people."
"And I'm gonna change you back. Happy and smiling person like you used to be."
"You can try."
"I will and I will succeed."
Hikari said as she showed a beautiful smile.
"If you're done, then go back to your seat."
"Can't I stay a little? I mean, we still got like 10 minutes before anyone will show up."
"I got nothing to talk to you about."
"But I do."
"Whatever."
Takeru turned his head away from Hikari and stared at the blackboard. Regardless, Hikari started talking.
"So where do you live?"
"A house near the school."
Takeru gave a vague answer, but Hikari didn't care and questioned him more.
"Do you live alone?"
"My parents aren't with me, what do you think?"
"Yeah…I know that, but don't you have any siblings at all?"
"I have an older brother."
"So you two live together?"
"Basically."
"What's his name?"
"Yamato."
"What a cool name, Yamato Takaishi."
"His name is Yamato Ishida, not Takaishi."
"Huh? Why?"
"Before our parents died, they were divorced. My dad took Yamato and my mom took me. That's why our names are different."
"Oh…I'm sorry. Hey, wait. Isn't he one of Miyako's best friends?"
"He's friends with Sora and that's how they met."
Takeru reached for his backpack after and pulled out a beer can. He opened it and started to drink it.
"Hey! You can't drink that."
"Why? You want some too?"
Takeru asked Hikari while trying take out another can.
"No, that's not what I mean."
"You're under aged. You can't be drinking beer."
"Nobody's gonna know, so what does it matter."
"Hello? A girl in front of you?"
"A friend wouldn't rat me out for drinking beer at school, right? If you did, then you're not a good friend."
Takeru said with a smirk on his face.
"Wow, you're already taking advantage of me."
Hikari said in a shocked and surprised tone.
"When life gives you lemon, make lemon juice."
"How opportunistic."
"Gonna do to survive."
"Survive?"
The word reminded Hikari of one question she has been trying to ask.
"How are you living in your house? I mean, what about the money and those things?"
"I get buckets of those every month in the mail."
"Huh?"
"My brother is in a band and I write stories. We found success with that."
Takeru explained as she sipped the beer.
"Wow, that's so cool. Wait, how come you're not in a band?"
"Because I don't want to."
"Why? You have a great voice. You should be a vocalist."
"I prefer singing in a choir. That way, I don't have to sing all that high."
"So you're lazy. That's the reason?"
"Pretty much."
He said while opening another can.
"Stop drinking that!"
"I'm thirsty."
"There's a water fountain nearby you know."
"I don't trust public water fountains."
"Then, bring some other drink. How are you getting all the beers anyway?"
"The people judge I'm an adult because of my height and voice."
"Making lemon juice, huh?"
"You gotta use your abilities to your advantage."
Takeru was about to take a sip, but was interrupted when Hikari took the can away.
"What are you doing?"
"Throwing it away."
"What gives you right to throw away other people's stuff?"
"Nobody, but I don't want you drinking this thing."
"You might want to give it back to me."
"Why would I?"
The moment Hikari asked Takeru, the homeroom teacher walked in. The teacher saw a beer can in Hikari's hand and demanded an answer.
"Ms. Yagami, any reason why you have a beer in your hand?"
"Umm…this isn't what it looks like…it's actually…"
"You're under aged. Moreover, you're drinking at school? I thought of you as more of an elite student."
"No, you're wrong. This isn't mine. It's…"
Hikari looked at Takeru, but he was sitting down, doing nothing.
"Takeru…you…"
"Don't try to put the blame on Mr. Takaishi."
"But…"
"Detention, one week. I'm letting you off with a warning since you're new. I don't know about your previous school, but our school doesn't tolerate under aged drinking."
The teacher gave Hikari a detention sheet and threw away the can. Then, Hikari went to Takeru.
"This is your fault."
"You're the one who took it away from me."
"Yeah, but…"
"Have fun in detention."
"You're an evil man."
Hikari said in a sulking tone.
"I never had a detention in my life. I'm scared."
"It's not that bad. You get used to it."
"Maybe for you, but I'm a good girl who doesn't belong there."
"Now you do."
Takeru said evily.
"You're the best friend I ever had."
Hikari said with tremendous sarcasm. Takeru, then, went up to the teacher and started talking. Hikari wasn't able to hear what they were talking about, but when they were done, the teacher excused Hikari from the detention.
"Did you tell him that the beer was yours?"
"Yeah."
"But he didn't punish you?"
"I threatened him that I will leave the school if I was punished. I'm the one who's making this school the way it is. The school got famous and was funded because of me."
"Oh. I guess the school really wants you."
"Otherwise, they'll lose fame and funding."
"I guess. Anyway, thanks, Takeru."
"Whatever. From now on, don't steal my beer."
"You're still gonna drink it?"
"I already bought a whole box. I gotta finish it or I'm wasting money."
"You don't have to drink everything."
"Maybe you don't know the importance of earning your money. I worked hard for the money that bought the beers."
"Okay, then. I'll buy more of your books and help you sell them more. So can you stop drinking beer?"
"Why would you do that?"
"Because I'm your friend."
Hikari smiled magnificently at Takeru.
"I care about your health and I respect your opinion about the money. Plus, I want to read your book too."
"Hmm…Okay. You got 400 dollars to make up."
Hikari made a stunned expression.
"That's a lot of beer you bought…"
"They aren't all that cheap, you know."
"Okay okay. Anyway, will you help me at the book store after school?"
"Why?"
"Well, I don't know much about the book, so I don't where it would be."
Takeru let out a sigh and spoke.
"I can't believe I have to waste my time for this. Fine. I'll go."
"Thanks."
Soon, the bell rang and students rushed into the room. Everybody was shocked to see that Hikari was sitting next to Takeru. Miyako saw them and immediately went to Hikari and whispered.
"Hikari, what do you think you're doing?"
"Relax, Miyako. He's actually quite nice."
"You can't be serious."
"No, I mean it."
"You can get yourself hurt near this guy."
"I don't think he'll hurt his only friend."
Hikari said as she recalled the beer incident not so long ago.
"You made friends with this guy?"
"I knew you'd say that."
"Why would you do that?"
"I'll tell you later, okay?"
They finished whispering to each other and Miyako went to the table where her group of friends was sitting while Hikari stayed with Takeru.
"You don't have to stay with me."
"But I want to."
"Go talk to your friends."
"I'm doing that already."
"…"
Hikari never made a negative face expression while sitting with Takeru. Many of her friends, including Miyako, looked at the two with interesting eyes. They were surprised to see someone socialize with Hikari and were shocked to see how calm and unaggressive Takeru was at the moment. Throughout the day, Hikari stayed with Takeru. He seemed irritated, but Hikari was persistent and did not care. What bothered her were negative comments and whispers about them both. The predictable stereotype cheerleader girls let out terrible comments about Hikari out of their jealousy.
"Who does she think she is? Being friends with my Takeru."
"That slut better not think of going out with Takeru."
"How is that new girl better than me? Why is Takeru even with her?"
"I'm obviously a better girl than Hikari."
Much more were heard, but these were the general types. Hikari did not know whether Takeru had heard these or not. Takeru did not show any facial changes. When all the classes were over, the two headed to the club room. Hikari could see some girls hiding and leering at her with hatred, but ignored them. Hikari also expected more negativity in the club room, but there was none. The club members came up to her and talked to her how great a girl she was. Of course, they said it when the two were apart.
"Hikari, I'm proud of you."
Sora complimented her.
"Why?"
"You actually managed to become friends with him. I just knew you would help him out."
"You expected me to?"
"Takeru actually thinks of you even if it's little. I was hoping for you to step up and help him."
"You're pretty sharp at things."
"Thanks. Anyway, thanks for being brave and befriending him. Now, we might sound a lot better and the school will be a fun place to go to."
"You're welcome, Sora. I wish for that too."
Hikari replied as she looked at Takeru, staring out the window.
"Good luck, Hikari. And introduce more friends to him if you can, okay?"
"Will do. Thanks."
After having numerous conversations, the Choir club got into singing and ended shortly after practicing twice. Everyone was right on the pitch and there were no flaws. Because of such refined quality, the club was dismissed earlier. Once the club was over, Hikari went and talked to Takeru.
"Let's go, Takeru."
"Whatever."
"Come on. You're spending your afternoon with a girl. Where's the enthusiasm?"
"I don't find anything exciting about it."
Then, Hikari spoke with a grin on her face
"You're telling me you're gay?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Then, try to be more enthusiastic."
"Whatever. Let's go anyway."
Takeru ignored Hikari's request and started walking to the bookstore. After minutes of walking, the two arrived at a large book store.
"Wow, this bookstore's huge. I wonder if it has everything."
"Of course it doesn't. Come on."
Takeru ended her curiosity instantly and entered.
"Geez, you didn't have to be so blunt."
"I'm stating what's true. Now hurry up because I got things to do."
"What is so much more important than spending time with your friend?"
"Working."
Hikari entered and followed Takeru into the facility. As she walked side by side, she asked him a question.
"What kind of work do you do?"
"Many things."
"Can you stop being so vague?"
"Can you stop asking shallow questions?"
"Fine, Mr. Genius."
The two continued to argue until Takeru found the section of the bookstore that had his books.
"Here you go. These are my books."
Takeru handed a couple to her after finding the books.
"Rupture of Time, Flow of the Mist, Unanswered Silence, Neglected Existence?"
Hikari read the title and realized that every one of them had these marks at the bottom of the book cover Best Seller of All Time.
"Wow, these are incredible. You're books are this famous?"
"People thought they were good and became famous. That's all there is."
"I want to read them so badly now!"
Hikari said in an excited voice.
"Then, go buy it already so that I can go home."
"Huh? You're not buying me these?"
"It's you who owe me money, not the other way around."
"Aw~. Couldn't you buy at least one of these? Each of them is like 20 dollars."
"Do you enjoy making me repeat myself?"
"What a gentleman you are."
Hikari spoke sarcastically and complained. Regardless, she took all four books to the register. In total, she paid approximately 85 dollars.
"I've used all of this month's allowance…"
Hikari said in a sad voice.
"It's not like you have a serious need for money. You're not gonna die."
"But now I can't buy anything for another month now."
"That's just too bad."
"You don't know how to cheer up a person, do you?"
"People need to accept the reality and move on. Having other people making you feel better doesn't help."
"I hate it when you use logics win an argument."
"It's the best because it's a fact. I always use the best way."
Hikari sighed and spoke.
"Sometimes, you gotta try new ways too, you know."
"I don't see the need to try a new way when there is the best way."
"Never mind. Come on, help me carry these. They're heavy."
"You need some exercise."
"No, I don't."
"If four books are heavy, then you need to exercise."
"Each of these books is like thousand pages with hard cover."
"Not that heavy in my opinion."
Takeru said while enjoying himself in seeing Hikari struggle.
"Please? You don't want to spend time with a muscular girl, right?"
"Fine."
With that, Takeru took the whole bag and carried it.
"Thanks, Takeru."
"Whatever. Let's hurry. Which way is your home?"
"It's about 10 minutes away from here."
"10 minutes…"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing. Let's go."
"Okay."
Then, the two headed for Hikari's house. On the way, Hikari took out one of the book, Rupture of Time and started to read it as she walked. The book had many deep thoughts and aspect. Also, it was adventurous and mysterious at the same time. Hikari was immediately hooked on to it. She was into it so much that she bumped into walls and poles couple of times. After much bumping and walking, the two arrived near Hikari's house. While on their way, Hikari stopped and took the bags that contained the books.
"Give me it."
"Why?"
Takeru asked while handing it to her.
"My brother doesn't want me to be around boys when he's not there with me."
"Any reason?"
"He thinks I need protection. Either that or he thinks I'm still a kid."
"Whatever. I'm glad I don't have to carry your stuff anymore."
"Sorry. Anyway, thanks for your time today. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Sure."
Takeru replied and immediately turned his back and started to cross the street. Hikari watched him cross and was planning on watching him until he was out of sight. However, unlike her expectation, Takeru simply crossed the street and entered a gigantic house. The house was more like a mansion. It was a two story building with unbelievably beautiful garden in the front yard. The walls covered the house with a gate at the center which Takeru entered through. Hikari was surprised to see that Takeru was such a rich person. She constantly stared at him until he waved before going in to his home. She was also shocked to realize that their house was only 50 meters apart. After regaining her calm, Hikari resumed returning to her home. When she entered the house, Taichi shouted from his room, not coming out.
"Hikari, mom and dad are not here, so make something for me."
Hikari walked in to his room and spoke.
"Couldn't you just cook like a ramen or something?"
"You know I don't like to cook."
Taichi said while watching the TV in his room.
"Okay. I'll cook, but could you set up the table at least?"
Taichi groaned as he got off the bed and walked to the kitchen. Hikari cooked a simple meal and satisfied her hungry brother.
"Hikari, how come you were late today?"
"Oh. I bought some books."
Hikari said as she took out the books she bought.
"Oh man. Just seeing the size of the book gives me headache."
"You try reading some of these. They're really good books."
"I'll pass."
"What a shame. Your loss, Taichi."
Taichi finished eating and continued watching the TV. Hikari, on the other hand, resumed reading the Rupture of Time. Throughout the night, she read the entire book without knowing the passing of time. After finishing the book, she went to sleep at 3 o'clock at night. As she dozed off, she remembered the things she discovered about Takeru that day. Beer drinking was unexpected and unpleasant to know, but she was pleased to discover that Takeru is living in a nice home with immense wealth.