A/N: well, it been a long while since i have updated this story... sorry guys for making you wait... hehehe! peace! anyweiz, for athose who reviewed my story, thank you so much for spending time and reading this! i really appreciate it! hope you guys like this new installment for the story!
read on!
standard disclaimer applied...
Chapter 5:
I live now in a world
Where I have to hide my heart…
Hiding and waiting…
Until someone finds me and set me free…
Twenty-three long years of staying in this world and meeting people, each sharing with her a treasured memory that will forever be in her heart and mind and entrusting with her precious things that she will keep to remind her of those days. Sentimental, yes, seven years ago, keeping even a candy wrapper that was given to her by a little boy she saved from being run over by a truck. Hell, she even kept her very first canine tooth that was extracted from her mouth in a small container given to her by her dentist. That was how sentimental the tough Fuuko Kirisawa was.
But now, as she rummages through the things that she had kept in her apartment's attic, she can't believe how she had managed to keep all those things. She can't even remember why she was keeping some things in there and what memories were behind those things for some happened when she was just a kid playing on the swings in the park.
I should have cleaned the attic years ago! With all this stuff, it will take me a whole year before I'm done! Fuuko thought exasperatedly as she rummages in the box, taking out papers after papers and things after things.
"Fuuko-neechan, as much as I hate to leave you with all these stuffs, I really have to get going now." Ganko's voice sounded behind another pile of boxes where she told her to arrange all those old clothes that were carelessly stuffed inside four large boxes. "My classmates just sent me an SMS and they need me for the project our professor gave us last week."
Fuuko heaved out a deep sigh knowing that she would be alone rummaging through those things and it will definitely take her forever until she was done. No matter how much Ganko had wanted to help her all through out, she knew the girl has school work to do and her cell phone had been ringing an hour ago.
"It's okay Ganko. I think I could manage through all this." Fuuko said, looking at the boxes still piled up and waiting to be kept or dispatched from the house. Or maybe not.
"I'll just send someone to help you up here if I happen to pass one of the guys on my way." Ganko said as she emerged behind another set of boxes piled in front of Fuuko. "With all these boxes, you won't be able to finish this alone."
"Thanks." She replied, giving the teenaged girl a rueful smile. "You can go now. And don't forget to close the door behind after you left."
With a nod of her head sending her blonde tresses tumbling down her shoulders, Ganko politely kissed her good-bye before dashing down from the attic until such time that Fuuko heard the definite click of the door behind her.
Again, she heaved out a deep sigh and let her gaze travel around the attic, fixing on every box that her eyes could set upon. Knowing that she would have to do the very tiring and not to mention, heavy task before her, she settled herself on a sitting position on a low stool and resumed rummaging through the box before her.
After taking out a few more pieces of paper with childish drooling on it, an old cloth that looked like a dress for a doll, a pencil case with five short pencils in it, Fuuko came upon a familiar old box with flowery designs engraved on its lid. Gently, as if fearing that handling it a little too careless will break it apart, she lifted the box from atop of the other things in side the carton and brushed off the dust from its lid.
For a few seconds, she just stared at it, her brows furrowed as her mind recalled what was inside the box. Little by little, the vague recollections in her mind became clear and she found herself tracing the carvings on the lid with her fore and index finger as her mind recalled the contents of the box. When her fingers found the latchet of the box, she gently flipped it open and slowly opened the lid.
A few seconds later, she was staring at inside the box, which turned out to be an old jewelry box, particularly at the necklaces in it. Lifting her fingers from the lid, she took hold of a black choker and a necklace with a single pearl pendant that she usually wore before back when she was still in high school. She never took them off, even when they were fighting at the UBS; she still wore them as if she wouldn't be complete without those two. For some, her actions would mean to them that those necklaces were very important to her, perhaps given by her mother and she just couldn't bear the thought of not wearing them. But the truth is it was a reminder for her, a painful reminder of the day she started pretending.
Flashback...
A solitary tear escaped from those dark blue orbs that used to beam with happiness. The face that used to be filled with so much glee was suddenly filled with so much sadness that whoever would look at her would probably feel the depth of her sadness.
"Papa, why did you leave me? Why Papa?" the purple haired twelve year old murmured against her breath as she watched her father's coffin was being lowered six feet under the ground.
Slowly, she traced her steps toward the lowered coffin, in her hand was a white rose clutched against her chest, moisten by her tears that were still cascading down her cheeks. When she was already two steps from the burial ground, she gently extended the hand that was clutching the rose and slowly let go of the white flower, watching as it slowly floated against the wind, towards the coffin below.
However, before she could even watch as the flower land on her father's coffin, she suddenly felt a vicious grip on her right arm and she was being hurled around until her dark blue orbs met her mother's wrathful eyes.
"Stop crying, you stupid girl! Your father's dead and no one's going to baby you this time!" her mother shouted at her face, pointing her finger at her to the point that she feels that her mother was going to poke her eye out.
Then she was suddenly thrown backwards, her body harshly hitting the ground below her. Before she could even look up to her mother, something was thrown at her face. It didn't hurt her at all but she could feel it lightly touch her cheeks before dropping just beside her hand.
When she was able to open her eyes, she saw her mother walking towards her car and speeding away, not even bothering to look at her and wait for her to pull herself off the ground.
"Mama! Wait for me!" she cried out, getting up to her feet and attempting to run after her mother.
She ran after the car, although knowing that her attempts are futile. She was just hoping that her mother would be back to who she was before her father died. She was just hoping that her mother would stop the car and when she emerges from it, she would hug her and tell her how sorry she was for treating her badly since her father died. She was just hoping that her mother would be back to normal and smile at her again.
But she didn't and all she could do was run after the car, calling out her mother, until a strong, but gentle hand hugged her from behind and pulled her close to his chest.
"Stop it now Fuuko. She already left and you won't catch up with her by just running like that."
Fuuko turned her teary eyes to the owner of the voice and saw the familiar face of Recca's father, also a very good friend of her father. Beside him was also a forlorn Recca who was holding out something at her.
"This is what your mother threw at you a while ago." Recca said, waiting for her to take it.
Slowly she reached for whatever Recca was holding out to her, only to find her father's necklace placed gently on her palm. It was a necklace with a single pearl pendant that his father used to wear ever since she could remember. Seeing the necklace on her hands only revived the memories of her father and made fresh tears cascade down her face. Ever since that day, she started wearing the necklace to remind her of the memories of her father and to remind her of the start of her big masquerade.
A year before the UBS, her mother died, still filled with rage for her father, leaving to her a black choker, which she also wore to remind her of a mother who never loved her for the last four years, bowing to continue the masquerade she started the day of her father's burial.
Fuuko lightly clenched the necklaces on her palm, remembering that awful memory. Those were the reminder of her own misery, of the things that she was hiding behind her smile. Feeling those two necklaces around her neck reminds her of her big masquerade.
But when she met Raiha and they got together, it was only then that she felt the smile on her face truly came from her heart. It was only then that she forgot her misery and her past. It was only then that she felt secured again, like no step dad would be able to hurt her ever, she felt the love and care that no mother had given her but most of all she felt secured and deeply cared for just like the way her father had made her feel. And it was all because of Raiha. It was also then that she removed the necklaces from her neck and placed it in the old jewelry box, all the while, thinking that she would never have to hide behind her smiles again because she now has Raiha to ensure her happiness.
But now is a different story. Raiha's gone and she was once again hiding behind her smiles and her laughter. It was just like before when her father died and before she met Raiha. She was back there once again.
Once more, Fuuko placed the necklaces around her slender neck to remind her of her past and, in addition to that, to remind her of the one who rescued her from her past who has now gone to rest. She started her big masquerade the second time around but deep within her, she was hoping that someone would come and pull off the mask she was wearing and make her smile from the heart again.
"No." Tokiya firmly held his ground and refused to look at the person before him.
Earlier that afternoon, he had all thoughts of spending the whole day in his apartment and lazily slumping himself against the sofa. He was firmly decided to take a whole day rest and act like a lazy bum that he really isn't. Then came this person and ask him a favor that he would gladly decline without second thoughts.
"Demo…" soft voice, pleading and coaxing him to give up the fight.
"No, and that's final." He said more firmly, shooting the person with one of his famous death glare.
He, then, regret the act the next second when a puppy-dog and almost teary eyes greeted him, causing him to look away almost immediately.
Damn! Why do they have to have such powers like that against man!
A sobbed escaped her lips and Tokiya flinched at the sound. Just one more word from her and he'll bend down to her desires like a slave gladly taking orders from his master.
"Onegai…" came the last word he was anticipating followed by a sob that he wish she just muffled.
Damn!
"Why me? Why not Recca, or Koganei or that big oaf Domon?" he asked, stalling for time and hopefully finding a good excuse for him not to go.
"Well, Recca-niichan has work to do while Koganei has a term paper to work on to and if you can't recall, Domon-niichan is still on his wrestling tour. You're the only one here who—"
"Okay, I get the picture. Fine, I'll go."
After his statement, he found himself engulfed in a tight embrace and was being humbly thanked for what he just agreed to do.
"Arigato!" Ganko chirped happily as she locked him in a tight embrace and earned a slight blush to cross his face.
Seconds later, he felt her pull herself from him and he quickly suppressed the blush and put on a scowl on his face, despite the fact that it would not have any effect on her at all. It has something to do with the word immune, he thought.
"I'll make sure I'll return the favor someday." Ganko continued, obviously ignoring the scowl he was giving her.
"You don't have to." He said, turning his face away from the girl's view.
He felt Ganko wrapping her arms around him once more for a quick hug before turning around to leave. Just as he thought the girl would say no more, she turned to him once again and shouted from her distance something that just irked him more not because the girl just commanded her on doing something but because he was sure that he would gladly do as she said so just as to not make her feel bad.
"Go there now, okay! She needs a man up there for those boxes!" she said before waving at him and walked away with her friends.
As Tokiya closed the door behind him, he couldn't help but let out a deep sigh, thinking how on earth he could possibly be always stuck with her. First it was Yanagi, now it was Ganko and he was not able to say no to both occasions.
I must be really getting soft… He thought as his fingers reached out for his car keys on the kitchen table and made his way to Fuuko's house.
Fuuko was placing the box where she found the old jewelry box in on top of those that are to be thrown when she heard the front door open. As soon as hearing the noise, Fuuko's brows furrowed, knowing that Ganko wouldn't be home until dinner and someone just walked into her apartment without even knocking.
Cautiously, she made her way downstairs, her body prepared for a fight just in case it was an intruder or a thief or something. Just when she was about to pass the living room, somebody called her name that made her turn around so quickly.
"Kirisawa." Tokiya said as soon as he saw her walking into the living room.
He had been in the kitchen, scrutinizing the things scattered on the dinning table which, he guessed, came from the attic and they decided to keep it after washing it off from all the dirt and unnecessary stains.
"Don't ever do that again! You just scared the living day lights out of me!" Fuuko gasped, glaring at Tokiya for a few minutes before realizing that she should be asking him a question instead of glaring at him. "What are you doing here?"
Tokiya looked away from her gaze, suddenly finding the things on the table much more interesting than her cobalt pools. Not that those eyes were interesting to him before. "Ganko sent me. She said something about cleaning the attic and you needing some extra assistance." He spat out the words so bitterly as if he was threatened with his life if he is not to help her.
Fuuko was a bit surprised to hear that. When Ganko said something about sending help for her, she never thought that Tokiya would be the one showing up at her doorstep. She was kind of expecting Recca or Koganei or one of Ganko's guy friends that she used to bring over with the rest of her group before.
Despite his head turned away from her, he could feel her questioning gaze on him and he was getting irritated by it.
"If you're going to continue looking at me like that, then I guess you don't need help at all." He said, putting his hands in his pockets and making his way from the front door.
"No wait!" Fuuko quickly stopped him by putting her hands on his arm and quickly went in front of him before he could even take another step. "I need your help up there. And besides, you don't want to see Ganko pissed off because you broke you promise to her don't you?"
Tokiya stared down at the girl before him, wondering how on earth she could possibly be able to blackmail him two times in a week. Either he was getting too soft for his own demise or she was just god damn good at blackmailing people to her advantage.
"Fine." He spat out bitterly, knowing that there would be no other way out, before turning around and headed for the direction of the attic.
Fuuko looked at his retreating form, slightly amazed at how he gave up the fight quite easily. Quickly, she followed him suite and was walking beside him within seconds.
"Are you going to help me in that Mi-chan?" she asked, noticing the Armani suite he was wearing which looked so immaculate that if she owns one, she would have placed it somewhere where dust or even air can get into.
Upon hearing her question, he looked down at his suite and mentally cursed himself for not changing his clothes into something more appropriate for cleaning. Surely, Armani isn't the most appropriate clothes when it comes to encountering dust and cobwebs and god knows what else up in the attic.
Just then, he saw Fuuko tossing him a shirt after she came out of her room. He caught the shirt in both hands before looking at Fuuko and silently asking her where she found the shirt.
"It's Recca's. I borrowed it from him once but was not bale to give it back. You can change in my room if you're too conscious. I'll be up in the attic." She said, smiling slightly before turning around and make her way to the attic. "Don't worry. I assure you it's free of monkey fleas."
Just then, before she could even turn around, she found him looking somewhere below her neck, particularly the necklaces she was wearing. Suddenly, she felt conscious under his gaze and found her arms reaching up to grab the pearl pendant in her small fingers, the attic completely forgotten for a few moments.
"Haven't seen you wear those for a long time." He observed, finally removing his gaze from the necklaces and focused on placing his suite neatly on the chair by the kitchen.
She choose not to say anything anymore, knowing that Tokiya wasn't the kind of person who would want to listen to her life story and he wasn't the kind of person she feels comfortable of telling it. Instead, she hastily turned around and made her way towards the attic.
After a few minutes of rummaging into a newly opened box, Fuuko felt Tokiya's presence behind her and she turned around and motioned him to sit opposite from her and help her rummage through the box.
Tokiya followed her, slightly amused at him self for taking orders from her without even voicing out one complaint despite how irritated he was feeling at the moment. He looked at the box before him filled with crumpled paper, broken toys and some memorabilia that she had kept for so long.
"Hey, staring at it won't get the job done." Fuuko said when she noticed that Tokiya was staring at the contents of the box before them.
With a quick glare thrown her way, Tokiya then preceded taking out crumpled paper and other stuff from the box, occasionally asking Fuuko if it was to be thrown or to be kept.
After they finished with the box, they put it on top of the other boxes that are to be kept. It turned out that the box contained some important documents that need to be kept.
Fuuko stretched out after putting the box away, feeling her body relax with the movement it was receiving. After all, her feet and her lower body part had been killing her already due from lack of movements. After turning her head from side to side to mildly relax it, she looked at Tokiya, who was standing beside her with his arms crossed over his chest and looking at the stuffs around the attic. She noticed a drop of sweat sliding down from the side of his forehead to the side of his cheek and she can't help but think that these kinds of stuffs aren't really his forte. What drove him to help her with these, she doesn't know but it's nice to know that he would help despite him being blackmailed into it. He is a man of honor after all and once he said he'll do it, he'll do it, blackmailed or not, just as to keep his word.
Tearing her gaze from him, she then looked around, deciding which one to look next, failing to notice his gaze drifting to her.
Tokiya looked at her as her gaze wandered around the attic, probably deciding which one should follow. For a much unknown reason to him, he found himself studying her appearance. He noticed the tiny beads of sweat dripping down her forehead and grazing the side of her cheeks and making some strands of her purple tresses stick onto her skin. He noticed that, despite the messed up order of her hair tied in a ponytail, it still framed her face in a splendid manner that just let him stare in awe.
Upon realizing that he had been staring at her, he quickly withdrew his gaze and waited instead for her next instructions with regards to the boxes scattered around the attic.
"Maybe you could help me with these boxes here Mi-chan." Fuuko finally said while taking steps towards the last two boxes that they have to look into. "Let's start with the large box first before the small one."
Tokiya followed her and poised himself opposite from her and prepared to lift one box from the pile. When they were able to put it on the floor in one piece, they opened the box and rummages through it. This took them another thirty minutes for the items in the box are her old clothes and she sorted out those that she will give to Ganko.
The next box was what Fuuko hadn't been expecting. The moment the flip of the cartons was opened, she immediately noticed familiar things that Raiha had given to her when they were still together.
There was a snowy white teddy bear that she remembered he gave to her when they first had their first date at the amusement park and Raiha won from the target shooting booth. There was also a small heart-shaped pillow that reads 'Forgive Me?' which Raiha gave to her when they first had a misunderstanding. On top of the small pillow was a blue piece of cloth that Raiha had always wore around his forehead. He gave that to her in exchange for her own headband she used to wear every time. It was something they did when Raiha went away for a business trip with Kurei and Recca to remind them of each other. Quite mushy, she has to admit, but it was the way they express their feelings with one another. At least, they still haven't stoop down into calling each other terms of endearment which they thought was the mushiest thing couples could do. Her headband went with Raiha to his grave when he was buried.
"Maybe we shouldn't look through this box." Tokiya finally said after staring back from Fuuko to the box during the silence they were sharing.
He wasn't stupid not to know what those things are. The blue strip of cloth on top of a pillow says it all. Only Raiha wears those kinds of things. Besides, from the reaction he was getting from the girl opposite from him, there was no guessing that those things indeed were from the late Raijin wielder and she was probably reminiscing their past.
Fuuko smiled bitterly as she gently closed the box once again. She has no intention of keeping those things and reminds herself of her loss every time she will set her eyes on them in the future. She would keep it for the moment but once she was able to fully let go of him, she would burry it next to his grave.
After that, Tokiya helped her bring those boxes to be thrown out of the house and piled them neatly at the yard, hoping that the thrash would pick it first thing in the morning.
As soon as they were back in the house, Fuuko handed Tokiya a towel from her drawers to wipe all those sweat from his body before putting on his Armani suite. It would be such a waste to see that clothes over sweaty body.
Tokiya looked at the towel in his hand as its soft fragrance filled his nostrils and mildly intoxicating him. As much as he wanted to take off his shirt and wipe his body off, there was one minor problem that he hasn't dealt with before. Fuuko. He had never stripped off his shirt in front of a girl before and he wasn't going to start now.
"What?" Fuuko voiced out, seeing the slight discomfort Tokiya was having. "Don't tell me you're shy?" she guessed while an amused smirk swept her face.
"Must you imply that, seeing my predicament here?" he glared at the smirking girl by the kitchen counter.
"Oh, Mi-chan! You don't have to be shy! I've seen half naked man a lot of times before." She said, obviously pushing him deeper into his predicament.
It was Tokiya who smirked this time, recovering from his earlier state and deciding to turn the tables. "I never thought you wanted to see me half naked, Kirisawa."
"Hah! In your dreams Mi-chan! In your dreams!" Fuuko said before turning around and getting a soda from the refrigerator.
Tokiya took this moment to strip off from his sweaty shirt that Fuuko had lent him and tossed it gently on the back of the sofa. After that, he gently dabbed his face with the towel, his slight touch gently causing the piece of cotton cloth to absorb the sweat beads on his forehead. Then, he hung the towel by his shoulders while he took one end of it and patted it on his neck and shoulder blades.
The moment Fuuko turned around from the fridge; she was kind of expecting him to be staring at the towel with an irked look on his face and would demand her for the bathroom where he could do his things in his own solitude. What she saw, however, made her pause in the act of drinking from the can of soda and held her in an embarrassing awe. Yes, she had seen men half naked. Men, namely, Recca, who was her childhood friend, Domon, who fought in the UBS wearing that leopard skin shorts and nothing on top and Raiha, when he changes from the sweaty shirt he has after their jog early in the morning. But she has to admit, never had she seen such beautifully built body. It was like his body was in perfect proportions that no man could level with. Who would have thought that behind those Armani and Gucci suite he was wearing was a body worthy of worship?
Duh? His fans club, of course!
"Are you done staring at my body, Kirisawa?" Tokiya's voice caught her off guard and broke her stare.
Fuuko felt her cheeks blush and worst, she can't find the words to say. Instead, she just resumed drinking and completely avoided glancing at his direction. It didn't help that he was looking at her with a triumphant smirk on his face.
A long tensed silence followed after that. The instant Tokiya was finished dressing back into his suite; he reached for his car keys and headed for the front door.
"Are you going so soon, Mi-chan?" she asked as she followed him to the door.
Tokiya only gave her a brief nod before reaching out his hand to grab the handle of the door.
"Mi-chan…" Fuuko's voice stopped him from opening the door. "Thank you for helping me today. Despite the knowledge of Ganko blackmailing you into this, I'm glad you help me nonetheless."
He nodded at what he said which earned him a warm smile on her face. Tokiya watched her for a while, still with that smile on her face and he couldn't help but wonder that after seeing Raiha's memorabilia's, is her smile real or fake.
What do you care anyway? His mind asked him, rather, taunted him, and caused him to dismiss those thoughts from his head and take his leave. The sooner he escapes from her house, the sooner his mind won't go wondering and thinking some thoughts that are very not him.
But just as he was about to open the door, it opened in it's own accord, revealing Ganko, fresh from the meeting they had at her friends house.
"You're going already, Tokiya-niichan?" Ganko asked when she saw him by the front door.
"Yeah, I was just about to leave when you opened the door." He said, now taking a step towards the porch and takes his leave.
"Wait!" Ganko's voice sounded behind him that made him stop in mid stride.
Tokiya felt his body stiffen as he closed his eyes in scared anticipation for the next words that would drift from Ganko's lips. Gods! Please let it not be what I'm thinking! Please!
"Why don't you stay for dinner?" Ganko continued tactlessly, not knowing the things she was making him think.
Damn! Why do I always have to guess what would happen next!
He tried to put up an impassive face, devoid of emotions, yet with a hint of firmness on the things he was about to say next. "I'm sorry but I can't. There are still some things—"
"Oh! Come on!" Ganko blocked his next words by pulling him back in the house and dragging him in the living room. "You're on leave, right? It means no work for you to do so stay for dinner."
Tokiya stared at the retreating form of the blonde girl thinking that no matter how sweet her voice sounded when she said those words; it contained a slight command that he can't have the strength to oppose to. Forget about excuses to get out of the house. He'll rather stay without another word than let the monkey see how powerful Ganko's pleas are over him.
"Can't say no to Ganko, I see." Came an amused voice from Fuuko who was leaning against the doorframe.
Tokiya slightly turned his head to give her a glare which she obviously ignored for she was now making her way to the kitchen.
"What would like to have for dinner, Mi-chan?" Fuuko asked as she opened the fridge and see what she could cook.
"Anything, as long as it's edible." He answered sarcastically knowing how bad her culinary expertise is. Why, seven years ago, his kitchen was almost burned down when she and Recca decided to give him a surprise breakfast.
At least it's her kitchen this time, not mine. He thought as he watched her look through the stuffs in her fridge, probably looking for something frozen and could be eaten after ten minutes of heating it in the oven.
Fuuko could feel Tokiya's eyes on her and judging from her past attempts to try the kitchen, he might be thinking she'll just get something edible after heating in the oven. A smirk made its way across her face when she came upon something on the fridge. This will be payback time. I'm going to show you I can cook, Mi-chan and wipe that look off your face!
"How about we try chicken teriyaki and mushroom soup?" she said pulling out the frozen chicken meat from the freezer and putting it in a bowl filled with water to defrost.
Tokiya, however, took it as one of her way of teasing him so he just casually replied, "Sure. As long as there's a kitchen to have dinner at after you prepared that meal."
Fuuko was about to say something else when Ganko suddenly appeared from the bedroom, all dressed up from her uniform into her daily clothes.
"So, what's for dinner, Fuuko-neechan?" she said as she hopped her way to the kitchen.
"Teriyaki and mushroom soup." Fuuko answered briefly as she put the apron around her neck and tied it around her hips.
"Don't even dare cook, Fuuko." Tokiya said, tracing the steps to the kitchen and determined to cook dinner himself to save them from further accidents.
Ganko giggled at his words, oblivious of the glare she just earned from him. "Fuuko-neechan can cook you know. She learned how to when she was in Hiroshima."
After Ganko's statement, Fuuko looked triumphant while Tokiya looked like he was told that he's married to someone he doesn't know at all.
Instead of listening to the endless things Fuuko was now telling him with regards to her culinary expertise, he decided to help Fuuko cook dinner. The sooner dinner is served, the sooner he could escape. However, it didn't help that his fingers kept on brushing against hers when he was helping her cut the vegetables for the soup, that Fuuko's face seemed to blush because of the steam coming from the soup and that he was becoming comfortable with Fuuko's occasional smile, fake or real. It also didn't help that after dinner, when he was already driving back home, he was missing the warmth of their apartment and the smile on her face when she saw him out of the house seemed permanently stuck on his mind.
Tokiya stared at the empty wall before him as he sat comfortably on the sofa in his living room with a glass of brandy to relax his body and to help him sleep.
It had been a tiring day for him, carrying boxes containing mostly litters then piling them one after the other, cleaning and dusting the attic and making sure that every corner is litter and dust free and carrying the boxes of trash from the attic to the yard for collection of trash. Not to mention that it wasn't his boxes that he piled, his attic that he cleaned and dusted off and his trash he carried from the attic to the yard. All of those are Fuuko's and a little of Ganko's.
What drove him to act as a slave for the monkey and do things nobody had ever told him to do before, he doesn't know.
Probably it's the way Ganko's eyes pleaded him to help her neechan in distress amongst tons of boxes in the attic or probably it's the way he can't find the urge to say no to her puppy dog eyes. Maybe it's because the girl knows how to blackmail him and get used to his death glares and sarcastic remarks. Whatever the reason is, it can never change the fact that when it comes to Ganko and Yanagi, the word 'no' could easily just fly out of his vocabulary and 'yes' and it's other synonyms seems to be the only words he learned in his twenty four years of life on earth.
Or probably, as much as denies it, it's the way Fuuko would always looked so surprise to see him on her doorstep or the way she looked good despite all the sweat dripping from her forehead. Maybe it's because of the way she would tease him about things that, he actually think, is stupid or maybe it's because of the way she would smile at him and say thank you for all his help with a faint blush working it's way across her cheeks.
Also, he can't deny the fact that he feels curious about why she was wearing those necklaces again, having heard from Recca that those belonged to her late parents. As far as he can recall, she already stopped wearing those when she and Raiha had that thing between them. Does that mean that since he's already gone, she's wearing those again? But why? And why in the bloody hell does he even bother to know?
Slowly shaking his head to clear off his mind from those thoughts, he drank from the glass of brandy in his hand, feeling the hot liquid traveling its way down his throat and warming his body. He couldn't think of the monkey as such. He can't allow himself to think of her as such. He was supposed to be irritated of her and her teasing remarks not thinking about her and sounding like he was beginning to get attracted to her.
His hand froze in mid action of bringing the brandy to his lips once again as the thought came to his mind. This time, he was in total disbelief that he can't even manage to shake his head to clear those thoughts from his head.
No! I can't be… can I?
"So, how was the charity project?" a voice suddenly sounded out of nowhere and almost made him jump from his seat.
He lightly turned his head towards the shadowy corner of the room where he knows the voice must be coming from since it is the only place where the owner of the voice could come and go without much invitation to do so.
True enough, he saw Kagero emerging from the shadowed part of the room and walking towards the single sofa where she comfortably settled herself.
"I don't remember inviting you in." he said curtly, sending glares at the woman sitting opposite from him.
"I don't need to be invited to go to places I want to see, or rather, see the persons I want to see." She answered, not breaking the eyes contact between them.
"I can sue you for that, you know. We have such laws protecting the privacy of an individual."
He saw her chuckle as if what he said was stupid when in fact, it could be a great line of defense for some big cases and have the advantage when everyone is thinking that there's no other way out of the case.
"Enough of this useless chatter—" she began which he didn't intend to let her finish.
"Great. It's nice to know you and I share the same idea. You can now leave by all means you would like." He said motioning his head to the door and to the other shadowed part of the room.
"I was not talking about leaving. I was merely talking of switching our topic from useless to a more sensible one." She said, completely ignoring the hint he was giving her. "Let's say… Fuuko."
Tokiya was expecting it to come since she had been their topic whenever Kagero would just come out of nowhere in his apartment or office yet, he was still surprised at the blunt way the woman had said it.
"You've been spending a lot of times together lately and you seem to be enjoying it." she pried deeper.
Tokiya shot his brows up, quite surprised that the immortal woman was still monitoring him like he'll murder the prime minister or something. She had not been appearing lately for the past few days and all the while, he was thinking that the woman suddenly gave up on him and her quest to pry something out of him that isn't there at all.
"How could I enjoy her annoying company?" he hissed, then bringing the glass up to his lips again for a drink of brandy to ease his raging heartbeat and cover it with an impassive face.
"That was what I was also wondering about when I was watching you from afar."
"Stop squeezing out emotions from me that isn't there at all, woman." He was now getting impatient with his companion but he have to admit, she has a tongue that could rival his and could snap the thin line of patience he has.
He glared as Kagero stood up and slowly walked towards the shadowy part of the room. It was pretty rude of him to do such things but at least he could have the silence he was enjoying before she came.
"I pity you." the immortal woman said, stopping at one part of the room with her back on him.
"And why is that?" he asked, slightly flabbergasted by the way she was acting.
"Because you still can't see how much she means to you. Because you still can't accept the fact that you enjoy her company and miss it when it isn't there."
And with that, she walked towards the shadows and completely left him dumbfounded on his place.
Upon realizing what she had just told him, Tokiya quickly took the decanter from his side and poured him self a half-full of brandy before gulping it straight down. Still, a thought lingered in his mind and the alcohol isn't even doing its job to clear his mind from all those thoughts.
Could it really be… that I am… probably…?
He couldn't even continue the thought in his mind for it seems so bizarre and impossible, almost beyond anybody's imagination.
a/n: so? what do you thiink? good? bad? terrible? whatever it is, please don't forget to read and review...
pretty please?...
well, the flashback thingy is just my imagination so if you don't think that fuuko didn't have that kind of childhood, really sorry but since this is my story... guess i'll do it that way...
tokiya's seem to be feeling 'somehting' already don't you think? hehehe! i know it's long chapter but like i said before, don't forget to review... i really hope you guys liked reading it...
oh and before i forget...
i have this new story i'm working on entitled 'frost' hope you guys take time to read it and review the story also... thanks a lot!