Chapter 8: Depend

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews XD This one is a cross with the Leave Out All the Rest chapter where Carrie got married. I think I had the plot of this planned whilst writing LOAtR but Carrie never seemed to mention it. This may be in the edit. Also, the forum is up a lot more than it had been! I still have to add content. But check it out. I have made custom sprites and buttons and everything…but for now, happy reading! And not anything extremely sexual this time. Weird.

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"I am so, so, so excited!"

Yagami Jyun glanced at Roomi's tiny form before his brows creased…no, it couldn't be…that was impossible. There was just no way…

"…Roomi, did you get taller?"

The woman had taken her shoes off, citing that the 6-inch heels hurt. Doodle duh.

She giggled, hugging him, "Yea, see! I'm closer to your face now."

"Did you lie about your age?" he scowled.

"Stupid, I might just be catching up to my growth!"

"Still…" he sulked a bit, "I kind of liked my tiny Roo…"

She pinched his side and stuck out her tongue, walking back towards her desk, "Too bad your Roo doesn't like being tiny. I hope I grow to 5'! But…that's probably not going to happen…"

"Well, then you could stop wearing 6-inch heels, I guess" he shrugged, "And it's definitely a strain on me to make out with you at your current height."

He laughed as she threw a pen at his head, dodging, before slamming down at his computer, "So why are you excited?"

Roomi gawked, "You're not?"

He stared at her, bewildered, "Should I be?"

"We're only going to Spain!" Roomi rolled her eyes, " 'Should I be'? Sheesh…"

Jyun continued to stare at her…except extremely blankly this time. She frowned. If she didn't know any better, there was some nervousness in his eyes.

"I…I said I couldn't go. I filled out all the vacation paperwork and everything" he stated, quickly standing.

Roomi blinked, "Kotomi hasn't mentioned it…"

He darted out of the office wordlessly and she followed. What…? Vacation? They were going to Spain! That WAS a vacation!

Arriving in her office, Jyun looked absolutely frantic, "Koto! I'm off next week, right?"

Kotomi was on the computer before scowling, glancing at him, "No, you're not."

"Kotomi! I filled out all the leave request paperwork and everything-"

"Yes, REQUEST. You REQUESTED and I declined. We're on a very tight schedule and I need you in Spain next week" she shook her head.

"But Kotomi, I have something REALLY important to do here in Japan next week" he pleaded, "Can't we push it back?"

"No! Jyun, you're my head photographer, I need you there to do pictures for the line. It's final" Kotomi said firmly.

Jyun went silent before wandering off, wordless. Roomi frowned and quickly walked after him. What was wrong…?

He was back in the office, typing furiously. Roomi scowled and closed the door, walking over to him and murmuring.

"What's wrong, Jyun?"

"Nothing's wrong" he answered shortly.

"SOMETHING'S wrong…Koto should have consulted with you more but you're really upset. Tell me what's the matter? What's so important?" she tried again.

He shook his head and she smiled again brightly, "Then cheer up! It'll be so nice in Spain! The weather's great, we'll be on the beaches, it'll be awes-"

Roomi stopped, startled, when Jyun looked up at her with the most heart-breaking expression she'd ever seen cross his face…it cut her deeply…

"Jyun…tell me what's wrong?" she found herself pleading.

He quickly put on his brightest smile, standing and kneeling to kiss her lips, "I promise, Roomi, it's…not that important. I…I need to go though. Hold all my calls, okay?"

She frowned, nodding, watching after him as he kind of slumped away.

One thing she noticed about Jyun was that…well, he liked to face things alone. Like the illness…and a lot of other matters. She could convince Kotomi if it were really that important to him…

But what was it?

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i"Stifling in there, huh?"

Izumi Carrie glanced up at him from her seat on the porch of Yagami Koji's before shrugging, picking at a strand on her skirt, "She's stupid."

Jyun sighed, slamming down next to her, "Don't you live by the mantra 'if you want to do it then you should'?"

The fifteen-year-old considered that before shrugging, "True…I…don't know, Jilliana being a doctor…"

"Your sister is in the top ten percentile in her grade. She may be a bubbly blonde but you know she's smart. Kind of like Keiji…total muscle jock yet also in that top ten."

Carrie propped her chin in her palms, sighing, "I guess…I guess what really irritates me is that she knows what she wants to do. ALL of you do…Keiji's going to be a lawyer, Kaede's doing something art related, JILLIANA…"

"If it makes you feel any better, my siblings are slacking" he offered.

She smirked, "Your siblings always kind of slacked anyway. I really can't picture them in any kind of job…but YOU'RE going to be a photographer."

"Yea, I do what I like…"he smiled, "You'll find what you want to do, babe."

Carrie rested her ear on his shoulder, going silent for a moment before replying, "If I ever get married, you'll be my photographer, kay?"

"Where the hell did that come from?"

"Mm, just musing" she murmured.

"Uh huh…some bastard I need to know about?" he snorted.

"I told you, I'm going to marry Mura if I have to drug him."

Jyun laughed, shaking his head, "Doesn't sound like a good start to a marriage, girly. But I think if you wait a while, you'll meet your ideal guy…that won't have to be drugged to go down the aisle with you."

"I guess" she sighed, "Promise though?"

"Promise…you're going to wear spandex, right?"

"Absolutely. It'll be purple and I'll wear a puffy pirate shirt."

"And don't forget to belt out 'Purple Rain' as you go…"

She laughed, kissing his cheek randomly, "Sounds great."

"And I'll catch every moment…"/i

Damn it all.

He wandered, a fog of misery surrounding him, towards where Carrie was making the final touches to what she wanted her hair to look like for the blessed event happening next week…

When he'd be in Spain.

Stomach flopping, he smiled weakly, suddenly wishing she HADN'T met her ideal man that was going through this without being high…or at least moving it back a week…

The blonde looked up from the computer and smiled happily, "Ah! Jyun, Jyun, you have to see!"

"Babe, I-"

But she rushed into her room, dragging him by his elbow. He bit his lip as she shuffled about before just having to blurt…"Carrie, I-I'm sorry!"

She stopped, frowning, and glanced back at him, "For what, Jyun?"

"…I…I know we've been planning it for…a month now…hell, YEARS…but, uh…I…can't…" he whispered.

Carrie walked over to him, looking nervous, "What are you talking about?"

"…I can't do the photography on your wedding, Car" he mumbled miserably.

Her eyes shifted before she cried, "Jyun, you-you PROMISED!"

"I know I did" he pleaded, "And I'm really, really sorry, I-I requested off but Kotomi told me no."

"Tell her to f—k off!"

"Carrie, I can't do that…"

"So that's it?" she laughed bitterly, "A week, Jyun. My wedding is in less than a WEEK. Not only did you promise me, you tell me at the very last damn minute. Thanks. Thanks A LOT."

"Carrie…" he whined.

But she just stalked away, angry, shoving past her soon-to-be husband, Inaba Kurt, who was standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. He looked at Jyun knowingly.

"That actually went a lot better than I thought."

Jyun almost demanded if he was kidding…before thinking it over. True enough, if this had been a few years earlier, she would have kicked his ass. Seriously. Laughing humorlessly, he rubbed his forehead. "Probably."

"She'll forgive you" Kurt assured, "She knows you take your job seriously."

"And I take my promises seriously too" Jyun said sadly, "Maybe…maybe I should do what she said?"

"Uh, no, probably not" Kurt snorted, "It's okay, Jyun, stuff comes up."

"…I'm sorry…tell her that I really mean that for me, okay?"

"I will" Kurt sighed, "Like I said, don't worry, man."

…It still stung. But…but oh well…sometimes promises clashed, huh?

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Roomi giggled happily, prancing out of the hotel room bathroom, wearing her new bathing suit, "This is TOO exciting!"

Humming happily, she paused in the huge spread out suite area…Jyun was sitting by the window, gazing out at all the joy of those on the beach, a glass of bourbon in his hand. She pouted. Sure, bright sunny citrus colors would look pretty tacky on Jyun but he didn't have to wear iblack/i. AND he was drinking!

"Jyunny baby hubby" she sang in the brightest tone she could muster, "Don't you want to go to the beach with your wife, hmm?"

He wasn't listening whatsoever, his eyes pretty much glazed over. Frowning, she sighed and hugged his neck, kissing his cheek lovingly. As much as she'd been trying to train herself not to be completely in love with him…well, she still wanted to make him happy. And seeing him like this was making her sad.

"Jyun, you can still tell me what's wrong, lovey."

He finally came out of his fog and shook his head, "I'm fine, Roo…what were you saying?"

She giggled and sat in his lap, "Come down to the beach with me!"

His eyes widened and he shook his head slowly to the negative. She pursed her lips, demanding, "Why so serious?"

He chuckled a bit at that, "I swear, Roo, I'll be okay here…besides, the last thing I need is to wear trunks that can become transparent with you wearing that…"

She was wearing a small red string bikini, definitely showing off her assets…giggling again, she kissed his lips, "I can get a one piece…"

Jyun snorted, "Believe me, that would help very little."

"Then tonight we can go skinny dipping…" she purred, kissing his jaw.

He finally laughed for the first time in days, slapping her thigh playfully, "Roomi, we are not getting arrested in a foreign country. We'll get naked, but it won't be out in public."

"Fine, have it your way" she sighed before stroking his face, "You sure you want to be alone?"

"…Yea" he sighed, his misery returning, "Go have fun for both of us."

Standing up straight, she frowned and nodded, "I'll bring you something to eat as well…"

He just nodded and she sighed heavily, grabbing her beach bag and wandering out of the hotel. WHAT was so important that had him acting like this? WHY wouldn't he tell her?

…WAIT.

Snatching out her cell phone, she fished through her contacts and smiled brightly when she was greeted by a sleepy voice.

"Hello…?" Yagami Kyo answered.

"Hi baby" she cooed, "Sorry I woke you but it's important. Your brother's drinking."

Kyo snickered sleepily, "I, uh, THINK that's normal behavior."

"True, but I want to know 'why?'. He's completely depressed and won't go skinny dipping with me."

"Stupid idiot."

"Do you know why he's depressed?"

"Well, he's really, really close with our cousin Carrie so I guess it upsets him that he's letting her down or breaking his promise or whatever."

"Wha?" Roomi questioned, puzzled, "Carrie?"

"Sheesh, he didn't even tell you? Ugh, our cousin, Carrie, she's getting married in two days and back when they were teenagers, Jyun swore that he was going to photograph her wedding or something crazy and the two have been planning it since the beginning. She's pretty ticked at him for this whole Spain thing."

"Ugh, that dumbass, if he'd just TOLD me, I could have easily told Kotomi that he had already had more serious affairs. We don't even film until Friday" she shook her head, "Instead, he's sitting around, moping."

"Well hey, I mean, Carrie might appreciate it if he at least makes it now if you can still get him back."

Roomi stroked her chin and sighed, "I'll see what I can do. Thanks for telling me."

"Oh, uh, yea, no problem" he intoned, "You're too nice to him, by the way."

Roomi frowned, striding towards Kotomi, "Wha? Jyun's my buddy and I'm just worried about him. He's gone all EMO on me."

"…I guess" he said after a moment, a measure of reluctance in his voice, "I…just don't want you to get hurt, okay?"

"Where's this coming from, Kyo?" she demanded, closing in on the beach.

"I just…know my brother" he said carefully.

Roomi pursed her lips, not sure she liked where this was going. "I'll take that into consideration, Kyo, but it doesn't sound very flattering to Jyun."

"I suppose not" he rumbled, "Never mind, you two seem to have it all down."

"Yep" she smiled finally, "But I have to go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Alright…"

Clicking off, her brows furrowed. What was up with that…? Weird stuff…

Kotomi was sitting under an umbrella, wearing her completely modest blue one piece, reading a novel. Roomi wondered how her sister can design such magnificent clothing and just…miss the ball so hard when it came to her own clothing. Oh well…

Time to work her own magic.

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"I know you really, really hate me right now but I still wanted to say…congratulations. If…if I'd heard you were going to get seriously married ten years ago, I would have laughed but…but you're…yea. I remember when you were pregnant, you drove me absolutely nuts. Especially when you wanted escargot just because you liked the way it sounded. But…that just meant I would do anything for you. And…I still would. I promise that I will make this up to you some day, babe. Love you..."

He pursed his lips as he sent the voicemail and sighed, staring at the ceiling as he lied on his back in bed. This really sucked…he couldn't even really enjoy himself in freakin' Spain either because he was not only NOT photographing Car's wedding, he was imissing/i the entire affair…

…Why had he come? He always said family came first. Kotomi might have had his ass and fired him in a fit of rage but…why?

"Jyun-chan!"

He glanced to the door as Roomi entered, skipping over to the bed and climbing on top roughly. He grunted as she took his smartphone from him, typing something in.

"What are you doing?" he questioned after a moment.

Jyun observed that she was in secretary mode so he remained silent until she was done. Smiling, she pressed 'enter', kissing his lips.

"Okay, your flight leaves in two hours."

"…Come again?"

"I called Kyo-chan, he told me that you're all sad over your cousin's wedding so I convinced Koto to let you go back!" she reported happily.

He stared at her for a moment and noted that she'd programmed his plane tickets into his Blackberry. Frowning, he shook his head.

"Thanks, Roomi, but I'm…fine."

"What do you mean?" she demanded.

Jyun rubbed his brow, sighing heavily, "I can't make it in time to photograph it…what's the point of going?"

Roomi planted her palms on his knees, gazing up at him, "Because! If nothing else, you can go to see if the photography was done iright/i. And I know if I were her and she cared about you as much as you care about her then she'd want you there."

"I won't even make the ceremony" he murmured.

"Then take some amazing pictures of the reception" Roomi insisted, "You know you'll regret it if you even have the chance to go and you don't take it. Maybe you can't keep this promise but…"

Jyun went silent before glancing at her…Roomi blushed faintly when he gave her a breathtaking smile, kissing her forehead.

"Thank you."

She pursed her lips, growing pinker, "N-no problem. But you! Next time just tell me, you could have probably stayed in Japan if I'd known sooner."

Jyun sighed, "I guess it's okay to depend on people for SOME things…"

Roomi sighed, rolling her eyes, "You better get moving though."

He stood and she followed him to the door, "You have to come right back after this wedding though. I routed the ticket so that you can type in the time when it comes."

"All right" he nodded, pausing in the door way before glancing down the hallway. She blushed as he kissed her again, tenderly on the lips this time.

"Thanks again, Roo, I owe you."

She smiled lightly, "Come back…happy, please? You suck unhappy."

He chuckled, "All right."

She watched him rush off and sighed…silly man.

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Jyun was weirded out when he walked into the villa…mostly because he was really, really late. The plane was late…really late. And parts of the mainland were flooded out because of some freak rain storm. Just about EVERYTHING was against him…but he was here.

Looking around, he blanked a bit, noticing the woman in white, standing around, pretty much wringing her hands…the thing that got him was, well…white? He chuckled a bit as he carefully approached her. Maybe that's what she'd wanted to show him. Carrie had sworn on all that was holy she'd never wear white to her wedding but…

Not sure how to approach her, still overwhelmed with the guilt over having broke his promise, her cleared his throat: "You, lady, disappoint me, getting hitched and all."

He expected her to either punch him in the face or kick him in the man area…he was seriously hoping for the former.

But she wheeled around and squealed, her blue eyes brightening, throwing her arms around his neck, "Oh my God, you could make it!"

Nope, not what he was expecting…she could still strangle him, sure. But he smiled, hugging her waist, relieved and happy…he kissed her cheek, careful not to mess up her makeup, "You look beautiful...I hope this photographer caught it or I'll kick their ass."

She didn't seem to have much to say about that even though he was pretty sure she could come up with tons of sarcastic comments but just changed the subject, holding his hands.

"Since my daddy won't dance with me and Kurt is going to have to be my main dance and I've made a game of dancing with everyone..." she said coyly.

He smirked at her, "I'll dance with you, Car."

"Yay!"

Hugging her waist tightly, he sighed, resting his chin on her shoulder, "I…am sorry, Carrie."

She sighed as well, shrugging a little, "It was just a little request, Jyun."

"I took it seriously" he mumbled.

"I know you did" he could tell she was smiling, "But don't you think I understand when things interrupt what you really want to do?"

Jyun snorted, "More than I'LL ever know…"

"And besides, I'm happy you came at all" she whispered, "This is really overwhelming."

Jyun rubbed her back gingerly, "You have a good guy who loves you, y'know? You have nothing else to worry about."

"I wish" she snickered.

He ended up passing her off to one of her friends, Hito, while he walked over to where his dad stood with his twin, Uncle Koji.

"Holy crap, you're here."

He stopped and smirked at Keiji and Steiner, his cousin and other cousin's husband respectively, "Yup…"

Yagami Celia skipped over, slipping under her husband's arm, and smiled, "Hi, Jyun!"

He grinned, grabbing her hands, "Aww, my favorite cousin-in-law!"

"Oi, hands off" growled Keiji threateningly.

Celia giggled, kissing his cheek, "It's nice that you could make it, dear."

"Yea, I'm really glad that I could get here" he smiled before frowning, looking around, "Where's my mom?"

"Aunt Elli didn't come" Keiji responded.

"Wha?" he echoed, bewildered, "My mother would gnaw her own leg off before missing a wedding."

"My thoughts exactly."

Jyun cocked a brow as his brother sauntered up next to him, shrugging, "She just said she wasn't feeling well. I found it bizarre…"

Jyun thought it over for a second before shrugging himself, "Well, I'd hate to have a sick coughing person at a wedding myself so I guess she did the right thing."

"Yea, the only wedding mother would probably could not a hundred percent miss, pneumonia or plague, would be…yours" snorted Kyo.

Kaede laughed, having walked over next, hugging Steiner's waist, "I don't know about that one. I mean, I'm sure she wouldn't miss it, naturally…"

"She's just going to be waiting a long time" snickered Kyo.

"A VERY long time" smirked Jyun widely.

"Poor Aunt Elli, all her children suck" Keiji remarked with a sigh.

"Hey, I'm a player but I'm not adverse to marriage. I just have to meet the right woman" Kyo shrugged before sending Jyun a look, "Or at least until I can steal Roomi."

"F—k you will" Jyun grunted.

"Roomi?" Kaede echoed, cocking a brow.

"Jyun's pretty much girlfriend" Kyo said sweetly.

"She is not!"

"WOW, Jyun has a girlfriend" Keiji snickered.

"Who would have thought?" Kaede grinned.

"I do NOT-"

"WHAT? JYUN has a girlfriend?" Carrie interrupted, joining the crowd.

"For the love of God" he groaned, "She is NOT my girlfriend."

"I'm surprised you admit she exists" Steiner teased.

"Well, it'd be bad of me not to, she's the only reason I got back here" he sighed.

"Aww" cooed Carrie, hugging his arm, "Tell her thanks for me! And you should have brought her, jerk!"

"Yea RIGHT. Mom wouldn't have let me live it down, she'd have us engaged by now…of course, she's not here" Jyun frowned.

"That really does seem strange, honestly" Carrie commented.

Jyun thought about it before shrugging. That's okay.

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"Man…he is like a new person even though he should be…dead" Kotomi remarked, blinking.

Roomi smiled as Jyun happily directed the models who complied at ease. Jyun had done as she said, returning absolutely DIRECTLY after the wedding and as soon as he arrived, he started doing the shoot, straight off the plane…but he was really happy. He kept his promise.

Once he finished, he sighed, putting his equipment away, "I need a LONG, LONG nap…"

"Aww, but we were going salsa dancing" pouted Roomi.

He laughed wearily, "Yea, exhaustion or not, I'm not sure I could pull salsa dancing."

"I think I want to go check out one of the local museums anyway" Kotomi replied, "We can go tomorrow when Jyun's rested."

"Okay" sighed Roomi, rolling her eyes, "But I'll pass on a museum. I'll go back to the suite and watch television."

"Is everything going to be okay with you guys sharing a room? The hotel is completely booked but I thought since you two work together all the time…" Kotomi frowned.

Tetsuo, nearby, stretched out on a chaise, pretended to cough. Jyun scowled at him, "We're FINE, Koto, I swear. But you have a dumbass for a fiancé."

Tetsuo just grinned as Kotomi cocked a brow. Jyun smiled sweetly, "I'll talk to you guys later."

Roomi skipped behind him and smiled at him when he fell face forward on the twin bed. Walking over to him, she tenderly kneaded the flesh in his back over his shirt. He moaned into the pillow before turning over, adjusting her to sit on top of him.

"Hey."

"Hey" she greeted, leaning over and kissing him.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes cutely, "I sleepy, Roo."

Roomi cooed, kissing his forehead, "Then sleep, baby. I won't bother you."

"I've heard that before" he snickered, closing his eyes.

"I won't!"

"My cousin said 'thank you'…and because of Kyo's stupid dumbasstasticness, everyone seems to want to meet you" he yawned.

"Hmph!" she pursed her lips, "It's dumbasstastic to want to meet me?"

"Not that" he murmured, rubbing her leg, "It'd…just be kind of different, I guess, if I ever did that…but I'm still not letting you meet my mother."

Roomi couldn't help giggle, resting on top of him, purring, "Maybe your mommy would like me."

"She'd love you."

Roomi looked up at him, confused, and he stroked her hair, sighing, "When I wake up, let's do something, okay?"

"What do you have in mind?" she questioned, resting her chin on his chest.

"Maybe…skinny dipping?" he winked.

Roomi laughed, "We're not getting arrested in a foreign country, Jyun!"

"Of all the dumb things to worry about."

Sticking out her tongue, she turned her head, closing her eyes, "There's a really nice spot on the beach…I want to just go lay there."

"Maybe I should plan things…"

She pouted again at him and he said drearily, "I'll take you to that restaurant the models were talking about…by then it'll be late enough where we won't have to worry about running into your sister and we can walk the beach."

Sighing, dozing herself, she murmured, "You're asking me on a date, Jyun-chan…?"

"Yea…that's it exactly."