10. Twenty-Four Hours
Disclaimer: I do not own the Wallflower or the characters in this story. I do not own the book referenced, The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green by Joshua Braff (Good book, you should read it) Oh! Well, except Sayuri.
Title: Letters
Chapter: Ten: 24 Hours
A/N: Sorry, hiatus camped out on my couch and pulled a 'You, Me and Dupree.'
Key: o0[Kyohei's Countdown0o - Remember it's the countdown to how long he has to tell her.
A/N: Don't worry. There will be no suicide or deaths in this story, I promise!
o0[23:30:530o
'I can't believe it... She was right here, and now... What the hell am I so afraid of?'
Of course, the entire ride home was overly joyous due to Noi and Yuki's extreme efforts of trying to compensate for their missing friends. Due to the fact that Kyohei was too depressed to make them shut up, there was no one close to Sunako telling them off. Due to the fact that the dark cloud around the ladder's head was making Ranmaru uncomfortable, there was no one who could make the two brunette's feel comforted. Without Takenaga and Sunako, the drive home ended with suicide flashing through their pretty little heads.
Ranmaru was busy setting up for his new life at his family's business; and a permanent residence at their best hotel's rooftop suite. Noi and Yuki spent their time helping him pack.
Kyohei mostly tried ignoring everyone, trying to calculate what things would be like for the next four years. Sadly, he knew she'd be spending all of her holidays with her parent's in Africa. It had been that way since she had become more confident, three years ago. Why did he think it would be different? Why did he hope so much? He'd screwed up, right?
'How am I going to go on like this?'
o0[12:58:070o
The plane ride was nice and comfortable. She basically slept the entire time. Takenaga read and practiced his English. It was just some nice, quiet peace...
But as Sunako slept, she dreamt. As Takenaga read, he kept anticipating someone playfully distracting him...
She kept dreaming of things that she loved, and oh, they were not about corpses or famous murderers. He kept reading the same line over and over, "he loves you a lot, J..." "He loves you a lot..." "He loves you..."
Nobody came to bother him, They were on a first class, twelve-hour flight headed for Connecticut. Oh, joy.
Exasperated, he dropped the damn book and asked the stewardess for a bloody mary. Sighing, he looked around. It was spacious and decorated in the style of a very comfortable and clean bathroom- white. Most of the people were pot-bellied American's, probably high-up partners and presidents. The lighting was dim, so that people like Sunako could sleep, but there were bedside lamps. The younger passengers were on their laptops doing business... It was so boring he could shoot himself.
Sighing, he tossed the book into Sunako's bag on the floor. He didn't even know where the thing came from, but it sure as hell did a lousy job of distracting him...
He looked at Sunako in hopes that she might wake up and talk to him.
What was she dreaming about?
He saw her brow crinkle in frustration...
'I guess she's having as much trouble as me...'
o0[21:56:240o
They had been avoiding it, but they knew they had to face their fears.
They had to go into their rooms with them no longer living in them. They had to face another blow towards their broken ties.
Noi and Yuki tightened their faces, holding hands as they entered Takenaga's room.
Timidly, she turned on the light switch. Together they walked towards the center of the area, looking at everything, reminiscing on the many moments they had with him. And yes, they were being very sentimental, and very quiet. Let me remind you that 1/3 of their family had just flown half-way across the world. Though they promised themselves they'd be strong, they couldn't help but crumble right there.
Noi scrunched up her face as she fought away tears while Yuki tried his hardest to keep her optimistic. He took hold of her wrists and peered down at her face with a little boy's smile, and chirped, "'ShanksGibingu' will be here before you know it!"
Noi slowly smiled, inwardly thanking her friend for being so sweet, "You're right, Yuki!"
He smiled in response, and they both decided to sit on his bed, "I wonder how Kyohei's handling it?"
Without skipping a beat, Yuki was the shoulder Noi had to cry on.
o0[19:53:430o
"..."
Life has gotten really boring...
Kyohei was in the kitchen making dinner for everyone- fried shrimp of course. It seemed to him that she had taught him how to cook for the sole purpose of leaving him...
He stared at the saucepan as the batter bronzed.
"... At least I can still eat shrimp..." He took out that batch, and started to put everything on the table.
He looked around the room, and down at the landlady's apron that had started to look so good on Sunako...
"... Damn..." He tugged at the front, seeing her again, with her low ponytail hanging over her shoulder, chuckling as she chopped off fish heads, "... I really... Miss her..."
"Then why don't you get her back?" A bit shocked, Kyohei spun to look at the doorway.
There stood Ranmaru, Noi and Yuki, all smiling with encouraging expressions.
"Remember what I told you? Twenty-four hours. That's all you get. Five hours are already gone! Before you know it, she'll be thinking way too far into it, and she won't have the strength to try!" Noi's expression held something of worry and hysteria.
Kyohei flushed from embarrassment, "But!" He sighed, frustrated. They were right. "God! I'll look so stupid if I just go to her now! It hasn't even been a day!"
"We haven't spent a day without Sunako for three years! Now you're saying you can stand being without her for four?!"
"That's 1,460 days!" Noi doesn't skip a beat.
"Before you know it, she could get snatched up by some foreigner!" Yuki yelled.
"Yes! And then what? You didn't think she could've been with me, I bet?" Ranmaru slides in.
"Argh! What does it matter?! She'll probably end up with Takenaga for all I know!" Kyohei screams one of his worst fears out loud, "They'll be living together! Alone! Two smart, gorgeous people, best friends! He's my best friend-"
SlaAp!
"Idiot." Noi looked him dead in the eye, "If you're going to worry that much, go get her!"
Before anyone could respond, she stormed out of the room.
The two boys glared at Kyohei, "Now look! You've gone and made Noi worry! You know how sensitive she is!" Yuki reprimanded. Then followed after Noi in a huff.
"What? Did you want to bring her down with you?" Ranmaru finally takes out something he had been holding the entire time, the reason he had come down to the dining room. He placed it on the table, close to the shrimp, and then left the room.
After a few minutes, Kyohei blinked, and set his gaze upon the item. And I don't know if shocked is enough of an adjective...
He mentally flipped the fuck out...
Because there, looking back at him, was John the Skull. The John the Skull. Sunako's John the Skull.
Had she forgotten it? Why had Ranmaru given it to him?
Slowly, as if it were an apparition, he approached the treasured object.
His fingers reached for it. It really was there.
"How cool... I want this..."
"I'm sorry about hitting you..."
"I don't know how great this guy was, but you can't let one guy ruin your life."
"He's not... The only guy out there..."
He turned the skull in his fingers, huffing happily, "When I'd said that, I didn't think there was a chance in hell that you would be as great as you are now..."
He looked in the back... There, at the bottom of John's cranium, was a smal engraving.
To the Creature of the Light
That changed my life
Thank you
"... But I remember wishing it..."
o0[11:56:460o
Sunako entered her new home. All of their things had already arrived and they decided to wait for the movers to come set everything up. After all, they were very tired.
They decided half-heartedly on getting to know the neighborhood.
It was nice... Quite, though...
After another half hour passed, their conversation had dwindled back into the past.
At first they were laughing about it, but then they quieted again.
"... I wrote him a letter." Sunako looked far off as they walked along the sidewalk.
"What?" He didn't really understand what she meant, he knew it pertained to Kyohei, but had no idea what she was talking about.
"I couldn't say it, after all... I was too scared to say it again, and get rejected, so I... I wrote it. I don't know if it's any good. But I'm scared he's reading it now, and laughing or something... Takenaga, I told him..."
Oh God, what was a romantically dense friend to do?
"I told him that I love him."
o0[17:36:140o
So it took a little bit, but finally everyone had calmed down, and were amped about Kyohei's plan to win Sunako over.
"Okay, so it's a twelve hour flight to get to the States, not to mention waiting for everyone to board..." Ranmaru started listing and factoring in how much time they had, and how much everything would take up.
"Yes, and not to mention, how will you find her? You're gonna have to explain everything to the Landlady, and get the address..." Noi fussed, writing down how she wanted the romantic scenario to go. She had tried this before,, and it had ended up with Kyohei kissing Sunako, but still, she had never gotten him to confess!
"Noi!" Kyohei slammed a fist to the wall, blatantly frustrated enough, "Didn't Takenaga give it to you?!"
Noi sweat a bit, caving under the extreme wrath of Kyohei, "W-well, he wanted to wait until I saw him again so that he could give me proper directions when he knew his way around and-"
"Fine! I'll talk to the Landlady!"
"Oh! And you'll need to give her a present, and some chocolates, too," Noi scribbled this down excitedly.
"Why the hell do I need all that?" This trio was going to give him a heart attack...
"Well, to make up for all this worrying she's gone through! Right now her heart is breaking Kyohei, and you've just got to---"
Thankfully, before Noi could get into full-blown-Shoujo-rant mode, Yuki interjected with the most important fact yet, "Guys!"
Everyone stopped and looked at him.
"Shouldn't we be focusing most on what Kyohei is going to say to Sunako?"
Silence came in - he was headed for the kitchen to get some orange juice.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Satisfied, he left the four to continue their conversation. 'Ah, I do love Florida Orange...'
"Yuki, he... He sets a good point..."
"Also, we're crunched for time, so how about you guys help me?" Kyohei looked at all of them, clutching John for strength, he took command, "Ranmaru, I'm not gonna have time to wait around for fourteen hours. I need you to pull some of your connections. Get me a private jet to Connecticut, on call. And I want a motorcycle waiting for me when I get there."
Ranmaru nodded, already taking out his cellphone and calculating who he'd have to seduce in person.
"Noi, I need you to help me. Get me the best chocolates and I'm sure because of Takenaga, you already know about what it's like in Connecticut, so you and Takenaga gotta plan how we can get her where we want her- fast, and surprise her."
Noi nodded obediently, and dialed Takenaga's number on que.
"Yuki, since you know so much about this stuff, you're gonna help me think of what to say."
Yuki gave him a salute, "Yessir!"
"And I... I'm gonna start with buying her a present, and I know just the place..."
o0[16:00:240o
So Takenaga got an important phone call from Noi and went to speak to her in private.
Sunako smiled, knowing it was just like Noi to call him before the day had ended.
She walked through the park, thinking about everything.
Takenaga told her she should just admit it to herself, and let herself accept it. So that's what she did now as she sat on a mossy rock, playing with the bugs at her feet. She sat and thought...
... Something Noi said was a very bad thing to do...
o0[15:30:240o
After about half an hour of talking about how much they missed each other, and what had happened to each other while they were away, Noi came back to the point of importance.
"So Takenaga, here's the plan. You're gonna start buying some decorations! I need you to spend the next five hours doing that, okay? You've got to make the house look like a nightmare! Make it so Sunako almost dies with happy surprise!"
"Right," Takenaga nodded to himself, writing down what Noi was telling him. He knew this was for Sunako and Kyohei, so he didn't care that it would take a lot of work, "But how can I do this right under her nose?"
"Ah! Well, when you're heading back with all the things you've bought, call her and tell her to go buy a load of stuff!"
"Ah, I see..." He was thinking that Sunako might get suspicious...
"Don't worry, Takenaga-kun! You're smart! You can convince her!" With the utter of his name in such a sweet tone, Takenaga was immediately fueled to do just what he was told.
"Okay, Noi-chi, I'm gonna get started. I love you."
"Love you, too!" She sang, smiling into the phone. He smiled as well.
click.
But when they hung up, their game faces were on, and they got to work immediately.
o0[15:30:070o
As Yuki and Kyohei sat in the back of Lady Nakahara's limo, they were stunned at how easy it had been to convince her. He only had to say, "I want Sunako back." Without skipping a beat, she called Sebastian and they were on their way into town.
Kyohei and Yuki were recalling all the things they had ever known Sunako to want, and not get...
The murder weapon of the inn keeper's wife [vol.2, sadly, everything from that dungeon [vol.7 had been blown up, so they'd get it elsewhere, the armchair from when the villagers kidnapped them [vol.9, and the Gruesome Twosome he had promised her.
o0[14:39:570o
So it took an hour to get where they are now. The four of them (including Sebastian) had driven up to the inn and finally, after the Landlady's authoritative lies, they had gotten the butcher knife and then located a shop where they could find everything they needed.
Right now Kyohei was leading the cargo carriers as Yuki shield his eyes, clutching the back of his friends shirt. They were inside the Tokyo Medieval Torture Museum. It was funny that the Landlady had somehow convinced the owner of the museum to let them borrow whatever they needed for the weekend... The powers that woman possessed were quite frightening.
Kyohei skimmed the list, "We've got the iron maiden, torture cage, torture wheel, guillotine, iron cage, branding irons..."
A smile crossed his face, "Alright, guys! We're done! Load this up, and I'll give you more directions!"
The carriers murmured in agreement as the trudged back to the truck, heaving the heavy and dangerous objects with them.
Kyohei called Ranmaru quickly and told him to have the jet ready for everyone to board, because they were done with the museum. He heard a woman whining for attention in the background and he knew Ranmaru was doing his job... A little too well.
"Oi! Don't make me get Sayuri over there to help you!"
"Don't talk to me about her!"
"Why not?! I know exactly what's up!" Kyohei heaved a sigh, "Yuki! Talk to him for me?"
Yuki nodded, "Later, Kyohei. We've still got to get the Gruesome Twosome and Ranmaru still has to help Takenaga get a helicopter in Connecticut to fly him wherever he needs to go... He hasn't found much in his new province..."
"Fine," Kyohei directed his attention back to Ranmaru, "You straighten yourself out. Go get that helicopter ready for Takenaga, and forget the motorcycle. we'll arrive at the house in time."
Then they hung up, and the boys got back into the limo with Lady Nakahara and Sebastian.
"Now, we've just gotta go to the Fright Shop, and we're done..."
Landlady was on the phone with Noi, instructing her to make sure Takenaga had Sunako out of the house soon because she had already hired movers in Connecticut to help him decorate, "I've even called in some special horror scene designers to help make it look like one of her slasher movies, or whatever, so he'd better get her out of the house!"
"Y-yes, Ms Nakahara!" Noi had to admit, the woman could be very scary when she wanted to be...
o0[14:36:420o
"So what's happened with you and Sayuri?" Yuki asked calmly into the phone.
"Ugh, right now we should be focusing on Kyohei and Sunako-chan!" Ranmaru and Yuki had teamed up to help the carriers put everything in the right place while Kyohei ran off to buy the doll set.
"Ranmaru, don't you like her? I know you do!" Yuki insisted that they would get together before they had to leave... After everything Kyohei told him, he felt grateful to Sayuri, and wanted her onboard the plane as well.
"So what?! I like all women!" Ranmaru spat the words bitterly... Now Yuki had gotten somewhere.
His face softened, "I know you like all women, but I also know that Sayuri-san is different. I know it, Ranmaru... You're not going to do what you do to every other woman-"
"How do you know?!" Ranmaru huffed impatiently. What was the point in trying to convince The Ranmaru Morii that he could treat any woman different?
"Because I do!" Now Yuki pouted. It was, after all, too obvious, "If you weren't going to treat her different, then we wouldn't be having this conversation! You wouldn't be worrying about her feelings, you'd have already slept with her!"
Now, Yuki once again, had won the argument. This boy had a knack for psychological game-play.
o0[13:30:340o
Now, everything was set. They were waiting for take off. All of Sunako's present were in the cargo hold, the chocolates were in a cool, dry place, and everyone was settling into their seats. Nothing left to do but wait until Sebastian got the signal for take-off.
The entire time, Noi and the Landlady talked aloud about how they fantasized everything would go, Yuki tried inspiring Kyohei, and Ranmaru looked at Sayuri...
Yeah. He just looked at her. He was thankful that Kyohei had called her and told her to come, but resentful at the same time.
For once, the infamous ladies man had no words.
Meanwhile Kyohei was struggling, his handwriting a bit shaky as he scribbled down the things Yuki prompted him to think about...
Oh, this was going to be a bumpy ride...
o0Author's Note0o
I've been away for so long! Did you miss me?
So There's probably just one chapter left, and an epilogue I'm still fooling around with. This one wasn't so easy, but I had a lot of fun doing it! Especially making up times, and making everyone so frantic, then serious, then hysterical... Ah, what fun...
Also, I've started Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so I'm really excited!
Ah HELP PLEASE! If you could give me an embarrassing comparison, that would help a lot.
Like: "Right now she was more embarrassed than a nerd getting pantsed." If you have one, put it at the end of your review, because I'd like to use it in my next chapter...
I hope you all liked this chapter, and I hope you review. To be honest, I was really hesitant about writing this, because I know I'm bad at endings, and I really treasure this story and my reviewers as my favorites. I had gotten in a slump when I had thought my writing was inadequate, and I had let a reviewer's words get to me. Honestly, I don't mind constructive criticism, like Rose Velvet and Blonde Existentialist, who really helped me, but when the critique plainly just insults me, saying my writing makes them fall asleep, I can't stand that!!!
Anyway, It's here, and I really hope you like it!
Again, I really value your opinion, and I really hope you haven't lost faith in me!
Thank you, and...
LATER DAYS!