I know this one's short, but I needed to make it up to Ariqu and all the rest of the Takari fans! ^_^
Well, what did you expect? I'm not the most coordinated person in the world, and I'm definitely not the strongest. Obviously, Matt thought that this was the funniest thing in the world. "Very funny," I muttered, as I dropped the carton down next to the metallic-painted drumset onstage. Matt smiled again as he hooked up a few electrical cords into his guitar's amplifier from the fuse box on the side of the stage. "It is, isn't it," he said cheerfully, enjoying toying with his baby brother and making my day a little gloomier than normal. I was helping Matt and his band, under severe protest, to set up for the Youth Day Dance at the school that night, and, just to make my life difficult, Matt had reserved all the heavy packages for me in advance. It wasn't like I was complaining; even though we now both lived in Odaiba and went to the same school, I still never got the chance to see my older brother or really have a heart-to-heart conversation with him that went past the boundaries of him writing a new love song. And I really did need to talk to him today...about tonight... "Listen, Matt," I said in an earnest voice. Matt stopped what he was doing and looked up at me, waiting for me to continue. "I...I really need to ask you for a favor." Matt shrugged his shoulders. "Shoot," he said, returning to his work. "Well, it's really two favors," I began. "First, I need to ask...are you going to be home tonight? At all, I mean?" "Why do you want to know?" I shifted my weight from one foot to the other awkwardly. "Well, Dad told me he works late Wednesday nights, and if you were, like, going out with friends or something, and you weren't going to be home tonight after the dance, I was wondering if I could...maybe...stay there tonight." I wasn't going to include that I wanted to stay there with Kari tonight. That would raise way too many questions, and I'd probably get the lecturing of my life from Matt; that, not to mention the ultimate lecture from Dad and a massive grounding from Mom if he told them. No; I'd wait until the last possible moment to tell him. Then, maybe, he won't beat me up too much for suggesting it... "Why do you want to stay there tonight?" he asked. "What's so wrong with your house?" "Um...I actually, kinda...already told Mom I was staying over at Davis's, so..." Matt stood up from his work, and sighed. "My 'big brother' alarm in my head is going off, T.K.," he said. "Why are you lying to Mom? And why don't you want to be home tonight?" I smiled, and tried to look innocent. I guess the time to tell him was now or never. "That brings me to my second favor," I said, as Matt looked at me, confused. "Would you...um...happen to have any... condoms with you?" I could swear I blushed as my big brother's jaw dropped to the floor. I immediately began to explain myself. "Well, see, because...you know, I was just wondering...and if you could, well, spare one, or two..." My brother looked shocked. "Why on Earth would you be needing condoms?" he asked, already knowing too much to want to hear the answer. I opened my mouth to speak, but Matt held his hand up, silencing me. "No, wait," he said. "I don't want to hear it; I know what you're going to say, and yes, I know why you would need condoms. But..." his brow creased in confusion. "Why do you need condoms, T.K.? Unless you were thinking of..." Matt's eyes widened, and it looked like he was going to be sick. I nodded, solemnly. I didn't think he was going to take it this hard. And God, what if he told Mom and Dad... "We thought about it for a long time," I said firmly. "And Kari and I came to this decision..." "You are not," he said, pointing a finger at me menacingly. "Having sex. That is final. God, T.K., you're only fourteen..." "And we both think that this is a good idea!" I shouted back, loud enough to make my point, but not so loud as to have the other guys in the band hear me. "Matt, we love each other! We both want this to happen. Not that I'd think you would understand or anything..." "What do you mean by that?" he barked back. I could see the defensiveness growing in his eyes. I shrugged. "Well, it seems that the only girl you've ever loved doesn't feel the same way about you," I said, referring to a particular auburn-haired junior that I know caught my big brother's eye. "And you wouldn't understand how Kari and I feel about each other, because you've never felt that way about another person before. Not with the other person feeling the same way, that is. So you wouldn't get why we would want to do this." I sighed. "You couldn't." "Don't even," he said threateningly. "Bring her up." I knew I hit a nerve when I said something about Sora. Matt always seemed to have a soft spot when it came to talking about girls he really liked...and Sora was no exception. He returned to the topic at hand. "Have you even thought this through?" he asked, frustrated. I nodded. "We both decided that we want to do this," I said seriously. "And you've decided that you don't want to wait. You really want to do this?" I nodded. Matt shook his head disapprovingly, and looked down at the ground. "I really don't think you should be doing this -" "Well," I said, interrupting him. "I don't really care what you think." Matt sighed, defeated. If there was anything he knew about me, it was that I was as stubborn as a mule when it came to something I believed in. And I believed in Kari and me. "Do you have the condoms, or not?" Matt grudgingly walked over to his guitar case, which held the acoustic guitar he had not-so-ironically named Sara, and opened the case. He pulled out a small, flat, square package, one that I had already known about from Health class. He hesitated before he gave it to me. "And if I don't give it to you?" he said, holding it up in his hand. "It won't stop me," I said diligently. "I can just get one from someone else. I'm sure Tai will have lots of those handy for tonight." Matt's face contorted into a scowl, and I knew I hit yet another nerve. "Don't bring him up, either," he said coldly, and tossed me the carefully wrapped package. I caught it with one hand as it nearly effortlessly sailed through the air. "And the apartment?" I questioned. "...Will be...empty," Matt said with a defeated sigh. I smiled in triumph. "I guess I can go out to an after-dance party with the band, but I'm not promising anything. And you've got to be out by seven; that's when Dad usually comes home." I nodded thankfully. "You won't regret this," I said excitedly. Matt smiled sadly. "But I bet you will," he said to me. I shrugged. I was in such a good mood, even my brother's pessimism couldn't bring me down. I was going to make this a night to remember for Kari and me...a night neither of us was going to regret. "You're just sore because I'm going to have sex before you," I joked with my big brother. Matt cracked a smile, and snorted in response. "Please, little bro," he said, handing me another carton, this one full of electrical equipment. "don't remind me."
Wednesday 16 May
Odaiba High - Gymnasium