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Chapter Twenty-One: The Italian Holiday, Part Three

The sound of birds awoke Reiko as the sunlight filtered in the room in the early morning hours. She felt warmer than usual, but she was only halfway awake. She tried to get out of bed, but something prevented her from moving. Her eyes widened as she realized that Hiro's arm was locked around her waist. She could feel his breathing against her shoulder. She tried to move again, but he seemed to tightened his grip even more so. She turned her head to face him. He was still asleep. Or was he?

"Tachibana," said Reiko as she reached out her finger and poked him hard on the cheek. "Wake up!" She flicked his forehead.

"OW! Doumiyouji!" exclaimed Hiro. "You know you could have done that more gently. Or are you incapable of it?"

"You started it. Now let me go. I have to use the bathroom."

"You always want to get away from me, don't you?"

Reiko stared at him as he smiled. She had never seen him looking so relax. His hair was a bit messy as he reluctantly withdrew his arms from her. "I'm going back to sleep," he said as he turned around.

"I thought you'd be tired with all the togetherness by now," said Reiko.

Hiro said, "I've never been around a person for as long as I've been around you."

She went to the bathroom without saying a word. He had a way of making her speechless. She got ready for the day, wondering where their journey would take them next. Her washed her face and dried it before brushing her teeth. When she came out, Hiro was out of bed, looking out the window. "It looks like it will be an easy ride to Florence from here," he observed.

"Let me pick us up something to eat before we head out. Give me some money," said Reiko. "The bathroom is all yours while I'm out."

Hiro sighed and went to his bag and pulled out his wallet. He pulled out some Euros and handed it to her. "Just get me whatever you're getting."

Reiko left the room as he got to his feet. Hiro went to the bathroom and drew himself a bath. He wanted to take a shower, but it was going to have to wait until he got to Florence. When he finished his bath, he realized that he had forgotten his clothes, so he went to go and retrieve them. To his utter surprise, Reiko had returned. He had a towel wrapped around his waist. "Um…I need my clothes," he lamely explained.

Reiko didn't say a word as she set the food on the dresser. She backed up against the door. Hiro's embarrassment vanished as hers rose. "Thanks," he said as he went to his bag. He took the whole thing with him to the bathroom.

He slowly got dressed and listened carefully to hear whether or not she left. When it was too quiet, he emerge from the bathroom to find her making the bed. "You don't need to do that," said Hiro. "That's what the maids do."

"Now who sounds like a spoiled prince," said Reiko as she smoothed the sheets. "The maids work hard and deserve a bit of a break."

"They're going to change the sheets anyway. There's no point," pointed out Hiro.

"You're right," conceded Reiko.

"You just can't keep still," he observed.

"Don't pretend you know everything about me, Tachibana."

"Doumiyouji, I would never assume that I know everything about you. I doubt you know everything about yourself."

Reiko couldn't help but say, "Why do you keep saying things like that about me?" She gave him a sidelong glance as she sat back down on the bed. "You always sound so sure of yourself."

"And you always sound so doubtful."

He took a seat next to her. "I wonder why you're like that. If anything you should be overconfident."

"No one knows that I have any doubt. I'm very good at pretending I have overconfidence. I've thought about what you said about what I wanted out of life. What I wanted out of my future."

Hiro stood up and went to the dresser and picked up the food. He gave her bag and she took out some pastry before handing her a bottle of water. "What did you come up with?"

"I don't know."

"You were pretty good when I was sick. You had a better bedside manner than I thought you would, considering it was me."

"Anyone can be kind to someone who's ill. That is if you're a good person. I spent a lot of time in the Nishikado Clinic growing up. Nishikado-sensei always said that I showed more interest in caring for sick people than the twins. So you think I could be a doctor? Or some kind of medical professional?"

"Why not?"

"I never thought about it. I always thought I'd just go into the family business in some form or another."

"You never even considered an alternative?"

"What about you?"

"I choose to do this. My father once told me when I decided to go to the same high school as him, but I decided that it's really what I want to do because I actively seek out knowledge about business. You may seem to know about your father's business, but you hardly seem to care. Why settle for something you don't care about when you could be doing so much better? Anything else would be a waste of time."

"Why do you care so much?" asked Reiko, trying not to sound demanding.

Hiro shrugged and replied, "I'd hate for you to be unhappy or wasting your talents on something less than worthwhile. No one should have to live that way, even those who are too stupid to realize it."

"I'm not stupid."

"Being unaware of yourself isn't an excuse, and you know why I care. You already know that" sighed Hiro as he got up. "Let's go."

"Are we ever going to talk about what happened in the park?"

"I don't want to. We have to go. I'm running low on cash. Let's get to Florence already."

Reiko reluctantly got to her feet and followed him. Somehow, while they were talking, he had made his way over from the bed to the doorway. He opened it and let her go through first. "I promise the next place we stay it will have to beds," he told her.

She had nothing to say to that. Rather she didn't want to make him anymore upset that he already was. They were greeted warmly by the owner of the inn and she was almost tearful when she said farewell to them.

Reiko wrapped her arms around Hiro's waist again as he started up the Vespa and took off. He had ignored the phone messages that his parents and grandparents had left him, saying nothing to Reiko about them. He could feel her hands clutched tightly. He could have rented a car, too, but he decided not to. He knew all the efforts he had made to keep her by his side for as long as possible. He may never have another chance.

Tsukasa's patience was never long, even though he had learned how to be more tolerant over the years out of love of his wife. The situation was just more than he could bear. Now he was stuck with Ryoki and Rui who were both quiet, reserved men. He didn't know what was worse. Ryoki's lack of concern over his son's actions or Rui's amusement at the whole thing.

The trail had dried up somewhere just outside of Rome after Hiro had stopped to withdraw money out of the ATM machine. Ryoki looked over a map of Italy, trying to determine where his son would go. "It would be helpful, Doumiyouji-san, if you had a vague idea of where your daughter would go."

"Why would you say that?" demanded Tsukasa as he paced like a tiger in a cage. "My daughter was perfectly fine before she met your boy."

Ryoki didn't even bother giving a look at Tsukasa. "I know my son, but I don't know your daughter."

"What he's saying, Tsukasa, is that Masahiro-kun is following Reiko's whims most likely," pointed out Rui as he looked up from the morning paper. "If she's anything like her mother, he's probably already head over heels for her."

"You're not helping," muttered Tsukasa.

"But where would she go?" insisted Ryoki. "I know my son, but I don't know your daughter. She came over to my home several times. She was polite, well mannered, and if I daresay too good for my son. I have no idea how she managed to get him to not view him as someone inferior to him. My son is a harsh judge of people. He doesn't care if someone has money or status."

"Neither do I," said Tsukasa mildly. He didn't know whether or not he should be impressed by it or not. He elected to shrug his shoulders instead. "Reiko used to go up to the globe in my office when she was little. She would ask where I was going. I'd make her look it up on the globe."

"That's probably because you didn't know where it was in the world," joked Rui.

Tsukasa shot Rui a glare that would have left most men quaking in fear. "I've only gone here to Rome when I traveled this way."

"My family normally goes to Lake Como, but Hiro always found it boring. And knowing that he'd be in trouble, there's no way he'd head over there."

"Call Tsukushi," suggested Rui. "She might know." His role in the whole situation was referee. He stopped Tsukasa and Ryoki from impeding each other's efforts.

"Are you suggesting that I don't know my daughter as well as my wife does?"

"If you're like me, then yes," answered Ryoki. "I am a good father, but my wife knows my son better than I do. Call your wife and ask her."

Tsukasa dug into his pants pocket. He was never one to care what time he was calling anyone, so he just called Tsukushi. She picked up after just two rings. "Hello? No, we're still in Rome," he said.

"Oh," said Tsukushi.

"Where would Reiko go, if she could go anywhere? The whole trip was your idea."

"So this is your way of saying I told you so? You know if you were so strict with her to start with she wouldn't have just taken off."

"Where would she go?"

"She said that she wanted to go to Rome."

"We're still in Rome. According to Tachibana, the credit card that his son had was used almost outside of Rome. They're not here. The police are looking but having spotted them yet. It's not exactly that hard to find two Japanese teenagers."

"It's harder than that. Rome is one of the most visited places in the world," countered Tsukushi.

Tsukasa seethed, "You're picking right now to argue with me, woman?!"

"Don't snap at me!"

Rui and Ryoki folded their arms across their chests in unison, giving Tsukasa a look that told him he was being stupid. Tsukasa cast his eyes upwards, as if asking the heavens to give him patience, he asked, "Tsukushi, we can fight in Japan. Was there anywhere else she wanted to go? Milan?"

"No, she's not interested in fashion," said Tsukushi more calmly. "I mean she would rather go to a museum than go to a shopping center."

"Anywhere like that in Italy?"

Tsukushi fell silent for a moment. Tsukasa could hear her breathing. He drew a sharp breath because he knew she was thinking. He didn't want in interrupt her. "Venice. Of course, she'd want to go to Venice."

"Are you sure?"

"It's better than nothing. Call me if you hear anything all right. Also, tell Tachibana that his wife is alright. I just paid her a visit."

"Why?"

"I figured it would be best to get to know her. You know just in case we may enter into any further associations with the Tachibana. Say hello to Rui for me. Love you."

"Wait—" said Tsukasa before Tsukushi hung up on him. She always said that right before she hung up. She never said goodbye on the phone calls. He glared at the phone before hanging up. "She said Venice."

"They're on a Vespa it could take a few days to get there," said Rui.

"We'd be ahead of them and cut them off," agreed Ryoki. "I'll make the arrangements. I have more contacts here than you do." Tsukasa nodded with that they prepared to make arrangements to head over to the city of Venice.

"Wow!" exclaimed Reiko as she let go of Hiro's waist and stretched out her legs, looking at the city around her. "This is the birthplace of the Renaissance. It's more incredible than I imagined. Look at all of it." She didn't bother to take off the helmet.

Hiro took off his helmet, shaking his head, to clear it. He glanced at her, watching her wave her arms about with the helmet still on. He couldn't help but laugh at her. "Take that thing off! You look stupid!" he declared as she stopped mid step.

Reiko pulled off the helmet, giving him a glare that would have withered most people. Hiro ignored it. "We have to get some accommodations first before we take a real tour of the city. Let's head over to an internet café. There should be one around here somewhere. We'll just leave the bike parked here."

"All right," agreed Reiko, letting her death glare slip because it obviously had no effect on Hiro whatsoever. She pulled off her helmet and handed it to him. He stowed it away in the compartment and pulled out his backpack.

"This way," said Hiro as gestured her to follow him. "We can get something to eat, then get a place. And then we'll do some sightseeing."

In a matter of just a few hours, they managed to go to a cyber café to printout maps, get a hotel, and grab a bite to eat. Afterwards, they settled for a bit, wanting a bit of rest after the long ride, but Hiro left to go and get more maps, complaining that he didn't like just the printouts.

The city of Florence was beautiful as Reiko looked out the window. This time Hiro got two beds in the room, but the mattresses were like blocks of solid wood. It didn't matter. Reiko didn't come to Florence to sleep. She had to wait for Hiro to get back before planning their next course.

Reiko had a chance to take a short shower and was in the process of putting her hair up when she was distracted by the view of the city's rooftops. She was so entranced that she didn't hear Hiro come in. He was about to say something, but he couldn't form any words as he stared at her. It reminded him of the night that he had seen her cry.

Reiko's hair was still damp, but the curls were springing back to life. Finally, satisfied for the time being with the view, she pulled her hair into a twist with one hand and fumbled with the hairclip with the other. Hiro impulsively asked, "Why do you always wear it up?"

Reiko turned startled. There was an odd expression on her face. It was one of surprise, anger, and embarrassment. "Because my hair is impossible. I got it from my father, so did my brothers. When I was younger, I'd try to straightened it, but it would never take for long. I used to have it short when I was younger, but it got too much trouble to cut all the time my mother said. I suppose it was because I was crying the whole time the poor stylist was trying to cut it. So I just pin it up. I don't have to worry about it getting cut or straightened or anything."

Hiro vaguely remembered how her brothers looked like. He remembered one of them having his hair cropped really short, while the other one kept his hair a bit longer. The curls were the same as their father's. Hiro wondered fleetingly what particular traits his younger sibling would get. He asked, "Is it really that unmanageable?"

"Not really," replied Reiko slowly as she twirled one of the locks, looking at the ends. "I just don't like the curls. It looks weird on a Japanese person." She looked away from him for a moment, remembering something that brought out a giggle. "When I was first born, I've heard this story so many times, Tetsuya decided that he hated his curls. He hated them so much. I think he was about four or five at the time. My mother didn't want him to cut his hair, so he went off by himself into one of our many bathrooms and disappeared for like an hour. Later on, when she and Ryuiichi found him he was sitting on the marble floor with a pair of scissors and there was hair everywhere."

She glanced at Hiro who was grinning along with her. "My mother had a fit. I mean a real fit. She lost it and started yelling at him. Tetsuya, being Tetsuya, just got all indignant about it, saying that it was her fault for not letting him cut his hair. At that point, my father came home. He said that he couldn't let Tetsuya walk around like that so he called up the salon to give Tetsuya a proper haircut. My father wondered what made my mother so upset. She said that after all those years she had gotten used to the curls. She liked them on my father, but loved them on her children." Reiko paused as she released the lock in her fingertips and sighed.

"It makes you unique," said Hiro simply. He stepped forward more into the room, realizing how awkward it was to have a conversation with so much distance between them. However, Hiro thought that the physical distance didn't matter. It was just awkward between them. "You just be happy with who you are."

"You make it sound so easy. I'm sorry but not everyone has your confidence or bravado," said Reiko.

"It's better than living life so cautiously and never getting what you want," said Hiro without sounding argumentative.

Reiko asked, "Is that why you said what you did at the park back in Tokyo? Because you never let anything hold you back."

Hiro looked away from her, but didn't turn away from her. "Why do you need to talk about it? There's no reason to."

Reiko shrugged, but she didn't know exactly why she had to talk about it. "I don't understand you," she muttered.

"Like I understand you," drawled Hiro sarcastically. "Yet, here we are. Let's get out for a bit." He felt the conversation was going no where. "There are a lot of things to see in the city and it's still day out. We can take two days here before I have to get more money. We're still headed for Venice right?"

Reiko nodded. "Of course, that's where I've always wanted to go. I may not get the chance to do it again."

"Never say never."

She gave a slight grin as she pulled her hair up and clipped it in place. "If you say so, Tachibana. Well, where are you taking me first? I really want to have some good memories because this might very well be the last time I'll get to have any kind of fun once my father gets a hold of me."

"Would I have been the first choice as a companion for this whole thing?" asked Hiro.

Reiko stopped as she walked up to meet him. She smirked a bit and then answered, quite sincerely, "You know what, Tachibana? The funny thing is I wouldn't have picked anyone else to be with me."

Hiro was taken back again, not saying anything. He merely nodded and smirked at her as he gestured her to go through the door first. He followed behind her, closing the door.

AN: Sort of went a little off based for a while, the story is nearing its conclusion. There is still a little bit more to go. I am considering doing a one shot about Tetsuya's first haircut. We'll see.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hana Yori Dango or Hot Gimmick. Please use this story with my permission.