Dreaming of Akina

Chapter Thirty Five

The first chance to speak to Fuka without Yuuichi being there presented itself to Bunta after he and his best friend came back from the usual tofu delivery run for, not even waiting for Bunta to stop his uncle's Bellett, Yuuichi literally jumped out of the car and started running towards the shop's small bathroom.

'Baby…' Fuka started while trying to catch the attention of her boyfriend as he dashed past her. 'What happened to him?' she then added looking at Bunta who was getting out of the car after having parked it at its spot in the small drive way.

'No idea,' Bunta replied shrugging his shoulders.

'Yeah, right,' Fuka laughed, 'honestly Bunta, you'd think he'd be used to it by now.'

'Obviously not,' Bunta commented, finally allowing himself to smile in a rather mischievous way then, remembering that he needed to talk to Fuka about that train ticket, he got serious again and, lowering the tone of his voice, he said, 'listen, can you help me getting the empty boxes out of the car?

'Sure,' Fuka replied frowning almost imperceptibly.

Using up the chance given by the fact that they were both busy piling up the wooden containers and that they were pretty close to each other, Bunta stared at Fuka's face with the utmost attention so that he could observe the reaction his following question would cause to her:

'So,' he said, 'why are you going to Osaka?'

Fuka dropped the box she had in her hands and then, like in slow motion, she turned her head to look at Bunta who was now standing right next to her with his arms crossed onto his chest.

'Fuka…'

'You can't tell him,' she said.

'Fuka…'

'Seriously,' the girl continued, 'if you do he'll freak out.'

'Well, you're freaking ME out,' Bunta commented frowning in concern, 'what's going on?'

'My aunt is very ill and…'

'What?'

'Let me finish,' Fuka commanded him 'my aunt is very ill and someone needs to go and help her.'

'So you've got to go there,' Bunta asserted rather than ask.

'She lives there,' Fuka explained nonetheless, 'and since she lives by herself, my father has asked me to go and stay with her for a while. At least until she gets better.'

At this point Bunta didn't know what to do nor say. All he was able to do was to think of Yuuichi who was probably throwing up all of what they had eaten for dinner. He also remembered how he'd felt when Seiko had left him and he knew that he hadn't loved her anywhere near as much as he knew Yuuichi loved Fuka.

'Bunta…'

'Fuka, you need to tell him,' Bunta said.

'No, not yet,' she insisted, 'he needs to focus on the graduation ceremony and…'

'Bullshit!' Bunta exclaimed, 'how do you think he'll feel if you don't tell him you're leaving?'

'I…'

'What is this?' Bunta carried on, 'some sort of tradition among the girls from Shibukawa?'

'W-what?'

'First Seiko, now you.'

'Bunta, that's…'

'What are you going to say?' Bunta attacked her, 'are you going to say that it's not true?'

'No,' Fuka, on the verge of crying, said, 'I was going to say that that's not fair.'

Bunta simply could not believe it.

'Fair?' he asked sounding as sarcastic and upset as he felt, 'don't you tell me that it's not fair! How do you think Yuuichi is going to feel? Have you ever thought that he may have plans for you two now that he's finally graduating?'

'W-what?' Fuka repeated and, her expression made Bunta realise what he'd, unwillingly, had just revealed. 'Did…has he…' she stuttered.

'Er…'

Bunta never finished the sentence for, right at that instant a greenish looking Yuuichi stepped out of the shop wiping his mouth with the small white towel Eikichi always kept in the tiny bathroom at the back of his working area.

'Hey,' Fuka said as she hurried towards him, 'how are you feeling?'

'Crap,' Yuuichi replied weakly then, glaring at Bunta, he added, 'you're mental, did you know that?'

'Oh come on,' Bunta protested, 'I didn't even push it…besides, you should be used to it by now.'

Yuuichi stared at him for a bit before shaking his head and, despite the fact that he had every reason to be mad at his best friend, he couldn't help but to curve his lips into a small smile and say:

'You know I'll never get used to your driving, no matter how long it'll be.'

Bunta wanted to return the smile but he remembered what Fuka had just told him. He then stole a quick glance at her and he saw an expression on her face which clearly begged him to be quiet, that made him frown while he debated the issue with himself, ultimately deciding to let go of the whole thing, at least for the time being.

'So,' an oblivious Yuuichi said, 'what are we doing next?'

'What do you mean by 'we'?' Bunta asked him.

'Well,' Yuuichi replied, 'I'm sure there must be something else which needs to be done.'

Bunta shook his head and, putting a hand onto Yuuichi's shoulder, he said:

'You two need to go back home, I'll take care of the rest of it.'

'No way,' Yuuichi said, 'we're staying with you till the morning.'

'It is the morning,' Bunta pointed out, 'it's nearly five in the morning so, go home and get some sleep and…'

Yuuichi shook his head again and, taking Fuka's hand in his, he glanced at her and, seeing that she was, as usual, standing by whatever he said, he looked back at Bunta and said:

'We're staying.'

Bunta, faced with the very determined expressions sported by the couple, realised that there would be no way to convince his best friend to leave him alone so, at the end, the two friends ended up sharing Bunta's bedroom while Fuka slept on a spare futon in Eikichi's room.

That arrangement lasted for almost a whole week, till the day Bunta's uncle was finally released from the hospital the day before the graduation ceremony and, except for when they had to go to school or work, the couple never left Bunta alone. It was also with Yuuichi and Fuka that Bunta went to pick his uncle up on a sunny Wednesday afternoon.

'What's this smell?' Eikichi asked as he stepped into the small living room at the Fujiwara's home.

'It's air freshener,' a smiling Fuka replied, 'it's white musk scented and…'

'Air freshener?' Eikichi asked her frowning, 'air freshener in MY house?'

'Er…I…'

'She's been doing some cleaning,' Yuuichi started, doing his best to defend his girlfriend.

'Cleaning?' Eikichi asked, this time looking rather incredulous.

'Yeah,' Bunta replied, 'they've been helping me with the tofu too.'

'Have they?' Eikichi asked then, seeing the nods coming from the three youngsters in front of him, he let out a chuckle and said, 'alright…I see. You know, I don't think this house has smelled like this ever since my mother passed away.'

'Fujiwara-san,' a very worried looking Fuka said, 'I really hope you don't mind.'

'No, no,' Eikichi replied, 'I quite like it. Air freshener you said...'

'Yes sir,' the girl replied.

'See?' Eikichi continued giving the impression to both the girl and the two young men that he was now talking to himself, 'this is what happens when there's a woman in the house.'

All three of them watched as the old man walked up the stairs on his way to his bedroom, with Bunta feeling his heart cringe seeing how slowly his uncle seemed to move. Despite all of his protests, Eikichi did appear a lot frailer than before the angina episode…

'What the…' they heard him exclaim.

'That must be the new curtains,' Fuka commented biting her lower lip in a very cute way. Both Bunta and Yuuichi chuckled trying to imagine the older man's face when seeing the set of cream coloured curtains Fuka had insisted on getting for Eikichi's bedroom.

That same night, Bunta and his uncle were sitting at the table on their own for Yuuichi and Fuka had finally decided to leave them alone. Instead, Bunta knew that the couple was going to go to the cinema to watch some new American movie which had just been released.

'You should have gone with them,' Eikichi commented while picking on his steamed salmon.

'No,' Bunta replied, 'you just got back home and, besides, I've been the third wheel for those two long enough already.'

'You should be grateful,' Eikichi pointed out, 'it's not so often that one has such great friends. You should treasure them.'

'I know,' Bunta admitted, 'is just that being with them while they're in full love-love mode can get rather annoying after a while…'

Eikichi stared at his nephew for a short while before going back to pick on his food, using the brand new pair of dark chopsticks Fuka had bought for him as a welcome home present. The two of them ate in silence until, just as they were about to finish, Eikichi cleared his throat and said:

'I've been meaning to ask you something.'

'Uh-uh?' Bunta replied distractedly while he tried to decide what to do after dinner. He'd probably go for a drive down Mt Akina and…

'When are you going to get yourself another girlfriend?' Eikichi asked him and it was a miracle which prevented Bunta from choking himself with the rice he was finishing off.

'Pardon me?' he somehow managed to ask.

'Seiko-chan left a long time ago and I think it's…'

'Eikichi,' Bunta interrupted him, 'I've told you already, I'm not interested in getting a girlfriend right now. I need to focus on my career, don't I?'

'If you say so,' Eikichi replied looking very much unconvinced, 'if you ask me, you're only using that as an excuse.'

'I am not!' Bunta exclaimed, 'besides, girls are too much trouble.'

Ignoring his uncle's soft laugh, he proceeded to explain to his uncle about what had gone on with Fuka and Yuuichi in the past few days, including the fact that Fuka was about to leave to Osaka and that Yuuichi still didn't know anything about it.

'I don't know why I haven't told him yet,' Bunta commented.

'I wouldn't do it,' Eikichi said, 'if life has taught me anything is to stay out of any couple's business. Getting in their way can only cause you grief. You of all people should understand this very well.'

Bunta turned sharply to stare at his uncle who appeared unusually serious. Not that he was shocked to hear this but, it had been a while since Eikichi had gone anywhere near the subject of the reason why he and his younger brother, Bunta's father, had stopped speaking to each other.

'I know,' he finally said, 'it's just that I feel I have to warn Yuuichi.'

'No you don't,' Eikichi insisted, 'you've got to let Fuka-chan handle all of this the way she sees fit and Yuuichi-kun will have to decide what he wants to do by himself. All you can do is to be there in case he needs you, the same way he's been there when you've needed him.'

As usual, his uncle's line of reasoning was pretty much flawless and, by the time the two Fujiwaras finished their meal, Bunta had made his mind up to do his best to ignore the whole thing. After clearing up, he walked to the small piece of furniture at the living room so that he could retrieve the 2000GT's keys.

'Are you going out?' Eikichi asked him.

'Er…I just...' Bunta started then, realising that it probably wasn't a good idea to leave his uncle by himself, he placed the keys back onto the hook where they were usually hanged and said, 'no, I…'

'Hey,' Eikichi interrupted him, 'I don't mind if you do, I was just asking.'

'No, no,' Bunta insisted, 'I'd rather stay with you. Besides, I'm planning on making the tofu tonight as well. I'm getting rather good at it, you know?'

'Really?' Eikichi asked him in a rather challenging way.

'Oh yeah,' Bunta replied very sure of himself, 'I think I'll soon be as good as you are, if not better!'

'Yeah, right,' Eikichi laughed, 'the day that happens is the day you'll beat me driving down Mt Akina.'

'That's pretty soon then,' Bunta retorted, awarding his uncle with his best smirk, the one Bunta reserved for his street racing opponents. Whereas that smirk managed to unsettle most of his rivals, it did nothing to Eikichi who just laughed even louder.

'Oh kid,' he said the second he'd calmed down enough to speak, 'you still have a long way to go.'

Bunta knew better than to take offence, instead, he just kept on smiling while he followed his uncle to the shop's working area where Eikichi started inspecting the tofu maker and the other machines he'd worked so hard to buy, noticing with pleasure that they had all been thoroughly cleaned and looked shinier than ever.

'That's Fuka-chan's doing as well, isn't it?' he asked Bunta.

'No,' Bunta replied, 'I cleaned them myself.'

Eikichi looked at his nephew approvingly and, tousling his hair in a way which made the poor Bunta feel like a five-year-old, he said:

'You know, if it weren't because you've already picked a career, I'd ask you to take over the shop. Not that I'd want you to though…making tofu is not something one chooses to do.'

'Why not?' Bunta asked him, 'you seem to be happy enough.'

'I made myself be happy about it,' Eikichi countered, 'I wouldn't want you to have to do the same.'

For lack of something better to do, Bunta just nodded while he started emptying the heavy barrels which contained the soy milk they used to make the tofu. Meanwhile, Eikichi busied himself switching on the machines and checking that they had everything they needed to prepare the tofu.

A few hours later, both Fujiwaras climbed into the Isuzu, this time with Eikichi behind the wheel for, he had insisted, he really needed to drive his car.

'Oh…it's been so long.'

Bunta remained in silence for he was more than aware that his uncle wasn't talking to him, in fact, the older man was staring at the steering wheel almost lovingly while he actually caressed the knob of the shifter. He bit his lower lip to stop himself from laughing.

Only after a couple of minutes, Eikichi moved to switch the car's engine on and, a few instants later, they finally started driving towards the road which led straight onto the base of Mt Akina's pass.

'How are you feeling?' Bunta asked him, doing his best to sound as causal as possible.

'Don't worry, I'm fine,' Eikichi replied nonetheless, 'in fact, I'm feeling now much better than how I was at the hospital. Honestly, I think people are made sicker just by being there.'

Bunta let out a soft chuckle and shook his head.

'It's good to have you back,' he said.

'It's good to be back,' Eikichi countered, 'especially since I'm looking forward to seeing your face tomorrow.'

'Tomorrow?'

'Yep,' Eikichi replied, 'it's graduation day, isn't it? I've got such a nice present for you.'

'I'm not taking the bait,' Bunta said, 'I know you want me to ask you what you got for me so you can't tell me it's a secret.'

'Oh you're no fun,' Eikichi protested, 'come on, I'll give you a clue.'

Letting out a sigh full of resignation, Bunta decided that, after all, it probably wouldn't be so bad to humour his uncle so, knowing perfectly well he'd regret it later, he asked:

'Alright, what's the clue?'

'Vroom, vroom,' Eikichi replied playfully.

'Okay,' Bunta said, 'it's got to do with cars, go figure.'

'You know what?' Eikichi complained, 'it's not fun playing with someone as sarcastic as you, I think I won't tell you anything else.'

'Oh well,' Bunta said, 'I only have to wait for a few more hours.'

Eikichi let out a grunt and then, he pressed the accelerator while he took the car through a corner, making the car clear it insanely fast. Bunta wanted to laugh out loud: did his uncle seriously believe this was a punishment for him?

'Wait till we go downhill,' Eikichi commented, freaking Bunta out for, once again, it seemed as though as his uncle could read his mind. Shaking his head, he decided to pay attention to his uncle's driving, finding it as mesmerizing as usual the sheer mastery with which his uncle tackled each and every one of the sharp corners of Mt Akina's pass.

His uncle was right, Bunta thought right then, he still had a long way to go.

Half an hour later, Eikichi parked his car outside the shop and was about to climb out of the car when Bunta placed his hand onto his uncle's left arm.

'Are you sure you're alright?'

'Never better, why?' Eikichi replied.

'No reason,' Bunta said, 'it's just that I'm not sure you should be driving quite this fast yet…'

'Hey kid,' Eikichi said, 'let's not start this conversation again. I'm fine, what happened last week, well…it was something which is not going to happen again, okay?'

'But the doctor said…'

'Forget about the doctor,' Eikichi interrupted him, 'I'm alright and the sooner things get back to normal, the better, okay?'

Bunta nodded and, rather reluctantly, he let go of this matter as well. Heck, he was getting rather good at ignoring things these days.

'Now, get some sleep, you'll need it.'

Not even bothering to ask him anything about the so-called surprise, Bunta went upstairs and enjoyed the fact that, for the first time in a week, he had his bedroom all to himself and, maybe because of this, he slept the three following hours so soundly he almost didn't hear the alarm clock going off.

'Hey kid,' Bunta heard his uncle shout from the other side of the door, 'wake up or you'll be late!'

Rubbing the sleep off his eyes, Bunta got up from his bed and, putting his school uniform on, for the last time ever, he walked out of the room, splashed his face with a bit of water and went downstairs so he could get some breakfast.

'Oh god,' Eikichi protested, 'is that how you're going to show up to your graduation ceremony?'

'Er…' Bunta hesitated, 'yes?'

'No,' Eikichi said, 'go and iron that uniform of yours, also, get yourself a clean shirt, that one's got a stain on the collar.'

'Uncle Eikichi…'

'And don't complain or I'll get Yuuichi-kun's girlfriend to do it for you.'

'Oh no, not that,' Bunta said and, rushing up the stairs, he showed up back into the living room ten minutes later and looking infinitely better than he'd done earlier. Eikichi then tried to put some order on his nephew's unruly hair, managing to make him look so smart that Bunta hardly recognised himself.

'See?' Eikichi said, 'if we try, you can actually look rather decent.'

After somehow making it through breakfast, Bunta followed his uncle out of the shop and, exceptionally, they decided to drive to the young man's school, using the 2000GT to do so. Bunta didn't ask his uncle but he knew that the reason behind that choice probably had to do with his graduation present and, in any case, he enjoyed immensely driving to the school and parking his beautiful car at the very busy entrance.

There, he spotted Yuuichi and his parents who were currently speaking to one of the third year teachers. Noticing the Toyota's arrival, he excused himself with his parents and hurried to meet Bunta who was now climbing out of the car.

'You had to show off even today, huh?' Yuuichi asked him feigning an annoyance he obviously didn't feel.

Bunta was about to reply to that when he noticed his uncle making a gesture to a couple of people who stood somewhere near the entrance. He almost didn't see the middle-aged, completely bald man who was now walking towards him for his attention was entirely focused onto the most gorgeous girl he'd seen in his whole life.

'Fujiwara,' the middle aged man said as he shook Eikichi's hand.

'Itachi,' Bunta heard his uncle say, 'it's so good of you to come all the way here.'

'Hey,' the middle aged man called Itachi said, 'it's not everyday I get a phone call from you. So, where's this nephew of yours?'

'Right here,' Eikichi replied putting his hand onto Bunta's shoulder.

'But of course,' Itachi commented, 'he actually looks quite a lot like you,' he added then, glancing at the stupidly beautiful girl he had next to him, he said, 'this is my daughter Midori.'

'Nice to meet you Midori-chan,' Eikichi said.

'Yeah, hi,' Bunta managed to deliver while Yuuichi had to keep his jaw from hitting the floor. Bunta thought it was very lucky for Yuuichi that Fuka wasn't there, in fact, that made him wonder whether Yuuichi had already found out about his girlfriend's imminent departure.

'Hello there,' Midori said interrupting Bunta's train of thought then, looking at her father, she said, 'so, this is the boy who's going to be racing with Takashi?'

'Yes,' Itachi replied.

'Who's Takashi?' Bunta asked.

'He's my son,' Itachi replied, 'he's into racing too and I decided to set up a team for him to compete at the Fuji Freshman Series. We've been looking for another promising racer for quite a while and when I heard from your uncle, well…you're a Fujiwara, I'm sure you'll do well.'

'Uncle…'

'Bunta,' Eikichi interrupted him, 'no decisions have been made yet, after the graduation ceremony, Itachi here will take us to a race track where you'll meet his son and do a few laps. We'll just take it from there, okay?'

'Sure,' Bunta replied.

'Great,' Itachi exclaimed happily then, looking at Eikichi, he added, 'well, why don't we leave the young ones alone, it's been such a long time since I last spoke to you that I think I deserve a few minutes of your time…'

'Alright,' Eikichi accepted then, winking briefly at Bunta, he added 'I'm sure my nephew won't have any problems keeping your lovely daughter entertained.'

Something weird happened then and, instead of getting angry as Bunta had expected, both father and daughter actually smiled at Eikichi then, taking an even more bizarre turn, Midori linked her arm around Bunta's and said:

'Oh Fujiwara-san, I'm sure your nephew will do an excellent job at it.'

Yuuichi had to do an almost super-human effort so that he wouldn't die of laughter while Bunta used every bit of his concentration to ignore the fact that he had one of Midori's breasts pressed against his left arm. His brain only managed to form one single coherent thought: this was going to be a very long day.

To be continued…