"NO WAY AM I WEARING THAT!!!!" Alex shrieked, seeing the bathing suit Hikari and Kaori
had brought him. It was a mans bakini thong, and it was barely more than a few strings.
"Oh come on Alex, at least try it on."
"NO WAY! That thing woukdn't cover anything, I'd be practically naked!"
"It's not like you've got that much to hide..."
"HEY! I have PLENTY to hide."
"We know, we're just teasing you. Now put it on."
"NO!"
They sighed in unison, "Fine. We have plenty of other bathing suits anyway..."
"Tea, young misstresses?" a maid, who had just walked in asked, holding a serving tray.
"Sure," Hikari said
"We could use a break," Kaori finished, "How 'bout you, Alex?"
"Anything to gt my mind off that pile of strings..."
The maid smiled and poured the tea,"Would you like any snacks to go with it?"
"No. Thank you though, Kasumi," the cousins replied. Alex shook his head when she
turned to him. She then curtsied and left the room. Kaori sipped her tea,"Ahhh, light and
bubbly..."
Hikari inhaled the fumes, "Nice and fragrent too..."
"Just like out names," they said in unison with a shared smile, as if it were a secret joke.
"Huh?"
The girls looked at him, still smiling, "Our names. 'Hikari' means Light. 'Kaori' means perfume."
"Oh, I thought they were just girl versions of your dad's names..." Alex said, feeling kind
of stupid.
"Oh, they are. Hikaru and Kaoru mean 'radiance' and 'Frangrance' respectively. So really,
they are just different versions of the same thing."
Alex felt slightly less stupid as she said this, sipping his tea, "Hey can I ask you guys
something?"
"Sure."
"What is it?"
"Why do you guys go along with what Rene says all the time?"
"Well, we've all known each other since we were little. Our dads were best friends in
High School," Hikari said, taking another sip of tea.
" Rene especially was over at our house a lot, or we were at her house," Kaori added,
"So we're all kinda like sisters."
"Even though Rene thinks of herself as queen bee. We let her. It's just more natural that
way."
" Plus, Kyarie's always been there to keep her in line when she needs to," they both
added in unison.
Alex Hmm'd.
Mr. and Mrs. Yoshiikka stood in the living kitchen, huddled around the phone as Akio talked
int the reciever "Yes. Uh-huh... Yes, we understand."
"Has the paperwork gone through?" Hiina asked, tugging on her husbands sleeve slightly
"Hold on, Hiina, we were just getting to that," he replied, holding his hand in front of the
reciever momentarily. The front door opened and shut.
000000ooooo000000
Alex set his bag on the floor, kicking off his shoes, looking around "Anybody home?"
"We're in the kitchen," Hiina answered.
Alex headed into the kitchen
"...Thank you, that's great news! Okay. Arigato. Goodbye," Akio said, hanging up as he
entered.
"What was that about?"
"Oh, just something involving a LOT of paperwork..." Hiina said, winking at Akio, who
chuckled. Alex rolled his eyes. He looked over at Hiina," Hey, Mom, what's for dinner?"
He'd been getting in the habit of calling Hiina 'mom' ever since the Mori incident.
And of course, Akio was so thrilled he insisted Alex call him Dad. Akio was weird. He
was smart, considerate and encouraging, but he was kind of a dope.
"We're having Steak. I went shopping this morning."
"Great. I love steak," ALex said.
"Me too," Akio said, "Because Hiina makes it with her special sauce."
Hiina smirked, "And I'm still not telling you the secret ingrediant."
"I already know what it is."
"Then what is it?"
"Ginger?"
"Nope"
"Rosemary"
"Nope."
"Ochre?"
"Nope."
"I give up..." Akio said.
Hiina giggled, "Alex knows what it is."
Akio turned to Alex, an excited look on his face.
"No, I'm not telling you either," Alex said. Akio pouted. Alex and Hiina shared a laugh.