Empyrea: Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked the revision. And my fic's wonderful?! Thank you!!! And that choco chip cookie made my life. :D Celestial Writer: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked the ending. In the beginning I was going to end it where Keiko said she had to do something, then continue it from that point in the sequel… but I thought it would work out better this way. I'm totally excited as well, and the sequel will be out VERY soon. But, just quickly, I really want to thank you for all the support you've given me throughout this whole adventure, it meant a while lot to me. PurpleViolin: Aww, your review made me smile. I'm glad that you enjoyed my story and that you're sticking around for the sequel. Thanks so much! My-Little-Star: Thanks for the review! I'm so glad you're excited for the sequel and that you're sticking around and reviewing it. I'll see ya soon! DigiLoveReader: Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked the ending. And if it weren't for amazing reviews like this, I wouldn't have been able to stick with this story, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. Yuki's Little Girl: Thanks for the review! I'm excited too! Sydneybell24: Oh my god, Sydney, you're review is making me get all teary eyed. Thank you so much. You've honestly been a great support throughout this whole fic. I'm so happy that we've become friends over the course of this story. I absolutely adore you, and your reviews have motivated me. I remember the day that I was so scared and I was feeling threatened by all the other, more successful OCs and I immediately came to you. I remember how you called me an idiot and said that if I ever thought something like that again, you would hunt me down and tear me apart. That day you told me I had nothing to worry about, and that I didn't have to worry about other stories and only what I thought was right. You've helped me be the best author(ess) I could ever hope to be. Thank you so much for your love and support Sydney, you have been the best reviewer I could ever ask for. And just in case other readers read this review, Sydney is now my official beta. She's the best. So yeah… Thanks so much, Syd. Takuya POV:
"Yeah, Kouji and I could give you a ride."
"Thanks, Kouichi, I really appreciate it," I switched the phone to my right ear. "So have you been to her house, yet?"
"No. Neither has Kouji. We asked Izumi if she had been, but she said she only picked her up a couple times. Apparently it's a freakishly huge mansion. Her words, not mine."
"Sweet! I've never been to a freakishly huge mansion, so this'll be awesome."
"I know, I'm so excited. Hey, I've got to go, Kouji needs his beauty rest."
I heard somebody snarl something to Kouichi and I laughed, "Alright, tell him not to forget his beauty mask."
Kouichi chuckled into the phone, "Will do. Goodnight, Takuya."
"Goodnight." I hung up the phone and set it on my desk, curling up into my red sheets.
Tomorrow was the big day, and I was excited to finally go to the freakishly huge mansion.
Break
I re-read the invitation, making sure I didn't forget anything. I looked at the small card, looking at each of the things Keiko wrote down.
Reunion Party!
Who: Keiko
What: Reunion Party
Where: 813 Westhill Road
When: June 26, 6:00 p.m.- June 27, 3:00 p.m.
Why: Because!
Bring:
-A bathing suit (for swimming in the morning)
-A towel (for swimming in the morning)
-A sleeping bag
-And other obvious necesities
RSVP at 382-9472.
I had everything in my bag and when a car horn honked, I walked outside to Kouji and Kouichi's dad's SUV.
"Hey." I said as I climbed into the back with Kouji and Kouichi.
"Did you forget anything?" Kouji asked skeptically.
"Nope, I made sure." I said, grinning and raising my bag for emphasis.
The car ride was quiet and relaxing, well it was until we got into Keiko's neighborhood. There were huge houses all around us, all along the street, surrounded by very intricately designed bushes and hedges. Trees surrounded some sides and there were some elevated pool decks visible. "Holy. Crap." I squeaked as we pulled up to the end of street where a silver gate, the word 'Takishita' on it, was blocking the way to a long driveway.
"Err… What do I do?" Kouji and Kouichi's dad asked quietly, looking around. As soon as he said that, the gates opened and we were able to drive in. The driveway must've been another street, it led us down for a bit, then right, forward again then left. That's when we saw it.
"Wow." the four of us said at once. The driveway had large trees on it's sides, it led to the right of the mansion. The house was about four stories tall, and it looked as if it belonged to a queen. It was cream colored, blue shutters on it's windows and a pair of large wooden double doors. In front of the house was a large, silver-gated, in-ground swimming pool, with two diving boards and a blue slide. We pulled up the rest of the way into the driveway, which led to the right side of the mansion. There was a five-car garage there, two convertibles and a red motorcycle sitting inside. To the left was another door on the side of the house and in the back yard there were two soccer goals set up on each side of the yard. A large tree with a simple wooden swing was near four golf carts. A hill in the far back led down somewhere else, but we couldn't see what was down there.
"Whoa…" I mumbled.
"Thanks for the ride, dad." Kouji said as we clambered out of the car. The SUV drove out of the driveway and as soon as it was out of sight, we heard a squeal.
Izumi ran up to us at top speed, jumping up and down excitedly, "Isn't it awesome?" she exclaimed, sending birds out of their safe nests.
"Izumi, relax." a voice said softly behind her. We turned around to see Junpei, Tomoki and Keiko walking up, Keiko pushed a strand of soft brown hair behind her ear. "Hey guys." she said, smiling.
It was kind of funny to see everybody wearing other things besides the regular outfits. Junpei was wearing a forest green t-shirt with jeans and sneakers, apparently ditching the body suit.
Tomoki was wearing a pale orange t-shirt with shorts and no shoes, he must not have put any on.
Izumi was wearing a sky blue shirt that said 'Shibuya Cheer' and a pair of white shorts; she didn't have shoes on either, she must've been too excited to put any on.
Kouichi was wearing a green shirt and plaid shorts, white sneakers on his feet.
Keiko was wearing a lime green shirt that had about four buttons at the top, two buttons were un-done and she wore a gray tank top on underneath, she wore black shorts and a pair of lime green flip-flops.
Kouji was wearing a dark blue polo and a pair of khaki shorts with white sneakers and of course, the infamous bandana.
I looked at my own appearance as well: I wore a red t-shirt and gray sweatpants with red sneakers, I was still wearing the hat with the goggles, because obviously that would never grow old.
"Now can we swim, Keiko? Please?" Izumi squealed, grabbing Keiko's arm and jumping up and down. Suddenly, she froze, "No! Let's show them the house!" she yelled.
"Err… Alright…" Keiko said, she waved us forward, "C'mon, I'll give you a tour."
We followed her up the steps to the side of the house and went through the door. There was a closet to out right and two pairs of doors to our right. Straight ahead was a huge kitchen. She waved for us to follow her and we walked through the short hall and into the kitchen. There were polished marble countertops, shining brightly with all sorts of appliance ordered neatly over it. The floors were absolutely flawless, you could literally stare at your reflection in it. A large stainless steel refrigerator stood by the marble cabinets; six bowls were laying on the ground, they were stainless steel. Three filled with water, three filled with food.
"You have pets, Keiko?" Kouichi asked curiously.
"Yeah. Two dogs and a cat." Keiko said as I stared at the television mounted over the marble fireplace next to the glass table.
She brought us through the door that we saw at the entrance. It was the one farther from the door. "Dining room." Keiko said, letting us go through.
There was a huge silver chandelier above the table, which was long and a dark shade of wood. It was spotless. There was a wine rack that was shining spotlessly. It was absolutely perfect.
Keiko pushed open a door that led to a large lobby area. The floor was wooden and clean. What, are they neat freaks or something? There was a huge staircase, a door that led to another room, and a large hall to go to a different area of the house. Keiko led us down the hallway and pointing to the different doors, saying what they were: 'Bathroom, guest room, closet, living room…'
She led us up the large staircase and showed us several other rooms. More guest rooms, more bathrooms, her brothers' rooms, another living room. She knocked on a door and after a moment a voice called back.
"Come in."
We all walked in and we gasped. It was a large office with a huge chair. A very high-tech looking computer sat on a very expensive looking oak desk. There were literally thousands of books on the walls all around as well as a leather couch to the side. Fax machines, phones, printers… the room had everything. The person who was sitting in the chair turned and looked at us. "Oh, hey Keiko." he said with a smile.
Izumi grabbed my arm and gaped.
Izumi POV:
I don't think I have ever seen somebody so beautiful in my life.
This guy, whoever the hell he was, had the most beautiful face I had ever seen. He had light brown hair, a shade or two lighter than Keiko's hair, which was a medium brown. He was tall and had a stunning face. He had these amazing blue eyes that were light and seemed to glow; his lips were pouty; he had long eyelashes and when he smiled I wanted to faint. Who was this guy?
"Hi Naoki." Keiko said smiling. Naoki… Naoki as in Keiko's Naoki?!? "Guys, this is my older brother, Naoki." Keiko said.
"Hey guys." Naoki said. I shivered. His voice was smooth and beautiful. I think I am in love with Keiko's brother.
"I just wanted to show them the office before we watch the movie." Keiko explained.
Ohmygodohmygodohmygodimstandinginfrontoftherichestmaninjapanandhesbeautifulandperfectandhessocuteandhesfamousandohmygodicantbreathe!!!
Keiko pointed to each of us. "Takuya, Kouji, Junpei, Tomoki, Kouichi." Naoki shook each of their hands with a smile…
"And this is Izumi." Keiko said. Naoki looked over at me and smiled.
"Oh yes, I remember Izumi. Izumi's the reason we're having this 'reunion party'. I'm going to propose to her, because I've fallen in love with her already." Naoki got down on one knee. "Orimoto Izumi, will you marry me?"
"Yes!" I squealed hugging the most beautiful man I have ever seen in my eleven years of life.
"And this is Izumi." Keiko said, smiling.
I blinked and sighed, sometimes I let my imagination run wild.
"Hi, Izumi." Naoki said, smiling. He held his hand out and I shook hands with him, sparks going through my body, "I'm glad I could finally meet you, Keiko has been raving about having a new best friend for weeks now." he said, chuckling.
I smiled and tried not to cry tears of joy. He was so beautiful. "Alright, guys. Next floor." Keiko said. We left the room and I was about to beg Keiko to go back when suddenly another boy walk out of a bathroom. ONLY DRESSED IN A TOWEL?!?He was gorgeous as well. He had darker hair, not as dark as Kouji's or Kouichi's, though. It was sort of mussed from the shower that he obviously just came from, but so so so sexy. He had an amazing chest and stomach and he was completely toned. He had blue eyes, but a cerulean color, not as light as Naoki's.
He raised an eyebrow at all of us. "Sorry." he said in an amused voice. He looked at each of us and smirked. "I forgot your party was today, Keiko. Didn't mean to give your friend a permanent red face." he said, looking at me. I honestly thought I was going to get a nosebleed from this guy.
Keiko sighed. "That's what happens when you walk out of the shower without a shirt. That's what happened to Michiko, too. Except she fainted. Get dressed you whore."
"Aren't you going to introduce me?" he asked.
Keiko rolled her eyes. "This is Keiji. Keiji, this is Izumi, Kouji, Kouichi, Takuya, Tomoki and Junpei."
Keiji smiled and waved at us. "Hey guys." Yeah. Now I really thought I was going to get a nosebleed.
He walked towards a bedroom and smiled back. "See you later." he said with a sultry look before walking through the door.
"Keiko, I think that I want to be adopted into your family." I said softly, staring at the door.
Keiko smiled and led us up to another floor. There were more guest rooms, three more bathrooms and another living room with about eight different game systems. She pointed to another room. "This is my brother's room. His name is Saburo." she said.
"Stop talking shit about me!" a voice yelled from inside the room. The door opened and I was almost 100 percent sure I was going to have a serious nosebleed. This brother was gorgeous as well. He had a hair color the same as Keiko and bright green eyes. They were a weird color, not as weird as Keiko's eye color, but they were, like, dangerously green. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and athletic shorts.
"What's up?" he asked nonchalantly. He looked at each of us and smiled when his eyes landed on me. "You're Izumi?" he asked.
"Yeah." I answered with a smile.
"Yeah, I figured. You're the only girl." He said with a laugh. He looked at Tomoki. "You're… Tomoki, right? "
Tomoki nodded and grinned brightly. "That's me!" he chirped.
Saburo smiled then looked over at Kouji and Kouichi. "You're the twins." he stated. He narrowed his eyes at them and pointed to Kouichi. "You're the older one… Kouichi…" then he pointed to Kouji. "And you're the younger one. Kouji." he said. The twins nodded.
He looked at Junpei. "Junpei. Oldest out of the whole gang of… whatever you call yourselves." he said slowly, looking at Keiko.
He looked at Takuya next. "Takuya. Leader with the goggles and the bad temper." he said.
Takuya's eyes widened. "What?!?" he yelled.
"But Keiko said you're a good soccer player. That's my sport. I like you already!" he squealed, pulling Takuya into a tight hug and lifting him into the air. He was swinging him around back and forth and saying how they were going to be best friends and soccer pals and everything good in life.
"Saburo! Don't kill him!" Keiko yelled, pulling Takuya away from her brother. "Okay… now let's continue our tour." Keiko said, glaring at Saburo, then leading us up some more stairs.
"I like him." Takuya said, smiling, but at the same time, looking utterly puzzled.
Keiko laughed and brought us up down a long hall and stopped in front of a door. "Don't touch anything. You have to promise me you won't touch a thing." Keiko said.
We all nodded slowly and Keiko opened the door. "This, is my parents' bedroom." she said. The room was large and spacious, it had a large scarlet colored bedspread with a large painting mounted over it. There was a marble fireplace with pictures on the mantel.
"We never touched it or anything. Thought it would preserve their presence. We decided to make it as if they never left." she explained. And she was smiling. I knew something about Keiko from the start. She was proud of her parents, her family. She was proud of where she came from, and who raised her and she just wanted people to realize how hard her family worked for what they have today.
It's amazing, really, Keiko's brother is a very brave person. He took over the largest business in Japan - Takishita Studios, the largest movie production company in the country - at age 18; he had to fight for the right to keep his siblings; he lost his mother and father; he had to take care of three other people; and at the same time of all of this, he went through college.
It's a feat that he was able to do all of that and not completely lose his mind. Takishita Naoki has earned every right to get the honors he has received. Richest man in the world, hardest working man in the world, best business man in Japan, etc. etc.
"Alright. Next floor." Keiko said, still smiling brightly. She led us up one more floor to where there was a landing that had a door on the right and on the left. She opened the door on the left and opened it. I couldn't hold back the gasp.
The bedroom, which was obviously Keiko's, was absolutely beautiful. The floor was a medium brown wood, which shone and sparkled in the light. The bed was on a raised part of the floor, where you walked up two steps to get to the bed. The bedspread was green and blue. The sheets were blue with green stripes while the comforter was green with white designs. There were a few band posters on the wall, as well as pictures with her friends. Another door was next to her bed, it was opened and you could see a spacious bathroom with a marble Jacuzzi bath and a huge glass shower. Next to the bathroom door there was a white shelf with several of Keiko's items. Soccer trophies, seashells, a few black and white pictures and a pink hippopotamus plush doll. There was a white vanity and above that, a flat screen T.V. on the wall, which was faced so Keiko could watch the television from her bed. A dresser was positioned next to a large balcony which faced the front of the house and showed a good view of the pool. A walk in closet was on the opposite wall of the bathroom and it had several articles of clothing in it. Next to the door for the walk in closet was a very inviting looking blue sofa with green pillows and white trim. It was completely and utterly beautiful.
"Keiko… this is amazing." I said, taking a few more steps into the room and staring at my reflection in the hardwood floor.
"How long have you lived here, Keiko?" Kouji asked, walking in as well.
Keiko walked over to her bed and sat on it, Kouichi getting on as well as Takuya. "My whole life." she said, smiling.
Takuya rubbed his face into the comforter. "I want to steal your bed, Keiko. It's so comfyyyyy." he drawled, sniffing the blankets.
Junpei sat next to me on the couch, and Kouji sat on my other side. "It looks so perfect. It must've cost a pretty penny." Junpei said, moving up and down on the couch to test it's squishiness.
"I'm not sure. I've always had this room. We re-renovated it over and over as I grew up, though." Keiko said.
Tomoki touched one of the pictures on the wall. "Hey, Keiko. Is this Michiko?" he asked.
We all got up and looked at the picture. Keiko and another girl were dressed in soccer uniforms, their arms around each other and smiling at the camera. Michiko, who was apparently the other girl had auburn colored hair and light brown eyes, she had her hair up in a messy ponytail, as did Keiko. They both had red war paint on their cheeks and you could see some dirt on their faces. She had a really pretty smile and her eyes were a really cool color, they were golden-brown.
"Wow, she's really hot." Takuya said, his eyebrows raising. I wanted to punch him into a wall when he said that. But being the calm girl that I am, I just smirked.
"Yeah, she is really pretty. Is she your age?" Kouichi asked.
"Yeah. We play soccer together, I've known her for about two years or so. She's going to our school this year." Keiko said, smiling fondly.
There was a scratch on the door and we all turned around to see a small dark grey cat with white paws walk in. It looked at everyone in the room, studying it for a moment before it huffed and bounded onto the bed.
"Aww! How cute!" I squealed, going over to the bed and petting the cat.
"That's Mister Boots." Keiko stated.
"Mister Boots? How old is he?" I asked.
"It's a girl. And Mister Boots is six." she replied.
"A girl? Why's it's name Mister Boots if it's a girl, Keiko?" Kouichi asked, puzzled.
"Well, we didn't know Mister Boots was a girl until she was with us for four years, and even though Keiji and Naoki wanted to save her feminism, my parents, Saburo and I both wanted to keep the name." she said. "And besides, Mister Boots doesn't mind! Right, Mister Boots?"
The cat stared at her for a moment and literally raised it's eyebrow (do cats have eyebrows?) in a catlike way. It then closed it's eyes as if annoyed and shook it's head.
"Told you." Keiko said.
"Keiko? How did your cat know how to do that?" Tomoki asked shakily.
"Mister Boots is special." Keiko said fondly, scratching the cat behind the ears.
"Do you guys have any other pets?" Takuya asked.
"Yeah, we have two dogs. Two Siberian Huskies named Pacino and Sam." Keiko said, smiling.
A short moment of silence filled the room as we all looked around the room, checking out all of the things decorating the room. "You want to go down and watch the movie now?" Keiko asked.
"Sure."
We headed back to the first floor living room. Keiko motioned for us to sit on the couch as she got the television set up. She pushed a ton of buttons on the remote, and the TV turned on, the DVD player lit up and speakers slowly opened from different spots in the room, some even came from the ceiling.
"Jeez, Keiko." Takuya said in awe.
Keiko smiled and then walked over to the couch and sat down. Junpei sat on the end, Tomoki on his right; I sat next to Tomoki, and Keiko was on my right; Kouji was next and after him it was Kouichi and lastly Takuya. It was like we were a team again. All seven of us. And we all had the roles that we used to.
Takuya: The leader and the hothead.
Kouji: The sardonic one.
Kouichi: The peacemaker.
Keiko: The cute, nice one.
Junpei: The smart playmaker.
Tomoki: The young one.
And Izumi: … Izumi, the talkative one who will always stand up for her friends. Yeah, that's right.
And as we sat on the couch that night, I realized that I couldn't survive without these six people.
And it felt right.