~Chapter Twenty-Six~

Past, Present, and Future – Part II

He's Everything You Want.
He's Everything You Need.
He's Everything Inside of You
That You Wish You Could Be.
He Says All the Right Things
At Exactly the Right Time.

You're Waiting for Someone
To Put You Together.

~Everything You Want, by Vertical Horizon

Disclaimer: Me No Own; You No Sue.

I smiled nervously at his excitement, sensing the beginning of a very long and arduous day. The Host Club had only been at this water park for about two hours; now, it was already too difficult for me to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And I had a nasty feeling that something horrible was about to happen in the near future, as well. These surroundings were altogether unfamiliar, and there were at least ten people for me to consider, two of which were merely acquaintances. Sammy was acting very strange, too.

Oh, Kami. This was not going to end well.

Takashi's P.O.V.

"I love playing in the water! It's really relaxing," Mitsukuni declared, raising his arms above his head and stretching luxuriously. "And I am so glad that we decided to come today, even if some of us are a bit grumpy…"

Yes, I might agree with his words, but it was also quite beneficial for me to stare straight ahead, pointedly ignoring the insinuation in the latter half of his statement. I murmured, "Ah…"

He glared up at me, admittedly quite angry that his perfect vacation wasn't going according to plan. "Isn't that right, Takashi?" Mitsukuni questioned, and with a sickeningly sweet expression on his face, in spite of his obvious anger.

"Oh, yes…." I muttered, shaking my head at his blunt comment.

My hyper cousin had never been able to understand that, on days like this, it was nice to simply sit and stare pensively into the distance. I enjoyed the peace and quiet. Mitsukuni was not a fan of quiet days, though, and he generally wanted me to join him on quests, journeys, and other fun experiences. Nine times out of ten, I would willingly join my cousin on those adventures, all the while having quite a bit of fun. Those nine times had occurred within the last five days, though, along with daily training sessions in the family dojo, mountains of homework, and extra kendo sessions, too. And I wanted a break.

Mitsukuni stared at me with a pair of wide eyes, both of which glittered with unshed tears at that sour response; apparently, he was expecting an answer in the affirmative. His expression was one of utter dejection, and it hurt to stare at those sad eyes for too terribly long. The Bambi expression was a powerful one, indeed.

Damn those big, brown eyes… I groaned in exasperation, all the while trying to stifle my sour thoughts. Kami, I should be immune to their power by now! I mean, we've been together for almost nineteen years. My lips turned upwards in a faint smile, though. Still, I love this guy.

"Would you like to play a game, Mitsukuni?" I asked, by way of an apology. It was the only way to appease him, and it would be fun, too.

My apology didn't appear to be working, however, because my older cousin was still glaring rusty daggers at me. I didn't flinch at this particular expression on his face, though. The ornery mood, dark glares, and countless barbed comments were merely his way of making me squirm. He'd pulled this same routine since we were both very young. It scared me as a young child, but now, it was just another form of entertainment. In fact, this was better than watching sports on my new television set. LED screens were amazing.

Mitsukuni glowered darkly over the edge of the pool and stubbornly muttered, "Don't wanna play with you anymore…" He stuck the tip of his tongue out at me. "You're a meanie!"

That caused the corner of my lips to twitch upwards in an amused smile. "You can sit on my shoulders, if you'd like, Mitsukuni," I added the suggestion, before raising a single black eyebrow at his resulting wiggle of excitement.

Oh, yes. That was certainly a hook, line, and sinker. No pun intended, by the way…

Mitsukuni didn't bother responding any further to my words; rather, he leapt through the air and gracefully landed on my shoulders. He perched on the nape of my neck, fisting his small hands around two thick locks of my black hair. The small blonde male grinned down at me, eagerly twisting his head this way and that, in order to stare at our tropical surroundings from his new vantage point. Finally, Mitsukuni settled his sights upon something in the distance.

I reluctantly followed his line of sight and, upon sighting a mischievous pair of twins, flinched in horror. Yes, I was feeling somewhat sick to my stomach, because it appeared as though we were about to join the hyperactive boys on their path to the dark side. And there was no possible way to avoid their evil wrath, either. Oh, well. Many different people have said that the road to the dark side was paved with good intentions – it was my good intention to make certain that the small blonde ninja didn't kill anybody in one of his bouts of boredom. Thus, I might even be released a few years early from the dark pits of Hell. Good behavior and all of that.

Mitsukuni released another squeal and pointed over to the redheaded boys, both of whom were tossing a striped beach ball back and forth. "Can we go play with them, Takashi?" He peeked over my head and into a pair of wary eyes, before begging, "Please, please, please…!"

Wearily, I released a sigh and mumbled, "Yes, Mitsukuni." I'd submitted to the power of his puppy dog eyes, and for the second time today, too. But it was pointless for me to argue with him.

Hikaru and Kaoru were still oblivious to our attention, but it was only a matter of time before the two of them realized that we would be joining them momentarily. And then, I would be trapped. My thin lips actually twisted downwards into a grimace at the very thought of joining the crazy boys in a seemingly simple game of catch. The two of them would probably turn the innocent game into another one of their strange, homosexual acts; sadly, it was inevitable. People that were interested in the same sex did not bother or disgust me, though, in spite of the fact that every member of my family was more conservative in their thinking, beliefs, and traditions.

On the other hand, it didbother me that the hyperactive pranksters – both of whom were of questionable moral standing – had taken it upon themselves to question my every move in regards to their precious big sister. I wasn't even able to kiss her chastely on the lips without those two idiots cupping their hands around their big mouths and loudly screaming, "…Rape!"

It irritated me, to say the least. But I wasn't the one that was overly violent towards others – that would be their darling sister, Sammy. She absolutely hated being interrupted during our time together. The identical bumps on the back of their heads proved this, too.

Needless to say, Hikaru and Kaoru had a nasty habit of turning such innocent scenarios into loud, troublesome fiascos. Their antics were legendary and were capable of making a grown man cry; in fact, the janitor had retired last month after a strange incident with the toilet seats exploding in one of the boys' restrooms. The Twins blamed their older sister for sending them this vision of flammable porcelain, but the blonde female claimed that she'd been wrongly accused in this little instance. Fred and George Weasley had copyrighted that particular prank. And the fact of the matter remained that it was not their fault.

Thus, I was anticipating that the redheaded pranksters were about to cause some sort of horrible mischief. I'd been expecting them to threaten me with bodily harm for inquiring after their sister on a daily basis, at the very least. My full attention was thusly focused on Hikaru and Kaoru, both of whom were casting secretive glances at each other. Apparently, I had arrived just as their innocent game of ball had finally lost its appeal, and now, the two of them were calmly throwing fruit at one another.

The resulting chaos, however, was actually caused by my manipulative cousin. Mitsukuni easily tricked the younger boys into throwing a large, heavy coconut at one another – next, he called for them to toss it in our direction. Predictably, Mitsukuni ducked away from the straight path being taken by the unfortunately flying object. And then, the dark fruit landed within the soft flesh of our classmate's lower stomach. Poor Kotoko was in a great deal of pain, it seemed…

It really pained me to admit that the details of his evil schemes often eluded my understanding until the very last moment, at which time it was far too late for me to act. Sigh.

"You should take it easy," Mitsukuni said. He carefully poked her stomach, checking for cuts or scrapes, and if his fingers drifted a little higher, well… "Or else you might get sick!"

Oh, well, that made quite a bit of sense, come to think of it. It appeared that my cousin had a love interest, too, and he was doing everything within his (scary, dark, and evil) power to capture her attention. This was probably the reason for his recent displays of maturity. Mitsukuni was acting more like an adult whilst at school, and his words, choices, and actions were noticeably darker in tone. It would appear that he'd finally developed an interest in the opposite sex.

In retrospect, I probably should have realized that the older male had an interest in Kotoko, but it was rather difficult for me to think of him as an adult. Mitsukuni still acted like an innocent little kid, to some extent, and the small senior had the appearance of one, as well. My older cousin really wanted to impress this young woman, though – he was strutting about like a peacock, displaying his incredible collection of muscles. I had a feeling that this more primitive form of courting was working, too. His antics reminded of a mating ritual; it was a strange dance that some animals participated in from time to time. Like Pome.

"Oh, my," Kotoko whispered, awed, and commenced fanning her flushed face with the pages of a corny romance novel. "I'm in love…!"

It might behoove her to burn that book, because those stories were not going to offer her any real assistance in the near future. Mitsukuni was definitely going to court her on his own terms. My cousin was not a romantic, either. He believed that clichés were too tacky to be employed in actual romantic situations, in stark contrast to his character during hosting hours.

Thankfully, Mitsukuni believed in happy endings, and he liked this girl more than he did most people. Kotoko might actually survive their courtship with her heart – and body – intact. That damn ninja was such a butterfingers at times…

I wished him luck in his romantic endeavors, though. Sammy wasn't very high maintenance, but my ditzy girlfriend certainly required constant attention, if only to keep her out of the hospital, or worse yet – the morgue. Mitsukuni might even be listed as her cause of death, due to the fact that he was constantly tricking my poor girlfriend into potentially dangerous situations. The small blonde female was apparently lacking in the common sense department. Otherwise, Sammy was a suicidal masochist. That was a strong possibility, too.

Even so, I loved that crazy girl, because she had a heart of gold. And I really wanted to spend some quality time with her. I'd not had the chance to take my girlfriend on a date yet, and the only time that we really spent with one another was during school hours, in the classroom and on these unexpected field trips – with the Hosts. As a matter of fact, the last time that the two of us were really alone together was the day of that picnic, which had been several weeks ago. It was also an anomaly that lasted all of ten…measly…minutes.

I was also chaperoning my older, stronger, smarter, and more flexible cousin. It didn't bother me most days, but there were times that my brain demanded a truthful, reasonable explanation for this (mostly) voluntary servitude. Yes, I was aware of the ancient pact between our two noble families – the male members of my family had served theirs for generations. But, there had to be another plausible reason for my instinctive need to protect one of the strongest people in existence. Mitsukuni could kill a person with one finger!

So, I failed to understand the benefit of having someone like me as his bodyguard. I'd stood at just over six feet tall, whereas he was less than five feet in height. But that was really the only difference between the two of us – in the physical sense, at least. Mitsukuni was stronger and faster than me, with the strategic mind needed to tactfully instruct our militaries in their martial arts training. I was always present during this instruction though. It had become a necessity, due to the fact that many of those muscular, oftentimes brainless – or rather, brainwashed – soldiers would take him too lightly.

Thus, I'm merely the muscle behind, well, the muscular brain…

That was a really depressing thought; however, it was also an accurate one. I was essentially his sidekick, and there wasn't really a reason for me to even be here right now. Mitsukuni was more than capable of defending himself from the evils of the world, so long as it didn't involve sugar, or cake, or chocolate chip cookies, or stuffed pink bunnies…

Okay, I'll admit it. Perhaps Mitsukuni needed a chaperone, after all.

Of course, the world never saw the darker side of his personality. Mitsukuni was not openly deceptive, but he had two very distinctive personalities, one of which his fangirls were never permitted to see. During school and hosting hours, Mitsukuni acted sweet, innocent, and childlike. He was a perfect little cherub, and the girls loved it. That was probably the first indication that there was an underlying darkness to my cousin. No one ever saw through the eyes of his carefully crafted mask, though. It did not break as easily as the one that my girlfriend had created to hide the pain of her past.

Mitsukuni was very clever, and he could manipulate other people into thinking in certain ways, often changing their entire perspective with only an innocent blink of his tawny eyes. The small ninja was indeed a bit of a hypocrite, seeing as he was not very fond of being coerced into doing something he deemed stupid or unworthy of his time. My cousin had his own agenda to attend to – a set of goals that did not generally include helping others. Thankfully, I was often the exception to this rule.

Nonetheless, this little trip practically reeked of ulterior motives. My cousin had still agreed to come with the other Hosts, regardless of their intent. Kyoya was planning something again, but we had yet to determine whether or not it might prove to be a danger to our health. The Shadow King did not care to factor in the wellbeing of the general population into his plans, schemes, and goals.

There was a great chance that Mitsukuni was plotting something, as well. He had declared that the Shadow King's plans were ultimately benign. I was still wary of the underclassman, though, because Kyoya was not raised to be so kind – not even to his friends. Actually, the Shadow King was aptly named, because he had been raised by his father to keep his friends close to his heart, and his enemies even closer. He also had a nasty tendency to bite the hand that fed him. The little snake was poisonous, and we all knew it, too.

Kyoya had still invited us to this water park – and with no puppet strings seemingly attached to the invitation, either. The young man was not known for his generosity, however, and this meant that he was probably keeping secrets from his friends again. Kyoya was more than likely doing so in order to work towards another of his hidden goals, one that we were not privy to at this time. And I had a very bad feeling that we would discover the truth at the worst possible moment, even if it wasn't nefarious in nature. It was still going to be a pain in the ass…

That was how it worked within the Host Club, though. We all made our own lives harder by striving to outdo one another, oftentimes subconsciously. Even Mitsukuni had the urge to earn more titles, trophies, and awards than the other members of our families. I was exempt from his ambitions, but only so long as my talents did not outshine his own. Thus, it had become second nature for me to stand in his shadow, hiding within the confines of his oftentimes stifling presence.

Now, I wanted to shine. I really wanted to be the first to have a beloved wife, children, and a menagerie of wild pets. It was a strange dream to have for someone of my years, or rather – the lack thereof. But I wanted a nice, big family. And now, the young woman that could very well make that dream a reality was standing beside me.

Sammy stared at the water in silence, observing it with a cold intensity that startled me. The blue water, though relatively calm at the moment, appeared to bother the small blonde girl more than she cared to admit. I'd heard that her status as an orphan was the result of some tragic accident, but the details of that old story were shrouded in secrecy. My best guess would be that the sad incident involved a large body of water, and that this little vacation was evoking memories of that painful past.

It was quiet for a brief moment, during which time we both moved closer to the other, as though drawn together by magnetic force. I'd almost forgotten that opposites attracted one another, but our courtship – even through those first few stages of our tentative friendship – exemplified that scientific law. And I had to admit that it was a strange phenomenon to experience firsthand. The attraction was obviously there, in spite of the fact that we were very different people. I was a tall and silent fighter, with a need to uphold honor above all else, and Sammy was a crazy little prankster.

At the moment, Sammy was not acting as she normally would, though. The small blonde female didn't speak a word, even though issuing an incoherent stream of nonsense was always her initial reaction to embarrassing, awkward, or foreign situations. Something was definitely bothering her.

Someday, I would be able to ease that pain, and we would be happy…together.

***Author's Note***

Like I said many months ago, I want to really want to explore a few of the characters in this story!

Takashi is generally silent, so there must be quite a few thoughts running around in his head, and he seems like the type to want a nice family. And Mitsukuni's sweet disposition is usually overruled by his kickass ninja spirt, so... Well, this was my interpretation of them during the series. :D

P.S. I am editing the current chapters of the "Past, Present, and Future" Arc, because there are some serious issues going on with the next chapter. And I was a little irked that Takashi was out of character, even if it was my intention to portray him that way. This chapter also has a different ending, for transitioning purposes. I'll update with a real chapter this weekend, though!