.

[ Un Pétrin sans Espoir: how delightful ]

.

Chapter Two

i refuse monogamy

.

.

.

Man, I used to love going to this family restaurant!

As a kid my parents used to take Yamato and I here every Friday. The menu is wide and has a large variation, and the plus side is that it's cheap and delicious too! It's a win-win situation if you ask me. Once the divorce happened, mother had stopped taking me here.

Perhaps it's out of nostalgia I've dragged Kana here.

I mean, she's had a rough day. I can't have her cooking for me all the time. My mother states it's child labour and that I'm abusing my sister. I, for one, believe that Kana cooks for me out of the love of her heart.

Debating between cola and melon soda, I pick the latter. I'm going to convince Kana that melon soda tastes better than her obsession with cola. She thinks I'm crazy whenever I ramble on about how much I love the green soda, so now I can forcefully get her to try it and agree with me.

From the beverage dispenser, I tilt my head towards where Kana is sitting. At times like these, she reminds of Yamato. Her arms are folded, large headphones covering her ears as she moodily stares out the window.

Yeah, she's really upset about this.

I don't blame her. Being insulted and being forced to apologise for something that she didn't start really sucks. I somewhat understand what Hikari means; but I don't agree with her. Did her turning into a teacher mess up her sense of morality?

Placing her soda in front of her, I take my own class and click it with hers. "Cheers!"

Kana looks at me and rolls her eyes. I shrug, leaning back against my chair.

As we wait for our meal, I feel people turning their heads at our direction. It's a thing that I need to get used to again. Having blond hair in Japan always attracts unwanted onlookers. What's worse, is that I heard earlier, somebody had been accusing me of being a predator. Another person had even thought I was Kana's father.

Even Hikari had been mistaken too!

Was she kidding me? I left Japan ten years ago. Did she really think I had impregnated a random as soon as I had arrived in France? Talk about some faith she has in me as a friend!

A friend…

Were we even still friends anymore?

She had brushed me off. So what if she has a boyfriend now? I've had my share of girlfriends too, and have happily fooled around, but that doesn't mean I brush people off and act like a sore thumb. She doesn't even want to catch up? Really?

You really hurt her when you left, Takeru...

I'd say that was my conscience speaking; but it had been Daisuke. Those were the exact words he told me when I had complained to him that I couldn't get hold of her.

For the first part, yes, it had been my fault. I hadn't contacted her for a good half year. I had sent one brief message to Yamato that we had made it to France. Other than that, I hadn't communicated with anybody else in Japan. I had treated everybody with the same silent treatment because I was too furious or busy to do anything otherwise. The people I had left in Japan weren't my priority...my mother was.

When everything fell into place in France, it was only then I had to contact everybody in Japan. Hikari was the first person I wanted to speak to.

However, she never returned any of my calls, texts or messages.

"It tastes good." Kana's stirring the soda with a straw.

"Didn't I tell you so?" I prompt her to agree with my amazingness.

"Multiple times," she deadpans.

Our food arrives. My mouth salivates at the hamburger steak I ordered. I had been craving this ever since I had landed. I glimpse Kana make a sour face as she finishes chewing her forkful of spaghetti. Kana evaluates, "Though this tastes awful, onii-chan."

"We're not in Europe anymore." I help myself, trying a string of the pasta. "It's not that bad. It's got a different taste to it, but I wouldn't call it awful."

"It's disgusting then."

Regardless, she continues to still eat her dish. Kana has expensive taste whenever it comes to food. Then again, it's because she's inherited our mother's talent for cooking. I, on the other hand, am horrible at it. Out of our family, I probably rank the lowest whenever it comes to cooking.

Soon later, a waitress comes over to clear my empty plate. Considering she's here, I order an extra serve of fries since I'm not completely full yet. The woman stammers as she takes my order, bowing and scuttles off.

While she has been taking my order, there are a handful of customers from other tables who have sneaked glances at our table.

"It's annoying," Kana says, having also felt the stares.

I smile. "Tune them out. You can't punch out everyone who stares or throws an insult at you, Kana-chan."

Kana sighs. "How do you do it?"

"Yamato and I were brought up here since we were kids. I'm used to it. Times have changed, yet everybody here gets hyped over foreigners. If it helps, perhaps pretend that you're a celebrity? You should even wave too so that you acknowledge their attention." With that being said, I demonstrate by waving at a bunch of gawking high school girls who are still gazing at us.

They immediately look away and Kana giggles. "You're an idiot."

At least I've got her giggling and in better spirits. She hasn't cracked a smile all day.

When the waitress comes back with the bowl of chips, I send her a wink and Kana almost chokes on her fries. My sister cries out, "Can you stop it?"

I much on a chip. "What?"

"Flirting."

"I'm being polite." I smirk. "Besides, I'm a single man."

"Which is exactly what got you into trouble."

I grimace. That comment is something I don't want to hear this soon. Maybe, after an extended period, we can joke about this in the future. However, now isn't the right time. Sometimes I think Kana isn't a ten year old. She's too smart for her own good. I might have not told her the full picture of what went down in France, while she had started school in Japan, but she knows enough to have it figured out.

Changing the subject, I curiously query, "So how's it like having Ms Yagami as your teacher? Is she any good?"

"She's strict," Kana reveals. It's funny that 'strict' is the first word she has used to describe Hikari. "She's thorough. She's nice. She's supportive. Overall, I think she's fine. After today, I don't like her as much. Can you believe I have to write an apology letter to that jerk?"

"You forget who your bigger brother is, Kana-chan," I tell her, tutting. "I'll help you write the letter. Ms Yagami never said anything about the content of what you're going to write in your apology letter."

Kana gapes, "You wouldn't…"

"Why not?" I reply back, mischievously. "Anyway, we'll be writing the truth in the letter."

"But then you'll get me into even more trouble!"

"Trust me, we've got this," I say, rubbing my hands together.

It'll be amusing to see Hikari again if she calls me in after reading Kana's letter. Perhaps I can use it as an excuse to see her again? I don't even know why I want to see her again, but I hate the feeling of leaving our talk unfinished.

Hikari was a big part of my life, and I'm not willing to let our friendship slide off the radar. If anything, I want to rekindle it. Being in Tokyo is lonely. I could do with getting my old friend back, even if I'm using petty mean to get what I want. I can be quite persuasive and manipulative whenever I want to be. Sometimes my mother says I should have been a lawyer. I like to think that I annoy everybody to death, that they have no choice but to concede to my wishes.

"Is that you? Takeru? TAKERU!"

I don't have time to react before I'm attacked by somebody. The person forces me into an embrace, clutching onto me like I'm going to disappear at any second. I notice hot pink nail polish and it's only when I see the attacker's long purple hair, I let out a chuckle.

"Miyako?! Kill me while we're at it, won't you?"

"Sure right I'll kill you! You haven't visited Japan for ages!" She pushes me away, grinning. "And look at you now! You're a big boy. You're even taller than me!"

"That's because the last time you saw me was ten years ago." I puff my chest out. "I'm a man now."

"Liar," Miyako snorts, sliding into our booth and taking a seat next to me. "Honestly, I thought I was seeing things. I had to clean my glasses to make sure of it. Then I saw how your daughter looks uncanny to Yamato and I-"

"Not," Kana bitterly interrupts, "his daughter."

"My sister actually," I explain. I send Kana a look for being rude, but she merely shrugs. "Her name's Kana. Kana, this is Miyako. She's one of my old friends."

"Nice to meet you, Kana-chan."

Kana refuses to look at her, talking directly to me instead. "Don't you have enough female friends?"

"No need to worry," I mutter. I point at Miyako's wedding ring. "This one is married. I don't like breaking weddings and am against affairs and cheating."

Kana clicks her tongue at me. "You're horrible."

She puts her headphones back over her ears, droning us adults out.

Miyako is speechless, which isn't a common thing. Then again, whenever Kana's in this type of sour mood, she can render the loudest person mute - take my mother for instance. When those two fight it's like a tornado's torn through our house. I'm not even kidding.

"What brings you here then? You and your...er...sister?" Miyako makes sure not to make the mistake of addressing Kana as my daughter. "A holiday?"

"I've moved back," I respond. "I was going to announce it to you all, but I wanted to use my first week back to settle in."

"That's great news!" She beams. "I've got to tell Ken and Daisuke that you're back in town!"

"How was the wedding anyway? The last time I saw Ken was when he was visiting France. He looked stressed out with the number of guests that you had to cater for."

I had seen Ken a couple of months ago. He's a renowned undercover detective in Japan. Due to the international terrorist scares, he had flown to France to help with the investigations.

"It turned out well. Didn't you see the photos on Facebook?"

"Not really," I admit. I hate Facebook with a passion. Don't get me started talking about that site. I ramble, "You'll have to show me in person another time. Is it in a album? Miyako, I'm sure you would have looked lovely."

"Drop dead gorgeous, if I don't mind saying." Ken arrives at our table, placing a hand on Miyako's shoulder.

I take this as a sign to scoot off my seat. I give Ken a pat on the back and a handshake, before opting to sit besides my sister. This dinner for two has turned out to be a dinner for four. I'm ecstatic about it, but I can't say the same for Kana. She keeps longingly glancing at the exit door.

"You're finally back, Takaishi?" Even now, Ken still addresses me formally.

We've been good friends for years, yet he's always polite. He hails from a wealthy family, and his upbringing was posh. He attended a private school in Tamachi and the only way we had become friends was through Daisuke considering Dai considered Ken as his 'rival'.

Ken holds this secretive and mysterious aura. Once you get closer to the guy, he's quite amusing. I think it's because his naive whenever it comes to interacting with people (he can be socially awkward). He's a straightforward man. He believes in justice and is a do-gooder. He's also great company when going out for a drink because he recites the Spice Girls' lyrics like the back of his hand.

Miyako pipes in, "He's back for good, Ken!"

"That's great!" Ken exclaims.

"Enough about me. How about you lovebirds?" I say. "How are you adapting to marriage life?"

"It's the same," Miyako murmurs. "We were living together prior to tying the knot, Takeru. It feels like we've been married for ages. All we need now is a baby…"

"...which isn't happening," Ken ends her sentence. "We keep trying, but nothing hasn't happened yet."

Baby…

I stare blankly at them. It's when I feel Kana pinch my side that I sit up straighter. I pick up from where I left off, hoping they hadn't noticed me zone out. I force a smile. "Oh, well...I'm sure it'll be fine. You've only just gotten married. It'll happen."

"I hope so." Miyako nods. She doesn't seem keen about talking about babies anymore. She decides to change the route of our conversation, speaking up, "How about Chelsea? Are you dating her yet?"

I shoot Ken a glare. His cheeks flush pink. Sometimes the detective doesn't know when to stick his nose out of other people's businesses. Ken isn't the only one who reacts to Miyako bringing up Chelsea, as Kana's sending me a concerned glance.

"No way. We're more like good friends," I tell Miyako. "Anyway, why should I commit to one person? There are plenty of fish in the sea to hook up with. I'm open to many things. It gets boring being in a monogamous relationship. No offence, guys."

Miyako frowns. "You shouldn't be saying this in front of Kana. You'll corrupt her."

"It's fine," Kana replies, brushing it off. Despite having her headphones on, she has the volume on low to keep track of what we've been talking about. "Takeru's always like this. He flirts with everyone. And, sometimes, he doesn't even know he's doing it…"

I make up an excuse, "It's my natural prowess."

"No," Kana disagrees. "It's your natural idiocy, onii-chan."

Ken and Miyako chuckles. I scratch the back of my head, grinning.

We keep talking, and it soon leads to Yamato who is getting married again. Well, I wouldn't call it a 'real' wedding, since he eloped with his wife - Sora - over eight years ago. They wanted to renew their vows, but this time with everybody there. I, of course, had received a letter from Yamato over a month ago, asking if I'd be a groomsman. I had said yes. I'm thankful that I'm now in Japan because I don't have to take any of my annual leave for the day.

I find out that Miyako's part of the bridal party and when I ask who else is in the bridal party, Miyako informs me, "Hikari will be in it too."

Ken raises an eyebrow at me. "Will you be alright with it, Takeru? You aren't on the best of terms with her."

"Ah, Ms Yagami?" I grimace. "Yes, it'll be awkward as hell. But what can I do? It's my brother's wedding. I'm willing to sacrifice myself and step on sticks and stones for their wedding. Besides, I've seen Hikari today."

"And how was it?" Miyako asks me, eyes glimmering. She gets like this whenever she hears good gossip. The troll.

"Fantastic," I say, sarcastically. "Absolutely peachy."

Miyako keeps shut after that. We end up talking about our other mutual friends. Apparently - just to name a few - I had missed out on Daisuke shaving his head, Iori being hired by one of the largest and finest law firms, and Koushiro breaking up with his girlfriend (and it even being in the tabloids since he's a millionaire now).

After we all called it a night, we farewelled each other out the front of the restaurant, dispersing in opposite directions.

As we're walking, Kana starts, "Onii-chan…"

"Hm?"

"Ms Yagami."

I blink. "Your teacher? What about her?"

"You know her," Kana concludes. "She's Hikari, isn't she? The person you talk about from time to time…"

"I guess you could say that," I reply, tucking my hands in my pockets. My back aches. It really has been a long day-

"Who is she to you?"

The question resonates, echoing in my mind. My pulse escalates and a twang of guilt grazes over me. I gaze up at the starless night sky and say the first thing that comes to mind.

"She was my best friend."

.

.

(a/n) I think this was slightly lighter? I was trying to figure who to bring into this chapter. So, for a change, I decided to give the spotlight to Miyako and Ken for once. Even though she's an OOC, I'm enjoying writing Kana. I hope you've liked it so far. Thanks for reading!

Guest: Thanks for reading and reviewing! :)