Chapter Fifty-One

I woke slowly the next morning. The result of not having slept well, my mind was cloudy but still it had found a way to etch Kinnosuke's words into my brain. I'd been having some troublesome nights lately, but this one so far had been the worst.

Downstairs, I found the kitchen surprisingly quiet of the usual chatter between my mother and Kotoko. For once in the last two weeks, my mother was home for breakfast and not at the hospital doting on my father. It seemed likely that he would be returning home soon. Everything would return to normal. Well, maybe not everything.

One lone person sat at the table eating pancakes. My little brother ate in silence as my mother came into the dining room and sat a cup of coffee on the table in front of me.

"Morning." I peered around for Kotoko, but she was nowhere in sight and not to be heard.

"Morning." Yuuki said with his mouth full.

My mother gave me a sad look, "Kotoko is out on a date." My mother sat beside Yuuki, her head propped up on her arm and pouty as ever.

I was quick to remember those words I'd scribed so carefully into my head, "A date?" I said, my face having drained. It was becoming real.

Yuuki took me in and nodded, "She got dressed up all nice and left not long ago."

I froze for what felt like minutes, words unable to form. I guessed Kinnosuke was keeping his word. My gut twisted into a knot.

I regained the ability to move and took a sip of coffee, "I guess there's someone out there with weird taste." With the sip of the coffee came a bitter taste.

"Is this really okay with you?" My mother searched and searched my face for anything that hinted at what she wanted to hear. But I had long since forced those feelings to evacuate.

Unwilling to answer this question, I myself evacuated the room.

"Don't you think you should eat something?" My mother asked. Somehow I wasn't hungry, so I shook my head.

"You'll have to excuse me." I brought the cup of coffee to my room where I sat at my desk with some files I'd brought home from Pandai.

Short of getting around to reading them, my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Naoki," Iwasaki Shigeki answered, "I would just like to inform you that Chairman Oizumi came by just now and he wants to set up a meeting with the parents to have dinner and talk about future plans. He plans to call you soon, since he heard your father is being released next week."

"Thank you for telling me." I said. I hardened up and again my mind blanked. I couldn't have counted the numerous times it did that every day just so I could be alright with the arranged marriage.

"The Chairman has promised a significant amount of financial support. Our company is safe now that the merger is confirmed." He went on. Iwasaki must've thought this was good news, but all it brought was more dread.

"Alright, I'll be awaiting his call. Bye." I said.

"Bye."

I sat in my desk chair quietly for a moment, not working or even thinking. I needed this stillness while I could have it. When that stillness ended, one thought sounded through my emptiness that said: This is the best option. Pandai is saved, my father can retire, Kotoko can still be with someone who loves her…

I agreed with this and got to work reading the files in front of me.

Looking down on the papers, I saw the words, but I couldn't seem to get to reading them. They stayed put and stared back at me, beckoning me to fill my mind with anything other than this awful white space, but I wasn't so sure I wanted to think. After so many years burdened with numbers, words, and facts, it was nice to not be able to think for once.

I'd have liked to have stayed that way longer, staring at files but finding no meaning in them. I was disrupted when I received another phone call.

Seeing the number flash across the screen, I wondered what would happen if I didn't answer to her once. If I left just one call unattended. And although I took my time, I answered.

"Hi, Naoki-san," Sahoko started right away, "I was wondering if you were busy tonight." There might've been some excitement in her voice, but it was still more formal than anything else.

"I'm not." I said slowly.

"Then perhaps you'd like to come to a piano recital with me. One of my favorite musicians is in Tokyo tonight." She said.

I took a small moment. For once, I thought about turning her down. Then I decided that there was no way out, "Of course, I'd love to come. Where do I meet you?"

"Oshiko Theatre at eight o'clock. The recital starts at eight-thirty, but we'll need to find our seats."

"Great," I said mutedly, "I'll see you there." I didn't hesitate before disconnecting. I had to remind myself that everything was okay… better than okay. Pandai was saved. I could relax.

Like always, we met at the doors. Inside, a line shortened by the minute as people bought tickets.

"So, who is this musician we're seeing?" I said to start our usual bland conversations. I opened the door for her.

"His name is Takei Renjiro. I've seen him perform three times before now and I've bought almost all of his albums." Sahoko got into line next to me and more people appeared to gather behind us.

"I've heard a few of his pieces. He is quite a talented pianist." We moved up in the line.

"Yes, he is."

Within ten minutes, we had our tickets and were heading into the concert hall. Our seats were in the middle section of the auditorium and more toward the back, but Sahoko didn't seem to mind much.

"These seats aren't bad. The last time I saw him in concert," She said as we squeezed through those already in their seats, "I got much worse tickets. I'd been running late, so I had to sit way back in the corner."

"I hope you still enjoyed yourself." I found our seats and guided her to hers before sitting, myself.

"Of course. When I come to these, I can just lose myself in the music pieces. It doesn't matter how near or far I am from the stage." Sahoko wove her hands together and peered up the stage, anxiously awaiting the start of the performance.

And as we sat there not saying a word to each other, I couldn't help but wonder about Kotoko. Whether she'd come home yet or what she was doing if she hadn't. She'd been out all day at this point. She must've been having quite an enjoyable time to be gone this long.

"Look, here he comes." Sahoko pointed out as the well-dressed pianist traipsed out onto the stage, "He's so calm and composed. I wonder how he stays that way through the whole concert."

The same way you do.

Renjiro took his place on the bench. His fingers hovered over the keys for a moment and then he started out on a slow piece.

"The way he plays," Sahoko whispered, "so concentrated but peaceful. He knows everything he's doing and I can tell he's happy doing it. It makes me want to learn piano one day."

"I bet you would be a great player." I whispered back. With that look in her eye, she looked so motivated. There was only one person who had ever inspired me as greatly as that.

After that, Sahoko kept her eyes trained on the stage, her mind seemingly wandering. She wasn't the only one with her eyes trained on something, however, as the man sitting in front of us had his on the back of his eyelids. He hadn't been awake for long after the concert began and now, after the pianist had only covered two pieces, his head lolled to the side with a slight snore.

There was someone I knew who would've been doing the same exact thing if she were here.

After an intermission and multiple more pieces, the concert came to an end. Sahoko snapped out of her music-induced trance and we headed out with the crowd.

"Wasn't that a beautiful performance? I could really feel all of the emotion he put into it." Sahoko said as we rounded out into the hall where others stood reading their programs or chatting.

"Yes, it was. He even played one of my favorite compositions by Stravinsky." I said, putting on my obligatory smile.

"That's so like you. Because so many of his works were different, it earned him the name 'Chameleon'. You seem to share some of that mysterious quality. That's why I find you so attractive," She seemed embarrassed after she said this and went on, "I love how each of tonight's pieces were different, yet they all seemed to fit so well together. Don't you think?"

"Definitely."

"But it seems some people don't appreciate such great talent. That guy in front of us made me so mad… falling asleep as soon as the performance started…" I stopped paying attention to what she was saying, as I could just picture it.

Kotoko falling asleep as soon as the concert started, happily nodding in and out of it, being a complete misfit in a concert hall full of socialites but still having the time of her life.

This image, though it lasted a mere second, made me laugh. Genuinely, for the first time while on a date with Sahoko, an actual smile appeared.

"What is it, Naoki-san?" Sahoko appeared to be confused. The smile was dragged off of my face as I realized she was still here.

"Oh, it's nothing."

We stopped at the exit. She kissed my cheek and left me to find my way home.

I stopped before turning the doorknob, bracing myself for the whirlwind of questions and comments by my mother.

"I'm home." I called as I came through the door.

My mother bustled right in as if on command, "You're late." She said. Sure enough, my watch read that it was just past ten o'clock.

"I told you I would be late." I said, bored of these routine conversations and wanting to get to my bedroom so I could sleep (or try to sleep, rather).

"But why must you spend so long just listening to music?" She carried on with her hands on her hips.

"Mom…"

"You're not doing anything naughty with her, are you?" My mother suited a frown.

"'Naughty'? I'm not in middle school, you don't have to talk in code," She was quiet, "We're seeing each other with the idea of getting married. I'll leave the rest to your imagination." I said, although my mother would be imagining much worse than that simple peck on the cheek I'd received at the end of the date.

I made for the stairs while I had the chance. She tailed me there.

"But I haven't given you my approval yet!" She bellyached, her eyes wide.

"Dad already said that I get to choose who I marry. You agreed with him then."

"Yes, but only because I thought you meant Kotoko." I fell silent and looked away. Maybe I had, maybe I hadn't. Either way, it held no meaning now.

"That doesn't matter. I still get to decide who I marry in any case." I hardly made it up two steps before the front door opened.

"I'm back!" Kotoko said and then spotted us on the stairs. I was a little shocked. I'd have thought she was home by now, but she had to have been out for at least twelve hours today. And judging by that pleased, calm smile spread across her mouth, she'd been having a great day.

I went rigid, irked.

"Kotoko, you're home so late!" My mother turned her attention to Kotoko, "You were on a date, too, weren't you?"

"'Too'?" Kotoko took a glance my way, "Did Irie-kun have a date, too?" She questioned me with her eyes.

I planted myself on the step, clearly not going anywhere right now, "We went to a concert."

"Oh." Kotoko said, "And no, Mrs. Irie, I wasn't on a date. Actually, I was helping out at my dad's restaurant today."

"Does that mean you want to become a chef?" My mother said. I really couldn't see that working out, even with her determination which was a force to be reckoned with.

"No, no, that's beyond my abilities."

She finally knows her limits.

"That's good. You'd run your father out of business by getting people sick." I said before I could control it, my annoyance getting the better of me.

"Aside from that," Kotoko said, "I thought I could help with the service. Kin-chan was there all day, too, so he helped me a lot." And there it was. The single mention of his name sent needles to dance up my back.

"It might as well have been a date." I mumbled.

"Well, unlike someone," She faced me with a glare, offended, "I don't mix my personal life with business."

"There is such a person who does." I longed to simply climb the stairs and be done with this.

"What is that supposed to mean? You better apologize to Kin-chan!" She was angered by the insinuation. So much so that I could've guessed she was defending someone who was more than a friend.

"See? It was like a date." I said.

"Even if it was, it's none of your business!"

"Whatever. I have no interest in your love life anyway."

"You two, stop fighting," My mother intervened, and then she shone, "You're arguing like a married couple."

"No, we're not." We both said.

"Goodnight." I finally uprooted my feet to climb the rest of the stairs.

"Wait, Naoki! Are you going on another date tomorrow?" My mother called, not giving up the conversation.

"None of your concern. Goodnight."

I disappeared into my room. On the way, I noted the changes in Kotoko. She didn't seem as hurt anymore, maybe actually getting over it. The way she defended Kinnosuke stuck with me. Again, sleep didn't visit me that night.