Chapter 3:
"Are you ready yet, Anya?" I questioned from downstairs. She had been up there for god knows how long, just to put on a bathing suit.
"Hai!" She called, I heard her sandals clunk across the upstairs hallway then down the stairs.
"'Bout time." I muttered as I packed some drinks into a cooler.
"How do I look?" She asked. I looked up and she did a 360 degree turn. I raised my eyebrows. She was wearing a soft yellow bikini under a blue tank top that belonged to our father.
"Oi..." I said.
"I look bad?" She said.
"No." I replied, knowing full well that if I said yes she would dash back upstairs to take yet another hour to change.
"Hey, will you do me a favor?" She asked.
I looked at her threw the corner of my eyes, "what?"
"Wear this." She produced a sky blue bikini and a navy blue tank top, which was also our fathers, and held them up.
"No." I said flatly.
"Please." She begged, "I'll do all your chores for two weeks and I won't bug out about what you're wearing for a month!"
"No."
"Three weeks and two months?" Anya said again.
I thought about this for a few minutes, it was a good deal. Sighing I held out my hand, "alright." She smiled and handed me the bikini. I sighed yet again and went to the bathroom to change into it. By the time I had worked up the courage to come out of the bathroom about ten people were already there. I pulled the tank top and put my sandals back onto my feet and walked out.
"Hikari? Where are---" Anya started to scream until I appeared in front of her.
"Ouch." I said, rubbing my ear that she had yelled into.
"Gomen. What took you so long, did you fall in the toilet or something?" She said in a teasing voice.
I shot her a nasty look, she knew very well what took me so long. I didn't like the fact that I had to wear this god forsaken thing called a bikini. 'It was a good deal, just keep telling yourself that.' I thought. I grabbed my towel and the cooler and walked out to the front porch and sat down on the steps.
"Hey, Anya." I heard Yuki say.
I rolled my eyes, "try, Hikari." I muttered.
"Oh, gomen nasai." He replied. I shrugged. "Shouldn't you be happier? It is your 16th birthday after all."
"Would you be happy if your sister bribed you into wearing this?" I said pointing to the bikini.
"It's nice." Yuki said.
I rolled my eyes, 'guys...one track minds...'
"Kari!" Anya yelled from inside.
"Out here!" I replied without moving.
"Oh, hey there Yuki-kun!" Anya said breathlessly when she got the porch. He smiled. "Anastasia..." Anya said in English, "everyone is here, lets get going." I nodded and glanced at Yuki... he had no clue what she had said.
"Sure, lets get going. Is everyone here?" I asked quickly in English.
"Hai. Everyone else will meet us at the beach." Anya replied. She leaned her head back in the door and called for everyone, saying that we were on our way. Soon about 16 high school kids were walking down the streets of Tokyo to go to the beach. Anya came up behind me and started a conversation up in English. Fast English so no one would understand.
"So, what were you and him talking about?" I knew what him she was talking about.
"Nothing, I was just correcting him. He called me you again. I just never can figure out why people cannot tell us apart, I'm much more muscular then you." I said with a playful smile that got me a smack on the arm.
"Shut up. Anyway, do you think that the song is going to turn out good?" Anya asked.
"Yeah, it will, don't worry about it." I replied.
"Hey, do you think you two could speak in a language the rest of us know?" Our childhood friend, Ami, asked.
We turned and smiled, "hai!" We replied at the same time.
"Ami-chan, how's it going with you-know-who?" I asked. My petit friend blushed.
"It's going just fine, thank you." She replied. We all laughed.
"Anastasia?" Someone asked.
I turned to walk backwards, "yeah?" I asked. Everyone looked at me, then at each other. I looked back at them, "who said my name?" I asked.
"No one." Anya replied. I rolled my eyes, something I did a lot, and turned to walk strait again.
"I know I heard someone say my name..." I muttered under my breath.
"You're just hearing voices." My sister joked me. I smacked her on the arm, hard. She rubbed it and glared.
'Finally, I really need to get into some water.' I thought when we walked onto the sand. I set to cooler down where our other friends were already "claiming" the beach. "Hey, everyone!" I said in a cheerful voice. We all started talking and soon everyone was either soaking up some rays or putting sunscreen on themselves so they could swim without getting burnt.
"Put this on my back, will ya?" Anya asked me. I squeezed some of the sunscreen into my hand and rubbed it in on her back, I turned and she did the same for me.
"Race you." I said, wiggling my eyebrows at her. She grinned and got ready.
"Ready..." She started.
"Set..." I continued.
Both of us then shouted, "GO!" And we were off, sprinting down the sand towards the water. I pulled ahead of her, but she gained on me and managed to stay next to me for a few yards then I got ahead of her again and dived right into the water first. I heard a splash when I got under the water, signaling that Anya had just dived in.
"You beat me again!" She fake pouted when we surfaced.
"Whoo!" Ami yelled from the beach.
"Go, Hikari!" I heard someone yell, but couldn't place the voice.
"I always beat you, Anya." I said sticking my tongue out at her.
She lunged at me as if to dunk me but I jumped away and ran out of the water. Soon she was chasing me up and down the beach line to get me.
"ANASTASIA HIKARI YUI, GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" She bellowed as she poured on the speed. I stopped dead, she never used my full name unless there was a really good reason for it.
"What?" I asked when she caught up.
Catching her breath she looked at me, "nothing." She grinned and ruffled my hair like I was some kind of dog or something.
"You're confusing." I said to her as we walked back to our friends.
"Thanks, you are too." She replied.
"Duh, we're twins." I said with a giggle.
"That we are, grasshopper." We both laughed at her feeble attempt to copy the voice of the man from the movie. Sitting down on our towels we popped open our soda cans and talked to our friends. I nudged Anyas side and shifted my gaze to Yuki, who was staying out of the conversation.
"Yuki-kun, you can join in anytime." Anya said with a grin. He smiled back and everyone told him to come into the conversation. One great thing about Anyas and my friends, they always were willing to accept new comers into the group.
~About 8:00 that night~
"Okaa and Otoo know that we are staying out here late, right?" I asked Anya. She had just put a S'more in her mouth so she had to nod.
"Hey, everyone!" Tsuyoshi yelled out, getting everyone to pay attention to him. "Yuki-san and I have a surprise for you all." He yanked Yuki from his towel and they walked over to a mound that a towel had been laying on the whole day. They uncovered it to revel a guitar. Anya and I looked at each other in confusion.
"This is a surprise...how?" Ami asked. Everyone laughed at the way she had said it.
"It's a surprise because you guys get to pick a song, and Yuki'll play it. If he doesn't know it, odds are good that I do!" Tsuyoshi replied.
I whispered something into Anyas ear and she nodded, she then turned to Ami, who turned to another one of our childhood friends and whispered what I had said. We looked at each other and nodded. Then all four of us shouted, "Play 'Free Falling'!" They weren't the only ones who would surprise everyone. The rest of the group laughed, well, everyone but Yuki and Tsuyoshi since they didn't know what we were going to do. Yuki shrugged and sat down.
"Okay, 'Free Fallin' it is." He said. He started to play the first few chords then Ami, Jyunko, Anya and I started to sing the lyrics.
"She's a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus, and America too
She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis
Loves horses and her boyfriend too"
Yuki smiled and continued.
"It's a long day livin' in Reseda
There's a free-way runnin' through the yard
And I'm a bad boy, cause I don't even miss her
I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart."
I took over for the chorus just for fun.
"And I'm free, I'm free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'"
Everyone else started to sing again, trying not to mess up.
"All the vampires walkin' through the valley
Move west down Ventura Blvd
And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows
All the good girls are home with broken hearts
And I'm free, I'm free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'
Free fallin'
I wanna glide down over Mulholland
I wanna write her name in the sky
I wanna free fall out into nothin'
Gonna leave this world for awhile
And I'm free, I'm free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'"
Finally Ami, Jyunko, Anya and I laughed and slapped palms while everyone else clapped. We all flopped back onto our towels. Everyone started to talk again and I heard Tsuyoshi strum and few notes on the guitar, but I was watching all the stars come out. Something that I loved to do.
"So, what possessed you to do that?" I heard someone ask me. I turned my head and saw Yuki there.
"Just a little thing that we like to do." I said with a laugh. He laughed and walked away when Anya called him over. I got up and told Ami that I was going for a walk and she nodded and said that she would tell everyone else.
When I got out of everyone's earshot I started to sing the chords for 'Free Fallin'.' I put my hands behind my back and stared up at the full moon, 'if only I could just stay out here all night.' I thought. There I was again with the 'if only's. I started to name the constellations and listen to the lapping of the water splashing the shore and receding to repeat it again in a cycle. 'I better get back to everyone.' I thought and turned to head back to the group, the firelight burning like a torch.
"Are you ready yet, Anya?" I questioned from downstairs. She had been up there for god knows how long, just to put on a bathing suit.
"Hai!" She called, I heard her sandals clunk across the upstairs hallway then down the stairs.
"'Bout time." I muttered as I packed some drinks into a cooler.
"How do I look?" She asked. I looked up and she did a 360 degree turn. I raised my eyebrows. She was wearing a soft yellow bikini under a blue tank top that belonged to our father.
"Oi..." I said.
"I look bad?" She said.
"No." I replied, knowing full well that if I said yes she would dash back upstairs to take yet another hour to change.
"Hey, will you do me a favor?" She asked.
I looked at her threw the corner of my eyes, "what?"
"Wear this." She produced a sky blue bikini and a navy blue tank top, which was also our fathers, and held them up.
"No." I said flatly.
"Please." She begged, "I'll do all your chores for two weeks and I won't bug out about what you're wearing for a month!"
"No."
"Three weeks and two months?" Anya said again.
I thought about this for a few minutes, it was a good deal. Sighing I held out my hand, "alright." She smiled and handed me the bikini. I sighed yet again and went to the bathroom to change into it. By the time I had worked up the courage to come out of the bathroom about ten people were already there. I pulled the tank top and put my sandals back onto my feet and walked out.
"Hikari? Where are---" Anya started to scream until I appeared in front of her.
"Ouch." I said, rubbing my ear that she had yelled into.
"Gomen. What took you so long, did you fall in the toilet or something?" She said in a teasing voice.
I shot her a nasty look, she knew very well what took me so long. I didn't like the fact that I had to wear this god forsaken thing called a bikini. 'It was a good deal, just keep telling yourself that.' I thought. I grabbed my towel and the cooler and walked out to the front porch and sat down on the steps.
"Hey, Anya." I heard Yuki say.
I rolled my eyes, "try, Hikari." I muttered.
"Oh, gomen nasai." He replied. I shrugged. "Shouldn't you be happier? It is your 16th birthday after all."
"Would you be happy if your sister bribed you into wearing this?" I said pointing to the bikini.
"It's nice." Yuki said.
I rolled my eyes, 'guys...one track minds...'
"Kari!" Anya yelled from inside.
"Out here!" I replied without moving.
"Oh, hey there Yuki-kun!" Anya said breathlessly when she got the porch. He smiled. "Anastasia..." Anya said in English, "everyone is here, lets get going." I nodded and glanced at Yuki... he had no clue what she had said.
"Sure, lets get going. Is everyone here?" I asked quickly in English.
"Hai. Everyone else will meet us at the beach." Anya replied. She leaned her head back in the door and called for everyone, saying that we were on our way. Soon about 16 high school kids were walking down the streets of Tokyo to go to the beach. Anya came up behind me and started a conversation up in English. Fast English so no one would understand.
"So, what were you and him talking about?" I knew what him she was talking about.
"Nothing, I was just correcting him. He called me you again. I just never can figure out why people cannot tell us apart, I'm much more muscular then you." I said with a playful smile that got me a smack on the arm.
"Shut up. Anyway, do you think that the song is going to turn out good?" Anya asked.
"Yeah, it will, don't worry about it." I replied.
"Hey, do you think you two could speak in a language the rest of us know?" Our childhood friend, Ami, asked.
We turned and smiled, "hai!" We replied at the same time.
"Ami-chan, how's it going with you-know-who?" I asked. My petit friend blushed.
"It's going just fine, thank you." She replied. We all laughed.
"Anastasia?" Someone asked.
I turned to walk backwards, "yeah?" I asked. Everyone looked at me, then at each other. I looked back at them, "who said my name?" I asked.
"No one." Anya replied. I rolled my eyes, something I did a lot, and turned to walk strait again.
"I know I heard someone say my name..." I muttered under my breath.
"You're just hearing voices." My sister joked me. I smacked her on the arm, hard. She rubbed it and glared.
'Finally, I really need to get into some water.' I thought when we walked onto the sand. I set to cooler down where our other friends were already "claiming" the beach. "Hey, everyone!" I said in a cheerful voice. We all started talking and soon everyone was either soaking up some rays or putting sunscreen on themselves so they could swim without getting burnt.
"Put this on my back, will ya?" Anya asked me. I squeezed some of the sunscreen into my hand and rubbed it in on her back, I turned and she did the same for me.
"Race you." I said, wiggling my eyebrows at her. She grinned and got ready.
"Ready..." She started.
"Set..." I continued.
Both of us then shouted, "GO!" And we were off, sprinting down the sand towards the water. I pulled ahead of her, but she gained on me and managed to stay next to me for a few yards then I got ahead of her again and dived right into the water first. I heard a splash when I got under the water, signaling that Anya had just dived in.
"You beat me again!" She fake pouted when we surfaced.
"Whoo!" Ami yelled from the beach.
"Go, Hikari!" I heard someone yell, but couldn't place the voice.
"I always beat you, Anya." I said sticking my tongue out at her.
She lunged at me as if to dunk me but I jumped away and ran out of the water. Soon she was chasing me up and down the beach line to get me.
"ANASTASIA HIKARI YUI, GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" She bellowed as she poured on the speed. I stopped dead, she never used my full name unless there was a really good reason for it.
"What?" I asked when she caught up.
Catching her breath she looked at me, "nothing." She grinned and ruffled my hair like I was some kind of dog or something.
"You're confusing." I said to her as we walked back to our friends.
"Thanks, you are too." She replied.
"Duh, we're twins." I said with a giggle.
"That we are, grasshopper." We both laughed at her feeble attempt to copy the voice of the man from the movie. Sitting down on our towels we popped open our soda cans and talked to our friends. I nudged Anyas side and shifted my gaze to Yuki, who was staying out of the conversation.
"Yuki-kun, you can join in anytime." Anya said with a grin. He smiled back and everyone told him to come into the conversation. One great thing about Anyas and my friends, they always were willing to accept new comers into the group.
~About 8:00 that night~
"Okaa and Otoo know that we are staying out here late, right?" I asked Anya. She had just put a S'more in her mouth so she had to nod.
"Hey, everyone!" Tsuyoshi yelled out, getting everyone to pay attention to him. "Yuki-san and I have a surprise for you all." He yanked Yuki from his towel and they walked over to a mound that a towel had been laying on the whole day. They uncovered it to revel a guitar. Anya and I looked at each other in confusion.
"This is a surprise...how?" Ami asked. Everyone laughed at the way she had said it.
"It's a surprise because you guys get to pick a song, and Yuki'll play it. If he doesn't know it, odds are good that I do!" Tsuyoshi replied.
I whispered something into Anyas ear and she nodded, she then turned to Ami, who turned to another one of our childhood friends and whispered what I had said. We looked at each other and nodded. Then all four of us shouted, "Play 'Free Falling'!" They weren't the only ones who would surprise everyone. The rest of the group laughed, well, everyone but Yuki and Tsuyoshi since they didn't know what we were going to do. Yuki shrugged and sat down.
"Okay, 'Free Fallin' it is." He said. He started to play the first few chords then Ami, Jyunko, Anya and I started to sing the lyrics.
"She's a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus, and America too
She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis
Loves horses and her boyfriend too"
Yuki smiled and continued.
"It's a long day livin' in Reseda
There's a free-way runnin' through the yard
And I'm a bad boy, cause I don't even miss her
I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart."
I took over for the chorus just for fun.
"And I'm free, I'm free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'"
Everyone else started to sing again, trying not to mess up.
"All the vampires walkin' through the valley
Move west down Ventura Blvd
And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows
All the good girls are home with broken hearts
And I'm free, I'm free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'
Free fallin'
I wanna glide down over Mulholland
I wanna write her name in the sky
I wanna free fall out into nothin'
Gonna leave this world for awhile
And I'm free, I'm free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'
Yeah I'm free, free fallin'"
Finally Ami, Jyunko, Anya and I laughed and slapped palms while everyone else clapped. We all flopped back onto our towels. Everyone started to talk again and I heard Tsuyoshi strum and few notes on the guitar, but I was watching all the stars come out. Something that I loved to do.
"So, what possessed you to do that?" I heard someone ask me. I turned my head and saw Yuki there.
"Just a little thing that we like to do." I said with a laugh. He laughed and walked away when Anya called him over. I got up and told Ami that I was going for a walk and she nodded and said that she would tell everyone else.
When I got out of everyone's earshot I started to sing the chords for 'Free Fallin'.' I put my hands behind my back and stared up at the full moon, 'if only I could just stay out here all night.' I thought. There I was again with the 'if only's. I started to name the constellations and listen to the lapping of the water splashing the shore and receding to repeat it again in a cycle. 'I better get back to everyone.' I thought and turned to head back to the group, the firelight burning like a torch.