Koushirou's POV: Hidden Witness
By: Canopy4
Author's Note: Hey everybody! I see you've made it to Chapter II. Okay, I'm really glad the size of this story is not detouring you from reading it. I mean, the story goes rather quickly; don't you think? Anyway, this is Koushirou's chapter. It's my first time working with him and I try to bring out the sarcasm in him. It seems to me that Koushirou is way too smart for this world and its trivial affairs. He is the model genius who is so bored in class that he causes trouble to amuse himself. But tell me what you think! Thanks! I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP.
***
14 years of age and I already know my college thesis statement. The rough draft is known by, "Observation: Artful Zen or a Necessary way of life?" It came to me in a flash of brilliance today while I was reading Sora's unspoken thoughts. Her train of thought has mainly centered on a good friend of ours. He also happens to be Sora's love interest. Just the mention of him will send Sora slobbering into a state similar to Pavlov's dog. It's rather amusing; I try this experiment as often as I can. Sora, my test subject, rarely fails me. For those of us who feel inept when the subject of Psychology comes up, allow me to explain. Sora is reaction to a stimulus. Yamato is the stimulus.
Poor Taichi has never been good at Psychology. What's obvious to others comes as a total shock to him. I feel sorry for Taichi because he doesn't realize his love is unanswered. His feelings for Sora bring out this innocent boy quality in him. When Sora leaves to invite Takeru over, Taichi heaves a sigh.
"She's so amazing," he exhales.
Hikari looks into the chocolate pools belonging to her brother. "Thanks Taichi," she says, twirling around the bedroom in a giddy state.
"Not you goofball. I mean, Sora," Taichi pulls up a nest of carpet," Koushirou, do think she's mad at me?"
No Taichi. Every girl wants to hear how masculine she is. It's a compliment when you tell a female that's she's full of testosterone.
Instead of saying this, I respond in my best supporting friend voice. "You didn't mean it as an insult so don't worry about it. What's done is done. Besides, Sora's pretty good about these things."
Hikari, being disoriented from twirling, drops into Taichi's lap. "That's the reason you like her, isn't it?"
"One of them, yeah. I also like not having to protect her all the time. When she's really in danger, I know I can protect her," explains Taichi in a rather incoherent manner. "I think I'm gonna tell her how I feel tonight."
The excitement in Taichi's voice is thick enough to cut and serve for dinner with plenty leftover. I catch Hikari's eyes and a reflection of my innermost thoughts dance in them. Taichi's in for a world of hurt tonight. He's rifling through his entire closet trying to find that perfect outfit and for what? Nothing.
Fiercely, Hikari wraps her arms around her relative and holds her head against his chest. "I'll protect you big brother," she whispers. Taichi suppresses a laugh; the thought of tiny Hikari guarding athletic Taichi is an amusing image for him. To me though, it is no laughing matter. I wish I had a sibling to look after. Who will protect me?
"C'mon, we better go see how Sora is doing; she may have gotten confused and called for pizza," I suppress any negative thoughts. Now is not the time to dwell on myself. My best friend is going to get crushed tonight and I need to be there for him.
Taichi assumes a vertical position after Hikari clamors off of his lap. "I've noticed that too. Lately, it seems Sora's in her own little world. Do you know what's up?"
"Don't worry about it," I turn the doorknob," It's probably just a girl thing. You know, a chemical imbalance."
Yeah and the Euro dollar is just a minor failure.
****
Simple courtesy seems to have gone out of style. At least, one can deem that from watching Sora's behavior. Right now, she's sitting on the cream colored sofa, resting on Yamato. Meanwhile, Taichi sits in the recliner, feeling rejected. Exhaling a sigh every now and then only enhances Taichi's participation. Yamato and I enter a fairly lively conversation.
"I thought you already have a webpage," he sounds slightly confused yet extremely engrossed.
"I have a personal website, yes," I correct, "but this site will be an in depth analysis on system failure prevention. It should be equally entertaining, exciting and educational."
Yamato casually scratches an itch on his left shoulder. Sora tenses as she fears Yamato may get up and leave her. Fortunately, Yamato returns his arm around her as he began speaking again. Sora relaxes and leans against him. Taichi releases another poignant breath of air.
" Ah, the three e's. You should call the site E^3," suggest Yamato.
I make a check of the name mentally. "But there's one problem I have that is so trivial but entices so many. The color scheme. I'm under the impression that orange, black, and red work well together but my mother scolds me whenever I suggest this. Guess I'm wrong."
"Sora's pretty decent with color schemes. Whaddabout it Sora?" offers Taichi.
Yamato gasps. "Is that you Taichi? And here I though you are in a coma," jokes Yamato.
So true are these works. Taichi is the relentless babbling brook.
"I'm just thinking," mutters Taichi. He holds his gaze with Yamato. A steady conversation is help between the sets of eyes.
"Mimi's always been good with colors. Her stuff always matches," says Taichi.
A smile plays across Yamato's face. "You speaking from experience over there?"
"Naw, I wouldn't move in on your territory," Taichi volleys back, "Hey Sora, how's Mimi?"
"She's doing okay," says Sora. She prattles on and I award her with an occasional snort. Mimi being at the head of her class is sheer fantasy.
Takeru and Hikari slink in and stand by the couch, absorbing everything. Their presence is suffocating. "We're hungry. We want something to eat," says Takeru calmly after the pair has been standing there for about five minutes.
Yamato darts looks between Taichi and myself. It's Taichi who loses it first. It's as if a dam burst and his laughter goes spurting everywhere. Yamato loses control next and chuckles roll out of him.
"Stop it. Do you guys ever think?" I say with mock seriousness. The same pubescent hormone driven thought simultaneously cross our minds and this realization, coupled with my attempt at being serious further intensifies the noise.
Rolling over onto my back, I purse my lips together, shut my eyes and fold my arms behind my head. Sitting there with my face turned towards the ceiling and my sides aching from a concealed laugher is when I draw the conclusion that everything is going to be okay. No matter what happens tonight or in the future, Taichi, Yamato, and I will be friends.
****
The beige ceiling greets me as I open my eyes. It's an attractive, nondescript color. Gotta love neutral colors. Feeling isolated, I roll over to face my friends and enter back into the real world.
I let a mock gasp announce me. "Gosh Yamato. Something looks so different about you. You no longer have four legs, four arms and two heads. Oh wait, Sora's not attached to you anymore," I say.
Taichi rolls along. "Somebody take this man's picture and give him a medal. He's survived the incredible and vivacious Takenouchi amoeba."
"Parasite," I correct.
"Takenouchi parasite," says Taichi.
"Very cute," sneers Yamato. By now he's sitting up and Takeru has taken the seat next to him. "Almost as cute as the Mimi comment. Smartass." That last bit is tossed in Taichi's general direction.
In a flash, Taichi is out of his chair. He begins this dance involving much flailing of the limbs and pelvic thrust around the coffee table and ends it directly in front of Yamato.
"It's not smart. I like to think of it as pert. Pert, pert, pert," Taichi thrust the anatomy in question into the air for added emphasis. "Koushirou is the real smartass."
I wave from my spot. "That's me. The authentic Smart Ass."
Instead of joining in on the banter or declaring what type of ass he is, Yamato simply walks out of the room. He isn't impolite; Yamato just smoothly glides to the balcony.
I turn to Takeru. "I guess your brother's going through one of those unpredictable mood swings, huh?"
"Yeah," he says.
Hikari speaks up, "So Taichi, about that food. I'm still hungry."
"I'm on it," Taichi begins walking towards the kitchen," I'll call you when things are done. Let's go Koushirou."
Once inside the privacy of the kitchen, Taichi begin to stir ingredients together with incredible vigor.
"So..." I say, uncertainly. Taichi's emotions and actions have drastically changed. Clearly something is disturbing Taichi and it's not hard to guess what it is. Instead, I watch Taichi and attempt to pick up clues as to how to approach the subject. He puts down the bowl he's been mixing and grabs a stalk of celery. The knife begins producing small, green crescent moons as it comes in contact with the stalk.
"Sora's on my mind. And how painful it all is," Taichi says after a while. He adds the chopped celery to the mixture and begins ladling the substance onto a hot pan.
"How long have you known?" he asks quietly.
"Known what?" I answer the question with a question and just as suddenly ask, "What are you making?"
"An omelet, pancakes and rice."
I stare at Taichi in utter disbelief. "For dinner?"
Shrugging his bold shoulders, Taichi grabs a green container sitting next to the salt and sugar. He dunks a cup in it and it comes up full of hard rice pellets. "Sure. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Why not have it twice?"
I smile to myself. "And the rice?"
"One can never go wrong with rice," he explains simply, adding water to the grains of rice and turning on the stove.
Wiping his hands on the legs of his pants, he sits on the stool adjacent to mine. "Are you going to answer my question or not? 'Cause if you're trying to weasel out of it, I'm gonna beat it out of you."
I doubt that Taichi will resort to physical violence, but I've known Taichi long enough to understand that when he wants something, he will get it. "Answer mine first. How long have I known what?"
"That Sora and Yamato have liked each other," Taichi's voice begins to get louder.
I rip my eyes away from the spot my eyes were fixated upon. "But they don't."
"Bullshit."
I try again. "No, they really don't like each other."
"Dammit Koushirou, we're friends. You don't have to spare my feelings. Even though you think you're better than everybody else doesn't mean the rest of the world can't comprehend things too," Taichi is starting to show anguish and is being pushed to his limits of self-control. So am I.
"Maybe if you listened to me instead running your goddamn mouth all the time, you would get the answer that you so desire. I'm willing to tell you but there are some things you don't do. Like try to boss me around all the time. We're not ten years old anymore," I snap. I don't normally show my emotions but when somebody tries to take a dig at me I let them teat a bit of my anger. I imagine it has a rather metallic, sharp taste to it.
Taichi looks a bit startled; he's not used to hearing me retort back. "My fault," he mumbles.
I accept this as the closest thing to an apology that I'll get and decide to surge ahead. "Look Taichi, Sora and Yamato aren't madly in love with each other or anything like that. It's Sora who wants Yamato. But Yamato wants nothing to do with her."
My friend just sits there, with his shoulders hunched over. He looks as if he's been punched in the stomach. It's rather distressing to see the school's star soccer striker so weak and frail. My anger, reserved for Taichi and his haughty comments only a few minutes ago, are now directly solely at Sora. I don't care who she likes but when she starts hurting people and ignoring the repercussion of her actions; well, somebody has to find fault in that. And me being the voice of reason decide that the blame rest on Sora's shoulders alone.
But my immediate goal is to cheer up Taichi. I'm willing to do anything to see him out of this state; he looks so pathetic. Assuming that he's accepted defeat with Sora, I say, "But don't worry about it. I mean, Sora's not a real likable person. As a girlfriend I mean. She's a great friend, but it just seems dating her would be so uneventful. There are so many other girls out there. So many other hot girls."
I receive a glance from Taichi. "Sometimes I actually think you are a machine Koushirou," he says, "but then I remember that since you're a genius, emotions are simply trivial to you."
What the hell is that supposed to mean? I am rooted to my stool, trying to process this comment. Although the words Taichi just used carry a trace of a negative connotation, Taichi's voice flutters with sympathy.
"Hey Koushirou," Taichi breaks the silence, "were you serious when you said that Sora likes Yamato but he doesn't like her?"
I look at Taichi as if he is just asked if two plus two really equals four. "Yes, I am sure."
To support my affirmative statement, the door to the balcony door sharply opens and is closed with an extreme force. Quick footsteps make the kitchen and Sora passes by. Tears are streaming down her face yet she utters no sounds. It is in vain though for the sounds of her heart breaking reverberate and fill every space. The front door opens and closes as she exits the apartment. A few minutes pass and our ears are still turned towards the door, hoping it will open again. It's so easy to miss the sounds of the balcony door opening and closing and the sounds of another person entering the apartment, but Yamato has unavoidable presence. He heads towards Taichi's room and closes the door.
"I'll kill him. So simple," says Taichi. His voice is nothing but calm vengeance now.
"I refuse to be a witness to a homicide Taichi. What you're going to do is head down to your sister's room, tell Hikari and Takeru that dinner is ready, serve them, and begin to eat your dinner yourself," I state briskly. Taichi is a person who follows through on his commitments and I am in no mood to place a phone call to the Ishida residence, asking somebody to please identify and claim the limp body lying in Taichi's room as their son.
"You're next on the list," grumbles Taichi, sliding off the stool.
"Taichi," I call out. He looks at me.
"Stop it. Everything's going to be okay. I know you're thinking about her but some things need to be completed. We have all night to talk," My eyes hold steady with his.
"Go," I command. He does so, grumbling. Logic always wins over matters of love.
Tentatively, I walk into the living room, my mind a daze. Taichi just went through a myriad of moods. I've never seen anybody react so intensely to matters relating to the heart. That means that either I've never experienced love or that Taichi is just a budding Casanova. Not a decision I would like to make. Slowly though, I being to comprehend Taichi's reactions. Taichi isn't mad at Sora for breaking his heart; he's mad at Yamato for ruining Sora's. This makes me wonder which value is more important to Taichi: love or friendship. Up until today, I've always figured Taichi would never even have to make that decision. Sure, he's had this crush on Sora for a while now, but I just assumed it would fizzle, not grow with age. I sure struck out on that one.
Then it hits me why Taichi assured me of my status on the list. While he just learned the fact that he and Sora will never be, the rest of us have had years to become comfortable with this. I ignored the stages of acceptance and plunged right into healing without even considering denial, remorse, assigning blame. Dammit. I feel like shit right now. Even though I psyche myself up for big appearances like this in the world of friendship, I still fall flat. I suppose they're one relationship out there I can still salvage. Picking up the phone, I dial Sora' number
Instead of making conversation with a person, the voice on the answering machine talks to me. I hang up and try again. The machine is turned on again. I leave a brief message. Twenty minutes pass. I call again the answering machine greets me once again. Frustrated, I hang up and dial once more. After the beep comes on, I record my message.
"Hi Sora. It's me Koushirou. Just want to tell you that Yamato is hear confessing his true love for you and that he will plunge five stories unless you come ---"
"Not funny at all. Dammit. What the hell is that all about?" snaps a voice.
"It's nice talking to you too, Sora," I respond. "I'm just calling to make sure you're not deaf. Because I've been calling-- "
"And I've been screening my calls," comes the response.
"Why?"
"Because I really screwed up. He doesn't like me."
"How did you screw up?"
I can hear the exasperation in every word Sora utters. "Don't you get it? I told Yamato that I really wanted to be with him. I embarrassed myself."
"Not so," I say, "You simply told what was on your heart. For the first time in your life Sora, I think you actually did the most beautiful and appropriate thing."
There's a pause on Sora's end as she listens the truth behind my words. "Yeah, but I feel just so stupid. When I see him again, what am I going to say to him?"
"How about, 'Hi Yamato. What's going on?'" I try to control my sarcasm but I can't help it. Stupid questions deserve stupid answers.
"Cute," she says. Some time passes.
"So now what are you going to do?" I venture to ask.
"The way I see it, I have two options: cry, enter a terrible cycle of self pity and eat a pint of frozen yogurt or cry, enter a terrible cycle of depression and eat a pint of chocolate ice cream."
I can't help but smile, "So you really have no clue what's in your future?"
"Do you Nostradamus?" Sometimes, Sora's snide comments rival mine.
I say, "You have some unfinished business. Start by talking to Taichi."
"No. Please don't tell me he likes me."
"In a very bad way."
"Bullshit. Oh, Koushirou, you have to be lying!"
I actually tear the phone from my ear and stare at it in disbelief. Am I the only person who every pays attention to others? "Everybody seems to be questioning me today," I say to Sora.
"I don't care about other people! I can't believe nobody told me this. And you've known this for a long time, haven't you? How long have you known?" Sora is practically shouting hysteria into the phone.
My, doesn't this conversation sound familiar? I lean back into the plush couch and feel my back muscles begin to relax.
"Does it really matter?" I ask.
"No," admits Sora, "Why is my life so complicated? What am I going to do?"
"Sora, this might sound strange, but I actually have an answer to your rhetorical questions."
"Go ahead. I'm game to hear your suggestion," says Sora.
"You can always elope with me," I suggest, "We can run away from the pressures of life, leave Yamato and Taichi behind wondering what happened, and start our life's anew on a small island in the West Indies."
A small giggle escapes from Sora, "That's an option I'll always consider. Listen Koushirou, I'm gonna try to get some sleep. We have class tomorrow morning and I haven't even started my homework. I don't even know where my books are." Sora says, "Thanks for listening to me."
"Any time," I say. I set the phone back onto its receiver. A wave of drowsiness washes over me and I simply want to fall into sleep. Before I do, I grab a pad of paper, jot down a note, tear off the top page and leave it on a math book resting on the floor by the door. Then I leap into Sandman's grasp.