Part Eleven
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If you could see the love in my eyes
You should know that I'm on your side
~What Will I Do~ (CAGNET)
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(At the noodle stand later that night)
Yamato sighed and stared at his bandaged hand.
"Are you ordering anything?" the cook asked him snapping him out of
his thoughts.
"Oh, yeah," Yamato said. "The usual.."
"All right," the cook said. "What happened to your lady friend?"
"What?" Yamato said cluelessly.
"You know.." the cook said. "The cute pink haired woman.
Haven't seen her around lately."
"Oh," he said. "She moved..."
"Oh.. That's too bad.. It gets kinda lonely without her
around..."
"Yeah..." Yamato nodded with a forced smile as the cook walked away.
"....It sure does..."
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Yamato walked in his apartement. He sighed to himself as he was
about to say 'Tadaima' but didn't.
He quickly set his bag down and opened the fridge. He took out
a bottle of water and grabbed a glass from the counter. He stared
at it for a while...
**flashback**
After she took her shower she went into the fridge and grabbed a large
bottle of water. Yamato walked out of his room, also wanting to get
a glass of water. She opened the bottle and started drinking right from
it. Yamato saw that and tapped her shoulder. She looked at
him, still drinking from the bottle, then, put it down.
"Hmm??"
"Next time you're gonna drink water," he said handing a glass to her.
"Use this."
She looked at it for a couple of seconds, then a mischevious grin swept
across her face.
"Ah..." she said slyly. "I see..."
"What?"
"You're afraid right?!"
"A-Afraid?! Of what?!"
"You're afraid that with this, our lips will somehow be connected!!
Like... a.... kiss!!" she laughed placing the tip of her fingers
from her lips, to the mouth of the bottle, then to his at every syllable.
He growled at her annoyingly wiping his lips.
**end of flashback**
Yamato Ishida opened the cap, stared at it for a minute, then put his
glass down as he drank it straight from the bottle. Just then the
doorbell rang. He quickly ran to the door hoping she would show up,
but she didn't.
"Yamato! Nice to meet you again old buddy!! Don't think
I only came here back then just to see my sister!" Ryuichi said with a
big smile walking in and patting him on the shoulders. "Hey...."
he said as he touched the piano. "Why is it locked?"
"Oh..." Yamato said. "I'm... Selling it..."
"Why is that?"
"I... I just don't think I'm cut out for it... Maybe I
should try some new goal in life..."
"Oh I see..." Ryuichi nodded. "I thought the same thing before
selling mine too. But... I still do it as a hobby!! By the
way, what happened to your hand?.."
"Er..." Yamato said getting uncomfortable with the conversation.
"Why are you here anyways?"
"Well..." ryuichi started. "I was thinking.. That since
you no longer have a roomate and I have nowhere else to live in since Rumiko
kicked me out.. I thought that maybe..."
"Why don't you stay with Mari?"
"Come on," Ryuichi said. "She's not that kind of girl you know..."
"I know..."
"So...." Ryuichi said waiting for an answer.
"So you can live here.." Yamato sighed. "But! You have
to pay the rent!"
"Of course!!"
"And... I won't be here on thursday afternoon next week when
the piano movers wants to take the piano.. Can you take care of that
for me?"
"Sure!!"
"Great.. When are you moving in?"
"Well..." Ryuichi said. as he looked out the window to take a look
at his truck outside. "Does right now sound okay?"
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(The next moring at a cafe)
Mimi closed the menu as the waitress walked away. She looked at
her brother.
"So you've moved in with Yamato?" she asked.
"Yep!"
"That's... Good..." she said slowly. "Hey! I'm have
a day off on next thursday afternoon! Let's go shopping!!"
"Er..." Ryuichi said. "Actually.. I promised Yamato to
take care of the piano movers."
"Piano movers?..."
"Oh," Ryuichi said taking a sip of his coffee. "He's selling
it. He quit being a pianist."
"What?! What does he think he's doing?!!!" she yelled standing
up as all eyes in the cafe turned to her. "I mean.. What does
he do now?.." she said sitting back down.
"He's a salesman..."
"A what?...." she said unbelievably.
"A salesman. He works at the men's departement store? Didn't
you know?"
"N-No......" she said with her head down and her teeth clenched.
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(In the departement store)
Yamato Ishida wrapped the tie in a plastic bag and handed it to the
next customer. As the customer walked away, he heard a woman's voice
calling.
"excuse me!" the woman behind him said. "Can you help me over
here?!"
He sighed and turned to the woman. When he realized who it was
he stopped. Then, he walked to the woman. It was Mimi.
Looking at him with an expressionless face.
"How may I help you?" he said uncomfortably.
"How much is this tie?" she said sternly.
"Er.. ¥ 5000" he said. She looked at him for a while
then back at the tie. She placed the tie on his chest then took it
back. "It must be.. For someone special..."
She said nothing and expressed nothing. She rummaged in her purse
and pulled out a ¥ 5000 and gave it to him. She folded the tie
and placed it in his shirt pocket.
"What are you doing?!" he said.
"It's for you... To wear at the contest..." she said as she was
about to walk away. But he took her hand.
(Outside the store)
"What are you doing here?" he sighed.
"To give you a tie to wear at the contest," she said laughing stiffly.
"I guess you already know that I'm not going to enter the contest.."
"Yamato you can't do this!" she yelled at him on the verge of tears.
"You can't just give up something that's important to you just like that!"
"What do you know?!" he yelled back. "What do you of what's important
to me?! There are signs everywhere!! My hand!! The two
me that offered me a record deal and told me that even if I join the contest
I won't win!! I won't succeed because I don't have what it takes
dammit!!!"
"You do!!" she said as she looked straight in his eyes.
"I don't! The only thing that'll save me is a miracle and I don't
think Miracles do exist!" he shouted as he leaned back on the wall.
"You don't believe in miracles?..." she said as tears flooded her face.
"No..." he said. "I don't... My long vacation is over Mimi...
It's time to face the truth..."
"I love...." she said pausing as he turned to her. "Your music...
It makes me feel better... And that song... That was the only
thing on my mind when Michael left me... Yamato.. Don't quit.."
He turned his back to her also fighting the tears. "I have to
go.. My five minutes are up."
And with that, he went back in the building, leaving her behind.
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(At night in Mimi's apartement with Ryuichi)
"Dum.. Dum Dum Dum.. Dum.." Mimi finished the last chord
of the song then turned to Ryuichi. "Do you know what song that is?..."
"Hmmm," Ryuichi said. "I'm not really sure what it's called,
but I can write it the music for you.."
"But I don't know how to read music."
"Oh yeah.." he said. "You reading music will be a miracle..."
Mimi stopped and turned to her brother again. "On second thought..
Write it out for me.."
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(In a piano school the next day)
"Hello," Mimi waved to the little kids sitting beside their keyboards. "My name is Mimi, and I will be learning in this class!"
Over the next couple of days, Mimi bought a keyboard and spent all her free time learing how to read music.
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(The next thursday)
Yamato Ishida walked along the sidewalk of the apartement building.
As he walked he stopped. Familiar music rung in his ears. He
looked on to his apartement window and ran in the building.
He ran up the stairs and quickly opened the door to his apartement.
He panted for breath as he closed the door. There was Mimi, sitting
on a piano, playing the song.
"What are you doing?..." he swallowed his tears as he leaned on the
door.
She didn't answer but kept playing.
He collapsed and sat down on the ground with tears falling unconsciously
from his eyes.
"Why...." Yamato chocked out after she finished playing. "Why
are you doing this to me?..."
To be continued....
