Adam walked out of the quiet house early one snowy morning two weeks later.
His hair was mussed, and he was wearing his glasses, as he was too lazy to
bother with his contacts. He slowly sipped a glass of hot Chai tea. Bending
down, he grabbed the morning paper and looked at it in exasperation before
returning to the house. He slipped off his boots and put on some old,
ragged house slippers that had belonged to Eiri's missing father. The cold
of the outside world had chilled him, as he was wearing only an undershirt,
boxers, and a silk robe. Walking into the living room, he flung himself
onto the couch and started examining the paper. His training in Mandarin
Chinese helped him little, and he realized that Eiri would be helpful in
deciphering the pictograms, as she had done every day since break.
Unfortunately, she had been sleeping in for the last week. In fact, she had slept in until almost noon every day after going to sleep as early as ten o'clock. This, obviously, had hindered his news reading, but he was starting to learn survival in the world of no translators. Sighing, he pulled out a kanji dictionary and plain Japanese dictionary that Eiri had given him for Christmas. After reading the first sentence, he became aware of rustling in Eiri's bedroom. He stood up and walked to the door, then slid the shoji open. Assuming that he would see her in bed, he was surprised that the bed was empty. Hearing sounds from the bathroom, he walked in there quietly.
Eiri was sitting Japanese-style in front of the toilet. She had one hand placed gingerly on her stomach and the other was moving to her face, which has hidden by her hair. Adam hurried over to her and pushed her hair from her face, revealing a very pale and sickly looking visage. Her skin was glimmering with fresh sweat and her eyes were blank. He rubbed her back softly and pulled her hair back quickly before she started throwing up. Her body shook tremendously, and after she was finished, she rested her chin on the seat. Adam reached over blindly and flushed the toilet, then stood up and wet a washcloth. Eiri's arms lay limply at her sides and she took shuddering breaths.
"Jesus Eiri..." he whispered to her as he bent down to wipe her face with the warm cloth.
She leaned back and laid her head against his shoulder. Her lips were chapped, and in general her entire complexion was pasty.
"I'm fine. I probably just have... food poisoning... or something..." she murmured between deep breaths.
He gathered her in his arms and then stood up. She hadn't eaten much in the last few days, and had noticeably lost weight.
"You can't get food poisoning when you don't eat. I'm going to take you to the hospital, Eiri. You appear to be very sick."
"What do you... know? It's not like you're a doctor... just a med student." Eiri said, smiling slightly as she closed her eyes.
"Yeah, not a doctor..." Adam said with a grimace.
Adam walked out of the bathroom with her curled in his arms. Her hair was not clean, and it had lost its normal sheen. Within seconds, she had fallen asleep. He held her closer and walked out to the garage, where his car which recently arrived from England was sitting. He slowly and carefully put Eiri in the passenger seat of the Z-8 and then he got in the driver's seat.
He backed out of the driveway and drove slowly to the hospital at which he was employed. He worried whether people in his psychological research department would see him and speak to him whilst Eiri was awake, but at her current rate of sleeping, people seeing him would be no problem. When they arrived, he parked in his labelled parking space and grabbed Eiri. Holding her in his arms, he walked into the hospital and arranged for an examination room and a doctor. He sat Eiri in a plushy seat in the waiting room and then sat beside her, holding her hand tightly as she slept.
Adam looked up as the doctor appeared seemingly out of nowhere and asked for Eiri. After helping Eiri up and watching the doctor take her away, Adam decided to check up on things in his side of the hospital. He made his way to the office of his associate and knocked lightly on the door before looking in.
Nakita Iwakura had his feet up on his desk, intently reading something in his hands. He looked up at the door as the knock resounded.
"It's open..."
"Haven't seen you in a few weeks... how are things going with your patient?" said Adam as he stepped in the office.
Nakita waved Adam to a seat.... "Well... Tak seems stable enough..."
Adam sat and put a hand against his face, exasperated. "I think I completely fucked up with my patient..."
"Should 'up with' be deleted from that statement?"
"Well, aren't you good at guessing..." Adam said, groaning.
"Hanging around Hime has that effect on me."
"Well, you and Hime... that's fine... but since my patient doesn't even turn 17 for a month..."
"You're legally in the clear... age of consent in Japan is 14... as a private citizen... as medic-patient... hell... I don't know... as for professional ethics....." Nakita shrugged.
"Oh no no, that's not the worst thing... seeing how she threw up this morning, my teenage patient is pregnant." Adam said, his tone slightly pissed. "Ah, and did I mention that my pay comes from her overprotective older sister?"
Nakita smacked his hand against his forehead... "You're screwed... and not in a good way..."
"It was fun while it lasted..." Adam said, looking blankly into the distance.
"Well... you can bail..... or hang around, weather the storm and play super hang on..."
"Well, she seems like the type to keep secrets... maybe we can just keep this between ourselves for a few... months... or so..." At that point, he just smacked himself in the forehead.
"My point exactly."
"Well... her sister stayed away for all of winter break... and she DOES live in Vermont... maybe she just won't come home." he said hopefully.
"Thought of using a surrogate mother?"
"Somehow, I don't think that Eiri would go for something like that... if she does this, she's going to go all the way through with it."
"So... going to stick around yourself?"
"Yeah, I mean... it's only fair."
"You realise, despite what Eiri says... you're going to be seen as the villain here..."
"Yeah... but if we thought what we did was sacred in some way... that it was okay, then that's all that matters."
"Her sister and mother might not see it that way..."
"Her parents are dead, and I'll just have to find a way to deal with her sister."
"Not expecting a favourable reaction?"
"Not at all. Her sister is one of those emotionally hardened widow mental hospital nurses..."
"And she who pays the piper calls the tune..."
"Eiri is good friends with her sister. Maybe she can tell her. Or maybe Natsumi doesn't have to know that I'm the father." He blinked a few times. "Yes... she doesn't have to know..."
"Well... I can't take the fall.... My little mutation's rendered me stone sterile.. "
"There has to be a classmate... or a neighbor... someone. God, I don't know... this is going to be interesting."
"Hmm... I might be able to find someone... but no guarantees...."
Adam looked down at his watch. "Eiri is probably getting out of the examination room about now..."
"Want some emotional support?"
"Sure, what the hell..."
Adam stood and walked to the door. Nakita extracted himself and followed. As Adam opened the door however, he looked down to see a petite redhead in front of him. In her hand, she was clutching a computer printout. She looked up at him and handed him the paper. Then... she preceded to smack him straight across the face. Feeling pleased with herself, Eiri Tsugoyaki stomped down the hallway.
"Eiri... wait..." he put his hand up, then turned around to look at Nakita. "Well, shit."
"OK... care to cue me in?"
"That is Eiri Tsugoyaki, and apparently she heard part of our conversation..." he said, rubbing his face.
"She ticked about being pregnant or you blabbing?"
"I... don't know..." he looked down at the computer printout that she had shoved in his hand. "Ah... fuck."
"That sounds like an inappropriate curse right now..."
"Great, what do I do now? She's going to get home, find all of my files, get even more pissed... I have to stop her."
"Well... you want me to help? Maybe divert her... explain why you were talking to me?"
"Yes... but what will be our excuse?"
"I'm a shrink. You needed help talking through your feelings for her."
He paused. "Okay... that will work."
"So... you head to your place... I divert Eiri? Or the other way around?"
"That'll work... I'll head home and hide my files, you find her."
"Gotcha." Nakita locked his office and took off at his not inconsiderable top speed.. shouting for security to stop that girl...
Adam ran down the hallway and headed to his car, hoping to hell she didn't get there before he did. He ran past the waiting room without a glance. Eiri sat complacently in the waiting room, sniffling softly. She still had on her pyjamas, which consisted of not-too-warm calf-length pantaloons and a long-sleeved blouse. She couldn't go outside like that, and had just bitch-slapped her ride home. Nakita suddenly skidded into the waiting room, looking for and finding Eiri.
/ Phew... she hasn't left yet... /
Eiri looked up at the man with tears glimmering in her eyes.
/Oh shit... rock... me... hard place.../ "You would be Eiri?"
"Yes... who are you, may I ask?" she murmured softly.
"I'm the shrink he was talking to. Iwakura Nakita."
She narrowed her eyes and looked down at the ground.
"What do you want?" she said through gritted teeth.
"I was helping him talk about the evident depth of feeling he has for you."
Eiri paused, then gripped her hands in front of her, squeezing until the knuckles were white. "Why was he talking to you like a familiar?"
"That wasn't the first session."
Her eyes grew wide and she looked up at him. "What?" A look of horror was cast over her pale face.
"I can't say any more in public without violating the confidence he's placed in me. Should we go somewhere a little more private?"
"So... he wasn't talking about me...?" she said almost inaudibly. She stood, staggering slightly, and looked up at the tall man.
"Where shall we go?"
"Well... you seem to know where my office is..."
She nodded.
When the pair arrived and entered... got comfortable... Nakita continued... "From what I gather... Natsumi.... won't be overjoyed..."
"Ah, yes, the stoic sister," Eiri said dryly. She looked down. "She'll probably make sure that Adam gets put with another English-speaking family in the area."
"One thing... are you two emotionally involved... or is there something more than that?"
"What do you mean? If you are implying that Adam is the father of my child, then you are precisely correct." she said, half-glaring at him.
Nakita's eyes widened... "That's ... news to me..."
Suddenly, there was a soft knocking on the door and Adam came in without waiting for permission. Eiri grasped one hand in the other and gripped with her nails until she drew blood just below her knuckles.
Nakita grabbed Eiri's hands and forced them apart... "Lay off the masochistic impulses for a while..."
Eiri sniffled as the blood ran down her hand and to the ends of her fingers, dripping small dots on the floor.
A loud crash sounded outside.... Nakita swore... "Excuse me... my brother's arrived..."
"Brother...?"
Nakita opened the door and dragged in a huge man with the same color hair as himself... stuffing said man into a corner of the office proved difficult...
"The no-door-using guy..." Eiri said almost to herself.
"You meet him at school?"
"He falls into my classroom almost everyday."
"Yeah... that's Tak..."
"I still haven't figured out how he does that..."
"Is he dead?" she whispered, looking at him fearfully.
Nakita checked... "No... he just banged what he uses for his head when he hit the floor. If he doesn't crack wise when he wakes up... I know something's wrong."
She slid her feet along the ground away from the conked-out Tak, then looked back at Nakita.
"Well.. want to come back another time?"
"I... guess."
Tak chose that moment to wake up...
A contrabass voice sighed... "Nakita... Nakita... you know Hime gets very annoyed if she don't join in..."
At the sound of Tak's voice, Eiri jumped out of her chair and looked down at Tak from afar. The larger, younger brother climbed to his feet as Nakita said, "Well... I told you so..."
Eiri whimpered and closed her eyes as Tak stood.
"Well, Eiri... Adam... when do you want to talk to me next?"
Eiri looked up and saw that she warmth she had leaned against was, in fact, Adam. He grabbed her around the waist.
"We'll come back tomorrow, Dr. Iwakura." said Adam, his eyes narrow with relief.
"OK... see you then..."
Adam pushed Eiri lightly out of the office, then turned his head to mouth 'Thank you' to Nakita. He didn't respond... was busy talking to his brother. Adam closed the door to the office and grabbed Eiri's hand before continuing down the hall.
______
Sometimes it was flattering, sometimes downright annoying. It all depended on approach. As Kei wandered through Harajuku, her purse now packed with supplies for jewelry creation, yet again she was hit on by a guy older than her, once again in a less than polite way. This would have been just another time, hadn't it been for the girl who decided to defend her.
"How disgusting, an old dog going for fresh meat!" the girl said as she flicked her white hair behind her shoulder and looked at the young girl. She was very pale, and probably from the big lout. Seika hated it when men hit on young girls. They were vulnerable, and Seika hated that feeling, she couldn't help but stick up for the other girl. Seika walked up to the man and put her hands on her hips, saying in an acrimonious voice, "Disgusting, and pitiful. Go find a gutter rat and fuck it, you have no business messing with a young girl like this and hurting her." She grabbed the younger girl's hand and started walking away.
As she was dragged along by Seika, Kei started giggling, which soon turned into laughter that made impossible for Kojirou to keep his still unperfected feminine voice. He startled the older girl, which stopped right on her tracks. Seika looked down with rather large eyes and blinked quite a few times. She turned and looked at the little... something, and said in a questioning voice, "Did I just hear something incorrectly or did you just laugh like a guy?" Seika wondered if she had just made a MAJOR mistake in helping out this little... person.
Kojirou was still trying to recover his breath, but he realized Seika was going nowhere until she heard an explanation. "Ahhhh... *gasp*... you see, that always happens when I laugh..." he tried to explain between giggling.
Seika looked skeptic at Kojirou, her hands now on her hips again, and she said in a sarcastic voice, indicating that she didn't really believe him, "What, sounding like a male, or attracting older men?" Seika studied the little person a little more, realizing she should have asked first instead of just going for the kill in helping.
Having regained his breath and stabilized the female voice again, he started to explain. "Yeaown, when I laugh I sound like a boy..." Kei smacked her forehead "But what am I thinking? Thanks for helping me back there! I'm Kei. What's your name?" she said, bowing gracefully.
Seika looked at Kei and smiled, letting out a long breath. She said in a her first nice voice since her introduction, "My name is Seika. It's my pleasure to help you Kei. What are you doing here anyways, and so young without someone to protect you from big louts like that?" She grinned at Kei and placed a hand on her head. It wasn't very often she was going to just introduce herself to someone she had just helped. She usually took them to a safe point and left without saying a word. /Dear lord, what IS the world coming to?/ she thought to herself.
Kei patted her purse, "It's a hobby of mine, making jewelry. I was here hunting for supplies. And I do have someone to protect me from big louts." she answered with a wink.
She laughed a little bit, catching the joke. She scratched her head and looked at Kei again. Seika was curious about the jewelry, she was quite fond of pretty things, though from just looking at you, you couldn't tell. "Quite a hobby Kei. I'm sure it'll get you somewhere in life. But for now, do you need anything else or can I walk you home?" She extended her hand again, indicating that Kei take it.
Kei smiled sweetly at her. "Would you like to have lunch with me? It's the least I can do after you hissed that guy away."
Seika nodded and poked at her pocket, "But it better be cheap, I'm short on money Kei." She winked, mimicking the gesture Kei had shown her.
"No, no... my treat." Kei answered shaking her head, which caused her pigtails to flutter cutely. "What would you like?"
Seika thought about what kind of food she'd like. Nothing came to mind, but a cold drink did. "How about a soda, I'm not hungry. And where would you like to go?"
"For me, any place that serves fried shiitake! You like it?"
Seika grinned and nodded, her hand still extended to take her to the restaurant to eat.
"Great!" Kei took the bigger girl's hand, being her time to drag her new friend around. She only stopped when she found a suitable place. "I hope you like traditional Japanese food." she said as she took off her shoes before entering.
Seika did the same and followed the younger girl. She seemed quite confident about the whole thing. Traditional Japanese food sounded good, but she americanized herself because of spite for her parents. She grinned and wondered if she could actually remember the manners that were forced on her so many years ago.
Kei chose a table for them and picked up the menu. She told Seika she could order anything she wanted, while choosing her own meal. As usual, it was a lot of sashimi and fried shiitake, Kei's favorite food in the whole world.
Seika followed Kei into their seats and sat, picking up a menu also and glanced at the food. She decided on just the crabmeat sushi, and grinned, ordering a soft drink with it. She wasn't too good with food, could never deal with it properly when eating it, but she loved to cook it.
As they waited for the food, Kei handed her purse to Seika. "I have some finished pieces here... want to take a look?" /Just hope she won't get scared at my bizarre sense of aesthetics.../
She grinned at Kei and put her hand up. "How about you show me your best pieces so far? I'm quite the clutz and I might break something, or lose it." Seika grinned from ear to ear, trying to look innocent.
"As you prefer..." she rummaged through her finished pieces, getting one of Kojirou's favorite rings from it. It was silver with blood red engraving, and had a complex pattern that reminded of veins and nerves. Taking the girl's hand, she put it on her finger.
Seika looked at the ring in awe. She'd never seen such a piece done. Then she looked at Kei. /And from such a young girl!/ She looked at the ring again and pressed her fingertips against the engravings. Very interesting and extremely pretty. "It's wonderful, you did it yourself?"
"I did do it myself, but the technique isn't mine. I learned it from a close friends of my sister's. If you look closely, these veins are blood inside glass tubes." At that point Seika was finding that pretty weird. A schoolgirl wearing cute clothes, with Hello Kitty accessories, and that kind of tastes...
She slowly slipped off the ring and handed it back, saying in a soft voice, "It's very pretty, you should keep it up Kei."
"Thank you! As you said, this can get me somewhere in life!" Kei answered cheerfully as she out the ring back in place, not before rubbing it against her skirt. "I could show you more, but our meal has arrived." she added as she turned her had to the waiter, who had brought the awaited food.
"Itadakimasu." she said softly before snapping her ohashi apart and starting to eat.
Seika smiled and nodded to the waiter and snapped her ohashi apart. She took a long drink of her soda first, and then started to eat.
The meal passed quite silently, as Kei most of the time had food in her mouth. Despite eating eagerly, she kept her grace. But of course, she couldn't help offering her friend some shiitake. "Have you ever tried this?" she asked as she held a mushroom close to Seika's mouth.
She bit down on the mushroom and chewed slowly, testing the flavor. She finished and smiled, saying, "Sorry, no I haven't. It's good though, thanks." Seika picked up a piece of crab that she had and put it close to Kei's mouth grinning, "Now try mine."
"Aaaah..." Kei opened her mouth wide and stuck out her tongue. She grabbed the meat in her mouth and waited for it to melt. The way Kei closed her eyes was a pretty good indication that she had liked it.
"Alright, then..." Kei said as she put her bowls right in the middle of the table. "Since we both like each other's, let's do it just like this."
Nodding and laughing softly, Seika pushed her plate to the middle of the table, but already felt almost full. She ate very slowly, letting Kei eat most of it, herself drinking her soda more.
And so lunch went on, until there was just one mushroom left. The polite thing to do for both was to let the other have it, but Kei wasn't very polite when it came to food.
"You want to janken or iai for it?" she asked with a wide grin.
Seika looked at the mushroom at then at Kei, she pushed the plate towards her. "Take it, I'm full." She patted her belly to prove it and winced teasingly.
"Aw, come on, just this little piece... let's iai, it will be fun." Kei answered as she got her ohashi ready.
Seika raised an eyebrow and shot Kei a look. "Do you even know what you're talking about little one?" She placed her hands in front of her and looked over Kei, a smirk on her face.
"Ara? Of course I know..." Kei answered with a pout. "Why, you don't?"
Seika smiled smugly and nodded. "Not a clue." She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.
Kei started giggling. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry...tee-hee! Ok, here's what you do... get your ohashi ready and keep you hand away from the bowl... I'll do the same, and set my watch to beep in 15 seconds. When it beeps, we both try to grab the mushroom. Whoever has the best reflexes gets it."
Seika shrugged and grabbed her ohashi and got ready. She glared at the other girl and looked menacing, though she was only playing the younger girls game. She said in a quiet voice, "Ready...?"
"Not yet... I got a better idea, by the way. When the music stops we do it." Kei set her MP3 player to a Kitaro tune, something you'd expect to see during a battle in a samurai movie. then she got her ohashi ready, testing them a few time. When she considered herself ready, she nodded and pushed play, breathing slowly while waiting for the music to stop.
Seika waited patiently for the music to stop, grinning a bit as she had an idea in her head. When silence set, Kei's arm moved like a striking snake. She grabbed the treat quickly, holding it before starting to eat. Then she turned to Seika, "Mou, you're not even trying... it's no fun this way!"
Her laughter broke the mood, she couldn't help it. "Kei, I told you I'm not hungry though! And I'm like an old lady compared to you, I'm slow" she put emphasis on the word slow. She grinned and offered Kei her drink.
"Ah, alright, alright..." Kei just grabbed the mushroom and ate it, a little disappointed. "But next time, you better fight for it!" she said in a fake stern voice before reaching out and getting Seika's soda. "Go training yourself until then." she tried to sound serious, but it was obvious she was suppressing a laugh of her own.
Seika's grin was bright as she looked at Kei. She was strange, but in a kawaii way. She couldn't help but feel fond of the little one. Seika again leaned back when Kei too the drink, putting her hands behind her head, she yawned and stretched a little bit. Kei stood up and went to pay for the meal. She didn't ask for the check as she didn't want Seika to see how much it cost. Then she came back to the table, gesturing for the older girl to stand up. Seeing Kei get up and pay, she put a dollar as tip on the table and stood up and followed Kei. She sighed softly and put her shoes back on, standing and waiting for Kei after she was done.
When both girls had left the restaurant, Kei turned to Seika, "So, where do you live? My home is pretty far away, so I don't know if you should walk me there... maybe it's better if I walk you home instead."
"I live pretty far as well, it'd be fun to walk you home." Seika smiled sweetly and stood waiting for Kei to choose the direction to go in.
"Well, whatever you prefer... let's get the subway then, and you take me home."
She grinned and nodded, starting in the direction of the subway. Seika was quite silent and kept going. When they came near the Mansion's front, Kei smiled and pointed to it. "That's my home. Wanna come in?"
Seika looked down at Kei and smiled, saying in a soft voice, "I'd like that."
Kei pushed the large metal doors, walking in. She gestured for Seika to follow. "Come in, I'll introduce you to onee-chan!"
Unfortunately, she had been sleeping in for the last week. In fact, she had slept in until almost noon every day after going to sleep as early as ten o'clock. This, obviously, had hindered his news reading, but he was starting to learn survival in the world of no translators. Sighing, he pulled out a kanji dictionary and plain Japanese dictionary that Eiri had given him for Christmas. After reading the first sentence, he became aware of rustling in Eiri's bedroom. He stood up and walked to the door, then slid the shoji open. Assuming that he would see her in bed, he was surprised that the bed was empty. Hearing sounds from the bathroom, he walked in there quietly.
Eiri was sitting Japanese-style in front of the toilet. She had one hand placed gingerly on her stomach and the other was moving to her face, which has hidden by her hair. Adam hurried over to her and pushed her hair from her face, revealing a very pale and sickly looking visage. Her skin was glimmering with fresh sweat and her eyes were blank. He rubbed her back softly and pulled her hair back quickly before she started throwing up. Her body shook tremendously, and after she was finished, she rested her chin on the seat. Adam reached over blindly and flushed the toilet, then stood up and wet a washcloth. Eiri's arms lay limply at her sides and she took shuddering breaths.
"Jesus Eiri..." he whispered to her as he bent down to wipe her face with the warm cloth.
She leaned back and laid her head against his shoulder. Her lips were chapped, and in general her entire complexion was pasty.
"I'm fine. I probably just have... food poisoning... or something..." she murmured between deep breaths.
He gathered her in his arms and then stood up. She hadn't eaten much in the last few days, and had noticeably lost weight.
"You can't get food poisoning when you don't eat. I'm going to take you to the hospital, Eiri. You appear to be very sick."
"What do you... know? It's not like you're a doctor... just a med student." Eiri said, smiling slightly as she closed her eyes.
"Yeah, not a doctor..." Adam said with a grimace.
Adam walked out of the bathroom with her curled in his arms. Her hair was not clean, and it had lost its normal sheen. Within seconds, she had fallen asleep. He held her closer and walked out to the garage, where his car which recently arrived from England was sitting. He slowly and carefully put Eiri in the passenger seat of the Z-8 and then he got in the driver's seat.
He backed out of the driveway and drove slowly to the hospital at which he was employed. He worried whether people in his psychological research department would see him and speak to him whilst Eiri was awake, but at her current rate of sleeping, people seeing him would be no problem. When they arrived, he parked in his labelled parking space and grabbed Eiri. Holding her in his arms, he walked into the hospital and arranged for an examination room and a doctor. He sat Eiri in a plushy seat in the waiting room and then sat beside her, holding her hand tightly as she slept.
Adam looked up as the doctor appeared seemingly out of nowhere and asked for Eiri. After helping Eiri up and watching the doctor take her away, Adam decided to check up on things in his side of the hospital. He made his way to the office of his associate and knocked lightly on the door before looking in.
Nakita Iwakura had his feet up on his desk, intently reading something in his hands. He looked up at the door as the knock resounded.
"It's open..."
"Haven't seen you in a few weeks... how are things going with your patient?" said Adam as he stepped in the office.
Nakita waved Adam to a seat.... "Well... Tak seems stable enough..."
Adam sat and put a hand against his face, exasperated. "I think I completely fucked up with my patient..."
"Should 'up with' be deleted from that statement?"
"Well, aren't you good at guessing..." Adam said, groaning.
"Hanging around Hime has that effect on me."
"Well, you and Hime... that's fine... but since my patient doesn't even turn 17 for a month..."
"You're legally in the clear... age of consent in Japan is 14... as a private citizen... as medic-patient... hell... I don't know... as for professional ethics....." Nakita shrugged.
"Oh no no, that's not the worst thing... seeing how she threw up this morning, my teenage patient is pregnant." Adam said, his tone slightly pissed. "Ah, and did I mention that my pay comes from her overprotective older sister?"
Nakita smacked his hand against his forehead... "You're screwed... and not in a good way..."
"It was fun while it lasted..." Adam said, looking blankly into the distance.
"Well... you can bail..... or hang around, weather the storm and play super hang on..."
"Well, she seems like the type to keep secrets... maybe we can just keep this between ourselves for a few... months... or so..." At that point, he just smacked himself in the forehead.
"My point exactly."
"Well... her sister stayed away for all of winter break... and she DOES live in Vermont... maybe she just won't come home." he said hopefully.
"Thought of using a surrogate mother?"
"Somehow, I don't think that Eiri would go for something like that... if she does this, she's going to go all the way through with it."
"So... going to stick around yourself?"
"Yeah, I mean... it's only fair."
"You realise, despite what Eiri says... you're going to be seen as the villain here..."
"Yeah... but if we thought what we did was sacred in some way... that it was okay, then that's all that matters."
"Her sister and mother might not see it that way..."
"Her parents are dead, and I'll just have to find a way to deal with her sister."
"Not expecting a favourable reaction?"
"Not at all. Her sister is one of those emotionally hardened widow mental hospital nurses..."
"And she who pays the piper calls the tune..."
"Eiri is good friends with her sister. Maybe she can tell her. Or maybe Natsumi doesn't have to know that I'm the father." He blinked a few times. "Yes... she doesn't have to know..."
"Well... I can't take the fall.... My little mutation's rendered me stone sterile.. "
"There has to be a classmate... or a neighbor... someone. God, I don't know... this is going to be interesting."
"Hmm... I might be able to find someone... but no guarantees...."
Adam looked down at his watch. "Eiri is probably getting out of the examination room about now..."
"Want some emotional support?"
"Sure, what the hell..."
Adam stood and walked to the door. Nakita extracted himself and followed. As Adam opened the door however, he looked down to see a petite redhead in front of him. In her hand, she was clutching a computer printout. She looked up at him and handed him the paper. Then... she preceded to smack him straight across the face. Feeling pleased with herself, Eiri Tsugoyaki stomped down the hallway.
"Eiri... wait..." he put his hand up, then turned around to look at Nakita. "Well, shit."
"OK... care to cue me in?"
"That is Eiri Tsugoyaki, and apparently she heard part of our conversation..." he said, rubbing his face.
"She ticked about being pregnant or you blabbing?"
"I... don't know..." he looked down at the computer printout that she had shoved in his hand. "Ah... fuck."
"That sounds like an inappropriate curse right now..."
"Great, what do I do now? She's going to get home, find all of my files, get even more pissed... I have to stop her."
"Well... you want me to help? Maybe divert her... explain why you were talking to me?"
"Yes... but what will be our excuse?"
"I'm a shrink. You needed help talking through your feelings for her."
He paused. "Okay... that will work."
"So... you head to your place... I divert Eiri? Or the other way around?"
"That'll work... I'll head home and hide my files, you find her."
"Gotcha." Nakita locked his office and took off at his not inconsiderable top speed.. shouting for security to stop that girl...
Adam ran down the hallway and headed to his car, hoping to hell she didn't get there before he did. He ran past the waiting room without a glance. Eiri sat complacently in the waiting room, sniffling softly. She still had on her pyjamas, which consisted of not-too-warm calf-length pantaloons and a long-sleeved blouse. She couldn't go outside like that, and had just bitch-slapped her ride home. Nakita suddenly skidded into the waiting room, looking for and finding Eiri.
/ Phew... she hasn't left yet... /
Eiri looked up at the man with tears glimmering in her eyes.
/Oh shit... rock... me... hard place.../ "You would be Eiri?"
"Yes... who are you, may I ask?" she murmured softly.
"I'm the shrink he was talking to. Iwakura Nakita."
She narrowed her eyes and looked down at the ground.
"What do you want?" she said through gritted teeth.
"I was helping him talk about the evident depth of feeling he has for you."
Eiri paused, then gripped her hands in front of her, squeezing until the knuckles were white. "Why was he talking to you like a familiar?"
"That wasn't the first session."
Her eyes grew wide and she looked up at him. "What?" A look of horror was cast over her pale face.
"I can't say any more in public without violating the confidence he's placed in me. Should we go somewhere a little more private?"
"So... he wasn't talking about me...?" she said almost inaudibly. She stood, staggering slightly, and looked up at the tall man.
"Where shall we go?"
"Well... you seem to know where my office is..."
She nodded.
When the pair arrived and entered... got comfortable... Nakita continued... "From what I gather... Natsumi.... won't be overjoyed..."
"Ah, yes, the stoic sister," Eiri said dryly. She looked down. "She'll probably make sure that Adam gets put with another English-speaking family in the area."
"One thing... are you two emotionally involved... or is there something more than that?"
"What do you mean? If you are implying that Adam is the father of my child, then you are precisely correct." she said, half-glaring at him.
Nakita's eyes widened... "That's ... news to me..."
Suddenly, there was a soft knocking on the door and Adam came in without waiting for permission. Eiri grasped one hand in the other and gripped with her nails until she drew blood just below her knuckles.
Nakita grabbed Eiri's hands and forced them apart... "Lay off the masochistic impulses for a while..."
Eiri sniffled as the blood ran down her hand and to the ends of her fingers, dripping small dots on the floor.
A loud crash sounded outside.... Nakita swore... "Excuse me... my brother's arrived..."
"Brother...?"
Nakita opened the door and dragged in a huge man with the same color hair as himself... stuffing said man into a corner of the office proved difficult...
"The no-door-using guy..." Eiri said almost to herself.
"You meet him at school?"
"He falls into my classroom almost everyday."
"Yeah... that's Tak..."
"I still haven't figured out how he does that..."
"Is he dead?" she whispered, looking at him fearfully.
Nakita checked... "No... he just banged what he uses for his head when he hit the floor. If he doesn't crack wise when he wakes up... I know something's wrong."
She slid her feet along the ground away from the conked-out Tak, then looked back at Nakita.
"Well.. want to come back another time?"
"I... guess."
Tak chose that moment to wake up...
A contrabass voice sighed... "Nakita... Nakita... you know Hime gets very annoyed if she don't join in..."
At the sound of Tak's voice, Eiri jumped out of her chair and looked down at Tak from afar. The larger, younger brother climbed to his feet as Nakita said, "Well... I told you so..."
Eiri whimpered and closed her eyes as Tak stood.
"Well, Eiri... Adam... when do you want to talk to me next?"
Eiri looked up and saw that she warmth she had leaned against was, in fact, Adam. He grabbed her around the waist.
"We'll come back tomorrow, Dr. Iwakura." said Adam, his eyes narrow with relief.
"OK... see you then..."
Adam pushed Eiri lightly out of the office, then turned his head to mouth 'Thank you' to Nakita. He didn't respond... was busy talking to his brother. Adam closed the door to the office and grabbed Eiri's hand before continuing down the hall.
______
Sometimes it was flattering, sometimes downright annoying. It all depended on approach. As Kei wandered through Harajuku, her purse now packed with supplies for jewelry creation, yet again she was hit on by a guy older than her, once again in a less than polite way. This would have been just another time, hadn't it been for the girl who decided to defend her.
"How disgusting, an old dog going for fresh meat!" the girl said as she flicked her white hair behind her shoulder and looked at the young girl. She was very pale, and probably from the big lout. Seika hated it when men hit on young girls. They were vulnerable, and Seika hated that feeling, she couldn't help but stick up for the other girl. Seika walked up to the man and put her hands on her hips, saying in an acrimonious voice, "Disgusting, and pitiful. Go find a gutter rat and fuck it, you have no business messing with a young girl like this and hurting her." She grabbed the younger girl's hand and started walking away.
As she was dragged along by Seika, Kei started giggling, which soon turned into laughter that made impossible for Kojirou to keep his still unperfected feminine voice. He startled the older girl, which stopped right on her tracks. Seika looked down with rather large eyes and blinked quite a few times. She turned and looked at the little... something, and said in a questioning voice, "Did I just hear something incorrectly or did you just laugh like a guy?" Seika wondered if she had just made a MAJOR mistake in helping out this little... person.
Kojirou was still trying to recover his breath, but he realized Seika was going nowhere until she heard an explanation. "Ahhhh... *gasp*... you see, that always happens when I laugh..." he tried to explain between giggling.
Seika looked skeptic at Kojirou, her hands now on her hips again, and she said in a sarcastic voice, indicating that she didn't really believe him, "What, sounding like a male, or attracting older men?" Seika studied the little person a little more, realizing she should have asked first instead of just going for the kill in helping.
Having regained his breath and stabilized the female voice again, he started to explain. "Yeaown, when I laugh I sound like a boy..." Kei smacked her forehead "But what am I thinking? Thanks for helping me back there! I'm Kei. What's your name?" she said, bowing gracefully.
Seika looked at Kei and smiled, letting out a long breath. She said in a her first nice voice since her introduction, "My name is Seika. It's my pleasure to help you Kei. What are you doing here anyways, and so young without someone to protect you from big louts like that?" She grinned at Kei and placed a hand on her head. It wasn't very often she was going to just introduce herself to someone she had just helped. She usually took them to a safe point and left without saying a word. /Dear lord, what IS the world coming to?/ she thought to herself.
Kei patted her purse, "It's a hobby of mine, making jewelry. I was here hunting for supplies. And I do have someone to protect me from big louts." she answered with a wink.
She laughed a little bit, catching the joke. She scratched her head and looked at Kei again. Seika was curious about the jewelry, she was quite fond of pretty things, though from just looking at you, you couldn't tell. "Quite a hobby Kei. I'm sure it'll get you somewhere in life. But for now, do you need anything else or can I walk you home?" She extended her hand again, indicating that Kei take it.
Kei smiled sweetly at her. "Would you like to have lunch with me? It's the least I can do after you hissed that guy away."
Seika nodded and poked at her pocket, "But it better be cheap, I'm short on money Kei." She winked, mimicking the gesture Kei had shown her.
"No, no... my treat." Kei answered shaking her head, which caused her pigtails to flutter cutely. "What would you like?"
Seika thought about what kind of food she'd like. Nothing came to mind, but a cold drink did. "How about a soda, I'm not hungry. And where would you like to go?"
"For me, any place that serves fried shiitake! You like it?"
Seika grinned and nodded, her hand still extended to take her to the restaurant to eat.
"Great!" Kei took the bigger girl's hand, being her time to drag her new friend around. She only stopped when she found a suitable place. "I hope you like traditional Japanese food." she said as she took off her shoes before entering.
Seika did the same and followed the younger girl. She seemed quite confident about the whole thing. Traditional Japanese food sounded good, but she americanized herself because of spite for her parents. She grinned and wondered if she could actually remember the manners that were forced on her so many years ago.
Kei chose a table for them and picked up the menu. She told Seika she could order anything she wanted, while choosing her own meal. As usual, it was a lot of sashimi and fried shiitake, Kei's favorite food in the whole world.
Seika followed Kei into their seats and sat, picking up a menu also and glanced at the food. She decided on just the crabmeat sushi, and grinned, ordering a soft drink with it. She wasn't too good with food, could never deal with it properly when eating it, but she loved to cook it.
As they waited for the food, Kei handed her purse to Seika. "I have some finished pieces here... want to take a look?" /Just hope she won't get scared at my bizarre sense of aesthetics.../
She grinned at Kei and put her hand up. "How about you show me your best pieces so far? I'm quite the clutz and I might break something, or lose it." Seika grinned from ear to ear, trying to look innocent.
"As you prefer..." she rummaged through her finished pieces, getting one of Kojirou's favorite rings from it. It was silver with blood red engraving, and had a complex pattern that reminded of veins and nerves. Taking the girl's hand, she put it on her finger.
Seika looked at the ring in awe. She'd never seen such a piece done. Then she looked at Kei. /And from such a young girl!/ She looked at the ring again and pressed her fingertips against the engravings. Very interesting and extremely pretty. "It's wonderful, you did it yourself?"
"I did do it myself, but the technique isn't mine. I learned it from a close friends of my sister's. If you look closely, these veins are blood inside glass tubes." At that point Seika was finding that pretty weird. A schoolgirl wearing cute clothes, with Hello Kitty accessories, and that kind of tastes...
She slowly slipped off the ring and handed it back, saying in a soft voice, "It's very pretty, you should keep it up Kei."
"Thank you! As you said, this can get me somewhere in life!" Kei answered cheerfully as she out the ring back in place, not before rubbing it against her skirt. "I could show you more, but our meal has arrived." she added as she turned her had to the waiter, who had brought the awaited food.
"Itadakimasu." she said softly before snapping her ohashi apart and starting to eat.
Seika smiled and nodded to the waiter and snapped her ohashi apart. She took a long drink of her soda first, and then started to eat.
The meal passed quite silently, as Kei most of the time had food in her mouth. Despite eating eagerly, she kept her grace. But of course, she couldn't help offering her friend some shiitake. "Have you ever tried this?" she asked as she held a mushroom close to Seika's mouth.
She bit down on the mushroom and chewed slowly, testing the flavor. She finished and smiled, saying, "Sorry, no I haven't. It's good though, thanks." Seika picked up a piece of crab that she had and put it close to Kei's mouth grinning, "Now try mine."
"Aaaah..." Kei opened her mouth wide and stuck out her tongue. She grabbed the meat in her mouth and waited for it to melt. The way Kei closed her eyes was a pretty good indication that she had liked it.
"Alright, then..." Kei said as she put her bowls right in the middle of the table. "Since we both like each other's, let's do it just like this."
Nodding and laughing softly, Seika pushed her plate to the middle of the table, but already felt almost full. She ate very slowly, letting Kei eat most of it, herself drinking her soda more.
And so lunch went on, until there was just one mushroom left. The polite thing to do for both was to let the other have it, but Kei wasn't very polite when it came to food.
"You want to janken or iai for it?" she asked with a wide grin.
Seika looked at the mushroom at then at Kei, she pushed the plate towards her. "Take it, I'm full." She patted her belly to prove it and winced teasingly.
"Aw, come on, just this little piece... let's iai, it will be fun." Kei answered as she got her ohashi ready.
Seika raised an eyebrow and shot Kei a look. "Do you even know what you're talking about little one?" She placed her hands in front of her and looked over Kei, a smirk on her face.
"Ara? Of course I know..." Kei answered with a pout. "Why, you don't?"
Seika smiled smugly and nodded. "Not a clue." She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.
Kei started giggling. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry...tee-hee! Ok, here's what you do... get your ohashi ready and keep you hand away from the bowl... I'll do the same, and set my watch to beep in 15 seconds. When it beeps, we both try to grab the mushroom. Whoever has the best reflexes gets it."
Seika shrugged and grabbed her ohashi and got ready. She glared at the other girl and looked menacing, though she was only playing the younger girls game. She said in a quiet voice, "Ready...?"
"Not yet... I got a better idea, by the way. When the music stops we do it." Kei set her MP3 player to a Kitaro tune, something you'd expect to see during a battle in a samurai movie. then she got her ohashi ready, testing them a few time. When she considered herself ready, she nodded and pushed play, breathing slowly while waiting for the music to stop.
Seika waited patiently for the music to stop, grinning a bit as she had an idea in her head. When silence set, Kei's arm moved like a striking snake. She grabbed the treat quickly, holding it before starting to eat. Then she turned to Seika, "Mou, you're not even trying... it's no fun this way!"
Her laughter broke the mood, she couldn't help it. "Kei, I told you I'm not hungry though! And I'm like an old lady compared to you, I'm slow" she put emphasis on the word slow. She grinned and offered Kei her drink.
"Ah, alright, alright..." Kei just grabbed the mushroom and ate it, a little disappointed. "But next time, you better fight for it!" she said in a fake stern voice before reaching out and getting Seika's soda. "Go training yourself until then." she tried to sound serious, but it was obvious she was suppressing a laugh of her own.
Seika's grin was bright as she looked at Kei. She was strange, but in a kawaii way. She couldn't help but feel fond of the little one. Seika again leaned back when Kei too the drink, putting her hands behind her head, she yawned and stretched a little bit. Kei stood up and went to pay for the meal. She didn't ask for the check as she didn't want Seika to see how much it cost. Then she came back to the table, gesturing for the older girl to stand up. Seeing Kei get up and pay, she put a dollar as tip on the table and stood up and followed Kei. She sighed softly and put her shoes back on, standing and waiting for Kei after she was done.
When both girls had left the restaurant, Kei turned to Seika, "So, where do you live? My home is pretty far away, so I don't know if you should walk me there... maybe it's better if I walk you home instead."
"I live pretty far as well, it'd be fun to walk you home." Seika smiled sweetly and stood waiting for Kei to choose the direction to go in.
"Well, whatever you prefer... let's get the subway then, and you take me home."
She grinned and nodded, starting in the direction of the subway. Seika was quite silent and kept going. When they came near the Mansion's front, Kei smiled and pointed to it. "That's my home. Wanna come in?"
Seika looked down at Kei and smiled, saying in a soft voice, "I'd like that."
Kei pushed the large metal doors, walking in. She gestured for Seika to follow. "Come in, I'll introduce you to onee-chan!"