** Finding You **
== Author Notes ==
Yes! I am still alive and well, much to the disappointment of the many sane people in the living world. Sorry for the late update. I meant to update this thing sometime last week, but I just never got the chance to do it. I seemed to be getting some case of writer's block. *sweatdrop*
Anyway, thank you all for the kind reviews. ^-^ Deeply appreciated, I assure you, but the mastermind behind the whole concept of this fic is really J-anne. I wuff you so much. You have no idea how much of a help your constant dictating and nagging is to me. *sweatdrop*
And last, I believe that I should warn you, for it may be in your best interest, that there is some rather sick humor here pertaining to Toki-chan. Huhuhuhu… I didn't know how else to divert attention, therefore… Well, I don't really want to give anything away. So, I suppose I'll stop there.
And no, I had no music to spur my mind into writing. My stereo's been taken. Well, actually, it's been borrowed. But it's all still the same. It's gone. So I'm really (beyond words) so very sorry if this chapter is a piece of horse crap. *sweatdrop*
****
…Fuuko…
Not bothering to switch on his light, Tokiya unbuttoned his shirt and carelessly draped it over the swivel chair that sat in the farther corner of his bedroom, letting the night air that drifted in through the open window cool his lean form. Sniffing in the clean air, he made his way to his bed and fell back on it in pure exhaustion.
He had walked around Shibuya for the last two hours with Mifuyu and Kaoru with nothing but a big headache and an image of a certain purple-haired girl who had once taken his breath away, and even more so now.
It was more than just a surprise to see the girl who had supposedly left him and all of Japan for a new life in the U.S. So many different emotions had attacked him as he saw that same girl once again standing before him at the ice cream parlor, and he had wanted more than anything to pull her aside and talk to her, but that hadn't happened. Upon seeing him, Mai had immediately gone straight to the point.
You should just back off for a while, ne Tokiya?
Something in what the blue-haired bopper had said triggered a nerve within him. What she said hurt. It was a fact that he had missed her while she was away, but it wasn't until now that he realized the true measure of how much Fuuko meant to him and how miserable he had been inside for the two months that she had been away.
Fuuko had left…and with her, she had taken his heart.
When she had decided to call it quits with him just weeks before her leave, he just couldn't understand why, but he didn't dare to approach her on the subject any further.
Was it something he did? Was it the way he had treated her? Didn't he give her all the attention and care that any guy could ever give to his girlfriend? And what was up with her having amnesia?
Tokiya would have allowed his mind to continue its musing had his sister not knocked on his door to announce dinner was ready.
"I'll be right down, nii-chan. Just gotta change."
"Hai."
Tokiya stood up and lazily dragged his feet across the carpeted floor to his closet, his mind now completely devoid of his previous thoughts.
****
Fuuko looked about her and saw nothing but darkness that seemed to stretch out forever. She walked this way and that, but seemed to go nowhere as if she were walking on a conveyer belt that was going in the opposite direction. It wasn't long when she heard the distant voice of a woman calling out to her. Though she didn't know whom the voice belonged to, it sounded very familiar as the voice continued to call out to her.
Fuuko…
Shaking her head, she broke into a run in the direction of the woman's voice.
It sounds so familiar…
The darkness began to spin in mad circles around her and Fuuko's knees began to give way as she felt herself go weak. It was only for a moment after she felt herself collide with the ground when she felt ice-cold drops of water splash against her body. The world seemed a blur to Fuuko and her head ached with confusion.
Carefully turning her head behind her, she recognized the large house of Mr. and Mrs. Kayden that stood in the darkness. It looked exactly the same as she had seen it last, but how she got to be on the land that it stood was beyond her.
"Fuuko, dear, what are you doing standing over there? Come, your parents are waiting for you."
Fuuko's confusion threatened to do massive mental damages to her head when she heard Mrs. Kayden's voice call out to her from the front of the house.
"Hurry, dear. You'll only catch a cold standing out in this rain."
Her voice sounded distant now and it seemed as if she and her husband were disappearing along with the house. Fuuko slowly brought herself to stand and trudged towards a black SUV. She was no longer controlling her body, or so it felt that way. Climbing into the back of the car, she mumbled some words that even she, though she was the one speaking, could not understand. The two shadows that sat in the front of the car only nodded and the driver backed up and began to drive down the winding mountain. The rain was merciless as it sent down waves upon waves of water.
Fuuko's senses slowly, and ever so slowly, returned to her and she felt a cold shiver run down her spine, and in the instant that she felt it, she was deafened by her own screams as the car skidded and tumbled down the wet pavement of the mountain.
Fuuko bolted up in bed to find herself in a cold sweat. A soft whimper escaped her lips as she felt every inch of her body ache with a mysterious pain. She shut her eyes tight to keep from crying out, but instead of seeing nothing as she had wished, the last parts of her dream began to replay itself in her mind. The image was clear and the feeling was fresh, and she felt as if she were still drowning in the nightmare.
Slowly climbing out of bed, Fuuko made every care to quietly tiptoe down to the kitchen to get herself something to drink. Maybe that would help to clear up her disillusioned mind.
It was almost 3 in the morning when she had looked at the red flashing lights of the digital clock on her bedside table. She didn't want to go back to sleep. The last thing she wanted was to be damned with more nightmares – she was afraid.
With a trembling hand, she carefully trudged into the living room, a glass of ice-cold water in one hand, and with the other she flicked the light switch on.
She squinted at the sudden change in brightness of the room and looked about in search of something she could busy herself with. There was really nothing there except the furniture and the stereo and the television set.
Fuuko really had no wish to listen to anything nor watch anything. Besides she did not want to wake her aunt or her cousin, especially after they had bestowed upon her nothing but kindness. The last thing she could do was be rude to them by making a ruckus or bothering them in their own home. So music and television was definitely out of the question. She was about to turn and head up the stairs when a large mass of books occupying a shiny, black bookshelf caught her eye. Stories – for some reason or other, she found herself in need of a story with a happy ending.
She vaguely recalled someone reading her stories before going to bed, but it seemed very shadowy in her memory, and she didn't bother to approach that further. It would only add to the already throbbing pain in her head.
Taking her free index finger, she slowly ran it across every one of the books on one of the rows of the shelf until it stopped, it seemed, on its own accord upon one of the books. She timidly slid it out of the bookcase and brought it over to the couch where she plopped herself down and made herself comfortable.
She didn't ever remember being the type that was a sucker for romance novels, but there was something about the main character that drew her to the book.
The protagonist was a soldier who was engaged to a woman in his hometown and promised that, after he returned from the war, they would exchange vows. But he was never able to carry out that promise, and the woman received news of his death in battle…
Fuuko could go on no longer when she felt her eyes give way to weariness and she fell asleep, curled into herself, her glass of water left untouched.
****
Fuuko's eyes fluttered open to the bright sunlight and the smell of pancakes and hot chocolate being prepared. At first she had no clue where she was, but after giving her brain time to recollect itself, she remembered everything that had happened the day before and early that morning.
Her wandering eyes caught sight of the glass of water that she had come down to get earlier that morning and never touched, the book she had been reading beside it.
Stretching a bit, she felt her face go a little hot in embarrassment when she realized that her aunt or Mai must have found her asleep on the couch and placed a blanket on her; yet she could not help but smile inwardly at their kindness.
"Fuuko-chan, good. You're awake."
Mai's voice piped in followed by her head popping out at the entrance to the living room.
"Get a good night's sleep?"
"Yes, thank you."
Mai looked at Fuuko as though she didn't believe the words coming out of her mouth but walked towards the chair across from Fuuko anyway. Her eyes caught sight of the book Fuuko had pulled out of the bookshelf and her brows furrowed in deep thought for a moment before she resumed her idiotic smiling.
"Like that book?"
"Oh, sorry for just taking it. I just really needed something to do to get my mind off of some things."
"I was just asking, Fuuko."
Mai smiled at her cousin's defensiveness.
"Oh. Well, I like it."
"Yeah. It was one of your favorite books…"
And so was his.
Silence filled the atmosphere for a brief number of minutes when Mai began to fidget again and looked at Fuuko.
"Hey, Fuuko, my friend just called me a few minutes before you got up and wanted me to come to her party. Wanna come? Mom already said we could go. She's gonna be out for a few days anyway – work calls you know."
Fuuko looked at her with a blank face and just shook her head.
"Why not?"
"I really doubt that I was invited in the first place."
"No. She said I could bring anyone that I wanted. C'mon, it'll be fun. Her parties are the greatest that this side of Japan has to offer."
Fuuko only smiled.
"Thanks for being so nice to me, Mai, but really, I think I'd rather be here."
Mai looked down dejectedly before answering, her voice matching her expression.
"Well, I guess in that case, I'll stay too. Can't leave my cousin all alone, you know." She gave Fuuko the best smile that she could muster at the moment.
It took Fuuko only one look at her cousin's face when she instantly felt guilty and began waving her hands in front of her frantically, a nervous smile clearly written all over her face.
"Ehh…Mai, I insist you go. And if your friend's parties are really the best, then the more I insist that you go. You can't miss out. I'll be fine here. Promise."
Mai gave her a skeptical look for a moment before jumping out of her seat and giving her cousin a big hug and a nonsense thanks. Her words came out in such mumbles that Fuuko could hardly decipher what she was trying to say.
"Thank you so much, Fuuko. I owe you one. Are you sure you'll be all right? Are you sure?"
"I'll be fine. Don't worry. Just have fun or whatever."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Positive."
"One-hundred percent positive?"
"Yes. Now quit pestering me or I'll change my mind." Fuuko gave Mai a wicked grin and she instantly took the hint and ran to the kitchen to help her mother with breakfast. Fuuko only shook her head before taking up her glass and walking to the kitchen herself.
****
"Look, I'm really sorry for leaving you and Mai like this, Fuuko, but it's one of those last minute things that just have to be done."
Fuuko shook her head and replied, "No, it's all right. After all, you are allowing me to stay here with you."
"You're a sweet child, Fuuko." She turned to Mai. "And make sure to take care of the house while I'm away and watch out for your cousin, okay?"
Fuuko blushed and looked at the ground while Mai nodded her head, indicating that she was going to obey her mother's orders. Mai's mother gave both girls a quick hug before having the taxi driver take her luggage to the cab while she followed in suite, her small briefcase in her grasp.
Both girls stood at the front of the gate and watched as the cab sped off before Mai turned to face Fuuko.
"Looks like the house is all ours…err yours for tonight anyway."
She grabbed Fuuko's arm and giddily ran into the house, her cousin flying behind her. Mai didn't let go until they reached her bedroom and Mai began rummaging through her closet for a decent outfit.
"Are you sure you don't wanna come? This is your last chance."
"Yeah. Don't worry about it. I'm sure."
Fuuko sat on Mai's bed and brought her legs up, crossing them Indian-style where the latter had left her upon entering the bedroom.
"Did I used to be like you?"
"Huh?"
Mai didn't turn to face her cousin but continued to fling various pieces of clothing around her room, much to Fuuko's wandering eyes.
"You know, go to parties and act as excited as you."
The last thing Mai threw behind her shoulder before she turned and leaned against the wall by the closet was a red and black plaid skirt. She looked at Fuuko with steady eyes and knew that this would be another of their more serious conversations.
"I guess so. You weren't as crazed as most other people, but you went." Her thoughts delved back into those days and a small smile made itself comfortable on her lips.
"You always wanted to go just to see Tok…"
Mai immediately shut her mouth, tensed, and hoped to as many gods as she could think of that Fuuko wouldn't question her any more. It seemed that the gods weren't in Mai's favor as one of Fuuko's brows shot up in question.
"Just to see…?"
"To see…" Mai was already hammering her brain to think up of another thing to say. She couldn't say "Tokiya", but then again, it wasn't as if Fuuko could care anyway. She didn't even remember the guy. So what harm could there be in telling her – still she didn't want to risk it. "To see…Tokyo."
Now Fuuko looked even more puzzled than ever.
"To see Tokyo." Fuuko's voice had that air of skepticism about it.
"Hai. You see, sometimes we would drive down to Tokyo for a few hours and just enjoy the sights. Lights there are really something you know." Mai turned back around and began rummaging through her closet once more for the mere reason that she didn't want Fuuko to see her face. Lying to Fuuko was the last thing she wanted to do.
"Right."
"Fuuko, your sarcastic side that has just popped out of nowhere is really starting to irritate me."
And both girls started laughing.
"I'll just leave you to get ready for your party. I'll be in my room unpacking."
"Yeah, you do that. I'll be here if you need me."
Fuuko hopped off of Mai's bed and walked out of the room and into her own room to attend to her own business. Meanwhile, Mai heaved out a long sigh of relief and rested herself, once again, against the wall next to her closet.
****
Tokiya pulled his hair up in a clean ponytail while grumbling something about certain persistent older sisters buttering up their younger brothers so much that they'd do what the former asked.
"You ready yet, Tokiya-chan?"
Mifuyu poked her head into Tokiya's bedroom fully clad in a black skirt and lavender turtleneck.
"Just about. I still can't believe you talked me into going to Kohryuu Nagoya's party. Do you know what kind of people she invites? She invites people from bums on the street to snobby rich people! That girl has some serious mental issues, you know that?"
"C'mon. Be nice, Tokiya-chan."
"Tch."
"Oh, I promise you'll have fun."
"You call being in a room with a bunch of ditzy-brained young ladies that want to get into guys' pants – well more precisely MY pants – and mingling with guys that get drunk before the party even starts fun!?"
Mifuyu gave her brother a silly grin as her face went red with embarrassment.
"You're exaggerating, Tokiya-chan. Not everyone there is like that. You just have to group with the right kinds of people."
"I can't help it if the WRONG kinds of people flock on over to me, you know."
Mifuyu gave him a sheepish smile.
"Can't blame you for being such a girl magnet either." She caught sight of her brother's defensive glare and instantly changed the subject. "But you're a responsible guy."
"Yeah, I know. How many times have you reminded me?" Tokiya sighed resignedly and smiled lovingly at his sister.
No matter how much she seemed to bother him at times with her "girly" habits, he couldn't help but thank Kami-sama that he had such a caring older sister. Tokiya rolled his eyes and strolled on out of his door, his sister clapping her hands and walking out with him.
"The weather has changed since this morning, ne?"
Tokiya locked the front door and turned around looking up at the looming, gray clouds in the sky.
"Yeah, definitely."
"Mou! The sun's gone." Mifuyu pouted as she waited for Tokiya to switch off the alarm and unlock the doors of the car.
Tokiya chuckled. Sometimes he wondered if she really were his older sister; a lot of the time it felt the other way around. It never used to be like that – at least not until he "grew up".
As soon as both siblings entered the car, Tokiya stepped on the gas and backed up from his driveway, ready to drive the next fifteen to twenty minutes to the Nagoya residence.
Silence invaded the space between the siblings before Mifuyu's voice decided to let its presence be known.
"Tokiya-chan, you've seemed a little tense the past day. Anything on your mind?"
Tokiya recognized the sudden change in his sister's voice and identified it as one of her serious-tell-your-older-sister-everything voice. By shutting up, he easily avoided further questioning, but it drove him insane to see his sister plead with her eyes, and he knew it was all out of pure concern and love. It seemed an eternity before Tokiya could find his voice.
"Fuuko."
"You mean, Kirisawa-chan? The sweet sophomore girl that moved with her family to the U.S.?"
It never ceased to amaze him how fast his sister's memory was.
"Hai."
"What about her?"
…her parents got into a car accident in the U.S…
"I saw her."
…lucky to come out of the accident alive…
"Really? That must have been great. Did you get to talk to her?"
…cost of her memory…
"No."
…you should back off for a while…
Tokiya nearly choked. "Mifuyu-chan, I don't really feel like talking right now. Gomen ne. Maybe later."
Mifuyu knew exactly when to leave her younger brother alone, and this happened to be one of those times. Mifuyu nodded her head slightly and averted her gaze to the road ahead of her, not catching a glimpse of the unbecoming frown that rested on Tokiya's forehead nor the strong determination in his eyes.
****
Fuuko fell back on her bed, the book she had been reading from the night before, clutched to her chest. Mai had left well over an hour ago, and Fuuko had done nothing during that span of time except look outside the living room window from where she sat on the couch, staring into absolutely nothing. Why she hadn't bothered to do anything else was beyond all thought. She didn't know the answer either.
Only when the sound of raindrops against the window reached her ears did she wake from her stupor. It had been bright and sunny earlier that morning and towards the afternoon the clouds started moving in. Only now did the rain begin to fall.
She wanted to sleep but the constant pitter-patter of the rain against the windowpane in her bedroom made her restless, and she found herself drawing little invisible designs in the air with her finger. Her stomach grumbled some here and there, and she longed to cook something but she and the kitchen were never the best of friends. Fuuko really had no wish of blowing up her aunt and cousin's house either.
The sun had already disappeared in the horizon and it would have been pitch-black outside were it not for the lampposts outside along the block. The sky was completely devoid of the moon and stars, and Fuuko felt a shiver run through her.
Curling up next to her pillow, she began to read the pages of the book where she had left off last, trying desperately to forget the rain and the darkness.
****
"Tokiya-sama, I just love your hair."
One of the so called "ditzy-brained" girls that Tokiya had mentioned earlier had already gotten hold of him and was about to attempt to playfully curl her fingers through his tresses when he swatted her hands away.
And not only was she "ditzy-brained" but she was also some kind of demented psychic. How the hell is it that all these obsessive girls know his name, his address, his phone number, his everything, but he doesn't one thing about them? Tokiya shuddered at the though of being the possible prey of women stalkers.
"Miss, I don't even know your name, and you're already putting the moves on me. May I suggest that we get to know each other better first?"
Tokiya groaned inwardly. He would really rather not get to know her better, but he didn't want to be rude.
"Oh how awfully impolite of me, ne, Tokiya-sama? I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Rinai." She let a giggle escape her lips and Tokiya cringed at her forced sweetness – at least it seemed forced.
"And how is it, may I inquire, that you know my name, Rinai-san?"
"Oh, you're so adorable when you pretend not to know these things." Rinai proceeded to pinch his cheeks playfully, and it took every ounce of human will power within him to keep from slapping the girl silly. How dare she!
Megami-sama, if you love me, you'll get me out of this! Please!
And indeed, the goddess did hear the young man's pleas and indeed loved him so, for at that moment he saw the one person in the whole party that could get rid of the annoying young lady.
"Mai-chan!"
The blue haired girl turned round at the sound of her name and saw Tokiya in the grasps of a lavender haired woman. If it were not for the expression on his face that sent her laughing uncontrollably, she would have wondered what he was doing there at Kohryuu's party and thanked the gods that Fuuko wasn't there with her at the same time. She continued to laugh as she staggered to get over to him. She didn't have to ask, for his face alone told her what he wanted.
"What are you laughing at?" Rinai asked, puzzled at the sudden girl's merry outburst.
"Gomen. Gomen, demo I just really think that it's funny that you and Tokiya…" Mai continued laughing.
"That me and Tokiya-sama what?"
"You see," Mai shook her head to regain all sense and composure, if she had those things at all, and started again, "Tokiya-kun is, well, gay."
Both Rinai and Tokiya's faces changed drastically. Rinai looked mortified, horrified, and embarrassed while Tokiya looked ready to violently pounce on Mai and rip her to shreds.
"Y…you're not serious. Is she, Tokiya-sama?" The quavering girl looked beside her and looked at Tokiya expectantly, somewhat slightly uneasy, but he didn't answer. He was still glaring daggers at the blue-haired teenager, steam practically coming out of his ears.
Mai continued smiling, obviously ignoring Tokiya, and paid more attention to Rinai.
"See? He's so shocked that his secret was revealed that he can't speak."
"Oh Kami-sama!" She slowly backed away from Tokiya. "I have to tell the other girls. Please excuse me." And with that Rinai rushed to her little groupie at the other side of the house.
Mai's smile widened about another ten miles as she slowly turned her head to Tokiya.
"Happy? Now she's gone."
The next thing Mai knew was her neck was the prime target of Tokiya's firm grip and she was slowly dragged to the more secluded area of the house – the balcony by the staircase, overlooking the indoor pool.
"Are you trying to ruin my reputation!?"
"Well, it's not like you really had a reputation anyway. Except maybe as a pretty boy."
Tokiya clenched his fists and shut his eyes tight.
"Mai, if I had absolutely no respect for women, you'd be dead now."
"Not unless you commit seppuku first."
Tokiya put his hands up in an attempt to strangle the girl some more and Mai ducked in order to avoid the violent gesture. She popped up back behind him and patted his shoulder gently.
"Okay, I'm sorry, but hey. Look at it this way, Tokiya, at least those girls won't bother you anymore."
"But was it really necessary to tell them that I was gay!? I happen to be very homophobic."
"Oh, calm down, Tokiya. Enjoy life and have fun with it. One day, you might find that your life has been taken from you and everything's changed and there's nothing you can do to revert things to the way it was."
Mai sighed deeply and leaned against the balcony, watching the people splash water at each other in the pool.
"…Fuuko."
At the sound of her cousin's name, Mai shot a sideways glance at Tokiya, who was leaning on his back against the balcony, his head pointed skyward.
"Look Tokiya, I've already told you. Back off."
Tokiya didn't say anything but continued to look up at the ceiling.
"Let her leave your mind for a while, okay? It'll be in your best interest if you care about her even a little. It'll do you some good, too."
"It's so easy for you to say that Mai. You get to see her everyday."
Mai was speechless for a moment when the obvious finally deadpanned her in the face.
"Oh jeez. You still like her don't you?"
The boy didn't answer.
"Sou ne. Well, I really should get going. The night is still young you know."
Mai walked away leaving Tokiya to sift through his thoughts once more. Mai hated to say or do anything that would cause pain to her friends and family, but sometimes, she knew that it was better that way.
She couldn't help but notice that her legs felt heavier as she strode into the kitchen where some of the guys, who saw her walk in, handed her a large bottle of sake, which she accepted openly.
****
Fuuko awoke to the sound of the doorbell. While reading the book that she had taken such a great liking to, she had fallen asleep. She looked over to her bedside table and read the flashing, red lights of her clock. It was already 10:30. It had been nearly 5 hours since Mai left the house, and the rain had not yet ceased mourning.
The sound of the doorbell ringing again brought Fuuko to her feet and she began her trudge down the stairs to the door.
Making her way through the house, Fuuko stumbled across many different kinds of furniture as she fumbled in the darkness for the light switch.
Reaching the front door, which to Fuuko seemed rather miraculous, she swung it open and was met with the same baby blues from the night before.
"Konban wa."
Fuuko remained speechless as she continued to look at him, forgetting that it was pouring outside getting the young stranger drenched to the bone.
She was too stunned at the sudden appearance of the young man who had made her heart a skip a beat or two at Shibuya, for some mysterious reason or other, that she had failed to notice her cousin in his arms, in a complete state of drunken stupor.
** Final Notes **
Strange how the really crappy chapters turn out to be longer (even if they are longer by only a few pages) than the better chapters. *sweatdrop* This chapter didn't come out as nice as I had expected or wanted it to be. *dies of embarrassment*
And about Mai and her statement about Toki-chan being gay… Gomen nasai, minna-chan! Gomen ne, Toki-chan. I was tempted. Yep, that's what I meant in the beginning when I said sick humor.
And yet another apology. Not only was this chapter late, cruddy, and twisted, but it didn't have too much Toki/Fuu. I'm so very sorry! Please forgive me. I promise the next chapter will be more of those two. Couldn't you tell from the ending? Nyahahah!! What a wonderful place to end a chapter. Cliffhanger!! Sorry. My evil streak is showing up. It'll pass, I assure you.
Lastly, we have disclaimers. All Recca no Honou characters belong to Anzai Nobuyuki-sama. Bow to his greatness, minna-chan. Hey if we suck up to him, he might let us adopt and copyright one of his characters. If that is ever possible, I get dibs on Toki-chan!! ^0^!! And all original characters, including Kohryuu Nagoya who was only mentioned but never presented and Rinai, belong to me. ^-^ Notice how all the orig characters are building up? Hehe. I think this is where I draw the line.