PART FOUR

Bitter encounters

Yanagi was snapped widely awake. She immediately felt all sorts of pain from her head to her toes and it came to her that she had fallen on the floor. Luckily it was carpeted.

She groaned and tried to sit up, looking back longingly at the bed she was supposed to be in. Unfortunately, some sort of stampede was going on in it at the moment, because Fuuko was waving her legs around like she was trying to swim, and her arms were flailing up and down, her fists balled. Yanagi was going to get a heart attack if she climbed back into that bed. Not to mention she might get confined in a hospital for who knows how long.

Yanagi sighed and stood up, glancing at the wall clock. 8:15 am. In about thirty minutes' time she would be leaving with the gang to see the sights. It was too bad Mikagami-sempai wouldn't be able to be with them, as she had expected.

Fuuko had told her everything that happened the night before. And as much as Yanagi and the others were surprised, no one could be more in shock than Fuuko herself. She had pretty much spent the entire night after the incident sitting in one corner and staring out into space. No matter how much Yanagi had wanted to comfort her, she couldn't do anything about it. She knew that Fuuko had just suffered the biggest disappointment anyone could ever have.

Yanagi grabbed her bathrobe in the cabinet and headed for the bathroom, taking one last glance at the rampaging Fuuko on her bed. I'm sorry it didn't go the way you may have expected it to…perhaps today Recca-kun and I can persuade him to come with us…

She emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later, steam coming out of it. She shook her hair free of the water with her towel, and glanced at the bed again. This time, there was no Fuuko going wild in it. She scanned the apartment room and found Fuuko sitting on a chair in the small kitchen. Yanagi smiled and crossed the small living room on the way to the kitchen. She sat down beside her.

"Your favorite show is on. You don't want to miss it, do you?" Yanagi smiled at Fuuko, who was stirring her coffee absentmindedly. Yanagi looked at the cup. "Don't think you're mixing that too much now?"

Fuuko sighed and dropped the spoon into the cup. She gave Yanagi a weak smile. "I'm not really in the mood to go watch that show."

"I know you're upset, Fuuko, but please, don't let that ruin your day, okay?" Yanagi continued. "I mean, we should be making the most out of our stay here and—"

"How can I make the most out of my stay when my only purpose for staying here isn't with us at all?" Fuuko snapped, then looked down. "I'm sorry…I don't want to spoil your stay…I know I'm overreacting…it's just that—"

"Goshimpai naku," Yanagi waved her hand. "I understand. Why don't you go take a bath now? We'll be going sight-seeing any minute now, and if you want, we can ask Mikagami-san if he'd like to show us around," she gave her an assuring smile.

Fuuko tried to smile back. "Arigatou," she mumbled, and headed for the bathroom herself. Yanagi went back to the bedroom, turning the television on.

***

"You know I was thinking," Domon flopped on the edge of the bed, putting his sandals on. "Maybe Tokiya's memory was erased or something. I mean, how can he just look at Fuuko-chan like that, and then walk away like she was just some commoner out there? That's just not right."

"Get real," Recca snorted, shuffling his clothes in the cabinet and looking for something to wear. "How the heck is Mikagami's memory supposed to be erased? It's not like he might've met Okaasan on his way here, you know. And even if he did, why in the world would my mom erase his memory?" He plucked out a dark gray shirt and closed the cabinet door. "Besides, weren't you listening well to what Fuuko said? Tokiya uttered her name, idiot. He definitely remembers her. Maybe he's just…adjusting, or something."

"Adjusting? How can he be adjusting? He's been here for a year now, and he's known Fuu-chan for like, ages. Heck, she was even his koibito once! What kind of adjusting would he be making?" Domon frowned.

"Tuh," Recca pulled the shirt over his head and fixed his elephant pants. "Whatever is up with him, it'd better not be up today 'coz we're supposed to persuade him to come with us." He glared at the frowning Domon out of the corner of his eyes. "And you better not be mad about that. Because if you really cared about Fuuko-chan, you'd want Mikagami to come."

Domon made a face. "Whatever. Let's just go, okay?" He stood up and headed for the door. Recca followed him out on the hallway. They walked over to the girls' room, and Recca paused to knock on the door. "Hime-san? Fuuko-chan?"

"Chotto matte, Recca-kun," came the muffled reply.

"Now make sure you'll be happy for Fuuko if ever Mikagami does come," Recca warned Domon, who rolled his eyes. Just then Yanagi opened the door, beaming widely at them, with an absent-minded Fuuko beside her.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, hime-san!!!" Recca bent down to give Yanagi a little kiss. She blushed.

Domon immediately pushed Recca aside. "Ohayo gozaimasu, Fuuko-chan!!!" He bent down towards Fuuko, too, but got kissed by a rock-hard fist. "Ohayo," Fuuko lazily muttered.

Yanagi closed the door behind her and looked at Hanibishi meaningfully. "Ne, Recca-kun…ano…how do you plan to ask Mikagami-san to come with us…?"

Recca placed his hand behind his head and tried to smile. "Um…we could tell him that we need a tourist guide…" Yeah right…Mikagami the Guide?

"We could just barge right into his room and drag him along, if we need to," Domon suggested. Recca glared at him again. "…or not." Domon added.

"Why don't we just knock on his door and ask him if he'd want to make up for lost time by accompanying us today?" Yanagi smiled. "Maybe he might—"

"Will you guys just stop, please?" Fuuko spoke up all of a sudden. "I really appreciate all your efforts, but I know you're all just spoiling your day because of me. Please, don't mind me anymore, okay? You'd all just be wasting your time anyway because Mi-chan would never—"

A creak from the door across the hall from them made Fuuko stop short. Tokiya had just closed his apartment door behind him and was now locking it. He was just about to leave, but then he looked up and saw them, huddled together outside the room across from his. He froze and his eyes narrowed at the sight of them. For about a minute, no one uttered a word.

To hell with all this, Tokiya glared at them. I don't have time to play a stupid staring game. He shoved his hands into his pockets and began to walk away. But then, Recca caught up with him and pulled back his arm. Tokiya turned around and shot him a look of death. But Recca returned it with a wide grin. "Hey, Tokiya! How's it going?"

"Worse." He tried to walk away, but Recca wasn't finished yet. "C'mon, it's been a long time since we all saw each other! Imagine not speaking to each other for about a year! Aren't you even going to say hi or something?"

Tokiya frowned. "I've been with all of you long enough to get tired of saying hi."

Recca's smile faltered a bit, probably just as shocked at Mikagami's reply as Fuuko was. But he smiled again. "Well, okay, if that's what you think…but…at least say something to Fuuko-chan," he jerked his head towards her.

Mikagami's eyes immediately fell on Fuuko. He gave her a piercing look. Fuuko felt she could've melted on the spot. Oh, how she wished that the ground would open up and swallow her! What on earth did Recca think he was doing, referring to her all of a sudden? Ooooh…was he gonna get it…

Fuuko gathered all her courage and beamed cheerfully at Tokiya, stepping closer to him. "Ne, Mi-chan, we were planning to go out to see the sights today. Since we're all just new here…I was wondering if you'd like to accompany us…you know…for old times' sake…" She smiled at him.

His blue eyes lingered on her face for a moment, as if he was suddenly just remembering who she was and all the times they both shared together. And as Fuuko bored her eyes into his, she could almost see them softening. But with a sudden blink, the sweetness in his eyes was gone, and was replaced by a wall of cold steel again. "There are more important things to attend to," he snapped. "I don't need to waste my time."

The words struck Fuuko like a ton of bricks. So…that was all she was to him…a waste of his time…I'm just…a waste of his time…I should've known…I shouldn't have bothered…Fuuko swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and smiled cheerfully at him. "I-I'm sorry…" she tried to blink away all the funny feelings in her eyes. "Of course you have a lot of responsibilities to do…I understand…I mean, how can I forget that you most probably have a job here," she chuckled. "Go on, you're probably late for work already!" She grinned, taking slow steps backwards. "I hope I didn't waste too much of your time. H-honto ni…gomen nasai." And she stepped back off into her room, gently closing the door behind her. 

Tokiya blinked expressionlessly at the direction she disappeared to for a second, and then turned to walk away. If they need a tourist guide, let them get one for themselves. I don't have to care. It's not like I—

Someone had grabbed his arm again, but this time the touch was softer, gentler. And the hold didn't pull him back. It just touched his arm. He still stopped, though. His brows furrowed and he turned to look around.

Just as a full-fledged slap met him in the cheek and his face was forced to turn to one side.

"How dare you!!!" Yanagi breathed heavily, her hand still raised. "How dare you tell Fuuko that she's just a waste of your time!!!" she continued, her eyes burning.

Tokiya kept his face that way, looking down at the floor with the same mask of indifference on his face.

"She came all the way to China just to see you!!! Look at all the trouble she went through! Look at what she's become! She suffered through one whole year in Japan without seeing you, or hearing from you…and then she graduates and locks herself in her room because she can't take it that you're not by her side to congratulate her!!! She doesn't sleep right…she doesn't eat right…for heaven's sake she doesn't even stop crying anymore!!! And then she makes her way here for you, and what do you do??? You tell her she's a waste of your precious time!!!" Yanagi broke down. "Can't you see how much she misses you??? Don't you understand that she still loves you??? God, sempai, please open your heart for once!!!" Yanagi sobbed, angry tears streaming down her cheeks.

Tokiya kept silent, and then he slowly closed his eyes. "She's the one who wanted to come all the way to China. So don't go blaming me for it."

Yanagi gave a silent gasp, as she slowly placed her hand over her mouth, trembling. "Y-You're a jerk…you don't have a heart…" Tears started to flow down again. "How could you…how could you say that???" she started to sob again. Recca rushed to her side and slowly wrapped his arms around her, cuddling her for a while, easing her muffled sobs on his shoulder. "Hime-san…" he whispered, stroking her hair.

He then shot Tokiya an ice-cold stare. "She's damn right, you know. You are a jerk. Probably the biggest one I've ever seen." He narrowed his eyes at him. "And stop the heck of pretending not to hear all this!!! Look at me, damn it! You owe them an apology!!!"

Mikagami flicked his eyes open and turned to look at Recca with the same hooded eyes. "I don't give apologies when they're not needed. So get off my damn case." With one last glare at Recca, he stalked away without another word.