Ladies and gentlemen, I present the overdue Takari chapter. Last week our power went out, so I couldn't post it then. It's freezing rain here. WOO no school, but the downside is that if we miss one more day of school we'll have to make it up in spring break. Ok, the story. Warning, my spell check/grammar program went on the fritz, so I might not be gramatically correct in this chapter.
Disclaimer: *cough* Toei stole it from me!
It was 3:30 in the morning. Everyone in the house was asleep because the joyful night before had tired them out. Hikari was among them, she had been offered too much champagne and was unable to drive home. She slept peacefully on the couch.
Hikari was awakened by the slamming of the door. Too tired to find out what the sound was, Hikari rolled over to face the couch.
"Takeru!" Lacey exclaimed. She was wide awake and in her flannel pajamas. "Hey!" It sounded like Lacey was jumping at one point, but Hikari couldn't tell by just listening.
"Don't wake Hikari" Lacey said.
"Hikari?" Takeru asked as he leaned against the doorway to face the sleeping angel. "Who's Hikari?"
"Hikari is Yamato's fiancé" Lacey answered.
"No," Takeru said in disbelief as he looked closer. He didn't think she was Yamato's type, after seeing the back of her head. "That's not Yamato's fiancé."
"You haven't met her?" Lacey asked in astonishment.
"No" Takeru replied.
"Well she's great. You're gonna love her."
Hikari just lied awake, not exactly sure of what just happened.
"You know what kid, maybe I'll stay."
"You will?" Lacey's eyes widened. "Don't eat my cereal in the morning."
"Oh yeah, it's a very special cereal" Takeru said sarcastically as they walked up the stairs.
"Last time you took the toy surprise" she complained. Hikari tried to fall asleep once more.
Hikari awoke again. This time, the sun was shining, and the whole house lit up. She got off the comfortable, lumpy couch and grabbed her coat, purse, and the towels that the family had gotten her for Christmas. She looked around once more to see if she left anything and then slowly tiptoed out to the door. She was reaching for the doorknob when . . .
"Good Morning"
Hikari jumped and quickly turned around. She found Takeru sitting on the steps drinking a cup of coffee and half reading a newspaper.
"Oh, you scared me" Hikari gasped.
"Sorry" Takeru apologized.
"Good Morning Takeru" she greeted, remembering his voice from earlier that day.
"Um, I guess I don't remember meeting you" Takeru recalled. He put his newspaper down.
"I guess that's because we've never met" Hikari said in an almost ditzy way.
"That's probably it." The two just looked at each other. Hikari was attracted at one point, but she quickly dismissed the thought.
Beep! Beep!
"Ooh, cab. I have to go because I'm really late, but I have to . . . go. It was nice meeting you, Takeru." And with that, she turned around and opened the door.
Takeru stood up and walked down the rest of the stairs. "Hikari,"
"Ok, I know that, um" Hikari stared down.
"Hey" he said. She looked into his ocean blue eyes. They were just like his brother's. "Welcome to the family."
"Thank you" she continued her way out the door.
It hit Takeru. Hikari had no ring on her finger.
"We pray that the lord's healing presence will be felt by those who are sick and by their families" the pope* said in a beautiful cathedral. "Especially Ota Tomohiro, Ishida Yamato, and Tanaka Fumiaki. We pray to the Lord."
"Lord hear our prayer" the congregation said all together. Then they took a seat on the benches.
"So, who's this 'Hikari'?" Takeru asked. He didn't care at this point if he was talking while the pope droned on.
"She's your brother's fiancé" Mr. Ishida* answered.
"You know if Yamato were getting married, he would've announced it in the newspaper." Takeru said.
"Maybe he announced it over the radio" Mr. Ishida suggested.
"Amen" the congregation said.
"So why did Hikari sneak out this morning?" Takeru wondered.
"She has a job," Mr. Ishida replied.
"I like mass better in Latin. It's better if you don't know what they're saying" Lucie randomly stated. Nancy* just rolled her eyes.
"Did you get Hozumi's?" Mr. Ishida asked. He was obviously wondering about his business.
"Got it" Takeru replied.
"What about Okada's?"
"Got it" he repeated.
"Yamamoto's?"
"Yeah."
"Did you get Tamura's?"
Takeru sighed. "Yamamoto's took too long."
"For Christ's sake Takeru!"
"Stop swearing" Nancy said as the congregation stood up once again.
"You're running the business now." Mr. Ishida said, irritated.
"That's something I'd like to talk to you about-"
"Talk about it later" Nancy commanded.
"Talk about it now, he can't kill you in church" Lacey said.
"Will you please pipe down?" a man said behind them.
"Hey be nice pal, we're in church" Mr. Ishida argued back.
"You're disrupting the mass" the man complained.
"Who made you the pope?"
Nancy glared at her ex-husband. She couldn't believe how rude he was.
"How did Yamazaki Keiko get elected? She takes marijuana." Lucie asked, randomly.
"Amen" the congregation said together.
Hikari sat on her bed alone that Sunday afternoon. Her hair was up in a sloppy ponytail, with strands of chestnut hair flying around, loosely. She was dressed in comfortable jeans and a light blue oversized sweatshirt.
She rummaged through the box the hospital gave her with Yamato's items in it just to find out who he is. When she spotted a brown paper bag, she turned it upside down so that all of its items would fall out. She picked up a black leather wallet, and as she opened it she smiled. There were at least a dozen credit cards one side, and twice as many pictures on the other.
She flipped through pictures of him when he was young, then pictures of him at his current age. She came across a family picture. It must have been taken years ago. She saw Mr. Ishida with his arms wrapped around Nancy, Sal, Lucie, Yamato, and...Takeru. Her smile grew bigger when she saw Takeru for some strange, unexplained reason.
She set the wallet down, and noticed there was something else in the bag. Curious, Hikari dumped it out. It was a can of cat food. She picked up the can, and was confused. What would he be doing with cat food? And it hit her- he had a cat that hadn't been fed for days! She quickly changed her shirt and grabbed his and her keys and rushed out the door.
"Hi Hikari!" Two little girls shouted as she walked out the door. Hikari flashed them a smile and kept walking. She noticed Joe Jr. in the street, trying to fix a car. She put her hand on the side of her face that Joe Jr. could see and speed walked. Luckily, he didn't notice her.
"Come on you stupid piece of junk" Joe Jr. yelled as he banged the car with his hand. He shook his hand in pain after he did that, not realizing the car was made out of metal.
An old red truck pulled up behind him, and Takeru stepped out of it. Takeru slowly walked up to Joe Jr.
"Excuse me," Takeru said politely. "Do you live here?"
"Live here? I own the place" Joe Jr. lied so he could impress the total stranger.
"Great! Then you would know the woman in 206."
"Know her?" Joe Jr. pulled up his pants in an attempt to look sexy. "I'm dating her."
Takeru nodded. He was confused.
Hikari entered the noisy apartment building's lobby. She wondered how Yamato could stand it. Hikari managed to slip in, unnoticed, and quickly dashed to the elevator. The building was large so she had trouble finding room 322*. When she finally stepped in his apartment, she thought it was lovely. A window surrounded the large living room, giving a gorgeous view of Tokyo. He had a perfectly white colored carpet and black furniture. This was a luxurious apartment, the type that Hikari can only dream of.
"Hmm" Hikari thought out loud. "Very clean."
"Kitty" Hikari said gently. She walked to see if the cat was on the other side of the apartment. Hikari started whistling. "Come here, meal time."
As Hikari searched for the cat, Takeru walked in the apartment, since Hikari accidentally left the door unlocked.
"Kitty" Hikari said as she walked in the black-and-white kitchen. "Food!" She wondered if the cat was dead.
"Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!" Hikari walked to the door with the cat food. She opened the door and heard a loud bang.
"OW!" Takeru yelled.
"Oh!" Hikari covered her mouth. She opened the door again and saw Takeru with his hand over his head.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Hikari apologized.
"Nice shot," Takeru joked.
Hikari ran to the counter and sat the cat food on it. "I'll get you some ice" she said as she ran to the refrigerator. She opened the freezer portion, and quickly scanned it. She saw many ice cream boxes, there had to be at least eight in there alone. She found the ice and grabbed a handful with her bare hands. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting anybody." She searched the freezer to find more ice.
"How did you get in here? Takeru asked. Hikari turned toward him and held out the ice.
"Key."
"Key, huh. You stay here a lot?" Takeru took the ice from Hikari's now cold hands.
"Oh you know, feed the cat."
"Yamato doesn't have a cat" Takeru replied.
"Oh god" Hikari thought. Then they heard a little squeaky sound. A cat emerged from behind the wall.
"Aw" Hikari said as she walked to the cat. Takeru was more befuddled than ever.
"Hello honey" Hikari exclaimed in a baby voice. She knew she had to make up a name for the cat. "Hey Fluffy. You must be so hungry." She sat the grey, overweight cat on the counter and the phone started ringing.
"Are you gonna get that?" Takeru asked.
"Oh, no. I'll let the machine get it" Hikari answered as she pet the cat
Takeru couldn't stand the ringing sound any longer. "Hello?" he said after he picked up the black phone. "It's for you," he said a couple seconds later.
Hikari was surprised. She walked a few steps and Takeru handed her the phone. "Weird" she thought, and put the phone to her ear.
"Hello?...ok...buh-bye" she put the phone back on the hook and turned toward Takeru.
"Um, that was the hospital. They said it's a custom for friends and family of the patient to come down and give blood."
Takeru nodded. "Let's go together." he suggested.
Hikari liked the thought of going anywhere with Takeru. Could it be that she had feelings for him? It couldn't be, she couldn't possibly have feelings for Takeru, right?
* - What is Mr. Ishida's name?
* - Is Nancy's Japanese name Natsuko?
* - Hikari had Yamato's keys and room number because of the brown paper bag, my editor asked me that. And now, that editor's leaving me so if anybody could email me if they want to proofread my stories, that would be appreciated.
Review and my Fairy Godmother will magically make me happy!
Disclaimer: *cough* Toei stole it from me!
It was 3:30 in the morning. Everyone in the house was asleep because the joyful night before had tired them out. Hikari was among them, she had been offered too much champagne and was unable to drive home. She slept peacefully on the couch.
Hikari was awakened by the slamming of the door. Too tired to find out what the sound was, Hikari rolled over to face the couch.
"Takeru!" Lacey exclaimed. She was wide awake and in her flannel pajamas. "Hey!" It sounded like Lacey was jumping at one point, but Hikari couldn't tell by just listening.
"Don't wake Hikari" Lacey said.
"Hikari?" Takeru asked as he leaned against the doorway to face the sleeping angel. "Who's Hikari?"
"Hikari is Yamato's fiancé" Lacey answered.
"No," Takeru said in disbelief as he looked closer. He didn't think she was Yamato's type, after seeing the back of her head. "That's not Yamato's fiancé."
"You haven't met her?" Lacey asked in astonishment.
"No" Takeru replied.
"Well she's great. You're gonna love her."
Hikari just lied awake, not exactly sure of what just happened.
"You know what kid, maybe I'll stay."
"You will?" Lacey's eyes widened. "Don't eat my cereal in the morning."
"Oh yeah, it's a very special cereal" Takeru said sarcastically as they walked up the stairs.
"Last time you took the toy surprise" she complained. Hikari tried to fall asleep once more.
Hikari awoke again. This time, the sun was shining, and the whole house lit up. She got off the comfortable, lumpy couch and grabbed her coat, purse, and the towels that the family had gotten her for Christmas. She looked around once more to see if she left anything and then slowly tiptoed out to the door. She was reaching for the doorknob when . . .
"Good Morning"
Hikari jumped and quickly turned around. She found Takeru sitting on the steps drinking a cup of coffee and half reading a newspaper.
"Oh, you scared me" Hikari gasped.
"Sorry" Takeru apologized.
"Good Morning Takeru" she greeted, remembering his voice from earlier that day.
"Um, I guess I don't remember meeting you" Takeru recalled. He put his newspaper down.
"I guess that's because we've never met" Hikari said in an almost ditzy way.
"That's probably it." The two just looked at each other. Hikari was attracted at one point, but she quickly dismissed the thought.
Beep! Beep!
"Ooh, cab. I have to go because I'm really late, but I have to . . . go. It was nice meeting you, Takeru." And with that, she turned around and opened the door.
Takeru stood up and walked down the rest of the stairs. "Hikari,"
"Ok, I know that, um" Hikari stared down.
"Hey" he said. She looked into his ocean blue eyes. They were just like his brother's. "Welcome to the family."
"Thank you" she continued her way out the door.
It hit Takeru. Hikari had no ring on her finger.
"We pray that the lord's healing presence will be felt by those who are sick and by their families" the pope* said in a beautiful cathedral. "Especially Ota Tomohiro, Ishida Yamato, and Tanaka Fumiaki. We pray to the Lord."
"Lord hear our prayer" the congregation said all together. Then they took a seat on the benches.
"So, who's this 'Hikari'?" Takeru asked. He didn't care at this point if he was talking while the pope droned on.
"She's your brother's fiancé" Mr. Ishida* answered.
"You know if Yamato were getting married, he would've announced it in the newspaper." Takeru said.
"Maybe he announced it over the radio" Mr. Ishida suggested.
"Amen" the congregation said.
"So why did Hikari sneak out this morning?" Takeru wondered.
"She has a job," Mr. Ishida replied.
"I like mass better in Latin. It's better if you don't know what they're saying" Lucie randomly stated. Nancy* just rolled her eyes.
"Did you get Hozumi's?" Mr. Ishida asked. He was obviously wondering about his business.
"Got it" Takeru replied.
"What about Okada's?"
"Got it" he repeated.
"Yamamoto's?"
"Yeah."
"Did you get Tamura's?"
Takeru sighed. "Yamamoto's took too long."
"For Christ's sake Takeru!"
"Stop swearing" Nancy said as the congregation stood up once again.
"You're running the business now." Mr. Ishida said, irritated.
"That's something I'd like to talk to you about-"
"Talk about it later" Nancy commanded.
"Talk about it now, he can't kill you in church" Lacey said.
"Will you please pipe down?" a man said behind them.
"Hey be nice pal, we're in church" Mr. Ishida argued back.
"You're disrupting the mass" the man complained.
"Who made you the pope?"
Nancy glared at her ex-husband. She couldn't believe how rude he was.
"How did Yamazaki Keiko get elected? She takes marijuana." Lucie asked, randomly.
"Amen" the congregation said together.
Hikari sat on her bed alone that Sunday afternoon. Her hair was up in a sloppy ponytail, with strands of chestnut hair flying around, loosely. She was dressed in comfortable jeans and a light blue oversized sweatshirt.
She rummaged through the box the hospital gave her with Yamato's items in it just to find out who he is. When she spotted a brown paper bag, she turned it upside down so that all of its items would fall out. She picked up a black leather wallet, and as she opened it she smiled. There were at least a dozen credit cards one side, and twice as many pictures on the other.
She flipped through pictures of him when he was young, then pictures of him at his current age. She came across a family picture. It must have been taken years ago. She saw Mr. Ishida with his arms wrapped around Nancy, Sal, Lucie, Yamato, and...Takeru. Her smile grew bigger when she saw Takeru for some strange, unexplained reason.
She set the wallet down, and noticed there was something else in the bag. Curious, Hikari dumped it out. It was a can of cat food. She picked up the can, and was confused. What would he be doing with cat food? And it hit her- he had a cat that hadn't been fed for days! She quickly changed her shirt and grabbed his and her keys and rushed out the door.
"Hi Hikari!" Two little girls shouted as she walked out the door. Hikari flashed them a smile and kept walking. She noticed Joe Jr. in the street, trying to fix a car. She put her hand on the side of her face that Joe Jr. could see and speed walked. Luckily, he didn't notice her.
"Come on you stupid piece of junk" Joe Jr. yelled as he banged the car with his hand. He shook his hand in pain after he did that, not realizing the car was made out of metal.
An old red truck pulled up behind him, and Takeru stepped out of it. Takeru slowly walked up to Joe Jr.
"Excuse me," Takeru said politely. "Do you live here?"
"Live here? I own the place" Joe Jr. lied so he could impress the total stranger.
"Great! Then you would know the woman in 206."
"Know her?" Joe Jr. pulled up his pants in an attempt to look sexy. "I'm dating her."
Takeru nodded. He was confused.
Hikari entered the noisy apartment building's lobby. She wondered how Yamato could stand it. Hikari managed to slip in, unnoticed, and quickly dashed to the elevator. The building was large so she had trouble finding room 322*. When she finally stepped in his apartment, she thought it was lovely. A window surrounded the large living room, giving a gorgeous view of Tokyo. He had a perfectly white colored carpet and black furniture. This was a luxurious apartment, the type that Hikari can only dream of.
"Hmm" Hikari thought out loud. "Very clean."
"Kitty" Hikari said gently. She walked to see if the cat was on the other side of the apartment. Hikari started whistling. "Come here, meal time."
As Hikari searched for the cat, Takeru walked in the apartment, since Hikari accidentally left the door unlocked.
"Kitty" Hikari said as she walked in the black-and-white kitchen. "Food!" She wondered if the cat was dead.
"Kitty, Kitty, Kitty!" Hikari walked to the door with the cat food. She opened the door and heard a loud bang.
"OW!" Takeru yelled.
"Oh!" Hikari covered her mouth. She opened the door again and saw Takeru with his hand over his head.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Hikari apologized.
"Nice shot," Takeru joked.
Hikari ran to the counter and sat the cat food on it. "I'll get you some ice" she said as she ran to the refrigerator. She opened the freezer portion, and quickly scanned it. She saw many ice cream boxes, there had to be at least eight in there alone. She found the ice and grabbed a handful with her bare hands. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting anybody." She searched the freezer to find more ice.
"How did you get in here? Takeru asked. Hikari turned toward him and held out the ice.
"Key."
"Key, huh. You stay here a lot?" Takeru took the ice from Hikari's now cold hands.
"Oh you know, feed the cat."
"Yamato doesn't have a cat" Takeru replied.
"Oh god" Hikari thought. Then they heard a little squeaky sound. A cat emerged from behind the wall.
"Aw" Hikari said as she walked to the cat. Takeru was more befuddled than ever.
"Hello honey" Hikari exclaimed in a baby voice. She knew she had to make up a name for the cat. "Hey Fluffy. You must be so hungry." She sat the grey, overweight cat on the counter and the phone started ringing.
"Are you gonna get that?" Takeru asked.
"Oh, no. I'll let the machine get it" Hikari answered as she pet the cat
Takeru couldn't stand the ringing sound any longer. "Hello?" he said after he picked up the black phone. "It's for you," he said a couple seconds later.
Hikari was surprised. She walked a few steps and Takeru handed her the phone. "Weird" she thought, and put the phone to her ear.
"Hello?...ok...buh-bye" she put the phone back on the hook and turned toward Takeru.
"Um, that was the hospital. They said it's a custom for friends and family of the patient to come down and give blood."
Takeru nodded. "Let's go together." he suggested.
Hikari liked the thought of going anywhere with Takeru. Could it be that she had feelings for him? It couldn't be, she couldn't possibly have feelings for Takeru, right?
* - What is Mr. Ishida's name?
* - Is Nancy's Japanese name Natsuko?
* - Hikari had Yamato's keys and room number because of the brown paper bag, my editor asked me that. And now, that editor's leaving me so if anybody could email me if they want to proofread my stories, that would be appreciated.
Review and my Fairy Godmother will magically make me happy!