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Nijuusei

Chapter 10: The First Day of a New Life

By Kaen

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He turned slightly in his sleep, attempting to ignore the nagging voices in the back of head. They were constantly reminding him about some unwanted thing or another, whether it be the fact that he shouldn't be where he was or that his comfort would soon be destroyed as he discovered the warmth next to him to be only a dream. He sighed heavily, awaiting the piercing wind that would rob him of his happiness. And he waited, but the freezing gust never came, and the warmth never disappeared. The comfort underneath him never dissolved, and the feeling of soreness that one gets from sleeping the wrong way never came. His tired mind reeled in confusion, trying to decipher if whether or not he had died. No, he hadn't died. He wouldn't go to heaven if he had, but if he wasn't in heaven, where was he? He cracked open a bleary eye and vainly tried to take in his surroundings. His gaze fell upon the source of the wonderful warmth next to him, and he smiled. He wasn't in heaven, but there was definitely an angel beside him.

Kokuei sighed again, this time in happiness. It was over, his hellish life alone was finally over. And it was all because of this beautiful angel, who had been benevolent enough to swoop down from heaven and care about him. He bit his lower lip, trying to contain the love that was swelling up in his heart. But after deciding that it wasn't best to make himself draw blood, he settled from wrapping his arms tighter around Yui, hugging her to him and curling up closer to her sleeping form. However, this action, as small as it was, seemed to be enough to stir Yui from her dreams and she let out a jaw-splitting yawn, straightening her entire body in a full stretch. When she was done, she turned until she was facing Kokuei and snuggled closer to him, her eyes still closed. He laughed softly to himself, not being able to help thinking how cute she was!

"What's so funny?" she asked, her speech slurred. He abruptly stopped laughing, and she wearily opened her eyes.

"Good morning," he said with a smile, one hand sweeping the loose strands of hair away from her face. She made a sound almost like a soft groan in the back of her throat and curled up tighter, allowing her eyelids to drift down. He sighed resignedly, deciding to let her sleep a little longer, as he gently maneuvered her arms until he could see the time on the small wristwatch. It read 11:43, easily the latest that he'd ever slept in his life. Kokuei had learned early on that it was better to get up and going before anyone else had, for he had had a few misfortunate times where he had been robbed of what little he had, or he had fallen asleep in a nice neighborhood where the residents would have sooner called the police than helped him. But that was all over now, he blissfully reminded himself.

Yui sighed, yawning again. She pushed herself until she was braced on her left elbow and stretched again. Looking at Kokuei, she smiled warmly and gave the delayed reply: "Good Morning."

Kokuei watched, fascinated, as she carelessly swung her legs over the over padded armrest, sat completely up on top of, and slid off, landing with both feet on the floor. The movement itself wasn't what had amazed him, but, rather, the fact that someone could get themselves up so fast. There was a defined line between being awake and being up, but Yui had just crossed it so quickly that it left him transfixed.

"Mmm… I never realized how small those couches were until I tried to sleep on them!"

Kokuei looked slightly hurt. "You didn't sleep well?" he asked uncertainly, concern written all over his features.

"I slept fine, don't worry about me." She smiled reassuringly to prove her point. "How about you?"

"Great! That was undoubtedly the best I've slept since before I can even remember." He smiled brightly, making no effort to conceal his feelings for her. Yui soon found herself smiling back as she offered him a hand up, which he gratefully took. He was heavier than she thought he was, she discovered as she helped him up when his lack of effort nearly caused her to fall on him. He apologized earnestly, and made more of an attempt to push himself up. When they were both standing by the sofa-bed contraption, Kokuei got an idea and "collapsed" onto Yui, making her struggle to support him. He draped his arms around her shoulders and said melodramatically, "I can't go on. I'm too tired…"

Yui pretended to be upset with his idea of acting and scowled, smacking him lightly over his chest. When he didn't so much as flinch, she threatened, "I'm going let go of you if you don't stand up on your own!"

Once again, he didn't respond as he pretended to be asleep. Yui sighed, and stepped out of the way after giving him one strong push that would allow her to escape. He maintained his facade for another second or two, before he realized that she would really let him fall, but by the time he figured it out, it was too late. He landed on the thinly carpeted floor on his hands and knees with a loud thud and sputtered indignantly for a good while before turning to glare at Yui. Of course, he wasn't really upset; he was enjoying their play session more than anything else. Yui was laughing at him, he noticed, and decided to seek his revenge and when she least expected it, Kokuei pounced from his kneeling position. She promptly lost her balance, her laughter faltering, as she clung onto Kokuei's shoulders for dear life as she fell backwards onto her boxer-clad butt. He used her death grip on him to his advantage in to pin he the rest of the way down, after straddling on her legs.

"I win," he stated triumphantly, but much to his disappointment, she wasn't intimidated or even shocked; she was laughing harder than before. He drummed his fingers impatiently on her wrists, where had chosen to pin her. However, even in his frustration of his failed "revenge," he couldn't help but think how cute she looked when she laughed. He was drawn into it himself, and soon they were both laughing like two fools without a reason. After several moments of their shared amusement, Kokuei's unreasonable laughter died down and he suddenly felt awkward with the position he was in. After all, he was sitting on top of (actually, straddling) the girl of his dreams and she was somehow oblivious to this fact, her giggles beginning to die down and eventually cease.

Kokuei felt his heart rate leap, and it seemed that all the blood in his body rushed to his face, making his cheeks as red, if not redder, than a tomato. He realized that she was staring intensely into his eyes and he looked away distractedly. It was almost just like last night, where he had been so tempted to kiss her, but had reluctantly decided against it after resolving that she would be offended. He didn't want to make the impression that he expected anything from her, especially after she had generously allowed him to stay with her for as long as he wanted! He found himself hastily standing up and standing by her side as he lent a hand down. He looked away, busying his interest in anything that his eyes fell upon, but let out a breath that he had never been aware of holding when she took his hand and stood up. Several seconds of uncomfortable silence passed before Yui announced that she was going to go get ready to go out.

Kokuei nodded in acknowledgement and waited until Yui had gone in her room before flopping back down on his "bed." Why did I do that!? Now I feel even worse than I did yesterday! She's only trying to help me! It's not like she'd be interested in a relationship with me! Even if I do care more than I should about her, I can't let her know how I feel and I certainly can't ask her to return my feelings. Just forget about it, Kokuei… He paused in mid-thought to scowl. That's not even my name. It was just a nickname given to me by him when I couldn't recall my real one. Maybe that's what happens when your own father constantly calls you "brat" and your mother won't speak to you in fear of angering him. He sighed wistfully.

I'd give anything to know more about myself. Gods, I just want to know who I am…

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Meanwhile, in Yui's bedroom, she hummed quietly to herself as she pulled an outfit from her closet. And even though she selected a nice outfit from her wardrobe, her thoughts were anywhere but on her clothing. Her mind was like a tape that just kept on being rewound, just watching one part over and over again. She just couldn't get Kokuei out of her mind! Just the night before and those few minutes that morning had permanently engraved themselves into her mind, and it's not it'd be a bad thing, except for the fact that she kept thinking about Hiashi!

You'd think I'd be able to decide between them! I would have just laughed if I ever knew that I'd be in this situation, but now I'm so afraid of hurting one of them. I know I should care about Kokuei, but there's something about Hiashi that I just can't leave behind! What am I going to do?

She sighed, putting an end to her mindless humming as she pulled the sweater over her head and straightened it accordingly. Speaking of Hiashi, didn't she promise to go on a date with him sometime soon? She groaned, her life becoming just that much more complicated. How in the world was she going to keep them apart before she had prepared them for meeting each other? And what about leaving Kokuei home alone? She couldn't help but fear that he'd get into something he wasn't supposed to, or break something, or hurt himself, or put a aluminum-foil wrapped potato in the microwave, or… She felt sick just imagining it. With living on the streets so long, he was probably just about as educated about modern household appliances as Suboshi would have been.

Yui decided that it was best to think about the immediate future, to think about shopping with Kokuei. It was definitely going to be an interesting experience, to say the least, but it was certainly necessary. Kokuei couldn't very well run around in the same clothes forever, even though he had probably had to before. But not anymore, she reminded herself. He was going to stay with her forever, if she had any say in it at all and maybe then, he might let her love him. But mornings weren't good for love. After all, now matter how beautiful the person, morning breath still stinks! With that in mind, she stepped into the bathroom adjoining her bedroom and brushed her teeth.

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Kokuei frowned as he scrutinized his appearance in the small decorative mirror hung low on the wall. His hair was an absolute mess, almost as if a bird had once used it for a nest, and to make matters worse he only had a flimsy comb for use in trying to tame its unruly mass. Several minutes later, he was finally somewhat content and straightened himself in order to fish inside his pocket for other essentials he usually had stored there. But when his hand found nothing in the big pocket, he felt his heart sink. All of his possessions, as few as they were, were toted inside the pockets of his old pair of oversized jeans, and he felt somehow sick when he realized that everything that he had before was lost. Not to mention the twenty dollars that he had been fortunate enough to find earlier that day.

Kokuei was back at nothing, yet somehow had been given it all. If it meant that he had had to loose a lifted toothbrush, so be it. There was no point dwelling on the loss of rather cheap and easily replaceable items. In fact, all he really had to do was walk over to a convenience store, stroll by the aisle, and… No. He swore right then and there that he'd never steal anything again, unless the item was unaffordable (to him) and absolutely necessary. He didn't feel any guilt about stealing before, though. It was that he had had no other choice, if he wanted to live and be sort of healthy, but to steal and in the long run, he felt that the huge chain of stores could afford to be missing ten to eleven dollars worth of stuff every two weeks or so. Surely even they would understand that one must eat to live.

But even that was over now and Kokuei smiled brightly at the thought. He had no clue how he'd ever be able to repay Yui for everything that she was doing for him, but even if he ever found a way to repay the massive debt, he would never consider them even. He owed her far more than she could ever know or even comprehend; not unless she lived like he did for fifteen years… He finished straightening his clothes with these thoughts running through his mind, just as the door to Yui's bedroom creaked open and she stood there in casual dress, holding the strap to a miniature backpack loosely in her hand. She looked Kokuei up and down once, slung the backpack over her shoulder, and proceeded to close the bedroom door firmly behind her.

"Ready to go?" she asked, turning back to him with a cheery smile.

He nodded, giving a final pull to the sleeve of the sweater in attempt to smooth out a particularly stubborn wrinkle.

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"What about this?" Kokuei asked hopefully, holding up a worn gray tee shirt. Yui looked befuddled by his selection, and she sighed after a second of taking in all that was to be seen in the shirt.

"Kokuei, you don't need to be that cheap! I can certainly afford nicer things for you, especially at this place!"

To demonstrate her pint, Yui held up her arm and made a sweeping movement that was meant to remind him of what store they were in. When they had just barely set out, Kokuei had insisted that they go to Goodwill. He had completely refused Yui's offer to take him to a mall, but she was secretly grateful. Truth be told, she didn't have as much money as she would have liked, so this trip to Goodwill was certainly a welcome relief when she saw how low the prices were. Some nice things were available for the near equivalent of only 200 yen, two dollars in American money! She fished through the racks of clothing until she seemed satisfied with her finds of a black jacket, a deep red tee shirt that looked brand new, and a dark blue dress shirt. She turned to Kokuei, who had been watching her ever since she made him put the 75-cent shirt back on the rack. After seeing what Yui had picked out for him, he felt almost ashamed to admit to himself that he'd actually worn things far worse than he previous discovery.

"Here," Yui said as she shoved the three articles into Kokuei's arms, taking him slightly off guard. He looked at her nearly as quizzically as she had looked at him earlier, and she couldn't help but think that he was looking at her as is she'd sprouted another arm or two.

"Go try these things on," she explained, vaguely gesturing to the sign that read "dressing rooms" towards the corner of the store. But by the time that her words had sunk in, she had already returned to browsing the racks. He watched her for a second longer before turning and trudging to the rooms.

Yui continued to sort through the seemingly endless supply of cheap clothes after Kokuei had left to try on the things she had given him. After a little while longer of browsing, she had pulled a few jeans, a pair of slacks and a nice khaki pair, not unlike the ones he was wearing now. It was then that the most peculiar thought occurred to her: If Kokuei had been homeless for so long, how in the world had he managed to get a hold of such nice clothes? She shook her head, willing the strange idea to dislodge itself from her mind. Honestly, Yui wasn't even sure she wanted to know how he got the clothes, but she was almost certain that it had to do with the mix-up with Hiashi. With the final task of selecting about four more shirts, Yui set off across the store to the small dressing rooms into which Kokuei had recently vanished.

"Kokuei?" she called softly into the larger room surrounded by many smaller dressing rooms.

"I'm in this one!" he replied, pushing one of his disregarded shoes under the door. Yui approached the door before timidly inquiring how the shirt fit.

"The shirts are all nice, and the jacket's good, too. But…" he paused in mid-sentence, and the blonde girl waiting outside could just imagine the blush staining his face. "Pants would be nice…" He added at last.

Of course, Yui burst out laughing at this, finding the situation every bit as funny as the expression Kokuei probably wore, but she managed to compose herself for the few seconds that it took to shove the new clothes over the stall's door. He mumbled an insincere "thank you" to Yui, and she seemed just that much more pleased with herself with the response he gave.  While muffling her laugher until it died out, she had brought herself over to sit in a chair nearby and patiently awaited for Kokuei emerge. Finally, after some shuffling and rattling, the door slowly opened, as it the dressing stall itself was reluctant to allow it's occupant to step out of it.

"I don't know about this…" Kokuei mumbled with just his face poking out of the space made by the partially open door, his eyes downcast in order to avoid looking directly at Yui. He then pushed the door the rest of the way open to reveal what he seemed so embarrassed about. But Yui was too enthralled to notice his blush.

He had chosen to wear the royal blue dress shirt with the black slacks, making him look remarkably like a model from a men's fashion magazine. Even despite the fact that he had neglected to tuck in the shirt and button its sleeves, Yui could help how she felt drawn to him. She stood up, crossing the small area in wide strides until she was by his side. She took his forearm into her hands and buttoned the cuff, unintentionally brushing her hand lightly over his, then moved onto the over side to repeat the action. She looked at him again and then pulled lightly at the bottom of the shirt.

"You should tuck this in," she told him softly. He nodded and turned back towards the mirror in his dressing room. When he was finished, he turned around again and held his arms outward for Yui to inspect. With a final tug hear and there, Yui was not only satisfied, but also somehow transfixed.

But when Kokuei asked what was bothering her, she quickly replied, "Nothing at all. You just look so nice wearing that outfit." She conveniently forgot to mention how absolutely gorgeous he looked, how the shirt literally matched his eyes, and how many women would be more than likely to be throwing themselves at his feet. She had quickly decided beforehand that these were definitely things to be kept to herself, even if every other woman would already know without her having to tell them! Yui sent him in to try on his other things before she was tempted to drag him out on the town them and there.

The rest of the fitting process was rather uneventful, since it was almost like everything Yui had chosen would somehow fit Kokuei. But once, she actually had to stop him from announcing that a pair of jeans fit because they were nearly ready to fall off of his slender hips! But besides that minor incident, there was really nothing that interesting. He was happy with all the shirts, pants, and jackets as long as he could get them on and off, and Yui felt a little guilty about pondering how simple it would be to shop for him. When they left the store three and a half hours later, the total count on Kokuei's new thinks were eight new shirts (including two dress shirts and a heavy sweater), five pair of pants complete with jeans and slacks, two jackets for winter, and three pairs of shoes all for the total of thirty-two dollars and fourteen cents.

Kokuei seemed as happy as he could be as he strolled out of the Goodwill store, carrying the bags that contained his new treasures. Yui giggled at the blissful look on his face and began to hope that she'd see that look more often, but her sweet reverie was interrupted as Kokuei began to thank her dearly, doing almost everything to express his gratitude except grovel on the cold ground, which Yui had hardly managed to prevent him from doing.

"It's nothing! You and I will be together for a while and I just want you to be happy. You deserve it, after having to have gone through what you did for so long," Yui smiled reassuringly after saying this, causing any retorts in Kokuei's mind to vanish on the spot. He simply returned her warm smile and they walked side by side in silence, enjoying the company of the other. They continued to stroll together until Yui stopped him in front of a large clothes and grocery store. She then reached around into her backpack and extracted her wallet, removing twenty dollars from it. Yui grasped Kokuei's wrist, forcing him to lift his hand palm-up, where she then placed the bill.

"Will this be enough?" she asked earnestly, looking up at him for an answer. He faltered, nearly loosing his grip on the bill, but Yui held it there and patiently waited for his response.

"Enough for… what?" he finally squeaked out, being unaccustomed to having such amounts of money just randomly plopped in his hand. Yui looked away, slightly flushed.

"Um… Enough for… Well, I'm sure there are certain things that you're quite capable of selecting on your own. Things you probably wouldn't appreciate my company for," she tried to explain without being too blunt, looking away the entire while. But when he still didn't seem to understand, she reached for the side of his sweater, lifted it slightly, and pointed to the top of his boxers that had been protruding from the top of the khakis. Comprehension finally blessed him and he asked Yui to wait in the front of the store for him. She took a seat by the front wall with Kokuei's other new clothes and watched as a rather flustered Kokuei disappeared somewhere in the store. When he returned, he practically shoved the change into Yui's waiting hands, being too embarrassed to look at her. She laughed lightly at Kokuei. What right did anyone have to be that damn adorable!

Yui sighed when she realized that he didn't find any part of the situation amusing, and resolved to change the topic. Looking down at their finds, she suggested to Kokuei, "Let's go home now."

His eyes seemed to brighten as she spoke the word "home," and he smiled, enthusiastically agreeing with her proposal. She approached the street side and waved her arm high in the air in order to get a taxi, and once they were inside with all their bags she heard Kokuei say softly, "Home sounds good to me. Let's go home." He placed an emphasis on the word "home" each time as if he were testing it out, and after deciding that he liked the way he sounded, he grinned while chewing his lower lip thoughtfully. It was true. He had a home now, just like he'd always wished for. However, he knew that even his most spectacular fantasies could have never prepared him for the real joy of just living a decent life with a person you care about. Surely things could never get better… or could they?

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That's the end of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, because I really did try to have it out faster than it took the last one. I also have a bit of good news for "Nijuusei" fans. I've outlined and planned the rest of this fic, so chapters will be written and posted much faster, rather than me having to think about what's going to happen in this chapter, who's going to be in it, etc. At least, that's the idea. ^^& But, I'm seriously going to try to finish up this fic before I focus my attention too much on other ones. I'm actually going to attempt to have a new chapter out every week, so please stick with me. We've only got twenty more chapters to go! {faints} Please review?

Disclaimer: I don't own Goodwill. I know I mentioned that before in an earlier chapter, but I thought it might be a good idea to say it again. But just so you all know, Goodwill kicks butt for costume stuff…