1 MOVING ON

Chapter 4

By Android Eleven



About a week after TK's birthday, Kari was leaving for work when she found a dozen red roses lying on her doorstep. Surprised, she bent down to pick them up. They smelled beautiful. As she went to go back into her apartment and find a vase in which to put the roses, she noticed a small square of paper on the floor.

Picking it up, she turned it over. On the back it read,

"To My Dearest Kari,

I've missed you.

Love,

Your Secret Admirer"

Kari quickly glanced around the hall, almost like she was expecting her "Secret Admirer" to suddenly appear out of thin air. The only person she saw was her elderly neighbor Mr. Hirogiyama, who still thought her name was Carrie, returning from his morning walk. Kari scrunched up her nose with half mocked-disgust and half humor. 'I don't think so.'



* * * * *



The next day, Matt drove his niece over to Kari's apartment after picking her up from school. As she grabbed her bookbag and climbed out, he questioned her once again.

"So, you're sure she got the roses?"

Yui sighed exasperatedly, but couldn't help but grin. "Of course! What kind of secret agent would I be if she hadn't even got the roses?"

Matt grinned back, but continued asking. "And you've got the tickets?" Yui nodded vigorously, patting her bookbag. "Good." He paused. "So, you know the story, right? Ready to act?"

Yui smiled cheekily and shut the car door. She leaned in on the open window. "Aren't I always?" she replied before blowing her uncle a kiss and heading into the apartment building. Matt shook his head, chuckling, and started the ignition.



* * * * *



Kari opened the door and found the bubbly little blonde girl humming to herself. Yui practically bounced as she entered the apartment, grinning from ear to ear.

"So, did you get the roses?" she asked happily, hopping around the kitchen in what was a decidedly hyper manner.

Kari, startled, stared at the six-year-old. "What?"

It took her a moment, but Yui realized her mistake and stopped hopping. Facing away from Kari, her eyes widened as she searched for a way to correct herself.

"I meant, uh," she struggled for a moment before she turned around, smiling calmly. "I meant, WHERE did you get the roses?"

The roses were in the living room presently, out of sight from the kitchen. Therefore, Kari was still unsure how to react. After a moment, she warily asked, "How did you know I got roses?"

"Dad told me," Yui replied simply, pulling herself up into a chair beside the kitchen table. Of course, TK had no idea that Kari had gotten roses, but that wasn't the point. "I think you must have mentioned it when he asked you to look after me today while the two of you were on the phone yesterday."

Kari took a moment to think that over. She was almost certain she hadn't said a thing about it to TK. But then, she wasn't sure enough to actually deny it either and so she accepted Yui's explanation, albeit hesitantly.

"So!" The blonde continued, heedless of Kari's silence. "Where are they? Can I see them?"

Kari noticed how quickly Yui had dropped the subject of WHERE the roses had come from and started to get suspicious, but she still didn't say anything. She merely went to the living room, got the roses and set the vase on the kitchen table.

"Oh, wow! Those are SO pretty, Kari!" Yui exclaimed, rubbing her thumb on one of the petals. 'Yui Takaishi, you are good!' she added silently to herself.

Kari smiled, unaware of the blonde girl's thoughts. "Aren't they? I just opened the door yesterday morning and there they were, just laying on the doorstep."

Of course, Yui had already known how and when Kari had probably found them, because she herself had put them there. However, it was important to play along or the plan might not work. "How romantic!" she gushed. Then she paused and her face became thoughtful.

"Kari, do you like basketball?" she asked abruptly. Surprised, Kari blinked.

"What?"

"Basketball," Yui repeated articulately, as though she was speaking to a child. "You know, the sport. Are you a fan?"

"Oh, yeah," Kari replied, ignoring the little girl's tone, "I love basketball." In truth, basketball was one of her favorite sports, second only to soccer. She had never liked it when she was younger, but when TK started playing she never missed a game and started to really enjoy it. And then, even after he had left for England, she had still been a fan.

"Oh, good!" Yui exclaimed. She jumped over to her bookbag and began to dig through it, continuing as she did. "See, the National College Basketball League championships are here in Tokyo this weekend. Uncle Matt bought tickets for himself, Dad and me, you know, to cheer Dad up after all this stuff that's been happening. But, see," she paused and pulled out three tabs of brightly colored paper. "Uncle Matt forgot that he's going out of town this weekend, so now we've got an extra ticket! And so Dad automatically thought of you.

"And just between you and me," she added conspiratorially, "He would just LOVE IT if you could come!"



* * * * *



"And here's your popcorn, Sweet-pea!" TK spoke up as he handed the overflowing bucket to his daughter while stepping over top of her at the same time. Yui had chosen the seat next to the aisle and Kari was sitting next to her, leaving TK to sit on the other side of Kari.

It was Saturday night and the three of them were at the NCBL championship game. Halftime was almost over and TK had just come back from a lengthy snack trip. Yui was as hyper as Kari had ever seen her, but she couldn't honestly say that she was doing much better. It had been a long time since she'd been to a basketball game this exciting.

"Here's your gummi bears, Kari," he said, handing her the pink bag as he sat down next to her. She took it and grinned at him.

"Hey, my favorite! I can't believe that you remembered."

TK smiled. "Remember? Man, how could I forget! Back when we were teenagers, every time we went anywhere, movies, basketball and soccer games, the fair, the amusement park, you would always get gummi bears. I'm surprised that you can even fit into that chair today, the way you ate those things."

Kari scowled and playfully punched him in the shoulder. "Yeah, well, you weren't actually diabetic either, Mr. Famous-Author. As I recall, your addiction to Chocolate Malt Balls was almost as bad as mine with gummi bears." And as she paused, her gaze drifted downwards towards the package in his hands. She quickly leaned over and yanked it from his grasp, watching him blush as she did. "What do we have here? Well, if it isn't a package of Chocolate Malt Balls!"

TK quickly grabbed back his candy, his cheeks still red because of the stares they were receiving from the people seating near them. "Okay," he muttered, slouching in his seat as the players came back on the court. "You've made your point."

Kari smiled smugly and popped a gummi bear in her mouth. "Do you really think I need you to tell me that?" TK frowned and threw a malt ball at her. This only made her grin more and she threw a couple gummi bears back at him. He caught them and grinned wolfishly as he ate them. Kari giggled.

"Some things never change, do they?"

On Kari's other side, Yui watched them from the corner of her eye, smiling to herself.



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Author's Notes: Hey, sorry this took so long. I've have just been SSSOOOOO busy. I just tested for my next Taekwondo belt, I've been in the school play (dress rehearsals, matinees, opening/middle/closing nights, district competitions, provincial festivals and all), school is bogging me down, I have to do course selections and my boyfriend of 8 months cheated on me *coughBASTARDcough*. Like I said, sorry, I'm stressed out. Anyhow, only a couple more chapters left (one or two and an epilogue) and since I'm back in my rut, they should be out soon. Toodles! ^_^