"True Love": Installment 2

Author Priscila M.

Disclaimer: Early Edition characters belong to Tristar Pictures. No copyright infringement

intended. No profit is being made. I just borrowed the characters for a while.



Summary: This fanfic is set in what would be the 5th season. Gary saves a woman and falls in

love with her. Nothing on EE world is as easy as it sounds. ;)



Author notes: It took me a while to finish this fanfic but I'm happy I did finish. :) I hope

you'll all enjoy reading it as much as I did enjoy writing it. Again I'd like to thank Tina

for being such a nice friend and beta reading this fanfic. And also my brother Sergio for the

ideas for the plot and his support.

Thanks for reading! :)

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Meow. Thump. The sound of the paper arrival still bothered Gary like it was the first time.

He had spent a quality time with the police last night, trying to explain why he knew more

than he should. All Gary wanted was to sleep a bit more. "Go bother someone else!" he said,

but the cat didn't mind and kept meowing. Giving up, he got the paper. Bending down to get

it he said "I have a date tonight so you'd better not spoil it, pal!"

Miyuki promised Shizuka she wasn't going away before they figured out what to do. Shizuka was

happy, her job was going well as a teacher and she had a date with Gary. She was looking

forward to spending more time with him. She was planning to end up her work as fast as

possible andthen meet Gary. She was on her class when someone appeared on the door. Going to

check for Shizuka's surprise there was Tarou.

"Eigo no kurasu wa doko ni imasu ka?" (Where's the English class?) Tarou were acting like

nothing had happened.

"Asoko desu yo!" (It's there!) she pointed to the door across the hall. "Eigo o benkyo shite

iru no?" (Are you studying English?)

Tarou nodded and walked away to the class. Shizuka was sure he had gone back to Japan like he

had said. She stopped staring at the hall while millions of questions were on her mind until

one student got her attention back to the class. There were only 5 minutes left on her first

class, so she dismissed the class.

Gary was reading the paper again "Executive murdered in robbery - the victim had his car

robbedshortly after leaving the office building. Police believes it was a revenge as Robert

Neal worked as criminal lawyer." So he was trying to figure out what to do. He had already

tried to talk to the guy but he didn't have an appointment. Gary saw the possible victim

going out of the building so he got close to the person.

"Excuse me, could you please tell me where Michigan avenue is?" Hoping he would get time

to scare the robber away.

Robert thought for a moment "You're far away from there, pal. It's all the way to there."

Gary nodded "It's my first time here in Chicago so, uh, maybe--"

"Enjoy your stay. I'm in a hurry." Robert was going to step outside when the receptionist

asked him to go back inside.

In the paper the article had changed. It was too easy Gary thought. Fortunately someone

needed his attention. Best of all he didn't need to call the police. The rest of the errands

weren't that hard either. Gary had time to go back to the bar in time to get ready to wait for

Shizuka.

They were having dinner on McGinty's, just the two of them were there. Gary asked the

cook to make some gnocchi. Some old song was playing on the jukebox and for a change Gary

was just enjoying the dinner. Somehow the paper wasn't against his date, at least he

hoped.

"What's the name of this pasta again, Gary?" She was eating it with chopsticks.

"Gnocchi. It's my dad's favorite food too." he smiled.

"I see... I think I'm the first person in the world eating gnocchi with chopsticks."

Shizuka laughed at her own comment.

Gary nodded "Shizuka, have your heard from your parents lately?"

She placed her chopsticks on the table "Yes, I had. But I'd rather..." she sighed heavily

"They asked Miyuki to go back and mentioned I'm not welcome."

"I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do?" He held her hand.

Shizuka was obviously upset about the fact "Being my boyfriend already helps."

Gary smiled at her "I'm really glad to hear that. But let me know if I can do anything else."

After a few days, Shizuka was still bugged by the fact Tarou was studying on the class across

the hall. She couldn't help concentrate on the classes anymore. Miyuki didn't know anything

either. Her parents didn't mention anything about him on their letters. He had gone to the US

just to take her back to Japan so they could get married.

Even though the paper was keeping Gary busy, he was able to skip the police attention at least.

Just another save for the day, a woman was going to be raped in a park. So it was going to be

tricky but possible to avoid. Gary kept looking around searching for a blond woman in her

20's to walk around. Gary saw the possible victim walking but nobody suspect were around. He

got close to her.

"Excuse me, I'm with the Chicago department of parks and I couldn't help noticing you stepped

on the flowers."

The woman got scared "Are you a thief or just a fool?"

"Maybe a fool trying to help you. You see, there's a strange guy following you." Gary was

looking around to find who was going to rape her.

"Sure thing. Is it your sick idea of pick up line?" She grabbed her cellphone in her purse

"I'm calling the cops!"

Things weren't going the way Gary wanted "You know what, forget it!"

He walked away from her and looked at the paper. The article was gone. Looking back, Gary saw

the woman walk away. Looking again at the paper, Gary said "Are you broken!?". He walked away

from the park just wishing to get home as soon as possible.

He entered McGinty's just wanting to get some rest. The customers noise plus the song playing

out of the juke box were enough to twist Gary's thoughts. He made his way to his loft in a

hurry. As he entered the loft, he was ready to take his jacket off when the phone rang. He

grabbed the phone quickly.

"Hi Gary, it's me."

"Hey, Shizuka. I'm sorry I didn't call. I had to run some errands." Gary sat on the

sofa.

Shizuka didn't mind that "It's just I wanted to thank you for last night. I had a really good

time."

"That's nice. I was wondering if you would like to watch a movie sometime?"

"Absolutely. Is friday night alright for you, Gary?"

"Sure. Let's meet here at McGinty's. I'm looking forward to spending sometime with you."

Gary was glad they were going to meet again soon.

"So am I. Love you."

"Love you, Shizuka. Take care."

After a long day of errands, Gary got back to the bar. He spoke to Marissa for a while, mostly

about the bar, then he went upstairs to change. The cat was meowing on top of the paper. Gary

was just too distracted by getting dressed up so that the cat wasn't bothering him. "Get off

the furniture, will ya?" Gary was putting the cat on the floor when he saw he headline.

"Chemical laboratory burns down, one victim in critical condition"

Shizuka was going out when Miyuki saw her making her way to the door. "Hot date with Gary

tonight eh?" Miyuki was impressed to see a smile on Shizuka's face for a change.

"I'm going to the movies with him". Getting her purse, Shizuka stopped to stare in the mirror

to make the final changes on her hair. Put her earrings on and some lipstick.

"I'm going now, jaa ne!". Shizuka waved to Miyuki as she left. The night was wonderful, the

moon was full on the sky. She walked to the EL station as she was enjoying the view even though

the wind was a bit too cold.

On a cab going to the University of Chicago, Gary read again the paper. "A group of senior

students of chemistry changed the label of an alcohol bottle to water just to bother a new

student. The laboratory burnt down and the chemistry teacher is in critical condition in the

hospital. Police said it happened around 9 PM". At the University he tried to get inside the

laboratory but the security guards didn't let him in.

"I'm tellin' ya! There's going to be problems in the laboratory!" Gary was trying to make a

point but the guards weren't listening.

"Sure thing, Mr. knows better than the rest of us. So what's going to happen?"

"Okay, I'll tell ya." Gary started to read the paper "Two senior students changed the label

of an alcohol bottle just to make a joke on the new student. So the newbie used what he

thought that was water for his experiment which made the laboratory burn down. Uh..."

The guard lost his patience "If you don't leave now, I'll kick you out!"

Gary was going to argue some more when he saw people running and screaming. He passed thru the

guards and got into the laboratory. The teacher was on the ground but still alive. Gary

helped the teacher to go out of the room without many problems. Gary had to call the ambulance

himself as most students just disappeared to avoid trouble with the police. When they arrived

Gary was able to get out of there. Checking his clock it was over 10 PM already. He ran some

blocks until he was able to get a cab.

He got to McGinty's a bit too late. Shizuka wasn't there anymore. He searched around the place

but she hasn't left any notes for him. Feeling frustrated he wasn't sure what he should do.

Fast he picked up the phone in the bar and dialed Shizuka's number. After a couple of tries

someone answered it.

"Hello, it's Shizuka speaking."

Gary scratched the back of his neck "It's me. I'm really sorry about today."

"Really, that's fine. I enjoyed staying there for a while, I needed to go out." Shizuka was a

bit disappointed but not mad at him.

"What about tomorrow night? Here at McGinty's?" He knew the paper would screw up but he had

to try.

Shizuka thought for a moment "Tomorrow I have to pick up my brother-in-law at the airport

with Miyuki. I don't think I could make it, Gary."

"No problem. Sorry again about today." Gary was hoping it would help him.

"Don't worry about it. I gotta go now, Gary. I love you."

"Love you too, night."Shizuka was happy it was finally Friday.

She was able to avoid Tarou most of the days, even though it was getting on her nerve having

to hide from him all day long. She was trying to focus on the future. Hiroshi was coming back

and she was hoping he would need to stay longer in the US because of his job. Lessons were

almost the same, a different group of people each day of the week but basically the same

lesson to everybody. It was nice though, she really liked to teach. At least she enjoyed her

job. She was leaving in order to go to the airport when Tarou appeared out of nowhere on the

hall way and wanted to talk to her.

"So how are things with you, sensei?" (sensei is the formal way to say 'teacher')

Shizuka tossed her hands up in the air "Aren't you afraid people are going to realize you

already speak English, Tarou?"

"Iie, betsu ni" (not at all) now forcing a strong accent "I speak not english, sorry" Tarou

was enjoying the fact Shizuka was getting bored.

"I really thought you were going back to Japan" She looked into his eyes "We're thru. Leave me

alone!" She walked away.

Gary had saved a woman from slipping from the EL stairs and breaking a leg. He was glad it

was rather easy. He was already walking back to McGinty's when he checked the paper. On the

first page "Explosion at O'Hare Airport - Yesterday afternoon at O'Hare Airport a bomb was

left in the luggage. 2 people died and dozens got wounded." Fortunately he was able to grab a

cab whichwas passing by.

Both Miyuki and Shizuka met at the airport. They were excited to finally see Hiroshi again.

He had been to New York for 4 months, working. Miyuki brought her camera and started taking

pictures from the airport. Shizuka was walking around because waiting on airports always made

her imagination start to wonder about accidents. She stopped on the newsstand.

Still trying to find something more in the paper, Gary arrived at O'Hare. It was crowed and

lots of luggage were around him. "Oh boy!" he started to look around trying to find out where

the bomb could be. He looked in the paper and in the picture he saw a phone booth in the

background. After walking around for a while he found what he believed was the place were the

bomb would explode. An employee from the airport left a car full of luggage while he stopped

to talk to someone. It was when Gary saw a woman looking for something in the luggage, he said

to the crowd "Everybody down!" most people did it but the woman kept searching. Gary pulled

her just in time before the bomb exploded.

*Chapter 4*

Shizuka was leaving the newsstand when she heard someone saying "Everybody down". As she

turned she saw Gary pulling a woman away from the luggage then something exploded. After a

few seconds she looked to see if anybody was hurt. She didn't see Gary so she got closer

to were it all happened. Gary was with the woman in his arms. Her head was laying on his chest

while he was holding her. All she could do was stop and stare at them. Wondering about the

unusual situation and the sight of another woman in his arms wasn't pleasant.

Gary pulled the woman away and heard the explosion. He just held her in this arms. They were

far away enough from the explosion to not get hurt. He opened his eyes to see who the woman in

his arms was... Marcia. She was really disturbed by the whole situation.

"Oh my god, Gary! Are you alright?!"

Gary was confused by the fact she was around and to see her so worried. "Yeah, I'm fine."

he managed to say.

Marcia then placed her forehead on his chest "I could have..." he just held her, realizing she

was disturbed by the near death experience.

"It's alright now. Don't worry." He waited until some paramedics arrived to take care of the

wounded people and walked away.

Miyuki ran to find out if Shizuka was okay. She found her sister staring at the crowd. After

trying to get information from the security people and getting any straight answers, she was

already in panic. After trying to get Shizuka's attention by calling her name Miyuki grabbed

her by the shoulders and tried again.

"Shizuka!!! Talk to me!!! Are you alright?!?!?" Miyuki was scared to death.

"I guess so. But look!" She pointed to Gary who was standing next to Marcia. "Gary was holding

that woman after the explosion."

Things were out of control that day. Gary was so tired he wasn't thinking anymore. All he

wanted was to arrive at his loft and have some peaceful time alone. He passed thru the customers

in the bar in a hurry. He made it to the stairs without problems. He was going up when he saw

Shizuka sitting on the last step of the stair case. Worried about her he asked

"Are you alright? Let's go inside, shall we?"

She nodded and entered his loft. Before he could do or say anything she asked "So who was the

woman I saw in your arms today at the airport?"

Gary got surprised "So you were there?! It was a crazy day."

"I was waiting for Miyuki's husband to arrive from New York, I told you that! I'm hoping

you'll be honest with me, Gary." She was hoping his answer would solve the whole problem.

"That was my ex-wife." Gary made his way to the couch. "The same person who threw my stuff out

of the window on our anniversary."

So the mystery was solved about the woman "How did you know about the explosion? I saw you

telling everybody to get down and pulling her away before the bomb exploded!"

Even though Gary heard that a million of times it was the hardest. He ran his hand thru his

hair and thought for a moment. He was going to take the paper off his jacket when she said

"If you can't be honest with me-- you have my number, if you change your mind."

"Wait, Shizuka! Come on... give me a change to explain!"

Shizuka left the loft in a hurry and Gary followed her to the bar. He asked her to stop but

she wouldn't, she just stopped when she saw Marcia entering the bar. Gary froze when he saw

Marcia. The two women looked at each other for a moment. Not sure what he should do, Gary just

kept staring at both of them.

Shizuka turned to Gary "I think you two have to talk so I'm leaving."

Hoping it would help, he said "I'll call you later!" As a waitress asked Marcia, she ordered a

drink. Gary was trying to figure out what he should do next so he sat on a chair near her.

Serving the drink, the waitress noticed her boss wasn't in his best moments.

"Are you alright, Mr. Hobson?" the waitress asked as a customer on the table called her.

"I guess so." Gary replied in a distant way.

"So who was that? Some girlfriend?" Marcia smiled.

Gary ran his hand thru his hair "That's right. So what's your visit all about?"

"I didn't have a chance to say how grateful I am to you for saving my life. But how did you

know?" She sighed as she got a sip of her drink.

"Right place, right time kind of thing." It was an automatic answer for Gary already.

"That near death experience got me thinking about life, Gary. At that moment I thought I was

going to die for my job and I didn't even had a family yet." She said it in a serious way.

Marcia walked to the jukebox. She picked a salsa song and started to dance. Gary couldn't stop

looking at her, not noticing that the customers were staring at her, too. Looked like she was

having a good time there. She waved Gary to join her but he refused, shaking his head. Marcia

didn't give up, she came next to him and grabbed his arm as he stood up. She started to dance

so he tried his best to follow her. Memories of the times they used to dance together popped

on his mind. He was going to take her out to dinner and dancing on their 4th anniversary. He

was too distracted with his thoughts to pay attention to anything else. Marcia was smiling a

lot, she always smiled when she was dancing with him.

"Well done, Gary. It was the first time you didn't twist your knee."

Gary laughed embarrassed by her comment "So, were you leaving Chicago?"

"Actually I came from Boston." After a brief moment she asked "Would you like to grab a bite

later?" Marcia got her drink off the bar and sipped it.

Thinking for a while Gary replied "I'm busy lately, you see? Taking care of the bar and

everything."

All Gary wanted that night was to lay down for a while. All muscles of his body were aching,

even some he didn't know that could ache. After climbing up the stairs to his loft, he collapsed

on the sofa. He was just starting to sleep when the phone rang. Jumping as its ring scared him,

Gary picked up. Said hello twice but nobody answered. He was about to hang up when he heard a

distorted male voice "I'm going to kill you, Gary Hobson." and the person hang up. Gary sat

on the sofa wondering *who* would like to do such thing.

The next days flew by to Shizuka. She didn't tell Miyuki what happened and she didn't talk to

Gary either. Still she was trying to get as much time as possible without making any major

decisions while she was feeling down. But things aren't always as she would hope. Miyuki was

waiting for Shizuka to go back home so they could talk. Shizuka arrived home, entering the

living room in a hurry. She stopped as she saw concern on her sister's face.

"Okay, Miyuki. You can drop the bomb! Things can't get any worse than that."

"Nope! First tell me what happened between you and Gary."

Shizuka didn't know where to start "That person Gary saved on the airport was his ex-wife. And

I asked him how he did know but he didn't tell me!"

Miyuki thought for a moment "He said like 'none of your business' or what?"

"He just didn't answer. Then I left." Shizuka placed her hand on her forehead "I got upset

because he couldn't tell me why!"

Taking a deep breath Miyuki said "Hiroshi wants to go back to Japan in 1 month. I have

some money if you need help with the rent. And--"

"Don't bother. I'm seriously thinking about going back." Shizuka replied in a serious tone.

Gary had already saved a woman from being robbed then he was going to police station. He was

still getting threats thru the phone. A cab just stopped a few feet away from were he was.

Someone was leaving the cab so Gary ran to don't loose the cab. He was distracted reading the

paper so he said "Hurry up, will ya?". An old lady got off the cab, gave some dirty looks to

him.

On the police station, Gary had so many bad memories of that place. But it was worth a shot

trying to get some help. Gary asked some policemen around if Armstrong was around but he was

told Armstrong was in a meeting. So Gary sat down, read the paper just to be sure he had time

and waited. Trying his best to keep his mind busy as unpleasant memories weren't what he needed.

"Hobson!? What brings you here this time?" Brigatti was just passing by him.

Gary got up when he saw her "Brigatti... I... I'm waiting to talk to Armstrong, that's all."

"Let's go to my office. Paul won't have free time today."

Gary was following Brigatti to her office. So the good samaritan got in trouble again, it was

time to him to find a better hobby already. She was trying to figure out what was wrong with

him. Gary was way too worried for someone who saved so many people on the airport. She closed

the door and sat down on her chair.

"So what's wrong, Hobson?" She crossed her arms and rested them on the desk "What's the

problem now?"

Gary scratched the back of his head "I've been getting threats thru the phone for a couple of

days already."

"Okay. I'd say to you watch your back. Some people think it's funny to scare the hell out of

others, few are actually after revenge." Brigatti looked at Gary's worried face "Do you have

any idea who would do such a thing?"

"I wish I had." Gary saw in the paper that he had to do another save. "Brigatti, I gotta go

now."

"Just watch your back, Hobson! And try not to be a hero once in a while, ok?", she said while

Gary was leaving her office.

Actually there wasn't any article. Gary just didn't want to spend more time with the police.

They wouldn't help much. He was going to try to figure out who was threatening him over the

phone alone. He stopped at a flower shop and bought some flowers for Shizuka. Then he walked

back to the bar, concerned about the whole situation.

Marissa was waiting for him after McGinty's was closed. She knew sometimes he arrives pretty

late but she couldn't stop worrying. She heard the door open, hoping it was Gary. He entered

slowly, trying to open the zipper of his jacket.

"Hello Marissa." He said as he placed the flowers on the bar.

"Gary! I'm so glad you're here. Detective Armstrong was here earlier looking for you. What's

wrong?" She sounded so concerned, just like a mother whose son had done something naughty.

Still all he wanted was to be left alone for a while "Uh... I didn't want you to worry about

it. I've been threatened thru the phone lately."

"Oh my god! Are you taking care, Gary?" Marissa just got even more concerned.

"I went to the police today. I spoke to Brigatti but they can't do anything about it" Gary

sighed. "Watch your back was everything she said."

"Just promise me you'll be careful." After a brief pause "What about Shizuka? Did you go out

with her again?"

Gary got frustrated "I blew two dates in a row. Ever since I wasn't able to talk to her."

"Go talk to her, Gary. Don't expect her to go after you." Marissa got her purse and was about

to leave. "Good night. See you tomorrow." She left Gary to think about what she said, hoping

it could help him.

*Chapter 5*

It was 2 AM in the morning. The wind was so cold that Gary felt like it was cutting him. He

was tired of a day full of errands and freezing. Having some problems to actually read the

paper because he was shaking too much the headline said "Chicagoan leaps to his death". It

would happen on the State Street Bridge. Just thinking about a hot shower already made Gary

happier but still he had yet another person to save. He heard someone walking on the other

side of the bridge, so Gary tried to hide. The guy was smoking and saying things but Gary was

too far to hear it. When apparently the guy was going to jump, Gary got close to the guy "You

don't want to do this!". Exactly at the same moment, both Gary and the jumper pointed their

fingers to each other and both said "it's ya!"

Todd started to laugh "I can't believe mister good samaritan came here *again*!"

"So what happened to your 'I'll think about things' attitude?" Gary was trying to warm himself

up by walking around.

"Ya know, I had gotten another job at Wal Mart as bag boy. I got fired after two days!"

Todd stop for a moment then he asked "How the hell did you know *both* times?!"

So tired and frozen Gary just said the first thing that came to his mind "I'm an angel. God

sentme because it's not your time."

Todd's mouth opened and so did his eyes "Like on that show 'Touched by an Angel'?!?! So God

does exist... wow! How does He look like?"

"I can't tell you more. I shouldn't have told you I'm an angel. If I tell you more I'll have

problems." Gary didn't even know why he said that let alone why Todd believed it.

"Okay. I'll try more. Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Todd said while shaking

Gary's hands.

"I'm glad. But remember I'll know if you try again."

Facing McGinty's door, Gary looked at his watch. Almost 4 in the morning. He could get two

hours of sleep before the paper arrival. But first he had to climb up to his loft. All he could

do was sit on the bed and take his shoes off, lay down and sleep like a rock. The phone rang a

few minutes after Gary fell asleep, he stood up and made his way to the phone. Picking it up

he heard a man saying "I'm going to kill you... it's all your fault. Because of what you did!"

Shizuka had decided to go back to Japan to try to start a new life there. She was trying to

enjoy her last two weeks in Chicago and hoping to spend some time with Gary before going back.

As Hiroshi had some business to take care of, Shizuka and Miyuki were going out together.

Before going out Shizuka called McGinty's but Gary wasn't around.

Back at the police station, Gary finally was able to talk to Armstrong in this office. After

more than a month of threats he couldn't wait to get rid of whoever was doing it. Still it was

hard to be sure. Armstrong hadn't thought he would see Gary really worrying and needing help

again.

"So Hobson, have you been able to find out why or who the person is that is threatening you?"

Armstrong wrote on a piece of paper as he spoke.

Gary rubbed his hands "I think I do. Last time the guy said 'I'm going to kill you because of

what you did' so I think it might be the ex-fianc‚ of my girlfriend"

Armstrong kept writing on that paper "Are you sure? We can't go out there arresting people

around, you know?" Now in a serious tone and looking at Gary "There's nothing we can do yet.

You *think* he's the one--"

"Sure! If you find me floating on a lake then you'll be able to do something, right?" Gary

stood up and walked to the door. He turned to Armstrong "I'm sorry... it's just I'm not used

to have people threatening me!"

Shizuka got home after spending most of the day in a karaoke bar. Feeling better, she opened

the door, smiling as she thought about the date she had with Gary that night, too. As she

entered it was too quiet. She could only hear Hiroshi was in the living room working on his

laptop. Taking her shoes off she asked

"Where's Miyuki?"

"I thought you knew where she was!" without even taking his eyes off the laptop Hiroshi

replied.

"Another deadline, Hiroshi?" Shizuka rolled her eyes.

He didn't even bother to stop typing "Of course. I need to finish this until tomorrow morning."

She sat on the sofa staring at her parents' picture on the table. "Hiroshi... did I make a

mistake about Tarou?"

Finally he stopped and looked at her "I believe omiai kekkon (arranged marriage) can work as

mine worked but I also believe in fate. You two weren't meant to be together, period."

Shizuka looked at him "How do you know who the right person is?"

Still more one errand to take care of, Gary was running to downtown Chicago. The article in the

paper was about a freak accident of a man who tried to fix his satellite dish on the roof of

his home and fell down to his death. Without much time left, he was searching for the right

home. On the street all houses looked alike. He finally saw a middle aged man climbing up a

ladder. "Mr. Brown! Wait!!!" He got close to the ladder "Please, Mr. Brown wait a minute."

Jim got off the ladder without recognizing the young man who was in his yard. "Who are you?

How do you know my name?" Jim looked to Gary from up to down.

"I'm from the satellite dish corporation and I'm here to help you. You see, the problem isn't

on your roof, sir." Gary was checking the details in the paper.

"And you know this because...? Don't waste my time, I wanna see the Bears game!" Jim was going

back to the ladder.

"If you go inside Mr. Brown, and check the cable behind your TV you'll see that's the real

problem. Trust me!"

While Jim went inside the house, Gary opened the paper and the article was gone. He folded the

paper and walked away. There wasn't anything else in the paper. The afternoon was beautiful,

the sun was almost not visible on the horizon. He was going to Shizuka's home. Glad he was

going to arrive in time for his date this time. Arriving there, Gary placed the paper in his

back pocket and knocked on the door. A man opened the door.

"May I help you?" he asked with a strong japanese accent.

"I'm Gary Hobson. Nice to meet you." They shook hands "I'm here to meet Shizuka."

Hiroshi got surprised and laughed "Oh! Shizuka's boyfriend. By the way, I'm Hiroshi Miwa."

They entered the house and both sat down on the living room. Hiroshi just saved something he

had done on his laptop and turned it off "Shizuka will be down in a minute. So you're the

mysterious guy who saved her."

Gary was getting embarrassed "It was just a right place, right time kind of thing. So you're

Miyuki's husband?"

Hiroshi nodded "Yeah. We're a living proof that omiai kekkon can work."

Trying hard to pronounce it correctly Gary said "What is an omiai kekkon?"

Grabbing a book out of his pocket, Hiroshi searched for a few seconds "I meant arranged

marriage."

Gary nodded, then he saw Shizuka coming downstairs. She found both of them talking. She was

surprised to see Gary a bit earlier than they had marked. "It's nice to see you again, Gary."

He stood up "You're looking really beautiful tonight, Shizuka."

So they were going for a nice dinner in a restaurant. Enjoyable live music, lots of couples

eating around enjoying themselves. Gary then walked her to their table. Shizuka was following

the beats on the music shaking her head and not paying much attention to anything else around.

Gary ordered the food. Sipping the wine, Shizuka looked at him.

"I got carried away by music, I didn't mean to ignore the waiter." Shizuka blushed.

Gary smiled "That's okay. I don't think he did mind though." Suddenly changing the subject,

she asked "Do you believe in fate, Gary?"

Surprised by the question he thought for a moment "Things in my life made me not believe in it,

you see?"

Shizuka nodded "Hiroshi told me he thinks he and Miyuki were meant to be together. Only then

I realized I don't have an opinion about fate."

They left the restaurant, walking in the moonlight on a nice evening. Gary was holding her

hand while they walked. Going thru some stores on the streets and looking around, they were

both having a good time. They entered Shizuka's house. Miyuki was sleeping on the sofa while

the TV was on the NHK news. So both went upstairs to Shizuka's bedroom. She opened the door,

a small room. Just a bed, a laptop on a table, a stereo next to it and lots of CDs. Some

pictures on the table. Gary sat down on the bed and Shizuka sat down on a chair.

"Welcome to my world, Gary." She placed a CD in the stereo next to her bed "I can isolate

myself from everything else when I listen to music here."

Gary looked around "I like the room. It looks so... japanese." he smiled.

Shizuka sat next to him on the bed. She was staring at the wall, trying to figure out what to

do. As she looked at Gary, ready to say something, he kissed her. She looked in his eyes "I

love you" when Gary pulled her in his arms and kissed her once more. And so they spent the

night together.

Gary woke up on his own. Looking outside the window it was already morning but he haven't heard

the cat nor the paper. He thought it was because they were on the second floor of the house.

Shizuka was laying on his shoulder. He managed to grab his clothes. Shizuka opened her eyes as

she heard Gary struggling to put on his pants.

"Good Morning, Gary" she said, rubbing her eyes "Did you sleep well last night?"

Smiling, he replied "Good Morning. I slept quite well."

Gary looked on a clock on her desk, it was 7:15 AM. Wondering where the world the paper would

be, he rushed downstairs to find the paper on a table near the stairs. He grabbed it to only

then noticing Miyuki and a couple in the living room were staring at him. Embarrassed Gary

wasn't sure what to say.

"Good Morning, Miyuki. Mr and Ms. Tanemura, I presume. it's nice to finally meet you both."

Gary noticed the worried look on Miyuki's face.

Ms. Tanemura then said "Miyuki-san, ano kata wa dare deshou ka?" (Who's this person?)

Miyuki stood up. "Otosan, okasan chotto omachi kudasai." (Dad, mom please wait a minute) she

walked to Gary "What are we going to do now?"

"Didn't you know they were coming?!" Gary looked at the parents but they just ignored him and

kept talking to each other.

When things apparently couldn't get any worse, Shizuka was coming downstairs and saw Miyuki

next to Gary. "You're already back, Miyuki, I wasn't--" she turned to see her parents there.

Still shocked but trying to hide "Ohayou gozaimasu. Otosan, okasan ogenki desu ka?" (Good

Morning. How are you two doing?)

Mr. Tanemura finally said something "Kareshi wa nihongo no hanasu koto ga dekimasen ne?" (Your

boyfriend doesn't speak japanese, does he?)

"Moriron desu anata." (Of course not, dear.) Ms. Tanemura added before Shizuka could say

anything.

Shizuka got really upset about the comment so she looked at both of them "Koko wa watashi

no ie desu kara kimitachi wa kangei sarete inai!" (Because it's my house you both aren't

welcome here!)

An awkward silence filled the room.N obody said anything else. Gary was able to go to the

second floor just in time to hear Shizuka's speech. Even though he didn't understand, it didn't

sound good. In the paper the headline said "Woman dies on car explosion - 38 years old Ming

Fey died yesterday shortly after 10 AM when her car exploded. Police affirms the bomb was made

exactly like the one found at O'Hare airport" folding the paper, Gary placed it in the pocket

of his jeans.

Upset, Shizuka went upstairs and entered her bedroom. Gary knew she needed support in a moment

like that, so he walked to her bedroom. He stopped at the door, seeing her standing next to

the desk. Gary entered the room and just held her. "It's gonna be alright, Shizuka. I'm going

to stay with you forever." Gary held her tighter.

"I'm sorry they ruined our first morning together, Gary." Shizuka then said "I want to be with

you forever!"

Leaving the house together, each one took a different way. Shizuka went to work on the EL while

Gary got a cab in order to avoid the car explosion. Arriving at the place, Gary didn't have

problems finding the avocado green Nissan. He couldn't see anything wrong with the car so he

stayed around until the woman came. A Korean woman was going to place the key in the key hole

as Gary took the key off her hand.

"I'm sorry ma'am but I can't let you do that! And you have to get out of here!" Gary said as

he held the keys.

Then the woman started to say something to him in Korean and at the same time she struggled

to get the key off his hand. She was half his size so not much of a problem to Gary. Only that

she kept screaming and apparently didn't understand a word of what he said.

"Wait! Hey, I'm the good guy in this situation. It's for your own sake!" Before Gary could do

anything else, a man got near them and started arguing with the woman. Distracted for a moment

from the fight, Gary was going to get the paper when the man got a knife out of his jacket

"What do you think your are doing, pal?"

Gary recognized that accent "Aren't ya the freak who have been threatening me thru the phone?!"

"Every time I was about to kill this bitch you somehow always appear to save her!" Then again

he started arguing with the woman.

"Come on, you don't want to kill her. It's not going to help you!" Gary was trying even though

it would be hard to change the guy's mind.

Laughing, the man said to Gary "See you in hell, pal! I promise I'll kill you fast but for her

I have some ideas--"

Gary was cursing the fact there was no one around to help "So why do you want to kill her?"

"As we are having this little conversation, I know about your secret!" The man placed the knife on

Gary's neck "So why don't you tell me more about it?"

Scared to death Gary whispered "I don't know what you're talking about."

A police car arrived at the place. As the cops pulled their guns out the guy dropped the knife.

Still a bit dizzy from the unusual situation, Gary looked in the paper and said "Everybody

down!" as most people ducked and Gary too, about 10 seconds later the Nissan exploded.

One of the cops asked Gary a few questions. Meanwhile the other cop was having a hard time

with the man, he was saying "Lock that freak up! He gets tomorrow's paper today, you know?"

So the cop took his eyes off his notepad and said to Gary "Tomorrow's paper eh? I see you

brought it with you" he pointed at the paper in Gary's hand.

Believing his secret was finally out, Gary finally said "Yeah. Uh... you're not going to put it

in your report, are ya?"

The cop started to write something down "Absolutely. My boss will love to hear what we found

out today." looking to Gary's worried face he said "I knew I should be an actor!"

Gary laughed "I'd give ya an award for that one!"

Shizuka was staring at the sunset sitting on a park bench. It was a pretty sight, the sky was

crystal clear as the night was starting. She was relaxing after work and she didn't exactly

want to go home that day. She closed her eyes and started to sing, not too loud. She sang for

a while, then opened her eyes to see Gary on her side.

"How long have you been there, Gary?" She wiped some tears off her eyes.

He placed his arms around her "Long enough to hear your song. What's wrong?"

Shizuka said "It's nothing. Uh..."

Gary then got a serious tone in his voice "I need to tell you something, Shizuka. You see..."

he took the paper out of his jacket. "I get tomorrow's newspaper today. And I try to help

peopleout there. Here, take a look yourself" he handed the paper to her.

She looked at the date in the paper and the front page. She folded it and gave it back to Gary

"So that's why you knew about the bomb at the airport... oh, I see. You read about Tarou and

me in it too?"

Nodding he added "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it before."

"Do you know where the paper comes from, Gary?" Shizuka sighed, then continued "I knew you

were special since the day I met you."

Gary ran his hand thru his hair "I don't know yet where it comes from. All I know is every

morning for the past 6 years that orange cat and the paper are on my doorstep."

Shizuka's eyes got wide open "SIX YEARS?! Oh my god! Whom did you tell about it?"

Looking up as he thought Gary said "Marissa... my parents and my best friend, Chuck."

"Gary... there's something I wanted to say--"

Gary held Shizuka's hand "Please let me finish. I told you about the paper because I wanted

to kow" after a brief pause he asked "Will you marry me, Sizuka?"

Shizuka kissed Gary on his lips "Yes! I'll marry you, Gary" she kissed him again.

As Gary placed the ring on her finger she couldn't hold back her tears "I just hope it's not

just a nice dream."

Five days ater Gary and Shizuka were waiting for Hiroshi and Miyuki. Gary was sitting on a

bench reading the paper while Shizuka was walking around. She was way too nervous to wait

quietly. Gary folded the paper and went after her. Shizuka was staring at a crowd that had

just arrived on a flight from Japan "I came thru that very same gate 4 years ago, Gary.

And now Miyuki is leaving alone."

Gary held her "Come on! Be strong for Miyuki, I'm sure it's hard for her too."

Still in his arms, she said "Don't you know I just said that so you would hold me?" she smiled.

So they waited a few minutes more, then they saw Hiroshi and Miyuki going towards the gate.

Shizuka ran and hugged her sister. Hiroshi was carrying some luggage so he placed it near the

bench were Gary was standing near.

Hiroshi shook hands with Gary "Take good care of Shizuka, ok? And go visit us someday in

Okinawa."

Gary was looking to both sisters "Don't worry. I'll take good care of her. Wait, their parents

live in Hokkaido, don't they?!"

"I was transferred to Okinawa, I'm editor of a japanese newspaper." Hiroshi then stared at the

sisters.

Surprised, Gary said "Newspaper editor? I didn't know that." Then he stared at the sisters "Do

you think those two will survive separated from each other?"

Miyuki held Shizuka's hands "I'm so happy for you about Gary. I'm sure you will be happy."

"Shimatta... (damn it) I promised myself I wouldn't cry but--" Shizuka was chocking on her

tears "I'm going to miss you!"

"Now I'm going to cry!" Miyuki laughed as she wiped a tear off her eye "We will talk to each

other. Besides, you can come visit us anytime!"

Speaking about their future plans while waiting for the flight, finally Miyuki got a box out

ofher luggage and handed it to Shizuka.

"It's mom's wedding kimono. I want you to use it on yours so it will bring luck to you both."

Gary did a bow saying "Domo arigatou. (thank you) Kore kara mo yoroshiku onegai shimasu."

(Literally something around "I humbly ask you to be kind to me from now on")

"Wow! Your pronunciation is wonderful, Gary!" Miyuki couldn't resist to take the opportunity

to make her sister jealous.

Shizuka held Gary's arm "Ogenki de ne! (Take care) Ganbare! (Good luck)"

As both entered the gate, Shizuka turned to Gary and said "Hold me."

Trying to cheer her up a bit, Gary said "I know it's hard to say goodbye, Shizuka."

"Why does it hurt so much to miss other people?" Shizuka was still in his arms. "Promise me

you'll never let go of me."

"I promise you, Shizuka."

*The End*