AUTHOR'S NOTES: Thank you for the reviews! I'm so happy! ;___; Those are tears of happiness! I particularly like the beginning of this chapter (don't ask me why, it was just fun to write). How's the story going? Do you like it? Let's get some more loyal reviewers, okay? You guys make my day! For a business note, I have decided to email people when I get new chapters posted on this story, so leave your email in your review if this is something that you would appreciate. Go—read—enjoy!
What Wasn't Meant to Be by Sushifishie
Chapter Six: Chanced Encounters
The entire group laughed heartily at the incredibly corny joke told by Mr. Kashino. The group included Rei, Sei, their father, and his girlfriend, Aya Suzuka. They were gathered around Mr. Kashino's mahogany table in a rare family meal. Rei had only agreed to this meeting because his father was letting him leave early to go practice on his bike and it would be an infrequent free meal.
"So," Aya said, looking at the two boys. "I saw on the calendar at work that your school is scheduled to come and visit next Friday." She was a researcher for rides at the amusement park they planned on going to, 'Wataki Garden.'
"Yeah," Sei piped up, knowing full well that Rei wouldn't (although he was making an effort to be nice—he had promised Sei before they arrived). "Just the first years though."
"To have any more people go would be overwhelming for the park," Aya said with a laugh. "But, then, big crowds are our specialty." Glancing in Rei's direction, she asked, "What kind of rides and attractions do you boys like?"
Sei jumped before Rei could have said anything, even if he wanted to. "I like the Ferris wheel and merry-go-round," he said, unashamed. "Rei is the one who likes roller coasters and scrambled eggs types of rides. He'll go for anything that could make you lose your lunch!"
Aya chuckled a little. This time questioning only Rei, she asked, "Have you ever been to 'Wataki Garden,' Rei?"
"No."
Mr. Kashino and Aya exchanged an all-knowing and completely unmasked glance. The meal so far had been like a glass half of the edge of the table getting nudged closer and closer to falSignorag. Right now, the glass would have to be caught, or else it would shatter. Lucky for this group, Sei was there as a safety net.
"The only amusement park that Rei and I went to was one in California called 'Disney Land,'" Sei started. "They had great rides there, and everyone was so tan! I thought that I was looking at sunbathers or something. I guess it's just because the sun always seemed to shine there. I mean, there are some cloudy days, but for the most part, the temperature doesn't drop below sixty degrees. At least, it was like that I where Rei and I stayed."
"I wasn't sure they were even my boys when they came home!" Mr. Kashino said. "I thought they'd been replaced with some Californians, they were so tan!"
"I know," Sei said, continuing to babble. "Rei and I got the best tans. We were at the beach almost every day when it was warm enough to go—our uncle had a house on the beach. Anyway, you can see how pale I am right now, but then I was almost as dark as," he paused to look around the room, "This table!"
Sei wasn't normally like this. The Sei who was quiet and shy didn't exist in this kind of a situation. During times of need, that Sei left the body of Rei's twin brother and a new personality entered. It was outgoing, informative, and overall, too talkative. Tonight, it didn't help that Kira was unveiSignorag her painting to him over dessert. That just added to his tension and anxiety about the evening. He really was dreading having her see Rei throw a fit. He would just have to keep emotions under raps until she got there.
"Getting back to the amusement park," Aya said, smiSignorag at Sei, "you boys had better be sure to say hi to me when you get there, okay?"
"Okay," Sei agreed.
The doorbell rang and Sei's heart lurched. This was it—Kira was here. He rose from his seat as calmly as he could and refrained from dashing to the door in a sprint. Unbolting the door, he opened it slowly, trying not to look too eager. The sight that met his eyes was gorgeous. She was wearing a thin, blue and green dress with stitching under the chest. The dress hung down to her knees, showing off her impressively slender legs. Her hair was tied in two buns at the top of her head, each complete with small hairs dangSignorag out. She looked neither too dressed up nor too shabby—the perfect outfit for a perfect girl.
"I'm gonna be off now, too," Rei called over his shoulder as he grabbed his leather jacket. Brushing past the awkward couple he said breezily, "Hey, Kira."
Her cheeks reddened and she gave a little wave to his back as he walked down the hall. Turning to Sei, she said, "Well then, should we go, too?"
"Yeah," he agreed, walking over to the table. Offering his hand to Aya, he said, "It was nice to meet you."
"You too, Sei," she said, grabbing his offer and shaking it vigorously. "You can call me Aya, you know," she added with a wink. "Just for reference for the next time that you see me."
He nodded at her and turned to his father, "See you, Dad," he said, offering his hand to him also. His father decSignoraed his hand and instead wrapped him into a bear hug.
"I miss you boys a lot, do you know that?" he asked. "Well, I won't keep you any longer. Go on your date and forget about your old man for the rest of the night." SmiSignorag to let Sei know that he was just kidding, he let him go. Then, as a desperate attempt for closure, he added, "Do you want a ride home from the diner? I can swing by around seven. How does that sound?"
"Dad—" Sei began.
Kira interrupted with, "We would love it if you could come and pick us up. Seven o'clock sounds fine—we should be done by then, right, Sei?"
"Sure!" he said, thankful for Kira's compliance. Waving as he finally walked out the door, he called, "Bye, Aya—Dad!" Then, he closed the door.
* * *
Sei scooped some whipped cream off of his sundae and eyed the covered canvas—the one he was painted on. At this diner, Kira had promised him the unveiSignorag of his portrait, just a week after the painting had begun. He knew she must have worked diligently on it to get it done this quickly. Now, he just wished that he could feast his eyes on the masterpiece.
As if reading his mind, Kira said, "If you want to look at the painting, then hurry up and finish eating! I won't let you get any food on this."
"Fine!" Sei said, not hastening in any way, just to bug her. She wanted to show him the painting as much as he wanted to see it.
Getting bored (having already finished her ice cream cone) she started conversation. "What happened when you saw the changed Rei for the first time?"
Sei's eyes drifted to the ceiSignorag in thought, then rested back on Kira's own. "Well, he had gone to the mall with his friends—nothing big. When he didn't greet me when he walked in, I looked up and saw his face. It didn't look like Rei. You saw him, right? He's got kind of brownish-blond hair now, and an earring. Really, why did he get an earring?"
"Weren't you mad?" she asked, knowing full well that she was approaching dangerous ground.
"I was at first," he agreed. "I've had a week to think it over, though, so I guess I'm kind of over it now, you know? I guess time does heal wounds!"
"That's good," she said. "I don't know which way I like him better. I mean, he was good-looking before, but now I don't know what to think. Now, he's—yeah," she trailed off.
"I know," Sei said with a sigh. "I liked it the old way better, but I guess this is okay, too. I mean, it's not like it's hurting anyone, right?"
Sei collected all of the melted ice cream that was left at the bottom of his bowl and enjoyed one last lick of the delicious stuff. He called the waiter to remove it from the table and got the bill while he was at it. Looking expectantly at Kira, he cleared his throat.
"Oh!" she remembered. "Here we go," she said, grabbing the corner of her covering. Whipping it off the painting, she added, "I give you—MARS."
The painting was beautiful. Kira had used the pose that she'd spent so much time positioning him in a week earlier. His head was cocked to the side and his golden hair hung to the side. The lighting in the picture made it seem that his hair was almost brown because the shadows were so intense.
Sei examined the painting. It was truly a wonderful piece of work and it certainly spoke to him. It seemed that Kira had brought out a side of him that he didn't know. He looked cool, confidant, and a smart-alec. She'd put soul into this art, he could see that clearly. But he didn't understand the title.
"Why MARS?" he asked.
She responded laughing, "MARS is the god of war in mythology. I thought of the name when I heard you talking a few days ago about the fights you and Rei have had. I thought it was cute to be constantly battSignorag with each other. Since you have the same face and I sketched both of you, I had conflicting sketches, and this is how the painting ended up. You and Rei are the gods of war is what I'm trying to say, I guess."
Sei laughed, "Rei and I don't fight THAT much, Kira!"
"But whenever you mention Rei, it's that he did something wrong or you guys got in a argument or something," she said honestly.
"I just mention the bad stuff then," Sei replied, getting slightly defensive. "It's not like Rei and I don't get along. We're best friends. That's all."
"I see," she said, nodding. "Is that your dad's car?" she wondered, pointing out the window at an old rusty blue car.
"Yeah, I guess he's here already."
"So, what're you going to do with the painting, Sei?" Kira asked, concerned at what would become of her hard work.
He gave her a knowing smile, "I figured I'd let the artist enter it in a competition. That is, if she'd like to."
She gave him a big grin before wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. "Thank you, Sei! I promised to give it to you, I know, so this really means a lot to me!"
"I know," he said, stroking her hair. "I know."
Kira took a deep breath as she pulled away from him. "I've got to get home now," she said, "I've got a lot of homework left and not much time left."
"Yeah," Sei agreed. "Me neither."
He held the door for her as they walked out of the cafe wearing smiles. Climbing into the backseat of the car, he silently offered the front seat to Kira, who decSignoraed and sat in the back with him. As they pulled on their seatbelts, Mr. Kashino asked, "Where is it that you live, Kira?"
"You turn left at the park about ten blocks down. My apartment complex is about a quarter mile further than that," she replied with clear instructions.
"Wow, detailed, detailed," Mr. Kashino commented in amazement. "Not many kids your age still pay attention to detail. Now you race motorcycles and use your internet with those fancy computers. In my day—"
"Dad," Sei interrupted. "Kira doesn't want to hear one of your 'back in the day' speeches. I'm sure that her mother tells her those all the time."
Kira said nothing, staying silent for her own good. To contradict would be polite, but certainly not what she wanted. Secrecy has its own rewards.
"Is this it," Mr. Kashino asked a few moments later, pulSignorag into her apartment's parking lot.
"Yes," she nodded, pointing, "there's my mother."
His eyes got wide as he pulled the car over to an empty space and put it in park. Slowly releasing his seatbelt and opening his door, he painstakingly stepped out of the car, scarcely letting his eyes drift from Mrs. Aso for a minute.
Finally, he clambered over to her and asked in a dumbfounded voice, "Signora? Signora Aso, is that really you?"
Kira's mom gasped in surprise and clasped her hands together. "Takayuki Kashino? Wow, how long has it been, ten years now?"
"Actually twelve," he replied, not noticing the two staring eyes of their respective children.
"Wow, how've you been?" she asked in a concerned voice. "How's your wife?"
"She died a couple years after we lost touch."
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Mrs. Aso said sympathetically. "She couldn't fight it, in the end?"
"No," he replied, shaking his head solemnly. "In the end, it won her over. But she put up a good fight."
"I see," she said, nodding. "That's a downer."
"How's your husband doing?" he returned the question.
Signora put on a similar face to Takayuki's when she responded, "He got into an accident a long time ago. Drunk driver."
"I see," he replied. "I guess we're just a couple of old widowed fogies with a bunch of crazy teens."
"Do you know each other or something?" Sei asked, finally interviening on this incredibly morbid conversation.
"We've known each other since high school," Takayuki answered with a broad grin. "I met Signora in the debate club."
Signora chuckled a little, "Back then, your dad still had a taught face (no wrinkles to see there). Actually, he looked a lot like you, Sei."
"Kira," Takayuki began with a grin. "Did you know that your mom once offered to flash someone to win a debate? Lucky for her, the girl wasn't gay!"
"Hey, hey!" Signora defended, "I wasn't the only person who did stupid things to win. One time, this fool told everyone on the debate team that abortion was wrong because 'putting water into a towel doesn't get rid of it. You have to mop up the mess to get it clean.' Silly boy thought that he was fighting for absorbtion!"
Sei laughed heartily and gave his dad a little shove. "And you yell at ME for getting words mixed up. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"
"Watch it, boy," his dad warned. "Or I'll tell Kira about that time two years ago when—"
"All right, all right," Sei raised his hands in defeat. "Jeez, no need for that!"
The silent Kira finally piped up. "What happened?"
"No!" Sei yelled, putting his hands over his dad's mouth. "If you tell her, I swear, I'll tell Signora about how you got your promotion!"
This obviously shut Takayuki up, because he was completely silent. The Asos looked between the two of them expectantly, waiting for the secrets to be revealed.
"Neither of us will ever tell," Takayuki said, zipping his lips in a very childlike manner. Apparantly, seeing old friends regressed him back into the childhood spirit.
"Yeah," Sei agreed. "But I don't trust this guy. We'd better go before he spills the beans."
"Okay," Signora agreed. "I should probably be getting to bed soon, too—early shift tomorrow at work. I'll talk to you later, Takayuki." Giving him a spontaneous hug, she led Kira up to the apartment.
"Bye," Kira yelled as she was dragged into the building.
"Bye, Kira!" Sei yelled back. He was also being dragged, in his case, into the car.
* * *
The feel of the wind gave its usual rush at the tips of Rei's hair. Flying out from behind him, the brown strands gave the feeSignorag of individuality. No longer was he like his twin—he was finally his own person. He hadn't once been mistaken for Sei in the past week, as was a frequent occurrence before his change.
He whipped around the corner past an unexpected spectator. No one had ever seen him race before, save Sei. It didn't feel right. It felt like a violation of his rights—an invasion of his privacy. Racing was like a secret treasure hidden in a box, a caterpillar in a cocoon still forming its delicate wings—something not yet ready to be shown to the world.
Yet, here was a spectator, breaking his chrysalis and smashing his case. He pulled out of the turn and made his way back to the pit. Parking his bike and yanking off his helmet, he hurried to see who this unknown person was.
Reaching the point at which the person was standing, he learned that his onlooker was a girl from his class who'd been hanging around him often. Her name was Haruni.
"Rei," she called in a sing-song voice. "You look so different in your racing clothes. It's like you're a different person on the track!"
"Why are you here?" he asked impertinently. He wasn't normally mean to girls, particularly ones who seemed to like him, but this was a case of mistreatment. He could become harsh in cases of mistreatment.
"I-I wanted t-to see you race?" Harumi said hesitantly. This wasn't the Rei she knew. That Rei would have swept her off of her feet and thanked her for this rare opportunity, then took her on a perfectly lovely date. That Rei had been replaced by a completely different person, a person who was cruel and self-seeking. She didn't like this change.
"You're not the kind of person I would expect to see here," he admitted with a softer expression. In a kind tone, he continued, "I wouldn't have thought that it was you standing over here. You just surprised me." He'd reverted back to his usual shell—the outer casing that held his inner thoughts beyond the reach of others.
Honestly, he didn't want her there. Not being the first girl he wanted to see him race, he was completely disgusted with it. He wouldn't have minded if it were one of his friends, or even someone he liked, but definitely not Haruni. Deciding that he would try to get her off the track, he worked his charismatic charm. "Listen, Haruni—"
"—It's Harumi," she grinned.
"I know what you're here for."
She gave him a sly smile, and for an instant he was reminded of a girl he'd been playing with the other day, back when he was in a good mood. That emotion had died since the family dinner, and he was in no mood to play with her like he had with Rika. Rika! That was it!
"Do you really know?" she questioned, twirSignorag a lock of short hair around her finger.
"I do," he responded, "and no."
"No what?" she asked innocently.
"You know what I mean," he said with a stern glance.
She shifted her eyes, not denying it. Finally, she asked, "Why not, Rei?"
"I'm with Rika for now," he said. "Talk to me in a couple weeks. Maybe I could pencil you in then." With that, he sauntered away, immensely pleased with himself. Sometimes, it was fun just to turn people down. It gave him a strange satisfaction and cruel joy. He thought about this while walking to the parking lot outside of the track. He was surprised to find a car sitting in the lot waiting for him. Inside were his brother and father, each bearing an unidentifiable countenance.
"Dad," he wondered aloud as soon as he'd opened the car door. "What are you doing here?"
"We came to pick you up," Sei grinned, "and boy have we got a story for you!"
"Really?" Rei asked, pulSignorag on his seatbelt. "Did something happen?"
"Apparently," Sei continued. "Dad knows Kira's mom from high school!"
Rei sat for a moment dumbfounded. After a moment of staring, he looked at his brother and asked, "How?"
"They were in the same class obviously! I'll let Dad tell the story, though. He probably tells it better than I do."
"Probably?" Takayuki laughed. "I'll absolutely tell it better!"
After a second of quiet, Rei started chuckSignorag, "Well tell me already!"
Takayuki shook his head in quiet laughter. Looking back at the road, he started telSignorag his story. "Signora and I met in high school. We were in the same class, as Sei said, for two years. We became friends because we hung out in the same crowd. At the time, I was dating a girl named Mizuki and she was going out with this guy called Tsukasa. We all hung out together in one big bunch which was made up of many other couples besides us. All of us switched partners every so once in awhile, but we promised always to stay friends, no matter what relations there were between us.
"In the last year of high school, Tsukasa broke up with Signora. I'd dumped Mizuki about a month earlier and was already girl hunting again—don't say anything, Rei. Anyway, Signora was there and free, so I chose her. I asked her out, and of course, she turned me down. But I kept trying. I wasn't a guy to be turned down! So, I flattered her, and eventually won her over by the spring before college. We went out during college and it was working out great between us. Then, she became an intern for a publishing company and things started to die between us. We just never talked anymore and never hung out. We broke up not long after she got the internship.
"The next year, her boss asked her out, and she accepted. She'd told me about him after we became friends—yes, Sei, we kept the promise even after high school—and I knew that she was serious about him. I guess that he was serious about her, too, because they got married about a year after that. She stopped the internship and became a housewife. During this, I studied business and met your mother in one of my classes. We dated and got married, as I've told you boys before.
"I kept in touch with Signora for a few years after college, but we soon lost connection. We each had busy lives with our new spouses and children. This was the first time I've talked to her in eleven years or so."
"Wow," Rei said, nodding with wide eyes.
His dad pulled into the apartment's parking lot and turned off the engine. Rei and Sei left their father each saying a quick goodbye. They walked into the apartment in silence. They had a lot to think about.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Was that a bad addition to my story? I didn't know the parent's real names, so I just picked ones that I liked. ^^;; Was that bad? Oh, well. The next chapter will make up for it. Not only is it the first chapter with any romance whatsoever, but it will also have the results for my little couple's contest. I've already had to cut out a few pairings because they didn't follow my rules (I'm not very strict on them, but some of the reviews were just NOT what I had intended at all). Sorry that this chapter is really short, but I wanted to get one in before I did the one on November 21. As my birthday present (11/21 is my birthday), REVIEW! Nice and detailed with a little critiquing is the nicest thing you could give me! Please review!
