AUTHOR'S NOTES:  Chapter eight is technically the second half of chapter seven, but I didn't finish chapter seven in time for my promised update (which was wrong, I'm sorry) and it was too long anyway!  Make any sense?  I didn't think so.  I just reread my previous chapter—will you guys notice what utter crap it was?  Oh, well, maybe you'll have gone easy on the flames (hopefully).  This chapter may be even worse, but my editor said that it would be pleasant if I picked up the pace a little bit.  Never fear, readers of my torturous fanfic, I have many chapters mapped out.  I have to chapter nine outlined on paper and to chapter eleven in my head.  Now, let's just hope that I can get them on paper!  Let's see how this works out!  Speaking of MARS (don't we always), I've had the sixth book ordered for six days as of when I wrote this, and it STILL hasn't come in!  But—there's good news—I've found a different store that actually carries the series.  So, once my discount is validated at the store I'm using right now, I'm switching!  Just get me number six. . .

            One more thing before you read this chapter, and this one is IMPORTANT to it.  A loyal reviewer has kindly offered to give me the names of people that I don't know yet, such as Mr. Kashino and Mrs. Aso.  So, I did get their real names, and I changed them in chapter six, where they also appeared.  Now, Takuto Kashino is Takayuki Kashino and Lin Aso is Signora Aso.  Personally, I liked my names better, BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER!  Now they're right, so thank you!

What Wasn't Meant to Be by Sushifishie

Chapter Eight: Time Out

"Are you ready to go?" Rei asked, holding his hand out to Kira as he stood up.

            Kira nodded and accepted his offer to help her up.  Standing up from the bench, she wobbled a little bit.

            "Be careful!" Rei cautioned, putting his arm around her waist again.

            She nodded and finally stabled herself.  Somehow this whole series of events had felt like a déjà vu.  Only, she had been the one helping a queasy person up from a bench.  A déjà vu—of course!

            "Rei!" Kira said quickly, jolting suddenly so that his arm left the spot on her waist, "what happened to looking for Sei?"

            Rei let out an uncharacteristic gasp, "Oh, crap!  I completely forgot, and it's getting almost too dark to look for him," he said, pointing at the now evening sky.

            "Yeah," she agreed, nodding.  "But we should probably still look with what little light there still is."

            "But where should we start?"

            "I don't know," she admitted.  "I guess we should walk along the main drag until we see him or something."

            "Or—" Rei insinuated, looking pointedly at the Ferris wheel.  "We could get an even better view from up there, you know."

            Kira thought for a moment.  Was it really okay to go on another ride when she didn't even know where Sei was?  Would it even help in finding him?  Well, one more ride couldn't hurt anything.  "All right," she finally agreed.

            "Cool," Rei bobbed his head, grabbing her hand.

            He led her down the main drag at a run/walk.  The line was very short—only twenty people or so—and he wanted to get there without any wait.  He got his wish.  Once in the queue, he and Kira were waiting but five minutes before the wheel finally pulled a car up in front of them.

            "Lucky the line was so short," Rei commented.  "Much longer and we would have missed him if he'd walked by."

            "Yeah," she agreed, looking out at the road.

            They sat in silence for a few minutes as the wheel turned higher and higher, stopping for a break when they'd finally reached the top of their incline.  Looking down at the road still, Kira was surprised to hear a noise like gunfire.  She looked at Rei in surprise but he merely grinned.  Then, he pointed to the blackened sky, which was now illuminated with bright colors.

            "Wow," she admired, settling back into the leather cushion, feeling almost free from the weight of the burden to find Sei.  Not that she was giving up—the fireworks just made everything insignificant compared to the agony she'd had over losing her friend before.

            "Kind of makes you think, doesn't it?" Rei said, turning towards her now.  He stared at her with such intensity that a blush began to creep back onto her cheeks.

            "Uh-huh," she nodded, looking back out at the sky.  She couldn't tell what Rei was thinking, and it was beginning to scare her a little.  She shivered and wrapped his jacket a little tighter.

            "Still cold," he stated with a chuckle.  He casually yawned and stretched out his arms until his back made a crack or two.  Then, he brought them down to enclose her under his shoulder.

            Kira tried her best to suppress the gasp that had escaped, but Rei had heard.  He gave her a smile as the wheel began its downward cycle.  "You are so silly, did you know?" he grinned, leaning in.

            Again, Kira wanted to gasp, but this time she resisted.  Instead, she focused on the face that was nearing hers.  Completely forgetting about finding Sei, she accepted Rei's kiss and closed her eyes.

            Before she could protest, even if she had wanted to, Rei's eyes got wide.  As if coming out of a reverie, he pulled away from her and stood up—again, completely uncharacteristically.  Today appeared to have that affect on him.  As he stood, his eyes widened and he let out a desperate sounding, "Oh, crap."

            He put his hand to his forehead and said, almost regrettably, "I'm really sorry, Kira.  I didn't mean to—I was just caught up in the moment, you know?  It's just me.  It's just what I do."

            "It's okay," she smiled, recovering quicker than he would have expected.  This gave him new respect for her, and for a moment wished that he hadn't pulled away from the kiss so soon.  "It's you, Rei!" she grinned.

            Feeling almost dismal, Rei's face displayed a palling grin.  There was merely a smiling mask that covered the person who really was Rei.

* * *

Sei hummed as he walked down the main drag.  He was confidant that he had just seen Rei and Kira walking together just minutes earlier when he'd been on the Ferris wheel to get a better look.  But now, as he walked along looking for them, he appeared mistaken.

            I just hope that she didn't get kidnapped or something, he thought, bumping into someone.

            "I'm sorry!" he bowed.  "Excuse me!"

            "Sei, don't get formal with me!" Aya smiled.  "You look lost," she commented.  "Can I help you?"

            "Oh, hi, Aya," Sei said sounding almost depressed.  "I thought that I had finally caught up with Kira, but now I've lost her again."

            "Is it important?" she asked with a frown.  "If so, then I can have her paged."

            "No," he shook his head, "it's really not.  I'll just keep looking.  By the way, have you seen Rei either?"

            She shook her head, "Sorry Hun, can't help you there.  I'll keep my eyes open for either of them though."

            "Thanks," he said, waving.

            At this point, he was about ready to give up.  But, he decided to try the Ferris wheel one more time.  He'd seen someone he had thought looked like them the last time he'd gone up there, so it was certainly worth another try.

            Hearing a loud boom, he immediately looked toward the direction it had come from—the sky.  Beautiful colors filled the sky and the firework show began.  He wished Kira were with him to see this, but he'd have to find her first.

            Sei looked jealously at the other couples on the wheel as it began to slow down.  They all seemed wrapped up in each other, particularly a blonde couple still near the top of the wheel.  Their silhouette proved that they were kissing, and Sei tried to turn away, but curiosity got the better of them.

            He saw the male figure pull away and back up from the girl.  The shadow told him that the man was making arm movements, as if explaining what he did.  Poor guy, Sei thought.  Maybe the girl didn't like it—or maybe he did something else wrong.

            Continuing to stare and not bothering to avert his eyes any longer, he watched the pair's car drop to the station.  The little door swung open and they climbed out and began to walk down the stairs.

            Sei almost let out a very girly scream when this sight met his eyes.  Instead, he let out a very shocked, "Kira?" before dashing away.

* * *

"So, do you think that he's really mad at me?" Kira asked concerned.  "I mean, it was pretty obvious that he saw us when you," she lowered her voice to a whisper, "kissed me."  She hung her head a little lower.

      "C'mon," he said, lightly patting her hunched back, "Sei's not the type to get mad over something as silly as this.  He knows that I accidentally kiss girls all the time!"

      Kira's face burned and without knowing it, she'd put on a curt expression, like she'd eaten a lemon.  It wasn't as blatant as that, but Rei could tell that she was upset at his last comment.

      "I mean," he corrected, "I don't just kiss any girl.  I have to at least know her first."

      He gave her an apologetic smile and her expression dropped to one of less concern, but straightened back up again when she remembered the expression on Sei's face.  He had looked so hurt.  It was just a kiss—did it really affect him that much?

      "I'm confidant that it will be fine!" Rei reassured again.  "Just be sure to be extra nice to him in the next couple of days.  Bring him a gift or something—he likes cookies—and I'll try my best to explain what happened with," he dropped his voice into a whisper, mocking her similar tone, "the kiss."

      Kira giggled, despite her lingering anxiety over her best friend.  She wondered how Sei would react when Rei told him what had really happened on the Ferris wheel.  She imagined him blowing up at his brother for destroying his friendship with her or just walking out of the room at the sight of his brother.

      She let out another chuckle and Rei wondered what was going on inside her head.  He vocalized this question and she responded, "I'm just thinking about what Sei will do when he finds out that his brother has been—" she paused to think of a good phrase, "two-timing him," she finally came up with.

      "Well, if we're going straight to two-timing, then at least let me do something meriting the word two-timing," he said, beginning to wrap his arms around her waist.

      He gave it a little squeeze before dropping his arms back to his sides.  Shaking his head, he decided, "I wouldn't do that to my worst enemy.  I'm not really into stealing other guys' girls."

      Kira laughed, "So now I'm 'his girl?'"

      "Haven't you always been?" he wondered.  He thought for a minute before a light seemed to click on his brain.  "Wait—don't tell me—he hasn't asked you out yet?"

      "W-What?" Kira stuttered.  "Ask me out?" she squeaked.

      "Oh, for the love of GOD, Sei!" Rei moaned, putting his hand to his forehead in distress.  "Okay," he sighed to Kira, "Just forget everything that I've just said.  Remember nothing, all right?"

      "First," she responded pressingly holding a finger up to him, "tell me about this asking me out business."

      Rei sighed, "Please tell me that my brother has at least told you that he likes you.  Please?"

      Kira shook her head and said honestly, "I haven't heard anything."

      "Aw, jeez," he groaned, "can you just forget about this?"

      Shaking her head firmly, Kira put another cold expression on her face.  "You'll tell me."

      Rei took in a deep breath, a little bit scared.  Never before would he have expected Kira to get this worked up—so worked up that she would have this sort of contortion on her face.  He breathed, "I shouldn't be the one to tell you this, but it's pretty obvious by now that no one else will.  Listen Kira," he continued, looking her in the eyes, "my brother has had a crush on you since the first day of school.  I never thought that he was chicken enough to just not say anything, though."

      Feeling his face harden, Rei turned away.  For some reason, he was beginning to get angry with his brother.  Though he hadn't done anything wrong, he was getting all worked up.  Sei had this wonderful girl to have for a friend and he could hang around her all he wished, but he was just taking her for granted.

      If it were me—which it isn't, he reminded himself, then I would have snatched her up a long time ago.  Hell, I would have done it on the first day of school.  But, he added continuing to calm down as he and Kira turned onto her street, I'm not Sei.  Sei's too different from me to even imagine what goes on in that boy's mind.  I guess I'll just give him some advice and let him do things his own way.  After all, he thought, putting on an almighty grin, I do have more experience with this than he does!

      "Here it is," Kira said, stating the obvious next to her apartment complex.  "Well, I guess I'll see you on Monday."

      Rei felt her discomfort and tried to be unconcerned.  His face masked the uneasiness that he felt, but Kira would never have known that.

      "See you," Rei agreed, beginning to turn away.  On impulse, he walked back and gave her a hug that lasted little more than half a second.  "Bye," he added, turning away for real now.

      Walking back to his house, Rei did some thinking.  What was he going to tell Sei?  'Hey, I just kissed your girlfriend' somehow didn't seem very tactful to him.  But, what would he say instead?  Sei was still fragile, no matter what kind of a front he had been putting up in front of other people lately.  So what was he supposed to say?

      This isn't like you, he thought.  You know from experience that the words will come at the appropriate time.  Rehearsing just makes them lifeless and unmeaningful.  Just wait, you'll see.

      He walked up to the foyer of his apartment complex, dreading what would happen when he opened his front door.  There was reason for his concern.

* * *

Sei rolled his eyes to the top of his head so that if his eyes were open, all anyone could see would be the whites.  But no one was around to see, and his eyes were closed anyway.  Not that it mattered.  It seemed like no one but Aya cared.  No, that was giving himself too much credit.  No one did care. Aya was just showing fake concern for him to get into his father's pants.  That's what he thought anyway.

      Kira and Rei certainly didn't care.  They'd shown that when they completely neglected his feelings on that Ferris wheel just hours earlier.  After all that time, they still had yet to apologize.  At this point though, Sei didn't even know if he was going to just accept it.  They are certainly taking their time, he thought, glancing at the clock on the wall.

      He rolled over onto his stomach from his position on the bed.  Stuffing his face into his pillow, he let out a low shriek to release his pent up energy, then let his head fall to the side. 

      An unexpected knock came to the door, a rap that lasted three strokes, and the door opened.  There stood the broken mirror image of his twin.  He rolled back over and let his brother walk in without a proper greeting of any sort.

      "Sei," Rei addressed him, leaving his words hanging.

      Sei felt a sense of guilt with the knot in the pit of his stomach.  He swallowed to find that his throat had collected quite a bit of build up, and the phlegm scratched and burned.  He cleared it, and tried not to let his eyes well up as he avoided looking at his brother.

      "Listen," he started again, staring at his brother's back which was currently facing a wall.  When Sei still didn't turn around, Rei walked over, grabbed his arm, and jerked it towards him.  Sei turned over, but he wasn't very happy about it.

      "You idiot!" he screamed, throwing a punch that landed on Rei's shoulder.

      Rei knew that this was serious.  Sei was the most anti-violence person he knew, and here he was throwing a punch that wasn't exactly pain-free.  If someone like Sei was throwing a punch, that meant that whatever the circumstance was were to have been dire.  Rei would have held back, had he not just been punched, but his animal instinct kicked in, and Sei got hit back on his same shoulder.

      It would have been funny, had it not hurt so much.  Each of the brothers were standing on one side of the bed, facing each other with glares that were complete with twitching eyebrows.  They each held an almost transparent sneer, and their stance was if they would pounce at any second.

      Each breathing heavily, they lunged at each other and Rei tackled his brother onto the mattress.  He held his fist poised in the air.  Bringing it down, he heard the cry of his twin saying, "Kira!" and he stopped.  He sat up and slid off of the bed.  Then, he stood next to his brother.

      "I didn't mean to," he said sincerely to his tearing brother.  "It just happened.  I swear, Sei, it didn't mean anything!  You know that I never would do that to you."

      Sei looked angry still, but gave a slight nod.  "Go on—tell me what happened," he replied, giving Rei a wary look.

      Rei sighed, mostly calm again, and said, "Well, we were looking for you!  I thought that it would be good to go to a high spot to see if we could find you, and Kira agreed.  So we went on the Ferris wheel.  But, just as we reached the top, the fireworks started and I guess we just got caught up in the moment.  But trust me, Sei," Rei added, holding his hand up, "it didn't mean anything.  Kira doesn't like me that way!  She's your girlfriend."

      "Yeah," Sei said, averting his eyes again.  Then, he looked back at Rei and prompted, "What else do you have to say?"

      Rei grinned, "I'm sorry, man.  Do you forgive me?"

      Sei's frown disappeared, but he shook his head.  "Not yet anyway."  He went on to explain, "I still need a little more time to mull things over.  I'm going to the botanical gardens to sketch, okay?  I'll be back in a few hours—eat dinner without me.  I just need some time out," was his parting note.

      Grabbing his coat, Sei left the apartment and walked to the gardens.  He could blame his brother, but he couldn't really ridicule him.  To Rei, girls were like paintings were to Sei—a hobby.  So, instead of getting angrier with his brother, Sei felt his irritation dissipate.

      He approached the gardens fairly quickly—they were only ten minutes away—and sat down to draw.  First, he sketched a blooming primrose in the greenhouse, which was climate controlled so that it bred plants out of season.  After that sketch was done, he did another of a falling leaf, using the trees outside as a model.  He had picked objects that were under light so that he could see what he was doing.

      Sitting down on the bench, he began tracing faint black chicken scratches with his fingers to create shadows.  Within minutes, the sketch was complete with shadowing and lighting reflecting off of various leaves and roots.  He held the sketch away from his face to admire it.  He erased a few branches and redid some leaves on them, but completed within a short span of time.

      Sei nodded, feeling better than he had an hour earlier.  He'd actually forgiven Rei at this point, but he didn't know what to do next.  He had a feeling that if he saw his brother at this moment, then there was a good chance that Rei would walk away as a bloody pulp, but he wasn't nearly as angry as he was earlier, but he still didn't want to see that person yet.

      Looking around, he tried to find something else to sketch.  His eyes rested upon a couple kissing on a bench through some bushes.  He'd been watching lots of couples recently, he'd noticed.  Maybe this was a signal to make himself half of a couple?  Sei continued to stare.  He couldn't seem to take his eyes away.

      The couple finally broke apart.  Sei felt embarrassed for looking, once again, but he couldn't seem to tear his gaze away.  Now, he could see the couple, and he could not believe his fortune today.  The two people were Takayuki Kashino and Signora Aso!

* * *

Rei was half asleep, though it was only ten o'clock, only to be abruptly awakened by the pulsing of a ringing phone.  It was the only electric appliance the Kashino brothers had in their apartment, but sometimes they still wanted to destroy it along with the alarm clock.  Sometimes sleep was simply more important.

      Rolling over, Rei put on his robe so that he looked at least somewhat modest before standing to get the phone (besides, it was cold).  He stumbled over to the ringing monster, tripping over a pair of shoes and getting tangles in a pair of jeans.  By the time he actually got to the phone, he was about ready to throw it out the window.  Needless to say, his greeting was less than welcoming.

      "What!" he groaned into the phone.

      "Did something happen, Rei?" Tatsuya asked, being his usual "older brother" type.  "You sound really mad."

      Rei glared at the phone and yelled, "Do you appreciate being woken up when you're about to get you first full night's sleep in many, many days?"

      "Sorry," Tatsuya said, not sounding very apologetic at all.  "I really had to talk to you.  It's important."

      "It had better be," Rei muttered under his breath.  "What is it?"

      "I think that I like Kira," he stated blatantly.

      Rei caught the phone before it hit the ground.  "Are you for real?" he asked, stunned.

      Tatsuya nodded, forgetting that he was on the phone.  He explained, "We've been in the same school since the seventh grade, and I guess I've always felt something for her."

      "Well why haven't you done anything about it?" Rei wondered.

      He thought for a moment, then said, "Well, I kind of got rejected without even asking."  Feeling Rei's raised eyebrow through the phone, Tatsuya added, "One time, I accidentally touched her, and she pulled her hand away like I was some kind of monster!"

      "That's harsh," Rei agreed, still being too emotional over the amusement park today to really have any good insults on hand.  "I might be a little wary about asking her out, too.  Oh!" he said, getting inspiration, "do you want me to ask her for you—no wait, she's "going out" with my brother," he frowned.

      "You seem kind of angry about that," Tatsuya pointed out.

      "I am, sort of," he admitted.  "I mean, he's got this girl who obviously likes him, but he hasn't got the guts to fess up and ask her out.  I don't know why it irritates me so much, but it makes me angry!  I almost want to ask her out, just to spite him."

      "Don't do that, Rei!" Tatsuya begged.  "That's too mean, even for you!"

      Rei's eyes flared in mock anger, "What do you mean 'even for you?'"

      "Bye, bye, Rei!" Tatsuya taunted, hanging up the phone.

      Rei nodded as the line went dead.  He held the phone in his hand and began to think.  Now, both his friend and his brother were in love with the same girl.  He didn't know who to help!  If he helped either one, the other might get mad, but it was probably safer to help Sei—Tatsuya understood the calls of brotherhood.

      He felt an itch in his chest.  Tatsuya and Sei had found someone to love seriously, so why couldn't he?

AUTHOR'S NOTES:  Time for more of these things!  But I have a humorous story to tell you guys.  I went upstairs for a couple of minutes to play with my bird whom was getting restless, and I came back downstairs to find my editor playing cards at my computer.  I push her out of my chair and go back to writing again.  I look back at what I had typed before I left, and this is what I saw, "He cleared it, and tried not to let his eyes pop out as he stared openly at his pulsing ulcer."

      I cracked up, and I still laugh at it every time I read it.  If you don't understand the context, my wholehearted apologies, but still—funny!

      This chapter ended up being too short, but oh well.  I hope that it at least entertained you.  The next chapter will be very boring, followed by one that I cannot wait to write (it'll be so much fun)!  So off I go to get this edited, and off you go to review!  Wave to Editor-sama!