Disclaimer: Not mine
The Misted Glass of an Angel
I came running down the stairs. I was late. After my MBA classes last night, I had decided to stay up and study. Not a good idea. To put it simply, while I had been studying, I had fallen asleep and that meant I didn't turn on my alarm clock. Shinobu had to come in and wake me up.
Gulping down my breakfast and scanning the newspaper, I ran out the front door while putting on my coat. I had ten minutes to reach the café. Thankfully, everyone had already used the ferries so I got a relatively empty one. There, I fixed myself up. Once the ferry reached the shore, I took off for the café, ignoring all the looks that were directed my way.
I reached the café...three minutes late. It was already filling up with the usual customers who came in for the miso soup and other such Japanese food. I looked around. The cashier position was already filled so I went to the back. Only four of the five cooks were there. I donned an apron and began working.
A few hours later, a familiar voice reached my ears as I made the rice for the upcoming lunch rush.
"Hey, Haruka." I turned halfway and gave the owner of the voice a glowing smile.
"Hey Seta. What are you doing here? Don't you have work?" He shook is head and leaned against the door frame. I raised an eyebrow at that action.
"Going for debonair, are we?" He laughed and shook his head. "Nah. I was just wondering when you have time off."
"Not any time soon. But Kitsune's going to be here soon." I laughed as he blushed lightly. But the laugh wasn't real. It was hollow. I think even he noticed. His eyes clouded over for a moment and surveyed my face. I quickly looked away. It was an awkward moment.
"So...tell me...why did you fall in love with Kitsune?" I think that question caught him off-guard in that he didn't know how to reply. He fumbled with his words for a minute before figuring out what to say.
"She's...lively, funny, beautiful and...a good friend."
"She's also married." I pointed out.
"Yeah. If I'd have known at the beginning that she was, I wouldn't have fallen in love with her."
"How can you be so sure?" I questioned softly.
"I don't know. There's just a wall that's around her now. She's...unapproachable."
"Hey everyone!" We both turned to see an animated Kitsune walking in through the door. The customers turned to look at her, grumbling slightly at her sudden and noisy appearance. However, the rest of the staff laughed and rushed towards her. She was a major favorite.
After greeting everyone, Kitsune came into the kitchen and greeted all the chefs. When she turned to me, a mysterious smile crept over her face.
"So? How is this conversation going?" Her eyes darted between Seta and me. I shook my head at her playfulness. Seta let another smile break out. Nice.
"There's nothing between Haruka and me, Kitsune. We're just the best of friends." I looked at Kitsune, my smile falling. Kitsune wasn't looking at me though. Her face was hard and looking at Seta with a hint of anger and disbelief. After a few more seconds of merciless staring, her countenance underwent another major change.
She crept backwards, arms behind her back. The girl bent forwards slightly and let an impish smile grace her face.
"A wise man once said, and I quote, 'The first step and last step of love are friendship. It's just the middle that's left.'"
With that, Kitsune marched past Seta and left. I was confused and so was Seta.
..
"...and that is why MBA's are important. Now, if you would please focus your attention to this PowerPoint presentation that I have created, we will review the main points you should all know for your final exam next week..."
Seta and I were sitting next to each other, watching the professor flip through the multi-colored slides like there was no tomorrow. Seta had given up long ago when it came to taking notes in this class. He would survey the various females in the class then write in his mysterious black diary. I was furiously trying to copy the notes the professor was spewing out.
"Hey Haruka." Seta whispered.
"Shut up!" I whispered back.
"What do you think Kitsune meant today?" I stopped for a moment and shrugged my shoulders. I then went back to writing as the professor 'hinted' something would be on the test.
"It left me confused. I mean, you need love to love...right?" I nodded. I wasn't listening at all.
"Love is what holds friendship together. And friendship hardly ever evolves into love. Right? I mean think about it. Love is such a strong emotion that you have with only a few select people. But you can have friendship with everyone. And I have a lot of friends but I don't have feelings of love for all of them. Right? But what Kitsune said makes sense. You know what I mean? Love? Friendship? Wow...And the-"
"Seta?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
"Okay."
The rest of the lesson was silent except for the scratching of pens against paper.
..
Sunday. That meant no going to the café. I was sitting down for breakfast and munching on some toast. The comics' page wasn't that funny today. I sat and watched the whole family run in and out of the kitchen, grabbing food, coffee and whatever else they needed.
When my grandmother came in, I lowered my eyes. There was no way I would make eye contact with her and start up another fight. We hadn't spoken to each other since the last fight we'd had a few days ago. She left the kitchen after eating a quick breakfast.
There was a knock on the door. I quickly put my mug down and went running to the door. I opened it up to be greeted by the faces of Kitsune, Mutsumi and my mother. Mutsumi seemed upset while my mother and Kitsune had grave looks on their faces.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Kitsune stole my letter from Jiro!" Mutsumi stomped into the kitchen, tears threatening to fall again. I watched her then turned to face my mother and Kitsune. My mother held the letter against her body and Kitsune was watching me.
"It's not her letter. It's your mom's." Kitsune stated. She stepped past me and then tugged my arm. I turned my face away from my mother and met Kitsune's now laughing eyes.
"C'mon. I need to talk to you about someone." I immediately knew who we were going to discuss. Seta.
"Why do we need to discuss him?"
"After my comment a few days ago, has he been thinking about what I said and the differences between the two?" I nodded slowly. Kitsune stood up and did a small victory dance around the kitchen. She soon finished and turned to face me.
"We need to implement a plan to snatch him."
"Snatch him?"
"Yes. Snatch him. You see, he should be rethinking the relationship the both of you have."
"Was that the whole point of the comment?"
"No...not really. He was actually supposed to proclaim his love for you yesterday. But that didn't work out too well."
"Wow. You really have this planned out."
"Of course I do! I'm just a sexy genius!" I shot her a quizzical look and let a small laugh out.
"You do see a problem with this plan don't you?" She looked at me.
"There's a problem with the plan of the sexy genius?"
"Yes. Seta doesn't love me. He loves you."
"Oh Haruka! The whole point of this plan is to make him love you!!!"
"Kitsune."
"Hmm?"
"What's the plan?"
"Plan?"
"Yeah. Plan."
"There isn't one."
"So much for being a genius."
"I have a plan! Just let me think it out!" We sat in silence for a few minutes. Kitsune would mumble and few things to herself once in a while, counting on her fingers and rubbing her left arm. She smiled once in a while, as if the plan she was forming was extremely devious.
"I've got it!" She yelled. I jumped a little from where I was sitting.
"You shouldn't meet him anymore! And when he comes to meet you, just ignore him! And then one day, he's going to ask you what is wrong and then you just say, 'A wise man once said blah blah blah.' You know what I mean?"
"So I don't go to my MBA classes?" Kitsune shook her head at me. "You won't go to any of your classes."
"But what about when I have my final? If I don't show up, I'll fail! That means that I wasted six months and one thousand dollars in taking a class!"
"When's your final?"
"Next Saturday."
"...well then we can ignore him until Saturday and then you can make the remark."
"Fine. How do we start it?"
"Don't do anything. Just continue your normal routine but do not speak or meet Seta on purpose. If he shows up, just answer anything he asks you."
"And that is supposed to make him love me? And plus, how do you know that he carries these feelings for me?"
"Distance makes the heart grow fonder. When you're not there in his life, like the constant you are, he'll realize how big you are to him."
"You didn't answer the second question."
"I'm getting there! You see, I'm a new entry into his life. He doesn't realize that all this time, he's been in love with you. Sure, you've shown your real self to him but by then, he'd already seen and met me. Believe me, in the club that night, he liked...looking at you."
"And that is supposed to make me feel comfortable? Plus, your theory isn't that plausible."
"You're just in denial." She waved off my excuse with her hand then stood up to stretch. The phone then rang. I answered it.
"Hello?"
"Haruka, is that you? This is Mr. Ueda. I was wondering if I could talk to Kitsune."
"Sure." I handed the phone to Kitsune.
"Hello? Oh...It's already noon?" She turned to look at the clock while still listening to Mr. Ueda. "Medicine? Of course I've taken it!" She was crossing her fingers. "Why would I lie to you? I have taken the medicine!...Look, I have to go...Yes...I love you too. Bye."
"Have you taken your medicine?" I asked her as she hung up the phone.
"It really doesn't matter."
"What is the medicine for?" Kitsune paused for a moment, contemplating how to answer the question. Then, with a broken sigh, loud, overemphasized sobs and a dramatic fling of her arm, Kitsune flopped onto the couch. "F-for my- y br-broken heart-t!!" she blubbered. I laughed at her dramatics and clapped my hands. She was really a character.
Shinobu then came in through the front door, followed by Motoko, Kanako and Keitaro. When Shinobu saw Kitsune, she dropped her bag and enveloped Kitsune in a hug. Kitsune let out a huge laugh and hugged Shinobu back.
"How're the rest of you doing?" She asked. Various degrees of "I'm fine" echoed through the living room. I looked around the room and surveyed the faces of my siblings. They were all smiling...This is how my family should always be. Smiling.
..
Wow. I really apologize for not updating in such a long time. It's been real hard and I've been real lazy. I mean, Harry Potter is coming out so I'm trying to get opening day tickets, the West Wing didn't exactly end how I wanted it to and m grade in chemistry is not an 'A!' It's pissing me off!!! Anyways...
Reviews:
Digibaka- Yes you are absolutely correct. Only you got one thing wrong. Two, maybe, depending on how I plan everything out.
M.Blade- Hello! Thank you for reading! I've tried to keep the characters IC and the setting real also. I mean, life isn't all like how it is portrayed in movies and other stuff. I wanted this to be real.
velocet- Thanks! You can get the movie at an Indian video store. And if you want to buy it, just go to Google, type in "Kal Ho Naa Ho" and see what lets you buy it. But going to a store would be best because you can't trust if the sites will be truthful and give you a good version. The DVD should come in a pullout cover thing.
Erica T- Thanks! You want inspiration vibes? Okay shakes fingers in Erica T's direction Get the inspiration vibes...NOW! Did it work?
jilli-chan- Hi! Thanks so much! Simple and sweet!
mr-winkie- The background on Kits will come into play later on. Major play.
Book of Doom- SURGERY!!! Holy socks flying through the air, are you okay? What happened? And you should be worrying about yourself yet you're worrying about what I would think if you weren't there? Aww!!!