7.) Unwanted Behavior
"I hate trains. Whoever invented trains and the whole damned subway
system should burn in the fiery flames of hell!!!!"
She was mumbling to herself. No, Hitomi hadn't gone crazy (though
she's been accused of that before…), its just the way that people behave
after being forced to endure the trials of the subway. No, it wasn't enough
that it was pouring rain out there, melting all the snow to slush to just about
demolishing her new suede shoes, not only that, but she had to be forced to run
down slippery, muddy and wet subway stairs only to miss the train. Stupid cursed
train. To top it so sweetly off, the next train to Greenwood wouldn't be
arriving for the next forty-five minutes. Oh, but that's not the end of her
situation. It only happens to be that she had forgotten her keys in her blasted
little desk, and she just happened to realize it four minutes before the next
train arrived. You can figure out the rest.
Groaning like the exhausted person she was, she leaned her wet head onto
the door of 5B, water dripping from her soaked dirty-brown hair, agonizing at
the thought of looking for her keys. She had them. Yep, she had went back and
got them and had missed that second train. And now, here she was, with those
stupid-ass keys nearly two hours later, wet, hungry, and not exactly pleasant.
The sound of the chain being unlatched from the inside nearly scared her
half to death as she quickly backed away. Catherine.
She should've thought of that! She didn't need any keys!!! Cathy would've
been home to let her in anyway!! ARRRGGGH!!!!
"Oh you poor thing," Her roommate lost all tone in her voice.
"Here, let me take your coat," Cathy looked on in pure sympathy at the
drenched figure by the doorway. She
had never seen Hitomi looking quite so miserable. The woman stood, looking a
funny tint of brown from the murky rainwater, shuddering endlessly recovering
from the cold. Hitomi was more close to dead than a doornail. Sighing, the small
energetic woman lugged Hitomi's heavy and soaked parka to the bathroom tub for
drying.
"I'm going to make you some tea Hitomi, ease your nerves a bit
huh?" Cathy was all smiles, quickly heading back to the kitchen and sitting
the disoriented Hitomi by the dining table.
Hitomi sat there expressionless, peeling her wet hair from sticking on
her moist face. She still felt horribly cold, and a tad guilty for making Cathy
serve her like this. But in all honesty, she was too brought down to even move.
The uncomfortable feel of wet clothing stuck onto her back, the icky feel of
soaked socks mushed through her toes, and the strain of a computer monitor ached
at her eyes. She did light up though as Catherine sat a cup of green tea and
sugar-bread cookies on the table in front of her.
"Oooh, thanks, I really do owe ya now don't I?" Hitomi sipped the
warm drink slowly, enjoying every second of being back home. She leaned her head
back, falling into the depth of the dining chair. She decided to let time
wander, and ignore the session tapes for today. A part of her flourished with
curiosity on the secrets those tapes contained; but not today, not now.
"You need it Hito. You're going to catch a cold at this rate,"
Catherine quickly took a seat across Hitomi, looking at dismay at Hitomi's new
and obviously destroyed shoes, leaking brown puddles onto the floor she had just
happened to mop.
"Oh… someone has to do
something about these slow moving transportation systems huh?" She prodded her
eyes back on to her wretched companion. "I couldn't catch a bus with a three
ton magnet!"
"Uggh…. I know what you mean!" Hitomi's voice came out all
sniffled and sickly, as she groaned and leaned forwards. "It just hurts the
mind to think about it." She lay her chin against the cool wooden table,
continuing to brush back at those pestering bangs. She could feel almost every
muscle in her body accustoming to all the relaxation, soothing their aching
selves. If she wasn't careful she'd fall asleep this way.
"I've got all the remedies for a bad day, believe me girl!"
Cathy quickly bolted up with a craving to cook some hot chicken soup. She
brushed her hair back in a long ponytail, and spotted Hitomi's cell phone
lying on the coffee table where Hitomi had left it. "Oh, but before I forget,
you forgot your cell here Hito, and you got a call."
Hitomi lazily picked her head up and stared at Cathy's direction. "I
did?"
"Um hum. Lady, I do not know how you and Amano plan to have a peaceful
dinner with you in that condition."
"What??" Hitomi sat up curiously. She had purposely left the cell
phone here, she didn't even want to imagine all the trouble that thing caused.
But then again, she hadn't been expecting any calls. "Amano said we're
having dinner?"
"Nope," Cathy shook her head plaintively as she organized the kitchen
in search of some soup base, every so often looking back out at Hitomi. "It
wasn't Amano. It was Mikami's confirming that Amano had reservations for two
tonight. I just said you guys were still going if you don't mind."
"Oh…" Hitomi lost her voice in thought, slowly picking herself up
to stand at the kitchen doorway. She watched Cathy bustle around the kitchen,
talking of things she wasn't quite getting. "That call was probably for
Amano then, we share lines."
"Oh that's right, then you should call him, don't want him
forgetting your date." Cathy gave Hitomi a little wink, then peeked into the
warm pot on the stove, contented to see the water boiling just right. She yanked
open the freezer door in search of those frozen peas. By the sound of Hitomi's
ail voice she would need the best damn chicken soup ever.
"Our date? He never said anything about going to Mikami's Fine
Cuisine." Hitomi leaned her weight against the doorway, mind frazzled. She
knew there wasn't any 'dates' between her and Amano tonight. What on earth
was Cathy talking about?
"Girl, what is that supposed to mean?" Cathy gave her an odd look as
she dumped a package of hard-uncooked noodles into the pot of hot, simmering
water. "Mikami's is the most elaborate and romantic restaurant in the
whole city!! Personally, I don't even know how you guys possibly managed to
get reservations there!!"
"Its Amano," Hitomi sighed, tapping her fingers against the kitchen
doorway. "You know, the guy's got all the connections for the next 30 mile
radius. But we haven't been there for ages, and I know I haven't been
invited for tonight."
Cathy quickly put a lid on the boiling soup pot, and turned to face
Hitomi with the same look of puzzlement. "Business meeting I guess?"
"No," Hitomi's tone grew dark, as did her expression. "He's off
today and tomorrow, he's supposedly doing in-home studying on his medical
practice…"
"Well," Catherine laughed awkwardly. "Let's not rise to
conclusions…"
"No," Hitomi shook her head. "Let's." Thoughts started to occur
at the back of Hitomi's mind. Mikami's eh? Why would Amano need to go there?
There really wasn't any special occasion happening, at least none that she had
been informed of. Just what was Amano hiding from her…
Cathy squinted, feeling a little odd. This sure wasn't looking good for
Amano at all. She really shouldn't have answered that damn phone, or further
yet said anything about answering it. She had just unwillingly got herself
involved.
"Well, let's see Cathy. I know for a fact Amano Nekuchi is the only
one who can possibly get reservations at that prestige restaurant at this busy
time of night. And well, Mikami's… they specialize in buffets right?"
"Yeah, top-notch Chinese Buffet in town." Cathy's face looked
absolutely perplexed at Hitomi's pondering image.
"I thought so…" Hitomi clenched her hands quietly behind her back,
fingers crushing the helpless sugar-bread biscuit that she had been eating. Aha,
she had known it all along. It was exactly what she thought, no doubt about it.
"Funny," She looked downwards, eyeing her bare toes against the
linoleum floor, totally making Cathy fidget in uneasiness. "I just can't
think of anyone that loves Chinese food more than Yukari Uchida, isn't that
funny…"
Cathy uncomfortably wobbled from side to side, guarding her soup, and
looking at the apparently wet and upset Hitomi. "Yukari, your friend? Why
would Yukari need to speak to Amano?" She could now feel her own nervous lump
choking her.
"That's just the thing," Hitomi grinned. "She doesn't."
* * *
"Hey Hitomi? Sup girl?" Yukari closed the blinds as she balanced the
cordless in her shoulder.
"Nothing much over here, how about you?"
In all honesty it was Catherine's plan. They had just wanted to find
out what Yukari and Amano were up to. Nothing big, no assumptions made, just
wondering. After all, it was the most elaborate and romantic
restaurant in all of Aimsa, and fact had it they could have at least told Hitomi
they were going, instead of it leading up to this.
"Same here, just watching the rain poor. Its hideous out there."
Yukari shut down the Word program on her computer and slowly spun around on her
computer chair in dizzying circles. "Have you ever seen bridalgowns.com? The
selection is just fabulous, I was just on."
"Oh Yukari, you and your wedding updates," Hitomi smiled tapping her
fingers against the drying table rhythmically. "My mother actually likes some
of the dresses I do, can you believe it?"
"Ha," Yukari smiled. "A common bond at last."
"Omigosh, I know eh? It must be like a blue moon out tonight or
something…. Speaking of blue… I just cannot get a good color for the
bridesmaids dresses!"
"Seriously? Whatever happened to pastel pink? I thought it was
cute…"
"Oh... but the Barbie thing…"
"Hitomi, don't worry. I highly doubt any of us bridesmaids will end
up looking anything like a Barbie doll, I can only wish."
"Ha, maybe not, but everyone, well basically my mom, thinks Lilacs
would be good for the ceremony bouquets."
"Ah I see, so now you're thinking lavender right? Lavender's good.
Spring colours and all."
"Lavender or pink… maybe I could work them together…. but
anyway," Hitomi caught a glance of Cathy signaling to cut to the chase. "You
wanna go watch a movie tonight Kari? I hear 'Silent Murder' is supposed to
be stocked with suspense, you know I love the freaky stuff!"
"Um," Yukari peered out through the blinds hesitantly. 'Geeze
Hitomi, what great timing…' she thought. She hadn't seen a movie in weeks,
but today was impossible. "Yeah, that sounds like a wicked movie, but in this
weather?"
Hitomi grinned to herself. "Yeah, you're right, this rain sure does
suck. I guess it'd be hard to go anywhere won't it?"
"Basically," Yukari nodded, feeling quite relieved and disappointed
at the same time.
"Ah hell, pleeeaasee Kari? We can survive a little rain! I've been
through more than that today!" Yukari was turning a movie down? That sure
wasn't like her. Yukari was the type who'd run through a hurricane to see
anyone that even resembled Nicholas Cage. A little rain really wasn't the
issue…
"Um…" She glanced around her oddly, thinking of any sort of
reasonable excuse.
"Come on! Don't make me drag Amano!! I need someone who'll stay
awake through most of it!"
"Oh hehe," Yukari laughed uneasily, quickly glancing at the clock by
her kitchen counter. 6:37. Oh drat, there was no way she could work the movie
in. "I don't think I can make it Hito."
Hitomi smiled, pressing her hand against the receiver. "We got her."
"Seriously?" Cathy looked on curiously. She had just been sitting
there anxiously, hoping it wasn't what they all feared. She didn't know
Yukari all that well, but whatever news it was it couldn't be that bad.
"Then why are they going to the restaurant…. alone??"
"Hold on, I'll get to that." Hitomi released the receiver,
wondering why she had just gotten a sudden pang of guilt. It wasn't shameful
to be plotting against Yukari like this was it? Well, its not like she was
plotting anything much! She just a wanted a few things answered, that's all.
Besides it was Catherine's idea, and it wasn't evil or anything…
"How come? You have plans or something?"
Yukari quickly stopped the spinning chair abruptly, words stuck on her
lips, not quite knowing what to spit out. Oh geeze, Hitomi was getting a little
intent on this one. Maybe she really wanted to see the movie. But with this
short notice it would obviously get in the way of Yukari's other unknown
plans. "Well kind of… I um… I have to go to Warden tonight."
"Really???" Hitomi's eyebrows narrowed considerably. Yukari had to
go to Warden University? That wasn't what she had expected on hearing.
'Yukari don't do this to me,
please don't lie to me'. She figured if her own best friend would just come
out with the truth life would be so much easier for the both of them. Besides,
now that she knew that Yukari wanted to keep the dinner date so secret, it only
made Hitomi much more suspicious.
"Yep, tonight is like an open house kind of thing for the freshmen. I
just have to go deliver um, some books to… Trista's dorm." Yukari could
feel her palms begin to sweat nervously. Damn, she sure did suck at lying.
"Oh… well, great… I guess 'Silent Murder's gonna have to keep
quiet for now huh? Could you hold a sec?"
"Yep sure," Yukari breathed out the most humongous sigh of relief
that could possibly fit in a human's lung capacity. Hitomi had gone for it.
That was too close! Why of all nights did Hitomi have to invite her for the
theatres tonight? She was just dying to see 'Silent Murder'! That was not
fair! Yukari could watch the previews seventy times in a row and still be
looking forward to it. Anything
with someone as brilliant as Nicholas Cage had to be worth seeing…
She looked on out at the miserable weather, aware she had only a few
minutes before she 'd have to pop in the shower, get ready, and totally do
something behind Hitomi's back. She lay her head on the cool plastic of the
phone, nudged between her face and shoulder, still spinning slowly. There was no
need for Hitomi to know anyway, what's a little dinner? Nothing big. But even
if it were smaller than an ant she couldn't bring herself to say it. And she
doubted she ever would.
"Open house at the university???" Catherine shook her head grinning.
"Both Yukari and me are on our third year, and the open house for the
newcomers shouldn't even interest us. Besides, there isn't an open house
tonight so that's that."
"Oh…" There had been a very large part of Hitomi that wished Yukari
had been telling the truth about the open-house-at-Warden-University thing. But
Cathy confirmed it herself, it was all fake. "Its so not like
Yukari to lie to me like that…. if she can't even bring herself to say the
truth I guess it must be something important that 'I' can't know
about."
"Yeah well," Cathy nodded smiling, laying her hand on Hitomi's damp
shoulder. "You know very well Amano and Yukari are your two closest friends on
this planet; I don't think any of us really need to doubt them."
"You think?" Hitomi looked on up at her smiling too, reminiscing on
the wedding, Yukari, grinning with glee with the other purple or pink
bridesmaids. Catherine was right. Why did she even doubt her own sister-like
best friend anyway? She knew she could always trust her.
"Yeah.. You're right Cath, I really shouldn't be prying into their
business anyway." Hitomi loosened her grip on the phone, feeling her nerves
lighten a bit.
"Hey Yukari, sorry about that, say we catch the movie on Saturday or
something?"
"Oh yeah sure!" Yukari agreed emphatically, glad to not be letting
her friend down, relieved to see that Hitomi wasn't pressing on the issue.
"You can count on me. Hey Hito, can I call you again tomorrow, I um, should be
getting ready for Warden now…"
Hitomi smiled regardless of the Warden thing.
"Sure, I guess I'll talk to
you later."
"See you Hitomi."
Hitomi gently hung the phone back on its nestled cradle, and tucked her
hands into the soft deep pockets of her bathrobe, every so often picking at the
embedded lint. That wasn't as nerve wrecking as she had imagined. She hadn't
exactly heard anything she would've regretted. Sure, Yukari may have fibbed a
bit, but maybe Hitomi was simply digging too deep.
"Don't let it eat at you," Cathy read her expression of
uncertainty. "Those two will be fine. Besides, we're not even sure Amano's
even going with Yukari. How about we have a little dinner ourselves?
It's no Mikami's; but it is the finest chicken soup in all of Aimsa."
"Oh," Hitomi grinned, laughing, picking herself up off the dining
room chair. "Of course, why not? Just let me freshen up a little bit, all that
rain water sure feels disgusting."
She tiptoed on to the bathroom in her soft padded slippers rubbing her
aching neck. Hitomi rested her arms upon the cool counter, glaring at her dim
reflection listening to Cathy setting the warm soup bowls onto the dining table.
Her face was a little run down with streaks of mascara running down her cheeks
where raindrops had sailed. That problem was eased by a refreshing splash of
water, perking Hitomi up a bit.
It must have just been the day. It
must have just been the whole clutter of things that had picked at her through
this whole day and whole evening that made her so anxious over Amano's plans.
It really didn't bother her as much as she let on. Maybe it was the trains, or
the dreams or the wedding or the session tapes, or something… and all this was
just cluttering her mind until she began acting a little drastic. Things were
right now. Now, things were calm and cool and fine. It didn't matter where
Amano or Yukari were eating dinner tonight, or why they wouldn't discuss their
plans, or whatever it was they had discussed on that fateful phone call from
before, it really didn't matter. Amano was Amano and Yukari was Yukari, and no
matter what it was, it wasn't worth losing them for.
Hitomi sighed feeling a little
more fulfilled. She ran a soft brush through her damp and drying hair, bathing
herself in the aroma of chicken wafting in from the kitchen. A part of her
actually did want to see that movie with Yukari, it had been a while since they
just went out and had fun. She would probably drag Cathy along as well; they
were getting along great. Things were going along great, weren't they? She
promised herself to see Amano tomorrow. It had been a while since she last
hugged him, and clinged to him, gazing into those mature and sensitive eyes.
Just the thought made her feel a little lost and lonely. She couldn't stand
being upset at him. Who cares about the phone call anyway, she could easily let
that go, as long as she never let go of Amano.
Yawning she switched off the
lights in the small bathroom, about to walk on down following the scent of
delicious cooked food. That's when she noticed something peculiar. Very
peculiar. She stood there unable to move for a series of seconds. Now that
wasn't right. 'Oh dear God….' She thought. What was going on??
Still frozen her eyes remained locked onto a little dangling necklace that lay
against the pearl white of the bathroom counter. No. It couldn't be. Her
pendant? What?!? Why was it there?! Why!?
Quickly she snatched it off the
counter inspecting it closely. Yes, it was hers!! But… but… Hitomi's hands
shakily let it drop to the floor, landing onto the soft bathroom carpet. She
gazed at it helplessly, its round ruby shape as if mocking her. Why? Why were
there TWO of them??
Hitomi slowly looked down to the
bare of her neck, where of course, the second pendant lay. The second
one. Why was there even a second one?? She fell to her knees, by the one she had
found here in the bathroom, looking at the identical counter-parts. Gazing at
them. Studying them. She felt almost frightened, and was left speechless. It was
uncanny. They were identical. One lay there, on her neck, and the other she had
picked up in her hand. There was no way that one of them belonged to Cathy. No
way that anyone could possible have the same necklace as hers. To be so similar
and exact to the last detail… no way…
Quickly she unlatched the one that
she wore upon her and held it up against the light, side by side with its twin.
She could barely tell them apart. All she knew was the one she found was in her
left hand, and the one she wore in her right. Either than that, differentiating
from the two would've been impossible. She moved her hands slightly; watching
amazed as both pendants swung…. Slowly… back and forth…. Back and forth.
"One…. Two… three…." She
counted along with them, counting with every beat. But both pendants kept right
up. Both swung over and over with every second she counted. They mesmerized her
with their gracious movement, flowing naturally from one side to the other, in
sync with each other, pinkish beams radiating from their unique gems.
She could hear soft violins
playing behind her. Cathy must've put on her classical collection while
waiting for Hitomi. Really, now wasn't the time to be obsessing over the
mystery. Half of her just wanted to get up and get something to eat, put all the
weirdness behind her. But she just couldn't bring herself to let the pendants
go.
Slowly standing, both necklaces
still at hand, she quickly switched off the light again. Hitomi had them both
clenched within her fists, and she stared at them through the darkness. Her
right hand began to tremble, and she knew why it was so. Slowly, in a spurt of
fear she unclenched her fingers of her right hand, shutting her eyes quickly
scared to look on. Both hands lay open now, necklace lying within each. Slowly
breathing she decided to open her eyes. In the midst of the dark bathroom she
could see it. She could see what she thought she would see. There in the
reclusive dimness of the room lay two pendants. The one on her right captured
her attention. The one on her right drew every breath in Hitomi to a pause. The
one on her right sat within her trembling hand and it looked on back at her as
it glowed. It glowed, with brilliance. It lay in her hand emitting the warmest
little pink light that danced upon her fingers and twinkled in her eyes. It was
not her imagination. It was real. So real. This was the pendant he had
given her. This was the real one, the authentic one, the one that glowed that
same night she met him. This was the pendant her grandmother wore and
given upon her to keep. This was the pendant that had been missing for five
whole years without her knowing. And, it was back at last.
She flicked the light on and
latched the genuine necklace back on her neck, feeling at last that it was more
than just a necklace. Feeling that feeling about it that she hadn't had in so
long. Feeling complete. It glowed back at her, friendly like, as if happy to be
back as well, right where it belonged. She dropped the other look-a-like pendant
back into the depths of her robe pocket, and went off to finally get some of
Cathy's classic chicken soup. It was time to move on now. Things were going
along great.
*
* *
"Right this way sir…"
She had a distinct scent to her,
the waitress that is. Amano couldn't quite touch on exactly what fragrance it
was, but he knew he had caught a whiff of it before. He followed her dazed by
the waft that floated from her, knowing in a few seconds that Hitomi also had
the same perfume. Yes, it was the one that Hitomi had worn that night they went
to Sunset Beach and gazed at the soft stars sunken in depths of satin skies for
hours on end. He instantly recalled holding her slender arms and listening as
she described all the hundreds of astrological patterns that lined the night
sky. Wow, that had been almost six months ago… but yet, he just couldn't
keep his mind off her.
"Would this be fine?" the
small delicate waitress brought him back to earth, stopping by a private
candle-lit table, surrounded by bouquets of fresh roses and stunning
angel-carved fountains. She drew back one of the velvet-chairs and tugged out
her small notebook and a spare ball pen from her apron pocket.
"It's wonderful, thank you,"
Amano smiled gladly receiving his menu and setting the other one down by the
empty seat next to him. "We'll be taking the buffet today Marianne."
"Very well," Marianne Dowes
nodded, putting away the pen and paper and looking over in the direction of the
buffet tables. "May I suggest the lobster selections for today; also I'm
sure the Missus will adore the new steamed Chinese vegetable rolls." Marianne,
kindly reached over and handed him the wine menus. "She is a fan of the
occasional Mordeau is she not?"
Amano smiled gently, glancing
every so often at the overwhelmingly romantic environment. "Oh yes, Hitomi
does love the shot of Mordeau, but um, she won't be accompanying me
tonight." He smiled anxiously at Marianne's surprised expression.
Marianne nodded understanding, but
actually feeling quite astounded herself. She had only been serving Amano and
Hitomi since they first started attending Mikami's back a few years ago. But
who was she kidding, they didn't always have to come here together. But then
again, it was a restaurant for couples…
"Well, just call on me when your company arrives
and you need some drinks alright? And starting at nine it will be open bar.
Would you like any soup appetizers or anything like that Mr. Nekuchi?"
"Yes Wonton please, thank you
Ms. Dowes." Amano nodded and slowly sat as he watched Marianne disappear
behind a large cluster of aromatic flowers and candles. He dusted off his dress
pants continuing to flatten down a pestering crease around his knee. As he drew
his attention upwards, he couldn't get over how much Mikami's had changed
over the course of a few months! The whole restaurant seemed to flicker in
candlelight, and was bathed in the soft red of roses everywhere. There was a
wide assortment of flowers weaving around delicate wooden patterns and floating
in crystal vases. He could hear the faint echo of violins and cellos with their
ongoing tune… the rough brass sounds trumpeting loudly from a Tenor Saxophone
as fingers dazzled their way along the golden keys, drifting his mind away with
the rest of the soothing atmosphere. He arched his neck this way and that to try
to catch a glimpse of the mini-orchestra somewhere within the large restaurant.
He also couldn't help but notice how odd he looked. There in the midst of
dozens of other tables all occupied by romanticizing couples engaged in soft
whispered discussions was little ole Amano, sitting there alone by his candle
lit table, tugging feverishly at the red, satin tablecloth in need of something
to do.
He peeled his eyes off his surroundings for a moment to inspect the
little napkin swan left on the table by the serviettes. He gazed at the
intricate little cloth being, and pondered again on how they did that. Hitomi
knew how. She was pretty amazing at Origami, and would often blow up flat pieces
of paper into sphere-like cubes, or into a geometrical river bird. The little
things she did amazed him so. If she were with him right at the very moment she
would have probably collected a vast assortment of cocktail umbrellas and line
them up together in all their wondrous colours. He would watch as her small,
slender fingers would gently open each umbrella as they extended their fragile
miniature segments. Then she would place them down on the table and fold
constantly at a napkin until it resembled something like a miniature beach
towel, which she placed under the umbrella. If she just happened to find a spare
piece of paper lying around, she would somehow manifest it into what looked like
a tiny person that would lie on the imaginary towel basting in the shade of the
cocktail umbrella.
Amano sighed drawing his head off his hands and watched mesmerized as the
candles flickered before him. The wax slowly oozed down the candle side, filling
the small silver tin that lay beneath. He was so taken back by the soft glow of
the burning flame he almost didn't come to notice two hot steaming bowls of
Wonton soup placed right before him.
"Oh thank you Marianne, how quick." He smiled up at her, wondering
how long she had been standing there gawking at him stupidly watching candles
melt.
"No problem Mr. Nekuchi, would you like something to drink or should I
wait until your guest arrives?"
"Never mind, here she is now," Amano stood smiling politely as he
finally spotted Yukari slowly weaseling her way around many occupied tables. She
gave a small wave placing her umbrella amongst the jacket closet.
"Here let me help you with that," Amano appeared out of nowhere,
graciously hanging Yukari's soaked coat. "It's pouring out there huh?"
"Sure is," Yukari sounded almost out of breath. Actually she was.
Just as Amano, the newly renovated Mikami's took her aback. She could barely
peel her eyes off the luxurious surroundings as Amano dragged her along to their
reclusive little table where Marianne still stood.
"Good evening Ms. Uchida, how are you today?" Marianne greeted her
with her usual tone of courtesy. She had easily recognized Yukari from a high
school reunion both her and Hitomi had attended at Mikami's a few months back.
"I'm doing great! Wow, hello again Marianne! No need for all the
politeness, you know you can call me Yukari!" She grinned as she took a seat
in one of the comfortable chairs.
"Yes I know, I just forgot your first name that's all!" Marianne
joked resting her hand on Yukari's shoulder. They all began to laugh in that
odd formal kind of way. Normally Yukari would simply belt out laughing but
instead she put on a sweet smile, humble giggle, fingers lightly poised by her
lips. Amano noticed her frail attempt on some sort of formality and had to bite
his lip hard to keep from belting out laughing himself.
"I'll be back in a few minutes, I'll give you two some time before
I get your drinks." Marianne gave a small spin and once again disappeared
behind a large vase of crocuses and daffodils.
Her mind was frazzled. Yukari Uchida? Now out of all people, that girl
was the last she'd expect to see; especially since she was Hitomi's
best friend. Did things not work out well between Amano and Hitomi?? 'Oh what
a pity,' Marianne thought as she collected empty dishes from the vacant tables
nearby. 'Those two looked so cute together.' She could still remember when
Amano and Hitomi had dropped by a few months back to announce their engagement.
It was strange that it could all end just like that…
"Well," Amano turned his attention back onto his newly arrived
company taking his seat by her. "Don't you look different tonight."
"Ha, thanks… I think…" Yukari grinned back at him, dusting off
her glamorous silk dress. Amano was
right though. She didn't look any bit the same than the usual Yukari. It
looked as if she had put aside her usual sneakers and white blouse for a unique
combination of a scarlet red gown accenting the amber highlights in her hair.
Her appearance went hand in hand with the exquisite atmosphere of the restaurant
around her.
"50% off at Laura Petite's, you know those good old sidewalk
sales."
"Ha, women, go figure." Amano rolled his eyes dipping a large round
spoon into his bowl of soup. "What is that, size 0.1?"
"NO, geeze," Yukari laughed it off, also blowing at the steam flowing
from the Wonton. "Size 6, and proud of it. That's hard enough to get to as
it is."
"You and Hitomi, I'm telling you guys, the two of you are scrawny.
I've seen broom handles with more flesh than that." Amano's eyes fell on
Yukari's rather slender wrists. "I'm surprised you survive all that wind
out there without your arms snapping in half like toothpicks."
"Oh please Mano, like YOU are so perfect. What are you anyway, 130? And
THAT isn't underweight to you??"
Amano shrugged carelessly sipping away at the last morsels left in the
bowl. "165 if it's any of your concern. At least I've got enough fat to
cast a shadow… unlike some people…"
In the midst of bringing a steaming spoonful of soup to her mouth,
Yukari's eyes narrowed flashing Amano the evilest look she could master. He
withdrew his tasteful comments (for the time being) and eyes wandered towards
the tempting buffet trays off to the right knowing better to question the
'look'. He got enough of those from Hitomi.
"You ready for some real grub Kari? I am starved, after all I did have
to wait for you."
"Okay, I'm coming already," Yukari quickly dabbed away at her lips
with a napkin, and cautiously stood up by Amano and sauntered over in the
direction of the piles of delicious Chinese food. "
Ooooh…. Would you look at this
selection?" she mused. "Dammit, if I wasn't on this diet kick…"
"Diet kick?" Amano couldn't believe his ears as he seized a newly
washed plate from the clean china pile. "DIET KICK? Did you NOT hear me
mentioning the scrawny/anorexic thing from before?? ARE YOU DEAF?"
"Shut up!" She gave his left foot a good stab with her heel. "I AM
NOT suffering from any stupid eating disorder, and I've got more flab than you
think! Geeze, now I'm trying to convince you that I'm fat?! Do you know how
weird that is? Look, I'm just trying to lose some weight before I show up at
your very own wedding with blubber overflowing through my bridesmaids gown,
alright?"
"Oh ha, that is SO funny. I just got this hilarious mental picture of
you with the dress 'two sizes too small'."
Yukari brushed him aside wondering why on earth she even bothers putting
up with such an ass. She had a theory about him. Every time Amano was with his
associates or around Hitomi, or some other respectful people like that, he acted
all superior like; she's seen it before. He's like that nearly 23/7. But of
course, he saves at least one hour of his good day to unleash his male genes and
become a total and utmost jackass. Why on earth did she bother talking to him?
Maybe she did have an eating disorder. Yeah, she has eating issues and
the lack of food is starting to get to her head.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I'm just playing Yukari! Talk about
your everyday mood swings… it can't be that time of the month again, can it?
My gosh, right when Hitomi's done with that here comes Yukari at full
steam…" Amano hurriedly tried to catch up balancing a plate of fried chow
mein and sweet and sour pork.
"Not helping the situation Amano," Yukari rolled her eyes exhausted
by his stupidity, placing a giant slab of mouth-watering lobster on her plate,
and adding one to his. It was always reassuring that no matter how annoying he
was; he was still paying for the dinner.
"No, its not that time of month, it's a not a damn mood swing, its
just putting up with the likes of you. Now go get some more fried rice on that
plate, we'll see who's doing the fattening over here."
A few minutes later, Amano reluctantly returned to their table with two
roasting plates full of teriyaki, shrimp, ribs, noodles, stir fry, rice, egg
rolls and what not (Most of which Yukari had dumped onto his plate for him). Oh
wouldn't this be fun, now Yukari was releasing her "womeny" genes, the
twisted gene that makes all females of the world irritable, moody, naggy and
bossy. She had that look plastered on her face now. That look. How did women do
that? It kind of scrunched up their face; eyebrows narrowed, eyes cold. But when
he tries to do it, his face ends up resembling some sort of demented baseball
glove or something. He could feel his temples throbbing just thinking about it.
Yes, it must've been a talent. A motherly thing he was bound to never
understand.
"I wonder what poor Hito's up to now…" Yukari sighed setting her
plate down pushing the empty Wonton bowl to the side. "Did you know I
sacrificed a good night out at the movies just for this?"
"Really? What movie?" Amano glanced up at her carelessly as he picked
his way past a bowl of vegetable noodles with a pair of stubborn plastic
chopsticks.
"'Silent Murder', it just came out too…"
Amano started fumbling with the sticks and nearly sent them flying across
the table. "'SILENT MURDER'? You mean NICOLAS CAGE? Ha! I don't believe
it! YOU miss your dream boy Nick for dinner? Not a chance in
hell!"
"Whatever! I'm not lying!" Yukari nearly threw a fit as she
insisted against Amano. "Me and Hito could be right there in the Cineplex at
this very moment… but noooo… instead I'm here watching you eat."
"You're only watching me eat because you're anorexic and won't
eat your own food! Now why on earth would you miss on your 40-years-too-old
celebrity crush to come to a dinner with me?"
Yukari tightly gripped her own pair of chopsticks in a threatening
manner, an easy weapon if Amano decided to push the envelope on that skinny
thing, or even dare to make fun of the one and only, Nicolas Cage. "Man Killed
By Eating Utensil"… hey at this rate, it could happen, if not would
happen. She brushed her hair back behind her bare shoulders, slowly nibbling at
a sizzling egg roll as she amused at the thought.
Catching that 'I'm-secretly-plotting-your-demise-look' in
Yukari's eyes, Amano quickly figured it was time to get Yukari off the topic
of conversation. He'd better watch what he said to that girl. She had a pretty
big impact on his life; little was he aware.
If he made one wrong move, she could convince Hitomi to… who knows…
not marry him? Or worse? Judging by that sinister look plastered on her face…
he really didn't want to know what she had in store.
"Soo… have you ever wondered how a Chinese buffet could wind up to be
the most formal restaurant? I mean it's an all-you-can-eat kinda thing,
right?" He leaned back sipping slowly on the warm tea he hadn't even noticed
Marianne had left on their table.
Yukari sat quietly, chopsticks poised in front of her, noodles dangling
with chunks of vegetables occasionally dropping back down to the plate below.
"Have you?" he repeated, feeling nervously intimidated by her
silence.
"Sometimes…" she agreed nodding, eyes locked onto the lifeless food
in front of her. Maybe all that stuff Amano had been blabbing about was starting
to kick in, because even when surrounded by the finest food in the city, she
barely felt hungry.
"Hey, didn't you ever say something about coming here for your
wedding, Amano? Or were you going to rent a hall?"
"Nope, this is the place," He grinned surveying the restaurant,
patting the table proudly. "Great isn't it? The whooole place to
ourselves!"
"You're kidding?!" Yukari grew an even smaller interest in her food
as she locked onto Amano. "Can you even reserve Mikami's? It is a restaurant
after all…" her voice trailed at the sight of Amano's bobbing head.
"Sure, of course! Me and Dave go way back." Amano had that smug look
right on his face, a little too overflowing with confidence.
"Dave?" Yukari couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as she continued
to watch Amano answer her in-between shoving his face full of chow mein.
"Dave Li Peng, the owner of Mikami's. We used to attend business
classes together. Obviously he got further than I did…. But I'm sure Dave
wouldn't mind to spare me one day to celebrate in this five-star kinda
place."
"My Gosh, Hitomi sure is lucky… damn… Mikami's eh? Wait a
minute..." Yukari tapped her chopstick curiously. "Amano, have you even
figured out how much it's going to cost per head yet?"
"Per head? Oh my mother has that down, something like $110 at the least
per person."
"WHAT?" Yukari exclaimed unbelievably, studying him, then realizing
that if he was going through with that Mikami's idea, he probably
wasn't kidding. "Amano!?"
She hushed, trying to keep her voice down. "You said that Hitomi and you
decided not to take donations from the guests!"
Amano looked at her doubtfulness curiously, as he continued to work his
way through a pile of sesame meatballs. "Yeah… we're keeping that. We're
not taking donations from our guests, Hitomi finds that horribly rude, and I
agree with it pretty much."
"So how the hell do you plan to pull off $110 per head?" Yukari
leaned over and hissed the words at him, hoping to not embarrass Amano, because
chances were he probably knew everyone in the whole restaurant, knowing Amano
Nekuchi that is.
He continued to give her back that phased look, not quite getting why she
was so concerned about the prices. "Yukari, I'd say 110 is pretty
reasonable. It covers the price to rent Mikami's, the dinner, decorations,
invitations and the D.J. Not bad if you ask me."
"Not bad!? Have you lost it? Amano, you're inviting near to 200
guests, and at 110 per head… the two of you will go bankrupt!! Never mind the
cost of Hitomi's gown, or the bridesmaids!! Or the new house you plan to
buy? You know, I think you could've pulled it off if you guys would just
take some friendly donations or something, but you can't depend on your own
salary for all this. Think about it!" Yukari's face had nearly drained of
color. Hitomi wasn't even touching the whole 'prices' aspect for her
wedding. Mrs. Nekuchi, Amano's mother, had promised to take care of
everything, since she was an associate for this financial group or something
like that. What would happen when Hitomi heard of all this? She'd freak for
sure!
"I have thought about it, Kari, or should I say, Ms.
Pessimistic. My whole family has! And I know I can pull it off, it's really
quite a bargain. Look, my nursing job pays pretty well you know, and I have been
saving for this for months, ever since we were engaged. I should get my Ph.D
soon, and I can start my own practice soon enough, I've been looking into
that. Also, my mother's using her savings on this, she said she would use it
on me someday anyway. Terry, you know my brother, says he can cover any extra
expenses, and we all know Tomi gets pretty decent pay at her receptional
position at CGU, so I'm not concerned at all. As for the house, Leo's my
retail salesman, he's been researching some fabulous deals for me, and he
already picked one out a few weeks back right by those fancy suburbs near
Hitomi's place. Besides, a lot of the people in charge of the services know me
pretty well, and don't mind if I go on a loan for like a year or something.
It's fine. I promised Hitomi the best wedding money could buy, remember?"
"Oh Amano…" Yukari furrowed her brows as she sat absorbed in
thought. In some ways, Amano's plan actually made pretty good sense, but then
again it seemed to always backfire in one way or another.
"Your plan sounds so foolish yet
so sweet at the same time. Renting this whole restaurant just for the wedding,
my gosh. You know, financially, I do hope you pull it off. Romantically, I know
you're miles ahead of the game. You're still planning to do those little
romantic thingies we talked about now aren't you?"
"Oooh yeah…." Amano nodded, that smug look written all over him
once again. Yep, those wedding plans he had cooked up with Yukari were just
amazing. A wedding couldn't dabble so much on perfection as his would. She had
reminded him one day, of Hitomi's obsession on fairy tale stories. Hitomi
would always have those little angel figurines, or unicorns or what not. But her
favorite of all fairy tales or Disney tales had always been 'Cinderella'. It
couldn't have been more perfect! Nope, it tied together all too well. Right
after the glorious wedding reception at the most elaborate cathedral in town,
the two would exit the church steps in a flurry of dazzling confetti, greeted by
none other than a one of a kind, round and glitter-white carriage, resembling
the one in of course, 'Cinderella'. The two finest, whitest horses would be
leading the front, walking proudly in the streets, strolling them all along
through Gore Park right down until they reached Mikami's Fine Cuisine, where
Amano had left off in his trail of creative ideas.
"You are too much. The two of you. I feel blessed just to be part of
all this. I can't believe how lucky you are, or how risky you are to do this
entire scheme. It makes you wonder what Hitomi will look like when she sees that
little carriage thing; she'll have that whole
Oh-my-Gosh-I-can't-believe-this-is-happening look going on! It's so
sweet!"
Yukari was now beginning to lose herself in the fantasies of the wedding
which wasn't even hers to begin with. But she couldn't help getting a little
bit carried away. After all, the three of them have only known each other for
near to eight years now! Eight whole years together! Never would have she
imagined that this day would come, when they'd go beyond tardy bells and
science class right down to moving out on their own. It amazed her in so many
ways. She couldn't help but plaster on a disappointed face to see Amano's
eyes wandering off in another direction, obviously not giving the wedding as
much thought as she was. She shook her head slowly sipping on her tea, trying to
block out the giddiness from inside… trying not to make it obvious that she
was getting a little too energetic about the situation.
"Hey… have you talked to Hitomi about that phone call yet?"
Amano's voice cut in and threw the conversation right off topic, his eyes
still drifting around the restaurant.
"No," Yukari answered placidly, almost having forgotten about that
issue from the night before. "I've talked to her, but she hasn't said
anything. Why? Has she told you something?"
"I haven't talked to her lately," Amano replied, sounding kind of
out of it, practically jerking his head this way and that to see above the
looming vase of petunias.
"Haven't talked to her? Geeze, when was the last time you guys
just went out on a date or something? I'm thinking you two seriously should
spend more time together, honestly. Am I right Amano?"
Yukari brushed her russet bangs back slightly, somewhat annoyed to find
Amano lending his eyes to his surroundings and entirely tuning her out, again.
One moment, he puts up a perfectly fine conversation, bringing about topics,
defending his opinions, and then boom, the second someone else starts
talking, all of a sudden the man that dropped his spoon at the next table just
seems so much more fascinating.
"Amano!" Yukari snapped, rolling her eyes for the
one-too-many times that night as he gave her back that childlike 'what'd I
do?' look. Frankly, she was surprised he actually fixated himself on her this
time, for at least longer than a half second.
"Amano! There better be a wild group of punk-rock extra-terrestrials
with Gillian Anderson on bass guitar and David Duchoveny on drums playing right
behind me; because at this rate that would've been the only possible thing
much more interesting than what I had to say!" She continued heckling at him
sternly, this time not too concerned whether others were within earshot or not,
maybe even wanting them to be…
"What??" Amano raised his shoulders defensively. "I was
listening to you, but no offense, I would kinda tune you out if the cast of the
X-files were playing percussion right behind you, but in this case I just
happened to have the talent of doing two things at once: listening to you and
watching that freaky kid over there."
Yukari rolled her eyes once again, having a feeling that it wouldn't be
long now before they fell right out of their sockets. "Freaky kid? This better
be worth it." She yanked herself around on her chair, watching the seam on the
edge of her skirt, and glanced over in the direction Amano's eyes were
apparently glued on.
She could make out small groups of people hovering around the heated
buffet trays, every now and then wandering back to their tables with one full
plate, and heading back to the trays to retrieve another. Waiters and waitresses
dressed in tops of white and bottoms of black winded around buffet tables,
cautiously balancing trays of food on their shoulders for those who had ordered
on menu, carefully weaseling around all the feisty buffet customers. The
bartender by the bar was lazily making small talk with the two or three single
adults that had stopped by for a drink, as they all waited impatiently for open
bar to come along, and the real party to begin. Now that she thought about it,
to actually see a kid in this place under 18 would probably be kind of
freaky.
"I don't get you Amano, I really don't." She shook her head, as
she got ready to turn her attention back on her loose-minded companion.
"Wait, Kari, look right over there, see by the place where the little
band is playing the piano and stuff? See that kid? He's dressed like an adult,
but he's still way too young to try to play that one off."
"Oh my gosh! I see him!" Yukari made a 360º turn to look right in
that direction. There she had her eyes fixed on a rather young boy, dressed in
suit and tie, but with such eyes of innocent crystal blue that gave away his
youth. His small face was crowned with the blondest hair ever, falling down past
his eyes and sometimes near to his chin. It was patted down the sides of his
face because of the rainwater that had managed to soak through. There he stood,
eyeing the buffet tables with a small, empty plate on hand. He wandered slowly,
obviously trying not to make himself look too conspicuous. And it was working
too, for either than them; no one else seemed to have noticed.
"Isn't that the weirdest thing…" Amano couldn't help but muse.
"I wonder where his parents are…"
"Oh that's not the weird part." Amano had his finger on this
situation, and it was obvious he was cooking up something in his mind. "I
don't think the kid's here with his parents."
"Ha," Yukari snorted at the idea. "So what, he's got a birthday
party here or something? For Pete's sake, I can't even get into
Mikami's without like a month's reservation! That kid's gotta be here with
somebody."
"Yeah? Then tell me why this is like the eighth time I've seen him
walk by, alone."
"Oh Amano," Yukari managed to peel herself away to turn back towards
him. "Will you let it go? Honestly, you're like a little puppy or something,
anything and everything except for what's important fascinates you."
Amano leaned back on his chair, trying not to make it obvious that he was
still eyeballing the kid. He didn't even pay much heed to his quickly
getting-cold clumps of half-eaten food. "Well, you got to think about it a
bit, Kari. The kid's circled that exact same spot around the buffet trays a
dozen times now, and each time he's come around with an empty plate.
It has to have already been 15 minutes or so now. No one can look around that
long without picking out something, and he always disappears from sight every
time a waiter goes by."
"So what are you implying?" Yukari blew softly on her tea, letting
herself be entertained by Amano's odd thoughts. "The kid's in here
alone?"
"Yup, somehow managed to sneak by and now is trying just to blend in
with everyone else."
"And do enlighten me, what on earth would he accomplish by doing
that?"
"I'm not sure, there could be a whole variety of things. Maybe he's
lost or something, avoiding somebody, or just trying to get some free food.
You'd probably have to ask the kid I guess."
Amano raised his head up startled as Yukari noisily placed her chopsticks
down onto her plate. "Ask him Mano? Why didn't you say so?" She picked up
and folded the napkin on her lap, tucking it underneath her dish.
"Hey, you're not really going to ask the kid are you?" Amano
couldn't help but stare at her oddly, not seeing why Yukari was now getting
interested when only a few minutes ago she looked as if she was to bat him over
the head for even bringing up the topic.
"Well, why not?" Yukari was already up, neatly tucking her chair in.
"If it'll get you to focus a bit more on the wedding, then I might as
well."
She gave Amano one last look as she winded her way around the groups of
dining couples, to the buffet trays only a few steps away. Amano watched from a
distance, still jerking himself this way and that to try and get a good view.
Sure enough, the young boy was still there, looking inattentively at the
selection of food items with his empty plate. The warm tray lights cast a red
tint on his lemon yellow hair, making it seem a fiery orange; with that little
feature he sure wasn't hard to miss.
Yukari stood motionless one foot poised still on the carpeted dining
area, the other resting upon the clean, white linoleum floor of the buffet
section. She couldn't help but bring herself to stare at the little innocent
child wandering amongst the aisles of food. What was Amano thinking? The kid
just looked so adorable! She felt kind of stupid to be there about to accuse a
small boy of sneaking into Mikami's. She really didn't believe it too much
herself. He was most likely here with parents or something. Actually, up close
he looked a little bit older than he had from their seats. At this point, he
could've been say around eleven or twelve years old, but surprisingly none the
less, still cute as ever. She decided a little small talk couldn't hurt.
Yukari slowly crept over to his turned back, and tapped him lightly on
the shoulder. Suddenly, she drew her hand in surprise as he practically leaped
in shock. He had a startled expression on his face, as did Yukari. She really
didn't expect for the kid to be so much on edge.
"I'm sorry," she soothed, gazing into his perplexed glimmering
eyes. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"That's alright," the kid replied, in a voice that actually
startled Yukari. Judging by his sound, he must've at least been twelve or so,
much older than he looked. She also couldn't help but notice the way he
instantly stared downwards, and avoided eye contact to the point where he
continued to gawk at the door, the entrance and exit of the restaurant.
"Anyway, hi my name's Yukari, my friend and I couldn't help but
um…" Yukari quickly stammered for words, not knowing how to go about saying
that Amano and her were suspicious about the kid. "Well we uh, noticed you
because you're the… only child we've seen around here in Mikami's
lately—"
"Why? Do you work here?" The kid instantly interrupted her clumsy
train of words, with a question that only aroused her suspicions even more. Why
would he want to know that? Yukari couldn't help but recall Amano saying
something about the kid avoiding the waiters or something like that. She glanced
at him silently, watching him get more anxious to disappear from her sight.
Yukari had a good feeling she wouldn't be able to get much out of this kid if
she didn't play along. After all, she was honestly starting to get curious on
why on earth the kid was even here.
"Well, um yes, I'm a cocktail waitress for the bar, but I'm off
today, having a little dinner date kind of thing. This usually is a restaurant
for adults and couples you know. I just, was kind of curious how—"
"I'm here with my parents." Once again he jarred the words
mid-sentence of Yukari, answering her question before it was even asked. She
furrowed her brows noticing the way he was slowly backing away from her, eyes
focused on the direction of the exit. Geeze, what was wrong with this kid? He
looked just so endearing a few minutes before and turns out he's some sort of
adolescent paranoid. She gave a glance around but saw no one that could be
potential parents around the buffet tables, and she doubted anyone would let
their child wander around alone for twenty minutes in a prestige restaurant like
this.
Yukari couldn't help but give him one of her looks. "Well then, I'm
sorry to trouble you, um, I never did catch your name…"
The kid had rudely turned now, heading to the direction of the doors. He
paused slightly at the sound of Yukari's last words, and hesitated a moment.
"It's Steven, and I'm sorry but I have to go now."
Yukari stood and watched stunned as the kid ran out of the restaurant,
dodging all the real waiters that were around, and leaving his empty dish upon
the jacket closet. She just couldn't come up with a thought at the moment;
that had just been too odd. Everything out of that boy's mouth was nothing but
a lie! Well that part was obvious. But she still hadn't really cracked on why
he had been lying in the first place, or why he was even there. It boggled her
mind too much to even think of such things. Why did she care so much anyway? It
was probably just some kid out for a free meal or something.
As she headed back, a small white piece of paper on the ground caught her
attention, interrupting her thoughts. It lay crumpled on the floor, of which she
noticed it hadn't been there before. The kid, or rather "Steven", must
have dropped it. Bending over she inspected it only to see trails of run down
ink, most likely from rainwater. The letters were hard to make out, but if she
squinted hard enough…
"So what happened?" Amano was all ears as Yukari finally settled in
her seat again, with that tiny stained note in her hand. "Where'd he go?
What'd he say?"
Yukari peeled her eyes away from the blurry letters on the dirty paper
and looked at the eager, anxious Amano sitting across from her. "Well, let's
just say our little blond friend, 'Steven', sure has issues. The very second
I even came close to asking why he was here, bang, he just bolted right out."
"Bolted right out? He left just like that?"
"Yeah, basically. Cute but weird, aren't they all…. I'm going to
have to rule out your free meal theory though."
"My free meal theory?" Amano slouched in thought. "What's wrong
with that? Why else would he be
here?"
"Mano, if he was here for a free meal, wouldn't he have actually
bothered taking some food and oh I don't know, eating it maybe?"
"Oh yeah, I guess your right." Amano sunk even further into his chair
as he looked onwards to the glass doors of Mikami's, trickling with water
droplets from the outside. "Then that doesn't make much sense. He was in
here with no company, not here for the food, and acting all suspicious. What
could a kid like that be up to?"
"I don't think we will ever figure it out, either that or it's none
of our business. But check this out, I think he may have dropped it on his way
out." Yukari reached over and handed the crumpled card onto Amano, who eagerly
began inspecting it trying to solve a mystery he sort of had begun to create in
his own mind.
"What is this? It's all runny, I can barely make it out."
"I know what you mean," Yukari leaned over and squinted as she
glanced at the blurry scribbles. "It looks like a name and phone number, or an
address probably."
"Yeah I can see by that by the way he wrote it, what'd you say his
name was again?"
"Steven, or at least that's what he told me."
"Steven eh…"
Amano's eyes quickly adjusted themselves to the stained ink, as they
began seeing forming letters in the jumble of splotches. The address was an
absolute hopeless case, disappearing to the edge of the crimpled sheet, but the
name was barely legible. It did start with an "s", both first name and last.
"Shed…" Yukari mumbled underneath her breath.
"What'd you say?"
"Shed… I think that's what it says, the first name I mean." She
continued staring at it trying to make out what the last name could've been.
"Shed? What kind of name is shed?" Amano looked over the first name
again.
"Ha, what kind of name is Amano Nekuchi? Yukari Uchida? For pete's
sake, everyone's like that, it's called multi-culturalism Amano… multi-culturalism."
"Pssh," Amano took the advantage of being able to roll his eyes at
her for once. "'Culturalism' isn't even a WORD Yukari, geeze. Besides,
can't you see that 'i' before the 'e'? I think it says 'Shied',
not 'Shed'."
"Yeah whatever, so Steven's really Shied, that dirty little liar.
What gets into the heads of kids these days…."
"Yeah, well this kid ain't exactly normal. His name sounds oddly
familiar though, or at least his last name."
"What? You can read that?"
"Sure, we've only been gawking at it for about five minutes now, it
says Shied Sheizar." Amano tapped the crumpled sheet confidently.
"Oh your right, it does." Yukari lifted it up to the candlelight,
glancing at the now visible name. "Well supposing that the name on the sheet
is this kid's real name, then I guess our little kooky case was some kid named
Shied Sheizar, hey you're right… that name is… oddly familiar…"