22 days to live.
The sun was way up high when a tall blond woman entered grocery store. She orders the same thing every day: A cup of frappucino and a straight-from-the-oven ham and cheese croissant. It was like any other day to her. But before she entered the store, her mobile phone beeped in the middle of the crowd. There she felt confusion.
Uotani Arisa had been Tohru's friend for years. But the accident during the college graduation threw their past away. Now, she's just a businesswoman under the management of Tohru's "father", which is another illusion made by them. There, their long-term friendship became a boss-worker relationship. Even so, she kept on checking her out whenever she had the time.
Uo spotted her friend at the farthest table of the store. While walking to towards it, she remember the day when Tohru was still on the hospital bed, begging her to forgive her.
"For what, Tohru-san?" Uo asked while clasping her friend's hand.
"For not following your advice." Tears fell from her eyes. Tohru was indeed crying inside and outside. "I… didn't tell him yet."
"But you should!" she almost yelled. "Or else, after erasing everything, you might not… treat Yuki the same way as you did…"
"Uo-san, that is my problem." Tohru sobbed. "Once I tell him… that I loved him so much… he might not let me go. At least this way, we'll be like friends again. And I'll feel the same way as Kyou."
"Tohru, you made that mistake last time. You loved Kyou. You loved Yuki. Now, you're just letting everything go--"
"It's the easiest way."
"Uotani Arisa?" Tohru stood up and stared at the taller woman.
Uo shook her head to get away from the past and pasted her best smile on her face. "Ms. Honda, I didn't know that you are interested in Starbucks."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You're allergic to coffee beans." Uo said firmly after placing her tray of everyday food on the table. "And I didn't know that you meet your workers at any place, any time."
Tohru almost giggled. "I'm sorry, I-I really need to talk to you urgently."
"I'm for MWF. I'm laid off for today, Ms. Honda."
"Please, you're the only one I trust!" Tohru begged, which sounded awkward. Her father was the one of the most powerful people in world, conquering almost half of the US' budget. Now, she was just begging one of the workers to do something for her that is worth her life. Sounds awkward, but it's worth a try.
Uo stared at her friend closely. That was the same look back at the hospital. The same face and deep eyes. Uo couldn't do anything but to nod. "Ms. Honda, for five days I did nothing but to reschedule every single appointment that was set on this day. I'm not dilly-dallying about this. What is it?"
"I want you to search something from me." Tohru started out with a low whisper. "I've heard that you know someone that can actually hack my father's database and all the private files in it. I want you to get all the files and give me a hard copy as soon as possible."
This sounded mysterious and Uotani like this mysterious stuff. "Hmm, that sounds interesting. What are you planning to know?"
Tohru sighed and stared at her friend. "One of the people whom I think I know: Akito Sohma."
"Has she returned?" Shigure peeked inside Yuki's room. Yuki was still on his bed, motionless and silent. Shigure approved that silence can mean a lot of things. He quietly walked away from the room.
It has been five days since that wrong encounter between him and Tohru. After that, he saw Tohru busying herself again, indulging into every work that was needed to be accomplished. Everybody was worried. Even Yuki himself (although he does not show it) was concerned for her. But all she did was flashed her convincing smile and assured everybody that she was ok.
During those five days, Yuki did nothing but to lie down on his bed. His vacation plan was cancelled. Now, his brother is in Paris, Shigure and Hatori are both indulged in their work and everybody else were just plain clueless on what they are going to do (especially Haru).
During that silence, his phone rang. Yuki did not budge. He did not want to take business calls at that moment. But after exactly 16 annoying rings, Yuki groaned and picked it up.
"Where the HELL ARE YOU?!" Uo's voice rang on the other end. Yuki sighed in relief. He thought it was someone else.
"It has been a while," Yuki said.
"Yeah, I thought it was but after college, I started to think of you as a complete annoyance in my life!! How long am I going to work in that--stupid building?!"
"As long as you can, Uo-san. I apologize." Yuki replied honestly. After Tohru's bad fall, Yuki hired Uotani to work in an agency, which was once owned by their clan. The job was not fitted for her but for Tohru sake, she agreed.
"How's work today?" Yuki joked.
"Oh just like every other day…. HELL." She groaned. He heard her sat loudly on a couch and yawned. "Geez, I'd rather die than do paperwork."
"I can see that." he nodded. "And the purpose of your call?"
"Oh, just for you to know, Tohru met up with me today. She was darn serious. The last time I saw her wearing that face was her on the hospital bed." Uo muttered. "Did you have a fight with her or something?"
Yuki thought for a moment, then shook his head before he could even remember. "I saw her with the neko again."
Uotani sighed loudly on the phone. "How long should this rivalry last?"
"As long as it can. Cat and mouse never agree with each other."
"You both did once--"
"ONCE. It ends there."
"There's nothing you can do when it comes to true love." Uo sneered. "After that incident when Tohru touched Kyou's heart, they have been peas and carrots all the way to high school graduation. As for you, you worked so hard that you didn't even noticed that Kyou became Tohru's boyfriend."
Yuki almost dropped dead from that spot. "Boyfriend" seemed to be a very strong term, which can also be the reason why he hated Kyou so much.
"Acceptance comes with free will." Uo reminded. "You cannot accept if you don't actually like to accept."
Yuki shook his head. He hated this topic. "Phonecall? Oh yeah, you met up with her. Did she mention something?"
Uo groaned again. "Nothing at all… except the name of your clan head."
"Akito?" Yuki wondered. "She mentioned Akito?"
"Yup, asked for every file and information about him."
"She mentioned that to me once. Akito left a will."
"Will?" Uo asked. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Why is that?"
"Every paperwork that is given to Tohru comes to me first. I didn't come across that. Maybe somebody placed that paperwork directly to her table."
Akito's will. "Got any ideas who can that person be?" Yuki asked.
"I'll tell you if I find out something. As of now, you should be able to talk to Tohru. Maybe she has something in mind."
"Something in mind? Are you telling me that she remembers everything Hatori erased?"
"There's always a possibility." Then there was a long beep. Uo hanged up.
Before Tohru could even get a cab, she heard someone call her name.
"Tohru-san! Ms Tohru-san!"
She turned and saw one of the workers under her. Great. Another one.
"Ms Tohru-san, someone told me to give this to you." The worker handed over a small red paper. She felt herself shivered. Somehow, she couldn't control her feeling. Whenever her body has felt something, her mind made her think the same way.
"I'm sorry. Should I be expecting a message?" she asked formally.
"I don't know, Ms. But I'm sure it's urgent." His fingers shook. She knew it was not because of the weather.
"Ms Honda." Now, even his voice was shaking. "Please take it. I still have other messages to send."
She felt like she got no other choice so she took the paper. Before she could even ask another question, the messenger ran off.
Slowly, she opened the paper. The scribble was obviously quickly written, but readable. She read it twice before she understood what it was: an old address.
At that very same time, a cab pulled over. She thought of going home, but after glancing the red paper twice, she got in and showed to him the paper. "Do you know where this place is?"
Yey, the eight chapter. Sorry for the long wait. I finally had the chance to write, after reading Iliad, Odyseus, Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, and El Fili (Filipino novel). --Sigh-- Being a senior sucks.