RETROGRADE AGING
"Sempai! You've got to be kidding me! Did the blow to your head give you amnesia too?"
"Oh. Oh! Hello, Hikaru-san."
Hikaru-san? What is wrong with him? "Sempai…"
"I–I'm sorry, Hikaru. I'm not feeling well right now…"
"Then you should go back to your room and rest. Do you want me to call Madoka-san?"
A chagrined look appeared on his face. "No… no, I'll be fine. Maybe it's all this noise and excitement." He put his hands in his pockets. "I think I'll just go down by the water for a while. Excuse me."
He brushed past her with no more regard than he would give an ant in his way.
Incredibly baffled and not a little hurt at his actions, Hikaru watched him descend the stairs leading to the pier. Her stage-trained senses were sounding alarms. His body language didn't seem right. The way he talked didn't seem the same. Even the shiftiness in his eyes, well, that wasn't like him.
A thought dawned. What if he had had a tiff with Madoka? That would explain why he seemed ill at ease and wanted to be alone. Again the solicitous side of her went into high gear… How could she help?
She made the decision to follow him and see where he went. She hurried back to where she had been standing with Manami watching the airshow and retrieved her handbag. "Manami-chan, I'm going to talk to your brother for a while, okay?"
"Anything wrong?" asked the bespectacled girl, noting the flustered expression on her face.
"I don't know, that's what I'm going to find out."
Manami watched as she swiftly retraced her steps to the stairs. Then she completely forgot about her as another Tricolori jet roared past the hotel, so close it almost seemed like she could reach out and touch it.
------oOo------
Now where could he be? Hikaru asked herself, scanning the area. There was nowhere else for him to go, except the ferry that was offloading a bunch of passengers, all staring upward at the bright blue sky filled with puffy white clouds. Maybe he rode on it. She rushed down to the vessel and hopped on. She spotted him sitting far forward in the vessel, and took pains to choose a seat that would conceal her, yet enable her to keep an eye on him.
Where's he going? she wondered. And why didn't he tell us? Why didn't he tell me She had nothing in the way of a disguise except a scrunched-up baseball cap in her handbag and a pair of shades. She put those on, stuffing as much of her blond hair under the cap as possible, and applied a little make-up and lipstick, hoping it would throw him off if he ever casually glanced her way.
She endured the trip in silence, resisting the urge to go and confront him, which was her usual way of solving problems. The look on his face told her, however, that he was in no mood for company just yet. That usually wouldn't have stopped her, but there was something else about him, something that she couldn't put a finger on, that warned her to stay away.
As the ferryboat disgorged its load on arrival, she lost sight of him in the crowd and hastily pushed her way through the madding throng. She caught a glimpse of someone who seemed like Kyousuke entering a long limousine waiting outside the debarkation area. As soon as the door shut it pulled away from the curb and sped off.
Luckily, there was an empty cab passing by. She hailed it and, in her limited Italian, ordered the cabbie to 'follow that car.' Nodding, the driver stepped on the gas and chased the limo, which was conspicuous enough in the street for anyone to notice.
He seemed to wander aimlessly through the city, pausing at various establishments. Every time he went on foot she followed, having struck a deal with the cab driver to wait for her return. She watched as he talked animatedly with one shopkeeper. She was too far away to hear what he was saying, so at his next stop—a small bookseller's—she quietly snuck into the store to listen to what he was saying.
Pretending to browse through the antique editions lining the shelves of the small shop, she heard his voice at the counter talking with the bookseller with a fluency that baffled her.
I never knew he was so good in Italian, she thought. As she tried to inch closer, her open-toed sandals squeak-squeaked on the polished stone floor.
The sound caused Kyousuke to look up in her direction. He caught sight of her. She froze for a moment, and saw his eyes flash in seeming recognition. Lowering her gaze, she hurriedly exited the store, running around the corner towards her taxi. She dove into the back seat and risked a peek through the windows.
She saw Kyousuke run to the street corner and stop, looking in all directions, having evidently lost her trail. Then he returned slowly the way he came, glancing back time and again.
She blew a big sigh and found the cab driver watching her with a bemused expression. "Lover?" he said in English.
"Yes," she replied. "No-good lover."
After visiting several more stores, Kyousuke's limousine threaded its way through the city streets and out into a countrified area, where it stopped in front of a large building that, she guessed correctly, was a hotel. She watched as her sempai exited the limo and disappeared into the hotel lobby. She paid the cab fare and dismounted, walking as casually as she could after him.
Calm down, Hikaru, she told herself. Don't give yourself away. Breathe, girl, breathe. By now her curiosity was so peaked one couldn't have pulled her off the chase no matter what.
She scanned the lobby. There he was, at the reception desk, talking to the concierge, a large bag slung over his shoulder.
Why was he here? It was all so confusing to her. She watched as he disappeared into a nearby corridor. Not wanting to lose sight of him, she followed.
At the end of the very short corridor was a set of white double doors. She saw him pause in front of them, as if debating whether to enter them or not. She stepped out into the middle of the passageway, fully intending to stride up to him and ask him what he was doing. The shock might just cause him to blurt out the truth.
She started forward and was instantly given away by her noisy footwear.
Kyousuke turned around. "Hi–Hikaru!" His eyes were as big as saucers. "What are you doing here?"
"You know, I was going to ask you the same thing." She folded her arms across her chest and stood there, tapping one foot. "Sempai."
Andrei—for, unbeknownst to Hikaru, it was really he—blanched and put a hand to the back of his head with a scratching motion, uttering a sheepish laugh.
Had he known, he was behaving exactly as Kyousuke would.
"What's this all about?" she strode towards him, trying to sound neutral. An angry light was growing in her eyes, however. "Something underhanded, I suppose."
Kyousuke shook his head. "No, nothing like that!"
"Well, I'm giving you one chance to explain this, then I'm calling Madoka-san."
"There's a perfectly good explanation," Kyousuke stammered, "but I doubt you'd believe it."
"Oh, try me, sempai." Hikaru stopped an inch away from touching him. "I'm ready to believe anything. Like the time we met in Tokyo when everyone else thought you were missing in Bosnia. Remember that?"
Naturally, Andrei didn't, and the confusion written on his face served to further rouse Hikaru's suspicions. Impulsively she grabbed the lapels of his shirt and yanked him towards her. "Now talk!"
"Couldn't we talk about this somewhere else?" he choked, wondering how to get away without attracting attention from the people in the hotel lobby. Some were already looking their way.
"No funny stuff." She tightened her grip, smiling devilishly.
"Alright! Come with me, I'll explain everything."
Hikaru released him. Kyousuke rubbed his neck. The nerve of this girl, he thought.
Though she appeared to be fuming outwardly, Hikaru had just suddenly realized she was strangling Kyousuke, Darling of her youth, and quickly let him go. Her knees felt weak. Not after all these years… Inwardly, she was trembling.
"I'm waiting."
Kyousuke/Andrei led her across the lobby to the hotel elevator. They got in and he pressed the button for the uppermost floor. Andrei felt her presence and the elevator cab all of a sudden seemed cramped.
The doors opened to reveal an opulently-furnished suite.
"You must be rolling in money, Kyousuke-sempai," Hikaru breathed. "This has to cost a fortune."
"Money means nothing to me," Kyousuke growled, his voice sounding harsh. Deep inside he knew this interruption was fatal to his plans.
They exited the elevator.
"Okay, I let you drag me here," said Hikaru, pausing her walk. "Now you'd better explain what's going on."
Kyousuke continued on to the nearby wet bar and took a bottle of wine from a small refrigerator. He opened it, poured portions into two long-stemmed glasses, and carried them back. Giving one glass to her, he leaned close to Hikaru and spoke.
"I guess it's a hell of a time to tell you this," he whispered, the scent of his cologne tickling her nose. She shivered. "But I'm not Kyousuke."
------oOo------
Hikaru sniffed. "Can't you come up with something better than that?" Her eyes roved, took in the lines of Kyousuke's face, the earnestness of his eyes, the cut of his chin… Turning away from him, she drank some of the wine.
Easy, girl. Don't let him get to you. The image of a scowling Madoka steadied her.
"It's the truth. Believe it or not, Hikaru-chan." She listened, still with her back turned, as Andrei told her about his deal with Kyousuke.
"Of course I don't believe you," she said in reply. "I'm not the same gullible fool whose heart you played with before." She snapped her mouth shut. She hadn't intended to sound so bitter, hadn't meant for him to see how much he had hurt her. "Where's the phone?"
"Over there." Kyousuke jerked a thumb over his shoulder.
Hikaru walked over and fished a tiny address book out from her walking shorts. Andrei watched as she tried to contact Madoka. After some minutes, she hung up.
"She's not in her room," she said, talking to herself.
"Hikaru-chan, remember when you first came to the Adriano?"
"What?"
Kyousuke took an idle sip of his wine. "Remember the old man at the top of the stairs? Remember him asking you about your perfume?"
Hikaru looked at him. "How'd you know that? He told you, didn't he?"
Kyousuke's gaze bore down upon her steadily. "Jessamine. That was my wife's perfume, Hikaru-chan." He slowly walked to her and, setting his glass down on the bar, cupped her face in his hands. "Thank you for letting me dream of her."
"I… I…"
He bent down and kissed her.
Hikaru's legs buckled and threatened to collapse under her. A sweet fire coursed through her veins as she found herself kissing him back.
"No! Stop it!" With an effort she tore herself away from him. A hand flew out and slapped him on the cheek.
Her breath came in ragged gasps. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Kyousuke rubbed his face. Somehow he didn't seem angry or offended. There was, instead, an understanding look in his eyes.
"What is wrong with you, Kyousuke?" Hikaru's voice was several pitch levels higher and several decibels louder. "Is this how you plan on silencing me? By seducing me?"
"I don't seduce screaming women," he said. "Now listen, Hikaru: do you think Kasuga would really do what I just did to you?"
She managed to calm down a bit as she considered what he said. "No… but you were always a bit of a weirdo…"
"I'm doing this because I'm trying to pound the fact that I'm not Kasuga into your head, which seems to be quite thick at the moment." He looked at her and repeated: "I… am… not… Kasuga!" The last came out as a shout.
Hikaru was beginning to have the sinking feeling he was telling the truth. It would explain a whole lot of strange things she had witnessed, growing up around Kyousuke and his family. The tennis court incident. That fuzzy recollection she used to have ever since her fifteenth summer of being in his body in a public bath. And more recently, his bizarre behavior at the Adriano. His fluency in Italian. A thousand little things, insignificant when taken one by one, yet when put together, composing a picture of an unbelievable, but undeniably plausible, reality.
"Supposing I believe you…" she began.
"Look. I don't care whether you believe me or not. You go ahead and call Madoka and tell her everything. Tell her you know Kyousuke's secret, tell her you know he's an ESPer. See how she'll react." He turned away from her and reached for his wineglass. "Impertinent girl," she heard him grumble. He finished the remaining liquid in a single gulp. "Want to hear her lie, Hikaru? Want to hear her say you must be mistaken, when you're so obviously not?"
"Why… why would she do that?"
"Because it's supposed to be a secret!" Andrei all but yelled at her. "To protect Kasuga, it has to be kept a secret. Otherwise…"
"Otherwise what?" Her voice was very small.
"Otherwise, they'll have to disappear from your life. Move away, to where no one knows about his power." He sighed. "Do you want that to happen?"
She shook her head. "Of course not."
"Then please listen to me and keep your silence. I am not Kyousuke Kasuga. I am Andrei Pagott, the old man you met on the stairs. Kasuga gave me this chance to experience life one last time… before I have to return to that blind shell that is my real body." Feeling somehow drained by the exchange, he shuffled over to and sat down on a bar stool.
Hikaru followed his lead and sat beside him, seemingly dazed. "I… you know, I think I'm starting to believe you."
"Drink." Obediently she took a swallow from her glass and looked at him.
"I'm sorry I did that," he said.
"What?"
"The kiss. All the melodramatics."
"You're sorry you kissed me?" Andrei looked at Hikaru. She didn't quite seem to be in control of herself.
"Hey, you ever wanted to be kissed by a dirty old man?"
"But you're not a dirty old man now," she pointed out.
"A dirty young man, then," Andrei said dismissively.
"But why… why did you do that?"
"So you'd listen. I know it's hard to accept this situation, but I had to somehow make you listen."
Hikaru toyed with her glass, swirling the wine. "I almost can't bear what you did… I think I'm going to go crazy… it's too painful."
"Painful?"
Her blue eyes flashed both anger and despair. "Sempai… sempai's the one thing I… oh, you wouldn't understand. Everything gets handed to you on a silver platter."
A pair of familiar yet strange eyes regarded her coolly. "Like you said: Try me. You're right, though. Everything gets handed to me on a silver platter. Including the deaths of my wife and only son."
Hikaru, feeling put on and simply overwhelmed, began to cry, fat droplets emerging from her eyes and dripping onto the bar.
"Hey, hey," said Andrei, splashing more alcohol into her wineglass. "I said I was sorry. But what you said was unfair."
Sniffling, Hikaru set her glass down and made to leave. "My mistake. I'll guess I'll go blubber somewhere else."
"Hikaru-chan. You don't need to go." When she continued towards the elevator, he went after her and held her by the shoulders until he could feel the tension within her subside. "I really am sorry."
"I try to keep my feelings for sempai under wraps, all for Madoka-san's sake," she said quietly. "And here you are, suddenly turning my dreams into a nightmare." She looked down at the floor. "You don't know how much I've wanted to kiss him again. Just a kiss. One tiny kiss…" Her words dissolved into sobs.
One kiss, and one kiss only, to fill an ocean of emotion. Andrei closed his eyes—Kyousuke's eyes—and felt the woman's pain as an echo of his own. He hugged her in his arms and let her cry against his chest.
------oOo------
He stood there for several minutes, until she calmed down and pushed herself away from him. Retrieving a handkerchief from her pocket, she asked if she could use the bathroom.
"By all means," Andrei told her.
After being in the bathroom for several minutes, Hikaru emerged looking as if she had aged a few years. She had doffed her baseball cap, and her shoulder-length orange-gold hair hung down limply, framing her wan face. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying, and her lips were pale from her having bitten down on them.
Andrei stared aghast at her woeful appearance. "Hikaru-chan… Let me make it up to you," he said, grasping her hands.
"I'd rather go," she said listlessly. "I don't think your plans included nursemaiding me."
"Ah, they all went out the window the moment you discovered me." He smiled weakly. "I think we could both use the company."
"But what help could I be to you?"
"Well, I don't get to go out with pretty girls on dates nowadays," he said lightly.
His audacity got a rise out of her, enough to make her cheeks color. "You're asking me for a date? After what you've done? I don't even know you!"
"I don't know you too, so that makes us even."
"A–and it's unfair," she continued. "You're in sempai's body."
"And how is that unfair to you?" he asked, genuinely puzzled.
She stamped her foot. "Do you need it spelled out? What sort of a man are you, forcing a girl to say things she doesn't want to say?"
Chastised, Andrei hastily rejoined, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I get the general idea." He knocked back another glass of wine. "So, it's a date?"
Hikaru stared at him. "I've got to be nuts," she mumbled. "Fine, then. Have it your way. I won't promise to be a good sport about it."
"We don't have much time," Andrei stated, moving to the telephone. "Why don't we get you a couple of clothes to wear, then go out to eat?"
"Your call, Mr. Pagott."
"Please, call me Andrei for tonight. I'm not much older than you now."
"Whatever."
Andrei made a few calls as Hikaru sat on the nearby blue sofa and poured herself more wine. Then he sat down beside her, to await further developments, as he said.
"What can I do to cheer you up?" he asked, noting the slight flush on her cheeks.
Hikaru wondered at his seemingly genuine solicitousness. "I don't know."
"Then could you answer me this? How did you meet Kasuga anyway?"
"It was in junior high," replied Hikaru. "At first I wasn't on friendly terms with him. Then I saw him make an incredible basketball shot. I thought he must be way cool and convinced myself I had found my 'Darling'. To cap it all, later on I was running down the corridor, turned a corner and bumped into him, accidentally kissing him." She smiled a crooked smile, reminiscing. "But the infatuation soon turned to something genuine. Little did I realize that it was mostly one-sided. He had already fallen for Madoka-san."
She slouched further into the cushions. "They didn't want to hurt my feelings, so they kept their relationship a secret until it was far too late for me to give him up so easily."
Andrei nodded. "Yes," he said, "I heard about it from Madoka."
"Oh? What did she say?"
"Not much. Just that she wished there was a way for you to stay friends even though… well, you know."
Hikaru was warmed by the thought of Madoka's concern. "I don't know how we do it," she said, half to herself, half to Andrei. "Stay friends, I mean. Even though we both love the same man. I could talk about anything with her before… now I have to watch what I say." She sighed. "Some topics have become unmentionable for us. I guess we're both afraid of offending and losing one another." She reached out and tenderly laid a hand on Kyousuke's cheek. "And I can't seem to let go of you—I mean him."
"All the same, you shouldn't live in the past, Hikaru-chan."
"I haven't," she replied. "But I've yet to meet a man who really catches my fancy. They… all seem to slide off me like butter in a hot pan."
"That's probably because you're here—" he tapped the side of her head— "but not here," he finished, pointing at her heart. "Men aren't stupid. They can feel that."
As she reflected on what he had said, he added, "Speaking of butter, I know this little place by the seaport that serves great lobster. We could go there, if you want."
"You're the boss."
Andrei frowned. "Your words don't exactly fill me with enthusiasm."
She shook her head. "Sorry." A slender index finger came up to press against the middle of her chest. "I guess I'm still not 'here,' as you say."
"A date with a fake Kasuga," he mused. "I guess that's all I can offer you."
The phone beeped, and he went to answer it. After some words he replaced the receiver.
"Let's go. The limo is waiting downstairs."
"Where?"
"Let's get you some toiletries, then eat."
She nodded, and together they left the suite.
------oOo------
"Can I ask you something?"
They had finished buying what little Hikaru said she needed, some clothes and stuff that she had wanted to purchase herself. But Andrei insisted on paying for it all, producing wads of cash from a fat wallet. "A little insurance," he had told her. "No one knows I'm on the lam save for my butler." Now she was garbed in a royal-blue long-sleeved blouse and chaleco patterned with lots of tiny squares of cloth of different colors, while a chartreuse skirt hugged her thighs. Her feet were shod in two-inch designer heels. She had wanted to argue with him about being them being too expensive, but he waved away her concern as if it were beneath him.
"What?"
"Why'd you go to that hotel?"
Andrei leaned back against the seat and stared into the ceiling of the passenger compartment. "Memories."
"Memories?"
"You noticed that hotel was built near a cliff?"
Hikaru nodded.
"We used to meet there, Maria and I, before we were married." Somewhere beyond the incandescent glow of the car's ceiling light he beheld her once again, her fine, curly golden hair fluttering in the wind, her skin shining in the sunlight, her thin lips in a wide, earnest smile. "She would sneak out of her house to meet me. We used to spend the whole day there. I was going to walk up there, but…" He shrugged.
"You must miss her very much."
"I do." He closed his eyes slowly. "I can only hope we'll somehow meet again. Ah, now I'm the one living in the past too much."
Hikaru felt a surge of pity for him. At least Kyousuke-sempai was still around. Andrei had nothing but money left to console him for his dark, comfortless days and nights.
Her hand crept onto his forearm. "You're sure the restaurant we're going to serves good lobster?"
Nodding, he turned to her. "Why?"
She managed a small smile. "Because all of a sudden I'm very hungry."
------oOo------
She wasn't kidding. Andrei marveled at her appetite. So far she had consumed a lobster, one delicately-sauced trout whose flesh melted in the mouth, two slices of pizza, two bowls of seafood chowder, and a plate of rainbow-colored salad, washing everything down with copious amounts of the sweet wine that he had selected for them.
"Slow down there, girl. You might get a stomachache," he warned.
"I guess you're right," she agreed.
"Don't you worry about getting fat?"
She shook her head and smiled at him. "Nope. I burn it all off. High metabolism." She posed momentarily in her chair, showing off the curves of her dancer's body, which she still kept in shape. Nevertheless, she slowed down in her eating.
Andrei guffawed. It was good to see her regaining her spirits. "I'm glad you seem happier."
"You know the saying, misery loves company," she admitted, not sounding miserable at all. "Well, at least someone knows how I feel. It's just too bad what I'm feeling isn't so good. And anyway," she added mischievously, "I get a free meal."
"Hah!" Andrei exclaimed. "You think you're the only one who can put it away? Watch me!" In short order he had roughly matched her food consumption, and was proceeding to exceed it, when she threw up her hands in surrender.
"Alright!" she laughed. "You've proven it already! Stop now or you might be the one to burst at the seams."
They talked on for quite a while, warming to each other's company. It was late in the evening when Andrei asked for the bill.
"So, what do you want to do now?"
Hikaru shrugged. "I don't know. You?"
"How about a night on the town? I haven't done that…"
"…in a long time, I know," Hikaru finished for him. "Let's go, then."
They paid the bill and exited the restaurant. As they waited at curbside for the limousine to pick them up, Andrei felt her take his hand in her own. He turned to her questioningly, but she was looking up at the stars.
------oOo------
Back at the Adriano a worried Madoka looked out into the same night sky.
"You think too much, dear," came the voice from the figure in the wheelchair beside her.
Madoka reached down and gently laid a hand on the forearm of the tired body which contained Kyousuke Kasuga. His hand covered hers.
"Oh, it's nothing. He just left without telling us what he'd be doing. And, Kyousuke?"
"Yes?"
"It's a powerful lure, isn't it? To be able to walk and see again… I'm worried he might have such a good time he'll decide not to come back anymore."
"Madoka, I don't think he's that kind of a person."
It felt so strange, she thought, having a conversation like this and hearing a stranger's voice in place of Kyousuke's. She looked back out at the night sky, scattered with stars.
"If you say so."
------oOo------
Andrei turned around as he felt someone tap his shoulder. Hikaru saw a large, unshaved man with beetling brows and wearing a windbreaker address him in Italian. She felt Andrei tense.
"Ojisama?" she inquired. Something in the stranger's eyes put her instantly on guard.
"Hikaru," came Andrei's low voice. "Back away. Now."
As she took a step backward, the man produced a switchblade from his pants pocket and flicked it open. The three-inch blade flashed silver under the street lights.
Without warning Andrei grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it, causing the knife to fall from his grasp. His free hand slugged the man in the stomach. As the attacker doubled up in pain, Andrei brought his elbow down on the extended arm, breaking the joint. The man screamed and dropped to the pavement. Andrei wasted no time in kicking him in the head until he fell unconscious.
A sudden scream caused him to spin around. Another, smaller man, no doubt a companion of the first, had come up on Hikaru and grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her side. She struggled to free herself from his grasp.
"Andrei—!"
He sighed and produced his wallet. In a gesture of surrender, he indicated to the mugger that he was going to toss it over to him.
Whatever further plans he had were spoiled, however, when Hikaru stabbed her heel into the man's foot. He yelled in pain and released her, hopping away, clutching his injured member. She aimed a kick at his other leg and was rewarded with the sight of him falling heavily on the pavement.
"Oh no, you aren't going to get me this time," she hissed, her voice trembling. She made a slashing motion with her right hand. It was New York all over again.
Andrei went and stood over the man, growling something, the only word of which Hikaru understood was 'kill,' but his message seemed clear enough. His raised his foot, clearly intending to smash it down on the man's jaw.
Hikaru rushed to his side and pulled him away. "You don't need to do that!" she shouted.
Andrei turned to look at her. There was a savage look on his face, and for a moment she feared he was going to turn on her.
"Andrei…"
"I haven't dealt with scum like these in a long while," he rumbled. "They're getting better than they deserve." He contented himself with kicking the smaller man in the stomach, causing him to curl up in pain.
"Enough!" snapped Hikaru. "Look, here comes the limo. Let's just get out of here." She smiled a sheepish smile at some watching bystanders as she hustled her date into the car.
"That was totally uncalled for," she scolded him as soon as they were safely away. "Were you intending to kill that man?"
Kyousuke looked at her with undisguised scorn in his eyes. "You don't know this town like I do. Had you been alone, they wouldn't have been content with just taking your money, you know."
"Still, you didn't need to injure them further," she insisted.
Andrei shrugged. "Well, we'll just have to disagree on that issue," he said.
She slid away from him on the seat. "I never knew you were so violent."
"I'm a passionate man," he stated. "Unfortunately for them."
"I thought you were a civilized man," she shot back at him.
"Yeah? You don't get to where I am by being all soft and namby-pamby. In your case, those two would be enjoying you by now in some dark alley."
Memories of her kidnappings in Hawaii and New York came flooding back into Hikaru's mind. She shivered. "Don't say that."
Angrily, Andrei shook his head. The kill-lust was slowly subsiding, and some sense was finally leaking into his brain. "Sorry, then. Let's just put that incident behind us. I've only got… sixteen hours left."
They rode on in silence, Andrei having given the driver his instructions.
"You enjoy hurting people?" Hikaru asked him.
Andrei cast her a malignant glance. "That's a stupid question. Of course not. I do whatever I need to survive, though."
"You know what I think? I think you hurt people because you're hurt too."
"Boohoo." The limo pulled up in front of an establishment with a big neon rose decorating its entrance, along with the sign 'The Red Flower' beneath it. "You coming?" He jumped out and held the door for her. She chose to exit on the other side.
A few choice words and a few choice bills facilitated their entrance into the disco. Hikaru gazed in wonder at the cavernous interior, filled with a sea of people, all dancing the night away to the synthesized throb of dance music.
They headed for the dance floor right away.
"Look," said Andrei, "I'm sorry if you don't agree with what I did. But that's the way I am."
Hikaru didn't respond right away. "It was upsetting." Her tone was carefully neutral.
"I know. I wasn't always the chatty old man you see at the Adriano." His voice grew softer. "That's why you always hear me saying I'm paying for my past sins."
Suddenly the music changed into a slower number, one that sent couples moving closer to one another.
The pair looked at each other uneasily.
"Let's just forget about it, like you said," she replied in response to his unspoken question. "Let's just dance the night away."
She put her arms around his neck and leaned against him.
------oOo------
In the middle of the song Andrei suddenly blurted out, "I guess it's our chance."
"Chance?"
"To live out our fantasies, just for this night."
"Fantasies?" murmured she, half-lost in one of her own. "What's your fantasy? To dance with me?"
He nodded. "I haven't danced with… with a pretty girl like you for a long, long time."
She blushed and looked down at her feet. Suddenly she found it being tilted upwards by a gentle hand under her chin. A warm pair of lips planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Hey, is that okay with you, Hikaru-chan? Being with me?"
She nodded. "Yes," she said, her voice husky with emotion. "Yes it is."
"What's your fantasy?" Andrei quietly asked in his turn.
She shook her head, not wanting to put it into words.
"Let me guess. Unless I'm mistaken, it has something to do with Kasuga."
"Well, of course it does," she admitted reluctantly.
"That's all right, Hikaru-chan, but don't go hurting yourself over him again," Andrei warned her.
They swayed with the music for a few minutes, until the piece ended and they found themselves staring at each other. With silent inevitability their faces came closer. Hikaru closed her eyes.
The moment was unforgivably interrupted by the DJ, who chose that exact time to switch to a techno track. The wall of sound startled them apart. Andrei glared murder at him, but the man had his back to them.
Hikaru still had a faint pink coloring her cheeks. "Whoops," she chuckled, embarrassed.
"You know, you can still show me how good you can dance," said Andrei.
Grinning, she whacked him on the shoulder. "You're on!"
------oOo------
Returning to Andrei's hotel sometime in the wee hours of the morning, the pair stumbled happily into the suite.
"That was fun," he remarked, a wide smile on his face. He dove into the sofa.
"It sure was," agreed Hikaru, landing beside him. "Whoo, am I sweaty." She fanned herself by pulling her blouse to and fro.
Andrei gulped as he caught a glimpse of her bra. His mind raced, thinking of soft, feminine white lace encasing softest white flesh. Angrily he shook his head. He had promised himself not to be a wolf tonight. Especially with this girl, whose feelings for the man whose body he resided in were still strong but as delicate as eggshell china. "Uh, I think I'll take a shower."
"Can I use your bath?"
"Sure, there's another room over there." Andrei pointed away to his left. "It's all yours." He stood up and pulled his shirt over his head.
Hikaru blushed as she found herself facing a half-naked Kyousuke Kasuga. She quickly turned her back and fled for the safety of the bath.
Really, Hikaru, a voice in her mind nagged her. It's not like you haven't seen a man's body before. And far more au naturel too.
Upon reaching the bathroom, she closed the door and took a look at herself in the huge wall-mounted mirror. "Go on," she chided her reflection. "Say you still love him."
The girl in the mirror stared silently back at her.
She turned on the taps to fill the bathtub and stripped, dumping her clothes near the sink. Looking down at her body, she tried to imagine herself walking over to Andrei—Kyousuke—and lying down next to him, naked flesh to naked flesh. Running her fingers over his skin. Her mouth pressing on his, hot and sweet. Her hips moving against his…
She sighed and thumped the back of her head against the wall. Crossing her arms across her chest, she waited impatiently for the tub to fill.
------oOo------
She spent a couple of hours in the bath, letting her tension soak away into the hot, perfumed water. When she emerged, clad in a fluffy towel wound sarong-style around her and another wrapped around her head, Andrei was already sitting in the living room, dressed in shirt and walking shorts, waiting for her.
"Ah!" he said. "You took a bath? Already?" His face had a vaguely scandalized expression on it.
Hikaru looked down at herself and realized the towel barely reached past her crotch. She pressed it against her. "Kyaa!" she exclaimed. "Don't look!"
Andrei turned his head away. "Oh, come on," he protested. "You don't have anything that I haven't seen before."
Hikaru threw her laundry at him. It smacked into the back of his head and covered him in a fall of fabric. "Well, it's still mine, all the same! And I don't want you to see!"
Andrei idly brushed the blouse off his face, smelling her scent in the cloth, mixed in with her sweat and the lingering fragrance of jessamine. Women. Something hung on his right ear that refused to be removed with a simple sweep of his hand. He tugged it loose and found himself looking at a cream-colored thong. He let go of it like a hot potato and quickly gathered her clothes up into a ball, tossing them far away from him.
"I thought you might still like to go out," he called after her. She had ducked into the nearest room, out of his sight.
"Sorry," she said. "I'm too tired to go out anymore."
"That's okay. It's too late to go anywhere worthwhile, anyway."
A few minutes later she emerged from her bedroom, brushing her still-wet hair. She had changed into a t-shirt and short denim shorts. Her bare feet shuffled on the dark brown carpet.
She sat down on the sofa beside Andrei, who had fallen to watching CNN.
"You aren't sleepy yet?" she asked him, tucking her legs underneath her. The clock on the wall read 2:38 AM in glowing green numbers.
He shook his head. "Who can sleep at a time like this?" He changed the channel.
"Why? Am I making you uncomfortable?" Her voice was coy.
Andrei chortled at her, gesturing towards the TV. "Hey, don't flatter yourself. I haven't been able to watch TV for six years now."
"Oh." She seemed a little crestfallen. "That says something about my desirability," she commented lightly.
Andrei laughed. "Ah, Hikaru-chan, don't sell yourself short on that point. You aren't intent on that, are you?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively.
She waved her hands in front of her. "Ah, no, of course not. I was just kidding."
"Good. Now let me watch in peace for a couple of minutes."
She harrumphed and fell silent. Usually she had to fight off the men she went out with with a broomstick. Now this old fart had chosen to replace her with a TV set.
"I guess it's true what they say about growing old dampening the sex drive," she said with a straight face.
Expecting a tart rejoinder from Andrei, she instead heard him say, "Yes, it does. But I'm not old and infirm now. Don't make me prove that to you, Hikaru-chan."
Oh, but I want you to prove it to me! part of her wanted to shout. Especially with sempai's body! Shocked at herself, she flushed red. Hey, knock it off, Hiyama! This guy's old enough to be your father.
No he's not, countered the voice in her head. Just look at him!
"Get thee away from me," she muttered, brushing her hair harder.
Cold droplets of water splattered against Andrei's skin, catching his attention. "Here, give me that," he ordered, snatching the brush from her hands.
She opened her mouth to protest, but shut it again when he started running the brush through her hair.
"What are you…"
"Sit here," he said, indicating the floor in front of him.
"Why?"
"Just do it, will you?"
"Yes, my god and master." She got off the sofa and sat down cross-legged on the floor between his legs, leaning against the sofa. He began brushing her hair again.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to comb your hair when it's still wet?" he asked.
"I know that," she countered. "I don't care."
He continued his ministrations as they sat watching the TV. She found the regular motions of the brush soothing, and soon felt her eyelids growing heavy.
"Umm, that's nice."
"Glad you like it," came his quiet voice. "I used to do this for Maria, too, you know."
"Really?"
"Yeah. When she had trouble sleeping, I would usually find her in front of her dresser, brushing her hair. So to help her relax, I would brush her hair for her."
"That was sweet of you," said Hikaru, her voice growing indistinct with sleep.
"Up." He placed a plump white pillow on his lap. She laid her head on it, stretching herself out on the couch.
"I think I should go to my room now…" she murmured.
"You can sleep here. It's okay, I don't mind."
She smiled at him and fell asleep. He continued stroking her hair, replacing the brush with his fingers. He looked down at her peaceful form and felt oddly comforted.
------oOo------
Madoka Ayukawa ran her hands over the keyboard, playing a tune as restless as she felt. She was back at the Adriano's dining room, which, given the lateness of the hour, was virtually deserted. She had left Kyousuke in Andrei's room but found she couldn't sleep, and had by merest chance wandered into the dining room, which was supposed to be open twenty-four hours a day. She wondered where Hikaru had disappeared to. No one had seen her since that afternoon.
The little boy Arturo approached her, breaking her concentration. She stopped and waited.
"Pardon, Madam," he said hesitatingly. "If you won't need anything, I'll be going to bed." He hadn't wanted to disturb her. Her music was enchanting and he wanted to just sit and listen to it, but his father told him to knock it off and go to bed. There was a lot of work to be done tomorrow, he said.
Madoka shook her head. "I'm so sorry to keep you up. It's okay, go to sleep, I'll fix things here."
Arturo bowed and, with a last respectful glance at the solemn lady at the piano, left.
She resumed from where she left off. The sound of the music drifted around the room, sounding melancholy in the dimmed lighting.
She stared at the part of the wall behind her decorated with bullet pocks that hadn't been repaired yet. She was glad her parents had escaped that fracas unharmed.
Madoka-san.
The voice calling her name echoed in her mind. Manami-chan?
Onii-chan asks you to keep playing. As they grew older, the ESPers of the Kasuga family often found new powers emerging within them. In Manami's case, it was telepathy. Not as powerful as their cousin Kazuya's, but handy nevertheless.
She looked up and searched for them. Why isn't he asleep yet?
There was a pause, and a figure being pushed in a wheelchair emerged from the darkness outside the open double doors. He says he can sleep anytime, it's always dark anyway.
She stood up and left the piano. The one or two patrons who were left in the room seemed disappointed at the loss. The Adriano staff behind the counter watched interestedly as Madoka strode up to Andrei.
"You should be asleep," she said. "You too, Manami-chan."
"I told you it was a bad idea telling her," rasped Kyousuke. "Why'd you stop?"
"Don't change the subject, Kasuga."
An aged hand pounded the cushioned armrest of the wheelchair. "I'm not sleepy, blast it. And Manami here wouldn't listen to me."
"The butler offered to stay with onii-chan, but I told him to rest," explained the bespectacled girl. "He's been fidgety ever since you left him alone."
"How do you expect me to feel, spending the night in this strange body with all its aches and pains?" Blind white eyes turned towards Madoka. "Please keep playing."
"Oh, alright." She reached down and gave his withered hand a brief caress.
As Madoka returned to the piano, Kyousuke said to his younger sister, "At least I know now why Mr. Pagott is so fond of music. You don't need eyes to appreciate it…"
Madoka started a new piece, filling the empty silence with dramatic, serious sound.
Madoka-san. Onii-chan's asking the title of what you're playing.
Your brother has too many questions. Fantasia for Nausicaä. Unlike some people she knew, the musical technician in Madoka was eclectic in taste and would never confine herself to a single genre of music. She played it as long as she liked it and as long as it sounded good to her.
Do you take requests? She could hear the smile in the younger girl's voice.
Maybe.
Deer's Wind by Joe Hisaishi.
Really, Manami-chan. How will that help?
You'll see. I know onii-chan's a sucker for that kind of music. Three minutes of that and poof! Dreamland.
She looked in Manami's direction. Okay, as soon as I finish this one.
Thanks.
Seated in the wheelchair, staring blankly into darkness, Kyousuke's mind soon lost itself in the sea of sound his beloved provided. He couldn't tell if he was asleep already, or wandering in a waking dream. Manami could, however, and when Madoka had finished both songs, they wheeled him quietly out of the room, smiles decorating both their faces.