"So Mitsui's back in town. No wonder you're wearing that big smile this morning," Mrs. Rukawa teased.
"Yup, we'll have the whole day together," Serika said happily.
Unknown to Serika, Hisashi Mitsui, her longtime boyfriend, who had moved to Hong Kong a few weeks earlier, had come back to Japan to take care of some of his father's unfinished business. Mitsui had surprised Serika the previous evening by showing up unannounced at Hikari Park's party. But when Mitsui had spotted Serika dancing with another boy, he'd assumed she'd forgotten all about their relationship. His feelings crushed, he'd left the party in a hurry. Luckily, Serika had managed to find Mitsui and clear up the misunderstanding. It was Mitsui and Mitsui alone whom she loved. Now Serika was looking forward to the precious hours she and Mitsui would spend together before he flew homw the following morning.
Mrs. Rukawa brought thelasagna she had just baked to the table and shifted her gaze to Kourinne. Even after seventeen years of looking at them, Yuna Rukawa was sometimes still surprisedat just how identical her pretty twins were. They shared the same sunshine-kissed golden hair and blue-green eyes, and except for a small mole on Serika's right shoulder, their five-foot-eight-inch frames were absolutely identical. But the girls' similarities ended with their looks. In personality, they were quite opposite. Serika was calm and steady, while the tempestuous and often conniveing Kourinne was like a firecracker waiting to go off. Right now her eyes were blazing as she described the previous night's events.
"After Kaede got home from the party and went upstairs," Kourinne said dramatically, "Hikari called to tell me that Aijana Haneoka made a big scene for showing too much interest in Kira."
"She did?" Mrs. Rukawa asked with surprised. "That doesn't sound like Aijana."
"I think it sounds like her," Kourinne interjected. "I don't know why Kaede even bothers to talk to her."
"They're friends," Serika answered.
"I'ts embarrassing," Kourinne said distastefully. "I can't believe she's a daughter of a well-known millionaire here in Japan."
When Kaede was feeling low, Aijana was often the only person he could bear to be around, and he always seemed happier after they'd spent some time together. The older Rukawas and Serika felt Kaede and Aijana geve each other a valuable support. But Kourinne saw things differently. She thought Aijana Haneoka was a depressing reminder of her sister and that her friendship was prolonging Kaede's misery.
"Where is Kaede this morning?" Mr. Rukawa asked, taking a sip of coffee.
"I called him down to breakfast," his wife answered, "but he said he wasn't hungry, so I let him sleep. He really should eat something."
Kourinne dropped the slice of toast she was buttering. "I'll go up and get him," she said eagerly.
"I suppose you could give it a try," Mrs. Rukawa said.
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll get him down. He won't ba able to resist me," she joked. "No man can." she gave the group a little wink and flounced out of the room.
"Sometimes I wish I had Kourinne's attitude towards boys," Serika said, sighing. She stirred some honey into her tea.
"I thought you'd worked things out with Mitsui," her mother said with concern.
"Oh, we did. It's just that so hard for us to be apart." Now that she and Mitsui are separated, Serika knew what she had to look forward to in the coming months: letters, cards, and phone calls. But calls and letters were hardly the same as sharing kisses and seeing each other every day. In many ways, without Mitsui, Serika was as lost and lonely as her brother. Although she and Mitsui had agreed to try to forge new lives for themselves, Serika knew it was going to be hard.
"Mission accomplished," Kourinne said smugly as she came back into the dining table. "Kaede said he would be right down." Just as Kourinne was about to join the others at the table, the front door bell pealed. The family looked at one another with surprise. The Rukawas did not usually have visitors so early in the morning.
"Maybe it's a delivery boy for me," Mrs. Rukawa said.
The bell chimed again. "Well, I'm up. I guess I'll get it," Kourinne said, dashing toward the door before their helper could open it. A few moments later she returned with a sour expression on her face and Aijana Haneoka in tow.
"Aijana, what a nicesurprise," Mr. Rukawa said cheerfully.
"Won't you join us for some breakfast?" Mrs. Rukawa asked, gesturing toward an empty chair.
"Sure, there's plenty," Serika added, trying to make up for her sister's obvious lack of enthusiasm.
"Thanks, everyone, but I don't think I'll be staying that long. Kaede called me about a half hour ago and asked me to meet him here."
Kourinne caught her sister's gaze and looked away quickly. It was obvious that it wasn't her powers of persuasion that had gotten Kaede out of bed.
"Here he is now," Aijana said, hearing his footsteps on the stairs.
Kaede lumbered into the room. Dark circles under his eyes clearly showed how little sleep he had gooten the night before. " 'Morning, everybody." he said softly.
Mrs. Rukawa asked her son and Aijana if they wanted tosomething to eat.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I'm just not hungry," Kaede replied in a low voice.
Kourinne went to the refrigerator, pulled out a pitcher and squeezed orange juice, puored some into the glass, and handed it to Kaede. "Here, at least have some juice. You look like you could use it."
Kaede smiled ruefully. "I guess I can't turn down an offer like that."
"What about you, Aijana?" Serika asked pointedly. She was growing furious with her sister. No matter how much Aijana had upset Kaede the previous night, there was no reason to be intentionally rude to her.
"No, thanks," Aijana said, watching Kaede finish his juice and place the empty glass on the table. "I think we're ready to go."
"Bye, everyone," Kaede said, placing his hand lightly on Aijana's back and steering her toward the door. "See you later."
Serika watched them disappear down th hall. "Well, what do you make of that?" she said a moment later.
"He certainly didn't seem angry with her." Mr. Rukawa commented.
Kourinne sat back down at the table and gave her plate a look of disgust. "Thanks to Aijana Haneoka, my food is cold now."