Chapter 27
As soon as the door closed, Kevin flashed Minako an apologetic smile. "Sorry for kicking you back there. You looked like you wanted to leave or wanted me to leave, so I decided to make a hasty exit."
"Thanks. Sorry for forcing my mom on you...she's a little much to take all at once."
"You shouldn't worry about it so much. I can handle myself."
"Oh yeah. I keep on forgetting." Minako giggled. "You are a young, highly successful, eligible male which any household would love to marry their daughter off to."
In a faintly protesting tone, "You make it sound so easy. I have to work very hard to be the object of everyone's envy."
Minako sighed and punched him lightly on the arm. "Don't get a big head or anything."
"Not a chance."
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Artemis watched the two disappear into the inky blackness of the night and sighed with relief. That was one problem averted. With those two distracted with each other, he imagined that the Retainer and Venus would talk to each other more about their alter egos than letting Venus's skepticism rub off on the American.
In a way, he wanted them to get together. They were good together, more so than most of Minako's boy toys. He was intelligent and as steady as bedrock, providing Minako the stability that she had always craved. Kevin had tamed her as so many had failed to do.
If they broke up, they would still be distracted and for some time too.
Artemis shook his head and staved off any feelings of preemptive guilt. The purpose of his machinations had been accomplished. Retainer and Venus were distracted from each other.
The only problem he had to face now was the fact that Kevin would leave for America in the near future. The study abroad program was coming to an end and Artemis still needed a defender for Japan. He could not have cared less what happened to the rest of the world, but Tokyo needed to be preserved if only for the coming of Crystal Tokyo.
The cat curled up for a nap. What he needed to do was to figure out some way to bind Kevin inextricably to Japan. It was a vexing question. He would sleep on it.
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It was silent for most of the walk back. Minako had been terribly quiet, rarely speaking. Kevin himself was terrible at the entire small talk thing. And so both of them suffered in silence, wondering when the other was going to speak.
It was a problem they had never encountered, a lack of conversation. The usual rhythm was easy enough to fall into. Minako would make a comment and Kevin would make a semi-cynical retort. Minako would respond to the retort and the process continued. It was aided by the fact that they genuinely did find each other fascinating.
That aspect of their relationship had not changed in the slightest. They still found each other endlessly amusing, for they saw each other as ambassadors from lands foreign to their separate sensibilities.
They were kindred spirits; she the vivacious one and he the reserved one.
Kevin would admit he found Minako a thrilling person, beautiful and strikingly intelligent. She had been an adept guide to Tokyo, forcing him to open up when he would have closed himself off from the world. He cherished her as he would the very best of his friends.
It confused him that she was so quiet that night. Perhaps she had had enough of talking for the interim, maybe even a product of her mother's incessant nagging. It was a perfectly logical and justifiable reason.
But Kevin knew the value of silence better than most. And he felt deep in his gut that this was not one of those times when it would be better to stay quiet.
The American gestured to the clear sky. "Beautiful night isn't it?"
As if glad to break the tension between them. "Yeah, it's really pretty. Don't get to see nights like this that often in Tokyo."
"Why is that?"
"The lights usually get in the way." Minako shrugged. "You really have to go into the country to get something like this."
"Hmm." The two lapsed back into silence, each shuffling slowly towards their eventual destination.
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Minako glanced at the sky then at her companion. He was hunched over as if walking into a strong headwind, the posture of a college student who had carried too many books in his lifetime. But there was something purposeful about his gait that indicated a man who knew where he was going and what he was doing. She could almost imagine that it was a confident swagger.
If anything, she was attracted to his confidence. There was no false modesty associated with Kevin just the reassuring thought that everything was going to be all right. That he could make everything all right. If she was attracted to him, then he'd be a pretty perfect match. Too bad she wasn't.
Right?
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He tossed the card at her.
"The ace of hearts..." Minako reached for it with her free hand, but just as it touched her fingers, it shattered into a billion pieces, each out of her reach forever.
"I'll tell your final fortune," Ace said softly. His eyes locked onto hers, and she felt her love slipping away from her. Venus grabbed back with both hands, even tighter, struggling to maintain her grip. "Your love will be hopeless for all eternity."
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Minako's eyes fluttered for a moment and then flashed open. She took a couple of shallow breaths and then wiped the cold sweat off of her brow.
"Is everything okay?" Kevin's concerned voice sounded in her ear.
She nodded quickly then let out a pent in breath. On an impulse, Minako asked quietly. "Do you believe in fate, Bin-kun?"
He looked surprised. "Fate as in destiny?"
"As in the things we do are preordained. That we do them because there is some great plan in store for us."
Kevin stared off into the distance. "No, I do not."
"Why not?" Minako kicked at a sign on the sidewalk.
"Because I don't like the feeling of not having control over my life. Somehow that idea doesn't sit well with me."
She stared at him for a long moment. "I don't know. It shields you from knowing that you made the wrong decisions."
"Maybe, but I find that that just makes people reckless." Kevin shrugged. "Fate seems to be just a scapegoat for people who don't want to be accountable for their actions."
"But what about the security of knowing that something is in store for you, that you're being looked after in some way."
He let loose an unbelieving chuckle. "Then it would be unpardonably arrogant for me to believe that fate somehow is looking out for me specifically. I'm not vain enough to believe that somehow I'm better and smarter and more deserving of a great destiny than a thousand other people out there."
Minako scrunched her face into a frown. "What makes you think you're not going to have a great and powerful future?"
"Well, I don't think I'm necessarily entitled to it." Kevin ran a hand through his black hair, a sure sign of agitation. "At least with free will, I can believe that what I did, how I conducted my life, the events that I made happen...all of those things allowed me to make my own future rather than relying on some intangible hope that destiny is on my side."
"But what about things out of your control? Like the weather or the socioeconomic class which you were born into? I mean there are so many things out there which you can't have any control over whatsoever...all of which contribute to your future in some measurable way. Then how can you say that you're making your own fate?"
He sighed. "Because it is still based on the idea that even with those particular advantages or disadvantages, I still have to make the right decisions at the right time. I suppose I'm a little fundamentalist about it, but I truly believe that there are many futures, many possibilities. Our job as humans is to pick one."
Kevin let a tiny smile creep over his face. "Why all the philosophical questions, Minako-chan? It's pretty heavy stuff for a school night."
She laughed humorlessly and rubbed her arms. "I don't know what came over me. It's been something that's been bugging me for a long time. Didn't quite know how to approach it."
"And what do you believe in?"
The blonde let a frown mar her perfect features. "I don't know anymore. I used to like the idea of some power looking out for me...that there was some plan in store for me as long as I trusted there was. But lately, I've begun to wonder."
"Whether there is a plan. Whether you're special or it's just a dream to keep you happy at night."
Minako paused and sighed again. "Well, we're here. Thanks for the talk."
And she turned and left. Kevin didn't even have the time to raise his hand and thank her.