Chapter 3: The Accident

Kira was in her room reading a book about science and technology, when the phone rang.

"Hello?" she said picking up the receiver.

"Hi may I please speak to Kira?" the man asked.

"Speaking, how may I help you?" said Kira.

"Oh hi, this is Rei Kashino's motorcycle instructor. I'm afraid we have some terrible news for you. During Rei's last race he participated in a terrible accident. Please don't get to upset.

"Oh my!" Kira gasped.

"He is currently in the hospital getting immediate medical attention."

"Is he gonna be alright?" Kira asked.

"Well that depends," he said.

"You mean he could d…?"Kira said in between sobs.

"Ummm… yes."

"O.M.G!"

"How serious is his condition?" she questioned.

"I'm not quite sure, you're gonna have to ask the doctor when you get to the hospital."

"What do you mean?" Kira asked.

"Well we've decided that Rei needs someone to be there for him and the closest person to him… is you!" he explained.

"Really?" she said totally shocked.

"What about his family?" Kira asked.

"Most of Rei's relatives don't live near him, or in his father's case they hate him."

"Oh…"

"I'm gonna have to ask my parents first," she said.

Silently doubting her stepfather would let her go in less she talked to the both of them at the same time.

"Can you leave me with a phone number I can reach you with?" Kira asked.

"That way I can call you back when I've made my decision."

"Sure! (905) 642-1357," he said.

"Thanks! I'll call you back as soon as possible," Kira said trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

"Bye," they both said in unison.

Then the receiver clicked and there was no sound but the dial tone.

Kira put the phone back on the charger and headed downstairs to have a chat with her parents.

Her mom wasn't home yet, but she figured she could wait just a little while longer.

She went to the kitchen to see if she could grab a bite before dinner. Her stepfather was sitting at the kitchen table reading that days newspaper.

"Ummmm…………hey!" Kira said, wondering weather she should bring up the subject of her going to see Rei.

Her stepfather continued to read the paper, his dark, cold brown eyes not even looking up.

Kira decided to wait till her mother came back home and tell both of them together like she had planed to in the first place.

She silently poured herself a small bowl of cereal and sat down across from her stepfather.

A few minutes later, while Kira was munching away on her cereal, her mom came in.

"Hey guys, how's it going? Everything all right?" her mother asked.

"Everything is fine Honey," said Kira's stepfather not even bothering to look up at her either.

"Well…mom actually I was wondering if I could talk to the both of you about something really important to me," she said nervously.

"What is it sweetie? Is anything wrong? Are you hurt? Did something happen?" her mom's expression changing to a worried and concerned look.

"No mom, I'm fine," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh okay, then what is it?" she asked again.

"Well you know my boyfriend Rei?"

"Yes, the one that left for a motorcycle race right?"

"Yeah, well during one of his races, he got into a serious accident and now he's in the hospital with no one there to look after him."

"So…I just got a phone call asking if I would like to go over there and see him," she finished.

"And where exactly is "over there"?" her mother asked.

"Well it's in America, but we don't have to pay. Rei's instructor said the company that was holding the race would cover for me," she explained to her mother.

"I'm fine with that. As long as your father is okay with it," she said.

"He's not my father!" Kira thought silently.

"Well honey, what do you think?" her mom asked her stepfather.

"It's fine by me if it's fine by you," he said simply.

"So I can go!" Kira said excitedly.

"I guess so," her mother replied.

"Oh, thank you so much mom! I can't tell you how much this means to me. I know Rei really needs someone there for him, and it's all thanks to you that I will!" Kira exclaimed.

"Your welcome honey, just make sure you give me all the details of what's happening, okay?" she asked sternly

"Of course mother," she said with a smile.

"I'd better call back and tell him that a can come," said Kira leaving quickly so they couldn't change their minds.

Kira picked up the receiver and dialed 905- 652-1357.

The phone rang twice and a little girl picked up the phone.

"Hi this is the Hiyashi residence, Emma speaking how may I help you?" the little girl said politely.

"Oh I'm sorry I must have the wrong number," Kira realized.

"Okay, bye!" said Emma.

The receiver clicked and Kira dialed the phone number again, only this time being careful not to make a mistake.

"(905) 642-1357" she muttered under her breath.

This time it rang once and someone picked up.

"Hello?" the man asked.

"Hi it's Kira again."

"Oh, hello, so how did the chat with your parents go?" he asked.

"Well…I talked to them and they said, I can go!" she said sharing the great news with him.

"Fantastic!" he said.

"Now, you're going to have to inform your school that you won't be there for about three weeks," he explained.

"Because if you don't, then they'll be wondering what happened to you," he said.

"Oh okay," she replied.

"When will I be leaving?" Kira asked.

"Tomorrow, at 6:30 am so you better get packing."

"Okay thanks!" she said and hung up.

Humming to herself, Kira grabbed the biggest suitcase she had and began pilling the majority of her clothes in to it.

Two hours later she got her mom to check and make sure she had everything that she would need for her trip.

The next morning, Kira was up nice and early. She was up so early that it was still dark! Getting up from her warm bed she slowly stumbled her way over to the bathroom. Kira turned on the shower and allowed it to warm up.

After about five minutes, she stepped into the shower and finally woke up properly.

Usually it only took Kira about ten minutes to take a shower but today she wanted to make sure she was extra clean for Rei.

Twenty minutes passed and she finally stepped out of the shower.

Kira walked over to her wardrobe, which contained all of her special clothes. She pulled out a pale green, fuzzy sweater and pulled it over top of her head. She slipped on her jeans and walked back into the bathroom.

Kira flipped over allowing her hair to daggle over her head. She picked up the blow dryer and began to dry her hair.

Flipping back over she grabbed a brush and ran it through her silky blond hair. Satisfied with the way her hair looked she picked of a clip and clipped her hair up so that it was out of her face.

She only had half an hour till her cab would be coming to pick her up.

Picking up her luggage she lugged it down the stairs and set it down in the hallway right beside the front entrance. As she dropped the bags she took a deep, refreshing breath. She could smell the scent of her most favourite breakfast: bacon, hash browns, eggs and French toast.

She hurried over to the kitchen sneaking up behind her mother and gave her a huge hug.

"Hello sweetie! Good morning to you too," She said and turned around with a smile.

"Hey Mom!"

"Go sit down at the table and help yourself to whatever you'd like," she demanded generously.

Kira willingly obeyed her mother and took her seat at the kitchen table. She politely waited for her mother to finish cooking the bacon and come sit and eat with her.

It didn't take very long for the both of them to start shoveling their faces with the delicious food.

Very quickly they both got full and when they finished eating they looked up at each other and burst out laughing. With absolutely no idea why, they continued to laugh without a reason. Finally they stopped and calmed themselves down.

"Whoo!" Kira said trying to wipe away the tears of laughter that sprang from her eyes.

When Kira could finally see clearly, she looked down at her watch to see what the time was.

"Perfect", she thought. She still had ten minutes till her cab would come to pick her up. "Just enough time to say bye to mom and double check that I have everything," she noted. There was a long pause of silence before she spoke.

"Well Mom, I better be getting ready to go," she announced.

"Of course honey, we wouldn't want you to be late now would we."

"Okay, well you know I'm going to miss you," said her mom sadly.

"Me too," Kira said back.

"And you have to promise to right me about all the exciting things in America, plus how Rei is doing," she said.

"I promise, I'll send lot's of postcards and letters.

"Well, okay, I'll talk to you soon honey, I love you."

And with that, Kira gave her mother a huge hug and a peck on the cheek.

"I love you too…Bye!" Kira called out as she walked out the door and stood on the sidewalk.

As her cab pulled up, she turned around to look back at her mom. Giving her a huge smile and a blowing kiss, she waved goodbye before her mom closed the door.

The driver helped Kira put her luggage in the trunk, and then they both went into the car.

Looking back at her house as the cab pulled away, a tear trickled down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away and softly whispered: "Goodbye!"

As the distance grew between her and her home, her house got smaller and smaller. The double red door at the front of her house was the last thing she could possibly make out.

Until she was finally gone…