I'm so sorry. I'm not even going to say anything other than this year has been crazy. It's winter already and I didn't even know it. :(
I heart you all
Chapter 13 - Picnic Fun
"Hey Akemi, what do you think about going someplace this weekend?" Tohru asked as they walked out of the building. School had just let out, and Tohru had to briskly walk to keep up with Akemi.
"Sure," Akemi said with a smile, "I'm in a hurry though. I've got to head over to The New Tomorrow and meet Amaya before my parents realize I'm not home."
"I thought we could pack a picnic, if it's warm enough," Tohru said, "and we could invite Yuki and Kyo and Uo and Hana and Momiji and Hatsuharu," she stopped. "Will Amaya come?"
"If she can spare it. I know she's been really busy lately, with her starting college, and moving into her apartment. But I'll ask her," Akemi replied.
"What's her apartment like?" Tohru asked.
"I don't know," Akemi shrugged, "I haven't been there yet. She's always come to visit us. And I don't think she intends on letting us in until she decorates it. Apparently she's got some pretty awesome ideas. I always thought she was going to be an interior decorator, or artist of some kind."
"What is she going into?"
"I'm not sure exactly what her major is, but I know it's somewhere in the field of science," Akemi replied with a smile, "I would be scared if she ended up going into some sort of Chemistry field. God forbid, she nearly caused an explosion at our last school."
"You miss her, don't you?" Tohru inquired, her tone changing to a softer voice.
Akemi nodded sadly. "A ton. It's funny; I used to get so mad whenever she'd steal people's attention. I felt so overshadowed by her. Now that she's away, I feel like part of me is missing. It's like someone took away my clothes and I'm left standing naked in the middle of the street. I guess that's why Amaya has always been there to "protect" me."
"Maybe it's better that she doesn't come," Tohru said softly, "this weekend."
Akemi hook her head. "No, I want her to come if she can. I'll ask her when I see her."
"Sure I'll come," Amaya smiled, plugging in the amps, "Well, as long as you want me to."
Akemi rolled her eyes. " 'maya, I wouldn't have asked you to come if I didn't want you to." As the two continued to set up the sound equipment, they talked about what they had missed in each other's lives.
"Haru said the funniest thing the other day-" Akemi started, before Amaya interrupted.
"Yeah, I know, you told me," she rolled her eyes.
"I did?" Akemi asked, confused. "I don't remember that…"
"On the phone, three days ago," Amaya said monotonously. Suddenly her tone changed as she smiled "I think you have a thing for him, lil' sis."
Akemi rolled her eyes and laughed, "Yeah right. Very funny." She turned away, trying to hide the uncomfortable look on her face.
"See, there it is!" Amaya said, standing up and pointing at her sister's blushing face. "You do! You do!"
"Shh!" Akemi said, pushing her sister away from her. "You are too loud for your own good!" She sighed and looked her sister in the eye. "Don't get any ideas. I don't have any feelings for Haru other than friendship."
Amaya held a straight face for about three seconds, then burst into laughter. "Sorry, but you're a bad liar," she said between gasps of breath. "It's pretty much obvious that you like him, so stop trying to hide it."
"Fine, don't believe me!" Akemi threw her hands in the air and went to go get ready for the show.
"Hey, I was just kidding! Wait up!"
The show went well, but by the time Akemi got home, she could barely keep her feet from trudging through the door. It was more difficult now, with Amaya gone, because her parents only had one teenager to keep an eye on, thus, more likely to come check in on her.
She snuck quickly through her window right onto her bed. She had barely gotten her jacket and shoes off when someone knocked on the door. Akemi rushed under her sheets and grabbed a book from her beside table.
"Come in," she said.
Her mother peeked through the door and smiled. "You're still up?" She asked.
Akemi nodded. "I couldn't sleep, so I'm reading." She checked to look at the book.
Crap.
It was her History book.
"I don't know how interesting that is," her mother said.
Akemi shrugged. "Well, I was trying to make myself fall asleep. I thought it would work."
"You miss your sister don't you?" Her mother asked.
Akemi nodded. "Yeah. It's hard without her here." Her mother ran her fingers through Akemi's dark red hair.
"Don't worry sweetie. I was thinking we could go down and visit her tomorrow at her new apartment. What do you say?" She asked.
"Actually, I was wondering if I could go with Tohru Honda and some of my other friends on a picnic. Amaya was invited too. Can I go mom?" Akemi asked. She was careful not to mention the name 'Sohma'.
Her mother sighed. "I suppose so. We just haven't done much together lately. You've been so busy with school and everything…I feel like you've grown up and gone off on your own as well."
Akemi was confused as to why her mother was all the sudden interested in spending time with her. After all, until this point, her parents were more or less distant to their daughters.
"Mom, are you alright?" Akemi asked wearily.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" her mother asked hurriedly. "Dear, it's time for bed, I'll take that book. Why don't you try playing some soft music instead? I'll turn your light off." She kissed her daughter's forehead and turned off the light. "Goodnight Akemi."
"Night mom."
Shortly after, Akemi fell into deep sleep.
"Mom, I'll see you later!" Akemi called as she made her way out the door.
It was now warm enough for her to start riding her bike again. Although she enjoyed spring, she missed the light powdered snow and crisp air winter had brought. She rode down the road, smiling to herself. Today would be a wonderful day.
Tohru had called early that morning, telling her what to bring and where to meet. So far, everyone who had been asked to come was still coming. Even Amaya was coming, who Akemi had called directly after Tohru had called her.
"Akemi!" Momiji came running for her as she stood her bike against a tree.
"Momiji!" Yuki called firmly, "be careful not to trip!" He gave Momiji a stern look. Momiji nodded and put his outstretched arms down at his sides.
"Fine," said regretfully, "I just don't see why you won't let me have any fun, Yuki!" Then he turned to Akemi. "I'm so excited that we're having a picnic! I brought bratwurst! And Tohru said you were gonna bring some weird American food your dad taught you to make!"
Akemi laughed. "Yeah…it's not that great, you know. And I didn't exactly make it, since I'm a really bad cook. My dad made it for me. It's called zucchini bread and it's not that special…and I don't even know if it's American…"
"That's ok! I wanna eat some now!" Momiji said, reaching for the bread.
"Wait one goddamned minute, Momiji!" Kyo said bitterly, "not everyone is even here yet!"
"Aww, Kyo, don't be mean! I just wanna try a little bit!" Momiji whined.
"You'll get some later! For now just shut up and go sit down!" Kyo said harshly, pointing to the red and white-checkered blanket Tohru had laid neatly on the ground. He sulked back to the blanket and sat down in a huff.
"Well it's nice to see you all," Akemi said happily, "…but where's Haru?"
"Off getting lost, no doubt," Kyo said, rolling his eyes again, "who cares about that damn cow anyway."
"Cow?" Akemi asked.
"I call him a cow because he's slow. And his hair is black and white," Kyo explained quickly, "Forget it. Don't tell him I called him that."
Moments later, Haru showed up, followed by Amaya.
"I found him somewhere near my apartment," she explained, "completely lost."
"I wasn't lost," He objected, "I was simply taking a scenic route through this beautiful city we live in."
Yuki shook his head, "when are you going to admit you have poor sense of direction?"
"Who cares," Uo said, "let's eat."
"Yes, I'm famished," Tohru agreed.
The group passed food around and ate, sharing stories, jokes and laughter.
"I'm going to have to disagree," Amaya said, "last night's show was better than last Tuesday's."
Akemi shook her head. "No it wasn't. I definitely screwed up on that piano part during our last tune."
"I didn't notice."
Akemi turned to Haru, who was taking a huge bite of an apple.
"You were there last night?" She asked, flattered.
"For a little while," he said, "I got there a little late, but I heard a few songs."
"What did you think!" Akemi and Amaya asked in unison.
"It sounded really great," he said, "I liked the songs you played. Any originals?"
"A few…one I wrote at the beginning," Amaya said, "but most were covers. Akemi is working on her brainchild song. Right 'Kemi?"
"Hmm?"
"You have a song in the works," Amaya repeated.
"Well, yeah…but it's not really going anywhere…" Akemi said reluctantly, "My brainchild may be developmentally disabled."
"Well that's a good attitude," Amaya said sarcastically. Akemi glared at her.
"Ok, I'm not as good at songwriting as you are. Sorry," she said, turning away from her.
"Not true. When you actually write them, they're better than mine," Amaya said, "just because I can put some cords together and write some nonsense doesn't make me good at it."
Akemi wasn't quite listening. She was looking a bird, flying to her nest to feed her babies, which sat chirping incessantly in their nest. How easy would it be to live that kind of life? She thought cynically.
"This was really fun," Tohru said later as they packed up. "Can we do this again sometime?"
"Well, there's a school dance next Saturday," Yuki said, "we could all hang out beforehand."
"WHAT?" Tohru gasped.
"There's a school dance…" Yuki repeated.
"When did we find out about this?" Tohru said, "I didn't think I forgot about something that important and now I don't know what to do!"
"Tohru, relax," Yuki said, gently calming her, "the only reason I know about it is because I'm head of student council. We were going to announce it Monday."
"How fun! A dance!" Momiji said, clapping his hands together enthusiastically.
"You better not wear a dress this time," Kyo warned, "or someone is going to beat you up."
"KYOO! Why are you so MEAN to me! Haru, tell him that he's being mean!" Momiji wailed, pointing at Kyo.
"I am not being mean, you stupid brat! You wanna see me mean? Come over here and I'll show you mean!"
"Waaa! Someone make him stop! He's gonna hit me!"
Akemi smiled at their foolish antics, but a hint of worry hid behind her grin.
A school dance.
That was something she had absolutely no practice with. What would she wear? Who would she go with? How in the world could she learn how to dance in less than a week?
A few things popped into mind. Particularly, a smiling face. One who made her heart beat fast and cheeks flush. A certain black and white haired someone…
I'll try to update soon. :)
