Programmed Lives - First Stage
Chapter Four
With both FD's parked side by side, Keisuke and Kyoko settled themselves on a bench that looked over the children's playing area of the park where they had stopped their cars.
'So, what's wrong?' Kyoko started, breaking the silence.
Keisuke let out a long sigh before speaking.
'I don't even know where to start,' he finally said.
'Is it that bad?' Kyoko said, sounding rather concerned.
'Bad? No, it's worse. It's a freaking disaster,' Keisuke said, his voice rising as he spoke.
'Okay, what has exactly happened?' Kyoko said, trying her best to sound helpful while not too intrusive.
'Aniki's getting married,' he spat angrily.
'WHAT?' Kyoko shrieked.
'The bastard's moving out too,' Keisuke mumbled disconsolately, confusing the poor Kyoko even more.
'I'm sorry Keisuke but you really aren't making any sense,' Kyoko said.
Keisuke looked at Kyoko and passed a hand nervously through his already messed up hair. He then frowned as he tried to sort his thoughts before putting them into, hopefully, a coherent verbal form.
'Alright,' he started, 'my family is pretty rich, you know?'
Ha! Rich! Kyoko thought. She knew that Keisuke's family was loaded with money but, since she wasn't supposed to know, she simply nodded.
'Well, I suppose it's normal that the heirs of rich families like mine end up marrying rich girls…'
'Hang on there, are you talking about arranged marriages?' Kyoko said sounding positively alarmed.
'Yeah. That's what it is. Essentially my father has arranged for Aniki to marry the daughter of one of his friends,' Keisuke explained, his tone of voice clearly indicating how disgusted he felt at the very idea.
'Wow! I thought these things didn't happen anymore,' Kyoko said almost as if she were thinking aloud.
'Yeah, me too,' Keisuke agreed.
'Surely your brother isn't going to accept this so easily,' Kyoko said.
'That's what's pissing me off so much. He said he had a plan and, you know, being as brilliant as Aniki is, I believed that things would sort themselves out.'
'But?' Kyoko asked, egging him to continue.
'Well, my parents organised a dinner tonight so they could meet up and introduce them.'
'And?'
'For fuck's sake, she's so tiny that she looks like a freaking schoolgirl! And she's not even pretty!' Keisuke shouted.
Before she could think, Kyoko snickered, that made Keisuke get up so abruptly that Kyoko stopped immediately.
'What the hell is so funny?' he asked crossly.
'I'm sorry Keisuke,' Kyoko replied biting her lower lip and looking down, trying to muster enough courage to say what she had in her mind, 'the thing is, they could have brought Miss Japan and you would still think she's not good enough for your brother.'
There was some silence after this and that made Kyoko think that Keisuke would storm off and leave her there alone. Instead, Kyoko heard Keisuke sitting back down on the bench. This made her look at his beautiful face.
'You're right,' he simply said looking back at her. She had to look at something else. Having Keisuke so close to her was disturbing enough without enduring having his gorgeous dark eyes on her too.
'Also, he said he had a plan. What makes you so sure he's going to fail?' Kyoko asked in a desperate attempt to stop herself from thinking too much about the man sitting next to her.
'Well, to start with, our mother gave her the Takahashi's engagement ring, my parents have already bought the house where they're going to live and her father's hired a wedding planner. So, all in all, I think everything is a done deal, don't you?'
'Whoa,' was the only thing Kyoko managed to say.
'Yeah. Now, I know that Aniki's a genius when it comes to masterminding plans but, this time he has my father and that girl's father against him and, as much as I hate to admit it, any fight against my father is a lost battle, even for someone as smart as Aniki.'
'Well, your brother had to take his brilliant intelligence from somewhere, didn't he?' Kyoko said.
'Precisely. He got his brains from my father. For Aniki, fighting against him is as hopeless as waiting for the rain in the desert.'
Kyoko didn't know what to say. She fought with herself trying to find something comforting to say, something that would make Keisuke feel better. Seeing him feeling so down made her heart contract rather painfully in her chest. She realised that he had awaken yet another feeling in her: the absolute need to protect him against anything that would hurt him. If Kyoko had known for a long time that any attempt at trying to repress her feelings for Keisuke was doomed, she had the confirmation right then that she would love Keisuke forever.
'The worst part is that he's going to be moving out,' Keisuke suddenly said bringing Kyoko back to reality, 'I mean, I knew that sooner or later we would leave our parents house and would lead more or less independent lives. But this is much too soon for me. I simply can't bear life in my parents' house without Aniki there.'
Keisuke was talking with his head bent down and while he looked at the ground between his feet. He had his hands on top of each of his knees and Kyoko dared to put one of her hands on top of his. Keisuke then did something that shocked her: he took her hand in his and squeezed it.
Without letting go of it, he carried on speaking:
'You already know that, not too long ago, my life was a gigantic mess. I got into all sorts of trouble and even my parents stopped bothering with me. Aniki was the only one who believed in me and who helped me. He's still the only one that thinks I'm worth a damn. With him gone, it'll be a matter of time before everything goes to the dogs again.'
'That's not true,' Kyoko said suddenly.
'Which part?' he asked.
'Both. Your life is not going to get messed up again. I know that you have enough determination to succeed. You will become a professional driver. I'm sure of it,' Kyoko said with fervent conviction firmly imprinted in her voice.
'You think so? Even if my brother's not there to help me?' Keisuke asked, this time looking at her again.
'I'm sure if it,' Kyoko repeated, then, looking away and with the smallest of voices, she added, 'and it's not true that your brother is the only one who thinks you're worth a damn.'
'What do you mean?' Keisuke asked.
'Oh Keisuke! Don't make me say it again,' Kyoko complained almost angrily.
'Kyoko…'
'I know, I know: your career comes first.'
'I'm sorry,' Keisuke said finally letting go of her hand, that simple gesture hurt Kyoko even more than she had imagined possible then, a very heavy silence fell between the two, making Kyoko feel even more upset until, at long last, Keisuke broke it to say, 'you know, thinking about the old times when I was a gangster has made me think that, while maybe Aniki's ways won't work, mine may just be what's needed here.'
'What do you mean?' Kyoko asked sounding rather worried for she definitely didn't like the almost evil look that she could now see on Keisuke's beautiful face.
'Don't worry. I think I've finally come up with a plan of my own,' Keisuke said triumphantly.
'Right, now I'm even more worried,' Kyoko said truthfully.
'Don't be. It'll work. You just trust me, ok?'
'Sure,' Kyoko said, definitely not feeling so assured.
'Let's go for a drive to celebrate, alright?' Keisuke suddenly suggested.
'Er...okay, I guess. My car or yours?' she said still not able to shake off her concern.
'Both. We'll have to take both to go where I want to go,' he said, now smiling with a real smile.
'Where is that?' Kyoko said smiling too, in spite of her worry.
'The ocean. I want to see the sunrise with you,' he said making it sound like he had just suggested for them to go and get some coffee.
Kyoko just nodded. She wanted to scream at him that he wasn't making it any easier for her to forget him but she was way too happy to do something as romantic as seeing the sun rising above the sea and, as with everything that had anything to do with Keisuke, Kyoko decided to settle for the best she had. And spending the whole night with him on her own was as good as it got.
With these mixed feelings, Kyoko followed Keisuke back to where their cars were parked.
The morning after, at the Takahashi's residence, Ryosuke's mobile phone rang waking him up.
'Hello,' he replied sleepily.
'Ryosuke-san, I'm so sorry, did I wake you up?' a feminine voice said at the other end.
'Yes. Who are you?' Ryosuke said, a bit more angrily than he intended.
'I'm really sorry, it's me, Arakawa Akiko. I got your mobile number from our records at the hospital, I sincerely apologise for breaching your privacy but I really needed to speak to you. I'm not entirely sure my father would approve if we arrange a meeting on our own so I needed to do this. Do you think we could arrange any such meeting anytime soon?'
'Sure. How about this morning?' Rysouke said noticing the fact that she seemed to be talking keeping her tone of voice as low as possible, making him think that this conversation had not been authorised by her father either.
'So soon? Fantastic, do you know where the Café Uno in Maebashi is?'
'Of course,' Ryosuke replied.
'Let's meet there in, let's say…a couple of hours?' she offered.
'Sure, see you there.'
'Good, thank you Ryosuke-san,' she said sounding deeply grateful.
'No problem,' Ryosuke said.
Closing the conversation, he felt genuinely curious to find out the reason why she needed to schedule an unauthorised meeting with him. Getting up from his bed, the almost twenty four year old future doctor prepared himself for one of the most important meetings of his life.
To be continued…
