Programmed Lives – Second Stage
Chapter Twenty Nine
Needless to say, and with the kind of encouragement Minami had given him, Takumi did everything in his power to bring his car first at the finish line.
It was the team's second victory in three races and, by the end of the race, everyone in the paddock started looking at the Kirin Takahashi Racing Team from a different point of view: whereas before they had just been seen as a young, inexperienced team, now they began regarding it as a serious opponent and therefore a threat.
'Hey, where are you going?' Takumi heard Keisuke ask him as he was climbing onto his 86.
'Tokyo,' he simply replied.
'Ah, what am I supposed to tell everybody?' Keisuke asked.
'I don't know…make something up,' Takumi said starting his car and leaving before Keisuke could complain.
This time it took Takumi almost two hours to get to Tokyo and, by the time he arrived at his girlfriend's house, it was already dark.
'Hey, how are you?' he asked Minami after being let in by one of the bodyguards Keisuke had left there to protect the two women of the house.
'Not bad. Still a bit shaken up but I'm happy Mum's feeling much better. She's actually had a brilliant idea.'
'What is it?' Takumi asked as the two of them took a seat on the couch.
'Well, you know how my mother goes very often to a spa, right?' Minami said and, seeing him nod, added, 'right, so, the ryokan where she stays is owned by her best friend and she said that it would do us good if we spent the next weekend there.'
'We?' Takumi said almost afraid that this 'we' included Minami's Mum too.
'Yeah, you and I,' Minami explained.
'Ah, right,' Takumi said feeling relieved.
'Only that I thought that, as a thank you for helping us so much, I could include in the invitation your team mate and his girlfriend. And maybe, if they want, your Team Manager and his wife could come with us too, I understand that it was her who got us out of trouble with the photographer.'
'Ah that would be good, only that Ryosuke-san and his wife have a small baby boy,' Takumi explained.
'They're welcome to take the baby with them. I know that both the ryokan and the spa are happy to have entire families as guests,' Minami said.
'Ah, well, I will ask them. I think they too need to take a break,' Takumi said.
'Okay, let me know so I can ask my mum to book the rooms for us,' Minami said.
'What about your break, how are you going to handle that?' Takumi asked.
'Ah, well, I've talked to the Avex people this morning and they're sorry to hear that I've had to fire my manager. In any case, they understand that I need time to find a new one so, if I fulfil the events that I have scheduled for the next two weeks, I should be free to take at least three or four months off.'
'And what do you have in program?' Takumi asked.
'A concert, a TV appearance, two interviews and a photo shot for a magazine,' Minami replied.
'Wow, that's a lot,' Takumi commented.
'I know but, if I can look forward to a long break after that,' Minami said.
The two spent the rest of the evening chatting and having dinner with Minami's mum who happened to be a really nice person making Takumi forget that potentially she could be his future mother-in-law.
On Saturday, very early in the morning, Takumi found himself driving Minami in his 86 from Tokyo to Maebashi where they would meet up with the Takahashi.
To his immense surprise, Ryosuke had been very enthusiastic of the idea of spending a weekend at a spa with the whole family. He said that it was probably what they all needed now: get away from the cities and the stress they brought with them.
'Hey,' Takumi greeted them as he saw Keisuke loading some bags into the MPV. Kyoko was strapping seven month old Kyo-chan onto his baby car seat, a Recaro one shaped in the form of a mini bucket seat complete with a four point seatbelt.
'Kyoko, did you take Kyosuke's bag?' Akiko said appearing through the opened house's main door.
'Yeah, it's here,' Kyoko shouted back.
'Ah, okay. I'll go and get Ryosuke then,' she said disappearing again so fast that she hadn't even noticed Takumi and Minami. The singer smiled.
'That's Ryosuke-san's wife, isn't she?'
'Yep,' Takumi replied.
As he did so, the oldest of the Takahashi brothers walked out of the house with a computer bag hanging off his broad shoulder. So much for relaxation, Takumi thought to himself. He doubted Ryosuke-san knew what the word 'relax' meant.
After the customary introductions, Ryosuke sat behind the MPV's wheel, with his brother sitting next to him and both women sitting in the back with Kyo-chan in between them.
Takumi and Minami were back in the 86 for it would be them leading the way to the Kanbayashi Onsen in the neighbouring prefecture of Nagano. Keisuke had argued that Mt Akagi had a very good spa too but the facts that in Kanbayashi they had free accommodation in a very good ryokan and that Jigokudani and its monkey park was nearby completely beat any points Keisuke might have used to support his theory to stay home.
Takumi suspected that Keisuke was just upset that he had to leave his FD behind…
In any case, when they arrived at the ryokan, Keisuke was the first one to comment on the beautiful building and the fabulous landscape one could see from it.
The ryokan itself was actually inside the Kanbayashi Onsen so they could enjoy their baths and walk back to their rooms wearing the yukata.
'I want to go and see the monkeys,' Kyoko said as soon as all six of them, plus Kyo-chan, met in the ryokan's hall.
'Alright,' Ryosuke said agreeing with her.
They walked the short distance between the ryokan and the monkey park talking, laughing and generally having a good time. This 'family trip' made Takumi feel strange and made him wonder whether Minami felt the same way too.
'So, this is what family life feels like…' Minami whispered voicing Takumi's thoughts and confirming his suspicions.
'Yeah, I guess so…' he said shrugging for he didn't now much more than Minami about what it meant to have a normal family. Even thought his father and Minami's mum had done their best to raise them on their own, he knew that he had missed out something very important without his mother being there.
Later on, and after enjoying a really tasty dinner, the girls and the boys separated themselves to go and enjoy the spa.
'Wow,' Kyoko said looking at Minami as she removed her yukata, 'what do you do?'
Minami turned a delicate shade of pink as she realised what Kyoko was talking about.
'Not much really,' she replied for it was true. Other than swimming regularly in her house's swimming pool, Minami didn't do any other sports, mainly due to the lack of time to do so.
'Well, I know I'll never have a stomach as flat as the ones you two have ever again,' Akiko commented joining them with her son.
'Hey, now that's silly, you've just had a baby!' Kyoko protested.
They quickly submerged themselves in the hot spring water, happy that they had been given a private room so they could be just the three of them alone.
'Akiko-san, have you and Ryosuke-san been together for a long time?' Minami asked.
'No, not really, just under two years,' Akiko replied while taking care that Kyo-chan didn't get too warm.
'Ah, I thought you two had been together for much longer,' Minami commented.
'It seems that way, doesn't it?' Kyoko intervened and Minami nodded.
'Sometimes I wonder if Keisuke and I will ever have that kind of relationship,' Kyoko commented.
'What do you mean?' Akiko asked.
'You know, the way you and Ryosuke always seem to know what the other is thinking,' Kyoko explained.
'That's not true,' Akiko tried to deny but Kyoko snorted and said:
'It is. Sometimes you and Ryosuke are scary: you don't even look at each other but are able to finish each other sentences and, how often does it happen that you two say the same things at the same time?'
'Alright…it's just that our minds are very much alike…that's it. You and Keisuke have loads in common too,' Akiko said.
'Yeah, but I don't know how we'd be if we got married. If we ever get married that is.'
'Why are you saying that?' Minami asked making Kyoko miss the way Akiko almost dropped her baby son into the hot water.
'Oh is just that Keisuke's very independent. I don't know if he needs me all that much…'
'What?' Akiko exclaimed startling even poor Kyo-chan who looked at his mother as if she had gone nuts.
'You heard me. Keisuke…'
'Kyoko,' Akiko started and, by the firm tone of voice she used, Kyoko knew she was in for one of Akiko's tell-off sessions, 'Keisuke adores you. He's so desperately in love with you that he doesn't even want to be away from you during the races. I seriously doubt Ryosuke would want me anywhere near the boxes during a race. Keisuke loves you and, I know for a fact that he doesn't intend to make you wait forever before he'll propose.'
'You do?' Kyoko asked and Akiko realised that she had said a bit too much.
'Yeah, he's already proposed, hasn't he?' she said trying to fix her mistake.
'No, he said he wanted to marry me but that wasn't an official proposal. You're saying here that he intends to propose to me soon,' Kyoko, sharp as always, observed.
'Maybe,' Akiko said with an enigmatic smile.
'Akiko…' Kyoko said using a warning tone of voice.
'I know nothing and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you, not even under torture,' Akiko said then, considering the topic as closed, she turned to Minami: 'so, tell me Mina-chan, how did you become a singer?'
Minami, taken slightly aback, took a couple of seconds to reply:
'Er…well, my Mum used to be a music teacher and she realised that I had a very good ear for music and that my voice was powerful enough so, with the right training, I became a good enough singer to make my professional debut. My first song was for an animated series' opening and it became quite successful so soon Avex asked me to sign a contract with them.'
'That is very impressive indeed,' Akiko said without any trace of mockery in her voice.
'Isn't it?' Kyoko said, 'you know that after meeting you in person it's difficult to believe that you're such a huge star,' Kyoko commented and, seeing Mina-chan's confused face made her hastily add, 'it's because one expects to meet this very arrogant diva, not such a down to earth girl.'
'Ah, well…this is me. Mina-chan, the singer, appears only when I'm on stage,' Minami said shrugging.
The three women talked for a while then they all went to the rooms where, hopefully, their partners would be waiting for them.
Minami was extremely nervous as she entered the room she shared with Takumi. She had never slept in the same room with a man and she knew that that night she would do a lot more than just sleep with Takumi.
As she slid the door closed, she hoped everything would go well.
'The baths are fantastic,' Takumi commented, clearly eager to put her at ease with herself and the situation.
'Yeah, they are, aren't they?' she replied her voice shaking a little.
'Look, we don't have to do it if you don't want…' Takumi said getting serious and walking up to her. She observed his body clad in a yukata that made him look even sexier than she remembered.
'No, I want to do it,' she said and it was true. She really wanted for this to happen. If only she were a lot less tense...maybe she'd have to go and take another bath.
'That's good. Because I'm dying to do this,' Takumi said very honestly. Then he took Minami's face in his hands and, bending down slightly to compensate the height difference, he kissed her very softly.
She moaned almost inaudibly and that made Takumi deepen the kiss. So far they weren't doing anything beyond of what they had already done so Minami forced herself to relax.
Only when Takumi took her in his arms to walk with her to the futon she started to become aware of what was about to happen.
'Can you turn off the light?' she whispered shyly.
Takumi nodded and, after putting her down on the soft fabric of their traditional Japanese bed, he walked towards the switch and, instead of completely turning the light off, he dimmed it low enough for him to barely see where he was going.
'Better?' he asked.
'Yeah, much better,' he heard her whisper back.
He walked back to the futon and, laying next to her, they started kissing again. Their kisses and caresses soon became rather urgent and at some point, Minami wasn't sure how it had actually happened, she found herself beneath Takumi nodding as he asked her if she was ready.
It became almost instantly obvious that she was nowhere near ready.
'Ouch,' she complained after trying, in vain, to cope with the amount of pain she was feeling.
'You're alright?' Takumi asked stopping.
'Yeah,' she said but her tone of voice and her tensed up body said something different.
Takumi tried once more but Minami whimpered again. The young man realised that she was too tense and it was hurting her too much for him to feel like carrying on.
'Takumi?' Minami asked seeing as her boyfriend was removing himself from the top of her body.
'It's not good. I'm hurting you too much,' he said taking her hand and kissing it tenderly.
'I'm sorry,' she said feeling utterly miserable.
'It's not your fault. It's just that…' he started then, taking a deep breath, he admitted, 'I've never been with…you know…and I don't know how to…you know…'
Minami didn't say anything.
'Why don't we just sleep? We can try again some other time,' Takumi proposed and, even if he tried his best to hide it, Minami could tell that he felt extremely frustrated. This just made Minami feel even worse.
'Okay,' she said and, just as she prepared herself to get inside the futon, she saw Takumi get up to go to the bathroom.
That night, Minami cried herself to sleep.
To be continued…
