Many apologies for neglecting this story, and thank you to everyone for the lovely reviews.

Paradigm Shift
Chapter 9: Fight

It wasn't the first time he had ever said it to her, yet she took it differently this time.

"I don't want to get married."

The first time he had ever said this, they had just started dating. She didn't bring much attention to it, probably because they were schoolchildren and she thought he would grow out of it.

Neither of them thought it would one day get so much in the way.

His horrid uni roommate was out of town for the weekend, meaning he could have Megumi spend the night in his dormitory. They were in that single person bed, squished together to make themselves fit, she against the wall while he tried desperately not to fall off. She moved a lot in her sleep, so he couldn't say there was never a time he would wake up on the floor.

"What about children?"

He stared straight up at the ceiling, even though he felt her looking at him. "I don't really want kids either."

She hoisted herself up with an arm so she could force him to look at her. "So that's it? Are we just going to grow old together and die, leaving no trace of us behind?"

Thanks to the perpetual light of the city, he could still see her concerned expression clearly through the unlit room, her dark eyes appearing almost black.

"If you say it like that, of course it sounds bad," he said matter-of-factly.

He could barely remember what happened next. They were talking, then bickering, then having a proper argument. Suddenly, she was belittling him, which in turn made him yell at her. She got so angry that she left his room in the middle of the night, and he was so angry that he didn't bother to go after her.

They didn't talk to each other for the rest of the weekend, and they never really made up either. Come the following Monday, they both went into their maths class and talked to each other as if nothing had happened until they both eventually forgot about it.

Thinking back, a lot of their fights ended this way.

Between work, his relationship with Sora, and dealing with his moping flatmate, Tai noticed he had very little free time to hang out with his usual social group. His mates hadn't failed to notice that either, so they had shown up to his office that Friday night to force him out with them. He had soon found himself at the bar he used to frequent weekly. At first, his mates were reprimanding him for working too much, but soon they became too drunk to care about why he was never around anymore.

He glanced at his watch, keeping careful track of the time. He had to leave soon to meet up with Sora. While he had initially been annoyed to leave early, he was starting to look forward to it. His friends were all drunk, but he couldn't get on their level because he knew Sora would disapprove.

It was never fun to be the sober person in a group of drunks, but he felt he had to be on his best behaviour around her. She claimed she had forgiven him for the Mimi incident, which not-so-parenthetically had not fallen too far from his strip club incident. He felt he was one strike away, and that thought was frightening.

Beside him, Kenji, one of his mates, was laughing like a maniac at something on his mobile.

It took a second to realise it was actually his own mobile.

"What are you doing to it?" Tai asked hastily, seizing it from his friend. He rolled his eyes when he saw that the background on his screen had been switched to a graphic picture of a naked man. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Loosen up," Kenji said drunkenly, moving forward to finish off his pint as Tai fixed it back to FC Tokyo's logo. "Why so serious?"

Tai ignored him, picking up the suit jacket and tie he had disregarded as he stood up. "Well, this has been fun, but I'm leaving."

He was immediately met with groans and other notions of displeasure.

"What's wrong with you? It's not even eight!"

"When did you become so lame?"

"Is it because I changed your mobile picture? Stop being so sensitive!"

"Are you at least going to buy us a round?"

Tai fished a couple banknotes from his wallet and laid them down. "There. I'm going to see Kari."

This excuse always worked, and as expected his mates immediately nodded their heads understandingly and wished her well. It made him feel bad, but he had learned that using his pregnant sister as an excuse to leave worked every time, no matter the situation. Nobody was douchey enough to not let him get away with it—kind of how nobody was douchey enough to use such a fake excuse.

"You're surprisingly good at doing dishes," Sora quipped.

"Some of us have impertinent flatmates, so I'm a master dish cleaner," he bragged, drying the last plate with a towel.

"I should invite you over more often."

"You use me," he protested, putting it away in the cupboard. "I slave away for you all the time, and I get nothing in return."

She reached over him to take out a wine glass for herself, then went to the refrigerator to get a beer for him. "As if. I made you dinner. You use me."

He grinned, his eyes following her movement through the kitchen. "Maybe just a little bit."

She turned her neck to look his way, flashing a small smile before disappearing into the sitting room. He quickly wiped his wet hands on a towel before following her out, bottle of red wine he had brought in hand.

This was a typical weeknight. After work, they would either go to a restaurant or make dinner at her place. Either way, they would end up at here, where they would sit on her couch, talk, maybe watch a film, maybe go out if they could figure out a quiet place to go. Once she got sleepy, she would send him home.

This was how his nights always were now. They were perfectly fine when they were happening. He enjoyed learning more about her and spending time with her in general, but it would still be disheartening once he looked back on them each Monday when his co-workers would ask about his weekend, and he'd realise he was always doing the same thing. He used to shake his head at Matt and his ex, thinking they were lame and wasting their lives.

"What do you want to do tonight?" Sora asked, settled on the couch, holding up his beer for him.

He took it but set it back down on the table, taking her by the arm and pulling her on his lap instead. "I can think of something." He trailed kisses down her neck and shoulder, tugging at the fabric of her shirt lightly.

She immediately stood up. "No."

He groaned, though he knew the moment he had tried it that she wouldn't approve. She didn't seem to mind seeing him in a frustrated state, laughing lightly before she leaned down to peck his lips. "I'm not ready."

"When will you be ready?" he pestered, knowing he was being insensitive and not helping his cause. "Tomorrow? A week? A month?"

She sat down beside him again, though he could have sworn she was farther away now. "Guess where we're going next Friday night."

"Are you trying to change the subject?" He looked at her with disbelief, wanting her to at least give him a hint, but she gave him such a shameless look that he gave in. "Where?"

"There's going to be a gala celebrating Japanese arts in Ueno. All of the major designers and artists from all over Japan will be attending to showcase their work."

He opened his beer can and took a large gulp, finding no interest in such event in the slightest. "Do we have to go? That sounds so boring."

With age, he had gotten very good at euphemising his opinions to be laced with diplomacy and tact, but every so often that old trace of him liked to peek out, most often around the people he was most comfortable with.

He knew he shouldn't have said it, confirmed when Sora looked visibly upset by his reaction.

"I'll have you know, Tai Kamiya, that one of my designs was chosen to be featured there, and it's going to be the representative piece for my company." Her eyebrows lowered in disappointment. "Can't you at least pretend to be excited for me?"

"What?!" he exclaimed quickly, kicking himself in his head. "You should have started with that instead of just saying what it was. Obviously, I'm much more excited to go now that I know you're personally involved! That's incredible!"

His cover-up didn't take away from her discontent. "You don't have to go if you don't want to."

"I want to!" he insisted, scooting closer to her, taking her hands and shaking them lightly to uplift her mood.

"Anyway," she dismissed, "could you fetch the corkscrew from the kitchen? I must have forgotten it."

"I am excited," he repeated, standing up obediently. "Sora, that's great news! Can you imagine? Just wait until I tell everyone that my girlfriend has one of her designs on public display. You're basically famous. "

It was not really a lie. Had any of his mates known he was currently in a relationship, he would be happy to tell him. It just so happened that outside of him, her, and whomever she had told, nobody knew about the two of them.

Nevertheless, it did the trick. She smiled a little at him, trying to hide her own excitement. "Thank you."

"Let's celebrate!" he suggested, reaching for the bottle of wine. He wasn't a big wine person, but Sora was. "Ah, right. Corkscrew. I'll go grab it."

He stood up and sprang to the kitchen, trying to remember where she put it. She was insanely organised, yet he could never find anything in her flat. His was far less orderly, but at least he and Matt still knew where everything was.

He heard a familiar beep coming from the sitting room. It was his mobile, probably his assistant asking him for something far after his work hours had ended. That meant it was urgent.

"Do you mind checking that for me?" Tai asked, still rummaging through drawers.

"It's in the third one—"

He opened the third drawer, finding it neatly placed in a tray. "Found it!" Grinning, he made it back to the sitting room. "You know, I knew where it was all along. I was just testing your memory." His grin faded as he saw that Sora paid him no mind, staring at the screen of his mobile instead. "What's wrong?"

"Who is Sonoka Umeki?"

He laughed, shaking his head in pity. She really was too much. "Oh, God. Sonoka is texting me? Just ignore it."

"'When can I come over? I can't wait to feel your body all over mine,'" she read aloud. She jerked her head so that she was glaring at him. "What does that mean, Tai?"

He felt genuine confusion, and it resulted in him standing there with a blank look on his face for a few seconds before snapping out of it.

"Wait, what?" He walked up to her, about to take his mobile out of her hand, but she pulled it closer to her. Alarmed, he explained, "Sora, she's this crazy girl who thinks she likes me. I haven't talked to her in ages."

"Really, because according to your mobile's clock, you've been texting her all night," she snapped angrily, pushing him a little. "What should I say back to her, or would you rather wait until I'm gone to write her back?"

She threw his mobile at him, and he barely caught it before it could hit him in the chest. He looked at the screen, mortified as he scrolled up. Evidently, Kenji had not only taken it upon himself to switch his background, but also to trick Sonoka into thinking he wanted to see her that night.

"Okay, this makes it look like I'm cheating on you."

The indifference in his tone set her off, as she hissed, "Really, Tai? Does it?! Is that what it sounds like?!"

"Just let me explain!" he said, taking her by the shoulders in an attempt to calm her down.

"Explain what?!" she snapped back, pushing him away.

"It's a huge misunderstanding," he started. She threw her head back, laughing harshly. "Sor, I swear I haven't talked to Sonoka in ages! My friends were just pulling a prank. It's nothing."

She looked him in the eyes, her own flaring with an unadulterated fury.

"I don't believe you."

Her words stunned him.

He didn't know why he was so shocked. He supposed if he looked at it from her situation, he would also have his doubts, but the fact that she didn't trust him… He almost felt betrayed.

"But it's the truth," he tried.

She was unwavering, looking at him with an aggressive glare unfitting for them. They had been dating for a while now. Didn't she trust him? He trusted her.

"Well, your 'truth' sounds a hell lot like a lie, and it's not like you've never done that before."

"I swear!" Tai defended, the injustice of being unfairly accused getting to him. "I went out for a drink with a few friends before coming here, and one of them played a stupid joke because he knows I can't stand her."

"Why would your friend do that if he knows you have a girlfriend?"

It was because they didn't know he had one, but he wasn't about to bring that up again.

"Look, I'll prove it to you." He held the phone between them so they could both see, scrolling up to the last text he had actually sent her, not realising it would only make it worse.

"'I can't stop thinking about you. Come over,'" Sora read his last message to her, glaring at him again.

"Okay," he said carefully, swearing at himself. "I'll admit to that one, but I was single back then."

Her eyes narrowed even more. "This was on September 5."

"Exactly!" Tai cried triumphantly. "We weren't dating back then."

"No, we weren't. That was the night of Mimi's party," she remembered, "which is the night you asked me out. Come to think of it, I had only met you the day before then."

He felt the colour drain from his face, at a loss as to how to explain himself.

It was because no matter how he put it, it was sketchy. He had called Sora, and when she hadn't answered, he had used Sonoka as a backup.

She was wordlessly demanding an explanation, and he contemplated lying, but scared because he was already in trouble, he told her the watered down version of the truth.

It wasn't padded enough.

"Get out of here, Tai," she fumed when he had finished. Before he could protest, she was storming away, a slam of her bedroom indicating that she was not to be disturbed.

Not that he would listen.

"Come on, Sora," he begged, talking loudly on his way there, stopping in front of her shut door. "I know I was wrong, but don't you think you're overreacting? We weren't dating yet, and I thought you were blowing me off! Surely, you've done something like this before too. It's not like—"

He knew he was sounding more defensive than apologetic when she threw open the door, her face red, eyes ablaze with anger, lips pursed to a thin line.

"No, I have never, ever, ever done anything like that," she seethed, voice dripping with venom. "You want to know why I won't sleep with you, Tai? It's because your supposed best mate told me the first night I met you that you sleep around, and I don't want to be another notch on your belt."

Whatever part of his brain that told him to not get defensive was kicked aside by the offensive comment, and he felt his own expression darken. "Let me get this straight. You're letting what some guy you don't even know who was drunk out of his mind override everything you've seen by dating me?"

She didn't miss a beat, not finding his challenge valid. "Obviously they weren't complete lies, as proven by this Sonoka girl, and don't even get me started on Mimi."

"You said you weren't mad about Mimi."

"Of course I'm mad about Mimi!" she shot back furiously. "How could that not affect me to know that you have history with my best friend?! Honestly, Tai, don't you have a brain?!"

He let the insult pass. "We don't have 'history.' You're exaggerating it."

She threw her hands up. "I don't know why you're sticking up for yourself. The week before our first date, you had a one-night stand with this Sonoka girl, and a few weeks before that, you screwed over my best friend. Am I lying right now? Aren't those facts, Tai?"

He stumbled for words for a second. "Yes, they are, but they don't count—"

"What about that girl from the convenience store?" she interrupted.

"What about her?"

She must have thought he was playing dumb, as she slowed her speech, clearly stressing each syllable. "What have you done with the girl from the convenience store?"

Realisation trounced the slight offence he took to the way she spoke to him. "Sor, I swear on my mother's life that I've never touched her. She just turned eighteen for crying out loud! Do you think I'm a paedophile?"

She didn't react to anything he said, not hesitating to ask another. "What about your next-door neighbour?"

This one made him slightly uneasier.

"Okay, first of all, I need you to know that I can't stand her. That being said, we snogged just a teensy bit on my birthday this year—wait!" he interrupted himself when he saw her open her mouth in fury. "There's a reason. I didn't want to do it, but she gave me a television as a present, Sor. I felt obligated to put out!"

It only made her angrier, but he was at the point where he figured anything he'd say would just aggravate that fact.

"I was single! You can't penalise me for going out when I was single. It's not fair. Yes, I've made regrettable choices, but I'm with you now. I don't want other women." He tried to take her hands. "History doesn't count."

She instantly yanked her hands away. "History is usually an accurate reading of how a person really is."

He wasn't usually one to get offended so easily, but he was also not one who got attacked very often.

"What about you?" he retorted. "You think you know me so well, but I don't even know the first thing about your past. I never asked because it didn't matter, but since you're so hung up on it, don't you think I deserve to know something too?"

"I don't mind telling you," she said, eyes narrowing that he was trying to bring this back to her. "I've only had one serious boyfriend. We dated for six years, and we broke up three years ago. That's it."

He was surprised how he even put two and two together, much less so instantaneously, but he noted three years ago coincided with the year she moved to Tokyo from Kyoto.

A thousand more thoughts appeared right afterward. Six years? That was a long time. What caused the breakup? And who broke up with whom? Did he live here? Did she still talk to him? He wasn't sure he would be okay with that. Three years ago? She couldn't expect him to believe she had done nothing during that time. More importantly, why so long? He didn't like being in relationships before his current one with Sora, but she was a natural. Had she not found somebody in three years because nobody right had come along, or was it because she was still getting over him? How did he stack up compared to him?

It wasn't the right time. She was already livid. He didn't want to provoke her further.

He sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. I'll tell Sonoka I have a girlfriend. I'll explain to her what really happened, but I don't like her. I never have."

"Then why did you pretend you did?"

"I don't know," Tai sputtered, not wanting to get into that. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. I'm with you now. Isn't that enough?"

She frowned. "Are you embarrassed of me?"

"What?" He was bewildered by the seemingly random question. "Why would I be embarrassed of you?"

"You've never introduced me to your friends."

"That's just because—" He cut himself off, not wanting to re-explain himself. He'd had this talk with her before. "You know why. If I tell one person, then it'll get back to Matt."

"But why are we sneaking around him?"

"He'll get upset."

"I don't understand. If he's your friend, he won't be upset that you're happy."

"I know," he said, a little impatiently. "As a friend, he'll be happy for me, but as a human being, it'll be a blow. Sor, you don't know him. He's just like that."

"I don't understand your logic."

"Just know it makes sense to me." He reached for her hand again. "Let's stop. It's supposed to be an exciting day for you. Tell me more about the gala."

She didn't let it go. "I think it's weird you're hiding me from your friends. Is Matt really the reason? You're doing all of this just for him?"

He couldn't deal with this. His head hurt from all the interrogation.

"Sora, if it's that important to you, I'll tell him. I want to tell him. Just not now, okay?"

She looked up at him, still frowning. He licked her nose.

"Ew, Tai!"

He laughed, tugging her so she would leave her room, leading her back to the sitting room with him. "Matt's boring. Tell me about your gala. What should I know? Who should I talk to? I don't really know much about fashion or art. Should I study so I don't embarrass you? You might find this hard to believe, but I was a terrible student."

Though he could tell she wanted to talk about it more, to his relief, Sora did let him change the subject. She must have been really excited to allow such thing.

He was safe for now, but Sora didn't easily forget. And unfortunately for him, neither did Matt.

17 August 2014