Chapter Five: Dying Embers
Hino Rei was bored. The six-year-old girl placed the red crayon back in its box, having just finished neatly coloring a picture of an apple, and sighed. That was the last picture in her coloring book. Now, what was she supposed to do?
Closing the book, Rei stood from her kneeling position at the coffee table in the living room and proceeded to put her art supplies away. Mrs. Yukana, her nanny, liked things to be neat and orderly, so she always made sure to clean up after she made a mess like a good little girl. Once that was done, Rei plopped down on the couch and started to braid her long raven hair.
"I'm so bored," she moaned to nobody in particular after securing her braid with the ponytail holder she had been wearing around her wrist like a bracelet. The little girl frowned, resting her elbow on the arm of the couch and cupping her chin in her hand. "Nobody wants to play with me tonight."
The Hino family had finished eating dinner about an hour ago, meaning Mrs. Yukana was in the kitchen, tidying up and washing the dirty dishes. Her mother, looking a little more tired than usual, had decided to take a short nap in her bedroom, and her father was working in his study like he always did after they ate. That left Rei by herself with nothing to do until her bedtime.
She briefly considered offering to help Mrs. Yukana with the dishes, but she knew the housekeeper would hear none of that from her beloved "little princess". Knowing her nanny, Mrs. Yukana would probably tell her to go play with her toys or take a bath, neither activity piquing Rei's interest. Why did she have to take a bath anyway? She would just get dirty again tomorrow.
Suddenly hearing her father's voice, Rei turned around in the couch to face the entryway of the living room. The entryway lead to the main hall, and across the hall was her father's office. He'd forgotten to close the door all the way, so some of the light filtered through and illuminated the darkened corridor. His voice was loud and full of authority as she suspected he spoke to somebody on the telephone.
Her father never yelled, but Rei could always tell when he was mad, and he was most definitely mad now. He had a way of speaking that reminded her of a judge in some ways, always in control and commanding respect even when he was angry. Her mother said that was one of the reasons he made such a good leader. He never let his personal emotions get in the way of doing his job.
Curious, like many young children are when they hear one of their parents talking, Rei slid herself off the leather couch and quietly tiptoed over to opened door. She then pushed it open a little wider to give her a better view of what was going on inside, careful not to be seen. Her father didn't like being disturbed while he was working. If he spotted her spying on him, she would probably get into huge trouble. Still, her youthful curiosity got the better of Rei, and she peeked in.
Keitaro sat at his desk in the center of the elegantly decorated room, talking on the phone with someone as she suspected. He was still dressed in the suit he wore to work that morning, but his jacket had been flung carelessly over the top of the chair in front of the desk, and his silk tie hung loose around his neck. The casualness of his attire betrayed him, though. Her father was everything but relaxed as he argued with whoever was on the other end of the line.
"…listen to me, Mihara-san. The only way we are going to handle this strike is by giving into some of their demands. The transportation system is an integral part of Tokyo's infrastructure. Millions of people depend on the monorail everyday to travel around the city, and we simply cannot afford to have this walkout last any longer. Traffic has been terrible, and businesses are starting to complain of widespread tardiness among their employees… Yes, I know it'll mean some budget cuts for other programs and possibly the salaries of government workers… If we don't do something soon, we aren't going to have a city to run, Mihara-san… Have my secretary set up an appointment with Terada-san tomorrow. I want to see him first thing after lunch… No, I'll look over the new budget proposals and see what I can do… I'll see you tomorrow then, Mihara-san. Goodnight."
After placing the receiver back in its cradle, Keitaro took off his gold wired-rimmed glasses and massaged his right temple, muttering something to himself. Rei couldn't quite understand his words, but she got the distinct feeling they weren't very nice. Her poor father…
Being governor of Tokyo must be incredibly tough, Rei thought to herself. He always seemed to work so hard. Very rarely did she ever see her father relax. Keitaro was a workaholic in the truest sense of the world. Even at home, after the day was over, he still continued to go over the day's work, virtually barricading himself in his study until all hours of the night. Sometimes he never even made it up to bed. Rei would sometimes come downstairs for breakfast only to see her father coming out of the office, still wearing the same clothes from the day before. She wondered if he even slept.
"Rei-san?"
The little girl nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Keitaro say her name. Lost in her own thoughts and concerns about her father, Rei had forgotten where she was. Or more precisely, where she wasn't supposed to be. "Gomen nasai, otou-sama," she apologized with a bow, her violet eyes lowered as she prepared for his usual lecture on respecting a person's privacy. "I didn't mean to spy on you."
Surprisingly, the lecture never came. Keitaro simply shook his head, his attention focused more on the stack of papers he was digging through than his eavesdropping daughter. "It's okay, Rei-san. Go play with your dolls," he said off-handedly while he flipped through a file. "Where are those reports? I know I brought them home with me…"
Though she knew she should leave, Rei opened the door even wider and stepped inside. Her father didn't seem to notice her continued presence in the room until she stopped about five feet away from his desk. "Otou-sama, did you lose something?" she asked, wanting to help. "Maybe I can help you look for it. Okaa-sama says I'm really good at finding things."
Keitaro briefly glanced up from his pile and put his glasses back on. "I'm sure you are, but it'll be better if I look for the budget proposals myself. Now, go play with your toys. I have a lot of work to do tonight."
"Hai," Rei replied softly as her father resumed his search for the missing papers. "I love you, otou-sama. Oyasumi."
"Oyasumi, Rei-san."
Her violet eyes saddened somewhat at Keitaro's impersonal good night. He didn't even bother to look at her. It was the same as every other night, still Rei couldn't help but wish he would occasionally say "I love you, too," or give her a kiss on the cheek before she went to bed. She would even settle for a simple "Rei-chan" every once in a while. Just a small gesture of affection, that was all she asked.
Sometimes she felt as if she and her father were complete strangers to each other. He was always so busy with work that she rarely saw him, except during breakfast and dinner, and when they did spend time together, he tended to ignore her. Rei tried her best to be the daughter she thought he wanted, but she was beginning to think no matter what she did, she would never be good enough.
She wiped away a tear and turned to leave, for once glad her father was too engrossed in his work to notice. Keitaro continued to search his desk drawers for the missing papers. From the look on his face, he was beginning to become rather frustrated, muttering a few choice words under his breath not meant for young ears. Rei stopped at the door and turned back around, suddenly knowing exactly where the budget proposals were hiding.
"Look in your briefcase, otou-sama," she said.
Keitaro closed the top drawer of his desk, his stony gray eyes surprised to see Rei still in the office. After he stared at her for a moment, the politician then reached for his briefcase sitting on the floor beside his desk and looked inside. He pulled out a green file folder labeled "Budget Proposals".
"Is that it?" Rei asked, unable to read the kanji.
Keitaro nodded as he closed the briefcase and started looking over one of the papers in the file. Glad that she could help, Rei smiled and decided to leave so her father could get his work done in peace.
"Rei-san?"
The girl glanced back toward her father when she heard her name, the barest glint of hope in her amethyst eyes. "Yes, otou-sama?"
"Arigatou," he said, after a brief pause.
"Oh." The glimmer disappeared, and Rei sighed as she turned to leave. Maybe she was asking too much. "Ganbatte, otou-sama."
Then she left, quietly closing the door shut behind her.
Later that night, as Takara tucked Rei into bed, the young mother sensed something was troubling her daughter. Rei had been unusually quiet ever since Takara woke from her nap and informed the little girl it was bedtime. She didn't even complain when Takara told her to take a bath like she normally did. It wasn't like her.
After pulling the sakura-printed blanket up around her daughter's shoulders, Takara brushed back Rei's bangs and placed a hand on her forehead to check her temperature. She didn't appear to have a fever, but her behavior concerned Takara just the same. "Rei-chan, are you feeling okay?" she asked. "Do you have a tummy ache?"
Rei shook her head. "I feel fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, okaa-sama."
Takara pursed her lips together, not believing her daughter for a second. Call it mother's instinct, but she knew something was wrong. Rei's normally bright violet eyes were dull and sorrowful, and her usual smile hid behind a small frown. Perhaps something had happened during her nap. "Did Yukana-san chastise you for being bad again?"
Again, the little girl shook her head, hugging her favorite teddy bear close to her body. "No, okaa-sama. I'm tired, that's all."
"Okay," Takara said, giving her daughter a small smile. She still thought something was bothering Rei, but she wasn't going to force her to talk about it if she didn't want to. The raven-haired woman bent over to kiss Rei softly on her forehead before she stood from her seat on the edge of the bed. "I'll let you sleep, then. I love you, Rei-chan. Oyasumi."
"I love you, too. Oyasumi, okaa-sama."
Takara turned off the small lamp beside Rei's bed, then turned to leave, surprised when she felt a small tug on the bottom of her skirt. "Okaa-sama?" Rei's voice said in the darkness.
Turning the lamp back on, Takara sat down beside her daughter and reached for the hand Rei offered. "Yes, Rei-chan? What is it?
"Does otou-sama love me?"
Stunned by the question, Takara didn't know quite what to say. She wondered what brought up such a topic. "Sweetie, of course your father loves you," she finally answered. "He loves the both of us very, very much."
"But he never tells me he loves me, or hugs me, or gives me kisses…" Rei said, her voice trailing off.
Takara sighed. It was true Keitaro never had been very affectionate toward their daughter. In fact, most people would say he was downright cold sometimes, but she knew in her heart he loved Rei. How could he not? She was his daughter, his own flesh and blood. He just didn't know how to express his love, that's all.
"Rei-chan, I know your father can seem rather distant, but that doesn't mean he doesn't love you. It's just the way he is. He doesn't like to show his emotions very often."
"Oh, I see," The little girl snuggled deeper under her blanket, giving her teddy bear a hug. Her eyes still seemed a little sad, but Rei forced a small smile on her face as Takara gave her another kiss good night. "Oyasumi, okaa-sama."
"Oyasumi, Rei-chan. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
Takara turned off the lights and exited the room, taking one last peek at her yawning daughter before quietly closing the door behind her. She then went downstairs to tell her husband good night. Finding the door to Keitaro's study closed, she lightly knocked, surprised when she got no answer.
"Keitaro?"
She pushed the door open and peeked inside. If Keitaro noticed she was there, he didn't show it. He was busy punching numbers in a calculator, occasionally stopping to mark something on his paper with a pencil or to mumble something to himself. It was obvious he was hard at work, so Takara decided it would be best not to disturb him. She began to close the door when she heard him say her name.
"Takara? Is that you?"
Takara stepped inside as the blond man glanced up from his work. "Oh, Keitaro, I didn't want to bother you," she said. "I can see you're busy."
Keitaro gave her a small smile, setting down his pencil. "You're not being a bother, Takara," he assured her. Taking off his glasses, he pinched the bridge of his nose and blinked a couple of times. "I needed to take a break anyway. All these numbers are starting to give me a headache."
"You've been working too hard again." Takara walked up behind his chair, resting her slender hands on his shoulders. His muscles were tenser than usual. "When was the last time you had a full night's sleep?"
"I'm fine," he insisted. "This transportation strike situation should be settled soon. I'm meeting with Terada-san tomorrow, and hopefully we'll finally come to an agreement on these budget issues. After that, things should be back to normal."
Takara frowned. Normal for Keitaro wasn't exactly healthy either. Even when he wasn't dealing with massive strikes, the governor of Tokyo kept a fairly hectic schedule, leaving very little time to spend with his family. It bothered her at first when he won the election soon after Rei's birth, but she eventually grew accustomed to the late hours he worked. She knew it was his most cherished dream to make his late uncle proud.
Still, she sometimes found herself looking back on their first years of marriage with wistful longing. There was a reason people called it the "honeymoon period". They had their share of occasional arguments, of course, but for the most part, it had been a blissful time.
All that changed when she told him she was pregnant and he announced he was running for the governor's seat. It wasn't a sudden change, like a light being switched off, but more subtle in nature. She first noticed it during her pregnancy, though she tried her best to ignore it. She attributed the missed doctor's appointments and general disinterest to his busy campaign and assumed once the baby was born and the campaign over, things would go back to the way they used to be, with a few minor changes. Nothing they couldn't handle.
But apparently she was a little too optimistic. After Rei's birth, Keitaro pulled himself even further away. Takara always knew he was a workaholic, but she never thought it would become so bad. He was so distant now. It really shouldn't have been such a surprise to hear Rei ask if her father loved her, now that Takara thought about it.
Wrapping her arms around her husband's neck, Takara's amethyst eyes saddened as she remembered the look on their daughter's face when she asked the question that now lingered in her mind. "Keitaro?"
"Hmmm?" He didn't look up, already back to work on the budget proposals.
"Do you love us?" she asked after a short pause. "Me and Rei-chan?
Takara felt her heart pound against her chest as she waited for what seemed like an eternity for him to answer. When he did, Keitaro dropped his pencil and rotated in his chair to face her. "What brought this subject up, Takara?" he asked, not providing the answer Takara was expecting.
"Tonight… Well, when I was tucking Rei-chan in bed, she asked me if you loved her," Takara finally said, her voice slightly stuttering. "Of course, I said you did, but --"
"Rei-san is just being silly," he interrupted her, brushing off her concerns as if they were nothing more than pieces of lint on one of his Italian suits. "Now, if you don't mind, I really do need to get back to work. Mihara-san is expecting these new figures tomorrow morning."
With those words, Keitaro turned his chair back around and resumed his work. His unspoken message was clear. The conversation was over.
After a few moments of standing behind Keitaro in silence, Takara kissed the top of his head. "I'll let you work, then," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "Try not to stay up too late, though. You need your rest."
He nodded. "I won't."
"Aishiteru, Keitaro. Oyasumi."
"Oyasumi, Takara."
Quietly, Takara slipped out of the office and into the dark hall. Keitaro didn't even seem to notice she had left. When she took one last peek inside before closing the door, he was once again punching numbers into his calculator as if he never had been interrupted.
Takara sighed, leaning against the cream-colored walls as she pulled herself into an embrace. It suddenly felt so cold, though the winter had long since passed and gone. She hugged herself even tighter, struggling not to release the tears that threatened to fall.
"Keitaro, who are you?" she whispered. "Where has the real you gone?"
Hearing the grandfather clock in the living room strike nine, Takara headed down the hall to the staircase, suddenly wanting nothing more than to curl up in bed and cry herself to sleep. She dashed up the stairs two at a time, nearly tripping over her own two feet as her vision was blinded by her salty tears. How could he act so cold toward her? Didn't Keitaro love her anymore?
"Hino-sama, is something wrong?" Mrs. Yukana inquired as the two crossed paths on the stairwell. The kind housekeeper had been heading downstairs for a late night snack when she spotted the distraught woman and reached for Takara's arm, forcing her to stop. "You're crying, dear."
Takara shook her head, wiping away some of the tears with the palm of her hand. "I don't want to talk about it. It's nothing."
"It certainly doesn't look like it's nothing. What is it?"
"Please, I want to go to bed," Takara pleaded. "Don't ask any more questions, Yukana-san. I just want to be alone for a while, okay? Oyasumi."
Mrs. Yukana didn't seemed convinced, but she reluctantly let go of the loose grip on her mistress's arm and allowed Takara to continue upstairs to her bedroom.
Once inside, Takara quickly undressed and changed into her nightgown, not bothering with her usual nightly beauty routine. Long hair unbound and face unwashed, she switched off the main light in the room before sitting down on her side of the empty bed. A small lamp sat on the night table beside her, which she turned on, its dim glow giving off only enough illumination to see the assorted items scattered around it on the table, and Takara reached for a tissue from a nearby box to blot away her tears.
"I'm being silly," she said to herself, sniffling once she managed to calm down. Takara began wringing the damp tissue with her hands, twisting it so it was like a rope around her slender fingers. "Keitaro is busy dealing with the strike. I shouldn't have bothered him with my questions. He was probably just distracted by his work, that's all…"
Even as Takara said that, though, she knew they were nothing but excuses. She had become quite the pro at doing that lately. It was the only way she knew how to deal with Keitaro's ever growing coldness toward his family. Making excuses was better than facing the truth.
But what exactly was the truth? Takara had been asking herself that very question for weeks -- no, months, maybe even years, if she was truly honest with herself -- and had yet to come up with a suitable answer. Or maybe she did have the answer and was too afraid to admit it…
The Keitaro downstairs working in his study was not the Keitaro she fell in love with that night on the beach. They shared some similarities, most notably their workaholic natures, but the new Keitaro lacked the old's tenderness -- a tenderness that might have been rarely shown, but always there in his eyes. Takara saw no such tenderness in the new one's gray eyes, only coldness. A stony wall blocking the window to his soul.
He was gradually pushing her away, had been pushing her away ever since Rei's birth nearly seven years ago. Takara could see that now.
But why? That was the thing she didn't understand. What had changed? The obvious answer was Keitaro being elected governor of Tokyo, but for some reason, she didn't believe that to be the correct conclusion. It felt to her as if he was using his job as an excuse for his behavior, rather than being the cause of it.
Another woman? It was hardly a secret that many politicians took mistresses while in office -- secretaries, interns, sometimes opponents' wives. From what she heard from Negishi's second wife, a former secretary herself, the practice was almost expected of them.
Takara shook her head. Keitaro would never do something like that. His faith in Christianity was too strong to ever allow him to do such a thing as to break their wedding vows. Besides, she had met his dowdy secretary before. Miss Katsuki was efficient in her job, but hardly a looker.
The only other reason she could imagine to explain his behavior was the one thing Takara refused to believe, even if Keitaro hadn't answered her question when she asked him about it. Her mind simply could not comprehend theidea that...no. She couldn't even put her worst fear into words.
He still loved her; she had to believe that.
She had to believe that.
Wiping away another batch of tears that had somehow fallen with a clean tissue, Takara reached over to turn off the lamp. It was pointless to keep torturing herself like this. However, just before she touched the lamp, her watery eyes fell upon a framed drawing hanging on the wall. It was obviously sketched by a childish hand, the stick figures crudely drawn and colored. Forgetting about the light, Takara lifted the picture from its hook and smiled as she remembered the day Rei had drawn it for her.
"Okaa-sama, look!"
Distracted from her reading by her four-year-old daughter's plea for attention, Takara placed a bookmark in between the pages she had been reading and set the closed book down on the end table beside the couch. In front of her, an adorable little sprite with the smile of an angel stood, her purple eyes bright and innocent. The young mother smiled, not really minding the interruption. She always had time for her Rei-chan.
"What is it, sweetie?" she asked the little girl as Rei crawled on her lap.
"I drew a picture for you! Here."
Rei proudly showed her the drawing she had been so diligently on for the past hour, the artwork quite good for someone of her age. Of course, Takara was admittedly biased when it came to anything her daughter did. The picture showed a group of three stick-figure women standing outside a large house and a group of skyscrapers in the distance. One of the women was significantly shorter than the other two, representing Rei, and she was holding hands with the woman with long black hair and purple eyes beside her. Takara deduced that was supposed to be her. The last woman had gray hair pulled back in a bun and she wore a frilly apron over her triangle-shaped dress like Mrs. Yukana, Rei's nanny, always wore.
"It's beautiful, Rei-chan," Takara said, giving her daughter a hug. "Is this a family portrait?"
The little girl nodded, pointing to each of the stick-figures as she confirmed Takara's guesses on each of the women's identities. "See, there's me, you, and Yukana-san. And that's our house."
"But where is your father?" Takara asked, noticing that one member of the family was significantly missing. Keitaro was nowhere to be seen. "Did you forget to put him on there?"
Rei pointed to the buildings on the right side of the page. "No, he's there, but he's at work. See? That's Tokyo. He's inside, so we can't see him now."
Takara chuckled at the little girl's explanation for her father's absence and ruffled Rei's hair.
"Oh, I see… Very appropriate. Arigatou, Rei-chan. Let's find a picture frame and hang it on the wall…"
Very appropriate, indeed, she thought sadly as a tear splattered on the glass of the frame.
The next morning, Keitaro was awakened by the golden rays of the morning sun passing through one of the windows and falling on his slumbering figure. He groaned as he slowly opened his gray eyes to the world. The bright light almost blinded him. Where was he?
Blinking a couple of times to adjust to the now not so bright sunshine, the politician sat up, his back muscles sore from sleeping in such an uncomfortable position. Instead of his bed, he was sitting in a leather chair behind a neatly organized desk. "I must have fallen asleep in the office again," he mumbled, reaching for his glasses sitting on top of a stack of completed paperwork.
It wasn't an unusual occurrence for Keitaro. Oftentimes he would wake up in the morning only to find himself either sleeping at his desk or on the sofa located against the far wall of the office. It wasn't the most luxurious way to get a good night's rest, but over the years, he'd gotten used to it. Now, it was almost second nature.
Putting on his glasses, Keitaro stretched and rolled his shoulders and neck, trying to work out a few lingering kinks in his muscles. The soreness wasn't too bad though. Most likely the pain would disappear by the time he got to work.
Keitaro then reached for the budget proposal folder and flipped through the papers inside. It took him almost until two o'clock in the morning, but he had finally worked out what he hoped would be a suitable compromise. If things went well with Mr. Terada this afternoon, the transportation strike that had plagued downtown Tokyo for the past couple of weeks would be over by Monday morning. He glanced over the figures one more time with satisfaction before putting the folder, along with some other important paperwork, back in his briefcase.
The antique grandfather clock standing in the corner of the office chimed the new hour, and Keitaro glanced up. It was earlier than he expected, though he could already smell the fresh aroma of coffee brewing in the kitchen. Somebody, most likely Mrs. Yukana, was preparing breakfast. Deciding he should freshen up a little bit before they ate, Keitaro left the office and went upstairs to change out of yesterday's suit.
Takara was still asleep when he slipped into their bedroom after washing up. Not wanting to disturb her, Keitaro quietly grabbed one of his suits from the closet and began to dress.
However, he couldn't help but to stare at his slumbering wife as he recalled the question she asked him last night. He didn't think much of it at the time, too caught up in his work to care, but seeing the small wad of tissues sitting on the nightstand beside the bed made him pause. Had Takara been crying?
Keitaro tossed aside a rejected tie and instead took a seat on the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb her too much. The mattress shifted underneath his added weight, but other than a short moan, Takara appeared to remain unaware of his presence. That brought a small smile to his face. Takara could sleep through almost anything if she tried hard enough.
At first, he simply looked at her, mildly concerned when he saw how skinny she had become. Takara always was on the slender side, giving the impression of a fragile porcelain doll that could break with the slightest touch, but she now appeared almost anorexic. Her appearance shocked him. Why hadn't he noticed it until today? Surely she didn't lose ten pounds overnight. Had he really been that preoccupied with his work he couldn't see such an alarming change in Takara's looks? He didn't even bother dignifying that last question with an answer. Keitaro knew his schedule, especially as of late, didn't leave him much time to spend with his family.
"Oh, Takara," he whispered, lightly caressing her pale cheek with his thumb. "I…"
The alarm clock beeping on the nightstand interrupted Keitaro before he could complete his sentence. He pulled his hand away as if he had touched a simmering pot on the stove and shook his head. Not now.
By the time Takara opened her sleepy violet eyes, Keitaro had moved from his spot sitting on the bed and had begun looking for another tie on his tie rack. He finally selected a red one, throwing it around his neck before he turned around to see Takara reaching for her robe laying at the foot of the bed. "Ohayo, Takara."
"Ohayo," she replied in a soft voice. Takara glanced over to the other side of the bed and saw it had not been slept in. "You never came to bed last night, did you?"
Keitaro shook his head, expertly knotting his tie. "I slept in the office. It was late when I finally finished working on those budget proposals, and I didn't want to bother you."
"Oh."
It was funny how many different ways that simple little interjection could be taken, depending on what tone the speaker used. It could be an "oh" of surprise, of indifference, of embarrassment, or of anger. Takara's tone was of none of those, however. Her voice quiveredwith disappointment.
Keitaro knew he should have said something, but he didn't know what, so he continued to dress as Takara got out of bed. He watched his wife pull her robe over her nightgown and sit down at the vanity, amethyst eyes staring blankly at her reflection in the mirror as she brushed the knots out of her long raven hair. The distance between them was undeniable. They might as well have been two strangers sharing a hotel room. Keitaro turned his gaze away from his wife, not wanting to think about their problems. He knew it was mostly his fault.
However, after Keitaro finished putting on a handsome pair of jade cuff links, he unconsciously found himself walking toward the vanity, stopping right behind Takara's chair. His wife jumped, startled when he rested his hands on her slender shoulders, and put her brush back down on the vanity table.
"Keitaro…" Takara said, preferring to look at his reflection in the mirror rather than to turn around to face him. She continued staring straight ahead, her purple eyes dull and lifeless.
"Would you like to go out to dinner tonight?" Keitaro asked, the words falling out of his mouth before he could even think the idea over.
It pleased him, though, when he saw the slightest twitch of a smile on Takara's lips. "Dinner?" she repeated, finally craning her neck to look up at him. "We haven't been out to eat in ages. What is the occasion?"
Keitaro shrugged. "No real reason," he said. "I just thought it would be nice. Maybe we could invite Miyuki-san and her husband or Minoru and his girlfriend-of-the-month to come with us, if you wanted."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Keitaro," Takara replied, her face brightening as her lips curled into a full-blown smile. She reached for the hand resting on her left shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "I'll ask Miyuki if she and Watanabe-san can make it tonight when she comes over this afternoon."
"Good, then it's a date. I'll make reservations at Umi's for eight o'clock. Does that sound fine to you?"
"It sounds perfect."
Watanabe Miyuki, formerly Asaka, arrived at the Hino manor promptly at two o'clock, right on schedule for her weekly visit. Every Saturday, she and Takara liked to get together for tea and exchange news and gossip. Since it was one of the few times they could get together due to her busy schedule, Miyuki always looked forward to their visits, and today was no exception.
Walking up to the entrance, she shifted the small gift she had brought to her left arm and rang the door bell. Inside, she heard the sound of a little girl shouting "I'll get it!" while an older woman sternly, but affectionately, told the "hime-chan" to mind her manners. Miyuki smiled in amusement, and a few seconds later, the front door opened.
"Konnichiwa, Watanabe-san," the black-haired girl said, bowing politely as she had been taught to do. "Please come in."
"Konnichiwa, Rei-chan." Miyuki stepped inside the house and into the hall, where she took off her shoes and slipped into a pair of guest slippers. "Where is your mother?"
Rei's nanny walked up behind the girl, placing a wrinkled hand on top of her adorable charge's head. "Hino-sama was upstairs, taking a nap before your visit, but she should be down shortly, Watanabe-san," Mrs. Yukana answered for the child, who was currently eyeing the wrapped gift in Miyuki's arm with much interest. No doubt she could smell the pleasing aroma of freshly made chocolate chip cookies coming from the closed box. "Hime-chan, why don't you go tell your mother Watanabe-san is here?"
Rei nodded. "Hai, Yukana-san!"
The two women watched the pixie run off in the direction of the stairs, Miyuki chuckling as Mrs. Yukana told her to slow down before she hurt herself. Rei slowed her run to a fast walk, but as soon as she was out of their line of sight, they heard her speed up once again as she ascended the staircase. The elderly housekeeper shook her head. "That girl…" she muttered, though it was obvious by the loving tone in her voice that Mrs. Yukana was just teasing.
"Rei-chan is very much like Takara was at that age," the blonde commented. "If I didn't know better, I would swear she was her mother's clone."
Mrs. Yukana nodded in agreement. "Yes, Hime-chan does take a lot after her mother, but sometimes, I see bits of my Keitaro-chan in her as well." She paused, her eyes suddenly full of sadness. "Especially in their need for…"
The housekeeper's voice trailed off when they heard two pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs. Miyuki was tempted to ask Mrs. Yukana what she was about to say, but the woman shook her head as if to say "never mind" and called to her mistress when Takara's willowy figure came into sight. "Hino-sama, where would you like to serve tea today?" she asked, looking up at the staircase. "In the living room?"
Takara shook her head, letting go of an impatient Rei's hand to let her daughter run ahead down the steps. "Why don't we have tea on the veranda?" she suggested, her hand tightly gripping the rail of the staircase as she slowly made her way downstairs. "It's such a beautiful spring day. It would be shame to waste it inside, don't you think?"
"As you wish. Come, Hime-chan." With a bow in Takara's direction, Mrs. Yukana took Rei's hand and lead the girl to the kitchen to help prepare tea, leaving the two long-time friends to speak in private.
Miyuki, thinking her friend looked paler than usual, pursed her lips together as she waited for Takara to finish the last few stairs. Her appearance, to say the least, concerned her. Maybe it had been a bad idea to come today. Takara was obviously in no condition to receive visitors. She looked like she needed rest, not conversation and cookies. "Takara, are you sure you feel up to tea?" Miyuki asked as Takara reached the bottom of the stairs. "You look tired. Maybe I should leave and let you go back to bed. I can always come over some other time."
"Don't be ridiculous," Takara replied with a breezy smile. "I feel fine. In fact, I feel better than fine. I feel wonderful."
"B-but…"
"No buts, Miyuki." Takara wagged a finger at the blonde with her right hand, the other hand on her hip. "You are not ruining my perfect day. I won't let you."
Miyuki raised an eyebrow. "Perfect day, huh? What is so great about today?" she asked, somewhat curious. "Oh, and I bought you a gift."
Takara winked, taking the gift her friend offered. "I'll tell you over tea. Now, come. Let's go out to the veranda. We have so much to talk about, and whatever is in this box smells absolutely delicious. Chocolate chip cookies from the bakery downtown, right? You know they're my favorite. Arigatou. They'll be a perfect snack to have with our tea."
Against her better judgment, Miyuki followed Takara back outside onto the veranda surrounding the bottom floor of the house and took a seat at the small table set up just for such an occasion. While Takara did look tired and pale, Miyuki did have to admit she looked happier than she had in quite a long time. There was a twinkle in her amethyst eyes and a smile on her lips that had long remained hidden underneath fatigue and depression. It was nice to see her so genuinely happy for a change. For the past couple of months or so, Miyuki sensed Takara had been wearing a mask of sorts, pretending everything was fine when it was obvious everything was not. Today, however, she felt she was seeing a peek of the real Takara, albeit a little skinnier than she remembered.
A few minutes later, Mrs. Yukana and Rei reappeared on the porch, the older woman carrying a heavy tray in her hands. The little girl ran off when she saw a freshly raked pile of sakura blossoms in the middle of the yard while the housekeeper set the tray down on the table and began pouring two glasses of tea for her mistress and Miyuki. Mrs. Yukana then went back into the house after they assured her they didn't need anything else.
"So, what are you so happy about, Takara?" Miyuki asked after Mrs. Yukana left. The blonde took a sip of the liquid as she waited for her friend to answer. When she didn't, too occupied with watching Rei playing in the pile of blossoms, Miyuki rolled her eyes and reached across the table to tap Takara's hand. Apparently, some things never changed. She was as dreamy as ever. "Uh, Takara… Moshi moshi, Takara!"
"Hmmm?" The young mother turned her attention back to her guest, a soft smile on her face. "Oh, gomen, Miyuki. I was taking a trip down memory lane for a second, watching Rei-chan play in the sakura blossoms. Remember when we were little and you and I would help otou-san rake the petals around Hikawa every spring?"
Miyuki laughed. "What do you mean you 'helped'? If I remember correctly, all you wanted to do was jump in the piles Kondo-sama and I made and make a bigger mess than before. I hardly call that helping."
"True," Takara admitted, her eyes once again looking over at her daughter, "but it was fun." She sighed, grabbing a cookie from the open box and setting it down on her plate. "Now, what were you asking before?"
"I was wondering why you were so happy today," Miyuki repeated. "I must say I haven't seen you this excited since my wedding back in December. It's nice to see you really smile again, Takara, and not those fake smiles you've been giving me lately."
Stirring her glass of tea with a spoon, Takara suddenly found the swirls on the surface of the green liquid much more fascinating than the sympathetic look on her friend's face. "They weren't fake…"
The blonde reached across the table to place a comforting hand over her friend's. She wished Takara would tell her what was weighing so heavily on her mind lately. Every time Miyuki brought the subject up, Takara would insist everything was perfectly fine and plaster one of those stupid, fake smiles on her face. Those smiles weren't fooling anybody, least of all her best friend since diapers, and Miyuki was getting tired of her denying something was wrong.
"You know you don't have to put on a brave face with me, Takara. Something has been bothering you, hasn't it?"
"Miyuki, I don't know what you're talking about," Takara said, pulling her hand away to break her cookie in half. "Nothing has been bothering me."
"Please stop saying that," Miyuki begged. "I know you, Takara, and you haven't been acting like yourself lately. Something is wrong." The blonde paused, feeling her pulse quicken as a thought hit her. "Is it your heart? Did Sakamoto-sensei tell you something that you've been keeping from us?"
She breathed a sigh of relief when Takara shook her head. "No, that's not it," the mother said. "Sakamoto-sensei said I was doing fine at my last appointment, though he was a little concerned about my weight loss."
"But you do admit something has been worrying you, though, right? You said 'that's not it,' implying that 'it' is something else."
Takara made a face, realizing her mistake. Miyuki probably would have laughed if she weren't so concerned. She again reached for Takara's hand, surprised by how light and bony it felt. "Please, tell me," Miyuki said. "I want to know."
"It's nothing much, really," Takara finally replied, once she realized she had no choice but to tell the truth. "It's just… Well, Keitaro has been working very hard these last few months. I mean, harder than usual, and we've been drifting apart. To be completely truthful, he's been rather distant ever since Rei-chan's birth, but I didn't realize it until I saw you and Watanabe-san get married. I saw how much in love you two were, and I guess I was a little jealous."
"Oh, Takara…" Miyuki murmured. She had no idea. "Gomen nasai."
The former miko laughed, breaking the serious mood. "Don't apologize, Miyuki," Takara said. "It's fine, now. I think things are going to get better between us. That's why I'm so happy today. This morning, Keitaro told me he was going to take us out to dinner at Umi's tonight and he said I could invite you and Watanabe-san to come with us. So, can you come?"
"I don't think we have any other plans tonight," Miyuki answered, mentally going through their schedules in her head. She was glad to hear things were going well between Takara and Keitaro again. Though she never mentioned it to Takara, Miyuki had suspected they were having a few problems when Keitaro failed to attend the wedding because of an important meeting. "But are you sure you and Keitaro-san don't want to be alone together? Kazuya and I don't want to impose on a romantic reconciliation."
"You won't be imposing. In fact, Keitaro said he wanted to invite Minoru-san and his girlfriend along as well."
At the mention of Keitaro's friend's name, Miyuki almost choked on the cookie she had in her mouth. "Minoru-san?" she managed to squeak after she took a large gulp of tea to wash down the cookie.
Takara burst into a peal of laughter at her reaction. "Yes, Minoru-san," she repeated. "Why? Is that a problem?"
Embarrassed by making such a big deal over such a minor thing, Miyuki blushed a bright red. Takara still didn't know what had happened between the two of them the hour before her wedding, and she intended to keep it that way. There were some things not even Takara needed to know about. Just thinking about it made her…
"No, of course not!" she insisted, shaking her head vehemently. "Don't be silly, Takara. Why would that be a problem?"
Takara's eyes narrowed into slits as she leaned over the table, looking at her friend with suspicion. "Oh, I don't know…" she drawled. Miyuki could tell Takara was enjoying watching her squirm. It wasn't often she was given the chance to turn the tables on her best friend. "Why don't you tell me? You've been avoiding Minoru-san like a case of the plague ever since your wedding to Watanabe-san. Don't even try to deny it, Miyuki," she said when she noticed the blonde opening her mouth in denial.
"I haven't been avoiding him…exactly," Miyuki replied, unable to flat-out lie to her best friend. "I just haven't seen him lately. That's all."
It was the truth, in a way. It wasn't as if she wouldn't talk to Minoru if she happened to see him walking down the street or eating in a restaurant. She wasn't the kind of person who would ignore an old friend if she saw him and give him the cold shoulder. On the other hand, she didn't actively go out of her way to find him either. And the fact that she always seemed to come down with a sore throat or a headache whenever she knew there was a possibility she would run into him was purely coincidental. Actually, now that she thought about it, her throat was feeling a little scratchy today…
"He loves you, you know," Takara said softly, breaking the silence between them. "Ever since the day he brought Keitaro to Hikawa to buy those good luck charms, he has loved you."
Miyuki's chocolate brown eyes widened in surprise before she smiled and stirred the surface of her tea with her finger. "I know," she whispered, remembering his words on that fateful day. They were permanently engraved in her memory and in her heart. "But for me… It's Kazuya."
"So, will you come tonight?"
Miyuki nodded as Rei, bored with playing in the sakura blossoms, ran over and hopped on her mother's lap. "Hai, we'll come."
"Good."
Sitting at the bar of the high-end restaurant where they occasionally met for lunch, Minoru glanced down at his watch, wondering why Keitaro was so late. Tardiness wasn't usually his style. More often than not, Keitaro was the one kept waiting at the bar while Minoru made his rounds around the restaurant, greeting business associates and flirting with the beautiful waitresses. Chuckling to himself, the businessman swiveled his barstool around to face the entrance of the room. There was a first time for everything, he supposed.
"Another tea, Uchizawa-san?" the bartender asked, reaching for the empty glass on the countertop.
Minoru nodded, his attention caught by an attractive brunette waitress passing by. She must have been a new girl, because Minoru didn't recall seeing her before. He wondered briefly if she was seeing anybody before turning back around. "Yes, please," he replied.
"Ah, I see you noticed Tomoyo-san. Wednesday was her first day on the job," the bartender informed him with a grin, reading his mind. Apparently, Minoru's reputation proceeded him. The man placed another glass of green tea in front of Minoru and began wiping the old one clean. "Pretty, isn't she? I would ask her out myself if I wasn't afraid she was like the others."
"The others?"
"You know, only working here with the hopes of landing a rich husband, or at least becoming some important man's mistress. That's the reason why most of the girls apply for jobs here, you know. That, and the big tips."
Minoru couldn't disagree with the bartender's rather cynical view of the waitresses' intentions. He'd dated quite a few girls he met at the restaurant, and most, if not all, were only interested his modest wealth. Still, he had a good vibe about Tomoyo. She seemed genuinely sweet. "You should ask her out," he advised the lovesick bartender. "Take a chance. She just might be the one."
The other man raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were interested in her, Uchizawa-san. Why would you be telling me to go after Tomoyo-san?"
"Let's just say I have a good feeling about the two of you," Minoru answered with a wink. "Far be it for me to stand in the way of true love."
"Gee, thanks. Maybe I will."
Besides, I've already found the one, Minoru thought to himself as he watched the young man approach Tomoyo. Taking a sip of his tea, his thoughts turned toward a certain chocolate-eyed blonde, who, even now, occupied a large part of his heart.
Miyuki had been avoiding him ever since the "incident," not that he really blamed her. It was stupid of him to make such a confession right before her wedding to another man. Minoru still didn't understand exactly why he did it when he already knew she didn't reciprocate his feelings. Her heart belonged to another, and as much as Minoru wanted to hate his rival for her affections, he couldn't. Watanabe Kazuya was a good man, and he made Miyuki happy. If she was happy, then that was all that mattered, no matter how much pain it might have cost him.
Minoru didn't regret telling her, though. Love was something he would never regret. He was glad he finally told Miyuki how he felt, even if she didn't feel the same about him. At least now he wouldn't spend the rest of his life wondering, "What if?"
"Sorry I'm late, Minoru," a familiar voice said, bringing the businessman back to the real world. The owner of the voice sat down on the stool beside him and ordered a tea from another bartender. "Traffic is horrendous out there."
Minoru laughed heartily. To say the traffic in downtown Tokyo was horrendous was the understatement of the year. "No kidding, Keitaro. I was a few minutes late myself. When is this transportation nightmare going to end?"
"Well, if my meeting with Secretary Terada-san goes well today, I'm hoping by Monday," the governor replied, not finding the situation particularly funny. "We're supposed to go over the new budget I am proposing during the special session of the Assembly on the seventeenth."
"Do you want me to take a look over those numbers for you real quick?" Minoru might have been a slacker in most of his classes during college, but the one subject he never had a problem understanding was math. He had a head for money and numbers that impressed even his studious, hard-working friend on occasion.
Keitaro shook his head, massaging his right temple. "No, that's not necessary. The math's correct. I stayed up until two this morning triple-checking all the calculations."
"It shows," the redhead commented, noticing the faint circles underneath Keitaro's sleep-deprived eyes. His appearance reminded Minoru of all the times in college when his workaholic roommate would hold all-night study sessions while he went out partying. "When was the last time you slept in your own bed instead of the study?"
"That obvious?" The governor sighed, wrapping his hands around the glass of tea the bartender sat in front of him. He didn't take a drink, though, looking down at his reflection on the surface of the green liquid. "My schedule has been rather hectic the last few weeks because of the strike, but it's nothing I can't handle. I knew when I took the oath of office it would mean long hours and hard work. I'm fine."
"But what about Takara-san and Rei-chan?"
Keitaro glanced up at the question. "What about them?" he asked. "Why do you ask?"
Minoru shrugged, a little bit surprised by the defensive tone in his friend's voice. It was just an innocent question. "No reason. It's just that it must be hard for them, with you always working and all. That's all. You said it yourself before that the world of politics is no place to raise a family."
The governor's eyes seemed to darken. "It's not," Keitaro said. He took a small sip of his drink before continuing. "I know Takara wishes I was home more. Things have been strained between us lately, even more than usual. Last night…"
"What?" Minoru asked when Keitaro suddenly stopped before completing the sentence. His friend looked lost in thought, his gray eyes staring off into space. "What happened last night?"
The blond shook his head. "It's nothing," he replied. "Takara understands how important my job is too me. She's been nothing but supportive."
"That she is," Minoru agreed. "Takara-san adores you."
That comment provoked a small smile on Keitaro's face. "Sometimes I think she loves me too much," he said mostly to himself, though Minoru managed to catch most of the words. The redhead frowned, confused by what Keitaro meant, but before he could inquire more, the governor pushed his glass away and stood from his stool. "I really should head back to the office now. I don't want to be late for the meeting with Terada-san."
"So soon?" Minoru checked the time. According to his watch, they'd only been speaking for about five minutes. "But we haven't been seated yet. Can't you at least stay for appetizers?"
"I'm afraid not, although that does remind me of something I meant to ask you," Keitaro said as he signaled the bartender for the bill. "Takara and I were wondering if you and a date would like to join us for dinner tonight, along with Miyuki-san and Watanabe-san. The reservation is for eight at Umi's."
Minoru's eyes widened at the mention of Miyuki's name. "Miyuki and her husband are coming as well?"
Keitaro nodded. "As far as I know, they are," he answered, giving his friend a strange look as he signed the bill. "And when did you start referring to Miyuki-san in such a familiar fashion?"
"We're good friends, so why shouldn't I?" Minoru quickly replied, hoping Keitaro didn't notice the faint blush crawling across his cheeks. He decided to change the subject before Keitaro could ask any more questions. "Anyway, dinner sounds great. I don't know if I'll be able to find a date on such short notice, but I'll try."
Keitaro laughed, his mood lightening for the first time that afternoon. "I highly doubt getting a date for dinner will be that difficult a task for the great Uchizawa Minoru."
"You'd be surprised, Keitaro. I'll see you tonight. Good luck with the meeting."
"Thanks. Ja ne."
Keitaro arrived back at his office twenty minutes later, thanks to the still horrible traffic in downtown Tokyo, only to have his secretary inform him Terada was also running late for their meeting. He told the dowdy brunette to send Terada in as soon as the Secretary of Transportation arrived, then entered his private office.
Taking a seat behind the large oak desk in the center of the room, Keitaro reached over for some of the paperwork sitting in his "To Do" tray, intending to get some work done before the meeting. There was no point in twiddling his thumbs while he waited for Terada to show. However, his attention soon drifted from the proposals to the single picture frame sitting on the edge of his desk.
The frame contained their family portrait. Takara had insisted they take one two years ago to send out with their Christmas cards, finding that other than a couple of snapshots taken on a short vacation the August before and some newspaper clippings, there were no pictures of all three of them together. Smiling sadly, Keitaro sat down his pen and took the heavy silver frame in his hands.
The three of them were wearing their Sunday best, decked out in the traditional colors of one of his religion's holiest holidays. He stood in the back, dressed in a black suit and a red-and-green-striped tie, as his left hand rested on his wife's slender shoulder. Takara sat in the leather armchair beside him, her long black hair pulled back in a French braid. She wore an elegant satin green dress which contrasted beautifully with her amethyst eyes. And on her lap sat little Rei, looking quite adorable in her red velvet dress trimmed in lace, a large matching bow tied behind her head, white tights, and patent leather Mary Janes. On the surface, they appeared to be the perfect family, but appearances, like some politicians he knew, had a tendency to be deceiving.
Keitaro sighed, his attention focused on Takara's smiling face in the portrait, so different than the won she wore as of late. Why did he keep pushing her away? He hated seeing her so sad, yet he never did anything about it. Even their dinner plans for tonight wouldn't change anything. He already knew that. One night wouldn't make up for all the disappointments she'd suffered over the years. Sure, they would laugh, catch up with Minoru and Miyuki, maybe get a little drunk with champagne… But once the night was over, Takara would kiss him goodnight before she went upstairs, and he would lock himself in his study to work on his speech for the upcoming Assembly meeting until two or three o'clock in the morning, when he would either fall asleep at his desk or move to the couch. It was always the same.
But would he do anything about it? Probably not.
He was such a coward.
There was a knock on the door, and Keitaro glanced up, placing the picture face-down on his desk. "Come in," the governor said, once again all business.
A young man, one of his interns and a family friend who happened to be the former Governor Negishi's grandson, opened the door and popped his head inside. "Hino-sama, Katsuki-san is on her break, and Terada-sama has just arrived for your two o'clock meeting. May I send him in?"
The governor nodded, reaching for the revised budget proposal. "Hai, Kaidou-kun. Show him in."
"Okaa-sama, why are you getting all dressed up?" Rei asked, bouncing up and down in her seat on her parents' king-sized bed as she watched her mother struggle to zip up the back of her dress. "Are you going somewhere tonight?"
The time was six o'clock, and Takara had just finished slipping into a violet sheath dress. It was the third outfit she tried on that evening, trying to find the right dress for her date with Keitaro. She wanted to look absolutely perfect tonight.
"Your father is taking me out to eat tonight," Takara said with a smile in response to her daughter's question. Finding it impossible to zip the rest of the dress by herself, she squatted down in front of Rei and pulled her long hair to the side. "Rei-chan, will you finish zipping my dress for me, sweetie?"
"Hai!" The little girl stopped her bouncing and pulled the zipper all the way up. "All done, okaa-sama!"
"Arigatou."
Takara grabbed onto one of the bed posts and slowly pulled herself off the floor, suddenly feeling a little light-headed. She recognized it as one of her more mild "spells". They were becoming more and more frequent, but Takara was becoming quite a pro at hiding them from her friends and family. Not even Dr. Sakamoto was aware of them. This time, however, Rei noticed when her mother slightly faltered as she tried to stand. "Okaa-sama, are you okay?"
The attack wore off quickly, and Takara nodded her head. "I'm fine, sweetie," she insisted. Takara wasn't about to let a little dizzy spell ruin her wonderful evening. Standing, she studied her reflection in the full-length mirror with a critical eye. "How do I look in this dress? Is it too baggy?"
She smoothed out a few non-existent wrinkles in the silky fabric, frowning. The dress was about a size too big for her slender frame, as was most of her wardrobe. If she'd had time, she would have asked Miyuki to take her into downtown Tokyo and gone shopping for something better-fitting to wear tonight, but it appeared the sheath was the next best choice. It was either this one or the dress she had worn to Miyuki's wedding.
From her seat on the bed, Rei shook her head. "You look beautiful, okaa-sama," her daughter assured her, her eyes bright with adoration. "Just like a princess."
Smiling, Takara sat down beside her daughter and wrapped her arms around the sweet little angel. "Arigatou, Rei-chan," she said, kissing the top of Rei's head. "You always know exactly what to say to make me feel better. What would I ever do without you?"
Rei cutely shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know."
"Me, neither. And I don't think I want to know," Takara said, playfully tapping the tip of Rei's nose. "Now, I really do need to finish getting ready before your father comes home. You know how much he hates being late."
Takara gave Rei another hug before she walked over and took a seat at the vanity, her daughter following right behind her. Rei always loved to watch her mother style her hair and apply her make-up. Standing on the left side of the vanity, the girl intently stared at her mother as Takara pulled her long, raven hair into a simple and elegant French twist.
"You need some earrings," Rei said matter-of-factly, her tiny hands digging in the handsome jewelry box Takara kept on the upper-left-hand corner of the vanity. A few seconds later, she pulled out a pair of large lavender jade hoops and held one of the earrings up to her mother's lobe. "These are pretty. Wear these, okaa-sama."
Takara laughed, taking the offered earrings from Rei's hands and putting them on. When had her daughter become such a fashion expert? She did have to admit the jade hoops were a great match for her dress, though. Takara shook her head ever so slightly, letting the dangling hoops jingle, and smiled as she admired her reflection in the mirror. "They're perfect, Rei-chan," she said, just as the phone sitting on Keitaro's nightstand began to ring.
"I'll get it!" Rei reached the telephone first, since she was already standing. After telling her mother she would answer, the little girl picked up the receiver, her brow furrowed in thought as she tried to remember everything she had been taught about telephone etiquette. "Moshi moshi, Hino residence… Yes, this is Rei… Okaa-sama is dressing for dinner… Yes, otou-sama…"
At the mention of "otou-sama," Takara stopped applying her pale pink lipstick and set the tube back down on the table. Why was Keitaro calling so late? Shouldn't he have already left the office by now? It was almost six-twenty now. Their reservation at Umi's was supposed to be at eight. If he wasn't home in ten minutes, there would be no way they would make it on time. "Rei-chan, is that your father?" she asked, walking over and taking a seat on the bed. "Let me talk to him."
"Hai." Rei handed the receiver to her mother after saying a quick good-bye to Keitaro and jumped on the bed beside her.
"Keitaro? It's me," Takara said, bringing the phone to her ear. "Where are you? I thought you would be home by now."
On the other end of the line, she heard her husband sigh. "I'm still at the office, Takara."
"Oh." Takara absentmindedly began twirling the phone cord around one of her fingers, already sensing what was about to happen. Still, she held onto a small speck of hope she could be wrong. "Then you're calling to say you're going to be late?"
There was a familiar pause before Keitaro finally answered. "No, I called to tell you I won't be able to make it tonight. My meeting Terada-san didn't go as well as I'd hope, so I'm staying late to go over those figures again. You understand."
Takara's face fell. She should have known he would break his promise once again. It was always the same story. "Of course," she whispered. "I understand."
"If you still want to meet Minoru and Miyuki-san for dinner, I can send my driver to the house," Keitaro offered. "It would be shame to let a perfectly good reservation go to waste. You should go without me."
"No, that won't be necessary." Takara was no longer in the mood to go out. Besides, without Keitaro there, she knew she would feel like a fifth wheel. It would probably be best to stay home with Rei and Mrs. Yukana and play board games like they usually did on Saturday nights. "I'll see you later tonight. Ganbatte, Keitaro. Goodbye."
"Ja ne, Takara."
Takara hung up the phone after Keitaro said goodbye, struggling not to show her disappointment at the cancellation of their dinner plans. Beside her, Rei was still watching her with those inquisitive purple eyes. She didn't need to know how much her father hurt her mother tonight. The last thing Takara wanted to do was burden her daughter with her problems.
Still, Rei seemed to sense something was wrong. "Okaa-sama, why do you look so sad?" the little girl asked, snuggling closer to her mother in comfort. She wrapped her arms around Takara's slender waist and rested her head on her chest. "You don't look as pretty when you're sad."
Takara almost broke down right then and there, but managed to fight back her tears as she kissed the top of Rei's head. "Oh, Rei-chan, I'm not sad," she said, running her fingers through Rei's long black hair "Just disappointed. Your father has to work late tonight, so it looks like we won't be going to Umi's after all."
"Oh." Rei held her even tighter. "I'm sorry, okaa-sama."
"I'm sorry, too, sweetheart," Takara whispered, wiping away a tear before Rei could see it run down her face. "Me, too."
Mother and daughter stayed wrapped in each other's arms for quite some time, neither saying a word. Words weren't necessary. Rei's presence was enough to comfort her mother in her pain. Again, Takara wondered what she would ever do without her precious angel. Sometimes it felt as if Rei was the only bright spot in her life. No matter what, Takara knew Rei would always love her, which was more than she could say about some people.
Finally, though, Takara pulled away from Rei's embrace and forced a smile on her face. She'd experience enough sadness for one day. It was time to have fun. Just because Keitaro had canceled their plans didn't mean the entire evening was ruined. "Rei-chan, why don't you go downstairs and set up the board for a game of Candyland?" Takara suggested, knowing it was the little girl's favorite. "I'll be down in a few minutes."
"Hai, okaa-sama!" Rei agreed enthusiastically as she slid off the bed. "Can we have popcorn, too?"
"Sure, whatever you want, sweetie."
After giving her mother one last hug, Rei ran out of the room, her excited footsteps echoing throughout the house as she went downstairs to set up for "Game Night". Takara chuckled when she heard Mrs. Yukana's voice ordering the little princess to slow down, but her laughter was short-lived. As soon as she was positive Rei was downstairs, Takara rose from the bed and took a seat at the vanity, slipping off the lavender jade hoop earrings and placing them back in the jewelry box. She wouldn't need them tonight.
"Why did I believe him?" she whispered to her pale reflection in the mirror. "Why did I think tonight would be any different from any other night? I really thought he…"
Her voice cracked, and Takara could taste the saltiness of her tears on her lips. She didn't want to cry, but she was tired of holding in her long pent-up emotions. He had disappointed her worse tonight than he ever did before. Why did she get her hopes up so high?
Sobs shook through her fragile body as she rested her head on the table. Takara didn't even try to stop them. All she wanted to do was cry until she could cry no longer.
And so cry she did, ignoring the tightness in her heart.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Rei waited impatiently for her mother to come downstairs like she said she would. Everything was almost ready for their weekly "Game Night". She had just finished setting up the Candyland board on the coffee table, and in the kitchen, Mrs. Yukana was busy making popcorn. As soon as Takara came down, they could begin.
But her mother seemed to be taking her time coming downstairs. Rei wondered what was keeping her. The little girl kept looking over at the entrance of the room, hoping to see Takara standing there with a smile on her face, but the only person who passed through the entryway was Mrs. Yukana, carrying a huge bowl of popcorn in her hands.
"Hino-sama hasn't joined us yet?" the grandmotherly housekeeper asked as she set the bowl down on the table. "That's strange. Didn't you tell me she was coming down, hime-chan?"
Rei nodded her head. "Okaa-sama said she would come down in a few minutes. I guess she wanted to change out of her fancy dress."
"Well, I suppose we can play a game or two while we wait for her, if you want."
The little princess declined. "No, I want to wait until okaa-sama comes down."
"That's fine," Mrs. Yukana said with a smile. "Would you like some orange juice or milk while I'm still up? Once these old bones get down on that floor, they aren't going to be getting up any time soon."
"No, thank you, Yukana-san."
"Are you sure?" When Rei assured her she was fine, the nanny turned to leave. "I'll be in the kitchen brewing some tea for your mother and me, then. Try not to eat all the popcorn while I'm gone."
"I won't," she promised.
Rei watched Mrs. Yukana leave the room and sighed. What was taking her mother so long? She was beginning to sense one of her "feelings" creeping up. Along with her uncanny luck in finding lost objects, the ability to sense things was what her mother called one of her "special gifts" -- one for which she didn't particularly care. Most of the time, it meant something horrible was about to happen, like the time when she had a "feeling" and the goldfish she won at a shrine festival her mother took her to died an hour later.
Unable to ignore the "feeling" any longer, Rei decided to go upstairs and check on Takara. She slowly ascended the staircase, her socked feet for once barely making a sound, and walked toward her parents' bedroom. The "feeling" grew stronger as she approached the closed door. Rei wished it would go away. Taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart, she lightly knocked on the door.
"Okaa-sama, it's me, Rei," the little girl called out. Her tiny voice quivered. "We're ready to play Candyland downstairs. Yukana-san made a huge bowl of popcorn, just the way you like it, covered with lots of butter…"
Nobody answered.
"Okaa-sama?
Rei reached for the gold-tone knob, the "feeling" in the pit of her stomach stronger than ever. Something was wrong. She pushed the door open, just far enough to peek, and peered inside. "Okaa-sama? Is something wro--"
The last word died on her lips. Inside the bedroom was a sight that would stay with the little girl for the rest of her life. Laying on the floor beside the vanity was a motionless body, the woman's amethyst eyes closed to the world.
Rei screamed.
"OKAA-SAMA!"
AUTHOR'S NOTES: As always, thanks to my editors, Krysia and Starsea.
