Part Four: A Secret Discovered

Chapter Three: On the run

Tai Kamiya raced between the two long queues of stationary traffic as fast as his legs could pump the pedals of his red bicycle; the advantage of two wheels. Much to his teacher's chagrin, he had skipped his after school study class. Receiving a look upon leaving the room, that clearly asked whether or not he intended to take his university entrance test seriously. Last night's heavy rain had fortunately subsided just before lunchtime, however, the roads were still quite wet. Resulting in him almost skidding into oncoming traffic on two occasions. He had been pushing the limits of both his legs and sanity in order to make it to the CD shop before it closed.

Slipping through a gap in the oncoming traffic, Tai turned up the small side street on which Iowa's store resided. Slowing his pace, he came to a stop and chained his bike to the nearest lamppost. Ironically, he had probably come here more frequently than Kari had recently. The pleasant tinkle of the doorbell rang as he opened it, drawing the attention of the ageing shopkeeper.

A smile spread across the man's face. "Good afternoon, Brother of Pretty Girl."

"Good afternoon, Iowa," Tai replied with a small chuckle, it seemed he would forever be stuck with that title whenever he came in here. It didn't bother him. The shopkeeper, like Kari had said on his first trip here, was indeed a really nice person and exceptionally helpful.

"Ah," the man then said as he quickly bustled around to the other side of the counter. "I have just the thing for you today."

"Actually, Iowa, I need to ask you something."

The man stopped and gave him a quizzical look, "certainly, ask away."

"My sister is in need of cheering up, so I was hoping you could help me pick out something that she doesn't already have."

"You're a very caring young man," Iowa said warmly. "I'd be more than happy to help." The shopkeeper indicated for Tai to follow him and set off towards the rock and pop section. "I have not seen the Pretty Girl for a few weeks now. However, last time she was here, she bought a copy of Pink Floyd's The Wall."

That must have been just after they'd broke up, Tai mused. "Is there anything in particular that you think she might like?"

The man looked ponderous for a moment, before letting out a low, "ah," then quickly began flicking through the P's, withdrawing two CD's and then the O's, withdrawing one. "She's not had a new album by Mr Oldfield for a while, so this one would be perfect," he held up a CD titled Guitars. "Or if you would rather get her one by Pink Floyd, either of these, "he indicated one called Meddle and another called The Division Bell, "she should enjoy."

It was his turn to ponder, as he glanced between the three albums. Then, doing the typical thing when it came to Kari, asked, "how much for all three?"

Iowa looked slightly taken aback, but dutifully totalled up the cost of the three in his head. "¥4,000," he replied before pausing, "but since you are doing a very nice thing for the Pretty Girl, I can let you have them for ¥3250."

Tai reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet and glanced inside. "Perfect," he said on seeing that he had enough money with him, "I'll take all three."

The elderly shopkeeper smiled at him. "The Pretty Girl is very lucky to have you for a brother," he said and indicated for Tai to follow him back to the front of the store. "You obviously care a lot about her."

More than you could possibly imagine, he thought as he walked behind the man to the counter. Iowa made his way to the other side and rang up the three CDs. Tai handed over the money and slipped the albums inside his school bag as he waited for his change.

"It is unfortunate that you are not buying for yourself today," the shopkeeper said as he deposited the coins into Tai's hand. "I had a gentleman come in the other day to sell me his CD collection. He had a lot of Hawkwind albums, many of which are out of print now. A perfect way for a budding fan to expand his collection."

"Darn," he said with a hint of regret. He'd discovered this fact himself when he'd gone online to look at the band's extensive discography. Aside from the three he already had, there was only another three readily available. However, he quickly reaffirmed his decision, "my sister's need is greater than mine at present."

Iowa looked ponderous again for a moment. "Tell you what, since you are doing an exceptionally selfless thing for the Pretty Girl, I'll hold onto them until the next time you come in. Then we can have a look through them and see what takes your fancy."

Tai nodded his head in appreciation, "thank you. Until next time, Iowa."

"Until next time, Brother of the Pretty Girl."

He made his way to the door, only for the man to call out after him, "tell the Pretty Girl that I hope she feels better soon."

"I will," he replied as the doorbell rang and he stepped outside.

Pulling out his cell phone, Tai checked the time; 5:05 pm. He needed to get home and start studying. Unlocking his bike, he climbed on and set off once more into the rush hour traffic.

##

"I'm home," Tai called out when eventually he stepped through the front door of his family's apartment.

"Hello, Tai," his mother called out from the direction of the kitchen as he walked into the main living area.

"Is Kari home," he then asked when the woman came into view.

"No, and I've not had any word from her either." He could hear the disapproval in her voice as she spoke. "Your father's also running late, something came up at the office that he had to deal with, but at least he had the decency to send me a message."

Sensing the danger signs, Tai kept walking past the kitchen towards his bedroom. He had no desire to get caught in the blast of his mother's wrath. Especially when he hadn't done anything this time.

"Tai," he froze mid-step on hearing his name being said with a rather sharp edge. "Have you any idea what's wrong with your sister?"

The question hit him like one of Piedmon's trump-swords and his spine involuntarily stiffened. It seemed that Kari's ability to hide her problems had slipped to a point that their mom had taken note. Cautiously, he turned his head, fixing his expression with the best poker face he could muster. "I don't know," he said flatly, "we haven't spoken much recently as I've been really busy studying."

His mom gave him a piercing stare as she ran his words and body language through her lie detector. "You're sure that you know nothing?" she asked testily, not sounding convinced.

"Sorry, Mom, I wish I could help you, but she hasn't told me anything," he lied, trying to convey the fact that he too was concerned about Kari. "Have you tried talking to her?"

"She keeps telling me that everything is fine," his mom snapped, sounding annoyed that he had questioned whether or not she had tried the obvious. "While I'm relieved that she's started wearing normal clothes again, she seems to have been unhappy for about a month now. Not to mention that her hair is starting to look unsightly."

"I don't know what to say, Mom, but I can't help you out on this one. However, I have some work to do before dinner. So if you don't mind, I'm going to go make a start on it."

The mere mention of his studies served its purpose and she released his gaze. "Of course, Son," she said in a softer tone, however, failed to hide her dismay. "I'll call you when dinner is ready."

"Thanks, Mom," he said and headed off towards his bedroom.

When he was sure that she had gone back to making dinner, he sneaked over to Kari's room, slipped inside and placed the three CD's on her desk. There was no need to leave a note, for she would know immediately who they had come from. Closing her bedroom door quietly, Tai crept back across the hall to his own room. He changed quickly, pulled out his physics textbook and notebook from his bag and sat down at his desk. He gave half a thought to texting Kari to see if she was ok but ultimately rejected the idea. Wherever his sister was, she clearly wanted to be left alone. Popping in his earbuds, he put In Search Of Space on and started to work.