I cannot apologize enough for this outrageously late update! I am terribly sorry!
Destiny and Fate Ch 18
It was a time when students would be attending their classes. Takeru, however, was not fulfilling his duty as a student. He stayed in bed until the two needles on the clock pointed at the number 12. A stretch, then a yawn, Takeru got up lazily and searched for a shirt. However, his blood stained, wet shirt was nowhere to be seen. After few moments of looking around the room, he found a plain, white shirt, neatly folded next to his bed. When he lifted the shirt, he realized that there was a white paper underneath it. Because of natural human curiosity, he examined the paper.
"You looked tired from yesterday, so I left you to sleep through the day. I threw your shirt in the laundry and went to school by myself. There's food for you in the kitchen, so help yourself."
Takeru chuckled after reading the note which was obviously from Hikari. He was surprised at her unusual kindness, but was happy that she cared about his health. He lay the note down gently, put on the shirt, and exited the room to search for the food in the kitchen. Like everyday morning, there was a gourmet meal prepared on the kitchen table. Takeru took the plates to the living room and ate it as he watched the TV. However, since it was Hikari's TV, he suffered a considerable amount of time just to work the remote. Once the meal was finished, he surfed the channel, looking for entertainment. His constant channel change didn't cease until his ears detected the last name of Taichi and Hikari. He quickly switched back to the channel and realized that it was a news report.
"Today's top story is the rumored assault of Taichi Yagami, the son of the multi-billionaire company's president. A handful of people claim to be witnesses of this incident."
Then, the TV screen showed censored people who described the brutality, rapidity, and the organization of the attack. After showing segments of testimonies by witnesses, the screen showed the announcer again.
"Reporters managed to catch up with the president of the company for answers, but he strongly denied the claim by stating it is merely a rumor and false. To prove that no harm was done to his son, he moved up the date of the Yagami Corporation's monthly banquet, announcing that his son will show up healthy and unharmed."
It was obvious that this kind of incident would soon be known to the world. Despite this obvious knowledge, Taichi's father attacked his own son with an unknown motive. Takeru became confused about the action that the president of the Yagami Corp took. Was he truly oblivious of this common knowledge or did he deliberately planned the attack, taking into an account that it would cause a stir in the media? It was a compete mystery. Takeru sorted many theories that came into his mind in an attempt to discover the true reason why Taichi was harmed. He pondered for hours, but couldn't manage to discern the truth due to lack of credible information and his detective work was ended incomplete when Hikari returned from school.
"Welcome back."
He welcomed her home with a radiant smile, happy to see her after many hours of loneliness. Unlike the cheerful blonde, the hazel haired princess greeted indifferently.
"Hey."
"Come on. What happened to the love last night?"
"…What are you talking about?"
She blushed and faced away from Takeru.
"I'm sure you know better than me."
He spoke with a teasing tone. Hikari remained silent, not wanting to involve herself in an argument that she'll lose.
"…"
After enjoying Hikari's cute reaction, Takeru got up from the couch and spoke his words of gratitude.
"Thanks for stopping me last night."
"…Sure…"
After savoring his sweet victory in argument, he diverted the topic to something that'll help relieve Hikari's embarrassment.
"Maybe I should try to leave more often to get you to hug me."
Just like his calculation, Hikari immediately snapped out of embarrassment and played along with Takeru's teasing.
"Next time, I'm gonna shoot you on the back."
"Little harsh, don't you think?"
"Do you remember how I brought you here in the beginning?"
Takeru retraced his memory to the cold rainy days in the street. He could never forget the day when Hikari delivered salvation to his awful life.
"Yeah. You threatened me with a gun when I refused to go to your house."
"Nothing's different from that situation. If you refuse to stay with me, you'll be shot."
"Okay, okay. I won't leave. I don't want holes on my body."
"That's what I thought."
She spoke triumphantly, happy that she became the victor of the conversation. After earning her victory, she headed to her room to change her attire to more comfortable fashion. Soon, she came out with a simple white shirt and indigo jean. As soon as Takeru took a glance at her appearance, he let out a complain.
"How come you never wear something pretty or cute except on the party day?"
"If you want to dress someone up, go buy a Barbie doll."
"Pretty clothes belong to pretty girls."
He gave a warm flattery, but Hikari responded uncaringly, trying hard to look unbothered by his compliment.
"Whatever."
Still, Takeru could tell that she was pleased with the compliment.
"I guess it doesn't matter. You're too pretty to be judged for your clothes."
"…"
"Speaking of clothes, can we go buy some right now?"
Having teased Hikari enough, he changed the topic with smooth transition.
"I don't need more clothes."
"But I do. It's already November and it's getting cold."
"Then, go get some."
She said as she took out her wallet and handed a wad of cash to him.
"You're not gonna come with me?"
"Why would I go with you?"
"To make sure that I'm not cheating on you."
He incorporated an evil grin and strengthened the impact of the sentence. Then, in an instance, Hikari pulled out her gun and pointed straight at the center of his forehead. With a cold grin, she spoke with a powerful voice.
"Now, tell me. What was it that you were thinking about?"
"Nothing at all."
He put on a smile as he abandoned the subject which would cost him his precious life.
"That's what I thought."
She placed her gun back on her leg holster while Takeru put on his shoes to head outside. Once he was finished, he grabbed one of many car keys hanging on the wall and spoke to the gun mistress.
"I'll be off, then."
He opened the door and stepped outside, but didn't step further because Hikari threw him a question.
"Wait, do you even know where you can buy clothes?"
"Uh…Not really. I was gonna wander around until I found a store."
After letting out a sigh, Hikari ordered him to stay and headed back to her room. Though waiting was boring, he obeyed her since he was afraid of her retaliation for disobedience. Several minutes later, the cold minded girl came out with a casual female outfit.
"I'm guessing you're coming along?"
"I can't let you wander around by yourself."
"Worried about me? I'm touched."
Then, Hikari scoffed.
"As if. I'm just worried about all the girls out there. I can't let a perverted beast like you roam around freely."
The blonde chuckled upon hearing her obvious excuse.
"Man, what a shame. I was hoping to hunt down some girls."
"Not while I'm around. Anyway, let's go. I'd like to have some time to do homework."
"Sure thing."
With that, the two went down to the garage and started their journey to buy winter attires. Not knowing the city well enough, Hikari navigated the driver and eventually led him to a colossal department store. Fortunately, Hikari was a premium customer with parking privilege and they wasted no time on parking the car.
"I guess you shopped quite a lot here."
"I don't go anywhere else to buy things, so go figure."
"How dedicated."
"Sure. Now, let's go."
She rushed the gold haired man, wanting to return home as soon as possible. Hikari knew the building inside and out. She knew exactly which floor contained certain items and products. When she entered the elevator, she immediately pressed the number 6 without hesitation. Normally, a girl wouldn't know where men's apparels are, but Takeru could assume why Hikari attained such information. Upon arriving at the 6th floor, Takeru was overwhelmed by the wide selection of clothes that was on display. He was also surprised by the numbers on the price tag.
"Come on, I'm busy today."
She moved on ahead and started her search for winter clothing. Takeru followed her lead and looked for suitable attires as well. After moments of searching, the two came together to examine the choices of clothing they each got. Hikari was dissatisfied with the choice of clothes that Takeru picked, claiming that he's not fashionable.
"You really got no sense in fashion, do you?"
"I'm a guy, so I can get away with it."
"Not with these, you won't."
Then, she took away most of the clothes that Takeru held and replaced it with garments of her choice.
"You gotta pick your clothes carefully."
She stated as she continuously piled up mountains of clothes on Takeru's arms.
"You got blue eyes that match well with other blue shirts. And brown shirts can make your gold hair look even better."
She continued to state the important fashion tips until the mountain of clothes reached the height of 2 feet.
"Alright, I think that's enough. Let's go."
"…Right…"
Takeru carefully followed her to the register and landed the giant stack of winter apparels for the employee to scan the items. The total price was a ridiculous number, but Hikari casually pulled out her credit card and paid for it. Of course, Takeru ended up carrying all the bags by himself.
"Hikari, this is torture."
"It's your clothes. So it's natural that you carry it."
"That's true, but there are 37 shirts, 20 pants, and 5 jackets."
"I paid for them, so stop complaining."
"Sure, okay."
Finally, the two arrived at the parking lot and Takeru stuffed the bags in the trunk, happy that he doesn't have to carry them now. Once everything was loaded, Takeru drove the rich princess back home. And when they reached the garage, the physical labor came back to test Takeru's arm muscle once more.
"I can't believe I have to carry all these again."
"Stop whining and hurry up. I got a lot of school work to do."
"You still got plenty of time left."
Takeru spoke as he lifted the bags and carried them.
"I have a project that's due on Friday. And I need time to prepare things for the party on Saturday."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot. The party date got moved up."
"You forgot? How did you know that there was a date change?"
"Through TV news. How about you?"
"My phone updates me with info I need."
"Must be convenient."
"You'll be getting one soon."
Coincidentally, when they exited the elevator, they saw a delivery man standing in front of the house door.
"That should be it."
"Are you a psychic?"
"No, I ordered one-day express delivery. That's how I know."
The delivery man spotted the two and came to them to deliver the package.
"I have a package for Miss Yagami."
"That's for him."
"Oh, okay."
Then, the delivery man took out a paper and asked him for confirmation signature.
"Your signature there…last name there…and first name here."
He scribbled his name and signature and gave it back.
"Your name is Takeru Ishida?"
"Yeah. Is something wrong?"
"No, I just thought you would have a western name because of your appearance."
"Ha ha. I guess it's little weird huh?"
"Not at all. It kinda makes me feel happy knowing that even foreigners are using Japanese names."
"I'm glad that you do. Have a nice day."
"You too."
With that, the delivery man took the elevator and left the building. As for the two, they walked in to their home and opened the package as soon as Takeru lay down all the bags in the living room.
"Nice phone."
Takeru commented when he finally pulled out the product from the box.
"And complicated…"
He added after he saw the complex instruction guide. Being unfamiliar with high tech items, Takeru asked Hikari for assistance.
"Help me out a litte?"
"Fine."
First, Hikari assembled the battery charger and began inputting information on his phone.
"I set my bank account on your phone. If you want to use the credit card function, click the dollar sign icon."
"Thanks for that."
He explored his phone's function for a while and soon asked for Hikari's number.
"What's your number?"
"I already saved it on your phone."
"Oh, okay."
He checked the contact list and placed her number on the quick dial. Once everything was taken care of, Hikari took her school bag and headed to her room to complete the given assignments.
"Now, I'm gonna do homework, so don't bother me."
"Sure thing. But when you get lonely, you know where I'll be."
"Keep dreaming."
A simple, playful bickering, then, Hikari went into her room to finish her school work. Takeru, on the other, hand was kept busy with learning his phone. While operating his phone, he came across a strange icon. It was an alphabet A with black flames surrounding the letter. Interested, he clicked the icon and the screen changed to a very dark page. In the center, Apocalypse was written with grim combination of blue and black color. Right below the word, Apocalypse, there were two options: Enter or Leave. Of course, he clicked enter and the screen changed once more. The background color was still very dark, but it looked like homepage of a website. What immediately caught his attention was the giant news thread with capitalized title. He clicked the title and read the content.
-TK has been identified. He currently resides with the 'Princess'. He seems to be using his childhood last name as an alias. Additionally, it is unclear to determine whether he recognized Ken or not. He showed no shock or change in expression upon contact. All members are now to proceed with caution when coming in contact with Yagami. As of this moment, Operation Darkness is terminated. Focus your full attention on eliminating the traitor.-
One single word in the passage caught his attention. Takeru paid no attention to any other sentences except the one involving the last name of his dear girl. He had no idea of what action he should take. This could simply be a prank or something extremely grave.
"…Yagami…Eliminate…"
He wanted to inform Hikari about this absurd article, but kept it to himself, for he did not want to throw off her concentration on her busy school work. He turned off his phone, headed to his room, and did what he always does when confronted by a troubling matter, thinking about the meaning behind it. However, he could not imagine that this was the beginning of the unraveling of his lost past.
For those who are wondering why I updated so late, here's why.
-I'm a student first, writer second. Though I'd like to reverse the position of the two, it's very difficult to do so.
-I couldn't recover from the sickness I got in the very beginning for a long time.
-After finally recovering from the sickness, my sister was so generous to pass her fever to me as well.
Still, it's no excuse. I'm terribly sorry. I will try to compensate for the lost time by trying to update more frequently.
For Reviewers:
geldragon: Sora's status will be revealed soon in the future chapter. Thanks for having patience with me.
SparrowBird98: I try my best to entertain the reader. I'm glad you find it epically intense.
dale89: I will try my best to answer your questions as soon as possible.
puasluoma: :D back at ya
Kitsune8757: I'm happy that you enjoy my story. I hope I can make the story more enjoyable.
Ougon 22: Haha, I personally like that part as well. I'm glad you like it as well.
Thank you for all the reviews and reading my story. I promise I will update soon to satisfy all you wonderful readers.