Programmed Lives – Third Stage

Chapter Four

Takumi was almost grateful that Friday had finally arrived so he could get out of the house to go to the team's training session. Life at home had become more and more difficult for him. Proof of that was that Minami hadn't even been there as Takumi ate his breakfast before heading to Maebashi.

He just wished there was something he could do to help Minami. He had even tried talking about the baby once but, seeing her storm out of the room convinced him not to try again.

'Hey, how are you?' he heard Keisuke ask as Takumi entered the garage where they kept both their official SE and the spare one.

'I'm alright,' he said and even to himself, those words seemed rather unconvincing.

'Takumi, before Aniki starts torturing us, I'd like to ask you something.'

Takumi frowned but nodded.:

'Go ahead.'

'It'll probably sound ridiculous.'

'What is it Keisuke?' Takumi said beginning to lose his already very limited patience.

'Well, you know how pregnant women are,' Keisuke said and he frowned at the way Takumi sighed, as if the younger man knew exactly what Keisuke was talking about. Maybe, after all, Kyoko had guessed right.

'Has this conversation any point at all?' Takumi asked edgily.

'Yeah, well, Kyoko thinks Minami's pregnant,' Keisuke said looking at Takumi and trying to see if he saw any tell-tale sign which would confirm Kyoko's suspicions. To Keisuke's immense surprise, Takumi's reaction to this question couldn't have been any more revealing.

He leant heavily against the wall behind his back and, hiding his face with his left hand, he said:

'I don't know what to do.'

Keisuke spent a few seconds trying to get a sentence together that would make his friend feel better then, giving up, he simply said:

'So, it's true.'

Takumi nodded and, removing the hand from his face, he said:

'Keisuke, don't tell anybody, Minami will kill me if she finds out I've told you.'

'Why?' Keisuke asked.

'Because she doesn't know if she wants to have it,' Takumi finally confessed and, this sentence seemed to relieve him of half the weight he'd been carrying on his shoulders.

'What?' Are you talking about…'

'Yeah,' Takumi said for he really didn't want to hear the word said aloud.

'Oh shit,' Keisuke said, 'man, this is…'

'I know.'

'Takumi, you want this kid, don't you?' Keisuke asked now crossing his arms in front of him.

'Yeah, I do,' Takumi admitted.

'Have you told her that?' Keisuke asked and Takumi nodded.

'But she's still not sure,' Takumi said.

'I can't believe that,' Keisuke commented and was about to say something else when they heard Ryosuke calling them both.

'Keisuke,' Takumi said putting his hand on his team mate's arm, 'please, don't say anything to anyone, alright?'

'Can I tell Kyoko? After all, she's more than suspicious now and I'm sure she'll go to Minami and ask her the question I've just asked you.'

Takumi considered this and, after a moment, he nodded.

'Yeah, tell Kyoko…but no one else, please.'

'Sure, you've got my word,' Keisuke said looking the most serious Takumi had seen him in a long time.

Takumi spent the rest of the day fighting with himself so he could focus on his driving, thankfully, Keisuke had insisted with his brother that he needed some extra practice so he was the one who spent the most time behind the wheel.

'Hey, don't worry, I'm sure she'll come round,' Keisuke started once the training session was over.

'I don't know, Minami's even more stubborn than I am,' Takumi said miserably.

'That, I cannot believe,' Keisuke said with a smirk.

'Believe me, I think I know her better than you do,' Takumi insisted.

'You surely do but, let's face it, Minami's a woman, I don't think she's really going to…you know…I think she's just scared,' Keisuke said.

'Do you think I'm not? I'm freaking out!' Takumi said increasing the tone of his voice as he spoke.

'But you said you wanted this baby.'

'Yes, I do want it, but I'm terrified that Minami will…you know…'

'I don't think she can do it without your consent,' Keisuke said.

'She can. We're not married,' Takumi said, 'She's an adult and she can do whatever she wants.'

'I'm not so sure you know. Listen, I could ask Ryosuke or Akiko, I'm sure there has to be something you can do,' Keisuke said.

'Look, I don't want to talk about it anymore, alright? Even if I could do something, it'd be too late. If it gets to the point where I have to force my opinion on her, our relationship as we know it will be over anyway…'

Keisuke considered all of that as they packed up for the day and he was driving home, following his brother's FC.

'Keisuke, is Takumi alright?' Ryosuke asked as they parked their cars in the huge garage the Takahashis had in their house.

'Yeah, don't worry,' Keisuke said and, even though he hated lying to his brother, this time he had a very good reason to do so.

'Okay. I hope that if there is anything bothering him he'll be smart enough to come to either of us for help,' Ryosuke said, as usual, having understood everything. If Ryosuke had to pay his neurons for the overtime they did, he'd be broke in no time, Keisuke thought to himself.

Keisuke and his brother separated as the former went to his small apartment while the later went to check on his kids.

'Hey darling, how was your day?' Kyoko asked getting up from the sofa in their small living room.

'Interesting, to say the least,' he said as he proceeded to explain his wife about what Takumi had told him.

'I knew it,' she said triumphantly.

'Kyoko, didn't you hear me?' Keisuke asked frowning, 'She doesn't want the baby.'

'Oh, that's rubbish!' Kyoko said.

'What are you talking about?' Keisuke asked.

'Look, there are very few cases when a woman really doesn't want to have a baby: if she had been raped, or they were completely broke, or they already had eight kids, then I'd understand,' Kyoko said, 'but I think that Minami's just very scared.'

'I think that too but.'

'Keisuke, there is no way Minami will get an abortion. She loves Takumi too much to do this to him and, besides, I'm sure, deep down, she's as thrilled as I was when I found out I was pregnant.'

'Kyoko, can I ask you something?' Keisuke said.

'Sure,' Kyoko replied.

'Did you ever consider having an abortion when you thought you were pregnant that time, before we got married?'

Kyoko looked at her husband in the eye before shaking her head:

'Never, not even for an instant.'

Keisuke then took Kyoko's head between his hands and kissed her deeply.

'Thanks,' he whispered over her mouth.

The next morning, Kyoko was a woman with a mission. She hadn't told her husband about this but she was sure everyone would be much happier after she'd have a conversation with a certain very famous, beautiful singer.

She climbed onto her black FD and, turning it on, she just enjoyed hearing the single turbo rotary engine purr like a cat. She hadn't driven her own car in ages and, even though it was beautifully kept by her husband and brother in law, she missed driving around in her beloved FD.

For this reason, and because, after all, she was a pregnant lady, she took it very easy as she drove all the way from Maebashi to the country's capital city.

'Kyoko! What a surprise!' Minami said opening the door. Kyoko had known that she'd be alone since Takumi was now with Keisuke at their Saturday training session.

'Hey, sorry I just show up like that without calling you or anything,' Kyoko said.

'Oh, don't worry about that! Come in,' Minami said showing Kyoko inside her house. Then, the singer made her way to the kitchen where she'd been enjoying a tea while reading the morning newspaper.

'The thing is, you're lucky to catch me home. I was supposed to go to a radio interview but I just didn't feel like going,' Minami said as she prepared another cup of tea for Kyoko.

'Why is that?' Kyoko asked albeit she didn't really need to ask. She could see that Minami was clearly feeling sick and the girl had two ugly shadows under her eyes. She was probably spending every night throwing up, just as she had been in the first months of her own pregnancy.

'I'm not feeling too well this morning,' Minami was honest enough to admit.

Kyoko looked at her, then, taking a deep breath, decided to take a more Keisuke-like approach to this situation:

'You're pregnant, aren't you?'

Minami dropped the cup making it spill some of the hot water on the kitchen's worktop.

'Oh, shoot,' the singer said while trying to dry things up.

'Minami…' Kyoko said as she tried to help her friend.

'He told you, didn't he?' Minami said looking at Kyoko angrily. Kyoko shook her head for, technically speaking, it was true.

'I don't need anyone to tell me. I may not be a doctor like Akiko but, the way you're showing all the signs it's clear as a billboard.'

'What do you mean?' Minami asked.

'Sweetie, maybe it's because I'm pregnant myself and maybe you develop some sort of radar that detects other pregnant women but, I just can tell you are.'

Minami then, forgetting all about the tea and the spilt water, took a couple of steps forward and sat down on the kitchen's bench.

'I'm six weeks pregnant,' Minami finally admitted and Kyoko, joining her on the bench, said:

'How did Takumi react to the news?'

Minami looked at her before replying:

'He was extremely freaked out but…'

'He was happy about it, wasn't he?'

'Yeah, as happy as Takumi can be,' Minami said.

'How do you feel about it?' Kyoko asked her taking Minami's hand between hers. Looking at her from close up, Kyoko saw the troubled look in the younger woman's eyes.

'I don't know…I'm…'

'Confused? Terrified? Trapped? Freaked out? All of the above?' Kyoko asked with a tiny smile.

'Yeah, how do you…'

'Because I felt the same at first, both times.'

'Both times? I thought this was your first time,' Minami said.

'Yes, this is the first time I'm pregnant for real but a few years ago, for a few days, I really thought I was pregnant. Keisuke and I had just broken up and I was living in this tiny apartment, working at a garage.'

'Wow, really?' Minami asked raising her eyebrows in shock.

'Yes, and even if the conditions were the worst ever, I still felt lucky that I might have been carrying Keisuke's child.'

'But you had broken up,' Minami said.

'Yes, well, it's a long story but, I still loved him and I was truly happy to be able to at least have something that would link me to him forever.'

'I see,' Minami said.

'Minami, Takumi's crazy about you. He really loves you and I know you love him as much as that or more.'

'I do,' Minami confessed.

'Then, there's no way you can not want to have his kid,' Kyoko said firmly and for a brief second, she realised that this was the way Akiko would have handled the situation. This made Kyoko feel very proud of herself.

'I do want this baby. How could I not? Giving Takumi a child is something I've wanted to do for a very long time.'

'Why did you tell Takumi you weren't sure about it?' Kyoko asked, dropping all pretences.

'So, he did tell you about it,' Minami asked, sharp as always.

'No,' she replied, 'Keisuke basically made him confess, he can be very persuasive, you know, and Keisuke just confirmed to me what I already knew. In any case, you're avoiding my question.'

'Is just that…it's wrong…'

'Wrong?' Kyoko asked frowning.

'It's something silly, really…'

'What is it?' Kyoko asked.

'I just wanted to do it the right way…you know, being married and all,' Minami finally said and Kyoko had to refrain from smacking the singer on the back of her head.

'Minami, if what you want is a wedding, you should know that Takumi's been waiting for you to be ready. Tell him you want to get married before the kid's born.'

'No, I don't want to be the one asking.'

'Alright then, I'll get Keisuke to get Takumi to ask you, how is that?'

'Weird and complicated,' Minami said.

'Welcome to the Takahashi family,' Kyoko said smiling.

'Takumi's not a Takahashi,' Minami pointed out.

'No, he's even worse: he's a Fujiwara,' Kyoko said and both women, for the first time in the whole conversation, started laughing.

To be continued…