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Chapter 5: Takumi's Past

"You're Nakamura Takumi," I said. Takumi looked up from sipping her smoothie. I was a bit surprised she could hear me over the commotion of the commoner's market. "Sol heir to your father's filming company fortune, started in 1947 by your grandfather, Nakamura Shinji."

"Yeah, so?" She took a huge bite of her greasy chilly dog and washed it down with another gulp of her smoothie.

"So, why do you come to the commoner market? With mass production, two dollar smoothies, and bargain stores?"

"You make it sound like I'm a princess visiting her dirt poor village." Another bite of her chilly dog was shoved down her throat.

"But why here, of all places?" I poked my smoothie with my straw.

"I don't want all of that. If I had a choice, I would give all of my money and the company to Moriko." Takumi smiled. "Moriko is a close family maid. She knows more about films and filming than I do. Plus she's smart. I would give her everything, except the summer house in Osaka."

Her eyes turned bright at the mention of Osaka. Like she was recovering a lost memory she held close to her heart.

It was strange, but it seemed that when she was happy, I was happy. When she smiled, it made me feel like it was all going to be a happy ending. She chuckled, which pulled me out of my thoughts.

"So, what would you do for money?" I asked, sipping a little of my disgusting smoothie.

"Write," she said simply. "You know I'm a poet. I would sell my poetry books to make ends meet." Takumi finished off the rest of her chilly dog. "What about you, Haruko? What do you want to do?"

"I want to be a lawyer, like my mother." I said and froze.

"Really? What's your family name? I might have heard of her." She looked me right in the eyes. My head was on a chopping block.

"Well, uh… My family name is…"

"Shit," muttered Takumi. "Seikei."

"Who?" I asked, breathing a sigh of relief. Takumi pointed to a boy behind me.

The boy was handsome with short, blonde hair and beautiful, green eyes. He was talking to a young girl when his glance caught Takumi. A smirk crossed his face as he excused himself. His teeth were unnaturally white and sparkled. As he made his way over to our table, his smile grew.

"Nakamura Takumi." Seikei said with clear, devious pleasure. "I thought this would be the one place I wouldn't bump into you."

"Then you don't know me very well, Seikei." She fixed her collar, even though there was nothing wrong with it.

"And who is this cute little bunny rabbit?" Seikei asked, turning his glance to me.

"I'm Haruko," I said. Seikei took my hand and kissed it. I could see steam coming out of Takumi's ears.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Haruko."

"Leave," commanded Takumi.

"Oh, excuse me. Are you two on a date?" asked Seikei. He covered his mouth in mock surprise. "Well, don't you think you should clear that with your fiancée?"

"Why should I? It's none of his business."

"I think he would mind." Seikei pulled a chair from a neighboring table and sat next to me. "Did you know she was engaged?"

"Yes," I said. I watched Takumi redden with rage.

"What the hell are you doing here, Seikei?" asked Takumi.

"My, such bad language." Seikei paused and took a gulp of Takumi's smoothie, finishing it off. "I'm checking on my father's stores to see if everything is alright." Seikei leaned closer to me and took in a deep sniff. "You smell wonderful."

"Thanks?"

"Excuse me," interrupted Takumi. "Seikei, will you leave already?"

"But I just got here!" he cried, mocking her. He checked his watch and stood up. "Well, I do have to check on one more store. Miss Haruko," he took my hand and kissed it again. "Until later?" He walked up next to Takumi. "One for the road?"

"Bite me."

"Hey now, you don't want your mommy or daddy to hear about this little date you're on, do you?" Takumi froze and cringed. The smile crossed Seikei's face once again. He leaned his body over Takumi with his mouth close to hers.

"You're a fucking asshole," she mumbled before she leaned in the rest of the way, joining their lips together.

Now anger was boiling inside of me. I was watching Takumi kiss this idiotic jerk. She was just as angry and even more embarrassed than I was. Thoughher eyes never left me and she never closed them. Her eyes looked saddened, begging me for help. When Seikei finally pulled back, he sighed and patted her on the head. He walked away from our table. Takumi put her head down and I could hear her starting to cry.

"Takumi, who was that?"

"Seikei Makato," she muffled. "My ex-boyfriend and..." she paused. She let out another sob. "And my fiancée."

"Your fiancée?" I yelled. Some people turned around and looked at us.

"Yeah," she answered. I pulled my chair around to Takumi's side and wrapped my arm around her. She placed her hand over my arm. "Don't think of me any different, please. I don't love him. My father thought it would be a good idea when we were together. But..." She looked up at me. Her face was flushed and tears welled in her eyes. I hated to think it, but her eyes looked most beautiful when they were glossed over. "He is such an egoistical bastard, treating me that wayconstantly. I couldn't handle it, so I broke it off. The arrangements were already made, though." Takumi paused and put her head back down. The grip she had on my arm grew tighter.

"Treating you that way," I began. "Is horrible. I can't believe that jerk! That isn't right." I heard a laugh from Takumi. "What's so funny?" She looked up at me and smiled.

"You say that with such meaning, even though this is your first time meeting him." She stood up and her hand slipped down my arm. Her hand linked with mine and she pulled me to my feet. "Let's go get some books."

"Okay," I smiled.

As we walked hand in hand, I couldn't help but feel a change in her. Her mood went from embarrassed to happy in a matter of seconds. That made me feel more important to her. That I have the ability to make her happy. My grip tightened on her hand as she dragged me towards the book store. Takumi ran right over to the manga section while I wandered around historical fiction. I could hear her laughing and I smiled.

I crossed over to the poetry section, thinking of getting Takumi a book. I pulled out one titled Glass Memories. Past the table of contents was a poem titled A Hero. (1) I looked back at Takumi (who was absorbed in the latest volume of Rurouni Kenshin) to make sure she wasn't watching. I read on:

In times of iniquity, sadness, and anger

where the tears seemed like a raging river

forever flowing from the pools of the soul

a mere entity wiped away the ivory blood spilt.

Their own life swept away, and room made

to take in what pains lurk in the heart.

The smiles shared, had a medicine all their own.

The laughter passed was as light and

full of love as a new born child.

Nothing could compare to the compassion

and empathy that was put forth to comfort and protect.

All walls were discarded, and the weakest sides shown.

The tears flowed freely and were accepted into their hearts.

A Hero to take away the somberness of life

to replace it all with blessedness, memories

and thank you's which can never be fulfilled.

A Hero is not measured in medals or awards but

in lives they have changed and made all the more

beautiful.

The name at the bottom of the page surprised me the most.

Nakamura Takumi.

I slammed the book shut and looked back at Takumi. She was reading a new book, the cover suggesting it was about Ancient Egypt.I walked over to her and pushed the book in her face.

"This is your poem?" I asked. She took the book from my hands and looked at it.

"Yep," she responded and returned to her book.

"This is… amazing," I said.

"I hate it," she replied. "I had written that poem for an ex-girlfriend. She wasn't too happy about it." I closed the book harshly. Hearing about this ex was about as pleasant as being kidnapped by the Host Club, but I had to know. She was leaving me with so much mystery that I had a hunger for more.

"Who was she?" I asked, placing the book back on the shelf and choosing a new one.

"Misao," she answered. "She was very nice. The sweetest thing, but..." Takumi started walking back towards where she got the book. We were separated by a book shelf.

"But?" I quarried.

"Her temper was something. If anything got her mad, the whole world could feel it." She placed the book back and looked right at me, resting her arms on the book shelve. "She was a bit better than Shiori, though."

"Shiori?" I mimicked her pose. She smiled, but this smile was different. I could see both her top and bottom teeth.

"Shiori was half. Half Japanese, half Italian. She would never let me forget it. It was unnerving. We always had to eat Italian food and she insisted on speaking Italian constantly. She was the one that broke it off with me, though."

"Why? What did you do?" I asked jokingly.

"She said we needed time to grow. Later on, I saw her 'grow' into another guy's arms."

"I haven't had a relationship ever," I said, trying to comfort her. "I mean, guys would come up to me once a month with a confession. Now that I think about it, a few girls did, too." Takumi laughed. "I would always turn them down, though."

"I guess I'm the lucky one," Takumi said. Love was just a flicker in my mind after I felt Takumi's warm hand on my cheek.

"You're so warm," she said softly. Like a mother soothing her baby to sleep. I put my hand over hers, feeling her own warmth.

"Tomorrow," I said, rubbing her hand. "Let's do this tomorrow."

"I'll be going to the Host Club tomorrow, so we can go after that," she said. I closed my hand on hers and threw it off my face.

"Why are you going to the Host Club?" I forcefully asked.

"I have to say thank you to Kyoya by designating one of his friends." She pulled her hand back and walked over to the other side of the book case. "It'll probably be Haruhi-kun or someone like that." Takumi slipped her index finger under my chin and pulled me close to her. "They won't take your place in my heart, I promise." She wrapped her arms around me and held me close. I could hear her soft heartbeat.

That statement made me both happy and scared. The fact that she was going to the Host Club was what made me most nervous. Takumi is smart. If she spent enough time around me as Haruhi, she would get some kind of connection. But at the same time, I thought if that would actually be a bad thing. Could Takumi accept me as Haruhi, the female student who's pretending to be male?

To be continued in Chapter 6: Takumi's Definition of Love

(1): My original poem, A Hero.