Fanfic notes - I've decided to do a few experiments with my summary, out of curiosity and for my own enjoyment. I figure I don't have anything to lose by doing so. Also, this is the second to last chapter. Hopefully it won't be too long till I post the finale.

Chapter 4: Fallen Angel

I sulked in my bedroom for what was left of the gloomy afternoon. To occupy my mind, I engaged myself with pointless and meticulous tasks, deciding to arrange my books into alphabetical order. Once the domineering and hurtful voice of my father had been pushed to the back of my mind, I started to perk up a bit, relishing the memories of the very last game I played of Space Invaders. Reminiscing, I could still feel that excitement burning deep inside of me – the rush, the adrenaline.

"Saki!" I could hear my father anxiously call for me. My trip down memory lane suddenly ceased, as though I had been violently pulled away by my father for the second time that day. "Saki!" I heard him call again, this time more angrily. I stood up from my bookcase, slid open my bedroom door and walked into our dining room. I halted in my tracks when I noticed my whole family gathered there, including a young woman. I blinked, surprised that I actually recognized her. She was the lady who was with Hamato Yoshi the day I was beaten in the alleyway. "Where's your manners?" my father asked when I had stayed still for one second too long. Immediately I bowed, causing the woman to give a slightly amused expression at my strained and confused antics.

"We've met before," Tang Shen gently explained. "I'm Tang Shen. Do you remember me Saki-kun?" Shen wondered.

"Yes. Thank you for helping me that day," I replied, bowing once again just to make sure I pleased my father with my manners.

"You were of great assistance to my son," my father thanked Tang Shen. He was so wrapped up with an excitable sense of fascination; so desperate to make the woman feel welcome. I inwardly groaned. My father was always like this when Nagi brought home a girlfriend. My brother had only been through two very short relationships before, one only lasting a week. But nevertheless of how meaningless or undeveloped their connection was, my father was always keen to keep his hopes high. "She's the one," I've heard him say twice before about the other girls, as though he was some hopeless, gossiping character from a romance novel. The worst part was that his curiosity overtook his common sense, so when a girl came to visit, he just wouldn't leave her alone. Tang Shen didn't come to my house that night primarily to meet my parents, even though they did want to thank her about how she assisted me. No. She came to get to know Nagi a little better. But with my father being so pedantic about keeping up appearances and being welcoming to the 'future bride', there was absolutely no chance that Shen and Nagi would have a decent conversation with each other. My father was just so suffocating.

"I didn't do that much. I was just lucky that I found Nagi," Tang Shen humbly replied.

"No, you saved my son's life! I'm so glad that you found him and he wasn't discovered by some random stranger instead. If that happened, then who knows how long it would have been before we were contacted. I mean, what a coincidence it was that you were nearby!" my father continued to blather on.

"I really didn't do that much. Hamato Yoshi should receive all the credit. He's the one who gave Saki-kun first aid," Tang Shen once again remained modest. Her words finally sparked to life that memory that was stalled in my brain for the past few days. Something had been subconsciously plaguing me, and now I knew for certain what it was… Hamato Yoshi had introduced Tang Shen as his girlfriend.

I bit my lip out of anxiousness not knowing what it all meant. Did Yoshi mean that Shen was just a friend of his, who also happened to be a girl? Was I reading everything too deep? Or should I tell my brother? Once again my mind was plagued, not with déjà vu, but this time with indecisiveness. I was so focused on the questions in my mind that I didn't even notice myself absentmindedly following my family to the dinner table. Throughout that night, I felt like I flitted to and from reality; sometimes actually listening to the conversation taking place in front of me, and sometimes simply listening to the many questions packed within my bamboozled brain.

"Nagi told me that you work at a flower shop," I heard my father ask the rhetorical question sometime throughout the night.

"Indeed I do," Shen answered with a nod.

"She works at the shop that's two blocks away," Nagi finally managed to say something in the conversation that was primarily owned and drenched by my father.

"Ah, I know that one. It is a very well kept store. I always find the freshest roses there," my father gave another compliment, still keeping up pleasantries.

"Thank you for your kind words," Shen said with a polite bow of her head.

"You must work very hard there to keep such a high standard," my father assumed. The conversation stopped for a moment as my mother brought out a dish of nicely cooked fish. I waited till Shen and Nagi filled their bowls before I dug into the food, otherwise my father would have whacked my chopsticks out of my hand and scolded me for being rude and discourteous in front of our guest. It might sound extreme, but my father had done it to me before.

With my mother joining the table, and after taking a few bites of her delicious cooked meal, the conversation started up once again, with my father, as always, taking control of everything. Tuning out of his mind-numbing drivel, I started to focus my attention on the couple themselves. After staring at their reactions and body language for a while, I started to wonder if it was just me, or if Shen seemed completely disinterested? Sure, it could have been because my father had been wearing her down with his constant questioning, but there still didn't seem to be a spark of affection coming from Shen's eyes. Being only ten, I knew at the time that I was far from being a relationship expert, but I still received the feeling that Shen didn't enjoy my brother's company. It might have been the way she tended to lean away from Nagi, or how she wouldn't direct any of her words towards him, or show any interest, really. She just seemed to be there, going through the motions of dating as though it was a test of endurance.

Of course, I felt the same way with Nagi's previous dates, but they were arranged by my father so naturally they never showed any immediate interest anyway. But since this time Nagi had picked the girl himself, one would expect there to be something more. In fact, that was probably why my father was being more engrossed than usual. Since his first two matchmaking sessions had failed, causing him to start the planning process all over again, he was no doubt curious about the woman Nagi had picked by himself, which forced him to abort whatever dating arrangements he had already made with another family. My father was a man who had always preferred marriages to be arranged, but since he liked Nagi so much, he didn't mind the idea of my brother dating out of love. So in this scenario, it worried me greatly that Tang Shen just didn't seem too thrilled.

It was a completely different story with Nagi. He was enjoying himself the entire night. He placed his hand close to hers; never touching, but always there. He would also look at her frequently, and was completely engrossed with the trivial conversation my father was holding. It was clear even to me that Nagi was in love with her, and by looking at his adoring expression, I admit that I was happy for him, even though the thought that everything was one-sided was niggling at my mind.

Shen's visit was an unexpectedly long one. I had to excuse myself from the table so I could get ready for bed, as I had school the next morning. I entered a shallow sleep for a half-hour, being woken up when I heard my brother enter his bedroom. I don't know why, but I felt compelled to speak with him in private. Still groggy from my short sleep, I quietly walked to his room.

At first my brother seemed concerned that I was still awake, but nevertheless he was pleased to see me. "So what did you think of Tang Shen?" Nagi asked me the most obvious question.

"I don't know…" I trailed off, tiredly wondering if I should speak my mind.

"What do you mean?" Nagi inquired.

"She's a nice lady, but… I'm not sure if she really likes you," I said, unsure of what Nagi's reaction would be.

He sighed and paced a few steps around his room, taking the time to admire some of his weapons that were hung like ornaments on the walls. "I used to think that as well, but now I know that she does like me."

"How do you know?" I started to wonder if Nagi hadn't told me the whole story about his girlfriend.

"Do you remember what I said to you about not giving up the things you enjoy?" Nagi recalled a past conversation we had. I remembered it clearly. It was the night that he had offered me yen to play Space Invaders after my father had forbidden me.

"Yes. As an example, you told me about Tang Shen, about how you didn't give up when she first turned you down," I remembered.

"What you have to understand is that Tang Shen is a very desirable lady. She had many suitors," Nagi started to explain.

"Like Hamato Yoshi?" I asked.

"Yes, I believe he was interested in her as well," Nagi answered after some thought. He decided to continue on with his story rather than inquiring as to how I knew about Hamato Yoshi. "So as you can imagine, I had lots of competition. But I liked her – I really liked her, and I wasn't going to allow other people to come in the way of me obtaining some form of peace and happiness."

"So what did you do?" I wanted to hear more of the story.

"Well at first I was treated like any of the other guys that asked her out. But I persisted. Everyday I used to walk to her flower shop and buy one of the roses for her. Of course, I was rejected many times. But after a fortnight of asking, she finally accepted," Nagi retold with a smile on his face. "So out of all those other men, she chose me. That's how I know that she likes me. She may not show it all the time because she's quite a reserved girl, but I know she does." Nagi said it with such conviction that I just had to believe him.

"I think I understand now," I told him. With fatigue really starting to settle in, my eyes began to blink more often, causing me to rub them as though that would help me in staying awake.

"That's good," Nagi agreed to my last comment. He frowned slightly when he saw me trying to stifle a yawn. "You look tired. You should head back to bed," he advised me like any big brother would.

"Yeah," I quietly agreed. I turned to leave, but I was stopped when Nagi rested one hand on my shoulder.

"Before you do, I want to give you something," Nagi said. Intrigued, I decided to stay a few moments longer. I wearily watched as Nagi started to rummage through a few of his drawers. When he found what he wanted, he cheerily returned to my side, gently picked up my hand, and plopped a number of small items into my hand. It was some yen.

"What's this for?" I wondered, too tired to work it out for myself.

"For that game you like. It's something that you enjoy, and nobody should stop you from playing that," Nagi repeated his saying with another one of his smiles. I wondered if Nagi knew what had happened earlier that day with my father dragging me from the store. Nevertheless, I accepted his present and mustered up a little smile in return.

Once school was over the next day, I walked to the store that housed Space Invaders, only to stand outside in a fit of uncertainty. Like always I longed to play it and I could feel that excitement building up inside of me again. Yet I knew that if I was caught, then I would anger my father again. But despite the nagging feeling of fear, I was also experiencing some disinterest towards the game as well. I proven myself time and time again, even in front of my worst enemies – those bullies from school. So did I really need to keep playing? If I played the game again and received a lower score than what I did before, then would I only succeed in disappointing myself? Should I leave it alone and finish on a high note?

After thinking it all through, I discovered that I just didn't want to spend my time and energy on Space Invaders. I knew I would get the desire to play it again sometime in the future, but for that particular day, I decided to finally take a break from it. So there I was, outside with a good forty minutes of free time, still with Nagi's yen in my pocket. Despite turning my back on the game, I still appreciated what my brother had done for me. So I decided to do something special for Nagi instead.

I remembered what my brother had told me the previous night about how he used to buy roses for Tang Shen. Willing to be labeled as 'cute' for the sake of my brother, and recalling the store location of where his girlfriend worked, I thought it would be a sweet idea if I bought a rose from her shop. I would then act as though I was on a not-so-surprise errand from my brother who wanted to hint that he was going to do something romantic. Admittedly that probably meant that I had unwillingly committed Nagi into doing more work, but it was the best idea I could come up with at the time. For some reason, I was just compelled to spend the yen on something as I felt it would be a waste of Nagi's gift if I simply did nothing and saved it up.

Familiar with the area around my house, I found the florist shop quite easily. It was a smooth, simple, white-painted building, complete with large glass windows at the front and a few potted flowers on display just outside. Getting slightly nervous, I stopped by the glass windows while I tried to figure out what I was going to say. Yet I never got that far. In fact, I never even entered. While staring at a few of the dazzling flowers that were displayed within the store, right in front of the shop window, some movement from inside eventually caught my attention.

Shocked and surprised, I instinctively ran back around to the corner of the building. Did I really see who I thought it was? To be certain, I knew I had to have another look, but I couldn't let them see me. So acting like some sneaky action hero in the movies, I pressed by back up against the wall and edged around to where the large glass windows were. Despite my efforts, I wasn't stealthy. Any untrained fool would have clearly seen my head poking out from the side of the window. But luckily the two people inside were too distracted to notice me peering in.

My heart sunk when my suspicions were correct. Inside was Tang Shen and Hamato Yoshi. Although that in itself wasn't note-worthy, the fact that they were openly affectionate towards each other was something that completely set off the little alarm bells in my head. I watched as Tang Shen watered some of her plants while Yoshi approached her from behind and lovingly wrapped his arms around her waist. They then started to slowly sway, as though they were dancing to some invisible tune within their own fantasies. Several times Yoshi would whisper something in her ear, causing the woman to stifle her giggling by covering her mouth with her spare hand. I started to fool myself into thinking that maybe it all wasn't as bad as it looked, but that perception changed once Tang Shen pivoted around to give Hamato Yoshi a brief but romantic kiss on the lips.

There was no denying what I had seen. It was all so obvious. I was still shocked, as I had only ever once before seen people act this way, and that was with two young teenagers who were feeling the drunken-like effects of puppy love. There was more affection shared between Yoshi and Shen than that of my own parents. So either the couple thought they were completely in private considering that there were no other customers in the flower shop, or they just didn't care if others saw their love for one another. It would be foolish for me to pass off, ignore or excuse their actions, especially when they were so direct.

My legs shook with nervousness as I walked home. I knew I had to tell Nagi, even though I dreaded delivering bad news. But if I didn't do it, then what sort of brother would I be? My anxiousness only doubled when I arrived home to discover that Nagi was at the Foot's dojo still training. So for a few hours all I could do was wait and wonder how he would accept the news, if at all.

He came home just before dinnertime. He was still wearing his Foot uniform and his face still contained the beads of sweat that he had gained through his intense workout. He noticed my motionless presence as he walked to his bedroom. "How did your game go?" Nagi asked quietly, not wanting my father to accidentally overhear our conversation.

"I didn't play," I weakly muttered. I could feel those butterflies twirling in my stomach and yanking at my intestines. Slightly confused and obviously wanting to know more, he gently ushered me into his room so we could hold a more private chat.

"Why not?" he wondered, almost sounding really concerned. I think he could see the fear in my eyes.

"I wanted to buy something for you instead and…" I didn't know how to finish my sentence.

"And?" Nagi had to prompt me.

"And I went to the flower shop that Shen-san works at, so I could buy one of her roses. I thought that you could give it to her later," I rapidly spurted out.

"Oh… Thank you," Nagi said, thinking that was the end of it. He was obviously taken aback by the gesture.

"But I never got it," I quietly continued. It was too late to turn back now. My heart thumped, knowing that my future words would hurt my brother.

"I don't understand… So what happened?"

"When I got there, I saw Shen-san with Hamato Yoshi," I nervously reported. I watched as my brother's face turned from being confused, to downright suspicious and alarmed.

"What do you mean by 'with'?" Nagi wanted me to speak plain.

"They were together. Holding each other… kissing," I finally came out with it. My brother took a step back, as though the revelation had been so shocking that it had caused him to regain his balance.

"Kissing?" He couldn't believe it even though he knew that I would never lie to him, least of all about this.

"Back when Hamato Yoshi rescued me, he introduced Shen-san as his girlfriend. I thought nothing of it at the time, and for a while I forgot about it completely. I'm sorry…" I apologized for being so unobservant and not telling him the devastating news earlier.

"But… it can't be…" he was still in denial.

"I'm sorry," I repeated.

"Are you sure about what you saw?" He asked, now wanting to get all the facts straight.

"Yes," I whispered, saddened by the horrible truth. After hearing my answer, Nagi started to pace around the room, as though he had to clear his head and control his growing anger.

"I had a feeling…" he muttered. The anger was starting to build up. His fists clenched and unclenched, as though he was unsure whether he should contain or unleash his sudden fury. "I knew it! I knew Hamato Yoshi was up to something!"

"What?" I was confused.

"He was always hanging around her. I thought they were just friends," he explained to me while he continued to pace. "How could I have been so stupid!?" With that, he punched the air out of frustration.

"You're not stupid, brother," I said, hating the fact that he was beginning to blame himself. He stopped to look at me. I don't know what he was thinking, but my guess is that he saw a worried little boy in front of him – a boy who thought the world of his older brother. Nagi never did like to let me down. He was my role model, and he knew that he had to set an example.

"I'm going to sort this out," he calmly said, as though all of his anger was now bundled up into a tiny space within his body, just waiting to leak out and explode. His eerie, sudden placidity terrified me a little, but I knew his feelings of anger weren't without cause.

"How?" I uttered, now getting worried about what he was planning.

"I'm just going to speak to her," he muttered.

"Are you going to ask her?" I rhetorically asked, not even thinking anymore about the words that were freely popping out of my open mouth.

"Why not? Why not demand a direct, straight answer about what's going on? She was direct with Yoshi-san, not leaving anything to the imagination!" he sputtered, once again only barely containing his anger. His sudden change in emotions from calm to furious terrified me once again. It was a side of him I had never seen before. Then again, there had been no valid reason for that part of him to exist before now.

Nagi must have noticed my worried expression. He paused for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and let some of his pent-up fury subside. "I'm not going to do anything stupid," he assured me. My brother's words instantly soothed me, as I knew that he spoke the truth and that my fears were partially unfounded. After all, he was the kindest person I knew.

"You have to fight for what you love and enjoy," I recalled one of my brother's past lessons. Hearing those words come from me elicited a small smile from Nagi.

"That's right," he nodded, speaking softly. "That's why I have to confront this problem head on. Only then will I know if it's a love worth fighting for," he sighed, almost becoming symbolic with his words. As he was about to leave, he stopped, turned around and looked me in the eyes. There was only sincerity and appreciation. "Thank you for telling me," he bowed.

"What's a brother for?" I weakly shrugged. He nodded and continued to head on his way, walking towards the front door. For some reason I felt scared again, as though something foreboding was going to happen. I wanted to stop him, to block his path, but I didn't know why. Then I remembered his sincere face, and how he assured me that everything would be okay. So I stood there and did nothing, while I comforted my confusing and unfounded fears. Unfortunately I should have obeyed my intuition, as that was the last time I saw my brother alive.