Programmed Lives – Fifth Stage

Chapter Eight

The next Sunday afternoon and using what it probably was the last snow-free day of his holidays before he'd have to go back to his GP2 testing sessions, Akito drove to the Takahashi Motorsports Centre to take one their karts for a spin.

He was parking his V-86 when he saw Kyosuke walking towards him.

'Hey,' the Golden Arrows leader said while Akito was climbing out of his car.

'How is Seisuke?' Akito asked for he'd been really worried about his other best friend.

'You can ask him yourself,' Kyosuke replied as he pointed with his head towards the garage where they kept the karts. There, crouching next to one of the small vehicles, Akito saw the youngest of the Takahashi brothers.

'Alright,' Akito said and then he and Kyosuke started walking towards Seisuke.

'Oh, hi!' Seisuke said glancing at Akito smiling in a way that made the young man frown at him.

'Are you alright?' Akito asked.

'Oh, I am,' Seisuke replied and, for no apparent reason, he chuckled.

'Are you sure?' Akito insisted while beginning to think that his best friend was slowly losing his mind and, when Seisuke looked at him for a while before bursting out laughing, Akito had confirmation of this fact.

'Oh, Akito…poor you…' Seisuke started and then, for some reason, his mirth died all the sudden.

This made Akito look at Kyosuke who apparently agreed with him in thinking that Seisuke's mood swings weren't at all normal.

'What are you doing here?' they heard Seisuke ask with a very harsh tone of voice while staring at some point beyond his friend and brother who, feeling completely puzzled by the whole thing, turned round to see who Seisuke was talking to.

'Oh crap,' Akito heard Kyosuke mutter as they saw Kaori there.

'Er…we'll just…' Akito started taking a step so he and Kyosuke could leave Seisuke alone with the girl.

'No, you two stay here!' Seisuke ordered.

'But…' Kyosuke started.

'Aniki, stay here,' Seisuke said, this time asking rather than ordering.

'Alright,' Kyosuke agreed while Akito swallowed nervously not really wanting to be there at all.

'Where were you? I've been calling you all morning,' Kaori started frowning.

'Really?' Seisuke asked with the most indifferent tone of voice he could manage.

'Y-yes,' she stuttered, 'what's wrong?' she asked.

'I don't know,' Seisuke replied flatly, 'why don't you ask your new boyfriend?'

The look of sheer horror that appeared on Kaori's face when hearing this made Akito feel even more out of place and he really wished Seisuke would allow him and Kyosuke to leave.

'W-what are…' Kaori started with a voice just over a whisper.

'Don't,' Seisuke ordered putting his hand up, almost as though as he was trying to shield himself from the girl.

'Seisuke…' she tried again.

'Look, next time you cheat on your boyfriend,' Seisuke said interrupting her, 'try to be smart enough not to do it where someone who knows you and your boyfriend might see you.'

'Sei…'

'Go, just go, alright?' Seisuke said tiredly.

Something seemed to snap within Kaori and the girl's horrified expression became an angry one:

'It's your fault if I've cheated on you!' she cried.

'WHAT?' Seisuke exclaimed unable to believe his ears.

'YES!' she shouted back, 'If you had been a bit less obsessed with your racing and had paid more attention to…'

'Kaori,' Seisuke started using such a dry tone of voice that even Akito and Kyosuke flinched hearing it, 'I think I've always been honest with you: you've always known what my priorities are, you knew that, at least for now, I will always put racing and medical school ahead of anything else and you assured me that you were okay with that.'

'Well, I'm not anymore!' Kaori said.

'No, and that's the reason why you cheated on me, isn't it?' Seisuke asked letting all his hurt and disappointment show for the shortest of moments.

'You should talk!' Kaori exclaimed, 'before we started dating you could be seen with a different girl every month, if not every week!'

Seisuke glared at her and, with an arctic tone, he said:

'I may have had a lot of girlfriends but I have never cheated on any of them, ever. Now, like I said, you're bothering me so, go away and don't call me ever again.'

He then turned round and started walking towards the shelves where the helmets and other racing equipment were kept.

'Kyosuke…' Kaori started but the older of the Takahashi brothers snorted and shaking his head he said:

'Don't even think of getting me involved. Kaori, my brother has done nothing but to try to make you as happy as possible, maybe you think he didn't do a good enough job but he did his best. Good bye.'

Then, as Kyosuke walked away from her and towards his younger brother, the girl glanced at Akito looking so desperately lost that it made him feel rather powerless.

'Sorry,' he half mumbled as he hurried to join his friends leaving her there, alone.

Meanwhile, at the Takahashi residence, Ryoko knocked on her aunt and uncle's bedroom door.

'Aunt Akiko?' she asked.

'Come in, sweetie,' she heard her aunt say.

Ryoko opened the door and saw that her aunt was half lying on her bed, with her back against its header while she worked on something with her laptop.

'Sorry, I can come back later,' she said.

'No, baby, it's alright,' Akiko said saving whatever she was doing then closing the laptop before putting it away, 'what's the matter?' she asked crossing her hands on her lap.

'Er…' Ryoko started as she felt herself get rather warm, 'I needed to talk to you about something.'

'Alright,' Akiko said pushing herself forwards so she could sit on the bed cross-legged, 'please,' she added patting a spot next to her on the bed.

Ryoko sat down and, glancing at her aunt's ashen looking face, she said:

'How are you?'

Akiko raised her eyebrows and looked startled for an instant before replying:

'Reasonably well, all things considered but, I don't think you're here to talk about my health or lack of thereof, are you?'

Ryoko, as usual, was impressed seeing how very smart her aunt was and how very difficult it was for anyone to fool her. Not even Uncle Ryosuke managed to do that and Ryoko had never met anyone as smart as her uncle.

'Ryoko?' Akiko asked.

'Yeah,' Ryoko started,' this is very embarrassing,' she then looked away getting all flustered.

'Ah, I see,' Akiko said having understood everything, 'maybe you want to wait till your mother gets back home.'

'No!' Ryoko exclaimed turning sharply to look back at her aunt, 'please auntie.'

'Sweetie, if you want to talk about sex, I think it's better that you speak to your mother,' Akiko said.

'No!' Ryoko exclaimed again, 'if I do, she'll tell Dad.'

'Ryoko, I think you should give a lot more credit to your mother,' Akiko commented sounding very serious.

'It's not that,' Ryoko explained, 'it's just that…I don't know how to say this but, I think it's easier for me to talk about this with you.'

Akiko looked at her for a bit before nodding once.

'Alright then,' she conceded, 'but, I need to know if I'm authorised to talk about this with your mother later.'

Ryoko seemed to consider this and, after a moment, she said:

'Okay.'

'Alright, what do you need to know?'

'Er…' Ryoko started then, she swallowed and whispered, 'does it really hurt all that much?'

Akiko forced herself to keep a straight face and, using her most professional-sounding tone of voice, she said:

'It depends of many things but, I think that the key to all of this is that you feel relaxed.'

'Relaxed?' Ryoko asked frowning.

'Yes, I take that you're asking me this because you and Akito are considering doing it, right?'

Ryoko nodded.

'Well, I think it's very good of you two that you've waited until you both were old enough to understand the implications that a physical relationship has.'

Ryoko nodded again.

'Also because, you two clearly love each other and, in my opinion, it is the best possible scenario for your first time.'

'Why is that?'

'Because you'll be making love rather than having sex,' Akiko replied with her usual honesty, 'which, again in my opinion, it makes all the difference in the world.'

'Yeah, I think I agree,' Ryoko said nodding.

The two of them talked for a bit longer, with Akiko stressing the importance of using some sort of protection and explaining the different existing methods then, after they finished, Ryoko thanked her aunt and left her so the woman could get back to her work.

As she closed the door behind her, Akiko felt very grateful that the girl had chosen to speak to her, rather than trying to get the information through one of her friends or, even worse, internet.

Smiling to herself, the doctor reopened her laptop and started working once more.

That same evening, after dinner and once Akito had left the Takahashi residence to go back home, Seisuke was walking through the corridor which led to the living room when he was stopped by his older brother.

'Hey, are you alright?' Kyosuke asked.

Seisuke looked at him for a short while before nodding.

'Yeah, I think I am.'

'Okay,' Kyosuke said and was about to walk away when he felt Seisuke's hand on his arm.

'Aniki,' Seisuke started, 'thanks for earlier.'

'What do you mean?' Kyosuke asked frowning confusedly.

'For not leaving me alone: I don't think I would have been anywhere near as brave if you guys hadn't been there.'

'Seisuke…'

'Aniki, I think I will always feel something for Kaori but she's not the right girl for me,' Seisuke explained.

Kyosuke remained quiet while he silently agreed with his brother.

'I'll be fine,' Seisuke continued, 'there are plenty of women in the world, I'm sure that the one who'll be right for me is somewhere out there.'

'Yeah,' Kyosuke said smiling at his younger brother, 'I don't know, maybe you'll find her in…say…Tochigi?'

Seisuke looked taken aback for an instant before, realising, he nodded:

'You've been talking to our baby cousin, haven't you?'

'Maybe,' Kyosuke replied, this time walking away from his brother without letting him speak again. Seisuke followed him and they joined the rest of their family in the living room.

'Hey, this is great,' Seisuke said seeing them all together, 'I just was waiting for the right moment to ask you something.'

Kyosuke looked at his brother feeling all confused. He then sat down next to Ryoko who looked every bit as puzzled as her oldest cousin.

'What is it sweetheart?' Akiko asked while sipping a bit of green tea.

Seisuke decided to remain standing up with his hands inside the pockets of his trousers and said:

'Okay, so, I know you guys haven't taken a break in ages, right?'

'That's right,' Ryosuke replied looking at his youngest son, trying to figure out what Seisuke's intentions were.

'So, I've been thinking that, maybe, you guys would like to go and spend a weekend somewhere, just the four of you.'

'Are you trying to get rid of us?' Keisuke asked.

'You're not planning to throw a party or something like that, are you?' Kyoko asked frowning in suspicion.

'Of course not,' Seisuke said putting his hands up, 'besides, if we needed a place to throw a party, our friend Junya has his own place so we could easily go there.'

'Ah, alright then,' Kyoko said.

'I think I agree with him,' Kyosuke added, 'you guys definitely need a break.'

Akiko looked at her two boys then, she saw the unusual way in which Ryoko seemed to be indifferent about this and, once more, she understood every single thing.

'Kyoko, could I have a quick word with you?' she said talking to her sister in law as, setting aside her half full mug, she got up from the sofa.

'Sure,' Kyoko said doing the same as she followed Akiko out of the room.

'Aniki, what's going on?' Keisuke asked to his older brother who, shrugging his broad shoulders, said:

'No idea.'

In the mean time, Kyoko entered the house's main kitchen after her sister in law and, once there, she asked:

'What's the matter?'

'Kyoko,' Akiko started as she leant against one of the kitchen's cupboards, 'I don't want you to freak out about this but, there's something I need to tell you.'

Kyoko nodded and, frowning worriedly, she prepared herself to listen to what she hoped, wouldn't be any more bad news regarding Akiko's already poor health.

'I think the boys are trying to get rid of us so we leave the house empty for Ryoko and Akito.'

'Eh?' Kyoko asked her worry turning rapidly into confusion, 'why would Ryoko and Akito need…'

She then interrupted herself as she mentally answered her own question.

'Oh no,' Kyoko said and, just as she was taking a step out of the room, Akiko put her hand on the younger woman's arm.

'Wait,' she said managing to stop Kyoko who, slowly, turned back to face her, 'think about this, Kyoko: do you prefer knowing that your daughter is making love for the first time with her boyfriend of three years who, by the way, adores her, here in the safety of our home or, would you rather have her going to a sordid love hotel or worse, doing it goodness knows where in the car?'

Kyoko seemed to consider the thing for a bit.

'Because,' Akiko added, 'they're going to do it, regardless of what you do now, they will end up doing it anyway.'

Kyoko frowned again and, sighing, she said:

'You're right.'

'Kyoko, I should tell you that Ryoko came to me earlier to ask me about sex and, even though I did tell her that she needed to talk to you too, I answered all the questions she asked me. I hope you'll forgive me for going over you like that.'

'No, no,' Kyoko said shaking her head, 'it's alright, I mean, you ARE a doctor.'

'Yes, I am,' Akiko agreed, 'but you are her mother. I don't want you to take this the wrong way but, I think you should try to make sure Ryoko knows that she can tell you anything she wants and that you won't run to Keisuke to tell him about it.'

'Is that what she thinks?' Kyoko asked looking aghast.

'Yes,' Akiko said, 'it's a good thing you and Keisuke have the kind of relationship you guys have but, Ryoko needs to know that you'll keep her private affairs, private.'

'Yes,' Kyoko nodded, 'I agree.'

'It would also be a good idea to give Keisuke a smack on the back of his head so he wakes up and realises that he lives in the twenty first century, but, again, that's just me,' Akiko said showing a bit of her infamous temper.

Kyoko just laughed at that for, once more, she agreed with her sister in law.

'Alright, let's go back and tell our husbands that we'll be very happy to go for a weekend break,' Akiko said.

'Yes, I quite fancy going back to that spa we used to go,' Kyoko added.

'How does next weekend sound?' Akiko suggested.

'Can you manage it?' Kyoko asked and Akiko knew that she wasn't asking her about her professional responsibilities.

'Yes, I should be alright with the medicines.'

Kyoko nodded to that as both women walked back to the living room the whole family shared.

To be continued…