Disclaimer:I do not own Mars. I just like to borrow it.

Chapter 3 Sei's Memorial

"Harumi, have you seen Rei, lately?" Kira asked.

Harumi stared at Kira. "No, you mean you haven't been in touch with him lately either?" Kira shook her head. "Well, did you ask his so-called 'little sister?' Maybe she's heard from him." Harumi was exasperated.

Kira shook her head again. "I did, and she hasn't heard from him either."

"Really girl, you need to get Rei in check and ask him how many more girls are going to spring up from his and Sei's past trying to stake a claim on him."

"I don't really think that Nana is trying to stake a claim on Rei. Actually, Rei assured me that she doesn't want him and that he doesn't want her. But if anyone has a right to stake a claim on Rei, it's her." Kira looked down.

Harumi frowned and folded her arms over her chest. "What's that supposed to mean? What kind of hold could she possibly have on Rei?"

"She has …" Kira stopped. Harumi arched her eyebrows, waiting for Kira to finish. "I mean. She was …"

"Hm?" Harumi asked.

"Uh …" Kira didn't think it was her place to tell Harumi Nana's secret. She looked up to see Rei coming toward her. "Rei?"

Rei looked up, smirked, and sat down on the stairs.

"That's my cue. You two need to talk. I'll see you later." Harumi winked at Kira, pushed her toward Rei and left.

"Are you going to class?" Kira asked Rei not knowing what else to ask.

Rei shrugged. "I don't know."

Kira turned to leave toward her class. "Well, I'm going to class."

Rei grabbed Kira's arm and stopped her. "Sit with me for a bit." Kira nodded and sat next to him on the stairs. "Today's the anniversary of Sei's death. I want to see him, but I don't know where he is buried. I can't remember anything from that time."

Kira nodded. "Why don't you ask your father? I'm sure he would know."

"I don't want anything from him or to have anything to do with him." Rei spoke.

"Why? Is he a bad man? Did he ever do anything bad to you?" Kira asked.

Rei thought. "I don't know. I don't think so, but Sei idolized him and did whatever he said. All I know is that I don't like him or trust him."

"Why do you dislike him?" Kira asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. My mother said not to trust him because he hated children. He hated us."

"Why would she say that? And why did Sei trust your dad?" Kira asked.

"I don't know. I don't know anything any more. I thought that I knew Sei, but Nana said I had no clue. And she's right. I had no clue that he had a wife and 2 kids. I thought Sei did everything my dad wanted because he idolized him and wanted to be just like him. Now I know that it was because of Nana. He promised that he would get my father to bring her over here after she graduated so that they could go to University together and get married. I really thought that I knew Sei." Rei shook his head. "That's why I want to go see him, to apologize. I thought he was a prude and goody two-shoes, but I didn't know him at all."

Kira looked confused. "Then why did he die if he had something to look forward to?"

"That's what I'd like to know." Nana was standing before them dressed in a black dress. "So I really want to go see him. Will you come with me Rei? I really don't want to go see him alone. I don't think I can handle it."

"So you didn't bring the boys?" Rei asked.

Nana shook her head. "No, they're not ready yet. They're too young to understand." Rei nodded. "So are you two coming then?" Nana asked.

Kira shook her head, but Rei responded for both of them. "Yes, we are." He grabbed Kira's hand and pulled her up.

"Rei, I don't think that I should be there. Isn't this a private matter just for family?" Kira protested.

"You are family. If Nana wants you there, then it is okay. I want you there, too. I need you there, and probably so does Nana." He paused and then continued quietly. "Especially since it was my fault."

Nana gasped and gaped at Rei. "Rei, no."

"It wasn't your fault at all. It was mine." Rei, Kira, and Nana turned to find the doe-eyed, cute, high-pitched, shrill-voiced girl looking down with tears in her eyes.

"Shiori?" Rei was confused.

"It was because I told Sei that I was confused with both of you around and looking so much alike, and it would be better if he would just disappear. That way it wouldn't cause me any pain. He listened to me. So, it's all my fault." Shiori began to cry and ran away.

Rei turned to Takemura. "Stay here with both of them. I'll go look for her. Wait for me until I get back." He looked at Kira who nodded.

"Who was that?" Nana asked Kira.

"That was Rei's ex-girlfriend, Shiori. She also was a classmate of Sei's." Kira explained cautiously.

Takemura spoke up. "She was Sei's girlfriend first. Rei stole her from Sei."

Nana nodded distracted. "I have to go. I'll be back." She left and got in a black car that was waiting for her in the distance.

"Who was that?" Takemura asked.

Kira faltered for the second time that day wondering how much to tell him. "That was Sei's … uhm … that was a childhood friend of Rei's and Sei's from Los Angeles."

He frowned, thinking. "She came all this way just to visit Sei?"

Kira nodded. "That and to go to University."

"Is she Rei's ex-girlfriend?" He asked, and Kira shook her head. "Then was she Sei's ex-girlfriend?"

Kira hesitated. "Uhm, you should ask Rei about that." He nodded. "Uhm, do you think what Shiori said was right?" Kira asked.

Takemura took his head. "No, Sei wouldn't do something like that because Rei stole his girl. To be honest, Sei didn't seem to care that much for Shiori. He didn't seem to be bothered by it at all. He seemed relieved, almost like he expected it. He was never physical with Shiori. That's why Rei was able to take her away so easily. Sei didn't seem to mind or be heart-broken." Kira nodded. Nana asked more questions about what Sei was like.

Meanwhile, Nana made her way to the gravesite and laid lilies on the grave. Tears streamed down her face as she sat in front of his grave. "Sei, I'm not sure why you didn't wait for me. I can tell, though, that you were very lonely. It's obvious that no one truly understood you like I did. I'd like to think that if you knew about the family we made together you wouldn't have been so lonely. You would have been able to hang on until we could come to you and be together. I'm sure once the twins came we could have been together. I wish you could see the boys. They are so handsome. They look just like you and Rei, only darker and more handsome since they have my genes too. Soujiroh is just like you, and Hiroki is just like Rei. But they have my personality so that makes them better." She chuckled and sniffed, taking out a handkerchief to dab her eyes and wipe her nose. "I have to apologize to you because I have been angry with you because you left me. But now that I realize how lonely you were, I forgive you, and I apologize for being angry and not being able to be here for you when you needed me most. I love you, and I always will."

Nana got up in tears and returned to her apartment to feed and bathe her twins. She was happy and sad at the same time. She was happy because she had a permanent reminder of Sei and their love for each other. On the other hand, she was sad because the twins also served as a permanent reminder of Sei's absence. She put the twins down for a nap with their nanny and then returned to the university to find out what happened.

She arrived at the same time as Rei to find out that he was unable to locate Shiori. Rei had a sudden flash of Sei jumping off the roof. He ran upstairs frantically followed by Nana, Kira, and Takemura.

Shiori was sitting on the ground crying in front of the ledge near where Sei had jumped. She was rocking back and forth with tears streaming down her face. She looked up. "Rei?" He went over to hold Shiori. "Rei, I was going to jump, but when I looked down I was too scared. I'm useless. I can't do anything, except cause other people to jump."

Nana looked at the ledge entranced. She felt as though she could see Sei standing on the ledge. She began moving closer to the edge. "No."

Rei rubbed Shiori's hair. "Sh, it wasn't your fault."

"But I told him to disappear." Shiori whined.

Nana could picture Sei turning back to see her and smile. She shook her head. "No." She whispered and got closer to the ledge.

"That's not why he jumped. I've been thinking about it all day long." Rei explained.

Although Nana could hear them, she was still entranced and moving slowly closer to the ledge. She could see Sei turning back around to face the ground. "No." She reached out her arm and was almost at the ledge.

"I finally remembered. It was my fault because I told him that the man who he idolized, who he thought was our father wasn't. Our mother had children outside of marriage." Rei confessed.

Nana pictured Sei jumping and she screamed. "Seiiiiiii, nooooooooo!" Nana looked over the ledge and looked down. She could see Sei's body lying broken on the ground and blood spilling from it. Nana continued screaming and then covered her ears and sank to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

Rei ran over to her and hugged her tightly as she turned her face into his jacket to cry. "Nana." Rei rocked her back and forth, stroking her hair. "It's okay. I'm here. Let it out."

Nana finally regained her composure and looked up at Rei. She then pushed him away and shook her head. "Get away from me."

Rei tried to recapture Nana in his arms again. "Nana."

Nana shook her head. "No, get away from me!" She pushed him off her and stood up. "You're the worst!" She yelled at Rei.

"Nana, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for him to die. I didn't think Sei would jump because of what I said." Rei moved toward Nana.

"You idiots, both of you. Sei wouldn't jump over something so trivial as what you said. He already knew about your father in L.A. He told me then. Besides, that wouldn't upset Sei like this, not enough for Sei to react like that over it." Nana protested.

Shiori looked down. "Then it was what I said."

Nana shook her head again and hissed at Shiori. "Don't think so highly of yourself. Nothing you said or did would cause Sei to kill himself. He didn't listen to you. He didn't care about what you said. He didn't care about you. He didn't love you. He didn't even like you."

"Nana, I know you're hurting, but isn't that too much?" Rei asked her. "Shiori feels bad enough as it is, and she and Sei were dating before I stole her from him."

Nana shook her head again. "But she didn't mean anything to Sei. Why do you think he wasn't physical with her, and he didn't care when Rei took her away? Something Sei really liked, he would have treasured it and protected it with all his might. He would have gone after it at all costs."

Rei sat back and thought. "That's true." He flashed back to when Sei tried to protect Nana from those guys who would later bully Sei. "I don't understand." Rei looked at Nana.

"Of course not." Nana's voice was shaky. "You never really understood Sei. That's why he was so lonely here. There was no one here who could understand him. He had a void, a hole, here in his heart, in his life." Nana touched her chest where her heart was located. And neither of you could do anything to fill it. That's why it finally overcame him, and that's why he …" Nana began to choke up. "That's why he jumped." Her voice was barely a whisper.

Rei thought and nodded. "So it really was our fault because we couldn't do anything for Sei."

"Stop it!" Nana yelled. "Just stop it. You still don't understand anything. This day is supposed to be about Sei, not you. Stop blaming yourselves and feeling sorry for yourselves and drawing attention away from Sei. We are supposed to be remembering Sei, the gentle, artistic, talented, yet slightly dark and twisted person that was Sei. It's not supposed to be about you and making us pity you while you blame yourself." She looked at Rei and then turned toward Shiorit . "And you certainly shouldn't be pretending to kill yourself to make this your memorial along with Sei's."

"But I really was going to jump." Shiori pouted.

"No you wouldn't. You don't have the guts. You would never have jumped you pathetic little wuss making everyone worry about you and Rei spend the day looking for you instead of visiting his brother for the first time." Nana was seething. "When are you going to think about Sei? When is this day going to be about Sei?" Nana was in tears now. She covered her mouth and inhaled. "Worse than anything you two don't deserve anyone's sympathy, yet you twisted this day to be about you two to gain sympathy. Well let me tell you something. There are only two people that really deserve anyone's sympathy. They are the two most important people in Sei's life. That is who you really should be thinking about today." Nana began walking away. "I'm leaving first. I'm going to go take care of those two people." She walked toward the stairs unsteadily and then looked back. "You people make me sick." Nana left.

Rei looked devastated. Kira went over to him. "Rei?" She wanted to comfort him, but she also felt that what Nana said about them not thinking about Sei or the twins was right. Rei shrugged Kira away.

Shiori was crying, and Takemura went over to comfort her. He looked at Rei. "Rei, I don't care if she was a childhood friend of yours and Sei's she had no right to say all of those things to Shiori. She doesn't know Shiori's feelings or what she went through."

Rei looked up in their direction, but he gazed past them.

"Rei, weren't we the two most important people in Sei's life?" Shiori asked.

Rei shook his head in response. "No, and she had every right to say what she did."

Shiori pouted, surprised. "Why? Who was she?"

"She was Sei's wife." Rei stared at them. They returned Rei's stare and blinked. Rei got up to leave. Kira followed him. He shook his head. "I need to be by myself right now."

(A/N): Sorry it took so long to update. I wanted to finish my other fic and start a new one in another manga. Although I have had this written for months, I needed to focus on the other ones. I'll try to at least type up all of the chapters that I have already written.

So how about this chapter? I use Nana again to learn more about Sei. Why did he do what he did? We also see a different side of Nana. She is usually strong and aggressive, picking a fight with strangers in another country to protect those she loves. But this time we a softer, more vulnerable side of Nana with her crying and breaking down.

I'm trying to stick to the main events of the story line from the drama without quoting them word for word, except where it is necessary. Don't worry, the story will veer very soon. I hope you enjoy it.