Story - Love As Is
Author - Yours Truly, my dear readers.
Genre - Glass Mask, romance!
Preface - Hayami Masumi & Kitajima Maya, star-crossed lovers? Perhaps. It's been three years since Tsukikage-sama cut herself off from the world, since Masumi married, since Maya re-entered the acting industry to perfect her craft. But things are changing, an old love blossoming, and no one can help Maya and Masumi but themselves. Will they...or won't they?
Key - The triple x's represent a break in time. And the bold triple x's mean a change in perspective.
Author's Notes: I've had so much great feedback and so I'm trying to go for regular bi-monthly updates - I also have a HP fanfic going that takes up quite a bit of time. Add in university work and you've got a very slow writer! I've adjusted the timeline quite a bit, and taken liberties with some of the characters. For my purposes, Masumi and Shiori married a few weeks after the weekend in Plum Valley. The present is thirteen long years after that...This is short but I'll have another one out under two weeks, scout's honor! Enjoy.
Third Act
"Truth makes many appeals, not the least of which is its power to shock." - Jules Renard
"Reporting live from the Tokyo headquarters of Daitou's Production Company." Maya turned the volume of the television up and absentmindedly noted how bright the lips of the eager female reporter were. The backdrop displayed a building more familiar to Maya than the walls of her apartment. "The alleged divorce of business and theater mogul Hayami Masumi has taken most by surprise."
Count me among them.
Three days after the terrible lovely confusing and awkward car ride with the object of her interest, Rei had left approximately twelve messages on her phone pleading with her to 'return this call as soon as possible'. She'd been busy filming two of her day television soap operas and had missed all the calls. Another trick of fate had her dropping the phone and breaking it, ultimately, so she neither had any idea that Rei was trying to reach her or a way to say hello if she had. That Thursday Rei and Ayami had come by SeriTen to pick her up (unexpectedly, of course, since she still hadn't gotten around to telling her manager to get her a new cell) and break the news to her. Hayami Masumi was in the process of divorcing Miss Shiori, his wife of thirteen years. Ayumi's mother was close to Shirake Sango who was very good friends with Lady Kaori, Shiori's mother, who had just heard word about the break-up three days ago.
Long grapevine trimmed short, Ayumi had heard the word first through her mother and had apparently called Rei first. Then they'd deliberated on how best to break the news to her (all this Maya had deduced this on her own after piecing together separate stories from the two of them) before the multiple phone messages and the phone dropping and the pick up at SeiriTen. At Ayumi's place, with the two of them curled up on the bed around her, they'd broken the news while watching old Tezuka films. Then the two had waited hesitantly for Maya to react.
"They're getting a divorce." Ayumi had delivered the line with her usual clear-eyed bluntness. Rei had looked on appalled at the delivery but silent. "It happened this week."
Here's the thing - they needn't have worried so much about how to tell Maya because Maya hadn't known what to do when she heard the news. She was neither overcome by an earth-shattering joy nor bowed by grief. She just kind of...felt...nothing. Nothing. It was a nothingness because it was a complete absence of emotion. She'd sat there staring at her closest friends in the entire world and blinked at the news of her beloved's imminent break-up. At first, Ayumi and Rei had taken it for the keenest sort of shock. Then they'd been surprised. Then they'd been worried.
"What's wrong with you?" Rei had asked her, touching her shoulder. "You just...nothing?"
She'd nodded her head.
"You mean 'yes, something's wrong with me' or 'yes, I feel nothing'?"
"Yes to the second," Maya had responded faintly.
"Perhaps, you're mistaking lack of feeling for shock."
That from Ayumi, who turned out to be quite right. Now, Maya was feeling the full force of agony and relief that came with every newsreel, every camera flash, every television report that trailed Masumi Hayami from his secluded home to the workplace and back again during this very public break-up with Shiori. The cameramen weren't exceptionally skilled at catching the man off-guard and he looked composed and even a little relaxed in every single shot. The haggard saddened Hayami that Maya had seen that night was incongruous next to this seemingly unapologetically relaxed tycoon. It was unacceptable. It was surreal. It was a further sign to Maya that she had never really known how to get past his safeguards - if she knew him, it was only because he let her.
"The media frenzy has started to die down since last week's breaking news," said the reporter, "and Masumi-san's tight-lipped stance on his marriage has furthered the die down."
The screen cut to a shot of Hayami stepping out of the front doors of Daitou, flanked by his Vice-President and a new secretary. Maya's heart constricted - ah, yes, that familiar feeling that indicated her emotion had returned - and she involuntarily flipped the channel.
"That's enough self-flagellation for one day." She sighed at the words better left unsaid. "Enough."
Wait.
The thought was right enough. Who was she kidding? Sure Maya had gotten through the weekend with nary an emotional outburst but come Tuesday afternoon? After a particularly hard rehearsal for her new role on stage, she'd barely driven home quickly enough to fall into bed with a heart much to heavy and a mind far too full. She was angry at nothing and sad because he was probably hurting and overwhelmed with an exhausting sense of relief. When had she first met Masumi? At Tsukikage-sensei's old manor out by the city park? But no, she hadn't known who he was at the time. Or could it be the introduction, that conversation she'd overheard between the beloved butler and even more beloved teacher about Daitou theaters? One by one, she went through as much as her mind would allow. The first time he'd called her Chibi-chan, the frequent taunting paired with laughter, the occasional angry word. Everything. As much of it as she could manage before she drifted off to a worried sleep.
How can I be happy?
She couldn't - not because of this. The loneliness of Masumi's back as he walked away from her thirteen years ago after her Crimson Angel collaborated with the strain on his face last week to make her feel even more depressed. She was a terrible person to feel even the slightest bit of relief. Utterly and irrevocably horrible. The relief, so far, had been remarkably short lived. Guilt over what a terrible person she was, how difficult this must be for him and the beautiful Lady Shiori, how slippery the world must feel after over a decade of making a home with someone. Even so-
The phone rang. Maya slowly pulled herself into a sitting position then made a valiant effort to reach for the handset and was met with success.
"Hello?"
"Are you moping?"
Well, heavens. If it wasn't the Princess herself.
"Good evening to you too, Ayumi," she said in as pleasant a voice as she could manage. "I've missed you dearly too. How was your week?"
"Don't you dare try and change the subject."
"I'm simply asking you how you're doing!"
"Maya," the voice on the phone scolded, "I can recognize an evasive maneuver when I see one. You haven't texted anyone in over a week - and all I have is Miss Know-It-All Rei for company. When are you coming out of hiding?"
Against her wishes, Maya found herself laughing. There was nothing like bluntness to force a soul to feel better. When she could get her breath back, she finally responded.
"Filming has been busy-"
"Stop it."
She stopped. There was no stopping Ayumi (no play on words intended) when she insisted that someone spill the beans. It was going to be virtually impossible to have a conversation with the girl in the next week if she didn't first get the topic of Hayami out of the way. Still, she was loathe to bare her heart to her best friends. How could she, when she wasn't entirely sure how she was feeling?
"I'm not sure what you want me to say."
"How about the truth?"
"And if I don't know what that is, exactly?" Maya countered evenly. "I honestly felt nothing a week ago. Now I don't know how to sort it out."
"Good."
Maya crinkled her brow. "Good?"
"It's better than the 'nothing' you were wallowing in five days ago. I don't know when we'll all be free enough to see each other again but I'm hoping that we can all sneak out to lunch next Wednesday."
"Uh...good...then?" She was beyond confused at the turn this conversation was taking. "And yes to lunch if we can wrangle it?"
"Good! Do try and sleep well - I better not hear about you doing anything drastic in the next few weeks."
"Define drastic," Maya quipped. "Actually, don't. Then I'll be able to do whatever I like. Goodnight, Ayumi."
A similar response from the girl on the other end left her staring blankly into space. She could sit here and lie to herself and pretend that the shock would dissipate in the next few days but the truth was that Maya knew herself too well for that. She was, fundamentally, a passionate person. Her passion had always fueled her determination but passion also meant that when she was high she was high...and when she was low, she was very much so. She doubted she would be able to think of anything else but him in her free time. Her only saving grace was that she no longer worked in Daitou, and therefore, had no opportunity to completely humiliate herself in front of the object of her interest. Thank heavens for small mercies. Although...
Although at least I'd have to face him head on.
The thought was unwelcome, so she brushed it aside. She had more than enough ammunition against herself with the recorded television commentaries. She really should stop. She really should. And she would...just not anytime soon. With a sigh, she stood and turned off the television and headed through the kitchen, turning off all the lights as she went. Normally, her cozy apartment fulfilled her needs. Now the silence was deafening. Maya had a burgeoning career, two friends who were like sisters, and as many as fans as stars in the Tokyo night sky. She wanted for nothing.
When she reached the door of her bedroom, she pushed it open a little ways but turned to look over her shoulders. The hallway was quiet and a little moonlight from the faraway kitchen window filtered in white stripes against the dark of the carpet. Something about the stark contrast caused her eyes to fill. Maya turned her back on the view and reminded herself that she was blessed and that she wanted for nothing.
Nothing at all.
xXx
"I'm starting to think that you enjoy nagging me incessantly." Masumi sighed into his cup of coffee then glared over the rim at his best friend. "I don't suppose you have any work that needs to be done?"
"Why, Masumi, I don't believe you are happy enough to make jokes." Masumi found himself glaring even harder at Hijiri Karato. If he could be bothered enough to put his morning cuppa down, he would make for the man's throat and wring it for good measure. Sadly, his best friend wasn't at all finished. "I came around to make sure you didn't drown yourself in your cups but you have the situation well in hand. Now, I'm just here to make sure you take it easy."
Masumi snorted but didn't take the bait.
"You do realize that I could get to work much faster if you weren't mollycoddling me?"
The mollycoddler blinked (and even this blink was a personal affront to Masumi) before slipping into another rare smile. This time the blond was the one to ignore the bait.
Masumi had been cooped up with his childhood friend for the last three days - something he had certainly not anticipated when he'd done the right thing by letting Karato in on his impending divorce. Knowing that the right thing would be to let his closest friend in the world know first, Masumi had telephoned Karato as soon as he'd walked through the doors of his house last Friday evening. The encounter with Maya had shaken him to his very core though they couldn't have exchanged more than a few sentences. Being in her presence had been agonizing - it always was, and this time was worse than years past. That dreadful bump on her head, her hair longer than he'd remembered, her usual stubbornness. Too familiar, far too dear, and too damned close in the confines of the car. Just being in the same vehicle had made him uncomfortable beyond belief.
When she'd frankly inquired after his well-being, he'd wanted nothing more than to toss himself off a high building. It seems Maya had never lost the knack for reading him at the times he least needed her to do so. And Masumi could only wince as he remembered his response.
I'm an idiot.
Yes, well...one would think his divorce would have proved that by now.
"So when will I be rid of you this evening?"
His friend offered a faint smile before pouring himself more coffee.
"When you're this pleasant to be around, I just can't bear the thought of leaving you."
Karato's particular brand of sarcasm was making so many daily appearances that Masumi knew he was deriving some twisted enjoyment from yanking his chain. This time he forewent the glaring and went straight to sighing. Little did his best mate know how happy he looked...the man was usually so the quiet and serious (he swore, even when they'd been little kids, the guy had been unable to enjoy himself) that the smallest change in character was readily apparent. These days, he was training a new protege to take up his spying work for Daitou. And less work was suiting him just fine, as far as Masumi could see. He was starting to suspect that something else was involved. So, of course, he leaned back in his chair and went fishing for information directly.
"Tell me about her."
Karato nearly dropped his mug as his head snapped up. Masumi smiled to himself and waited.
"Excuse me?"
"I assume it's a her and not a him? Although I really don't care about the gender of whomever makes you happy."
Silence reigned. Karato stared. Masumi fought a grin and waited for speech.
"...how did you know?"
Besides your very obvious displays of surprise and guilt? Let no one accuse Masumi of being unable to bite his tongue at the appropriate time. He leaned forwards to set the coffee pot to rights, then stood to get a rag from the kitchen sink. Over his shoulder, he shot the guilty-looking party a grin.
"It was a guess, actually." Karato's arched eyebrow said he didn't believe that for a moment. He returned to the table and began to mop up the mess. After a moment, the blond snatched the rag from him and took over the act of cleaning. Masumi resumed his seat and gazed at him. "Really, I was fishing and you took the bait - hook, line and sinker."
"Sorry about the mess."
"No problem. Now tell me."
Karato finished wiping in silence, then cleared the table of their mugs and the coffeepot. Masumi went from smiling to frowning in the space of a few moments. Was his best friend really going to remain mute? Masumi examined his face when he sat down again, then leaned forward to stare. The blond looked even more guilty than he had at the start. What on earth did he have to be guilty about? After another few moments of awkward silence, it hit him. Karato didn't want to tell him anything about his love interest when Masumi's own life was falling apart. He knew he'd have to handle the situation carefully.
"Although I despise all visible and audible displays of feelings, I will say this. You are the closest thing I've ever had to a brother, and my best friend in the world barring Shiori." Karato watched him as he let the familiar wave of pain wash over him with nary a blink before continuing on. "This means that whatever makes you happy will make me happy. I would never begrudge you a moment's happiness, and even in the midst of all...of this...I only want the best for you. Not even a ruined marriage will change that. So, before I lose consciousness over this emotional outburst, please tell me about her. Or him. Or whomever this person is."
Karato stared. Then smirked. Then descended into a low choking sound that was closer to wheezing than laughing.
Which, Masumi supposed with a mental sigh, is better than silent guilt.
"Are you quite finished yet?"
"I am tempted to make you more comfortable by reaching across the table to pat your head."
"Do it and I'll snap your hand off," growled Masumi. "In fact, I'm tempted to break your arm regardless. Are you done?"
"We aren't dating," said Karato with a sudden change in topic, "and she doesn't know that I care about her in that manner. I suspect that it will take me a long while to do anything about it."
"Where did you meet her?"
"Do you know that we can't recall?" His best friend's face suddenly filled with an unfamiliar look that was such an even mix of irritation and affection that Masumi found himself momentarily thinking it was directed at him. When Karato's gaze drifted to the view outside the window, he realized his mistake. "You know that I like to take the bus to work on Mondays and Fridays, correct? She's usually on it. The first time I remember speaking to her was after I gave up my seat for her. She says I helped her up after a young boy knocked her down - that came after I gave up my seat."
A true smile lit up his face. Masumi smiled back.
"Are you purposely not telling me her name?" A look said as much. "I promise I won't investigate her."
"Sawatari Mina."
He'd promised that he wouldn't investigate her but he'd never promised that he wouldn't get someone else to do so. Was it a coincidence that her name sounded the slightest bit familiar? Masumi's mind was already racing back and forth to figure out why her name rang a bell. If Karato hadn't been so starry-eyed, he would have immediately picked up on the omission and offered no name. Masumi thanked heavens for small favors and hurried the conversation along.
"How long have you known her?"
"Almost a month."
"Anything outside of the bus?"
"Coffee and lunch dates, though I couldn't tell you where she works or what she does for a living." His best mate offered him a rueful smile. "I could tell you all about her quirks and her imagination and her dreams though, if that counts for anything."
A comfortable silence settled around them, in which Masumi found himself marveling at the capriciousness of Fate. He missed Shiori the way he missed his mother - she was a gaping hole in his life that he badly wanted to fill. He couldn't seem to build up enough courage to go into her personal study, or to wander into the west wing of the house that had been her domain. A discreet moving company had showed up Monday morning to pack, box, and ship all her things to her new address. It didn't matter - there were relics of Shiori everywhere he turned. He swore he could still smell the scent of her floral perfume. He'd found a little notebook in which she'd written up some housework to-do lists - innocous notes for the butler for cleaning supplies and such. Her bottle of shampoo was still perched on his bathroom counter, and when he'd wandered downstairs yesterday to look through the laundry, he'd found the pretty blue dress she'd worn to that executive's dinner three weeks ago. Whenever he found something, he carefully placed it in a box meant to be sent to her in a few days.
He wanted to hold on to it the little while longer.
Aware that this was a morbid train of thoughts, Masumi consciously turned his mind to wonder how he would manage to get from the mansion with Karato, who was still little known at Daitou, to headquarters. Security knew him on sight - but none of the staff had wised up to the fact that He had another meeting with Saeko Mizuki, who would only take the opportunity to psychoanalyze him to the highest extent. He appreciated the handful friends that he had - truly, he did - but between fending off Karato's humor and avoiding Saeko's pointed critique of the failure that his life currently amounted to, Masumi was waiting for the end of the day to come. Figure that, when it wasn't even 10 o'clock in the morning yet!
"We should go," murmured Karato with a reluctant sigh. "Otherwise, we'll have to add 'tardy' to the list of things Saeko-san will quietly upbraid us for."
"Of course." Masumi stood and stretched. He'd have more time to wallow in a healthy serving of self-pity later. "Of course, let's go."