Chapter Three – Fighting Chance
Tsubasa was certain that this was Rei-chan. The way that Yumi sat at the piano, the look on her face as she played, it was all the same, even if the face was a little different than before.
Yet, it seemed impossible that Rei could have died only two years ago and yet her next life could already be twenty years old. Was time so flexible? Did her soul fly back so far to find a new life? If so, then was it only to be with him, or was there more to it? It seemed arrogant to think that Rei would have arranged this all simply to be the right age to date Tsubasa. He had fallen hard for the dead girl, but had her feelings been the same?
In the last two years he had turned the brief time they had shared over and over in his mind until he could hardly be certain of anything. All he knew is that he had loved her, lost her, and now had seemingly found her again. But was it the same?
Yumi was Rei, but she was also uniquely herself. He couldn't imagine Rei picking up a rock and throwing it at a kappa. Rei had been gentle and rather fragile. Yumi also had a gentleness, but she was stronger, tougher, and more fierce than his memory of Rei. Still, how was he to know that for sure? He had met her after her death, in circumstances that could make anyone frightened and timid.
Rei had certainly stood up to Siren in the end, even knowing it would cost her more than just her life, knowing that she would lose her soul, her very being. That had been an incredibly courageous act. Where they in fact more similar than he knew?
His thoughts chased each other around in his head as the music rose and fell, as they played a few bars and then went back to polish it again. It was soothing to listen to, in a way. The musicians all working together to get the piece down and their struggles and compromises reminded him of his family.
Occasionally, someone would walk by the booth and look in, giving a comment or asking a question. But mostly it was this small group all to themselves, just making music. It was nice.
"So are you here to pick up Chi-chan?" asked one of the engineers with a bored look and Tsubasa shook his head. He was an old man, with white hair in a tuft around his head and fingers that were gnarled and worn, but which danced across the electronics, coaxing the knobs and sliders with a maestro's precision.
"I'm here for Kimura-san." It was a short statement, but it was starting to have more meaning for him. The engineer looked at him in surprise and then smiled in approval.
"You are here for our Yumi-chan, eh? You are smarter than you look," the elderly man informed him. "She is better than most of the silly children who prance through here. Her songs will be remembered long after most of these foolish idols are long forgotten." His words were sharp and censorious, his expression sour, but Tsubasa could feel his affection for the pianist underneath it all.
"Her songs?" he asked in surprise.
"Huh, maybe you aren't so bright, after all. Every song on this album was written by our Yumi-chan," he informed Tsubasa with a certain smug pride. "She was a prodigy, you know, playing, writing music, all before she was five. She was born with a real gift, that one." The bright black eyes were watching him with speculation and appraisal. "She's very special, boy."
"I know she is," Tsubasa agreed and the other man smiled a little at him. He was a gruff soul, but he obviously cared deeply about Yumi-san. The fact that Tsubasa took her seriously seemed to reassure the old engineer, but he still watched the younger man with a touch of suspicion.
"Hm, well, you take care of her then." Tsubasa was startled by the comment and turned to reply, but the man was grumbling into the studio mike and ordering the musicians to replay the last lines.
"Every moment that I breathe, I feel the sunshine flowing through my soul," Chi-chan sang and this time Tsubasa really listened. Yumi-san wrote this? "I dream of morning sun falling on my face," she continued. The melody was wonderful, full of light and laughter, yet with an undertone of something serious and sweet. "Every moment that you live brings possibilities of joy." The words were gentle and hopeful and he wondered what her inspiration for them had been.
He leaned forwards and listened to the words and the music, letting them carry him far away. The old engineer watched him with shrewd eyes and there was a twinkle in their depths that went entirely unnoticed by the entranced young man.
Yumi looked up at him in surprise.
"Go to your fight tonight?" she repeated, feeling rather more like a parrot than a girl. They had spent nearly the whole day together, surely he was getting bored of her by now, she thought. Yet, his eyes, guarded as they were, held a sort of hopefulness as well. He really wanted her to come. "Of course, I would be happy to," she answered, completely unable to say no to him, when his eyes had that look in them.
He smiled suddenly, like a flash of sunlight on a cloudy day, and she couldn't help but smile back.
"The song was really wonderful, by the way," he told her and she found herself blushing.
"Thank you." She had no other words in her just then, suddenly feeling shy and ill at ease. What was wrong with her suddenly? She had always been the level headed one, keeping people at arm's distance and being smart about men. Ozu Tsubasa seemed to demolish her defenses in an instant and it scared her a little.
"My brother, Makito, will be there too, he can watch over you while I am fighting," he added and she cocked her head in enquiry.
"Watch over me? I thought you were the one doing the dangerous part," she teased and he grinned a little self-consciously, rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah, well, the crowds can be a little rowdy and I want you near Aniki to make sure that you don't get jostled." She was speechless. All she could do was bow her thanks for his consideration. It had been a long time since someone had cared for her welfare in such a way.
Tsubasa was nervous as Makito arrived. What if his elder brother didn't like Yumi-san? What if she found him to be too loud, too emotional, and too much in general? He loved his family, but they could be embarrassing sometimes and he really hoped that this wouldn't be one of those times.
"Tsubasa!" Aniki called out and waved vigorously as he approached. Yumi was watching his tall, brash brother with a touch of trepidation, but Makito seemed not to notice.
As they were introduced, Makito grabbed her hand and pumped it enthusiastically. Rather wide-eyed, Yumi stuttered out her pleasure at meeting him.
"You are Tsubasa-san's brother?" she asked with a touch of incredulity and Makito laughed loudly at her question.
"Tsubasa and Urara are the quiet ones in the family," he informed her in a stage whisper and she gave him a sweet, rather uncertain smile. "I am the loud one, not as quick as my brother, but don't worry, you will be perfectly safe as long as I am here!"
"I can see that courage is a shared trait, though," she answered and flashed Tsubasa a smile. Makito roared with laughter again and patted her on the shoulder. She sagged a little from the impact, but continued to keep smiling. Tsubasa could see that she was determined to be kind to his brother and it made him feel very proud of her.
"Yumi-chan, you are a very nice girl! Tsubasa has good sense!" Aniki approved and Yumi blushed under the praise. "You must come for dinner and meet the family!"
"Not so fast! You will scare her off!" Tsubasa protested as Yumi laughed rather nervously. "Give her time to get used to you first, before I drop the whole family on her!" he added. Yumi gave him a slightly startled look, as though she hadn't expected his words at all.
"I am very hard to scare, Tsubasa-san," she admitted and that set Makito off again.
"Brave girl! You say that now, but you haven't met Houka and Kai, yet!" Makito chuckled. Yumi looked rather nonplussed by his comment, but wisely remained silent. Tsubasa claimed her back from his brother and escorted her into the arena.
Yumi hadn't expected the journalists. Lights were flashing in her eyes and people were yelling questions, but Makito put himself between her and the reporters and the three of them went past without much bother. She hadn't properly appreciated him, she realized. Makito was a big man, heavily built, and he was quite capable of just pushing past anyone blocking his way with ease.
Like a snow plow, he broke a trail for his brother and Yumi just followed in his wake. Tsubasa was frowning and his attention was moving away from her to some inner place. She recognized it from the mirror, for it was the same face she saw as she was getting ready for a concert.
She left him to whatever mental preparations he needed to make and then they parted, as he headed for the locker room, and she continued to follow after his brother towards their seats. His wave and the smile he gave her were somewhat distant, but she didn't mind. She knew that he was probably as deeply into the mental preparations for his fight as she would have been for her playing.
Makito-san led her to their seats, talking loudly as they went about how good his little brother was at boxing, and how proud he was of him. Despite his large size and booming voice, Yumi found herself warming to him. He had a kind smile and was a deeply genuine person. They settled into their chairs and Makito continued to sing his brother's praises and she slowly realized that between sentences he was shooting her some rather anxious looks.
"Makito-san, is something wrong?" she asked, concerned.
"No, no, it's just that Tsubasa has never asked a girl to his fights before and he hardly ever dates at all, so I am a little nervous. I don't want you to think the whole family is strange or anything," he blurted out in a rush and Yumi blinked at him stupidly. Tsubasa hardly ever dated? How can that be? He was handsome, smart and funny; girls should be falling all over themselves to date him. Chi-chan had even gushed about him and she was normally more prone to gush over fashions than men.
"I don't think you are strange at all," she reassured him with a smile and he returned it with far more wattage. He was endearingly sweet and she found herself quickly growing fond of him as they sat and chatted before the bout.
He was a farmer, it turned out, and she knew just enough about plants to get him started and then occasionally make an intelligent comment, though he quickly lost her in a dissertation about fertilizers.
"Sakura-chan thinks that fish meal is the best for certain trees and I have to agree. I could never use something cheap to fertilize with," he concluded and she nodded sagely, trying to look like she had a clue.
"Is Sakura-san you're wife," she guessed and now Makito-san blushed and stammered a bit.
"Very soon, we are getting married next month." He drifted off for a moment, with a dreamy smile on his face before snapping back to the present. "You must come to the wedding!" he informed her with a clap of his hands. "Tsubasa will bring you!" He acted as though it was decided and Yumi gaped at him a bit, unused to such passion and energy. She just bobbed her head in a nod, figuring that Tsubasa would sort it all out later.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" called out the announcer and Makito broke off abruptly. Looking around at the spectators, Yumi thought that the announcer's assessment of the crowd was overly generous. She saw plenty of tattooed men accompanied by girls who popped gum and had too much makeup. There were gamblers, a few rather drunk salary-men, some bored rich kids and lots of working men, all shouting, smoking and exchanging bets.
Yumi very much doubted that her mother would approve. Still, with Makito-san sitting beside her and glaring at everyone who got near to her, she felt quite safe. It was amusing to her how quickly his lowered eyebrows could drive away even the most drunken and belligerent of people.
"The Asian bantamweight champion, Ozu Tsubasa!" she brought her attention back to the ring in time to hear Tsubasa being introduced and blinked again. He stepped into the ring with a cocky grin that seemed unlike him. Of course, she had only known him for two days; she could hardly say that she knew him well. Wait, what had the balding man in the ring said?
"He's the Asian champion, really?" she asked Makito in surprise.
"You didn't know?" For some reason her total ignorance seemed to please the exuberant farmer and he launched into a recitation of Tsubasa-san's past glories. Yumi only listened with half her attention, because the other man entered the ring and he looked mean and dangerous. That was who Tsubasa was fighting?
"Japanese all around champion and Olympic silver medalist, Arakaki Shojo!" Now Yumi was feeling a little nervous. Arakaki Shojo looked like her idea of a boxer, large, scary, with a broken nose and a glower. Next to him, Tsubasa looked light and delicate.
They stepped into the center, bowed and then the bout began. After the initial flurry of blows, Yumi took to watching the fight from behind her fingers, wincing and closing her eyes every time that Tsubasa was hit.
That he was hitting the other guy more often and much harder didn't make up for the fact that he was taking some damage. She could hardly bear to watch the fight, since each blow he received made her flinch in sympathy.
Makito patted her shoulder with a sympathetic smile.
"I felt the same way when I first started watching him and our o-kaa-san can't watch at all really." His understanding made her feel a little better, but when Arakaki landed a punch to Tsubasa's face she couldn't help feeling a little queasy. She shut her eyes, but listening without seeing was actually a little worse, since she couldn't tell who was being hit.
"Oh!" she cried as Tsubasa took a blow to the shoulder that nearly spun him around, but he ducked under the other man's arm and jabbed him hard in the chin. Almost lifted off of his feet by the blow, Arakaki fell backwards and hit the mat. She could hardly breathe as the official counted to ten, but Arakaki stayed down and she sighed deeply in relief as Tsubasa was announced as the winner.
"Ha! I knew he would have no problem with that slow lump!" Makito cheered, but Yumi just wilted in her chair, relieved beyond measure that it was over and no serious injury had been done to Tsubasa.
"I don't know if I could have survived another round," she murmured and Makito laughed at her and pounded her on the back. She knew that he was trying to be gentle, but she felt like his affection could be a deadly thing if he wasn't careful.
"It's all right; he's made of tough stuff!" Long hair bouncing as he nodded vigorously, he waved off her concerns with a grin.
It was true that she had watched him defeat a kappa only that afternoon, but this was different somehow. Then she had been afraid for both of their lives and also concerned for anyone that might get hurt by the creature. That was totally different than walking into a ring and deliberately setting about to beat someone else up.
Arakaki was groggily being led off and Tsubasa had already gone out of the ring, but Makito stayed put, describing the cleverness of Tsubasa's strategy to her. Again she only listened with half an ear, more concerned for his injuries than interested in the sport.
The seats began to slowly empty and Makito finally got up.
"Come on; let's go see how he is, the doctor and his manager must be done fussing over him by now." Yumi followed obediently behind him, watching as he flashed passes to the security guard. Their passage through was watched enviously by some of the other spectators, but Yumi felt small and a little scared. The hallways and corridors were brightly lit and somewhat crowded. People rushed from place to place, talking loudly and pushed past her without any politeness, Makito took the lead again, breaking a path for her and she was once again grateful to Tsubasa's Onii-chan.
Tsubasa winced as the doctor daubed at the cut on his forehead, but the euphoria of his victory had yet to wear off and the pain was minimal. He heard Makito's voice long before he saw him and smiled at the enthusiastic ramblings. Obviously his brother liked Yumi-san, because he was still happy and cheerful after a long period in her company. Makito was completely unable to hide his emotions, so if he sounded happy, then he was pleased with her company.
They came in, Makito first, gesticulating along with his commentary, and Yumi-chan on his heels, looking rather small behind him. She was wide-eyed and appeared a little daunted by hordes of people swarming through the room. Reporters, doctors, his manger and trainer, various support staff, they all bustled about, talking in loud voices and getting into each other's way.
"Tsubasa!" His brother's hearty roar caused a general smile amongst the gathered people. Makito was well known by everyone present and quite well liked. He herded Yumi-san towards where the doctor was applying the butterfly tape to his cut and she winced when she saw that. He grinned at her reaction and she returned the smile with a rather rueful one of her own.
"Hey! Who's the girl?" one of the reporters asked him with a knowing grin.
"Kimura Yumi," he answered and to his surprise the man lit up like a Christmas display.
"The pianist and song writer?" he asked with great enthusiasm. Tsubasa nodded, wondering just how famous Yumi-san actually was.
"You've heard of her?"
"Sure, before they put me on sports, I used to cover the music scene. Kimura-san isn't an idol or anything, but she has written a lot of really popular songs. Among musicians she is very much respected." Tsubasa nodded and glanced over at the slender girl who was presently hiding behind his brother. "She's supposed to be really shy, though, doesn't go out much, how'd you get her to come here tonight?"
"I asked her to," he answered and then left the man there to think whatever he wanted to about it. He wasn't sure if after two day's acquaintance she was ready to be put through the ordeal of reporters. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea.