The Best Man Wins

4th/5th April 2008, Zoë's room, Friday/Saturday, 1:00 am

We woke up really late today, around 1 pm, and only when Takuya was constantly knocking on the door of Zoë's room. I jumped up, looking here and there and not understanding who was knocking or where the knock was coming from as the door to her room was a bit open. Izumi yawning beside me, pointed to a door partway blocked by her dresser. It was hidden by pink curtains, but I was pretty sure there had to be a door behind them. Eyes wide, I literally thought that the door opened to thin air, as Izumi's room was in the second story of her house. Izumi, however, calmly got up and yelled through the door.

"WHAT?"

I jumped at the sudden volume. And I was even more surprised when Takuya's voice came through the door.

"Aren't you girls done taking your beauty sleeps yet? We came around an hour ago and your parents said you were asleep, and now 5 minutes ago we came back and your parents said you're STILL asleep!"

"Li was tired!" Izumi yelled, blaming the whole thing on me.

"Whatever! Get your butts out in the next 5 minutes! Kōji will treat you to "breakfast"!"

"Oh hello!" we heard Kōji yell, and then some thumping sounds and Aah's and ow's!

"Uh, ok, I'm treating you girls, no worry," we heard Kōji's voice, surprisingly taut.

"You really think they'll be ready in 5 minutes?" We hear Kōichi's soft voice.

His prediction proved to be accurate. 5 minutes stretched to 15 which then stretched to 45 and Izumi was still brushing her hair. I as usual saw no need to brush my hair, and just tied it up in a bunch while I waited impatiently. She wouldn't let me go out without her and then broke into a fit when she saw what I had done to my hair. She then angrily brushed it, causing me to yelp in pain as she took my scalp with it.

By the time we finally got out, after an hour and ten minutes with toasts in hand having spared Kōji, the guys were grumpy for having to wait so long in the sun. I saw the stairs at the side of Izumi's house leading up to a door which I now know is Izumi's room. How convenient.

"Where's Kōichi?" I ask looking around.

"Right here," he says coming from behind us. None of the others looked surprised at his shadow teleportation.

"Where did you come from?" I ask surprised.

"I was sitting in the shade," he says matter-of-factly.

"Where're JP and Tommy?" Zoë asks Takuya as we began walking in the general direction of the Hinokicho Park.

"They'll be in a while, Tomoki is playing King of Fighters with Shinya and I think JP's on a date."

We chatted some more about trivial stuff and I tried catching up to them all. As usual, Kōji and I hit it off instantly as we had almost the same interests.

"Wow," Kōji said.

"What?

"I have heard that girls change, you know, as they grow up."

I choke on my piece of toast. "Whaaaaaaat?"

He laughs. "Not in the sense you're obviously thinking you dirty brained fool."

"Oh," I say awkwardly. "What makes you think I've changed, or would change?"

He pointedly looked at my hair. I self-consciously touched it. This is a bad habit I've to learn to control.

"But I forgot," he continues. "You're not just any girl, you're Lee-Lee!" he laughed at the nickname he had given me as I had more than once corrected them all into pronouncing my name right. This nickname really means that I am a hermaphrodite (As Lili is a girl's name and Li is mostly a guy's name in Cantonese. Kōji knows this, on account of spending a few years in Hong Kong) and he always says it whenever he wants to get on my nerves. He had succeeded.

"I told you not to call me that," I say, a little ticked off.

"Wow," he says, elbowing Kōichi. "She's annoyed."

Kōichi rolls his eyes at me. "Who wouldn't, constantly having to put up with you?"

"Hey," Kōji says, "You guys just don't understand my wonderful alluring charm and sense of humour."

"Fictitious."

"I heard that!"

"Boy," Kōichi says, "You're so deluded."

"You're just too much in love with Li's new hair."

I notice that Kōichi really had been looking at my hair. I made a mental note to thank Zoë later for actually untangling them, even if she had tortured me to death in the process.

Kōichi just grinned. "Maybe I am.'

Kōji pouts teasingly, "More than your sweet, innocent baby brother?"

"You're neither sweet nor innocent. But yes, you are the baby."

As they continued to get on each other's nerves, Zoë mouthed "I-told-u-so" to me. I mouthed "thank-you" back.

Takuya nodded as if to himself, "You really do look like a girl now."

"Hey, you people are talking like I used to have a dick before or something."

"That's not what we all thought at first you know."

Zoë agrees. "Yeah, Kōji's such a gay and you're such a lesbo, you'll make an awesome couple."

Me and Kōji (who heard what she said on top of the argument he was having with Kōichi) thumped her at the same time from opposite sides.

"Ow!"

"Serves you right for calling me a lesbo and dropping me to Kōji's level," I said.

"Hey, what's wrong with a handsome, alluring, irresistible male like me?" Kōji asks.

"You really are gay."

"This coming from a lesbo."

The others looked at our suddenly serious faces uneasily. Then Kōji and I burst out laughing, and the rest of them join us. This was just like the old times, when everyone thought that Kōji and I were fighting seriously and we pretended like we were.

We were still laughing when JP and Tommy joined us in the park, Tommy munching on a chocolate. JP hands us all a bar, giving me an extra one.

"A prize for a girl on her way to absolute hotness, though it'd work more if you pitied all the black eye powder in this world," he says, sitting down.

"It's called surma, or kohl for you. And thanks JP."

"Nah, surma's easier to pronounce. And you apply it so much that it looks like someone punched you and gave you a black eye, like a gothic chick."

"Kōji and Kōichi also apply it," I say pointedly.

"Yeah, but Kōji's an eyeliner thing which makes him look like a gay punk. And Kōichi's is a little smeared thing which gives him his preferred tortured emo-kid look. But it's just not my type."

"Ha, like I'd ever want to be your type."

"Yeah," JP agrees. "There's someone else who's totally my type."

He snakes his arm around Zoë. To everyone's surprise and JP's own, she didn't remove it like she always does. Silence followed. That is, until Tommy spoke.

"Hey Li, did u check out Benemaru's max power in the new KOF? Totally off the hook man!"

I was still speechless by the JP and Izumi thing. "Nah, I like Kyo better than Benemaru," I managed to say.

"Yeah, his max is cool too. And anyway, you won't think it was possible for me to discover a new move of Ralph's…"

JP interrupted. "Hey man, is this all you ever do? Don't you have better things to talk about? Like girls?"

Takuya snorted. "Yeah right, imagine if he started talking like that about girls like this instead of video games."

Everyone did, and after a few seconds shuddered horribly.

"He'll be worse than JP!"

JP ignored us, getting up and pulling Tommy to stand. "Look, let me give you a few pointers. What you need to know about girls is…" he said leading him away from the group.

"I don't like the looks of this," I say uneasily. I turn towards Takuya who has the most influence on Tommy. I don't know if this still holds true.

"Nii-san, stop this."

Takuya however laughs, not worried. "I know Tommy. All he needs is a girl to infatuate him to get him into his sexual senses. Else… he might be gay."

"Takuya!" Me and Zoë reprimand him together.

"Huh? What?"

Me and Zoë exchange knowing glances. There was a shortage of hot guys as it is.

"How come you never call me or Kōichi nii-san (big brother)? We're older than you as well," Kōji says, off topic.

"God Kōji, you've started talking too much for your own good. Ototo-kun (little brother)!"

"Hey!"

Kōichi grins and slaps me a hi-five. "Attagirl!"

To my surprise, I felt myself grinning broadly back, having this funny feeling in my stomach at his approval. I feel so dumb thinking about that right now. All this because he likes my hair?

JP and Tommy came back and resumed their seats. JP was encouraged by Izumi not slapping him off before, so he puts his hand on her knee. And again, completely unlike Zoë, she didn't push back. Everyone had noticed this but pretended not to. I saw Takuya's fists clench. He was busy listening to what Tommy was saying to him, but it was clear where his attention was diverted. Kōji was looking at Takuya's body language as concerned as I was, carefully observant.

As it was getting dark, and Izumi's mother had made it pretty clear that we were not to take long as she had to entertain guests and needed our help for dinner, we got up to go.

JP had brought his car as he had been on a date. "Here," JP threw his keys to Kōji, who caught it with his finger by the ring. Jeez, how does he do that? His reflexes are those of a ninja. "You fight the traffic, while I make myself comfortable."

Takuya and Tommy waved goodbye, as they were going to Takuya's home together by subway to get home in less than half the time we will use to cover a few blocks. Tommy shook my hand while Takuya particularly took longer than necessary to hug Zoë. When he was finally done (I can swear he didn't look a bit like he had wanted to let go), he just shook my hand. The gesture was so obvious; I honestly don't know how guys can be so blind. The bastard is totally in love with her! Then the guys all bumped with each other the weird way guys do instead of just saying "goodbye" properly.

JP was all planning on sitting between us girls at the back, when Kōji spotted the immediate problem, understanding what JP had really meant when he said he wanted to make himself comfortable.

"Oh, no you don't!" Kōji says.

"What?" JP says, totally innocently.

"No way are you messing with my sisters on my watch!"

"But I didn't do anything!"

"You feel guilty you are guilty. Koi! Up front with me."

"But why does Kōichi get to have all the fun?" JP whined.

"Coz you're a perv, and he's nowhere near as one like you."

"Aw man!" JP sighs unhappily, going up front. Izumi and I giggled at Kōichi's dumbfounded look.

But then, Izumi and I both started arguing about being the one to sit on the window seat. Kōichi rests his head in his hands and yells albeit softly that he will sit in the middle and we can both sit by the window. But please just stop the piercing voices as he was getting a headache. That stopped the argument right there.

On the way, JP kept looking back jealously at him, and scrutinising carefully if anyone of us made any movement. He kept doing that until Kōji finally got tired and threatened to smack his head on the windshield to make him look straight. Knowing Kōji, it was possible that he would carry out his threat. So JP behaved.

I kept finding something or the other to talk about to Izumi, but it was just an excuse to glance at Kōichi. In reality, I was checking him out in a completely new way. After some time he leaned his head back against his seat, closing his eyes. I freaked out, thinking I had caused one of his infamous migraines by my constant chatter. Kōji however, told me not to worry. Some drives just tired him. I wasn't complaining. As now, I could look at him freely. I admit, I was actually… staring. A little. I couldn't help it. I didn't know why. I had this sudden extremely weird craving to feel his huge Adam's apple which was thrusting outward with his head leaned back.

I thought I saw Kōji looking at me from the rear-view mirror but as my eyes snapped there, Kōji was just swearing at somebody who had just cut in front of him. Then I thought I saw Zoë look at me and I jerked my head there, but she was texting someone. She looked up when she saw me looking and smiled, showing me the text. It was from Takuya, teasing us that he was home already and helping himself to Shinya's and Tommy's snacks and complaining about how he and Tommy had nothing to drink as Shinya had gotten a six pack beer for all of them and had forgotten accidently-on-purpose that Tommy and Takuya didn't drink.

"Tell him to put a sock in it," I tell Izumi and she laughs. JP immediately turns around and Kōji with his eyes still ahead turned his head straight again with one hand still on the steering wheel.

When we finally got home, Kōichi jerked awake and we all said our goodbyes. JP was too scared of Kōji to try anything other than gripping Zoë's hand. Being huger than him in a respectable scale he was still afraid of him. Typical. The guys saw us safely to the door before leaving.

Izumi's mother called us from the kitchen when she heard us come in. And we only left that place to serve the guests. Izumi and I chatted as we washed the dishes.

"What's going on in your evil little mind about JP?"

"There's nothing… ow!" Izumi hissed as I knock her. "Una brutta! I was telling you!" she swears in Italian. "There is nothing going on between us. But I'm bored, and I want to spend some time with someone. What's wrong with that?" she adds upon seeing my dumbstruck expression.

She continued when I didn't say anything, continuing to wash the dishes.

"So if JP or anyone hot proposes to me, I'll accept it. On trial of course. But JP is that sort of wild animal who'll follow the bait I lay out for him and eat from my hand. So I don't have to work on keeping him infatuated to keep him on his toes you know, and to impress me. Well, and he has developed nice abs…" She puts a finger on her chin and spaces out, thinking about his muscles. I was more or less - well pretty much – disgusted.

"So you'll use him just like Hiro, and before that Enrique or Nando or Antonio or Renaldo or Troy or Ashton or… or that-hot-guy-with-the-foot-rash and Allah knows who else!"

"Well," Izumi said thoughtfully. "You missed so many like Gero and Ethan and Ohio and many others, but I don't blame you for not remembering them all. But Antonio, Nando, Enrique, that hot-guy-with-the-foot-rash – really, what WAS his name? I'm pretty sure it's not "Foot-rash Guy" – Roberto, Renaldo and whoever else, you know very well that they were all…"

"… On trial," I completed her, exasperated. "But please remember this Izumi. JP's also our friend, and hurting him might very well upset our friendship."

She waved her hand carelessly. "Oh please. He knows very well how I am. I tell all my boyfriends since the beginning only that they're on trial, and that if they fail to come up to my standards, there's nothing I can do," she shrugs. "So I'm not responsible for any heart-breaks please. It's not like I don't warn them the first thing."

"You're unbelievable!" I yell as loud as I could without disturbing anyone in the other room. But she just laughs at my expression. We were done with all the work.

"Anyway, we better go to sleep in my room. I'm really tired. And you know how my parents will make you sleep in the visitor's room with plenty of room instead of getting cramped in with me if they find you awake."

"But I'm not done yet!" I say as we climbed the stairs and enter her room.

She yawns. "Ok, when we both get ready for bed," she says, going to the bathroom while I go to the one in the visitor's room. By the time I came back to her room, I found her feigning sleep. Grumbling, I take out this notebook and begin to write. And now I really should be getting to sleep. I'm still not used to going to bed this early, but I don't want Izumi's parents to come and find me awake either.

6th April '08 as it's after midnight, Visitor's room in Zoë's house, Sunday as it's after midnight, 2:30 am

"She said all this?" said a shocked JP. I had just finished telling him my conversation with Zoë, to spare his heart, and also coz I was sorry for him as he was another fly stuck in Izumi's web. Not that I was sorry for him in general. He's a bigger bastard than Izumi if you see to it. I had thought about this before going to sleep last night and figured this was probably the best thing to do.

We were at Midtown Garden in Roppongi, a part of the Hinogicho Park we visited yesterday, the district where Zoë is living. Far of, Takuya and Zoë sat by the lake, having soaked their feet till their calves and splashing their toes. Takuya occasionally picked a stone and threw it as far as he could in the water, sending it skipping across the surface. Izumi was trying and failing to match his furthest throw, but she kept trying, laughing with him.

Kōji and Kōichi were forcing Tomoki to drink sake. Kōichi had Tommy in an arm lock while Kōji tried to force the drink in straight from the bottle, spilling it under his collar as Tommy struggled. I guess it was a mistake I did last night saying it out loud about Tommy hating the smell of alcohol, but it was amusing to watch all the same. I had dragged JP away from the crowd to tell him about Izumi's evil plot.

"Yes, and she also said she knew you'd follow her around like a lost puppy without a leash."

"I can't believe it. I can't believe she actually…" he broke off, his expression constipated. I reached up to place a hand on his shoulder, sympathetically, as in that moment he really did look like he was holding back his stomach.

"I know it's harsh, but I felt like I really had to war…" I break off as he knocks my hand off, and very emotional, runs off in Izumi's direction, no doubt to yell at her, I thought.

"JP!" I yelped. "You're not supposed to tell her I told you anything!"

I run after him trying to stop him before he reaches her. He had gotten a head start on me, but I was still lighter and speedier. He realises the fact and stops around a 100 yards from Takuya and Zoë and screams her name.

"Izumi-chaaaaan!"

Everyone turns their head to look; Takuya and Izumi stone in hand, Tommy with his face revolted and tongue hanging out, Kōji sake bottle in hand, and Kōichi holding on to Tommy's arm pits.

"Doshta JP-kun?" Izumi calls back.

JP looked like he would explode if he held back what he had to say for another second.

"Can I be your boyfriend on-trial?" he screamed.

My mouth dropped to the ground. Kōji whirled around completely, full attention now, eyes flying from him to Zoë. Kōichi's grip slackened and Tommy seized the opportunity to pull off, hands flying over his mouth to stop himself from puking. Kōji looks at Kōichi and said what the fuck? I couldn't hear him but I saw his mouth clearly form the words. Takuya was silent, but his face expression registered Kōji's words. Izumi smiled as she looked over JP to me, in her usual triumphant look of I-told-you-so.

Looking back at JP, she said, "Yes."

With this one word, JP lost all sense of the world. I believe he yelled something like "Yeeee-haaaa" at the top of his lungs, then ran full speed towards Kōji, Kōichi and Tommy, and pulled a limp Tommy in a bear hug. Tommy's face went from pale green to an angry shade, but before he could spill his guts, he lets go and thumped Kōji and Kōichi, who stood at either side of him, at the same time, so hard and unexpectedly that the two fell, Kōji holding the sake bottle away from harm's way (i.e. the ground) and Kōichi just managing to prevent hitting his head. He ran to me but I held both my hands on his face. I am still extremely angry. He saw my clenched teeth but was too happy.

"Gommenasai Li-chan, but I couldn't pass up this chance. You don't have to worry, I know I can make us both settle down, was always looking for just a chance to do so!" He tried to hug me anyway but being much smaller than him I had a bit of an advantage and managed to squirm my way out. Then he ran towards Zoë and Takuya. Neither Takuya's pasty white face nor his position had changed. JP thumped him back, almost sending him for a nice swim in the pond.

"Sorry man, but the best man won! Woo-hoo!" He ran again to Kōji, snatching the sake bottle from his hand and downing the contents in one gulp. I ran as fast as I could to Takuya, who looked like he had seen Medusa, Kōji and Kōichi following suit from the other direction. Zoë however was dragged away by JP and could be seen trying to stop JP from waltzing her around.

"Takuya?" I cried. "Say something. Please!"

"Snap out of it man!" Kōji says, snapping his fingers in front of his eyes.

"You ok buddy?" Kōichi says.

Takuya looks at us all in confusion, still in shock. He goes back to staring at the water. After a few tries, he swallows a huge lump which had formed in his throat and was preventing him from speaking, looking a lot like a fish out of the water he was looking at so intently with eyes wide and dilated pupils. It appeared as if it calmed him down. At least he was showing signs of life. Then he took in a deep breath holding it in for a few seconds before letting it out in a disdainful and hopeless sigh. Finally looking up at our concerned faces, he smiles sadly and says in a very small voice, barely getting the words out.

"Ah well. He's right. I lost. The best man won."