Chapter 3 Crash!

Kairi stared at the crashing waves clutching the cell phone pouch that Momo had made for him. He had been yelling at the ocean for countless hours. Sae came and went, checking on him frequently, but for the most part leaving him to himself to release his emotions.

"Why wasn't I good enough for you, Momo? Why?" Kairi cried in agony.

"I'll tell you why," came her voice from behind him.

Thinking that the voice came from his imagination, Kairi continued to gaze at the waves. "Why?" he repeated, this time more softly.

"Because one man will never be good enough for me. Kairi, you can't be my everything. It would be unfair of me to ask you to change."

Tears blurred Kairi's vision as he continued to yell at the ocean. "But you never gave me a chance to change. I'd do anything for you, Momo. Absolutely anything. I'm ready to be your everything, and I'll never let you down again."

The voice of his beloved reached his ears again. It sounded so real, but it spoke words he never dared to think Momo would utter. "Kairi, I love you just the way you are. The thing is that I love both you and Toji, and I want both of you in my life. I've felt that way for a long time, so when you two forced me to choose, I couldn't. I was afraid that if I stood my ground and chose both of you, I'd lose both of you and be branded as a slut for the rest of my life. I'm not afraid anymore."

Kairi's jaw dropped, and he looked behind him to see that Momo was actually standing there in the flesh. He wiped the tears out of his latte-colored eyes to get a clearer picture, and discovered that Toji was standing there with her. Toji held Momo's hand securely as she spoke.

"You can call me a slut if you like, but first I want you to hear me out. You mean a lot to me Kairi, and I'm sorry I threw that away. I'd like to take you back, but not at the price of losing Toji. I can't live without him."

Kairi threw himself at Momo's feet. "I can't live without you! I don't care if you're a slut, Momo! I love you!"

"That was easy," Toji commented.

Momo crouched down briefly to take Kairi's hands, and pulled him to his feet. She dusted the sand off his arms and brushed his loose brown hair out of his eyes. "You realize you have to share me with Toji, right?"

Kairi sniffled. "Yeah. In a way, that's what I was doing all along. I knew he was never far from your mind. That's why I didn't try to compete with him or be like him. I wanted you to like me for me, and I guess it worked. Since you are with him now and you still want me, I'd say that's a sign of true love."

Momo threw her arms around the shorter of her two boyfriends. "Oh Kairi! If I knew you felt this way, I would have never broken up with you."

Toji hugged Momo from behind, resting his chin atop her chlorine-bleached hair. "But if you never broke up with him, you would have never gotten together with me."

"True," Momo said, relishing the warmth of both their bodies. "I'm glad things worked out the way they did. Looking back now, I see that everything we went through was a learning process. I wish I figured it all out sooner, but at least I figured it out in time."

"Figured out what in time?" came a pesky, annoying voice.

The three of them looked down to see a girl with pale skin and short black hair. "Sae!"

She turned her big, innocent doe eyes on them. "What did I do? I just wanted to know what my best friends are up to."

Momo sighed and let of her men. They took their places on either side of her and prepared for the worst. After all, this was the girl who had caused them so much trouble over the past year.

"You always know how to ruin a perfect moment, don't you?" Momo accused.

"Perfect moment? What the…" Sae looked from Momo to Toji to Kairi, and then back to Momo. The expressions on their faces were slightly annoyed and worried, but deeper down there was a sense of peace and contentment that could not be displaced by the situation. "Oh my God! I knew it!"

"It's not what you think," Toji started to say.

"Why not?" Kairi asked. "We can't live our lives in the shadows."

"You forget how fast Sae spreads rumors," Toji growled.

"What's the point in hiding from a rumor if it's true?" Kairi countered.

"Relax, boys! Your secret is safe with me-as long as I get something in return." Sae winked.

"What do you want?" Momo asked.

"I want to borrow your boyfriends whenever you are not using them."

Momo groaned. After all the pain and torment Sae had put her through, she didn't want much to do with the girl. Then again, Sae's antics had brought Momo closer to the men she loved. Sae had also changed and matured a lot since the beginning of the year. Maybe things could be different. Momo opened her mouth to speak.

Sae beat her to it. "Just kidding! You know, I really need my very own man. Have fun, though!" She turned on her heel and skipped away, kicking up sand as she went.

"Do you think she'll really keep quiet?" Toji wondered.

"Does it matter? Who would believe her anyway after all the false rumors she's spread?" Kairi asked.

"I don't know, but I'm tired. It's been a long day-a good day, but still a long one."

"I'd really like to spend some more time with you before we have to go back. Actually, I set some money aside for a hotel," Toji said tentatively.

Momo gave a single nod. "OK, but only as long as Kairi gets to come, too."

Kairi's sweet latte eyes widened. "Really Momo? This is heavy stuff."

Toji sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with one hand while his other arm linked with Momo's. "Yeah, it's not exactly what I had in mind either, but I'm glad it's you and not that weird guy we ran into on the river."

"What weird guy? Tell me more!" Kairi said.

Momo laughed and linked arms with Kairi as they walked up the beach. She and Toji told Kairi all about their encounter with the former prime minister's bodyguard and her young boyfriend as well as how they had to deal with a dozen rabid men from the street. While not the most thrilling or remarkable of adventures, the experience had taught them several valuable life lessons.

Closing Note: This is the end of this fic, but not the end of the story. The next chapter is rated M and can be found in a separate fic called Peacherotica.