Upon the Falling Stars- Reunion / Ghost
"I love you. I really love you!"
Her bright smile made him smile.
"I love you, Naru!"
THUD
Rubbing his head that had made impact with the airplane's window, he murmurs to himself, "Such a ridiculous and unreal dream…"
Naru covered his mouth as his yawned slightly and looks out of the window. The plane was about to land, which meant that he was reaching the one place he never thought he would ever return to. It had already been nearly a decade ever since he left Japan, his brother and a certain somebody. One of the last memories he had with her, just so happened to appear in the form of his dream but this time, the ending was different.
It's just a dream. Of course it is. That day, the name she spoke was his, not mine.
Although Naru had intended not to ever step into Japan again or have anything to do with it, the nature of his family business which he had taken over did not allow him to. So technically, it wasn't his first visit in a decade. However, it is his first coming due to personal reasons instead of just purely business.
After alighting and going through the procedures, Naru headed to receive his luggage. There was a tall Chinese man waiting for him outside and they headed for the car.
"Lin, I'll be heading straight over to that place after I check into the hotel."
While keeping his eyes on the road as he drives, the man called Lin replies, "Very well, sir. Will you be heading there by yourself?"
"I only need to identify, so yes."
Just as he had mentioned, Naru only took his phone and wallet with him before he headed out of the hotel alone. As he walked past the lobby, every single female present could not help but stare at him. Naru had always been handsome but after a decade, he had obviously grown taller and lost his childish features, gaining mature ones. Despite the fact that he was still as expressionless as before, he was able to capture the hearts of many women. Naru might have changed quite a bit physically, but his personality had definitely stayed.
A woman clad in high heels fell dramatically in front of Naru, thinking that he would catch her but Naru simply allowed her to fall to the ground before walking away.
"How can you just let a frail woman like me fall!" the woman hysterically wailed as she stood up, stomping her feet.
Naru stopped in his tracks which made the woman anticipate in hope.
Naru simply said, "If you are truly a frail woman as you had claimed, you wouldn't be able to stand on your own as you are now."
Without looking back, he continued walking and everyone at the lobby were snickering, causing the woman to be embarrassed.
Once he got into his car, Naru loosen the tie he was wearing before starting the engine. He took out his phone and began searching through his message inbox. He finally stopped at his parent's number. It contained an address, one where Naru will be heading to after stopping by somewhere.
During the drive, Naru began to remember things regarding his brother. When Naru had first arrived in his home country ten years ago, Gene sent him a letter. In it was about his daily life, as though nothing had happened, as though it was a normal thing that Naru had left in the first place. At first, Naru ignored Gene's letter and didn't reply to it until nearly a year after, on his birthday. He had received two packages, both contained a book. The first was a book on astronomy while the other was a romance novel, a genre that doesn't fit in Naru's book shelves. However, once Naru began reading the book, he became hooked on it. He wanted to continue the next part of the story but found out that the book was not a well-known book so it wasn't sold anywhere. This was how Naru began exchanging letters with his older twin. When Naru had asked about the book, Gene told him that he would only receive one volume of the story every year on his birthday. This year was going to be the tenth year, the last volume of the novel. However, something happened just three days ago.
Naru had just returned home from work when he heard his mother sobbing by the telephone. Worried, he walked to her and asked, "Mother, what happened?"
His mother only looked at him before crying even harder. Naru tried to make her answer him but she continued crying.
"Eugene. They said he was in an accident. He died before he could receive treatment," a low toned male voice answered Naru.
Naru turned to face his father. Although his face remained emotionless, his father knew that his heart was breaking. His kin, his brother, his twin, Gene…
Idiotic brother. Just because you are older doesn't mean you should go before me.
Naru stepped into a room where there was a counsellor which he had already asked to be dismissed much earlier on but it seems that no one was heeding his words. He had no need for a grieve counsellor to bring down his anxiety, he knew how to keep his own emotions in control. Without further ado, the person in charge showed him a picture. Looking at the picture felt like looking into a mirror for Naru, except that it reflects a dead version of himself. Naru slowly closed his eyes before breathing out, "Yes, this is my brother, Eugene Davis."
Naru finished the procedures and was told of when the body will be delivered. Once it was taken care of, Naru heads to his car and drove off. He took another look at the message he had received from his parents just as he arrived in Japan.
'Do remember to show our gratitude to those who Eugene have been living with.
P.S. Don't just thank them and walk off, Oliver.'
Tch. What else am I supposed to do if not just thank them? I don't even know any of them. You seem to make me troubled even after your passing, Gene.
Naru stopped at a pretty isolated place where there was only a small mansion-like house sitting right in the middle of a grass filled land. He knew that Gene had gotten plot of land somewhere but he didn't expect it to be in such a place. Opening the door of his car, he saw that the house wasn't only surrounded by grass but also flowers which made the place feel surreal. Walking closer to the house, he noticed the signed posted by the entrance, 'EFO'. He wondered what it meant since there wasn't any explanation of the acronym underneath. As he pondered about it and walked through the opened gates, he could hear someone sobbing. Naru was usually the type to ignore such things but before he knew it, he had already began walking towards the source of the sound. It led to the right side of the house where a small garden came into view first then a porch. Without thinking of anything, Naru continued walking to the figure sitting by the porch, all curled up and sobbing. Just before he was able to say anything, the person seemed to have noticed his presence and instantly looked up and faced him. What Naru didn't expect was how familiar the person's face was nor were words coming out of her mouth.
"Naru?"
Her voice was still the same as before. Even till now, his heart would speed up whenever she called him by his nickname. It seems that she had also changed physically. She no longer had her hair as short as he remembered nor was she wear those boyish clothes she used to love. Her eyes, nose, and lips –her face was still as he had remembered and last saw. So were those dried tears.
"Mai…"
The words had left his mouth before he could stop it. He didn't think that he would ever see her again, especially with Gene gone. Or, was it because Gene was gone that he had gotten this chance to meet her again?
Both wanted to say something but held back and before either of them could utter another word, a kid's voice rang out.
"Mama!"
Mai quickly wipes her tears before turning to her side and caught a six year old boy running towards her. The boy had light brown hair and dark brown eyes. He looked almost identical to Mai. Mai smiled at the child warmly before saying something. Meanwhile, Naru could only stare at the scene unfolding in front of his eyes as stood rooted to the ground.
A kid? When? Since when did she have a child? Is it… Gene's?
As his thoughts ran wild, Mai looks at him puzzled. Just when she went back to entertaining the boy, Naru lets out an exasperated sigh. Knowing that he was finally out of his thoughts, Mai stood up, along with the boy and moved closer to Naru. She smiled and then without warning, she casually grabs his hand and pulled him into the house through the porch entrance. Once they were inside, Mai led him to the supposedly living room where there were children ranging from five to fifteen years old and some adults were present too.
None of them seemed to pay attention to them until Mai pulls Naru's hand high up and announced, "Presenting to you… Oliver Davis, Gene's younger twin!"
Naru's face instantly turned sour as he saw the looks he received from the audience. They began crowding around him as Mai sneakily escaped. All of them looked at him in amazement.
"Wow, you really do look like Eugene."
Of course I do. What do you think identical twins are?
Naru clicked his tongue in irritation but none of them budged or moved away. He looks around and spots Mai with the same six year old as before, standing by the pillar. He began glaring until Mai started to feel it and sweat dropped. She hurriedly went to calm the others down before Naru exploded in fury. Once they were all away from him, Naru straighten his suit and asks the main question bugging him.
"Why are all of you living in this house?"
Everyone stared at him questioningly before Mai answered, "Well, these children are orphans and orphans live in orphanages, do they not?"
Snorting at Mai's reply, Naru continued, "I know what orphanages and orphans are, Mai. I am asking because Gene stated that this is his house."
This time, Mai pouted, "And I know that this is Gene's house, Naru, I live here after all. What I am saying is that this is both his house and an orphanage at the same time."
Seeing the look of doubt on Naru's face, Mai explained, " 'EFO', that is the sign posted outside. It stands for 'Eugene's Family Orphanage'."
So this was what he was doing the whole time. Typical of Gene.
Naru lets out a sigh in acknowledgement. He then straighten his posture before bowing.
"I came here to thank all of you for taking care of and being there with my brother, Eugene Davis, this whole time. One behave of my family, I sincerely thank you," Naru said with utmost gratitude.
When he stood straight again, the adults including Mai laughed a little while the children seemed to have gone somewhere. Naru wondered if he had said something weird.
A woman in her late thirties stepped forward and bow slight to Naru before speaking.
"Mr Davis, it is the other way around. Eugene have helped us all in many different ways and he was always willing to lend a helping hand whenever he could. It is us that should be saying thank you. Please do allow us to show our gratitude."
Naru was about to refuse when a woman with red hair stepped into the open area, shouting, "Dinner's ready! Just how long are all of you going to make me—"
The moment the red head saw Naru, she immediately went back to where she came from before return with a small box of salt. Everyone stared at her without moving and the next thing she did was something no one could have predicted, or maybe Mai did since she was silently holding in her giggle.
Taking a handful of salt in her hand, the woman began throwing it at Naru, "G-ghost! A real ghost!"
A dark aura came out of Naru as the red head kept on throwing salt at him and screaming about how he was Gene's ghost. Just before he burst out from anger, Mai quickly went to stop the woman.
"He's not a ghost, Ayako," Mai said, trying to calm the woman down.
Once she heard Mai's words, Ayako stopped throwing the salt and asked dumbly, "He's not a ghost? Then what is he?"
Mai was going to answer but Naru cut her off.
"A human obviously. Do you not have any common sense, throwing salt at someone you've just met?"
Naru kept brushing the salt of his suit but he could feel that some had gotten inside of his clothes and felt uncomfortable, which could be seen from his face. Ayako turns to Mai with a puzzled look and Mai sweat dropped once again.
"Err… he's Naru— I mean Oliver Davis, Gene's twin," Mai finally explained.
Ayako turned back to Naru and gave a long stare before saying, "Oh."
Mai led Naru to a room on the second floor and mentioned that it was Gene's room. This made Naru 'inspect' the room when they entered it and a small smile was brought to his face as he thought about how it certainly seemed like Gene's room –so much similar to the one back at England.
It doesn't feel as though you are gone.
When Naru was done 'inspecting' the room, he turn to Mai and saw that she was looking at him with a smile, along with a hint of sadness.
"You should stay the night. Head down to the kitchen, it's just past the room we were in before. See you, Naru," she said without giving him a chance to refuse and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Why… did she have that expression on?
Once Naru was done showering, he took the liberty of wearing Gene's pyjamas and took a small towel with him to dry his hair before heading down to the kitchen. He could hear the children's laughter as he pass by the spacious room he was in before. When he reached the kitchen, he found Mai seated at the dining table alone. She seemed to be looking at something in her hand and her body was shaking.
Is she crying?
Naru took a few steps towards her quietly and tried to sneak a peek at whatever she was holding without looking as though he was but she had noticed his presence before he got any closer and hid whatever it was inside her pocket. When Mai turns to look at him, her eyes widen a little and her cheeks were slightly flushed.
Why didn't he dry his hair before coming here…
Without a word, Naru took a seat beside her and continue drying his hair with the towel, making Mai squirm a little. Then Naru mouthed out the word children and it took Mai a few seconds before understanding what he meant.
"They are at the play room, right beside the stairs. They should be getting tired soon and will be able to sleep without difficulties."
Naru simply nods his head a little and said, "Must have been Gene's idea."
Mai looks away a little while scratching her cheek lightly, "Actually… it was mine. Since you know, I am kind of like those kids. I have lots of excess energy so I tend to waste it all on doing sports before getting tired and go to sleep."
Hm… I forgot how similar their way of thinking was.
Stopping herself from rambling, Mai asks, "So… how does it feel like to be back in Japan after nearly a decade?"
"It's only been a few months actually. I do have business to attend to here after all, once in a while," Naru answers absentmindedly as he allowed the towel to hang around his neck.
Mai lowers her eyes at his answer before quickly saying, "Couldn't you have visited at least once?"
Naru felt his heart ached as he closed his eyes, pushing back the tears that threatened to come out as he told her, "I was only here for business."
Silence enveloped the whole kitchen as both did not wish to say anything in the case that it would hurt either the other party or themselves. Before the silence continued any longer, a familiar voice could be heard entering the kitchen.
"Mama!"
The brown haired boy ran towards Mai and hugged her.
"Kazu! Shouldn't you be heading to bed?" Mai picks the boy up and put him on her lap.
Kazu gave a sad look and Mai instantly understood what it meant. She stood up, allowing the boy to stand on his own before holding his hand and stepped out of the kitchen. Neither she nor Naru bid each other goodnight.
… Great, I have to starve for the night.
Naru headed back to Gene's room and went straight for the bed after tossing the towel into a basket by the toilet door. His phone vibrated, signalling a call, before he could even shut his eyes which kind of irked him. He was going to ignore it until he remembered that he hadn't informed Lin about staying at EFO for the night nor informing his parents of his arrival. So he dragged himself off the bed and head for his phone. Once he picked it up, he could hear his mother asking about his safety frantically while his father tried his best to assure her Naru was fine. He spoke to his parents for a while, regarding how Gene's house was actually an orphanage and some other things that his mother seemed to be interested in, such as whether there were any woman that seemed to be Gene's woman. Naru noticeably hesitate in answer the later subject and told a lie –sort of. Once the call with his parents was done, he contacted Lin and informed him about the situation. He swore he heard Lin snicker when he mentioned about salt and ghost. After that, Naru once again lied down on the bed and his mind began thinking about a certain somebody.
She have changed. Of course she has. What ridiculous statement was that, Oliver Davis. … Yet, why? Why does it feel as though there is something that hasn't changed at all? Is it her love for Gene?
Not wanting to dwell into it any further, Naru shut his eyes and began reciting some scientific formula as he began to fall asleep.
Morning came and Naru bid goodbye to the residence of EFO. Just as he was about to enter his car, someone tugged his pants. It was Kazu. He held out a package towards Naru. Naru eyed the kid suspiciously before taking the package and Kazu ran off. He tossed the package to the passenger seat and then he was off.
…Alright, I have nothing to say about the ending of this chapter…I just didn't know how to end it… Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed the second chapter of Upon the Falling Stars. It is kind of boring to be honest (to me) because I had to come up with so many things, like describing the scenes, the changes in the characters but I am sure that I kind of cut short in every part of it…
Thank you for the 5 Favourites and 7 Followers! It made me happy :D Also…the reviews! XD
To: Gally619 I updated as soon as I could! Hope you enjoy this one
To: Anime-freak-otaku01 "OTP MELT DOWN!" That was my exact feelings when I watched the movie which this fanfic was based on. XD Don't worry, OTP Melt Down is only in chapter 1. (I hope..*looks away*)
To: Fanficluver4life OMG! I think I love your review the best because of the reaction. :D I don't ship Gene and Mai at all, honestly. So it was hard on me when I typed out chapter one.. ;-; So do enjoy this chapter where Gene is GONE!(I shouldn't be happy omg.)
To: Nad147 Really, thank you for the review. Hope you like this chapter as well.