1:45pm
“…and in an amazing turn of events, Hino Imaruru, one of the most favored
candidates for Prime Minister, has today, during his press conference earlier
on, publicly refused to accept the resignation of his running partner Inouye
Kenta after the embarrassing photos that were taken…” Kenta dropped
the cup that he had been holding onto the floor as he ran out of the room
to tune the radio, trying to get a better reception. Rei could only
hide a smile at his reaction as she continued to pack for her trip back
to her childhood home; she had packed all the birthday dresses her father
had ‘bought’ her - those that still fitted, and several more of the semi-formal
dresses that she owned. Minister Hino, as she liked to call him,
had done as he had promised, and now, she had to uphold her end of the
bargain - she would have to stand by him during his campaign.
“Rei-chan, did you hear that? He… he… he didn’t… oh my… oh… did you hear that? I still have a job!” Kenta yelled, his voice quivering from shock, he rushed into her room and slid down in front of her, “he didn’t accept it! I still have a job!!”
Rei stared at him as he dashed out into the courtyard of the private quarters of the dojo, swinging his arms high, he laughed as he jumped on the same spot, twirling in circles, grinning like a fool at the blue sky above him. She couldn’t help but smile behind her hand at his display, Kenta, the solid, stable politician, looking as though he was doing a rain dance; wouldn’t the media have wanted a picture of that. Phobos and Deimos seemed to feel this, as they flew from another part of the dojo grounds to join his mad dancing and jumping, flying in circles in opposite directions around him. They cawed as loudly as their throats would allow them, encouraging him to continue loosening up and being a child once again - forget the image that he had put up. She had never seen him act like this, he was always the responsible teenager in her eyes, yes, teenager, until he had lost the twinkle in his eyes; but the sparkle had returned, he was once again a teenager, although this time, not quite so responsible a teenager.
As he spun around, he suddenly felt dizzy due to the opposite flying direction of Phobos or Deimos, and the fasting spinning of the other crow. He stopped and bent his knees, his eyes focused on the twirling ground as he tried to retain his balance. Once the world was less wobbly, he glanced up and saw Rei leaning against the doorway, giving him a strange look - as though she had seen an alien. He skipped over to her and grasped her hand, pulling her; they tumbled back to the center of the courtyard, “spin with me!”
Holding onto both of her hands, he began spinning her as though he was throwing a discus, him, standing at the center point, while flinging Rei around him. They laughed together as one, their voices trailing behind them like her silky black hair, Phobos and Deimos dove between them, weaving in between their spinning. When they finally slowed to a stop, they beamed at each other, their faces flushed, their eyes gleaming with life and laughter. Out of breath, he panted, “I have never seen you like this.”
She giggled, “nor have I ever seen you do something so crazy.”
Kenta chuckled heartily, his eyes never leaving her face, pink from the swinging, her red laughing lips, those dark eyes that suddenly glowed from delight - in his eyes, she had never been more beautiful. Her features radiating happiness; even as a child, when he first knew her, she had been melancholic, somber, and when she was happy, it was only ever for a single moment until the adult world invaded. At 11, she had seen so much of life that her innocence had been lost, her innocence had been eroded over time and matter, whilst his had been lost in what seemed like a split second. The difference was that he had known innocence, he had known the warmth of family, and somehow, he had found the warmth of family with her family, her father who had treated him like a son, whilst she had never known it nor found it.
He was startled from his reverie by her cheerful voice asking, full of curiousity, “what on earth are you thinking about?”
“You being so happy, I like that.”
“I like it too.”
“I’ve never seen you so happy.”
“I’ve never been so happy.”
“Your father… he… he cares about you.”
“Maybe, but not enough,” she answered as her eyes began to darken.
He ignored her change of mood and decided to pursue the matter, his mentor had done him a favor, he felt that he needed to help his mentor in return - to clear up this misunderstanding, that Rei hated him, and he hated her, “he tries, sometimes… sometimes, you just can’t ask for too much. I know I’m seeing it from another perspective, I’m not his child, but… he means well… I expect nothing from him, and maybe that’s why I see it so clearly… he… the way that I was so accepted, and you, as his daughter, you must feel more…”
“Iie!” Rei closed her eyes and almost screamed at him as she stood up unsteadily, “that is not true! You feel accepted like a son because you are his son, he sees you as a son, the son that he never had, I, I am a girl, I’m just in the way, I am a THING, iie, that is not right, I am a NOTHING. You are more important to him than I will ever be! And don’t be so complacent, the only reason why he took you back was because I threatened to ruin him, he may treat you like a son now, but one mistake, you might realize that being part of his family isn’t so much fun! You are only his son now because you are useful to him, but I am a daughter, daughters are not use. Don’t expect for him to be your father figure though when you ever go past your use-by date.”
Kenta’s eyes widened in shock, that she would feel so strongly about the matter, that she would believe such a thing frightened him. It frightened him so that he could not will his legs to run after her as she left the courtyard to return to her room. His world swirled as he realized what she had done for her, she had bargained with him, she had saved his flailing career, and here he was lecturing her about her father. Phobos and Deimos left him and flew to sit at Rei’s doorstep. He felt humbled, that two birds would understand her feelings better than him, that those two would never put their foot in their mouths like… no… he couldn’t help but smile when the two crows began biting at something at their feet as that thought crossed his mind… those two were like mind readers.
Rei stood with her back to the door, tears streamed down her face as she slowly slid onto the ground, hunched down in a fetal position. She couldn’t believe that she had yelled at him. True, she lost her temper often, but what was that about love mellowing you? Those books that Minako had read about love were all false, because if anything, she felt her anger more acutely then ever, and she was in love!
She couldn’t believe that she had told him… she didn’t want him to feel
obliged to her for anything, she hadn’t want him to know. There was
a part of her that wanted to preserve his fantasy, his dreamland that he
had found a second father, a second family; but when he said those words…
to imply that she wasn’t grateful for her father… that was too much.
She had nothing to be grateful for, her father had never noticed her, it
was always work, work, work. He was Minister Hino before a father,
before a husband, he had treated Kenta better than he had treated his own
family, he had spent more time with Kenta than his sick wife, then his
growing child. How dare Kenta say that she wasn’t grateful, how dare
Kenta tell her that her father cared, how dare Kenta bring it up when she
was so happy… how dare he!
She heard a soft knock
on the door, she could feel who it was, she could smell him, she could
feel his aura, the presence that intoxicated all her sense, blocking her
mind from thinking because it was too keen on searching, probing and knowing
him better. “Go away Kenta, I don’t want to see you!” she yelled.
The knocking stopped, but he remained; she knew, because she could no longer
concentrate, she could no longer cry. It was as though the parts
of her brain that controlled her tear ducts were also too busy engaged
in getting to know him, then to remind her tear ducts to tear. She
hated him, she hated him for being able to so unconsciously control her
emotions; when he was near, she had to remind herself to breathe, she had
to remind her heart to keep beating. He took away her ability to
cry, he took away her ability to be angry, and to hate, even now, as she
thought that she hated him, her fluttering heart and nerves told her otherwise,
in place of all those emotions, he only gave her one choice: love.
He gave her one emotion to feel towards him, and she hated that, and she
hated her heart for remind her that she didn’t hate it. It was so
confusing; everything became the same thing, all the roads led to him,
led to her loving him.
Shakily, she got on her
feet and opened the door, finding him standing there, his head leaning
against the doorframe, his eyes staring at where she had previously been
sitting behind the door with concern. Without a word, she wrapped
her arms around his broad shoulders, buried her nose in the nape of his
neck to drown in his intoxication; for the first time, Hino Rei cried in
front of someone. Hino Rei cried like a baby.
He stood there, merely holding onto Rei’s trembling body that was leaning against his for support, he could feel her rugged breathing as her shoulders heaved up and down, her nose close to his neck, tickling his senses with every breath she took. He didn’t say a word as he patted her back soothing her, giving her little kisses on her temple he did not respond to the murmurings of “I hate you.” Kenta stood and cried with her.
He stood at the archway of the private area of the dojo, broom in hand, and looked at the scene in front of him. He saw in silence the actions that were ending unspoken hopes and dreams, sighing; he turned and left without a word. No one would know, except for him, whether tears had been shed when he saw those desires crushed unknowingly, as though it was nothing, the long brown fringe that covered his eyes protected him from the piercing gazes of others. He remembered when he had first arrived at Sendai Hilltop, at Hikawa Dojo, he had hoped, he had dreamt, but his senses always told him otherwise, to stop while he was ahead. But no, he wanted to stay, he wanted to try, he wanted to hope that one day Rei might see beneath his shaggy exterior, his disheveled hair, to his loving sensitive eyes, but no, it was not to be. Eyes were the window of the soul, it was said, and he covered his to hide the vulnerability of his soul, when girls at school rejected him, the other boys laughed at his hurt that was plainly visible from his eyes; now, all they would see was indifference, because those eyes that betrayed him could not be seen. Now, it seemed that his eyes had once more betrayed him, it had betrayed all his hopes by seeing the truth – or had it saved him from falling further down the spiral of unrequited love? He did not trust himself to answer the question, because he knew that if he did choose to answer, he would say the former without doubt.
He broke out of his reverie suddenly when he found his master standing
less than ten centimeters before him; he realized that he had nearly walked
into the smiling old man. “There are pretty girls waiting at the
shop, come with me to serve them before my Rei-chan finds out, I want to
see if they are interested in helping at the dojo, ne?”
Yuuchuiro grinned and followed
his master. Despite his master being an undisputed perverted old
man, he was kind, and he could read his learner’s heart, he must have known
what he was feeling. His master was almost skipping in front of him,
singing praises to the gods above for bring young girls at the dojo; all
in all, it was a delightful sight. Sometimes, Yuuchuiro wondered
if he was really the pervert that he was known to be, or did he just enjoy
the attention, the laughs, and the admonishment from his granddaughter
– Yuuchuiro didn’t know, either way, he was grateful for the distraction
that his master was providing for him.
“Yuuchuiro!” his master bellowed, “you are dragging your feet.”
“HAI!”