He sat in the quaint coffee shop, the coffee mug clasped between his hands. He slipped it slowly, it mustíve been his third or fourth cup already. But the company that he kept made it all worth while. He quietly observed the new acquaintance he made. Her sharp green eyes and bright red hair. She seemed to have some kind of power over him because every time she smiled, he felt so reassured and all his troubles, all his worries were temporarily forgotten.
"Ö.Donít you think so?" She asked.
"Huh?" He felt so embarrassed. He was so busy staring at her that he hasnít heard a word she said for the past few minutes.
"Uhm, nothing." She smiled at him. "I guess youíre still thinking of your troubles with your girlfriend right?"
"No. Actually I forgot about that for awhile." He smiled back.
"Good. Öglad to be of service." She winked. Her eyes sparkled more than any star has ever sparkled on clear Tokyo night. "Just out of curiosity, this Yui, she must be something special since sheís got you soÖ. Whatís the wordÖ hookedÖ I mean normally guys now-a-days donít care."
"Yea well, YuiísÖ sheísÖ. special." He finally managed to say.
"I bet! Well any girl is lucky to have a guy like you. She should know that. I mean I know if I had someone like you Iíd never let you out of my sight." She smiled meaningfully at him.
Tetsuya felt his face blush. "Yea wellÖ" Her intoxicating affect on him reduced him to saying ëyea wellí and other unintelligible things.
"Oh donít be so modest!" She laughed.
Her pager went off and she glanced at the time. "Damn! I canít believe itís already 3am!! I guess I had so much fun talking to you I lost track of time." She started to get up.
Tetsuya placed some money on the table and did the same. He didnít realize it was so late. Actually, he didnít care that it was so late either. He just wanted to stay and talk to her, get to know more about her. If Tetsuya was thinking clearly, he wouldíve realized that all the stuff that they had talked about was about him, and that he barely knew anything about her.
"I really had fun." She gushed as they walked out of the coffee shop.
"Do you want me to walk you?"
"Oh no thatís not necessary, besides, I have to go to my Auntís house today and sheíll flip if she sees me with a guy. Sheís so old fashioned that way!"
"SouÖ" he nodded.
"Listen, Iíll see you around okay. But just in case we donít bump into each other karmically," She took a pen and the coffee shop napkin that she had taken and jolted down her number. "Hereís my number and pager number if you just want to talk or whattever." She kissed his cheek and walked off.
Tetsuyaís eyes followed where she went until even the silhouette of her body completely vanished in the shadows. He shook his head and walked home feeling better than he did earlier.
********************************************
A loud knock on the door woke her up. Yui clumsily stumbled out of her bed and stretched. The knock got louder. And Yui glanced at the her room clock. 6:55 AM. "Who the hell would be knocking at 6:55 in the morning??" Yui mumbled irritably. She glanced briefly at the picture of her and Tetsuya and remembered what had happened the night before. She dashed to the door.
"Tetsuya-san?!!" She exclaimed loudly as she opened the door.
"UhhÖ no." A surprised voice replied.
Yui looked up, her eyes wide in shock and for a moment she wasnít able to speak.
"Miss? Daijobu ka?" The young man asked.
"Su---- boshi?" She asked. She studied his face and was so amazed to see him. Down to his eye color and his dirty blonde hair, he was definitely a carbon copy of Suboshi.
"Sorry miss, wrong again." The guy said with an amused smile.
"Dare ga??" She asked even more confused than before.
"Iím the delivery boy from the flower shop." He said casually. "You have a delivery hereÖ" He pulled out a bouquet of beautiful white and yellow roses and handed it to her. "I guess Iíll be on my way now." He bowed and got ready to leave.
"Ma.. mate!" She called out. He turned around to face her, a puzzled look on his face.
"Thereís no name on the card."
"Eh?" he asked.
"The card, it says who its for but it doesnít say who its fromÖ"
"Oh well the gentleman mustíve forgotten to sign it then."
"Did he happen to say his name?"
"No, Iím sorryÖ."
"HmmÖ. Well how did he look like? Did he have dark hair and was wearing glasses?"
"WellÖ He wasnít wearing glasses. And his hair was likeÖ Oh I donít knowÖ I guess you could say it was like a bright brownish colorÖ. His eyes were weird thoughÖ I mean it was a normal color and everything but I guess it just gave me the creeps." The boy shuddered.
"SouÖ. Uhm, just curious, do you guys usually deliver at this time?"
"Nope, this guy came in the store yesterday about 2 in the afternoon and asked us to deliver a dozen roses, half yellow, half white to a Miss Yui Hongo in this address. He paid us an extra 1000 yen just so weíd deliver it here before 7am today."
"Weird.."
"Yep, definitely a weird character. So I suppose you have no idea who it was then?" The young man asked, he was getting curious himself.
Yui shook her head sadly. She had wished that the flowers had come from Tetsuya. But obviously it was way too much to ask for. She felt tears welding up in the corner of her eyes and looked down for she didnít want him to see her cry.
"Yui-sa--ÖI mean, Hongo-sama? Daijobu?" The young man asked, he placed his hand on her shoulder. Yui jumped back in surprise. "AnoÖ gomen ne.." He apologized, turned back and started to leave.
"Namae waÖ?" She called out to him after a sniffle.
He turned back to face her. "Eh?"
"Namae waÖ. Nani?"
"Kairi desu." He smiled.
"Kairi, Arigatou." She sniffed to force the tears away and smiled at him.
"UnnÖ Nice to meeting you Hongo-sama." He smiled back and bowed. "I guess I better be leaving now. More deliveries to do." He waved and started off again.
"Nee, KairiÖ" She called to him again. He stopped in his tracks but didnít turn around. "Call me Yui ok?"
Kairi turned his head to get one more glance at her, after all, he couldnít deny that she was very pretty. He looked at her and smile, "Jya, matane Yui-sama." After he said this, he turned around and walked away.
Yui, still holding the roses was in shock. He was so like Suboshi. His looks, his smile, his voice. "Yui sama, Aishiteimasu. Aishiteimasu!" Yui heard his voice in her head. The day that Suboshi, using Amiboshiís body saved her again and died again. Those were his last words to her. Hot tears started streaming down Yuiís face as she closed the door. She walked over to the kitchen table and placed the flowers down. It was quiet lovely. She wondered who sent her this. Brown hairÖ? Yui though to herself. I wonder who it is.
"RIIINNNGGG!!! RIIINNGG!!" A startled Yui jumped up from her seat and absentmindedly answered the phone.
"Hai moshi moshi?"
"Yui. Itís me."
"TetsuyaÖ."
"Listen, weÖ. Need to talkÖ"
"Unn."
"Iíll pick you up in 20 minutes ok?"
"UnnÖ TetsuyaÖ." She wanted to tell him that she was sorry, and that she missed him terribly, but for some reason no words would come out of her mouth. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying, took in a deep breath and finally said, "Iíll see you in 20 minutes."
"Jya." He replied and hung the phone up.
He paced around his apartment, like he was looking for something, even though he wasnít. He knew he had to make up with Yui, he did love her very much, but he just couldnít shake Arisuís face out of his mind. Tetsuya shook his head, let out a loud sigh and headed for the bathroom to wash up and get dressed.
*********************************************
Keisuke peeked in Miakaís room. She was still sound asleep. Last night mustíve been rough on her. But he was relieved to have heard that Suzaku no Mikoís Shichi-sei were going to be on their way soon. For some odd reason, Keisuke couldnít shake the feeling that something was wrong in Tokyo lately. Like something bad was about to happen.
"TamahomeÖ." Miaka called out in her sleep.
"Thatís weirdÖ" Keisuke thought to himself. "Why is she calling Taka by his book name?"
He gazed once more at his little sister who was sleeping before he left the room and shut the door behind him.
"I wonder if Tetsuya is home already." Keisuke thought out loud.
He marched himself to where the phone was and debated whether or not to check up on his friend. After a few minutes, he finally decided that he should call just to make sure that Tetsuya was ok
"Moshi moshi?"
"Oi! Tetsuya!! Where have you been?" Keisuke asked
"AnoÖ.. I had to take a walkÖ. A very long walkÖ"
"SokkaÖ Daijobu ka?"
"UnnÖ"
"Good. Going to see Yui today?"
"Unn. I was on my way out."
"Yoshi!" Keisuke exclaimed relieved. "I just wanted to check up on you is all. Iíll let you get what you needed to do accomplished."
"ThanksÖ. UhmÖ Keisuke, thanks for everything"
"No problem, Iím your best friend after all right?"
"Right!" Tetsuya laughed.
"Yea ok, now get the hell out of here, you know how Yui hates it when your late, and knowing your slow ass, You probably are already ten minutes late." Keisuke said laughing.
"Hey you know, youíre right, I am late! Dewa, jya na!"
"Jya!" Keisuke replied laughing and hung up.
************************************************
The door bell rang and Yui dashed to the door.
"Itís about time you got here TetsuÖ" she began to say. But it wasnít Tetsuya who was greeted her back.
"Konnichi-wa"
"Aku-san??" Yui said taken a back. She stared at him in this belief, and for a few minutes, she didnít know what to say.
"Oh itís you. I didnít know you lived here." He said in a nonchalant tone.
"WhatÖwhat are you doing here?" she asked him trying to keep her voice steady.
"I just moved to this complex." He said and pointed to an open door which was right across form her condo. "I just thought Iíd meet my neighbors, didnít expect to run into you here. Not that itís not a pleasure of course." He smiled.
"UnnÖ well I hope you like it here." She smiled back.
"Oh yea, Iím sure I will. By the wayÖ I never caught your name."
"Hongo Yui desu." She bowed.
"Yoroushiku." He replied extending out his hand.
As she took his hand for a friendly hand shake, she felt faint. Everything seemed so blurry and she seemed to lose control of her legs and arms and collapsed. Aku, caught her just before she hit the floor. She looked up at his face, what she saw scared her half to death. And she let out a loud scream before passing out.
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