New Line von Xanderionas ================================================================================ Kapitel 21: Chapter 21 ---------------------- “You do anything weird, Anders, I’m calling in reinforcements.” “Kou, can you please trust me?” Anders implored her, “I just want to show you something important.” “Knowing you, it could be a horrible prank. I’m just reminding you that I’m not easily fooled. That’s something you should take to heart if we’re going out.” Anders shook his head in exasperation as they finally drew up to the house Yagami had only seen once before. It was still as impressive as ever, it’s size clearly not suitable for a single person. He parked into the sun-roof garage next to the house and helped her get out, as the construction was done such that the car door collided against the wooden beam. “Sorry about that, Sayuri and I used to have a small car for us. We never bothered to expand it.” “Small car? With you inside?” “The things I do for people. I showed Futaba a picture of it with me once. I had half a heart to fire her after hearing her laugh for twenty minutes straight.” “What if I want to see it?” He suddenly looked conflicted, pondering the question longer than she thought was necessary before he answered: “I’d give you ten minutes to laugh. Any longer and I’d have to restrict our time together to one hour per day.” “What am I, a mistress?” “Maybe.” he said with a wink, causing Yagami to blush furiously and stomp off to the door, crossing her arms and ignoring him entirely. She heard him sigh and try to put and a hand on her shoulder, but she just shrugged him off. Aware that he wasn’t going to win here, he sighed and instead focused on getting the door unlocked, muttering to himself in the meantime: “I’m going to have to get Futaba to give me the key back. For some reason, I feel a lot more self-conscious about this than before.” Yagami didn’t comment on it, waiting until the door opened silently. Anders held it open for her, which she accepted with a huff in his direction and marched into the well-lit hallway beyond. The interior was startlingly bland, little to nothing showing that somebody lived here. The decoration was normal to the point of abnormality, a single pair of inside shoes making the foyer depressingly empty. She decided to ignore Anders’ comments and grabbed his inside shoes for herself, having slight difficulty with the difference in size but persevering. Crossing the hallway to the left, she opened the door to find a living room crossed with a kitchen, everything clean and orderly to the point where she felt like an inspector for a home retail company. No pictures stood on any surfaces, the only greenery being a modestly sized fern against the wall. The longer Yagami dwelled here, the more she felt that this home held nothing of value to itself. At that moment, Anders placed both hands on her shoulders, surprising her enough to jump a bit. She scrambled to turn around but found herself kept in place by the gentle pressure he exercised on her. “Look at this.” he whispered behind her ear, causing her to shiver slightly, “This is the scene I’ve come home to every day since the accident. I know Futaba said I had a cat, but that was a lie I told her to say whenever she needs to answer the question. Takamura removed most of Sayuri’s belongings in a fit of anger, claiming that her valuables had nothing to do in my possession. I don’t blame him, since I understand now that he did it to remove as much as possible that could cause me to reflect on the accident.” “It’s so...empty.” she murmured as she made another sweep of the place, “And you never thought of redecorating or something?” The slight vibration on her shoulders told her he had shaken his head. “No. I couldn’t bring myself to move anything around. Sayuri’s belongings might have been gone, but I knew still where everything was. Her paperwork, her jewelry, her laundry. I knew each and every corner where something of hers had been or still laid there. It was no surprise therefore that they didn’t take everything.” “What remained?” He let go of her shoulders, walking over towards the kitchen and opening one of the upper drawers, pulling out a bamboo block for utensils. As she moved to join him, she noticed a picture frame hidden under the utensil board, framing a lone person in the middle. At first sight, she was stunning. Long white hair ran down her above average height until her slender hips, pulled up into a ponytail while the woman was feverishly working on a familiar desk. It took her a couple seconds to recognise the table as being the same one in Anders’ old office. Her face was free of almost any make-up, still granting her a natural beauty surely envied by many women in the country. She focused her attention on the expression, however. It was a model example of diligence and hard work, her brow furrowed in a fine line that didn’t detract from her beauty. The most striking feature were her eyes, which were a pink hue close to Jun’s own. The difference laid however in their steely gaze, a determination burning behind them that allowed no flaw, no regret. “Striking, isn’t she?” Yagami blinked as Anders’ voice woke her from her thoughts. She turned and watched his gaze turn distant while he observed the woman, whose name Yagami knew for sure: “This is Sayuri, isn’t it?” He merely nodded, putting the picture on the kitchen counter while giving a sigh. “Yeah. This was my favourite picture of her. I hid this from her as well because when I had to leave later than her, I would look at this while making my lunch. It would inspire me every time I looked at it to do my best, regardless of what the day would bring. And that went on, all the way until today.” “I see.” Yagami remarked while continuing to observe the woman in the picture. The longer she watched however, the clearer it became that Sayuri had something deeper troubling her, hidden well behind her mask of discipline but not fully obscured. “You look like you found out she’s putting up a front.” “I was right?” she said in a surprised tone. “Yeah. That picture was taken back when Yumina and her had begun to become close friends. Sayuri never knew I took this in secret, and for good reason at the time. It was this picture that gave me the first hint that there might have been more to what Yumina and Sayuri were up to. It was such a subtle hint that I barely caught it, but it became clearer over time.” “But doesn’t this picture then remind you of the times you don’t want to remember? Why keep it in that case?” “Because it was important that I recall it.” “Huh?” Anders picked up the picture and headed to the hallway, Yagami close behind as they began to walk upstairs. “For everything painful about Sayuri that I could see in the picture, all the more I could see the signs of the woman that I loved. That determined expression, those fiery eyes, they were all part of the person that I fell for all those years ago. And yet, despite all her capability, she was burdened by the knowledge that she was slowly losing her grasp on the life we had begun to build for ourselves. In that perspective, this picture showed her at her most ‘human’ moment. A woman with a reputation and character to be feared, yet at the same time somebody to be sympathized with for her own burdens. That was the Sayuri Takamura which I knew, which I loved, which I lost.” He had continued speaking as they climbed the stairs, taking them past a number of doors without indication as to their function until they reached the end of the hallway. The word ‘Office’ was emblazoned on the front of the door with a tacky design, Anders turning the door handle and letting her in first. She did as he asked and stepped in, the light turning on to reveal a room unlike any she had seen before. It was completely average in terms of dimension, barely larger than a normal double bedroom. Yet what stuck out was the delicate balance of bedroom and office. A spartan single bed adorned the far corner under a window, while the side closest to her was mostly taken up by a thick oak table, filled with stacks and stacks of papers that piled halfway to the ceiling. Yet what grabbed her attention the most was the bookshelf beside it and the walls themselves. Numerous posters decorated the walls, nearly all of them from the Fairies Story series. She saw posters both common and rare, indicating he had been diligent in attending events despite his work. The bookshelf itself was adorned with both thick novels and games, forming a bizarre contrast between pure entertainment media and literature. She caught a couple light novels as well in the mix, before recognising a certain cover. “Wait, isn’t this that series that became popular recently? About that guy who entered another world and ended up becoming a diplomat?” Anders looked utterly pleased at her comment. “You know it?” “I bought the first few volumes myself. I was thinking about buying the fourth one, but I was sceptical about how they planned to continue from the third.” “I’d highly recommend keeping it up. It gets a bunch of character development for the main protagonist that was desperately needed. Not to spoil, but I greatly enjoyed the new characters that were introduced.” “Interesting. I might take you up on that.” “You know what?” he suddenly quipped in. “Hmm?” “I changed my mind. You can have it.” She spun around in surprise, Anders coming over and pulling out the newest volume, pushing it into her hands. “I already read it three times; I pretty much know it by heart. It’ll be one thing less to toss out anyway once I move.” “Move?” she nearly yelled. “Yeah. Me showing you the house was only half the reason for taking you. I’m planning on selling the house and moving out into a small apartment in town. You see how much space I’m using up in the house here, there’s no point to it. I could afford it because of the wage at Kerzo, but I’m working with a greatly reduced income now. Besides, it’s the healthiest decision I could make. If I were to stay in this house after today, I’d merely be secluding myself in the past. It’s time I moved on. For our sake, and for Sayuri’s sake.” He sighed and seated himself on the bed, placing the picture face-down on a small table beside him. Yagami took a seat next to him, lowering her hand over his in support. She let her fingers slowly entwine themselves in his, the gentle squeeze he returned a good sign. “Anders…” she said in a quiet voice, “I agree with your decision, it would be for the best. But you don’t need to throw out anything you want to keep. I’d understand if you want to put Sayuri’s things away somewhere, but the things you own are your own.” Her mind suddenly lit up with an idea. “I know, how about putting your stuff in my apartment?” “What? You sure?” he asked, stunned. “I’m positive. I’ve got plenty of space to pack some boxes away for a short while, and it gives you a place to stay without paying. You will need time to find a new apartment anyway while selling the house. It’s not a problem.” “Not a problem, you say… you realise you’re inviting me to live with you under the same roof, right?” Reality struck her like a lightning bolt. Her face flourished into a full blush, blubbering out nonsense until Anders grabbed her by the shoulders. “Kou, breathe. You’re acting like me a few hours ago.” Aware that he was genuinely trying to help, Yagami performed a couple deep breaths. Once she got a grip, she began to talk in a much more controlled manner, though still flustered: “I... should have thought ahead. Why do I always invite myself into the most twisted situations?” She ended her words with a light groan, a sudden warmth revealed to be Anders’ arm around her. “Relax, I won’t do anything. I just thought you would be more hesitant about it. I might have grown up in this country, but I still find you Japanese incredibly introverted.” “You’re Japanese yourself, don’t badmouth your own people.” “True, but Mom must have been an exception amongst exceptions. She was more extroverted than most Europeans I’ve met.” “You’ve met a lot?” she asked, very curious to hear about this. She only ever came across the odd one on the street, having never found time to visit anywhere foreign. “At least as often as I’ve met people in Japan. Dad still has a lot of contact with the family back in Europe and took me to visit them every other Christmas. He and Mom had planned it out that I visit each half of my family during the end of the year to keep it fair. So yeah, I’ve travelled a lot as well over the last few decades.” “That’s so nice…” she murmured to herself, slightly jealous of him. Getting to travel around the world had always been a small dream for her. “Would you like to go sometime?” “Huh?” she blurted out, only half-aware of her surroundings due to her brooding. “A trip. To be perfectly honest, I miss flying and seeing the world. I’ve wanted for the longest time to go out and find something completely new for me. It’s been in the back of my head for a few years now, but I’ve never had the time to do it. So how about looking into doing it with me?” The offer was genuinely appealing to her. She would never have had the idea of going herself, simply because she didn’t know the world outside Japan well enough to risk taking the trip. “I... I’m not sure yet. I’ve wanted to go for a long time, but I never dared.” She fell silent, the room’s peace only interrupted by the creak of the mattress with their combined weight. A rapid series of beeps grabbed her attention however. She glanced over to see the message she thought she’d never see on Anders’ phone: - Boss, Rin’s calmed down now. You can come with Yagi. She says to bring ‘proof’ as well, though I don’t know what she means. Anders typed out a confirmation, giving a deep sigh. “That certainly went faster than expected.” “Yeah. What does Rin mean with ‘proof’ though?” “Knowing Rin, as limited as that is, I can only think of one thing. I’m not happy to take it out, but Rin probably won’t listen to anything but cold, hard facts at this point.” “What do you mean?” She didn’t receive an answer, Anders standing up and marching towards the bookshelf. He grabbed one of the larger black books on the bottom shelf, pulling some rectangular pieces of paper out and packing them into his pocket. “I’ll explain later. It’s more important we head over to where Rin and Futaba are right now. They won’t wait forever, even with Maria to oversee them.” “True.” she admitted, though her interest in what he had taken out of the book remained, “I just hope Rin’s really ready to listen to me. I had to do such a quick decision, I’m still not quite sure of everything that’s happened.” “Do you regret it?” Stunned, she looked up at him packing the book away again before he turned to her with a curious expression. It wasn’t tinged with fear, but simple interest. She recalled what he had said before the grave, of having no regrets regardless of the outcome. For the briefest moment, she sensed strong jealousy of him, for having the ability to make such a decision and sticking with it. However, she recognised the uselessness of trying to compare themselves and answered: “No. I had a choice to make and I made it. If I start regretting it, nobody would be happy with the outcome, me especially. So I’m sticking with my decision. I’m still happy to be together with you, as much as it hurts to see Rin after it. But that’s the reason we’re going, right? To talk and make clear what it is we want and how things are. I will not lie to my closest friend just to make her feel better.” Giving a wide smile, he knelt down and planted a gentle kiss on her lips, causing her to blush again. “That’s a beautiful answer, Kou. It will not be easy, not for anybody involved. But it needs to be done, else we will all keep doubting ourselves. You just made me fall for you even more, if that’s believable.” “Hardly.” she scoffed, though she didn’t mean it. He grinned while helping her up, beginning to head to the door. “Anyway, let’s go. You have a childhood friend to confront and me an angry manager.” She nodded, turning the light off in the room that for years had held the broken remains of a person’s life after tragedy. Yet, she thought to herself, that would soon change. Just like how she and everything in her world had slowly begun to change. She no longer felt frightened of the task ahead, merely tense anticipation for being able to finally speak with Rin face-to-face. Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)