Chapter 3

It was almost 7:45 pm on his clock and the sun would be setting in about five minutes. He rushed inside the house to check if his mom was at home already and if his sister was in. The house was empty so he proceeded to go back door to the beach and watch the setting sun.

When he got out of the house, he immediately caught a glimpse of a small figure looking out to the sea. It was Aoi. Why does she have to be everywhere?

He groaned to himself as he looked out to the sun, it wouldn’t be the same if he just sat on the porch and looked at the setting sun. Trudging on the sand he sat a few feet away from Aoi making sure she wouldn’t see him and sat down cross legged and stared out.

Sunsets always calmed his mind and made him a different person than he is. He was almost lost in tranquility when he heard a sobbing and sniffing sound amidst the soft waves crashing on the shore. Slowly looking towards Aoi’s direction he discovered that she was crying in front of the sea with a solitary smile on her face. It was weird seeing a girl crying and sobbing at the same time with a smile pasted on her face. What he noticed was that she was crying not out of happiness but because of loneliness. The smile that was on her face was something he did not understand, but the sound of her cries was clearly not because of happiness. A girl could be so complex at times that he could never really understand them. That’s one of the many reasons he hated girls.

The sun has already set and he slowly got up to go back inside the house when he heard his name.

“Mizushima.” Aoi called at him.

This time, he didn’t know if he should be sarcastic or mean or anything after seeing her crying like that, so he decided to just stand there quietly.

Aoi stood up and walked towards him then she reached out her closed hand to him. This gesture was confusing that again he didn’t know how to react, but she took his other hand and placed her hand above it and when she withdrew her hand, a small shiny black stone was in middle of his palm. He was about to ask what that was all about when Aoi suddenly turned her back away from him and ran towards her house. She didn’t even give him a chance to say something.

Shaking his head, he shoved the pebble in his pocket and walked inside the house just to find out that his mom has already prepared dinner and Riko was playing on the couch while watching Sesame Street. A show that has been long gone, but her diehard fan mom got hold on at the vintage store in town.

“Hey mom…” He greeted her as he looked at the food on the table. It was more than she usually prepared.

“Uhm… mom? Isn’t the food too much for just two and a half people?”

“Oh, Hiro… didn’t I mention earlier that the Yu’s are joining us for dinner?” His mom looked at him worriedly.

“I’m sorry I didn’t inform you. I know how you are with unexpected visitors, I hope it’s ok? I mean they are going to be our neighbor and Mr. Yu has been a long time friend of mine, before you were even born. Can you bear with this dinner just for tonight?” she appealed to him.

“Oh Mom, that was when I was back in grade school when I hated visitors. That’s ok mom, as long as you’re happy with having people around I’m ok with it.” He smiled at her and gave her mom a hug as she beamed at him and embraced him back.

Then the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it.” he walked across the living room from to kitchen, as soon as he opened the door he was greeted by a very tall Caucasian man.

“Ano… may I help you?” He asked him as courteously as he could. It was rare of them to have a foreigner visiting their house, he was actually expecting the Yu’s which he saw on Aoi’s table but instead a tall Caucasian man knocks on their door.

“Hi, you must be Hiro. I’m Yu Takagi.” He was staring at Mr. Yu unable to compare the image that has already registered in his mind, and then Aoi appeared from behind.

“As I’ve heard you met my daughter Aoi.” He smiled at Hiro as he put his hands on her shoulder.

There was no resemblance whatsoever between the two of them that he couldn’t help staring at them back and forth. This must have made Aoi uncomfortable that she suddenly blurted out, “Mizushima, are you going to keep us out here the whole night?”

Her dad gave her a warning look but she just shrugged at him and muttered, “We’re already friends’ dad, so it doesn’t really matter.” Her dad just shook his head and gave an apologetic smile at him. Hiro was startled by her statement and embarrassed at the same time that he bowed his head suddenly.

“I’m sorry for keeping you outside Mr. Yu and,” he looked at her with squinting his eyes, “… Yu Aoi.” He said her name with acidity on his voice that he toned down so that only she could hear it.

“Please, come in. My mom had already prepared the table.” He smiled brightly at Mr. Yu and led them to the dining room.

“Oh, hey Riko… what are you watching?” Aoi suddenly brightened up with the sight of Riko on the couch intent on watching Cookie Monster.

“Nee-chan!!! Let’s watch Sesame Street!!!” Riko beamed at her then jumped up and down the couch inviting her over.

“Since when did she start calling you nee-chan?” Hiro asked looking buffled.

“Since a week ago? I’ve been around far more than you think Mizushima. You should get a life and look around.” Aoi responded and rolled her eyes at him and walked on the way to Riko.

The world must have gone insane and his family got to have a liking with the Yu’s. When he got to the kitchen Mr. Yu was already there talking with his mom quietly and he noticed that his mom was giggling like a teenager. What’s wrong this picture?

“Mom?” He said out loud so he would be noticed.

“Oh, honey… I’ve prepared the table. Can you please bring this out on the dining room so we can start eating?” she reached out a pot to him but before he could grab it Mr. Yu got it first, then spoke in a language he was alienated to.

“Thank you Takagi. You’re still the same…” his mom giggled once again as she followed Mr. Yu out on the dining room.

There was something going on between his mom and this certain Mr. Yu that he didn’t like one bit. It was getting onto his nerves that he just wanted everything to be over as soon as possible.

……………………………………..

One hour and fifty eight minutes to be exact, the dinner was finally over and Hiro scrambled out of the house to get some sea breeze to his system.

He was sitting in the porch swing when the back door opened and a small head peeked out from the door.

“Hey there peep-squeak… what are you doing peeking out like that?”

“I wanted to see if you were outside onee-chan, because mom would get mad at me if she sees me outside alone. Can I sit with you on the swing?” She asked with her cute little voice.

“Sure thing, hop here beside me… you can even lie down if you want.” He patted the side of the swing couch and gestured for her to hop on.

When his sister was lying sideways facing the sea, with her head on his lap she started talking to him about their dad which caught him off guard.

“Onee-chan… was dad also a business man like Mr. Yu?”

“Yes Riko, he was… and he was the best business man in town.”

“Can dad also speak Mr. Yu’s language? Because mom seems to understand him so much…”

“Yes he can.”

“Is dad as tall as Mr. Yu?”

“Almost as tall as him.”

“Do you think Mr. Yu can be like dad?”

“I’m not so sure about that peep-squeak. Dad was a good man… I’m not sure about Mr. Yu.”

“What if Mr. Yu and mom get married? We can have Aoi nee-chan as my older sister right?!?” she asked with an excited voice, but the question instantly made the blood drain from his face.

His mom cannot marry again can she? It’s been only three years since he... no she possibly can’t. The thought of her marrying again was something he wasn’t prepared for… he couldn’t imagine having Aoi as his sister. It would be considered as a disaster if ever that really happens.

He was speechless for quite some time that he didn’t notice that his little sister has already drifted off to sleep. Watching her sleep on his lap gave him a little peace of mind, at least he wouldn’t have to think about the answer to that question for now. It was too soon to speak of that because suddenly the doors opened and out came Aoi, the dreaded little girl of the century in his life.

“Hey…” Aoi greeted him with uneasiness in her voice.

“ummm… hey.” He greeted her with the same awkwardness that Aoi had.

“About earlier…” they both said at the same time.

There was a moment’s silence between the two of them, when Aoi smiled at him again, his heart lurched forward unexpectedly. Why does his heart do that every time she smiles? What’s wrong with him?

“What about earlier?” he asked beating her first to the question just in case they were not thinking about the same thing.

“The stone… the shiny little black stone. Just hold on to it until… just hold on to it. Ok?” her voice sounded hopeful and reluctant all at the same time, which was confusing him.

“I really don’t know what the stone is for. Does it even have super powers to help me out with something I’m not aware of?” He looked at Aoi in a testing way, but she just smiled and shook her head.

“No… not really… but I wish it did. That would have been fun and I wouldn’t have given it to you if it did.” She told him smugly and this made him smile at her genuinely for the first time.

“I guess not…” he muttered while smiling then looked down at Riko who was still sound asleep on his lap.

When he looked back at Aoi, she was gazing intently at him that caught him off guard. There was no hint of sarcasm or mischievousness in her face. It was a different facial expression that he couldn’t recognize.

“Have you counted my pimples yet?” He asked her all of a sudden that made her come back to her senses and shake her head again at him.

“That’s how you might have felt when you were staring at me and I caught you right? OK… that was really embarrassing.” she told herself rather than him while chuckling and rolling her eyes upward with a tinge of embarrassment on her face, but she looked straight back at him.

“Mizushima…” she started saying to him when he suddenly cut her off.

“Just call me Hiro.” It was too late before he caught himself saying it. Why did he let her call him on a first name basis all of a sudden? What is happening to him?

“Hiro…” she said again… then smiled at him.

“Let’s be friends. I’m Yu Aoi… and starting tonight, you can call me Aoi. It was nice meeting you and your family.” She held her hand forward to him and waited for him to reach it.

He can’t believe he was really making friends with this… girl. Never did it occur to him that he would actually make friends, real friends with the opposite sex.

“Ummm… you’re supposed to reach my hand and shake it?” she looked at him then at her hands and brought it nearer to him before he realized that he should actually be shaking it by now and not just looking at her.

“Oh yeah… friends.” When he grasped her small hands into his, it was soft. This made him hold her hand longer than he should. Aoi smiled a different kind of smile, it was the smile that she used when she was crying by the beach. Then much too soon she gently removed her hand from his grasp.

“I need to go back home now, I’ll see you tomorrow then… you’re still giving me a ride to the university right?” she looked at him with big expectant eyes that shook him back to earth and made him forget for a moment about the weird sensation he just had.

“Yes. Of course... see you tomorrow.” He nodded his head at her and watched her disappear inside her house.

Absent mindedly, he gently picked up his little sister and carried her inside the house and back to her room. The kitchen was clear and his mom was taking a shower. After checking that the doors were locked, he went up to his room and plopped down on his bed.

It was definitely a long day… a long tiring day full of surprises.

He stared at the ceiling for quite some time and then suddenly remembered about the black shiny stone in his pocket. Feeling for it outside his pants to know which side he put it in, he dug deep into his right pocket and took the stone out and looked at it through the dimmed light while his mind took him a thousand miles away.

~~~End of Chapter 3~~~~

It took me so long to deliberate if i should continue this or just stop. Then again, i hate not finishing what i started. Your comments would be loved! ^_^v