In My Own Time"So I was telling Eri the other day that...mou Reina! You're not even listening are you?"
"Ah, Sayu...did you say something?"
The pint-sized yankii (ex-yankii?) looked up distractedly from her schedule book. A well-gnawed pen tapped impatiently against the dog-eared page. Her companion, a girl with dark long hair and an impish twinkle in her eye, rolled her eyes and hefted her own PDA.
"Honestly Reina, you ought to get with the times! What, you're still using a keypad phone? Seriously?" Michishige Sayumi, otherwise known as she-of-the-uncommonly-sharp-tongue and emerging talent on the variety show circuit, flipped her dark hair over one shoulder as she sniped at her friend. Said friend, Tanaka Reina, who was part-time model and budding singer, glowered at the taller Japanese beauty through cat-like eyes.
"I'm perfectly happy with my keypad phone! And there's nothing wrong with using a schedule book! Geez." The tiny idol clutched her precious schedule book to her chest. 3 years in the industry had done little to blunt her edges, and while she looked more glamorous on the outside, she was still at heart a delinquent from Fukuoka.
"So defensive~" Sayumi cooed, switching abruptly to a sugary sweet tone as she leaned into Reina's personal space. "I know that look on your face~"
"Shut up Sayu.
And don't come so close. You perv." Reina scoffed and backed away from her fiendish friend. Her eyes strayed back down to her schedule book, the corner of her lips unconsciously curving upwards again. The (self-proclaimed) cutest in all Japan idol smirked deviously, before deftly snatching the book from the preoccupied yankii's hands.
"Oi! Sayu! Give that back!"
Being tall had its advantages, Sayumi mused happily to herself. The stolen schedule book was open to today, of course, and there was nothing particularly incriminating on it. Just a bunch of meeting notes and work timings pencilled in. Oh, and a series of numbers and letters at the bottom.
"I wonder what this is~ Looks like an flight number~" Sayumi said out loud in a singsong tone as she held the book safely out of Reina's reach. Reina was huffing with mock (?) anger and flailing around trying to get at her stolen book.
"You left your evening completely unbooked~ Say, are you free for dinner then?" Sayumi teased the shorter girl, who was now glaring at her taller friend.
"No I'm not. Happy?" With a surprising show of agility, Reina jumped from a chair and snagged her schedule book from the bunny's hands. Without even causing injury. To anyone concerned.
"Reina's so cold~ I thought we were friends~" Sayumi pretended to cry, a fact which Reina pointedly ignored. If being friends with the girl for the last 2 years had taught the yankii anything, it was the fact that Sayu was
full of shit at times. Like right now.
"If friends are supposed to be as annoying as you, I don't need any." Reina sniffed haughtily. After a moment or two of silence, Sayumi burst out laughing, and even Reina cracked a smile at the charade. They did get along, despite all their squabbles, and some might even say because of them.
"Say hi to your girlfriend for me, yeah?"
Sayumi waved a hasty goodbye to her sometimes partner-in-crime when a call from her manager sent her off in a rush. The bunny shot the kitty a conspiratorial wink and a quick thumbs-up before vanishing in a whirlwind of energy through the door. Reina rolled her eyes at the girl's antics. Really, you wouldn't think they were the same age! Then again...18 wasn't very old.
It was a continual mystery to Reina as to how a certain Michishige Sayumi had immediately divined the fact that not only was Reina not single, but that instead of a secret boyfriend, she had a secret girlfriend. Except. You know. Female, close friend. Not really dating. Kinda. Oh never mind. Reina had badgered the bunny only since forever, but the girl had refused to tell how she had worked it out.
"It's just a feeling~♪"Well, not that it mattered. Sayu had kept to her promise and never breathed a word of it to anyone else. Reina owed the bunny a debt of gratitude at times, she would admit. The tech-savvy bunny had essentially shortened the distance between her and her absent girlfriend by hooking up the requisite programs and walking the techno-dumb Reina patiently through every step of getting connected to something as simple as Skype.
Seeing that familiar face every day eased the ache that separation caused. Reina had been afraid then, when her mother sat both Ai and her down at the table and told them that nothing good could ever come out of them being together. That it was most likely just a passing fancy, and that they would grow out of it. Reina remembered reacting quite violently to that assertion, and a wry grin played on her lips at that. Ai had stopped her, then.
"Your mother's right, Reina."
"What? You can't possibly believe that!"
"I like you, Reina. I care for you a great deal...but you're still so young and I don't want to take advantage of you...there are better people than me out there..."
"I don't care. I like Ai. I want Ai to be with me, always."
"Reina. Look at what you're saying. Do you mean you want to tie down poor Ai-chan next to you forever, and never let her pursue her dreams?"
"Mama! I didn't mean that...!"
"Both of you are still young. You don't even know what you want in life, much less what you want from each other. You two are close friends, and Ai-chan here has just been through something traumatic. She's vulnerable right now. And you, Reina. You're my daughter. You've never formed close friendships with anyone else before this, how would you know what you are feeling?"The discussion had gone decidedly downhill after that. With the benefit of hindsight, Reina figured that well, she probably would still have done the same and protested to death in any case. The "time-out" suggestion by her mother had not gone over well, and Reina had been VERY displeased then. Not that Ai had been any less pleased, but at least she had been a good deal more composed about it.
Being grounded for the first time in her life had been a shocking experience for Reina. She would have shut herself in her room but for lack of a door, but hiding under her blankets sulking was a passable alternative. Never let anyone tell you that you can outgrow blanket forts. Lies. Absolute lies. Her cell-phone had been confiscated, and her mother stopped her from going to work for a couple of weeks. It was infuriating then, and it still made Reina irritable now to recall it. She had exploded at her mother for real a few days into the confinement, and spent time destroying things around her room afterwards. Like a caged tiger, she raged until she was allowed contact with Ai, albeit only over the phone.
"Ai! Are you alright? I can't believe Mama won't let me see you!"
"I'm fine, Rei...are you well?"
"I want to see you!"
"It's only for a while...Reina. I have something to tell you..."
Recalling the aftermath of that conversation, Reina laughed softly to herself. She had very nearly broken the phone and then gone off to murder her mother. There was no way her mother had not been involved in sending Ai away. To America! To the 15 year old Reina, it sounded like Ai was being banished to the far side of the earth. It was unthinkable.
They had lost contact for the better part of a year after that. Reina had been very...difficult...for several months. Tantrums, mood swings, and a whole new level of scary came from the teen. Take natural teenage rebellion, factor it upwards to the power of ten...or hundreds...throw in natural yankii-ness, and you had a cauldron of trouble brewing. Even Fuji had been taken aback by the changes in his friend/adopted little sister. Adolescent angst had never been so pronounced in an individual.
Then, just as abruptly, Reina decided to settle down from the excessive rampaging, to her parents' relief. There appeared to have been no apparent cause for it (that they knew of). Even her friends had been somewhat suspicious. Then again, considering how in the midst of her delinquency she had managed to scheme Yamashita's downfall (scandals are a good thing, when you're not personally involved), that might have played a significant part in her sudden cheering up. Of course, having willing accomplices who had connections on the darker side of Tokyo was probably a plus in this case. There might have been a case of going too far, but making sure the man got arrested with (planted) drugs had been a stroke of genius from Fuji. Reina's mood had still been dark though, in the wake of the man's conviction. It seemed like nothing would get her off a somewhat self-destructive path...and then she just stopped. No reason, no excuses. Just. Stopped.
While she could never be labelled as a model student, she at least stayed out of trouble and started working again in earnest. Voice lessons became a must for her, as she focused on the route she wanted to take. She always did enjoy singing, though trying to work on that angle was more difficult than simply modelling. How many hopefuls were there who wanted to make it big? She was just one of many. But Reina wouldn't let that get her down. She was certain she had something, and she was going to make something of herself or die trying. After all, she couldn't lose to
her.
Due to Reina's complete ineptitude with anything vaguely electronic (save for her precious tape recorder. yes, TAPE, in a digital age), the quest to re-establish contact with her all the way from the other side of an ocean was significantly more challenging than if she had some form of online access. Fortunately, old-fashioned ways are not only charming, but also ultimately reliable. Terribly slow, yes (they don't call it snail mail for nothing), but short of running up ridiculous international phone bills, that was the only practical way of keeping in contact.
Honestly, it should have been obvious what would have reined her in. Other than natural good sense, which should have come with age (though there is arguably nothing natural about good sense), the one person who has had a positive influence on her was of course, the one furthest away from her. Given time, Reina would have ended up drowning herself in work anyway, but at least her disposition was more acerbic rather than completely poisonous. That, to some small extent, led to her actually discovering friends outside of her usual social circle, and Sayumi had been one of them. That was not to say that all went well between the two, but Sayu was in possession of a very important piece of Reina's identity, and used it without shame to muscle her way into Reina's confidences. You would be surprised what shared secrets can do to improve relations between people. When you're both gay in a heterosexual world, it's only natural to stick together.
Not that, you know, Reina was actually gay. She still liked boys very much. Ai just happened to be an exception. These things happen. Or so she assured herself.
Time flew by when you were busy. In between the intermittent correspondence and her own work, Reina was surprised by how quickly she had reached her 18th year. 3 years since Ai had upped and gone to study in America. They had...well, they didn't have anything between them, officially. Ai had made her promise not to wait for her. They kept in contact, remained friends, and Reina often wondered if Ai had found anyone new where she was. She was confident that if Ai had, she would be the first to know, and since the older girl hadn't said a thing...she could hope, right?
Reina herself had gone on a few casual dates with boys, mostly at the insistence of her mother. She enjoyed the company, made them pay for everything, and then stopped seeing them once she got bored. Hey, if they were going to be willing suckers, she might as well take advantage of it.
And if one discounted Sayumi's harmless flirting in her direction, Reina had more or less remained quite single during this time. She wasn't waiting for anything, no. She was just busy, yes. That was all.
Reina looked back down at the hastily scrawled notes on her schedule book. Flight number, time, and arrival gate. She had deliberately cleared her schedule to make sure that she could make it down to the airport. No one could stop her now. Reina had promptly moved out of home the moment she graduated high school several months ago. Her mother had been satisfied with how she had been toeing the line (having Sayu receive her mail was probably the best idea she had come up with), and said nothing about Reina's desire for some independence. Had she not proven herself?
On some level Reina felt guilty about lying to her parents, but when she remembered how her mother had more or less sent Ai away (never mind that Ai had already had the offer to go before), she decided that a little payback was in order. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them either, and Reina started packing up her things to leave. She didn't want to be late for her engagement.
It had been too long since she last saw Ai in person. She didn't intend to miss it for the world.
======================================================================
Yay time skips.
I know, I cheat.
I confess that I had a huge block over how to deal with the fallout from the cliffhanger I left you guys with. I knew generally what I wanted to do with the story, but the particulars were fuzzy. I knew I was going to separate them regardless, and then suddenly the answer came to me a couple days ago while I was rereading the ending to NR. Funny, huh?
Hopefully people are still interested in this!
Just a bit more to the end (!) cos I'm a cheap bastard like that.
Baibai~
Topic: Destiny Love [16/02 - In My Own Time] (Read 68890 times)