❈♍❈

A Few Weeks Later

❈

She closed her eyes, letting the soft melodic music sooth her stressful mind. It had been weeks since she last made her decision. She didn’t like it one bit, yet it was for the best. She knew her cousin would kill her the minute he found out her whereabouts, but she could worry about it later. Right now, she just wanted to be free from the crowded and noisy environment of Tokyo. She just wanted to clear her mind of the materialistic life and let the breeze of the countryside lift the heavy weight in her heart. She opened her eyes again when she heard a chair being pulled in front of her. She smiled at the other, holding out her hand for the manila folder in the man’s hand.

“Are you sure about this?” the man asked, handing over the folder.

“It’s the best for everyone,” she replied.

“Running away is not a good solution,” the man continued.

“I’m not running away,” she reassured, “I just need a break from all the charade.”

“I don’t think he’s had a change of heart. Why don’t you just look into the matter, investigate it a bit further,” the man advised.

“I don’t take things that aren’t mine in the first place. He barged into my peaceful life, taking away my normality, and then wreaked chaos in my heart,” she replied as she opened the folder and read through the pages.

“I can’t lie to them forever, especially Kazu,” the man said, sipping on his caramel as he watched her every move.

“For now, please don’t tell Kazu-chan that I’m back in our hometown,” she pleaded, “I don’t want him to find me that quickly, I need time to think over Pi and I,” the girl said, taking in the ocean breeze.

“Do whatever you want,” the man gave up, “but I can’t guarantee to keep my mouth shut if they ask me about you,” he added.

“Thank you Jin, for everything that you’ve done for me,” the girl flashed him her genuine smile.

“If you want to thank me, then hurry back to Tokyo and talk with Kazu-chan, I can’t stand watching him keep blaming himself for not noticing the change in you; your disappearance caused serious damage to him emotionally,” Jin explained to the girl, who only looked down at her up of coco.

“I’m sorry,” the girl said regretfully, “but I’ll come back when I have sorted out my own problems,” she added.

“Do as you like Mi-chan, just remember to give Kazu a call sometimes to let him know how you’re doing,” Jin said standing up; having given up on convincing the girl to return. It had been a mystery to everyone (with the exception of Jin) in the apartment as to why Mi-chan disappeared a week ago. And the very next day after Mi-chan’s disappearance, Yamaa also left the apartment and moved back to the Yamaa main house and locked himself away. As for Yui, the girl had become less cheery and bubbly than her usual self. Jin had unfortunately been there at that critical moment.

❈That night❈

After he dropped Kame off at the cabaret, Jin headed back to the apartment to call it a night. Upon entering the entrance way, Jin noticed the dim light in the kitchen, he made his way to the kitchen to greet whoever it might be, but stopped when he saw the two figures staring quietly at each other in the kitchen; Jin deciding to keep his presence unknown, giving him a better opportunity to 'spy' on the other's conversation.

“Midori-neechan?” Yui’s soft and sweet voice called out silently to the other slightly older girl, the girl lifted her head to stare at Yui.

“What is it?” Midori replied nonchalantly.

Yui fidgeted with her fingers, thinking of what to say to the other girl, Mi-chan still staring at Yui; waiting for the next words. “Are you in a good mood?”

Mi-chan arched her brows at the oddity of the question, “you want truth or a lie?” Mi-chan challenged, watching the younger girl bite her lower lip in deep thought.

“Truth?” Yui said unsurely. Mi-chan still stared at Yui with emotionless eyes, after what felt like forever for Yui, Mi-chan heaved out a sigh, placing down her glass of orange juice.

“The truth,” Mi-chan repeated, inhaling in the needed air before she spoke again, “I’m in a very super--,” Mi-chan turned back her gaze at Yui, “BAD mood,” she ended, eyes piercing the younger girl, causing Yui to feel cold sweat running down her spine.

“Wh..why?” Yui asked with shocking voice.

“I don’t know. Should I at the bastard or at the fellow female,” Mi-chan smirked, “I’ve never once lost my temper at our kind, I believe that girls are too soft and easily swayed, only those that have experience are wicked and smart,” Mi-chan tilted her head to the side to look at Yui closely, “I’ve never bothered to fight with our women over anything, especially over men. I think it’s very stupid and retarded to destroy each other for someone who doesn’t care about us. Men are possessive and heartless at times. To them, we are like their business partners; if we are useful to them, they will keep requesting us; but if they are done with us, they drop us from our highest point; which is very cruel.” Mi-chan took a gulp of her orange juice and continued, “Yamaa is an exception. To me, he is not a business partner, you can say he holds a special place in my thinking,” Mi-chan took in a long breath, “and a man like him I can’t find a second, and because I can’t find a second, I’m very possessive of him,” Mi-chan darted her sharp glare at the girl. “And when I become possessive, I don’t want to share, and if someone wants to take what I want, I’ll destroy that person,” Mi-chan’s expression turned serious. Yui widened her eyes at the declaration.

Jin was shocked at the other’s words; he didn’t know that he was holding his breath.

“Mi—“

“Don’t!” Mi-chan stopped the younger girl’s words. “I don’t like it when my property is taken away from me, and I especially hate it when my OWN people take it away from me. I don’t like betrayal. In order to keep our peace, I prefer for the other party to take appropriate action before I step in and act on it. I can guarantee you; it’ll not be a sweet lullaby for YOU.” Mi-chan stood up and moved to the kitchen door. However, she didn’t get to finish her journey back to her room when a strong force pulled her backward to face no other than a fuming Yamaa.

“What would you do?” the man asked harshly. Mi-chan was shocked to see the anger in Yamaa’s eyes. At the same time, she caught Jin’s appearance, who stood not far from them in silence. The girl recomposed herself before replying.

“That’s for me to know,” Mi-chan shrugged Yamaa’s hand off her wrist and headed to her bedroom, the other man didn’t let that pass and followed the girl.

“You’re being unreasonable!” Yamaa shouted at the girl, “Yui has nothing to do with us,” he added. Mi-chan decided to ignore it and turned to her bed and sat on it.

“Us?” Mi-chan asked calmly, Yamaa looked at the girl weirdly, puzzled by the girl’s words, yet he let her to continue, “I thought there’s been no ‘us’ for weeks now,” Yamaa widened his eyes at the girl.

“What do you mean?” Yamaa requested an explanation.

“Why did you make me trust you? Why did you make me believe in you? Why did you make me want to possess you?” Mi-chan threw the questions at the stunned Yamaa, “Only to have them crushed into pieces the moment an easy target comes around the corner,” Mi-chan hardened her voice, bitterness in her words. “I hate you for making me think that it was possible, I hate you for making me think that you’re the one, I hate you more to make me believe that this is forever!” the girl shouted at the top of her lungs, she didn’t realize the tears that had begun to roll down her cheek.

“Midori, listen to me,” Yamaa tried to reason with the girl but it didn’t stop her from bitterly screaming out her thoughts.

“Yet I hate it more when I can’t bring myself to destroy you like any other because you’re special, you’re the one, you’re the missing piece that I’ve been looking; you told me you would wait, what happened to that?” Mi-chan’s voice began trembling, “you can’t hold onto your promise, so I have to do something on my end to keep that promise for you,” the girl concluded.

“Then what do you expect me to do?” Yamaa couldn’t hold in his anger. “You don’t acknowledge us as lovers, not even in a relationship! I don’t even know what the we’ve been having!” Yamaa shouted, charging forward to stand face to face with the girl.

“I didn’t force you into this, you agreed to it!” Mi-chan retorted.

“At least give me a ing title!” Yamaa hardened his voice, “you call me your boy toy, have you ever thought about my feelings?” he started to reason; “I was ok with it, thinking that you would reconsider, but look at what we have now? We have nothing! We act like lovers but we’re not lovers.” Yamaa huffed, feeling tired and stupid for arguing with the girl.

“So you want a title then it just so happens that Yui walks in, and you have a title with her?!?!” Mi-chan said raging with fire, anger blinding her logic.

“Don’t put all the blame on me!” Yamaa shrieked, “Don’t bring Yui into our fights, she has done nothing!”

“Why are you defending her so much?” Mi-chan tilted her head to the side, “if you really love her, then ing say it and let’s end this! Easy for both of us right?” Mi-chan stood up, ready to leave the room but Yamaa stopped her midway.

“Stop! We need to straighten things out between us!” he made a gesture in the space between himself and Mi-chan.

“What is there to straighten out, you have already made your decision!” Mi-chan yanked her wrist back from Yamaa’s grip.

Silence fell over the dimly lit apartment, no one dared to say anything after that. Not even a single breath was breathed. Mi-chan continued to head out of their shared bedroom, passing Yui and Jin in the hallway and before moving to the door.

“You know,” Mi-chan stopped at the door of the apartment, turning to look at Yamaa with a weak smile, “I really love you, I love you so much that it hurts to see you being taken away,” she glanced her gaze to Yui and smiled weakly before walking out of the apartment. Jin immediately rushed after the girl, knowing that Kame would not forgive him if he let his boyfriend’s dear cousin disappear without a trace.

❈

Remembering the event of that night gave Jin a major headache. Everything was swirling so fast that he didn’t have time to catch up on the events. By the time he had caught up to Mi-chan, the girl was nowhere near her usual majestic self, only a sobbing mess in front of his eyes. He couldn’t blame it all on her since it was not her fault to hate men, for they had shattered her into pieces. Thinking over the little disappearance act the girl had and was now pulling, Jin decided that he would have to tell his boyfriend about the incident and Mi-chan’s whereabouts before the younger man went insane; he picked up his phone and hurriedly dialed the familiar number, he only waited for a few seconds before his beloved’s voice came over the other line.

“Have you found her yet?” Kame’s voice immediately asked, hoping for good news.

“I think I have a good idea of where she is hiding but before that, there is something I want to discuss with you,” Jin answered patiently, wanting to fill in the younger man of his intention.

“Does it have to be now?” Kame asked; curiosity in his tone.

“The sooner the better,” Jin replied firmly.

“Ok, meet me at the café,” Kame appointed the location and Jin grunted in reply. Once Jin hung up the phone, he stepped harder on the pedal, wanting to end this stupidity. Jin reached the café an hour later, cursing the traffic jam for his lateness. Upon entering the café, Ueda greeted him with a wink, pointing his finger towards Kame’s table. Jin nodded in acknowledgement then headed in that direction.

“Sorry for the wait,” Jin apologized, sitting down across from Kame.

“It’s ok,” Kame waved the apology, wiping his mouth. “Want anything? You must be hungry,” Kame turned to the counter, about to call for a menu.

“It’s cool, I’ll eat later,” Jin held Kame’s hand back, and turned the younger man’s attention back on him. “I have an important matter to discus with you,” he added, successfully having Kame’s full attention.

“Is it relating to Mi-chan?” Kame asked, eager and wanting to know the whereabouts of his precious cousin. Jin nodded as confirmation. Kame immediately pushed his lunch asides and leaned over the table to listen to the news.

“She is currently running away from her problems,” Jin started, “I’ve tried to convince her to come back but nothing works, she has made her decision to never show up until she feels like it,” he looked to Kame for any reaction and the younger man seemed to understand Jin’s situation, “think you can talk her into coming back?” Jin requested.

“What is her reason for running away?” Kame asked eyes dangerous; staring deep into Jin’s chocolate orbs as if sensing that Jin knew something that he didn’t. Jin took in a deep breath before answering.

“Promise that you will keep your calm,” Jin said, hoping for the best.

…

..

.

*BAM!*

Ueda jolted his body at the door that had slammed loudly against the wall the minute Kame rushed out of the café. He turned to the table and looked questioning at Jin. Said man walked up to him with a nervous look and asked, “Have you ever seen Kame and Mi-chan fight?”

“What kind of fight?” Ueda asked back, just to be sure.

“Like Kame lashing out at Mi-chan?” Jin said wearily.

“Hell on Earth,” Ueda deadpanned and Jin cussed ‘’ upon the answer. 

❈

Kame’s hands were shaking with anger; he couldn’t believe his cousin just decided to ditch him all because of some drastic and irresponsible action! He didn’t remember teaching her to be this unreasonable. He just couldn’t forgive the girl for such stupidity. Whether the girl liked it or not, being rational was what they had agreed on the first day they stepped onto Tokyo soil. Kame quickly parked the car in the beach parking lot. He stepped out and glanced up at the row of townhouses, fumingly making his way to their rented townhouse that faced the sunset.

Kame unlocked the house with his spare key, bursting through the doorway and entering. A loud hysterical coming from the living room caught Kame’s attention and he quickly walked towards the source. Kame’s jaw almost dropped to the floor upon seeing Mi-chan’s lying position with her abdomen resting on the mattress of the couch, hair tied up in messy knot, ice-cream in hand, legs dangling on air, and rolling back and forth in her position whenever a dump joke came from the TV’s speaker.

“Unacceptable,” Kame muttered to himself, recomposing himself. He charged forward and stood in front of the girl, blocking the TV.

“Get out!” Mi-chan whined, not bothering to look up to see who it was.

“This is what you’ve been doing the WHOLE ING TIME?” Kame screamed, flipping the girl over with all his might, causing Mi-chan to roll off the couch, her but colliding forcibly with the ground.

“Ouch!” Mi-chan whispered in pain with a pout.

After about ten minutes later, Kame and Mi-chan were sitting face to face on the sofa, with a coffee table in between them. The girl darted her eyes everywhere, not looking into Kame’s orbs, not liking the hidden message Kame was sending her.

“Start explaining,” Kame said crossly. Mi-chan took some seconds before answering.

“Nothing,” she replied lazily.

“You can start your pathetic reasoning right now while you have a chance,” Kame warned, urging the girl to speak.

Mi-chan took in a deep breath, knowing that there was no way out of this.

“I want to take a break,” she retorted for an easy answer.

“Why?” Kame briskly asked.

“Too stressful from work,” she still persisted on her ground.

“Talking to clients and ing at the girls is stressful? If I’m not wrong, you told me personally that you love it when you cuss the girls out and make their men going crazy for you,” Kame scoffed, not believing the girl’s answer. “Cut to the chase, what’s the real reason?” Kame’s voice was dangerously low and Mi-chan knew better than to beat around the bush.

“I want to get away from them for a moment,” Mi-chan confessed, no point in lying right?

“Who are them?” Kame dug for an answer.

“YamaPi and Yui-chan,” Mi-chan honestly said.

“What’s the matter with them?” Kame hit straight to the point.

“Too close for my liking,” the girl’s expression turned uncomfortable at her words.

“They’re friends and I see nothing wrong with friends being close,” Kame shrugged, waiting for the jackpot.

“But he’s mine!” Mi-chan almost shouted, stomping her foot down on the ground to make her point.

“I don’t remember you claiming the man,” Kame remarked, catching the girl’s uneasy expression.

“But he said that he’d be mine,” Mi-chan tried to hold onto the thin line that was her self control.

“Yes, he did say that but you didn’t confirm it; so it’s invalid in my opinion,” Kame smirked at the frustration showing on the girl’s porcelain face.

“It doesn’t matter! He said he’s mine and that’s final! Whether he likes it or not, he is not allowed to cheat!” the girl shouted, standing up from her position in anger.

“You’re being illogical, what right do you have to say that when you don’t even recognize the man as yours in the first place,” Kame stood up, pushing the girl harshly down to sit on the sofa again. “Let me tell you this from a man’s point of view,” Kame looked straight into Mi-chan’s eyes and continued, “Men’s words are vain, unless you capture their heart completely or make them go crazy about you, their words are nothing but cotton candy. You know what happens to cotton candy once eaten, it melts and is gone. Poof! Disappears just like that!” Kame made a gesture with his hands to emphasize his words, “and to put it into your little head, beauty is not the only thing keeping them to you. can’t glue them to you forever, there is a thing call ‘feeling.’ That’s what makes them stay. You showed him nothing but your tricks on men, no honesty in those words or actions. Even if there was one, it was seen as a trick all along. Be glad that he stayed with you for more than a month, if it was me, I would have kicked you out of the game way before that!” Kame harshly spoke his mind to the girl.

Mi-chan only glared back at Kame, stubbornly refusing to accept the reality of Kame’s words. She of all people knew that. She was the master of it but to be told like that, it hurt not only her pride but her self-judgment as well.

“I know that, and I didn’t expect anything back,” Mi-chan gritted her teeth in reply. “I didn’t plan for this to happen!” she shouted, “it was only a game we were playing; it was supposed to end like MONTHS AGO! Yet, I kept carrying on this game to the point of no return. By the time I realized it, I was falling way too deep! It was too deep to get away.” The girl muffled her sob, covering her face with her palms, Kame’s anger having calmed down somewhat. He understood it was hard for the girl to accept the fact that she was in love. How could she know that she was when she had never been in love before?

“Talk it out with him,” Kame gave the girl his sincere advice. “It’s the only way to mend the cracks, before it’s too late for regret,” Kame brought his hand to ruffle the girl’s hair gently, hoping it would calm her down somehow.

“It’s already too late,” the girl said, “they must be happily skipping down the street hand in hand, they make a great couple,” she said resigning herself to her defeat; the revelation that she had been avoiding for more than a week now. She had tried to deny her defeat and kept telling herself that she was winning for walking out on them.

“Tell you what,” Kame settled down next to the girl and rubbed her shoulder with his soft hand, “if you are this miserable, do you think Pi is any better?” Kame raised the question. “Considering how deep he fell for you, his feelings are hurting too you know, and even though men’s words are vain, their feelings are real,” Kame reassured the girl.

“I don’t know,” Mi-chan replied tiring, “before I can do anything, I need to get my head out of this mess,” the girl breathed out heavily, “maybe to reset my mind?” she laughed bitterly.

“Maybe,” Kame smirked. “For the time being, I’ll let you be, contact me when you’re ready to head back.”

Mi-chan nodded, dropping herself lifelessly onto the sofa, thinking over about everything happening in her life. Kame walked out of the apartment, taking his spare key with him. Once he was out, he fished out his phone and dialed number he rarely called.

❈

Kame rested his head lazily on Jin’s shoulder, legs tangling with each other and hands intertwining. Finally, they could have time for themselves. It was hard nowadays to find spare time to spend with each other, with Jin busy with the restaurant, Yamaa out of town, Kame monitoring the cabaret by himself and Mi-chan still sulking in the beach house. Kame rolled himself over and got on top of Jin with a smirk.

“Do you have to go somewhere today?” Kame asked suggestively and Jin caught onto the other’s words.

“Yes I do,” Jin grinned at Kame’s pouting face, “I need to go exploring Kazuya Wonderland,” he laughed loudly when Kame’s face turned red.

“Do you have to put it that way?” Kame hit Jin’s arm lightly, but a smile was on his face.

“Since you asked, I just answered,” Jin teased.

“You killed the mood,” Kame rolled off Jin and about to roll to his side but Jin’s hand stopped him.

“Come here you,” Jin said, pulling Kame back on top of him, pulling the younger man down for a chaste kiss. They playfully pecked and nibbled at each other’s lips, completely ignoring the crumbling sounds outside of their door. Jin’s hand went underneath Kame’s shirt, roaming and brushing lightly against the milky skin while passionately kissing the younger male on top of him. Hands moving up; taking the shirt along with him…

“Kame!”

A shriek of Kame’s name made them stop their ministration, Kame and Jin strained their ears to listen once more time.

“Kazuya! You’re so dead!”

Recognizing the familiar majestic voice, Kame and Jin scrambled out of their bed and rolled down to the floor, hiding in the cramped small crack in between their bed and the wall.

“What did you do?” Jin asked worriedly at Kame.

“Just…. you know, sent a little text to Pi telling him where Mi-chan was at,” Kame said innocently.

“Well, that wouldn’t get her to this deadly state,” Jin hardened his voice at his lover, knowing there was more to it.

“And I sort of , kind of, in a way told her employees and her clients where she was at too, they’ve been asking you know. So I just give them a little hint,” Kame smiled sweetly at Jin.

The older man palmed his face, and prepared himself for the worst possible. Their door immediately burst open with a very fuming Mi-chan and a grinning Yamaa, “It’s not very smart to hide there but do you know how big you are and how small that crack is?!” Mi-chan stomped towards the two and smirked darkly. “Gotcha!” she smiled evilly.