Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Yozora no Mukou ❯ Believing in Something ( Chapter 2 )

Yozora no Mukou: Chapter Two: Believing in Something

Bearit's Notes: I bumped up the rating of this fic and "Lion Heart" to PG13--for more reasons than one. First and foremost, if I'm dealing with adults, I want freedom with what they say and how they act; meaning, if I'm stuck with the PG rating, I can't do that. Second of all, I think the language in "Lion Heart" was a bit much, especially in the third chapter, and too excessive to keep the rating at PG, so PG13 it went; the language and discussion in this chapter was more than enough to merit the PG13 rating; you'll see why. And thirdly, I want "Yozora no Mukou" and "Lion Heart" to have the same rating. So, that's my reasoning behind the rating change. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Anyhow... I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Procrastination is over! Masaru thought as he hurried from the bus stop to his house. I will call Satoru-niisan and Kakeru tonight!

The end of the week finally had come, and since Masaru, along with his fellow coworkers, had worked so hard the past four days, the director let the men out early to fully enjoy their weekend. After lunch with said coworkers, Masaru picked up the recent issue of Jump Weekly to catch up on the latest story with the current anime he was working on.

Sadly, Masaru knew nothing about tennis until he caught his role in "Tennis no Oujisama". Now that he actually knew what the sport was about and liked it, he found himself quite addicted to the series.

Every fan's dream: land some sort of role -- any kind of role -- that somehow involves a show they love.

That was everything about Masaru's career; needless to say, he had no objections to it.

In any case, he had to get home and finally call up his brothers about his and Tadasu's plan to throw Hikaru a birthday party. He had already talked to Katsumi, who was weary about it because she refused to be there if the rest of the in-laws were not going to be there. She was rather shy around the people from the other world although she had warmed up to Lantis immediately, but that was only because of the never-ending and never-dying resemblance to Satoru. It was really coming to the point that Masaru was growing sick of it, but everybody else was responding to it similarly when he or she first meets Satoru and Lantis for the first time.

It still didn't change the fact that Katsumi would only go if she could have some reassurance that more people from Earth would be there than just Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu, and Masaru, Tadasu, and Shingo. And, besides, if Masaru was going to ever approach the people of Cephiro about the plans, he figured it would be best if he talked to Satoru and Kakeru first.

Or, rather, Tadasu suggested with great emphasis that Masaru ought to ask if his brothers were going to go before talking to the people of Cephiro about the party. He also pointed out that he ought to get on it as soon as possible if it was going to be any sort of success.

Masaru scowled as he walked through the front gates. Damn maternal types.

"I'm home!" he called as soon as he opened the door.

After throwing his shoes off and dropping his bags, he realized exactly what he was about to call his brothers up about and rushed to the telephone, completely ignoring his uncle's reply of, "Welcome back! You're rather early."

The first numbed he dialed up was the heart of the Shidou family: the dojo. He would be killing, well, more than one bird with one stone with this. Not only would he get his answer from Satoru, but he would also manage to snag some sort of reply from his parents.

Hey, even if Kyousuke was available, that would be awesome. Masaru idly wondered if Kyousuke was taking up residency in the dojo, and then told himself that he might as well; he spent so much time with Satoru, anyway, when the ringing stopped and a man's voice said:

"Hello?"

"Satoru-niisan?" Masaru asked ecstatically, immediately recognizing the voice. "Long time, no talk! How have you been? Doing good? Been busy? Are you busy now? Well, I guess it won't matter too much anyway--"

His suspicious voice answered, "Masaru, why are you calling?"

Masaru ended his mindless babble right then and there. Damn older brother types who can read the minds of their younger siblings with ease. Damn them.

He sighed, but still kept up his cheerful tone. "I just thought I'd ask a question about your next trip to Cephiro. When is that going to be?"

"Probably not for a while. I think Kyousuke-san is spending too much time with Eagle-san, and I'm the victim of the results."

That answer was the last thing Masaru expected. "Oh."

"Why?"

"Well," the middle brother picked up his tone again, "I was just wondering... how would you like to throw Hikaru-chan a birthday party?"

Silence came from the other end, and Masaru thought that he either didn't use the right words, or that Satoru thought that he was nuts.

From Satoru's reply, it sounded like the latter.

"Didn't she just have some sort of party a year ago? You know, her wedding."

Sarcasm was not one of Satoru's traits.

"It was a year and a half," Masaru pointed out with a pout. "Cephiro's summer is our spring, isn't it? It's autumn over there right now, isn't it?"

"When was the last time you were in Cephiro?"

"When was the last time you were there? Hikaru-chan's wedding?"

"Fuu-san was married after Hikaru was. Last time I was in Cephiro was nearly ten months ago for her wedding. How about you?"

Masaru blinked. "Nearly ten months? Sheesh, I made sure to visit Hikaru-chan at least every once in a while! Well, whenever my character didn't have an episode to star in so I had that sort of time to. Last time I was there was, I think, maybe, three months ago. I don't know. Do you know anything about Kakeru?"

Satoru sighed. "I haven't talked to Kakeru since the start of this year's baseball season. If I know him at all, he was probably just there. You haven't talked to Kakeru yet?"

"Well, no. This was kind of purely my idea, though I'm sure Kakeru won't have any objections to going."

"'Kind of purely'?"

"Uncle actually thought of going to Cephiro for Hikaru-chan's birthday-- I came up with the rest."

Satoru sighed as if he had expected that. He probably did, if the two older Shidou siblings knew each other at all. Masaru knew that Satoru expected the obvious, and Satoru knew that only Masaru would think up of such a thing.

"And Katsumi-san?" asked Satoru.

"She says that she's only coming if the rest of the family is. Meaning, you, me, Kakeru, Mother, Father, Uncle... so, what do you say?"

"I'll have to talk to Father and Mother first."

"Just ask them. It won't take so long."

"Yelling in this house is not appropriate. How many times have Mother and I drilled that into your and Kakeru's heads?"

"Well, then, just put the phone down and go ask them!"

Masaru could almost hear Satoru's eyes narrowing, but when he heard a light tap on the other end, he knew that Satoru had given in and was actually doing what his younger brother had asked of him. It was... untraditional, therefore, un-Shidou-like. The younger brother was not supposed to boss the older brother around. The older brother wasn't supposed to do what the younger brother told him to do. Satoru was supposed to have given Masaru some sort of lecture about, well, something, to get himself out of doing the deed, and he didn't. It made Masaru feel good.

"Kyousuke-san," he faintly heard Satoru's voice on the other end, "could you do me a favor real quick?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Could you ask my parents whether or not they want to..." Satoru hesitated. With a great sigh, he continued, "Could you ask them if they would be willing to go to Cephiro for Hikaru's birthday and maybe even take part in a party?"

There was a pause. "What?" asked Kyousuke. "Since when did you--"

"It wasn't me. It was my brother."

"Masaru?"

"Yeah. Him."

"He's... still on the phone?"

"Yes."

"Oh, I see. Impatient much, is he?"

Masaru twitched. He knew Kyousuke meant to say that loud enough to irritate Masaru. He knew he could hear him. Kyousuke was not quite that tactless.

"Yes, he is," said Satoru, and Masaru scowled. Kyousuke was a bad influence on his older brother. "Could you please go?"

"Sure. I'll be back in... five minutes."

"Thank you."

When Masaru was absolutely certain that Satoru had picked up the phone again, he said, "What the hell was that all about?"

"What do you mean?"

"And since when did you try to play the innocent act?!"

"Kyousuke-san and I decided that you ought to be a taught a lesson in patience. I am sure Uncle Tadasu and Katsumi-san would agree with what we were doing. It was a poor attempt, but judging by the tone of your voice, a poor attempt was all we needed."

Masaru slapped his forehead. "I'm not Kakeru."

"But Kakeru's personality is rubbing off on you a little, don't you think?"

"I haven't talked to him since Ferio and Fuu's wedding!"

"You lived with him almost your whole life."

Masaru had no immediate reply to that. After a few seconds of contemplation, he finally said, "That's not... the point..."

"You still have a long way to go," said Satoru with -- to Masaru's astonishment -- a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Are you okay?"

"What makes you think I'm not?"

Masaru hesitated. "Never mind."

Ironically, Satoru never laughed, and while at any other time, it would seem out of place, Masaru wanted Satoru to just burst into a guffaw at that moment. It would be more than appreciated, not only because the last time Masaru heard Satoru laugh was before Hikaru was born, but because that if Satoru was going to frighten his younger brother, he might as well perform the task full-scale.

Kyousuke certainly was getting what he wanted. Masaru wasn't quite sure whether or not it was a good thing.

After a few more tense moments, Masaru heard Kyousuke return and said, "They both agreed to it."

"Thank you, Kyousuke-san."

"You heard that, Masaru?" Kyousuke asked with a higher volume. "Now you just gotta convince both your brothers."

For the first time since he talked with Satoru in the phone conversation, Masaru smirked. "Satoru-niisan, can you put Kyousuke-san on the line for me? Please?"

"Why?" came Satoru's suddenly darkened voice.

"Come on."

"No."

"All right, then fine. Tell Kyousuke that he's in charge of getting you to go, and I'm in charge of Kakeru. Could you do that for me?"

"No."

"I'm just going to have to call later and tell him that, then. Either way, he's going to get the message."

Through his voice, Masaru could see his older brother's narrowed eyes and glower. "Masaru..."

The middle brother laughed. "I guess he knows what he has to do anyway, so bye!"

With that, Masaru hung up the phone, but his chuckles dispersed from his face immediately. He slumped to the ground, exasperated, as he reflected on the conversation he had just had with his older brother.

Satoru was playful. Satoru, the "sober" one, was joking around. Oh, sure, it was subtle, but anyone with a brain could see it. He was being jovial, cheerful, the way Satoru was supposed to be if Hikaru had never been born. He had yet to make any horrible puns, but Masaru knew that within time, Satoru Shidou would be a completely changed person.

Was this for the better or for the worse?

Masaru only hoped that Kyousuke knew what he was doing. If not, the results could be disastrous.

Ah, love can be such a great influence, he thought to get himself back up and going so he could have enough energy to spread the news to Kakeru. I wonder if Satoru has yet to figure it all out... nah, if Kakeru can't figure it out, then neither can Satoru. They're just equally dense when it comes to themselves.

Being conceited isn't necessarily a bad thing...

Masaru picked himself off from the ground and wiped his thighs as if it were covered in dust.

Plan is working so far. Father and Mother agreed to it. Katsumi should be coming along, too. And if Kyousuke is Kyousuke, Satoru will be there. Now, the final step: my little brother, Kakeru Shidou.

He grinned. "This should be easy."

***

"A birthday party for Hikaru?" Fumiko asked as she stared at Kakeru with an amused look. "I think that's a perfect idea!"

Kakeru glared at Fumiko from across the table. "For your own sadistic reasons."

"Come on, you want to see your brothers' looks on their faces when Hikaru breaks the news to them just as much as I do. I'm sure even Satoru would have a change of expression!"

"Hmph," was Kakeru's only reply, although he knew that Fumiko was absolutely right.

He yearned to see his brothers' reactions to Hikaru's pregnancy.

The week had come and gone so quickly, and it was Saturday afternoon already. Technically, it was evening, what with it being five o'clock and everything, but due to the summer season, the sun was still burning high in the sky and had yet to show any signs of setting. It still had another hour to go, and the light cerulean and golden light streamed into the small burger restaurant Kakeru and Fumiko were eating dinner in. Men and women were just getting off of work, so the streets of Shinjuku were canned with cars and crowds of hundreds bustling to get home.

Luckily, Kakeru and Fumiko managed to get to the restaurant before people began squeezing in to get their dinner.

And, luckily, it was a fast food joint; the two were already busily munching on their food and had no worries to wait for nearly a half an hour while the chefs prepared meals for everybody in the shop, even if Kakeru and Fumiko had reached there first.

Kakeru had barely made it to Sunshine 60 on time to meet Fumiko, thanks to a hearty phone call from his older brother about throwing Hikaru a birthday party. It was a lovely surprise and a great idea, but Kakeru had no time to react to the news other than, "Sounds great. Call me later for the details, 'kay?" Surely, Masaru wouldn't mind if Fumiko decided to tag along for the thrill ride; she was Hikaru's childhood best friend, after all, and it was enough to consider her family.

Now that he had shared the news with Fumiko, she wasn't as ecstatic as Kakeru thought she would be, but indeed more malicious than anything else. While Kakeru did want to see Satoru's and Masaru's reactions to Hikaru's pregnancy, Kakeru wasn't sure if he would want to see Fumiko's response to that.

"That aside," Fumiko continued as if the mother-to-be Hikaru was a forbidden subject to talk about, "it would be perfect for your family to hear about the other good stuff that's happening."

"Speaking of which, how is Fuu coming along?" asked Kakeru. "Is it four months now that she's been expectant?"

"Yeah," she replied with a laugh. "The kid's been named already; they came up with a great compromise. You know how the people in the other world seem to be named after cars?"

Kakeru groaned. "Oh, don't remind me, please."

"Ferio and Fuu's kid, regardless of gender, is going to be named Subaru."

Kakeru blinked, thought for a moment, and cracked a smile. "You're right; it is a great compromise. Subaru is a Japanese name and a car name. I wonder where that leaves Hikaru..."

"The news came out only last week," said Fumiko. "It'll be too premature for them to come up with a name yet."

"Oh, and four months isn't?"

"It's nearly halfway. Haven't you learned anything in biology and health class?"

He scowled. "Oh, shut up. Just because you were good in school and I wasn't doesn't mean--"

"I sucked in school, too," Fumiko retorted. "But it's common knowledge that regardless of where you live, the kid grows in your womb for nine months before it's due to be born. How did you graduate from college again?"

"Soccer. And baseball."

She narrowed her eyes. "I hate athletes."

Kakeru smirked and took another bite from his burger. "Glad to know that Fuu's doing fine. Umi has no boyfriend yet, right?"

"No."

"Thought so."

Fumiko hesitated for a moment, and then grinned mischievously. "You know, for a personality as wild and snotty as hers, Ascot really might be good for her--"

Kakeru raised an eyebrow. "Are you playing matchmaker?"

She shook her head. "Nah. Umi and I work as a team on that profession."

If Kakeru had any food in his mouth or down his throat, he would have started choking. Even without food down his throat, he felt like he was about to gag.

"'Umi and you work as a team on that profession'? Whoa, whoa, whoa; I thought you two hated each other!"

Fumiko stared at Kakeru incredulously. "It's the only thing we work as a team on. And it's never going to happen again, no matter how good our results were last time. Sheesh, someone had to interfere or else those two would still be denying their own feelings!"

"Did you play any pranks?"

"Nope. Umi's relationship with Geo was enough to do it without lying or -- er, much -- scheming."

Kakeru paused for a moment. "You two got Geo and Tatra together, didn't you?"

"You thought otherwise? Normally it's the man who makes the first move, but Geo is too damned modest for his own good! Sheesh, normally when people get together -- normally, so don't you dare give me any death glares -- they confess their feelings and end up sleeping together. For all I know, those two haven't even ventured that far yet. You want to know who actually proposed?"

"... Tatra?"

"Yes! Sometimes, Geo drives me insane."

Kakeru laughed at Fumiko's little rant. "Well, you know, keep in mind that Geo might be considered a mere commoner by Chizeta standards; he's probably not allowed -- diplomatically -- to propose to a princess. After all, isn't he some sort of non-commissioned officer? He could never become any higher ranked than commander unless he goes through some sort of military training?"

Fumiko scowled. "You... might be right. But that still doesn't change the fact that he should have kept to himself until Tatra finally gathered the courage to tell him her feelings."

"I don't know. I thought what he did was pretty decent, considering."

"Don't talk to me about decent. Men from the other world are 'decent'. Men from Tokyo are not."

Kakeru pouted with a mock silver lining, choosing not to be offended by Fumiko's words but using the words against her, "All right, Geo is a pretty 'decent' guy. Decent enough to keep himself and Tatra virgins until they get married?"

Fumiko turned bright red and her eyes charged with embarrassed fury, and she sputtered for a rebuttal.

"Well, you said they weren't having sex--"

She found her voice again to spit out hastily, "Kakeru! Don't say that kind of stuff like that that loud in a public place where kids are going to hear!"

"Like who? The teenagers?"

"... I give up."

Kakeru grinned. The only children that would be coming in and out of Mos Burger at this hour would be foreign kids who didn't know enough Japanese to know the meaning of the word 'sex' in the language; everybody else were either teenagers or adults, and considering how young Kakeru and Fumiko were -- over twenty but no older than twenty-five -- the worst response they would get were exasperated head shakes. Fumiko knew it; Kakeru had actually won an argument with a woman for the first time. Ever.

"So," said Kakeru in an attempt to steer the subject away, even if for a moment, "what do you mean, Ascot might be good for Umi?"

Fumiko narrowed her eyes. "You don't know about Ascot's crush on Umi, do you?"

Kakeru blinked. What the hell is she talking about?

Fumiko took a sip from her cup, shook her head, and tutted. "Typical, typical, typical Kakeru. You just can't see these things, can you? Ascot has a crush on Umi. Umi, however, is just as oblivious as you and doesn't realize this. She drives me more insane than Geo. And who does Umi like? We have NO clue! Lantis might, but he sure as hell won't give us any hints."

"Maybe she does like Ascot back?"

"Nah. I think Umi still looks at Ascot like a little kid. She certainly treats him as one half the time."

"Sheesh," Kakeru muttered as he stuffed the last piece of hamburger into his mouth and chewed. He wanted to know if there was something going on in Cephiro other than other people's love lives. Was that all women cared about? Romance?

No wonder he could never understand the female mind!

"Let's see, what else is going on over there?" Fumiko mused as her eyes rolled to face the ceiling. Kakeru silently chewed on his French fries and glared at her, hoping that she had something other to say. "I don't think there's too much to tell... everything else, you already know. I haven't seen Presea at all during the week I was there; she's probably having a grand success with her small business in the village. Caldina is still trying to convince Lafarga to have a wedding of their own--"

"She's never going to give up, is she?"

"Nope. I think Lafarga is not willing to change the customs of Cephiro. But then, you have to ask, what are their customs for bonding for life?"

Kakeru shrugged. "That's something you should ask... not Lantis; he won't tell you anything. Oh, hey, speaking of Lantis, how is Eagle doing? I know I asked that a few days ago, but..."

"My answer is still the same. He's still lying to us, and Hikaru is no different. As I remember it, until Umi and I messed with his love life--" With that, Fumiko snickered in such a sinister way that Kakeru was temporarily terrified. "--Geo was getting more and more pissed off and impatient. That was until Umi and I messed with his love life." She chuckled again.

"You're proud of your accomplishment."

"Of course. In my eyes, Geo and Tatra were more perfect for each other than any the other couples in Cephiro," Fumiko scoffed. "And Umi was obsessed to get her 'big brother' some happiness of his own."

"Oh. So," Kakeru continued, deciding to ignore the nosy, curious glance of a passerby with a delectable tray of fast food; he was getting a bit uncomfortable talking in an overflowing burger house. "Do you want to go for a walk? Then you can tell me all about how Eagle is doing because I know you're not telling me something."

Fumiko laughed and stood from the table. "Okay, okay," she agreed as she pushed the chair in. Kakeru followed suit. "I'll tell you on our way to, um, where do you want to go?"

"Preferably out of the city so we can better talk."

"That's a long way out."

"Or we can just get on the train."

Kakeru and Fumiko paused and stared at each other intently. Fumiko with a glare, and Kakeru with a smirk. He had a feeling that he was about to yet win another argument against a woman.

"Oh, all right."

Miraculous day!

"But you're paying."

Damn it.

"Oh, but I paid for dinner," Kakeru whined in his best five-year-old voice. "You can't do this to me!"

"I can and I will."

He sniffed indignantly. "Meanie."

Fumiko rolled her eyes and made her way to the door, Kakeru following her feeling somewhere between resentful and proud, but sometime before he actually stepped out of the door right behind her, he thought he saw just a flicker of a small smile.

For the first time ever, he amused a girl who had not worshipped him throughout the course of their school lives.

Kakeru decided that he felt pride in himself and gladly paid not only for the train tickets, but for the tickets for the aquarium at Sunshine 60 as well as the Special Observation floor of Tokyo Tower.

It was the best "date" he had ever been on, even if it hadn't really been an official "date".

He didn't even bother to realize that Fumiko had cleanly dodged the topic of how Eagle's coma was coming along, and he hadn't asked about it for the rest of the night.

** To Be Continued **