And Then, They Fell in Love

School started far too soon for Sara’s liking. It brought her back to reality and out of the dream world she had been living in the past few days. Neither Osamu or Sara spoke of their kiss, and Sara appreciated it. She had been kissed before, sure (thanks to Caleb Motomiya back in Oklahoma) but never by a national celebrity. Osamu seemed content to ignore that fact, and was once again back to bossing her around Sunday morning. At least this time, he did it with a small smile on his face.

She swore he had multiple personality.

“You confuse me,” she had stated Sunday evening, as the two finished cleaning the kitchen after dinner.

Osamu raised and eyebrow and looked up from his dishes. “I confuse you?”

“Sure. One moment you’re laughing, the next moment you act as if the entire world is out to get you. Are you sure you aren’t Sybil or something?”

He had looked amused but had never answered, his eyes taking a dark turn despite the smile on his face.

It had made her slightly uneasy.

Itaria pounced her the moment she entered the school building, brown eyes wide with curiosity at what had transpired that weekend. “Tell me everything.” she demanded.

Where to begin. “It’s all . . . Rather confusing,” Sara began lamely and was interrupted as a hand pressed into her skull, ruffling her hair. So much for a good hair day. She spun around to glare at her attacker - and promptly smacked into a water fountain.

Ichijouji Osamu stood there, an amused grin threatening to turn into laughter. He gave her a smile, rattled something in Japanese, and continued on his merry way.

“What did he just tell me?”

Itaria blinked. “He said it was a shame that such a pretty girl could be so clumsy. What the hell was that about?”

Sara sighed and rolled her eyes, watching the Osamu’s retreating figure. “It’s a long story. Even I’m not sure.”

Osamu was waiting for her outside, a small smile on his face. “Are you busy this afternoon? You don’t have too much homework?”

“Not too much. You should know what I have; you’re in almost all my classes.” Sara threw her backpack over her shoulder, glad the teachers had decided to take it easy on them today. She only had math and sciences. Osamu, of course, had none.

“I wanted to take you somewhere.” Osamu said as they started toward the apartment building. “I promised Asuka I would visit her today, and I want her to meet you as well.”

“Asuka?”

Osamu grinned. “Asuka’s my girl. You’ll love her, I promise.”

A small pain fluttered through Sara’s stomach, and she ignored it. What right did she have to feel jealous? Osamu had lived in Japan his entire life and had who knew how many girlfriends. Certainly someone besides herself had seen him for what he really was?

A chuckle interrupted her thoughts. “You look as though you’re going to a sacrifice,” Osamu muttered, his mouth suddenly very close to her ear. “Chin up, Sara. Things are not always as they seem.”

Isn’t that the truth?

To Sara’s surprise, he led her inside a building that looked very much like a hospital. As they entered, kids greeted Osamu, running to him and wrapping their arms around his legs. He chatted with them, giving them hugs and signing their casts or t-shirts. After a few moments, he pulled away, saying what Sara understood to be “I’ll be back later.”

Obviously, he came to the hospital often.

They took the elevator to the sixth floor, turning right and walking to the last door in the hallway. There, Osamu peeked inside, his face lighting up in a grin as he entered the room. A small squeal of joy could be heard within.

As she followed him into the room, Sara’s eyes scanned their surroundings. Among the typical hospital equipment, there were pink balloons, stuffed animals, flowers, candy, and other such little objects. It was then that her eyes fell to the little girl on the bed. Asuka.

The little girl was bone thin, and if she had been any older, Sara would have thought her anorexic. Her black hair was pulled into pigtails, swinging each time she turned her head. Tubes ran from almost every part of her body, starting at her nose, arms, and working under the sheets. Dark eyes glanced curiously from Osamu’s face to Sara’s, obviously wondering why he had brought this stranger to visit her. Osamu took a chair, and motioned for Sara to do the same. Slowly, he introduced Sara, once in English for Sara’s benefit, and once in Japanese.

“It’s nice to meet you, Asuka.”

Osamu translated, and Asuka lit up again. She instantly babbled some out, glancing excitedly between Sara and Osamu.

“She wants to know if you’re my girlfriend.” He explained, a grin still on his face. Then, he turned back to Asuka, and nodded his head once. “Hai.”

Who knew one simple word could cause her heart to beat so fast?

For the past few days, Sara had debated if Osamu actually had any feelings for her, or if he was simply exploring his options. Certainly, a new girl from a different country had to be different than his normal everyday routine. And while she still had her doubts that they would last, it was nice to actually have confirmation.

The next hour was spent with Osamu relaying questions between Asuka and Sara. Sara was informed that Asuka was five years old, used to live in London, and came to Tokyo a year ago. She met Osamu when he held her hand before an operation, and her favorite thing in the world was Hello Kitty. And pink. And puppies, and kittens, and everything else a five year old think she can not live without.

A small rap on the door alerted them to a nurses’ presence. She smiled kindly at them, and politely told Osamu it was time for Asuka to rest. He nodded, and said his goodbyes, but not before placing a small kiss on Asuka’s forehead. The little girl threw her arms around Osamu’s neck, and hugged him as tight as her body would let her.

They were outside before Osamu spoke again. He sighed and leaned against the wall, resting his head against it. “She’s worse.”

“Asuka?”

He nodded. “She wasn’t that thin the last time I saw her, and that was not even two weeks ago. She’s got the circles under her eyes again, which means she isn’t sleep, and that means she’s in pain. I wish I could do something for her.” Osamu closed his eyes, and both were silent for a few moments. Finally, he sighed and opened one eye, peeking at Sara. “She has cancer,” he explained. “Stage three or four. She’s been fighting it off and on since she was about fourteen months old, and her parents last attempt was to send her here. As you can see. . It’s not working.”

“Is she going to die?”

“Probably. It’s such a waste. I’ve never understood it. Why would God bring such a beautiful, energetic little girl into this world, only to steal her back again? Maybe we aren’t meant to understand it. . . Doesn’t help the pain though.”

Without thinking, Sara wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head against his chest. At the touch, Osamu jumped, before slowly bringing his arms around her back, and placing his chin on top of her head. With Osamu being almost a full foot taller than she, it was a rather uncomfortable position, but neither minded, content on each other.

Click.

Osamu’s head shot up, and Sara jumped backward at the noise. Immediately, Osamu was cursing under his breath, stalking off toward the bushes before pulling out a young man with a camera. Sara watched as Osamu opened the camera, exposing the film to light and shoving it back into the man’s arms. The photographer shouted curses at the two of them, which was ended when Osamu sent him a rather rude hand gesture.

Once around the corner, Osamu erupted. “Don’t you see what a danger it is to date me? Or even hang around me? Though that man’s film is destroyed, I guarantee you by tomorrow morning there will be dozens of other pictures around the papers and the tabloids, all proclaiming that we’re engaged, you’re pregnant, I’m secretly gay . . Something.”

His outburst took her aback. Didn’t she see? She wasn’t the one who admitted they were dating. Sara placed her hands on her hips and glared up at Osamu. “Excuse me? I don’t know if you’ve been under the impression that I can’t live without you, but I obviously need to correct you. I know you’re famous, I know people gossip. You would get that even being the head jock in a high school. So what? I’ll survive.”

When Osamu didn’t answer, Sara rolled her eyes and turned around to leave, only to have Osamu grab her wrist. In one movement, he had her back against his chest. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “But. . . You have to understand. This is going to be hard. And not simply because of the press.”

“What else is there?”

Osamu hesitated. “ . . things. Family issues and the such.”

He seemed to want to go on, but something held him back. A tiny little knot formed in Sara’s stomach, but she shook the thought away. She didn’t tell him all of her family’s personal history - why should she expect him to do the same?

Yet, it seemed something was under the surface. Deeper than she cared to think about going.


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A/N: I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. Even though it short, pay attention. There are quite a few keys of foreshadowing popping up.