RIVALS INCARNATE

Chapter Fifty-Eight: Alterations

PRESENT, 2020 (Tokyo)

This was just a temporary vacation. Kyouhei Kurosaki sat back silently as he slowly let the wave of utter comfort settled around him in the passenger seat. He wanted to say something yet he could bring himself to. So he just let the blanket of silence cover the expanse of the car as Yuko Amazawa drove them down the freeway, heading outside Tokyo and further straight to a neighboring city just a few lengthy miles ahead. The signboards were pretty clear and Kyouhei could immediately guess where they were actually going to.

Kyoto. A huge city, almost quite similar to Tokyo, but not quite similar enough for him to be even familiar with its surroundings and buildings. He had not really been out of Tokyo for most of his life, the only times he'd gone to a different place was when he had an outing trip when he was younger and went to Hokkaido and the most recent one was when he came to look for Yuko and drove himself to her hometown. Yet despite knowing that their destination will something very peculiar and foreign to him, he still let Yuko take him with her.

Even when this entire ride did not really make any sense. It's for your own safety.

Why would he need to leave the city just to protect himself, anyway? Kyouhei shifted his head and stole a glance at Yuko who was still keeping silent in the driver's seat. She was even driving the car for him. This entire thing was really weird, but he can't really say that he did not like any of it. In fact, he actually liked the idea of being together with her, just the two of them. All alone. No politics, no enemies, no pressure, no Osamu Sato, no brief meetings, no Ami Komatsu... no distractions.

He knew that he should have been moving on now, but he can't really just seemed to let go of the idea that perhaps, he could still make her change her mind. And maybe, that was why he had found himself willingly making this escape with her because he was hoping that they could actually use this chance to fix what had gone wrong between them.

Kyouhei's mind reeled with all possibilities the more he tried to make some sense out of this whole crazy getaway. He looked at Yuko again, and she was still trying to ignore him with not much of a fleeting glance his way. 

There were so many things that had been scheduled for them in the remaining days of this week, yet Yuko Amazawa, who had never once left the premises of her offices unless it was something that she felt extremely necessary to attend or would personally want to work on, had actually gone out of her way to drag and take Kyouhei with her with the promise that this was all be for his own benefit. 

And now it seemed pretty suspicious. And Kyouhei wanted to know what she was really thinking in that very complex and enigmatic brain of hers.

But instead of directly questioning Yuko's intentions and the unknown reasons for this sudden escape out of the city, Kyouhei still chose to enjoy the moment instead. It was liberating and he preferred the thrill rather than an argument he might actually instill if he tries to open his mouth for even a second. He was not really going to make this all much worse for him. He was still suffering the faint effects of his hangover, a slight headache, and there was nothing else he could ever really do anyway. He already left with her.

And they were miles and miles out of Tokyo now. It was practically foreign territory to him.

So as the ride went on smoothly, relaxing into the quietness of the atmosphere, Kyouhei reveled more in the idea that he was at least finally getting a short vacation in a way, even when the operative word was focused on it being short. He did not really mind though, as long as he could get some breath of fresh air, calming sceneries perhaps (if Kyoto has some), good food, a comfy bed, and some more sleep without ever worrying more about waking himself up before sunrise tomorrow just to get to his office on time. He still had no idea how long this temporary escape will going to take them, but knowing that it would warrant him a chance to take a break from the pile of paperwork and pending signature deals and charity events and social parties that his job required him every day, he chose the comfort of the strange experience. 

This was better. Much better, as a matter of fact.

And as he listened to the static sound of the engine rumbling in the background, Kyouhei tried to get a short nap and take advantage of this situation instead. And as he leaned his head against the window beside him, he forced himself to sleep. It was going to be a very long drive and he was not really in the best mood yet to talk and ask too many questions. There will always be good timing for everything but right now was clearly not that yet.

Although he really had none that he had badly wanted to ask and know, he was still very much curious. But it did not seem like Yuko was going to encourage him to voice his thoughts out and say anything to her as well. She was too engrossed with driving, too focused on the road ahead of them to ever really care of what he was thinking about this whole situation. She was trying to avoid the conversation.

And conversations had always sucked between them in the past few days. It never really went so smooth and they always seemed to end up arguing and leaving on a bad note. Kyouhei resigned himself to forget all about that now. He really did not want to completely ruin the so-so mood he was finally starting to have.

And as the entire drive went on with not much of a distraction, Kyouhei slowly found his slumber eventually and before he even realized it, he was already drowsing soundly in his seat. Whereas Yuko, who was now completely aware that her companion had succumbed back to slumber, still fixed her gaze and attention straight ahead into the unending path heading to Kyoto.

They were going back there... after a very long time. The place where this entire drama began. The place where it all started. The home of Shin and Rei.

And as the very reminder of those staggering painful past lives played inside her head, Yuko found herself gripping the steering wheel tighter than she should have. She was gritting her teeth, and she was trying to hold it in. The anger... the resentment, the hatred. 

For some reason, this had suddenly felt like a whole trip down memory lane but only that, this one was the kind that had Yuko feeling all entirely wrong about this whole unplanned journey. Something was definitely going to happen here.

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"What do you mean you're out of town?" 

There was a slight hesitance before Yuko had answered the call she got while she was filling the gas tank of her car and waiting for Kyouhei to return back from the shop he said he was going to check for a while in the near distance. Osamu Sato's worried voice resonated clearly through the receiver as Yuko held her phone closer to her ear. She bit the inside of her cheek. She had contemplated whether to answer the call or not, but she knew she can't really keep Osamu forever in the dark.

She looked across the station and found herself staring back at the view of the convenience store before her. They had decided to stop by a gas station on the way. Kyouhei was currently inside the small store, and Yuko could see his familiar figure moving around in between the small aisles, his head turning left to right, and Yuko kept her gaze searing through the glass walls of the establishment. He kept walking and glancing, then every now and then he would stop on his tracks whenever something had caught his interest. Perhaps, another weird snack displayed on the shelves. He had always been so easy to read. And as she watched him under her lashes, Yuko almost forgot that she was still in the middle of a phone conversation but she still could not move her eyes away from him.

Kyouhei had now stopped short just near the chiller beside the counter when he had reached the magazine stand. Osamu was still talking on the phone and Yuko drained his voice out of her senses as she observed Kyouhei studying the entire length of the bookshelves. Then, after a few seconds of just looking, he suddenly picked out a random one from the middle and started flipping through the pages.

Yuko frowned subconsciously. She was aware that she was gawking at him but she was not really doing anything to tear her gaze away until Osamu's voice caught her attention back again to their conversation when he started calling out to her with his voice hissing impatiently from the other line.

"Amazawa-san? Helloooo?! Are you still there? Where the hell are you? When are you coming back?"

It was pretty much reasonable that he was acting so livid about it. Of course, he would get angry because she never really said anything about going on this trip out of nowhere. She did this all out of impulse and there was really not that much time left for her to explain it soundly first and discuss it carefully with him so she could let him understand why she was suddenly doing this now. And the only one thing that had come to her mind as leeway for her to make him calm down and make this whole thing a rational decision was to outrightly tell him the part when she had been threatened by the words of Ebisu Akai told her yesterday right there in her office just before he had left her completely shaken and overwhelmed by panic.

'Be careful on your way out. Some people can be very hard to please, Miss Amazawa.'

She still did not know what those vague words had actually meant at her expense and what he had actually wanted to insinuate to her when he said that. Yet, the only thing Yuko could think of at that time was the thought that it could be a very clear, almost alarming kind of threat. And almost instantly, she had quickly phoned Osamu as soon as Ebisu walked out of her office and she made sure right away that Kurosaki was safe. He got to be safe. 

When she had been assured that he was, she quickly came up with this whole plan, leading her to what was now. And it seemed all too plausible while she had been figuring it all out yesterday, that before she knew it, she was already telling her assistant to clear out the rest of the schedule she got this week, requested an urgent three-day leave, got home, and started packing a set of clothes in a suitcase. Then soon, she found herself driving out of Tokyo with Kyouhei in the passenger seat of her car, who was still just so obliviously and completely unaware of what was actually really happening.

"Did he tell you anything else?"

Osamu Sato sounded hoarse right after Yuko Amazawa relayed to him the rest of that strange conversation she had with Ebisu yesterday. Just like what he had previously claimed to her when he had sent her the documents about the guy, Osamu already had his suspicions about the almost-too-perfect record of that straight-laced silent man. However, even when he did felt the need to look deeper into Ebisu's profile, Osamu had still failed to notice the very possibility of the man trying to get close to Amazawa and probably even hurt her.

Fortunately for them, he had only gone to meet and talked to her. Once. And that still did not make either of them feel any bit better. Osamu was starting to get frustrated and worried while Yuko felt a little bit alarmed for Kurosaki's safety. The elections were coming near. The arrival of the royal princess was going to happen on the weekend. Yuko sighed out loud, her weariness sounding very apparent from the gravity of her shaky breath.

"Nothing else... I thought he was going to come back again. But he just left so quickly after that," Yuko replied after a moment. She glanced around her, trying to change her view as she stared up to the expanse of the horizons from afar. The afternoon was not yet over. She turned to get a glimpse back to the direction of where Tokyo was just miles down the highway and it showed a faint view of the tall buildings, extending into a futuristic landscape of the modern city from the far distance. It reminded her of what the present was and how fleeting the things could just seem to be once it was all chucked back in the past and be called history for the sake that it had existed once before.

She heard Osamu sighing back over the phone.

"I've got to arrange some stuff... for you," Osamu said to her after thinking shortly, "But I might not be able to answer any calls in the coming days. Just tell me where you're going so I'd know where to find you if I have to. I want to make sure I'd get to you right away."

Osamu was very intent about his words and he meant it. He was worried and he was pressured too.

Yuko gulped. She did not really want to reveal the specifics of this impulsive trip yet she knew that she can't ever really keep things hidden from Osamu for that long. She took her time and returned her eyes again towards the direction of the convenience store. Kyouhei was no longer by the magazine stands, he was now standing by the counter, paying for something. His back turned on her.

"We're going back home."

"Home?" Osamu repeated her word, in a form of a question, sounding slightly confused. 

"To Kyoto," Yuko said, just barely a whisper but it was still more than clear enough for Osamu to hear it right away. His end of the line quickly settled back to static silence but Yuko knew Sato was still there. He just did not know what to tell her back after she said where she was going to take Kyouhei with her.

"Are you sure?" was all he had managed to utter.

Then Yuko replied, "Yes." A very firm reply. A very clip response.

"See you soon then," Osamu said after a long pregnant pause. And since he found no more reason to prolong the call, a short beep sound followed him, prompting the end of the conversation. Yuko dropped her hand on her side, still gripping the phone between her fingers. She stayed standing still beside the door of the driver's seat of her car. She drew in a long breath of exhaustion. Then after a moment of talking herself into moving again, she quickly walked a little further down the side of her car to remove the gasoline pump attached to her car's tank, and she returned it back to its station. Then soon after that, she immediately felt him.

Even before she could actually hear his heavy footsteps hitting the granite ground behind her, she had already sensed the presence of Kyouhei nearby as he stopped from a few meters away. She turned around and saw him standing by the front of the car, a paper bag in one hand and an ice cream in a cone in his other that he was now indulging himself with as they met each other's stare.

"You're not going to eat that inside my car," she said glaring at the thing he had in his hand. He did not even bat an eye. She tried to sound stern when she had warned him, resting both of her arms on each side of her hips, sort of how a mother would act like with her own child whenever he does something too silly. Yet Kyouhei just shrugged back at her. And she could have sworn she saw that flash of a smirk on his lips behind that ice cream.

"Alright," he said nonchalantly, almost as if trying to tease her when he quickly turned his back on her and added, "I'll just take my time first."

"We're leaving in five minutes," she dared to intimidate.

"Not until I finished this, we won't," was his rebellious reply. 

Yuko's mouth twitched and she tried to bit back the smile that had almost appeared. She was supposed to get angry at him but she somehow found his snarky reply amusing. And when she realized that she was actually going to smile, she immediately scowled to herself. He always acts like a kid around her. And it was almost to the point that he would always try to taunt her into losing her temper. But she already knew him so well to just flip out right away. Yuko quickly took a deep long breath again, which was the nth time of this day since she had been sighing a lot since this morning. She decided to wait for him anyway as she leaned her back on the car window behind her, crossing her arms over her chest.

She was going to endure this entire trip until she finally felt safe coming back to Tokyo again. But she knew it was not going to be very easy at all. She also had to watch out for the occasional banter that might occur during this whole situation, because she can never really know when would be the next time she might just flip out.

And when she's with Kurosaki, the possibility of it ever happening again was always at its peak.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter: Chapter Fifty-Nine