RIVALS INCARNATE

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Closer and Closer

PRESENT, 2020 (Tokyo)

It was almost dusk when they had entered through the borders of Kyoto and headed straight to the main road of the city. The first thing Kyouhei had noted upon seeing the very scenes of the roads and sidewalks that he had found quite a little too similar from the city where he almost grew up for most of his life, was the glowing colorful streetlights and the busy crowded streets with the glimmering stands and stores as they drove down the long road leading them to the very heart of Kyoto city. He could still pick out a faint similarity between this place and the Tokyo he knew so much like the back of his hand. However, there was still something quite distinctively refreshing about the new sights he had been witnessing from the window beside his seat. 

He was very in awe but more than in surprising familiarity. He realized that he was not really seeing that much of a difference but still, there was that eagerness of discovery when he saw different glimpses of the old culture fading in a nostalgic touch on every part of the street. It was something he never really got to see that much back in Tokyo. And now, having this new total experience, he was feeling a little bit brightened up about this trip with Yuko Amazawa.

As the thought of her entered his mind, he found his eyes shifting back to where she was sitting on the driver's seat, still focused on the driving but now completely aware of his presence. Though, she had deliberately turned the radio on to ward off any type of conversation. But it was too faint and lowered down for him to ever really figure what song had been playing. He looked out of the window again. She was not really going to talk to him. Perhaps, in this entire ride and their stay here... She would never really talk unless it was about something very necessary.

He sighed out loud and he tried to relieve his discomfort instead to forget this tensed silence as he watched the view of the city slid past the windows. He was not really sure how long this entire vacation was going to last, but something inside him just made him feel that it might actually be a little longer than he would expect. Yuko might not tell him anything else, but he was pretty sure that this sudden plan was promptly arranged out of concern and worry.

The days were already numbered before the very big day. He could feel the pressure seeping into his mind. He needed to prepare himself. And for some reason, he knew something big was about to happen. Though he was still not yet sure what it could be or what it might be, he was still quite bothered by the possible consequences.

There was no guarantee that they could win this entire game, but who knows? Maybe the odds would continuously play on their side. But in the matter of whether he actually wanted to win or not in the elections, Kyouhei was never really going to confront his own sentiments regarding that. But deep inside he knew... He never really cared about winning or losing anything. 

He just wanted this all to be over... And make sure that both he and Yuko would still be alive after this all comes to an end.

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Choosing a good place to stay had been a little too difficult to manage when Yuko Amazawa had discovered that she had only booked one room now because of the sudden mixup with the accommodations. Right. Why did she have to leave the entire booking arrangements to her assistant? She was a little bit annoyed after finding out that she had to stay in one room with Kyouhei for tonight. Although they could have just tried to cancel the booking, she was already too exhausted to drive a few more minutes only to find some new location to stay.

This would have to do. And she was too damn tired to complain anymore. She was already dragging her suitcase towards the elevator, gripping the key in her palm with Kyouhei following her behind. He also heard the discussion she had with the receptionist a while ago, so he must already expect that there would only be one room for them. Lucky enough, the room they got had two beds, yet that was not still quite relieving for her to think that she had to be in the same place as him for the rest of the night.

Can she handle that? Or rather, could he?

Kyouhei was completely nervous. He was not yet sure how he could possibly survive the whole night sharing a room with her. They will have separate beds though, but not that reassuring enough for him to think lightly about it. This was going to be the very first time they would ever spend more than just a few hours together. It felt like some big kind of deal for him. 

He sneaked a glance at her just to see what she could be thinking, the moment they entered the elevators in silence. She looked rigid. There was another older couple who had joined them inside. And through the entire length of the elevator ride, he was just glancing at her. 

He was warily trying to read her aura, she was stoic, voided with expression. But her shoulders looked very tense. She was still avoiding any kind of conversation between them and when they had finally reached their floor, she did not even spare him a glance when she walked out first through the doors. He still followed her though, since he really had no other choice. She was the only person he knew in the city.

As they finally walked down the empty carpeted hallway, he kept a distance behind her, watching the way she would turn her head to check from doors and doors, to her left and to her right, making sure to read the numbers until she had finally stopped at a door just near the end of the hallway and let out a sigh. She straightened the suitcase she had been dragging with her hand and placed it beside her as she reached for the door and pressed the card to undo the lock. As soon as she heard a beeping sound, she quickly reached for the door handle and turned it slowly. Pushing the door open, she pulled her suitcase with her again.

Kyouhei waited until she was further inside the room before he had moved towards the door too. And as he opened it wider until the back of the door hit the wall behind it, he looked at the very image of her in that narrow hall just by the entrance. This was bad.

But he still walked inside and closed the door shut behind him.

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"Do you want something to eat?" 

This was the first attempt that she had finally initiated to bring up a conversation between them since this morning. She had just gotten out of the shower and was now drying her hair with the bathroom towel. She had changed into a very conservative pair of pants and a loose T-shirt as she kept a far distance from where Kyouhei had been seating on a couch in front of the flatscreen TV that had been turned on. Some kind of cartoon show was playing on the screen. He quickly turned to stare at Yuko the moment he heard her asking and frowned a little.

He thought he had imagined it, but he saw her looking at him expectantly so he cleared his throat as he tried to answer her question, then said, "Anything would be fine... A sandwich or whatever you'd be having."

He was not really that hungry but he could use the comfort of some snacks just to peel himself away from his unwanted thoughts. He was starting to get too distracted by the look of wet hair on Yuko and he tried to keep his gaze fixed on the TV again. Get a hold of yourself, Kyouhei.

Cold shower suddenly felt extremely tempting.

And deciding on that, he swiftly stood up from the couch and avoided looking at Yuko as he walked around her and headed for the bathroom. Yuko watched him with a raised brow, however. And she just followed her with her eyes as she said to him, "Then I'll call for room service. Any kind of drink you would want to have?"

Anything but liquor. His rational mind had warned him right away. And without even sparing a glance over his shoulder as he was walking through the opened doorway of the bathroom, still fresh with the scent of Yuko filling the corners of its space, he gritted his teeth as he forced his response back to her.

"Just water," he said in a croaked voice. "Lots of water."

And then he was suddenly shutting the door behind him. Yuko found herself smirking at his aloof reaction and the way he had acted quite too distant. She knew what he was feeling, and read that face of his too easily. But she was never really going to do anything about it. This was troublesome but she still found it amusing.

After all, she knew that this was completely torturing him deep down. And that was what made her feel completely superior over him. She could make him lose his mind and feel too weak around her.

Perhaps, ending up in the same room for one night was never really going to be that bad, after all. Yuko thought about this to herself before she was finally walking to where the phone had been located, calling the room service right away.

They will be having some pasta for tonight.

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Once he had finally stepped out of the bathroom, Kyouhei Kurosaki found Yuko Amazawa halfway through the dinner she was already eating and his own share of food was now placed over the table by the front of the TV screen. She was watching while filling her appetite with what seemed to be a pasta dish and some soda. Kyouhei took the seat across her and silently picked his own serving and started eating as well. The silence settled right away and he did not really mind that he was just wearing a robe.

However, Yuko tried not to notice that. And she kept her gaze focused on a movie that was playing on the screen. It was a foreign one so she found it quite convenient since she could just busy her thoughts while reading the subtitles. It was not that much of a dinner for them anyway, but it was nearly enough to fill their stomachs. She reveled in the taste of the pasta and chugged a good portion of the soda in the can she had. 

The moment the movie was over, there was nothing else to do and Yuko was already putting back her empty plate and the utensils she had used to place them over the tray and on the cart that she would just leave outside the room for the hotel staff to pick up.

She moved across the room, and next to Kyouhei who seemed to be staring deeply into space and who also had abandoned his empty plate over his lap. She quietly reached for it and took it away with her as she turned and put them all together on the tray before she pushed the cart down towards the front door so she could place the entire thing outside. When she finally got back to where Kyouhei and the TV were, she paused for a second. She hesitated but she knew she had to do this now.

So without much of a choice, she tried to call for his attention.

"Kurosaki," she uttered in a clear clipped tone but it still took a few moments before Kyouhei turned to give her his attention. He looked a little distracted, troubled, and maybe too anxious too. Then she tried to hold his gaze as she told him, "It's time to talk now."

"About what?" he said afterward, sighing softly. Yuko did not even blink back, she only crossed her arms over her chest, staring deeply into his eyes.

"About what we'll be doing once we come back to Tokyo soon," she then answered in one breath. And after exhaling out loud, she added, "I think I know who really was behind the threats."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------next chapter: Chapter Sixty