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Author's Note: I live. I really do. This past month has been an especially hard one for me, but I'm doing well. Work has me working at least 9-10 hours a day, and when I get home I'm usually so exhausted that I crash. I hope you enjoy this chapter though. I had fun writing it and I can connect with Rika on so many different levels. I realize this story is a little different than my others, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Also, if you have noticed that Lullabye has been removed from my story list, please check out my biography before asking me why. I hope you understand.
Chapter Three
The knock on the door startled Rika the next morning, although she was not surprised when her mother poked her head into her room. “Are you up and decent?” she asked softly. Her mother always had a habit of whispering in the mornings. Rika assumed it was from multiple years of trying not to wake her husband. Jonathon Brown had been dead for several years, but old habits died hard. Rika nodded her head yes to her mother’s question, and Kaitlyn immediately entered the room. She closed the door softly behind her, and settled down on the bed.
“I need to apologize for last night,” Kaitlyn began slowly. “I overreacted when I saw you with Shin. You did not tell me where you were going, and I had no idea if you were safe or not. And then you arrive home, basically intoxicated at one in the morning . . I was not sure what I was supposed to be thinking.” She took a deep breath. “I want you to know something. I have absolutely nothing against Shin. He seems like a nice young man, and he got you out of a situation I assume was bad . . .” She hesitated. “But I don't want you to date him.”
So there it was. “Why?”
“There is a a lot of bad blood between the Ichijouji’s and I.” Kaitlyn explained. “Yes, I know the family. If you lived anywhere within twenty miles of Tamachi, you knew of the Ichijouji’s. They are a rather powerful family. One of the older families. . They still go by tradition a lot. Arranged marriages and the such. Part of the reason why there is so much discord in the family. They aren’t a family. It’s simply about sixty people who just . . Are related to one another.”
“What does this have to do with me?”
“I don't want you getting involved with one.” The look on her mother’s face was torn, as if part of her was saying she was doing the wrong thing. “The Ichijouji family does not just have family problems. They are known for being a little unstable. Trust me, I worked with a woman who is probably Shin’s mother for years. You don't want her for a mother in law.”
Rika frowned. “Mom, I never said that I was going to marry Shin. I just am going out on one date with him. Who knows, I might not even like him after a few hours.”
“Remember what I told you when you were sixteen. Never, ever date someone that you might not be able to live with one day. You never know who You're going to fall in love with.” Kaitlyn smiled. “The first time I met your father, I thought he was horrible. Jonathon was always a bit of a player with the women, and I was the first one to tell him to shove it. It took him months to convince me to date him.”
“So you should understand how I feel,” Rika provoked. “I like him, Mom He has seen me at some of my worst moments yet, and he still finds me cute.”
A frown crossed her mother’s face. “Rika, you have seen him three times. This is not true love.”
“Can you not just give him a chance?” Rika snapped, feeling the end of her patience letting up. “He hasn’t done anything as of yet. Let him at least have my trust before he does something to completely squash it. He’s gotten me out of some precarious situations thus far - can we not at least thing him for that?”
Kaitlyn was completely silent, and she played with some of the strings that were attached to Rika’s quilt. She sighed, and leaned back against the wall, and closed her eyes. “Rika . . .”
“Mom.”
“Where are you going on this date, exactly?”
“I'm not sure. He just asked me last night. I gave him the whole spill that I usually scare off boys with. He still wants to take me out, so I'm going to take this as a good sign. Mom,” she said, softly and scooted closer to her mother in the bed, Rika laid her chin on Kaitlyn’s shoulder, and sighed into it. “I really, really like him.” she admitted.
Kaitlyn looked back and sighed again, placing her head in her hands. “I hate it when you do this to me. I know what is best for you, but you're showing that independence streak that reminds me you aren’t sixteen anymore.” She gave Rika a stubborn look before finally throwing up her hands in surrender. “Fine. Whatever you want Rika. I guess I should not hold Shin accountable to what his father does.” She muttered something else that was inaudible to Rika, before she shrugged again. “Just let me know when this date will be, where you're going, and what time you will be home.”
There was the motherly streak again. Rika just smiled, and shook her head, amused. It was enough, though, to know that Kaitlyn was not going to completely ban her from Shin, but her mother’s attitude still did not make sense. There was nothing about Shin that made him seem remotely threatening.
Then again, what did Kaitlyn know that Rika didn’t?
She squinted at the number, not recognizing it. Shrugging off her anxiety, she flipped open her phone and pressed “talk”. “Hello?”
“Is this Rika Brown?” a familiar voice came over the phone line. He didn’t give her time to answer. “This is Shin Ichijouji. I was calling to find out more suggestions about our date on Friday?” He said this in a complete rush, so unlike him. Rika’s face burst into a huge grin, and she sat down, lest she run into a tree again.
“I was just about to hunt you down on the OU campus. I had no idea how I was going to get a hold of you!” Rika exclaimed. “So, what do you have planned?”
“I’m not sure,” he answered. She could hear yelling through the phone, and assumed he was still at school. Possibly in class. “I thought we might be able to meet up this afternoon after school and discuss options. I want to take you somewhere nice. Any culinary preferences? Prices do not matter.”
Her stomach growled, a reminder that she hadn’t eaten today. “For this afternoon, fast food sounds great. I don’t have much cash on me, so we would have to go somewhere like McDonald’s or --”
Shin cut her off. “I am not taking you to McDonalds. There are restaurants in the mall, aren’t there? Why don‘t we meet at the mall in Norman, and we will go from there. Who knows. You might even be able to convince me to go into a store with you.”
It was agreed they would meet after Shin got out of class - a mere hour from now. Rika considered running home to change into something different. . Something that might make her look a little less disheveled. Then again, this had been the guy that had witnessed her puking in front of a frat party. If that wasn’t unattractive, Rika wasn’t sure what was.
Shin was in front of the Hot Topic when she entered, and gave a smile. “This store is amusing,” he commented, waving his arm behind him. “It’s something Maka would defiantly enjoy.”
“Hot Topic? Oh, I love that place. Who doesn’t?”
There was a small frown. “Well, I must admit I don’t think I’ll be shopping there anytime soon. To be honest, it scares me a little.” He shrugged at her frown. “We can’t all like the same things. What are you hungry for?”
It was time to make a decision, and Rika was completely awful at this. She looked around, and blurted out the first thing that caught her eye. “Chick-Fil-A is a good place. They have amazing chicken.”
“I’ve never had it.”
She looked at him, dumbfounded. “Are you serious? You’ve lived twenty something years without ever eating at a Chick-Fil-A? Well, we shall alter that!” With that, Rika grabbed his wrist and drug him to the back of the line, and began to bounce on her heels. Shin looked amused. “Their chicken sandwiches are probably their most popular items, but they also have amazing chicken nuggets. Whatever you want.”
“Nuggets are probably what I’ll have.”
“Sweet and sour sauce goes good with them.”
Shin made a face. “I don’t like sauces with my food. Is this an American thing?”
“Must be.” Rika ordered for them, and whipped out her card to pay, but Shin stopped her with a hand on hers. A shiver ran through her, and she backed away. He gave a triumphant smile.
“So, what are some ideas we can do Friday?” he asked as they found a small table near one of the mall entrances. “Are you looking just to have dinner, or would you like to do something else? See a movie, maybe? I’m not sure what’s playing . . .”
“No movies, please.” she grumbled. “After working six months at a movie theater, that tends to take all the joy of going to the movies. I’ve smelled and made enough popcorn to last me the rest of my life.”
“Alright, movies are out.” Shin agreed. He took a bite of his nugget and his eyes widened. “Wow,” he said with an approving voice. “These really are good. How about this - why don’t we go somewhere nice to eat for the evening. I’ll give you the rest of the week to decide where you want to go. Remember, don’t be picky because of the price. I have more than enough money to pay for one date, I assure you. I’ll plan the rest of the date. That way, we’ll both have a say in what we do, or don’t do. Does that sound fair?”
He was leaving her with a decision again, but at least it gave her three days. “I’ll think about it.” Rika agreed, and finished off her sandwich. She brushed her hands against her jeans and took a sip of her Coke. “Are our plans still on for Friday at seven?”
“If it works for you.”
The conversation seemed to be a little stilted, and Rika fidgeted nervously in her seat. Shin seemed to be intent about eating the rest of his chicken nuggets, so she fell silent and fiddled with her cup. The mall was crowded, so the lack of noise wasn’t a bother to her - in fact she found it comforting. It was easy to see that Shin wasn’t the type that needed to be involved in conversation every second. For the most part, he seemed the silent, brooding type.
It was a change Rika needed. She loved to talk - Her mother had always told her that her conversation as a baby has been stilted. For the first year of her life, Rika said absolutely nothing. No “mama” or “dada”, or even any signs that she wanted to talk. She had been tested for countless things, such as speech impediments and autism, but none showed up on record. Eventually, Kaitlyn decided that when Rika was ready to talk, she would. One morning, two weeks before he second birthday, Rika opened her mouth and informed her mother that she only had a certain number of words she could use, and she would not be using them all at once. Kaitlyn at laughed at it then, but had soon figured out that her daughter was serious. After weeks of trying to convince Rika that words were not going to run out, she finally showed her daughter a river. As she explained about how this river would never run dry, she scooped her hands with water, and threw it over her shoulder. Rika spent the next hour trying to empty that little river.
At the end of the attempt, Rika apparently decided she could talk. She’d never stopped since. Until now.
Shin finished his nuggets and tossed them in the trashcan next to their table. “Any other plans for the evening?”
“None until I saw you. If you’ve got the time to do something, I’m completely game for it.”
He took a hard look at his watch and his mouth twisted into a little frown of displeasure. “I would love to say that I had all the evening as well, but I unfortunately have a test tomorrow. I need to study; I should have been studying already.”
“Hard?”
“Not at all.” Shin shrugged. “It’s the Japanese in me. Even if you know you will past the test, you study anyway. And when you understand it, then you study some more.” He gave her a rare, lopsided smile and shoved his hands into his pockets like a schoolboy. “I need to be going. I will see you on Friday?”
She snorted. “Do you even remember how to get to my house?”
He nodded. “It wasn’t that difficult, and I’ll just call you if I get lost. I should be fine though.” He began to back away. “Friday, Rika.”
Her mother seemed to find this whole situation hysterical. “Rika,” she mused, with a smile on her face. “I don't think I’ve seen you this distracted over a boy in a very, very long time. Was Paul not the last guy you suddenly felt a need to run into trees over?”
“Oh be quiet,” Rika muttered, feeling her cheeks heat up. “Paul was a completely different person from Shin.”
“I know.” There was that slight little pessimism back in her mother’s voice, but Rika refused to listen to it. Kaitlyn was just going to have to deal with the fact that Rika was going out with an Ichijouji tonight, no matter how much bad blood there was between the two families. “I wish your father was here.” Kaitlyn suddenly whispered softly, smiling sadly at her daughter. “I think he would enjoy watching this.”
“He probably still is. And turning over in his grave after knowing who it is I'm going on the date with.”
Kaitlyn was silent. “Probably not. He never knew the Ichijouji’s. Only of them. When you lived in an area of Tokyo that small, everyone knew everyone. The Ichijouji’s were a very large name at the time. It would. . Or rather, will, be interesting to see if that has changed much.”
“Oh no,” Rika moaned. “Mom, please tell me You're not going to quiz him!” At Kaitlyn’s mischievous grin, Rika knew both she and Shin were completely doomed. Once Kaitlyn Brown set her mind to something, there was no getting out of it. She flopped onto the couch, defeated. “You're going to embarrass me, aren’t you?”
“I would not dream of it, Rika dear.”
There was a sudden knock on the door, and Rika’s heart all but stopped. She stared at her mother in panic, and Kaitlyn just rolled her eyes. “Go answer the door, Rika,” she hissed. Rika sprang up from her seat, and numbly walked toward the front door. She swallowed and swung the door wide open, a bright smile plastered across her face.
Unfortunately, the man at the door was not Ichijouji Shin.
The man standing at the door was obviously from some sort of organization, and by the badge on the right side of his shirt, it looked to be one that was of some importance. He was dressed in a white shirt, with dark black pants, and shoes. His hair was cut rather short. Not a bad looking man. But still, not exactly what Rika had expected to show up on her door step. Wasn’t Shin supposed to be here by now? Shocked, Rika stepped back involuntarily, and attempted to regain her smile. “Hi,” she croaked out. “Can I help you?”
“Hello Ma’am!” the stranger said with a cheerful smile. “I'm from the Church of the Latter Day Saints, located in Moore, Oklahoma.” At Rika’s blink and nod, he continued. “Would you mind if I took a minute to share with you the gospel of Jesus Christ and the mission of the Mormon church?”
She blinked at him again. The man lost a little of his smile and began to look concerned. “Ma’am?” he asked again. “Are you okay?”
“Yea. I'm fine. Thank you.” Rika muttered, regaining a little of her feeling back. “And I appreciate your coming to my door, but I already have my faith in Christ, and have a home church. No, I'm not interested in changing. But thank you anyway.” The man nodded, and began to reach into his back pocket, but Rika stopped him mid way. “I already have two or three of your pamphlets, sir. Thank you very much for stopping by, though.”
The man gave her another cheerful smile, and nodded toward her. “And thank you for letting me talk to you. Have a nice evening, miss.” He left the front porch to go talk to the neighbor across the street, and Rika immediately closed the front door, leaning against it. Two seconds later, the doorbell scared the crap out of her. Thinking she was going to commit murder if it was not Shin this time, she pull the door open widely and glared at whoever was on the doorstep.
This time it was Shin.
“You looked excited to see me.” He drawled. He produced one single red rose and handed it to her, smiling as he did so. “You look very nice this evening. I like the sweater. It matches your eyes.”
Her cheeks immediately felt warm again. Rika took the rose, feeling slightly stunned at the whole event process of the evening. “Come on in,” she invited, stepping back to allow him in the entry way. “Mom wants to talk to you before we leave. Some parental part of her seems to want this date to go well, and she’s determined to scare you out of your wits.”
“I'm already terrified.” Shin joked. “Can you not see me shaking?”
She whapped him lightly on the arm, and led him into the living room. Kaitlyn stood as they made their entrance, and plastered on a happy smile. “Hello there, Shin!” she greeted, holding out her hand toward him. He took it like a pro, and shook it once, and made a short bow. “It is nice to see you again. I must apologize for the last time we met.”
“It was understandable. You were worried about your daughter, and I probably should have made her call you first.”
“No hard feelings,” Kaitlyn said, raising her hands. She smiled toward Rika, and motioned toward the couch. “Unless you have somewhere you need to be immediately, feel free to sit down for a while. Would you like something to drink? I think we have some Cokes or Dr. Pepper’s in the refrigerator. Water, milk, juice . . .”
“I'm fine, thank you.” If Shin was nervous, he was not giving anything away. He smiled at Rika and her mother from across the room. “I don't plan to have your daughter out late, Mrs. Brown. She will probably be back here before ten.”
“Where will you be going?”
“I was thinking we might try ice skating.” Shin suggested, looking at Rika for approval. Rika swallowed and nodded, trying to keep the small note of terror to a bare minimum. She loved ice skating, but she was also absolutely terrible at it. Most of the time she could keep her balance. With the way she acted around Shin, however, there was absolutely no telling what she would be like. “If, however, Rika does not approve, I thought we might go see a movie. I'm sure there is something out there that she would appreciate seeing.”
Shin had thought this out thoroughly, Rika could see. She sent him a smile, and he gave her one in return. Her mother, in turn, seemed satisfied with Shin’s answers. She gave an approving nod toward the young man and waved at him to stand from his chair. He did so, and she made a small bow. “Please have her home before ten, understand?” Kaitlyn’s voice was friendly, but threatening at the same time. It was clear her mother, though happy with the change of events, was still not thrilled at the fact there was an Ichijouji boy in her household.
Specifically one that wanted to date her only daughter.
“That was not so bad,” Shin commented when they finally left the house. The air outside was cold, and Rika pulled her jacket tighter around her. She nodded in agreement. Her mother had definitely let Shin off easy with the interrogation. Rika had been expecting a lot worse.
“She let you off easy,” Rika decided to voice aloud. “I thought she was going to bombarded you with the whole army or something.”
“Your mother does not trust my family,” Shin said suddenly.
The comment shocked Rika. With the exception of the other day, Shin hadn’t even had a contact with Kaitlyn. She frowned, and stared at him in confusion. He made no other comment, and opened the door to the passenger side of the car. She slid in, and shivered as the cool leather came through the denim of her jeans and chilled her skin. “No,” she agreed. “She doesn’t, although I’m not sure why. You can’t possibly be anything like Charles Manson.”
“Nothing quite that horrific,” Shin commented. “I guess the Ichijouji’s do have a few secrets in their past. Please, Rika, do not judge me by what my family does or has done. I am trying very hard to stay out of the picture. . But it seems that no matter where I go, my past catches up with me. Even in the United States.”
And for the first time since she had met Ichijouji Shin, Rika felt uncomfortable.
