- First Love -

It was nine o'clock. I got out of bed and walked to the bathroom to wash my face. I went downstairs expecting the infamous Sunday breakfast but all I found was Mr Kenji drinking coffee and the boys eating cereal. Amanda wasn't there.

"Good morning." I said and they all returned my greeting.

I sat at the table and had a bowl of cereal too. It was too silent, too depressing. Suddenly, Mr Kenji stood up from his chair.

"We will be leaving at eleven thirty, so be ready." He said "Sorry Sam, you have to spend the afternoon alone." he added giving me an apologetic look.

"Oh it's ok, I have a lot of things to do." I smiled.

"Ok, good." Then he left the room.

"Where is your mom?"

"I think she's still in bed." Jiro answered before he took his empty bowl to the sink. "I'm going to take a shower first." He announced not waiting for an answer from his brother. He ran upstairs.

"Is it a big deal that you guys are going to your grand father's house?" I asked Kei. I was curious as to what the problem was. I felt clueless.

"My mom never had a good relationship with my dad's family. They never accepted that he had married an American woman." My eyes widened at the revelation. 'So that's the cause of all the fights. But Kei's parents love each other so much that nothing would affect their marriage. right?'

Two lips brushed against my cheek and broke my reverie.

"My morning kiss." Kei said with a grin. I pushed to my feet and put my arms around his neck. He wasn't expecting that.

"Are you going to start stealing those kisses?" I purred seductively. Kei immediately claimed my lips in a passionate kiss.

"If I have to, Miss Martin, I will." He whispered. Lately we haven't been caring whether our relationship was found out by Kei's parents. Jiro had walked in on us a few times while we were kissing. But Mr Kenji and Amanda didn't know anything yet. I was thinking of discussing telling them with Kei, but I decided that it wasn't the right timing.

"How long is the meeting going to take?" I asked.

"I think we'll be back in the evening around seven or so. Why? Are you going to miss me?"

"No." I answered quickly.

"Oh really?" Kei's lips barely touched mine when someone cleared their throat. I nearly jumped. Thankfully, it was just Jiro.

"I'm done with the shower." He said bitterly and then walked back upstairs.

"I better go get ready, my father is always on edge when he's about to see Mr Ryota Ichihara." He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and left me in the dining room.

I cleared the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Then, I sat in front of the TV before Mr Kenji came down stairs. He was wearing a black kimono. Then I saw Amanda who was also wearing a kimono. Hers was cobalt blue with colorful sakura shapes on it and an orange obi-age. Her golden hair was flawlessly put into a low bun. She looked so classy.

"Come on boys, we are going to be late." Mr Kenji yelled as he put on his geta. I walked to the entrance when he was leaving. "See you later Sam." He said as he closed the door behind him.

"Bye."

"Sam honey, there are leftovers in the fridge. Or you can just order something there is money in the drawer by the phone, ok?"

"Ok, thank you. By the way you look stunning."

"Thank you dear." She sighed deeply. "Boys! You're dad is already in the car." Amanda called. "Ok, bye for now dear."

"Bye."

Jiro followed her a few seconds later running down the stairs while holding his gray kimono up

"See you later." He said quickly as he exited.

When I turned around, Kei was on the last step. He was wearing a beautiful black kimono. His hair was gelled back and he had his dark contacts on. He looked like a Japanese prince straight out of those mangas Yoko read. I think I fell for him all over again. He took a couple of steps towards me and slipped a hand around my waist.

"I think we should go on a date wearing kimonos since I can see the effect this has on you, babe." Kei's breath caressed my neck. I cleared my throat and pushed him a little bit away.

"I like that idea."

"I will see you when I get back." He kissed me on the cheek, took out his cane, and left.

The house was so empty and quiet. I went upstairs and started doing my homework. I didn't have a lot, so I finished it all in an hour and a half. After that, I did my laundry and cleaned my room. I went to the kitchen and heated up some leftover pasta and ate it. Then, I went upstairs and prepared a much needed bath. It was nice and relaxing. After I was done, I went downstairs to the living room. It was only three thirty.

"What am I supposed to do now?" I asked myself. It was quite boring and lonely. So, I picked up my phone and sent a text message to Yoko asking her to come over. She answered two minutes later telling me that she was on her way.

I prepared some cookies and made some hot chocolate while waiting for her, Yoko's favorite. It didn't take long before I heard the doorbell.

"Hi" Yoko's red face welcomed me when I opened the door.

"Hi, come in." We walked to the living room and we sat on the couch silently. "I'll be back, I made hot cocoa." I barely put the tray on the table when Yoko yelled.

"Sorry!" She startled me. "I should have told you about Jiro and me. I'm truly sorry." I watched her bowing with her eyes closed for a moment.

"Well, I'm all ears now." She opened her eyes surprised.

"You forgive me?"

"It's not a big deal. You weren't ready, that's all." I smiled at her. "Now, tell me all about it." I demanded as I gave her a mug of the hot liquid. She smiled at me but it didn't reach her eyes.

"It was when we got back from Kyoto, I wanted to give him his gift." she started as she took a sip of her drink. "I don't know what possessed me but after he took the bracelet, I found myself confessing."

"That's really brave of you, Yoko." I tried to encourage her. "What did he say?"

"He told me that he was in love with another girl." I gasped.

'What?'

"But I already knew that." I was too confused.

"You knew Jiro liked another girl?"

"Yes. I told him I didn't care. I told him that I would do my best to make our relationship work and I used the fact that the girl doesn't care for him to persuade him... Finally, he said yes." I stared at Yoko shocked by the new information I had just learned.

"And how is it going with him?" She gave me a weak smile.

"He is really nice to me. He takes me out on dates and buys me things, but I know his heart belongs to someone else, and it kills me to know that." Yoko's eyes watered. I could tell she fought the tears as hard as she could, but she couldn't stop them. She sobbed silently on the couch and I hurried to her side offering my shoulder.

"I'm sorry Yoko, I didn't know." She squeezed me and cried for a while longer.

After she calmed down, I told her to wash her face which she did and she came back to sit on the couch.

"You know what, I think it's too boring to stay at home." I blurted out as soon as Yoko sat down. She eyed me for a moment.

"What do you want to do?"

"One word; KA RA O KE." I articulated the word getting a smile from Yoko.

"I like that idea."

I changed quickly, and we walked to the karaoke place by the house. We booked the room for two hours and we sang to our hearts' content. The free soda helped us get super hyper and laugh so much. I had a horrible voice, so every song I tried was a struggle especially the Japanese ones. I didn't care though. I was just happy to see Yoko smiling and laughing. I couldn't imagine how I would feel if Kei loved another girl. I would die.

We left the Karaoke place around six fifty and we parted ways right away. I wanted to be home when Kei came back. He had said they would be home around seven, so I had some time. After hearing Yoko's story, I felt really blessed with my relationship with Kei so I wanted to prepare a little surprise for him. I stopped by the bakery and got a small fruit pie for him. When I arrived home, Mr Kenji's car wasn't there so I knew they weren't home yet.

I went in, a little disappointed, and put the pie in the fridge. I changed my clothes and came down to watch some TV. About an hour later, they were still not home yet. I started to get a little worried so I sent Kei a message asking him if they were on their way. But I didn't get an answer.

The beeping of my phone woke me up. I had fallen asleep on the couch while watching a variety show. I looked at my phone, it was already ten. I checked my messages and I had one unread text. It was from Kei.

'We are still at my grandpa's, you should go to bed.'

I felt a gloom take a hold of me. I replied to the message with a simple 'ok'. Then, I went straight to bed.

The next morning, I opened my eyes before my alarm went off. I was too excited to see Kei. I had missed him so much the day before. I went to the bathroom to wash my face then I brushed my teeth and my hair. I hurried downstairs and got the pie from the fridge, poured a glass of juice, and brought a tray upstairs to Kei's room. I knocked twice, but when he didn't answer, I opened the door and got in.

"Kei?" I called softly. He was still sleeping. I put the tray on his desk and walked to his bed. I kissed his cheek and whispered "Good morning." to his ear.

"Umm." He groaned.

"I missed you yesterday." I kissed him again. This time he opened his eyes.

"Sam? What are you doing here?"

"I came to say good morning. I brought a pie too." I said as I beamed at him but his reaction made me frown. He averted his eyes and sat up on his bed. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." His tone was monotonous.

"How was yesterday?"

"It was good." I knitted my eyebrows even more. What was wrong with him?

"Ok, well I'll let you get ready for school."

"Why?"

"I just don't feel like it." His words were clipped and dry.

"Kei, are you sure everything is fine?" I asked him one more time hoping that he would open up and tell me what was wrong.

"Yes, everything is fine. Now, I'm going back to sleep." He turned to his side and covered his body with the sheets as I was still standing there.

'What the hell happened.'

I changed my clothes quickly, I wanted to catch Jiro before he went to practice. But he had already left. It was the first time in a long time that I went to school alone.

I couldn't focus in class all day. I told Yoko about what had happened and she just told me to give him some space.

"Maybe it didn't go too well at his grandfather's house." She said.

I had a bad feeling about the whole situation, but I decided to go with Yoko's theory. It was more calming to my heart.

After school, I hurried home. I wanted to see Kei as soon as I could. I wanted to ask him what had happened and console him if he needed to be. I wanted to take him in my arms and tell him how much I loved him and that whatever happened I would always be there for him.

I walked in the house and found Kei in the kitchen. He was eating an apple.

"Hi" I greeted cautiously.

"Hi." He looked at me briefly.

"How are you feeling?"

"Why do you keep on asking these questions? I told you this morning that everything is fine." His brute answer shocked me. I felt a stinging in the back of my eyes but I fought it.

"I'm sorry for being concerned for my boyfriend." I said sarcastically.

"Well you don't have to be. I'm going out." He said as he passed me without even sparing me a look.

"Where are you going, Kei,"

"Somewhere."

"Can we talk before you leave?" I asked desperately fighting my tears.

"Let's do that after I come back." He still didn't look back. I heard the front door slam as he left. My tears streaming down my cheeks. I couldn't understand what was happening.

We never had the talk, Kei and I. He never came back that night and for the following week, he avoided me like the plague.

I was beginning to forget about Yoko's theory as to why Kei was so distant. I wasn't sure it was related to the visit to his grandfather's anymore. I was starting to develop my own theory. It was a much darker and heart breaking one. My theory was that Kei was breaking up with me and only the thought of it made my body shiver in pain.

"What am I going to do?"