Chapter Twenty-Three: Another Typical Day in Tokyo

           

            *“I don’t believe it!” One voice rang out.

“ There’s no way!” Another joined in the disbelief.

            “Is it really her?” Came yet another voice.

            “When? How?” And still another person entered the conversation.

            “Serena!” All four voices cried in unison. They rushed forward and in a mad dash practically ran over their original target. Hiiro managed to avoid the stampede, but Serena wasn’t so lucky. He watched in awe as the four extremely energetic young girls tackled Serena and took her down into the snow, laughing hugging, and crying the whole way.

            “I don’t believe it! Ami! Lita, Mina Rei!” He heard Serena’s muffled yell from under the pile the women had made on the street sidewalk. Finally they stood and tried to dust themselves off. Hiiro took the time to examine the four new comers.

            The first was short, though now where near as short as Serena herself. Blue hair and lighter blue eyes set on a paler frame. The woman appeared to be carrying a pile of books that had been left in the snow when she had seen Serena.

            The woman next to her resembled Serena in more than one way. Same long, blondish hair, though paler and slightly shorter than Serena’s golden hued locks. Her eyes were blue as well, though they were more of a sky blue than Serena’s oceanic ones. She too was short but her long legs gave the appearance of greater height. Bright orange colors even in the dark snowy day made her stand out in the crowd.

            The two women helping Serena up off the sidewalk were just as pretty. The first with raven hair to her waist and violet eyes held a spark of self assurance and pride within her posture. Her robes told him she was the priestess who Andrew had mentioned earlier. The other woman had long brown hair swept off her face into a ponytail and sparkling green eyes that reminded him of Trowa’s.  But this girl was anything but stoic. She was laughing and energetic, just like the rest of them.

            “It’s so good to see you all again! It’s been too long!” Serena was telling them, lifelessly happy to see her friends again.

            “I know! Sere, where’ve you been these last few years?” The one with brunette questioned.

            “Yeah, it’s so strange seeing you, almost unreal after so long.” The blue haired one mentioned.

            “Where have you been Serena?” The raven haired one asked.

            “Slow down!” Serena was shaking her head in disbelief. These were her friends Her best friends, the ones she had grown up her entire childhood with. She loved these girls dearly, and after so long she was finally seeing them again. It made her want to cry.

            “Serena?” Hiiro asked her, slightly concerned. He knew she was just happy to see her friends, but he wanted her to know he was still there with her and wasn’t about to abandon her.

            “I’m fine Hiiro. Just, stars, it’s good to see you four!” She cried, bursting into new tears and jumping to hug each of the girls again. After the second group hugs dissipated, Serena stepped back away from her friends. Hiiro simply stood near her, arms crossed in a cold uncaring fashion.

            “Sere? Who’s he?” The blonde asked. “ There is some electricity here…” She implied, making all of the girls to break into giggles, excluding Serena, who blushed a deep shade of red. Hiiro just stood impassively. Women. Sometimes Wufei was so close to the truth it frightened him.

            “This is Hiiro Yui.” She introduced him. He noticed she didn’t tell them they were married and wondered why not if she had told Andrew they were. “Hiiro, this is Ami,” she pointed to the blue haired girl, “Lita,” the brunette stepped forward, “Mina,” The blonde giggled and winked at him, signifying she was the afore mentioned girl, and “Rei.” The dark haired woman smiled briefly in acknowledgement.

            “Hnn.” Hiiro grunted in a low, dark voice; avoiding direct eye contact as he spoke. Serena watched as all her friends backed up slightly and tensed. Trying to think of a way to defuse the situation, she walked up to Hiiro and patted him on the arm.

            Hiiro slightly relaxed from his defensive position to a slightly more inviting stance when Serena’s hand touched his arm. A weakness, he realized, that might have gotten him killed had he been on the job. His mind began to wrestle with the thought of having such a weakness and whether or not being around Serena was such a good idea for yet another time. Could he, as the ‘Perfect Soldier, afford to have a girlfriend? Girlfriend? Was Serena his girlfriend? Well, even so, did would she affect his work? Would she… he stopped. Instead of contemplating the matter in greater depth now, he dropped it into oblivion. Deciding was too much for now. He knew she was the only one that could relax him; the only one able to sooth away his fears of his past deeds and future sins. She was the one that made him blush, laugh, and cry. She gave him strength where otherwise he would have none, and she made him walk on air while others had to take the rocky road. He was addicted to her. What else would his emotions allow?

            “Girls, don’t be nervous. Hiiro’s always like this, you’ve just got to roll with the flow around him.” Serena told them, blowing it off as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

            “Roll with the flow? Sere, honey, what language are you speaking?” Lita asked her, smile reappearing as she took her mind off her old friend’s new companion and teased her over her new ‘dialect’ instead.

            “Language?” Serena asked confused.

            “I believe what Lita was asking is what does the expression ‘roll with the flow’ mean?” Ami explained. Already Hiiro was categorizing these girls, putting them into little boxes that fit their personalities, styles, and general attitudes. Ami was the local brain.

            “Oh. What I meant was, Hiiro always acts like this, you just have to get used to it and ignore it.” Serena replied, letting a small smile slip.

            “Always? You mean he’s always rigid?” Mina asked giggling.

            “Well, only when he’s with other people.” Serena answered, not really taking time to consider the fact that her answer wouldn’t make any sense to her friends.

            “With other people? Sere, you’re other people. How do you know whether or not he’s this tense alone or not?” Mina asked, slightly confused but with goofy grin on her face. At the mention of Hiiro being ‘alone’, he inwardly balked and outwardly glared.  Serena just blushed.

            “That’s not what I meant… nevermind, forget I said anything. I can’t believe I’m standing and talking to you all again! It feels so good!”  Serena went on.

            “Yeah. So tell us Sere, where did you disappear to? We know you ran away with Darien. So where’s that creep, and please tell us you’re not still dating him.” Rei pressed her for information. At the mention of Darien’s name, both Serena and Hiiro got a little more tense and Serena lowered her eyes to the ground.

            “We got as far as San Francisco and after about a month we broke up. I don’t know where he is right now; my best guess would be the hospital after his little run in with Hiiro here. After that, I haven’t the faintest idea of where he could be, nor do I care.”

            “Oh Sere.” Mina sympathized with her friend.

            “Don’t go pitying me now! I knew what I was doing when I did it and I’m glad I did it. If I hadn’t I never would have had Ben or met Hiiro, and if I hadn’t ever met Hiiro, I wouldn’t be here now.” Serena scolded them for giving her pity. Hiiro smirked.

            “Sere, who’s Ben?” Rei asked. Serena looked at Hiiro. What was she supposed to say? Would they accept it?

            Hiiro gave her glance right back at her. She needed to tell her friends. She needed to tell someone. Getting it out into the open would be the best thing; she just needed the push.

            “Serry.” He spoke softly in her ear. “Tell them. Trust someone. If not me, then them. Trust them.” As he spoke, he became slightly jealous of the closeness the five woman shared, and wished he could have the same closeness with Serena. He wished he could feel the same closeness to his friends. Hell, he wished that just for once he could open up and feel close to anyone. He watched as she took a deep breath and turned to her friends.

            “Ben. Ben is my son. Darien’s and mine.” Silence. Hiiro knew what was coming and resisted the urge to plug his ears.

            “What?” Rei screamed.

            “When?” Lita cried out.

            “Why?” Ami asked loudly.

            “How?”

            “Mina!” They all yelled at her for her last comment, including Serena.

            “Sorry, it just seemed like one of those moment things.” Mina blushed sheepishly. Hiiro placed Mina in her box. The ditz of the group.

            “But Serena, honestly. What happened between you and Darien?” Rei asked.

            “It’s a long story. The main points are Darien promised to marry me, I slept with him once, told him I was pregnant, he threw me out, I found my own apartment, had my son, Ben, and have been living that way ever since.”

            “We should finish this reunion inside.” Hiiro finally spoke aloud to all the group. He had noted Serena was shivering, not to mention it had begun snowing much harder and decided he would do something about it.

            “Good idea Hiiro.”

            “Serena, where are you, Ben, and Hiiro staying? If you need a place, the temple’s always open…” Rei offered. Hiiro placed Rei in her box. She was Serena’s closest friend out of the whole group, though she obviously had a slight temper.

            “We’re staying with a bunch of mutual friends in a house around here.” She told them, slightly questioning Hiiro whether or not it would be alright to have them over.

            “They can come Serry.” He told her smirking. He found it amusing she thought she needed his permission to have friends over. Instead of an answer, she simply beamed at him and turned back to her friends.

            “Why don’t you all come over now? How many people do you think are home Hiiro?” She invited her friends and asked at the same time.

            “Hnn.” He told her. She shook her head and half smiled at his antics.

            “Thank you so much for your assistance Hiiro.” She thanked him, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

            “Well then, sure, we’d love to come! And I made cookies earlier too; we can eat them when we get there. Boy Hiiro. With a stomach like Serena’s you must have to buy a lot of food just so you can eat too. What a brave soul.” Lita laughed along with the rest of the girls. Hiiro placed her as the most down-to-earth of all the girls. Aside from Serena that was.

            “I used to eat three times what I do now.” Serena explained to Hiiro. He turned to the girls.

            “Serena doesn’t eat much. That’s Duo’s job.” He smirked and Serena broke into a fit of laughter. They received blank stares from the girls.

            “It’s a long story. Come on over and I’ll explain.” Serena told them as she took the hand Hiiro had offered her and began walking down the street towards Quatre’s house.

>>>)(<<<

            “Serena, when you said you were staying in a house with a bunch of other people, we assumed you meant a house. This place is huge!” Mina exclaimed as they all sat in front of the fire Duo and Trowa had built.

 Everyone was in the room. Duo and Hilde on the floor near the fire. Quatre and Dorothy shared half of a couch, Trowa and Catherine the other. Wufei and Sally were seated in a giant armchair, and the four newest additions to the group sat themselves around the floor in a circle. Serena and Hiiro were seated near the fire with a blanket wrapped around them. All were sipping mugs of hot chocolate and the Christmas cookies that Lita had baked earlier that day were being passed out amongst the group.

            “Sorry Mina, I didn’t think there was a difference.” Serena smirked.

            “So tell us how you all came to meet.” Ami began the conversation. Though they had all been introduced to each other, they were all still a little shy and unsure of themselves.

            “Well, it’s actually very interesting. You see, Serena and I knew each to her, and I was dating Duo, but they had never met, and then these creeps decided to take over the school where Ben attended class, so…”Hilde eagerly joined in, soon enthralling all in her retelling of how their paths had all crossed. As Hilde spoke, Serena thought back over the day.

            So many high and low points had come out of this one day. First waking up Quatre had been huge fun, even if the point had been to wake up Hiiro. Then seeing Andrew again had brought back so many memories. It had been even better when she had eaten breakfast with Hiiro alone. It was funny, but while they had eaten, Andrew hadn’t disturbed them at all. She and Hiiro had just talked. Serena had found out about Hiiro’s likes, dislikes, and more than she had ever imagined she would learn about one person in so short a time. After that, their walk in the snow… the kiss… and then of course her friends.

Seeing her friends again had brought her to such tears that she had had a hard time restraining herself. And now here they were, in the most comfortable position she had ever been within in a very long time. Ben was upstairs deep asleep, she had all her closest friends near her, hot chocolate, it was snowing during Christmas time, along with the fire and Hiiro… it all made for the perfect conditions.

“Serena? Serena?” Lita was calling her name.

“Hmm? I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what you said.” She blushed as she was caught not listening.

“I asked you what your relationship with Hiiro was at this point.” Lita told her. Serena looked around the room. Every single person had their eyes glued on her. Her light blush became a deep rouge and she lowered her eyes, trying to avoid eye contact. Then she looked up at Hiiro.

            “What are we Hiiro?” She asked him quietly so no one else could hear.

            “Hnn.” He grunted. She frowned slightly. She knew what he was doing, of course. He was making her decide so she wouldn’t feel like he was pushing her into anything. Her mind told her one thing, but her heart another. Then, without thinking through her answer, her heart took over and blurted out the answer.

            “Undefined.” Hiiro kept an unemotional mask over his face, but inwardly he understood. While their friendship was moving so fast he could hardly keep up, the trust needed to build a steady relationship was still slightly missing on both sides. Even with their high paced lifestyle, they still were moving at a snail’s pace … it was almost ironic.

            He wanted Serena, he knew. His problem was that he was worried about the effect on his work, and his own heart being broken of course. Though it sounded strange, almost corny, he couldn’t help but feel slightly pleased with himself. Slowly, ever since he had first seen her on the stage of the strip club he had been trying to catch her eye, searching for the answer that would bring her to him. Even though at times his mind had rejected his heart’s wants, both emotional and physical, he had always striven for Serena’s affection, and it looked like the wear he as putting into her was finally beginning to show. She was coming to him, and with a little more patience he would soon have her trust. The question was, would she have his by that time.?

            “Undefined?” Cried all the girls and Duo. “What is that supposed to mean?” Went up the collective question.

            “It means…Hmm, you know, I’m not sure?” Serena teased them all, though it wasn’t all that much of a joke to her.

            “Serena, don’t be so evil! Tell us!” Ami chided.

            “It means what it means. Accept it.” Hiiro finally spoke for the both of them.

            “Right. Just accept it.” She joined in.

            “Ha! Then you haven’t actually dated yet!” Duo cried out.

            “Hnn. Hence the reason we wanted Trowa to watch Ben and we went out to breakfast alone.” Serena told him pointedly, grunting in much the same manner Hiiro might. She caught him smirk at her when she did so.

            “Did we interrupt your undefined ‘date’ Serena?” Rei asked suddenly concerned but at the same time joking.

            “No.” Hiiro said darkly. He was still a little frustrated that he hadn’t been able to take her one kiss to a deeper level.

            “Sorry gun boy.” Rei disputed him. She could tell he was mad at them for interrupting the kiss. So he really wanted whatever their relationship would turn out as.

            “Hnn.” Hiiro answered her.

            “Hiiro! Please don’t start using the grunt language!” Serena pleaded, grinning the whole time at her old best friend and her new boyfriend’s argument.

            “Hnn.” Hiiro turned his head towards her and grunted at her. Then he smirked.

            “Hiiro Yui! You are the most evil person I know!” Serena exclaimed, trying to wiggle away from him. It was a pointless move, for it only provoked him to make a countermove of his own. He reached over and yanked her into his lap. Everyone else in the room broke into secretive smiles. It was as if they knew something the couple didn’t.

            “Hey Sere, we really should be going, but I was wondering, now that you’re back in town, will you and all your friends come to my Christmas party?” Rei asked.

            “Christmas night, right?” Serena asked.

            “That’s right!” Mina cried in anticipation. “There’s going to be mistletoe and food and eggnog and caroling and…”

            “Mina!” Lita clapped her hand over Mina’s mouth.

            “You got it right Sere.” Rei told her, more calmly than Mina had. Serena looked at her friends as they moved to the door and dressed in their giant warm coats.

            “We’d love to come Ms. Rei.” Quatre replied politely for them all.

            “Yeah, of course I’ll come Rei! See you there!”

            “Bye Serena!” A chorus of voices echoed back as the girls strode down the street and out of sight. As they left, Serena backed away form the door and slipped away from the group of anticipating people. She quietly entered her room and lay down.

            “Taking a nap?” Hiiro asked her. How did he find her? She had to giggle.

            “Just thinking.” She told him.

            “May I think with you?” He asked.

            “Of course.” She lay back down on the bed, and Hiiro lay beside her. Soon her heavy eyelids drooped and she dripped off to beyond the oblivion. Hiiro wrapped his arms around her and soon he himself dozed in a dreamless abyss of complete fullness. They had a long day tomorrow. Christmases were always that way. But for now they were safe and quiet, tucked away within the far reaches of their finally complete imaginations.*