• CHAPTER 181 - PICTURE PERFECT

    There's never been a more beautiful picture known to man...

    I wanted to cry at what I was seeing. As I sat on my bed with my legs crossed and my shoes still on, my heart was still fluttering. In my hands was my ultrasound picture; my second ultrasound and my first picture. I was finally able to see a picture of my developing babies and I couldn't have been any happier at that moment. They were difficult to see but I could see both of them; one was up front and the other was hiding behind its twin. Almost ten weeks old.

    "Thanks, guys," I smiled halfheartedly and looked up at Kira and Takeuchi, both sitting at the edge of my bed. "Thanks for taking me."

    "No problem," Kira returned the light smile.

    "Are you ready to come back to Matsuda and Orihime's yet?" Takeuchi asked cautiously, handing Toshihiro over to me.

    My heart sunk and I held onto Toshihiro, sitting him on my lap. I shook my head, "No, I don't think I'll ever be ready,"

    "Arisa, how many times must we advise you?" Kira sighed. "You can't be near my brother."

    "I'm aware of that," I wanted to hiss but opted not to. "I just need time to say goodbye."

    There was a long silence as I played with Toshihiro. Kira and Takeuchi watched but never said or did anything; I had never seen Takeuchi so calm except for when he was in the hospital. I had never seen him so upset in a long time either. It had been nine days since I ran away from Matsuda and Orihime's and Kai still hadn't come back home. I missed him; I hadn't had any contact with him at all. I might as well have gone to Europe.

    "When are you planning on coming back?" Takeuchi asked.

    I bit my lip and looked down, closing my eyes and feeling my stomach tie into knots, "Give me one more day," I looked up at them. "Give me one more day and if he doesn't show up tomorrow, you can come and get me..." I wanted to cry.

    "We all know it's hard, Arisa," Kira said. "But it's what's best for you; Matsuda and Orihime require you to leave until we can find a way out of all of this. It's bad enough that you're in the contract situation but now your babies are."

    I nodded and handed Toshihiro over to Takeuchi, taking a moment to imagine him as one of my babies. Kira stood up and then seated himself in front of me and pressed his forehead against mine, holding one of his hands against the back of my head. I breathed in deeply and let out half a sob; my whole world was falling apart.

    "Trust me, we don't want any of this to happen. It happened so quickly." Kira sighed. He kissed my forehead and then embraced me and I buried my face in his solid neck. "We're trying all we can, Arisa."

    "This sucks," I cried. "I hate myself."

    "Don't," Kira cooed and pet my hair. "You couldn't control any of this; you were an innocent girl forced into this life."

    "I thought my life couldn't be any more abnormal until I was dragged into the world of monsters," I continued to cry. "All I've wanted was just to live a normal life."

    "We'll attempt our hardest to accomplish that," Kira kissed the side of my head. He pulled me back and pushed some of my hair back. "We'll be here at noon tomorrow to bring you back, okay?"

    I squeezed my eyes shut and hesitantly nodded my head, "Okay," I looked up at Kira. "Please don't tell Kai yet about the twins."

    Kira furrowed his eyebrows together, "When will he find out?"

    I looked down and shrugged, "I don't know. But he'll find out sometime. Just not now."

    "Okay," Kira nodded. Him and Takeuchi stood up from the bed and Takeuchi came over to hug me and allowed me to embrace Toshihiro too.

    "We all love you, Arisa," Takeuchi smiled. "We're going to make this better for you."

    "I trust you guys," I smiled weakly. "Thanks."

    We all bid another farewell and they left the house, leaving me to myself with Momo once more. I hadn't heard a single thing from Kai since he left and neither did anybody else. I clenched the ultrasound picture in my hands and laid myself down on the bed and closed my eyes. I kept imagining what the babies would look like--referencing from my dream.

    I climbed off of the bed and set the picture on top of the dresser. I felt like a ghost; I had no expression and I merely lounged around the house. I was worried sick about everything; I didn't want to think anymore. My whole world was crashing down and I didn't think there was any way to put the pieces back together.

    I managed to make myself take a hot shower and get dressed out of my pajamas. To wate time, I blow-dried my hair for the first time in a very long time. I was so fatigued already; I wanted to collapse and sleep.

    As soon as I took a step out of the bathroom, the last man I ever expected to see was standing right in front of me. I had to blink several times before I could process it halfway; Kai. I could have sworn I was hallucinating; Kira and Takeuchi and I were just talking about how we would give Kai one more day to come back. We didn't think he would but there he was, looking as godly as ever.

    "What...?" I squeaked, appalled at what I was seeing. It was Kai, in the flesh.

    Kai smiled very weakly at me with his still-red eyes, "I'm back,"

    Without another word, I sprinted to Kai and collided into his torso. I gripped onto his dirty shirt roughly and buried my face in his torso. I didn't let out a sob or a tear; I was still trying to absorb the fact that he was back. Nine days; it had been nine dragging days since I last had any contact with Kai. All he left me with was a kiss and a gun and he had taken off. Now he was suddenly standing in our bedroom with a few blood stains on his shirt.

    "You idiot," I hissed into his chest. "You fool; you had me worried sick."

    "I know," he held one hand against my head and kissed the top of my head. "I had to adjust some things."

    "I'm not going to ask," I knew it most likely had something to do with Hisao and the contract. I cupped his face and kissed him. "I'm just so happy you're back. But..."

    Kai stared at me, "But what?"

    I bit my lip and looked down, "Takeuchi and Kira and I agreed that I was going to go back to Matsuda and Orihime's tomorrow...and go to Europe..."

    Kai paused for a moment and then breathed out what seemed like a sigh of relief, "Okay," he embraced me. "I'm happy you finally agreed."

    "I was prepared to leave," I gripped onto Kai's shirt again. "I thought you would never come back; I was ready to leave Japan. But now here you are..." I started choking up.

    "We're still granted one last day together," Kai cupped my face again and forced me to look him in the eye. "We have time to say goodbye now."

    "God, it's so hard," the tears finally started to leak out. "It's so hard to say goodbye again. That's all I've ever had to do in my life was say goodbye to those I love most."

    "I'm trying to find a way out of this," Kai whispered and closed his eyes, pressing his forehead against mine. "I'm trying so hard; they refuse to give in."

    "Then let's use this night to our advantage," I whispered as Kai started to kiss my neck and started going down to my stomach. "Let's...say goodbye..."

    "I don't know anything about Europe," I was getting closer and closer to breaking down. "I don't know the language...I don't know anybody there...I don't like change, Kai." I squeezed my eyes shut as Kai pulled down my shorts.

    Kai started to kiss me from my stomach all the way up to my throat. He slid my shirt off of me and I unbuttoned his dirty shirt and slid it off of him. There were only a couple of dried blood specks on his chest that he had forgotten to clean off but it no longer bothered me. I wanted to get sick; my stomach was killing me and my aching heart wasn't helping the feeling any. I was too afraid to let go of Kai now; I would have been a little more okay if he would have stayed away for another day. It was nothing short of coincidence that Kai appeared just after Takeuchi and Kira left.

    Kai wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me up only to lie me down on the bed. He started kissing me all over but my nausea wasn't calming down very much. Kai hovered above me on his hands and knees and stared at me with excruciating pain in his eyes, "I don't like hange either, Arisa," his face fell to depression. "I never wanted you to go through this..."

    "It's not like we can help it anymore," I cried. "I love you, Kai."

    "I love you too, Arisa," he leaned over and kissed my forehead. "I want to marry you, Arisa...I want to marry you..."

    I had been dying to hear him say that for what felt like the longest time. But, alas, it was too late. I would be across the world from Kai in another twenty-four hours. My life with him was over. He was going to miss being a father, and we were both going to miss being newlyweds. The world was out to ruin our lives.