The sound of the Rain

4. Familiar

“So, are you going to finally finish college and join me in the family business or is experimenting with girls the only thing that you are interested in?” Ejiri Hideki stood in front of his younger brother, blocking his path to the stairs. Hiroki hated to argue with him, brother. Hideki is the only person who could always drive him mad. Whenever he saw his face, he felt like punching him. Hiroki forgot when exactly he became like this. Since childhood he never had a good relationship with him, but at least there wasn’t any madness or hate but in the last few years everything felt different.

“Shouldn’t you be preparing for your work in the company?” Hiroki tried to shake him off and get past him. Hideki refused to move, still blocking the path for Hiroki although he pushed him hard to make a way.

“Whether you like it or not, you should know where your place is.” The tone of Hideki’s voice changed. He didn’t like to push his brother but since their father died Hiroki changed. He closed himself into his own world, messing up with girls around and always acting like nothing mattered. Hiroki kept slowly killing himself, destroying his reputation and everything their father tried to build. Hideki graduated two years ago and even before their mother took him to board meetings so he would get used to the company. Once he graduated, their mother directly transferred the company to him and he became the youngest CEO, yet Hideki knew very well that his brother would be more suitable for this position, except for his disinterest right now.

“You can keep it. I am not interested in the company.” Hiroki uttered back with distaste. Five years ago, their father died, leaving everything to them. Hiroki was just eighteen. He wanted to live his life. Marry the woman he would choose by himself, but this was not the option anymore. Not after mother told him directly that he should stop thinking about such childish things and start taking care of the family business. He had his older brother, who was more than capable of taking care of both companies. Why did he had to sacrifice his life as well? Although Hiroki had no real reason to hate his brother, after their father’s death, he grew all those feelings, resenting his brother for not helping him. One time when Hiroki tried to leave, mother froze the finances and restrained him at home. Next three months he spent with the private tutor at home, taking exams online.

“Mark my word, little brother. You can’t run away from your responsibilities. Mother will never let you.” Hideki hated being tough with his brother. This is not the conversation he prepared the entire morning in his mind. This was not what he originally planned to tell him, but whenever these two met, he just became like this. The words he never intended to say always came out with the worst tone he could put on.

Hiroki clicked his tongue before showing his brother's hand away one more time. This time Hideki didn’t resist, and Hiroki had a free path. He skipped breakfast and directly left the house. Yesterday was the entrance ceremony which he couldn't attend. His mother, as always, arranged for all the documentation to be delivered to their home, but since classes started, he had an excuse to get out of the house. Hiroki hated this house. He hated everything this family represented, although deep inside, he thought that one day everything would be different. He just wanted a normal family.

Once he got to the school grounds, Nagai Yuriko already waited for him. Yuriko is one year younger than Hiroki but because his mother already let him skip two classes in the high school thanks to the private tutoring at home, he was two years above Yuriko in college. He never cared about the difference, since he never really cared about her. She was someone willing to spend time with him as he wanted, and Yuriko was quite easy going. Whatever he asked her to do, she always obliged. He bet his mother would approve of someone like that to be by his side, but she was exactly the type of people he disliked the most. Just someone to kill time with and get some sort of entertainment, but someone with whom he would want to spend the rest of his life.

“Hiroki.” she called to him as she ran towards him. He took off after parking in his private parking place right in front of the college.

“Good morning.” Hiroki replied to her. He could already see other girls standing right behind her. She was welcoming him. Her private servants always followed her like a dog’s tail, except she had around six of those tails. At least those other girls always stood further behind when she approached him, so he didn’t have to deal with them. Maybe this was the reason he tolerated her for so long.

“Are you free today after school? I’d like to go on a date.” She asked him directly, with no reservations. Hiroki dated her for the past four years just because, shortly after they started, she willingly offered herself to him. By offering her body, she saved him the problems of searching for someone else with whom he could mess. Not like he reserved himself only for her, but same as he was tolerating her beside him, she tolerated his pleasure time with other girls as well, which made him hate her even more. The best bride candidate in the eyes of his mother. He was almost sure she would approve of her if he would come and ask about the marriage.

“Mhmm. Sure.” Hiroki had no energy to argue with her today, especially after the morning’s discussion with his brother. For today, he just hoped for a regular day at school and maybe some entertainment. As he walked to the school, with Yuriko hooked around his arm, a nostalgic smell hit his nose. Hiroki reflexively looked around for the source of the scent. Sweet cherry scent. His eyes landed on a girl. She had to be a freshman. She just stood there, a few meters in front of him, looking so nervous and probably waiting for someone. He froze for a second, looking straight at her face. She seemed too familiar, yet he couldn’t recognize that face. He was sure he never saw her before but still felt like they knew each other for years. Just when he was about to call for her, Yuriko’s face appeared in front of him.

“Is everything alright?” She asked him. It took him a few seconds to get back to his reality.

“I am fine. I just remembered something.” He waved her off. When he tried to get a glimpse of the girl again, he only saw her disappearing back as she walked side by side with another girl. Her shoulders shook, which made Hiroki guess she had to be laughing as they were walking.

Hiroki left Yuriko in the hall, explaining that he had to go for the class. He tried to catch the girl who just caught his attention. He didn’t know himself why or why she seemed so familiar, but he wanted to find out. To his dismay, the girl was nowhere to be found. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find her. The college had several departments and looking for one specific person without knowing the name, department was the same as searching for the needle in a haystack. For the rest of the day, he couldn’t get her out of his mind, but once his forenoon classes finished and the lunch break finally came, Yuriko almost instantly got to him. Sometimes he questioned himself whether Yuriko put a tracking device on him. She always knew perfectly where to find him.

“Are you still on for our date after school?” She asked him with a smile. He could hear the anger in her voice even though she tried to hide it behind her smile and good voice control, but Hiroki knew her too well. He saw almost all her faces and masks she could put on.

“Sure.” He replied to her without looking at her, just continuing eating his lunch. Hiroki felt still too comfortable in this kind of relationship, knowing that no matter what, she would always let him do what he wanted, but he also knew that making her angry was the road he didn’t want to take. It would take too much energy to fight with her, plus if he would finish things with her, he would have to go through the search for a new girlfriend and he felt discomfort just thinking about that. Hiroki never lacked the attention from the girls. He was tall, muscular, with a handsome face. He could have any girl his eyes landed on without even trying to be nice, but getting one which would be obedient and tolerant towards his one-night stand was another story.

“Good.” she replied to him, digging into her food too. They sat together at one table, but Yuriko’s friends were only waiting for her signal. Once she spoke to Hiroki, she signalled them to join them for lunch. Yuriko sort of trained them if Hiroki could say that like this. The lunch was the only time when they got close to him but although he had seven girls sitting with him around the table, it was quiet. If they talked, it was only about school. Hiroki still remembered times at the beginning, when her friends joined her for the first time. They didn’t stop muttering about boys and a lot of other girlish things. In the end he couldn’t bear it anymore, said something rude to Yuriko and left them alone. Since then, she probably had to tell them something because it never happened again.

“I’ll see you after school.” Yuriko finished her lunch and left together with her group. Hiroki realized he had around two hours left since Yuriko’s classes finished, so he ditched the classes and went to the bar. It wasn’t far from the school, especially since he had a car. The only thing bothering him was the inability to get a proper drink, since he still had to drive back to school to pick up Yuriko.

“A bit early for a drink, don’t you think?” Ryo greeted him as he opened the door of the bar and entered.

“Shut up.” Hiroki replied to him. The bar owner was two years older than Hiroki, but they became friends quickly. During the last year in high school, Hiroki’s father died. Hiroki, who skipped two classes, was in the same class as Ryo. That’s when they became friends. That year was too harsh on him, and he struggled a lot, spending most of his time on the roof of the school, skipping classes. It was Ryo who helped him continue. After they graduated, Ryo opened the bar and Hiroki kept coming every day, just to talk.

“Tea?” Ryo asked him. Hiroki dropped the key car, which meant he drove here. Ryo never let him drink while driving, since he never approved of him drinking at all.

“I met someone today.” Hiroki said, without answering his previous question. Ryo didn’t wait for the answer, anyway. He already started preparing the tea for him.

“Huh? Who?” He asked curiously. Hiroki seemed more distracted than usual, which caught Ryo's attention. Long time he didn’t see him in such a low spirit as today.

“I don’t know. I feel like I know her, but I have never seen her face before. She smelled like cherry blossoms. It felt so… familiar.” He was searching for the correct words. The way this girl caught his attention was something new for him and not only for Hiroki. Since high school Ryo never saw Hiroki so interested in anything or anyone.

“Maybe someone you slept with before and you forgot?” He tried to direct his thoughts to anything else, or maybe distract him enough to stop thinking about her. Ryo finished the tea and served it right under Hiroki’s nose. The strong scent hit his nose and got his attention.

“Smells nice.” Hiroki added as he deeply inhaled the scent of the tea in front of him.

“Who do you think I am?” Ryo asked him, almost like saying that the tea smiles nice was an insult.