Saiyuu no Ryokou: The Continuing Adventures of Yuriko

The Story So Far: So far, Yuriko has had a busy morning - she and Midori have watched the dawn, shared secrets and made love. Now she's fitting in some breakfast before she takes her leave of Midori's family.

 

Volume 2, Issue 20

"Fond Farewells"

 

"Where's Ritsuko-chan? We want to say goodbye."

"Um, still asleep - I heard her come to bed about 4AM, so..."

"Well, let her know that..."

The conversation passed on down the hall and out of Yuriko's hearing. The sounds of family life had filled the house once more and she longed for the soft silence of her apartment. Family was all well and good, but this was a lot of family for the kind of loner she was. Yuriko stuck her hands in her pockets and wandered aimlessly towards the garden. She wondered idly what kind of a person she might have been if she had come from a large and energetic family. It wasn't that her family was small, really, it was just small in a mean kind of way.

She leaned on a post and contemplated the garden. Everything about it had been carefully arranged to seem random and natural. She contemplated the idea of cultivating a sense of being carefree, letting her mind slip away into the contradictions it presented.

When Sakura and Misono found her, Yuriko was lost in a sea of unstructured thought, enjoying the winding paths of images and feelings the garden evoked. She looked up with a benign smile as the girls approached.

"We just wanted to say good-bye," Sakura said. "Since Auntie Midori says you'll be leaving too."

"And I'm leaving now," Misono sounded a little disappointed. "I wish I could stay longer - you know, to get to know you better..."

Yuriko nodded. "But isn't there a saying about leaving before you get tired of someone? Think of it as motivation for us all to get together again."

Both girls smiled brightly at this. "Really?" Sakura asked quickly. "You're okay with that?"

"Of course!" Yuriko reassured them, "why wouldn't I be? I can think of at least three reasons to see you again. One, you're Midori's nieces, so I can hardly avoid you gracefully," she laughed as their faces took on the same expression of exasperation, "two, you're fans and I have a responsibility to be visible to my fans and," she paused for dramatic effect, "you're both really interesting young women."

Misono grinned, "If you don't mind, I'll pretend that the third reason is the only reason." She turned to Sakura with a giggle. "Won't my friends at school just be eating their hearts out when I tell them...?" The two girls shared a moment, and Yuriko watched them with amusement. She patted her pockets down, then asked the two girls to wait for a moment, turned and loped off to her bedroom, where she found Midori packing.

"I just need to get, right, hang on," Yuriko dug into her overnight bag pockets, feeling around for a moment. "Ahah! Here it is." She clutched the small folder and ran off without a word to Midori. She found the girls exactly as she had left them, sharing stories about classmate envy.

"Here," Yuriko handed them each a piece of paper. "It's a backstage pass to the concert. It's not official, yet, because the tickets haven't been printed, but it's the personal ones the studio gives me and the other performers." She grinned at the stunned girls. "That ought to make you both universally loathed and despised at school."

Sakura gaped at the paper, then back at Yuriko, then moaned piteously. "We can't show these to anyone," she whined. "We'll get beaten up for bragging."

"I'm betting that you can take care of yourself," Yuriko beamed at them.

Misono grimaced. "Thanks," she said acerbically, then her façade fell and she smiled genuinely. "Really, thank you." Her bow was deep, and Sakura mimicked it a second later.

Yuriko waved away their gratitude. "And look, if you're ever in town, let me know, okay?" She glanced past the girls and waved. "And now I think its good-bye."

Misono turned to look over her shoulder. She nodded at her mother and turned back for another, shorter bow. "I will. And thanks!" The girl took a few steps down the hall, the abruptly turned back, her face red. "I think you and Auntie Midori make a really nice couple," she said. Waving at Sakura, she then fled out of sight.

Sakura waved back cheerfully, then turned back to the idol. "Thank you," she said earnestly. "For all we keep teasing you, we really are fans." For a single moment the look on her face shifted from teenaged niece to besotted fan, then back. "And thank you for the invitation, too. I'd really like to get to see you both more." Her eyes flickered quickly, as she scanned the hallway for eavesdroppers. "I, um, really understand Auntie Midori's opinions of the family, you know." Her face colored slightly, but before any more personal utterances were forthcoming, Yuriko heard her own name called. Midori's voice preceded her by mere seconds.

When the writer came into sight, she encountered Yuriko and Sakura in an uncomfortable silence. "I've interrupted, I'm sorry," she said quickly, making motions to leave.

But Sakura reached out to halt her. "No! I mean, that's okay, look I was just saying that I'd really like to get a chance to talk to you two...alone...one day. Yuriko-san said I could visit you in town...would that..."

Midori gave Yuriko a quick glance, then turned a brilliant smile on her niece. "Of course! Please feel welcome to visit."

The girl breathed a somewhat melodramatic sigh of relief and grinned. "Thank you. And thank you again!" She gripped the pass and bowed. "Have a nice trip back and I'll see you soon." She ran off, much as Misono had, with a wave.

"Phew, I wonder what that was all about?" Midori gently led her lover back to their room, with remonstrances about packing and traffic.

"I think you walked in just as I was about to whomped with a confidence."

Midori laughed. "You get that a lot, don't you?"

Yuriko considered. "I guess I do. I won't even try and figure out the nature of the thing. At that age it could be anything from unnatural urges to suicide, to...I don't even know."

"She doesn't strike me as suicidal, does she? Or gay, for that matter."

"Me neither," Yuriko shrugged and stuffed a few items of clothing into her bag. "But then, I'm not the best authority for that."

Midori turned to the singer with the look of a woman about to score a cheap shot. "Speaking of which, Hayao asked if we can meet him next week for dinner. He's got a new boyfriend that he wants us to meet."

"Hayao's gay?" Yuriko's arm stopped in mid-motion as she turned to stare at her lover.

Midori grinned sympathetically. "You really have the worst gaydar, don't you?" She patted Yuri's arm placatingly. "Yes, darling, he's gay."

Yuriko blinked a few times and returned to her packing. "I really have to do something about that. It's downright embarrassing." She stopped again and stared at the other woman accusingly. "Wait. You set me up! In eight months, you never thought to mention that?"

Midori opened the door and grinned, unrepentant. "I'm going to say goodbye to Father and Aoi. Let me know when you're ready to go."

In a moment, Yuriko was left in an empty room, wishing she had more of an empty head. After the emotional ups and downs of this little vacation, she was more than ready to return to the gut-wrenching torment of tour preparation. At least there the pain was more likely to be physical. She shook her head to clear it of the unwanted thoughts, zippered the remaining bag and shouldered it.

The front rooms of the house were, as always it seemed, full of people and noise. She scooted around the pockets of activity and headed out towards the car. She didn't get far, however, before Mishima intercepted her just outside the front door. Smiling, he held out his hand and she handed her bag over without a word.

"Thank you," he said solemnly. "My pride would have been terribly wounded if you had fought me."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Yuriko assured him just as solemnly. They walked together in silence towards the rented car. Yuriko could see Hayao and Masaki wrestling the larger pieces of luggage into the trunk and her steps slowed.

"I just wanted to say," she began, but Mishima was already speaking.

"Thank you," Mishima intoned. His deep voice was so serious, that Yuriko tensed in preparation for a warning, or worse, a heartfelt pronouncement. She cringed at the thought - it had been a long day already and she wasn't sure if she could take much more open emotion. "Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come all the way up here. It was a genuine pleasure to meet you at last." He held a hand out, which Yuriko shook gladly.

"It was truly my pleasure," she said. "You have a lovely home and a lovely family. I hope to see more of you all."

Mishima smiled pleasantly. "You're always welcome." And with those words, Yuriko knew, the matter was closed. She was welcome and that was that. She bowed in acknowledgement and they walked the rest of the way to the car. Another car beeped from the bottom of the drive and she and the men all turned to wave at Keisuke and Misono as they leaned out the window calling out final goodbyes.

She thanked everyone for helping them pack the car and walked back into the house, looking for Midori, so they could get on the road.

As Yuriko searched for her lover, she was able to make her farewells to the remainder of the family. The children barely acknowledged her existence, but the rest of the adults made a point of having a last few words with her. She exchanged promises and phone numbers with Yuuka and Youko, but saw no sign of Midori. Eventually she excused herself to make a concerted effort to find the writer. As she reached the back of the house, she passed Ritsuko. The young woman looked tired, but pleased.

"As soon as the piece is finished," she said, "I'll call you. Maybe you can come up and see it."

"Maybe," Yuriko said with a grin, "or maybe I'll see it when you do your next show in Tokyo."

"That would be nice too," Ritsuko admitted. Changing the subject she said, "If you're looking for Midori, I saw her and Aoi head down to the lake."

"Oh, well. I'd better not bother them, then." Yuriko turned away, but was surprised to feel a strong pull on her arm.

"No, I think you should." Ritsuko's expression was obscure. "I think Midori needs you." Her face cleared and she smiled. "Plus, Aoi has something she wants to say to you. So, go." Ritsuko gave Yuriko a nudge.

Yuriko found the two women under the haunted pines. Midori gave her look was at least in part grateful, but the rest of the look was uninterpretable.

"I'm so glad you came," Aoi started in, as if they had been speaking for hours. "I was just telling Mi-chan how much fun we've had meeting you. You must come up again soon. Well, maybe not soon, since you have the tour." Her youthful face became thoughtful. "Perhaps after you return we can have a welcome home party - wouldn't that be wonderful, Mi-chan?" She turned her smile on Midori who did not wince, although Yuriko could see that she had to work at it.

"We'll talk about it, Aoi. You know that we both have..."

"Very busy schedules," Aoi intoned along with her daughter. "Yes, yes, we know. You use that excuse all the time, and it's getting a little threadbare, don't you think?" She seemed upon the point of saying something else, but stopped and turned suddenly towards the idol, who also, to her great relief, did not flinch. "I know you have to be going, but I just wanted to thank you again, and please, whatever you're doing, keep it up. I haven't seen Mi-chan look this good, this happy, in years." Aoi's smile was halogen-like in its intensity. Yuriko bowed deeply and made the regular thanks and farewell noises, all with an eye on her lover. Midori seemed to have recovered, and the three walked back towards the car together, chatting generally.

Final farewells were prolonged, as they must be with family, but at last, and with a great, heaving sigh from both women, they pulled away from the house by the lake and back out onto the road.

Yuriko waited until the house was out of sight and they were well away before she spoke.

"Okay, spill it. What did your mother say to you? You were eight shades of some color or other. Did she tell you to dump and run or what?"

Midori's eyes were sparkling. "Much worse, actually."

"Oh, no...what? Tell me!" Her tone was light, but Yuriko's stomach clenched with tension.

The writer took a hand off the steering wheel and laid it on Yuriko's hand. "She told me that now that I had found someone, it was time I settled down and had children."

"She didn't." Yuriko gaped openly.

"She did. I swear. So, that ought to prove it to you - you're family now and my mother demands grandchildren from you."

"Oh god," Yuriko shuddered.

 

Continued

Saiyuu no Ryokou, all characters and situations copyright E. Friedman and Yurikon LLC. All Rights Reserved.