Toshi woke up with a start.

 

 

The lights were back on. He lifted his head and looked around, rubbing one eye with the back of his hand. The theater was empty except for two ushers who were going row to row, sweeping up wrappers and popcorn that spilled on the floor. Toshi rubbed his eyes and looked at Mieko, "How long?" She shrugged with a smile, "It was over about ten minutes ago. Should I have woke you up for the ending?"

 

Toshi shook his head, "Nah. Wasn't that good a movie if I nodded off." He yawned and stretched before shaking his head for a second before abruptly standing up. He offered his hand to Mieko to help her stand. She blinked at it and quirked an eyebrow. Toshi winced, "I'm being strange again, aren't I?" Mieko smiled softly and took his hand all the same, "Yes, but it's charming in its own way." As she stood up, Toshi could not help but notice that she was not actually pulling on his hand in the process. She stepped out of the row and made a sweeping gesture to indicate she was waiting for him to go first.

 

Toshi smiled and indeed went ahead, which was totally unnecessary because as he got up to the top of the stairs, she had caught up with him and passed him so she could get the door and hold it for him. Toshi bowed his head as he passed, "Thank you." Then waited for her to catch up as he walked down the main corridor leading to the lobby, "So how did it end?" Mieko shrugged, "A poorly choreographed fight. Wire work has been the death of movie martial arts." She stuck close to Toshi, but not quite touching him. Her arm did sway in time with his as they walked along.

 

~I wonder if she's trying to hold my hand?~ Toshi pondered this as they stepped out of the exit into the food court outside the movie theater. As the door closed behind them with a click, Mieko froze, "Oh god." She turned around and tried the door, only to discover it was one way. Toshi looked concerned, "What's go-" When he heard an older woman cry out, "Mieko?" Toshi could see Mieko's shoulders fall as this was obviously a confrontation she didn't want to have.

 

The woman must have been in her mid-twenties and had a striking resemblance to Mieko, except her face was far more angular. She was dressed like a businesswoman in a pantsuit. Way too professional for this time of day for the food court. She was joined by three other similarly dressed women who were all sitting at the same table. Everyone had a different meal from a different food kiosk. Toshi's conclusion was that they were all going out of a late lunch on a Saturday and couldn't make up their mind, so came here instead.

 

Mieko turned around and tried to walk past by giving the woman a hand wave, "Hey." However the woman wasn't letting her get away. Toshi couldn't help but notice the condescending tone when she spoke, "Mieko! Don't have any time to greet your sister?" Mieko immediately fell into herself and her whole body posture showed submission. She turned to walk over closer to where her sister was seated. Her sister's long hair was tied up in a bun on top of her head. She peered over her half moon glasses at her sister as she bowed, "Greetings, Chikaze." The other three seemed somewhat amused by all this.

 

A great burning hatred immediately swelled up inside Toshi.

 

He leaped forward to abruptly grab Mieko's arm with both arms and hugged it while he leaned his head on her shoulder, disrupting her bow. She was forced to straighten up or fall over and looked kind of surprised. Toshi let loose with his finest, overtly cheerful and hyperactive expression. He rarely used it, but occasionally it paid off when dealing with certain clients to come across like a pixie on crack, and this was the personality he had carefully hewed for just such an emergency.

 

"HI-yee! I'm The Boyfriend! You're Mieko's sister? That's Sooooooooo fascinating!" Toshi turned to Mieko, "You didn't say you had a sister! But then again you don't talk much about yourself. You're just so brooding and mysterious, but what else should one expect from a hero." Mieko blinked and her mouth fell open as she looked at Toshi. She said nothing as her sister looked quizzically at Toshi, "What?" Toshi turned to the sister and looked at her with the widest possible eyes and nodded energetically.

 

"Uh-HUH! A boy was mad at me because he thought that maybe I was trying to steal the girlfriend from his friend but the truth was I wasn't interested in her but that didn't stop him from getting mad and spreading a rumor that I was trying to seduce her but I wasn't but people were believing it and then the boy shoved me and I don't think he meant too but I was by a railing and I went over and I almost cracked my head open but Mieko was on the landing below and caught me saving my life!"

 

Chikaze reeled at the onslaught of information spoken without pause.

 

Mieko was impressed that Toshi apparently thought breathing was optional.

 

Chikaze blinked and looked at Mieko, "Really?" Toshi interrupted, "Indeed! It's why I'm taking her out to the movies!" He squeezed Mieko's arm and leaned into it, "She fought me tooth and nail on it, but as I explained to her, I'm rich beyond the dreams of Avarice and money means nothing to me, and so just let me treat!" He looked at Mieko, "I am sorry. I know you might want to catch up with your sister, but my driver is waiting and if we're going to make the reservations, we need to get going!" Mieko licked her lips and blinked while trying to catch up. Toshi didn't give her a chance to respond, and instead bowed his head slightly towards Chikaze, "Nice meeting you!" He then winked at her, "Don't get angry if I steal Mieko away from your family!" Then promptly dragged Mieko away while skipping along next to her.

 

Chikaze was stunned. By the time her mind processed what had just happened and she had gotten to the point of annoyance, it was too late. The couple had already retreated into the crowds and chasing after them would have been impractical. Toshi kept up the increased pace until they rounded a corner into one of the main shopping wings. Checking over his shoulder and seeing they were not being followed, he immediately slowed down, started walking, and returned to his normal demeanor. As he let go of her arm, however, she refused to reciprocate, instead retaining a hold on his hand.

 

"Hold it." She spoke in a commanding tone as she pulled him to a halt, "What was that?"

 

Toshi looked at her and jogged his head back towards the food court, "That? Your sister was looking down on you. It annoyed me." He started to resume walking, but she kept a tight grip on his hand and refused to move, "Wait." She frowned, "Why did you lie like that?"

 

Toshi looked at his hand in hers, then up at her. He looked a little puzzled, but then said simply, "What did I lie about?"

 

She stepped closer, "I didn't argue with you with who should pay for the movie. I argued about the food." Toshi shrugged, "Potato, po-tah-toe. What is 'fighting tooth and nail', anyways? It's a metaphor and could be seen several different ways." She blinked, "Well, you said you had more money than the dreams of Avarice." Toshi nodded, "I DO have a lot of money. The insurance settlement as well as other things. I meant it when I said, money means nothing to me." This took her off guard, "Okay..." She narrowed her eyes, "We don't have a driver waiting for us." Toshi held up a finger, "I said I had a driver waiting, not waiting for US." He held up his phone with his free hand, "I have a guy that I asked to make himself available if I need a ride of short notice. So, technically he's waiting for my call." Mieko opened her mouth as Toshi abruptly yanked on her hand to get her moving along, "And we do have reservations. Maybe it's a little less pressing an appointment than I implied, but I didn't say we were going to be late."

 

Mieko thought about this as she was pulled along. They took the escalators to the next level. As they slowly rode up Mieko said, "I don't like lying." Toshi nodded, "Neither do I. That was called deception. Everything had a kernel of truth. Your sister just jumped to certain conclusions." He turned to look at her and leaned up against the railing, "I used to lie a lot, but it was eating at me, so I stopped and told only the truth for a while, but it pissed everyone off. I lost a lot of friends."

 

He stepped off the escalator, continuing to pull her along, "I realized that the world doesn't work the way I want it to. So, I no longer strictly tell the truth. Now, I just don't lie. If I tell a technical truth that is spiritually untrue, that's not a lie. Just like a metaphor isn't technically true, but the spirit of it is, so that's not a lie either." He came to a stop in front of a store that sold custom T-shirts, "So maybe I ask leading questions, or only make partial statements, or omit important details, or state a non-sequitur, or just shrug without giving an answer at all." He looked at her and then the hand he was holding, "My life is complicated and I can't tell everyone the truth as much as I wish, so I compromise."

 

He brought her hand up to his mouth, "People will forgive you for deceiving them, but not for lying." He kissed her knuckles then let go. She blushed furiously at this, looking away, "Well... how can I trust you then? I am not a liar nor deceptive." He nodded, "I know. It might be part of your problem with fitting in. People are more like me than like you." She looked at him, "That doesn't answer my question."

 

He lifted his hand to hide his smile, "Observant of you." He looked at the store, then back at her, "Well. Then I shall tell you my weakness. Pin me down. Make the question simple. Yes or no. If you back me into a corner, the worst I will do is say nothing and keep silent." She stepped closer to look in his eyes, "Yes or no, Have you lied to me?" He looked back and replied calmly, "No." She nodded, "Yes or no, have you lied to my friends?" Toshi blinked, "Well, I don't know all your friends, but..." He thought for a bit, "Not that I am aware of, no."

 

She frowned, "How could you not be aware you lied?" He tapped the side of his head, "Memory loss, remember?" She nodded slowly, "Oh... okay." He jogged his head towards the store, "C'mon. I called ahead. It takes about a half hour." She blinked, "What does?" He looked over his shoulder at her as he walked in, "I want pictures of us on a pair of matching t-shirts." Her eyes went wide as she followed. She looked thoughtful, contemplating a great deal of things while she waited for him to pay. They went over to sit in the waiting area while the cashier set up the camera.

 

"Do... you want to ask me anything?" Mieko looked sideways at Toshi. He glanced back, "Nope." She frowned, "Why not?" He looked at her with squinting eyes, then sighed, "If you want to share something, go ahead, but I don't want to pry into your life." He smirked, "And I sure don't want to root out your flaws. Everyone makes mistakes. We're all-" He paused in mid-sentence. His voice took on a hollow quality, "We're all weak from time to time." He forced a smile, "I'd like you to show me who you are. I don't want to interrogate you." She nodded and lowered her head to look at the floor as they waited.

 

They got up when called and had their picture taken. Toshi put on a big smile. Mieko tried to put on a smile, but even with the best take she wasn't used to showing emotions, so it came out more like gritted teeth. Toshi still said he liked it and paid for the shirts anyways. As they walked out, she looked at Toshi, "You're really deep." Toshi blinked and looked back, "Uh. Thanks." She shook her head, "No. I mean it. Maybe people think you're kind of slow, even your sister." Toshi's mouth formed a thin line, "Oh."

 

Mieko continued, either failing to notice his reaction, or ignoring it, "But you aren't. You just think deep thoughts and don't feel the need to say much." She looked at the T-shirt in her hands. Toshi nodded slowly before replying, "I guess you know how it feels, huh?" She looked up at him and gave him a genuine smile, "Yes." Toshi smirked as he pointed at her, "Now why couldn't we have gotten that smile on the T-shirt?"

 

Mieko touched her lips, "Wait. Did I get it right?" She looked back at the store, "We can go back and try again. I'll pay this time." Toshi laughed, "Nah. I love the shirt as is." He jogged his head towards the escalators and started walking. Mieko stared at the picture on her t-shirt as she thought about how Toshi stood up for her back at the food court. Then she started thinking about Toshi, ~You know... I think I love-~ But thoughts of her best friend intruded.

 

 

 

She couldn't allow herself to finish the thought.