Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong


Maison Ikkoku: A second chance



     "Daddy" 
  "What is it?" Yusaku asked. He smiled at his daughter, Minami, as he held
her hand. It was a beautiful summer afternoon. He and his daughter were at
a carnival that was in town for the week. He was here visiting Japan for the
week, and they were expected to head back to the States tonight.
  "Can you get me some cotton candy?" she asked, pointing toward the candy
vender nearby. There was a crowd of people surrounding the stand. Yusaku
frowned for he wasn't all too fond of large crowds. It always reminded him
of parties. He remembered the time then when he resided at Ikkoku-kan. The
crazy tenants that also lived there would throw parties in his room, ruining
his study sessions. He was glad to be out of there.
  "Sure" Yusaku said. Although he didn't like crowds, just the thought of
making his daughter happy was enough to put him up to the task.
  As he stood amoung the line of people, he noticed a familiar looking
figured in the line ahead of him. She looked like the manager of the
Ikkoku-kan he lived in when he went to college over a decade ago.
  Yusaku had changed quite a lot over the years. He was no longer that shy
boy he was so many years ago. He had grown up to be a fine and respectable
man. He had no problem walking up to the beautiful dark-haired woman.
  "Excuse me" he said "I'm not tryin' to pick you up or anything, but don't
I know you from somewhere?"
  The woman turned to face him. She looked at him intently with those
beautiful eyes of hers that seemed to make any man's heart melt. It would
have even made Yusaku's heart melt, but he was no longer like that young boy 
he once was.
  "You look very familiar" he said "Aren't you Kyoko Otonashi?"
  "Yes. Yes, I am" she said "How do you know my name?"
  "I used to live in the apartment building you managed a long time ago" he
said "That was a long time ago. You probably forgot about me by then"
  Kyoko had almost forgotten completely about that apartment. She had sold
it several years after Yusaku left. Yusaku was the only person from there
she remembered. He was someone she would never forget. She had found out
that she had fallen in love with him, but it had been too late. By the time
she realized it, Yusaku had moved out into his own apartment. It seemed he
finally gave up persuing her.
  Kyoko regarded Yusaku intently. It took a few moments, but she finally
realized who she was talking to. After all these years, fate seemed to bring
them back into each others' lives.
  "Y-you're Yusaku Godai" she was absolutely positive it was him. No one
made her feel the way he did. And after all these years, the feelings
remained.
  "Yes" he said, smiling warmly "It's nice to meet you after so long"
  "Y-yes" she said nervously "H-how have you been?"
  "Life has been treatin' me fine" he said "How about you?"
  Kyoko thought for a second before answering. She had had a terrible life.
Ever since Yusaku had left her life, everything went downhill from there.
She had lived a very lonely decade since that day he left. Sure, she kept
the aparment building running for several years after his departure, but she
was only fooling herself into keeping herself busy. She kept it running,
hoping Yusaku would one day come back. But he never did. After several
years, she finally gave up and sold it to someone she knew.
  "Life has been okay" Kyoko lied. She wanted to reach out and take hold of
Yusaku, to never let him go. She had lost him once, and she didn't want to
lose him again.
  "Daddy, I want some cotton candy"
  "Okay, honey" he said to his daughter. He turned to face Kyoko again "This
is my daughter, Minami. She's ten"
  Kyoko did the calculations in her head. Yusaku had moved out over a decade
ago. That meant he must had gotten this child's mother pregnant while he
still resided at the apartmemt. She could feel her heart shatter. That meant
he had given up on her even before he moved out. She looked down at his ring
finger and didn't notice a wedding band.
  Yusaku noticed Kyoko's gaze resting on his ring finger "I'm not married
anymore. I'm divorced"
  But he could be seeing someone?
  "What does your girlfriend think of Minami?" she asked. She wanted to
subtly find out if he was attached. She hoped that he wasn't. That meant she
might have a second chance.
  "Girlfriend?" Yusaku said "I don't have a girlfriend" He looked at Kyoko
curiously. He wondered why she would bring up something like that.
  Kyoko could feel something heavy lift from her heart. He wasn't attached.
That meant he was free. Now was her chance.
  "Daddy, I'm hungry"
  "Okay, honey" he told her. He and his daughter walked up to the cashier and
ordered a cotton candy for his daughter. Once he paid for it, he turned to
face Kyoko "Well, I better get goin'now"
  "Yusaku" she called out "Chotto matte" She could feel her heart beating
rapidly. She knew Yusaku had loved her many years ago, and she wanted him to
take her back. She wanted to be with him, to be near him, to spend the rest
of her life with him. Her life had been bleak and meaningless after he had
left. She couldn't go through that again.
  "What is it?" he said softly. He was regarding Kyoko with gentle eyes.
  Kyoko opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Despite that fact
that he was expected to leave for the States tonight, Yusaku looked at her
patiently, as if he had all the time in the word.
  "N-nevermind" she said. She couldn't bring herself to ask him. She was too
scared he would reject her. She couldn't bear to have him say no to her.
  "Are you sure?"
  Kyoko said nothing.
  "Okay then. I guess it's best that we leave now. Maybe we might meet
again" With that said, Yusaku walked out of Kyoko's life again. He
disappeared within moments into the crowd of people.
  Kyoko stood there, her gaze on the spot Yusaku was standing on. As she
stood there, she finally realized that there might be a chance she would
never see him again. Never. She couldn't bear to be without him. She quickly
ran after Yusaku.
  "Yusaku" she called out. She was absolutely positive she was going to ask
him to take her back. She would tell him that she had loved him ever since
the first day they met. Despite the fact that he might decline, she would
ask him to please take her back into his life.
  "Yusaku"
  But, it was too late. Yusaku had walked out of her life.
  She had lost her second chance.
  Their paths would never cross.



<End for now>

     Well....I hoped you like the fanfic. I'd like to thank the divine
Rumiko Takahashi for making such a great romantic comedy. Without her, I
would've never been able to write this. Please send comments if you have
any. For those of you who read my other works, doesn't this seem a little
bit close to one of my Ranma fanfics when it comes to content and overall
atmostphere ;) If you liked this, I'll write more. Hey, it only took me one
sitting to write this. I don't really know why I wrote this. I just sat down
and wrote whatever that entered my mind. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm
sorry for the grammar and spelling errors.                                 


P.S.-If you want any of my other fanfics, just ask.


                                           Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong


<Bye>


-OneShot
Jeffrey Keith Wong: jeffwong@li.net
http://www.rit.edu/~jkw7063/fanfic/index.htm