Chapter 6

Having found her way to the nearby park, Sayuri slowed down her pace. She felt very troubled on a Sunday morning. Recalling the last few days, Sayuri had tried her best to avoid meeting with Nakai, by leaving the mall as quickly as possible after work. She felt the seat of a nearby bench, and sat down, listening to the children playing, wishing that she had a child of her own. You shouldn't think of such things, she scolded herself.

Not long after Sayuri had seated herself down, someone else placed himself beside her.

"Morning."

"Eh? Takuya-kun?" Sayuri asked. She could smell the odour of cigarettes on him. "You smoked?"

"Stress at work." Takuya simply said. When Sayuri kept silent, Takuya continued, "Our restaurant is having a very important guest soon, and his words carry the weight of the survival of the restaurant. We've been working harder than before in planning our dishes."

"I see. It must be hard being a chef. I used to think that as long as one knows how to cook, being a chef would be such a breeze. But I was wrong." Sayuri replied, somehow half-heartedly. Still, she was grateful that there was someone to talk to her, someone who was also experiencing problems.

"What about you? I've never seen you at the park before, why are you here suddenly? You don't seem happy on an off-day." Takuya then commented.

"It's nothing." Sayuri lied.

After a while, Sayuri began to feel guilty for lying, after Takuya's good intentions. "Have you ever loved a person whom you know you can't be with?" she asked.

"You are going through that, ne? Why can't you be with that person? Have you even tried telling him your feelings?"

"That..." Sayuri sighed. She had thought that Takuya knew the answer already. "I don't have the gift of eyesight," Sayuri answered, somehow seeming to be reading from a script, from the many times she had said this. "I am just a burden to others, so I've promised myself not to fall for anyone."

"What difference do you REALLY have from us so-called normal people then? You can take care of yourself very well, and if someone really loved you, your disability wouldn't matter to them." Takuya replied. Sayuri had nothing to say.

Very suddenly, Sayuri started sobbing, even though she was embarrassed to do so in front of others. To the world, she was like a person who had never cried in her life before. "Gomene..." Sayuri apologised. Takuya did not speak, but used his hands to brush Sayuri's tears away.

Minutes later, Sayuri managed to stop her sobbing, and then she stood up. "I should be heading home now. Thank you for showing me how nice it would be, to have a brother like you. Sorry for having to bother you like this..." She bowed and left.

Chapter 5

"Pass me the ketchup." Takuya ordered, his hand reaching out among the chopsticks. The chopsticks stopped clicking as four pairs of eyes watched Takuya hurriedly wolfing down his breakfast and reading the newspapers at the same time.

Nakai slowly passed Takuya the ketchup bottle, and Takuya grabbed it without looking up, leaving Nakai stunned. "What's-" Nakai started to ask, but Takuya was already thumping down the bowl onto the table and rushing out of the door. "...wrong?"

"He probably has an important guest at the restaurant today. That's how he acted the last time too." Goro suggested.

"Maybe." Nakai agreed.

--

"Ah, it's the 25th of November today!" Mr Ichiro, the bookstore owner, said. "Happy birthday, Sayuri!"

"Thank you. But...how did you know that it was my birthday?" Sayuri asked.

"Er... it's in your application form, right?" Mr Ichiro asked uncertainly. "Anyway, as a treat, you may go off earlier from work!"

"But it's only a birthday!" Sayuri argued.

"Only once a year, too. Just go home and celebrate..."

"Thank you, Mr Ichiro." Though Sayuri wondered how she could even celebrate her birthday.

--

After work, Nakai dropped by the bookstore, but saw no sign of Sayuri. He learned from Mr Ichiro that today was Sayuri's birthday, so she was let off work earlier. I wonder what I should get for Sayuri? he pondered, looking at his watch. 5pm. He had an idea.

--

"Pass the dough!" Takuya instructed, the five brothers being clad in aprons in the small, crammed kitchen.

"Sorry, Shingo!" Tsuyoshi apologized as he accidentally stepped on Shingo's feet while crossing to pass the dough to Takuya.

"Nakai, your face, haha!" Shingo laughed.

"It's your fault!"

"Slice the strawberries!"

"Why don't we try banana?" Shingo suggested.

"Don't be silly. It won't taste or look good with--"

"Ah! The icing and colouring!"

"I'll get it..."

"Thanks, Goro-chan."

"Which colour do you think is good?"

"Pink!" Nakai immediately responded."Pass the knife and kneader!" Takuya ordered.

"AHHHHH!!!" Tsuyoshi suddenly gave a shout. "Goro-chan, luckily that was not the knife!" Tsuyoshi picked up the kneader and went to wash it.

An hour later, the cake was out of the oven. "Decorating time!!!" Shingo gleefully exclaimed.

"And no bananas." Nakai warned.

"Okay."

Takuya slowly layered and covered the cake with cream, while the rest waited with strawberries and triangular pieces of chocolates in their hands.

--

There came a knock on Sayuri's door. Sayuri thought it was the postman, since no one else would drop by her apartment. To her surprise, when she opened the door, five voices shouted, "Happy birthday!"

"How did you know-"

"Nakai told us!" Shingo answered.

"Mr Ichiro said so."

"Come in!" Sayuri welcomed, suddenly realising that the five brothers were stll outside.

Taukya set the cake down, then the five brothers sat round the table with Sayuri. "Thanks a lot, I never expected a celebration." As they sang the 'happy birthday' song, Sayuri smiled. It was her first celebration in 7 years.

"Make a wish!"

"Eh? Do I really have to?"

"Of course!"Sayuri closed her eyes, then thought, I hope for my life to be smooth-sailing. She had no idea what to wish for. "Done!" she announced.

"Goody, now we can eat the cake!" Shingo excitedly exclaimed. The five brothers shook their heads and sighed.

"You really are like a five-year-old, Shingo!"

"Ah, the birthday girl has to cut the cake first..." Takuya reminded, passing Sayuri the knife.

"Umm...I can't see where I'm aiming the knife..." Sayuri said.

The four brothers stared at Nakai, who gave them a are-you-picking-me look. Nakai then put his hands over Sayuri's, and slowly guided the knife to the cake. Sayuri felt butterflies in her stomach. She knew who those hands belonged to. She hoped that she wasn't blushing, wishing that it had been one of the otehr four who guided her hands. It seemed to take forever for the knife to plunge through the cake.

It was Shingo's voice that woke her up. "Yay, eating time!"

Sayuri started to relax.

Chapter 4

"Sumimasen, sumimasen..." Sayuri kept repeating as she made her way through the morning crowd to the bus stop, her walking stick constantly tapping onto people's feet.

"Watch where you're going!" a middle-aged woman grumbled, then apologized when she realised that Sayuri was blind. Sayuri was used to this kind of treatment; she got it almost every other day. It was lucky that the bus stop only served one bus number, or Sayuri would have had to bother the waiting passengers for what bus it was.

--

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Sayuri quickly apologized. She seemed to be apologizing more than usual that day.

"What kind of service is this? You should be fired for this!" the enraged customer bellowed at Sayuri.

"I'm really really sorry, but the book you wanted was too high up, so the other slipped by accident..." Sayuri tried to explain for the second time. The shopowner had gone out, and Sayuri was to tend to the shop until he returned. It was at this moment when a customer walked in and requested that Sayuri retrieve a book from the topmost shelf for her. Sayuri, being blind, could only feel the spine of the bok, and the customer kept rushing her and complaining that she was far too slow. When Sayuri finally managed to locate the book, in a hurry to remove it, its neighbour fell and hit the customer right on the head.

"Are you saying that it's my fault?!" the customer challenged. "Don't you see I'm wearing high heels and can't climb up the ladder to reach for the book myself?!"

"No it's not-"

"I can sue you and demand for medical feels!" she shrieked.

"But madam-" Sayuri tried to cut in, but she had made a wrong move. Though the voice of the customer sounded like a naggy middle-aged lady...

"I AM NOT MARRIED! And you call me madam?!"

Sayuri bit her lower lip, silently cursing herself for being so rash in her speech. "Sorry-"

"Enough!" the woman interrupted rudely. "Why don't you try getting hit yourself?" The lady had a very fiery temper, and without warning, flung a book at Sayuri, which hit her forehead. Sayuri fell backwards, her back hitting the counter before she slumped to the ground, a hand placed to her forehead.

"What are you doing?!" a familiar voice demanded in the bookshop doorway. Nakai rushed in, kneeling beside Sayuri on the floor.

The customer said nothing, but kept glaring at Nakai and Sayuri. No one said anything, and Sayuri did not even dare to let out a small sniff.

"What is going on?" the shopowner asked, returning with a stack of stationery. He hurriedly put down the load, and exclaimed, "I'd only be gone for a moment, and sometihng has happened!"

"Your asistant provided very poor service!" the customer complained.

"I'll take care of this." the shopowner assured, and Nakai helped Sayuri up, but not without a hiss of pain from her.

Outside the mall, Sayuri sat down slowly on a bench. Sayuri's back hurt a little, due to the impact with the counter. Nakai sat down beside looking at the blue-black on Sayuri's forehead. "That customer really went overboard! She might've killed you if I hadn't passed by the bookstore!"

"It's just a matter of being used to it. Some people don't notice my disability." Sayuri replied rather calmly. "Besides...I think that customer is going through tough times. She was looking for a book on family affairs..."

"Still, there was no need for a physical attack. I still don't understand how you can still be so calm at life-threatening times like these." Nakai said, and then took out an ice bag, pressing it to Sayuri's forehead. Sayuri jerked a little, at the sudden jolt of pain. "Hold this." he instructed. Sayuri held the ice bag to her forehead, then felt Nakai sticking a plaster over a cut.

"There isn't a need for a plaster. It's just a small cut!" Sayuri laughed. She was surprised at how meticulate Nakai seemed on this issue.

Nakai laughed as well. "If you have a brother like Shingo, you'll be doing this all the time. He's very playful from young, and cuts and other injuries are terribly common on him." Nakai explained.

"I thought you were working? How come you passed by the bookstore?" Sayuri suddenly questioned.

"I was told to get supplies of nails since the department store's tables really needed them. Then I heard shouting coming from the bookstore so I thought something had happened." Nakai answered. Then he abruptly stood up. "Aiya!" he exclaimed suddenly. There seemed to be a tinge of childishness in the way he exclaimed. "Mentioning that, I have to rush back to my work! Are you alright on your own?"

"Yes, I'll be fine. I'm returning to the store now." Sayuri replied, then heard Nakai say a 'be careful' before rushing off back into the mall at top speed.

"Arigatou, Nakai-kun."

Chapter 3

"Ah, good morning Sayuri-san!" Nakai greeted as he returned from a jog. "Went to the market?" he then asked, noticing the bag of groceries.

"Good morning, Nakai-kun!" Sayuri greeted back. "Yea I just went to the market." Sayuri answered. "As in, super market, of course!" she quickly added. "My pay is going to be cut this month, seeing as how they are going to inspect the mall the whole day!"

"At least there's a rest." Nakai said, trying to cheer things up a little. "Hey why don't you come over so you get introduced to my brothers?"

"Oh, okay." Sayuri answered. "I'll just go put down my groceries first..."

"Here, I'll help you with that." Nakai offered, taking the groceries bag from Sayuri's arms.

"Thanks."

"No problem. In the kitchen?"

"Yes."

When Nakai emerged from the apartment, Sayuri locked the door, then followed Nakai. When the apartment door was opened, the loud chatter ceased. Then Shingo started it again. "Welcome home, Nakai!" he exclaimed loudly, as though he had not seen his brother for a year. He then noticed Sayuri, and said in the same cheerful tone, "Welcome to our home, er.."

"I'm Sayuri." Sayuri replied, bowing.

"Morning, Sayuri! It's a first time getting to know you. As in, we never get any neighbour visits." Goro greeted.

"Who would dare to visit the five noisy brothers?" Tsuyoshi asked.

Nakai directed Sayuri towards the sofa, where the four otehr boys were sitting, and then settled down beside Sayuri. "Sayuri would dare. She'd already done it!" Nakai answered.

After all the introductions were made, the four brothers proceeded to do their own things, leaving Nakai and Sayuri alone, since Nakai wanted to speak to her. Sayuri had gathered that Takuya, the second-eldest in the family, worked as a chef in a small restaurant, while Shingo, the youngest, worked as a performer for kids. The other two brothers were furthering their studies, and so held part-time jobs.

Silence again. In the background, Takuya was frying eggs and doing stunts at the same time, a single ear stud flashing from a distance. Goro was bent over study notes, scribbling away while stirring his coffee. Tsuyoshi walked about the apartment, humming a tune and cleaning up the mess. And there was Shingo left, doing nothing but sitting on the floor, stretching out his legs and complaining of his hunger. "Shingo, I'm studying!" Goro complained.

"Why don't you ask Tsuyoshi to stop his humming first?" Shiungo argued back."Shingo is really adorable." Sayuri commented suddenly, deciding to break the silence.

"He's 25 and he still acts like a child!" Nakai replied.

Shingo, on catching the faint comment, retorted, "Oni-chan too!" The rest agreed in unision, and Sayuri stifled a laugh.

"No eavesdropping!" Nakai scolded, though he was nearly laughing himself too as well.

"You had something to say, didn't you? So why all of a sudden, you aren't saying anything?" Sayuri asked, serous now, and much softer, to avoid unnecessary attention from the other brothers.

"I just want to...thank you for the other day." Nakai replied, feeling rather awkward, thinking that Sayuri must've thought badly of him crying.

"You haven't told your brothers?" Sayuri questioned."No. I don't know how to break the news to them." Nakai sighed, slouching into his seat.

As though an answer came through, a photo gently floated to the floor, near Shingo. Shingo picked up the photo, then announced, "Hey, a photo of Hatoko!" Everyone started gathering round, then Shingo posed the exact question. "What happened to her?"

"I'd best be going. I don't want to disturb your family discussion." Sayuri said from the sofa and slowly got up. Nakai led her to the door. "Goodbye."

"As Nakai closed the door behind him, he turned round to find four expectant faces staring at him intently. "What?"

"Well?" Takuya demanded.

"Oh, Hatoko..." Nakai hesitated, then he sat down at the dining table, his head on the cold glass surface. "Nothing. Takuya, if you're not serving the breakfast, I'm going out to buy. You're starving us all..." Nakai quickly said, changing the subject, and trying to make his voice sound firm enough.

Takuya folded his arms. "If you're not telling, I'm going to Sayuri! I have a feeling she actually knows about this. Look at how she decided to go home when we mentioned Hatoko. She obviously knows it!" Takuya said, in a rather impatient tone.

"Wait! Don't disturb her. I'll tell." Nakai hurriedly exclaimed. "Haotoko passed away." They all stared at him.

"What really did happen?" Goro asked."Oni-chan, you don't have to be ashamed of crying. Shingo does that all the time." Tsuyoshi comforted."Do not!" Shingo argued.

Nakai actually laughed a little. He slowly lifted his head, and placed his gaze on each of his brothers. Then he started telling the story. When he was done, they were all by then sitting round at the dining table, pondering on the event.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Takuya asked.

"You were all so busy, I didn't want to add on to your stress. Plus, Tsuyoshi and Goro are still having a hectic time juggling work and studies." Nakai replied.

"You don't have to worry about me. Go on, do your work. And Takuya I was serious about you starving us all." Nakai assured.When breakfast was served, Nakai got the most food among them -- An extra serving of ham from Takuya.

Chapter 2

The apartment upstairs blasted dance music off before dawn, and the rain poured down for the third day, forcing Nakai to curl his toes inwards from the cold. Surprisingly, the apartment was silent this morning. Not wanting to be late, the five brothers awoke earlier than usual and set off to their workplaces, yawning as they entered the lift. Nakai watched at the bus stop as the rain poured down heavily. The bus had not arrived, and his stainless black pants were already having visible raindrops on them. When the bus finally arrived, Nakai heaved a sigh of relief after checking the time. He sat next to the window, staring out the window, still not totally awake from the previous night's dream.

At work, it was just like any other ordinary day, save the fact that there were lesser shoppers due to the wet weather. He worked as a salesman in a huge department store, and usually went around promoting items on sale or on feature.

When the day was done, Nakai emerged from the store, stretching his arms. He noticed a familiar figure slowly walking slowly along the other end of the mall, and recognised her as the next door neighbour. "Oi!" he called out, jogging towards Sayuri. He realised that he did not know her name. He received stares from some of the shoppers for his loud shout, but he was used to being stared at, and ignored them. "New neighbour right? We didn't have proper introductions the last time. Hi, I'm Nakai."

"Ah!" Sayuri exclaimed. "Yes I remember! That time I requested for your family of brothers to lower the volume. Hi, I'm Sayuri." Sayuri introduced.

Nakai noticed how Sayuri's gaze shot past his shoulder, and realised that she was blind. "Shall we get a drink somewhere?" Nakai offered. Sayuri smiled and nodded.They went into Hiki-dashi (A/N: It means 'drawers' in Japanese.) for a drink. It was Nakai's favourite hangout. The interior of the shop looked cosy with baby colours, and the tables had drawers where sugar, salt pepper, spoons and utensils like that were kept, hence its shop name.

At first, both of them only quietly sipped on their drinks, but Sayuri finally took the initiative and asked, "So, why are you here?"

"I work here, at the seventh floor department store. What about you? Shopping?" Nakai replied."No, I'm not shopping." Sayuri answered, laughing a little. "You see, I'm blind, and according to my source, most of the shops here are fashion stores, so I don't shop here since I can't judge the clothes with my sight. I'm working here, actually. At the level three bookstore. That apartment was the cheapest and closest I could find to my workplace. My parents abandoned me when I was young, so I grew up in an orphanage, and after that decided to go independent. I didn't want to trouble Mrs. Kazegawa to take care of me when there are so many other children."

Nakai did not reply. He did not know how to reply. "Ah, gomene! I really shouldn't have brought up such topics." Sayuri apologised.

"No, no, it's okay. It's just that...I didn't know how to reply." Nakai assured Sayuri. He then thought for a moment before saying, "Would you mind if I told you my troubles?""Not at all, though I thought you might feel better telling your brothers." Sayuri replied.

"I'm not ready to tell them yet."

"Oh."

There was silence as Nakai considered how to tell Sayuri. Sayuri waited patiently, sipping her apple juice. Finally, Nakai said, "A year ago, I had a girlfriend who was very fond of sports, and we often went to challenge each other in various sports. She was a very sweet girl, but...a month ago, I heard no news of her ever since. I couldn't reach her when I tried all means of contacting her. Until I received a call a week ago, that she had undergone an operation."

"And?"

"It failed." Nakai continued, with pain in his voice. "The previous girl before that...She passed away too. I was very upset to know what happened." Tears were already threatening to grace his face.

There was silence again after that. Then, as Nakai's tears fell, Sayuri heard him sniffed, and she slowly raised a hand uncertainly, searching for his face. Nakai looked up at Sayuri, whose hand found its way to his cheek. She was softly wiping away the tears, not saying a thing.

After a moment, Nakai's hoarse voice said, "I think we should head home. It's getting late." Sayuri nodded, and they finished their drinks before they exited the shop. On board the bus, no one spoke.

Sayuri stopped at the door of her apartment, and then said, "I'm sorry I couldn't help to make you feel better."

"But you did. Just by listening." Nakai replied. "Thanks a lot."

Sayuri smiled. "See you tomorrow then." With that, she retreated into her apartment, and Nakai, to his.

Chapter 1

"Nakai!!!"

Sayuri jerked awake from her sleep. She had only moved in five days ago, but she had learnt something about her new neighbours -- they were a noisy batch. She got out of bed and wandered slowly across the room. Placing her small fingers on the walls of the bedroom, she worked her way out of the apartment. She was blind.

27 years ago, Sayuri was born and abandoned by her parents, due to her blindness. She grew up as an orphan in a small orphanage, until seven years ago, Sayuri had decided to be independent. She got a job at a bookstore, but was recently transferred to a new branch.

So she landed up here, where she was close to her workplace. And noisy neighbours.

Knock knock. The door swung open violently. A man with hair dyed in two tones faced Sayuri. Sayuri stood rooted, startled by the gust of wind that embraced her. When she recalled why she was there, she said in a timid voice, "I'm sorry, but er....you're being too loud. Could you lower your volume?"

To her surprise, instead of a fierce and rough voice, a cheerful and young voice answered her. "I'm terribly sorry! The boys are always so noisy!" Nakai apologised.

"It's you who's always screaming the loudest!" A voice from within the apartment argued. Laughter ensued.

"Ah...Anyway, I apologise. We'll try to lower our volume." Nakai continued.

"Thanks." Sayuri said, and felt her way back to her apartment.

Nakai stared after Sayuri. "Newcomer?" Takuya asked from behind. He had not cut his hair, and it was now lazily tied back.

"Yup." Nakai replied. "Didn't know that apartment was already sold to another."

"She'll be having a tough time, with our noise. That's why the previous neighbour left." Takuya commented, almost laughing, as though it were a joke.

"And the one before the previous!" Shingo added. He remembered when he always shouted out to the apartment opposite. His best friend lived there, and instead of using the phone, he prefered to release his extra energy by shouting across messages to him. The neighbours did try to stop him, but it did not turn out well. In the end, after failing to persuade him to stop, they left in frustration.

"You can't totally blame us." Goro said, drinking up his coffee while scribbling on a notebook. "Especially when we are so busy, and on top of that, there's the five of us under one roof. We can't be sealing our mouths all the time."

"Actually, I think you're wrong." Tsuyoshi replied. "I think Nakai can represent all our shouting on his own." He received a joking smack on the head by Nakai for this, while the rest laughed.

"Aren't you going to cut your hair, oni-chan?" Goro asked Nakai, changing the subject.

"Yeah I will." Nakai absent-mindedly answered.

"You've been saying that for weeks, brother!" Takuya exclaimed.

"Oh, have I?" Nakai asked, a surprised look on his face. "I've been busy," he lied. "and...besides my hair looks nice this way. Takuya, I think you should be the one having a haircut..."

"What are you busy with? Staring out the window?" Takuya joked.

But to Nakai, it was not a joke -- that was exactly what he had been doing. His face turned pale suddenly, as though guilty. He looked away from the rest, who had stopped what they doing and now staring at their eldest brother.

"You don't mean that you've really been doing that?!" Takuya asked in surprise. "What's wrong?" he then asked, concerned.

"Nothing." Nakai quickly answered, not ready to tell the rest yet.

"But we're always telling you what's on our minds!" Shingo argued. "Surely our big brother will allow the four of us to lend you a listening ear?"

"It's FOUR listening ears, Shingo." Goro corrected.

"I aprreciate your concern," Nakai explained, looking at each of them slowly, "but I am not yet ready to tell you my troubles." He then quietly entered his room, locking the door behind him.

He sat at his desk, slouching, and watched as the rain poured down, harder than the day before. He could hear the voices of his brother outside, and the pitter-patter of the rain. "I'm off!" he heard Tsuyoshi and Goro announce in unision, then they left the apartment. Shingo was humming a soft tune, while Takuya whistled and washed the morning dishes. No one disturbed Nakai, since they knew from over the years that when he locked himself in, he wanted peace, and no one was to disturb.

One voice, however, drowned out the outside world. "Nakai...Nakai...I'm sorry..."

Nakai dosed off.

Introduction, Disclaimer

Author's Notes:I DO NOT own SMAP or the song Original Smile. The fanfiction was written out of fandom... I only own the character of Sayuri, that's all. ^__^You'll never find out why I titled it 'Original Smile' until the end! :P I have NO IDEA on why I actually chose to write Nakai. And Nakai is quite out-of-character too.

Story Summary: Nakai/OC. (Other Character) Romance. Sayuri is a blind girl who has recently moved next door to five boys, who are brothers. By chance Nakai starts telling her his troubles, but when Sayuri expresses love for him, would he accept it? (Sorry I'm pretty bad at summaries... ^ ^ ;)