@ChibiRine, I'm happy to announce that you will get your answer in this chapter
@sasshirie,
@rindg, yeah the wedding bells and all! And that was the plan, to make it awkward, because let's face it... pretty much ALL THE TIME first dates are awkward like that
@arawche079, well there are some secrets indeed... I guess they will be revealed with time... the point here is... the clue in the end of the chapter (about...well...you will read it, so I'm not saying anything but yeah...) new things around the corner
@jhom_09, same with me... I like various genres of music but usually the sad songs (and most importantly the lyrics) leave the biggest impression on me. I can just keep on listening on a particular song for a week if I really like it
thanks for waiting and you know what they say - the wait is over, the chapter is here! Fresh and new! (well, some drama yeah... it is necessary in stories... I hope you will still enjoy this). And about the date...I wanted to give something cute (and awkward) before the Valentine's Day, I'm happy that my plan was successful
@shanju, (answer to your first comment:
I'm really happy that you enjoyed it, and that you like the characters in here! I like all the girls too, I mean... I kind of have to... I'm the writer... yeah... there is some stuff coming up, even in this chapter... but still!) and answer to your second comment: SORRY FOR THE WAIT!!!
Chapter 16
“You don’t mind it, right?” Jurina asked for probably the fifth time since the girls left the bar.
She and Annin walked in the park, choosing the long way home, while Jurina without even asking took Annin’s hand in her own. The question though, wasn’t about either Annin mind it or not, it was about the fact that they got separated from the group.
“I really don’t mind it”, the girl repeated also for the fifth time and giving Jurina a reassuring smile “also… I don’t mind spending more time alone with you, without your friends around. I’m not saying that I don’t like your friends but…”
“They need some getting used to, I know. Yuko seemed normal at first…until she breaks the tension and then suddenly some her pervert nature comes on the surface. She’s kind of unstoppable at that point. I guess you don’t remember her in school, right? We were lucky that she started dating Mariko early or she would have probably ended up assaulting half of the school… she still did sometimes but…”
Annin laughed at Jurina explanation but didn’t stop her, when younger girl continued. “And Milky…well… she’s… Milky… I think she still has my phone, though…”
“But you’re fond of them… they are your best friends. I can see how much you care about them… its cute”, Annin summarized their whole conversation with a sympathetic smile.
“I think they are more than my best friends… they are my family. And that’s the most important thing, isn’t it? Don’t worry…you will get used to them with time… after all, I’m planning on keeping you”.
Annin stopped raising her eyebrows both suggestively and curiously “oh really?”
This sudden stop made younger Matsui turn around as well, and she smiled as brightly as she managed “I think I have been implying in one or other occasion… also I’m taking you to a very special place for me now… I don’t show it to just anyone…”
“Oh…why is it special?”, Annin asked already intrigued.
Jurina turn around dragging Annin faster after herself, but at the same time smiling cheekily “its really not, but… I think you will understand why I like it that much”.
“What are you doing?” obviously, it was Sayanee who voiced out the first thought and question that appeared in her mind, now squinting judgmental eyes at Milky.
After Sayanee’s question, Milky froze for a couple of seconds, breathing in and out, and slowly turning around “talking on a phone. What does it look like?”
“It looks like you’re talking on a phone with someone who was calling Jurina… my best guess… Rena?”
Milky sigh unable to lie “so? She left Jurina and now she’s trying to keep tabs on her? How about… no?! Jurina looks really happy with Annin. Messages or phone calls like that… could bring her back to the start…and she might forget whatever progress she made during this time… and Jurina deserves to forget someone who didn’t care enough…”
Sayanee snickered “I hope these words are implied for your situation too. Especially after you decided to move out”.
“Isn’t that what you wanted too? I should have probably done it earlier… then you wouldn’t have to escape to another country with pretext that you’re doing it for my well being. Its not like I’m stupid. I can see when my feelings are one-sided… only you made the bigger deal of it”.
“Oh…and the fact that you started drinking every night? That’s just… a coincidence and completely normal thing to do? I’m surprised that your besties are not aware of it. Or they could take care of you… because Milky needs taking care of”.
Milky opened her mouth to retort, but after a second closed it just staring back at Sayanee.
“Nothing? Well… there is a least one thing that we agree with. But one recommendation… Jurina wouldn’t thank you, if she found out about your… I don’t know how to call this… so maybe you should stop or tell her about it? So you won’t destroy another relationship in your life… I’m not saying that you destroyed ours…it was mostly job related, so I was forced to take care of you… but of course… it could have been more pleasant if you hadn’t…”
Milky ended Sayanee’s words a bit bitterly “If I hadn’t fallen for you? Oh… I guess that something that people can control. Thank you for letting me know… I won’t make the same mistake again… next time I won’t start liking someone who’s not interested in me…I will just tell myself — no… not this one. And look out for someone new”.
Sayanee raised her hands and clapped for couple of times “Impressive. You actually found a good come back. Still… can I once again suggest you something?”
“You full of advices tonight… why not”, Milky agreed but her eyes reeked anger.
“Found someone who will take care of you, get married, spend the rest of your life with that person, leave other people troubles behind. You obviously need someone who will pamper you like a child. I’m pretty sure that there are people like that… maybe this requires some work, some searching. But who knows…something magical might happen and that person will appear…”
“Well…you don’t need to worry about it.”
“Indeed… I haven’t thought about this earlier… but I’m free from you…”, quite unexpectedly Sayanee smiled for herself. “That is good…”, she nod her head, as if finally acknowledging this thought.
Milky stared at Sayanee for longer than necessary finally saying “I actually wonder…what made me like you”
“Oh…I have been wondering about it for quite some time. Trying to come up with a good reason… maybe if I had showed you a lot of affection or something like that… but nothing come in my mind… I don’t get it either”.
Milky looked down at Jurina’s phone that she still held in her hands “I think this conversation is over. Enjoy your freedom”, and without waiting for any other confirmation, she quickly went inside the bar, to look out for other girls.
[FLASHBACK] SayaMilky BACKSTORYNo one’s life is simple. We all have our problems and worries and we have our own way to deal with things.
Two very different people might not understand each others intentions, hopes, thoughts, dreams and feelings. Sometimes, even if we do realize what the other person is feeling — we might not feel the same way. This way — one person is always left to be the broken hearted.
In this case scenario, Watanabe Miyuki is the one who got her heart broken — considering the fact that she was the only one who fall in love.
Sayanee was her savior in a way. Not that Sayanee chose to be this way. It was simply the job of a girl — protection of someone who needs saving. As a police officer, Sayanee just had to do what was expected from her. Just a simple task given to her by her boss, which this girl couldn’t deny.
On the other hand, Miyuki misunderstood her attention. The girl fall hard and fast. Her feelings were evident and everyone around noticed it. Jurina and Yuko teased their best friend about the issue, but only because they were unaware that Sayanee didn’t feel the same way.
As a police officer, and remembering that Milky was a witness in an investigation, Sayanee had to take care of her. But Sayanee never expected that she not only will have to take care of Milky’s safety, but also her emotional state.
Some people handle rejection well, meanwhile others… breaks down. As you can guess, in this situation we had the second option. One broken hearted girl and one tired of bull**shit girl.
Even though, at first living together (also, with Atsumina couple) was a good idea for protection. Later on, it turned out to be the worst decision Sayanee could have made. She regretted it almost instantly, as even though Milky was already broken hearted she still couldn’t let go…giving up didn’t seem like an option to her.
A lot of times Sayanee showed her concerns about Miyuki’s drinking problems, but no one saw it that much, or recognized it as Milky acted normal next morning and such behavior appeared only at night — when you start feeling lonely.
After the court, when the criminal was send to prison and witness protection ended, Sayanee come up with the best solution she could find for that moment. She fled the country.
The girl hoped she could escape Milky for good, but avoiding your own country just for one person… seemed unreasonable too. That’s why Sayanee got back home, with hope that she won’t need to deal with Milky or this girl’s feelings anymore.
Obviously, Sayanee was wrong as it was impossible to avoid her and she still had to feel guilt for Milky’s conditions though not answering to the other person feeling was a normal thing for others.
[END OF FLASHBACK]
Though reliving the past wasn’t a glorious thing for some, others spend their evening enjoying the time as they could. In this case: Jurina took Annin to that special place she mentioned before. It wasn’t anything extraordinary, just a simple swings where most likely children played through the day.
That was probably the reason why Annin asked a little bit confused and curious “Is it…it?”
Almost instantly Jurina answered in the same way Harry and his friends did in Harry Potter and the Prison of Azkaban “I’m solemnly swear I’m up to no good”.
“I spend all my childhood here… every single day, so it is a very special place for me. You know what they say… this is the place of my youth… so well… I’m not sharing it just with anyone…”
Annin smiled pleased at the comment, after all, this was a compliment, very nice one “I see… so only your best friends and…?”
“No…I mean… if you’re asking if I took Rena here…I haven’t” Matsui smiled grabbing Annin’s hand and dragging the girl after herself “come on! I want you to have some fun! This swing is amazing! You will see!”
Without waiting for Annin’s replay she started swinging the girl, while laughing at the sigh. At first Annin clenched her hands tightly but relaxed after couple of minutes. Exactly two minutes later she was already having a lot of fun.
At this point, it wouldn’t be Matsui if she wouldn’t come up with an idea how to surprise someone, or throw them off guard. Jurina walked around standing in front of the swing at the same time while Annin was still on it, and literally caught the swing in air, having Annin only few inches away from herself, she leaned forward stealing a short but sweet kiss and instantly let go, simply because she didn’t have enough strength to hold on any longer.
As expected Annin was surprised but didn’t seem to mind it. Noticing that older girl is not angry at her, Jurina relaxed. They laughed for some time, even while walking away from the place. “You know… that doesn’t really counts as a kiss… because you stole it”.
Jurina just shrugged her shoulders “Well maybe next time I won’t have to do it and you will just come to me yourself”.
“Oh…like a mutual kiss?”
“However you call it”, once again younger girl answered innocently while looking around at the dark night sky.
“That’s…?”
“What?”
Annin sighed giving up, unable to come up with good comeback “you know what I mean”.
“I do?”
“Jurina! You do, just stop”, the girls laughed once again, relaxing and concentrating on the beauty of the night.
Sometimes taking risks payed off.
That was the exact same thing that Haruna though while sitting in front of her desk to write something in her diary.
She kept it through the years, just to explore her thoughts but usually wrote something new only once in a few months. Especially if everything remained the same.
Considering how much happened during this little time, her desire to express all new thoughts was understandable and expected.
This was the paragraph which she wrote after the date with Oshima Yuko…not the first time the girls spend together but probably the only time that everything actually counted.
Kojima Haruna DIARYI had a lot of thoughts recently. I think… sometimes they get clouded and other times… there is like… explosion… is that a right word for it? Explosion… I think it is… how else to describe it?
The only thing on my mind recently…or should I say person… I should say person… the only person on my mind recently is… Yuko…Oshima Yuko… wherever I go…
I mean… I see her everyday at work, there is a reason for that. I know that Mocchi noticed… before Yuko I used to sleep in and most of the time showed up only when there were two or three people at the place. You could find me walking around the corridors in the morning only if I overslept… but now… I want to use the opportunity of seeing Yuko so everyday I come earlier…
Even when she was angry at me, because… there were a lot of reasons… still… just seeing her was good enough for that time.
Am I insane? No… I mean… I feel like I am… but isn’t that how people who are in love act? Or think? She’s not there yet…I’m aware of it… but hope…oh hope… doesn’t hope bring us eternal misery? Someone told me this! Or have I read it somewhere? Maybe they told me…eh? Wait…what was I writing about?
Right…Yuko… no wait… Hope? Yuko and hope? That I have hope?
It doesn’t matter after all… this date and…tomorrow… I feel like flying… I’m somewhere far away in the sky and I don’t want to get down… ever… I want to stay floating…
I’m thinking about positive things but I haven’t forgotten the kiss I witnessed few days ago… the same day when I saw Yuko singing and helping out her friend. She’s also so talented and… wait… once again I’m starting to concentrate on things that are not that important at the moment.
I saw Mariko kissing Yuko near the bar… I’m not sure if anyone else did… I mean… if Mocchi saw it…she didn’t mention a thing.
It hurt a little… seeing that… and when I say little… I mean… A LOT… but there will always be people behind… exes… I’m hopeful that they were saying goodbye… maybe I will ask about it some day…If I am brave enough but for now… I’m believing what I want to believe…
I wanted that date… to get some confirmations or at least… a little sign… I think I get it… Yuko… she’s not there yet but she likes me and that’s enough… for now…
THE WEDDING DAY
It happened in a blink. Isn’t that how things like that always do? You’re anticipating the moment, wait for it and then…few seconds later it is over.
While you’re thinking about it and imagine different scenarios it seems that its taking forever but to write down your signature in a paper takes just a couple of minutes. Whole ceremony didn’t last longer than half an hour.
After it, it is over. You’re already a married person (despite the situation you’re thrown in).
A smile. A kiss. A photo. Some excited friends running around, throwing rice on your head and that is all…
That’s how new things start. Other calls it a new beginning or new era, because… who knows what happens next. Who really knows…what tomorrow can bring…