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Author Topic: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)  (Read 83418 times)

Offline Mikan

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #40 on: June 07, 2007, 11:21:34 AM »
Ah Updates.  My morning Coffee...

I felt there was a little bit of a focus loss in the middle of the confrontation there...Dont ask me to pin point, I hate quoting. Im a lazy person.
But yeah...YAYAYAY! Onto tokyo...

The drama continues

Read the complete Doki Doki!!

Offline JFC

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #41 on: June 07, 2007, 09:17:34 PM »
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But I'd be on the "to spoon" side all the way.
Ditto. Considering how much more intense an experience sleeping together is, spooning should be a piece of cake.  :grin:


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I wanted Hiroshi to be the complete opposite.  I didn't want him to make any excuses for Miki (something like "oh, well, I can't help it if Miki likes girls now, so I guess I've got to forgive her", or even "Wow, hot.").  No double standards.  To him, cheating is cheating.  Leaving someone - no matter who/what sex you're leaving for - is still leaving someone.
Not to generalize, but that type of image is often more associated with people from small towns (compared to those from bigger urban cities).  Small-town values are simple, and more often than not people hold onto them very strongly.


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But actually, I side with Miki in this story, in this specific case.  Maybe that night with Aya was kind of her trial run (not to sound cruel).  She couldn't possibly know what was in her heart until she tried it all out.  It would blow for her to break up with Hiroshi with the intention of hooking up with Aya, and then find that she and Aya have absolutely no chemistry together.  Part of her coming to an understanding about what she felt involved spending that night with Aya and doing naughty things.
Indeed. If Miki and Aya hadn't spent that first night together, Miki's mind would still be full of so many questions, conflicting thoughts, and self-doubt that she'd probably just snap one day.  At least in this way, some things were made more clear for her.


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And now it's time for me to stop pulling things out of JFC's butt.  Hahaha!
It's multi-talented, don'cha know? It does more than just sit on chairs and protect my tailbone.  WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  :shakeit:

 :lol:


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What's the answer?  Not even I know.  Time to write fluff.  Hahaha.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY FLUFF!!  :w00t:

JPH!P :heart:'s kuro808, Fushigidane, ChrNo, Jab & marimari. Always.

Offline Amarghetta

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #42 on: June 07, 2007, 10:34:15 PM »
But actually, I side with Miki in this story, in this specific case.  Maybe that night with Aya was kind of her trial run (not to sound cruel).  She couldn't possibly know what was in her heart until she tried it all out.

You're starting to scare me... (Not!)

That sounds a lot like things I've said and done before. (One of my many peculiar ideas about human interaction and relationships.)
And, also I'm siding with Miki in this. ;)

Offline OTN1

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #43 on: June 14, 2007, 01:44:49 PM »
That little cheat Miki getting our sympathies.  How does she do it?!  Hahaha.
About Hiroshi: If Miki don't wants him, I do  :roll:
He's quite the catch, huh?  I'm glad he came across as sounding like a nice man.  Nothing but the best for Miki, right?

Did you all forget about this story?  I didn't!  But it was on hold while I finished those ridiculous chapters of fluff.  So now that I wrote 20 chapters of fluff in a 10 chapter slot, get ready for angsty payback here.

Chapter 6

The next day was full of tension.  Hiroshi left first thing in the morning.  He didn't speak a word to me, except in his general "goodbye" to everyone when he stepped out the door.  My mother had been eying me the entire time, and I knew that she wanted to ask me what was going on.  She must have heard the commotion the night before, and only a fool wouldn't have noticed the distinctive atmosphere the house had been thrown into.  The second Hiroshi stepped out of the door, my mother started to turn to me, but I ran up the stairs before she could catch my eye.  I got ready and ran back down, claiming that I had a lot of errands to run before the next day.

I walked slowly through the streets and found myself at a Gusto.  I thought nobody was going to be at a family restaurant on the morning of New Year's Eve, but there was a crowd.  Not packed, but not deserted.  I went in and got myself a booth with a window seat, ordering the all-you-can-drink deal.  I started sipping oolong tea and thinking.

I would see Aya tomorrow, and I didn't know what to say or when to say it.  First thing when I got to her apartment?

"By the way, I sleepwalked right into Hiroshi's bed, took of his clothes, and had sex with him two nights ago," I could say to her.

Or should I not say anything to her?  It's not like she'd find out.  We didn't share the same friends, and Aya and Hiroshi had never met before.  All he knew was that her name was Aya.  He didn't even know her last name, which turned out to be a good thing.  I wouldn't want him to get nasty ideas of going to the press with a juicy story, or some other such nonsense.  Not that he'd do that.  He had a little more class and intelligence than that.

I gulped down a big mouthful of cold tea and grit my teeth.  Was this even worth getting worked up over?  Aya and I didn't even have a definition.  We'd had one night together.  One.  And it had been a moment of infidelity for me.  So technically, she shouldn't get angry because she already knew I was cheating on my boyfriend at the time.  Not only that, but I'd also been asleep when I had been with Hiroshi.  I had had no control over my motor functions.  What's more, I'd been dreaming about her.  How could that not make her happy?

Even with all these justifications and defences, I still felt guilty.  I still felt like she'd murder me if - when - I told her.  And I had to tell her.  I wanted to.  Some crazy part of me wanted to be completely honest and upfront.  There was no other way to proceed with her if I wasn't truthful.  There'd be no point being with her if I lied and covered up big things about myself.  My parents had always emphasised honesty, taking responsibility, and admitting my mistakes.  If I couldn't own up to my mistakes in front of Aya, then there were few people beyond my family that I could trust.

Various scenarios played through my head as I started to drink coffee instead of tea.

In one of them, I'd get to Aya's home and sit down.

"Listen," I'd say seriously.  "Two nights ago when I was asleep, I accidentally walked into Hiroshi's room and slept with him."

She'd look at me in disgust.

"What?!"

"I didn't mean to," I'd say.  "Can you forgive me?"

"Get out."

I'd try and reason with her, but she'd haul me out of her apartment and throw my bag after me.

No, that was a little extreme.  Aya would be mad, but she wouldn't be that unreasonable.  I restarted from my first line.

"Listen.  Two nights ago when I was asleep, I accidentally walked into Hiroshi's room and slept with him."

She'd stare at me long and hard.

"Do you want to get back together with him?"

"No."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"I was asleep.  I was having a dream about you.  I couldn't control it," I would reply sadly.

She'd shake her head in disappointment.

"Dream or not, how can I trust you if you go around doing things like that?"

"But I promise I won't do it again!" I insist.

"You just said you can't control it."

She'd win like that.  She'd tell me that I could stay at her place, but she'd put a futon out in the living room for me.  I'd have to find a new place to live after that.

No, telling her was no good.  Too depressing.

If I didn't say anything...

"Hi, Aya.  I missed you," I'd say, walking in.

She'd lock the door behind me and lead me into her apartment.

"I missed you, too," she'd say back, and she'd pull me into her bedroom for round two, leaving the grand tour of her residence for the next day.

And I would live with my guilt for the rest of my life.

No!  No good.

While I sat and imagined my scenarios, I lost track of time and my surroundings.  I didn't notice someone walk in and sit across from me until she waved a hand in front of my face.

"Micchan," she called out.

I blinked, looking up.  Only Hiroshi and a few other close friends called me that anymore.

"Nakanoko-chan!" I mumbled in surprise.

I hadn't seen her in about three months.  She worked in Asahikawa and didn't have much time to visit home.  We kept in touch through mail, but even those had been sparse, especially in the past two months with Aya being around and the holidays approaching.

"What are you doing here all alone and with that long face?"

Nakanoko Yuu was one of those people who simply embodied the words "cheerful" and "cool" in a breathtakingly perfect mix.  She was hip and had everyone fawning over her, trying to be her best friend, and she was happy, always sparing a smile for her friends and even strangers.  We'd met at the beginning of high school and had taken a liking to each other immediately even though our personalities didn't seem compatible at first.  I considered her one of my closest friends.

I ignored her question.

"What am I doing?  What are you doing?  I haven't seen you in months!" I laughed to soften the statement.

"I brought my boyfriend home for the holidays," she replied. 

So Nakanoko finally decided to introduce him to the family.  I suppressed an amused smile.  Her conservative parents would be in for quite the surprise.

"Your parents will be thrilled," I said innocently.

She smirked.

"I need to show them that I'm living in the world, not a convent," she quipped.  "But what about you?  What's your deal?  What's wrong?"

Oh, what an interesting predicament.  To tell the truth or not.  That was the question.  I hadn't told her much about Aya, other than the fact that I'd made a new friend from Tokyo.

"I broke up with Hiroshi," I blurted out.

That much I had to tell her.  She knew him, too, and would find out anyway.  Her face broke out into a distressed expression.

"Oh no.  What happened?"

I sighed and tried my best to explain.

"I've just been getting really antsy living here, and he and I were in a rut.  I was the one who broke it off with him."

She looked sympathetic, but she was smarter than that.  She knew that wasn't my big news.  I couldn't keep things from her, and it troubled me.

"Anything else?"

"I'm moving to Tokyo tomorrow."

"Wow!" she cried out, and then quickly slapped her hand down over her mouth, continuing in a quieter voice.  "Tokyo?  Micchan... why?"

I sighed again.

"I need a complete change of pace.  And, uh, I have this friend there who'll put me up for a bit."

"Guy or girl?" she quizzed.

"Girl."

She breathed out a sigh of relief.

"For a moment I thought you'd met some Taro off the street and let him trick you into moving in with him."

I stayed silent, in pain.

"You didn't," she gasped, seeing my look, and I turned red.

"No way, Micchan," she said in disbelief.

"I, uh, I didn't mean to..." I stuttered.

"So you did meet a new guy after all.  Who is he?  How'd you meet him?  And how do you know this friend, by the way?"

So she hadn't quite figured it all out.  That has half a relief.

"No, it's not like that exactly," I denied calmly.  "And I met that friend here."

Nakanoko let it go through her mind.

"I can accept that," she said.  "But why so sad?  You're the one who broke things off with Hiro-kun, right?"

I nodded.

"But last night I accidentally, uh... I kind of..."

"One last time together, huh?" she finished for me.

"But I was sleepwalking," I added hurriedly.

She gave me a disbelieving look, but she must have believed me in the end.  She knew I did weird things like that.

"Okay, so you guys had sex one last time.  Big deal.  You did that with Nakajima-kun, right?"

"That was different.  This time I feel guilty," I said uncomfortably.

"Guilty?"

She tasted the word, rolling it around on her tongue before continuing.

"One often feels guilty about something like that when there's another guy involved.  Another new love or crush."

I took a gulp of coffee.

"I..."

I had no idea what to say.

"Oh my god!" Nakanoko exclaimed.  "You slept with someone else!"

The entire family restaurant must have turned around to look at us.  On the outside I remained calm, but on the inside I spazzed out.

"I can't believe it.  And you didn't tell me," she scoffed.

Shut up, Nakanoko.

"And how was I supposed to tell you when you'd freak out?" I asked.

"Why would I freak out?" she laughed.

"Because it wasn't a guy," I mumbled.

Dead silence.

Somewhere in the back of mind, I thought Gee, I hope she doesn't announce this, too, the restaurant.

She studied me, presumably to make sure I wasn't pulling her leg.

"Micchan, I know that your life is boring and this town really lacks entertainment besides that silly animal history museum you like so much, but were you so desperate that you had to go and score with a girl?" she asked me.

I flared up, insulted, disappointed.  I was about to speak my mind when Nakanoko put a hand on my arm.

"I'm joking," she said in a monotone, a twinkle in her eye.

I relaxed a little.  It seemed like she was going to take it in stride.  I could always trust her to remain cool about the weirdest thing, especially when I told her about the time this strange friend of mine licked the sole of my foot, claiming that he thought it was a friendly gesture.

Nakanoko resumed with a serious expression.

"I have no clue how you got yourself into that one, but here's my advice: do yourself a favour and don't get in way over your head with something you don't understand."

What?  Did she mean give up on Aya?

"And what I mean by that," she clarified, "is that if you're confused about your feelings and don't know what you want, don't do anything drastic like moving halfway across the country."

Just then, her phone rang and she picked it up to read the message.

"Aoki-chan's arrived," she announced.  "You want to join us?"

Aoki Yuka was almost the spitting image of me.  Cool, collected, honest, kind of plain, and fairly easygoing around friends.  If something wasn't funny, she wouldn't laugh.  If she was bored, she wouldn't hide it.  She and Nakanoko had been friends since elementary school, and I'd become friends with her after meeting Nakanoko.  We got along fairly well, but we usually needed a third person there with us to move things along.  Otherwise we'd just sit there and be content to pass the time in silence, staring at the television for hours.

As much as I liked Aoki, I didn't want to be in a group situation.  Having her around would complicate matters.  We didn't share secrets.  Nakanoko had heard about every person I'd slept with before (not that I had a huge list or something), but Aoki had not.  That was just the kind of friends we were.

"No, thanks," I declined politely.  "I need to do some more thinking."

"Don't worry yourself to death," she said with a wink, standing up to leave.

"Wait," I said before she could go.  "You're not grossed out, are you?"

She snorted.

"I'm surprised, I'll give you that.  But grossed out?  No.  You do what you want.  And come on, I'm a little too mature and open-minded for something like that to gross me out."

I sighed in relief on the inside.

"When did you grow up?" I asked with a mock sneer to hide my gratefulness.

"While you were off exploring home team territory," she retorted.

I rolled my eyes and gulped down the last of my coffee.

"Go meet Aoki-chan," I shooed her off.  "Say hi for me."

"Will I see you before tomorrow?" Nakanoko asked, turning serious.

I shook my head.

"Probably not."

"Then good luck.  But think about it carefully.  Only if she's worth it.  Only if you know what you feel is actually a feeling for her and not just the overwhelming need to get out of this lovely hometown of ours."

Her words echoed in my head long after we said goodbye.

I had to decide what I felt for Aya.  Maybe it really was just my desire to get out of town.  But I had told Hiroshi that I couldn't help who I fell in love with.  Had I meant that in a deep, love sense, or just in the general way of having feelings that went just a step beyond normal friendship?

No, it couldn't be just my desire to leave town.  I really did like her and want to keep spending time with her.  There was love potential.

Right?

If there was that potential, then I had to figure out what I was going to do about this "last night with Hiroshi" issue.  That could throw a wrench in the works and make everything grind to an untimely halt.

I got up and went to pay my bill.  Thinking alone wasn't helping.  I needed a revelation brought on by a lightning bolt.  Skies were clear, though, so no chance of that.  I'd have to wait.  I prayed for a miracle before the next day.

I went for a two hour walk in the hills while contemplating life, and then spent the remainder of the day doing what I was supposed to do.  I picked up my final pay from Baachan, said goodbye, and then went home. 

To my relief, my mother was out when I got home, so I went directly to my room and sat down with a magazine.  I flipped through it mindlessly.  I was still wondering what to do.  My phone lay right beside me.  I hadn't had any contact with Aya so far, and it was already four in the afternoon.  I wondered if she was being grilled by her manager.  It was a holiday, but the entertainment world never seemed to sleep.  I wondered if she was okay.

Of course she's okay, I scolded myself.

The girl had an iron will, and she'd been in the business for so many years.  She'd have had to have built up good defences against harsh words.

As if knowing I was thinking about her, she e-mailed me.  When the phone rang, I simply knew it was her, and I checked to see what she had to say.

I just got back from a meeting with some of the top executives of my company.  They're furious with me and they're probably going to fire me.  No final decision yet, though.  But you know what?  I don't care.  It was worth it to meet you.  What are you up to now?  Have time to talk?

I froze up in fear and guilt.  She'd lost her job because she spent two months hanging out with me.  I was going to be moving into her apartment for an unspecified amount of time.  She wanted me there.  She wanted me by her side and, presumably, for her only.  Nobody else.  Not Hiroshi.  Nobody. 

What I had done last night had been out of my control.  I had been asleep.  But would she see it that way?  And on second thought, had it really been beyond my control?  What if a subconscious part of me had wanted it?  A last time with Hiroshi just to make sure...

All I knew is that what I had to say couldn't be said over the phone or in an e-mail.  I had to stand in front of her and tell her.

I raised my phone and typed.

I'm sorry.  Don't do anything crazy.  Try to save your job.  I don't want you to lose it 'cause of me.  I'm at home now.  Go ahead and call.

I sat there with a icy fear growing in my stomach.  I waited for the phone to ring, but it was taking a long time.  Maybe she didn't want to call.  Maybe I was supposed to call.  I was about to dial her number when I received another message from her.

Ug.  Got to go again.  Boss called.  Sorry!

I breathed a sigh of relief.  I'd been temporarily saved.  But this safe haven that was her ignorance wouldn't last forever.  I would either reveal everything to her and get chewed out, or I would hide it and be eaten alive by my guilt.  Either way, there would be a lot of gnashing teeth.

I wrote her back.

It's okay.  I'll contact you tomorrow when I land.  Good luck!

I felt cheap adding a little heart and a smiley face, but I did it anyway.

I continued to look at my magazines and do idiotic love quizzes until my mother came home an hour later.  She came straight to my room and didn't bother to knock.  She whipped the door open and glared at me.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" she asked.

I liked being friends with my mother, but sometimes there were things I didn't want to talk to her about.  Details about sex were some of those things.  Now added to that was all talk pertaining to me looking at Aya in a different way.

I closed my magazine.

"It's complicated, Mom.  Hiroshi and I aren't friends anymore."

She looked dismayed.

"Miki-chan, he's such a nice boy."

"I know," I huffed and then calmed down, deciding not to take things out on my mother.  "He's just not right for me."

"What did you argue about last night?" my nosey mom ploughed on.

I grew irked, but kept my composure.

"About me moving.  About breaking up with him.  My reasons and all that."

I could tell that my mother wanted to ask me more, but she could sense my genuine discomfort, and for once in her life, she towed it in and let her daughter be at peace.

"Well, I hope your spirits aren't too dampened for tonight.  We'll be heading to Grandma's house soon.  You're still coming, right?"

New Year's celebrations would go on forever and ever no matter what crises I faced.  Holidays were so reliable that way.  Always there, only changing once in a blue moon.  I could choose to skip it and spend my time here, but what good would that do?  I'd accomplish nothing but scaring myself.  I nodded at my mother.

"Of course."

My final duty to the family before I flew off into an unfamiliar land.

But, oh, what a crappy way to end a year.  With a heavy set of chains weighing me down.  When I went to the shrine on New Year's morning, I would pray for a good start to the year.  I would pray for Aya's forgiveness.  Even Hiroshi's forgiveness.  I'd pray to stop making mistakes and become the kind of adult that Aya would appreciate.
« Last Edit: June 14, 2007, 09:29:18 PM by OTN1 »

Offline rndmnwierd

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #44 on: June 14, 2007, 02:33:19 PM »
I hope Miki makes the right decision and tells Aya what happened.

Offline black velvet

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #45 on: June 14, 2007, 05:03:24 PM »
^ Me, too. I don't think that Aya can call Miki a completely bad person because of her honesty. It's not like Miki to hide things and she knows that. She needs to tell Aya or she will feel guilty every time they do something, and that is no way to live life. Also, I wouldn't completely put Miki at fault. I feel sorry for the guilt she is feeling, but she did have a nice relationship with Hiroshi, despite being, I don't know, a little bored? It's hard to have a sudden rush of feelings.

We all know that Aya and Miki are practically soul mates, but the Miki from another world doesn't know that. Aya understands it because she already had these feelings for Miki, but I'm sure she was reassured about being soul mates when she slept the Miki in this world.

And, you know, it doesn't really matter which world Aya was in as she was bound to lose her job it seems!

Offline JFC

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #46 on: June 15, 2007, 04:59:00 AM »
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The second Hiroshi stepped out of the door, my mother started to turn to me, but I ran up the stairs before she could catch my eye.  I got ready and ran back down, claiming that I had a lot of errands to run before the next day.
She probably is also trying to convince/remind herself about all she has to do. The more she can keep herself busy, the more she can get distracted and the longer she won't have to deal with what happened the previous night.



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I would see Aya tomorrow, and I didn't know what to say or when to say it. 

...

Or should I not say anything to her?  It's not like she'd find out.  We didn't share the same friends, and Aya and Hiroshi had never met before.  All he knew was that her name was Aya.  He didn't even know her last name, which turned out to be a good thing.  I wouldn't want him to get nasty ideas of going to the press with a juicy story, or some other such nonsense.  Not that he'd do that.  He had a little more class and intelligence than that.
Even though she knows how much she hurt him, Miki trusts Hiroshi to not become a scumbag (even though some might say he'd be a fool NOT to sell his story).


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Was this even worth getting worked up over?  Aya and I didn't even have a definition.  We'd had one night together.  One.  And it had been a moment of infidelity for me.  So technically, she shouldn't get angry because she already knew I was cheating on my boyfriend at the time.  Not only that, but I'd also been asleep when I had been with Hiroshi.  I had had no control over my motor functions.  What's more, I'd been dreaming about her.  How could that not make her happy?
Ah, the complexities of the heart.


...


They suck, don't they?



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I still felt guilty.  I still felt like she'd murder me if - when - I told her.  And I had to tell her.  I wanted to.  Some crazy part of me wanted to be completely honest and upfront.  There was no other way to proceed with her if I wasn't truthful.  There'd be no point being with her if I lied and covered up big things about myself.
Honest Miki. It gets her in trouble sometimes, but it's still one of the reasons we love her so. She's straight-up about everything. There's little, if anything mysterious about her. What you see is what you get, flaws and all.   :heart:


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I didn't notice someone walk in and sit across from me until she waved a hand in front of my face.

"Micchan," she called out.

I blinked, looking up.  Only Hiroshi and a few other close friends called me that anymore.

"Nakanoko-chan!" I mumbled in surprise.
Oooh, another friend? I wonder if Miki will seek some "third party advice"?


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You're the one who broke things off with Hiro-kun, right?"

I nodded.

"But last night I accidentally, uh... I kind of..."

"One last time together, huh?" she finished for me.

"But I was sleepwalking," I added hurriedly.

She gave me a disbelieving look, but she must have believed me in the end.  She knew I did weird things like that.

"Okay, so you guys had sex one last time.  Big deal.  You did that with Nakajima-kun, right?"

"That was different.  This time I feel guilty," I said uncomfortably.
So this wasn't the first time Miki did this??? :o  She really should see someone about that sleepwalking problem.


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"Because it wasn't a guy," I mumbled.

Dead silence.

Somewhere in the back of mind, I thought Gee, I hope she doesn't announce this, too, the restaurant.
Let's just hope Nakanoko-chan can be trusted to be discreet about it.


Quote
"Then good luck.  But think about it carefully.  Only if she's worth it.  Only if you know what you feel is actually a feeling for her and not just the overwhelming need to get out of this lovely hometown of ours."
In almost any other situation, there would be little doubt about how Miki felt about Aya. However circumstances here are FAR from typical.  Right now Miki's being torn in multiple directions, all of which she wants to go in, but which are ones that, at the same time she isn't yet completely sure about.  This last statement by Nakanoko-chan is just what Miki needed to hear. No judgements, no "if it was me" type of thing, nothing at all that tries to influence Miki's decision in any way. If Miki chooses to take this step, then she has to do it for the right reasons. If she's doing it just to escape the hometown life that she's scared of being trapped in, it's not fair to Miki, not fair to Aya, and even not fair to Hiroshi. Miki needs to know why she wants to go. There are undoubtedly multiple reasons for WANTING to go; Miki knows this because she's been standing at that line in the sand for a long time now, debating about whether or not to step over it. The question now is, what was it that finally pushed her enough to step over that line? Once Miki can figure that out, she'll know if she's doing the right thing.


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"Well, I hope your spirits aren't too dampened for tonight.  We'll be heading to Grandma's house soon.  You're still coming, right?"
Maybe her grandmother's can help. Grandmother's are wise, after all (so long as they aren't so prudish that they're not willing to be open-minded). 

JPH!P :heart:'s kuro808, Fushigidane, ChrNo, Jab & marimari. Always.

Offline Mikan

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #47 on: June 15, 2007, 12:13:02 PM »
nakanoko's reply is just freaking gold. Ah, I was gonna bump this thread Ive been dying for an update..and now Im dying to find out Ayas reaction when and if Miki tells her of her sleepsexing..

Read the complete Doki Doki!!

Offline OTN1

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #48 on: June 15, 2007, 01:25:18 PM »
Quote
This last statement by Nakanoko-chan is just what Miki needed to hear. No judgements, no "if it was me" type of thing, nothing at all that tries to influence Miki's decision in any way.
Yeah, that's a very good way of putting it.  Good thinking.
So this wasn't the first time Miki did this??? :o  She really should see someone about that sleepwalking problem.
Oh, no.  I meant she slept with Nakajima one last time.  She didn't sleepsex* with him.
Quote
Let's just hope Nakanoko-chan can be trusted to be discreet about it.
I based her on a couple of friends that I have, so hah, she'd better be good and keep her mouth shut.

Glad you like her, too, Mikan.  Looks like she's a hit.  Hahaha. Too bad she's not even a secondary character.  More like tertiary.  :lol:

Good analysis, black velvet!  And yes, Aya has trouble keeping a hold on that job of hers.  We'll see what happens.

*rndmnwierd, thanks again for that term.  Love it.

I've thought up of some insane directions to take this story once (or is that IF?!) the relationship/definition thing is wrapped up.  Dare I try?

Offline Mikan

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Knowing is half the battle
« Reply #49 on: June 15, 2007, 01:55:13 PM »
I had some time and motivation to google sleepsexing. Its an actual condition known as "sexomnia"  :lol:

Quote
Three researchers from the universities of Ottawa and Toronto and the Toronto Western Hospital, described "sexomnia" as a mix between having a wet dream and sleepwalking

For the entire report heres the link:
http://www.health24.com/news/Sexuality/1-944,23049.asp

Facinating stuff..
Sorry for being slightly off topic

Read the complete Doki Doki!!

Offline rndmnwierd

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #50 on: June 15, 2007, 02:18:55 PM »
Sexomnia, lol. Sleepsexing sounds cooler. And you can have the word OTN, as long as I get 10% royalties.
« Last Edit: June 15, 2007, 02:20:04 PM by rndmnwierd »

Offline JFC

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #51 on: June 18, 2007, 01:26:18 AM »
Quote
Oh, no.  I meant she slept with Nakajima one last time.  She didn't sleepsex* with him.
Well, that's both comforting and NOT comforting at the same time. :dunno:

Just gotta remember it's part of the awesomely angsty story. ;D


I had some time and motivation to google sleepsexing. Its an actual condition known as "sexomnia"  :lol:
...

Facinating stuff..
Sorry for being slightly off topic
Wow. :lol:

JPH!P :heart:'s kuro808, Fushigidane, ChrNo, Jab & marimari. Always.

Offline Amarghetta

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #52 on: June 18, 2007, 02:39:41 AM »
That little cheat Miki getting our sympathies.  How does she do it?!  Hahaha.
Because, even if what she's doing could be considered wrong by others, she's just being true to herself. She embraces her selfishness and lives with it. Not many people can be/are this frank about such matters... :yep:

Ok, I admit it. I'm a Miki fan!  :love:

Offline OTN1

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Re: Knowing is half the battle
« Reply #53 on: June 18, 2007, 10:04:01 PM »
I had some time and motivation to google sleepsexing. Its an actual condition known as "sexomnia"  :lol:

Quote
Three researchers from the universities of Ottawa and Toronto and the Toronto Western Hospital, described "sexomnia" as a mix between having a wet dream and sleepwalking

For the entire report heres the link:
http://www.health24.com/news/Sexuality/1-944,23049.asp
Canadian researchers have too much time on their hands.  As do you, Mikan.  Hahaha! "Oh my" is about all I can say.

Yes, Amarghetta.  Simply yes.  I lik how you put it.  Embracing her selfishness, being frank about who she is...  That's what makes Miki unique and likeable (at least to some people).

I've been quite busy lately, so no new writing from me.  The next chapter is proving to be difficult to start, too, so I have to spend some more time thinking anyway.

Offline JFC

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #54 on: June 19, 2007, 12:10:17 AM »
Take your time dude. We all know it'll be worth the wait. :pimp:
« Last Edit: June 21, 2007, 05:31:57 AM by JFC »

JPH!P :heart:'s kuro808, Fushigidane, ChrNo, Jab & marimari. Always.

Offline OTN1

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #55 on: June 20, 2007, 10:20:55 AM »
Thank you.  Here we go again:

Chapter 7

Things always got interesting at my family New Year gatherings, and that was a very mild way of putting it.  Some of my family members held onto opinions as if they were clutching hard-earned gold medals at an Olympics award ceremony.  As I sat there and watched them cheerfully bicker away that evening, I thought about myself and my own views.  Going to university must have opened up my eyes and allowed me to develop a mind with broader horizons.  I was a small town girl, but I wasn't completely set in my traditional ways.  I could see what was out there and I wanted to taste it.

I wonder what would have happened if I had moved to Tokyo liked I'd wanted to when I was a teenager.  Maybe that would have been the equivalent of going to university.  I would have been thrust into a whole new different world.  A cosmopolitan city full of variety.  A completely new and different education.  Maybe one that was much better than the one I got sitting in a lecture room and taking notes on a piece of paper.  Although to my university's credit, it allowed an unusually high number of foreign students to enrol, so while economics did little to expand the scope of my cultural understanding, talking to those foreign students did.

All "could have been" and "what if" statements pushed aside, the undeniable fact now was that I was about to move to the big city.  I was about to become re-educated.  A new chapter of my life was beginning.  Or maybe it wasn't a new chapter.  Maybe it was a whole new book.  A whole new life.  That's how it felt.

At around half past eleven that evening, I was getting another drink from the kitchen when I decided to check my phone for messages.  I flipped it open and saw that I'd missed a call twenty minutes ago.  A call from Aya.  In addition to the missed call, I had a new e-mail.  It was from her.

Just wanted to hear your voice one last time this year, but I guess it's okay.  Have a Happy New Year!!

And that was how this girl made my heart melt.  Forgetting my worries, and having had a few drinks and feeling fairly relaxed, I called her up.

"Hi!" she exclaimed into the phone.

Was she drunk?

"Hi, Aya-chan," I said quietly in a vague and stupid voice.

"I called you just now but you didn't pick up," she stated.

"Yeah, I didn't hear the phone.  I was with family.  Thanks, though."

There was a bit of a silence as we both waited for the other to continue.

"What are you up to tonight?" she asked finally.

"I'm at my grandmother's house with my family.  We're doing the usual.  Eating, drinking, arguing, and watching TV," I grinned.  "What about you?"

"Lucky," she whined, and I could imagine her pouting.  "I didn't have time to go down to see my parents so I'm just out with a couple of friends."

It sounded like she was in a busy place.  I could hear a lot of buzzing going on in the background.  I wondered what friends she was with.  She had mentioned her friends from time to time in the past few months, and of course I knew some of their faces because some were her fellow singers and stars.  I had an idea of which ones she was close to and which ones she simply hung out with, though.

"Shiba-chan?" I asked, calling to mind a picture of the former Melon Kinenbi member.

In the media, they always claimed to actually be good friends outside of work.  I had found out that this was true.  Aya spoke about her as one would a close friend.  It was nice to know that not everything in the newspaper was faked.

"Yeah, among others," Aya replied perkily.

Well, at least she was in good company and having fun.  Let her end the year on a happy note.  I just hoped that tomorrow, the start of the New Year, wouldn't be a big disappointment for her.

"That's good," I said, lacking anything better to say.  "And how'd things with work go?"

"My boss calling was a false alarm.  Still no decision yet.  It might take a few days, so I'm not thinking about it 'till then," she replied in good spirits.

There was that optimistic side of her.  I really liked it.

"Good to hear," I said with a smile in my voice.

"Anyway, I'd better get going because we're off to go... haha, somewhere.  I'm not sure where," Aya laughed a contagious laugh that made me chuckle.

"Okay, you go do whatever it is you have to do.  I've got to get back to my family and make sure they don't kill one another."

"See you tomorrow?" she asked in a voice that reverted instantly from loud and jittery to shy and hopeful.

I swallowed hard, pushing my guilt back down into the pit of my stomach.

"I'll contact you when I land," I said quietly.

"Can't wait.  Bye-bye."

"Bye-bye," I mumbled after she'd hung up.

With a sigh, I closed my phone, put it in my bag, and then gathered up my energy to make my re-appearance in the living room, trying to forget all the bad and focus on the good.

I slept at my grandmother's house that evening.  After we brought in the official start of the New Year with our traditional jump and then a silence where we all e-mailed our friends, my two cousins and I went off to go to bed.  We were similar in age and got along pretty well, so we were able to chat and laugh a bit before turning out the lights in our shared room.  A little crowded, but it kept us warm.  It was exactly what I needed to relax after a tense day and to forget about my worries.

In the morning, we woke up bright and early and went to the local shrine to open up the New Year.

As I stood there, my eyes closed, my hands clapped together, I wondered what to wish for.  I could do what I did every year and ask for happiness or success during the year.  But this year, I felt like I owed Aya something approaching gigantic, so I prayed for her.  Of course I included myself in my wish, but it was mainly for her sake.

I hope that whatever happens with me, Aya's happy.  If she's upset by what I've done, please let her get over it quickly and find happiness.  Let this year be a good year for her.

It was all superstition.  I didn't believe there were great powers in the rocks and trees making sure I had a wonderful life.  But there wasn't much else I could do.  Not for another few hours.  At least praying at a shrine calmed me down, surrounded by family and friends and the natural tranquility of the shrine grounds.

The morning passed by quickly, and suddenly it was time to leave.  I finished packing in a hurry, positive that I'd get to Tokyo and find that I had forgotten to bring my favourite jeans or skirt.

When I went downstairs, my mother went on about how she was going to miss me.  She gave me a big, smothering hug, and then pushed me away, telling me to leave quickly or she'd start crying.  My father remained stoic the entire time.  He would be driving me to the train station, so there was no need for him to say goodbye yet.  I said goodbye to my mother, smiling to prove to her that I really was happy and that this was really what I wanted.

The ride to the station was quiet.  We didn't speak, so I flipped on the radio and listened to some oldies from the seventies and eighties.

When we got to the station, my father lifted my bag out of the trunk and put it beside the car.

"From here on, you're on your own," he said.

Superficially, he meant that I'd have to find my own way to the airport, but in a deeper sense, he was reminding me that the moment I stepped off this island, he wouldn't be able to come and help me in a jiffy if need be.  I'd have to find someone else to come and fix the clogged up sink pipes and spent light bulbs.

"Take care of yourself," he finished simply.

No big speech, no angry words, no sad words, not a hint of emotion on his face.  That was my father.  I knew that he really did feel a whole slew of things and that he would miss me terribly, because I took after him.  I often hid what I felt, too, if I thought it would cause a scene or was too exaggerated.  The complete lack of emotion meant that there was lots of emoting going on inside.

"Thank you," I replied.

Thank you for driving me to the station.  Thank you for letting your baby go off into the world without (too much) objection.  Thank you for taking care of me for almost twenty-six years.

Words left unspoken.  Words that I meant.  Words that he knew already.

I smiled at my father one last time.  He didn't smile back, but for a moment, his eyes weakened, and I could see all the worry and hurt, but all the happiness and curiosity that he felt for me, reflected in them.  I picked up my bag, turned around, and didn't look back as I walked off.

The airport was easy to get to, and the crowds were mercifully thin, so while my bag became tedious and heavy, at least there was enough room for me and it to travel side-by-side.  The entire trip to the airport I spent thinking about what I was going to say to Aya.  As I checked in at the airport and sat waiting at the gate, I began to wonder what I thought about the whole thing.

What was my opinion about what had happened the previous night with Hiroshi?

I had been so consumed with worry over what Aya would think that I had barely had time to really decide what I thought.

What happened with Hiroshi was, simply put, wrong.  It had been a mistake - an accident.  It wasn't supposed to mean anything, and in fact, it meant very little compared to what I'd been dreaming about.  Of course I still cared for him, but it was quickly fading as other feelings started to take over my heart.  So in the end, what had happened had been out of my control, and not something that Aya should worry about or blame me for.  The fact that I wanted things to work out with her - work out in what way, I didn't yet know, but if we were going to be living together for at least a small passage of time, I didn't want there to be bad blood between us - clearly made The Hiroshi Incident an unimportant issue.

And that was what I thought.  If only Aya would see it that way.

For the plane ride, I reverted back to worrying about what she'd think and say, and dozens of new scenarios ran through my head, ranging from her slapping me to her pretending not to care and then sabotaging my life to get revenge.

Dozing off for the last half hour of the flight brought me a brief respite from my worries.  I woke up just in time to watch us land.

In Sapporo, it had been snowing lightly before taking off, causing a slight delay until it was deemed safe to fly after the twenty minute flurry session had brought itself to a close.  In Tokyo, there was not a hint of the white fluff.  By the time the plane landed it was dark, but still noticeably warmer than back home.  I concentrated on the disembarkation procedure and didn't let my mind wander until I had my luggage in one hand and was safely waiting for a train that would get me out of the airport area.  It was then that I sent Aya an e-mail telling her that I'd arrived and was waiting for a train, followed by a quick e-mail to my mother to tell her I had arrived safely.

Aya's reply was a little delayed, and I laughed inwardly as I wondered if she was suffering from the night before.  She sent me detailed directions to her apartment, and I committed them to memory.  Then, once the train had arrived and I'd found a seat, she sent me another e-mail saying she'd meet me at the station.  I sent one back insisting that I could find her place on my own, but she sent yet another e-mail back telling me to shush up and listen to her.  And so I relented.

Hey, since when do I give up that easily? I asked myself as the dark Tokyo scenery sped by outside the window.

The question remained unanswered because I didn't bother to give it a second.  I was merely following my instinct when dealing with this girl.  It was simply the way it had to be.

It took just a little over forty minutes to get to her station from the airport.  It would have taken less time, but I got a bit confused at one station and ended up missing the train and having to wait for the next one.  I wasn't completely inexperienced in the ways of the Tokyo train system, having been to the city several times before, but I was generally bad at directions, so I never trusted myself to be right, and that's what caused my delay.  It was one of the silly complexes that I'd have to work on fixing now that I had dozens of train lines to choose from in daily life.

As I was walking down the platform to find the station exit where I would meet Aya, someone came up from behind me.

"Hi!  Long time no see!" he said happily.

I looked at him, a man perhaps in his late thirties, my mind racing to find out what thirty-year-old men I knew in Tokyo.  When I studied his face, though, I didn't recognise him.

"I'm sorry?" I asked politely.

I looked at him in confusion, and his face slowly fell, matching my expression.

"Oh, sorry," he mumbled in confusion, taking a closer look at me.  "I thought you were someone I knew.  Sorry."

He bowed his head quickly and peeled away from my presence in embarrassment as I tried not to burst out laughing.  Well, at least my first real human interaction since landing hadn't been dangerous, rude, or a sleazy pick up attempt.  Just an honest case of mistaken identity.  I supposed the back of my head looked very much like many other girls'.

I reached the exit and immediately started scanning the crowd, looking for Aya.  I couldn't find her, so I went to a wall and stood there, waiting nervously.

She appeared a minute later, her hair wet from what I assumed had been a recent shower and wearing a hat and sunglasses, making me smile secretly in amusement.  Her disguise wasn't all that bad since it covered most of her face, but the fact that nobody else was wearing that much head gear made her stand out even more.  I saw her walk towards me, so I saved her some of the trouble, picked up my bag and met her halfway.

"Welcome to Tokyo, Miki-chan," she smiled underneath her "disguise".

"Thank you, Aya-chan," I replied cutely.

"This way."

I followed her out of the station and down the street.

I'll tell her when we get to her place.  That way we can have some privacy so that she can yell and scream and throw me out without causing too much public embarrassment, I decided.

It took about ten minutes to walk to the front of her apartment, during which she asked me how my flight had been and what I felt so far about being in the city.  I answered honestly that the flight had been nerve-wracking and that the people seemed nice enough in Tokyo so far.

I looked up when we stopped in front of a set of doors that would lead us to her place.  From what I could see of it, it was a new building, and it did not look cheap.  Not by a long shot.  For a second - just a tiny second - I wondered what I was doing walking into this rich idol's fancy Tokyo condo when I came from an average-sized house in a small town in the middle of Hokkaido.  I waved the thought off, however, because it was not conducive to making me feel better.

"Like it?" she asked, obviously seeing that I was impressed.

"It suits you," was my reply.

She smirked and took my bag from me, letting me wander in with nothing to weigh me down. 

The lobby was a quiet and pleasant affair, spotless and homely.  The elevator that we stepped into was in pristine condition, boasting trendy paneling, large, clean mirrors on the back wall and ceiling, and a smooth, turbulence-free ascent.

"Seventeenth floor," Aya said as we got in, and I obediently pressed the appropriately marked button.

We rode in silence, and when the doors opened, Aya gestured for me to get out.

"To the left.  Number forty-seven."

I stepped out into a neatly-carpeted hallway.  The lighting was soft and delicate, somehow urging all who passed through to relax and be at peace.  The walls seemed so soft that if I fell against one, I thought that I might feel like I was sinking into warm butter.  This place did everything to make its residents want to stay permanently.  I was already getting the feeling that I didn't want to leave.  I hadn't even seen the inside of Aya's room yet, but I knew that if I lived here for the rest of my life, I'd be content.

I led us down the hallway, counting the numbers as we walked by the doors until we reached number seventeen-forty-seven.  I stood at the door while Aya put my bag down, took her key out, and opened the door.  All I saw was darkness.  I picked up my own bag, and after she indicated for me to walk in, I did so, slipping into the darkness.  She followed right after.

The darkness disappeared promptly.  Aya flicked a switch up, and we were bathed in a bright, warm light, it alone starting to take away the chill that had crept into our bones from the cold winds outside.  I took off my shoes, not even bothering to arrange them neatly, and walked around the living room slowly, inspecting everything briefly.

Her apartment was clean, and so utterly "Aya" that I just let out a laugh.

"What?" she asked.

"It's so you!" I cried out in delight.  "I mean, it's exactly what I expected."

From the pictures on the wall to the plants to the books and magazines she chose to leave on her bookcase, it all matched what I knew about her from the time we'd spent together.  Her small laptop computer sat in a corner beside her television set and DVD player, all dust-free and brand new models.

This place was a home, not just a temporary residence that she was using until she decided to move back to her hometown.

"I hope that's a good thing," she said with an uncertain laugh from behind me.

I heard her walk up beside me.

"Definitely," I assured her with a smile.

This place... I could live in forever.  I forgot about Hiroshi.  All I could think about was waking up every day in this room with her and going about our daily life in peace and harmony.

"Come on, there's more," she said, linking her arm around mine and pulling me along.

I let myself be taken on the tour.

"This is the kitchen," she said in a childish way.

I huffed out a laugh, as it was quite obviously a kitchen and I had no need for her to tell me so.  It was clean, a few recently-washed dishes sitting and drying beside the sink.  She pulled me over to a door and opened it.

"Bathroom," she announced, pointing to the invitingly large bath in the room that called out for me to fill it up with hot water and sink into it in order to warm my bones.

She pulled me past two doors.

"Toilet," she said, "and a closet full of cleaning junk beside it."

She didn't need to open those up as neither would be very big nor impressive.

"And last, my bedroom."

She slid open a door, and in the tatami room that lay behind it was her Ayaesque bedroom.  A few bookcases, a nice poster of some landscape, a large closet presumably stuffed with her mounds of clothes, and a chest of drawers that doubled as a vanity, makeup and other accessories neatly lined up on it.

"It's usually very messy.  I just cleaned it up to impress you," she admitted after seeing that I was surveying the types and brands of makeup she had.

I could imagine it becoming awfully cluttered, but she struck me as the kind of person who would clean it up before it got too bad.

She hadn't lied before when she had said the bed was big enough for two, but I tried not to keep my eyes on it for too long because I didn't want her to get the wrong idea.  Not that that would be such a bad thing.  It just didn't feel right.  Not yet.  Nonetheless, the bed looked comfortable and warm, and I wondered if I'd ever be allowed to sleep in it.

I instantly remembered what I had to tell her, but her arm encircling my waist and pulling me close to her made me hesitate, and then it was too late.

"So, do you like my place?" she asked.

I nodded, starting to sweat a little, and it wasn't just because of her proximity.

"It's really nice, Aya.  Like... really nice," I said.

"You don't mind living here?"

Why would she ask something like that?  Of course I wouldn't mind.  The question was more appropriately directed at her.

"I think I should ask you that.  You don't mind if I stay here for a few weeks 'till I find my own place?"

I chuckled to myself, imagining what kind of place I could afford.  Nothing as glorious and clean as this place.  I would have to start small and work my way up.

"You can stay longer," she said, not specifying how much longer.

"How much longer?" I asked curiously.

"As long as you can tolerate living with me," she said, squeezing me gently.

That was it.  I had to tell her now.  She would be the one not able to tolerate living with me once she knew.  I opened my mouth to speak when she interrupted me.

"Did you eat dinner?"

It was half past nine in the evening and I hadn't eaten, but I was so nervous that I wasn't a bit hungry.

"No, but I'm not hungry," I claimed.

She looked at me, doubt strewn across her face like a veil, but she ended up believing me.

"Want to take a shower then?"

Oh my god, I thought.  With her?

I didn't let my terror show, but I think she sensed it, and she let me go, pushing me to the bathroom she'd shown me earlier.

"I have to make a phone call, so go ahead and get cleaned up.  Sorry I didn't fill the bath up earlier, but you can try that out tomorrow since it takes forever.  And don't worry, I'll be here when you get out and we can just stay in this evening."

I let out an inward sigh of relief, and I thanked her, grabbing some things from my bag and letting her provide me with a clean towel. 

As I let the magnificent high-pressure shower wash away my sweat and urge some more warmth into my muscles, I started to decide on the best way to tell her about the incident.  I came to the conclusion that short and to the point was best, and so once I got out of the shower, I would talk to her right away.

I was in there for twenty-five minutes, washing my hair and body carefully, stalling and running up a bill with all the hot water I was using.  When I finished, I put on some neutral pyjamas that could double as a quick getaway track suit in the event that she threw me out suddenly, and feeling quite a bit refreshed, I left the bathroom.

Aya was still on the phone when I went into the living room, and she looked up at me, holding up a finger to indicate that she'd be done soon.

"So Tuesday at eleven?" she asked, confirming some sort of plan.

I sat down on the couch, and leaned back, pretending not to pay attention.

"No, I hate that one.  Oh, come on, we went there last time.  Can you choose another place?" she whined

She paused to listen to the response.

"Ah, that's much better!" she said, her voice reverting to its cheerful state.  "You're the best!"

She said goodbye to whoever was on the line, and then apologised to me, getting up from the floor and sitting beside me on the couch.

"So, how'd you like the shower?" she asked.

"It's great.  Much better than the one I have at home," I laughed, finding it cute how she kept checking to make sure I was enjoying everything I encountered.

"Good," she said happily, and she snuggled into me.

I tried not to groan.  How could I start to talk to her when she was being all close and cute?

"Are you actually happy you came here?" she suddenly asked with uncertainty in her voice.

"O-of course," I stammered in surprise.  "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just seem a little quiet."

There I had gone making her feel like a bad host.  I put a hand on her leg comfortingly.

"I'm just a little overwhelmed," I said, which was the truth.  "But I like being here very much."

I just don't like keeping things from you, I finished in my mind.

"Good."

Now I really couldn't say anything.  Not in this situation.  Maybe I'd wait a few minutes until she moved away, but she didn't move away.  She started to ask me what I wanted to do the next day and the next weekend, and she had all sorts of suggestions of what we should do together.  I tried to follow her fluctuating topics, but I found myself clumsily flailing about, hiding my distraction behind the guise of being overwhelmed.  She sensed my tension.

"Bedtime," she said cutely when I tried to stifle a yawn.

Oh brother.

She showed me to her room again, and while she got changed, I inspected her bed, checking the thickness of the blankets, the bounciness of the mattress, and the position of the window, trying to judge whether it would impede efforts to sleep in by letting in the sunlight too early.

"The window faces west, so don't worry too much about the morning sunlight," she informed me, reading my mind.

It had the effect of relaxing me, and I slipped in under the covers without invitation, curling up on my side and facing the wall.  She soon followed after turning out the light, and things got very uncomfortable again for me the minute that happened.

"You're really tense, huh?" she said, crowding me and treating me like a teddy bear, speaking with her mouth a few centimetres away from my ear.  "I know this is all really new and weird for you, but try to relax.  I'm not going to bite your head off or do anything bad to you.  And if I do, you can hit me and yell at me for being a moron."

I giggled despite myself, and she hugged me even more tightly.

"Yeah, I'm just, um..." I mumbled, trying to find some way to lead into what I had to say.  "I-"

But she pinched my side.

"Maybe you should give your brain a rest.  It seems fried."

She put her hands on my shoulders and started to massage them, and somewhere in the back of my mind, some crazy statistical information about the high percentage of massages that led to wanton behaviour danced about.

And we did not put that statistic to shame, for what started as a massage indeed led to more, and before I could say "stop, I need to tell you something important", hormones usurped the throne from reason in my brain and I became my hungry old self around her for the second time in our lives.

A good deal later, it was no longer cold in the room, and the sweat on my body wasn't from my nervousness, but from the heat we had generated.  However, as the hormones slowly cleared out and reason inched its way back to its rightful seat at the head of my brain's central functioning centre, a cold fear swept through me and I felt like I had to say something as soon as possible before the chance slipped away.

But how could I say anything when neither of us was wearing a stitch?

Then again, I'd argued with Hiroshi while in the nude.  But we'd been going out for two years and we'd known each other for longer.  It was a bit more normal.

I sucked in a huge breath until my lungs felt like they were going to explode, and I let it all out until I felt my lungs would collapse.  Then with one more medium-sized breath, I spoke.

"So..." I started awkwardly, pulling the sheets over my body a little more and backing away an infinitesimal distance.

"Mmm?" Aya uttered, stretching out on her back in a languorous, teasing way under the thin sheets that covered us.

"Two nights ago I, um..."

I stopped, my heart beating like wild, my arms tensing up to defend myself when she inevitably started hitting me.

Aya closed her eyes, a sated smile on her lips, and I wished she didn't look so happy.  I wished we hadn't done what we'd just done.  I wished that I had had the courage to bring the subject up the moment I saw her at the station, not now in bed at midnight.

I steeled myself and ploughed on through my nervousness, chastising myself for being such a wishy-washy wimp around her.

"Two nights ago I sleepwalked and I kind of went to Hiroshi's room and slept with him."

I said it quickly, purposefully, matter of factly, and with grit teeth.  It was the moment of truth.

Aya, however, did not change her position, her eyes remaining closed.

"Is that so?" she asked conversationally.

Her mind must have been wandering and not listening to a word I was saying.  Not that I could blame her, but I wondered if all pillow talk with her would be like this - words going in one ear and immediately exiting out the other.  If so, there would be no point talking in bed, and there would go my opportunity to do something I really wanted to do with her.

"Are you paying attention?" I asked testily.

"Mmmhmm," she replied in the same way, dragging out the mumble.

"I slept with him.  As in sex.  Naked.  Skin-on-skin.  Hot and passionate.  In the guest room in my house," I continued, rolling my eyes at being ignored.

"Yeah, thanks.  I heard it the first time.  I don't need the details," she said surprisingly sharply.

Oops.  So she was paying attention.

"Ehhg... I- uh-" I stuttered

She opened her eyes and pierced me with a look I couldn't read.

"Two nights ago?  The day I left?"

Her voice revealed nothing either, but angry or not, I had to tell her the truth, so I nodded.

"And you were sleepwalking?" she asked, and this time I could have sworn she sounded almost amused and perhaps inclined to question the possibility of my doing such a thing while remaining asleep the entire time.

I nodded again, this time embarrassedly.

"And?"

Details.  She wants details.  Not about the actual act, but about the after part.

"He misunderstood.  He thought I was awake, and he apologised after, and then, um, we got into a fight outside and I kind of told him a bit of what happened between you and me, and he got even angrier..."

She seemed to latch onto something I said, because she lost the neutral expression and looked at me with interest.

"What did he think about that?  About your situation with me?"

I squirmed uncomfortably, sweating profusely under the scrutiny of her gaze.

"He thinks you're just a phase for me," I said in a voice that barely made it past my lips.  "He was really angry.  He felt really cheated."

She remained silent, no reaction.  I didn't like grovelling, but considering the mess I'd gotten myself into, I had to do something to repent.

"I'm really sorry.  I didn't want it to happen, and I couldn't control myself.  A-and it didn't mean anything.  I was actually having a dream about you," and here my face must've turned red at my unplanned admission, "and it kind of transferred into a real life, ah, situation, only you weren't there.  And I've been killing myself with worry because I hate what I've done and I don't want to upset you and-"

A cool hand touched my overheated arm, and I stopped talking.  Aya was looking at me with a look of pity.  Maybe she thought I was a pathetic excuse for a human.

"Miki, it's okay," she said quietly.

But it couldn't be that simple, so I waited until she spoke again.

"Somehow, it's okay," she sighed.  "You're here now.  Your heart is here.  Right?"

I nodded, unable to form words.

"And you were asleep then when it happened."

But why isn't she upset?

"So you're not upset?"

She shook her head.

"Of course I am," she said clearly, and my heart plunged.  "But things happen that we can't control.  Like I said, you're here now.  And it's not like I had any right to demand anything from you before.  I can't be completely upset with you."

My heart floated back up slowly to its normal resting spot.  What she said made sense, which stunned me.  She was being very sensible here, thinking hard with her head.  Maybe I was important enough to bust out the logic and reason.  The head was a useful tool when used properly, and while I believed matters of the heart should be left to the heart, there were some situations where a broad mind was required.

"Now that you live with me, however, you'd better not be going off and doing that with just anyone."

She spoke mostly playfully.  A bit serious, but softening her words with a joking tone.  I let out a sigh, my body feeling like it was a parched victim of a shipwreck finally tasting sweet, spring water after days of thirst and hunger.

"I'm really sorry," I said, my apology gushing out of my mouth uncontrollably.  "I don't have a habit of doing that.  I really don't."

"And you say you were dreaming about me?" she asked, the twinkle in her eye increasing tenfold.

I closed my eyes and made a pained face.

"Don't ask," I muttered.

"You're so shy around me," she laughed, stroking my hair in adoration.

"Give me time," I mumbled.

We exchanged silly banter for a few minutes until she told me to stop worrying and to get some rest.  We could talk more in the morning.  We lay there silently, each of us trying to go to sleep, but with some sort of uptight anticipation in the air.  Maybe she wanted to talk more but had decided to wait until the morning.  I definitely wanted to talk more.  I wanted to tell her that I was happy about the way things had worked out.

A perfect resolution.  Life could not possibly be this good.

But it was.  Sometimes it simply was.  Good things happened, and there were no bad effects to counteract them.  This was one of those lucky breaks in life that few people got.  With an inward chuckle, I wondered it some tree god had been listening to my thoughts at the shrine that morning and had decided to grant my wish.

Happiness bubbled up in me, and it came pouring forth in the form of words, again words that I could not control.

"Thank you, Aya-chan," I said, breaking the silence that had settled over us.  "And I promise you that from now on, I'm yours only.  Okay?"

My life was so strange.  Saying these words to a girl I had only met two months ago, a girl whose music I had listened to so many times on the radio.  A strange, strange life indeed.

She shifted a centimetre towards me and rubbed my arm.

"Okay.  And just so you know, I've been yours since before the first evening I met you."

Ug, how romantic, I thought sarcastically, yet still embarrassed.

There she was again saying how she felt like she'd known me long before she met me.  But that was okay.  If that was her way of telling me I was important, then I'd take every word I could get out of her.

We didn't speak anymore that night, but the tension from the air disappeared, leaving behind only the anticipation of being able to wake up beside each other the next day.
« Last Edit: June 20, 2007, 02:59:28 PM by OTN1 »

Offline Nana Oosaki

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #56 on: June 20, 2007, 11:50:03 AM »
Where is OTN1 and what have you done with he/she?
This chapter is too much "happily ever after" to be yours XD

Offline len.chan

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #57 on: June 20, 2007, 12:29:06 PM »
Where is OTN1 and what have you done with he/she?
This chapter is too much "happily ever after" to be yours XD

don't ask. It's better to live happy thinking that nothing bad is going to happen XD

anyway, I've never feared Aya's reaction to Miki's confession about her night with Hiroshi. First, Aya knows that she can't ask to much from Miki when she's been in her life for just two months. Even if it may hurt her a bit, she's concious about the fact that she hadn't any right over Miki, at least until now. And second, as Aya herself said, Miki's with her now, so no matter what happened before

Quote
If I didn't say anything...

"Hi, Aya.  I missed you," I'd say, walking in.

She'd lock the door behind me and lead me into her apartment.

"I missed you, too," she'd say back, and she'd pull me into her bedroom for round two, leaving the grand tour of her residence for the next day.

Hey, Aya did actually show her the place before anything happened XDXDXD

Offline Mikan

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #58 on: June 20, 2007, 01:26:03 PM »
Where is OTN1 and what have you done with he/she?
This chapter is too much "happily ever after" to be yours XD

Shhh, she must be in a good mood. Its best we dont bring the change to her attention!!

Wow, Miki couldnt have chosen a worse way or time to confess but it all ended ok. So is Aya gonna confess?

I found this chapter really really sweet. Although it wasnt as sugary as other chapters. Whatever, Im just glad you updated.

Read the complete Doki Doki!!

Offline rndmnwierd

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Re: Restart (Love x ∞ Part II)
« Reply #59 on: June 20, 2007, 08:34:34 PM »
Oh god! A happy like ending to a chapter! Either Miki has a brain tumor or Aya has incurable cancer and this is all just a dream.


....Or maybe, just maybe, no one will die and it really will be a happy story!


Yay!


I'd like it either way.

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