One Shot

[erink]

The street lamp continued to switch on and off as he made his aproach to the phone booth. In the early morning the street was filled only with a mechanical hum and faint voices from the live houses and bars every now and then. Once inside both he and his fingers quickly remembered.Remembered that all too familiar number. Even though it had been months, something drilled into ones mind from childhood is hard to forget. The phone was ringing.

After the third ring Goto opened her eyes. She could vaguley make out some of the contorded shapes in the darkness. Bookcase, door, clothes, were all masked by a true black that started to become clearer and clearer the more she looked around. She sought conformation that it was infact the middle of the night and swung her feet onto the cold hard wood floor. She took the cheap alarm clock in her hand and gazed at it's bright green digital display.Her left hand made it's way to the side of her face in a pittyful attempt to wake her up. The right went for the recevier.

"Hello?"
silence. nothing but static was audible.
"hello" she repeted.
She took in a deep breath as the person on the other end of the line finally spoke up.
"I read my horoscope today. Said I should talk to the person thats been in my thoughts the most. So I called. Its fate"
"Its paper"
There was a long pause. The long pause that makes both people realize that it is truly awakward. He of course was probably oblivious to it.
"It's the middle of the night. I have work tomorrow."
"Sun 'ill be up in a couple of hours. You should come down the the river bank. We can watch it."
"It's the middle of the night"
She was getting angry. It was the middle of the night and he wasn't making sense. Still, she was happy in her own complicated way that he was calling her in the middle of the night and wasn't making sense.
"I've always only liked things you can do nothing about"
"What?"
"The sun. Its gonna come up in a few hours. Whether you're with me or not. Whether the drunks are sobered up or not. It's gonna come up. Can't do anything about it."
"okay....okay"
Click. The static came in full force now. She kept the phone in her hand even though he was no longer on the other end.

As he put the receiver back on the hook, the dust that had found a home on the top of the shelf relocated itself. His hand still stayed on the receiver. He lifted his eyes up and smiled. Outside the booth, a street lamp flickered.

[Mikan]

im wondering who he is
what he is doing
and why he has Goto's number....

[erink]

It was just a short story. Actually, something I wrote a long time ago and just changed She to Goto. Guess you'll have to keep wondering.

[Mikan]

Lol. Im guessing there is going to be no further on this?

[erink]

Lol. Im guessing there is going to be no further on this?

 No, probably not.

[erink]

No, probably not.

Er....Yeah, about that. Changed my mind. I've never done drama or romance, so I might as well give it a shot.


 As Goto got changed, her mind sliped back to the past.

 Walking  home with him from school. Starting from middle school and going all the way back to when they were five or six.
Then at the playground. Kousuke standing up on the swing next to her as they killed time before dinner.
Him kicking his beat up soccer ball off the brick wall she was sitting up against working on homework. Over and over again.
"Hey, can you do anything more annoying?"
"I don't know. Never tried."
Then dinners. He always ate dinner at her house. His parents were working and her mother was particularly fond of him. The two of them sitting together  arguing, laughing, together.
 Leaving her house and kicking his soccer ball down the street until he reached his own home.
In her mind she saw him going down the street child to adult. Growing up with each step, until he became the person he was today.
By that time she was already at the river bank.

[erink]

She sat down on the ground next to him. She resisted the urge to lok at him for a good five minutes. She turned.
He was taller than average. Thanks to soccer/football he was built and dark skined from hours in the sun. Even if the tan bit wasn't excatly everyones cup of tea(she always thought it made him look even better, maybe it was due to lack of comparision. She couldn't recall a time when he wasn't tan.), you couldn't deny the fact he was attractive. When ever he needed money she used to advise him to go model or do some AV work. Half joking, half serious.
She turned back to the sun. Now he turned to look at her.
What are we five again?
They sat there in silence for what felt like eternity.
She had a lot to say to him. A lot to explain and  a lot to apologize for.
After convincing herself to say something the only words that came out were a weak
"I want things to go back to how they were..."
It was barely audible and her voice cracked.
Are you kidding me? For the love of....maybe he didn't hear me
He looked over at her. His nearly grey eyes were cold and piercing. She wasn't used to it and it made her mentally kick herself for saying that.
He smiled.
She looked back at him in awe.
Smile...?
He stood up and brushed off his pants. Without another look or word, he made his way down the street.
For the first time in months Goto watched him go down the street again.

Somethings never change, huh?

---------------------------------------

"Maki! Dinner!"
Goto looked up from her magazine.
"Comin'!"
She went down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her family was already seated. She made a face at her brother, andstarted putting food on her plate. Somebody opened the front door, and they didn't do it gracefully. She heard a thud, a mumbled curse, and the sound of shoes being kicked off.
Goto shifted in her chair to get a better look at the person.
Her face contorted.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"It's 5 o'clock! Dinner time!"
He paused.
"And I will knock that dumb look right off your face! What am I doing here? Hmph. What am I doing here she says."
"Kousuke!" Goto's mother exclaimed, already in the process of getting him a dish.
"It's been wierd without you 'round. Things are back to normal again." Goto's brother said as he added more food to his plate.
Kousuke looked Goto in the eyes as he sat down next to her. It was different from the look he gave her hours ago. It was softer.
"Yeah, they are..."
She couldn't belive it. This was-
"Hey! Get your own rice ball!" Goto shouted, pulled out of her thoughts by Kousuke's chopsticks on her plate.
"I'm a guest! I should be able to have what ever rice ball I want! Your mother raised you better than this!"
"Hey! Guests are invited and wanted! You just show up!"
And then at the dinner table they started a pinching and poking each other, even got some name calling in to.
Goto's mother came back over and threatened to separate the two of them if they kept it up. Naturally they both looked down at their plates and started to giggle, sneaking in hits when ever she wasn't looking.
It was just how things were before.
But it doesn't feel the same.....

[YoukaiChica]

I really like this. I don't know why. I think its the way you write. Its just so....refreshing, I suppose...

Anyways, I'm glad you wrote more.

[erink]

I really like this. I don't know why. I think its the way you write. Its just so....refreshing, I suppose...

Anyways, I'm glad you wrote more.

Sweet. Thank you very much. I was pretty concerned writting something other than comedy. As long as one person likes it, it's all good.

----------------------------------------------------------

"So how's college working out for you?"
"Good."

Maki was sitting next to Kousuke on the swings at the playground a block away from her house. They had done it countless times before. Just sat there talking. But things were different now. There was an restlessness about both of them that was hard to ignore.

"It always fit with you"
Maki began. She had her knees together with her feet out to the sides as she gently swayed back and forth on the swing.
"that whole student lifestyle"
Kousuke chuckled.
"It's easy to make something fit when it's free."
It was true. Kousuke's student lifestyle hadn't cost him anything. He had gotten a free ride on a soccer/football scolarship. He could have made it on grades, but his finacial situation probably wouldn't have allowed him to get in such a nice university.

There was silence. Crickets could be heard in some dark corner of the park as the two looked at anything but each other.

"I should get going. Need to go back and finish some stuff."
"Yeah, an idol's work is never done."
"Artist. I'm an artist." Goto said, smiling.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. My mistake, artist."
-----------------------------------------------------------
 
 Goto was crying uncontrolably. Through her sobs she managed to hear the door open.
"This isn't about the rice ball is it?"
She turned to see Kousuke standing in her room, his hand still on the door knob.
Goto didn't smile.
"Swing anda miss." He said, taking a few more steps into her room.
"What's wrong?" He continued.
He had a slight smile on his face, one of those smiles that tries to comfort the other person.
It wasn't working this time.
Goto couldn't think straight. She couldn't piece together any sort of sentence that would make him understand.
"Come on, what are you crying about?"
"Miki."
His smile disappeared instantly.
Sometimes a single word is more effective than any number of sentences.

[JFC]

Goto couldn't think straight. She couldn't piece together any sort of sentence that would make him understand.
"Come on, what are you crying about?"
"Miki."
His smile disappeared instantly.
Sometimes a single word is more effective than any number of sentences.

WTF? Damn...sorry Kousuke, that's got to hurt.

[erink]

"How long have you known?" He asked, looking down, off to the side.
"just found out tonight." Goto said wiping a tear off her cheek.
"I didn't want you to find out this way."
Goto started to smile and a few small laughs escaped.
"How excactly did you want me to find out then?"
"I" He still wasn't looking at her. "I don't know. Not like this though. I didn't.."
He looked up at her and swallowed hard. He switched to defense.
"It's better than finding it out from a newspaper, huh?"
"That's completely different." Goto shot back.
She tried desperately to stop crying with little to no success.
"It hurts right? Like your stomach is all tight and it feels like there is a cinder block ontop of it? Even your chest, you start to feel like you can't breathe. That's how it feels right?"
He looked up at her, but she didn't answer. It was obvious how it felt.
"I think...." he paused for a minute, collecting himself, making sure he did this right.
"I think that....Even though I never hurt you before, I never even knew I could. I never wanted to. I wanted to be the person that stopped you from getting hurt.  I think that.... I know that I did this on purpose. I wanted to hurt you. I wanted you to feel how I felt every single day. I still feel it, even now. I wanted you to understand that."
All Goto could manage was "People change."
"People change." He repeated.
She closed her eyes.
Some things don't though...
She felt his hand on the side of her face. With his thumb he wiped away some of her tears. They stayed like that for a moment.
"How long?" Goto asked, opening her eyes.
"Like a month."
He was breathing heavy.
"She's just using you. I don't know why or what for, but she is."
He sat down next to her.
"I know."

[Mikan]

I like this. Like youkaiChica said, its refreshing.

I hope I can understand what is going on here..you have this thing where you cut off chapters at strange points. Then again, you could say the same thing about me right

[ChrNo]

i like the first and second parts...and then it was hard to get what happen

but i hope you write more than few chapters  this is going to be... interesting

[erink]

After a while Goto stoped crying. They both just sat there on her bed. Goto was thinking things over, while Kousuke was waging war against himself.

Kousuke bumped into Miki one night. They exchanged the standard greetings and small talk. She invited him to dinner and he agreed.
Dinner was just a formality.
After they went to her place.
Then what?
You had the brilliant idea to hurt Maki?
You could've stoped, but you didn't.
Even after that you were spending the night with her two or three times a week.
Why, why does this hurt so bad?
It was just evening the score.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
What are you gonna do, genius?
There's no turning back now. You knew that the second you slept with Miki, but why is it just sinking in now?
It's because she's crying isn't it?
You could never handle it. Even when you were kids you couldn't stand it when she cried.
What did you expect her to do, smile?
Hurting someone usually implies causing pain.
You go to university don't you?
Then why are you such an idiot?
You regretted doing it the second you saw her like this.
Were was the foresight on this one?

"Maki"
"I just wanna get some sleep. We'll talk about it tomorrow, ok?"
He turned to look at her.
"No, I need to..... you don't get it, just please let me."
He stopped talking.
 Goto thought that he looked like a hurt little kid. She soon realized that it's because he was. Just because he changed on the outside, got taller, got older, didn't mean he changed on the inside. He still had the child-like innocence about him, the way he thought, and acted, at least until tonight he did.
She remembered that she saw him like this once before. Just once though.
How old were we? Still had to be young, seven maybe.
Kousuke found out that he was an illegitimate child.
How'd he even do that?
I didn't ask him at the time, because he seemed sure about it. We were young, so we didn't get it. How could we understand why you'd abandon someone? Back then, we just thought if you liked someone and had a kid with them, wouldn't you stay? Wouldn't stay with someone if you loved them? Especially when you're a little kid. You think everyone who loves each other gets married and lives happily ever after.
Tirteen years or so later, he's in this mess with me. I wonder if it makes sense to him now. I think I get it, but I'm not sure.

"Night Kousuke."
He covered his face with his hands, then put them back at his sides.
"Night."
He stod up and went to the door. He hesitated. It looked like he was going to say something, but he stopped himself. He gently closed the door after him, leaving Goto to stare at the ceiling the rest of the night.

[erink]

Kousuke kept himself composed as he walked down the street, up the stairs and through the hall to his apartment. He opened the door, turned and closed it behind him. He took a deep breath. Looked up to the ceiling, and lost it.
"Fucking idiot! Argh! You're such an idiot!"
From behind him there was a small laugh.
He couldn't hide his shock as he turned to see Miki sitting at his kitchen table.
"What? It's okay, it's kinda cute that you talk to yourself." She said as she unfolded her legs and stood up, moving over to him.
"Miki.....waht are you doing here?"
She wrapped her arms around his waist and put her head on his chest.
"What do you think I'm doing here, idiot?"

[erink]

"Miki" He said, looking over to the corner of the room. Looking anywhere but at the girl pressed up against him. If he looked at her, it would be over. He wouldn't be able to say no to her.
"hmm?" She rubbed her head into his chest playfully.
"I can't. I've got some stuff to take care of tomorrow."
He hoped it worked. He didn't want to lie to her.
Why not? You've already done this much. Does it even matter at this point?
She pulled away, just enough so she could look up at him.
"It's never stopped you before."
"I know. But, I'll make it up to you.....promise."
Before he could stop himself he added that last word. Promise
He leaned down to lightly kiss her on the lips.
"Alright." She said, smiling. "Don't call me later tonight when you regret it though, okay?"
Kousuke smiled.
"I'll try not to, but I can't make any garentees."
She looked him in the eyes. She was smiling, but when he looked back into her eyes....They weren't in sync with the rest of her. A look. There was somtehing else there. But before he could place it, she broke contact with him and went to open the door.

[erink]

There was a knock at the front door.
Goto rolled over in bed.
There was a knock at the back door.
She blindly searched around for her blanket, and pulled it up under her neck.
There was a knock on her bedroom door.
She readjusted herself.
There was a yell.
"Goto Maki! I know you know I'm out here and I know that you know that I know that you are in there practically wide awake but still not getting up to answer the door. I also know that you know that I know, we both know, after you still refuse to wake up and come to the door I will open the door causing us to have the same argument we always have about this. You'll say not to open up your door like that, and I'll say to answer the front door or back door the first and or second time and I won't have to open up your door like that."
There was a pause.
The door opened.
"You shouldn't open up a girl's door like that" Goto said as she layed face down on the bed.
"You should answer one of the other doors and I wouldn't have too."
"My you're up early." Goto sat up in bed and looked over at Kousuke. He was already dressed and functioning, which was pretty impressive for him.
"You said we would talk tomorrow. And it's tomorrow now."
"Yeah but I said tomorrow, and this is early tomorrow."
"It's still tomorrow."
She knew that's what he was there for. She didn't want to have to deal with it, but knew she would have to. It was nice, the two of them acting like that. As if it was just because he wanted breakfast or something small. Having a little exchange like that, it made her feel like everything was back to normal. What ever happiness that gave her, whatever hope she got from it, that they'd be able to save themselves, she was worried it wouldn't last.
He moved over to the bed, pushing her knee over to one side, making room for himself. He sat down next to her. They stared at each other for a few seconds that seemed to last for minutes.
"First off, I want you to remember something improtant. I'm the victim in this whole thing. It may not seem like it know, cause last night was a little rough, but I have been nothing but abused and manipulated throughout, so... Remember that."
They stared at each other.
Slowly the corners of her mouth formed a smile. He grined and looked away from her.
It was just like him. He would make a joke before things got serious. That one last second of happiness before things got real heavy. When he looked back at her, it was obvious that what he said next wouldn't be a joke. He couldn't keep it, and ended up looking at somehting on the otherside of the room.

"It just happened. That's not my excuse for everything, but for the first time it happened, that is the excuse. It just happened. After that though, what happened after that, I take responsibility for. When we had that confession slash argument deal a few months ago...I wanted, I guess revenge is the word for it. I wanted to show you what it felt like. To be hurt like that. But then last night, I realized that that wasn't what I wanted. At least not to that extent or maybe even not at all. I've always been indecisive though, huh? Even in school, couldn't pick what my favorite color was. This is kinda large scale though. You're not a color. You're my...my.. You know how I feel about you. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I kept it from you, and I'm sorry that I... Maki, I'm really sorry that I hurt you. Even though I just said I wanted to a minute ago....I don't think it was true. I don't think thats what I really wanted. I was really confused, and I still think I am about everything. Hurting you, that was just an easy way out. And I took it. I couldn't deal with it. I just wanted to feel better. But, it's like even though the reasons I did it are wrong, it's kinda good that I did it. I've never had somebody and now I do. I guess."

Goto was hugging her knees. He really never did have anyone besides her. Durring what he so elequently called the 'confession slash argument' he explained all that. How he felt about her. Why he never dated someone durring highschool, when there were plenty of girls willing too. Thinking that she would realize it, his feelings, and want to be with him and he wouldn't have any comittments so they'd be able to be together. It was innocent and like something out of a movie. She finally looked at him after preparing her response.

"I just want you to be careful. Miki, you don't really know how she is. I've told you stories but, there's other things. It ironic for me to say it after everything, but I don't want you to get hurt.Even though I've done it before.   What you did, and what I did, they don't really compare. You said you feel bad about it. And I know you, I know that you do. But I want you to know that I feel bad about what I did. How I treated you like that and said those things to you that night. I should be the one appologizing, and I regret that it took me this long. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
There was silence.
".... Do you like her?"
"Like her like her, or just like her?"
"Like her like her."
"No. At least not yet. I mean, we haven't really been dating nessacarily."
They looked at each other.
"This is kinda werid, huh?" Goto asked.
"Yeah. You're the only one I can talk to it about though."
"Good. Well not good as in 'haha' I'm the only friend you have' but good in that we can talk to each other about this stuff. Even though it's werid."
"Yeah."
He stared at her.
"I have other friends you know."
"Of course you do, sweetie." She placed her hand on his back.
"Really, I do. You're just the best one."
"Really? Well isn't that nice."
"I mean, like I have a very large group of friends, probably as large as your fanbase, and out of all of them, you're the best one...If anything you should be honnored, it is a very esteemed position."
They smiled at each other.
Things were okay. For now.

[ChrNo]

"Goto Maki! I know you know I'm out here and I know that you know that I know that you are in there practically wide awake but still not getting up to answer the door. I also know that you know that I know, we both know, after you still refuse to wake up and come to the door I will open the door causing us to have the same argument we always have about this. You'll say not to open up your door like that, and I'll say to answer the front door or back door the first and or second time and I won't have to open up your door like that."
There was a pause.
The door opened.
"You shouldn't open up a girl's door like that" Goto said as she layed face down on the bed.
"You should answer one of the other doors and I wouldn't have too."
"My you're up early." Goto sat up in bed and looked over at Kousuke. He was already dressed and functioning, which was pretty impressive for him.
"You said we would talk tomorrow. And it's tomorrow now."
"Yeah but I said tomorrow, and this is early tomorrow."
"It's still tomorrow."

that made me laugh so hard...:lmao:
that reminds me the first chapter.

i like how the story goes...keep updating please ^^

[YoukaiChica]

I love it. I love love love it. I adore this story. Its just so refreshing. That's the only thing I can describe it as. Other than awesome.

[erink]

How long did it take me to get jealous?
A week?
No, that's wrong. I was jealous the second I found out.
Hearing her talk about him like that. Ugh. And in public too. Gross. If I overheard it, I wonder how many other people did?
Goto was absentmindedly fliping through a Hello Morning script.
God, now I'm gonna have to go sit there with her for like and hour.
A week or so had past since she found out about Kousuke and Miki. Found out from Miki herself. Well, not excactly. She had overheard Miki talking to Aya about it. Time certainly wasn't healing any wounds. If anything it was getting harder and harder to stop thinking about it. She listened to what Kousuke told her and ocassionally asked some questions. Something was still off. Something was still bothering Goto.
Just then Miki walked by.
Goto looked up from her script.
"Morning"
Fantastic
Miki smiled coyly.
"Morning"
Miki continued walking down the hall.
.....was that Kousuke's sweater?
Before Goto knew what she was doing, she stood up and started to go down the hall.
"Miki"
"hmm?" She turned around.
"I know what you're doing, so stop it."
Miki's face slowly formed a grin. A passerby would have thought that she had just heard a joke, but Maki saw it wasn't the same. There was something sinister about it.
"Goto... I don't know what you're talking about."
Miki seemed to notice Goto staring at the sweater. She smiled even more now, and tugged at one of the sleeves. Miki snickered lightly.
"I didn't even have time to wake up and get different clothes this morning. Had a long night."
Miki moved her eyes so they were looking directly back into Maki's.
"He's so sweet, when I got out of the shower this morning all my clothes were washed, " she tugged at the bottom of the sweater " he even put this in the dyer so it would be warm for me when I got changed."
She looked back up at Maki.
"You're using him."
"Hmph. Like you haven't? What even qualifies it as me using him? It's not like he doesn't enjoy the sex. "
"You're leading him on." Maki shot back, the second she finished her sentence.
"I'm not. Kousuke's a smart boy, he knows there is only one reason I'm with him. It's been perfectly clear why we are together. And it's killing you."
"You're horrible."
"And you're not? What makes me so bad? I'm sleeping with him. Okay. But here you are, completely jealous of me. You had your chance with him. You had a lot of chances with him. But you blew it. Now that there is another girl in the picture, you can't handle it. You don't wanna share. Now that you can't have him all to yourslef, you suddenly want him more than ever."
"You don't deserve him."
"Maybe not, but I have him."
She smilied again, this time brighter than before.
"We'll see about that." Maki said calmly.
"A challenge?"
"A challenge would imply I had competion."
Miki's smile was unparalleled.
Goto turned on her heel and walked down the hallway.

Filming wrapped up with Miki and Maki acting friendlier than ever before. The girls immediately picked up on the fakeness of it, but to the average person, it looked like they were the best of friends. Maki got on the train. The mechanic hum of the vehicle drowned out everything but her thoughts.
Shit. That was aweseome. Way to go. I did seem kind of cool though. It came off as cool. I had no idea what I was doing though. She was right. That's even worse. It did take him being with her for me to realize that I want him.
I want him.
I really really want him.
Like want him want him, take off your clothes right here and now want him, not want him want him, lets go see a movie, get some dinner, and talk about your day want him.
It's not a friend want anymore.
I can't just throw myself at him. She's obviously already playing that angle. That be so werid. Hey instead of having dinner tonight why don't we just go on up to my room? Or, hey I have something really cool I want to show you, in my room....Never happen. My family would be home. Gross. We'd have to go to his place. But she's been there. I wonder where they- Why am I thinking about this? Ughh...
Maki looked out the window at the scenery passing by. After a few seconds she looked across from her at a teenager eating a bento.
Wait, dinner. Ah, he's going to come to dinner tonight. How am I supposed to act normal around him now that I like him? Wait, wait, wait. I have the upper hand here. It's all good. Or do I? I mean she's already sleeping with him, but he's known me for years....But when it comes down to it he's still a guy. Ah, this sucks.