@Luffel: Yeah, right??
Well, hope this chapter will answer your question about Rena..
Special thanks for
imteedee and
supermaji for their help...
And thank you for all the comments, the silent readers and the thank you clickers...
And for those who want to know about what happen to Rena, hereby I present you...
Chapter 5 Matsui Rena slowly opened her eyes then turned to her right side, hoping to see the woman she loves the most, instead she was greeted by the empty spot beside her. She closed her eyes then tightened her grip on her blanket, pulling it closer to her body. Cold. It’s cold without Jurina beside her. She missed Jurina’s soft lips on her own. She missed Jurina’s warm body that shielded her from the cold morning air. She missed Jurina’s soft voice, waking her up from her slumber. She missed Jurina’s charming smile that greeted her every morning. She felt empty without her.
“Jurina… I miss you,” whispered Rena sadly.
Everything was like a dream for her. One moment they seemed to have a perfect life together. They were happy with each other. But, suddenly her world was turned upside-down in just one day. It turned out that Jurina is not the person who she thought she was. Jurina lied to her, about her past, about herself. She didn’t even know if the younger woman’s name is really Matsui Jurina. But, even so, she couldn’t bring herself to hate the younger woman. She loves Jurina too much. But now, Jurina is gone and she didn’t know if the younger woman would be back again or not. She could only hope that she will be okay.
*knock* *knock*
Rena turned her head towards the door as Yuki’s head popped in.
“Rena…” called Yuki softly. She got in, closed the door behind her then walked towards the bed. She plopped herself down on the bed beside Rena.
“Yukirin…” uttered Rena sadly. She moved closer towards Yuki. Yuki then pulled Rena to her embrace as Rena started to cry.
“Yukirin… I miss her. I miss her so much. It hurts,” sobbed Rena. Yuki just sighed and without saying anything, she pulled Rena closer to her. She tightened her hold around her and rocked their body back and forth, trying to calm her down. She was angry at Jurina for making her best friend to become like this. She never saw Rena like this before. Broken and lost. Not even when she found out that her ex-boyfriend cheated on her with one of her friends.
More than a week ago, Rena suddenly called her early in the morning while crying uncontrollably. She immediately rushed out from her apartment to the hotel Rena was staying. When Rena opened the door for her, she was a real mess. Her clothes were disheveled and her hair was messy. Her eyes were red and puffy. Tears trailed down on her cheeks and as soon as she saw Yuki, she immediately latched herself onto her then sobbed uncontrollably while mumbling about Jurina leaving her. It took Yuki about two hours to calm her down. It pained Yuki to see the state Rena was in. She seemed so small and fragile. Yuki then brought Rena to her apartment and since then Rena had been staying with her until now.
Yuki had tried several times to ask the other woman about what happened between her and Jurina, but she only said that Jurina left her, nothing more. Yuki finally gave up and just offered her shoulder for her best friend to cry on.
After some time, Rena finally calmed down. Yuki pushed Rena away slightly from her then wiped off her tears from her cheeks with her thumbs. “Go, wash your face. I already prepared breakfast for us,” spoke Yuki softly.
“Un… thank you so much, Yukirin.”
Rena slowly got out from the bed then walked towards the bathroom while Yuki watching her carefully.
Damn you, Jurina. How could you do this to her? You better have some really good reasons for leaving her or I’ll smack you endlessly for hurting Rena like this when I finally meet you.--------------
“Rena… Rena… Hello, earth to Rena,” called Yuki while waving her hand in front of Rena’s face.
“H-huh?” Rena startled out from her daydream. “Oh, Yukirin… What do you need?”
Yuki sighed. ”Nothing. The customer was talking to you, you know, but you seemed off to your own world without care about everything around you.”
The customer who tried to talk to Rena just left, leaving the two of them inside the bakery now.
Rena looked down then mumbled, “I’m sorry.”
Yuki put her hands on Rena’s shoulders. “Rena…I’m worried about you, really. You’ve been spacing out a lot ever since she left. I know that you love her so much and she hurt you a lot by leaving you. But, you can’t be like this forever. You’re ruining yourself, you know.”
“I know… I know… I’m sorry. I just…”
“What?”
“I’m worried about her,” confessed Rena.
“You’re worried about her? She left you! Why are you the one who’s worried? What’s wrong? What happen, Rena? Please tell me… You’re freaking me out here. Please, Rena… you know you can tell me anything,” begged Yuki.
“I- I can’t… it’s complicated.”
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a bell chime, indicating an arrival of a customer.
“We’ll talk about this later,” hissed Yuki before she turned around to face the newly arrived customer.
“Welcome. May I help you, miss?” greeted Yuki cheerfully.
“Hi, err… sorry, but I’m not here to buy anything. I’m here because I’m looking for Matsui Rena,” replied the customer nervously.
Rena suddenly jerked her head towards the customer when she heard the customer mentioned her name. When she saw the customer who was standing in front of the counter, her eyes widen in surprise and her mouth opened a bit.
“Ahhh…Rena!” shouted the customer happily when she saw Rena.
“A… A… Airin?!” exclaimed Rena in surprised.
The customer who was standing in front of her is none other than Airin, her long lost best friend. Furukawa Airi, usually called Airin, was Rena’s best friend since she was in junior high until senior high. Back then, both of them were inseparable. But then when they were on their 2nd year of senior high, Airin had to move because of her dad’s work. At first, they tried to keep in contact with each other, but it became more and more difficult for them to stay in contact as they became busier with their own works and activities until finally they stopped contacting each other.
Rena stood still on her spot, too shocked to move when Airin walked behind the counter towards her then pulled her into a tight hug.
“I’m back, Rena. I miss you so much,” whispered Airin.
“Airin…” mumbled Rena softly as she moved her hands to hug her back.
*cough* *cough*
Yuki cleared her throat, making the two women turned to look at her. Airin slowly released Rena then turned to face Yuki, but she kept her left arm wrapped around Rena’s waist tightly.
“Hi…” greeted Airin.
Yuki raised one of her eyebrows at her before turned to look at Rena. “Do you know her?” asked Yuki while gesturing her head towards Airin.
“Yes. This is my childhood best friend, Furukawa Airi.” She then turned to Airin. “This is my best friend and also a worker here, Kashiwagi Yuki.”
“Furukawa Airi, but you can call me Airin. Nice to meet you, Kashiwagi-san,” said Airin cheerfully while extending her free hand to Yuki for a handshake.
Yuki grabbed Airin’s hand then shook it slowly. “Nice to meet you too, Airin-san. You can call me Yukirin.”
“Airin is fine. No need for formalities. Ano… can I borrow Rena for a moment? I want to talk to her. We have a lot of catching up to do,” smiled Airin as she pulled Rena closer to her.
“Sure.”
“Thanks a lot!” uttered Airin as she grabbed Rena’s hand and dragged her towards the exit.
-----------------
Airin brought Rena to a café near the bakery. After they sat down and placed their order, Airin spoke up first, “It’s been more than 7 years since the last time we saw each other. You look more beautiful now, Rena.” She smiled softly.
“Ah, thanks,” replied Rena softly.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” asked Airin worriedly. She reached out to hold Rena’s hand.
“No, nothing. I’m fine,” answered Rena quickly while smiling slightly.
Airin narrowed her eyes at her. “You’re lying. You can’t lie to me, Rena. I know you very well. Something is bothering you. What’s wrong?” Airin then squeezed Rena’s hand softly.
“Nothing. It’s nothing,” replied Rena while faking a smile. She didn’t want Airin to get worried about her.
Airin didn’t believe her at all. She knew that the smile that Rena gave to her right now is not her real smile, she was faking it. Well, she knows Rena like the back of her hand. Rena seems troubled about something. But, she decided not to press her anymore as she didn’t want to ruin their reunion.
“Rena, I have some good news for you. Guess what?” asked Airin while beaming brightly.
“What?” Rena raised one of her eyebrows at her questioningly.
“Well… I’m working as a police officer now and several days ago, I was transferred here, in Nagoya. You know what that means?” teased Airin while wiggling her eyebrows.
“W-wait… Wait a minute… You… You’re a police officer?” asked Rena in disbelief.
“Yeah… Pretty shocking news, right?” asked Airin while rubbing the back of her head shyly. “I’m still a Sergeant though. I still need to learn a lot of things,” added Airin.
Airin then clapped her hands excitedly. ”Well, that’s not the point. The point is, because I was transferred here, it means that we can meet each other again. We can even meet each other everyday now,” exclaimed Airin cheerfully.
Rena replied softly, “That’s good to hear.”
“Yeah, right? Don’t worry, Rena. I won’t leave you again,” stated Airin as she grabbed both of Rena’s hand while smiling happily at her. Rena can’t help but smiled as well when she saw Airin’s smile. And this time, she wasn’t faking it. This was the first time she smiled again, her real smile, after Jurina left her.
---------------
Rena and Airin chatted for hours. They talked about their past and about what happened to them after they were separated. Just like the old times. When Rena told Airin about her ex-boyfriend who cheated on her with her friend, Airin was mad. She apologized to Rena because she wasn’t there to protect her at that time. And they laughed together because Airin kept cursing about Rena’s ex-boyfriend for several minutes while calling him names. But, Rena never mentioned about Jurina to her.
They finally went home when they realized that it was getting dark outside. Airin walked Rena home. When they finally arrived in front of Yuki’s apartment, Rena was starting to walk inside the apartment building when suddenly Airin called her. Rena turned around to face Airin only to be pulled into Airin’s embrace.
“I’m really glad I can meet you again, Rena,” whispered Airin softly to Rena’s ear. She then let Rena go without waiting for her reply. “You better go inside now. It’s starting to get cold outside,” smiled Airin warmly.
“Un… Thanks for today, Airin.” Rena bid her goodbye to Airin then walked inside the apartment building while Airin watched her slowly disappearing inside the building.
TBC
Jurina will be back in the next chapter...
Topic: The Devil Inside Me (WMatsui) - Chapter 6 (31/12/2013) (HIATUS) (Read 18086 times)