nice coconuts you got there, ayaka-chan.
You crack me up
---------------
PART 3
AYAKA - AUGUST 21ST
I stared at my cell phone. Should I or shouldn't I...
On one hand, Mai did sound pretty worried.
But on the other hand, even if they were fighting, they've probably made up by now and I really do not want to interrupt that... again.
But then again, Mai did ask me to call since she was about to get on the plane for Hokkaido...
I sighed, flipped my phone open, pressed #4 on my speed-dial, and leaned back in my chair to wait. She answered on the first ring.
"Miki!?"
"...Yocchan?" I asked slowly. I'd never heard her like this before.
"Oh." She sighed heavily. "Ayaka, what's up?"
"You tell me." Yossy gave a short, obviously forced laugh.
"What do you mean?" she asked, trying to sound casual. And failing miserably.
"Um, hi. It's Ayaka. Your best friend? Who knows you very well?" She sighed again.
"Miki left."
"What do you mean Miki left? Where'd she go?"
"I don't know," she groaned. "She said she didn't know either."
"What? Yocchan, what on earth happened? Did Miki - "
"I did something really, really, really stupid," she cut me off. Her voice sounded strange.
"What happened?" There was a long pause. She sniffed once and cleared her throat.
"I really don't think I can talk about it right now." Alarmed, I sat bolt upright.
"...Yoshiko, are you crying?"
"Ayaka, I said I can't talk about it right now, ok?" Oh my God, she was crying.
"I'll be there in five minutes," I said, already on my feet and heading for the door.
"No, Ayaka, really, I don't need - "
"That wasn't a question," I replied. I snapped my phone shut before she could protest further and walked out my front door.
The door was unlocked and the apartment was dark and quiet. Cautiously, I walked through the front door. I paused to remove my shoes and lock the door behind me. One of Miki's dogs ran up to me excitedly, then sunk away in disappointment when it saw who I was.
"Yocchan?" I said quietly as my eyes adjusted to the darkness.
"Yeah?" she replied. I turned in the direction of her voice and found her sitting on the couch. She was slumped over a little, with her blonde hair hanging down over her face like a curtain. Her arms lay limply at her sides, her cell phone loosely sitting in her right hand. She looked like a broken doll.
"Your door was unlocked," I explained, slowly walking over to her and sitting down next to her. She didn't move.
"Oh. Miki must not have locked it," she replied flatly. I looked at her carefully, trying to figure out what to do, how to help, what in the world had happened. I gently reached out and touched her forearm.
"Yossy?" She finally lifted her head up and looked at me. Her beautiful eyes were bloodshot and puffy from crying. She looked exhausted and absolutely drained.
"I walked in on Miki and Aya kissing," she said in a detached matter-of-fact tone. My eyes widened.
"Why did - "
"It was just a misunderstanding," she continued emotionlessly. "Miki was just being Miki. But..." She sighed heavily. "I didn't think about that at the time." She turned her head away from me and stared blankly into the darkness. "I got drunk. I don't think I've ever gotten that drunk in my life. I don't even really remember anything after the first couple of drinks, honestly..." she trailed off. "I woke up this morning and..." she swallowed hard. She took a shaky breath. "And I... I..."
Abruptly, she stood up and strode over to the kitchen, flicking on the light and blinding me. She grabbed something out of her purse and thrust it into my hands as she sat back down next to me. She leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling briefly before closing her eyes. I slowly opened the crumpled note and read the words in Goto's familiar handwriting.
Oh, God.
"Is there maybe a chance you're misunderstanding this?" I asked hopefully. She gave a short, humorless laugh and opened her eyes again.
"Even if I ignore the fact that I was basically naked in her bed this morning, I do vaguely remember Maki taking my bra off." Her voice was calm and even, but I could see the tears slowly falling one by one and trickling down her cheeks.
"Do you think Miki will..." I trailed off as she lifted her head up and turned to gaze straight into my eyes. She was in so much blatant pain that it hurt to look at her.
"Ayaka, how can I ask her to forgive me when I know I'll never forgive myself?" She knew I couldn't answer her, but her eyes pleaded for a solution.
"I don't know," I said finally as I tore my eyes away from hers. It was just too painful to look at any longer.
-----------------