@lollipopgirl: Same degree of hatred? Are you sure?
@tru_harmony: Nice to see your spirit back again!
Thanks for not hating me
I have been working on the new chapter for about 2 hours already and here is it!
Cast the red-hot FUJI-YOSHI-ISHI part aside for a while
Enjoy!
F.Y.I
Chapter 19
REVERSE
December 24 (12.34pm)
It had been almost half an hour since Aya was gone chasing after Miki and Maki had already finished her cup of latte alone. Maki thought, “Perhaps Aya didn’t catch up with Miki or maybe they had a quarrel.” She shrugged her shoulders, stood up and began hunting for Aya which was similar to searching for a needle in a haystack in this gigantic international airport.
However, the search didn’t turn out as hard as she thought. After she had traveled some distance, she saw Aya plodding with tears in her eyes. Aya just looked as though her soul had been sucked out of her. It was not that hard to find a trudging Aya amidst the crowd as most of the people were rushing from place to place. In a city whereby time never seemed to be enough, no one could be bothered to slow down his or her footsteps to show concern to a crying stranger. That was the harsh reality.
There was nothing going through Aya’s mind right now except the images of the 2 girls kissing and groping in front of her. How much she wanted to step forward at that time and shout, “Good take!” It was obviously an act. Even though she knew that the 2 girls weren’t for real, it still pierced her heart whenever she thought about it. Miki was intentionally hurting her.
As Maki ran up to Aya, she called out, “Aya!” Aya didn’t respond in any way even though she was within hearing range. Maki shook her head.
Something bad must have happened. No, something worse than bad happened. Maki grabbed Aya’s right arm and asked softly, “Are you ok?”
It was such a redundant question. Obviously she’s not. Aya shook her head without making any eye contact with Maki. She didn’t feel like explaining anything to Maki right now. She wasn’t the right person to talk to and so what if she knew about it? The rivalry between Maki and Miki was so great that Maki might just do something dumb to worsen the situation.
After a period of silence, Maki reckoned that Aya would not say anything and Maki whispered, “It’s ok if you don’t tell me. I won’t force you to say.” She paused before adding, “Can you allow me to stay beside you?” She didn’t know what else to say at this moment. She had never seen Aya so fragile and lifeless before. Maybe it was because she was the one hurting her in the past but now, she hoped she would be the one healing her heart.
She remembered vaguely in the movies that she had acted in what the lead actor did when the lead actress was as lifeless as Aya. She made a short prayer wishing that it would turn just like in the movies before she approached Aya and hugged her gently. Aya didn’t resist. Maki could feel Aya trembling in her arms with tears running down her cheeks.
The kissing scene that Aya had witnessed just now replayed itself in her mind and those tears that she had been trying to hold back flowed down her cheeks. How much she wished that she hadn’t turned up in the airport today. How much she wished she didn’t flare up at Miki that day. How much she wished she had told Miki everything about the letters and phone calls back then. How much she wished she could go back to that night when Miki confessed to her.
They stayed in that position for what seemed to be an eternity before Aya murmured, “Miki kissed Yossie just now…” She could no longer stand the painful scene replaying itself in her mind and piercing her heart every single time it played. She felt that she needed to tell someone about it. Anyone.
Bewildered, Maki’s eyes widened. She knew she shouldn’t say anything insensitive at this point in time even though she felt like slapping Miki for hurting Aya right now. She inhaled deeply before she asked, “Just because she thought that we were in for a kiss?” She could feel Aya’s chin moving up and down on her left shoulder which meant that she nodded in agreement. “She hasn’t changed a bit. She’s still an over-possessive and rash girl.”
She could feel Aya’s chin moving right and left on her shoulder which meant that she shook her head. Aya spoke in a muffled voice, “Maki, you don’t understand. I deserve it. I deserve the pain that I’m suffering from now. It’s long overdue. I ought to suffer earlier. I have made her suffered for too long.”
“No one loves by hurting the other intentionally. This isn’t love at all,” Maki paused and commented as an afterthought, “Maybe you two shouldn’t even love each other in the first place.”
Aya’s chin on her shoulder moved right and left again but this time round, it was a much more vigorous movement and that meant she disagreed to a large extent. She spoke gently, “Maki, you don’t understand. I love Miki regardless of what she does. I love her. It’s just that sometimes I don’t know how to love her. I can’t match her intensity of love.”
Maki’s heart sank when she heard that. Never in her life had she heard Aya said she loved someone else other than her. Even though she thought that she would be fine hearing this, it was just so painful to hear that. She wondered to herself, “Maybe this is how Miki felt in the past when Aya told her that she loved me. I just want to tell her that I love her right now but I don’t want to risk losing her because of that. No wonder Miki hates me so much.”
After about half a minute of silence, Maki decided that they should end this topic because there was nothing she could say if Aya insisted strongly that she loved Miki. Maki asked, “Where do you want to go now?”
Again, Aya’s chin moved right and then left. “I don’t know…I don’t want to go anywhere now. It’s just so painful. I just want to go to a peaceful place right now and runaway from reality but there isn’t anywhere like that near here.”
“I’m staying at the airport hotel. Do you want to wash up or something? At least it won’t bring back any painful and bad memories there.”
After almost 20 seconds, Aya’s chin moved up and down on her shoulders and that meant that after some hesitation, she agreed.
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December 24 (1.02pm)
After they had reached Maki’s hotel room, Aya borrowed a set of clothes from Maki and went to take a shower. As the lukewarm water from the showerhead ran down her body, the tears, which had stopped on the way to the hotel, found their way to her eyes again. The harsh reality struck her yet again as she thought of how her life had changed in the past hour. She crouched and cried as hard as a human being possibly could.
After some time, she wondered, “If Miki knows about that I’m in Maki’s room now, it will definitely lead to more misunderstandings. But it shouldn’t even matter at all.” The images of the two girls kissing came to her mind again and more tears streamed down her cheeks. She shook her head. “No, that’s Miki. I’m Aya. If I use her ‘an eye for an eye’ approach, everything between us will soon be over. Not even friendship will be left.”
She turned off the tap and she quickly wore the G Emotion concert T-shirt and the track pants that Maki just lent to her. As she walked out of the bathroom, Maki quickly hung up her phone and dashed towards her. She asked in a concern voice, “Are you feeling better now?”
Aya nodded. She picked up her handbag on the dressing table and headed for the door. She knew she shouldn’t stay in here any longer as she learnt earlier that it was better to be safe than sorry. Miki might just pop up now at the door. Even though she was emotionally damaged by what had happened, she still remembered what her relationship with Maki was and she had no intentions of changing the status of their relationship in any way now.
Maki held her right hand and asked in a worried voice, “Are you going off? Where are you going? Do you need my company?”
Without exchanging any eye contact, Aya replied rather flatly, “I’m going…home. I’ll like to be alone. Thanks, Maki.”
What did I do that was wrong? I thought I was doing alright…Did she eavesdrop into my conversation with Rika over the phone? “Aya, what’s wrong?”
Aya stared relentlessly into Maki’s eyes for some time before she replied, “If you want the best for me, let go of my hand now.” Maki obediently let go of her hand. “Thank you,” Aya said sincerely before she turned the door knob and left the room.
The door slammed shut on her. Maki stood rooted to the ground as she was still wondering what she had done wrong. She consoled herself by thinking that Aya, like what she just said, needed some time on her own. She thought about what Aya had told her just now and an idea struck her. Maybe that would be what Aya needed most right now. Maybe that would be the best Christmas gift to Aya now.
After Aya left the room, she ran to the lift hoping that Maki would not be able to catch her if Maki was to do so. When she entered the almost packed lift, her heart sank as she realized she had nowhere to go to right now. She didn’t want to go to anywhere with crowds. Maybe home was the best choice.
One level below the level which Maki’s room was situated on, the lift stopped and 6 Japanese squeezed into the packed lift. She smiled weakly as she suddenly realized how similar her love story was to the Japanese culture of squeezing into packed places. Maybe it was time for her to do something un-Japanese.
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The last paragraph just popped up in my head a while ago...wonder what you think about it
Topic: F.Y.I 29 - Recurring Moments (Read 150742 times)