@Ai.Love: At the end of it all, maybe you will end up hating Aya like lollipopgirl
Here is a less cool chapter (or is it cooler?)
@JFC: Oohh, so that's what happened there...yeah trash-talking isn't the GAM-thing.
Here is the next chapter! School has started and things are getting hectic for me so updates will be slower and slower...Chapter named after my comment on RFP
F.Y.I
Chapter 24
December 25 (2.20pm)
Garden of Love
She lay on the queen-sized bed and closed her eyes in an attempt to grab a nap after lunch. The girl with the shoulder-length hair gazing blankly into space surfaced in her mind. The girl’s silky hair swayed sideways as the wind blew past covering some parts of her face, including that pair of forlorn eyes, momentarily. Tears welled up in her eyes and she stared blankly into space. That girl in her mind was acting tougher than she actually was, enduring all the pain to herself. She felt tears in her eyes as that image in her head enlarged and duplicated itself.
Suddenly, she felt her handphone lying beside her vibrate and she picked it up on its 1st vibration. Her heart sank in disappointment when she saw who the caller was but she still picked it up anyway since it was Christmas. “Hello,” she greeted the caller.
“Uh, Merry Christmas to you,” the caller said flatly without even the tiniest hint of bliss and that didn’t sounded well –wishes at all.
“Merry Christmas to you too,” she replied trying not to sound too enthusiastic although this was the first call she received today.
It seems weird to sound enthusiastic when someone speaks to you in that flat and emotionless tone. She was certain that the caller didn’t call her simply to wish her Merry Christmas. It wasn’t her style.
“Hey-”
Ok, now she is going into the main point of the call. That’s so typical of her to do so. “Yes?”
“Why the hell did you try to kiss Aya yesterday? What the hell were you thinking of?” she asked. It was obvious that she was trying to control herself from screaming at the younger girl.
“I didn’t try to kiss her. I just wanted to wipe off the cream around her mouth. You know she is a careless and clumsy girl-”
“I don’t give a damn! Why the shit did you even meet up with her in the first place, Maki?” she screamed into the phone.
“Oh well, I just wanted to see her before I leave-”
“That reminds me. Why the hell are you still in Japan?” she shouted. Maki didn’t reply. It was hard to talk logic to someone who was screaming like that. “Oh, you are dumbfounded, I see. Next thing you will say is that is the power of love because you are still as crazily in love with her as before!”
“Yossie, I can’t talk properly if you keep screaming at me like that. If you just call for the sake of screaming and cursing me, go on,” Maki spoke calmly.
Yossie fell silent for a couple of seconds before she replied softly, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t think that you have the right to scold me for this. You were the one who really went to kiss and grope Miki. Explain yourself, Yoshizawa Hitomi.”
“Ok, I admit it was my fault that I did that but Miki was the one who initiated it-”
“You could have rejected her advances, you know?” Maki bellowed. She took a deep breath before she spoke sarcastically, “Ok, it’s impossible for a flirt like to even think of rejecting a hot girl like Miki. That’s as hard as talking a starving lion out of eating a limped deer. ”
“Ok, I know it’s my fault,” she paused before she continued, “What about you? You are diverting the topic!”
“If you really want to know, I will tell you then. I meet up with her not because I miss her or anything along that line but because your darling told me to do so.”
“My darling?”
“Otherwise known as Ishikawa Rika. How many darlings do you have?”
“No, I’m just puzzled. Why will Rika ask you to meet up with Aya?”
“Yeah, I was puzzled initially as well but last night, I developed a theory. That’s she wants to hurt Miki. And the reason may be linked to Miki’s detective manoeuvres a month ago which landed you in there.”
Silence descended upon them for about a minute before Yossie whispered in an assertive voice, “Maki, that’s impossible. She dislikes Miki but she won’t do anything like that. I trust her for that,” she paused before she added as an afterthought, “Don’t fabricate a tale like that to spoil her name.”
“You’re free to think whatever you want. I have done my job already by telling you that. I’ve things to do so if you don’t mind, I will hang up now.”
“Ok, bye,” Yossie said flatly.
Maki hung up and she closed her eyes yet again and the same forlorn image of the girl whom she loved whole-heartedly surfaced in her mind. This time round, the wind had stopped blowing and the fringe was no longer covering her eyes. There were beautiful and colourful flowers surrounding the girl this time round. Tears were running down from that pair of reddened eyes. That girl closed her eyes tight causing lines to appear on her forehead but that action didn’t stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks.
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December 25 (3.45pm)
Rika sat in the corner seat of the family cafeteria near her apartment and gazed at the people walking along the street through the glass panel of the cafeteria, forgetting her troubles momentarily. Little children dressed like Santa Claus in red strolled along the street with their hands held by the real Santa Claus in their lives – their parents. The one receiving somewhat appear to be the one giving. What an irony. But as long as the party who is actually giving loves the one who receives, no one will mind about the irony.
She attempted to convince herself for the 20th time today that it was okay not to give Yossie anything for Christmas this year. It seemed meaningless to give her something after all that had happened recently. Though the gift that she had bought for Yossie 2 months ago was lying in her apartment, she felt that the best gift she could give her now was honesty. She had never given something like that to Yossie before because they didn’t seem to need this in the previous years. But it seemed more than appropriate now to do so.
However, it seemed more than just weird to go up to the hottest girl in H!P and say, “Merry Christmas! I have a gift for you and guess what? It is honesty!” Yossie might just shoot her the confused and twisted look and laugh at her for that and maybe run off to kiss and grope Miki. But even if she might lose Yossie because of this, she felt strongly about doing that. That was perhaps the correct key to revive their relationship. That was perhaps the only gift that could show that she still loved her deeply in this 7-year-old relationship.
She took a sip of the hot mocha she had ordered and her gaze shifted from the people on the streets to the overcast sky. It seemed as though it would snow anytime now. Even if there was a blizzard and it didn’t stop by the appointed time, she would walk on strongly alone because of the undying burning flame symbolising love in her heart.
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December 25 (5.00pm)
Wearing a black overcoat, Yossie leaned against the wall right outside the Chinese restaurant and gazed at the snowflakes falling from the sky. She hugged the hand-made book close to her chest in an attempt to prevent the snowflakes from staining its sky-blue cover. With her eyes fixated at a snowflake making its descend to the ground, she rehearsed the speech in her mind for the umpteenth time. Never in her life had she wanted to say something like that. Never in her life had she made and wrote a book for another person. Never in her life was she so serious over Christmas.
The snowflake made a small spin in the air and flew in her direction. She bit onto her lips and tried to summon all her courage for possibly the most important date in her life. A few seconds later, it changed its direction and flew away from her towards the gift shop opposite to the restaurant. Some things were just out of her control. Let it fly away. Let it be free.
When the snowflake eventually reached the ground in front of the grocery shop three stores away from the gift shop, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She was here. The time had come.
Rika smiled rather nervously at her and without saying anything, Rika walked into the restaurant with Yossie following closely behind. It was perhaps the first time that they entered the restaurant without holding hands or anything along that line. The female middle-aged boss, together with some of the waiters of the restaurant, was standing at the aisle welcoming customers into the restaurant as they wanted to appear hospitable and this wasn’t a peak hour. When they strolled down the aisle, she smiled widely at Rika as though she knew her for ages. It wasn’t usual for someone to patronise this place for 3 days in a row. Chinese food is something people get sick of quickly. She welcomed them in Chinese before wishing them Merry Christmas in English. Some words cross languages and translation is not needed to interpret them.
They were seated across each other in the same cozy corner that they always did. The restaurant was pretty empty because it was only 5pm and most people preferred to have western meals on Christmas. At least they did not wish to take Chinese food. A waiter was positioned strategically near their table and was ready to take order any time. The girls quickly ordered their usual dishes from him and automatically, he folded the slip of paper in which he wrote the orders on and left, giving the girls the privacy that they needed.
When they were alone, the 2 girls smiled awkwardly at each other in silence. Not that they hadn’t anything to talk about but there were too much to be said that they didn’t quite know how to start. Yossie placed the book on her lap in an attempt to hide it from Rika’s view. It needed to be given to her but this wasn’t the correct time.
Yossie bit on her lips, inhaled deeply before she stretched out her right hand, smiled at the cute yet sexy girl seated across her and spoke gently, “Merry Christmas!”
Rika extended her right hand and shook her hand, smiled at the beautiful yet handsome girl sitting across her and said with a lilt in her voice, “Merry Christmas to you too!”
After Rika had spoken, the girls let go of each other’s hands as though they were on cue and silence descended upon them yet again. Those words that they had spoken hadn’t managed to break the ice between them.
Yossie leaned back against the chair she was seated on and she closed her eyes momentarily. She thought, “Yoshizawa Hitomi, be braver than that! You need to say those words to her no matter how much you hate doing so. Be more responsible! Act more like a human!”
Rika placed her arms in a folded position on the table and her head laid lazily on them. She wondered, “Ishikawa Rika, you know you need to tell her about what you have done right? Do that now! Hiding it from her isn’t helping us in any way! Be honest to her! Be honest to yourself!”
“I have something to say,” the girls spoke at the same time. They rushed through their words in a similar way.
“You speak first,” they spoke in unison again. That induced a smile on both girls’ faces. They smiled knowingly at each other before falling back into silence. Both of them felt delighted deep inside how in sync they were with the other and that sweet feeling they now had eroded away the nervousness they were feeling earlier.
“Yossie, you go first,” Rika whispered with a tiny smile on her face.
I shouldn’t speak first. Those words will ruin this somewhat pleasant atmosphere. Let me indulge myself in enjoying this moment with you for a little longer. “Are you sure? You speak first, Rika,” Yossie replied with her eyebrows raised in an exaggerated and comical way.
I will spoil this evening for sure after telling you that. Let me enjoy this moment with you for a while more. Rika couldn’t help but to laugh at her companion who had this exaggerated and constipated look on her face. “Yossie, I’m fine with it. You speak first,” Rika said with a wide grin on her face. Before Yossie had the chance to rebuke her, she added in a serious voice, “If you don’t, I will be mad at you.”
Yossie nodded reluctantly. She held onto the book on her lap with both hands and when she was about to lift it above the table, the waiter strode over and placed the plate of fried rice and bowl of noodles in a professional manner on the table in front of Yossie and Rika respectively. Yossie quickly shifted the book down. Damn, what timing. That guy spoilt the moment.
After the waiter had set the dishes in front of the 2 female customers, he strode off and the girls had their privacy back again. Rika’s eyes were not on the food at all but rather on the girl whom she loved. She was anxious to know what she was about to say. Yossie took a deep breath, too deep of a breath that she felt like she was about to hyperventilate any moment now, before she raised the book and placed it on the table. She pushed the book towards Rika with both hands like what a high-school girl will do to her first crush and whispered with her eyes fixed on Rika, “This is for you.”
Rika received the gift with both hands and smiled widely. “So this is what Yossie wanted to say to me,” she thought. The front cover was sky-blue in colour and words were handwritten in pink ink. It wrote:
Ishikawa Rika & Yoshizawa Hitomi monogatari. “Thank you! I love you!” Rika exclaimed in sheer delight.
She flipped open the obviously hand-made book and on the first page it wrote:
February 12 2000. A girl added me on Friendster today. I initially thought she was just a random fangirl but it turned out that she wasn’t. Instead, she was a real beauty. I’m going for Morning Musume audition with her. Ganbatte Yossi! Fate somehow brought us together but will it make us last? Attached on the bottom of the page was the picture she took with Maki that she sent to Yossie 7 years ago.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she flipped through the pages and read the words and viewed the photos bearing Yossie’s thoughts on them and their memories respectively. She wondered, “She had definitely put in a lot of effort into this. When did she start on this mini book? When did she start thinking that I’m an important person in her life? Was it really the very first day? But since it was a book on our story, what did she mean by giving me this on Christmas? Does she imply that...”
Rika quickly flipped to the last page that was written on and read it anxiously.
It wrote: December 25 2007. I needed to talk to her desperately. The guilt piling up in my chest is too much for me to bear with. I can’t be unfair to her. This is both wrong and selfish of me to do so. I’m sorry Rika... Rika shut the book and tears welled up in her eyes. She had a sinking feeling about where this was leading to and what Yossie meant by the words on the final page. “Yossie, what do you mean by this?” Rika murmured, avoiding eye contact with the older girl.
You have fallen for Fujimoto Miki and you want to be with her, right? That’s what you mean, right?Yossie stood up before she took a step towards Rika and held her hands with her gentle eyes fixated on the long-haired girl. Yossie spoke, “Rika-”
Suki nan yo mada suki nan yo...Her handphone in her jeans’ pocket began to ring. Yossie’s eyes were fixed on Rika despite the vibration she felt on her right thigh. She chose to ignore the phone call and she cursed the caller under her breath. This wasn’t the right timing to pick up a call. She needed to say something much more important now.
Nando nando tsutaete mo dakedo...Rika gazed at Yossie’s right pocket relentlessly with tears running down her cheeks and she took her hands away from Yossie’s. The previous date and its unhappiness that they had in this restaurant several days ago came to her mind. Things kept repeating themselves so much so that the pain just increased exponentially each time. No matter how affectionately Yossie looked at her now, there was only one word stuck in her mind now – Miki.
Dakedo togireteru hanashi togireru...Yossie stared at the girl in front of her and she could read what Rika was thinking of through her facial expression. That forlorn look accompanied by the tears only meant that she was thinking of that one person. Yossie shook her head and took out her handphone as implied by Rika’s little gestures. She glanced at the caller’s name and then held her phone in such an angle that Rika could see the screen on her phone. It wrote: Fujimoto Mikitty calling. Yossie waited for a few seconds before she pressed the reject button and placed the phone on the table. No one could call and disrupt their important conversation today. Absolutely no one. Not even Fujimoto Miki.
Yossie stared at Rika firmly yet affectionately at the same time and held her hands.
Nothing to do with Fujimoto, Rika. Please trust me... The tears had stopped flowing down her cheeks and Rika was looking into Yossie’s eyes.
I think she understand... Yossie whispered, “Rika, the next time when I say ‘I love you’, I want to mean each and every syllabus of that phrase.”
Rika kept her head bowed after Yossie completed her sentence. Yossie couldn’t see her face so she wasn’t sure how the other girl was feeling after hearing that. Was she crying? Did she understand?
Rika tried to stop herself from crying by shutting her eyes tight. She thought, “She is implying that she doesn’t like Miki. I have no choice but to believe her on that... But what does she mean by saying that she wants to mean each syllabus of ‘I love you’? Does she imply that she never mean it before? Does she imply that we should end this loveless relationship? But I...I love her way too much for me to leave this garden of love now...”
After about 2 minutes, Yossie decided to break the awkward silence and she murmured, “Rika, are you-”
Rika lifted her own chin and looked at Yossie with a grin on her face before she squealed, “I’ll wait for you!”
Not knowing quite how to respond, Yossie embraced the younger girl gently and closed her eyes. After fretting over it for hours, that moment was finally over. Maybe they were more compatible than she earlier thought they were. No matter how bad it had turned out, she had passed her first test under the Christmas lights. Now it was time to fret over her 2nd test. It was a sweet feeling to hear that from Rika but it meant more responsibility from now on. However, she didn’t fear responsibility as much as before. She inched closer to Rika and murmured with tears running down her cheeks, “Thank you, Rika...”
Topic: F.Y.I 29 - Recurring Moments (Read 152718 times)