Maki felt her heart pounding so heart that her chest actually did start hurting. Her blood was climbing up to her head and she was feeling kind of dizzy.

“Maki-chan…” Tomohisa repeated.

Oh God that voice. Why did he have such a deep voice that always made her knees weak. She didn’t know what to do. Currently, Suzuka and Mirai were expectantly looking at her so she did what first came to her mind. She nodded her head, awkwardly walking around the counter.

“H-how’ve you been?” She asked. Although she thought she didn’t need to ask that question. If anyone knew her ex-boyfriend, well, it was her. Oh he was handsome when they were younger, him being 20 and she being 17 when they first met but actually getting together a year later. But now, he looked… even more handsome. His hair grew longer and he was taller aside from getting a more muscular build.

She realized he hadn’t answered her question and was only staring her down much like what she was doing to him. Did she have some soy sauce on her face or something?

“Coach, do you know them?” Ryosuke approached, the scene followed by his tall friend, the both of them looking curiously at Tomohisa.

“Maki is--”

“Tadaima!! (I’m back) ” The door opened yet again, now introducing Erika and an unknown guy. However, Erika stopped when the air was obviously thick and there were three guys whom she did not recognize, standing there. “Eh doua? (what’s going on?)”

No one knew what exactly was going on and no one was speaking at that moment in time. Even with the awkward silence, Erika tried to salvage the situation and put up another smile before pulling the man she was with a little closer to Maki.

“Maki-chan! This is Kazuya, I met him at the bus stop, he’s applying for the chef job.”

“Oh! Uh…” Maki snapped out from her reverie turning back to Tomohisa first before gesturing for Kazuya to follow her. “Please come this way…” She then turned back to Tomohisa and bowed her head respectfully. “Tomohisa…”

When Maki and Kazuya were inside the kitchen, Mirai let out a large sigh, her hands on the counter as she looked at Tomohisa. “W-we didn’t know you were back.”

“It’s only been for a year…” Tomohisa replied as he looked back at Mirai.

“Oh so you two know each other?” Erika stepped in to the conversation in her always cheerful manner.

“Erika-nee…” Mirai started before gesturing for the woman and then to Tomohisa. “This is Yamaa Tomohisa, he’s Maki-nee’s…” she stopped for a moment, contemplating if she would continue but she told herself to just it all in then let it out. “He’s Maki-nee’s ex-boyfriend…”

“That woman is your girlfriend coach?”

Mirai forgot that Ryosuke was there.

Tomohisa turned to Ryosuke and slowly nodded his head. “She was…” He replied. Mirai couldn’t miss the sad tone that came with his answer.

“I’ll just sit with my players Mirai-chan, sumimasen (excuse me).” Tomohisa said, nodding his head slowly to Mirai before leading Ryosuke and the other guy back to the booth. Once they were far to hear them, Mirai faced Erika and Suzuka.

“I’ll check up on onee-chan (big sister), she might need… help with that applicant.” Her sentence faded away before she pulled the door to the kitchen.

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Meisa yawned as she turned over in bed; Jin was still sleeping there beside her, his arms holding tight unto her waist. As quietly as she could, she untangled the death grip he had on her then moved to wear her robe.

She sat there by the curtain-covered window, just allowing a peek of the sun to pass through the glass. Thoughts came to her mind before she turned back to the man she’s just had with. She stared at Jin’s profile, following how the hint of the sun from the window coated Jin in an almost sepia like manner. It was in a sudden moment that she felt her heart beating fast. No, no… she tried to shake this feelings off, for her it was a taboo to even think about this. Then Jin suddenly started moving, obviously waking up. His left eye opened first before his right one; it was a habit of his that she’d already memorized.

“What are you doing there?” Jin asked, his voice muffled by half of his face pressed upon the pillow. “Come back to bed…”

Instead of answering, Meisa stood up from the chair she was sitting on then moved back to the bed, pushing Jin flat on his back, straddling him. “Just shut up and kiss me…”

A smirk crawled its way upon Jin’s lips before he wrapped his arms around Meisa’s waist then leaned up on the bed’s head board to get better access to her lips.

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Mirai opened the door slowly to the kitchen, expecting to see Maki and the man Erika introduced as Kazuya but they were nowhere in sight. She wondered for a moment where they were but then realized that they must of course be inside Maki’s office at the back. This time she knocked on the door since things here were a little more private. She peeked her head in and saw Maki talking professionally to Kazuya. Her older sister gestured for her to wait, still talking, so she nodded her head and backed away once again to the kitchen. If people were going to ask her what her sister ought to be she wouldn’t answer a chef or a café owner. She’d answer that Maki ought to be an actress since she always held her emotions so intact that people would always believe what Maki would want them to believe. The only people who could tell what’s really going on with Maki was herself, their parents… and Tomohisa.

She stood there, thinking to herself with her hands on the kitchen’s long steel table. She couldn’t take this. She went back outside to the café to see Suzuka serving one other customer; Erika wasn’t there, she’d probably headed upstairs.

There was something heavy pulling her head to the back and there she saw both Tomohisa and Ryosuke looking at her. This was her queue. She was thinking for a minute before making her way over to where Ryouske and Tomohisa were; Suzuka could handle the customer while she was there.

“Hi again…” Was the first thing Ryosuke said as she stood in-front of them.

She rolled her eyes for a moment and actually saw Tomohisa smirking. “Hello there sir.” She added extra emphasis to the last word just to tease.

Apparently this wasn’t working with Ryosuke. The boy smiled cheekily. “Why call me sir? Ryosuke is enough, Mirai.”

“I’d rather not…” Mirai said, her nose crinkling in annoyance.

Tomohisa chose this moment to intervene. He cleared his throat then looked to the two boys sitting beside him. “Yuto, Ryouske, I’m sorry but could you excuse us for a moment?”

Ryosuke’s smile was still there but Tomohisa’s authority proved to be powerful since he and the other one; (Yuto as he was called) stood up and chose another table a bit further away.

Mirai wasted no time to sit down beside Tomohisa, turning to the older man with her hands folded on top of her lap. “So Tomo-nii, how’ve you been?”

“Good, I’m coaching the basketball team at Meiji University…”

“Oh, maji de… (really).” Mirai uttered. This would mean she’d see him when the school year started.

“Yeah…” Tomohisa said. He nodded his head over to Ryosuke and Yuto who were to Mirai’s comfort weren’t looking. “Those two are incoming freshmen and are both on a scholarship that’s why I’m training them this summer.”

Oh sh*t. That meant Mirai would see this Ryosuke guy too!

“Mirai…”

Tomohisa’s deep voice caught her attention, sending her back to reality. “Oh, hai Tomo-nii?”

Tomohisa breathed in first, his lower lip. He leaned forward and turned to Mirai. “H-how’s your Maki-nee is she doing fine?”

Mirai knew the conversation would reach this. She nodded her head. “She’s doing really good; she owns this café after all…” She saw the split second where Tomohisa’s eyes slightly widened and then he smiled softly yet sadly.

“This really was her dream… to own a café.”

Mirai tried her best not to say; With you by her side. Those words stayed within her thoughts.

“What about your dream Tomo-nii?” Mirai countered.

Tomohisa could only sigh as he shook his head.

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Maki fixed her glasses as she watched Kazuya cooking her up a pasta dish. This was the final test for her to decide if she should hire this manner. Kazuya was decent enough and seemed to be a promising worker so she knew she wouldn’t have any problems with him in the future; now to taste his cooking.

Kazuya had good technique and he was very focused as he cooked. Before Maki could even realize, the marinara dish was already finished.

“Hai…” Kauzya presented the plate, looking sort of nervous though he hid it with his apathetic expression. To calm his nerves down, Maki smiled at him before twirling some of the pasta then serving it to herself.

“This is good!” She commented once she was able to swallow.

Kazuya smiled after a long time and he bowed his head in thanks.

“You’re hired Kazuya! Welcome to Wits.” Maki held out his hand which Kazuya took with a strong and firm shake.

“Oh good choice Maki-chan!” Kauzya and Maki pulled away, both in surprise when they saw Erika opening the door to the kitchen with a happy smile on her face.

“Erika, were you listening in the whole time?” Maki said in an accusatory yet amused tone. She crossed her arms at her friend, failing to hide the smile from crawling to her lips.

“Well I’m excited to have a new employee!” Erika reasoned with an innocent shrug.

“You don’t even work here Erika-chan.” Maki said as she approached her friend.

“Still…” Erika replied. To her surprise, Kazuya approached her and smiled, bowing his head. “Thank you for bringing me here Erika-chan.”

Erika’s exoression turned blank but she knew she was happy; otherwise why would her heart beat so fast? Was it the way Kazuya smiled or was it how his voice echoed through the empty kitchen.

“You can start tomorrow morning Kazuya…” Maki suddenly said, cutting the moment. It was there that she breathed in and shook her head.

“Erika why don’t you entertain Kazuya first; I have some things to deal with…”

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Night time was slowly falling when Jin and Meisa finally grew tired to the most. Now both showered, Jin had to head on home. Meisa followed him as he led the way downstairs, fixing his jacket in the process.

“Hi Meisa-nee…” Suzuka greeted from the counter just as Jin and Meisa reached the last steps.

“Hey Suzuka…” Meisa greeted back, then she started searching. “Where’s Maki and Mirai?”

Suzuka shrugged with a small sigh. She gestured to Mirai who was still at that booth. “Mirai’s over there and up to now I’m not sure what’s happening…”

“Listen babe, I’d love to stay and chat but I’ve got to get home…” Jin said before smiling apologetically to Suzuka who only blushed back.

“Oh well, let’s go, I’ll lead you to the bus stop.”

Meisa and Jin made their way to the exit. The sun was beginning to set, in fact it was already twilight but people around the Tokyo area were still busy and about.

It was still a long walk to the bus stop so Jin started a conversation. “It must be fun to be living above a café huh…”

“The food is always good…” Meisa chuckled slowly. The way they walked wasn’t too far and wasn’t too close; it was just right, anyone would’ve thought they were just friends if it wasn’t for the awkward glances they were giving each other. They’d just reached the bus stop when a familiar voice called to them.

“Jin! Mei-tan!!!”

It was a co-worker of theirs at the center; Uehara Takako…

“Takako…” Meisa uttered quietly when the girl reached them. “What are you doing here?”

Takako smiled, rather annoyingly as she shrugged then pointed down the block. “Oh it’s just I have a cousin living nearby and I visited her. I didn’t know you guys were around here.”

“Oh, well Meisa is… we just… talked.” Jin explained with a smug smile.

“Oh! So that means you’re going home too right Jin?” Takako asked expectantly.

Jin had the same smug smile on his face. “Uh, yeah yeah, why don’t we head on together?”

It was obvious from the look on Takako’s face that she was excited and very much happy with Jin inviting her. Meisa’s smile was strained and she wished she didn’t look too obvious as she nodded her head.

“Since you already have someone with you I’ll be heading on back… bye Takako, bye Jin.” Meisa waved a little before turning away, not even letting Jin speak up.

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Maki had to breath in a few times before she actually showed herself outside the kitchen, surprising Suzuka in the process.

“Maki-nee!” Suzuka exclaimed.

Maki herself looked surprised but she offered Suzuka a small smile. “Oh hey Suzuka, where’s Mirai?”

“She’s over there with that guy… Tomohisa right?”

Maki almost didn’t hear what the younger woman said; she was too busy viewing Tomohisa talking to her younger sister. “Excuse me for a while Suzu-chan.” Suzuka stayed there, watching as Maki approached the end booth.

Maki’s heart was pounding again; it had a break when she was talking with Kazuya a while ago but now it was beating yet again. The walk to the end booth seemed like forever that’s why she wasn’t aware that she was in-fact already in-front of Tomohisa and Mirai.

“Maki-nee…” she heard Mirai utter amidst the loud noise that was her thoughts. She composed herself and shook her head awake. Her smile was small.

“Mirai, could I talk to Tomohisa for a while? You can help with Suzuka by the counter.”

Mirai had no qualms whatsoever, standing up in a heartbeat to give her sister and Tomohisa some privacy.

As if reading Maki’s mind, Tomohisa stood up and asked; “Can I talk to you outside?”

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Mirai quietly made her way over to the counter but stopped mid-way when she saw Suzuka talking to that other guy… Yuya? Yuta? Oh year right, Yuto. But if Yuto was there, where was Ryosuke?

“Looking for me sweetie?”

“Ah!” Mirai yelled. The feel of hot breath against her ear made her shiver. She scowled when she turned around and saw the handsome boy.

Ryosuke pulled away, still chuckling as he leaned on the counter while Suzuka and Yuto continued to talk (they look like they’re flirting; came Mirai’s thoughts)

“So how do you know our coach?” Ryosuke suddenly asked Mirai, still leaning on the counter. Mirai was catapulted to the fact that Tomohisa and Maki needed a long conversation right now. She turned back to the booth only to see that Tomohisa and Maki were gone.

“What’s it to you anyway?” she asked Ryosuke hotly.

Just like their few conversations turned out, Ryosuke smirked then shrugged. “Just curious, you look like your sister of course and some say I remind them of coach Tomo, and they look good together,doesn’t that mean we fit too?” He grinned.

Mirai put all the control she had left in her not to smack Ryosuke right in the jaw. He was too confident for her taste. “Well if you and I were to get together then that means we’d break up too since that’s what happened to them…” she muttered the last part of the sentence.

“Sorry Mirai but the only thing that entered my systems was you saying ‘you and I get together’.” Ryosuke said, pushing himself away from the counter and approaching Mirai who stood there at the sides.

“Look sir…” Mirai said in a mocking tone her arms crossed defensively in-front of her. “You are not my type! Now If you don’t mind I have to get back to work!” she stomped away disappearing behind the counter and into the kitchen.

And for the first time, Ryosuke stood there looking shocked while Yuto clapped his shoulder, laughing his heart out.

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When Maki was in elementary, she confessed to her classmate, Ken that she liked him, unfortunately he didn’t like her back and just ran away for the whole neighbourhood kids to see; she’d rather be back in that situation than here with Tomohisa sitting on the playground swings near Wits, having the most awkward silence she’d ever encounter.

“So…” Tomohisa started and she snapped her head over to him. “Wits is going good, your wish came true huh…”

Maki nodded her head in answer; she could see from her peripheral vision that Tomohisa was looking directly at her but she couldn’t look back at him or else she might break down. “I started it two years ago. What about you? I never did see you at BJ…” she said, talking about Basketball Japan League; it was Tomohisa’s dream to be there and also the reason why they…

“Huh…” Tomohisa scoffed slightly as he looked at his shoes and pushing himself a little to move the swing. “I was drafted but I injured my knee even before I could get to my first game…” Maki gasped and he looked at her, their eyes meeting.

“Y-you never got to play…” Maki stated, more to herself than to anyone.

Tomohisa chose this moment to stand up, stretching his long legs. He breathed in, it was now or never. “I was able to get over it, thanks to okaa-san and my friends… but what about you Maki? Where were you then?”

Maki heard the pain in his voice. She slowly stood up, now being able to look him in the eye. “You can’t blame me for that…”

“I can’t?” Tomohisa said, his anger rising. “I loved you Maki! You were everything to me and then…”

It was raining that night, oh how the heavens would greatly participate in this event. Tomohisa held the umbrella over his head, waiting for Maki at their favourite coffee shop. It was getting late and with how the rain was going he was getting worried. He wanted to pick her up himself but she insisted that he go on first.

“Tomo…”

That small but very familiar voice caused him to look at the sides. “Maki!” He said with a smile but noticed that Maki didn’t return his expression.

“Is something wrong?” He asked once Maki had reached him. He wrapped an arm around her while she protected herself from the cold, with a large jacket in tow.

Maki didn’t reply, instead pulled away and asked; “So how are things with Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix?”

Though perplexed with the question, Tomohisa answered. “Great, they want me to… move there for training… but I don’t want to…” Truth was he didn’t want to accept being drafted to that team, he wouldn’t leave Maki. But the next thing happening shattered his heart into infinite pieces.

“Tomo I think we should break up…” Maki said, she was so glad it was raining. “I-I don’t love you anymore…” she said this, returning the promise ring Tomohisa gave her.

“It wasn’t easy for me either Tomo!” Maki yelled back. They were only centimeters apart but their yells still kept on.

“Not easy?” Tomohisa stepped forward. “You go and tell me that we should break up because you don’t love me anymore! What, was I just some passing fling? Someone you just used to know?!”

“I-it’s not like that…” Here came the tears. Maki wiped them off before they’d increase in number. She saw Tomohisa calming down.

“Then what is it Maki?” The man asked helplessly.

“Maki-chan?” Their conversation stopped when suddenly at the sides, Meisa came, looking just as dishevelled as Maki.

The café owner took this opportunity. “I’m sorry Tomo, but I have to go…” with that she went running to Meisa, pulling the other girl away to the direction.

Standing there, a single tear dropped from Tomohisa’s eye while the weight of Maki promise ring pulled down on the chain on his neck where it was hanged and hidden inside his shirt.  

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AN: Heeelllllooo! XD chapter 2 up! I don't know if it's considered an M rating for that Jin and Meisa scene? is it? please tell me ne :) thank you to those who subscribed! please comment! :) so since the first chapter lacked Yamaki I poured all of my feels for them here <3 they're just so perfect ne? kyaaaaa!