It's Too Late...

[Local market place, Delhi]

the boys looked at Anu in confusion.

"Who is it?" Yabu asked.

"An extremely good friend of mine! He wants to see you guys..."

Rysuke's eyes widened, 'he?' he thought.

"Oh..." the boys nodded.

"Does he speak Japanese too? Is he a fan?" Inoo asked.

Anu laughed at his curiosity, "I'm afraid he doesn't speak Japanese and most definitely is not a fan...but i talk so much about all of you! And he knows a few words and sentences in Japanese that i taught him."

"Fair enough," Keito smiled.

The boys and Anu now headed towards the restaurant where they were to meet Ashok.

"So how good a friend is Ashok to you?" Takaki asked.

"You'll find that out in good time," she smiled, "because we're reeeeeally good friends!"

Meanwhile, Ashok was thinking about way to drop a few hints to the JUMPs that Anushka was off bounds for them. He wondered whether she told them about him, 'about us,' he thought.

He remembered the last time that he was at the same restaurant with her..

~Flashback~

"You know, Rohit's getting married this August. He said that he wanted you to come too," Ashok informed Anu.

"Rohit's getting married? Wow, now you're the only one left outta all your colleagues who isn't still married!" she pulled his leg.

"Are you saying that i should get married now? Cuz i dont mind, you know," he joked, "All i'd have to do is ask you."

Then he raised an eyebrow at her, "DO you want to marry me?"

"Crazy man!" she laughed as she threw her napkin at him.

~Present~

He sighed as his thought returned back to the now.

'Only if i really did ask her to marry me...'

Back to Anu and the JUMPs! (:P)

Yuto found it to be quite unexpected that he had been Anu's favourite for all these years.

'I wish we could have met earlier,' he thought, 'then she would have known a happier me...'

Anu was a lot less nervous than she had expected herself to be, as she led the JUMPs to the resto. She knew somehow that Ashok was the last man on earth to embarrass her.

'I am in good hands!' she thought gleefully, 'and besides, Ashok gets along well with everyone.'

Chinen Yuri wasn't actually upset about him having been Anu's favourite only for a little bit. He was her first favourite! He now felt that he had to redeem himself in her mind.

But it's not what you're thinking it is, Chii doesn't want Anu to fall in love with him. He simply wants her to feel that he deserves to be liked more than Yuto, and this was the perfect time for him as Yuto had been completely outta his element recently.

"Hey Anu-chan..." he asked Anu, "how come I was your first favourite?"

Anu grinned, "you were so cute and innocent! There just was something about you that i instantly connected to."

"Am i not cute and innocent anymore?" he jokingly asked.

Anu laughed. "Of course not! You're cuter, if not as cute...but when it comes to innocence, i'm not so sure," she joked, "just kiiiidiiiing!"

"Then how did Yuto top over me?"

"Anu shrugged, "I don't know....it just happened. You know?"

Chii smiled, "I understand."

"I hope you're not taking it personally?" she asked, worried.

"Oh, no! Not at all!" Chii reassured her, "In fact, I'm more determined to make myself a better friend of yours, so if there is anything i can do for you then please don't hesitate!"

"Gee, Chinen-san, thank you!"

"Call me Yuri, ne?"

"Yuri?" Anu's eyes widened, "isn't that kinda rude?"

"In Japan, it might be..." he answered, "but over here, Yuri is perfect!"

"Well then, you should just call me Anu too.Try it!" she suggested.

"Anu?" he asked, "okay...I'm glad we had this little chat, Anu!"

"Oh, look," Anu turned to all the boys and pointed towards a building by the corner, "there's the restaurant!"

"By the way, Anu-chan," Ryosuke interrupted, "what is your friend's name?"

"Oh!" she smacked herself internally, "Guess i forgot to tell you. His name is Ashok...and there he is!"

She flashed a grin as Ashok noticed them entering the place. Ashok greeted Anu with a short hug. Then his gaze shifted to the bundle of men surrounding them. He was almost alarmed by this seemingly never-ending crowd of Japanese folk.

One by one, the JUMPs introduced themselves to Ashok, who introduced himself in his bron Japanese as, "Hey...I am Ashok Jaiswal, 30 years old...work Army and am Anushka's old boyfriend!"

Hearing that, their jaws dropped.

',' Anu wailed internally, 'Really, Ashok?'

Taking into consideration all of the reactions to what he just told them, he said, "I guess you didn't know..."

Anu rolled her eyes at him."Well, come on," Ashok said to Anu in English, "tell these guys to take their seats."

Anu tells them to sit down, smiling at them awkwardly.

“Are you embarrassed about me..?” Ashok added in Hindi, “I’m kinda disappointed that you didn’t tell them about us.”

“No, Ashok, I just got caught up with things. I forgot to tell them,” she explained, “And what do you mean by ‘us’? There is no ‘us’ anymore.”

Ouuuch, that hurt the poor guy bad. But he was not gonna give up so soon. He loved this woman!

“I’m sorry, alright?” he apologised, “I just think that you should have told them who I am—was in your life.”

Anu simply pursed her lips in response.

The atmosphere at this table was indeed very awkward.

Ashok figured out that his guests were feeling uncomfortable so he started a conversation with them.

“The eldest?” he asked, in the simple Japanese words that he knew.

“That would be me,” Yabu said pointing at himself.

“And the youngest is me!” Chii pointed at himself.

“Okay,” Ashok said, “You like India?”

“Hai!” Chii, Yabu and Hikaru answered.

“So Ashok-san...you work in the Army?” Takaki asked.

“Yes. For nine years,” he replied.

“Must be fun, ne?” Daiki wondered.

“It is. But i move a lot...” he looked at Anu, regretfully.

“So you’re based in Delhi right now?”

“No. Now, I am in East India. I am here for holiday.”

“Oh...that’s nice, isn’t it?” Hikaru said.

Ashok noticed Anu’s face had kinda blanked out. He mouthed, ‘I’m sorry.’

She stared at him for a moment and smiled, “it’s okay.”

The boys relaxed a little bit as Ashok and Anu were finally at ease. They were now talking about the country and their experiences so far.

Ryosuke and Yuto were sitting in opposite corners but both of them were in equally deep thought.

‘Wow,’ Ryosuke thought, ‘Anu dated this man before? But he’s so good looking and he’s older than even Yabu nii! Maybe Anu-chan is outta my league...pfft, she can’t possibly be outta my league! I am Yamada Ryosuke!’

Ryosuke was sitting next to Chii who was next to Anu. He tried to negotiate switching places with Chii in order  to sit next to her but Chii wouldn’t budge. He eyes Ryosuke and said, “I know what your intentions with Anu are, and I’m not gonna let you get to her.”

“Ehhhhhh?” Ryosuke looked dumbfounded, “don’t be such a smartass!”

Keito was sitting next to Ashok. He asked him, in English, after thinking a little bit, “Sorry to ask this rude question, but...you were Anu-chan’s boyfriend earlier?”

Keito asked this question when Anu had gone to the washroom.

Ashok smiled and replied in Japanese, “Yes. For two years.”

The guys were listening. They looked surprised.

“What happened?” Ryosuke jumped.

“Nothing happened, as such,” he shrugged, “we...just had to call it quits.”

Yuto suddenly rose his head and looked at Ashok, “You’re still in love with her, aren’t you?”

Everybody’s eyes widened. Ashok simply tried to avoid Yuto’s fixed stare. He didn’t respond to his question.

The boys began looking at each other. They didn’t expect such behaviour from Yuto’s part. Yuto was normally the kinda guy who works out fine with everyone.

‘Looks like I’m not the only one with an unfinished love story,’ Yuto thought.

“Is everything alright over here?” Anu asked, as she returned to the table and saw the weird atmosphere again.

“Everything’s fine!” Chii replied, “Ne, Ashok-san?”

Ashok smiled weakly.

Anu wasn’t completely convinced thought.

“Really? Did Ashok say something?”she turned towards Ashok, “did you say something?”

Ashok shook his head.

Anu eyed him suspiciously and took her seat.

Ryosuke pushed Chii aside and whispered to Anu, “Don’t worry, Yuto was being weird again, that’s all.”

Anu frowned at Yuto, ‘what could he have done?’

Yuto was still staring at Ashok deeply.

“Umm...” she whispered back to Ryosuke, “What exactly happened?”

“He thinks that Ashok-san is still in love with you,” he blurted.

Anu almost choked on what she was eating just then. Recovering from that, she gave Ashok a rather angry look, “What the hell are you telling these guys?!”

Ashok looked from Anu to Ryosuke to Yuto and then back to Anu.

“I swear i didn’t do anything!” he tried to explain, “They were just curious about our relationship.”

“So you told them that you’re still in love with me?!”

“NO! I never said that!”

“Then who did? These guys?” she pointed at the JUMPs, “They barely even know us!”

“That, apparently, is not the case!” Ashok defended himself, and looked towards Yuto.

Anu rolled her eyes, “You’re telling me that Nakajima-san said that you’re in love with me? Oh, PLEASE!”

“Anu, what’s wrong with you?” Ashok looked shocked, “You haven’t even spent two days with these men and you trust them more than you trust me already?!”

Anu was breathing pretty hard now, frantically trying to control her anger, “You did not just say that.”

“Oh, yes, I did!” he shot back at her.

“You take me for some kinda now? Huh? I can’t even believe thar you think so losly of me! No wonder you didn’t even try to talk me into not breaking up with you!”

Ashok looked flabbergasted, “You’re saying that you wanted me to continue or relationship?”

“Well, yes, of course I did! You’re the first man I ever loved, Ashok! And it upset me so much when you blindly agreed to stop seeing me!”

“Then why did you suggest that we break up in the first place?” he asked in confusion.

“How does it matter anymore?! I know what you think of me now! Be happy, you’ve succeeded in ruining this lunch!” she yelled, “I should never have come here with them to meet you!”

Ashok stood silent for a few seconds.

“I never wanted to break up,” he quietly said, in front of all of them, “I was still deeply in love with you. I agreed because you seemed unhappy.”

Anu was in shock. She could go to an empty room and scream her voice away. She never expected this to happen, especially not in front of her new guests. She didn’t respond to Ashok to any way.

“I do still love you,” he finally confessed.

Anu slowly shook her head, “It’s too late...”

She tapped Ryosuke’s shoulder indicating him and the others to follow her.

She left the table. She left Ashok speechless and distraught.

-x-

INTENSE, right?!

Let's hope my other chapters will come back...

I'm thinking of writing a Yuto oneshot for his birthday :)

Anyway, next update should maybe be in the weekend? *shrug*

btw...i write in British English, which is why i spell favourite with a U and not as favorite. Same goes to stuff like coloUr. And the use of S instead of Z in word like apologiSe.

Goodbye :)

<3