Morning was slowly turning into noon. Maki and Mirai had spent the whole time talking by the beach. It was much better now that they got to talking but somehow Maki knew her sister had something more to tell her, judging from the girl’s slightly furrowed eyebrow.

“What is it Mirai?”

Mirai looked up, squinting her eyes at the sun then sighed. “I didn’t like how my friends treated Ryosuke yesterday.”

“Oh?” Maki straightened up, playing with the sand. “Why? What happened?”

Mirai also straightened up, looking at the sky. “They were mocking him and…” She sighed again, getting rather tired with thinking about it. “And he was still so nice to me you know? I mean, wouldn’t he be mad at me right now?!”

Mirai didn’t expect it but Maki smiled at her. Why was she smiling?!

“It’s better if you talk to him you know.” Maki said, standing up and helping her sister to the same position. “The sun’s really up high now I think we should get on inside…”

They went through the back door and were greeted by the aroma and sound of lunch being cooked. And then in came Yamaa-san with a full smile on her face while wiping her hand with a cheese cloth.

“Oh, are you two hungry now? I’ve cooked some curry.”

Just as the two girls headed for the kitchen, the front door opened and revealed Ryosuke, carrying with him a plastic bag. There was a moment of awkward glancing coming from the youngsters but Maki caught up and smiled at the young man. “Ah Ryosuke, what’s that?”

Ryosuke snapped up from his reverie of looking at Mirai and held up the plastic bag, smiling at Maki. “Anou, Tomo-nii bought melon pan for us…”

Mirai peeked over at Ryosuke, looking at the space behind him. “So… where is Onii-chan?”

“Uh, he said he had to fix some things and asked me to bring this here…”

“Oh well you’re just in time Ryou-kun.” Yamaa-san said, ushering the young man forward. “You can have lunch here…”

Maki shook her head slowly to herself. Ryosuke really was part of the family now. She even had no problems of excusing him from his work that morning. She sat down on the couch, inside the living room while Mirai and Ryosuke were both ushered to eat lunch by Yamaa-san like the good grandma that she was. Helping Mirai and her problems, plus issues… with Ryosuke was one thing but what about her issues. Oh she knew last night was no dream. First, Tomohisa had kissed her. And then he slept with her in her bed. Sleeping as in its true meaning as a word that is. What did this mean for them both now?

Her thoughts were still rambling inside her head when a familiar face appeared behind the glass of the front door. What was Erika doing here so early in the morning?

Even before Erika could knock on the door, Maki was up and about, grasping the door knob and letting her friend inside.

“Eri--”

“Please marry Tomohisa, Maki-chan…”

Well this was new. Maki took a step back, allowing Erika to hold her hands upright. “What are you talking about so suddenly?”

Obviously knowing that what she said was rather sudden Erika pulled Maki to sit on the couch, facing each other. “You know what he just did?”

Maki knew Erika would tell her anyways so stayed quiet and waited for her friend to continue. “He enrolled Ryosuke into culinary school and would be taking care of all the expenses!”

Well if that wouldn’t make Maki fall-in love with Tomohisa…

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Tomohisa breathed in the air. He hadn’t had lunch yet and was sure that his grandmother was worrying but he wanted to walk around. What was happening to him anyways? People who knew him wouldn’t expect that he’d be taking care of some kid’s schooling. He didn’t care about the people around him then, probably because people around him then didn’t care about him either.

Deciding that he needed to head on home, he quickened his footsteps to the direction of their house. He was still just about two meters away from the front door when it opened to reveal Maki with a slight scowl on her lips. He just remembered how he kissed those lips last night!

“Where have you been? Good thing I put away some leftovers for you!”

It felt good to feel that someone cared for you.

Finally he reached Maki who still had a scowl on her face.

“What’s so funny? Why are you smiling?” She asked, her arms crossed.

The smile still on his face, Tomohisa leaned down and captured the woman’s lips. “Nothing…” He pulled away just in time to see the blush on Maki’s face before she pulled him inside, trying hard to hide her smile.

Tomohisa was surprised to see Erika there, eating lunch with Mirai and Ryosuke. “Erika-san… ah… hello.” He said awkwardly. Judging from how both Mirai and Ryosuke was looking at him, he was sure they already knew what he did.

In that moment, Ryosuke stood up from the chair and actually bowed low in-front of Tomohisa. “Arigato Tomo-nii, hontouni arigato…” He was actually crying right now. Tomohisa smiled softly, straightening Ryosuke up and patting the young man’s head. This feeling was different. He liked helping people and seeing the happiness in their faces was the big bonus.

At the sides, Maki watched, feeling her heart beating faster and it seemed like there were actual butterflies in her stomach. This was new! She’d never felt this way before! Erika was there again, leaning next to her and whispering; “See? So when will the wedding be?”

Maki laughed and playfully slapped her friend’s arm.

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The afternoon sun beat down on the sand but Maki thanks the shade of the large tree planted at the side of the house. Now she could enjoy the sand without worrying that it would scald her perfect white skin.

The heat coming from the sun mixed with the afternoon wind was like a mother lulling her to sleep. Not that she really knew. She lost that chance when that accident happened years ago. But being depressed about it was not going to bring them back so she closed her eyes and once again tried to relax.

She was about to fall asleep when she heard footstep approaching her. To no surprise, she saw a smiling Tomohisa sitting beside her on the sand.

“So what’s happening inside?” She asked.

The man shrugged, his muscles flexing through the sleeveless black shirt he wore. “Obaa-chan is sleeping and Ryosuke and Mirai are guarding the bookstore.”

“Mmm…” Maki looked away for a minute. Tomohisa looking hot and y in the outfit he was wearing was dangerous to her health. She would’ve still continued looking somewhere else if not for Tomohisa catching her attention by tilting her chin so she could face him.

 “Why won’t you look at me?” There was a hint of teasing in his voice.

“I don’t know, do I need to look at you all the time?” She teased back.

In response, Tomohisa chuckled but then he turned serious, leaning his forehead against hers. His eyes were closed as he muttered. “Thank you Maki…”

“F-For what?”

He opened his eyes again, their faces inches away. “It’s not like I was looking for this when I came here…  but it’s like going with the flow when I’m with you…”

He smiled and didn’t expect what was to happen next but Maki smiled back and leaned forward to kiss him softly. Whatever this was, it high time they both entrusted themselves to the waves of fate.   

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AN: Yay for another moment! I hope you all liked the Yamaki scene! and yes I love writing Erika <3