Chapter 13 “Apologize”

                Two days had passed and neither Miki nor Yuto texted one another. Miki still couldn’t forget what she said to Yuto but she was still mad at him. Yuto on the other hand, was full of regrets because of what he had said to Miki. Yuto was sitting in the living room with the other members, not saying anything or even responding to them. The others started to get worried about him so they gathered around to formulate a plan on how they can get the two to sort out their problems. After a few minutes the plan was set and it was time to put it into action.

Yabu approached Yuto and asked, “Yuto, you look a bit down. How about we cheer you up a bit? Let’s all go to the park today and have some fun.”

Yuto: “Uhm... You guys go on without me.”

Yabu: “Ah uh. That can’t be. It’s a group outing so you need to come along with us. Whether you like it or like it.”

The others agreed with Yabu and persuaded Yuto to go with them.

Yuto didn’t want to let them down so he agreed that he’ll go. Each of them then went back to their rooms to get ready.

On the other side, Inoo called Miki.

Miki: “Uhm, Hi!”

Inoo: “Hey Miki! The group’s going out to the park and they wanted you to come.”

Miki: “Kei... Well, I don’t know. I don’t feel like going out now.”

Inoo: “Please. Come with us to the park. We’ll be having lots of fun.”

Miki: “*Sigh* Okay fine. But I’ll just tag along with you guys.”

Inoo: “That’s okay. Don’t worry about it. We’ll meet you at the Grandstand later at 11 am.”

Miki: “Sure. See you then.”

                The two were so unaware of what awaits them at the park and what the other members have in store for them.

Yuto and the others were on their way to the grandstand wherein they met Miki.

Yuto: “Wait, what’s she doing here? I thought it was only us who were going out today?”

Yabu: “Oh her? Actually we didn’t know that she would be coming.”

Inoo stood beside Miki and put his right hand over her head while saying, “I invited her to come.”

                The others followed and pretended that they didn’t know that Miki was joining them.

Yabu: “So, where are we going today?”

Chinen: “Let’s go to the bump cars first!”

Yamada: “I agree with Chinen. We should go there! I miss that place.”

Yabu: “Are you all okay with that?”

Takaki and Hikaru: “Sure, let’s go!”

Yabu: “Then it’s settled. Let’s head for the Bump cars.”

When they arrived, Yabu said that to make more space, they will ride by twos. Quickly:

Takaki called Hikaru. Keito called Inoo. Chinen called Yamada. Then Daiki called Yabu. The only two left were Yuto and Miki and they looked at one another.

Miki: “I only said that I’ll tag along and I don’t want to play. So from here, I’ll have to pass.”

Yuto: “Then that means I’ll ride alone since she doesn’t want to.”

Chinen: “NO!!!!! THEN I DON”T WANT TO PLAY ANYMORE!”

Others: “Same goes for us.”

Yabu: “It looks like no one would want to play if you guys don’t join in.”

Miki didn’t want to spoil their fun so she was forced to play. She was on her way to ride on the driver’s seat when Yuto said, “I’m driving.”

Miki: “No way! I want to drive. I got here first so I’m driving.”

Yuto: “I won’t allow that. I’m driving.”

                Miki and Yuto were pushing each other trying to get to the driver’s seat.

Miki: “No, I’m driving! You stay on the driver’s seat!”

Yuto: “No way! I’m driving!”

Miki: “Ang kulit mo! I mean, stop being such a ... Urgh... Just let me drive!”

They continued to argue when Takaki stopped them.

Takaki: “Okay, the person who wins twice in Rock, Paper, and Scissor will be the one to drive.”

Unluckily, Miki lost so she gave way for Yuto to sit on the driver’s seat. She strapped herself in and the time started. The cars were moving around and around when they started bumping Yuto and Miki.

Miki: “No fair! It’s 4 against 1.”

They continued to chase after their car and bump them.

Miki started to scream and held tightly on Yuto’s sleeve. “Enough! Enough! I want to get off already.”

Yuto on the other hand heard her plea and asked the others to stop. Yabu and the others were already thinking that their plan was working. Just as soon as their play timed out, Miki unknowingly let go of Yuto, unstrapped her seatbelt and got off the car.

Chinen: “That was sure fun! How I want to go again.”

Keito: “Nah that’s enough already.”

Then Yabu looked at the time and saw that it was almost lunch time. So the ten of them went out and look for a place to eat. They arrived at Mc Donald and just as soon as they were able to order their food, the 8 quickly sat beside one another and once again, Yuto and Miki were left to sit at the end of the table. Miki sat beside Inoo and facing her was Yuto. The eight conversed with each other, trying to ignore Yuto and Miki.

Miki looked down and started to eat her food little by little. Yuto also lowered his head and slowly ate his food.

For the others, they noticed that the two didn’t have the knack to eat.

Despite their situation, Yuto would try to glance at Miki from time to time. But for Miki, she didn’t dare look at Yuto and continued to eat her food.

After lunch, the group went for a stroll as they waited for the food to go down. They went here and there playing games and doing crazy stuff and then at about 4 pm, Daiki made a suggestion to go to the boating area again. The others agreed with the idea so they all went to hire boats.

To not make things so obvious, they hired three boats. In one boat were Daiki and Hikaru. On the other were Yamada, Chinen and Inoo. Lastly, Miki sat at on one end of the boat, at the middle were Yabu, Takaki and Keito and at the other end was Yuto. They rowed the boat around for a while and after 10 minutes had passed, Daiki rowed their boat next to Miki’s then Yabu transferred in with them. Neither of the two noticed it so then Takaki continued to row the boat away from the other. Then after 15 minutes, Inoo rowed next to theirs and soon Keito transferred also. Only the three of them were left and Miki started to feel uneasy. She pretended not to notice but surely something was up. She continued to listen to her music while doing her best to be aware of what was happening. So far after 20 minutes, neither of the two boats approached them so she lowered her alertness. The others were thinking of how they can get Takaki out from the boat so they can leave the two. So what they did was, they asked one of the vendors who were on a boat to fetch Takaki while they try to distract Miki and Yuto.

Daiki’s boat approached Miki’s boat and they started to ask them questions. Soon after, the vendor’s boat was on the other side. The vendor asked if they wanted to buy something but they said no. Daiki gave Takaki the signal and just as soon as the vendor’s boat was going to leave, Takaki transferred on it and at the same time, Daiki pushed their boat away from Miki. Yuto was shocked at what happened while Miki was telling herself, “I knew it! I knew something was up from the start. I shouldn’t have let my guard down.”

Yuto: “What’s going on? Why’d they leave?”

Miki who was looking at the other two boats said, “Can’t you see, they planned this from the very start. Because of what happened a few days ago, they thought of doing something just so they could leave us in a spot where we’ll try to talk things out.”

Yuto understood what she said and looked at the others who were far away from them. Yuto moved forward and took the place of rowing the boat. Miki turned off her music and removed her headset. Yuto thought that if this was really the others plot then, it was pretty planned out. He also thought of thanking them because it was an opportunity for him to apologize to Miki.

Yuto: “They really planned it out very well. And I didn’t even notice it from the beginning.”

Miki didn’t respond.

Yuto gathered his confidence and said loudly, “I’m sorry!”

Miki immediately looked at him.

Yuto: “I’m sorry for saying those words to you without listening to the whole story. I should’ve just shut my mouth when I saw you with Daiki a few days ago. Or not, I shouldn’t have made a fuss about it in the first place.”

Miki lowered her head then replied, “Honestly, I wanted to apologize too. I’m sorry for yelling at you like that and in front of the others. I just wasn’t able to control my emotions that time so I got furious. And...”

Yuto: “There’s no need for you to apologize. I’ve forgiven you already. It was really my fault that you got angry.”

Miki: “No. Seriously, you don’t have to blame it all on yourself. I was at fault too. Probably, if I waited a little longer, maybe I would have been able to see you. I guess I got a little impatient that’s why I thought of leaving. And it was the time that Daiki asked me if I wanted to accompany him for a while.”

                From a distance, the other members thought of leaving the two alone to chat so they left the boating area first. Then after a few minutes of explaining and sorting out everything, Miki and Yuto had come to a conclusion of setting the problem aside.

Miki: “So, I guess that tidies up everything.”

Yuto: “I’m glad I got this chance to talk to you.”

Miki: “Well, you’ve to thank those who arranged this in the first place.”

                The both of them laughed and after that, they returned the boat. They didn’t know where the others were so they took a stroll as nightfall began to set in. Later on, they sat on a bench and watched as the reflections of the Christmas lights brightly glistened over the waters of the boating area.

                It was now 7 in the evening when Yuto and Miki each received a message from the others, telling them that they left first.

Miki: “This really was their doing. But I’ll have to thank them for it.”

Yuto: “You’re right. So... What do you want to do now?”

Miki: “Well, it’s now dark so I’m guessing that my dad and brother will be telling me to go home now.”

Yuto: “Oh... Then do you want to get going already?”

Miki: “I’m planning of taking one more stroll around the boating area before I go home. I don’t usually have the chance to be here during night time.”

Yuto: “Can I take you home after?”

Miki: “Here we go again. You really love to take me home that much?” *smiles*

Yuto: “N... No... Of course not. I... I... I just feel like it. No, I mean... And... And... It’s night time so it’s my responsibility to make sure you get home safe.”

                Miki went in front of him and started to walk backwards with her hands behind her, while thinking of what to say next.

Miki: “Well... I don’t want you to take me home.”

Yuto: “Ha? Why not? I already told you my reason why.”

Miki: “NUh... Ah... Uh...”

Then Miki stopped on her tracks and Yuto did the same.

Miki: “It’s because... because...”

Miki: “I’m just joking! Sure, I’d love it if you take me home! But... If you ever plan on doing it, you’ll have to let me know first.”

Yuto smiled and said, “I promise I’ll tell you first before I act.”

Miki: “Then it’s settled.”

                Once again, she started to walk backwards and after a few steps, she was about to turn when she accidentally stepped on a crack and got caught off balance. “Eeh!!”

Yuto immediately pulled out his hands from his pockets and took hold of her. Miki slowly opened her eyes when she unknowingly found herself in Yuto’s arms.

Yuto: “You should watch where you’re walking or else you’ll get hurt.”

                Miki was so flustered that she quickly pushed him.

Miki: “I’m sorry! I was so clumsy!”

Yuto: “Don’t worry, at least now you’re okay. So, shall I take you home?”

Miki: “Ah... Uhm... Sure.”

                So the two of them went to the parking lot and got in the car. While looking out the car’s window, Miki crossed her hands and started to rub her shoulders. She was thinking of what had just occurred when she found herself in Yuto’s embrace. It felt so wonderful and heart warming. It was a feeling like no other. She got lost in thought and fell asleep. Yuto became aware of this and assumed that Miki was feeling cold so he removed his jacket and topped it over her. Then in a soft voice said, “You sure get sleepy easily. But anyway, it was probably because of what the others did a while ago.”

                Due to traffic, they were able to arrive at Miki’s house an hour later. Miki woke up and found Yuto’s jacket on top of her. She was going to give it back when Yuto said that she will wear it on and return it next time. So Miki said “Thanks!” to Yuto and went inside their house.

                As soon as Yuto arrived at the hotel, he found the other members waiting at the living room. So he tried to do some acting first.

Chinen: “Oh, hey Yuto! How’d everything go with Miki?”

                Yuto pretended to fall back on the couch displaying that somehow everything went terribly.

Hikaru whispered to Yabu saying, “It looks like things didn’t turn out the way we thought.”

Yabu: “I think you’re right. I wonder what happened when we left them.”

Daiki: “So, Yuto, what happened? Did everything turn out okay?”

Yuto thought of speaking in an elevated voice so as to alarm them and gave them a terrifying look.

Everyone looked at him and was thinking that something bad seemed to have occurred. So they prepared themselves for what Yuto was going to say.

Yuto: “Because of what you guys did........”

Members:*gulp*

Yuto said in a loud cheery voice: “We were able to sort things out properly. Thanks very much!”

                After this statement, the other members felt relieved and were happy about the results of their plan.

Yabu: “We’re glad you were able to discuss things properly.”

Yuto: “Well, it wouldn’t have possible without you guys so thanks again”