Chapter 4 – The past and the present

Note:
[i] [/i]- thoughts

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“Who did you call?” Michiru asked.

“Oh, I called Kei. I forgot to tell him about you moving in.” Takeru chuckled as he explains it to her.

“Souka.” Michiru slipped her arm into his arm and holds on to it tightly. He was surprised by her gesture; he doesn’t know shy she’s acting so clingy to him. Ever since a couple of days ago, she’s been acting weird and jumpy around him. He asked her about it before, but she just continues to deny it. It’s been bothering him for a while now.

[Flashback] – Takeru’s POV

I have known her for quite sometime, and we’ve only started dating recently. The two of us met three weeks ago at my bar. It was a usual Tuesday night; she and her friends came there for a drink. They were enjoying each others company, and then one by one her friends left and she decided to stay there to have a few more drinks. Of course I served her the drinks. When I glanced back at her, her expression had totally changed 180 degrees from how she came in with her friends. It was like her world has been turned upside down.

I wanted to ask her about it, so I decided to create a conversation. I started out by asking her if she wanted another drink. She shook her head and took a sip out of her glass.

“Are you feeling ok?” I asked her next.

She shook her head and she continued to stare into space. Then she took another sip out of her glass. I watched her as she gulped down the last drop of her scotch. After she finished her drink she stared at me like I was some kind of ert. She must’ve noticed that I’ve been staring and stealing glances at her ever since she arrived here. I looked away and avoided her gaze.

“Ne, why do you keep on staring at me?” she asked. She sounded drunk, but I could tell she was still in the right state of mind.

“Betsuni (not really). I was just curious to why a beautiful girl like you will be in a bar sulking alone.”

She stared at me for second and said, “but isn’t that why people usually come here for? They drink so that they can forget all of their troubles. At least for a while.” She sounded really depressed, but she was right though. People do usually come here to wash their troubles away.

“Would you like to talk about it?” I asked her. She looked up at me and smiled. She was probably glad that someone wanted to listen to her.

“I…….I have a few problems at my hands right now.” She explained.

She told me about her boyfriend leaving her and her losing her job. She and her boyfriend worked at her father’s company. Her boyfriend has done a few illegal things behind the president’s back. When they found out about it, her father was planning on filing charges against him, but she managed to convince her father to spare him. Instead of filing charges, he fired both of them. After she protected him from being sent to jail, he broke up with her.

“That’s why I hate Mondays now.” She told him half jokingly.

I asked her why she didn’t tell her friends about it, and she said that it’s because they’re not her real friends. She said that they’re just people who hang out with her and kiss up to her because she was the daughter of a rich tycoon. She hated herself for being friends with them.

She felt relieved after she got all of that out of her chest. She thanked me and after that, she came to the bar almost every day just to talk. After two weeks of getting to know each other, we decided to officially start dating.

[End of flashback]

He cares so much for her, and seeing her scared and nervous like this is worrying him. He can’t bear to see her in such conditions.

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It was already 8:15 and the two of them have been walking for more than an hour now. Kei continued to follow her from behind, while she continued to walk aimlessly. He was amazed of how far they’ve gone. He doesn’t even where they are right now. Still, he wanted to continue watching over her. He wanted to make sure she’s safe. He’s worried that something bad might happen to her especially in her current condition.

Naomi just walked to no specific destination. She just wants to clear her mind of her problems and worries. She has always taken long walks whenever something bothers her. She would just walk for hours around her neighborhood and not even notice time pass. People have already warned her not to keep doing that because she might get into an accident and not even notice it.

After ten more minutes of walking they reached the park. She stopped on her tracks and so did he. Before she could turn around, he hid behind a tree two meters away from her. He peeked from behind the tree and he saw her walk over a wooden bench on the same side where he was hiding.

She pulled her head back so that she’s staring straight up at the sky. She stretched her right arm up, as if she’s trying to grab one of the stars on the sky. He laughed under his breath as he watched her. [i] She’s still immature.[/i] he thought.

His smile was then immediately replaced with a frown when he saw a glistening tear drop down her cheeks. He grabbed a hold of himself, before he tries to come out and reveal himself. He remained hidden behind the tree for he didn’t want to cause her anymore pain than what she’s feeling right now.

Although he wants to embrace her and cradle her in his arms, he couldn’t do that right now…………well rather he mustn’t. It hurts him inside just to see her so lost but seeing her cry cuts like a knife, especially if you know that you’re the reason for her pain. He realized that their kiss from before was still probably bothering her. It’s better to remain hidden because it’s just going to cause her more problems if he reveals himself to her. [i] If only I knew that she already have a boyfriend, then I wouldn’t have tried to kiss her. God I’m an idiot! [/i] He gently hit himself on forehead as he curses under his breath.

“Ne….” Naomi said softly.

When he heard her voice he immediately got back to reality.

“How long are you going to follow me around?” she asked.

Kei was confused when he heard her question. [i] Is she talking to me?[/i] Kei slowly peeked from behind the tree to see who she was talking to. There was no one there except for them.

“I know you’ve been following, just like how you followed me back then.” She continued.

When he heard her last statement, he knew she was talking him. He got up from the ground and he slowly revealed himself from behind the tree. She looked at him and smiled. He was surprise that she wasn’t sad or disappointed to see him. [i] I guess she’s not mad at me. [i]

Kei walked over to her and sat beside her on the bench.

“How did you know I was following you?”

“I felt your presence.” She told him.

“My presence?” he asked confused by what she meant.

“Yea, it felt the same when you used to follow me around in high school.”

Kei’s cheeks turned pink when he heard her say that. He didn’t know that she knew he followed her around during high school. She laughed when he saw his pink cheeks. Now he felt really embarrassed for stalking her.

“I didn’t know you knew about that.” He tells her.

“I….kind of liked it.” She confesses. “Of course at first I got scared, but then I realized you meant no harm. It really felt nice knowing that there’s someone watching over you.” She admits to him. He blushed even more upon hearing her say that. He’s glad that she felt protected with his presence.

“Ne……” she started out. Kei looked up at her. He saw her staring at the ground with a serious expression.

“We…….could still be friends right?” she asked him. He hesitated before he answered her; he was shock. He felt his heart crack upon hearing her question. At first he couldn’t believe what she just said, but now he realized that it really was too late. She wants him to be just a ‘friend’ and nothing more. Now he regretted leaving her. But it wasn’t really his fault. He had reasons why he couldn’t go back for her, but telling that to her is useless now.

Her heart ached when she asked him stay as friends with her. She loves him very much, but she’s afraid that she might get hurt again if she goes back to him. He had already hurt her once and who knows if he’ll hurt her again. She doesn’t know if she could trust him with her heart again. Right now she’s happy and content having Koji as a boyfriend. Instead of going back to the past she just wants to embrace the present and look forward to the future.

“Y—yea” he stuttered to say. When she smiled at him, he forced a fake smile. He can’t believe he just agreed to stay as a friend to her. Although he wants to be more than just a ‘friend,’ he respects her decision. It must’ve been really painful for her to come up with such a difficult decision. He could see in her eyes that she was hurt, but he could also see hope in it.

“So………..I guess we’re friends huh?” he said trying to sound as cheerful as he could to hide his agony. She nodded at him.

Kei could feel fresh tears forming in the corner of his eyes. He looks away from her and tries to stop the tears from falling. *All along he had always thought that love was his bliss and happiness. But little did he know that love was heaven’s rendered punishment.*

Silence filled the both them. Although they both tried to act strong in front of each other, inside they were falling apart. Both them doesn’t notice that their tough act was slowly wavering.

Kei broke the silence first. “Ne do you want to go to a party?” he asked her. She looked at him confused. “……my friends are having a welcoming party right now. Do you want to go……….as friends?” She hesitated at first, and then she nodded a ‘yes’ to him.

Kei stood up first then Naomi followed after him. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him. She looked up at him surprise. “Friends could hold hands right?” he smiled at her and he continued to hold her hand.

Her heart felt at ease knowing that he wasn’t as hurt as she thought he would be. She was glad he was still willing stay by her side as a friend and continue to protect her.

[i] Ne? I won’t regret this right? [/i]

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A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter! I wanted to reveal Takeru and Michiru’s past in this chapter. I hope I didn’t disappoint you guys with Naomi’s decision. Don’t worry, the story is just getting started!

the part with the asterisks (* *) was actually lyrics from the song, Love is Punishment by K. Will ^^

Next chapter: Party at the share house! There’s gonna be more Yamaki moments and Takeru and Ruka moments in the next chap so look forward to it! :D