Ryosuke's realisation
Friends ForeverThe past few days were particularly frustrating for Ryosuke. Amid his busy schedule, his mind constantly recalled the recent awkward events between him and Umika. the feeling of being around her changed ever since he read the letter, which Umika never actually handed it to him personally and never knew he read it. the usual intimacy that was part of their 18 years routine gave him a very weird feeling in his heart, a feeling that he couldn't explain as he never feel it when he's around with other girls, not even Mirai.
he thought very hard about what Hikaru said, about rethinking how he feels about his relationship with her. isn't it friends, he thought. or do I see her more than just friends. the recent events made him realise that the latter seemed to hold true. his heart beats irregularly when she looks into his eyes.
he is finally getting a few days of rest, but yet he feels frustrated that he's being tied down by this complication. he misses playing with Umika. since these awkward incidents, they barely hanged out and he sometimes find that they were both avoiding each other.
he finally fell asleep in his cozy bed only to be awaken by his phone.
"who's this crazy dude calling me at this time of the day?!" he looked at his bedroom clock and noticed it's almost midnight. He wanted to ignore and shut his phone, but the caller rang again and again.
he lethargically held his phone with his eyes shut and picked up the call while still lying in his bed.
"do you know what time is it now?!" he didnt bother about formalities since he feels the caller is rude enough to disturb someone at this time.
"Ryosuke~" the crying voice from the other side caused him to jump out of bed.
"Umika?!!!! are you crying? what's wrong?!" his whole body is shaking at the mere imagination of what terrible stuff his best friend is going through.
"I know I shouldn't be bothering you since you had a long day... but I've no one else to call at this time. Miku and Suzuka are both sleeping and I don't feel right disturbing their sleep." her voice is shaking and she sounded overly apologetic.
"what are you talking about. of course you should call me. we're best friends remember. no matter how tired I am, I always have time for my best friend, didnt I promise you that long time ago."
"arigatou~" Umika was so touched by Ryosuke's words that she cried even harder.
"don't cry, Umika. calm down and tell me where you are. you don't sound like you're at home."
"I'm in the playground 2 streets away from my house."
"okay. you stay there, don't move! I'll come find you now" Ryosuke immediately hang up the phone, dressed up in warm clothes and ran out of his house.
Umika didn't have the intention to have Ryosuke come find her. all she wanted was to find some comfort from his voice through the phone. she never expect that he'll come over. he had a whole day of concert activity and yet he went all out for his friend. this really warm the heart of the girl freezing in the cold night.
....
Ryosuke ran against the strong chilling wind which stiffened his delicate face. he looked around for the playground. he turned left, right and everywhere, until he finally spotted one not too far a distance from him. the moment he noticed one lone girl sitting on the swing, he knew at once that she's Umika. he sprinted right towards her and squat in front of her. he anxiously clutch hold of her hands and asked, "where are you hurt? who hurt you?!" he was confident that someone must have attacked her, like that night.
"Ryosuke~.... no one hurt me~" she was shocked by his anxiousness towards her.
"then why are you crying?" he asked. then he realised her hands were freezing.
"how long have you been out here? you are frozen!" he rubbed her hands to pass on some of his heat to her. he unconsciously brought his warm palms to her cheeks to feel her temperature. upon realizing her face is freezing too, he rubbed his palms gently on her cheeks to unfreeze her.
tears welled up in Umika's eyes as she felt the surge of warmth Ryosuke channeled into hers. she feels so comforted that she yearned for more. she threw her weight on Ryosuke hoping to get more warmth from him.
"Ryosuke!" she let out her cries and it breaks his heart to hear her crying so badly. he wrapped his arms around her and embraced her tightly.
"it's okay now. you can tell me what's wrong, and we can think of something together okay" he looked at her into the eyes and gave her a sense of assurance that everything will be fine.
"I failed my math paper. and you know how my parents are gonna react." Ryosuke felt a little shocked that Umika who aces all her exams actually failed her best subject. at the same time, chills ran through his spine as he remembered one other rare occasion she failed her paper and her dad beat the hell out of her. it was so bad that she was bruised all over. he was almost on the verge of reporting her dad for abuse when she saw the thick red lines on her arms.
he tried to convince himself that the same thing wont happen again before he can tactfully calm her down.
"that time when he~punished you~ was so many years ago. now you're almost an adult, he won't do that again. come, I'll bring you home. they will be worried. besides, I won't allow you sitting in the cold and freeze" he said, as he stood up holding Umika tightly in his hand.
"no no!!! they will they will!" she continued to cry while pulling him back.
"okay, then at least let me bring you back to my house. you'll gonna fall sick in this weather" he insisted.
"that won't do either! my mum will definitely call your mum. just leave me alone Ryosuke. I'm not gonna go home!"
Ryosuke frowned at her and thought through very hard the options he had to save her from the agony.
"ah! I have an idea. come with me." he grabbed her hand and this time, he grabbed it so firm that there's no way to release herself from his. she decided to go along and let him handle her situation.
...
"HEH?! the school?!!!!!"Umika shouted. she was shocked that he brought her back to school and wondered why he did that.
Ryosuke jumped over and sat on the edge of the school gate. "give me your hand" he smiled and stretched out his hand for her.
she gave him her hand and with little effort, he pulled her up and over the school gate into the school compound.
"if we get caught, we'll both be so dead, Ryosuke!" Umika warned as he pulled her into the dark school.
"don't worry. no one petrol the school, so we can just stay here till next morning. I know a perfect place to stayover. I do that with Chinen and Yuto sometimes " Ryosuke confessed.
"what?! when?" Umika was shocked that this wasn't the first time he's breaking into the school.
"the last time was not too long ago...and it's our nth time. besides, have you forgotten, when we were in junior school, didnt the two of us do it before~"
"ah~ that time~ you failed your test and you are afraid of your mum so you sleepover in school and dragged me along"
he giggled. a howling sound from the wind creeped Umika out that she grabbed his sleeves.
"it's just the wind, Umika. don't scare me." he admitted that he got scared a little when she suddenly grabbed him.
hand in hand, they walked into a room which is none other than the music room!
"here we are, my secret hideout" he boasted, then it fell back into silence. the silence made him realise that they were both holding hands, unconsciously this time. both of them aggressively shook off each other and pretentiously immersed themselves with the grand piano which stood at one corner.
the awkward silences didnt last long as they both started talking about the past days of events which they haven't yet shared since Ryosuke has been trying hard to avoid her. it went from minutes to hours and finally they got tired and sat down in one corner of the room, side by side, with their backs comfortably leaning against the wall. there were apparently no gaps between them, they were so comfortable with each other that they were sitting shoulder by shoulder.
their conversation at this point is beginning to probe deeper, like as if they were both drunk by this beautiful night.
"Ryosuke~?"
"nani~?"
"how are things with you and Mirai?"
"um~ great, I guess."
"what do you mean I guess?"
she thought he looked troubled all of a sudden, like as if he didnt know what to say or whether to say. he turned his head to face her
"cause I feel that something is always missing when I'm with her. when I hanged out with her, when I held her hands, when I hugged her, when I kissed her... the feeling is all different."
"different? in what way?"
"different as opposed to when I did all the same stuff with the other person" Umika was confused as she felt like Ryosuke has someone else in his life that she didnt know about. she thought they had no secrets; she felt betrayed.
"you mean there's someone else you like?!" she went straight to the point. she wanted to know who is the other girl that Ryosuke has been hiding from everyone else, including herself.
"I don't know if it equates to like. but I really enjoyed being around her, and these days, the more I distanced from her, the more lost I feel. it's like a part of me being out of me." a surge of anger pumped into her blood as he continued showing his passion towards the mysterious girl he has yet to reveal.
"Umika~?" he thought she zoned out.
"um~ is there anyway to verify that you really like her?" she suppressed her anger to avoid the same quarrel happening again.
"yes~ but I haven't tried it."
"then try it soon and verify it before Mirai or anyone else gets hurt" she avoided his eyes and coldly responded.
"if you say so~" Umika didn't find anything unusual from Ryosuke's last line. she just continued to stare at the ground when her distraction got interrupted by the warm pair of palms that cupped her face.
"Ryosuke? nani?" she wanted to back off but she's already leaning on the wall. his eyes look so mesmerizing and focused, she didnt dare to look but there's no where else to look because he has brought his face so close she could hear his breathing sound clearly.
before she can react any further, he pressed his lips against her, instantly pausing her abrupt breathing. her mind and heart went wild as she flustered over his sudden passionate behaviour. she pushed against his chest, hoping to pull away so she can ask him her burning questions, but he only came stronger, leaving her no room for retaliation. instead of resisting, she found it easier and much enjoyable to give in. she relaxed her limbs and allowed him in. it's not like she hates it, instead it's quite the opposite, she yearns for it. the kiss turned passionate as they wrapped each other in their arms. Ryosuke pressed his whole weight on her, forcing her back against the wall. his hand maneuvered within her silky hair and brought her head close to his at all times, leaving both of them minimal room for breathing.
the kiss lasted for a long time, as long as Umika could recall. it seemed like both were reluctant to let go. they were so immersed in the skinship that they seemed to be the only people in the world. by the time they finally let go, Umika has already fallen deep in her sleep while his lips was still on hers. Ryosuke chuckled slightly, realizing that his dear friend could sleep in all circumstances.
she collapsed on his arms, with her head lying perfectly on his chest.
"I know the answer now~ arigatou Umika. oyasumi" he softly spoke to her while he continued to lay her comfortably on his shoulder as he adjusted himself to lean against the wall. soon, he too fell asleep with a soft smile, with his head leaned on hers.
....
Umika opened her eyes slightly as the sun shines brightly on her face. despite the cold weather, she felt warm so she looked on her and found Ryosuke's sweater that wrapped her body.
"Ryosuke?" she quickly sat up realizing yesterday's passionate night. she tried to look for him in the room but instead she was shocked to see Chinen and Miku with her.
"Chinen, Miku?" there's all she could say in the midst of total confusion in her mind.
"ohayou Umika! yamada-kun told us you're here and told us to watch over you until you wake up, just in case the teacher sees you sleeping here" Miku explained part of the multiple mysteries that's bothering Umika.
Before Umika can ask anything further, Miku continued saying, "here are your clothes. He got it from your house earlier. Oh and he said he already explained to your parents about your grades, and they won't punish you since Ryosuke told them that your poor grades this time was purely because of your accident previously so you didn't have the proper health to prepare."
Umika was touched beyond words. Ryosuke did everything for her, plus yesterday's kiss, she just wanna see him right now! "Where's he? is he in class? I'll go find him!" she stood up and wanted to rush to the classroom but Chinen held her back.
"He's not here. After he helped settle everything, he rushed off to the airport. He will be filming in Malaysia for 2 weeks. hmmm, seems like he forgot to tell you" Chinen answered. Umika was speechless. She won't be able to speak to him about all these until TWO WEEKS LATER. She has so much to say and more importantly, he left her confused about his actions yesterday and left her craving for more.
"I REALLY HATE YOU YAMADA RYOSUKE!" Umika was screaming in her head.
Comments