CHAPTER 12


“Ha....” Rena flattened herself on the bed as soon as she returned to her room. “Home sweet home.”

For a few minutes, Rena was just staring blankly at the ceiling and let out a loud breath. And then... BOOM!! Rena was hit with a pillow thrown by Mayu. 

“...” Rena did not react nor did she get annoyed by Mayu. She just continued staring at the ceiling blankly as if nothing happened.

“Earth to Rena! Stop dreaming in the broad daylight!” Mayu smacked Rena’s forehead continuously.

“Why would Jurina ask me out on a date all of a sudden?” Rena asked, with her eyes still staring at the ceiling.

Rena’s question made Mayu roll her eyes. “Does it even matter why? What matters is that she asked you out, right? Stop being curious about everything.”

“...” Rena sat up and shot a suspicious look at Mayu all of a sudden.

“What? Is there something on my face?”

“You’re wearing a face of a criminal right now. I wonder why..” Rena could definitely sense something wrong with Mayu’s expression but she was not sure of what made her think this way.

“Oh, yea.. Sure... I look like a criminal. I always look like a criminal to you. Pfft..” Despite knowing that Rena did have a point, Mayu told a blunt lie. But at least it made sense.

“Hmm.. Guess you’re right.” Rena shrugged it off in an instant.

“So, what are you feeling right now?”

“I don’t know, really... I’m just confused...” 

“Trust me, Rena. This is a rare chance. If I were you, I would stop ing about this matter and just go on with the date without asking any questions.”

At that time, the scene of Jurina asking her out for a date flashed across her mind once again and that made her blush. Rena tried to cover her face but was caught by Mayu. “Pfft... Baboon’s .. And you dare say that you don’t like Jurina. You’re telling lies.”

“Yeah, whatever, Mayu..”

“So, where are you meeting her at?”

“SKE Park.”

“Hmm... A good choice.”

“Good choice? What do you mean?” Rena seemed confused by Mayu’s statement.

“That’s the place where all couples have their make out session. I get you, girl..” Mayu winked at Rena as she shot an evil grin at Rena.

“Get out of my room, Mayu.” Rena stood up from her seat and started pushing Mayu out of the room.

“Take lots of pictures tomorrow, okay? Especially the kissing ones..” Mayu said, while being pushed out of the room at the same time.

“Good night!” Rena finally managed to shove Mayu out of her room and slammed the door shut.


The next day (Saturday)

“...” Yuki placed Sebastian on the bed and stared right at it silently. 

“...”

“Hi.”

“...” no reply from Sebastian of course. If it did reply back, Yuki would be freaked out by now.

“I heard that you’re a good listener?” Yuki asked the doll.

“...”

“I’m feeling afraid right now.. I’m afraid that I’m falling for Mayu way too fast. Yea.. I’m in love with Mayu.. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, but the thing I’m afraid of is the fact that I love Mayu more than she loves me. What if she was just fooling around with me? I even kissed her out of my own selfishness. It startled her. I’m not sure if I could treat her the same way again..” Yuki then picked up Sebastian and hugged it tightly. “Please help me..”

At that time, Yuki’s phone rang. She picked up her phone and looked at the name of the caller. It was Mayu. It was as if Mayu was Sebastian and she heard everything before calling Yuki immediately. But of course, that is not possible. Mayu calling Yuki at that time was pure coincidence, or what they call it, fate. Yuki merely let her phone ring continuously until it came to an end. She didn’t want to pick it up. She wouldn’t know how to talk to Mayu at this point. Then came a message from Mayu.

“Yuki, please pick up your phone. I’m worried about you.”

Upon reading the text message, Yuki suddenly felt guilty for making Mayu worry about her. Soon after, her phone rang once again. And of course it was still Mayu. This time, Yuki picked up the call. As soon as she picked up the call, Mayu started bombarding Yuki with questions. “Yuki, are you alright? Why didn’t you pick up my call? Did you see my text message? I’m worried about you..”

“Stop calling me, Mayu. I’m having a headache right now.” Yuki started rubbing her forehead. “I’ll call you back when I’m feeling much better, ok?”

“Oh... Ok.” Mayu sounded concerned and a little sad from the rejection. She heard Yuki ended the call and she too, ended the call. Mayu sighed out loud and sat on the chair. 


SKE Park

“Jurina! Over here!” Rena waved both her hands at Jurina.

Jurina looked over and raised her right hand up, signifying that she saw Rena. She then walked over to Rena. “You came early.”

“That’s because I was excited.. I couldn’t even sleep well last night thinking about today..” Rena blushed a little.

“So, where would you like to go?”

“You can decide where to go since you’re the one who.....you know...ask me out.” Rena didn’t know why she felt so awkward after uttering these words. Her face almost flashed in red, but she managed to hide it.

“I want you to decide for me again.”

“Eh? But...”

“If you don’t, then I’ll be disappointed. I know Yuki will never hire a receptionist who cannot make a decision.” Jurina didn’t hesitate one bit with her words.

Jurina was right. Rena has to show Jurina that she too can make a decision just like the other day. “I’ve got it.”

“See? Simple isn’t it?” Jurina smiled a little. “So, where do you wanna go?”

“The theme park sounds nice.” Rena grinned like a little child. “It’s just around the corner.”

“......” Jurina blinked her eyes blankly at Rena. Theme parks were never her thing. Why? Because she had never been to one, that’s why. She never understood the fun of a theme park. “Aren’t theme parks for children?”

“Theme parks are for all ages. Why do you think there’s a senior citizen rate then? There are also a lot of adults who come here to play. Couples too..”

“Hmm... Well, it doesn’t hurt to try something new... Alright, then.” Jurina said, and they left for the theme park.

Jurina and Rena were having lots of fun at the theme park. First, the roller coaster, then the Viking ride, then the Ferris Wheel and currently, they are playing a shooting game. It’s a game whereby the player will be holding a long barrel gun equipped with corks as bullets. Then the player has to shoot down the moving targets in order to win a prize. Luck doesn’t seem to be on their side as they were not able to shoot down any of the targets at all. Jurina was getting really frustrated by this.

“Gah!! Why can’t I shoot the targets!?”

“Calm down, Jurina. It’s really not easy to hit the targets. Let’s just forget it and move on..” Rena convinced Jurina but to no avail.

“Not a chance.. I’m not going to leave until I hit that target down.” Jurina took out a token and passed it to the person in charge again. Jurina then had another chance to shoot. And, of course she missed again.

Before Rena could say a word, Jurina spoke out first. “Don’t try and stop me, Rena.” Jurina warned before passing another token to the person.

Rena just sighed at Jurina’s stubbornness.

Jurina then slowly aimed at the moving target one last time. “Come on.... Concentrate... Concentrate... And...”

*BANG*

The target fell over, earning a yell of excitement from both Rena and Jurina. For some reason, Jurina felt like she had achieved something huge in her life as she continued cheering on and on and on until she realized in the end that she was hugging Rena by accident. “Sorry. I was out of my mind all of a sudden.” Jurina apologized.

Rena shook her head while blushing. “No it’s completely fine. I understand your feeling though. The feeling of achieving something after trying for countless of times.”

“Thank you..” Jurina grinned as she received a huge teddy bear from the stall owner. Jurina then walked over to Rena and passed the huge teddy bear to Rena. “Here, this is for you.”

“For me? Why?” Rena seemed a little shocked because Jurina should be the one keeping the bear.

“Because lately, you have brought me nothing but happiness, and I’m really grateful of that. So, I want you to keep this bear.” Jurina insisted.

Understanding that Jurina really wanted her to receive the bear, Rena took the bear from Jurina’s hands and shot a wide grin at her. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So, how’s the theme park so far?” Rena asked with both her eyes wide open like a curious child while holding onto the huge teddy bear.

“Not bad.. I was actually having fun.” Jurina nodded and smiled, signifying that she was indeed having lots of fun there. “I never knew theme parks were this fun.”

“That’s because you’re always working your off in the office. You should come out and have fun once in a while.”

“I guess I’ll have to ask you out on a couple more dates then.”

“Oh....” Rena’s face flashed red a little and she scratched her head. “I’m not sure what to say..”

“It’s not like you could say no to me.” Jurina shot a sweet smile at Rena, and it almost made her lose energy in her legs.

“I guess it’s a yes, then..” Rena shyly answered.

Jurina giggled a little at Rena’s shyness. She could clearly see that Rena really does like her just like what Mayu said. And it seems like Jurina felt really happy spending time with Rena. Who knows? She might have taken a liking towards Rena. Jurina held out a map of the theme park and asked herself. “Now, where else have we not ride yet...”

“I know.. Let’s go to that haunted house now. I heard that it’s really spooky.” Rena looked excited as she pointed at a famous haunted house in the theme park. Jurina hesitated a little and that made Rena question. “Jurina, don’t tell me that you’re afraid of haunted houses?”

Having so much pride carved within Jurina, of course she would never admit to such a thing. “Haunted houses are only meant to scare little kids. What can it do to someone like me?”

“Let’s go then..” Rena didn’t hesitate one bit to pull Jurina into the haunted house. They left the teddy bear outside because they were not allowed to enter with that huge thing.

When they were in the haunted house, everything was dark. There was a creepy atmosphere around and sent shivers up their spines. Jurina seemed quite afraid as she had a case of night blindness, so she couldn’t see what’s coming towards her until it was already in front of her face. That made things twice as creepy as it already was.

“It’s alright, Jurina. You don’t have to be afraid.” Rena tried to calm Jurina down because Jurina was obviously afraid.

“Afraid? You expect me to be afraid of these so called ‘ghosts’? Please, Rena. They’re not even real ghosts. They are humans in costumes.” Jurina shook her head at Rena’s silliness and faced front once again. As soon as she faced front, a ‘ghost’ was standing directly in front of her. Jurina immediately let out a scream out of fear and fell down on the ground as she had never expected someone to magically appear in front of her eyes. Well, it’s the haunted house. You must always expect the unexpected.

Rena giggled at Jurina. “I thought you weren’t afraid?”

Embarrassed, Jurina quickly stood back up and dusted her . “Alright, fine. I’ll admit that was a little scary. Just a little.”

“Just a little?” Rena shot a suspicious look at Jurina.

Jurina then let out a loud sigh. “Alright. It was really scary. Let’s go back out.”

“We’re already in the haunted house. There’s only one way out now.” Rena shrugged.

“I can’t stand jumpscares. What more in a dark place like this. I could get a heart attack.”

Rena knew this was a chance for them to get closer to one another. “Erm.. Maybe, you could....hold on to me until we get out?” Rena started blushing like mad even though she was the one who suggested it.

Without another word, Jurina reached for Rena’s hand and intertwined fingers with her. Jurina’s action was completely unexpected and Rena flinched a little. She thought her head was about to burst from the amount of blood that rushed into her head. “S-S-So.... How’re you feeling n-now?” Rena’s voice was shaking from her shyness.

“Hmm.. Better..” Jurina smiled at Rena. One thing Jurina felt when she held hands with Rena was warmth. It was the kind of warmth that she had never felt in a long long time.

Throughout the haunted house experience, Jurina screamed at least 20 times. That was about twice more than Rena did. It was a strange sight for Rena. She never knew there was this side to Jurina as well. It made Jurina look cute. When they exited the haunted house, Jurina’s face was white. It seems that fear had drained the colour off her face. One more interesting fact, Jurina literally had tears in her eyes. Who would have thought an intimidating CEO could be afraid of a haunted house experience?

Noticing Jurina’s pale face, Rena asked in concern. “Are you alright?”

With tears in her eyes, Jurina glared at Rena and warned her. “You better not tell anyone about this or I will make you pay...”

“No worries. This secret will be kept safely by me. Nobody will ever know the events that happened today.” Rena smiled.

Jurina swiped her tears away and calmly answered, as if nothing happened before. “Good.” 

But then, Rena noticed something. “Erm.... Jurina?”

“Yeah?”

“We’re out of the haunted house now, and you’re still holding my hand..” Rena shyly stated.

“Yea, I’m aware of that.” Jurina said in a cool manner, tightening her grip on Rena’s fingers.

The fact that Jurina realize that she was still holding onto Rena’s hand made Rena blush even more. “E-Eh..?”

“What? Isn’t holding hands common for people who are on a date?”

“Y-Yes, but...”

“You don’t like it? Ok then. I’ll be bringing the bear instead.” Jurina immediately let go of Rena’s hand. She then walked over to pick up the bear and started walking off on her own. That made Rena regret. Why must she question so much when she could just go along with it. Rena definitely wanted to hold Jurina’s hand. But now that Jurina had let go of hers, Rena was just too shy to ask Jurina to hold her hand once again.

“I’m really a loser for being so shy...” That’s all Rena could think of in her mind right now.

At that time, her fingers were intertwined once again by Jurina’s fingers. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go eat. I’m hungry.” Jurina was piggy backing the huge teddy bear as she tightened her grip on Rena’s hand.

Rena was stunned for a moment and a wide grin slowly escaped from , revealing her teeth. “Okay..” Rena had never felt so in love and happy before in her life. This may just be the turning point in her life.

*RING*

Yuki’s phone rang. She sighed and looked at the name of the caller. As expected, it was Mayu. She then picked up the call and answered right away. “Mayu, didn’t I tell you that I’ll call you back later? Can’t you just...”

“Too late for that, Yuki.. I’m outside your house now.” Mayu sounded from the other side of the phone.

“Huh?” Yuki walked over to the window and looked outside. Mayu was indeed standign right in front of her house, waving at her. She immediately went to answer the door. “What are you doing here, Mayu?”

“Aren’t you going to invite me in first?” Mayu smiled while holding on a big plastic bag.

Yuki sighed. “Alright, come in..”

And Mayu went in.

“Why did you come here for? And what’s that?” Yuki pointed at the huge plastic bag held by Mayu.

“Oh, this?” Mayu placed the plastic bag on the table and started taking out all sorts of medication. “You said that you were having a headache, so I brought all these...”

“You brought all these just because I said that I have headache?”

“Uh-huh..” Mayu nodded like an innocent little girl.

Yuki was really grateful of Mayu, but she still wasn’t fully convinced that Mayu was being serious with her and Yuki needed more time to think about this matter. “Thank you.. I should get some rest now. You should leave.” She then opened the front door, waiting for Mayu to leave.

“I’m not leaving, Yuki.” Mayu insisted to stay.

“Suit yourself.” Yuki slammed the front door and walked back into her house.

Before Yuki could turn around, Mayu grab hold onto Yuki’s wrist. “Why are you trying to keep yourself away from me, Yuki? You’ve been doing this ever since that time.”

“...”

“Was it fake, then? You never meant to kiss me, didn’t you? That’s why you’re keeping away from me.”

“It’s because it’s too real, Mayu! I’m just afraid, okay!?” Yuki yelled back at Mayu and startled her.

Mayu then asked in a soft tone. “Afraid? What are you afraid of?”

“That my love for you is becoming deeper than I could imagine.. I’m afraid that even though I’m loving you this much, you might be fooling around with me.. I don’t know why I feel this way... Please forgive me..” Yuki covered her face and started crying.

Hearing those words from Yuki, Mayu reached for her and removed her hands off her face. “Stop crying, Yuki. You don’t look beautiful when you’re crying..”

Yuki sobbed a little as Mayu continued holding onto her hands.

“Nobody’s fooling around with you, Yuki. All my feelings for you are true. And I’m not afraid to admit that I really do love you with all my heart. You’re a fool to even doubt my feelings for you. I can assure you that I love you as much as you do love me, or maybe even more.” Mayu then landed a gentle kiss on Yuki’s lips. “I’m not leaving you, Yuki.. I never will.”


Chapter 12
END