remember me????
i've decided to stop apologizing for taking too long in updating...
why?
unfortunately, it isn't because it wouldn't happen ever again...
and i can't even guarantee that it wouldn't be the case for the very next chapter...
but because i've repeated it for so long that it's already probably the chorus of my fics...
so i'll say, i will make it up to you guys (readers)...
or at least, i'll try to make it up to you...
because work and real life is killing me...
anyways... on to the fic...
TITLE: One Chance (Falling...)
CHARACTERS: Matsumoto Jun, Ikuta Toma, Inoue Mao, Horikita Maki, Toda Erika, Mizushima Hiro, Nishikido Ryo, Takaki Yuya, Sakamoto Masayuki (please proceed to cast list for more of the cast)
GENRE: AU
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
SUMMARY: She was waiting for a guy to sweep her off her feet. He was waiting for that girl he could sweep off hers... And then a new guy came to change the story... This is a story of falling in love, and realizing that you've fallen in love... Typical isn't it? Maybe... Maybe not...
Prologue, Chapter1, Chapter2, Chapter3, Chapter4, Chapter5, Chapter6, Chapter7, Chapter8, Chapter 9, Chapter10, Chapter11, Chapter 12,
Chapter 14: A Different Kind of Battle
Fighting for something is hard. Fighting for something you don’t have a right on is much, much harder. In Toma’s case, he used to have that right, but he relinquished it back when his and Mao’s relationship went from being a couple to being just friends. When he told Jun (much, much earlier) and Mao (just recently) that he isn’t going to give up on Mao that easily, he was saying the truth.
But saying something is much, much easier than making it come true, especially when the one he’s fighting for seems to be going the other way. In the past few weeks, Mao had consented on going to dates and dinners with Jun, greatly diminishing the time Toma gets to spend with her. And all that time she’s spending with him seems to be giving her ideas.
She even suggested that they all go out for dinner sometime, so that ‘they’ meaning him and Jun ‘could interact properly’ she says.
It was a suggestion he immediately turned down of course. He’s interacted with the guy already and he didn’t need additional proof that he’s dislike of him being Mao’s prospective next boyfriend is absurd. The guy completely is not a bad catch, that and the fact that he would never begrudge Mao the chance to enter a relationship and be happy.
It’s just that from what he’d seen, he didn’t like the way Jun looked at Mao, like he’s completely taking her away.
He never told anyone that though, not Ryo, not Erika, not Maki, and most especially not Mao and for good reason too. Erika and Maki, in particular, had been throwing him dark and annoyed looks whenever he even comes close to thinking of saying something about Mao’s suitor whenever they’re together. Mao simply smiles about it. Ryo, well, Ryo seemed like he understood, something in the guy’s eyes tells him that.
And while he’s generally okay with that, those reactions, plus Mao’s constant dates with Jun had left him with no one to hang out with in his free time. Which is why he almost always ends up alone, walking the streets and malls of Tokyo, just because he’d rather do that than stay in his apartment. And that’s exactly what he’s doing at the moment, simply walking aimlessly when, like that one time in the past, his eyes caught sight of a familiar female figure looking distressed.
This time though, Maki isn’t alone. And the guy she’s with seems to be the root of all her troubles.
-----
“You are avoiding me…” Yamapi stated as he took hold of Maki’s elbow to keep her from going into a full blown run. From the outside, it might have looked rather sweet, like the guy is making his move to woo his woman because of a petty and crazy mistake he’s just committed.
But Maki isn’t amused. She wasn’t even smiling. There was almost an annoyed look on her face, a look that started when he passed by a café earlier and heard the guy calling her name.
That was over 10 minutes ago already. And it seems that her not acknowledging him is not enough hint for him that she didn’t want to see him.
“What do you want Yamashita-san?” Maki asked, her voice sounding exasperated just enough to hide the tremors she started feeling again just by being in close proximity of the guy. After all these years, Yamapi still does have such a huge effect on her, something she’s determined to not let him know.
“I want to see you,” Yamapi said simply a smile still fixed on his face and Maki almost gasped aloud.
Yamapi had always had a way with words. That, coupled with his good looks and charms, was the reason why a lot of women were smitten with him, her included. And it looks like it still is.
But he didn’t need to know that. He’d broken her heart once when he cheated on her, she’s not about to open herself up for another attack.
“That’s your problem, not mine,” she told him simply and almost coldly, her face turning to stone especially after seeing him smile his trademark heart-melting smile before yanking her elbow away. Yamapi really only used that back then when he makes a mistake she’s most likely about to find out.
But while getting away from his touch was not a problem, he still did not let her go as he stepped sideways to block her path.
“You were never good at eluding me…” he said confidently and Maki almost wanted to scream. Actually, she really, badly wanted and needed to.
“You were never good at eluding me,” Yamapi smiled as he reached out to rub Maki’s arms. They were at the library’s top floor veranda.
“I’m reading Pi…” Maki said simply, ignoring the tingling sensation his actions are sending throughout her body.
She’s annoyed with him, seriously annoyed. She had already known that her boyfriend is some sort of a claimed ladies man but she had assumed that he’d be at least a good listener and follower, especially to his girlfriend’s request. Particularly too when that request is about him avoiding a girl Maki knew had always been head over heels with him who would do anything to have him, the very same girl Maki never really liked.
But no, she just had to enter the library and see him and that girl sharing not just a table, not just a book, but a seat. A seat! And that’s when the library is half-empty.
“You know that didn’t mean a thing. She was just asking me something about our Physics lecture because she wasn’t able to attend that particular class and you know her eyes are really bad,” Yamapi started but when Maki hadn’t given any reaction at all, he sighed. “Okay, I’m sorry. I know you don’t like her, and needless to say, I don’t like her too. Why should I when I already have you?”
Maki was already smiling by the apology part but by the time he finished his statement, she was practically all giddy.
“You are so cheesy!” she still told him when she turned around to face her boyfriend.
Yamapi grinned, his arms snaking around her waist.
“Yeah, and that’s why you love me… And I love you too.”
His words are reminding her of memories she’d worked hard to forget. But before she could do anything about that, she felt an arm snaking around her waist and a familiar perfume drafting to her nose.
“Hey baby!” Toma smiled, pulling Maki closer to his body, his eyes and all his senses attuned to the fact that Maki is in a really bad emotional state. By the time he approached her and Yamapi he immediately knew that she might just need him there.
For a split second, there was confusion in her eyes before she understood and smiled, her right hand moving towards his waist too.
“Hey baby, you should have messaged me that you’re here already!”
“I thought I’d surprise you,” Toma smiled. “I didn’t know though that you were meeting someone else here too.”
“Oh, no!” Maki said immediately and Toma wanted to applaud. She actually looked like a worried girlfriend that her boyfriend, a.k.a. him, is getting jealous. “I think you might remember Yamashita-san…” she added nonchalantly.
‘How could I forget?’ Toma almost replied. Even at a distance, he’d already recognized the idiot who let go and hurt his friend. But when he turned around, he had an almost amused face.
“Yeah… I never thought I’d be seeing you again Yamashita-san,” he said.
Yamapi smiled although he looked skeptically at him and Maki as he did so. Toma felt Maki freezing up a bit and so he removed his hands on her waist to drape it over her shoulder.
-----
“Is that Maki-chan?” Ryo asked, pointing to somewhere in the floor through the glass walls of the elevator he and Erika is in. “And Toma-kun?”
Erika’s eyebrows furrowed as her eyes immediately went to the direction her boyfriend is pointing at. She knew that Maki would be at the mall, she said she’d meet up with them in about an hour but she didn’t know that Toma would be there, or that they’d be together. But Ryo wasn’t mistaken, it really was Maki and Toma, with her cousin’s arms over her best friend’s shoulder. They were talking to a guy she couldn’t recognize simply because his back is turned to their direction.
“What’s going on?” Erika could only say as she turned to Ryo. Ryo only shrugged.
-----
“Thank you…” Maki murmured weakly.
The two of them had just separated from Yamapi after coming up with a story that the two of them are now dating and Toma had just stopped by to pick her up. She’s really not sure if the guy bought their act but still, the fact that Toma showed up was a big deal for her. She had no idea what would have happened if he didn’t. That short interaction alone seemed to have drained her legs off energy.
“I guess I just have a knack of being around when you’re in those kinds of situations,” Toma chuckled, his arm still on her side and Maki couldn’t help but smile appreciatively. “Where to now?”
“I’m supposed to meet Erika-chan and Ryo-kun in a bit for the movies but I don’t feel like going,” Maki replied. “I guess I’m just going home.”
“Good, I’ll drive you there…” Toma said.
“No need,” Maki smiled, stopping on her feet. “I can manage. I don’t want to disturb you. I owe too much for one day already.”
“This would make us quits,” Toma assured her.
Maki sighed. “I brought my car,” she said in a last weak attempt to dissuade the guy.
“Good! I didn’t bring mine!”
-----
He knew he was in trouble the moment he opened his door and saw her there. After all, rarely does Erika show up in her apartment alone and unannounced, and only once in the past did she show up in his door with a really bad look on her face like the one she has now. And that’s when she found out that he and Mao split already without even telling them.
And he was right, of course, at moments like this, he’s bound to be right. Especially when Erika’s first words as she entered his apartment was “You have got a lot of explaining to do!”
“About what exactly?” he asked, closing the door behind his cousin.
“Who,” Erika corrected. “Two of them to be exact, Mao-chan and Maki-chan.”
“Horikitty?” Toma exclaimed, surprised at the second name. “What about her?”
“Ryo and I saw you at the mall. Together,” Erika said, her tone and expression making it certain that she didn’t want to elaborate on it and Toma didn’t have to rack his brains to find out why. After all, the only time he was with Maki at the mall recently was that time Yamapi was around.
Perhaps noticing the look of realization in his eyes, Erika demanded “What’s going on between you two that you’re not telling me?”
“Nothing!” Toma exclaimed, almost choking in his haste to defend himself. But when Erika simply looked at him with her eyebrows slightly raised, he sighed. “Look, what you thought about what you saw wasn’t true. Or maybe it was, but not for everyone.”
“What?!”
Toma sighed again. “Yamashita-san was there…”
“Yamashita-san?! He was that guy we saw you two talking to?” Erika exclaimed in surprise and worry even before Toma could finish what he was saying.
“Yes,” Toma replied. “He saw Maki-chan in front of some café or something and followed her. She was looking stressed and all that’s why I stepped next to her.”
“I knew that guy still has some effect on Maki-chan,” Erika gasped. “What did he want?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t hear it by the time I joined them and Maki-chan wasn’t saying much,” Toma said. “But it looks to me like he’s asking for a comeback.”
“After all these years and what he has done?! The nerve!” Erika exclaimed and Toma felt the exact same way. He was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when it turns out he wasn’t out of the waters yet. “So, what were you doing at the mall?”
“It’s the mall!” he pointed out but ended up sighing yet again when Erika simply looked at him. “Okay, I went around walking because I had nowhere to go and no one to hang out with. That’s just it.”
Erika looked at him closely for a second but it wasn’t because of disbelief. It was more of observation. Then, for the first time since her arrival, she smiled. “I was half afraid that you two were seeing each other behind our backs!” she even chided.
Toma’s jaws dropped and his eyes bulged.
“Horikitty and me? Come on!” he exclaimed.
“All of your bickering must have been caused by something you know!” Erika pointed out before she laughed.
“Don’t be ridiculous…” he said, shaking his head, sure this time that he is now safe of his cousin’s wrath.
“It wouldn’t be that bad of an idea you know…” Erika said and he’s not sure if she’s being serious or not. “That’d be a good news, especially to Mao-chan’s lovelife,” she added meaningfully.
“I’m not being a hindrance to that!” Toma objected, knowing what she meant by that.
“No one but you believes that…” Erika said, her tone in singsong although her eyes looked serious.
“I want Mao-chan to be happy…” Toma replied.
“Good!” Erika smiled. “Because she’s planning lunch this Sunday for all of us with Matsumoto-san and you being there is going to make her happy.”
Toma groaned. Erika sure does have a way with words, especially when she’s using it for blackmail. “And if I don’t go?” he challenged.
“Oh you’ll be there…” Erika assured him. “Even if Ryo and I have to drag you.”
-----
“So does this mean what I think it means?” Maki asked Mao, her smile turning mischievous as she nudged her friend by the shoulder before inclining her head towards the direction of two men currently working on the barbeque the girls had marinated beforehand.
“What do you think does this mean?” Mao asked sounding oblivious although there was a smile on her lips when she sneaked a look at Ryo and Jun by the barbeque grill (Toma was tasked to prepare their drinks).
“Oh come on!” Erika chuckled right next to them. “You and Matsumoto-san! This means you two are officially on, right?”
“No,” Mao replied.
“No?!” Erika and Maki both exclaimed in disbelief. “So what are we doing here today?”
Mao smiled before turning to Jun and Ryo once again, this time a bit more obvious.
“This was the test run…” she chuckled. “I wanted to see if we could all get along…”
Maki caught Erika’s eye and they both turned to Jun and Ryo too before looking back at Mao.
“So what’s the verdict?”
Mao looked at them both and simply smiled before pushing herself to a stand and saying offhandedly “Toma-kun’s taking too long with the drinks…”
By the time Mao turned her back to her two female best friends, both women were already grinning, seeing how Mao flushed at the question.
Ever since everyone’s arrival, there was no boss or employee. Jun got along with everybody and even Toma was civil. But his ability to mix and mingle with them, despite the difference in status, wasn’t all that they noticed. They also noticed how he would throw Mao furtive looks and smiles. He looked very much smitten with her, and Mao looked as much affected by his presence as he is. They even noticed Jun heading towards the direction of the house the moment he saw Mao entering it (more in an attempt to evade her friend’s further questioning than anything) with Ryo nodding in confirmation of what they had just assumed.
Which meant they really didn’t need for Mao to answer their question.
And they were right, for the most part.
-----
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Mao asked, stepping into the kitchen and seeing Toma there with his head down and both hands on the table as if in very deep thought. The smile on her lips she had earlier was slowly replaced by a frown especially as she noticed the drinks that Toma was supposed to be preparing is finished already.
And when Toma raised his head upon hearing her voice, she saw that there was a really sad, troubled look in his eyes. Like he was shaken.
“Hey…” she said quietly as she was about to step closer to him but his next words stopped her on her tracks.
“If I ask you to come back to me, would you?”
-----TBC-----
so there goes chapter 14...
as is obvious, the chap generally revolved around Toma...
but if you're wondering if things would ever move on or some things like that...
well, all i've got to say is, IT IS! it really seriously is...
although it might not be too obvious...
anyway, critics and comments are really loved...
(and highly appreciated, and is a source of inspiration for me these days) :)
why?
unfortunately, it isn't because it wouldn't happen ever again...
and i can't even guarantee that it wouldn't be the case for the very next chapter...
but because i've repeated it for so long that it's already probably the chorus of my fics...
so i'll say, i will make it up to you guys (readers)...
or at least, i'll try to make it up to you...
because work and real life is killing me...
anyways... on to the fic...
TITLE: One Chance (Falling...)
CHARACTERS: Matsumoto Jun, Ikuta Toma, Inoue Mao, Horikita Maki, Toda Erika, Mizushima Hiro, Nishikido Ryo, Takaki Yuya, Sakamoto Masayuki (please proceed to cast list for more of the cast)
GENRE: AU
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
SUMMARY: She was waiting for a guy to sweep her off her feet. He was waiting for that girl he could sweep off hers... And then a new guy came to change the story... This is a story of falling in love, and realizing that you've fallen in love... Typical isn't it? Maybe... Maybe not...
Prologue, Chapter1, Chapter2, Chapter3, Chapter4, Chapter5, Chapter6, Chapter7, Chapter8, Chapter 9, Chapter10, Chapter11, Chapter 12,
Chapter 14: A Different Kind of Battle
Fighting for something is hard. Fighting for something you don’t have a right on is much, much harder. In Toma’s case, he used to have that right, but he relinquished it back when his and Mao’s relationship went from being a couple to being just friends. When he told Jun (much, much earlier) and Mao (just recently) that he isn’t going to give up on Mao that easily, he was saying the truth.
But saying something is much, much easier than making it come true, especially when the one he’s fighting for seems to be going the other way. In the past few weeks, Mao had consented on going to dates and dinners with Jun, greatly diminishing the time Toma gets to spend with her. And all that time she’s spending with him seems to be giving her ideas.
She even suggested that they all go out for dinner sometime, so that ‘they’ meaning him and Jun ‘could interact properly’ she says.
It was a suggestion he immediately turned down of course. He’s interacted with the guy already and he didn’t need additional proof that he’s dislike of him being Mao’s prospective next boyfriend is absurd. The guy completely is not a bad catch, that and the fact that he would never begrudge Mao the chance to enter a relationship and be happy.
It’s just that from what he’d seen, he didn’t like the way Jun looked at Mao, like he’s completely taking her away.
He never told anyone that though, not Ryo, not Erika, not Maki, and most especially not Mao and for good reason too. Erika and Maki, in particular, had been throwing him dark and annoyed looks whenever he even comes close to thinking of saying something about Mao’s suitor whenever they’re together. Mao simply smiles about it. Ryo, well, Ryo seemed like he understood, something in the guy’s eyes tells him that.
And while he’s generally okay with that, those reactions, plus Mao’s constant dates with Jun had left him with no one to hang out with in his free time. Which is why he almost always ends up alone, walking the streets and malls of Tokyo, just because he’d rather do that than stay in his apartment. And that’s exactly what he’s doing at the moment, simply walking aimlessly when, like that one time in the past, his eyes caught sight of a familiar female figure looking distressed.
This time though, Maki isn’t alone. And the guy she’s with seems to be the root of all her troubles.
-----
“You are avoiding me…” Yamapi stated as he took hold of Maki’s elbow to keep her from going into a full blown run. From the outside, it might have looked rather sweet, like the guy is making his move to woo his woman because of a petty and crazy mistake he’s just committed.
But Maki isn’t amused. She wasn’t even smiling. There was almost an annoyed look on her face, a look that started when he passed by a café earlier and heard the guy calling her name.
That was over 10 minutes ago already. And it seems that her not acknowledging him is not enough hint for him that she didn’t want to see him.
“What do you want Yamashita-san?” Maki asked, her voice sounding exasperated just enough to hide the tremors she started feeling again just by being in close proximity of the guy. After all these years, Yamapi still does have such a huge effect on her, something she’s determined to not let him know.
“I want to see you,” Yamapi said simply a smile still fixed on his face and Maki almost gasped aloud.
Yamapi had always had a way with words. That, coupled with his good looks and charms, was the reason why a lot of women were smitten with him, her included. And it looks like it still is.
But he didn’t need to know that. He’d broken her heart once when he cheated on her, she’s not about to open herself up for another attack.
“That’s your problem, not mine,” she told him simply and almost coldly, her face turning to stone especially after seeing him smile his trademark heart-melting smile before yanking her elbow away. Yamapi really only used that back then when he makes a mistake she’s most likely about to find out.
But while getting away from his touch was not a problem, he still did not let her go as he stepped sideways to block her path.
“You were never good at eluding me…” he said confidently and Maki almost wanted to scream. Actually, she really, badly wanted and needed to.
“You were never good at eluding me,” Yamapi smiled as he reached out to rub Maki’s arms. They were at the library’s top floor veranda.
“I’m reading Pi…” Maki said simply, ignoring the tingling sensation his actions are sending throughout her body.
She’s annoyed with him, seriously annoyed. She had already known that her boyfriend is some sort of a claimed ladies man but she had assumed that he’d be at least a good listener and follower, especially to his girlfriend’s request. Particularly too when that request is about him avoiding a girl Maki knew had always been head over heels with him who would do anything to have him, the very same girl Maki never really liked.
But no, she just had to enter the library and see him and that girl sharing not just a table, not just a book, but a seat. A seat! And that’s when the library is half-empty.
“You know that didn’t mean a thing. She was just asking me something about our Physics lecture because she wasn’t able to attend that particular class and you know her eyes are really bad,” Yamapi started but when Maki hadn’t given any reaction at all, he sighed. “Okay, I’m sorry. I know you don’t like her, and needless to say, I don’t like her too. Why should I when I already have you?”
Maki was already smiling by the apology part but by the time he finished his statement, she was practically all giddy.
“You are so cheesy!” she still told him when she turned around to face her boyfriend.
Yamapi grinned, his arms snaking around her waist.
“Yeah, and that’s why you love me… And I love you too.”
His words are reminding her of memories she’d worked hard to forget. But before she could do anything about that, she felt an arm snaking around her waist and a familiar perfume drafting to her nose.
“Hey baby!” Toma smiled, pulling Maki closer to his body, his eyes and all his senses attuned to the fact that Maki is in a really bad emotional state. By the time he approached her and Yamapi he immediately knew that she might just need him there.
For a split second, there was confusion in her eyes before she understood and smiled, her right hand moving towards his waist too.
“Hey baby, you should have messaged me that you’re here already!”
“I thought I’d surprise you,” Toma smiled. “I didn’t know though that you were meeting someone else here too.”
“Oh, no!” Maki said immediately and Toma wanted to applaud. She actually looked like a worried girlfriend that her boyfriend, a.k.a. him, is getting jealous. “I think you might remember Yamashita-san…” she added nonchalantly.
‘How could I forget?’ Toma almost replied. Even at a distance, he’d already recognized the idiot who let go and hurt his friend. But when he turned around, he had an almost amused face.
“Yeah… I never thought I’d be seeing you again Yamashita-san,” he said.
Yamapi smiled although he looked skeptically at him and Maki as he did so. Toma felt Maki freezing up a bit and so he removed his hands on her waist to drape it over her shoulder.
-----
“Is that Maki-chan?” Ryo asked, pointing to somewhere in the floor through the glass walls of the elevator he and Erika is in. “And Toma-kun?”
Erika’s eyebrows furrowed as her eyes immediately went to the direction her boyfriend is pointing at. She knew that Maki would be at the mall, she said she’d meet up with them in about an hour but she didn’t know that Toma would be there, or that they’d be together. But Ryo wasn’t mistaken, it really was Maki and Toma, with her cousin’s arms over her best friend’s shoulder. They were talking to a guy she couldn’t recognize simply because his back is turned to their direction.
“What’s going on?” Erika could only say as she turned to Ryo. Ryo only shrugged.
-----
“Thank you…” Maki murmured weakly.
The two of them had just separated from Yamapi after coming up with a story that the two of them are now dating and Toma had just stopped by to pick her up. She’s really not sure if the guy bought their act but still, the fact that Toma showed up was a big deal for her. She had no idea what would have happened if he didn’t. That short interaction alone seemed to have drained her legs off energy.
“I guess I just have a knack of being around when you’re in those kinds of situations,” Toma chuckled, his arm still on her side and Maki couldn’t help but smile appreciatively. “Where to now?”
“I’m supposed to meet Erika-chan and Ryo-kun in a bit for the movies but I don’t feel like going,” Maki replied. “I guess I’m just going home.”
“Good, I’ll drive you there…” Toma said.
“No need,” Maki smiled, stopping on her feet. “I can manage. I don’t want to disturb you. I owe too much for one day already.”
“This would make us quits,” Toma assured her.
Maki sighed. “I brought my car,” she said in a last weak attempt to dissuade the guy.
“Good! I didn’t bring mine!”
-----
He knew he was in trouble the moment he opened his door and saw her there. After all, rarely does Erika show up in her apartment alone and unannounced, and only once in the past did she show up in his door with a really bad look on her face like the one she has now. And that’s when she found out that he and Mao split already without even telling them.
And he was right, of course, at moments like this, he’s bound to be right. Especially when Erika’s first words as she entered his apartment was “You have got a lot of explaining to do!”
“About what exactly?” he asked, closing the door behind his cousin.
“Who,” Erika corrected. “Two of them to be exact, Mao-chan and Maki-chan.”
“Horikitty?” Toma exclaimed, surprised at the second name. “What about her?”
“Ryo and I saw you at the mall. Together,” Erika said, her tone and expression making it certain that she didn’t want to elaborate on it and Toma didn’t have to rack his brains to find out why. After all, the only time he was with Maki at the mall recently was that time Yamapi was around.
Perhaps noticing the look of realization in his eyes, Erika demanded “What’s going on between you two that you’re not telling me?”
“Nothing!” Toma exclaimed, almost choking in his haste to defend himself. But when Erika simply looked at him with her eyebrows slightly raised, he sighed. “Look, what you thought about what you saw wasn’t true. Or maybe it was, but not for everyone.”
“What?!”
Toma sighed again. “Yamashita-san was there…”
“Yamashita-san?! He was that guy we saw you two talking to?” Erika exclaimed in surprise and worry even before Toma could finish what he was saying.
“Yes,” Toma replied. “He saw Maki-chan in front of some café or something and followed her. She was looking stressed and all that’s why I stepped next to her.”
“I knew that guy still has some effect on Maki-chan,” Erika gasped. “What did he want?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t hear it by the time I joined them and Maki-chan wasn’t saying much,” Toma said. “But it looks to me like he’s asking for a comeback.”
“After all these years and what he has done?! The nerve!” Erika exclaimed and Toma felt the exact same way. He was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when it turns out he wasn’t out of the waters yet. “So, what were you doing at the mall?”
“It’s the mall!” he pointed out but ended up sighing yet again when Erika simply looked at him. “Okay, I went around walking because I had nowhere to go and no one to hang out with. That’s just it.”
Erika looked at him closely for a second but it wasn’t because of disbelief. It was more of observation. Then, for the first time since her arrival, she smiled. “I was half afraid that you two were seeing each other behind our backs!” she even chided.
Toma’s jaws dropped and his eyes bulged.
“Horikitty and me? Come on!” he exclaimed.
“All of your bickering must have been caused by something you know!” Erika pointed out before she laughed.
“Don’t be ridiculous…” he said, shaking his head, sure this time that he is now safe of his cousin’s wrath.
“It wouldn’t be that bad of an idea you know…” Erika said and he’s not sure if she’s being serious or not. “That’d be a good news, especially to Mao-chan’s lovelife,” she added meaningfully.
“I’m not being a hindrance to that!” Toma objected, knowing what she meant by that.
“No one but you believes that…” Erika said, her tone in singsong although her eyes looked serious.
“I want Mao-chan to be happy…” Toma replied.
“Good!” Erika smiled. “Because she’s planning lunch this Sunday for all of us with Matsumoto-san and you being there is going to make her happy.”
Toma groaned. Erika sure does have a way with words, especially when she’s using it for blackmail. “And if I don’t go?” he challenged.
“Oh you’ll be there…” Erika assured him. “Even if Ryo and I have to drag you.”
-----
“So does this mean what I think it means?” Maki asked Mao, her smile turning mischievous as she nudged her friend by the shoulder before inclining her head towards the direction of two men currently working on the barbeque the girls had marinated beforehand.
“What do you think does this mean?” Mao asked sounding oblivious although there was a smile on her lips when she sneaked a look at Ryo and Jun by the barbeque grill (Toma was tasked to prepare their drinks).
“Oh come on!” Erika chuckled right next to them. “You and Matsumoto-san! This means you two are officially on, right?”
“No,” Mao replied.
“No?!” Erika and Maki both exclaimed in disbelief. “So what are we doing here today?”
Mao smiled before turning to Jun and Ryo once again, this time a bit more obvious.
“This was the test run…” she chuckled. “I wanted to see if we could all get along…”
Maki caught Erika’s eye and they both turned to Jun and Ryo too before looking back at Mao.
“So what’s the verdict?”
Mao looked at them both and simply smiled before pushing herself to a stand and saying offhandedly “Toma-kun’s taking too long with the drinks…”
By the time Mao turned her back to her two female best friends, both women were already grinning, seeing how Mao flushed at the question.
Ever since everyone’s arrival, there was no boss or employee. Jun got along with everybody and even Toma was civil. But his ability to mix and mingle with them, despite the difference in status, wasn’t all that they noticed. They also noticed how he would throw Mao furtive looks and smiles. He looked very much smitten with her, and Mao looked as much affected by his presence as he is. They even noticed Jun heading towards the direction of the house the moment he saw Mao entering it (more in an attempt to evade her friend’s further questioning than anything) with Ryo nodding in confirmation of what they had just assumed.
Which meant they really didn’t need for Mao to answer their question.
And they were right, for the most part.
-----
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Mao asked, stepping into the kitchen and seeing Toma there with his head down and both hands on the table as if in very deep thought. The smile on her lips she had earlier was slowly replaced by a frown especially as she noticed the drinks that Toma was supposed to be preparing is finished already.
And when Toma raised his head upon hearing her voice, she saw that there was a really sad, troubled look in his eyes. Like he was shaken.
“Hey…” she said quietly as she was about to step closer to him but his next words stopped her on her tracks.
“If I ask you to come back to me, would you?”
-----TBC-----
so there goes chapter 14...
as is obvious, the chap generally revolved around Toma...
but if you're wondering if things would ever move on or some things like that...
well, all i've got to say is, IT IS! it really seriously is...
although it might not be too obvious...
anyway, critics and comments are really loved...
(and highly appreciated, and is a source of inspiration for me these days) :)