"My Eminent Serenity" | chapter 23
A/N: Hey guys! Yes, I’m updating again. I think I won’t be able to update next week so here is the 23rd chapter. I hope you will like it. Thanks to everyone who read and commented on the previous chapters. Sorry for all the errors. ^_^
Word count: 2381 words.
Chapter 23:
“Changes through Time”
-x-x-x-
Yuto pushed the door of the veterinary clinic and heard the melody from the wind chime above him. He heard someone greeted him with 'Irraishimase!'
"Domo." He replied while holding the door open until Ayako entered.
Ayako muttered a small 'Thanks' by the time she passed by him and Yuto smiled while closing the door.
When they entered, animals started to uproar. The woman on the counter tried to shush them. Ayako went near to the woman and asked, "Is the veterinarian in?"
Yuto stood beside her.
"She's inside the laboratory." The woman answered. "By the way, I heard Yuki-chan is recovering fast. Maybe you'll be able to take her home now!"
Ayako's face turned delighted, "Really?! Thank you very much!"
Yuto smiled at the information the woman said.
"Good thing you brought your boyfriend here..." The woman commented.
"Ehh!" Ayako blurted out. "He's not--" But before she could deny it, their attention was caught by the veterinarian.
"Ohayou Himeji-san!" The veterinarian greeted when she emerged from the door with the word 'LABORATORY' stuck to it.
"Ah, Sensei! I heard Yuki's fine now!" Ayako exclaimed to her.
She smiled at them, "Yes, indeed. You can take her home now but why don't you go the park first?" She suggested. "Yuki has been confined here for two days and I think it's good for her to breathe in some fresh air so that she will feel much better."
"Hai, I will do that!" Ayako agreed.
"But you still need to give her the food supplement for her platelet, okay?"
Ayako nodded.
That was the time when the veterinarian noticed a tall guy behind her. She smiled at him, "Oh, what a handsome guy!"
Yuto smiled sheepishly, "Not really..." He muttered.
"Is he Yuki's father?" The veterinarian asked in a teasing tone.
"OF COURSE NOT!" Ayako said aloud. 'He can't be. Well, he used to...'
Everyone laughed, except for her.
"It's fine. You can get Yuki from her cage now..." The veterinarian said.
-x-x-x-
"YUKI-CHAAAAN!" That was the fifth time Yuto called out the cat's name.
"Meow." And that was also the fifth time Yuki answered him.
Ayako palmed her forehead in slight frustration. 'Why is he with us anyway? I should be home by now sulking about what he did to me yet I'm here in this park, sitting beside him, listening to how he calls my cat's name like it's his!!!'
Like what the veterinarian said, Ayako brought Yuki to the park -- but with Yuto all along. Well, she couldn't tell him to get lost for she hated being mean to the person she thought as awesome or, in other words, the person she liked.
Ayako sighed. She was sitting on the park bench under the shade of a Sakura tree with Yuto beside her. Her bag was in the middle, set like a barrier to avoid clashing of forces. Yuki was on Yuto's lap, playing of his fingers.
"Yuki-chan!" He sang once again. "How are you feeling now? You really made me worried, you know!"
'It's the 6th time! Gosh, this guy doesn't get tired!' She thought as she looked away, at the pond across them.
For a while, Ayako noticed that her bench-mates turned silent. She looked at them through the corners of her eyes and saw Yuto staring at Yuki sleeping on his lap. He looked very amused with her cat that Ayako thought he was so adorable.
'No, stop admiring him Ayako! It's not like before!' She looked away again.
"Aya-chan..." She heard him called her in a deep voice.
She froze.
"I'm really sorry." He said.
She gradually turned to him and when their eyes met, she thought she would be drawn to a feeling she couldn't explain.
"I didn't intend to hurt you..." His voice was full of sincerity.
"It's fine." Ayako finally spoke. "It's fine, now that you've said sorry already." 'Why are you giving in easily?'
"Thanks." He smiled.
"About that, would you mind if I ask you to forget about it? Pretend that that night never happened?" She asked, though she was thinking it was stupid of her to ask such thing. "And do things like we used to before that?"
'That's too much... I think I can't forget about what you told me on that night,' He thought. "Sure," Yet he said words on the contrary. "…if that would make us friends again."
She sighed in relief. "That's much better." 'I know it's my fault for confessing in the first place but I can't think of any other ways to be friends with him again. Besides, I don't know how to live my everyday life with out his presence affecting it in some way or another. This is stupid...'
-x-x-x- -x-x-x- -x-x-x-
As the time passed by and brought various changes both positive and negative in her life, Ayako felt like a year took place in a blink of an eye. Well, it couldn't be helped. So many things might have happened but it took place in a high speed. She did some reality checks once in a while but it didn't help in slowing down events. Everything she encountered seemed just like a part of a long dream -- especially the part where meeting Hey! Say! JUMP fell into.
She victoriously passed the second year of high school and made it into her senior year with flying colors. At long last, her academic efforts had finally paved off a good path for her. She needed it to enter universities easier for college and now that she was already on her last year in high school she was obliged to think about her future. Yet before she pressures herself with that matter, she decided to make the best out of her last summer vacation as a high school student.
She suddenly smiled triumphantly while putting the last white sheet on her bed. Finally, her general room cleaning had ended. Her next errand was to bathe her cats but before proceeding downstairs, she grabbed her phone and flipped it open.
"A new voice mail received..." She read the text on her phone. "...from Yuto-kun."
She giggled before pressing the 'Open' key.
"Aya-chan! Konichiwa! By the time you read this, maybe I'm sleeping on the shinkansen already. We just finished shooting the scenes from Osaka and we are heading to Tokyo now. I'm really tired but it was so enjoyable. I've seen so many wonderful places in here! Ah, by the way, we will continue shooting in Tokyo tomorrow. Nahh, I'm really busy ne~ I miss your cats. Please tell them that! Ja!~"
And the voice mail ended.
Ayako smiled like she was the happiest person in the world at the moment. One of those changes that time brought to her was that -- receiving voice mails from him whenever they couldn't see each other for a long period of time.
She then pressed some keys and started talking, "Ne Yuto-kun, Ohayou! I'm happy you've enjoyed your Osaka trip! Take some more rest so that you can regain your strength for tomorrow's shooting! Oh, I have something to tell you. I got a new cat! I named her Mikan because she is colored orange all over. She is very cute and still three months old. You should see her! I know you'll like her. So then, ganbatte with the shooting!"
If she had counted correctly, it's been three months since she last saw Yuto personally. Hey! Say! JUMP has been tremendously busy for the promotion of their latest album and concert plus Yuto got the starring role of a movie that made him busier than ever.
She closed her phone, "I wonder if he's eating properly... Hmm, I'll ask him next time." And she went outside of her room, leaving her phone on the table.
Later that night, while Ayako was getting water from the fridge, she heard her sister suddenly squealed like a pig defending itself from being roast. Alarmed, she immediately ran to the living room where her sister was staying and found Sumika staring at the TV intently while hugging a pillow.
"Why are you shouting all of a sudden? You startled me." She hissed.
"It's going to happen!" Sumika exclaimed.
Ayako looked bewildered, unable to catch up, "What?"
"The kiss!!!!"
"Eh?" In puzzlement, Ayako turned to the TV and almost felt her jaw falling to the floor, figuratively.
Yamada Ryosuke, or let's say his character on the prime time TV drama, was bringing his face closer to Shida Mirai, or her character on that same drama, until their lips landed on each other.
"KYAAAAAAA!"
This time, Ayako thought she would turn deaf as her sister screamed on the top of her lungs. "What the.... stop it Oneechan!"
Suddenly, a thought came up unto her mind that made her smile mischievously. 'Hehe, he won't get away with this without me teasing him.'
-x-x-x-
"AHAHAHAHA!!!" Ayako couldn't resist the urge to laugh anymore. Her voice went out very loud as the person beside him flustered in embarrassment.
"Stop it already Ayako-san!!!" That person pleaded cutely.
That made Ayako laughed harder. "Hahaha! Gomen ne Ryosuke-kun, I just can't help it." Tears started to form on the corners of her eyes.
Another change that time brought to her was the closeness she was sharing with Yamada Ryosuke that eventually led to even changing how they call each other.
"Didn't I tell you about that scene earlier? Why are you still laughing at me?" Yamada whined as his eyeglasses shimmered with the sun light.
Finally, she managed to stop laughing. "I'm really sorry. I know I said I won't laugh but seeing it personally and just hearing it from you are definitely not the same story."
"It's basically the same! You're really mean, aren't you?" He sounded accusing.
She smiled, "Hehe! That's fine and I bet hundreds of Yamada Ryosuke and Shida Mirai fans celebrated last night. Even my sister, she screamed very loud!" She tried to get back to his side, "Congratulations on your successful drama ne! You even had the chance to kiss your crush!" Then she started teasing him all over again.
'Not again.' Yamada palmed his face, "I told you she is not my crush."
"Of course you did. You're still on the 'denial' stage. Don't worry, I understand. Eventually, you'll develop to each other and with that kiss... I'm pretty sure this romantic progression of feelings will be fast." She stated like she was an expert of that field.
"You're the only one who insists that I like her!"
"Because I like her for you. Trust me, it'll be nice." She assured him. “You look perfect together!"
Yamada sighed in defeat. 'May anyone remind me how did this girl become my friend again? Oh yeah, because of that tall guy by the name of Nakajima Yuto who is actually my best friend. Life... it's really weird at times.'
"By the way, I wanna ask you something." She said.
"Hmm..?" Yamada muttered.
She looked away, "How does it feels like, you know, kissing???" She asked, her voice sounding breaking in shyness. She knew it was a sensitive aspect to ask but she couldn't help asking, she was curious. "I know it's a stupid question. Just don't answer if you don't like to."
Yamada turned pensive. "Hmm... have you kissed your arm?" He asked back.
Ayako's brows curled in puzzlement yet she still nodded.
"If you don't have any feelings towards the person you are kissing, it feels like you're just kissing your arm -- but with a softer skin ne~" He explained.
"How about if you love that person?" Now, she was looking at him.
Yamada shrugged, "Dunno! Never done that. I told you, the episode last night was my first kiss!"
Ayako's expression morphed into suspecting, "Sou da ne~"
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"I do. Hehe!"
And then, both of them turned silent. They were staying on a bench under the shade of trees. It was their usual hang out whenever they wanted to have some random talk and break from their usual busy schedules. Over the year, Ayako found a good friend within the famous teen actor named Yamada Ryosuke. Both of them have always been there for each other when they need someone to talk to. With that, they had shared random secrets too. Ayako even realized that he had grown closer to Yamada more than to Yuto -- who has been really busy due to his rising fame.
"By the way, I heard Yuto-kun arrived in Tokyo already." Yamada volunteered to break the silence.
She smiled while getting amused looking down her feet, "Yeah, but he is still busy. I wonder when I will see him again."
'A year may have passed by but her feelings to him never faded even once.' "How about now?" Suddenly, he perked.
"I don't know where he is right now and I don't want to disturb him either." She said painstakingly.
"What if he comes here instead, will you talk to him?" He asked as he looked at something on a distance.
"I will be grateful to do so." She answered without thinking.
"Then we should talk to him right now! Look, he's just there!!!"
Ayako's eyes widened, "Where?"
He pointed his index finger across them. Her gaze followed and she almost jumped to her feet. Yes, he was telling the truth, Yuto was really on that same park walking with a girl who looked familiar to the both of them.
"NANI?! I never thought they will be shooting in here!!!" She exclaimed.
Yamada stood up, "Let's go now! They look like on a break so we can still talk to him!"
Ayako froze. She didn’t look agreeing with Yamada’s idea.
-x-x-x-
Hai, a cliffhanger?
Comments are loved!~
Thank you very much for reading.
*bows*
I gotta enjoy some quality bonding time w/ my family.
Wahh, I’ll miss you, LJ and HSJ! >_< huhu!
Next Chapter: Click here!~
Word count: 2381 words.
Chapter 23:
“Changes through Time”
-x-x-x-
Yuto pushed the door of the veterinary clinic and heard the melody from the wind chime above him. He heard someone greeted him with 'Irraishimase!'
"Domo." He replied while holding the door open until Ayako entered.
Ayako muttered a small 'Thanks' by the time she passed by him and Yuto smiled while closing the door.
When they entered, animals started to uproar. The woman on the counter tried to shush them. Ayako went near to the woman and asked, "Is the veterinarian in?"
Yuto stood beside her.
"She's inside the laboratory." The woman answered. "By the way, I heard Yuki-chan is recovering fast. Maybe you'll be able to take her home now!"
Ayako's face turned delighted, "Really?! Thank you very much!"
Yuto smiled at the information the woman said.
"Good thing you brought your boyfriend here..." The woman commented.
"Ehh!" Ayako blurted out. "He's not--" But before she could deny it, their attention was caught by the veterinarian.
"Ohayou Himeji-san!" The veterinarian greeted when she emerged from the door with the word 'LABORATORY' stuck to it.
"Ah, Sensei! I heard Yuki's fine now!" Ayako exclaimed to her.
She smiled at them, "Yes, indeed. You can take her home now but why don't you go the park first?" She suggested. "Yuki has been confined here for two days and I think it's good for her to breathe in some fresh air so that she will feel much better."
"Hai, I will do that!" Ayako agreed.
"But you still need to give her the food supplement for her platelet, okay?"
Ayako nodded.
That was the time when the veterinarian noticed a tall guy behind her. She smiled at him, "Oh, what a handsome guy!"
Yuto smiled sheepishly, "Not really..." He muttered.
"Is he Yuki's father?" The veterinarian asked in a teasing tone.
"OF COURSE NOT!" Ayako said aloud. 'He can't be. Well, he used to...'
Everyone laughed, except for her.
"It's fine. You can get Yuki from her cage now..." The veterinarian said.
-x-x-x-
"YUKI-CHAAAAN!" That was the fifth time Yuto called out the cat's name.
"Meow." And that was also the fifth time Yuki answered him.
Ayako palmed her forehead in slight frustration. 'Why is he with us anyway? I should be home by now sulking about what he did to me yet I'm here in this park, sitting beside him, listening to how he calls my cat's name like it's his!!!'
Like what the veterinarian said, Ayako brought Yuki to the park -- but with Yuto all along. Well, she couldn't tell him to get lost for she hated being mean to the person she thought as awesome or, in other words, the person she liked.
Ayako sighed. She was sitting on the park bench under the shade of a Sakura tree with Yuto beside her. Her bag was in the middle, set like a barrier to avoid clashing of forces. Yuki was on Yuto's lap, playing of his fingers.
"Yuki-chan!" He sang once again. "How are you feeling now? You really made me worried, you know!"
'It's the 6th time! Gosh, this guy doesn't get tired!' She thought as she looked away, at the pond across them.
For a while, Ayako noticed that her bench-mates turned silent. She looked at them through the corners of her eyes and saw Yuto staring at Yuki sleeping on his lap. He looked very amused with her cat that Ayako thought he was so adorable.
'No, stop admiring him Ayako! It's not like before!' She looked away again.
"Aya-chan..." She heard him called her in a deep voice.
She froze.
"I'm really sorry." He said.
She gradually turned to him and when their eyes met, she thought she would be drawn to a feeling she couldn't explain.
"I didn't intend to hurt you..." His voice was full of sincerity.
"It's fine." Ayako finally spoke. "It's fine, now that you've said sorry already." 'Why are you giving in easily?'
"Thanks." He smiled.
"About that, would you mind if I ask you to forget about it? Pretend that that night never happened?" She asked, though she was thinking it was stupid of her to ask such thing. "And do things like we used to before that?"
'That's too much... I think I can't forget about what you told me on that night,' He thought. "Sure," Yet he said words on the contrary. "…if that would make us friends again."
She sighed in relief. "That's much better." 'I know it's my fault for confessing in the first place but I can't think of any other ways to be friends with him again. Besides, I don't know how to live my everyday life with out his presence affecting it in some way or another. This is stupid...'
-x-x-x- -x-x-x- -x-x-x-
As the time passed by and brought various changes both positive and negative in her life, Ayako felt like a year took place in a blink of an eye. Well, it couldn't be helped. So many things might have happened but it took place in a high speed. She did some reality checks once in a while but it didn't help in slowing down events. Everything she encountered seemed just like a part of a long dream -- especially the part where meeting Hey! Say! JUMP fell into.
She victoriously passed the second year of high school and made it into her senior year with flying colors. At long last, her academic efforts had finally paved off a good path for her. She needed it to enter universities easier for college and now that she was already on her last year in high school she was obliged to think about her future. Yet before she pressures herself with that matter, she decided to make the best out of her last summer vacation as a high school student.
She suddenly smiled triumphantly while putting the last white sheet on her bed. Finally, her general room cleaning had ended. Her next errand was to bathe her cats but before proceeding downstairs, she grabbed her phone and flipped it open.
"A new voice mail received..." She read the text on her phone. "...from Yuto-kun."
She giggled before pressing the 'Open' key.
"Aya-chan! Konichiwa! By the time you read this, maybe I'm sleeping on the shinkansen already. We just finished shooting the scenes from Osaka and we are heading to Tokyo now. I'm really tired but it was so enjoyable. I've seen so many wonderful places in here! Ah, by the way, we will continue shooting in Tokyo tomorrow. Nahh, I'm really busy ne~ I miss your cats. Please tell them that! Ja!~"
And the voice mail ended.
Ayako smiled like she was the happiest person in the world at the moment. One of those changes that time brought to her was that -- receiving voice mails from him whenever they couldn't see each other for a long period of time.
She then pressed some keys and started talking, "Ne Yuto-kun, Ohayou! I'm happy you've enjoyed your Osaka trip! Take some more rest so that you can regain your strength for tomorrow's shooting! Oh, I have something to tell you. I got a new cat! I named her Mikan because she is colored orange all over. She is very cute and still three months old. You should see her! I know you'll like her. So then, ganbatte with the shooting!"
If she had counted correctly, it's been three months since she last saw Yuto personally. Hey! Say! JUMP has been tremendously busy for the promotion of their latest album and concert plus Yuto got the starring role of a movie that made him busier than ever.
She closed her phone, "I wonder if he's eating properly... Hmm, I'll ask him next time." And she went outside of her room, leaving her phone on the table.
Later that night, while Ayako was getting water from the fridge, she heard her sister suddenly squealed like a pig defending itself from being roast. Alarmed, she immediately ran to the living room where her sister was staying and found Sumika staring at the TV intently while hugging a pillow.
"Why are you shouting all of a sudden? You startled me." She hissed.
"It's going to happen!" Sumika exclaimed.
Ayako looked bewildered, unable to catch up, "What?"
"The kiss!!!!"
"Eh?" In puzzlement, Ayako turned to the TV and almost felt her jaw falling to the floor, figuratively.
Yamada Ryosuke, or let's say his character on the prime time TV drama, was bringing his face closer to Shida Mirai, or her character on that same drama, until their lips landed on each other.
"KYAAAAAAA!"
This time, Ayako thought she would turn deaf as her sister screamed on the top of her lungs. "What the.... stop it Oneechan!"
Suddenly, a thought came up unto her mind that made her smile mischievously. 'Hehe, he won't get away with this without me teasing him.'
-x-x-x-
"AHAHAHAHA!!!" Ayako couldn't resist the urge to laugh anymore. Her voice went out very loud as the person beside him flustered in embarrassment.
"Stop it already Ayako-san!!!" That person pleaded cutely.
That made Ayako laughed harder. "Hahaha! Gomen ne Ryosuke-kun, I just can't help it." Tears started to form on the corners of her eyes.
Another change that time brought to her was the closeness she was sharing with Yamada Ryosuke that eventually led to even changing how they call each other.
"Didn't I tell you about that scene earlier? Why are you still laughing at me?" Yamada whined as his eyeglasses shimmered with the sun light.
Finally, she managed to stop laughing. "I'm really sorry. I know I said I won't laugh but seeing it personally and just hearing it from you are definitely not the same story."
"It's basically the same! You're really mean, aren't you?" He sounded accusing.
She smiled, "Hehe! That's fine and I bet hundreds of Yamada Ryosuke and Shida Mirai fans celebrated last night. Even my sister, she screamed very loud!" She tried to get back to his side, "Congratulations on your successful drama ne! You even had the chance to kiss your crush!" Then she started teasing him all over again.
'Not again.' Yamada palmed his face, "I told you she is not my crush."
"Of course you did. You're still on the 'denial' stage. Don't worry, I understand. Eventually, you'll develop to each other and with that kiss... I'm pretty sure this romantic progression of feelings will be fast." She stated like she was an expert of that field.
"You're the only one who insists that I like her!"
"Because I like her for you. Trust me, it'll be nice." She assured him. “You look perfect together!"
Yamada sighed in defeat. 'May anyone remind me how did this girl become my friend again? Oh yeah, because of that tall guy by the name of Nakajima Yuto who is actually my best friend. Life... it's really weird at times.'
"By the way, I wanna ask you something." She said.
"Hmm..?" Yamada muttered.
She looked away, "How does it feels like, you know, kissing???" She asked, her voice sounding breaking in shyness. She knew it was a sensitive aspect to ask but she couldn't help asking, she was curious. "I know it's a stupid question. Just don't answer if you don't like to."
Yamada turned pensive. "Hmm... have you kissed your arm?" He asked back.
Ayako's brows curled in puzzlement yet she still nodded.
"If you don't have any feelings towards the person you are kissing, it feels like you're just kissing your arm -- but with a softer skin ne~" He explained.
"How about if you love that person?" Now, she was looking at him.
Yamada shrugged, "Dunno! Never done that. I told you, the episode last night was my first kiss!"
Ayako's expression morphed into suspecting, "Sou da ne~"
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"I do. Hehe!"
And then, both of them turned silent. They were staying on a bench under the shade of trees. It was their usual hang out whenever they wanted to have some random talk and break from their usual busy schedules. Over the year, Ayako found a good friend within the famous teen actor named Yamada Ryosuke. Both of them have always been there for each other when they need someone to talk to. With that, they had shared random secrets too. Ayako even realized that he had grown closer to Yamada more than to Yuto -- who has been really busy due to his rising fame.
"By the way, I heard Yuto-kun arrived in Tokyo already." Yamada volunteered to break the silence.
She smiled while getting amused looking down her feet, "Yeah, but he is still busy. I wonder when I will see him again."
'A year may have passed by but her feelings to him never faded even once.' "How about now?" Suddenly, he perked.
"I don't know where he is right now and I don't want to disturb him either." She said painstakingly.
"What if he comes here instead, will you talk to him?" He asked as he looked at something on a distance.
"I will be grateful to do so." She answered without thinking.
"Then we should talk to him right now! Look, he's just there!!!"
Ayako's eyes widened, "Where?"
He pointed his index finger across them. Her gaze followed and she almost jumped to her feet. Yes, he was telling the truth, Yuto was really on that same park walking with a girl who looked familiar to the both of them.
"NANI?! I never thought they will be shooting in here!!!" She exclaimed.
Yamada stood up, "Let's go now! They look like on a break so we can still talk to him!"
Ayako froze. She didn’t look agreeing with Yamada’s idea.
-x-x-x-
Hai, a cliffhanger?
Comments are loved!~
Thank you very much for reading.
*bows*
I gotta enjoy some quality bonding time w/ my family.
Wahh, I’ll miss you, LJ and HSJ! >_< huhu!
Next Chapter: Click here!~