[Fanfic] Of Friends and Lovers- Chapters 3 NinoxMeisa
Title: Of Friends and Lovers
Pairing: NinoxMeisa, hinted JunxMao
Genre: Romance
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Arashi or Kuroki Meisa. Only the plot and OCs are mine.
A/N: Thanks to mintceres for looking this over.
Summary: Meisa and Kazu were childhood friends, then lovers, when Kazu did the unthinkable: he married another girl. A few years later, he showed up at Meisa's home. He wants her back into his life; he never really stop loving her. Will Meisa accept him back, or has she moved on?
Previously:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
*****************************
Chapter 3
“To the other side!” Maru exclaimed and then laughed at his own punch line. The others gave a polite chuckle, but inwardly groaned. “Haha. Get it? The chicken crossed because he wants to get to-” Maru nudged an elbow at Kazu, who seemed to be entranced about something. He followed his gaze and saw who made his new workmate still. “Wow,” Maru gasped. The other men turned, but by then the power that transfixed Kazu had worn off. He shook himself as if to shake out the grogginess. Kazu turned to his side and was taken aback at Maru staring at him.
“What?”
“Who was that?” Maru asked with a goofy grin.
“Who was who?”
“Don't play coy,” Ohno said. “We all saw you all gawking at her.”
“Oh,” Kazu said, nonchalantly. “Just someone I knew before.” And loved, he added in his head.
“You know someone that gorgeous?” Maru's eyes widened.
Kazu smirked. “Jealous?” he asked. Maru smirked back. Luckily, they changed the subject. Kazu tried to tune in to the conversation, but he couldn't help thinking about Meisa. He could've sworn he heard a click the instant their eyes locked. She still looked put-together and beautiful but it seemed that she had been crying. Kazu's heart wrenched. The last time he saw her crying was when he had dropped that bomb on her that he was getting married and they would have to break up. He spotted her sitting alone at the corner table, her back to him. He couldn't confirm if she really was crying or if it was the lighting of the shop.
The group finished their meal, and they all stood to get home. On his way out, Kazu turned to look at Meisa, but her head was down.
“Aren't you going to say hi?” Maru sidled up to him when they got outside.
“Nah, she probably doesn't remember me,” Kazu shrugged.
The men climbed in the company pick-up trucks and vans, but Kazu lingered back.
“You riding with us?” Aiba stuck his head out of the drivers’ seat window of the company van.
“My apartment's nearby. I can just walk.”
“Suit yourself.” Aiba waved, then pulled back in, driving off.
“See yah tomorrow!” Maru waved from the back of the pick-up truck. Kazu waved back. He wasn't totally lying. He did live nearby, but he wanted to go back in to get a final look at Meisa. He nearly fell over backwards when she got out of the shop just as he was about to go in. For the second time that night, they locked eyes, but this time, Meisa cut it shorter. She looked at him up and down. Kazu was suddenly self-conscious on how dirty and muddy he looked. He bet he didn't smell too good, either.
“Uh,” Kazu said, scratching his head nervously. “I wasn't stalking you or anything. We just all came here to have drinks and some ramen after work.” She nodded.
“You were already inside when I came in,” she said. “If you were really stalking, then you must also be psychic. I didn't even know I was going to stop here on the way home tonight.”
“Ah.”
Another silence engulfed them.
“Do you need a ride home?” Meisa asked at the same time Kazu said, “Well, I better get going.” They chuckled awkwardly.
“I actually just live nearby,” Kazu said. “Thanks for the offer, though.”
“Yeah, sure.” Meisa nodded. Kazu waited a beat, then nodded goodbye. He walked for only a few short steps before Meisa called his name. He turned to face her, waiting.
“H-how's Mao-chan?” Meisa said quietly. He blinked.
“You haven't heard?” he asked. Meisa shook her head slowly, her eyes anticipating something big. Kazu scratched his head. She really had cut off herself from her hometown. He took a deep breath, looking squarely in her eyes.
“Mei-chan, Mao died seven months after we got married.”
Meisa gasped, a hand clasped her mouth. “H-how did she.. how did...” her voice muffled.
“From childbirth.”
###
Meisa's eyes bulged out as if she got hit in the stomach. Childbirth? Mao had been pregnant? She stared at Kazu, who avoided her eyes.
“Mao was pregnant when we... when you...” her sentence was incoherent, but Kazu understood. He nodded his head. Meisa narrowed her eyes at him, lunging herself at him.
“How could you, you bastard?” she exclaimed as she pounded her fists in his chest. “How could you sleep with her when we were together?”
“No, Mei, it wasn't like that,” Kazu said, trying to get a grip of her wrists to stop her hysterics.
“The hell it isn't!” Meisa cried, already losing strength. “You told me you love me!”
“I did!” Kazu said, finally holding her arms long enough to stop her pounding on him. “I still do.”
“Well you certainly have a fucked up way of showing it.” Meisa pulled her arms roughly and walked back to her car.
“Mei!” Kazu called out to her but she didn't stop. She heard him running to her and reached her just before she got inside her car. Kazu gripped her shoulders to turn her around to face him. He tilted his head down and planted a kiss on her lips. The kiss was fiery and passionate, but she couldn't tell if it was from her anger or her buried feelings for him.
“I love you,” Kazu said, his lips barely lifted off from hers when he said it.
Getting a grip of herself, she pushed him away, a suction sound barely audible when their lips separated. Kazu looked at her in shock. A splatter of dirt or mud lined his cheek, but even then he looked sexy. His eyes registered curiosity, waiting. Her eyes glanced at his swollen lips, parting slightly as he panted from the rush of their kiss. She wanted to kiss him again, but she shook herself. This might be a trick, an illusion. She will not be manipulated by two men on the same night.
“Go home, Kazunari,” she said, barely a whisper.
“Okay,” he said. “If you want to get together some-”
“I mean, go home to Kobe.” She looked away from his eyes.
“Meisa, I don't understand.”
“You said she died of childbirth, so you two must have a child together.” Meisa glared at him. “I didn't see a kid when you stopped by yesterday, so he or she must still be in Kobe.” Kazu flinched from her angry words. She shrugged off the grip he had on her shoulders and got inside her car. “Go back to Kobe, Kazu. Your loved ones need you.” With that, she drove away, forcing herself not to glance at the mirror to catch a glimpse of him.
When she reached home, she rushed to the bathroom, and threw up on the commode. It wasn't the two bottles of sake during dinner that churned her stomach. It was the fact she sent away the most important person in her life. And she didn't get to tell him she still loved him back.
*****************************
Next: Chapter 4
A/N: Posting this quickly since it's only a short chapter.