A New Beginning
"Where is Yamada, Morita?" Hanamoto asked Morita.
"Oh somewhere there I'm sure." He said.
"How can you be so heartless?" he said.
"Heartless? What is your problem, she is always gone shopping or going somewhere else, I'm sure you know that or can this mean that you are starting to develop some feelings for her?" he suspected.
"Ha ha funny, I'm just worried because Mayama said that she is drinking a lot lately." He explained.
"She is? Now why could that be?" Morita asked.
"Well, Mayama is now working for Rika again remember, it must be hard for her to accept that Mayama belongs to Rika even from the start." He said
"Then let's go find her now before she does anything stupid." Morita suggested.
"Good idea, let's go." Hanamoto said.
They ran out to find her in the park but she wasn't there. They searched at the shrine but she is still wasn't there. They searched the whole city but still she wasn't there.
"Where could she be?" Hanamoto asked.
"Hey! Teacher come quick!" Morita called.
Morita ran into an alley. Hanamoto followed him. They saw Yamada lying on the floor with sake in her hands.
"Oh my God, Yamada!" Hanamoto said.
Morita carried her on his back. Hanamoto pulled out the sake on her hands. They started walking towards Hanamoto's house.
"Mayama, I love you!" Yamada shouted.
Everyone who heard looked at Morita.
"Shut up will you!" Morita scolded.
They finally reached home. Morita placed Yamada gently on the sofa.
Hagu hurried towards her.
"What happened to her, uncle?" Hagu asked.
"She was drunk and wandered through the streets, we found her lying on the floor in an alley." He explained.
"Oh no, Ayu, it must really be hard for her to leave Mayama." She said.
"Let's leave her here for the night." Hanamoto said.
"Yeah and I better go home now." Morita said.
He then went out and went home.
"Hey Morita, where have you been?" Takemoto asked.
"I bet you went messing around didn't you?" Mayama said.
"No, I went to Mr. Hanamoto and we found Yamada on an alley lying on the floor." He explained.
"What! Where is she? Is she alright?" Mayama asked.
"I don't think you have the right to asked that Mayama." Morita said.
"And why not?" he asked.
"Because you are the reason she almost drank to death!" Morita said.
Mayama froze.
"Mayama? Are you alright?" Takemoto asked.
Mayama went to his room without saying a word.
"Morita! You can't say that to him straightly." Takemoto scolded.
"He needs to wake up, he should have told to her straightly instead of somebody else telling her that." Morita said.
Takemoto was surprised with the way Morita acted. He couldn't say anything after that. He thought that Morita was right and couldn't object.
Morita went to his room without saying another word. Takemoto did the same.
The next day, Mayama went to Mr. Hanamoto's home and found Yamada eating with the same table as Hanamoto and Hagu.
"Good morning everyone." Mayama greeted.
"Good morning Mayama" Hanamoto greeted. "Have a sit."
He sat with them and started to eat.
"So, Yamada, you okay now?" he asked without looking at her.
"Yes, I guess so." She answered.
"Look, I'm sorry you have to feel this way, you can love somebody else, there are tons of guys who you might like." He said.
"Its not that easy!" she shouted then ran towards the door teary eyed.
When she opened the door she bumped on Morita.
"Sorry, Yamada, what's wrong?" He asked.
She burst into tears. She held Morita's shirt tightly.
"Morita, take her somewhere else will you." Hanamoto said.
"Yeah sure." He said.
He pushed her gently. Then he held her hand and walked out of the room. He dragged her towards the park. They sat on a bench.
"Why couldn't I accept reality?" she asked.
"Because reality doesn't always go the way you want it to." He said.
"How did you know that?" she asked.
"I never told this to anyone but reality always break my heart." He said.
"It does? I didn't know you have a love life, well I did, unless you.." she said then stopped.
"Yes, I know that after I went to America Hagu started to develop feelings for Takemoto." He said.
"So you really did like her." She teased.
"Yes I did but it never did let me down, I started accepting the truth and in awhile I recovered from the pain no one even noticed." He said
"Wow, you surprise me Morita, you always seemed to annoy her and everybody to be specific and does not listen to anyone but I guess you hid the sensitive you." She complimented.
"Please don't tell anybody." He pleaded.
"Alright, I won't tell." She assured.
"Great, you finally stopped crying, now we can go back before this gets dramatic." He said.
"I cannot afford to see him yet, let's wander for awhile, please." She pleaded.
"Oh no, no way, let's go back now." He said.
"Oh come on, I'll treat you food." She said.
"The answer is no, and that is final." He said and dragged her towards Hanamoto's house.
"You are going to accept that he is not yours." He said.
"But I cannot…." She excused.
"No buts." he said.
They finally reached Hanamoto's residence. They went in seeing that Mayama isn't there already.
"Oh, bust!" Morita complained.
"Where did Mayama go?" Yamada asked.
"He left not long ago, so Yamada, you okay now? You look okay to me." Hanamoto said.
"Yes I am fine now thanks to…mumph." She said when Morita placed his hand on Yamada's mouth to stop her from talking.
"What she was trying to say is that, since she didn't see Mayama those long minutes, she felt okay." Morita lied.
Yamada couldn't breath already. She was pale. He noticed it and he quickly let go of her mouth. She breathed in and out trying to catch her breath.
"I'm sorry." Morita apologized.
"Are you crazy! You almost killed me there." She shouted and she tried to suffocate Morita.
Hanamoto quickly tried to stop her.
"Stop it Ayu!" Hagu said.
She stopped suffocating him when suddenly Mayama stood infront of the door staring at all the ruckus. Morita breathed in and out and also tried to catch his breath.
"Yamada, why are you trying to kill Morita, not as if it was odd or anything." He asked.
Yamada stopped short.
"What do you mean, it wasn't odd?" she asked furiously.
"I mean, you're always so violent." He explained.
She sniffed. Then tears fell from her eyes. Then her crying got loud like a baby crying because he was hungry. Morita quickly hugged her.
"See what you've done you meanie " Morita teased.
"Huh, what the heck is going on here?" he asked.
"Acting dumb as usual I see." Morita teased again.
"Me acting dumb? You're the one whose acting dumb all the time." He said furiously.
She cried louder. Morita hugged her tighter.
"Get you dirty hands off her!" He commanded.
"Oh I see, now I've got the dirty hands?" Morita asked.
"Yes, you've got the dirty hands now." He answered.
Yamada pushed gently.
"You have no right to say that to Morita, he is kind and caring unlike you, you are self-restricted and unlovable!" she shouted.
"What! Morita, caring and kind?" he asked "A moment ago you were choking him to death."
"You don't know anything!" Yamada shouted.
"So you are saying that you are in love with Morita?" Mayama asked hysterically.
Everybody in the room was open mouthed, everybody except Morita.
"What are you talking about? Yamada is completely insane about Mayama, its impossible for her to even like me." He said.
"He's right." She said then she thought about what she said.
"Ouch, that must have hurt." Mayama, Hanamoto and Hagu said.
"Oh my gosh, I didn't mean it that way." She said.
"No, its okay, don't apologize, it is true anyway." Morita said.
"Don't be too harsh on yourself, Morita." Hanamoto said while lighting his cigarette.
"Well, I better go now, I've got other stuff to do than chat with all of you the whole day, chow." He said then left quickly like the wind.
"Men, he's fast." Mayama complimented.
"Well, I'll be going too." Yamada said and ran like wind.
"No comment." Mayama said.
"Mayama, please leave her alone for awhile, she cannot take the pain you brought her." Hanamoto finally said.
Mayama stopped short to think about what Hanamoto said.
"No, I can't do that, she might go crazy again." He said.
"You're just saying that but the truth is, you don't want to let her go until your beloved Rika loves you back and marries you!" Hagu shouted and then ran towards her room.
"Hagu." Mayama whispered.
"Well, isn't that the truth Mayama?" Hanamoto asked.
"No, of course not, I'm just protecting her, she's like my sister." Mayama excused.
"If that's the case why don't you leave her with the hands of your other friends and stop hurting her by your presence." Hanamoto said.
"I can't trust her to anybody but……" he said then stopped.
"But who Mayama?" Hanamoto asked.
"but….." he said but did not finish.
"But you? Why? Is she your possession? You can't keep her for yourself if you couldn't be with her forever." Hanamoto said.
"I'll go now, teacher, I'll go back to work." He said then went away.
"Poor soul, I cannot help him, only him can do that." He said.
Meanwhile…….
"Oh, hi Morita, what are you doing here so early, shouldn't you be somewhere else?" Takemoto asked.
"Are you saying that you don't want me here?" he said then cried.
"No, of course not, I'm just surprise." He said.
He stopped crying. They were just fake anyway.
"I couldn't take the drama, it was so confusing." He said.
"Why? What happened?" he asked.
"I don't want to repeat it all over again, I told you, it was so confusing." He said then he lied down on the sofa.
"How come you never take anything seriously except your pieces of work?" he asked but no one answered.
He looked at Morita. He was already sleeping.
"What a slob!" he said
"I'm going out for awhile, in case you can hear me in your dreams, just don't mess the place up." He said then he went out.
After he left, Morita sat up. He was just pretending to sleep because he didn't want to answer the question. Suddenly someone knocked at the door.
"Coming!" He said. Then he went to open the door.
"Yamada?" he said surprised "What are you doing here?"
He then saw tears climbing out of her eyes.
"What! You're crying again." He said then she signal her to enter.
She sat on the sofa. He sat too.
"You're such a crying baby." He said.
"I just want him to love me, that's all." She said sobbing.
"Why can't you just let him go?" he asked.
"Because I love him so much." She said then she cried even more.
"What do you really want from him that you will be contented?" he asked
"Have you ever been kissed or kissed someone?" she asked.
"Yes, I've kissed someone." He answered.
"Really, who?" she asked.
"Hagu, but only for a second, I kissed her, a day before I went to America." He answered.
"So that's why she caught a fever after that, she was nervous." She said.
"Lucky her, I've never been kissed my entire life except from my relatives of course." She complained.
"Well, are you saying that you want to be kissed?" he asked.
"Yes, I do, I want to be kissed, just to know how it feels like." She said.
Morita faced her then he placed his hands on her shoulders. She couldn't talk but she was still sobbing but only a little. His face is getting closer to her's. As he pulls her closer, she closes her eyes. Then finally their lips touched. He hugged her as they kissed.
She felt every moment. She felt relaxed and safe. His lips were fine and soft. She could feel his arms around her. For the first time, she felt secured in the arms of a man.
He slowly departed. Both of them gasped for air. She slowly opened her eyes.
"So, now you know how it feels like, wow, it took longer than the first time I kissed Hagu, I did it to her for a second but yours, it took almost three minutes. Good thing I didn't die because of no air but you seemed to have provided me air." He said
"Why did you do that?" she asked weakly.
"You said you wanted to know how it feels like, so how does it feel like?" he asked.
"I don't know." She lied "I didn't feel anything."
"Oh, maybe its because its not with someone you love, oh well." He said
She stared at him. Then she began to think about what happens next after that. When she thought about it she blushed hard. But then she thought that its not Mayama but why does she feels so good when he kissed her.
"Hey, Yamada, still in there." He said.
"Oh, yes, uhm, Morita, do you still like Hagu after you found out that she likes Takemoto?" she asked. For a weird reason, her heart is pounding as if she is afraid to find out the answer.
"I already given up on her, now, I see her as a friend and a bait." He said.
Her heart seemed to leap with joy when she heard that. 'Why am I feeling like this?' she thought to herself.
"Huh, why bait?" she asked.
"Mr. Hanamoto will give me anything if I will give her up" he said.
"Oh, listen, I've got to go, I've got to finish my pottery set." She excused.
"Okay then, bye." He waved as she goes out of the house.
"What a day!" he said. He then lied down the sofa and this time he really did fell asleep.
Yamada went back to the house because she fell her keys on the house. When she entered she shouted Morita's name to signal that she is getting in. When she got in she saw Morita lying on the sofa and sleeping. She looked closer at his face to make sure he was really asleep. She saw that he was really asleep. She blushed when she was looking at his face. She touched his hair. She sat down beside him.
"Why Morita, why do you have to be so nice?" she asked while she touches his hair.
The doorknob suddenly started to move. She stood right away and pretended that she was finding the keys. The door opened and it was Takemoto.
"Oh, hi Yamada, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I seemed to have left my keys, ah here I found it, well, and I better go now." She said.
"Okay then, bye." He waved
She went out of the door while blushing like an over ripe tomato.
"She must be tired, her face is red." Takemoto wondered.
"Hey, Morita, you must wake up now, you have to cook dinner, Mayama is coming home early today!" Takemoto shouted while shaking Morita.
But Morita just won't budge. He sighed. He went to the kitchen and started to cook.
"Oh well, I think I should cook dinner myself." Takemoto said then sighed once again.
A little while later Mayama arrived tired and currently exhausted. He saw the meal on the table and started eating. Takemoto served the last serving and he sat on the chair and started eating too.
"Hey, Takemoto, how long did Morita sleep actually?" Mayama asked.
"Well, until now, just 3 hours." Takemoto answered and started chewing his food.
"You better wake him or he'll be mad when he wakes up hungry." Mayama warned.
Takemoto turned pale and started having bad thoughts. He immediately shook Morita as hardly as he could and even poured milk on his face but no luck. Then suddenly the door opened. Both of them looked at the spot and surprise to see Yamada on the door.
"Yamada, what are you doing here?" Takemoto asked.
"Uhm, I came to apologize to you, Mayama." She said.
"It's okay, don't worry about it." Mayama said calmly.
"And here I brought food for all the four of us can enjoy." She said.
Then she pulled out chicken curry out of the plastic bag. Morita smelled the curry and woke up. Takemoto was surprised when he suddenly jumped out of the sofa and sat on the table and started eating so fast. Yamada sat in front of the table too and started eating and so as Takemoto.
"Hey Morita, don't eat too fast, you'll choke." Yamada warned.
Morita started to choke. Everybody panicked.
"Oh no Morita, hang in there." Yamada said worriedly.
"I'll handle this." Mayama said.
He slapped Morita's chest hard. And then came out a huge piece of chicken.
"How did you even manage to put that into your mouth Morita?" Takemoto asked pale with what he saw.
Morita kept coughing and coughing trying to recover. Yamada got water and offered it to Morita. She slowly poured the water into his mouth. Morita finally stopped coughing.
"Thank you Yamada and you guys." Morita thanked.
"Men, Morita, you gave us such a scare." Yamada said.
"I'm sorry, let me make it up to you guys." He said.
"What is it Morita?" Takemoto asked.
"Well, what do you want?" Morita asked.
"How about a ride at the Ferris wheel." Yamada suggested.
"Yeah, that will be great and we can invite Hagu and Mr. Hanamoto, too." Takemoto said excitedly.
"Okay then, tomorrow will be nice." Mayama said.
"Okay, tomorrow then." Morita agreed.
"I better go now, got to get some rest for tomorrow's trip." She said.
"Bye, see you tomorrow." All of the guys said as she went out of the room.
"Morita, you wash the dishes." Takemoto said.
"Too late" Mayama said.
Takemoto looked at the sofa. Morita was sound asleep again. Takemoto sighed.
"Not again." Takemoto said, as he started clean up the dishes.
"Well, I will go down to my room now to sleep, bye Takemoto." Mayama excused.
"But how about Morita…." he said but did not get to finish when Mayama got out already.
He just sighed.
"Morita, you're such a pain in the neck." He sighed even more.
He had no choice but to wash the dishes himself. After washing the dishes he went to sleep. Then morning came.
He woke up seeing that Morita wasn't already there. He didn't actually panicked but even glad that he wasn't there to bother him with his art piece.
Morita went to the park and sat at the same bench both Yamada and him sat. He was thinking about what to do with his life. He doesn't know what to do next anyway. Then Yamada stood in front of him.
"Yamada, what are you doing here?" He asked.
"Just walking, try to gasp some fresh morning air." She said while sitting beside him.
"I want to get on with my life I want to move forward, I want to change it." He said while looking down.
"Hey, that reminds me of a joke or a saying but here it is. What are the four words that will change somebody's life changed forever?" She asked.
"I know, "Will you marry me"?" he answered.
Just as exactly as he said that, Hagu came from the back hearing only those words. She was stopped with what she heard. She couldn't get any nearer to them. She felt hurt. She knew that she already got over with him and moved on but some things never change.
Morita noticed that somebody was back there. He then looked back.
"Oh, hi Hagu." Morita greeted.
She turned back and ran away with teary eyes.
"What's her problem?" He asked.
Yamada knew what was wrong. She knew that Hagu thought that he meant that. She could stop her and tell her the truth but if she did, Hagu will only have more chances on winning him back.
"I don't know, maybe because you made fun of her again." She teased.
"Hey! I didn't." he refused.
"Yah, whatever you say." She teased again.
"It's true, and do you want to have dinner tonight together at the famous Soba noodles shop at the far end of the town?" He invited.
She stopped short and blushed. 'Is he asking me out on a date?' she thought. He looked at her curiously.
"You know, like a date." He added.
Now she is as red as a ripe tomato. She couldn't speak though she doesn't know why.
"Uhm, yeah…of course." She barely said.
"Alright then, I'll pick you up at nine." He said.
"That's great, I mean, alright." She finally said straight.
"Well, I better go now, I've got a piece to finish." He said then stood up.
"Yes, of course." She said then stood up also.
He waved goodbye and ran of just like that. She sighed. She felt so happy. She ran towards the nearest mall and shopped for a dress to wear. It took her about five hours to pick a dress and three hours to pick sandals to step on. It also took her another five hours to make her hair done. So there are two more hours to wait for the date. She went back to her room and packed up her stuff. She looked at the mirror too often. Then little did she know it was nine o'clock already.
She heard the doorbell rang. Her heart thumped like a drum roll. She opened the door and there stood Morita, wearing a black long sleeve and an elegant tie with matching black pants and shined shoes. Morita handed her the flowers and chocolates she brought for her. She accepted it happily and placed the flowers on her vase and the chocolates on her fridge.
"You look great Yamada, very attractive." He complimented.
She blushed hard.
"Thank you and I must say, you look rather dashing tonight." She complimented back.
"So shall we go?" He said and offered his right hand.
She took it gracefully and they walked out the apartment. She saw car waiting for her. He signaled her to get in and opened the door for her. She got in and so did he.
"Where did you get this?" She asked as he started the engine and started to drive.
"I rented it, I wouldn't take a girl to a date walking on the dirty street, now would I?" He asked.
"No, you wouldn't, gentleman." She said.
She looked at him as he drove. His hair swaying to the right seems so attractive and his motion seems to be something you could live for. Was she falling in love with the silly Morita? She thought this through the whole ride. Finally they reached their destination. They ate Soba and they talked endlessly that night. It was Soba until it started to be a wine party. Both of them drank as much as they can. They became drank more and more that they started talking on more sensitive stuff.
"Hey Morita, you are such a dope why didn't you tell Hagu you like her?" She said drowsily.
"I'm too shy you mock head, and how about you, you keep chasing him like a dog!" he mocked.
"Stop it, don't make me hit you." She warned.
"Oh yeah?" he asked
"Yeah!" She answered.
"Ok then, let me go first!" he said.
He neared. He is in front of her and too near. He held her shoulders and dragged her into his lips and they kissed intensely. Then the hold became a hug and she kissed and hugged back. Then they both fainted at the same time. Resulting that their positions is really intense. Morita was over her, unconscious.
Morning came and you know what will happen. Yamada opened her eyes first. It was all blurry but she could feel something heavy on top of her. Her vision started to become clear and she was very shocked with what she saw. Her eyes were meeting his closed eyes. Exactly when she saw his, his eyes opened. Both of them stared in horror. They wondered of there is something that happened. He pulled himself up and she sat up. They sat face to face with wide eyes.
"Uhm, what happened?" Yamada asked.
"I don't know, I guess we were drunk and…………" he stopped short.
"You didn't think that there is something that happened between the two of us now don't you?" She asked.
He looked down.
"There is something that happened between us, I remember the whole thing." He said slowly.
"Whatever will we do?" she asked panicking.
"Don't panic, I'll think of something." He said calmly.
"What will we do to hide our guilt?" She asked.
"I know what to do, we will pretend to be together so that way, shyness and affections will not be weird." He suggested.
"That's a great idea, that way we could be shy at all time because it is necessary." She agreed happily.
"Well, glad that's all settled, now let's go back." He said.
They went back to their apartments and people were staring at them.
"Where have you both been?" Hanamoto furiously asked.
"We went to a spa store and we earned an overnight pass so we slept there the whole time. If you're thinking what I think you are stop it cause that is not what happened. However, we have done a lot of thinking." Morita said.
"Yeah, we've decided that we are meant for each other." Yamada said.
The people were open mouthed.
"You mean, you're getting married?" Takemoto asked with a shaky voice.
"No! I mean were like together now." Yamada defended.
The minute she said that Hagu came, hearing only those words again. Her heart stopped. She felt jealousy all over her. Especially when Morita kissed her on the cheek showing his affection.
"A kiss on the cheek proves nothing, show us the passionate one." Hanamoto said.
He faced her as if asking her permission. She reached for his lips and then made a passionate kiss, which stunned the whole apartment.
"Now do you believe me?" Morita asked as they separated.
"You bet, what a lucky guy." Takemoto said.
"Uh, what's happening?" Mayama said while entering the apartment.
"They're together already, Mayama, Yamada and Morita." Takemoto replied excitedly not knowing what the two felt. Mayama and Hagu.
"Oh okay, that's wonderful Yamada." He said faintly staring into her eyes, which stared at him back.
"Thanks, Mayama." She said to him with a faint smile. She knew she liked Morita but then she still loved Mayama. He's her first love.
Morita noticed the intensity at their stare so he broke it with an announcement.
"I'm throwing a party tonight, everybody's welcome!" He announced
Everybody cheered with what they heard. Yamada held Morita's hand tight in order to control herself with Mayama. Mayama noticed the hand so he looked away with a sad expression.
"So everybody, let us rest so we can prepare for tonight." Yamada announced.
"Okay!" Everybody cheered.
Then everybody went back to his or her rooms including Yamada and Morita but they stayed in Morita's room.
"What do you say we go to the mall and shop for groceries?" Yamada suggested.
No answer. She looked at him. He was staring into blank space. She got worried so she tugged him.
"Hey what's wrong?" she asked while tugging him more.
Still no answer as if he went into another world. She waved her hand in front of his eyes trying to make sure he was really blank.
"Hey, wake up!" She shouted at his ear.
Still no response, that made her wonder what was bothering him so much to get another world of his own. She then gave up. She kneeled in front of the kneeling blank Morita. She stared at his eyes. They were so far away even she was so near to him physically. She could feel her face nearing his face. She can't control herself. She slowly placed a gentle kiss on his lips. Then her heart beat really loudly. She then placed her arms around his neck pulling him into her lips even more. The gentle kiss turned into a passionate kiss and then turned into a romantic kiss. She closed her eyes trying to feel the softness of his lips but she could feel that he was so far away. She opened her eyes seeing his still blank eyes.
Just then she realized that kissing him is no use if he isn't even there with you to enjoy it. She broke her own kiss. She took her arms off him. She was then in her old position. She looked down. Tears flowed down her cheek.
Morita broke into his slumber. Feeling her cry. He looked at her with worried eyes. He placed his hands on her shoulders.
"What's the matter?" He asked gently.
She was surprised with the hands that touched her shoulders and the words that flowed into her heart. She then looked up at his worried yet full of life eyes. She felt happiness in her heart. She held his right hand that was still on her right shoulder and she rubbed her smooth face in his hand.
"What are you doing, Yamada?" He asked
She stared at him once more.
"Is it obvious, I love you Morita, more than anybody in the world, I know you might not feel the same thing with me but I have to say I really love you Morita." She confessed.
He was startled. He then smirked. He placed his other hand on her cheek and rubbed it.
"I love you too, Ayu, you don't know how long I've suffered seeing you weeping over Mayama. Now, you're here saying you love me, makes me feel that I'm the luckiest man in the whole universe." He somehow confessed too.
"You mean you loved me even before?" She asked
"Yeah, when I returned from America." He said.
"You might be a really sneaky one, I've never even noticed that and I bet no did either." She somehow complimented
He just smiled with what she said. She smiled back at him. The stare was getting intense. They were closing when the door suddenly opened. They looked at the person at the door. Still at their 'really close at each other positions'. Mayama was surprised at the same time guilty.
"I'm sorry to disturb you guys, I'm just going to go." He said really weak.
Yamada felt a bump on her heart. Right then she knew she still loved Mayama but she also loved Morita. This love of hers makes her world the hardest place to live in. She slowly separated with him. Mayama just went out and closed the door. She also then placed her hands down on her side.
"Morita, I am…" she started but didn't know what to say next.
"I know that you are confused and you know, I understand, you are not my ownership Ayu, so you still have your own choice." As he said that he stood up and went out of the door himself and closed the door behind him slowly.
She just looked down and tears started dropping from her eyes. She was confused and sad. She just wanted to escape.
Hagu came in the room with a sudden stare of pity.
"Hagu, I'm really confused." She cried out loud.
She neared her and placed her hands on her shoulders.
"Its okay to be confused, I'm confused too." She said.
"Why are you confused, Hagu?" She asked
"I'm not suppose to say this to you but I love Takemoto and Morita, just the way you love Mayama and Morita." Hagu said.
Yamada was surprise to hear that Hagu still likes Morita. Now she feels that she shouldn't take Morita away from her.
"I'm sorry Hagu for taking Morita from you, you know what I'm staying away from him from now on." Yamada said while wiping her tears away.
"No, Ayu, that wouldn't be fair to Morita." Hagu refused.
Yamada looked at her with curious eyes.
"But Hagu, he loved you first and I bet the way he is feeling now is like ours, confused." Yamada explained.
"Maybe, but he now got you in his arms so please don't waste his love." Hagu said.
She then went out of the room just like the others did.
"I have no idea now that my life could get any worse than it was before." She said then smiled.
She stood up and went to the door and opened it slowly. She went to Morita.
"Morita, I love you!" She shouted in front of everybody.
Everybody looked shocked at her. Morita smiled with content and so did Hagu. She ran towards Morita's arms. She hugged him very tight.
"I'm not confused anymore. I love you and only you." She said while tears flowed down from her eyes.
Mayama looked down. He didn't want to see his old stalker fall in love with another guy. He walked slowly away from the scene. Hagu saw this so she followed him. When she caught up with him she slapped him.
"Hey, what did I do?" He asked while rubbing his red chick.
"You're such a jerk. You don't want to let go of Yamada because you want to have an extra someone who will welcome you if you get dumped by Rika." She confronted him.
"That's not true." He argued.
"Really? If it is not then tell Yamada you love her then dump Rika." She ordered.
"You know that I don't love Yamada as much as she loved me." He argued more.
"Then why are you sad for them then? You can't hide it. It is seen in your face, Mayama.' She argued back.
"I don't know what to do now. I admit. I have feelings for Yamada but I have for Rika, too." He explained.
"You are like the rest of us. Don't worry; I have the solution for you. Find out whom you love more and who is the person you can let go. Then tell both of them you love them then let go of the person you decided to let go." She advised.
"Are you sure?" He asked unsurely.
"Yes, that is what the three of us did." She said then she smiled.
"Alright then. I'll do what you said." He agreed.
Meanwhile
After the commotion they all went back to their rooms and Yamada went to Morita's room again. They sat down on the floor facing each other.
"I've got a confession to make." Morita started the conversation.
"What is it?" She asked.
"We really didn't did that time at the noodle shop. You see I have to lie just to get closer to you. I'm sorry, so do you want to separate now? Please give me a chance." He confessed.
She was shocked. She couldn't believe that he lied to her just to get closer to her. She felt confused feelings. She felt happy because that is his reason and mad because he lied.
"I can't believe it. I can't believe that you lied to me. Why didn't you just tell me that you love me instead of lying like that?" She said hysterically.
"It is because I was shy and afraid that you wouldn't like me back. I'm really sorry. Please forgive me." He apologized again.
"I don't know what to say Morita. I'll go now. I will just say what I think tomorrow. See you." She said then she went out of the room just like that.
He stared at the floor all night. He didn't sleep or even lye at the floor. He was staring into blank space again. He was very depressed. Again, he felt lonely. Same as Yamada but she managed to sleep. Morning came.
Yamada showered and changed her clothes. Then somebody knocked at her door. She opened it and there she saw Mayama.
"Mayama, what are you doing here?" She asked.
"Can I come in? I want to talk to you about something." He asked.
She signaled him in her room. Then they stood infront of each other.
"What is it you want to talk about, Mayama?" She asked.
"I want to say that I love you Yamada." He said straight into her face.
She again was very shocked. She was now again very confused of her feelings towards Morita and Mayama.
"I want you to know that I am willing to let go of Rika for you." He said.
Just then when he said Hagu went in, hearing what he just said. Both of them were very shocked. They couldn't speak at all. Hagu was expecting that Mayama will choose Rika but she was wrong.
"I will never give up on you Yamada even you now love Morita." He continued.
"I don't believe this." Yamada broke the silence between them both.
"Well, believe it. I love you Yamada and I will do anything for you." Those were his last words then he went out of the room.
Hagu went near Yamada.
"Hagu, me and Morita had a fight last night." Yamada said.
"What? Why?" Hagu asked.
"He lied to me about something really important and I just can't tell you what it is." Yamada answered.
"What do you plan on doing now?" Hagu asked.
"I'm going to talk to Morita and tell him that I…" She stopped.
"You are confused aren't you? You are starting to have feelings for Mayama again aren't you?" Hagu asked.
"Yes, but I don't know who will I choose." She admitted.
"Well, all you got to do is make things past and see who you like more." Hagu advised.
"Yeah, you're right." Yamada agreed.
Hagu said goodbye and returned to her room. Yamada went to Morita's room. When she got there she saw that he's eyes were dreadful. She realized that he was blank again. She quickly ran and kneeled infront of him.
She wobbled his body back and forth to wake him up. She tried slapping him again and again but nothing happened. Then tears slowly flowed from her eyes. She slowly kissed him on the lips with a hug. Morita's eyes had more life. Yamada was closing her eyes so she didn't see it.
Morita kissed her back with a hug. Just then Yamada realized that he was awake. She slowly broke the kiss. She flung her arms back into her side. Then so did Morita
"I love you, Ayu." He said.
She looked down. He then got worried.
"What's wrong Ayu, are you still mad?" He asked.
"No" she answered.
"Good. So then you forgive me?" He asked again.
"Yes" She answered again with no life.
"So then what's the matter?" He asked.
"I want to break up with you." She said quickly as she raised her head up.
Morita became nocuous. He felt very sad. He felt that his heart was broken into a million pieces.
"Why? I thought you forgave me already." He asked.
"I do forgive you and I still do love you but I've got to decide things out without distractions. I got to start it all over again." She explained.
Then for the first time she saw him cry. She knew he was sad but he was never like this before. Her heart melted when she saw this. She wanted to take back what she said but it has to happen. She looked away then she went out of the room.
She went outside to brush it all away. She walked through the whole town without even noticing it. She then went back to the apartment. In front of the apartment she saw Mayama.
"Yamada, will you go on a date with me?" He asked.
"Yeah, sure, I mean it ain't bad since we broke up already." She said sadly.
"I heard, so then shall we go?" He asked.
"Yeah" She agreed.
They went to a restaurant and ate.
"I bought flowers for you." He said as he gave the flowers.
She accepted it and placed it on her side. They ate more.
"Yamada, I want to ask if you want to be my girlfriend?" He asked.
She was surprised. She just broke up with Morita and here Mayama is asking if she could be his girlfriend.
"Look, I know that you are still depressed but you know what, forget about it. Sorry I did that." He apologized.
"Sorry, I couldn't answer that question, yet." She said.
"Don't worry about it. You want to go shopping?" He asked.
"No, this is a little too much." She said.
"Oh c'mon, don't say that. I said I'll do everything for you and I will. Now please come with me." He pleaded.
"Yeah sure" She agreed.
They went to the mall and they shopped all day until it was 8:00 in the evening. Mayama escorted Yamada into her room. Morita saw this, as he was about to go out. He hid to see what was happening.
"Thank you Mayama, but really you shouldn't have." She said.
"No, it is no big deal." He said.
"Well, thank you anyway." She said.
Then she opened the door of her room. She was about to go inside when Mayama pulled her left arm and kissed her. He hugged her while doing that. Morita was full of rage. Yamada was surprised as ever. She stood there like a statue letting him take over.
Then Morita couldn't take it anymore. He ran towards the couple and pulled Mayama from Yamada. Then he punched him hard on the face and stomach causing Mayama to spit blood.
She ran towards them and stopped Morita. She pulled Morita from Mayama and hugged him and nailing him on the wall. Morita tried to budge but he saw that he was hurting her so he stopped.
Mayama was kneeling on the floor and kept coughing blood. Morita's punches were really hard. Yamada cried with horror of this event.
"Stop it, Morita." She cried.
Morita just kept quite.
"Why does this have to happen? If only I could die right now and these things wouldn't have happened." She cried even louder.
"Don't say that, Ayu, I will never bother you again if you want. I'll stay away from you. You'll live with Mayama happily." He said angrily.
"No, I love you Morita. Please don't leave me ever!" She shouted at him.
"But you…" Yamada stopped him.
"But nothing. I finally decided after that date that I really love you not him. I got over him since you comforted me that day. If you will leave me, I will go crazy." She said.
Mayama felt very sad with what happened. He finally accepted that he could never win against Morita. He stood up weakly.
"Yes, Morita, don't leave her. I will leave her up to you from now on. Don't make her cry again or you'll go through me." Mayama said.
"Mayama." She said.
"You can trust me on that." He said then he kissed her right on the spot.
She accepted his kiss and cried for joy.
After that they went back to their rooms. Morita and Yamada decided to have a trip to Okinawa. While they were gone, Mayama told Rika his feelings for her and they ended up together. Takemoto confessed his feelings to Hagu and they too ended up together.
It has been a month since they left. Then they saw a couple standing outside the apartment holding each other's hands. They rushed to Morita and Yamada and welcomed them back. They had a party and celebrated their return.
Mayama and Hagu told them all that happened while they were gone. Morita and Yamada were happy to hear them.
"We've got something to say." Morita said to Mayama.
Mayama announced that Morita and Yamada are going to say something. All of them got quiet.
Morita and Yamada stood up. Yamada started to talk.
"I'm happy to announce that…"
Everybody got really curious and all eyes were hungrily at them.
"I am..."
Now everybody was really excited to hear what she will say.
"…pregnant and we're getting married next week and everybody is invited" She said.
Everybody was in state of shock that they weren't able to talk. Then after 50 seconds they cheered and clapped.
The day came and Morita and Yamada happily got married. She bore a child. It was a handsome boy. He is as naughty as his father. Then all of them lived a happy life.
Yamada flashed back on all that's happened. The troubles and obstacles along the way is only a test and road she should follow. Through it all, she finally made her life happy and contented. As long as you strive forward and never give up, you will achieve a happy life.
She smiled at all of them and there she thanked the Lord of what is done.
Now it is time to say goodbye to this world.
She is too old now and she is ready to leave this world.
As she lye on her bed thinking of all of those things that happen to her she looks around her. She sees everybody she loved and knew. They are all by her side cause they have always been.
As she close her eyes and thank everyone for their company and kindness she left her physical body and go up where she can finally rest.
"The journey is finally over"
The End