Another day again and once more, Taka was in the cafe, wiping the same counters. He couldn't erase the memory of yesterday. Every minute alone with his mind jolted him into thinking about it. He sighed. There was really no time to think about a silly girl bursting out to him. The bell jingled, signaling that another customer had come in.

"Remember what I told you," Yui reminded her friend. "Don't do that . . . thing again"

Miaka smiled. "I won't Yui! I'll remember your advice." She lowered her voice and whispered. "Isn't this kind of embarrassing after what I did?"

"That's actually an understatement, Miaka. Everyone was staring at us." Yui laughed at Miaka's expression of fear. "You can do it. I'll be here. I did manage to smooth out part of the situation"

"Yes, I hope so"

"Wait, you didn't tell me what you did yesterday. You said you met up with Tamahome . . . I mean, Taka"

"Oh, about that. Well, what I did makes the whole situation even more embarrassing"

"Don't tell me you . . . Miaka!"

"Oh, it's the two of you again." The comment snapped them out of their conversation. Taka stood there, his clipboard at hand. Miaka held her breath. He looked handsome even in his uniform. She longed to grab the lopsided cap on his head and touch his cheek . . . Snap out of it! She can't do that, at least, not now. "This time you're going to order something, right?" In reality, it irked him to see the two girls again. Yet, he stuck on being nice.

"We definitely will." Yui said, seeing that Miaka was too dazed at the sight of Taka. "But before that . . ."

"I want to apologize." Miaka cut in, blushing red. "I'm sorry for shouting at you and for all the other horrible things I did"

Taka took a moment for the words to sink. And then he laughed, his cap getting more lopsided by the minute. "Oh, it's perfectly all right"

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I understand"

Miaka's eyes brightened up. "If that's the case then I want to order everything on your menu"

"Oh?" He grinned. "That's great. What about your friend?" He turned to Yui. "What will you have, Miss?"

"A hamburger and iced tea is fine"

Taka nodded and this time, his cap fell off. He smiled and stooped to get it but another hand got to it first.

"Here . . ." Yui murmured casually, taking the cap and handing it to Taka. He reached out to accept it and accidentally laid his palm on Yui's hand. His touch was warm but the heat seemed to build up every passing second. Yui gasped and grabbed her hand from Taka's touch. Taka stared at Yui. He couldn't understand what just happened.

"Thanks" he said instead, his gaze never leaving Yui's face. He scribbled on his clipboard and went to get their orders.

On their way home, Yui listened to Miaka while she relayed the afternoon's events.

"I love him! I still do!" Miaka exclaimed out loud. "But how will we find out for sure, Yui?"

Yui did not answer. She, herself, was too busy in her own thoughts. She kept clenching and unclenching her hand, the look on Taka's face plastered in her head. Why? What was that connection she felt? Does it prove that he's Tamahome? Did Miaka feel it too?

"Yui!"

"Huh? Oh right," Yui snapped out of her thoughts. "I don't know yet but we'll find out. We'll keep on asking him about himself. He might spill something." She grinned at her friend. Asking Miaka about the connection would be senseless because clearly, Miaka did not feel it too. Perhaps she was too busy staring at Taka to notice anything else. "We can ask your brother for help"

"Keisuke? Yes, I guess that's a good idea. He can research about Taka. He's good at that." A naughty smile appeared on Miaka's face. "His friend also, Tetsuya, you know. He's good at a lot of things especially. . "She made a motion with her hands as though catching something.

"Miaka!" Yui blushed. "Don't remind me of that. It's too embarrassing!" She tried to shake away the memory of herself falling naked from the sky into a man's arms.

"I'm sorry Yui! I couldn't help it!" Miaka laughed, hugging Yui briefly before running off to race her into the house.

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Taka laid himself on his bed and focused his attention on the bare ceiling. Recent events got his mind into this unwelcome messy state. He couldn't think straight and the faces of the two girls he met in the cafe kept intruding his mind. He closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled hard. His lips tingled and touching it only made him remember what Miaka did. He opened his eyes and sat up, his gaze falling on his hand. The heat was still there. He somehow felt a connection with that girl named Yui . . .

"These girls . . ." he groaned dejectedly. "They're driving me crazy." Never in his whole life did this happen to him. He got only as far as girls confessing their love and surprising him with gifts but even then, he took no notice. He was too busy studying and working to do anything else. "What am I going to do . . .?"