Makoto held the knife firmly in her right hand and quickly began to cut up the carrot on her cutting board before sliding the pieces in to the pot of food on the stove that was currently slowly simmering. She had her apron on as usual and was cooking a nice dinner for the night. The only sound in the apartment was her soft hum as she cooked. Soon she heard the sound of the door being pushed open and a familiar voice call out, "I'm home."
Mako turned and smiled brightly as she replied, "Welcome home, Dear. How was your day?"
"It's a lot better now, how was yours?" Motoki asked as he walked in to the kitchen then slipped behind Mako and slid his arms around her slim waist, pulling two of them closer together.
Mako giggled and blushed a little bit and replied playfully, "Hehe, hey I have to finish dinner. But it was just fine."
"I'm glad." Motoki whispered and tenderly brushed his fingertips over Mako's cheek, turning her head so that her eyes met his. He then slowly leaned in closer to her until their lips met. Mako blushed and could feel herself melting in to his arms as the two of them kissed.
Mako-chan…..Mako…..are you okay?
Makoto blinked a little as she was forcefully pulled out of her daydream. She looked around to find herself sitting on the couch next to Motoki, there were some school books opened up in front of them on the coffee table. Motoki stared at her and asked, "Mako-chan, are you feeling alright? You were spacing out on me. And your face is flushed, you're not getting sick on me are you?"
Mako realized that she had been daydreaming and quickly shook her head, feeling a little embarrassed once she felt Motoki's soft hand touching her forehead to feel her temperature. "No no, I'm alright hehe. Sorry about that, I got a little distracted. I promise not to do it again."
"Don't sweat it. I know how that can be when you're studying. Anyways like I was saying before…" Motoki said with a small smile and continued with his explanation of the material. Mako let out a small sigh of relief and tried her best to listen intently to what Motoki was saying and not start fantasizing again. She was grateful that he'd be willing to help her with some of her school work even though he had his work and college studies to take care of.
It had been about a week since Makoto had moved in with Motoki and so far it had been even better than she could have imagined. She had never had a roommate before so she hadn't been too sure of what to expect. It turned out that she really enjoyed living with someone else after having lived alone for so long. Her nights were no longer filled with long spans of silence that made her feel lonely. The fact that Motoki was her roommate though made it all even better. Sometimes Mako felt like the two of them were two newlyweds, which she loved very much.
Of course, it wasn't always perfect though of course. The two of them had to do some adjusting as well. Motoki wasn't the best homemaker but Mako had seen that he was trying very hard to help her keep their apartment neat. Then there was that time Mako had forgotten to grab a change of clothes when she was taking a bath. Back when she lived alone, she would just walk to her room after getting out of the bath and dress in there. She didn't want to walk across the apartment since Motoki was there. She remembered wrapping herself up in a towel and calling out to Motoki if he would grab some of her clothes from her room. She had felt really embarrassed at the idea of him having to rummage through her clothes. But she felt even more embarrassed when he simply promised to look away and close his eyes so that she could go back to her room. Mako was kicking herself that night for not thinking of that.
"So you see, this is how the rock cycle goes. If you ever get confused, just try to think it through logically and go with whatever makes the most sense to you." Motoki explained as he pointed his finger over the diagram in the book.
"Oh okay…" Makoto said, trying her best to sound smart. "This is really nice. Ami always makes me even more confused whenever I ask her to tutor me in this stuff. But you break it down really simply."
"I see, well then I'm glad I could be of help to you, Mako-chan." Motoki said and then chuckled a little and added, "I suppose if becoming a physician doesn't work out then I could always try to pursue a career in teaching."
"Hey yeah! I bet you would be a really good teacher, you're definitely nice enough and all of my friends really like you." Mako agreed.
"Maybe that actually would be for the best. I've been thinking about possibly changing directions." Motoki commented.
"Oh really? Why is that? I thought you really wanted to be a doctor." Mako questioned curiously.
"Actually…the real reason that I decided to look in to the medical field was to…uhh nevermind…" Motoki said then paused and looked away, "Anyways…is there anything else I might be able to help you with tonight? I kind of thinking of calling it an early night…"
Mako frowned a little but shook her head, "No, that's all…thanks a lot for your help, Motoki. But now I'm curious, why did you start going to school to be a doctor if you didn't really want to? I mean, I know it's not really any of my business but I'm curious. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to though. I won't push it."
Motoki put on a slightly fake smile and said, "Oh, I'm sorry Mako-chan. I suppose I'm being rude to you. It's really no big deal, and being a physician was something I have always thought of doing. It's just that the main reason I chose it was because…well that way I would be able to take more classes with Reika."
"Really? I thought the two of you met in college. So you knew her before then?" Mako asked but then bit her tongue a little. One thing that Makoto had noticed while living with Motoki was that whenever Reika was brought up, his whole disposition would change. He tried his best to hide it and put on a smile and laugh like always, but Mako had started to see through it. She didn't know what had happened between the two of them, but she could only guess that it hadn't ended well. Mako could tell it was a tender subject for Motoki because any time it was brought up, he'd subtly try to change the subject. Mako tried not to pry since she didn't want to upset him or make him feel sad, but she also wanted to do what she could to console him. She wanted him to let her in so that she could maybe try to help him.
"No, we've known each other for quite a long time." Motoki said then smiled a little brighter and added, "But don't worry about it. It's not a big deal at all."
"Sure….anyways I'm going to take a bath before bed." Mako said, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb towards the bathroom.
"Alright, I took one earlier so I'll go ahead and lock everything up." Motoki said and started to put away their things. "By the way Mako-chan, what about you?"
"Hm? What about me? What do you mean?" Mako asked.
"Well you were asking about Reika, so I was wondering about your love life. I noticed that you never seem to talk about any boys at your school. You must have a boyfriend, right?" Motoki asked as he smiled.
"Oh, well uhh…" Mako stuttered and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "Well at my last school there was this one older guy that I liked, but that was all it was. To be honest umm…the boys at my school don't talk to me very much. And I think a lot of them just try to avoid me…"
"What? Why would they do that?" Motoki asked, tilting his head a little to the side.
"Well you know…it's because I'm so much bigger than all the other girls. I'm also a tomboy, and I tend to get in to a lot of fights. I think they're intimidated by me since I'm not very feminine." Mako said as her eyes looked to the side and she slowly rubbed her hand up and down her arm, feeling a little self-conscious about herself at the moment.
"That's not true at all, Mako-chan! You should never say those sorts of things about yourself." Motoki said in a strong and certain voice.
Mako blinked in surprise at the sudden change in Motoki's voice, "What do you mean. Everything I said was true."
Motoki shook his head a little then smiled tenderly at her. In a soft voice he replied, "You're wrong, Mako-chan. You're strong and you stand up for yourself. Those are very good traits, and they don't make you any less feminine in the slightest. And they aren't your only traits either. You're also very kind and you care about your friends. You're smart, independent, and not to mention an amazing cook. Sure, maybe you're a little taller than your friends but there's nothing wrong with that. You're still a very beautiful girl. If the boys at your school don't see how beautiful you are, then that's no fault of your own. They're just too blind to see it."
Mako's cheeks blushed pink as she smiled and said, "You really mean all that? Thanks a lot Motoki! Hehe, you're really embarrassing me."
"Don't mention it, Mako-chan. I'm not trying to say that I know all about you just yet. We've only been living together a week after all, but even in just that short time I've already gotten to know you a lot better and I promise that everything I just said was true." Motoki said. He was glad that he was able to help Makoto feel better.
Makoto took in a deep slow breath as she leaned back and rested against the back of the bathtub. She could feel the hot water slowly loosening and unwinding every muscle in her body. She had been feeling uneasy about the test she had the next day at school, but now she was more at ease thanks to Motoki's help.
A few minutes later, Motoki was lying back on his bed, his hands resting behind his head. He looked up at the ceiling in silence for what seemed like a long time. His eyes said that there was something of importance that was dominating his mind and thoughts. He let out a low sigh and gazed over to the table next to his bedside. He reached out and grabbed a small book that was lying on it. He opened it up, revealing it to be a small hand sized photo album. He slowly flipped through the sleeves of the album, each one held a photo of Reika and himself. Some of them were back from when they were in high school together, and some even further back than that.
Unknown to many of Motoki's friends, the two of them had grown up in the same neighborhood together and had also gone to elementary and middle school together. It was once they had entered high school that they separated. Reika had gone to her first pick school, and Motoki to his. They would still each other on a regular basis but it was around that time that Motoki had come to realize how much he had come to like Reika. They began dating in high school and Motoki had worked to go in to the same college together. Because the two of them had grown up together, everyone thought that they would have quite a fairy tale life. Early on in their college life though, Reika ended up going to study with Africa. No one had been more understanding or supportive of that decision than Motoki.
Motoki knew how important the chance had been to Reika and what a great opportunity it was for her. Therefore, with a heavy heart, Motoki gave her his full support and suggested they work to maintain a long distance relationship. That had turned out to be quite difficult for the two of them, but they worked hard at it and were able to make it work out. Reika had been scheduled to return home just around the time Motoki's former roommate was going to graduate. They had planned for her to move in with Motoki. But that however did not come to pass.
Soon after Reika had returned home and she and Motoki were finally able to see each other again, she received news. Reika had received a scholarship to study abroad once again, this time in England. And this time, for ten years. Ten long years. Ten very long years. Ten very very long years. If the two of them had struggled to maintain their relationship long distance for less than a year, then there was no point in even fancying the idea of attempting it for ten and they both knew it. Motoki and Reika both knew that the only option for them was to part ways.
What did Motoki do? How did he react to this news? That was simple. He smiled, and told her to go for it. To pursue her dreams, and that he would support her no matter what. Motoki knew better than anyone just how brilliant and talented Reika was. No matter what she did, she excelled at it. She deserved to aim for the sky and go as far as she wanted, and Motoki wanted to see her do it. He wanted to see her fulfill every single one of her dreams. He loved her, and he knew no better way to show his love for her than to let her go. Even if it broke his heart.
Motoki made sure not to show his sadness to her, even though he knew she could tell. He wasn't able to hide anything from her. But he kept on a strong front and smiled for her. The last thing he wanted to do was to make things harder for her. He didn't want her to have regrets or second thoughts. He did the same thing for his friends as well, which is why he had never told anyone, even Mamoru, about the several afternoons he had been ring shopping. The last thing Motoki ever wanted to do was to burden others with his problems. That was why he tried his best to avoid the subject with Mamoru and Makoto. He didn't want to burden them with his problems. They were his to bear alone.
Motoki didn't mean to brush Mako off, but he knew that she was a very kind girl and he didn't want her to worry about him. He was grateful that he had been able to find a roommate, especially one like her that he easily got along with. Now that he didn't have to work as much to make the rent he could do things he used to do, like sleep. Motoki brushed his fingers through the leaves of the photo album one last time then let out a low sigh. He tried his best to always put on a smile and act like nothing was every worrying him, but it was exhausting and he was starting to get sick of it. Eventually he closed the photo album and placed it back on the nearby table, pushing it away from him.
What Motoki didn't know was that Makoto had passed by his room and peaked inside through the barely opened door and had seen his sad brooding face. She frowned sadly seeing him that way, but she simply walked back to her room and didn't say anything. She didn't want him to think she was spying on him.
That seems like a good stopping place. Not too much going on this chapter, just Lita/Makoto and Andrew/Motoki hanging out together as roommates. Anyways, I hope everyone liked it. Leave a review or comment if you'd like and I'll be updating before too long. Until then, thanks for reading.