No… it can't be true.
I click on the article, my heart hammering in my chest.
A source has just fed us the most exquisite piece of news this year! Itachi Uchiha has finally settled down and now has a girlfriend. This is what the inside source had to say:
"Itachi Uchiha and Tsubaki Sou have been an item for over a year now. The two are very happy together and Tsubaki is planning on moving in with him very shortly."
It turns out that Itachi was able to get this relationship to stay hidden for quite some time! We suspect that the whole thing with Akira was used to keep people from catching on to his relationship with Tsubaki.
It's also the first time he has ever dated publicly. So, the two must be very serious.
My heart hurts. It hurts so much. I lock my phone and I curl up on my sofa. Sobs cause my body to tremor.
Why does it hurt so much?
Is it true that he's just been using me all this time?
But if he's had a girlfriend this whole time, then why did he sleep with me? Why would he cheat on her?
Does he love her?
I continue to cry, I wrap my arms around my body in a weak attempt to get it to stop hurting.
Why does it hurt?
Why is there a churning feeling in my stomach? Why does the sound of her name cause me to feel so uncomfortable inside?
There's no way I like him, he's my boss. No more than a friend, if he's even that. He kept this whole thing from me. I was nothing more than a tool for him to use, someone to help distract the press from his real relationship.
I shouldn't be this hurt, nothing happened between us. We're nothing. I wipe the tears from my face and try my best to hold back from crying.
LNLN
"How are you today, Hanakawa-san?" Izumi says cheerfully as I walk into her office.
"I'm fine, thank you. How are you?" I reply as I sit down in my chair. I switch my computer on and tap the desk idly as I wait for it to boot up.
"I'm good. I'm sorry about Saturday, I really didn't want to bail but my mother was holding an emergency meeting. She wants to arrange a huge party at the end of the year or something." She explains.
"It's fine, it really is." I say in return. I give her a smile and turn to my now booted up computer. I log in and wait for everything to load up.
"Did you hear the news?" Izumi says hesitantly. "The one about Itachi and Tsubaki?"
Hearing her name causes my chest to hurt, but I ignore it stubbornly. I nod, not wanting to speak out of fear my voice will betray how I'm feeling. I shouldn't be feeling this way, I have no reason to be upset. We were nothing but friends.
"You should talk to Itachi." She says simply. I shake my head.
"I don't think that would be necessary." I mutter, not knowing how to respond. Izumi looks at me sadly.
"He didn't tell you, did he?" She replies and I shake my head.
"He didn't, he never said anything. I found out online." I mutter honestly. Izumi's eyebrows furrow. She lets out a sigh.
"Maybe he didn't know how to tell you… try talking to him at some point, please." She begs, I nod and turn back to my computer. I begin to respond to emails and arranging Izumi's calendar for the following week.
The rest of the day passes by swiftly. I shut down my computer when Izumi gets ready to leave.
"See you tomorrow, Hanakawa-san." She says with a smile. I smile back and say goodbye as she leaves the room.
I collect my things and pull my bag onto my shoulder. My phone vibrates in my hand and I look at it.
Izumi Uchiha: Talk to Itachi! He should still be in his office. Please.
I lock my phone and disregard the text. I should talk to him, but I just don't know how to. What would I say? I wouldn't be able to say anything anyway. He did cheat on his girlfriend with me, and he never mentioned that. Was that why he was so adamant to keep it away from the press? So Tsubaki wouldn't find out?
My heart aches further. I leave the room hastily and make my way out of the building and towards the train station.
LNLN
"I'm going to skin him alive! How dare he hurt my precious Aki." Yuki snaps over the phone. I can already imagine her pacing around her apartment angrily. Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes burning with the desire to cause Itachi Uchiha pain.
"Yuki, it's fine. I'll get over it. He's just my friend." I mutter quietly. I hear Yuki let out a breath of air.
"I don't care. He hurt you. Do you know where he lives?" I shake my head, even though she can't see me.
"Yuki, please. Just drop it. It's fine, honestly. I'll just carry on with my life." I try to persuade her. She sighs.
"Fine, Aki. I just don't want to see you get hurt, especially not after what happened with Hajime." I ball my hand into a fist at the mention of his name. Tears prick at my eyes and I try to keep my breathing steady. My body begins to tremble ever so slightly.
"Hajime is long gone, Yuki." I mumble. I chew on my lip anxiously. His face flashes across my mind and distant memories of seeing him in a club not too long ago.
My heart stopped. My breath coming out rushed. I turned around quickly. Itachi Uchiha's black eyes looked at me, full of intense worry. Do I look scared?
Yes. I feel scared. I'm terrified.
"Help me."
"I know, but I don't want to see you in that place again. I don't want to see you cry, I don't want to have to drag your ass down to the police so you can file a statement against someone. You deserve a lot better."
I continue to chew my lip, the reminders of the things I try so desperately to forget flashing across my mind. My heart beat continues to race and I look over my shoulder, even though it's just me and Kyoko in the flat. The doors and windows are all locked. I'm safe here. I should be safe here.
"I know." My voice sounds so weak. I cringe at how pathetic I sound. It's been four months since it ended. I should be over it now, it wasn't even that bad. People have been through much worse.
"Don't you dare start saying that you're being pathetic. What he did was cruel, very cruel. Very illegal and cruel. Just because he didn't leave physical scars, doesn't mean that there aren't scars there. Just because we can't see your scars, doesn't mean you're pathetic."
"Thank you, Yuki."
"You're welcome. I'm your best friend, we've been friends for years. It's my job to protect you and make sure you're happy, what sort of best friend would I be if I didn't help you fight your battles?"
LNLN
As the week drags on, I'm faced by news stories of the dates Itachi and Tsubaki have been going on. Each story sending an all too familiar ache into my chest. Every story making me more and more miserable.
By Friday, I stop looking at the stories, no longer able to handle the pain it causes. On the plus side, however, the paparazzi have left me alone.
I can use this opportunity to return to my old life. The life of being unknown, and not knowing a certain Uchiha who somehow makes my heart race whenever I think of him.
I look over at my younger sister, her face frowning, her blue eyes full of disappointment.
"Think of how cool I could be if you two were together! I've made so many friends at university just because my older sister was seen with the hottest hunk in the whole of Japan!" She whines, I roll my eyes at her. I lean against the counter of my parents' shop.
"Are you honestly fine with people just being friends with you because you're related to someone who's been seen with Itachi Uchiha?" I question her, with my eyebrows raised up. She frowns more as my words sink in. She sighs and crosses her arms.
"True. Oh well! It's nice to have people notice me, maybe I can jump on the back of your fame and become an internet sensation or something." I shake my head at her.
"I'm not famous. Not anymore at least." I mutter under my breath. Rin is your typical wannabe popular girl, she'll do anything to have a ton of friends and be famous. Even if it means being surrounded by fake friends. Whatever makes her happy, I guess.
"You need to try to win him back!" She demands, her hands take hold of my shoulders and she gives me a shake. I try to slap her hands away. The doorbell chimes and a customer walks in, saving me from her antics.
We quickly serve the customer, an elderly woman who is a frequent customer, and she leaves. Leaving me vulnerable of my sister's crazy ideas.
Her hands grasp my shoulders once more and she starts to shake me. I don't even try to move her hands away.
"You need to win him back!" She says excitedly. I don't say anything as she continues to shake me violently. "Aki! Akira!" She snaps, she stops shaking me and just stares at me. Her beady blue eyes staring into my soul.
"No, he's got a girlfriend. I'm not a home-wrecker." She pouts at my words.
"But… you called dibs!" She continues to whine. She throws her hands up in the air in protest.
"They've been together for over a year, she's had dibs." I retort and Rin frowns. She flicks her black hair over her shoulder.
"But…but-" Rin splutters, realising I'm right for once. "He clearly doesn't love her!" She blurts out. I look at her quizzically.
"If he didn't love her, he wouldn't be with her." She shakes her head.
"What if it's a set up? Come on, Aki. Did he ever mention a girlfriend to you, during any time you spent with him? You were friends, right?" I shake my head.
"We weren't that close. Why would he tell someone he barely knows about a relationship he was trying to keep secret?" I reply. She shakes her head.
"Because the relationship didn't exist until last week! That's what I believe, and that's what so many people believe. They've never been linked together, at all. It's so strange. There's even pictures of you and Itachi kissing in the club on his birthday! So he either cheated, or it's not real at all!" She pulls her phone out of her pocket and she begins to show me images she's saved to her phone.
Firstly, why does my sister have pictures of me kissing someone saved to her phone? Secondly, why is she shoving the images in my face?
I push her arm away. "Why the hell do you have-" I blurt out as our mother enters the shop.
"Aki, language! You're 24 for goodness sake, act a bit more professionally." She scolds me before picking up a roll from the display. She takes a bite out of it before heading upstairs again.
I begin to hiss at Rin. "Why the hell do you have pictures of me kissing Itachi saved onto your phone?" She only smirks at me.
"Because I'm gathering evidence." I roll my eyes and shake my head at her.
"Rin, you're being ridiculous. We were both very drunk. Plus, Hajime entered the club. I probably asked Itachi to kiss me to put Hajime off from approaching me."
Rin's mouth falls open. "That… that…" She splutters. Her shoulders slump when she realises she no longer has a valid argument. "Fine. I'll stop pestering you to get with him."
I smile, knowing I've won. But Rin's words continue to ring around my mind.
What if she's not far from the truth at all?
I push that thought out of my mind. I'm being stupid. I'm setting myself up for pain if I believe that the relationship isn't real. Of course, it's real, Itachi is not the sort to lie like that.
It's reasonable that he never told me about his relationship, we've only known each other for a handful of months. That's not enough to trust me with something big like that. Of course, he wanted to keep something secret like that. They'd lose all privacy they've had, at least now they've chosen to give up that aspect of their relationship.
"So, Aki, how's work been?" My mum asks as we're all seated around the dinner table that evening.
"It's been good, very busy though. Izumi Uchiha is currently working on a very, very intense case and I've had to respond to one too many e-mails about it." I reply, my mother smiles at me. Her blue eyes sparkle. "How's the shop been?"
"Good, good. Your father and I are thinking of hiring some new employees, we're starting to struggle handling it on our own." I look over at my dad and he nods in agreement.
Rin and I both look like Mum, whereas my older brother, Ayame looks exactly like dad. They both share the same black hair and brown eyes. Rin and I both have blue eyes, which is the result of my mother being a quarter English.
"That would be good." I comment and they both nod.
LNLN
From: Izumi Uchiha: You haven't spoken to Itachi yet! I just called him. You need to call him and talk to him.
I ignore her text and continue to stare up at my ceiling. After several minutes, I pick my phone back up and reply.
To: Izumi Uchiha: There's nothing to talk to him about.
I lock my phone.
I should talk to him, but for some reason I just can't. I really don't want to hear that the relationship is real from him, it means all hope is lost. Without his confirmation, I have the smallest glimmer of hope that it's not real.
A/N:
I know I said Friday, but it's Saturday. When I started posting this I was a chapter ahead, and now I've caught up, so I have to finish the chapter before I post it. I'm sorry for the slight delay. I've also been quite busy, and will be busy over the next few weeks. I have an essay due next Wednesday and I had to write a review for the Wednesday that has just gone. I have so many assignments due in just before Christmas. So, updates may slightly be delayed, but I'll try my best to update every weekend.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and favourited!
Guest: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying my story!
If you left a review with an account, I've sent you a message.
I'll be updating next weekend (hopefully Friday, if things go well). It will be Monday at the latest, but I'll be trying my best to update.
Thank you for reading!
- Yin