"Tears of joy are like the summer rain drops pierced by sunbeams"
My Ex-Best Friend
Thanksgiving Day is a joyous family festival celebrated with lot of enthusiasm in US, Canada and several other countries. Thanksgiving Day Festival commemorates the feast held by the Pilgrim colonists and members of the Wampanoag people at Plymouth in 1621. On this day people express gratitude to God for his blessings and give thanks to dear ones for their love & support. Feasting with family is an integral & most delightful part of Thanksgiving Day celebrations.
But for Miyu Kouzuki, the Thanksgiving for that year meant it would be the last day that she gets to spend in Tokyo City.
She picked up the last of her laundered clothes and folded it with a blank look in her eyes. She sighed as she closed the zipper to her bag which was on her bed. With that done, she sat down on her bed, beside her bag and took in a deep breath remembering back to how her friends decided on her departure date.
Chapter 6
Cooking for Thanksgiving
"What…?" gasped Nanami Tenchi as she choked on her coke, "you're leaving?"
The emerald-eyed blonde to whom she had asked the question nodded a little gravely and then posing a smile said, "Yeah… why are you guys so surprised…?"
"It's been just less than a week since the wedding got over!" pointed out Aya as she got off the couch in hers and Nanami's apartment.
"True," acknowledged the blond haired prince-of-flirt as he nodded his head, with his arms crossed across his chest.
"It's been a week!" Miyu said firmly, "I came for the wedding and I should have left ages ago…"
"But you still stayed".
Everybody turned towards the brunet who had spoken after his long and continued silence. The said amber-eyed brunet was looking at the blonde with an unexplainable emotion present in his eyes.
"You stayed," he continued leaning back on the single couch, an almost lazy look in his eyes, "cause he asked you to…"
Miyu gulped as her cheeks began to redden. She knew what he was talking about and felt like kicking herself for she knew that he was right.
"Ran…?" asked Santa questioningly.
"Yeah… you guys are together, aren't you?" Aya asked.
Miyu shrugged, at an obvious loss for words.
"You'll stay for a guy you met less than a month ago," flared Nanami at once, "you won't stay for your friends since grade school…?"
Miyu was now in serious trouble.
She didn't know what to say at all.
"How about till New Year?" asked Aya soothingly, trying to calm down her furious best friend, "can you stay till then…?"
"I don't think so…" said Miyu apologetically.
"Christmas…?"
Miyu shook her head at Nozomu's question.
"Kanata's birthday…?"
"Idiot…!" Nozomu slapped his fist on Santa's head going, "that is on Christmas!"
"Ow!"
Miyu giggled and so did Aya and Nanami.
"How about Thanksgiving?" his cold voice broke their laughter, "it's next week…"
Miyu blinked…
…and so did everybody else…
"Thanksgiving..?" asked Nozomu.
Aya started, "but…?"
"Chris isn't here…" said Nanami.
"So…?" asked Kanata, raising an eyebrow.
Miyu watched the rest of the gang exchange looks. She wondered how long they have been celebrating this festival. In all her life she has never celebrated Thanksgiving. She wasn't even sure what the festival was about.
"Doesn't Chris always cook…?" asked Nozomu, scratching the back of his head lightly.
"Yeah… we always celebrate it at her place…" said Santa, shrugging his shoulders.
Kanata looked thoughtful for a minute and then sighed.
"We'll do it at my place…"
My Ex-Best Friend
Miyu stood outside his apartment door, wondering if it was alright for her to be there at all. She checked her watch and saw that it was already half past two.
Although she had volunteered to help him out with Thanksgiving cooking, she was still worried about going to his place. After all, this was the very first time that she was entering her ex-best friend's apartment.
She was still debating on the best way to enter his apartment when the door to the place in question swung open and a brunet stood there with his hand over the opened door's knob, wearing an apron and a deep frown.
"How long did you plan on standing there?"
Miyu jumped in surprise and then clutching her side said breathing in relief, "you really scared me…"
He raised an eyebrow at this and then sighing gently, opened the door wide enough for her to enter. Miyu took a deep breath and entered his apartment.
The apartment came as a bit of a surprise.
It was greatly bigger and a little more exuberant than Nanami and Aya's apartment. By the looks of it, there seemed to be two bedrooms, a well decorated kitchen and a neat living room with a wide-screen Plasma TV.
"Wow…" gasped Miyu, taking a few steps into the living room which was connected with the kitchen and then turning to look at the brunet added, "your apartment is awesome…"
Kanata shrugged.
After a few seconds of more examining, Miyu asked skeptically, "how come it's so neat…?"
He glared at her and asked, "I can be neat!"
"Well…" started Miyu grinning, "how do you find time with being a doctor at the hospital and all…?"
"First," said the brunet in an almost inaudible whisper, "I'm still a resident… and secondly…" he sighed and said with a small blush creeping to his cheeks, "I don't clean…"
Miyu stood there, blinking.
"Your girlfriend…?"
Kanata snorted at that and then as though realizing that she was there, tried to cover it by saying, "no… Akira is too busy… my cousin does it for me…"
"Who..?"
"Mikan…" he said off-handedly, "she comes here once a week to clean up… it's actually her apartment… she's subletting it to me since she got married and moved in with her husband…"
Miyu nodded.
"Can we start cooking now?" asked Kanata, a little impatiently.
Miyu looked a little taken aback as though she had completely forgotten why she had come here for. Kanata glared at her as her face was obvious enough for him to read without much trouble.
Miyu laughed awkwardly as she asked, "So… What are we cooking?"
Kanata sighed.
My Ex-Best Friend
Nearly three hours later, they were finally placing the dessert in the refrigerator—Apple Pie a la mode. The two looked at each other and smiled at having finally completed the most dangerous job of cooking for the gang.
Miyu walked over to the comfortable looking couch and letting down her tied up hair, collapsed fully over it, breathing in relief at having completed their task.
Kanata smiled at her and then opened the refrigerator again. He pulled out two cans of Diet Coke and squatted on the carpeted floor beside the couch she was lying on, so that her head and his head were in a straight line.
Opening both the cans, he passed one to the relaxing blonde.
"Mikan's goanna flip," said the brunet before pressing the can to his lips and gulping down the cold beverage.
"Why?" wondered out loud Miyu as she got to a semi-sitting position and holding her Coke with both her hands.
"You're leaving flour all over the couch," he said as he turned to look at her, smirking.
Miyu looked threatened for a second and then said, "I'd be gone by tomorrow morning… she'll have only you to yell at…"
"If she's going to do anything," said the brunet, "it's definitely something worse than just yelling".
He practically shuddered at the thought.
Miyu giggled.
"You know," he said suddenly, "I thought you would definitely burn my kitchen…"
Miyu's smile faded to be replaced by a death glare.
"But not bad…" continued the brunet, leaning his head back on the couch, "you've gotten a little better…"
He glanced sideways at her with a smile.
Miyu couldn't help but smile back as she smacked his head lightly with her cold can going, "idiot…"
For a few minutes they were sipping in silence.
"Does Akira cook?"
Kanata almost choked at her sudden query.
"What?"
Miyu blushed lightly in embarrassment.
"Forget it…" she said laughing nervously, "It kinda slipped out…"
Kanata looked at her for a few seconds and then turning away said after a minute's thinking, "not exactly… she does cook, but just not here…"
Miyu pursed her lips, nodding.
"Will she be coming tonight?"
Kanata took a minute longer to answer this one.
When he did, it was almost forced, "I don't think so…"
Miyu bit her tongue for a question had been bugging her about Akira for a very long time. But she was sure it would be inappropriate for her to ask it to him right now.
"Hey…"
Miyu blinked.
"Yeah…?" she asked, a little surprised.
Kanata didn't turn.
Miyu wondered if it was really him who called.
She was about to ask when he finally spoke.
"What are you planning," he said in almost a whisper as though he was not really comfortable with asking that question, "to do once you leave…?"
"What?"
He finally turned to look at her as he asked, "the thing you have with… with that guy… what do you plan to do?"
Miyu looked genuinely surprised.
"Long distance relationships never work out…" muttered the brunet as he turned away from her again.
Miyu remembered back to when she had said the same line to a raven-haired, word-by-word. She couldn't help but chuckle remembering his response.
"Long distance relationships never work out…"
"And ya… about the long distance, I've always loved challenges…"
"What's so funny?"
Miyu looked at her brunet friend who was now looking at her with an irritated look in his amber orbs.
Before she realized what she was saying, she said with her most beautiful smile, "he has always loved challenges…"
Kanata looked at her for an entire minute before turning away, going, "right…"
With that, he got to his feet and then started moving towards what she suspected as the bathroom, "I'm goanna take my shower…"
Miyu understood that simple phrase as her good-bye.
"Okay…" she said and getting to her feet, took off her apron and dusted off some of the flour on her clothes and cheeks, "I'll see you at seven then..?"
"Yeah…" said the brunet before locking himself inside his bathroom.
With that, Miyu picked up her coat and headed out of the apartment, feeling a little empty inside. Something definitely was wrong.
She couldn't help but wonder why the atmosphere between them suddenly turned cold.
She sighed as she climbed down the stairs.
Miyu knew that she still didn't get her best friend back.
He was still her ex-best friend.
The departing chillness was proof enough.
She wondered how long they were going to be like this.
Miyu took a deep breath before flagging a cab to head to her grandma's place for a quick shower and return back to the same apartment in a few hours for Thanksgiving Dinner and also her Going Away Party.
End Chapter 6
A/N: Wow… How long has it been since I last updated…? Pretty long I guess… T_T
Please don't lose interest in this story just because the updates are late… :(
I promise to update soon from now on…
And ya…! I'm a little torn between what to update next. Yours, Mine and Ours or Destiny or Head over Heels….
Which one do you guys wanna read next? ;)
"The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground"
Buddha
