Siopao: (07/28/2013) Thanks for reviewing: euntan & dyalicious! I really appreciate it & was inspired to update quicker because of your reviews. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Gals! or its characters.
One Summer's Day
Chapter Eight - Bitterness
By: Screaming Siopao
I ran. I ran as fast as I could, not quite sure which destination I had in mind. I just... ran. Anywhere would be fine. Anywhere but here.
Miku. I had seen that girl before. I recall she had given concert tickets to Rei a while ago, back when he and I first started dating. I remembered that at that time, too, I felt envied by how close she was to Rei. She had long, wavy blonde hair. It was gorgeous, really. She was a cute girl, way cuter than I could ever be.
I wish I could unsee what I just saw.
I wish I hadn't opened that door.
I wish I didn't have to see the love of my life holding another woman the way he should be holding me.
But I can't undo any of it. I'll just have to keep running.
o0o0o0o
Shit, who was that who just opened the door? I look towards the entrance but there isn't anybody there. The door is wide open, so it couldn't just have been a mere draft. I push Miku off of me and dash toward the staircase to see if I can catch who it was. I have a bad feeling about this.
"Wait, Rei! Where are you going?" I hear Miku's voice behind me. I ignore her. What the hell? Why did she suddenly jump on me like that earlier anyway? And right after a strange confession, too. It must be that her horomones are unbalanced. She usually isn't like that; I can't believe she's just been another one of those raging female fans of mine all this time. All they want to do is get in my pants.
I reach the bottom of the stairs and spot a familiar brunette with long locks leaving through the sliding glass doors. Dammit. It was really Aya. I start chasing after her, that is, until I hear Miku's voice nagging right behind me yet again.
"Rei, you can't leave during your shift!" she yells out at me as she runs down the stair case. Once she reaches the bottom step, she purposefully trips herself onto me, causing me to catch her. Geez, this girl sure is persistent. Her face is close to mine and she intentionally pushes her breasts onto my torso. "And plus," she purrs whoreishly. "You still haven't given me an answer to our date tonight."
"The answer is no," I briskly reply as I push this disgusting girl off of me. "And like hell I'll stay the rest of my shift here with you. Get someone else to fill in. I'm leaving."
I run out through the doors and as I do so, I can hear Miku fuming with rage at how no man has ever resisted her before. Apparently, I'm going to regret it, or so she says.
o0o0o0o
Aya sat by the HachiPori Station with the untouched, uneaten bento box in her idle hands. This meal took well over an hour for her to prepare since several of her failed attempts made their way into the trash. This finished product was the closest thing she considered to be a decent meal.
"What am I supposed to do with this thing now?" she asked herself with a dissapointed sigh. She eyed a public waste bin a few feet away. "I suppose that it's a good thing he couldn't get a chance to eat this. No one in the world should be forced to eat such a disgusting thing made by a useless mole. I'm sure it tastes terrible." She slowly got up from her seat on the bench and made her way to the trash can. Just as she outstretched her arm and was about to release the obento, a strong hand, as if on cue, took hold of her frail wrist.
"And just what do you think you're about to do with that?" a familiar voice called out. She had been hearing this voice far too often recently; it was comforting to her and she was glad he was here.
"Yuuya-kun," she almost-inaudibly mouthed. She spun around to face her guest. There was no smile; there was no bell-like laughter. The regular spark in her eyes was missing.
It almost broke Yuuya's heart to see her looking like that. He assumed that a misunderstanding must have happened between her and Rei again, and that this obento was somewhat related to the incident.
"Say," he goofily said as he scratched the back of his head. "Do you know where I could get a delicious homecooked bento?"
Aya eyed the box in her hand and wordlessly raised her arm yet again, this time to offer the lunch to her friend. He gladly took and and strode over to the bench Aya previously sat on, with the brunette gal following slowly behind like a helpless duckling.
As Yuuya took the first bite of the meal, Aya looked onward at him with curious orbs, anticipating his initial reaction to her first ever homecooked meal.
"Amai!" he exclaimed as he chewed on her tako musubi. "This is amazing, Aya-chan. You cooked this yourself?" Aya silently nodded, an almost-invisible blush making its way onto her cheek. "You've got some talent then. I can't believe this almost went to waste," he said as he continued to eat the fried egg and umeboshi wrapped with dried nori seaweed.
As Aya looked on at Yuuya, she couldn't help but feel so much gratitude towards this person while also feeling so much pity for herself. How many more times would he have to comfort her troubled soul? Yuuya always seemed to know when she was down in the dumps, which she realized was quite often. He always came to save her at the most opportunistic times. Somehow, he could just read the air about her and pick her up. Now, here he was proving it again, enjoying the lunch that she was about to dispose of because she believed that no one else would accept it.
Silently, a tear fell from her eye. She finally realized how valuable Yuuya was to her, as a friend and a confidant— as a reliable and timely saviour that would unceasingly come to her rescue. Slowly, more tears followed and dripped onto her lap. Yuuya stopped his eating and turned to her with sadness in his eyes. 'I don't to see her cry anymore.'
"You're not crying because this obento wasn't originally made for me, are you?" he asked with a sympathetic smile. Aya shook her head as the steady tears continued to flow. Yuuya even saw her tears to be beautiful.
"N- No," she bit her lip to control the threatening sobs in her chest. "Please, eat all you'd like."
Yuuya set the rest of the meal aside and suddenly held the crying girl close to him, burying her in his broad chest.
"You know? Rei is a jerk somtimes and I don't know what he did to you this time but, Aya-chan, you deserve happiness. I can give you that. I'd never make you cry," he whispered as one hand stroke her dark tresses. "What does Rei have to offer that I can't give you? I can treat you better. I can care for you better. I can..." he paused, then tightened his grip on her. "I can love you better, if you just let me in."
"Yuuya-kun," she sobbed as she gripped tightly onto his shirt. Her heart ached so much. She didn't want him to let go, afraid that if he left, she would forever be forsaken and forgotten. She couldn't bring herself to say anything else, except a mere word of gratitude that she meant from the absolute bottom of her heart: "Arigatou."
From a short distance away, Rei looked onward with a disheartened expression on his usually stoic face. How else was he supposed to react to his girlfriend crying in the arms of his best friend?
Instead of interrupting them like he oh so wanted to do, he spun around on his heels, dug his hands into his pants' pockets, and let them be. Why had he done that? He wasn't quite sure. What he did know was that Yuuya was right about one thing: Aya deserved happiness.
Rei was made of ice. He could only offer her his bitter demeanor and cold memories, no matter how hard he tried. She would only end up crying— it's just how things turned out with him.
Perhaps, maybe, it was time to let her be with someone who could actually make her happy. Someone who could be sensitive to her feelings. Someone a little more human.
Someone like Yuuya Asou.
One Summer's Day
Chapter Eight - Bitterness: End.
Siopao: "Amai" means sweet or tasty. Tako musubi is a type of rice ball made with pieces of chopped octopus. Umeboshi is pickled plum onigiri, usually accompanied with dried seaweed (nori).
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