Hello! Wew finally got to finish this chapter! So much happening in this one so I hope you don't mind that this is quite long(er that the rest). Thanks for the reviews from the last chapter, they got me so excited for this one! Tell me what you guys think, okay?

Disclaimer: I don't own Gals!

Chapter 10: Revelations

It was 8pm when Aya got back home from work. She headed to her small living room, tossed her sling bag and white coat on top of the table and resigned herself to her soft, soft couch. The dark-haired doctor let herself slouch back, closing her eyes shut as she tried to recover from the day's events.

To say that the hospital was busy today was an understatement. There was an accident in the city today, a fire broke out in an apartment building somewhere downtown and adjacent buildings also caught fire. The nearest hospital could not accommodate all of the victims so a lot of patients were redirected to where Aya worked. It was all hands on deck, even for the interns who were still learning. There were a lot of 3rd degree burn victims, the worst kind. They were in pain, shouting and screaming, and looking for their loved ones. Some couldn't be identified. Some died. Aya dealt with one of the victims who died just a few hours after being brought to the hospital. It was a lost cause, said her attending.

She wanted to cry. There was a lot about today that made her feel disillusioned about the profession she decided to choose. Today, a lot more died than they were able to save. But the more experienced doctors did tell her that what's more important is that they are able to save those who could be saved, those who would have died otherwise. Still, it made her want to vomit… again.

The doctor was ready to fall asleep, in fact, this has been her routine for the past two weeks. It has been two weeks since that Beach Trip. She kept herself busy in the hospital so she could avoid thinking about it. Of course, her colleagues only thought of it as her dedication. And for the past two weeks the only time she hung out with her friends was when it had something to do with Mami's wedding. She didn't know what was making her such a bridezilla though, the fact that her wedding is so near or that she and Yuuya have been fighting a lot.

But then a ring from her doorbell stopped her from falling into complete slumber. Lazily, she got up to answer who was at her door. When she opened her door, to her eye-level was a broad chest in button-up polo under a blue sweater vest. Looking up to see the face of her visitor, she was met with a blue-eyed, blond haired man with a wide, extremely beautiful, smile.

"Cody?"

The blond-haired second placer heaved a sigh. A couple of days back in the city and he felt all the energy he recovered from the brief vacation has already been drained out of him. This particularly day was barely half over and all he wanted to do was lie on his bed, close his eyes, shut his ears from all of the details and black out.

He had brunch with his bride-to-be and future in-laws in the large estate, discussing over the details of guests, entourage and seating arrangements. Mami's aunt cannot be seated anywhere near ten feet of her estranged husband, who happens to be a big stockholder of the Honda Enterprises, so he cannot be seated far back or far from the aisle. A certain business partner will feel offended if this other business partner will be placed in the same row as he, but there are no other seats available. It was really tough. And don't get Mami started on the entourage…

It's not like he is disinterested about the wedding details. He knows that women have always been planning their wedding since childhood, but he also knows that women hate it when men don't have an opinion about their own wedding, something about not caring about the single most important day of their lives. Weddings make people (or just the women) crazy, that's what he thought. So, even though he knew that Mami will have the final say on their wedding cake, he still went with her to the country's most highly-acclaimed patisserie to do some cake-testing. But if he was being completely honest, he couldn't tell the difference anymore after the fifth cake. And he didn't care if the frosting was fondant or buttercream, or if it was going to be 5-tiered or 7-tiered, if some of the tiers were going to be faux, or if their Mediterranean-themed dinner would not match the marzipan-fruits designed that Mami was leaning towards.

"This one's good too," he offered when Mami got his attention back to the cream-colored fondant-covered cake is just took a bite off, even though he already completely forgot the taste of the cake.

Mami shook her head, putting the dessert spoon down. "No, no. Not this one."

Yuuya sighed again, which was left unnoticed by Mami of went back to the first slice of cake line up. "Maybe if you can have this one in white frosting but the filling…"

He didn't listen to the rest, knowing at this point his opinion was no longer needed (not that it was even when the testing started). But it's not that he doesn't care, he just didn't care about the details. If it were up to him, he would marry her in a small ceremony, just their family and friends as witnesses, in a small chapel and have a simple garden dinner.

"What do you think, honey?" she asked, catching him off guard.

"Um, I didn't really hear you back then, can you repeat that?"

She frowned at him, and gestured to one of the pastry chefs that the cake was a go. "Are you okay?" she asked as she approached him, the room being cleared out slowly, leaving the two of them to talk privately.

Yuuya offered his fiancée a smile, "Of course, my love. I'm just… you know how I don't know a lot about these things."

Mami frowned. "I told you after brunch, you didn't have to come with me to this."

"Of course I did. Don't try that reverse psychology on me," Yuuya offered a wink.

"Fine," she said, caught. "But you're so out of it lately! Normally you'd at least be a better actor, but you're just so… distant."

She was trying to sound angry, knowing some pouting would get him to open up. However, when she looked at him she saw a flicker in his eyes she's never seen before: a hint of sadness, maybe? The golden-haired beauty approached him and placed her right hand on his arm, squeezing it. "Something seems to be bothering you… You can tell me! You can tell me anything. In a week, we'll be married, Yuuya. We shouldn't keep things from each other."

Her words did nothing to reassure him and the real reason why he's been so out of it as of late. Yuuya looked at Mami, who only gave him a smile that encouraged him to talk. But she was right, and he knows he should stop being unfair to her. Although hesitant, he gathered up the strength to ask, "How badly do you want kids?"

She looked puzzled, but pondered thoughtfully on the question. "Well… I haven't thought about it, but since you brought it up," she began, completely oblivious to the worry on his face. "At least two kids!" she answered with a smile, entangling her fingers into his as she grabbed his hands. "I grew up as an only child and I didn't mind it because I usually get everything I want. But in hindsight, another sibling would have been nice."

"Two kids…" he repeated almost like a whisper.

"Or more," she added. "I don't really mind. We can have an entire brood. I assure you I will not lose my figure. I won't allow it!" she laughed out loud before looking at him with happy eyes. "What about you?"

He couldn't look at her. This was what he was afraid of. He shouldn't have proposed to her without finding out first! Yuuya mentally berated himself for not being responsible, and now he has to face the consequences. This was what he hated feeling the most, the feeling of disappointing her, of letting her down. And to think that he swore to her father that he will always make her happy and give her everything she wants. Now she wants kids.

"Yuuya!" she called, getting annoyed at his lack of responsiveness. "I said, what about you?"

"I…" he looked at her, gulping. "I… don't. I don't want to have kids."

He looked at her eyes and watched it change from happy to confused. It took her a while to process what he said. "I-I don't think I heard you right," she said, neither anger nor sadness in her tone, just utter confusion. "You don't want kids?"

Yuuya saw that her emotions were starting to mix, as he nodded slowly in response. "How could you – Why would – why are you only telling me this now?" she demanded, finally, anger catching up with her.

"I…" he tried to find an explanation would be near acceptable. "I didn't think about until now."

She let go of his arm and backed away, crossing her arms against her chest. "You only thought about it now? Why don't you want kids? You? You're so good with kids, you love playing with them! I see you with Yuri and I think, wow, that's how you'll be with our child! What the hell is with this bullshit about not wanting kids?"

He was silent for a while, unable to look her in the eye. "I just don't want kids of my own. It's hard to raise a kid, I… I always saw myself as a career man." He lied.

"So what? You've always not wanted kids, is that it?" she said exasperatedly, placing her hands on her hips. "You can't be serious?"

She took his silence as an affirmative. "Why the hell are you only bringing this up now?" frustration evident on her voice. "Is this… Is this your way of telling me you don't want to push through with the wedding?"

Yuuya's eyes shot up. "What?" he exclaimed. "No! Of course not! No!" and before Mami could say anything, he continued, "I want to marry you, I love you!"

But there was something in Mami's eyes that Yuuya read so well that told him that some part of her doesn't believe him. He held her by her arms and he repeated, "I love you."

Mami released herself from his grip, "Let's talk about this later. We have dinner with our friends in the restaurant, we still have to take care of that."

Mami turned around and composed herself before looking for the pastry chef to give her decision.

Yuuya stood there, feeling like a big rock just fell on him. He wanted to hurt himself for hurting her. He wanted so much to have someone to blame for why he had to hurt her in the first place. But there was only himself, he thought.

When Tatsuki arrived, bringing a bottle of wine, he was greeted by Miyu with a nervous smile. She took the wine from him as he scanned the room. Ran, Yamato and Aya were by the window chatting, but they were accompanied by an blonde man whom he did not know. He was at least a couple more inches taller than Yamato, with broad shoulders and what seemed like a very fit body.

Miyu noticed him staring at the blonde man as she took the wine from him. "Aya's friend from the US," she explained his unaired question.

"I said fry them for 10 minutes! Why is this burnt?" a female scream was heard from beyond the walls of the restaurant's dining room.

"Was that Mami?" asked Tatsuki as he took off his coat, and was about to approach the group along with Miyu.

"Yeah," she smiled meekly. "She's in a pretty bad mood. Again. But it seems worse today."

Ran dispatched herself from the group as Tatsuki and Miyu were closing in, explaining that she would check on Mami and Yuuya in the kitchen. When the pair arrived, Yamato offered Tatsuki a bottle of beer, which he happily accepted.

"You didn't bring Suzura?" asked Yamato.

Tatsuki shook his head, "She has a show today." On the quizzical looks of his friends, he added, "She's a theater actress, didn't I tell you? We met when after one of their shows, the cast and crew of their show had a celebratory dinner at our ramen place. After that she frequented the shop until we started talking."

"Aw, that's cute, Tatsuki," said Miyu with a smile. She was thankful Ran wasn't there to hear that story. After the former Super Gal told her what went down in the beach between the two of them during the beach trip, she knows that her friend was still deeply hurting. But at the same time, she had to be happy for Tatsuki who had also suffered a lot the past two years.

It was only then that they noticed a different blonde-haired man feeling a little out of place. Aya was the first to notice.

"Oh, how rude of me," she chastised herself. "Tatsuki, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. This is Cody. He's from the US." It was only then that Tatsuki really noticed his strong jaw line with a little scruff that seemed intentionally grown, and a nicely trimmed cut of his blonde hair.

Cody held out a hand, "Nice to meet you, Tatsuki." Tatsuki likewise returned the greeting and the handshake, accompanied by a wide, mischievous grin. Aya gave him an eye, which Tatsuki ignored.

"Dinner's about to be served!" Mami came out of the kitchen, followed by Yuuya and Ran. She looked rather… neurotic. She had a wide smile plastered on her face that looked really off, which made the rest of the gang nervous. And it didn't help that Yuuya looked very frustrated. But it seemed like the married-couple-to-be set aside whatever their problem was to serve their friends dinner, so the gang individually thought to just ignore and go with it.

When they all sat down, Mami greeted Cody. "I hope you're enjoying your stay! Please, eat as much as you want, we prepared a lot for tonight."

Cody smiled nervously, "Thanks! Everyone we've met so far has been very accommodating. And I'm very excited to eat, actually. Congratulations, by the way! I heard from Aya that you two are getting married in a few days."

Mami gave a tightened smile and Yuuya just gave a slight nod to acknowledge.

The ring of a bell was heard and that meant someone had just arrived. As expected, Rei would be the last one to arrived, and holding his arm as they entered was Kaoru.

"Rei! You finally came! We can finally start with dinner," said Tatsuki, obviously not one to sink into the tension around the room. "Hello to you to, Kaoru!"

Kaoru smiled a hello while Rei just gave a curt nod as they took their seats opposite Aya and Cody. It was only when they sat down that Rei noticed the blonde-haired man in front of him, a blonde-haired man that was all-too familiar. He never saw his face, but he can tell who he was. He tightened up, something Kaoru noticed but did not ask about.

Rei turned to looked at Aya who only kept his gaze for a fraction of a second. And after which he turned to look back at the blonde in front of him. It was also the first time in two weeks that Rei and Aya saw each other. It wasn't like Aya wasn't ready to see him, but there was something about his stare today that was particularly disturbing her.

"Otohata-kun, Ishiki-san, this is Cody, a friend of mine while I was studying in the States," she introduced.

"Oh, so you're –" the American stopped midway when he felt an elbow his him on the side. "I mean, it's nice to meet the both of you."

Kaoru was the first one to return the greeting, "Hi, Cody-san."

"Please, just call me Cody. The honorifics here in Japan is not very familiar to me, I won't recognize my name!" he laughed affectionately.

Kaoru gave a chuckle, but Rei remained silent, taking a sip from the bottle of beer earlier placed in front of him by a waiter while the conversation was going on.

"Go on, everyone, start digging in," encouraged Yuuya who was really trying to avoid another awkward silence.

The group then started eating the feast prepared by the engaged couple. It could hardly be said, however, that nobody noticed the heavy air around. They have noticed that the hosts aren't really talking to each other, and that Mami kept taking sips of her wine. That Ran was trying to avoid any eye contact with Tatsuki, who was on the opposite side of the table from her. That Rei had been eyeing Aya and Cody, as Aya was being attendant to the food Cody was eating and as they chatted happily. That Kaoru was eyeing her boyfriend as he did so, feeling uncomfortable and left out.

"So, Cody," Yamato, who was sitting beside Rei, began. "Tell us more about you! Are you a doctor like Aya?"

Cody wiped his mouth with tissue before he answered. "Oh no, I'm not! I'm definitely not as smart as this girl, right here," he laughed. "I was an arts major. Now I work as a photographer. Actually, that's part of the reason we chose Japan, I wanted to take lots of pictures here since there's a lot of scenic locations."

"You guys should see his photographs, they're beautiful," smiled Aya.

"Oh don't believe her, she likes to compliment me even when it's not true."

"It's true!" she immediately responded.

Their little banter earned a mischievous grin from Tatsuki who couldn't help himself and said, "So did you two date while she was in the States?"

Upon hearing the question, Rei straightened up. He felt as though he already knew the answer, bringing himself back to that autumn day in a foreign country.

"Tatsukichi! What kind of question is that?" blushed Aya.

Cody just laughed it of endearingly. "I wish," he said, earning him a slap to the arm from Aya, to which earned her a shock from her friends.

"Just kidding!" Cody waived his hands in the air, as if surrendering. "No, no. I didn't date Aya. I am currently dating her former room mate though."

Tatsuki's eager smile suddenly turned into a frown.

"Actually, that's all thanks to this little girl here," he said affectionately, messing Aya's raven hair a little. "She encouraged me to pursue my girlfriend, who's half-Japanese by the way, when I thought I had no chance. She said, a lot of effort and sincerity goes a long way. She helped me win her room mate's heart," he said before turning to Aya, "to which I am completely and eternally grateful, by the way. She was the first one I went to when Sari agreed to go out with me."

Aya gave a warm smile. And after hearing that story, Tatsuki couldn't help but smile either. Even Mami, who seemed to be very disinterested in the whole dinner, had a slight curve on her lips.

"That's so sweet!" Miyu clapped her hands together.

Rei on the other hand, had surprise written all over his face, but it was only Kaoru who noticed since all the attention was still on the American. "Rei?" she whispered, shaking him a little. He snapped back to reality giving his girlfriend's hand a little squeeze.

"So Aya really never had a boyfriend back there?" Tatsuki asked, earning himself another glare from the raven-haired doctor. The rest of the gang, however, was evidently curious.

Cody shook his head. "She was perpetually unavailable there," he said, glancing at the brown-haired fellow in front of him who also caught his glance.

The bell of the door rang again. "Oh that must be her! Hold on a sec, guys," said Aya as she stood up and went to the door. When she came back, she had along with her a black-haired woman, a sure two-inches taller than Aya. She seemed a little hesitant to enter, feeling like she was intruding a party.

"Everyone, I want you to meet Sari!" Aya introduced. "She's my room mate and Cody's girlfriend."

There were random greetings from across the room, and the shy girl gave her hellos to each one until she took her seat beside Aya. Cody took his plate and moved one seat down so the two girls can stay beside each other.

"Oh my god!" shrieked Sari as she and Aya took their seats.

Shocked at the young woman's screech, all eyes were on her, including Rei's, who clearly was the object of Sari's current attention.

"What? What's wrong?" asked Aya.

"It's you!" she responded by pointing at Rei, pleasantly surprised. Rei, on the other hand, didn't react but instead took his gaze away from the lady.

"Yes, it's him. You don't have to point and shout, my dear," Cody whispered.

Sari shook her head, "No, that's not what I mean." They all looked at her curiously.

"I'm sorry, I'm confused," said Mami, at the end of the table. "What's happening?"

"Aya," Sari turned to the raven-haired who was clearly out-of-words. "He's the guy!" Still, to the rest of the room, Aya included, she was not making sense. "I mean, remember when two years ago, around Fall, I told you there was a guy who dropped by in the apartment looking for you? That he was Japanese, but he didn't leave a name. The one in a bonnet and a thin layer of clothing considering the temperature that time of the year?"

Aya gave a slight not coupled with a look that urged her to continue.

"That's him!" Sari then turned to face Rei. "That was you," she said with a wide smile. All eyes were now redirected at Rei."I remember your eyes distinctly! But, dude, why didn't you leave your name? You left right after I told you she's probably in the campus. That's why I couldn't describe you to Aya, you had that scarf up to your mouth and that bonnet, so I couldn't describe you well. But you're here!"

"Wait," said Ran, utterly confused. "What? You're saying Rei went to the States?"

Sari nodded happily. "Yeah! Two years ago, like I said," she replied cheerily, unable to read the room. "Wow, who would have thought?"

The gang all looked at each other because evidently it was only Yuuya who knew that such thing ever happened. All the whispers made Rei a little uncomfortable but he stayed still. The only thing that made it unbearable was the fact that Aya was looking at him intently, and that he couldn't take his eyes off her as he tried to read her reaction. It seemed like forever, the silence between them, tuning out the room and just awaiting each other's first move. Kaoru shifter, holding his hand from under the table, but Rei barely noticed. He was sure that Ran and the others were already whispering to each other in surprise, but he didn't care.

"You…" she said, trying to find the right words, or at least figuring out which question to ask first, "were there." But it turned out more a statement than a question.

End of Chapter