Siopao: (08/27/2013) Thanks for reviewing: euntan, Agataazura, and guest! Sorry for a later update than usual! Just got back from Canada and I started my junior year of college yesterday. Also, today's my birthday! Woo. Enjoy this very dramatic chapter~
Disclaimer: I don't own Gals! or its characters.
One Summer's Day
Chapter Ten - Slow Dancing
By: Screaming Siopao
"Rei, pick up the pace. The dinner rush is about to hit us," a black-haired man, clad in a white chef's hat and a white uniform, shouted from behind the kitchen doors. He was currently grilling filet mignon while other chefs around him were sautéing and frying several different Italian dishes.
"Ah. Yes, Oji-san," Rei replied from the lobby area, a tray full of empty glass cups in one hand and a black check book in the other. He set the check down at a nearby table and thanked the couple for dining at the Piacere.
Rei quickly set the empty glasses in the kitchen sink and briskly returned to the lobby while adjusting his black bow-tie, which was a part of his uniform as a waiter. He took a breath of air as he glanced at his wrist watch— it was currently 5:37 in the evening. Soon enough, couples, tourists, and, more recently, groups of young women, would be lining up to fill their reservations. After all, Piacere was well known for its Western atmosphere, high-class ambiance, and rich Italian cuisine.
He had been working here for the past two weeks. His uncle was the sous chef and had been begging him to work there as a waiter for quite some time now. Since Rei was working at the record store, he had always turned the request down, though the money was infinitely better. However, ever since the 'Miku incident,' he quickly took up the offer, though the restaurant was on the other side of the city, causing him to be far away from the gang and, more specifically, Aya.
"I can't afford to leave this job, as demanding as it is," Rei breathed. I want to see her. But I need to make amends for what I've done.
The exhausted raven-haired boy looked out of the large window. The restaurant was located on the 28th floor of the Shangri-La Hotel and gave a breathtaking view of the entire city of Tokyo, which was another selling point of the place. But what was even more breathtaking to him was what he saw on the ground below: a certain bundle of silky, dark tresses blowing in the wind.
What... What's she doing in this part of town? His eyebrows furrowed in thought. His heart was pacing at a million miles a minute. He hadn't seen a trace of her in the past two weeks.
Quickly, he turned and ran towards the kitchen.
"Oji-san!" Rei exclaimed while busting through the swinging doors. "I want to take my break now."
"Are you kidding me, kid?" his uncle, which resembled him quite a lot, replied while also shouting at some line cooks who were slacking off. "It's about to be the dinner rush and—"
"Just fifteen minutes. Please, I need this," he pleaded with urgency in his tone. His uncle stared at him long and hard.
"Oh, fine. Because you're my favorite nephew. And also, since you've been bringing in quite some business to the place," Oji-san said while glancing at a group of young women who had just entered the lobby.
"Thanks, you're the best," Rei yelled as he ran out of the doors, tearing his vest and bow-tie off in the process.
He pushed the button for the elevator but grew impatient when the silver doors didn't open right away. He pushed open the doors to the stairs and ran down the entire twenty-eight flights in what seemed like no time at all. As he exited the hotel's main floor, he searched for that oh-so familiar brunette hair.
And, there, he found her standing so peacefully underneath a tree, the setting sun making her face as mystic and beautiful as ever. She would have taken his breath away, except for the fact that he was already out of breath from running down all those stairs.
"Aya," his voice was airy and coarse. She turned around and immediately looked up at him with bewilderment in her eyes. Her lips parted but no words escaped.
"R—" a single consonant. She could not bring herself to say his full name. It's as if she had forgotten to.
"... You..." Rei mumbled under his breath, which he was still attempting to catch.
"What?" Aya managed to ask. He could have sworn he heard a sting in her tone.
"I missed you," he repeated, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her. God, it felt so good to feel her in his arms again.
"Are... Are these the arms that can hold multiple women?" Aya whispered bitterly. Rei's eyes widened as he pulled away and looked down at her.
"What? Aya, no. That— it meant nothing," he struggled to make the words come out right.
"I'm sure it didn't. But then you disappeared until now. I was so worried, Rei..." Tears were forming in her eyes and they threatened to fall at any given moment.
"I— I'm sorry, Aya. I had to come here to work. I left the record store. You don't have to worry about Miku."
"Why didn't you just tell me? Don't you trust me, Rei-kun?" Her heart felt like it was suffocating as soon as she said his name aloud.
"Of course! I just needed to take care of things. I was going to come back."
"And you thought that everything was going to be the same when you returned?" She bit her bottom lip to keep from crying.
"I— I don't know," he whispered.
"Well," Aya wiped the few tears that managed to escape her eyes. It pained him so much to see her cry. He wanted to make it stop. "Things aren't the same anymore."
As if on cue, Yuuya came up behind Aya. His golden eyes showed the same bewilderment and shock as Aya's displayed earlier as soon as he set eyes on Rei.
Shit, Yuuya thought. Nothing good was going to come out of Rei's reappearance, especially for Yuuya.
Much to Rei's shock, Aya took Yuuya's hand and held onto it firmly. It was like a slap to the face. He looked away with a pained and ticked-off expression.
"Remember that decision you gave me a while back, Rei-kun?" Again, enunciating his name constricted her heart. "Well, I've made up my mind while you were gone. I choose Yuuya-kun."
Yuuya's expression was just as surprised as Rei's. Yuuya thought that as soon as Rei returned, Aya would happily run back into his arms like he never left. He knew Aya quite well, seeing as they were fairly similar to each other. As much as it hurt him, he knew she was irrevocably in love with his best friend, Rei Otohata, and forever would be.
"Aya, please," Rei pled. Yuuya, for the first time, could hear the desperation in his supposed best friend's voice.
"I'm sorry." Aya turned around, attempting to hide her tears, though she wasn't fooling anyone. "Take care of yourself, Rei-kun." With that, she swiftly ran away from the two men, unable to bear Rei's presence any longer.
"Wait—"
"Don't you think you've done enough?" Yuuya said, stepping in Rei's path.
"You backstabbing bastard." Rei roughly gripped Yuuya's collar.
"Don't take your screw ups out on me!" Yuuya struggled to free himself from Rei's grip and pushed him onto the ground. "You hurt her, don't you get it? You left her and I was there to keep her company. You should be thanking me for keeping her together."
"Hn." Rei was speechless as he brought himself up from the ground, dusting off gravel from his uniform. Fighting was useless at this point. Aya was gone. She had turned the tables and was the one to finally reject Rei.
He smirked a bit at the irony of the situation. Was this how she felt during their high school years when he shoved her away? Sure, he thought it was for her own good, but she was persistent. Did she feel this lonely and useless? Was this how she felt when rumors went about that he was dating Ran? Was she this depressed after catching him with Miku?
No, Rei thought. She must have felt much worse. He realized that he was so cold towards her not only once, but all these years. He had taken her patience and kindness for granted. He scoffed at himself in self pity. I guess this is karma biting me in the ass.
"But, now that you're back," Yuuya continued and broke the silence. "I guess I have no chance, right?"
"What? But she said she— she chose you," Rei's voice faded away. It pissed him off that he let her get away.
"Do you really think she means that?" There was a look of defeat in his goldenrod eyes; a look of sadness. Yuuya walked away to find Aya, leaving a contemplative Rei behind to soak in reflection.
Yuuya knew it the whole time. Trying to capture a maiden's heart was difficult if she had already locked it up and long ago threw away the key. It was dangerous and foolish to pursue Aya, he acknowledged that from the start, yet still went on with it. Though she said she chose him over Rei, he knew she said it out of spite— something he wasn't expecting her to do. Right when she would start falling for him, Rei would return and confuse her all over again— he had predicted this would happen. She'd eventually feel an emptiness with Yuuya that only Rei Otohata could fill.
His short time with Aya was short-lived, yet unforgettable. She was all he ever dreamed of in a woman. She was a taste of heaven that he had always wanted.
Yet, he knew the whole time they were together that they were going down and would eventually meet their demise. His broken heart caused by Mami was healed because of Aya. And now, so soon, it would be freshly broken once again.
Yes, he knew the whole time, even during their happiest moments, that they were slow dancing in a burning room.
One Summer's Day
Chapter Ten - Slow Dancing: End.
Siopao: Such a sad chapter for my birthday! :P Send in a review, please!
"Slow Dancing In A Burning Room" © John Mayer.