Chapter 11

Saturday Afternoon

"Mom, can I ask you something?" Ryoki said after dinner.

"Sure, anything. What's wrong?" his mom asked. Ryoki loved the way his mom

was always there to listen to his troubles and worries. It made him understand how

Asuza could be so resentful and angry at everyone.

"Is it possible to really hate a person at first, and then like them?" he asked not

meeting her eye directly. He didn't want her to know this was about him and Hatsumi.

His mom looked thoughtful.

"Well your father and I didn't get along at all when we first met. He sat beside

me when we were in sixth grade and he teased me all the time. He laughed every time I

got a wrong answer and would draw the whole class's attention to me so they all knew I

had done something wrong. I was somewhat of a nerd back then, so people enjoyed

seeing me wrong. I cried a lot, almost every night and I hated him more than anything.

In grade seven we were in different classes so we just ignored each other. Grade eight we

had to sit beside each other again, but it wasn't as bad. Then we went to different high

schools and we didn't speak at all. Wasn't I shocked when we ended up in the same

university. I think he was just as surprised as me. We decided to get together, just out of

curiosity to see how the other had turned out. I don't know, we just seemed to get along

so much better. He had changed a lot, he was much smarter than I remembered him.

Sometimes we got mad at eachother but the fights just made it interesting. I realized I

loved him, and that I had always loved him, but had shown it in a weird way. Well you

know the rest," his mom said with tears in her eyes. "I miss him so much. If only he was

still with us. I know things would be different." Ryoki watched his mother cry and

wasn't sure what he could say to comfort her.

"If he was with us he would be happy we were doing so well on our own," Ryoki

said quietly. He wasn't sure whether or not this would help but it was worth a shot. The

phone rang and Ryoki ran to get it.

"Hello, is Ryoki there?" a familiar voice said over the phone.

"What is it Asuza?" Ryoki said.

"I wanted to talk to you about Hatsumi," Asuza said. Ryoki immediately snapped

to attention.

"What is it?" he asked trying not to sound interested even though his mind was

reeling at all the possible things Asuza might say. They could have even slept together.

It didn't take Asuza long to get the girl he wanted in bed with him, why would Hatsumi

be any different? Please don't be that, Ryoki begged.

"I went out with Hatsumi yesterday and well I think I'm kind of getting bored of

her. So I think we're going break up," he said matter of factly. Ryoki held in his sigh of

relief.

"When are you going to break up?" he asked.

"Well we're going out on Thursday after school so probably then," Asuza said.

Ryoki was overjoyed. He should have known it would have only lasted for a couple

weeks. Why had he gotten so worried for? Everything would go back to normal between

him and Asuza once he broke up with Hatsumi. He was sure of it.

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