DESTINY
Chapter 10
It has been over a week since the little incidence caused between the two teenagers on the night of their first trip to an American Night Club and the unsightly scene of selling the blonde's kisses for the money she owed their brunette boss for all those accidents she had caused at the Restaurant.
Although in the good side, she had improved a lot in her waiting skills and had grown from a failure to an immediate success, she knew that she still kinda received glares from her employer for narrowly escaping her so-called punishment last week.
Even more enraging is the fact that an identical situation had arose a year back when a certain raven-haired Indian had first joined the Restaurant. Having been clumsy and awkward like our dear blonde friend at first, Elizabeth had resorted to the same punishment only to have it tumble down upon her in the same way—except that time it had been a one blond waiter who went by the name Jasper.
This little revelation from the Indian had sent sparks flying through the Restaurant especially from the said boy's twin sister, who hadn't joined the Restaurant then. Thereby, it resulted in Jennifer and almost all the others in the Restaurant (including Miyu and excluding the only other Japanese waiter) in teasing the couple for ends together.
To add to all of this, Katie was taking a trip with her brother to visit her parents this week. Although Miyu would feel a bit lonely during the weekend with the hyperactive blonde, she knew that Katie missed her parents a lot and she was really excited to visit them. She had originally invited Miyu along as well but owing to the job at the Restaurant, she had to politely decline (even when Jeff, Katie's pilot-brother, suggested that he talk to Lizzie about it).
So, after giving information about all of this, there is only one thing that deeply hurt and irritated our blonde and that one thing is the person who had moved from Japan and lived upstairs to her with Katie's "friend", Dylan.
And the problem is very simple…
He is totally ignoring her mere existence.
It hadn't come as a real shock at first for after all what did she expect after kissing him. She knew this was coming but she didn't think that he would be taking it this far… an entire week!
She couldn't help but remind herself (well, she still has to develop the guts to remind him), that he was the one who paid for it!
She got infuriated every time he insists on staying back at the Restaurant to clean up or something making her to leave before him. But he blew the last straw the night before when he refused to work at table 6 just because she was working table 5.
Although enraged at first, the initial tinges of hurt began to spread through her body every time he would ignore her gaze or walk right past her without so much of a glance. And to make matters worse all this had to happen when she finally started to admit to herself that maybe, just maybe he was the one…
Even though her chances at him are a little flimsy with the whole "Maya" extravaganza, she wasn't intending on giving up this soon.
And so she had decided…
She took a deep breath as she leaned against the solid wall adjacent to the Restaurant's back door, ready to pounce on the poor brunet the minute he exits the place. She had been standing there for about half-an-hour now and still no sign of the brunet.
Zack was a little worried when she shrugged saying something about fresh air standing next to a dustbin which looked like it was celebrating its 50th anniversary of abandonment. Charlie, like always, paid no attention whatsoever, except perhaps a passing glance at the blonde as she walked past her.
She looked at her watch and it read that she still had half-an-hour till it strikes ten. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all, she thought.
Just when the blonde decided to give up and head back home when the back door to the restaurant opened and out came, the subject of all her long lingering. She stiffened at once as the brunet walked down the three stairs, his hands inside the front pockets of his black Seaman's jumper.
Taking a deep breath, the blonde stood before the brunet, blocking his way.
The brunet finally looked up and met with her gaze after an entire week and fixed her with such a stare that made the blonde turn crimson right to the tips of her ears.
Thankfully the brunet broke the contact within seconds. Maybe it was even more embarrassing for him rather than her. Even though he was ignoring her and acting as though he despise the way she acted she couldn't help but get her thoughts wandering back to that fateful night when he actually held her hand. It was for one fleeting second but she still couldn't have imagined it.
"Move"
Her heart started to beat hard against her chest at the sound of his voice which for seven days now had not been directed at her, not even once.
She opened her mouth, all those clever confrontations she had imagined forgotten.
Seconds ticked by.
The brunet grew restless and so he repeated:
"Move…"
She remained still. Finally her lips parted before his and she accused, "you're avoiding me…"
The brunet did not look surprised. If any he was probably wondering what had taken this long to come up to him that such an accusation. This was probably clear from his well-rehearsed counter.
"I don't have a reason to," he said blankly, "now, move…"
She looked at him disbelievingly and said practically throwing him her first death glares, "you know what, Saionji…?"
He raised his eyebrows.
"You are obviously not a good liar!" she said, smiling vicariously, "Not even close!"
"I did not ignore you, Kouzuki!" he retorted, taking a step forward, teeth clenched and eyes contracted.
"Yea right…!" she said, also taking a step, "then what about this—I cannot work at Table Six!"
"Six is my unlucky number," he said lightly, shifting his gaze to a stray cat to his right.
Miyu's jaw almost dropped.
Regaining her raging stare, she pointed out, "last week… Tuesday… you were working at Table Six… or did you just forget that it was your unlucky number…?"
"Last week," he repeated, looking directly into her eyes, a kind of malicious glint suddenly appearing deep inside them that she had never noticed before, "Tuesday… I did work at the said table and if you need more evidence, I have a huge soup stain on my shirt to prove it…"
Crimson hue appeared across her cheeks resulting in a small and almost unnoticeable smirk making its way along the lips of the brunet.
"I can't believe your throwing that in my face…"
"At your clumsiness to be more precise…"
This time her jaw did drop.
Seven days of no conversation and now this…?
She couldn't believe that deep inside she was actually wishing that the silence was much more comfortable than bickering.
With a quick comeback she asked before he could leave, which he had his full wish to do, "what about not going home together…?"
"I don't see why," he snapped.
"Same apartment," she offered, through clenched teeth.
This time he took a second to answer.
"You and I leave at different times," he finally said and even the clueless Jennifer would figure out that that was a totally lame lie.
"Wow…!" Miyu said suddenly feigning surprise as a grin appeared along her face, "we're leaving at the same time today now, aren't we…?"
She waited for another one of his lying responses. But this time none came.
She parted her lips to enquire by adding a closing triumph on finally winning against the brunet. But before she had so much as uttered a word, the brunet brushed past her and started walking away.
"Hey!" she started but he turned half-way and asked coldly, "Are you coming…? Or are you gonna label this as well, as ignoring you…?"
Despite everything, a smile made its way to her face making her a sight to soar eyes. She closed her eyes in the process and if she hadn't she wouldn't have missed the tiny tinges of pink that had finally crept to the face of the brunet.
~Destiny~
"I can't believe it rained…!"
"…"
"It's not even that time of the year yet…!"
"…"
The blonde pouted as the nil response she received from her dripping brunet companion as the two marched the long fleet of stairs to their apartments. Like always, the brunet walked forward, droplets of water dripping from the edges of his clothes and falling on the ground.
Even from the back it was clearly visible that not only his clothes but also his locks of silky brunet hair was stuck to his body from all the rain water that it had to come in contact with as both the teenagers had miraculously stopped at the same time when the first drops began to pour.
Miyu had been a little surprised and also taken aback that Kanata loved the rain. He hadn't said it out loud but it was really obvious from the serene look that he had held as he faced toward the sky, his eyes closed.
The brunet came to a halt and so did the blonde.
Needless to say, they had reached her apartment.
Without so much of a backward glance he began to walk towards the stairs to the next floor.
"Good Night…" she called back at him for which he meekly waved but didn't return the greeting by words.
Biting her lower lip as sudden warmth began to spread through her body despite all the wetness, she grabbed the doorknob and turned.
"That's funny… It's locked…" she muttered under her breath.
She tried again and then finally realization hit her.
"Oh shit..!" she groaned.
~Destiny~
Kanata hadn't been inside the apartment for one minute when there was a knock on the door. He frowned and proceeded to open the door, still wet with his black sweater sticking to his body.
"Hi…"
"What are you doing here?" he asked, almost rudely.
"Locked out," she said, awkwardly.
"What?" he asked disbelievingly.
The blonde took a deep breath and parted her lips:
"You see… Katie left to visit her parents… I totally forgot that it was today. And thereby did not take my spare key with work and since Katie didn't know that I forgot she didn't leave one behind and so basically I'm locked out and the spare key is inside the apartment…!"
Once she was finished she looked up and saw the brunet looking at her with his eyes wide (well, a little wider than usual at the least…)
She waited with bated breath. She hadn't directly yet asked him but she knew that even if he didn't want to let her stay here she was sure his roommate, the soft and warm, Dylan would.
The brunet sighed and then opened the door wide enough to let her in. She gave him one of her huge and vivacious smiles as she conveyed her thanks.
Once she entered the apartment, she realized that the apartment resembled almost exactly theirs. There were two bedrooms facing the doorway and in between the television surrounded by a long couch and two extra smaller ones. The kitchen was attached near the front door and a bathroom at the left corner to the apartment. And almost exactly like their apartment, there was a small balcony to the right.
But unlike theirs' the apartment was a lot less messy and the kitchen looked perfect. She was a little ashamed that the boys were taking a better care of their apartment than them, girls.
She looked around as the brunet entered the bedroom to the left and that was when she realized that something fundamental was missing at the apartment.
"Where's Dylan?" she asked.
The brunet walked out of the room carrying a pair of tracks and a T-shirt along with a towel wrapped around his shoulder and another in his other arm which he threw at the blonde, who almost missed it but caught it nonetheless.
"He's out on a trip with his friends from work… it was sudden…" he said and then added, "You can change in my room," he pointed at the room which he had just vacated.
She was just about to point out that she didn't have any spare clothes when he said, "you can wear one of mine… check the wardrobe…"
She nodded lightly and then with the towel around her shoulder, she walked into the brunet's room, her heart thumping hard.
~Destiny~
After ten minutes of searching through his clothes, her face red, Miyu finally chose the smallest of them all—a white, half-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of black track pants. The pants were like all of his other clothes, long and bulgy for after all he was a fully grown teenager. But the T-shirt came as a surprise. It was a perfect fit. He would definitely not fit in it.
She walked out his room, the towel over her hair and carrying her wet clothes in her arms.
As she entered the hall, the brunet walked out of the bathroom, brushing a towel against his locks. His eyes landed on her and he froze for a minute.
"Err…" she started, turning red, "where do I…?" she started looking pointedly at her wet clothes.
The brunet cleared his throat and said, "There's a basket inside the bathroom…"
He took a step aside from the bathroom letting her enter, which she did a little reluctantly.
Once inside, she decided to dry herself before walking into the hall again. She looked at herself in the mirror and was not at all surprised to see that blood had risen to her face from all the tension.
After ten minutes inside she walked out of the bathroom silently. The brunet was sitting in the couch, switching through the channels in the TV so constantly that she was surprised that he could keep his orbs fixed on the screen without blinking even with the constant blinks.
As she stood there, in those baggy pants and perfectly fitting shirt, she couldn't help but yearn for an alternate life where things weren't this complicated between her and the guy sitting at the couch there.
If it wasn't bad enough that she was head over heels in love with a guy who was obviously in love with a girl who she can never match up to, she has to spend the weekend with him—alone!
Although this seriously didn't look the right situation, she decided that maybe it was time she really did quit on him. It was pointless after all.
She took steps towards him, still wondering how she was actually gonna accomplish that when she saw the brunet sitting on the couch with a pillow on his lap and some blankets on the foot of the couch.
"You're bunking here?" she asked before she could stop herself.
He stopped with the torment that he was levying on the remote control and looked up at her, frowning.
"Yes…" he answered lightly and then turned his eyes back to the TV screen finally landing on news, "you can sleep in my room…"
She looked uncertainly at him and asked, "why not Dylan's room…?"
"Even though the guy didn't lock the place, he deserves some privacy…"
Silence ensued.
"I'll take the couch," she said, almost inaudibly.
"Please go the room before I change my mind and kick you out," he said lightly, his eyes not moving from the TV screen all the while he spoke.
She pouted and then sighing, sat down beside the brunet, slightly alarming the latter.
"I'm not sleepy yet…" she responded to his stern look.
He leaned to the edge of the couch and resting his ankle on the arm of the chair and his head on his hand, started switching through channels again.
Miyu couldn't even take two minutes of it at the end of which she snatched the remote from the unsuspecting brunet's hands snarling, "Give the remote a break Kanata!"
Seconds passed.
Seconds dragged on to minutes.
"You love rain…"
The brunet turned to look at her, surprised.
She turned to face him and smiled, "I love it too…! The look you held when we were getting drenched is the exact same look that I hold…
"My mom once took a picture and showed it to me…
"You know it's one of the most amazing feelings in the world…
"It's like your entire soul is getting cleansed…
"Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain…" she quoted when the brunet cut across.
"…there's no life…"he finished, "I know… Robert Frost… "The Thatch"… I do love the rain… Could you stop now…?"
She pouted her lips as she looked at the brunet returning to randomly switching channels in the TV. Then suddenly a thought occurred.
"Does Maya like rain…?"
The brunet turned to her and asked, "What…?"
"I as-asked whether if Ma—" she started but Kanata cut across.
"I heard what you asked," he said, pushing his hand into his hair almost restlessly, "Why…?"
Miyu bit her lower lip but did not answer.
"Well… I just wanted to know…" she started uncertainly.
"If you're not gonna give me a reason—"
"It's because I wanna get over you!"
Kanata's eyes widened at the sudden proclamation. The blonde had turned away, her eyes a little glassy for she had not aimed at revealing to him her feelings but he was the one who started it all.
He queried the blonde with his auburn orbs but it had no effect whatsoever, probably because she had her face turned away from the brunet.
Taking a deep breath, she finally spoke, still not turning to look at the lad sitting beside her.
"I thought maybe if you talked about the one you love," she said, trying to keep her voice steady but unfortunately it wasn't much of a success, "the… the feelings I… that I have for you… might… might steam down…"
Silence followed her words. The brunet was obviously lost for words to say.
She bit her lower lip wishing to take it all back and never having said anything. She should've just knocked on Mrs. Ashton's door in the first floor than here. She regretted telling him now. Just a kiss had sent him into a path of total ignorance for a week. No need to ask what a total revelation would do to him.
"She didn't like the rain," the brunet's low and composed voice rang through the apartment, "she thought it was Nature's way of shedding tears for all the sorrow that is to follow the human kind…"
Miyu turned slowly, her eyes wide and looked at the brunet, the ends of her lips moving up during the process.
"Did she…" the blonde started again but the brunet cut across again going, "that's it for today…! Go to bed…"
She pouted again and got to her feet and started to march towards Kanata's room.
She stopped at the threshold and then turning half-way said with a huge smile and the tears that almost formed still at the edges of her eyes, "Thanks, Kanata…"
The brunet looked at her and for the first time since they met, no thought of Maya passed his mind when he looked into those emerald orbs of hers. After a week, his heart started to pound almost painfully against his chest as she sat there, in tears and smiling.
"Good night," he muttered, shakily.
"Good Night Kanata…" she smiled again and closed the door behind her.
End Chapter 10
A/N: If truth be told, I wasn't supposed to be writing with the exam so near but I needed a way to relieve off the tension... Hope this chapter didn't come a little off the top... Hope you enjoyed it...
Bye for now...
And do not forget to Review...:)
