Chapter 15: That's A Big Question You're Asking Me…
Weeks went by. Hyuga got better under Kojima's guidance. The girls were all making good grades in their classes. Hayato was enjoying his work. Tsuchi and Take were keeping in touch with Maki and Juri. Ryu was bored out of his mind everyday. And Sayo did her best to be a suitable partner for Yoshida. It was now the beginning of August…
Saya walked along the streets one afternoon, enjoying the fall breeze and the colors the trees had began to turn. She had heard from Juri about a coffee shop that served good coffee and cappuccinos. So, she was on a hunt to find the place to test it out herself. For some reason, the name of the place sounded a bit familiar to her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She figured it would come to her once she saw the place.
Saya finally came upon the establishment she had been looking for. The Coffee Beanery. The place still not ringing any bells. Upon entering, she made her way to the counter while scanning the menu for a drink she wanted. She hadn't paid any attention to the people standing behind the counter at the register. All the guys on duty were watching her with lustful eyes.
"Welcome, are you ready to order?" Hayato turned around with his eyes closed and asked the customer at his register. He had been busy when Saya had walked in and hadn't known who was there.
"Yes, I would-" Saya stopped short, realizing just whose voice she was hearing, and finally why she should've recognized the name of the place in the first place. She was the one who made him apply here after all. "Yabuki-kun!" she looked in front of her to find the one and only Yabuki Hayato standing there with a smile on his face.
"Eh?" he finally opened his eyes, recognizing the voice of the girl. "Ah! Saya-chan!"
"Wow, so they really hired you," she smirked, looking at him in his uniform.
"Yeah, they did," he admitted with embarrassment. "So, what would you like to order?" he asked her again, not wanting to get scolded for this by his supervisor.
"Oh yeah, a white chocolate caramel cappuccino please," she smiled.
"All right, your order will be up in a minute, you can have a seat at any table you want," he told her. Because it was his job. And he needed to keep his job. Or else Ryu would become a murderer…
"I'll be waiting for it," she smirked at him playfully and walked over to a table by the front window of the store.
"…" Hayato couldn't say anything back to that face he had gotten. A small blush creeped up onto his face and he turned around to place her order with the rest of the crew.
The other two guys at the other registers quickly dealt with their customers and immediately jumped on Hayato's case about Saya. "So, how do you know that hottie?"
"Hah?" Hayato was a tad confused, but quickly realized they were talking about Saya. It was obvious.
"That girl, how the hell do you know her?"
"High school," Hayato answered simply. Too simply.
"Do you know if she's got a boyfriend?"
"I don't know," Hayato found himself getting quite angry with them for taking an interest in her. He couldn't blame them for it, but it still wasn't favorable for him. He wouldn't want them to ask her out.
"Well, can I take her order to her?" one of them asked. "I wanna ask her out."
"No, she's my customer, you have your own," Hayato told him flatly. With that, he grabbed her cappuccino and made his way to her table. "I'm taking my break," he called back to the supervisor so he could talk with Saya.
"Man, what's with him?"
"Who knows…"
Hayato made his way to Saya's table and set the steaming drink in front of her carefully. "One white chocolate caramel cappuccino," he sat across from her.
"Don't you have work?" Saya asked with serious eyes. Her cappuccino was radiating warmth on her neck from where it sat on the table in front of her.
"I'm on break," Hayato told her, looking her dead in the eyes, intent on not looking away.
"Oh, in that case," she smiled and carefully grabbed her cup and brought it to her face. Blowing gently on the liquid first, she took a small sip to test the taste. She blinked after swallowing. "Wow…"
"It's good huh?" Hayato smirked at her expression.
"Yeah, it's great," Saya smiled like child.
"I can see why they like you," he mumbled low to himself, watching her smile. He smirked at the irony of the whole situation. She had no idea how he felt about her, at least not that he knew of.
"Did you say something?" she asked innocently. There was quite a bit of chatter around them from the other customers. She wasn't sure if he was talking to her or not.
"No, nothing," he shook his head. He didn't want her to know what the other guys had been thinking. He didn't want her to take an interest in them, in all actuality. He was feeling quite selfish at the moment. However, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep guys away from her.
"Well, I can see you're quite popular here," she smirked at him, glancing around the room and seeing all the girls watching the two of them with anticipation while trying not to seem obvious.
"What?" Hayato blinked, caught off guard by her observation.
"All the girls in here are watching us intently," Saya told him, smirk still present.
"So?" Hayato didn't really notice the girls around them. Saya had that kind of effect on him.
"I'm just saying," Saya shrugged, taking another careful sip of her steaming hot cappuccino.
"Are you jealous?" he asked out of nowhere, feeling a bit aroused by the topic.
"Hah!" she breathed after a quick, burning swallow. Her face depicted embarrassment and skepticism.
"Well?" he was enjoying her expression.
"O-of course I'm not jealous, what are you, crazy?" she closed her eyes and swallowed more of the steaming liquid. She winced a little from the burning sensation on her tongue and breathed outward in an attempt to cool down her mouth.
"Nah, just curious, that's all," he teased, watching her with amusement. Her attempts were futile. He got up and grabbed a few ice cubes for her. "Here."
"Huh?" she looked up at him, his hand outstretched toward her with three ice cubes on a napkin. "Ah, thanks…" she nodded her head and set them on the table. She put them in her drink and watched them melt.
Hayato sat back down in front of her. "Honestly, that was pretty reckless of you," he told her. "You know that liquids hot."
"Yeah, well, shut up okay," she closed her eyes and looked away to hide her blush. "Jeez…"
"You busy tonight?" he asked her out of nowhere.
"Huh?" she looked back at him with wide eyes.
"Are you busy tonight?" he asked again.
"Uh, not sure," Saya answered, but immediately got a little suspicious of him. "Why, are you asking me out?"
"If you want to call it that, sure," Hayato smirked. After all, she had said it that way.
"What do you want to do?" she ignored him. She was a bit curious as to why he would ask her to go somewhere with him so suddenly.
"Just talk, figured we could eat out," he shrugged his shoulders. "But if you don't want to, it's all right."
"Hm…" Dinner would be nice. She hadn't been out to a nice restaurant in a while now. But, she didn't know where he had in mind, and she wasn't sure if he'd pay or not. After all, she didn't have that much money. Her rent was due a couple days ago.
Hayato let her think. Her thoughtful face was cute to him. He just watched her, waiting for her answer. He really didn't mind if she turned him down. After all, his part of the rent was due tomorrow, and he didn't really have the money to pay for two people's dinner tonight. Ryu would kill him if he didn't pay his share.
"Oh," Saya seemed to have remembered something. "I forgot, I've got class tonight, and I'm supposed to go see Sayo."
"Oh, really? How's she been, by the way," Hayato seemed not surprised, but a little content.
"She's been good," Saya nodded with a smile. "But yeah, she told me that Tama had some big question to ask her today, I wonder what it is…" she trailed off.
"Oh, sounds like her dancing career is hitting off well," Hayato nodded his head, amazed by the girl's raw talent. "Oh, gotta get back to work, just stop by the register when you're done, alright?"
"Oh, yeah, see you," Saya nodded and sipped carefully at her cappuccino so she didn't burn herself again.
Hayato left her at the table and returned to his register to take orders of new customers who had just walked in. By the time Saya was done, the two had such a quick goodbye, it was almost as if they had never met a day in their lives before.
Tsuchi walked into the Zest Cantina and sat down at the bar. The girls were bustling around, taking people's orders and cleaning tables as usual. He waited patiently for Kiri to come by. They had talked earlier that day and they were going to go on a date after she got off work. He was there to pick her up. What a good boyfriend.
"Oh, Tsuchi," Kiri greeted with a wide smile. Mitsu and Maki were behind her, fixing some drinks for other customers. "Hang on, I'll be off in a few minutes."
"No hurry," he told her with a smirk. He watched her as she delivered drinks and a plate of food to a couple up on the upper level by the window. She came back and took one more tray out to a table of four guys on the floor.
"Here you go," she smiled at them, glowing, while handing them their food.
"Wow, you're glowing Kiri-chan," one of the guys noticed.
"Yeah, what's the occasion?" another asked.
"Oh, my boyfriend is here," she continued to smile while standing up straight. "This is all, right?"
"Yeah, thanks for the food," they all nodded simultaneously before eating.
"Here's the bill, pay before you leave, okay?" she told them and took off into the back to change out of her uniform.
"Here, Tsuchiya-kun, she may take a few minutes," Maki smiled as she handed him a glass of water.
"Oh, thanks," he nodded, accepting the water and taking a long sip of it.
Kiri came back out in a light pink t-shirt with a printed drawing of a girl in a meadow holding a cat on it, teal plaid capris, and white converse folded over. The inside and back of the tongue had a skull print on it. She looked really cute as she made her way over to Tsuchi. (Link: http:/ s718. photobucket. com/ albums/ ww185/ KameLuvr9/ ?action = view & current = KiriCapris2 .jpg )
Tsuchi swallowed hard upon seeing her. She was too cute. He couldn't stop himself from blushing a bit at the sight of her. Once she was next to him, he cleared his throat. "You look cute," he told her with a smirk.
"Why thank you, Tsuchi," she smiled, followed by a small childish giggle.
Tsuchi stood from his seat and offered her his hand. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah," she nodded once and placed her hand in his. As they walked out, Kiri looked over her shoulder at the others two, "See you later!"
"Have fun," Mitsu and Maki called after them with smiles.
"Man, lucky Kiri, going out on a date with her boyfriend…" Mitsu pouted once alone with Maki.
"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad, can it?" Maki asked, trying to make the girl feel better. It obviously wasn't working very well.
"It can, actually," Mitsu spat out sourly. "I haven't heard from Kou-kun ever since he got his job…"
"I'm sure he's working very hard," Maki reassured her friend. "After all, he does work a night job…"
"That's probably the worst part," Mitsu grumbled. "He loves girls, I'm sure he's already found another girl he's interested in and is already pursuing her…"
"Hey, don't say things like that, he was the one who confessed first, remember?" Maki scolded Mitsu for talking like that.
"Yeah, but, the girls at that club are all so pretty…" Mitsu added in.
"Hey, they're not better than you, so just stop being negative," Maki was getting mad now. Mitsu was never a negative person. "If you want to talk to him so badly, call him."
"Okay, I will after work," Mitsu stood up straight and nodded her head.
"Good, now go serve those people with a smile," Maki told her.
"Right!" Mitsu nodded her head and left from behind the bar with a tray full of food and drinks.
"Jeez, that girl…" Maki sighed, taking her own tray out to serve the customers.
Juri sat in class, taking notes while her professor lectured. Her two roommates were in the same class, so they were sitting together. Juri never participated in any conversations during a lecture. The professor scolded anyone who did so. Juri hadn't wanted to be put into that position, so she always kept her mouth shut. Her roommates, however, were quite a different case. Whenever the professor had his back turned, they would make small talk about plans for later that night. Sometimes it was about dinner plans, others game nights. But this time, it was about a goukon they were planning on participating in. They only needed one more girl to go with them in order to make both sides even. Juri's only words to them were 'after class'.
So, they confronted the quiet girl after class was over.
"Kitano-chan, please, we only need one more girl to go with us," Mizuki pleaded.
"Yeah, the guys are supposed to be really nice and handsome," Fuyumi added, pleading just like Mizuki.
"I don't know…" Juri thought, contemplating what could go wrong, and what could go right. The 'wrong' was outweighing the 'right' at the moment.
"Please, just this once," Mizuki continued.
"Yeah, you can leave whenever you want to," Fuyumi tried to bargain with Juri. It wasn't really working.
"I don't think I can you two," Juri told them in a gentle voice.
"Aw, now we have to find someone else to go with us…" Mizuki pouted like a child.
"We can still go even though we're short one girl," Fuyumi shrugged.
"Thank you for inviting me though," Juri bowed politely to them.
"Oh, sure, anytime," Fuyumi smiled.
"Well, I guess we don't need to tell you we won't be back until late, huh?" Mizuki chuckled, perking up suddenly.
"I'll probably be asleep when you two get back in," Juri nodded her head with a cheerful smile. "So, be safe okay?"
"We will," Fuyumi and Mizuki reassured their quiet roommate and headed off campus to their destination for their goukon.
Juri sighed once the two were out of sight and turned toward the dorms. Another night alone. Those two were always going out on a goukon or partying with others. Juri honestly had no idea how she had ended up with such roommates nor how the two were even able to keep their grades up.
That night, Sayo and Yoshida were the only two left at the dance studio. He was trying to help her perfect her posture this time. They were also working on bettering her basic techniques so they could move on to more complicated dances. This way, they'd be able to enter a competition soon and hopefully win. As of now, she knew how to salsa, mamba, rumba, cha cha, waltz, and tango. Sayo's style was more upbeat, so Yoshida stuck to dances that were Latin. Of course, she had to know how to slow dance. They were ballroom dancers after all.
They finally finished for the night and Sayo was tired. She had forgotten that she was supposed to go out with Saya tonight. However, she did remember Yoshida had a question to ask her. "So, you have a question for me?" she smirked at him toweling her neck.
"Oh yeah," he nodded, toweling his own neck, and visibly thinking about how to word the question. "Don't take this the wrong way, now."
"Just ask the question, and then we'll take it from there," she told him, wiping her forehead of sweat.
"All right," Yoshida sighed and turned to her, a serious expression on his face. "I would like it if you would accompany me to America to compete in dance competitions."
Sayo had nothing to say. She was too shocked for words. They hadn't competed in any competitions over here, why would he want to take her to America without even testing out her abilities here first? She didn't quite get it. Either he wasn't being serious and this was a joke, or he had a ton of confidence in her. "For real?"
"Yeah," he nodded.
"But, we haven't even competed over here," Sayo blurted out, still trying to figure out if this were reality or if she were dreaming.
"We will be competing in a competition in two weeks," Yoshida told her. This was the first she'd heard of it. "We'll see if my assumptions are correct then."
"Why didn't you tell me that last week!" she half yelled, a bit irritated with being left out of the news.
"I planned on telling you, but you were busy all the time," he told her. It was true. They were always swamped at the Dream Star, he had things to do during the day, she was helping her aunt, and they had been so focused on improving her posture that he hadn't told her about the competition yet.
Sayo sighed, realizing what he said was true. "When would we be leaving?" she asked, curious and wanting to know every little detail of what she might be getting herself into.
"On December 31st, so we can start a fresh year in America," Yoshida answered, a small smile on his face.
"Hmm, after Christmas…" Sayo nodded, looking thoughtful.
"I hope you can consider it," he added in. He really wanted her to go.
"Just let me think about it, okay?" She asked, suddenly feeling tired.
"All right, have fun with Saya-chan tonight," he told her as she began to leave the studio.
Sayo stopped in her tracks. "You're right, I had plans with her!"
"Better get going then," he told her with a small chuckle under his breath.
"Ahh! I forgot!" Sayo smacked her forehead and whipped out her cell phone, speed dialing Saya while exiting the studio.
Yoshida closed his eyes and shook his head. "Honestly, that girl…" he waited a few moments before grabbing his belongings, locking up the place, and leaving for home.
"Saya," Sayo spoke into the phone once Saya had answered.
"Where are you?" Saya asked her cousin.
"I'm on my way now," Sayo answered. "I kinda forgot with all that's gone on tonight…" Sayo admitted shyly.
"That's alright, just get here now," Saya told her cousin.
"Alright, I'll be there in a few," Sayo nodded her head and they both hung up. They were meeting at Shirokin park by the fountain. Sayo didn't have much farther to go.
"Sayo, over here!" Saya called her over once she had entered her sight.
"Oh, hey," Sayo jogged over to Saya and sat down on the edge of the fountain, taking deep breaths.
"You okay?" Saya asked with a small chuckle.
"Yeah, fine," Sayo nodded, still breathing heavy.
"So," Saya started. "what'd he ask you?"
"Oh, that…" Sayo nodded her head, catching her breath.
"Yeah, that," Saya nodded her head, waiting for the news.
"Well, he asked me if I would accompany him to America later this year," Sayo informed her cousin.
"Wow…" Saya breathed. It was hard to believe. "That's a big question…"
"I know," Sayo agreed, sitting up straight on the edge of the fountain.
"It's almost as big as a marriage proposal…" Saya muttered, not fully believing the question.
"I don't want you to tell anyone else, okay?" Sayo looked Saya dead straight in the eye, seriously. "This is just between us until I decide, got it?"
"Mm," Saya nodded her head, an equally serious expression on her face. "I promise I won't tell anyone else."
"Especially any of the guys, it'd spread like wildfire…" Sayo muttered, looking over at the flowing water in the fountain.
"Understood," Saya felt the same, in all actuality. It would be a bad idea to spread this news around before anything was really decided on. Who knew what the others would say to Ryu and what he would think.
Sayo sighed loudly, thinking the same exact thing. What if Ryu found out prematurely? How would he react? Would she be able to face him? Probably not. She hadn't seen him for months now. Even so, he was still on her mind. Every song she sang every night, she found some kind of hidden meaning in it that reminded her of how she felt around Ryu. How he made her feel when they were together, alone or not. She shook her head and patted her cheeks twice to snap herself out of the thoughts.
"Why don't you go home and get some rest, okay? It's been a long day for you, I'm sure," Saya suggested.
Sayo looked up at her cousin and hesitated for a moment before nodding her head in agreement and standing up. "You're right."
"I'll see you another time, okay?" Saya smiled comfortingly. She patted Sayo's shoulder.
"Yeah, see you," Sayo nodded and headed off towards her house.
Saya watched her cousin's back fade away into the night surroundings. Once she could no longer see her, she sat back down on the fountain edge and let a sigh escape her lips. "America huh?" Saya mumbled to herself, still a bit in disbelief about the question. "I wonder how long he'd keep her there…" Saya looked up at the dark night sky and saw a few stars hanging there.
Two weeks went by in a flash. Sayo and Yoshida worked their hardest to get their routine perfect before the competition. Saya was keeping in touch with Sayo to encourage her to do her best during the competition. At times like this, Sayo wished she could talk to Kumiko the most. She always knew how to make Sayo feel confident in herself and do her best. Now it was up to her to make herself feel that way. Without help from Kumiko.
Saya sat at the bar in the Zest Cantina with Juri, watching Kiri, Mitsu and Maki bustle around filling orders.
"I hope she's not freaking out," Saya let out her concerns. She wasn't able to attend the competition to watch Sayo and Yoshida, so all she could do was pray that they won.
"You talking about Sayo?" Juri asked curiously.
"Yeah."
"What about Sayo?" Maki asked as she stopped to catch her breath in front of the two girls.
"Oh, she and DJ Tama are participating in a ballroom competition today," Saya explained.
"Oh, cool," Maki smiled. "I hope they win."
"Yeah, Sayo's been really nervous about it lately," Saya agreed, staring at the top of the bar.
"Oh, what for?" Juri asked.
"Well, her performance in the competition, and…" Saya swore to Sayo that she wouldn't tell them about the question yet. Sayo had told her that lately, the thoughts of Ryu had been invading her mind more and more. "She's been a bit distracted by her thoughts recently…"
"Oh, poor Sayo," Juri mumbled.
"But she'll be fine, I know it," Saya looked up with confidence in her eyes. "I know they can win, I have faith."
"Yeah!" Maki and Juri agreed.
Sayo stood next to Yoshida while they awaited the results of the competition. She was nervous beyond belief. She kept thinking about the possibilities of them not even placing. What if they completely failed and just looked like idiots? She didn't want to lose, but didn't think she was talented enough to stand a chance against everyone else who was a professional around her. She felt out of place and scared. She had to stop thinking about the results. She needed to find a way to distract her until the judges were done deliberating their decision. Yoshida was very confident in her. She would feel terrible if she ended up letting him down.
In an attempt to calm down, she envisioned herself standing alone in the streets while the rain came down. The sound of the rain was soothing. The feeling of each drop hitting her skin in such a rhythmic way was calming. Then, a memory struck her and an umbrella was over her head. She peered to her left and saw Ryu standing there, holding out the umbrella to her. Then, it was as if she were watching a movie of someone else's life. This was her memory of the day the girls helped the guys job hunt two days after graduation. Sayo had almost forgotten that it had rained that day. She had to think of something else quickly, but she couldn't imagine a situation fast enough that didn't link back to a memory that didn't involve Ryu.
"Have the judges reached a decision?" the announcer asked, seeing the judges all nodding their heads after talking to one another.
"We have," the senior judge announced as the three of them turned to face the contestants waiting for their verdict.
"Please, will the judges reveal the places," the announcer prompted them to begin announcing the winners.
"In third place, we have Kawamura Shinoda pair," the female judge announced with a smile and Kawamura and his current partner walked forward to receive their award. The prizes included money and such.
"In second place, in a very close vote, we have Yoshida Tsukioka pair," the younger male judge announced and everyone clapped for the two as they advanced forward. Sayo had to take a few seconds to realize what was happening before she moved from her place.
"And in first place, winning by one singular vote, we have Sawaki Kobayashi pair," the senior judge announced and everyone clapped for the three winning pairs.
"To all the other competitors, thank you for competing in our competition. We wish to see you all back again next year to try your best," the announcer stated over his microphone, signaling the end of the competition and that everyone who was not a winner to leave the dance floor.
Shinoda, Kawamura's current partner, wore an odd dress with cut outs on the side, long sleeves and a U shaped neck line. The skirt was a little longer than mid-thigh length, flowing and longer in the back. The fabric of the dress was an odd pattern of what looked like waves. The colors of the pattern were a purple, navy blue, and a cyan blue with white dots on it all over. Her black hair was curled and some strands were held back by pins with white dots on them to match the dress. Light pink, cyan blue and purple were painted around her light brown eyes to complete her whole look. It was an odd dress, but she was able to pull it off. (Dress Link: http:/ s718 .photobucket .com/ albums/ ww185/ KameLuvr9/ Dance%20Dresses/ ?action = view & current = LD-SG1393 .jpg ; Eye Make Up Link that I do not own: http:/ browse .deviant art .com/ traditional/ bodyart/ ?qh = & section =& q = purple + blue / d39vuaf ; Hairstyle that I do not own: http:/ www .zimbio .com/ Formal + Hairstyles/ articles/ 17/ Formal + Updos + for + Any + Occasion [last picture on the page] )
Kobayashi, a beautiful woman, wore a dress that barely covered her chest. Not that anything was hanging out, her boobs were covered perfectly, but everything else, not so much. Her back was completely open, no cloth aside from the straps holding the top pieces on her body. It was mostly black with silver rhinestones sewn on it. The neck piece was black and had a lot of silver rhinestones sewn on it. The left side of the top looked like half of a bra, with gold and silver rhinestones sewn on to look like a sun. The right side was a long black piece of fabric, that connected to the neck piece, with the silver rhinestones sewn sparsely up top, and gathering down at the end where the piece was sewn onto the skirt, to look like the night sky filled with stars. The band of the skirt was black with gold and silver rhinestones sewn on to look like fireworks. The rest of the skirt was yellow, asymmetrical in shape, with black hem lining. Black fabric with silver rhinestones also ran down her arms as another part of her ensemble. Her dark brown hair had a patch of blonde in it on top that was proudly shown in her hair style, which was simply her hair pulled back into a ponytail, light curls, and fake diamond flower decorated bobby pins. Her eyes were painted yellow with black accents to match her black and yellow theme, showing off her beautifully golden brown eyes. (Dress Link: http:/ s718 .photobucket .com/ albums/ ww185/ KameLuvr9/ Dance%20Dresses/ ?action = view & current = Dance-Costume-16 .jpg ; Eye make Up I do not own: http:/ browse .deviant art .com/ traditional/ bodyart/ ?q = black yellow & order = 9 & offset = 168 / d378h3a ; Hairstyle I do not own: http:/ www .zimbio .com/ Formal + Hairstyles/ articles/ 17/ Formal + Updos + for + Any + Occasion [Sixth picture on the page] )
Sayo was in a beautiful black and white dress. It was a halter with no sleeves. The top of the dress had two white fabric pieces sewn on like they were pulled upward and attached to the black body of the dress with white fabric flower appliqué and black vine appliqué that were kind of hard to see. Some bits of the top were a fabric that was skin colored to make it look like she had nothing there. The actual skirt of the dress was a zebra print fabric that fell in a handkerchief hem line, with draping black fabric around the backside. There were more white flower fabric appliqués on the back top of the dress, which left the back open. On each wrist were three white fabric made bangles. She wore white dancing heels to match the dress. Her eyes were painted with sparkling zebra print, which took hours to do. And her hair was in a beautiful half updo that left her bangs to hang in her face beautifully. (Dress Link: http:/ s718 .photobucket .com/ albums/ ww185/ KameLuvr9/ Dance%20Dresses/ ?action = view & current = LD-SG1476 .jpg ; Eye Make Up Link that I do not own: http:/ browse .deviant art .com/ traditional/ bodyart/ ?q= my work ZEBRA / d30wfrv ; Hairstyle that I found on Google: http:/ www .hairs-style .com/ wp-content/ uploads/ 2011/ 02/ quick-updos1 .jpg )
"You all did very wonderful jobs in this competition tonight," the senior judge commented, shaking everyone's hands.
"Yes, quite wonderful indeed," agreed the younger male judge. He nodded his head as he shook everyone's hands as well.
"You especially, Tsukioka-san, for being a newcomer and placing second," the female judge agreed with the others as she shook Sayo's hand.
"Oh, thank you very much," Sayo bowed her head with a small smile at the comment.
"I hear that Yoshida-san is the one who trained you," the younger male judge commented as he shook Sayo's hand after the female judge.
"Ah, yes, Yoshida-kun has been training me diligently for the past couple months now," Sayo answered the curiosity with a smile.
"Well, Yoshida, you've been doing a very good job," the senior judge commented as he shook Yoshida's hand.
"Ah, thank you sir," Yoshida smiled. "I do have to add in, however, Tsukioka-chan's natural talent."
"Yes, that would have to come into account somewhere I suppose," the senior judge nodded as he shook Sayo's hand.
Sayo only smiled at the senior judge after she and Yoshida moved on. They later received their prizes and all the contestants left for home. Sayo and Yoshida headed out to a restaurant for a celebratory dinner. He intended to treat her to any place of her choosing. They headed out without changing clothes in case she wanted to go somewhere fancy. Although, it turned out she hadn't really wanted to go into a fancy restaurant in her dress. So, instead they went to a semi-fancy restaurant that she was comfortable with. They had a good time, talking about almost anything except for her friends, and going to America. After dinner, Yoshida made sure that Sayo got home safely by venturing on the taxi ride to her home and paying for it since she was only stop number one. His taxi drove off ass soon as he saw her enter the house.
The next day, Saya found herself calling Hayato. For what reason, she was unsure of herself, but she was doing it. It rang twice before he picked up.
"Hello?" he answered, sounding a bit preoccupied. Kitchen noises could be heard in the background as some pots hit the stove top a bit harder than it should have.
"Hey," she smiled into the phone, for no reason, not knowing what to say.
"Oh, Saya-chan, hey," Hayato replied, still preoccupied, probably with not burning himself or something. "What's up?"
"Oh not much," Saya answered truthfully. She had nothing planned for today since she was off work and had no classes for the day. "I'm a bit bored to be honest."
"Oh? Why are you bored?" Hayato asked, the sound of running water could now be heard in the background.
"Because I have nothing to do today, literally," Saya answered, a bit of irony sounding out in her voice.
"Really? No classes?" Hayato sounded a bit surprised, now pouring the water into a pot or pan of some sort, she could hear it sizzling as it hit the heat.
"Yeah, no work either," she scoffed. "What about you?"
"Oh, I'm just trying to make myself some breakfast," Hayato answered, the sizzling water cooling down. He had added something to it. "Ryu's already at class."
"Hmm," Saya nodded her head, even though he couldn't see her. "you have work today?"
"Yeah, got the night shift again…" he didn't seem to be too thrilled about the night shift. She could hear him shuffling something in the background. Probably some kind of noodle or rice.
"Well, I was thinking…" Saya paused, trying to figure out how to word this without sounding completely nervous and stupid. "Maybe we could go out to eat today or something…"
"…" Hayato didn't say anything, which worried Saya a bit. Maybe he didn't really want to and was just unintentionally sending out vibes by accident. Then she heard what sounded like a box crashing onto the floor and something spilling out of it. "Ah!"
Saya covered her mouth so she didn't laugh directly at him, chuckling the whole time. She heard him curse at himself lightly for not paying attention and picking up whatever it was he had spilt all over the floor of his and Ryu's apartment.
"Man, if he finds out this happened…" he muttered bitterly. Saya figured Ryu was the kind of roommate that was kind of strict when it came to cleanliness and money.
"Um…" Saya scratched her chin with her finger for a few seconds, waiting for his reply to her invite.
"Oh, sorry," Hayato answered, the sound of his voice fading and returning quickly, along with sounds of rapid finger movement on the phone. "Almost dropped the phone…"
Saya had to stop herself from laughing at him again. She was quite glad she was a patient person.
"Um, I…" Hayato sounded like he was in the middle of thinking about his answer seriously while cleaning up his mess. He kept grunting the whole time. "Oh, screw making breakfast, let's go have something now."
"What?" Saya blinked. That wasn't what she expected to come out of his mouth. Wasn't he cooking something right this second?
"All I'm succeeding in doing is burning water and making a mess, so let's just go have breakfast somewhere together," Hayato spoke as if he was reading her mind, even though Saya knew that was impossible.
"But, where should we go?" she asked, too shocked to respond any other way.
"I don't know, you should pick," Hayato replied, sounding a tad bit preoccupied. She couldn't blame him, he had made a mess he needed to clean up. "I'll be a little bit though, spilled quite a bit…"
"That's okay, we can go have brunch or something," Saya shook her head and smiled. "Call me when you're done cleaning, we can decide where then."
"Alright, it's a date," Hayato spoke without thinking.
"Um," Saya blinked in surprise and her face lit up red. "Okay…"
"See you in a bit," Hayato finished and hung up the phone.
"Yeah, a date…" Saya breathed as she lowered the phone slowly from her ear, hitting the end button on her own phone. She couldn't believe he had just said that!
Ryu felt a quick pinch of pain in his neck as he sat in class, and rolled his neck in an attempt to ease it. Something similar to this had happened once to him and Hayato when they were still in school, just after Yamaguchi had gotten there. They had felt chills run up heir spines. At that moment, he felt like something bad might happen to them later. This time felt somewhat the same, except he felt that he was going to have to hurt someone because he did a stupid thing. He'd just have to wait and see when he returned home that night after work.
Everyday during classes, he always had to ignore the lustful stares he got from the girls in his classes that took interest in him because of the way he looked. He felt their eyes on his back as one would a knife. It was quite annoying to him that they would act so childish at this age. Then again, he had to admit that his roommate was quite childish himself at times.
"He's always so handsome," he heard one of the girls sigh in the back, talking to the other girls she was with. He didn't have to turn around to know they were all together and whispering about him.
"Yeah, his hair is so perfect," another one swooned, a dreamy air to her voice. Ryu shivered a little. Hearing someone talk about your hair like that is a little bit creepy.
"I wonder what he looks like without his shirt on," yet another girl whispered to the others, a hint of mischief to her voice. Ryu's eye twitched a couple times.
"Oh, that's a wonderful picture," the other girls chuckled, imagining Ryu without his shirt on. Ryu forbade himself to turn around to see the looks on their faces. He knew it would probably give him nightmares.
Trying his hardest to ignore their talk and listen to the professor, Ryu focused all of his energy on taking notes about the lecture. He was glad that he had found relief from disturbing or unwanted thoughts by studying. Even if the method withdrew him from the world around him, it relieved him of going insane. And he really didn't want to go insane. Not this early in his life, anyway.
The professor wrapped up his lecture and the class was over. Ryu always tried to be the first one out the door to avoid confrontation with the admiring girls of his classes. He was not so fortunate this time around. When the lecture ended, all of Ryu's belongings were still out on the desk in front of him. Realizing this a little too late, he hurriedly put his things in his bag, hoping the girls wouldn't approach him. If they didn't approach him, that meant that they knew he wouldn't go out with them. If they did, it meant they thought any one of them had a chance of him saying yes to them. If the latter were to happen, he would just have to crush the girls' dreams. Let's face it, there was no way in hell that Ryu was going to date a girl who admired him from afar and imagined him shirtless in a public place while, more than likely, making disturbing facial expressions.
Ryu was not so fortunate. These girls apparently had this thought in their head that he would in fact love to date one of them. The whole pack of them quickly moved to surround him just as he got his pen safely into his bag. He looked up and saw them obstructing his escape route. Damn it all to hell.
"Hi Odagiri-san," they all greeted in their own flirtatious way. Ryu said nothing back. He only nodded in reply, since it was only the polite thing to do. And he didn't really want to cause a scene.
"Are you busy today?" one of them asked, he didn't care to decipher which of them had spoken. They all seemed highly interested in his plans for the day.
"Yes," he answered simply. If they held him up too long, he would be late for work. He had to make this as quick as possible.
"Aw, that's no good," the girls all pouted. That made Ryu want to gag. "What about tomorrow?"
"Busy," Ryu simply answered again, standing from his seat. None of the girls moved.
"You always seem to be studying," another of the girls observed, giving him a sense of déjà vu. "Don't you ever go out and have some fun?"
"Yeah, like, say, with some girls," another tried to be sly and drop hints, which were painfully obvious.
"I do go out and have fun," Ryu answered, attempting to push his way through them to escape. "With my friends when we have time."
"Oh, from high school?" another girl smiled, almost completely mocking innocence.
Ryu turned his head back toward her with no amusement whatsoever. "Yes, from high school." And he made his way swiftly out the door before they could continue talking.
"I wonder if any of those friends of his are girls…" one of them wondered out loud after he had left. None of the other girls had thought of that before this mentioning. The girls all continued to their next destination while contemplating this possibility.
Takeshi opened his apartment door to see his younger cousin standing at his doorstep, a puzzled expression on her face as she stared at the floor. He blinked a few times before she raised her head to look at him. She seemed so serious.
"Sayo-chan, what's wrong?" he asked, motioning for her to enter the apartment.
"…" Sayo shook her head in silence, letting herself in. She was trying to find the right way to say what she wanted to say. It wasn't easy to put this kind of thing into words. Think about it. Telling a loved one that you may be leaving the country wasn't easy at all, for anyone.
Sayo made her way to the sofa and plopped down on it, leaning her head back, eyes closed, with a heavy sigh. Takeshi had followed her and stood adjacent to her in front of the sofa. He turned off the television. "Come on, that sigh doesn't tell me that nothing is wrong."
"It's not that it's wrong…" Sayo replied lowly, still trying to find the right words.
"Then what is it?" he asked, sitting next to her, waiting for her to speak. It took her a few minutes.
"I don't really know how to tell you…" Sayo frowned, knowing that this was just leading him in circles.
"Just tell me then, I don't care how," Takeshi persisted. He just wanted to know if he could help her through whatever it was. And if it were guy related, and the guy had hurt her, he'd pay dearly.
"…" Sayo bit her lower lip, taking in a deep breath. "Yoshida asked me to go to America with him…" she waited to hear his response. Something of either protest or encouragement.
"Wow, he did, huh?" Takeshi nodded his head, finally understanding why she was so puzzled on how to say it. "Did you answer him yet?"
"No," Sayo answered with a worried expression. She really wasn't sure if she wanted to go or not. It was confusing.
"Do you want to go?" Takeshi asked, watching her carefully.
"I think it would be fun to go and see America," Sayo answered, sounding a bit conflicted.
"But?"
"But I don't know how long we're going to be gone for, nor if I can come back for holidays and what not…" Sayo explained, finally looking Takeshi in the face.
"I'm sure he'll let you," Takeshi reassured her. "When would you two be leaving?"
"At the end of December, after Christmas," Sayo answered, closing her eyes and sighing again.
"You're always sighing every time I see you it seems," Takeshi had brought up this topic with her once before, way back when she had first just gotten to know the guys. Sayo quickly realized where this little observation was going to lead up to.
"Really?" she looked away, trying to feign innocence. Not that it was going to work against him, but she was going to try.
"Yeah," he deadpanned, not letting her get away with it this time. "is it that guy?"
"…" Sayo's face hardened. He had hit the jackpot. Right on target. How did Takeshi know she was thinking about someone?
"It is," Takeshi was sure after seeing her reaction. "Is that also why you don't know if you want to leave or not?"
Why was it that others could see straight through her act, even when she feels that it's completely flawless? Sayo looked down at her lap quickly and turned away from Takeshi.
"I'll take that as a yes…" Takeshi sighed, knowing that, with her, this was always a tough subject.
"I don't know why," she started, sounding as if she was about to cry, "but he's always there, in my mind."
Takeshi didn't say anything. He only let her think about the words and waited for her to expel them from her mouth.
"Every memory I have that involves him is brought to the surface of my mind, no matter what I'm doing," Sayo continued, tears slowly forming at the corners of her eyes. "It's so frustrating, because it seems that all I can ever think about is him, when I need to be concentrating on other things."
With this new information, Takeshi was shocked. He had no idea she was so taken by this guy she had only known for a few months time. And it seemed to him that she didn't even realize, or she just didn't want to realize, just how much she loved this guy. Seeing her tears roll down her cheek, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a pack of tissues, and offered her one. She sniffled and accepted it without a word, patting her face gingerly with the soft cloth.
"I don't know how to make it stop," Sayo was trying not to cry anymore. "I don't want to be overcome with the memories while I'm working, it's not a pretty sight."
"Sayo-chan," Takeshi sighed, feeling a little bit sorry for his sweet cousin.
"I'm sorry I had to burden you with my feelings, Takeshi-kun," Sayo sniffled again, trying to regain herself in some way. "I didn't plan on talking about this today…"
"It's okay," Takeshi shook his head, knowing this stuff was hard to deal with at times.
"What do you think I should do?" Sayo turned to Takeshi, her eyes a bit red and cheeks tearstained. There was glimpse of hope in her eyes. Hope that he'd have an answer, or some kind of advice for her.
"I think that it's a great opportunity," Takeshi told her. "It would be great for you to get out there and see the world."
"Hm…" Sayo nodded her head. Saya had said the same thing. Great opportunity.
"It may even give you a chance to experience new things that might not bring up those memories," Takeshi bargained with her. He wanted her to go and experience the world for herself. She'd have a lot of fun going to America, he knew it.
"You're right," Sayo hadn't thought of it like that.
"Did you participate in a competition yet?" Takeshi asked, trying to get off a hard subject and onto a lighter one.
"Yeah, we did last week," Sayo seemed to perk up a little at the change. "We placed second, and the judges looked forward to seeing me in the future."
"That's good," Takeshi smiled. She was doing very well with her dancing career. No one had really seen that coming, in all honesty. Sure, the girl loved dancing, but being a professional ballroom dancer was a lot different from dancing out on the streets for fun.
"Yeah, Yoshida-kun has really high hopes for me," Sayo smiled at that.
The two cousins talked for a little while longer before Sayo had to go. They were preparing for another competition in a month or so. They had to work their hardest to get first place. That would be remarkable, but Sayo was pretty sure they were only going to get second place again. She thanked Takeshi for the advice and made off to the studio. This way she was one step closer to making her decision about going to America or not. She still wanted to ask two more people before she decided. Those two people were her parents. And who knew how they were going to react to this one.