Kotoko woke up, the sun shining through the curtains and her head throbbing. She winced as the sunlight hit her eyes and clenched her head. Last night was crazy and she was certain that today was not going to be any better. She remembered what Yuzan did and that she drank to excess but beyond that, she only remembered bits and pieces.
Kotoko stretched and rolled over to shield her eyes from the sun. She could have sworn that more happened. She vaguely remembered dancing but beyond that, she didn't know a thing.
She felt so stupid to have gotten this drunk but not as stupid as she felt when she discovered one of the closest people in her life was a liar. Would anybody ever like her for the way that she is?
Kotoko groaned as she threw the covers off of her body to reveal that she was still in the same green dress that she was in the night before. She glanced over to the side of the bed and spotted her silver shoes on the floor.
Sighing, Kotoko mustered up the strength that she had to get out of bed and grab a pair of clothes for the day. Just a light blue blouse and a pair of jeans would do on a Sunday morning. Kotoko grabbed her towel and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.
"So, what happened last night?" Satomi asked as Kotoko stepped into the hallway.
"What do you mean?" Kotoko replied.
"You made out with someone who wasn't Yuzan!" Satomi angrily shouted.
"I did?" Kotoko asked.
"Yes!"
"Well good." Kotoko held up her head though deep down she was embarrassed that she could not remember who.
"What?"
"Yuzan and I are done."
"What!?" Satomi exclaimed. "What happened?"
"Last night, after our date, we were walking to the party and we ran into his other girlfriend." Kotoko explained through gritted teeth.
"His...other girlfriend?"
"Yuzan was seeing another girl. A girl who goes to school with him. Someone smarter and prettier than me." Kotoko dropped her head, trying to hide her face in fear that she might begin to cry.
Satomi quickly wrapped Kotoko into a hug.
"Not so tight, Satomi." Kotoko wriggled, "Squeeze me too hard and I might throw up."
"That's what you get for drinking half a bottle of whisky last night. Though I don't blame you. If Haru did that to me, I don't know what I would do." Satomi sighed, "Speaking of Haru, I wonder if he knew anything about this. If so, I am going to kill him."
"I don't think that he knew. Haru is not very good at keeping secrets." Kotoko giggled.
"True, but I will still ask him when I see him this afternoon. What are your plans for today?" Satomi asked.
"I might go to the museum to clear my head."
"Kotoko, you hate the museum."
"Maybe I am wrong about that too. I have been wrong about a lot of things lately." Kotoko sighed.
"Don't be too hard on yourself, Kotoko. Yuzan is the idiot and he doesn't deserve you. I will talk to Haru about it. Are you sure that you want to be alone right now."
"Yes, I will be fine." Kotoko smiled at her blonde friend.
Satomi placed her hand on her friend's shoulder before she walked away and left Kotoko to take her shower.
Kotoko walked into the bathroom and set her things on the sink before turning on the shower. She held her hand under the water and felt it heat up. Once the water was to the temperature that she wanted, she began to undress. She looked at herself in the mirror and noticed her dull skin from the long night of drinking. She hoped that she didn't do anything too stupid. Though nothing could have been worse from the embarrassment that she suffered at the hands of Yuzan. Kotoko stepped into the shower and let the hot water hit her pale skin. She took the soap and washed away everything from the previous night.
Kotoko tried her best to remember how she ended up in her bed last night but she was drawing a huge blank. Hopefully she didn't do something that she would come to regret. Kotoko washed her hair and rinsed off before turning off the water and stepping out of the shower.
Grabbing her towel, she dried off and put on her clothes. She folded her towel around her hair and picked up her dirty clothes. She stepped out of the bathroom and walked back to her room.
Kotoko threw her dirty clothes into the hamper and turned to make her bed. She sighed as she realized that she should probably strip the sheets off of her bed, they reeked of alcohol. She tore away the cream colored sheets and threw them in the hamper along with her clothes.
Kotoko sighed and flopped onto the bed, her back hitting the mattress and her head falling onto the pillows. Maybe it was time for her to return back home with her father. She thought that she had everything figured out but she didn't. She was just some naive seventeen year old who had no idea what she was doing or what she wanted out of life. It was quite annoying to be honest. She didn't want to be the girl who ran back to her father when things went poorly but there was nowhere else that she wanted to be at the moment.
But Naoki would be there too and she didn't want to admit defeat. Who was she kidding? She had to just swallow her pride and admit it. She dreaded the look he would wear and the scolding that she would get. But first, she would enjoy a day to herself, to mentally prepare her for the treatment that she would get from Naoki.
Kotoko stood up and walked over to the small closet in the bedroom where she kept her clothes. She pulled out a purple sundress and threw it on her, the more comfortable the better. She put on a pair of white sandals, grabbed her bag, and walked out of the door.
Kotoko walked down the streets, listening to the people around her. If only these streets could remember what happened on them last night. She walked the same path that she and Yuzan would walk and every step became heavier and heavier. Kotoko walked down to the metro platform and scanned her card before boarding the train to wherever she felt like. She remembered that she played that game on her first date with Yuzan. Feeling hurt as the memory came flooding back, she got off at the next stop, not exactly sure where she was but she wasn't too far from Satomi's.
Exiting the train and the station, Kotoko noticed that she was near a large garden, one that she and her friends would pass on their way from school when they decided to walk to Satomi's. Kotoko took in a deep breath and decided that a stroll through the garden would not hurt. The flowers were in bloom and their beauty would be a most welcome distraction.
Kotoko entered the garden and marveled at how beautiful everything was. This was exactly the distraction that she needed. She looked up and saw that the trees were lush, providing shade from the hot sun. The flowers in the garden were in full bloom, releasing their scents, filling Kotoko's nose with their sweet aroma.
She smiled at how everything in sight, smell, and sound was so beautiful.
Kotoko walked further into the garden when she saw a small bench at the edge of the path. She sighed and sat down, crossing her legs in front of her. She put her head back and absorbed the sun's rays. She knew that she should heed the advice that too much direct sunlight would be bad for her skin but it felt so good. It was like a warm hug on her face that was making her feel at ease.
Kotoko took in deep breaths and just enjoyed being present in the moment.
Her moment of bliss was ruined when she heard an all too familiar voice call out her name.
"Kotoko?"
Kotoko brought her head back up and turned her head slowly to the direction that the voice was coming from. She slowly opened her eyes and her world came crashing down.
"Yuzan?"
