"Bokuto! What should I wear?!" I nervously asked over the phone. I'm meeting his sister in twenty minutes at the mall and I'm scared to death! I know I'm pretending to be his girlfriend to back his sisters off, but I couldn't do this and lie to their faces. It's so wrong.
"Hey, you have to call me Koutarou remember? They're going to think something's up if you call me by my last name!"
Bokuto was right. I can't forget that part. I needed to cool down or else I'm going to blow it up.
"Just wear what you usually wear. I'll handle everything else! Don't be too nervous!" Bokuto was trying to be a good friend by giving me advice to handle this situation, but no matter how much he tried, my heart raced in anxiety.
I slipped on a peach maxi dress and threw on a blue jean jacket. Smiling in the mirror, I whispered to myself. "You can do this! It's just only one day, and they'll probably forget about me once Bokuto confessed to his crush!" With my small encouragement, I ran out of the house to meet up with Bokuto at the mall.
Bokuto spotted me when I entered the food court. "Hi Mayu!" His tall statute and long arm waved at me. His hair was spiky like always as he dressed in a black shirt and blue jeans. It's so weird to hear him call me by my first name, but it made me feel like I was in a relationship. It's been so long since I've been in one. I hope I can pull this off.
"Hey Koutarou," I pleasantly smiled, sitting right next to him. My jitters came back to me as I released it to my jumpy foot, rapidly hitting the ground. "I'm nervous… I'm scared. I'm feeling so many emotions. The last time I did this was a few years ago." I met Oikawa's older sister at their parents' house as we ate some snacks over the table. His sister was very kind and talkative. She made me feel at ease, so I hope Bokuto's older sisters won't make me wanna die in my spot.
"Calm down," Bokuto chuckled at my anxious state, rubbing my shoulders in reassurance. "I'm going to scoot closer to you because there's a big space in between us." He was right. We were a foot apart from each other and that would make us look suspicious.
"O-of course!" My heart was racing a mile away. I felt so weak today; normally, our closeness wouldn't put pressure on my poor heart, but in this case it was different since I had to meet his sisters. I felt like I was a middle schooler sitting right next to her crush at lunch. My body temperature was rising higher than normal. I'm letting this fake girlfriend role take a toll on my whole being.
"Mayu, your ears are red. Are you sick?" Bokuto's curious yet concerned face peered in front of my vision, and I quickly turned to look in a different direction. I can't let him see how red my face was; it's embarrassing to show.
"Ahah… No, I'm shy right now… Don't worry about me!" I choked, having my left hand touch my blazing cheek. My cool hand brought down the heat in my cheek. I needed to get myself together before I blew up my cover. This was important to Bokuto, and I have to end it on a good note.
"You're showing sides of you that I never knew existed." Bokuto teased, nudging me with his elbow. "It's kind of funny because you're always so cool-headed in a lot of situations but now you're flustered." I could sense him grinning from ear to ear as I was still turned away. "Don't worry too much, Mayu. My sisters are cool! You can totally be friends with them too!"
Did Bokuto forget that I can't really be friends with them afterwards because I'm only his fake girlfriend? It's gonna hurt them more to find out that we pretended to be a couple if we did good to convince them. "Bok—Koutarou, we'll see what happens. I'm trying not to dig a deeper hole for the both of us."
A few minutes passed, and his two older sisters announced their presence. "Hey little brother!" A loud voice called out, and I jolted in place. That sister even shared the same roaring vocal cords as Bokuto. Even though they were raised apart, it sounded like they were all close.
The two sisters sat in front of us, and they were gorgeous. They had the signature black grey-white striped hair, piercing golden eyes, and defined eyebrows. One sister had long hair, a sharp profile, and dressed in business-casual clothing as she looked like a boss lady at a company she owned. The other sister had a bob and her face looked bubbly and soft. Her clothing style looked chic as it complimented her face. Their beauty intimidated me; I felt and looked like trash from the get-go. They were queens whereas I was a peasant. There's no way his sisters would like me.
"Hi, I'm Yumi, the eldest." The long hair sister's voice was silky and thick as she smiled lightly. She looked like the mature one by how she dressed and spoke. I believe she's a boss lady from my first impression of her.
"I am Hanae, the second oldest!" Despite the short haired sister's appearance of soft and bubbly, she's pretty loud from the start.
"I'm Hayashi Mayu." I loudly spoke, hiding my timidness from them. They can't know how shy I am sitting in front of two goddesses.
Bokuto threw an arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. "This is my lovely girlfriend!" For some reason his words were hitting my heart differently. Him calling me his 'lovely girlfriend' made me have butterflies in my stomach. It tingled in a way that it made it harder to stare at his structured face, but I did because he's talking. "Isn't she beautiful?!" My heart exploded loudly in my chest like a bomb went off. It rippled throughout my body as I suddenly felt even more shy yet a tinge sad. The small fraction of sadness came from the thoughts of my past relationship. Bokuto's so good at acting like he loved me. Then our eyes met; warmth radiated from his golden orbs like the sun warming the cold morning. His eyes were so delicate and loving; it's like he's actually in love with me. This sham felt too real that it does hurt a bit.
"Oh, stop it you!" I lightly hit his upper arm and moved back from him. "I'm getting shy now…" My hands cupped my heated cheeks. His acting skills were killing me more than he knew it. I never knew I could feel so much from one movement.
"So how long have you two been dating?" Yumi firmly asked, glancing at me. Her fierce eyes put a tiny pressure on my body because her outer appearance seemed too regal. Yumi's posture was straight and her head was elevated high.
We've rehearsed this many times before this upcoming day. Now I finally get to apply my knowledge and sound smart without fail. Looking over at Bokuto, I sincerely smiled from the bottom of my heart. "Two months of dating if you exclude the first month of us being friends at first." I've known Bokuto for three months.
"What do you like about our baby brother?!" Hanae quickly asked, eager to know the details as she leaned over the table.
"Hanae, control yourself. You're making her scared!" Bokuto worriedly told his sister, and Hanae pulled back from the table. I felt his fingers crawl over to mine as he held my hand in reassurance. My chest felt lighter from this result.
Unconsciously, I spilled out the truth of our friendship and applied it to our fake relationship, keeping my eyes on his sisters now. "He doesn't judge who I am even though I'm…" I paused for a quick second, thinking about if I should reveal my daughter. Bokuto's the reason why I'm able to socialize and feel happier this year was because he impacted my life. If I have never met Bokuto or even came to this school, I doubt I'll be in this good state of mind as I am right now. "A teen mom. Long story short, my ex left me when he found out that I was pregnant. So the journey to get here was incredibly hard to swallow. Koutarou helped break down my barriers and attached himself onto me!" I chuckled, trying not to make the atmosphere all sad. "He didn't discriminate. In fact, he really wanted to see my daughter!" I recalled the first time Bokuto met Kazue when I was strolling her around the neighborhood.
"Awhhh!" Hanae squealed in sadness and a quick gush of sweetness. I'm guessing they didn't expect their little brother to be that dedicated to stick by me. "Koutarou, you're so grown!" She cried in fake tears.
My chest tightened from fooling them like this. We're not together, but I appreciate him very much. He's a life changer. I continued on. "My daughter is two now, and she really loves him. She always asks about him all the time when I'm back home..." We kept our conversation going until it was time for his sisters to depart.
"Alright, we have to leave now." Yumi and Hanae stood up from their seats. "It was nice meeting you, Mayu. I hope next time it can be the three of us." Yumi teased Bokuto, who retorted back.
"Hey! I'm right here!"
Hanae excitedly spoke with a big smile. "Little bro, she's a keeper!"
Right then and there, my heart shattered to a million pieces. My chest has never been this heavy and empty in a long time. All I did was smile at them until their figures disappeared.
Then I let go of his hand. "Bokuto," I reverted back to his surname, and I frowned, looking at his direction so he knew how I felt at this very moment. "I feel so horrible…" Sadness seeped all over me like spilling a glass of water.
"It's okay, Hayashi." Bokuto patted my head with a neutral expression. "They won't hate you if they figured out we quote-on-quote broke up. You only met them once! Now let's go shopping for Kazue's birthday!" He immediately changed the tense atmosphere into a lively tone which we should be feeling because it's Kazue's birthday.
"Yes, you're right!" I also changed my mood so I don't sour my whole day.
Within the mall, there was a party supply store. "Oh look! These plates are so cute!" I grabbed Bokuto's arm and tugged him to this cartoony flower design. It was thick strokes which shaped the petals of the flowers, and in some there were smiley faces too. "Kazue will definitely like this! My little flower baby!" My heart gushed as I imagined her in a flower dress.
"Nice! This sunflower looks just like her." Bokuto pointed at the sunflower which had a big generic smiley face. I don't think it looked like her, but maybe he forgot how Kazue even looked like after leaving the house.
"Uhhh… Not really." I chuckled, staring at his now flushed face.
After getting Kazue's party supplies, we walked next to each other on the way back to my house. Right now, my parents should be taking her to the playground, so me and Bokuto can decorate the house. "I can hold those for you." Bokuto snatched the two bags out of my hands before I could protest.
"You know I can hold it just fine!" I put my free hands into my pockets. Bokuto's such a gentleman that it hurts to know he's my friend. Someone should already cuff him.
"Yes, I know that! It's not too much for me to help you carry things okay? Plus, I know you're going to need a lot of help hanging the streamers around on since you're short." Bokuto gleefully teased, shining his bright teeth in my direction.
I scoffed from his reasoning. "Bokuto, I'm not short. Next to you, yes I am. But to other girls, I'm not." It's not my fault that I'm not six feet tall. I'm just a little over average for my age that's all. "Hurry up before I leave you behind, sir!" I giggled as I ran ahead of him.
"Hey!" Bokuto started running to catch up with me.
At my house, we began decorating the house with streamers, balloons, and many more. We were going all out for a small group, but this was my little Princess's birthday so I didn't care.
"Bokuto, hold the streamer up there!" I instructed him to hold the streamer in the right position so I could tape it. "Just a little higher… to your left… Yes right there! Perfect!" Grabbing a medium sized ladder, I moved on to the third highest step as I taped down the streamer Bokuto held.
Flattening out the tape, Bokuto took a step back. "It looks even! Kazue will be happy."
Thank goodness it was even. I'm a little perfectionist when it comes to things like this. I love when things are organized and even numbered. "Okay I'll— Woah!" My foot missed a step on the ladder as my balance was gone for a moment.
"Hayashi!"
Thud!
My body was cushioned, and I looked up to see Bokuto's face up close. Our eyes locked in this moment, feeling trapped by each other's compelling gaze. I felt his racing heart against my chest, and a pink tint covered his cheeks.
"H-Hayashi…"
Bokuto's voice broke my thoughts as I got off of him. "Sorry, for being careless and thank you for taking my fall."
"It's nothing! We can't have you hurt since you're the mom. Your fall was nothing, so don't sweat about it!" Bokuto brushed this off his shoulders. "Now let's finish what we started!"
After the decoration was put up, my parents and Kazue finally came back home. I had Kazue bathed and dressed in her flower outfit.
When I brought her out, the dining room was dark. On the table was a lit up cake with her name and age. "Bokuto, can you record this?" I handed over my phone as we started her birthday.
We all sang her the birthday song, and Kazue made her wish and blew out her candles. "Yayyyy!" We cheered for her, and the food fest began.
Me, Kazue, and Bokuto sat at a different table from my parents. "Bo," Kazue spoke, looking at his direction. "Where my present?" She tilted her head to the side, eating her slice of cake.
Bokuto looked taken back by her forwardness. Kazue didn't even try to ask it in a question format. "Oh… well I can't tell you that. It's a secret." He teased my little girl.
Kazue pouted as she stopped eating her cake. "Why?" Her bottom lip stuck out while her eyes rounded, brimming with fake tears.
"Because it's not time yet! You're still eating. I don't want you to get your present dirty." Bokuto chuckled at her silliness. "Eat up then you can get your present."
"OKAY!" She squealed excitedly.
After we finished eating, we all were in the living room as I was setting up my phone to record Kazue's unwrapping video. Kazue sat on the couch as everyone was out of the frame. I'm going to let her watch this video when she's older. I hope she'll know how much I love her.
I hit record and began speaking in the video, "Today is Kazue's second birthday! I am excited about my little angel growing up. It felt like it was yesterday that you were just a tiny baby in my arms! Now here comes the presents!"
My parents walked over to her with their big gift as they carried it together. It was a big box which was wrapped beautifully with birthday cakes printed on the paper. "Kazue, this is from your grandma and grandpa. I know you will love this!" They placed the present on the ground, and Kazue started to rip it apart.
"What is it? What is it?" Her tiny hands took her time to rip off the paper, so my parents were helping her since they didn't want the video to drag on. "WOW!" Her brown eyes lit up and a bright smile appeared on her angelic face.
"What is it, Kazue?!" I asked in excitement.
"Is… Is bike!" Kazue jumped with her arms flying up with her. "I have bike!" She giggled, hugging the box which showed a child riding a red tricycle, then hugged her grandparents. "Thank you!"
Next, Bokuto walked into the frame with his present hidden behind his back. "You've been waiting for my present for a while now." He looked just as excited about it as Kazue was too. They radiated the same energy.
"Yes! What is it?"
Bokuto whipped out his medium-sized box. "Open it and you'll find out!" He was eager to see if she'll like what he got her. First off, I didn't even know he bought her a gift; and secondly, I don't know what it was either.
Kazue set the present on the coffee table and pulled off the lid. Her eyes never stopped shining as she grabbed the content inside. "A rabbit!" She shot it up into the air like when Simba was born, and then embraced the white rabbit. "I like it! Thank you, Bo." She went to go hug him.
Bokuto knelt down and accepted her hug. "Awww! I'm glad you like it! I was scared that you wouldn't."
Lastly, I came into the frame with my small gift. "This is my gift for you." I bestowed her the present, and she pulled off the lid to the small rectangular box.
Kazue placed the lid on the table and grabbed what was inside. "A necklace?" She oddly looked at it, not knowing what to do with it.
It was a silver chain with an adult sized ring looped in there. The ring was engraved with her name, whereas my ring had mine name on it.
"Yes, it's a necklace-ring! Mommy has one too," I showed her my finger with the silver band on it. "Since you're still small, it's going to be a necklace until you're bigger. The ring has your name on it." I took the necklace from her hand and put it on her neck.
"Wow, so beautiful!" She giggled, running her hand over the necklace. "Thank you mama!" Kazue gave me a hug and a kiss on my cheek.
"I love you too sweetie!" I kissed her chubby cheek.
Later in the evening, Bokuto and I sat outside on the cement stairs in the backyard to watch Kazue ride her tricycle. "This morning was nerve wracking! I can't believe I pulled off to be your fake girlfriend." It was one unbelievable role that I don't ever want to do again. Faking will do more damage than we'll know it.
"But you did great! My sisters were convinced."
I laughed at his compliment. "I did great? I didn't even do much. You're the one who did better than me. Your acting skill made me feel like I was in a relationship with you—" My eyes widened as I quickly covered my mouth shut. I let my thoughts out of my lips without realizing it. My heart sunk into its own grave.
Silence took over as we stared at each other. Bokuto wasn't showing any facial expression about what I said, nor I knew how to change this embarrassing topic.
Suddenly, Bokuto's face broke into laughter. His eyes smiled as well as his lips. "I guess I did do well to fool them!" As he laughed, his chest heaved up and down. "If it made it feel real, then that's all that matters."
The heaviness in my chest quickly disappeared once Bokuto laughed.
"Today was actually fun after seeing my sisters." Bokuto changed the topic to Kazue's birthday. "Your daughter is going to be a bright child. She looks very happy with you and your parents." I watched him direct his attention to Kazue riding her tricycle. His side profile was sharp as his older sister. He looked very handsome from being this close to him as our shoulders touched.
"Yes, that's what I want her to be—Happy, carefree, loved… I don't want her to go through the same mistake as I did." My eyes were locked at his face. "Maybe another day I will tell you more about my sad life in Miyagi, but right now, let's focus on my little girl's birthday." I didn't want to end this day on a sad note. It was a happy day for Kazue, and I didn't want to ruin it.