TAXI, ON SOME STREET IN OSAKA
"Are you sure this is the house?" Yuu askd the taxi driver. He nodded and handed Yuu back the now torn and soggy piece of paper. It had been hard to find a taxi, Yuu had had to call an agency to be able to get a taxi so late into the night. It was almost one in the morning. They had stopped by a somewhat moderate looking house which was peaceful in the shadows of the lamps in front of it.
"Wait here," Yuu said to the driver as he stepped out, He went towards the gate. He whipped around as he heard a sharp noise, when he discovered that it was only the fact that the car had sped away anyway, leaving him stranded.
Yuu contemplated ringing the bell in the gate and waking up the people inside the house. Then a surge of adrenaline caught up with him.
Ding dong. His finger relaxed from the button.
Ding dong. A pause.
Ding Dong.
Ding Dong.
Around twenty minutes later, Yuu was ready to give up and get his cellphone to call for another taxi when he spotted a figure walking towards him. It took his a while to realize that it was Shin.
"Hey, man," Shin said as he approached in his pajamas.
Shin opened the gate.
"It's late, come in."
Yuu entered the lawn without answering Shin and then went inside the house.
"I sort of knew you would come," Shin said softly to himself. "Yuu, you love Miki, don't you, and you just cant give her up."
IN THE KITCHEN, SHIN'S AUNTIE'S HOUSE
"She's sleeping in the guest room. Auntie thinks that she's just a guest from Tokyo, one of my close friends."
Shin and Yuu were sitting in the dining table.
"I was surprised when she came, she was crying and she explained how sorry she was. I let her stay here for a while, but I don't know."
"We're leaving in forty minutes," Yuu informed Shin. "The next train leaved then."
Shin glanced at him with a wary eye.
"Your parents don't know about this, do they?"
Yuu shook his head. "Where's Miki?" he asked. "I'll go wake her up."
Shin led Yuu to another room on the same floor. All the walls were white, and the house was elegantly furnished with wooden furniture, The faint smell of varnish hung in the air. Even if the floors were carpeted with a maroon layer, the both of them made extra care not to make any noise to wake up Shin's auntie.
They entered the 'guest room,' a cozy room with a bed in the center and a table at one side. Yuu saw that Miki was sleeping on the bed.
He went up to it and shook Miki's sleeping form.
"Miki!" he said sharply. She woke up after a while of stirring.
"Yuu!" she exclaimed as soon as her eyes could focus in the dark. All the light in the room consisted of the faint glow from the halls that had seeped inside. She sat up instantly. Her eyes had dark circles under them, as if she hadn't been able to sleep very well. Then they filled with tears and she threw her arms around him. Yuu sort of drew back from surprise, but then he held Miki just the same.
"Does this mean I'm in trouble?" Miki asked in a soft laugh.
"With me, you are," Yuu said gruffly. "Only Meiko and I know about this."
From the door, Shin cleared his throat.
Miki broke away and looked at Yuu with huge eyes, that were starting to fill with dawning excitement.
"I felt like a runaway, " she said, beginning her story. "And you should have seen it! The look on Shin's face when I."
TRAIN STATION, THIRY MINUTES LATER
Shin and Miki hugged. Yuu broke them off by telling Miki:
"We have to go."
Miki gave Shin a sad, sad smile and then boarded the train with Yuu. It two AM, and they were headed back to Tokyo. As the train rolled past, Shin stood, watching, in a nightshirt and a pair of jeans, his hair ruffled.
"He was the first person I've ever cared for so much," Miki said sadly.
Yuu looked at her, sitting to his right.
"What do you mean, loved?" he asked, deliberately stressing the fact that she had used the past tense instead of the present.
"When I came here and took a look at him.It's hard to explain, Yuu, but I fell out of love with him," Miki said. "Just like I fell out of love with Ginta after someone else came along."
"Was it another person this time that 'came along'?"
Yuu asked. Miki shook her head, giving a small smile.
"No, it was the same one. I just realized it before I left Tokyo two days ago. I wondered why I was chasing Shin so far. Then I realized that I only wanted someone else to be jealous of me and him, and none of it was working out. I had been so selfish."
Yuu heard that she was getting tired.
"Did it work?" He asked.
Miki shook her head. Her voice cracked with bitterness.
"No, I don't think it did, Yuu," she said softly. "He's still the same, day after day, finding ways to make fun of me."
Yuu didn't know what to make of the last statement, searching his brain for an insult to shoot at her to make a joke of what she was saying, when a peculiar thought crossed his mind, but he wasn't able to hold onto it before it went away. The strange expression on his face was still there when Miki laid her head on his shoulder to go to sleep.
THE NEXT WEEK OF SCHOOL
"Ginta!" Meiko pulled him aside from Miki and Yuu. Unfortunately, the action had been too conspicuous and both of the friends turned back at the same time.
"I have to talk to him," Meiko hurriedly explained. Miki gave her a strange look. "Just go ahead," Meiko insisted. When the rest of the party was out of sight, Meiko hissed to Ginta:
"Stop drooling after Miki! You're making it so obvious!"
Ginta gaped at her. "What do you mean drooling after Miki? I haven't been doing anything! It's almost the middle of the school year, Meiko! And Miki hasn't decided yet! Im worried that if I give her time to think about the current situation, then she'll choose Yuu over me!"
Meiko gave him a puzzled look.
"Haven't you come up with that possibility by now?"
Ginta shrugged and made a movement that suggested that he wanted start going back to the canteen for lunch time. Meiko sighed and followed after him.
"Are you sure this is the house?" Yuu askd the taxi driver. He nodded and handed Yuu back the now torn and soggy piece of paper. It had been hard to find a taxi, Yuu had had to call an agency to be able to get a taxi so late into the night. It was almost one in the morning. They had stopped by a somewhat moderate looking house which was peaceful in the shadows of the lamps in front of it.
"Wait here," Yuu said to the driver as he stepped out, He went towards the gate. He whipped around as he heard a sharp noise, when he discovered that it was only the fact that the car had sped away anyway, leaving him stranded.
Yuu contemplated ringing the bell in the gate and waking up the people inside the house. Then a surge of adrenaline caught up with him.
Ding dong. His finger relaxed from the button.
Ding dong. A pause.
Ding Dong.
Ding Dong.
Around twenty minutes later, Yuu was ready to give up and get his cellphone to call for another taxi when he spotted a figure walking towards him. It took his a while to realize that it was Shin.
"Hey, man," Shin said as he approached in his pajamas.
Shin opened the gate.
"It's late, come in."
Yuu entered the lawn without answering Shin and then went inside the house.
"I sort of knew you would come," Shin said softly to himself. "Yuu, you love Miki, don't you, and you just cant give her up."
IN THE KITCHEN, SHIN'S AUNTIE'S HOUSE
"She's sleeping in the guest room. Auntie thinks that she's just a guest from Tokyo, one of my close friends."
Shin and Yuu were sitting in the dining table.
"I was surprised when she came, she was crying and she explained how sorry she was. I let her stay here for a while, but I don't know."
"We're leaving in forty minutes," Yuu informed Shin. "The next train leaved then."
Shin glanced at him with a wary eye.
"Your parents don't know about this, do they?"
Yuu shook his head. "Where's Miki?" he asked. "I'll go wake her up."
Shin led Yuu to another room on the same floor. All the walls were white, and the house was elegantly furnished with wooden furniture, The faint smell of varnish hung in the air. Even if the floors were carpeted with a maroon layer, the both of them made extra care not to make any noise to wake up Shin's auntie.
They entered the 'guest room,' a cozy room with a bed in the center and a table at one side. Yuu saw that Miki was sleeping on the bed.
He went up to it and shook Miki's sleeping form.
"Miki!" he said sharply. She woke up after a while of stirring.
"Yuu!" she exclaimed as soon as her eyes could focus in the dark. All the light in the room consisted of the faint glow from the halls that had seeped inside. She sat up instantly. Her eyes had dark circles under them, as if she hadn't been able to sleep very well. Then they filled with tears and she threw her arms around him. Yuu sort of drew back from surprise, but then he held Miki just the same.
"Does this mean I'm in trouble?" Miki asked in a soft laugh.
"With me, you are," Yuu said gruffly. "Only Meiko and I know about this."
From the door, Shin cleared his throat.
Miki broke away and looked at Yuu with huge eyes, that were starting to fill with dawning excitement.
"I felt like a runaway, " she said, beginning her story. "And you should have seen it! The look on Shin's face when I."
TRAIN STATION, THIRY MINUTES LATER
Shin and Miki hugged. Yuu broke them off by telling Miki:
"We have to go."
Miki gave Shin a sad, sad smile and then boarded the train with Yuu. It two AM, and they were headed back to Tokyo. As the train rolled past, Shin stood, watching, in a nightshirt and a pair of jeans, his hair ruffled.
"He was the first person I've ever cared for so much," Miki said sadly.
Yuu looked at her, sitting to his right.
"What do you mean, loved?" he asked, deliberately stressing the fact that she had used the past tense instead of the present.
"When I came here and took a look at him.It's hard to explain, Yuu, but I fell out of love with him," Miki said. "Just like I fell out of love with Ginta after someone else came along."
"Was it another person this time that 'came along'?"
Yuu asked. Miki shook her head, giving a small smile.
"No, it was the same one. I just realized it before I left Tokyo two days ago. I wondered why I was chasing Shin so far. Then I realized that I only wanted someone else to be jealous of me and him, and none of it was working out. I had been so selfish."
Yuu heard that she was getting tired.
"Did it work?" He asked.
Miki shook her head. Her voice cracked with bitterness.
"No, I don't think it did, Yuu," she said softly. "He's still the same, day after day, finding ways to make fun of me."
Yuu didn't know what to make of the last statement, searching his brain for an insult to shoot at her to make a joke of what she was saying, when a peculiar thought crossed his mind, but he wasn't able to hold onto it before it went away. The strange expression on his face was still there when Miki laid her head on his shoulder to go to sleep.
THE NEXT WEEK OF SCHOOL
"Ginta!" Meiko pulled him aside from Miki and Yuu. Unfortunately, the action had been too conspicuous and both of the friends turned back at the same time.
"I have to talk to him," Meiko hurriedly explained. Miki gave her a strange look. "Just go ahead," Meiko insisted. When the rest of the party was out of sight, Meiko hissed to Ginta:
"Stop drooling after Miki! You're making it so obvious!"
Ginta gaped at her. "What do you mean drooling after Miki? I haven't been doing anything! It's almost the middle of the school year, Meiko! And Miki hasn't decided yet! Im worried that if I give her time to think about the current situation, then she'll choose Yuu over me!"
Meiko gave him a puzzled look.
"Haven't you come up with that possibility by now?"
Ginta shrugged and made a movement that suggested that he wanted start going back to the canteen for lunch time. Meiko sighed and followed after him.