Long Vacation 13 Long Vacation
Part Thirteen
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I wade through the swamp until there's land,
So, here I am a species of a remnant called man
I think we're closing in cause
Here we are, here we are again

~Here We Are Again~ (CAGNET)
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"Tadaima!!!!" Ryuichi greeted as he closed the door to the apartement. "Yamato?! You're supposed to say something like 'Welcome Back' or something.. I know you're probably sleeping and I don't know why I'm talking to myself!" he sighed as he glanced up to look at the clock on the wall. It was 3 o'clock in the morning.

Under the covers, two heads popped out.
"It's Ryuichi!" Mimi whispered in a panic as she quietly stood up quickly, covering herself with the bed sheets, rummaging the floor for her clothes. Yamato also stood up, putting on his boxers. Just then there was a knock on the door.
"Hey Yamato!" Ryuichi said from the other side. "Are you still awake?!"
Mimi quickly hid in a corner as Yamato opened the door and closed it quickly behind him.

"Yeah?," Yamato said leaning on his door.
Ryuichi gave Yamato an eye. "Hmm... You don't usually sleep with boxers.."
"Well... itwashot," Yamato lied.
"Is the air conditioner in your room not working?"
"I'm still hot, anyways what is it?" Yamato said trying to change the subject.
"I wanna take a bath and I ran out of shampoo," Ryuichi said. "Is it okay if I use yours?"
"S'okay," he said quickly.
"Cool," Ryuichi said as he proceeded to the bathroom. Yamato quickly went back in his room.

When he got in, Mimi was all dressed and was grabbing her purse and straightening out her hair.
"I have to get out of here!" she whispered.
"He's in the bathroom," he whispered back. "Now's your chance."
He quickly grabbed a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt from the floor.

Yamato peered out and could hear the water turned on. He looked around. No signs of Ryuichi.
He quickly led her to the door. She rummaged to find her sandals.
"My sandals!" she whispered. "I can't find them!"
"Use this," he said grabbing her a pair running shoes she left behind.
"Ah, I was wondering where they were."
She quickly put them on and opened the door.
"Yamato?" Ryuichi said in a bathrobe walking towards him. "I'll have you know..."
Mimi closed the door behind her quickly.
"Wut?" Yamato said quickly.
"Huh?" Ryuichi glanced at the door then looked back at Yamato after shaking his head after a couple of seconds. "Gee you got dressed quickly..."
"So.. You were saying?"
"I'll be using your conditioner too.."
"Whatever, er.. I'm gonna take a walk," Yamato said closing the door behind him.
"At 3 o'clock in the morning?..." Ryuichi said raising an eyebrow at the door. Then, he noticed his jacket on the floor. He bend over to pick it up, but as he did, a pair of a certain woman's brown sandals caught his attention.

"Mimi wait!" Yamato said catching up to her outside. Mimi stopped and turned around to him.
Before she could say anything, Yamato pressed his lips against hers. She responded to his kiss and was in their own little world again for about 10 seconds. As they broke apart, they both looked at the ground, struggling for words to say.
As a Taxi passed by, Mimi waved a hand and it stopped beside them.
"I better go... See you," she said with a sad smile and kissed his cheek before she went in the taxi.
"Yeah..." he said forcing a smile on his face as he closed the door for her. "See you..."

From the second floor, Ryuichi shook his head with a sly smirk on his face as he just witnessed everything from the window.

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(At the cafe that afternoon)

"Mimi-senpai?" Miyako said waving a hand over her face.
"Huh?" Mimi said as she snapped out from her thoughts. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"
"What really happened last night?"
"I..." Mimi said. "I'm not quite sure..."
"What did you two do?!"
"Er..." Mimi said twiddling her fingers not answering her question.
"Oh my god!!" Miyako stood up but then sat back down again as soon as she realized everyone was staring at her. "You guys did 'it'?!" she whispered harshly..
"Shh!!" Mimi said. "So what if we did?!"
"Mimi-senpai!" Miyako said. "I can't believe you actually did it! You didn't even do it with Michael and you guys have been together for 3 years!"
"Well..." Mimi said. "I'm not getting any younger you know. The thought of a virgin 28 year old is NOT funny..."
"That's the reason?..."
"No..." Mimi said. "That's not all... Maybe it was the fireworks and the romantic atmosphere.. Besides... I've never felt this way before..."
Miyako sighed. "So now what are you gonna do now?"
"I don't know," Mimi rested her chin on her palm. "All I know is that I just wanna be with him... But I'm not even 100% sure he feels the same way..."
"What do you mean?.."
"Well he never really said much... Actually he didn't say anything... I'm starting to wonder if last night was all a mistake..."

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Yamato Ishida watched the phone. Hoping that it would somehow ring and when he picks up the phone he'll hear her voice on the other line. Here he was, all of a sudden obsessing over the woman that he thought would not attract him whatsoever. Here he was willing to give her anything for her and he wasn't even sure she felt the same way. He picked up the phone and dialed her number. It rang once, twice, three times... Just then a bell was heard from the door so he hung up. He opened the door to see her face.
"Konbanwa Yamato!" Mimi said with a cheery face as she made her way in and sat on the couch.
"Konbanwa.."
"I came here to kill time.." she sighed.
"Oh.." Yamato said as he sat down on the floor across from her, leaning on the wall. "I see.."
An uncomfortable silence filled the room. He grabbed a book near him after a while. She also took a magazine from the table and started to flip through the pages with her eyes glancing towards him every couple of seconds. After about five minutes, the put the magazine back down.
"Actually," she said hesitantly. "I came here to talk... About last night..."
He looked up at her and set his book down.
"I think that last night was-" she started to say.
"a mistake?" he continued coldly not facing her.
"I-" she started to protest.
"A mistake. It shouldn't have happened... It was as if we were trying to run away from things," he said avoiding her gaze. He felt torn apart just saying those words.
"What... exactly... do you mean?" Mimi said swallowing. Her heart felt like bursting into millions of pieces, and she wanted to shout at him and tell him that she wasn't trying to run away! If she was running away she wouldn't have came here last night or tonight...
"There was this one night," he started to say. "When you didn't come home... I'm sure you were with Kurashige....."
"Yamato..."
"And I'm sure last night really didn't mean anything to you right?..." he said coldly.
She stopped talking. How could he think so low of her. She came here to tell him exactly how she feels and now here he was assuming that she'd sleep around with every guy she meets. Another moment of silence filled the room, but then she had speak up.
"I remember so many times," she said to defend herself. "Just when I started to live here... Just after Michael left me... You just couldn't stop talking about Mari could you?"
He himself was also shocked. Here she was, assuming that he was trying to rub it in her face.
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Yamato said coldly.
"Yamato..." she said looking up at the ceiling. She knew the tears were threatening to spill any moment now. She chuckled stiffly to hide her dissapointment. "We're so different from each other... We never seem to agree with each other... Maybe we are better off as friends..."
Another moment of silence.
"Maybe... Maybe we are..." he spoke up still avoiding her gaze.
"I better go," Mimi said as she stood up, grabbing her purse and heading towards the door
As Mimi was about to turn the knob, he spoke up.
"The final competition on saturday night...."
Mimi stopped in her tracks.
"I hope you'll come..." he said slowly. "I need..... my friends... to support me."
Mimi didn't reply as she got out of the apartement and closed the door behind her.
She leaned on the wall beside his door and sank down. The tears started to roll down her cheeks uncontrollably but she didn't make a sound. After about five minutes, she stood up, harshly wiped her tears away and walked back home.

Yamato Ishida hadn't moved since she left five minutes ago. Here he was, dissapointed, clenching his jaw to fight the tears back. What has he done?.. He took the book beside him and stared at it for a while before throwing it violently across the room.

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(Mimi's apartement)

"Mimi-senpai," Miyako said sympathetically.
"I'm fine Miyako-chan," Mimi said witha stiff smile. "It's just that sometimes... I don't know the way he thinks... He can be warm one minute... And cold the next. It's all a cycle..."
"Relationship with guys like Yamato-senpai are always like that Mimi-senpai..." Miyako said patting her shoulders. "Sometimes when you're happy, he's not. Sometimes when you're happy he's also happy. Sometimes when he's happy you're not. And he expect you to understand, and vice versa."
"Maybe life is teaching me a lesson..."
"Which is...?"
"I'm not even sure myself. Love has never been this complicated..."
"Love...?"
"I don't know..." Mimi nodded. "I don't know anything anymore. All I know is that I want to be with him and that he doesn't feel the same way."
"Senpai-"
"It's happening again Miyako-chan," Mimi stiffly chuckled. "First Michael. Now him. Fate is playing a hard bargain with me... Love is not even in my vocabulary anymore..."
"What about Kurashige-senpai?... He told you he's in love right?"
"Kurashige..." Mimi smiled. "He's sweet... But I think I'm gonna have to resign the moment he comes back... He gave me an easier chance to finding another job" Mimi said. "And I also have break up with him..."
"But-"
"It wouldn't be fair to Kurashige when I'm not in love with him..."

To be continued.........

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A.N.
Ooh.. Can't you feel the end is coming soon?...