Forgiven Heart
Written By: Fujiwara Zakuro
Chapter 4: Incident at the Mall
Izumi couldn't go to sleep for a long time that night. She was so happy to see Kouji again and was even happier to see that his ring finger had no wedding ring on it. She never actually asked about his marital status and wasn't planning to.
As for Kouji, he couldn't go to sleep either. He had mixed emotions and was afraid to hurt Izumi. 'How could I ever tell her?' Kouji thought. He was feeling guilty... although he never actually felt innocent either. He sighed and turned to face the window. 'Why must I be so torn?' he thought pettily.
The next morning, Izumi woke up late for the first time in a long time. Her eyes fluttered open to meet a pair of dark blue ones. "Good morning, Izumi-chan." The owner of those beautiful eyes said. "Good morning, Kouji-kun." Izumi smiled. She felt like she was truly home. "I've already made breakfast, so come downstairs to the kitchen." Kouji said. Izumi was startled. "Wow, Kouji. I never knew you could cook!" she said teasingly. "Amaya taught me." Kouji replied. When Izumi heard Amaya's name, a thought clicked. "Where does Amaya live?" she asked. "She lives in a penthouse. It's at one of the beachfront hotels. I'll give you a picture." Kouji said as he exited the room. Izumi nodded and got out to bed.
Kouji had set up a table on the balcony. There was a nice ocean breeze while he and Izumi ate. "This is probably the best French toast that I've ever tasted!" Izumi cried. "Nah, you should taste Amaya's. They're awesome." He said. "Speaking of Amaya, here's the picture." He handed her a photo of the hotel. It looked pretty fancy. Izumi thanked Kouji and finished her French toast.
After eating their breakfast, Izumi helped Kouji tidy up the kitchen. "Well, thanks for your hospitality!" Izumi smiled brightly. Kouji smiled and nodded. "Will I see you again?" he asked hopefully. "It all depends..." Izumi laughed and hauled her luggage into the car's spacious trunk. "Bye, Kouji-kun!" she called out as she pulled out of the driveway. Kouji waved and waited for her to turn the corner before reentering his house.
Izumi had better luck finding the hotel Amaya was living at than finding Kouji's Cliffside house. She confirmed with the hostess that Amaya Minamoto was staying at the topmost room. Izumi thanked the very friendly hostess and entered the elevator. She looked at all the buttons. According to the elevator, there were 30 stories. Izumi was impressed that Amaya could live in an apartment so high. She pressed the 30th button and waited patiently for the elevator to reach her destination.
It took a while for Izumi to reach floor 30, especially since the elevator kept stopping to pick up more passengers. When the elevator stopped at floor 30, Izumi was really relieved to be freed from that compact area. She stepped outside the classy elevator and entered a short hall. The hall had nothing but one oak door. The room number shone with gold. Izumi walked down the hall towards the door. She rang the buzzer, which was much like Kouji's intercom. She waited for a while when she got impatient and turned on her heel towards the elevator.
Suddenly, a female voice answered the buzz through the intercom. "Hello?" the voice said. Izumi rushed back to the intercom. She held the white button as she spoke into it. "It's Izumi Orimoto. Hopefully you remember me." She said. The oak door swung open really fast. "Izumi! Oh my God, I thought that I would never see you again!" a woman cried. The woman was Amaya. She had the same old raven hair, except for the fact that there were blue streaks in it. She wore her hair in a bun held with chopsticks. She had a black tank top with the words 'He's with you because he hasn't met me'. She wore ¾ cut beige pants that had a lot of rings on it. "Wow, Amaya! You've really matured since I last saw you!" Izumi said with a tone that said, "I'm really impressed." Amaya giggled and let Izumi in.
For a while, Izumi and Amaya had a small conversation with each other. They began to get bored of just talking, so they decided to go to the mall.
They took Izumi's rented Porsche. The mall wasn't really packed that day, compared to every other day. Miami Mall was Amaya's favorite mall in the whole city. It had practically everything that you'd need from clothing and accessories to pet shops! Izumi and Maya were having a wonderful time shopping until Izumi saw her worst nightmares come true.
Izumi stopped dead in her tracks, causing Amaya to worry. "What's wrong, Izumi?" Amaya asked concerned. Izumi's eyes began to water as her bottom lip quivered. She pointed in the direction of source of her troubles. Amaya followed the direction that Izumi's trembling finger pointed at. When Amaya saw what it was that was bothering Izumi, she heard petty sobs. She turned around to see Izumi crying. Izumi began to run, totally forgetting about the bags she dropped when she stopped walking. "Izumi, wait!" Amaya cried. She grabbed Izumi's forgotten bags and ran in the direction Izumi was running. Since Amaya was a way faster runner than Izumi, she caught up to her sobbing friend in no time.
"Its okay, Izumi." Amaya said comfortingly. "No it isn't!!!" Izumi cried between sobs. They were in the girl's washroom. Izumi washed her tearstained face in the sink. Her tears had messed up her makeup, so she had to reapply the cosmetics, but she decided to wait after she finished her crying. While Izumi washed her face, Amaya sat on the counter beside Izumi's sink. "Why must fate be so cruel? Why does this have to happen to me?" Izumi cried out dramatically. "Have I done something wrong in one of my past lives to deserve this?" she said. "Izumi calm down! It isn't the end of the world!" Amaya yelled. "Oh yeah? Well, it should be!!!" Izumi said, her voice trembling. She had stopped crying by now and was applying makeup again.
Suddenly, the washroom door swung open and a woman entered. Izumi turned her head to see who entered. Her eyes widened and she was on the verge of exploding. "YOU!!!" was all Izumi could say and she pointed a slender finger at the woman.
AN: So, how did you like this chapter? Tell me what you think is going to happen when you review! And thanks to all my encouraging reviewers!
