Ice Cream to Share
Chapter Four
A New Friend
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There was a lot of bustling and people in the restaurant. Miki could tell as they walked that Taka was talking to people around him. Each time she heard his voice, it was cheery and hushed. Miki smiled.
An unfamiliar voice rang out above the rest of them. It was high pitched and happy. "Taka, dear! You have finally come to visit your little sister! How long has it been? Three years?!"
Taka removed his hands from Miki's eyes to hug the person with the cheery voice. It was a lady. Obviously younger than him, she was about five years of a difference. She was his sister. Her cinnamon brown hair waved whenever she moved and she shared Taka's forest green eyes. They broke off their long hug and looked at Miki.
"Takumi, this is my girl friend Miki Koishikawa. I met her a few months ago." Taka presented Miki, holding his hand towards her.
Takumi smiled, revealing pearl white teeth. "So you are the girl he has been talking so restlessly about! I'm honored to be in your presence! Ha! I would've dressed better if I knew you two were going to show up!" She held out her arms towards Miki, pulling her into a hug. Taka laughed.
"Takumi has always been the flower of the family. This is her restaurant, Lakuta Rise." Taka said.
Miki paused and took a long look at her surroundings. Everything was so bright and colorful. The walls were painted soft yellow and the framed pictures were of flowers. Even the people were bright. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. There was even a cat the sat on the cash register, dozing in the sun.
"Well, what do you think Miki. Can I call you Miki?" Takumi said, smiling.
"I think it's lovely. There's so much color and everyone's laughing." Miki answered.
Takumi smiled. "Okay, lemme show where you two will be seated!"
Takumi led them around a mob of people in line and showed them to a table near one of the clean glass windows. Taka seated Miki and then walked over to his seat. Miki picked up a menu and glanced over it. It was mostly American food, nothing Japanese. Taka pretended to be reading the menu, but was secretly looking at Miki.
She was so beautiful. Pale peachy skin, soft pink lips, and feathery brown hair, everything about her was perfect. She was kind, smart, and compassionate. It was like he struck gold. But instead, he struck love. He was taken out of his trance when Takumi came over to take their orders. Miki ordered pasta and Taka ordered a small slice of pizza.
There was a moment of silence.
"Taka…" Miki said, "did you bring me here on purpose? So I could meet your sister?"
Taka smiled. "Yeah, she's really nice. She's always been by my side, no matter what happened. She even helped me escape from my parents."
Confused, Miki asked, "Helped you escape from your parents?"
"Yeah, my mom and dad wanted me to stay in Kyoto and take over their sewing company, but it wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to own a diner, and I'm slowly making my way up to that point."
"Oh."
"Yep, I owe Takumi my life."
"You love her a lot don't you."
"Well, yeah. If she didn't help me, I wouldn't have been able to be here, sitting at the same table with you."
Miki blushed.
Takumi came out minutes later with their food. Luckily it was on the house, since they were family, even Miki. She was surprised that Takumi had thought of her as family. They, Miki and Taka, had only met a few months ago, and now here she is, considered part of his family. It suddenly struck Miki, Taka had never met her family. Of course, she would be embarrassed by her crazy family, but they were her family. What could she do? Then there was Yuu. Taka would have to face her step-brother who had formerly been her boyfriend. That evil bastard.
Miki glowered at the thought of Yuu. Taka stared at her, unknowing of what she was thinking, but continued consuming his food.
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After the pair had finished their meal and said their good-byes to Takumi, they set off to the mall. Miki bought herself a small bag and a pair of fake emerald earrings. The whole time they were trolling the mall, Taka's hand was in Miki's. They were smiling, and laughing, just like any other happy couple would have been doing.
Miki suddenly stopped. "Oh, I forgot to get the mouse I got this morning!"
"What? A mouse?" Taka said confused.
"Yeah, this morning I caught a mouse in my room. I was supposed to bring him to the pet store. Darn!" Miki was frustrated with herself.
"It's okay Miki. The pet store probably won't even accept him. He's a wild mouse, not a pet mouse."
"Yeah, I guess your right. So what should I do?"
"Hmm…maybe you should keep him as a pet."
"Okay, I think that's pretty much all I can do." Miki smiled. Taka smiled back.
It was nearly nine o' clock when Taka had taken Miki home. They stood on her front porch, looking into each others' eyes. Taka pulled Miki into a long hug, and she hugged back. He pulled back and leaned towards her. To her surprise, Miki leaned towards him. Their lips touched in a long kiss. Miki wanted time to freeze forever.
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In her room, Miki sat on a chair facing the tiny mouse. He was calmer than he was when she caught him, but now he was twitching a lot. Miki guessed that he was hungry and fed him a few pieces of cheese. He was inside a plastic box that Miki had scavenged from the basement, along with a few pieces of cardboard he could gnaw on. She saw him as a new friend.
"Hmm…you need a name, don't you little fella?" she said to the mouse.
"Fluffy, no, that's to original. Smokey, hardly, you're pure white. Lucky, Smelly, Lovely, Twinkle, Twitch. Twitch…that's a cute name. Twitch it is." She smiled.
She fed Twitch a few more pieces of cheese. "Hey, Twitch, can I talk to you? I mean, you're the only person who'll listen to me. Well, there's this guy. His name's Taka and he's a total catch. Do you think that he's the one?"
Twitch made a few squeaking sounds. "Haha. Me too…I think I can marry this guy. He's perfect. He's smart, funny, and handsome." Miki laughed.
She looked at her clock hanging on the wall. The hands determined that it was nearly twelve. "Well, I better get a good night's sleep. I've got a lot of things to do tomorrow. Yeah right…"
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AN: OMG. I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long. I had to move and all my stuff has been packed into boxes. My computer was the last thing set up. LOL. I hope you enjoy and please R&R.