A/N: Thank you SO much for your reviews! Especially since I wasn't planning on making this story this long. But thank you so much! And don't worry, I won't torture Mayu that much longer, as seen in this chapter ;). Enjoy!
Chapter 13
I called him that night. I didn't even know what I was doing exactly. All I could feel was the overwhelming grief of making him feel worthless, then I was dialing his number. I swore under my breath.
It didn't work though. He didn't answer.
Concerned, I called him again. No response. Then I called his cell phone. I must've called that thing a hundred times. Each time, he didn't answer. Before I could even think twice, I was outside, in the pouring rain, and walking down to his house.
What in God's name was I doing? It was POURING! And here I was, walking to HIS house, hoping to be forgiven? Maybe all things can't be fixed...
I stopped my journey, hit myself over my head, then began back to my home. Only... I didn't want to go home yet. So I walked around. I KNOW it was raining hard, and I KNOW I could get sick again, but I kind of didn't care. I just walked. I walked past the grocery store, down a neighborhood I didn't know, then found myself at the park. I was soaked. My jeans, my long-sleeved shirt. The only thing that was remotely dry was my jacket. It was rainproof, but I had stupidly taken it off. I liked the rain, and I sort of enjoyed it making me wet. If I were smarter, however, then I would have put it back on.
I sat down on a bench in the park, feeling sadly content with my position in life. I mean... I had good friends... I had a home... I had people that cared about me. I had a job, a life. I wasn't depressed, and I didn't want to die by suicide. I was happy. The only thing that would make it better was him. And even then I didn't need a man to help me succeed in life.
It would just be nice to have him, you know?
I heard someone calling my name, and I looked around. I couldn't see anyone, however, and figured it was just my imagination. I looked back at the ground, and at the raindrops creating mud. I smiled goofily, playing with my bangs (watching how little rain droplets fell), and thought of how stupid I must have looked. I couldn't really hear anything because the sound of rain crashing into the trees and leaves blocked it out.
Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I almost screamed, but found myself too tired to care whether or not I was about to get raped. I looked up.
"What are you doing?" asked a breathless Hatori.
I blinked. What the-? "U-umm..." Once again, I looked at the surrounding area. How would I get out of this one? "... taking a walk?"
"Mayuko-chan, you'll get sick again," Hatori scolded me. I rolled my eyes, then went back to playing with my bangs. I heard him sigh. The surprising thing was that he sat down next to me. I had expected him to drag me home or something. "What are you really doing out here?"
I wasn't confused, and I didn't even bother to act like I was. "Looking for you... kind of. I tried calling, but you wouldn't pick up." I yawned for some odd reason. "So I was on my way to your house, but then I quit. Don't know why though."
Hatori nodded, and I continued. "I just wanted to appologize. I mean... I didn't mean to offend you or anything. It's just..." I paused. "When you left my room today... there was this really horrible empty feeling in my gut... like something had ended... and I didn't like it."
There was a short moment of silence, then Hatori nodded in agreement.
"I didn't like that feeling either," he said quietly.
I know this may seem out of character for me, but I'm just going to take this moment to say how handsome Hatori is. He is dead sexy handsome... and I'm probably just saying that because we were both soaking wet.
He sighed, then stood, cosmically pulling me up with him. I couldn't even stop him when he took off his coat and put it over my shoulders. I savored the warmth of it, and smiled sheepishly at him. He just picked up my dirty jacket, which had found its way into a nice mud puddle, put an arm around my shoulder, and we began walking home. No lie. It was the strangest thing I had ever experienced. I mean... it really was a very nice feeling.
But of course, when I got home, forced him to stay the night so he wouldn't catch a cold/get struck by lightening, and took a shower as he sat on the couch, I knew that it was never going to happen. He was just a man who only looked out for my safety. Just a friend who didn't even bother to think about me in a different light. Just some dripping wet man who needed to get warm by a blanket, or a warm shower...
After I was out, I found some old clothes for him (an XL sweatshirt that had been a birthday gift from my cousin and some sweatpants that went with the shirt), and shoved him into the bathroom.
"You don't have to be so pushy," Hatori said, giving me a very small smile. "I'll be fine."
I just smirked and playfully punched his arm. "I just don't want you getting the flu." He nodded, then was about to head inside. He would have, mind you, if I hadn't been so god damn stupid. "Hatori-kun..." I tugged at his sleeve and he stopped, looking back at me. "Umm... I just wanted to say thanks... for... always being a good friend... and for finding me in the rain... and... stuff..."
Why did I even bother to do that? Was I stupid?
Nevermind. Don't answer that question.
But, thankfully, Hatori smiled. Hatori SMILED! A full-out, toothy grin. It was probably the most shocking/gorgeous thing I had ever seen him do. It was so kind and gentle. I almost couldn't breathe. I mean... I had seen that smile only once or twice... when he was dating Kana. So why was he giving me that smile again? I didn't know, and I kind of didn't care. I could only think about one thing: That smile was directed towards me.
"It's ok, Mayuko-chan," he said. Softly, his hand moved from his side to brush a stray strand of hair from my face. Then, I REALLY couldn't breathe. "That's what friends do, right?"
I swallowed harshly and managed to nod. "Mmhmm." I caughed. "Friends until the end."
He nodded and went into the bathroom. I went on my dreamland kind of way and sat down on the couch. I watched a bunch of stuff on TV, but I wasn't even paying attention. I really wasn't. All I could see was his face, smiling... at me.
Hatori had gone in and out of the shower reasonably quick, so it became just the two of us watching stupid TV shows. We chatted over the weather, and the books that Shiguire had ordered, and some other random things. It soon ended up as Hatori sitting on the love seat, me on the couch. Hatori didn't look so great whenever I would glance over at him. His shoulders were slumped and he was only supported by his arms pressing against his knees.
"You're going to fall asleep any minute," I told him with a smirk. He just sighed and shook his head, not paying attention to me. He had been all spacey ever since he exited from the bathroom. I was growing concerned. "Why don't you lie down, and we'll call it a night?"
He nodded, but didn't move. I stood, stretched, yawned, and walked down the hall to the closet. As I was reaching to the top shelf to get Hatori a blanket, he called out to me.
"Hey, Mayuko-chan..." he said groggily.
"What's up?" I asked, having successfully retrieving the blanket. I headed back to him.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked as I stood in front of him.
"Sure," I said, handing him the blanket. Now, that was the point where I expected him to take the blanket, lie down, and ask me the question. I did NOT, however, expect him to do what he did.
Ignoring the blanket completely, Hatori grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him. I stumbled and felt the blanket slip from my grasp. I let out a yelp, but felt myself land safely...
In his lap.
My temperature must have increased drastically. "H-H-Hatori-kun?"
His one hand was still clutching my wrist, and he was looking straight into my eyes. I gulped. His other hand was now holding onto my shoulder. "If I... was a monster... would you... still accept me?"
