Hating You
Squit Ayumin
Chapter 6: Dates and Beaches
He held in his laughter, though the knotted mess that was Rika's morning hair was a bit funny.
"Come on. I want to go to the beach," he said nicely.
He wanted this to go smoother than the day before. After witnessing how scary she could be, he didn't want to provoke her unless absolutely necessary.
"It's winter," she croaked before she slammed her head back on her pillow.
"Well, it's summer in Australia, and I want to do something other than sit here and watch telly all day!"
"I hate swimming."
"You can just tan. You're really pale."
"I burn easily."
"Read a book. You look like the kind of girl who enjoys reading."
"I hate sand."
"Then you're in the wrong part of the world." He pulled her duvet off. "Just wake up and put on a swimming costume, will you?"
Rika's scowl was replaced with a smug smile. "I haven't got one."
Ryo looked at her incredulously. "Are you joking? Who comes to a resort without a swimming costume?"
"I do," she said matter-of-factly. "So go turn on the telly, lower the volume and leave me al—"
She was interrupted as the door opened abruptly and Rumiko walked in, grinning widely. "Rikaaaa! Oh good, you're up! Come darling, we must go shopping! I noticed you forgot to bring a swimming costume when I was looking through your luggage the other day." She sat beside her sleeping daughter and shook her shoulder. "It's a perfect excuse for some mother-daughter bonding time, isn't it?"
Groaning angrily, Rika grabbed her covers from Ryo's hands, plopped back on the bed, and pulled the covers over her head. Ms Makino looked at Ryo, confused, mouthing, "What's wrong with her?" Ryo shook his head to answer that he really had no clue.
TK awkwardly walked into the kitchen where Kari was busily cooking breakfast. She didn't even look at his direction, instead choosing to ignore him completely. TK was the kind of guy who forgot things after a good night's rest. Kari, he knew, was the complete opposite. She wouldn't forgive or forget until the other apologised.
"Good morning," he muttered.
She replied by stabbing her scrambled eggs with her spatula, shredding them to smaller pieces. Bits flew off the pan.
He cleared his throat. "Do you need any help?"
She moved to the pan next to the eggs where bacon sizzled. She flipped those with the spatula as well, slamming the meat to make it sizzle louder.
"Guess not."
He felt strangely intimidated. For the sake of doing something, he opened the refrigerator door and examined the inside. Finally, he took out a carton of orange juice and took two cups from the cupboard. "Want some?"
She placed half the eggs and two slices of bacon on a plate, along with two pieces of toast from the toaster. Glaring at TK, she hastily handed it to him. "Your breakfast."
Without another word, she put the rest of the food on another plate and jammed two more slices of bread in the toaster.
"Thanks," he mumbled, deciding to pour some orange juice for her as well. He was rather shocked she was cooking breakfast for him. Did what he say actually hold meaning to her? He pushed a cup towards her, put the carton back in the fridge, walked to the breakfast table and sat down. A few minutes later, Kari joined him.
They ate in silence, but TK repeatedly sneaked peeks at her, in case she was sneaking peeks at him. She wasn't.
"Are you waiting for an apology?" he asked rather bluntly through sips of his orange juice.
Kari angrily stabbed a slice of bacon with her fork, causing a bit of a screeching sound from the plate. It was kind of like fingernails being slid across a blackboard, and it hurt both their ears, though neither showed any discomfort.
"Because I'm not. Going to apologise, I mean. I meant what I said."
"Okay." Kari picked up a magazine from the middle of the table, opened it and began to read. Again, they ate in awkward silence. TK finished first, but just sat there, picking at the tiny pieces of eggs he had not finished. Kari didn't appear to notice.
Finally, TK spoke.
"You're being really difficult, you know that? Fine, I'm sorry. I was a jerk, and I'm sorry. Hey, you have to look at me when I apologise!" TK reached across the table and pulled down Kari's magazine to look her in the eye. She smacked his face with the magazine, causing TK to retreat. "Ow! What the hell is wrong with you?" He touched his face. "That actually hurt, you know!"
Not replying, Kari straightened her magazine and continued to read. She usually was not like this. Nobody—not even herself—would ever categorise her as confrontational.
TK frowned.
He hated when people were mad at him. Of course he realised that there would always be some who disliked him—and he really would not have minded if Kari were one of them—but that changed once he was forced to live with her. He could tolerate her being annoyed by him and making rude remarks, but not her giving him the silent treatment.
"Oh, come on." TK rolled his eyes. "Stop being mad. I'll make dinner."
"I can make my own dinner."
"I'll make you a better dinner."
"Are you implying that your cooking is better than mine?"
TK felt a twitch of annoyance. "I'm not implying anything, Kari."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not. I'm just offering you dinner."
"Why?"
"To show I truly am sorry."
"For what?"
You know what, you little smartass… TK thought angrily. "For being a jerk to you."
"How does making some mediocre dinner make up for being a complete jerk? No thanks."
With that, Kari set her magazine down, picked up her plate and walked back into the kitchen.
TK held in the urge to punch a hole through the nearest wall.
"Mum, have you gone completely mad?" Rika tried to remove her wrist from her mother's grasp as Rumiko led her inside a Dolce and Gabbana boutique. "I am not going to buy some stupid, overpriced swimming costume I probably won't even wear!"
"Of course you aren't. Your mummy's going to pay! What kind of mother do you think I am?"
Despite Rika's protests, her mother dragged her towards the register. Rumiko smiled at the lady behind the counter. "Hello, I'm here to buy a swimming costume for my daughter."
"Mum!"
Dressed in a t-shirt and worn jeans, she hardly fit into the fashion world her mother so loved. Actually, her jeans were designer, but that was completely beside the point.
The counter lady obviously agreed with her, disapprovingly raising her eyebrow at Rika. "Oh, I see. Well, is there a particular look you want?"
"I'm thinking… something blue! They'll bring out your eyes, I think."
"My eyes aren't blue, Mum."
"Of course not, silly, I know that. I'm saying it'll play out your colour." Rumiko lovingly took her daughter by the chin and stared at her face. "Unless of course you want purple. That could probably—"
"I hate purple."
"But you'd look good in it!"
"No, I wouldn't."
Rumiko put her hands on her hips. "Excuse me, honey, but I am Rumiko Makino. I've worked with the best of stylists. Of course I know what will look good on you."
The woman behind the counter brightened with recognition.
Rika rolled her eyes again.
"I still like blue though. Of course we'll need some new sunglasses to match. Your old ones are so—awful. I hate wearing sunglasses for more than a season. I'm thinking a light blue swimming costume with white-rimmed sunglasses. What do you think?" Rumiko turned to the saleslady for a response. Rika was about to say that she thought white-rimmed sunglasses looked cheap, but she knew her opinion wouldn't matter.
Rika could practically see the dollar signs in the saleswoman's eyes. "That sounds absolutely lovely, ma'am. We have a new selection of swimming costumes right here actually. And I can get out our collection of sunglasses—"
"What about this?" Rumiko excitedly dashed to a rack and pulled out a small light blue swimming costume. "Oh Rika, isn't it beautiful?"
"Brilli—" Rika looked up to see it, and she couldn't even let sarcasm do the talking. "Are you serious? That doesn't even look like a swimming costume! It looks like pieces of fabric left over after making a full one—"
"We'll take it!" Rumiko said excitedly, following the saleslady to the sunglasses.
"I am not wearing that!" Rika knew whatever she would say would be insignificant. If she refused, her mother would suddenly turn into a drama queen, calling herself a failure because her own daughter didn't love her.
"Rika, please, you're only saying that now because you haven't tried it on, but I already know this is going to absolutely knock Ryo's socks off! I'm a professional model, you know. I know these things."
"MUM!" Rika bellowed. "I do not want to knock Ryo's socks off! I want to knock the life out of him!"
"And you will, dear, with this!" Rumiko giggled, evidently not understanding her daughter's words. "Oh, to be young again… Oh, oops!" Rumiko giggled again. "I meant 'to be younger.'"
The saleswoman giggled with Rumiko. "Let me just lead you to our sunglasses now…"
TK smiled welcomingly, opening the door further to give his guest more room to walk in. "Hello, Takako... How are you?"
Takako giggled as she took off her coat. She stuffed it in his hands. "I've been very lonely without you."
He smiled weakly.
Giggling still, she stood on her toes and gave him a small peck on his lips.
TK stared at her, taken aback.
She giggled harder as she looked around. "So… is Kari here?"
Holding back any sort of rude gesture, he subtly wiped his lips with his fingers as he closed the door with his arm.
"Er, yeah, she's in the lounge…"
She looked annoyed, but he pretended not to notice.
"Takako!" Kari greeted friendlily.
TK quickly took Kari by her arm and pulled her in front of him. "See! Here she is! Kari."
Kari gave him a weird look, which he pretended not to notice.
Kari had agreed to forgive him on the condition he would cooperate and give Takako a chance.
He figured a couple hours of decency with Takako weren't quite as bad as two months with an angry flatmate.
"So, what should the three of us do together?" he asked, smiling widely, his hand still on Kari's arm. He ignored the glare Takako was giving her arm. "I know! Monopoly! I brought my board!"
Takako frowned. "TK, I thought this was a… you and me thing. You know… a date?"
Kari smiled. "Oh, of course. I can leave you two lovebirds alone."
Takako looked delighted at Kari's choice of words.
"But we can't play Monopoly with only two people!" TK protested, giving Kari's arm a pleading squeeze.
"I'm sure we can think of other ways to preoccupy ourselves, babe," Takako purred, pulling his hand off Kari's arm. "How about a movie? Mr and Mrs Smith is out."
"Oh, I heard that's a great movie!" Kari contributed.
TK's face fell. "Sounds like fun…"
"Everyone thinks I look like Angelina Jolie when I pucker my lips." Takako stuck her lips out. "What do you think?"
TK held in the horror in his mind, wondering how on Earth this girl could possibly compare herself to one of the hottest women alive. Exactly what did she see when she looked in the mirror?
"Er, the resemblance is striking. Really, Takako."
Takako gave another stream of high-pitched giggles before grabbing TK's arm. "Let's go, baby! Hopefully, they'll have a movie that starts soon!"
TK gave Kari another pleading look, which Kari returned with a smile.
"Don't get too frisky, you two!" Kari said in a singsong voice.
Ryo's eyes watched other people frolicking through the beach, looking as if they were having the greatest time of their life.
He, on the other hand, was left to merely watch them. His parents thought it would be "unkind" of him to go down there without Rika and forced him to wait in the confides of their suite until she and her mother returned from shopping.
He heard Rika's closet door open.
"Finally!" Ryo said, turning around. "Can we please go n—wow. You cannot be serious. Please tell me this is your sick idea of a joke."
Rika had put on, of all things, a trench coat.
"Rika, take that off right now. We are not going anywhere with you looking like…like that."
"Like what?" Rika challenged.
"You look like some sort of mad detective… or a prostitute."
Rika frowned as she put her sunglasses on. "Well, what do you care? It isn't like we're dating."
"I refuse to be associated with anybody who wears a bloody coat to the beach!"
"Then you can walk behind me."
"Rika, take off the coat," Ryo seethed.
"Make me."
"Is that an invitation?" he asked dangerously. "I'll take you up on it."
Before she could answer, Rumiko burst into the room again. "Rika, I brought you—" She gasped dramatically. "Rika, what is that thing you're wearing?"
"Burberry, Mum," Rika said smugly. "You bought it for me, and I finally found an occasion to wear it."
Rumiko frowned. "Honey, don't be smarmy. Come. Your mother will help you pick out a more appropriate outfit for the beach."
Rika let out an annoyed groan as Rumiko pulled her back into her closet. Ryo let out a sigh of relief. He had to admit Rumiko Makino was a bit on the crazy side, but at least she seemed more socially acceptable than her daughter.
"Thank God you have a sane mother," Ryo said as he and Rika walked out of the resort toward the beach. She had changed into a vest and shorts—infinitely better than a trench coat.
"Yes, a sane mother who forces her only daughter to vacation with a disgusting, hormonal male teenager," Rika grumbled.
"'Hormonal'?" Ryo repeated incredulously. "Rika, tell me the last time I even pretended to have any sort of interest in you!"
She disregarded his question, instead saying, "My mum saw the broken door, by the way. I told her it was your fault."
Ryo's jaw dropped. "Rika! You can't just blame me when you're the one who broke the door!"
"Or what?" Rika challenged. She smirked. "You aren't really all that without all your friends to back you up, are you? Actually, you're pretty pathetic."
"Jesus Christ," Ryo muttered angrily. "Look, I'm on holiday. I just want to have a good time. Come on." He stepped in front of her and held on a hand. "Truce. From now on, we're going to be civil with each other. Once school starts, we can pretend we don't know each other and these two weeks will be like they never existed. Fair?"
"Pathetic," Rika muttered as she shook his hand. "I'm doing this out of pity, by the way."
"I appreciate it," Ryo said through clenched teeth as Rika brushed past him.
"Get away from me, you freak!"
Ryo jumped backwards as Rika grabbed the other end of her towel and thrust it in the air. He coughed as sand flew to his face, letting go of his grip on it.
"I was trying to help you!" Ryo snapped, rubbing his stinging eyes.
"Stop trying." She gave the towel another flick towards his direction before she laid it out.
Ryo let out a deep breath to calm himself before he took out his own towel and spread it beside hers. He forced himself not to say a mean comment.
"Not too close! Are you obsessed with me or something?"
Gritting his teeth, he pushed it farther away.
"Did you even move it?"
Ryo pushed it further away.
Now, there was an awkward gap between them. It was short enough to let people know they were at the beach together, but long enough for people to question why they were so far apart.
"Rika, this is stupid."
She ignored him, giving him a dismissive nod.
He closed his eyes and took in another deep breath. He refused to let her ruin the beach. This was supposed to be relaxing. This was supposed to be stress relieving. This was supposed to be carefree.
He was determined to make it all of that, even without the help of a certain stubborn redhead.
"Ugh, you stole my bag!" he heard Rika bark. "Give it back! I need my sunscreen."
He opened his eyes, frowning. "Rika, I don't have your—" He had given a quick glance in his general area and saw Rika's bag beside him. Grumbling underneath his breath, he picked it up and tossed it in her direction.
She caught it and took out her bottle of sunscreen.
She then glared at him.
"What are you looking at, pervert?" she accused.
He rolled his eyes and flipped to his side, his back now facing Rika.
As if.
TK shoved the box of popcorn between him and Takako. "Here, I got this for you."
As he had hoped, she let go of her grasp of his arm and seized a handful. "You are so thoughtful. You know, I'm really surprised that you're such a shy boy!"
He forced himself to laugh. "Ha-ha, yep. That's me."
She winked at him. "You can put your arm around me, if you want." She snuggled closer. "I don't mind."
He gently pushed her away and set the dividing armrest down between them. "Actually, I like using these things."
She giggled and put it back up. "You're cute, TK."
"Oh, but I'm being serious." He reached out to pull it down again, but Takako grabbed his arm and forced it over her shoulders.
"No, I insist," she said firmly.
He shifted uncomfortably. "Er, I don't really like getting so touchy—"
"Shh, baby, the previews are starting!" she whispered, leaning her head back to cease all blood circulation to his hand.
Giving up, he let his hand go limp and checked the time on his mobile, praying the movie wouldn't be long.
Ryo opened his eyes, but the harsh glare of the afternoon sun forced him to close his eyes again.
He then felt a stinging pain from his right shoulder.
He opened his eyes again—slower this time—and saw he was on the beach.
He sat upright, feeling a bit groggy.
"Finally awake?"
He turned to his right and saw Rika lying on her stomach, reading a book.
"How long was I asleep?" he asked sleepily.
"I dunno," she answered dismissively.
"You took off your clothes," he noted.
"Well, this is a beach."
He smirked. "I thought you'd be too ashamed of your body or something."
"You should be the one who's ashamed." She turned to him and smiled. "You're a little burnt."
He looked at his shoulder and grew alarmed at seeing the dark red colour go from his shoulder down to his swimming trunks. "Rika! Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Because it's funny." She smiled again. "It's a nice improvement. It draws attention away from your ugliness, though I'm not sure if looking like a half-burnt freak is any better."
He touched his right cheek, which was hot to the touch.
"My face!"
"Yeah, you look good." She gave him another demeaning smirk before she turned her attention back to her novel.
He wanted to kick sand on her but was too busy freaking out over his current state.
"Oh, my God! Can I use some of your sunscreen?"
"It's for before you burn, idiot."
He frowned. "Fine, well, I'm going inside and seeing if I can get anything for this."
"Okay."
He didn't move. "Are you coming?"
"Nope."
He groaned in his mind.
His parents had of course made him promise not to leave Rika alone.
"Your parents made you stay with me, huh?" she asked knowingly, eyes still transfixed on her novel.
"No."
"Go ahead then," she challenged.
He didn't move.
"Thought so." She smiled and stood up. "I'm going to go get ice cream."
For a moment, he was taken aback. While he had never thought of Rika as an ugly person, he still didn't expect her to have as nice of a body as she did.
He supposed it was from her mother's genes.
"What?" she asked darkly.
"Nice body."
She frowned immediately and kicked sand on him. "Pervert."
With that, she began to storm away towards the concession kiosk.
"And nice ass!" he shouted after her. "I can't wait to see that closer up in our bed later, babe!"
Passersby stared incredulously at them, though, to his surprise, Rika simply flicked him off without even turning her head.
If she was going to force him to burn to death on the beach, he was at least going to belittle her by treating her like a piece of meat—even if it meant she would beat him up later.
TK's arm felt rush of sweet relief as Takako finally got off of it, but the relief was only temporary as she seized his hand and easily pulled him off his chair. "Let's go eat!"
"Oh, er, I already—"
"Come on! We can't just let our date end so soon!"
He didn't answer, knowing it would fall on deaf ears, and simply let her drag him out of the theatre to the lobby.
"Hm, why don't we eat—"
She was interrupted by a blast of music, much to TK's delight. He grabbed his mobile from his pocket and gave Takako an apologetic look as he put the device to his ear. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's me."
"Ryo?"
TK turned away from Takako. If Ryo could see him now, he would have died.
"What're you doing?"
"I'm at the cinema."
Ryo laughed. "With your new wife?"
"No. This girl named Takako. You, er, you don't know her." He flashed Takako an apologetic smile. "What're you doing?"
"I'm at the beach with that Rika bitch. She is fucking crazy."
"Oh, really? How?" He suddenly got a brilliant idea and continued before Ryo could reply. "You should just hit her or something." He looked at Takako and saw her expression had changed to one of shock. Satisfied, he added, "Yeah, just hit that stupid bitch and put her back in her place! She's just a girl! Tell her to shut up and go back to cooking and cleaning and—"
"What the fuck, TK?" Ryo interrupted.
"—And stuff like that. You know," TK continued. "Give her a good punch or two."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Ryo asked irritably. "Anyway, she—wait. She's back. Oh, hey Rika!"
TK heard a buzz that indicated Ryo had hung up on him.
He turned to Takako, smiling. If she had any sort of decency, she would leave him. "So, you said you wanted to get lunch?"
"TK! I cannot believe you just said all of that!"
TK shrugged. "Well, it's just my opinion. I just think females should know their place in the world as the playthings of males."
She grinned devilishly and grabbed him by the shoulders. "You… are so sexy."
His jaw nearly dropped.
"Yeah, talk to me like that, baby."
"I… I've to use to toilet," TK stuttered, pulling away. "Too much, er, Coke."
"Oh, hey Rika." Ryo shut his mobile and looked up at Rika. Just to annoy her, he purposely talked to her chest.
"You're so perverted!" She crossed her arms over her chest as she sat back down on her towel. "Keep doing that and I'll punch your eye so hard, you'll never be able to see again!"
"Just being a guy." He grinned. "Besides, you're practically asking for it. Putting on such a slutty swimming costume and walking around to get ice cream? You obviously just wanted my attention, so I'm giving you some."
"I'm serious! Stop being disgusting!"
To show she was being serious, she reached over and slapped his burnt shoulder.
His eyes grew wide though no audible noise came out of his mouth.
"Cheap bitch," he muttered under his breath.
"Excuse me?"
"I didn't say anything."
She punched him this time.
"Ow!" He scowled as he protectively clutched his shoulder. "I meant hitting my burn was a cheap shot!"
"Whatever, jackass." She turned her head away from him and took a lick of her ice cream. "Now that I have this ice cream, I could stay here all afternoon! You don't mind, do you?" She faced him again and cocked a fake smile.
In a flash of anger and without thinking anything through, Ryo found himself getting up from his position towards her. He grabbed the cone from her hand and slammed it on top of her hair.
"Piss off, Rika. I'm going inside."
TK could have died.
"Oh, h-hey, Hina."
Hina Itou stood over his and Takako's table, a disapproving look tainting her beautiful face.
"Hello," she replied curtly. "And who is this lovely girl?"
Takako also seemed to have switched moods, a deep, creasing frown and dark glare shooting in Hina's direction.
"Er, this is Takako," TK tried. "Care to—er—care to join us?"
"TK, babe, I thought this was supposed to be a date."
"A what?" Hina asked sharply. "Oh, I didn't know you were dating, TK." She shot TK another judgmental look before smiling fakely at Takako. TK bit his straw and pretended to concentrate on drinking his water. "Nice to meet you. Hina. His ex."
Takako darkened further. "Takako. His girlfriend."
TK choked on his water, and his instinct made him turn to his side.
"Ew!" Hina screamed as water sprayed her, jumping a little. "TK, that's so gross!"
He continued coughing while shaking his head. "Cough—er, no—cough—we aren't—cough—she isn't my—cough—girlfriend."
"Oh, I see. Let me help you." Hina smirked as she slid in the booth beside him, gently patting his back. "Poor thing."
"Thanks," TK muttered.
"TK, I think it'd be better if we ate somewhere else," Takako said authoritatively.
"Oh, don't mind me," Hina purred, suddenly scooting closer to him. "We dated for a while, but we're just good friends now, aren't we, TK?" She ran her fingers through his hair. "So messy."
He moved his head out of the way to notice how angry Takako looked, and he was almost scared for what she would do. Hina wasn't weak, but Takako seemed ferocious.
Hina didn't seem to mind. "How long did we date for again, TK? I can never remember."
"Er, a long time," TK answered airily, trying to stand up. "Hey, Hina, can I talk to you for a second? Over there?"
Despite Takako's protests, he grabbed her arm and pushed her off their booth before taking her towards the toilets.
"Cute girlfriend," Hina jeered when they were out of Takako's earshot.
His face fell. "I'm being blackmailed!"
She rolled her eyes. "Blackmailed? By who?"
"N-nobody," he answered dismissively. "Look, I just want to go home. Can you do me a favour?"
"Let me get this straight." She crossed her arms. "You ignore my calls, never ask me to hang out and practically treat me like I don't exist all holiday. And now that I see you with this… this joke, you want me to do you a favour? Why don't you try again, TK?"
He had always been a little intimidated by Hina's attitude.
He gave her a smile and held her shoulders. "Hina, you know she isn't my type. She's holding me here against my own will. Please, please do me a favour? I'll do anything."
She raised an eyebrow. "Anything?"
"Hina," he warned.
She smirked. "Tell me what you want first."
"I want her to think I'm the worst person ever," he explained. "Can you just stay with us and, er, help me get rid of her? You know, flirt with me and stuff. Make it look like I'm interested in you instead of her."
She frowned. "Why don't you just tell her that you aren't interested?"
"Because she scares me!" he admitted hurriedly.
"You're such a little girl," Hina accused. "What kind of a man is scared to tell a girl he doesn't like her?"
"I'll buy you dinner," he bargained.
"Fine, I'll do it, but only because you're so cute." She belittlingly gave him a light pinch on the cheek, which she knew annoyed him. "And let me do the talking, darling. No offence, TK, but you're too obvious when you're lying."
"I hope you don't mind me joining you two," Hina said sweetly as she slid into the spot next to TK in their booth.
Takako looked at Hina disapprovingly. "We're kind of on a date."
"The more the better," TK said awkwardly, meriting a look from Hina.
"I couldn't just let TK date anyone, you know," Hina started, nudging him to tell him to stop talking. "He and I go way back, you know."
"We dated," TK explained.
"I already said that earlier," Hina reminded him, opening up a menu. "TK, you'll pay for me, right?"
"Of course!" he said awkwardly.
She smiled smugly at Takako for a second before glancing down at the menu.
"TK, I think maybe three's a crowd," Takako warned.
"Er, nonsense. Hina's my really good friend," he emphasised. "We're siblings now, practically."
Hina pinched him.
"I wouldn't call us siblings though, TK," she said dangerously, though her smile was in tact. She turned to Takako. "We're each very special to each other. We were each other's first loves."
"Er, yeah," TK agreed.
"I really think maybe we should go, TK," Takako repeated angrily. Takako was practically fuming, and for another moment he worried for Hina's safety.
"Don't be so jealous," Hina said bluntly. "You couldn't possibly think for one second that TK likes you over me."
"Oh yeah?" Takako seethed, staring at TK for an answer that never came.
Hina faced TK again, and he felt his cheeks flush at the sight of her so close, staring at him. "You know, TK. It wasn't that long ago that we broke up…"
He froze, not knowing how to respond as she got closer.
"Now that you're with another girl, it's made me realise how much I really miss you."
She closed her eyes and closed the gap between them with a small peck, but it was enough so that TK felt a wave of familiarity rush through him. He knew he shouldn't be enjoying it. He knew he should pull away. He knew Hina was only doing it for show.
But he couldn't stop himself.
His hand reached her face, bringing her in closer to intensify the kiss. He opened his mouth to hers as she put her own arms around his neck, pulling him closer towards her. He usually hated PDA, but right now he didn't care. After so long, he had her back. Hina was his again, and she—
"Are you done?" Takako screamed suddenly, standing up. "You're such a jerk, TK! I can't believe you put on some stupid front for me. Well, if you're so interested in this skinny little bitch, have fun, because the two of us are through!"
She threw her drink at him for good measure before storming away, but he was too stunned to do anything about it.
"She's crazy," Hina concluded, dabbing his face with a napkin.
He looked at her too. "She threw her drink at me!"
"You kind of deserved it," Hina teased. "Come on, let's go get you cleaned up." She took him by the hand as she slid out of the booth, smirking. "By the way, TK. That was one hell of a kiss. It makes me wonder why we even broke up in the first place."
Rika walked out of the bathroom freshly showered, though her anger hadn't subsided. She gave Ryo a nasty look before heading straight towards her bed.
"Rika—"
"Do not talk to me."
Neither had said anything since the incident from the afternoon, but Ryo was the first to talk to the other.
A bit surprising, since Ryo's parents had yelled at him for approximately an hour about why he shouldn't throw anything at a girl.
"Don't be dramatic, Rika. You asked for it."
She shot him another look. "Nice burn."
After applying copious amounts of aloe vera gel, he found his burn only unbearable to look at.
"Good one." He threw a pad of paper and a pen on her bed from his couch. "Our parents said we have to write at least five positive things about each other before we go to bed."
She threw the paper back at him, aiming for his head, but he caught them both. "You can make it up. I'm going to bed."
She watched as he got up from the couch and stormed to her bed, where he sat down firmly. "No. I'm not going to be your little bitch, so get off your bum and write five things you like about me!"
"Get off my bed, Akiyama."
He would have challenged her, but he knew now that she wasn't above beating him up. "Rika, I'm serious. Let's just act civil for five minutes and—"
"Fine," she interrupted. "You don't take up much space, you know when to shut up, you don't smell that bad, you've got nice hair and eyes. Good night."
Rika rolled over and shut her eyes.
Ryo, shocked at how smoothly that went—in a relative sense—sat there, irritation replaced by intrigue. He grinned and leaned over her head.
"You think I've got nice eyes?"
He felt her stiffen, and she opened her right eye. "No, but I couldn't think of anything else."
He grinned wider. "You're lying. You think I'm hot, don't you?"
She frowned. "Can you not breathe on me, first of all, and, no, I don't. I said you had one good feature, not that you're good-looking as a whole."
"You said two good features. You liked my hair too," he pointed out.
"I meant the colours were nice," Rika clarified, her tone hinting an increasing level of irritation. "Get over yourself. I can't say one good thing about you?"
"Not like that, no." He chuckled. "Rika Makino, I never thought I'd see the day when you'd admit that you think I'm hot."
Rika sat up, surprising Ryo to back away. "Stop putting words in my mouth. And, seriously, go away. Your breath is making me nauseous."
She pushed him away from her, and he stepped off the bed, smirking.
"Whatever. You can be embarrassed if you want." He picked up the pad of paper and pen. "But I know you think I'm hot."
"Turn off the light."
"Thanks for the help," TK said again when they had reached Hina's apartment complex.
"For the millionth time, it was no problem." She smirked. "Although, I guess you did need me after all. You're the worst actor of all time. I can't believe how awkward you were."
He laughed lowly. "Yeah, I guess."
She put a hand to his cheek. "You really are cute, TK."
He frowned. She knew he hated when she called him that, but she always said it anyway. It made him feel like a little kid.
"Anyway, it was nice to feel like your girlfriend again," she said with a small smile. "It made me remember how good to me you were."
"Yeah," he said, though he said it more to just say it than actually agreeing with you.
"Hope you don't mind my little kiss there," she continued. "It wasn't inappropriate or anything, was it?"
He smiled back. "No, it got rid of her at least, right?"
She nodded and returned his smile with one of her own.
She really was beautiful, and for a moment, he missed her again.
"If you ever need me to scare away any more unwanted girls, I'm only a call away," Hina concluded. "I'm going to go ahead."
He put his hands in his pockets and nodded. "All right. Good night."
"Hey, aren't you going to give me a hug at least?" she asked, feigning offence. "I did do all this work for you!"
He laughed as he reached out to hug her. "Whatever, Hina. You and I both know you enjoyed doing it."
"Maybe," she said, pulling away. She looked at him more solemnly. "Er, so, do you know how Ryo's doing?"
He tried not to frown at the change in subject, and he put his hands back in his pockets. "He's in Australia."
"I know, but… I just haven't heard from him in a while." She shrugged. "Tell him to call me sometime."
He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I will."
She smiled again. "Good night TK."
"Bye Hina."