V.
african sunset

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Sora watched as an aeroplane flew over her head, painting a contrail within the vast blue sky.

Back then, when she used to lie down with Taichi after soccer practice, they liked to guess the shapes of the clouds or make a bet about the plane's destination that had just passed above. It never occurred in her mind that Taichi was the one who marked his own path in the sky in the future. As a matter of fact, no one was expecting him to work for such a prestigious organization like the UN—even Taichi probably surprised himself on that.

It was weird not seeing Taichi around, even though it was barely a month since he left. Every Friday, she peeked at her phone as if it was second nature, waiting for a message saying there was a bar that seemed good somewhere in Ueno or Asakusa—just before she remembered that they weren't even in the same country. With Mimi who had also started her culinary course, Sora couldn't help but feel a tad lonely.

She then had an idea of checking her other friends. After all, she was the mother of the group.

That day, her company had a photoshoot around Shinjuku. Realizing how close the place was to Taichi and Koushiro's apartment, she thought about visiting the boy genius. Koushiro owned an IT-based programming start-up, thus his house was also his office. While sometimes he went out to meet his clients and investors, he mostly glued himself in front of his computers (yes, a plural). The start-up itself continuously grew to a more successful path, thanks to Koushiro's tenacity. With such a brilliant brain, he had the option to pursue a higher degree in top-notch universities like MIT or Cambridge, yet he chose to stay in Japan and enrolled himself in some online master program instead so that he could develop his own business easier.

Sora called him midday, trying to give him an early notice, but he didn't pick up, so she decided just to go anyway. Dropping by a patisserie to get a fruit roll cake for them, she arrived after a short walk and rang the bell.

It was silent.

Sora paused for a moment before pressing the button once again. Was he not home?

A few seconds later, there were noises and thumping came from inside. Koushiro showed up not long after, but he looked flustered somehow.

"So, Sora-san!" he exclaimed with a funny tone. "L, long time no see! What brings you here?"

"Well, I had a photoshoot around and thought I drop by …" she answered, eyeing him suspiciously. "It's been a long time since the last time we hung out together."

"It really is!" And then Koushiro started to laugh nervously.

Things got very awkward afterwards. Sora didn't really mind at first, but then she realized it was not like Koushiro to let his guest—a good friend, especially—stay too long in the corridor. Amid her wonder, she suddenly smelt something pleasant. Her hunch said it came from inside.

"Are you cooking?"

"Yes!"

"…Koushiro, you can't cook."

He often forgot his meal, as a matter of fact. Taichi got complete control of their kitchen and had to constantly remind his flatmate to eat.

"Ah—uhm, well… Matsuda-san gave me the recipe of her infamous gratin yesterday, so I'm trying it out. Smells good, isn't it? O, or maybe this is the smell from Matsuda-san's kitchen? Ahaha!"

First, not that she was expecting, but—again—if Koushiro did cook something, he would immediately ask his guest to join, especially now that Sora had acknowledged the aroma. Second, it became clear to her that he was lying, looking at how inconsistent he was on using his neighbour's name in his sentences.

"Koushiro."

"Y, yes?"

"If you didn't really want me to come over, you can just decline. It's not rude."

"…I'm sorry."

"That's okay," she gave him a tiny smile. "Here's a roll cake for you. I happened to pass the bakery."

"Oh." Koushiro opened the door a little wider to pull his hand out so that he could reach for the cake. In just that little time, Sora managed to catch some bits. Koushiro was wearing a shirt, which was odd because he usually just went with t-shirts considering he always worked from home. Moreover, there was a glimpse of shoes—female ones—resting in the entryway. Ah, so that's why…. "You don't have to bother, Sora-san. Thank you so much."

"No worries." Sora could feel her smile cracked wider without a command. "Pleasure's all mine. Have a great day."

Or should she say… have a great date?

.

.

"The heck, Sora? What time is this?"

She knew he would scold her eventually, but not this early.

"That's not a nice kind of 'hello' I was expecting," she pouted, lancing her voice with fake sadness. "The least you can do is ask how do I do like usual."

Taichi sighed before using a deep, heavy tone like a great English baron.

"Good morning, Miss. How do you like your sky today?"

She knew it was already the beginning of a new day, but didn't realize that it was 3 AM if he didn't point out. She couldn't help then but wonder: did she stay this late just to call him?

"Hmm… " she mumbled, "just like the African sky at the moment?"

"A sunset, eh?" he said, still with the bass before switching to his original voice. "Seriously, Sora. Why do you call so late? Please tell me you have got some sleep."

"I thought it would be better if I call you after you've finished your work."

"You know I will always pick up your call no matter when." Just before she could blush, he continued, "as far as I can recall, it's you who are too busy to pick up a call."

"I am not." Sora, once again, pretended to be hurt. "How's your day?"

No matter how boring it was, they always tried to exchange stories from work. Taichi was stationed in Kenya, but sometimes he would travel to some neighbouring countries. He said his team would go to Ethiopia next week to meet some people. "And oh, I also bought you a local garment. Not sure whether you will like the pattern, though. I never really trust my guts when it comes to fashion."

"Hey, it's a native African fabric. I think it'll be cool no matter what," she shrugged. "Besides, not that I want to make you swell-headed, your fashion sense has improved since you got the job—"

"Now, now—hold on a minute. Did you hear that?"

"What?"

"I'm not sure… wait, a second—"

"Taichi, I didn't hear anything—"

"—did you just say that I look dashing?"

"Oh, for God's sake!" Sora hissed, exasperated. "I shouldn't say it in the first place. I know that this is going to happen."

"Admit it, Sora. My ears are never wrong."

"Yeah? Did your ears hear about Koushiro's seeing someone?"

"He what?" Taichi's reaction sounded very spontaneous, so he probably didn't know about it too. "Wha, but—how did you know?"

"I dropped by your place this afternoon. He didn't let me in. I saw a woman's shoes in the door."

"Whose shoes?"

"Like I know!"

"Are you sure that it's not his mother's?"

"It was a young female's shoes. I'm positive. And he cooked—I could smell it."

Taichi tried to follow, but he seemed so speechless that he could only stutter for not getting his words correct. "Man, I can't believe he didn't say a word about it."

"It's Koushiro, Taichi. He's just probably too shy."

"But I'm his flatmate!"

"—which makes it still a good reason not to tell." Taichi tended to make fun of everything, while on the contrary, Koushiro was the type of person who would treat everything seriously. "Don't worry. He'll tell you sooner or later. Maybe he wants to introduce the right girl, so he must convince himself first."

"Well, whatever the reason is, I hope it's a good one. I mean, if it's true, I'm happy for him. He surely needs a date other than his screens."

Sora giggled. She paused for a moment before deciding to switch the topic. "There's this bar I found in Sendagaya, by the way."

"A new one?"

"Not really, I think. But it was sort of secluded."

"And what's good about it?"

"I… well, I haven't got a chance to drop by." She actually wanted to say that she didn't want to try it unless he was there with her. "I look at the menu, though. They have Takoyaki with a surprise centre."

"That's interesting," he commented. "Well. That should make the list a little bit longer, then. We surely have to visit a lot of places when I get back."

Sora nodded in agreement. There was a short dead air between them, where Sora could listen to the background crowds; cars honking, a fading conversation in a foreign language, incoherent steps, music blasting as if inviting to a joyous dance. Everything that should give a similar atmosphere to Tokyo, yet it seemed so distant.

And it was so lonesome, too. Sora finally realized that their Friday night agenda had become so ingrained that something felt missing if it wasn't done for a while.

(I miss you.)

"Well," she sighed. "Get some rest after you get back to the hotel, okay?"

"I'm the one who should say that. Go to sleep, Sora."

She ended the call with a chuckle, but as she stared at the empty screen, Sora wished she just said the word without her pride getting the better of her.

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Sora's next period came when she was at the office, and the pain struck immediately that her workmates encouraged her to just go home. Although her boss was sometimes despicable, she granted her a half-day leave, and her workmates then helped call a taxi.

When she got into the cab, just before she could slip her address to the driver, something came across her mind. She finally named a hospital and made a quick phone call.

She was so fed up with this.

Jyou was already standing in the hospital lobby when the taxi arrived. He assisted her in opening the door and getting out of the car, eyes looking concerned. "Can you walk?"

Sora responded with a faint nod, her left hand reaching for Jyou's shoulder to get an additional grip nevertheless. "I took a painkiller before I get here."

It was embarrassing for her when they reached the obstetric ward where Jyou was currently posted for his internship. No one actually gave her a judgemental look, but she felt like someone who got impregnated by accident at such a young age, especially that she came alone. Oddly, it felt less uncomfortable when Jyou got him lying above a bed in an empty consulting room, asking her to lift her shirt so that he could examine further. Back then, she would never imagine being in this place with Jyou rubbing a gel above her bare stomach, as it seemed very awkward to have your own male friend doing such things.

"I think this is just merely because of fatigue and stress," Jyou concluded, his hand still scanning Sora's stomach with the help of ultrasound and his eyes observed the image on the screen. "I know patients usually pissed off because they paid a lot of money to be examined, yet the doctors only told them to slow down. But that's the fact: there's no better cure than a good rest. I can give you some medicine to help, but it won't work unless you take good care of yourself."

"You just gave me the exact reason why I don't see doctors pretty often." Sora half-heartedly joked, sighing in slight frustration.

"Don't worry. If you need someone to accompany you, I'm only one call away and we can have another round of crazy karaoke without others watching," Jyou let out a small laugh. "Or perhaps we can also ask Daisuke-kun for a So-Da-Yo comeback?"

Sora joined the laughter as she pulled down her shirt and sat at the edge of the bed. They stared at each other meaningfully for a moment with tiny smiles tugged on their lips. Jyou had always been a thoughtful senior and a reliable friend to her. Although he was hard to reach due to his tight schedule, he always tried his best to make a time when his friends needed him the most.

"How are things, anyway?" asked him. "We haven't talked much since the wedding, eh? You're getting busier, it seems."

"And you're always busy," she returned the accusation. "Same old, I guess—except more responsibilities. Funny that shortly after the wedding, I was involved in a special wedding insert. Prepping Mimi's wedding did help me to get through that."

"Well, I think I haven't complimented you for that. The wedding was amazing." There was no doubt in his voice. "Truth be told, I don't know how you can even manage the event so great with no hard feeling, Sora-kun. I guess that's what you call professional at heart."

Sora frowned, a bit confused with his statement.

"Mimi's my best friend. I would do anything for her."

"But Yamato is also your ex, right?"

So that was what he meant. "Well," she huffed. "Friendship above boy problem, you can say. I've moved on anyway."

"True, but isn't it always strange to see your ex getting married first? And it just happened to be with your own's best friend." Jyou smiled apologetically while Sora didn't have any argument to counter. "I'm sorry. I'm just afraid that you were hurt at one moment and decided to bury it so deep for the sake of Mimi-kun's happiness."

He sighed heavily, leaning his back towards his chair. "You know … Koushiro-kun stayed in my apartment after we got back from the wedding. He helped me sobered up and I was actually sobbing along the process." He chuckled in embarrassment. "We then talked about how we decided to finally let go of Mimi-kun that night."

That was where Sora remembered Jyou actually confessed to Mimi somewhere before he entered the college. Mimi came to her and revealed the whole chronology without missing any details. I don't know how to reject him, she told her in panic. I love him so much but I can only see him as my big brother! She did it somehow, nevertheless. Jyou didn't come up to some gatherings, but he got his excuse to prepare the entrance exam, so no one found it awkward except Mimi herself. He did come back after he got through the medical school and simultaneously, their relationship seemed to return to the old state.

And Koushiro, on the other hand, while he never confessed nor admitted that he liked Mimi, everybody could see how oblivious it was; red cheeks and stutter every time he must deal with the princess.

"It's probably easier for Koushiro to do so. But for me, even though Mimi isn't my significant other, she will always be someone who is so special to me. A dearest little sister who is hard for me to let go of," Jyou pondered. "That's why I understand your feeling, Sora-kun. I think that's why we're both so wasted that night, and that's okay. In the end, your feelings matter."

Sora grasped the edge of the bed harder as he could feel the words piercing through her. She thought she would visit the hospital today for a gynecology examination; it didn't occur in her mind that she could have a sort of psychological session. Not that she wasn't being grateful. On the contrary, Jyou made her realize that it was justifiable for her to be upset. That it was okay to have any feelings; be it towards herself, a former lover, or best friends—including him.

"Aaah, senpaaai!" Sora sighed in relief. "With that big heart of yours, I seriously wonder why you don't have a girlfriend up until now. Your patients are all female yet you haven't dated anyone!"

"Sora-kun, I'm in the obstetric. My patients are mostly married women."

"Then how about us dating?"

"Huh. I always thought you will end up with Taichi."

His statement just made it more obvious that Sora was indeed very oblivious. "You lose to Koushiro, by the way. He has a girl now."

"You're joking." There was a genuine surprise in Jyou's reaction, judging how wide his eyes opened and the way he slammed the table. "Oh, come on! Why are guys making it so hard for me?"

Sora let out a small laugh.

"You should quickly make up your mind, senpai."

Just like she made up her mind about Taichi.

Sora finally understood the thing inside herself that she hadn't been able to put a finger on for a very long time was. She always thought that the kiss happened because she had problems with the whole situation and he was just happened to be there with her. But now, he wasn't here a bit, yet a hole was cratering in her heart; widened as the days passed, aching more and more each time he reverberated through her mind.

She was wrong. Everything kept come back to him. She loved him.

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notes: 12 July 2020. (Edited on 19 February 2022)

Sorry for the late update; I had quite a block for this chapter and have been a bit busy with my study. Hope you're happy with Jyou and Koushiro's appearance! I don't have many words for now, but just want to let you know I have a Tumblr for Digimon stuffs; mostly graphics, gif, ramblings, and sometimes I wrote drabbles that I couldn't put here yet. I even do request sometimes. The url/username is earlgreymon, btw.

I cannot promise when will the next chapter show up. I really hope I can do it soon. Thanks for the reviews, including from the guests/anon. You guys are lovely; I was thinking of delaying the update for another day, but then I received notifications about people subscribing/reviewing/adding this to favourite. Again, thank you. Stay safe everywhere you are!