Chapter 11
"Woah….. I did not see that coming," Aimi said while peering out the restaurant's glass window to see that her idol was making out with Isuke.
Behind her, Nio was sniggering.
"Yesss! I knew it!" Haru shouted ecstatically next to Aimi. "Finally I can say it to Haruki's face 'I told you so' because she didn't believe it when I told her."
"Isuke can now stop being such a bitch to Aimi-san," Tokaku said disinterestedly while still seated in her seat and eating her pizza, not bothering to join the trio to peep on Haruki and Isuke kissing.
"What do you mean, Isuke being a bitch to me, Tokaku-san?" Aimi turned to look at Tokaku and asked innocously.
Tokaku just sighed and continued with her food.
"Oh I thought I was the only one who know what's going on, but seems like you're the only clueless one here, Aimi-chan," Nio taunted. "Now behold! Allow Nio to fill you in!" She gestured her arms in a dramatic fashion before taking in a deep breath. "Isuke had been crushing hard on Haruki for reasons unknown since that day I caught her staring at Haruki in class instead of sleeping in class like she always does. But she was so deep in denial that it was hard to get anything out from her. Then lots of things happened in between which I didn't understand… hey, come to think of it, maybe that's why she skipped all of Sumireko's tea parties…" Nio trailed off thoughtfully. "But anyways, out of the blue she dated the queen bee and then broke up with her abruptly. And then suddenly she told me she didn't care about her image and popularity anymore. I finally understood why during the basketball court incident."
"You mean that incident where Haruki stood up against Isuke and became a hero overnight?" Aimi asked.
"Yup, that incident," Nio confirmed.
"Wait a minute. I didn't see anything weird about that day. Haruki just stood up for poor Kenmochi-san and then nothing happened between Isuke-san and Haruki," Haru said, confused.
"Ah… for the untrained eyes, they'd think nothing happened. But I know Isuke longer than all of you. Do you think she would back down without a fight if she had been told off by anyone, especially by someone who is of lower status?" Nio asked.
"That makes sense. I felt something was off too when I see Isuke didn't put up much of a fight when confronted by Haruki. I mean, if I was the one who told her off that day, all hell will break loose," Tokaku said coolly while sipping her drink.
"Ahh that's right. I saw you walking towards the scene, all ready to fight for your friend, but in the end, that wasn't needed," Nio said, chuckling. "So, anyway, when I told her that she likes Haruki 'cause she didn't fight back, she still denied it. She had it real bad for Haruki but she was still too stubborn to admit it. But today, when I brought it up again, she didn't deny it anymore. But she was still all sadness and shit, especially on her birthdays, so I came up with this plan to invite you all to her birthday party because I know she'd celebrate it if Haruki attended. You know, she didn't wanna celebrate it at first. So, I'm proud to say that I'm their matchmaker! Thank you very much." She ended her speech with an extravagant bow.
"You know, it's funny when you mentioned that day when you caught Isuke staring at Haruki in class instead of sleeping," Haru said. "'Cause I thought the same thing too. I even worried that I have to reject Isuke on behalf of Haruki soon. Haruki has lots of fangirls, but she's always so clueless to know what's going on 'til I have to reject them on her behalf. But anyway, for a brief period of time, Haruki suddenly turned over a new leaf and stopped being late to school. I thought that was weird. And there was one time, when she was absent for three days, Isuke asked me where Haruki is. I thought that was weird too."
"Yes yes… and then after Haruki came back to school, Isuke was being bitchier than ever to everyone, especially to me," Nio said, as she started to put the pieces together. "I thought that was very mean, even for her. And during that time, she slipped back into her old habit of sleeping in classes. And now that you mentioned about turning over a new leaf, for a brief period of time, Isuke stopped sleeping in classes and actually did well in her tests."
"Oh my God. I noticed that too," Haru gasped. "Haruki slipped back into her old habit of being late to school after she came back. I thought it was because of her family problem but now that I think about it…"
"Both of them turned over a new leaf around the same time," Nio said, her forefinger and thumb rubbing her chin as if deep in thought.
"And slipped into their old habits at the same time too!" Haru finished excitedly. "Right when Isuke was being moody and bitchy to everyone."
"Makes you think that both of them were so in sync with each other that time, huh?" Nio wondered out loud, equally excited as she began to get at something. "Now, two people won't be so in sync with each other unless…"
"They had been seeing each other behind our backs for months," Haru and Nio both said in unison.
"So, it makes sense now why Haruki is always defending Isuke. I was angry at her for defending Isuke that day when I was about to beat her up," Tokaku suddenly piped up and looked up from her food for the first time.
"Heh, who would forget about that incident. When both of you left, I still hung around and overheard their conversation. Isuke was telling Haruki about her fangirls in a very jealous tone. And quite frankly, I've never seen this side of her and she had had many girlfriends before, you know?" Nio said while looking pointedly at Aimi, hoping that she would catch the hint.
"Woah… mind blown… I would never thought that Isuke was seeing Haruki secretly behind my back. Actually, scratch that. Behind everyone else's back for months," Nio said, her eyes wide in disbelief as realization dawned on her. "It all makes sense now why she was always skipping the tea parties, ditching me when I asked to hang out…"
"Well, I for one, don't think that they are secret lovers," Aimi suddenly spoke up. "How would you explain Isuke's love affair with that girl whom she broke it off after only about a week and her love affair with Hanabusa-san?"
"Well, have you ever heard of the term 'bearding'?" Nio asked. "I know it's not really the same 'cause the beards are also girls, but that's the closest definition I can come up with." When Aimi still looked at her cluelessly, Nio said, "She was just using that girl and Sumireko as a cover up, you dummy. Maybe she still cared about her popularity and image that time, so she didn't want to let people know Haruki is her real girlfriend. Heck, for all we know, Haruki is the rumoured girl that she cheated with."
"Oh my God, I just remembered something!" Haru suddenly squealed, startling everyone in the restaurant. "Haruki choked on her drink that day when I told her about that rumour. That Isuke was cheating with someone from our school as the reason for the breakup with that girl."
"Ha! Mystery solved!" Nio said triumphantly, happy that she was finally able to solve the mystery that is Inukai Isuke. Little did she know, she couldn't be further from the truth.
"Ok, that's sweet and all, but that still doesn't answer my question why Isuke was being a bitch to me?" Aimi asked innocently.
"Because she's jealous of you, that's why," Tokaku answered curtly. "Didn't you notice her sending you dagger glares everyday during our science project discussion and during lunch?"
"Oh, Tokaku. I never knew you'd notice such things too," Haru said in awe of her girlfriend. Tokaku usually removed herself from any high school drama, so for her to notice this is a revelation to Haru.
"Normally, I don't. But both of them are being so obvious," Tokaku said, without elaborating further. She then turned her attention to Aimi. "And you partnering up with Haruki to collect soil samples everyday only made it worse. Isuke can be very possessive, if you don't know that by now."
"I guess that's why Isuke finally couldn't take it anymore and Haruki pushed her to make their relationship public. And Isuke wasn't ready yet. Hence, the tension between them. I'm glad they finally sort things out, though. Oh… their love story is so romantic," Haru said dreamily while looking at the two lovebirds outside kissing.
Aimi sighed. "I guess I should see it coming. I mean, every time I go collect soil samples with Haruki, she's always Isuke-sama this Isuke-sama that. Even that new restaurant she mentioned to me was 'cause of Isuke. I thought I could win her over by buying her Pocky." She sighed again.
"Yeah, you'd better back down now," Nio said. "I've had enough of putting up with Isuke's mood swings 'cause of Haruki."
"Yeah, I don't plan to pursue this hopeless relationship anymore. They're clearly so in love with each other," Aimi said defeatedly as she looked outside. Isuke and Haruki were still kissing. "I'll support Haruki in whatever she chooses and love her from the sideline only."
"So dramatic," Nio remarked dryly.
"Wow…" Haruki breathed when she finally parted from Isuke's lips. She circled her thumb slowly on Isuke's cheek, before tracing it down to Isuke's smudged lips.
"Wow is right." Isuke took in a shuddering breath and sighed, while her fingers played softly with Haruki's hair. She had kissed lots of people before, and while her first kiss with Haruki wasn't the best she ever had, none had ever made her feel things like the way Haruki had. "Are you sure you've never done this before, Haruki?" she asked playfully.
"Is that a compliment that I'm a good kisser?" Haruki teased.
"I didn't say that," Isuke replied, her cheeks blushing.
Haruki laughed at the way Isuke reacted. It never gets old seeing her blush. "So, you wanna get outta here?"
"What? And just leave them behind?" Isuke asked.
"Yeah, I can see that you're not enjoying yourself back there. And besides, there's somewhere I want to bring you. Somewhere nice," Haruki said, smiling charmingly.
"Well… I don't mind, but what would your fangirl think? She would be devastated that you left her so suddenly," Isuke said sarcastically.
"I think they already know what's going on," Haruki said, as she looked over Isuke's shoulder and saw Haru, Nio and Aimi looking at them through the restaurant glass window.
"What?!" Isuke turned around and saw the trio quickly dug their heads down. "Oh, fuck it," Isuke cursed while Haruki just threw her arm around Isuke in an one armed hug and chuckled.
"Come on, let's go inside and tell them that we're taking off first, yeah?" Haruki said as she let go of Isuke and offered her hand. Isuke took it and their fingers slipped between each other's like it's the most natural thing in the world. She let Haruki led her back into the restaurant.
"Oh shit, I think they saw us!" Nio said as she ducked her head down.
"Hey, they're coming back now," Haru said as she raised her head to peek through the glass window.
"Quick, let's get back to our seat and act natural," Nio instructed as she quickly scrambled back to her seat. The others followed suit.
They sat down just in time as Isuke and Haruki walked in, their fingers still interlaced with each other's. Haruki let go of Isuke's hand to take her wallet out and passed some cash to Haru. "Here's my and Isuke's share." Realizing that she was still short on cash, she leaned down and spoke quietly into Haru's ear, "I'll pay you the remaining next month."
Isuke took the cash from Haru's hand and returned it to Haruki. "Don't be silly. It's my birthday so it's my treat to all of you. Even though I don't really like some of you here." She went to the cashier counter to make payment.
"Oh, you guys leaving already?" Nio asked, a sly smile on her face.
"Yeah, Isuke and I are taking off first," Haruki said awkwardly and coughed. She didn't know if she should tell her friends that they are together now, even though she knew that they knew about it already.
However, her problem was solved when she felt Isuke's hand slipping back into hers and pulled her closer. "Yeah, come on, Haruki. Let's go."
Haruki was shocked at first, but when she turned to look at Isuke, she understood what was going on. Isuke was looking at Aimi with a partly smug, partly triumphant smile on her face. "That's so like her," Haruki thought amusingly.
"Ok, bye guys, and enjoy your pizza." Haruki waved her friends goodbye before getting dragged by Isuke.
"Wow, did you see how Isuke was looking at Aimi just now?" Haru asked when they left.
"Yeah, that's classic Isuke," Nio chuckled.
"What? I don't get it. I thought you said she won't be a bitch to me anymore, Tokaku-san," Aimi said, feeling defeated.
"Nah, she's just showing you that she had won and telling you to back down, now that she had marked Haruki as hers already," Tokaku explained, her tone of voice neutral. "Like I said, she's possessive."
"Wow, I didn't know that you understand Isuke that well," Nio said snarkily.
"I'm just observant."
"Are you taking Isuke somewhere dark and quiet so that you can have your way with her later?" Isuke panted as she climbed up a flight of stairs. She had begun to regret letting Haruki take her somewhere nice. "You know, when you said you'd take me somewhere nice, I didn't envision myself having to climb flights of stairs."
Haruki had snucked both of them into an office building, the tallest one in their city, and took a lift up to the highest floor. Then, she led her to the building's emergency staircase and right now, they are climbing up flights of stairs.
"It's only four flights of stairs, Isuke-sama," Haruki said with a laugh. "We're almost there, and trust me, it will be worth it once we reach there."
"It'd better be," Isuke said and Haruki could hear the pout in her voice. "Otherwise, Isuke's gonna be really pissed."
"Here we are," Haruki said as they reached the top and came face to face with an unlocked door. She pushed it open and took Isuke's hand to lead her in.
Isuke followed Haruki into the rooftop of the building. They walked past the helipad and kept on walking straight until they reached the building's ledge. Once there, Haruki let go of Isuke's hand and leaned on the ledge.
"It may not seem like much now, but the view from up here is very beautiful, especially when the sun is setting and during night time," Haruki explained with a smile. "I used to always come up here after school, before my mom was diagnosed and before my dad left us. After that, I don't have the time anymore as I'm busy with work."
Ok, that was heavy. Isuke knew how much of a turning point Haruki's life had become after her dad left. "Looks like you were a delinquent way before you start selling weed, huh?" Isuke joked, trying to lighten the mood, as she smiled affectionately at Haruki. "Breaking into office buildings and sneaking people in."
"Yeah, you can say that. But you're the first person I've snucked in," Haruki chuckled as she sat down on the floor and leaned against the ledge. She patted for Isuke to do the same. "We have half an hour more to go before the sunset, so let's sit down and relax first."
Isuke sat down next to the redhead and leaned her head on Haruki's shoulder. Haruki responded by wrapping an arm around her. The two of them stayed like that for a while, enjoying the cool afternoon breeze and each other's company. It had been a while since they had spent time together alone and they really missed it. Haruki took Isuke's hand in her free hand and played with her fingers, before kissing each one of them languidly. It's an inexplicable feeling, but Haruki really loved Isuke's fingers. Isuke sighed contentedly and sank even further into Haruki's body. She hadn't been this happy for a really long time.
"Since when?" Haruki asked in between kisses.
"Hmm?" Isuke hummed lazily.
"Since when were you attracted to my unsophisticated charm?" Haruki asked.
"What?" Isuke jerked her head up suddenly and looked at Haruki incredulously. "What unsophisticated charm?"
"Awww… are we gonna pretend that you never called me by this name before?" Haruki asked with a smile.
Oh yeah. She did call her that when they first met. Isuke had already forgotten about how much she was by disgusted by Haruki when she first laid eyes on her. She would never predict that she would end up together with her. "Yeah, I did call you that, didn't I?" Isuke smiled ruefully. "You should know that I didn't mean anything by it." She was surprised that Haruki still remembered that. The idea that Haruki was hurt by that one remark bothered Isuke.
"Hey, I wasn't offended by it. In fact, I think it was funny. I've been called many names before, but never one quite as colourful as the name you've given me," Haruki said with a laugh. "You're really creative when you're spouting insults."
"Ha. If they'd give us grades for spouting creative and colourful insults, I'd ace it," Isuke said smugly.
"Yeah, you would." Haruki looked fondly at Isuke as she twirled the pinkette's curls with her finger playfully.
The breeze picked up a bit, and Haruki's strands of red hair tickled Isuke's face. Isuke turned her face up to look at Haruki, who was still staring at her with so much adoration in her eyes. At that moment, Isuke thought that Haruki had never looked so beautiful before. A surge of emotions welled up in her chest and she leaned forward to kiss Haruki's lips. She meant to just give her a peck, but Haruki pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. Their tongues danced slowly against each other's as they explored each other's mouths passionately, Haruki's original question long forgotten.
After about a minute or two, both of them parted, their breaths coming out in short pants. With great difficulty, Haruki tore her eyes away from Isuke to look at the sky. The sun was about to set soon.
"Look, look, look," Haruki said urgently as she stood up and pointed at the direction of the sunset. "You don't wanna miss this moment, Isuke-sama."
Isuke stood up and turned towards the direction of the sunset and her breath was taken away. "Yeah, it's really beautiful."
"Wait 'til night time comes," Haruki said proudly. "Hey, let's take a selfie."
"Why?" Isuke asked.
"You don't want to? I just thought it would be nice for both of us taking a selfie in front of this beautiful view," Haruki explained, but when she saw Isuke still looking unconvinced, her expression began to deflate.
Isuke didn't normally take pictures with her girlfriends and if they asked, she would usually declined. But looking at Haruki now, her expression began to soften. How could she say no to her? Haruki's not just any girlfriends. She's different form all the others.
With an eye roll and an exaggerated sigh, Isuke gestured for Haruki to stand behind her with her back facing the sunset. Then, she snuggled her back into Haruki's front. Haruki's hands automatically went to hug her from behind. Both of them were positioned nicely right in front of the sunset.
"Well, how are we going to take a selfie if you don't have your phone, idiot?"
Haruki smiled happily as she took her phone out and positioned it in front of them. "Isuke-sama, say cheese…" Haruki said as she angled her phone in front of them, making sure to capture the sunset in the background as well. The phone camera clicked a few times while they made a few different poses with serious and funny faces. Well, funny faces were mostly Haruki's. After that was done, Haruki checked the photos.
"I'll email the photos to you in a short while. What's your email address?"
"Email is so outdated. Don't you have Instagram? Post it there and tag me."
"Heh… I haven't changed my phone in a long time, so it doesn't have enough space to install Instagram or any other social media app," Haruki said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "I have to go back home to use the family computer in order to access Insta."
Isuke smiled fondly at Haruki's awkwardness. "Give me your phone then," the pink-haired girl said. "I'll type down my email address for you."
Haruki passed her phone to Isuke and the latter took it, before punching down her email address into Haruki's phone and passed it back to her.
Haruki took her phone back and started typing away. "I've sent it to you." Haruki turned back to look at the scenery. "The sun has set. Now, prepare yourself for the view at night. It'll take your breath away, I promise you."
Isuke followed Haruki's line of sight and true enough it took her breath away. "Wow," Isuke breathed. Haruki was right. The view was really breathtakingly beautiful.
"Right?" Haruki asked and as she turned to look at Isuke, she took back all her words about the sunset and night view being breathtakingly beautiful. Because right now, standing right in front of the her, is the most breathtakingly beautiful person she had ever laid eyes on.
"You're really beautiful, Isuke-sama," she said before she could stop herself. "Even more so breathtaking than the view from up here."
Isuke turned around, seemingly shocked by what she had just heard. She had been called hot, sexy, hotstuff and all those complimentary remarks about her body and appearance before, but never once had anyone called her beautiful before. It was so stupidly sincere, stupidly so Haruki and stupidly so cheesy as well.
"Are you always that cheesy?" Isuke joked lightheartedly, even though her face had turned into a shade of red.
"Ah… but you like it, don't you? If the blush on your face is any indication to go by," Haruki remarked humourously, before throwing a charming wink at her.
If it was anybody else, Isuke would just roll her eyes at their cheesy pick-up lines and the cheesy wink, but because it was Haruki, she found it oddly charming. "Shut up and stop talking," Isuke said, feeling her face becoming hotter.
"But they mean the same thi-" Haruki didn't get to finish her sentence because Isuke had grasped the collar of her uniform and pulled her in for a deep kiss.
When they parted, Haruki was so dazed that she had forgotten the reason why she brought Isuke here in the first place.
"Hey, before I forget, I got you something," Haruki said while taking a small wrapped box from her bag. "This is for you."
Isuke took the present from her. "Is that why you were late just now?"
"Yeah, it's your birthday. How could I turn up to your birthday party empty handed?" Haruki said, a goofy grin on her face.
"How thoughtful of you, then," Isuke said, smiling coyly. She tore open the present paper and opened the box. Inside the box was a necklace with miniature nail polish bottle as the pendant.
"Here, let me put it on for you," Haruki offered, taking the necklace from Isuke and helping her to wear it around her neck.
When Haruki was done, she took a step back and admired her work. "I gotta say, I do have great taste," she said proudly, a lopsided grin on her face.
Isuke scoffed. "In what? Fashion? That's highly debatable."
"So you're saying that the necklace looks bad on you? And that you're my bad taste?" Haruki joked with a pout, earning herself a punch on her arm.
Isuke touched the pendant of her necklace thoughtfully. She had to agree with Haruki that the necklace is indeed beautiful, and although it is not made of diamond or any gemstone like her other jewellery, it is more special to her because it is from Haruki. And the necklace must have cost a fortune for someone like her. The knowledge that Haruki went out of her way to buy something for her with her own hard-earned income that she could have used to pay her bills tugged at Isuke's heartstrings.
"Thanks though," Isuke said sincerely. "I really appreciate it."
The setting, the atmosphere, the special occasion, Haruki being with her; all of these made it really romantic. She had went to many dates before, but none of them had this romantic feel as this one. And all of her dates always ended up in sex. For some weird reason, she didn't feel like she wants to jump straight into bed with Haruki. Instead, she wants to take things slow and get to know the redhead better, before taking the next step. It was something unprecedented for Isuke that she felt scared for the first time ever to be in a relationship with someone.
Haruki leaned in and gave Isuke a kiss on the cheek. "Happy birthday, Isuke," she said affectionately, a toothy grin on her lips.
Isuke returned the redhead's corny smile. She couldn't believe that her birthday this year had turned out to be the best day of her life. And for the first time in her life, she is looking forward to her birthday every year so that she could spend it with Haruki.
Yeah, for the next few chapters, it will be fluff because they deserved it! Well, at least before the shitstorm starts.
And thanks for all the reviews.
