Sorry, but this is kind of a short update. Nonetheless, I hope you guys will enjoy the continuation of Covers!
Chapter 10
"Wow, Ami, you look amazing." I breathed as I took in the sight of my girlfriend under the warm glow of what had to be hundreds of lanterns. Her hair was pinned up in an elaborate ponytail that seemed every bit as elegant as the crimson floral yukata that wrapped around her body. I was definitely appreciating Kitamura's suggestion of going to a local summer festival that we had found out was being held nearby Ami's villa.
"You really think so, Ryuuji?" She laughed softly, knowing perfectly well how good she looked, if her sly grin told me anything. She was definitely enjoying the attention that she was receiving from passer-byers, who seemed to consist of hordes of young men openly staring at her, although a glare from me scared most of them off.
"Definitely." I replied, just before Ami was pushed aside by a small girl with a messy bun of coffee brown hair dressed in a light blue yukata.
"Stupide Chihuahua." She muttered, attempting to slink away into the crowd of people, but was not fast enough to escape the lighting fast reflexes of Ami, who had a hand on the girl's shoulder before she could escape.
"Say, Taiga. Is there something you want to say to my face?" She asked sweetly, although there was definitely an undertone of murder to her words.
"Hey, Ami, why don't we go get some takoyaki?" I suggested, swooping in between the two females, hoping to diffuse the situation, just as Minori cut in at the same time to take Taiga away. Luckily, it seemed like we had both been thinking the same thing, and acted in conjunction to prevent the inevitable fight that was brewing.
"You know, I would really appreciate it if you kept yourself from fighting with Taiga." I sighed, keeping a tight grip on Ami's hand to make sure that I didn't lose her in the crowds that we had to push through.
"If that means that I get to be alone with you, then I guess I could try." Ami whispered into my ear, causing me to flush pink with embarrassment. For a moment, I considered the possibility that Ami had been manufacturing the fight to make sure that we ended up alone, but then again, she couldn't be that diabolical. Could she?
"Have you come to a lot of these before, Ryuuji?" Ami asked, forcing the two of us to stop at a takoyaki stand. I took a deep whiff of the heavenly scent and couldn't pull out my wallet quickly enough to pay for a portion.
I shook my head regarding her question, "No, not really. I've only come to a few with my mom before. I've never been here with friends, if that's what you mean."
"Glad to know that we'll be sharing our first time then." Ami replied contentedly, picking up one of the squid balls with a toothpick and gently blowing on it before she shoved it into my mouth.
"Our first time? Don't tell me that the great Kawashima Ami has never been to a summer festival before." I chuckled as I swallowed the still burning hot morsel.
Deciding to repay the favor, I picked out an especially large ball and blew on it until it seemed acceptable to feed Ami, who gulped it down without any hint of difficulty, "I already told you, that's why I've been thinking of quitting my modeling job. I want to be able to experience things like this. High school only happens once, you know. And I want to enjoy my time here."
"Yeah, I guess so." I nodded in agreement, deciding to clear my mind and to just enjoy the moment. I felt Ami's slender hand gently grip onto mine, and I squeezed back softly in response, relishing in the contact and the moment of connection that we felt, even amongst waves of people.
"How about you, Ryuuji? Don't you want to enjoy your high school days?" Ami asked, leaning her head on top of my shoulder.
"I already am." I said with a soft smile, grinning in victory as I saw a blush rise to Ami's cheeks. It wasn't often that she got flustered, and I took my time enjoying the rare sight.
Suddenly, I heard a light voice cry out, "Ryuuji-san!"
Interrupted from our moment of intimacy, I scowled at the intrusion, until I realized that the person who had called out my name was Nanako, who was currently waddling towards me in the fastest manner that she could under her restrictive magenta yukata. Next to her ran Kitamura, who wore a worried look on his normally bubbly face.
"Nanako-san, what's wrong?" I asked as she stopped in front of me, pausing to catch her breath.
"It's not me. It's Maya." She panted, "She's missing."
"What do you mean that she's missing?" Ami asked, genuine concern in her voice. I knew that, deep down, she truly was interested in the well being of her friends, and would do anything for them. Which was why she seemed to have her mind working in overdrive, scanning the crowd of people with a zeal that I rarely saw from her.
"I saw her talking to Kitamura-san, and then she just ran off. I didn't hear what they were talking about though." Nanako explained to us, and immediately, Ami whirled towards me.
"Ryuuji, I'll take Nanako and search through the center of the festival. You check the outskirts. She might have run out there." Ami ordered, grabbing Nanako by the wrist and dragging her off, leaving me alone.
A run was exactly what I needed to clear my head after the craziness that I had just suffered through the night before. First, I had listened to Ami as she considered quitting modeling for good, and then came the whole business with Taiga, Kitamura, and Minori appearing out of the blue. The three of them ended up leaving after Ami finally caught Taiga, with the agreement that we would meet them after the end of their softball tournament.
The whole ordeal was just plain exhausting.
With a baggy old t-shirt and shorts that I had found in Ami's spare clothes that she kept at the villa, I stepped outside the front door, ready to spend my morning exploring the area around Ami's villa, only to find myself faced with a familiar head of brown hair, pulled back into a long ponytail.
"Maya-san?" I asked, still wiping a bit of the sleep out of my eyes, "What are you doing up so early?"
"I should ask you the same thing." Maya replied, pulling one arm across her chest as she continued stretching. I took a second to appreciate the fact that she was wearing only a sports bra and shorts, which definitely helped to show off her toned physique. However, I quickly decided to avert my gaze, not wanting to think about how Ami would react to me ogling one of her friends.
"I just needed to clear my head after what happened last night." I said, following her lead as I bent over in an attempt to reach my toes, although I was unsuccessful in my attempt.
"Tell me about it." Maya scoffed lightly, just as she noticed my struggles, "Here, let me help."
She stepped over and placed a hand on my back, giving me a gentle push that allowed me to finally reach my toes. I had never really been all that athletic, and besides, playing sports usually involved teammates, and I always had trouble convincing people to pick me for their teams.
Thanking her for the help, I stood back up to my full height and swung my arms around to loosen them up.
"Maya-san, do you want to run together?" I suggested, noticing that she was already warmed up. She did a few more last minutes stretches, showcasing her superior flexibility, especially when compared to my pitiful display.
She seemed a bit taken aback at my suggestion, but after the moment of surprise passed, she shrugged her shoulders, "Oh, sure. If you can keep up."
And with that, she took off, leaving me to quickly dash to try and catch up with her.
After what had to be quite a few miles, I suddenly remembered why I didn't play sports in school, as I was now wheezing and struggling to keep up with Maya, who seemed to be breaking into a sweat, but otherwise, was in a much better condition than I was.
"Yo, Takasu, do you need to stop for a little bit?" Maya asked as she looked back at me with a hint of concern in her voice, which was surprising, given her usual state of antipathy towards me. The two of stopped on our route, which had taken us towards the small town that was located down the road from Ami's villa, and was the closest hint of civilization for the area.
"Yeah, sorry." I breathed heavily, taking a deep gulp of water from the nearly empty bottle that I had taken out of the villa with me. In comparison, Maya still had more than half of her bottle filled, although that changed as she took a quick gulp of water as well, "Jeez, Maya-san, how are you handling this so well?"
"I go running all the time, so I'm used to these long routes." Maya explained, noticeably running a hand over her exposed stomach.
"Say, Maya-san, are you feeling okay?" I asked with an eyebrow arched.
She looked confused, "Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, you seem kind of concerned there." I mentioned, gesturing to the hand on her stomach.
"Oh, yeah, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't gaining too much weight." She replied, tilting her head down to get a better look.
"I definitely don't think you should be worried about that." I laughed, "You're in way better shape than me. I'm the one who should be more concerned with hitting the gym."
"Maybe." She said softly, while I cocked my head to the side. Was she blind? Maya definitely should not have been worried about her weight. If anything, she should have been more concerned about being too skinny, with her model-like proportions.
"Definitely." I replied, "But speaking of which, I didn't eat any breakfast before we left. Do you mind stopping for some since we're in town?"
Maya poked at her blueberry muffin absent-mindedly while I quickly wolfed down a bagel as if I hadn't eaten in days.
"Maya-san, are you all right?" I asked as I finished the last bite, noticing that she had barely taken a bite of her food.
"Y-yeah, of course." Maya replied shakily. It was evident to me that she was being less than truthful, "I just ate a lot at dinner last night."
I gulped down the last bit of bagel in my mouth and sighed, "All right, suit yourself."
"Anyways, why are you so concerned about me?" Maya asked, deciding to finally push away her muffin and to instead cross her arms across her chest.
I frowned at her acrid tone, "Is there a problem with me being worried about you?"
"No, I guess there isn't." She finally decided after a pause.
I didn't really understand why, but Maya seemed distracted for the rest of our run, although she refused to tell me why whenever I asked her about it. About halfway back, we noticed a flyer on the ground. Being the clean freak I am, I couldn't stand to see litter, so I stopped and picked it up, noticing that it was an advertisement for a summer festival being held later that day.
"Takasu, what do you have there?" Maya asked, stopping as well so that she could get a good look at the paper, "Oh, they're holding a festival here tonight?"
I nodded, "Yeah. It looks like it's not that far from Ami's villa actually. Maybe we bring it up."
"Sounds nice. Maybe I'll find a cute boy to sit under a tree and watch fireworks with." She joked, "Now come on, let's go."
"How did you know I would be here?" Maya asked as I stepped towards the tree that she was currently sitting under. I had not taken a close look at her earlier, but now that I had a chance, I noticed that she looked stunning with her hazelnut hair was tied up in an elegant bun, perfectly complimenting her ocean blue yukata.
"I just had a feeling." I replied, falling to my knees and leaning my back up against the same tree, right next to Maya, who made no motion to move away from me. Instead, she stared straight forward, intent on remaining static.
"Is that right?" Maya remarked, nodding to herself, but otherwise, remaining in the same position, pushed up against the tree with a blank stare and slumped shoulders. It looked so different from the normal Maya, who was normally vibrant and lively, while also being grating and abrasive. I almost had to remind myself that I was looking at the same person.
"What happened with Kitamura?" I asked, almost dreading to hear what could have happened to put her in such a state.
Maya ignored my question, answering it with one of her own, "Takasu, do you think I'm beautiful?"
"Why are you asking me this?" I said, caught off guard by her sudden question.
"Just give me an answer." Maya replied sternly.
"Yes." I replied after a moment of hesitation, "Now will you tell me what this is about?"
"I told Kitamura how I felt about him today." Maya admitted, her voice pausing on his name.
"And?" I prodded.
"He told me that he felt nothing in return, and that I should forget about him."
I was shocked. What she had said sounded nothing like Kitamura. The Kitamura I knew was kind to a fault, definitely not the kind of person who would ruthlessly crush a girl's heart like that. Something was seriously wrong here.
Maya took my silence as acknowledgement, "I know, I was shocked too. So I ran, and I ran until I stopped here. I figured that no one would notice anyways."
"Don't say that." I said quickly in reply, "You know that Nanako and Ami are running around, looking for you? They care for you. We all do."
Hoping that I had made some sort of breakthrough to Maya, I looked away, a little bit embarrassed by my words.
Suddenly, I felt two thin arms slide around my waist, and a soft body press up against my back as I was pulled into a tight embrace. A soft squeak escaped my lips, but it was impossible for me to muster any words, my voice unable to escape my throat. It was desperate, needing, and I couldn't find it within me to try and escape her grip.
Maya was hugging me, and as the reality of that sunk in, I felt my heartbeat speed up exponentially. I knew that I shouldn't have thought about it too deeply, given that I was already lucky enough to be dating Ami, but I couldn't help but to notice the fragrant scent of Maya's perfume, slightly mixed with a tinge of saltiness. It was both intoxicating, and frightening.
"Hey…Takasu?" Maya whispered into my ear, her hot breath making the hairs on the back of my neck prick up at attention.
"Y-yeah?" I breathed back shakily, very aware of the way that my body was squirming under her touch and voice.
"Thanks. I needed to hear that." Maya said after a long pause that was only amplified by the relative silence of our location.
And with that, she pulled away from me and rose to her feet, brushing back a loose strand of her hair. I don't know why, but she seemed to be standing a little straighter than usual, and her usual smirk, although it felt stilted from my perspective, was gracing her face once more.
"Well, I guess I shouldn't keep everyone else waiting. The fireworks will be starting soon, and I don't want anyone to miss it while they're looking for me."
"Wow, Ryuuji, you're a real player." Kitamura chuckled as I walked out from under the tree once Maya had gotten a good distance away from me. From his posture and knowing smirk, I assumed that he had been there the entire time.
"Like you have the right to talk. This is all your fault anyways." I replied, clenching my fists tightly, trying to contain my annoyance at his bubbly tone. Didn't he know that he just broke a girl's heart ,"Why did you have to be so cold to her anyways?"
"I didn't want to lie to her. Wouldn't leading her on be the cruelest fate?" Kitamura replied with a shrug so nonchalant, it was almost as if we were talking about the weather, and not about the shattered girl stumbling back to her friends.
"Besides, if I crush her feelings now, it'll make it easier for both of us to move on, won't it?" He continued, removing his hands from his pockets.
I gritted my teeth. Kitamura was making sense, but just thinking about the way that Maya had clung onto me so desperately made my blood boil. Kitamura had reduced her to this state, and he was casually brushing aside the topic like it was nothing, "But still…you didn't have to be so harsh about it."
He scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, but I don't know any other way. Maybe it's just how I am. You know how bad I am with girls."
I relaxed my fists and I felt my frown lessen at his words. I knew that Kitamura didn't really mean any malice in his actions. He was just an honest guy, and he didn't know how else to let her know that he wasn't interested. And beyond that, he wanted her to move on, so he purposely took a harsh tone with her, because he felt like it was the best thing for both of them.
"Well, I took care of it anyways, so there's nothing we can do about it now." I sighed, somewhat losing my will to fight. I didn't have any real reason to stay mad at Kitamura. Even if I didn't agree with his way of doing things, I at least understood why he did them.
I shook my head in frustration.
So here's a short idea that came into my mind. I didn't originally plan on making this into anything, but since I had about 3000 words written for it anyways, I figured that I would post it anyways, since it did develop Ryuuji's relationship a bit more with both Maya and Kitamura, as well as to introduce some underlying problems with the two.
Also, I wanted to ask if anyone would be interested in beta-ing for this story, as well as for a personal work. If anyone is interested, please PM me!
Hopefully, you guys enjoyed this short update, and it will keep you guys wanting more. As usual, leave any thoughts or comments in either a review or a PM. Both would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much for reading!
