A/N: Seriously, you guys are the best. Thank you for all of your support so far, there will be around ten more chapters, but updates are slow seeing as I am a full-time student. Thank you for your patience!
Chapter 15
"-I'm just saying purple is too strong a color for a baby's first room. It should be something neutral and easy on the eyes." Ayane explained. The three musketeers, as Shouta referred to them, or Ayane, Chizu and Mai were sitting in Sawako's living room discussing the paint for the nursery of the first Kazehaya baby.
"Then a soft lilac maybe? Or lime, it would make the room lighter." Chizu listed the colors from a chart she had brought them. She scanned the pages looking for a suitable paint for her first niece or nephew.
"I like yellow toned ones better. They are soft and bring more light to the room." Mai put in. She was casually sipping a big cup of tea Sawako had made all of them. Ayane and Chizu had been absolutely ecstatic when Sawako revealed she was expecting. They had hugged her so tight; she could have sworn she heard her bones creak.
"What kind of color is 'Lapis' anyway. It sounds like a disease." Chizu grumbled, completely immersed in her current self-appointed task.
"I really don't think it is necessary to decide the paint already." Sawako cautioned. She was barely three months pregnant and her friends were already designing her baby's room.
"Oh shut up, you're even more excited than we are." Chizu teased her and pointed to the growing bump on Sawako's stomach. Her cheeks reddened a little, but she didn't reply. Of course she was excited! She would become a mother in a short couple of months and she couldn't wait.
"Has your morning sickness gotten better? The last time we spoke you could barely leave your bathroom half the day." Mai asked. She had gotten a lot closer with the three girls the past couple of weeks and was spending all her free time with them.
"I think so. It isn't nearly as overwhelming now." The noirette mused. The second month had been the worst, but her doctor - and Mai-chan - too had warned her it would be bad the first 14 or 15 weeks.
"Let's hope it stays like that." The smaller, albeit older, woman smiled softly. There was around a seven year age gap between Mai and the three others, so it felt oddly comforting for Sawako to have someone older and more experienced around.
"I can't wait for the baby to be born." Chizu sighed dreamily. She loved children, wanted four of her own.
"Me neither, but first we have a wedding to attend." Ayane shot a pointed look at the physiotherapist who visibly shuddered.
"I don't get why Kazu can't keep it to close friends and family only. I hate crowds." Mai complained. There was less than a month to her wedding and honestly, she had been considering eloping just to avoid all the wedding guests.
"He just wants to show you off to everyone." Chizu poked her in the cheek and laughed.
"Have you decided on the décor yet?" Sawako asked the tiny brunette.
"Yeah, Kazu let me choose everything. He said 'as long as you are at the other end of the aisle, I don't give a damn what flowers are in the hall'." Mai admitted slowly, a red tint appearing on the tops of her cheeks. She was a very private person and sharing these - to her - intimate details was still a challenge for her.
"He said that?" The other three occupants of the room respectively chuckled, burst out laughing and gasped.
"I would never have believed that Pin-sensei would ever say even something slightly romantic." The pregnant one pondered out loud. Again, she was reminded how much their lives had changed. She was pregnant with her first child, Pin was getting married, Chizu was in a happy, steady relationship and Ayane… had a weird expression on her face?
Sawako watched her friend closely for a few second. She was looking thoughtful, but a little pained as well. The noirette caught Chizu's eyes as the blonde conversed with Mai, and gestured towards their now quiet best friend. Chizu gave a nod so small that Sawako could have sworn she didn't see any movement from her.
"I'm starting to crave cupcakes. Anyone want some?" Chizu asked cheerfully. She knew Sawako was craving sweets, Mai-chan couldn't resist cupcakes and they always cheered Ayane up, and she looked like she could use some cheering right about now.
"That would be great!" Sawako approved. Chizu always caught a hint.
"Oh, I'll go with you! I love cupcakes." Mai offered excitedly. She sometimes had this child-like innocence over her, they had noted.
"Sounds great." Ayane added meekly. Mai-chan, luckily, didn't know Ayane well enough to notice how she suddenly became quiet. Or maybe she had noticed and chosen not to bring it up, Sawako thought.
"We'll be back soon." Chizu called over her shoulder as she practically dragged Mai along. Sawako nodded and found her hands resting on her abdomen, something she had caught herself doing a lot these days.
"You two need to stop scheming." Ayane muttered dryly as she watched Chizu and Mai leave through the window. She took a deep breath and looked up at Sawako, whose lips had formed a thin line.
"Don't look at me like that Sawa, you make me feel guilty." She complained laughingly, but anyone could see she was back to forcing her smiles. The noirette's shoulders slumped a little.
"I'm worried about you, Ayane-chan. What's wrong?" Sawako questioned and reached for one of Ayane's hands.
"Nothing's wrong, I just thought of Kento. That's all." She started and squeezed Sawako's hand a little harder. Finding the courage to look her in the eyes, Ayane looked up.
"I miss him." She admitted quietly, her eyes watering. Sawako couldn't take looking at Ayane's pained expression and badly wished Chizu hadn't left them alone. She was better at comforting Ayane.
"I'm sorry." Sawako whispered as her own eyes started brimming with tears. Ayane had always been the type to suffer in silence and after all these years, she still hadn't stopped bottling things up. Sawako had no idea how long Ayane had felt like this. Her heart went out to her friend.
"it's just, watching Mai and Pin being so happy these past few weeks made me remember all the happy moments with him. I know I'm done with him, but I can't help but feel like I-I let go of the best thing that happened to me." Tears were flowing down Ayane's flushed cheeks and she took a shuddering breath.
"Ayane-chan, you know it was for the better. If you aren't happy in a relationship, it's okay to leave. What isn't okay is feeling guilty and blaming yourself for making that decision." Sawako reasoned and wiped away a few of Ayane's tears. The brunette nodded through tears. She hated letting her guard down like this.
"I'm sorry." She hiccupped. Swiping furiously at her face, she took a few more steadying breaths before facing Sawako again.
"I'm not thinking of going back to him. I just don't think I want to start dating again." Ayane forced herself to admit it in front of her best friend. She braced herself for what Sawako would say next, almost dreading the lecture.
"I understand." The noirette patted Ayane's hand.
"You understand?" Ayane blinked a couple of times, taken aback by Sawako's sudden statement.
"I'm not going to tell you that you just haven't found the right guy yet and to keep trying. I don't think you need that. You need time to yourself and maybe you will find someone at some point, but that's something you'll have to decide when you're ready." Sawako leaned back on the couch and rested her hands on top of her baby bump, which was starting to become much more visible.
"Thank you." Ayane whispered and looked away. She was embarrassed that she had broken down in front of Sawako, but at the same time she was grateful it had been the noirette and not one of their other friends. The two friends sat in silence, before Sawako spoke.
"…Ayane-chan, can I ask you something?"
"Yes?" Ayane detected a big amount of nervousness from her pregnant friend, which was very unlike her. That meant she was crossing into personal questions.
"Do you… have you ever had feelings for Pin-sensei?" Now it was Sawako's turn to look embarrassed. She looked like she regretted asking, before the words left her mouth and was now holding her breath, waiting. Ayane thought about it for a few seconds before answering. Honestly, she was surprised that no one had asked her before.
"Never." She looked Sawako straight in the eyes as she said this. She knew that back in high school she and Pin had had moments that could be interpreted as more than they actually were, and she wanted to clarify that she never felt anything aside from a shred of respect for the red-haired teacher.
"I'm sorry for asking." Sawako was looking very flustered. Her cheeks were tinged red.
"…Don't tell him this, but a tiny part of me thought that he was pretty cool back in school." The corners of Ayane's mouth lifted as she saw Sawako's eyes widen with chock.
"Really?" Sawako's innocence immediately lifted the tense atmosphere and Ayane's plan of diversion succeeded. It wasn't long before Chizu and Mai came back with cupcakes for all of them and they went back to having a great time.
"That reminds me, Kazu and I were thinking of holding a small reception since we didn't celebrate our engagement. You are all invited and expect you to show up at 5 on Friday." Mai commanded more than invited.
This made the conversation go in a whole other direction, so when Shouta arrived home from work that day, he found his wife and her friends in a heated discussion about the proper napkins used for formal events. Shouta had long ago learned not to question female discussions and slowly ducked out of the living room.
When Friday came, Sawako and Shouta were in high spirits. They had just scheduled their first ultrasound for the following week and couldn't wait to see their baby for the first time.
"My mom thinks it will be a boy." Shouta told Sawako as they headed for the restaurant Pin and Mai-chan had chosen for their engagement celebration. It was a little odd to celebrate the engagement so close to their actual wedding, but since it was considered a dinner for family and close friends, no one commented on it.
"She told me your family has an affinity for sons." Sawako poked Shouta in the arm. Ever since she had become pregnant she had been teasing Shouta mercilessly. He didn't seem to mind, though. He was busy preparing himself to be the best father ever, reading up on everything he didn't know and looking through numerous books every day.
"I just hope the baby is born healthy." She added as an afterthought. Honestly, she didn't care if it was a boy or a girl, she just wanted to be able to provide for her child and bring it up to be a good person. She knew Shouta felt the same way and smiled at the thought of their unborn baby.
"Me too." Shouta said and leaned in to kiss her forehead. He lingered for a second before reaching up and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
They had reached the restaurant and went inside to look for their friends. The restaurant looked very nice and Sawako suddenly felt underdressed in her simple black chiffon dress. It had a big purple bow over her bust and flared out underneath it, partially hiding her belly. The noirette still felt a little self-conscious and hadn't gotten used to people looking at her abdomen and shooting her knowing smiles.
"Sawako, Shouta! Over here!" Chizu called from a table off to the side. It was quite long and would easily fit twelve persons. She was sitting on one side between Ayane and Ryu.
"Good evening." Sawako greeted everyone at the table. Aside from her friends two other males were sitting on the opposite side of the table.
"Oh, you must be the Kazehayas. Mai-senpai has told us a lot about you." The two men smiled kindly. The one who had spoken had a slim face and chestnut colored eyes, while the other one seemed shorter and wore big framed glasses.
"Only good things I hope." Shouta joked lightly as he and Sawako sat down in front of them. From what he could tell, they had worked with Mai-chan and Shouta wasn't sure they knew about his involvement in the accident. He hoped they only knew Pin from his rehab with Mai.
"Mostly how you helped Kazu-san through his hardest times." The one with glasses spoke this time. He introduced himself as Ibusaki.
"Speaking of which, where did Mai-senpai and Kazu-san run off to?" The other one named Saburo asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He winced suddenly when someone smacked him on the back of his head.
"Not where you think." Pin grumbled and moved over to the Kazehayas, who looked only slightly astonished at his act of violence. It seemed like he was close to Saburo and Ibusaki, since he acted so carelessly in front of them.
"Finally showed up, eh?" He jested and ruffled Shouta's hair like he did many years ago. He stopped a second later, stared intently at Sawako and slung his arm over Shouta's shoulder, giving him a thumbs up. With a solemn look on his face, he turned towards Sawako and nodded.
"Good job Kurohaya." This of course made Sawako's face flush, but she was saved by Mai-chan who arrived with the rest of the guests - mostly her colleagues and a few of her friends, one of which couldn't take his eyes off Sawako.
The evening progressed slowly and with a lot of laughter from around the table. Pin seemed to get along with everyone, even Shouta and Ryu mingled with the other guests. Sawako had switched seats with Ryu and was talking to Ayane and Chizu when she felt someone staring at her.
Looking up she was met with a pair of eyes she hadn't seen in a long time. A few tables away, Miura Kento was getting up from his seat, but froze when he locked eyes with his old classmate. Time seemed to stop as they just looked at one another, until Kento's gaze locked onto the back of Ayane's figure. She was currently chatting with one of Mai's colleagues and didn't notice Sawako had gone silent beside her.
Kento looked like he wanted to walk over to Ayane, but Sawako was ready to pounce and stop him in his tracks. She started feeling angry at Kento for the way he looked longingly at Ayane, although she blamed her hormones, she took a deep breath before leaving the table and marching up to him.
"Are you here to talk to Ayane-chan?" Sawako asked coldly. She couldn't recognize her own voice and was a little startled at her own demeanor.
"No, I… I had a meeting… Long time no see, Sawako-chan." Kento spoke slowly, glancing over in Ayane's direction every few seconds.
"Please leave, Kento. I don't think Ayane-chan wants to talk to you." For some unknown reason, Sawako was getting worked up.
"Look, I'm not trying to win her back. I just want to talk to her. I want to apologize. Please, Sawako-chan, you have to believe me." Kento pleaded. Although he was dressed rather nicely, he couldn't hide the dark circles under his eyes and the worry lines on his face.
He truly looked desperate and Sawako felt a little guilty for being so rude to him, but she didn't want him to ruin Ayane's evening, much less all the progress she had made since summer. Sawako doubted that Ayane would want to confront Kento, but he looked so hurt she started debating whether to let him talk to her or not. She didn't get to make a decision, for Pin suddenly appeared behind her.
"Oh, if it isn't Miura!" He marveled quite loudly. This of course made some of the guests at their table look over, but they couldn't quite see who Pin and Sawako were talking to.
"Hello, sensei." Kento greeted politely. His eyes flicked back to the table where Ayane had turned in her seat and was trying to catch a glimpse of him.
"You came to celebrate my wedding, too?" Pin grinned, not sensing the tension between his two former students.
"Oh, you're getting married? Congratulations." Kento smiled widely, or tried to at least. His smile turned into a frown as he looked at Pin, eyes widening in horror. He swiftly looked at Sawako and opened his mouth to ask something, but never got around to it.
"Kento?" He froze when he heard her voice and slowly faced her. She looked every bit as beautiful as she had the last time he saw her.
"Long time no see, Ayane-chan." He smiled weakly, focusing on the brunette in front of him, who seemed completely unfazed.
I should really stop with the cliffhangers... How do you like the plot development? I hope the chapter was to your liking! Thank you for reading (=w=)/