A/N: Guess who finally updates after six months? This girl here...*sweatdrops*. I hope you'll forgive my lack of updates. I am a full time college student and a lot has been going on, but come summer, I will be finishing the story. Enjoy!
Chapter 17
"Well that was a train wreck." Shouta exclaimed as he slumped down on his couch. Following the dinner, he and his group of friends had decided to go to the Kazehayas' place, and were currently lounging on the couch and chairs.
"Tell me about it. At least Mai-chan didn't suspect anything." Ayane agreed with a hint of detachment in her voice. She was still processing the events of the evening and even she could hear how hollow her voice sounded.
"Are you sure you are all right, Ayane-chan?" Sawako, who was sitting beside the brunette gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder. She was worried beyond belief, and couldn't shake off the feeling that Ayane was hiding something.
"I honestly don't know." The brunette sighed dejectedly. More than anything she just wanted to go to bed, but she knew her friends' wouldn't let her leave that easily. Sawako had already talked her into spending a couple of days, and she dreaded having to argue with her pregnant friend.
"I'm still regretting not punching him." Chizu swooped in, a scowl appearing on her face. She felt Ayane could use a little break, so she took it upon herself to shift the attention towards her.
"I want to see that." Shouta chuckled from the couch. He glanced at Sawako and Ayane, and decided to liven up the atmosphere. He and Chizu always did that whenever tension was in the air.
"I bet you could knock him out with one hit." He teased his blonde friend.
"Chizu has a killer right hook." Ryu's voice sounded to his side. As they continued their friendly banter, no one noticed that Sawako slowly fell asleep on the sofa. Exhaustion had finally caught up with her, and she couldn't resist sleep.
When she woke the following morning, she was in her bed and had the covers carefully tucked around her. She stayed in bed for a few minutes, trying to collect her thoughts, but she felt so dazed she almost went back to sleep. The sound of conversation and rummaging downstairs was comforting to Sawako, and she would have loved to stay in bed a little longer, but the sense of nausea quickly got her to her feet.
The noirette vomited the second she reached the bathroom, and spent a good couple of minutes retching and heaving. It took all of her strength to take control over her body, but she still had to give in to another bout of nausea.
"I hope your siblings will go easier on me." Sawako mumbled as she wiped sweat from her forehead. Who'd have known that throwing up every day could make one break a sweat.
"Maybe you should start with giving birth to this one, before thinking about siblings." Ayane's voice sounded directly behind her, and the brunette's hand stared rubbing comforting circles on Sawako's back.
"You shouldn't be in here Ayane-chan, I'll be out in a second." Sawako tried convincing her friend to leave, embarrassed that she had entered despite the retching.
"Don't worry, I've taken care of Chizu when she's drunk and that's much worse." Ayane assured her and quickly braided Sawako's hair back.
"I don't-" Sawako started, but was cut off by Ayane waving her hand impatiently.
"Don't sweat it, Shouta was about to barge in here himself. He looked like he was about to faint, though." The brunette laughed a little. She had thoroughly enjoyed watching Shouta's expression change from conversing with her normally to paling instantly at the sound of Sawako in the bathroom.
"…He actually did faint once." Sawako revealed with flushed cheeks.
"He did not!" Ayane couldn't believe her own ears, but smiled deviously. Shouta would never hear the end of it!
"We had a… pregnancy scare, and when I told him that I possibly was pregnant, he fainted." The noirette explained - feeling yet again embarrassed at sharing the memory.
"This is gold!" Ayane cackled, startling Sawako and then smiling sheepishly.
"We had only been married for two months!" Shouta defended as he entered the bathroom, which was starting to get a little cramped.
"If you say so." Ayane laughed, and watched as Shouta took Sawako in his arms.
"Are you going to be fine, honey?" He placed a kiss at the top of her head, as she nodded and whispered something to him that Ayane didn't catch.
"Ayane, can you stay with her a little? I'll just finish making breakfast." He asked as he placed another kiss on his pregnant wife's forehead, before smiling at them both and leaving.
"I'm so lucky to have him." Sawako whispered dreamily as she watched her husband leave. She could almost hear the smile in Ayane's voice, when her friend agreed, and once again marveled at what hormones did to her and made her say out loud. Watching Sawako's eyes linger in the direction her husband disappeared in, Ayane suppressed a smile. 'Ah, young love' she thought.
"Chizu talked to me for a while, after you fell asleep yesterday." The brunette remembered and sat down beside Sawako, who sat at the edge of the bathtub.
"She did?" Sawako asked curiously. Chizu knew Ayane better than anyone, and could read her like an open book, but she wasn't usually so direct.
"She said she was proud of me for standing my ground." The brunette nodded, thinking of her dear friend.
"We all were." The noirette reached out and grabbed Ayane's hand, squeezing it.
"I wasn't sure I could handle it, but I did and now I feel so much better." The brunette admitted. Her two best friends were sworn to secrecy from their high school days, so she could freely speak her mind - even if she seldom did.
"You're so amazing, Ayane-chan. You've come so far." Sawako praised, admiring the strength it had taken Ayane to reach this point. Then she remembered something she had observed the previous evening.
"And you seemed to enjoy speaking to Ibusaki-san." The noirette remarked mischievously. She carefully gauged Ayane's reaction of cheeks flushing and eyes widening, confirming her tiny suspicion.
"He was nice." She tried to defend herself, earning a giggle from Sawako. The two of them finally made their way downstairs, when Sawako's nausea subsided.
"We should get you some maternity clothes Sawako. You are starting to show a little, so it would be better if you didn't wear out your usual clothes." Ayane suggested as they ate breakfast and Sawako ate three times as much as she usually did.
"She just wants to go shopping." Shouta chimed in, looking up from his laptop. He had started working from home after Sawako got pregnant so he could help her at any time. His boss had been elated when he heard there was a Kazehaya baby on the way, and had offered him a lot of advice since he had three daughters of his own.
"It's not like you will be carrying the bags." Ayane rolled her eyes at her best male friend. He was sitting at the end of the dining table, chuckling away while he worked.
"I'd love to go. We actually need more eggs and I've been craving shrimps lately." Sawako listed, running a hand across her abdomen out of habit.
"I meant shop for clothes, Sawa. Not groceries." Ayane laughed at Sawako's confused expression. At the age of 24, Sawako's cluelessness from her younger days still made appearances from time to time.
"Are we going shopping?" Chizu's voice was carried through the entrance and into the living area. She had long ago gotten used to letting herself in, and it didn't bother the residents at all.
"Yes, perfect timing Chizu!" Ayane exclaimed gleefully, already filling in their friend.
"I can drop you ladies off at the mall on the way to my parents." Shouta offered, getting ready to shut down his computer and go visit his parents.
"Is your father still not feeling better?" Sawako asked worriedly. Shouta's father had been ill very often the past two years, and Sawako had started to fear the worst. They had scheduled appointments for a few tests and she hoped he would recover quickly.
"No, I'm thinking of bringing him to the clinic. He still insists it's just the flu, but it has been months now." Shouta shook his head. His father was every bit the stubborn man he had grown up with. The only time he softened was when Sawako was around.
"I have a new book I want him to read." Sawako declared, thinking it had been a while since she and her father-in-law had discussed books.
"I will bring it to him then."
"Something weird happened last night, when we got home." Chizu told her two friends as she slowly sipped her drink. They had been shopping for a while and had decided to get something to eat, when she brought it up.
"What?" Ayane and Sawako asked at the same time. Chizu had spent her evening being worried about her friends, so she had been very shocked when she and Ryu got home.
"Ryu sat down with me, looked me straight in the eyes and asked me if I was happy. Really, truly happy." The brown-haired woman sighed. She had found him to be unusually quiet that night, and being Ryu that was on a whole other level.
"What did you tell him?" Sawako asked. She had been sensing that Ryu had something on his mind, but she hadn't asked him what. She had felt that it would be better if Shouta asked him, but it wasn't like they had something to be worried about. Ryu had a tendency to quietly mull over things until he was satisfied with whatever conclusion he reached. She made a mental note to ask him herself anyway.
"Of course I was."
"Then what's bothering you?" Ayane addressed the sighing brunette in front of her. Chizu had already finished her food and was playing absentmindedly with the straw in her drink.
"It's just not like him." She sighed once again. She couldn't place a finger on what was causing her distress, but she decided to wait until Ryu told her.
"Do you want us to talk to him?" Sawako gently offered.
"No, it's fine. He'll tell me soon, I think." Chizu shook off the feelings of gloom hanging around her. She wouldn't let anything dampen her spirits when she was finally out with her friends. They chatted for a few more minutes, before someone walked up to their table.
"Sawako-san! I didn't expect to see you here." It was the same guy, who had been ogling her at the dinner, Hiroyuki. Ayane's eyes instantly narrowed at how boldly he was speaking to her friend. He had only met her once and was already using her first name! Chizu had tensed up as well.
"And you were Sawako-san's friends. How are you doing?" He smiled politely, but it was clear to anyone with eyes how he was only asking to get on Sawako's good side.
"We were doing just fine, until you interrupted our conversation." Ayane regarded him coolly. She had spent a good deal of time asking Ibusaki-san about Hiroyuki, and he didn't like the interest he was taking in Sawako.
"I'm so sorry, I saw you sitting here and just had to come say hello." He apologized laughing lightly. His eyes twinkled when he laughed, and he was really laying it on thick, much to Ayane's disdain.
"Might I say, you look lovely today." Smiling, once again at Sawako, he let his eyes roam up and down her body, making her shift uncomfortably, muttering her thank you. He made to sit down in the empty seat at the female's table, but Chizu and Ayane stopped him by getting out of theirs and pulling Sawako to her feet.
"I just remembered that we were supposed to meet with the others now." Chizu exclaimed in fake-surprise. The guy in front of her made her skin crawl with the way he spoke and looked at Sawako, and she had to get them out of there.
"Well, now that you've said hello, we better get going. We have somewhere to be." Ayane said pointedly, dragging Sawako away with Chizu right beside them. They could hear him call after them, but took advantage of the many people in the mall and disappeared in the crowd.
"That was rude." Sawako remarked, once they came to a halt. She had felt bad about leaving so abruptly, but felt like Chizu and Ayane had their reasons to make up excuses to leave.
"Yes, but also necessary." Ayane grumbled, not explaining any further. She was looking around them, trying to see of that Hiroyuki guy had followed them or not.
"I don't like how that guy looks at you, Sawa." Chizu revealed once she and Ayane had made sure they hadn't been followed.
"I'm sure he was just looking at my baby bump like everyone else does." Sawako tried in vain. She had felt very uncomfortable under the man's gaze both now and the previous evening. His seemed so intense.
"What-" Ayane had been about to point out how he almost drooled whenever he laid eyes on Sawako, when the noirette's phone started ringing. Quickly answering the call, Sawako spoke for a few seconds before she turned pallid.
"Shouta called. His dad collapsed again and has been brought to the hospital. They are doing some scans now." She spoke every word in a hurry, trying to calculate the fastest route to the hospital.
"We better go then." Ayane and Chizu exchanged worried glances, before they left to find a taxi.
Next update will hopefully be in two or three weeks. Thank you for all the love and support! (=w=)/