CHAPTER TWENTY

Cutting Loose

"Hey Aki, are you really sure about this?"

"Yes, I am. I've been thinking about this for so long now, and I think it's time to move forward."

"Alright… I wish you the best of luck."

Aki nervously fiddled with her thumbs as she thought of the right words to say.

She never knew that breaking up would be so hard.

In fact, it was downright terrifying.

'Crap. To think I used to be an emotional wreck. Why am I hesitating now?' she nervously thought to herself as she paced back and forth.

After making a bold decision and sharing it with her best friend, she immediately wanted to have it done as soon as possible.

Hence, a day after her proclamation, she was now in front of Taka's door.

Everything was supposed to go smoothly. After waking up at such an early hour, which was surprising, she made breakfast for herself and Feitan, by which the latter was nowhere to be found in the vicinity of the house as she looked for him.

Well, she thought, what's new?

After a seemingly long breakfast and hours of getting ready later, she was ready to fulfill her decision.

But judging at how Aki was acting at the present, it seems to backfire.

"How do you exactly break-up with a person?"

Aki felt so stupid thinking about it. It was supposed to be easy; in actuality, only three, simple words were required in order to commence such a menial task to do.

And yet, for Aki, everything still feels such a complicated and meticulous thing to do.

Or is it actually because you are hesitating?

Is it because of the fact that you love him so much that you can't afford to let go?

"Shut up", Aki internally scowled.

Or do you really love him?

If you did, you wouldn't have let another man stay in your house in the first place, would you?

Aki cringed at the thought, almost seemingly ripping her hair out in the process. But then again, she thought that maybe her internal monologue was right.

Or is it merely attachment you feel, since he's been there ever since your parents died?

Flashbacks of the terrible incident a year ago made her wince; as much as she hated to admit it, Taka was indeed someone who was there for her during the times that she felt like giving up. Albeit not constantly by her side, his presence still made a significant impact on her that helped her actually move on gradually from her depression, alongside the support of her best friend, Momo.

But then again, how was she to know that she really fell in love with him? How sure was she that was she felt was not merely attachment but something deeper than that?

If you did, you wouldn't have let another man stay in your house in the first place, would you?

The evil whisper of her internal monologue re-surfaced once again in her mind. Despite how many times she tries to deny it, deep down inside, she knew it was right.

After all, even though she ended up actually loving him for real, a cheating partner isn't exactly the best person to be with, especially if you are in an exclusive relationship.

Cheating is and will always never be an excuse.

Because if you truly loved the person, no matter what, through thick and thin you'll stay by each other's side. You would never have the time to think about other people nor take notice of them because you should be busy focusing all of your time and attention to the person you love.

In short, if you really loved a person you would stay loyal to that person alone, nobody else.

If you did, you wouldn't have let another man stay in your house in the first place, would you?

But then again… who was Aki to judge, when she herself let inside a man she barely knew?

She sighed, thinking of how much of a hypocrite she was for actually judging Taka when she herself is the same, albeit in a different manner.

Although nothing happened between her and Feitan, by which she was ultimately thankful for, since the man himself never bothered being around her closer than necessary (aside from the occasional time perhaps wherein he wanted to threaten the living daylights out of her), she still could not deny the fact that she actually is living with a man she barely knew, by which in standards of society, would definitely be frowned upon, considering that she had a boyfriend as well.

But still… there's a fine line between genuinely helping someone and actually cheating, she thought.

She would never be labeled as a cheater, since she and Feitan had nothing to hide, nor anything to consider as cheating, in the first place.

Bearing that in mind, and keeping to her resolve, she rang the doorbell.

No answer.

She rang the doorbell again.

Ding dong.

Still no answer.

Aki sighed and was about to give when suddenly the door flew open.

"Aki-chan?"

Said female swiftly turned around, and instantly regretted that she did it too soon.

Taka seemed to have just gotten out of bed, his blond strands formed into messy, bed-head hair. He looked handsome as always, and was in nothing but only boxers and his sweatpants. She slowly took in his form, burning the image into her memory as if seeing him right now would be her last time to do so.

Said guy was surprised at the sudden occurrence of Aki visiting him so boldly, by which she had never dared to do so before. Therefore, he was rendered speechless.

Aki tried to control the tears from welling up as she tried to cling so hard to her resolve, never letting her emotions get the better of her. However, the longer she keeps stalling, the harder it gets for her to break-up.

But, as cruel as fate could ever get, Aki was suddenly pulled out of her reverie by the sudden disturbance that registered in her mind after initial shock.

"Hey babe, who's there at the door? Come back to bed with me~" a woman purred as she lazily walked towards the front door, hugging Taka from behind. She was clad in nothing but a shirt that obviously belonged to Taka.

How could she not recognize it, when she was the one who bought the said shirt herself for his birthday?

Taka froze at the sudden contact from his girlfriend, suddenly out of words to say.

"Oh, hello there Aki! What brings you here so early in the morning? How's Momo?" Megumi asked innocently, cocking her head to the side.

Aki smiled bitterly and willed herself not to cry, at least not now.

What would be more humiliating than to be caught in the act would be breaking down in front of the cheating couple she'd want to do nothing more than to kill with her own bare hands.

Instead she took a deep breath before opting to a seemingly calm expression.

"Oh, it's nothing at all. I just dropped by to tell Taka that he's free to go wherever he wants, and to do whoever he wants, since obviously I wouldn't want to waste my time with a man-whore like him." She smiled sweetly and bowed.

"I am so sorry for taking up your time and waking so early in the morning. I will be taking my leave now."

The couple at the doorway were shocked, both of their mouths agape at how Aki handled the whole situation.

But little did they know that she was slowly breaking down the farther she was getting away from the apartment.

Little did they know that Aki started to run and shed heavy tears as she ran faster towards home, wanting to do anything more than to bury herself in her pillows and cry herself to sleep.

Little did they know that someone was watching them from afar, and has witnessed every single detail throughout the whole ordeal.

And strangely, he had a smile on his face.

A/N: I know, I know. It's been a year and I deeply apologize for it. I am quite unsatisfied at how short this chapter is as well. In fact, this might be considered as the shortest chapter I ever had ever since I started this fan fiction. TwT

However, I found it best to cut this chapter short so it would not potentially ruin the next chapter I had in mind, since all the intensity would be there. *u*

Until next time~!

~ Juuno

4/15/2016 6:05 AM

[ADKOT_CH ]