FINALLY! Here's exactly what actually happened between Mai and Natsuki! Warning: chapter consists entirely of flashbacks.
"Neh Suki…what are you gonna do when I go to Tokyo?" Mai timidly asked.
Smiling, Natsuki said, "You think I'll let you get away that easily? I'm gonna find a job at a garage in Tokyo. Then we can even get an apartment together!"
"Suki…I have to live in a dorm my first year…It's a University rule." Mai sadly admitted.
"……" Natsuki should have known this. How'd did that little detail slip her mind?
"Suki…I told you to apply to the University. Maybe you could have gotten in!" Mai said, bringing up an old argument they had had many times before. But Natsuki did apply. She just didn't tell Mai. Because she knew from the beginning that her unusually high absent rate would cost her her acceptance. She knew, yet she tried anyways because she wanted to be with Mai. She got her rejection letter yesterday. Natsuki didn't tell Mai. She didn't want Mai's pity. She didn't want Mai to think her weak and stupid. That's why she thought of the garage idea.
"Mai, we've been over this. I don't want to go to school. I'm ready for a job now. And I love working at a garage." Natsuki said stubbornly.
"*sigh*, I guess there's no point in going over this again. You're really gonna get an apartment in Tokyo?" Mai asked hopefully.
"Yeah, I've saved up some cash from working part-time. I can manage." Natsuki said matter-a-factly. But she can already feel the distance growing between her and Mai. Not just a physical distance because that is easily fixable, but the distance that stretches between a university student and a mechanic. "Mai…I.."
"Yeah?"
"…I'm hungry." Natsuki lied.
"Hey Suki-chan, sorry I'm late. Tate made me wait for him to finish class. This is Tate. Tate, Natsuki." Mai introduced, "Tate's in my English class. He's a second year so he knows a lot about the University."
"Hey, nice to meet you." The scrawny guy with haystack hair said sheepishly.
"….Hey." Natsuki grunted. She was already grumpy from having to wait an extra 20 minutes at the diner, but she now she's even more upset at how Mai's reason for being late was because of this guy! We haven't seen each other since you helped me move into my apartment a WEEK ago and now you bring THIS GUY to our suppose date!? Natsuki was fuming and Mai can tell.
"I'm sorry, Suki-chan," Mai apologized as she slid into the booth next to Natsuki, "I've just been really busy with school and that's why Tate is here to help me study later."
"....."Natsuki concentrated on not exploding. She had thought Mai was going to go back to the apartment with her after dinner. Guess not.
"Neh, Sukiii-chaan." Mai wined as she hooked her arms around Natsuki's. "Don't be mad. You can come study with us if you want." She offered.
"No." Natsuki said flatly as she got up to leave. Mai immediately grabbed her arm when she stood up.
"Natsuki, stop acting-" Mai started.
"Hey!...I'm going to the restroom. Be back later." Tate said quickly when he sensed the mounting tension.
As soon as Tate left, Natsuki sprung on Mai, "What were you about to say!? How exactly am I acting!?"
Like a child. Mai thought, but she said, "I'm sorry. I just want you to understand that school is already stressing me out and I need all the help I can get." When Natsuki didn't say anything, Mai gently but firmly pulled her back down to the booth. "Suki-chan, you know how hard it was to get into the University. You can't expect me to not give it my all now that I'm in…right?" Mai pleaded into Natuski's ears.
"Whatever." Natsuki huffed, giving in.
"Aw thank you, Suki-chan!" Mai said, gathering Natsuki into her arms.
At this point, Tate comes trudging back from the bathroom. He let out a breath of relief went he found Mai hugging Natsuki, but then he saw Natsuki still glaring at him.
"So…" Tate started, trying to be friendly, "where do you go to school?" From the Oh-NOW-you've-done-it look in Mai's eyes, he knew he asked the wrong question.
"A garage." Natsuki said in a very, very flat tone.
A very wrong question.
"Suki-chan, I promise I'll never ask for anything again." Mai pleaded to Natsuki's back. Natsuki had one hand on the back of the brick garage building as she forcefully held her fists and body steady. She had been stupid to be so excited that Mai was finally visiting her at the garage. The last time she saw Mai was at the University cafeteria almost two weeks ago. And the time before that was five weeks ago at the University gates when Natsuki was walking her back to her dorm. And the time before that…was a very long time ago. Natsuki had hoped that one day Mai would surprise her at work, but now…she wished Mai had never come.
When Natsuki continued to ignore her, Mai took a tentative step forward, "Suki…If there was any other way I would try it, but…" Mai stretched hand out toward Natsuki.
"Don't touch me." Natsuki warned.
Getting frustrated and desperate, Mai yelled, "WHY CAN'T YOU STOP BEING A CHILD FOR ONCE!? TATE'S IN DANGER!" Finally breaking down, Mai fell to her knees and sobbed, "Tates in danger, Natsuki…if we don't pay them..they'll….they'll really, really hurt him. I'll pay you back, Natsuki. I swear I will."
"He deserves it." The bluenette said coldly.
Anger instantly gripped Mai again, as she stood up and growled, "NO. He. Doesn't." She retorted, emphasizing each word. "He borrowed the money for me. He did it for ME, Natsuki!"
"Why the hell would YOU need so much money!?" Natsuki yelled back, finally turning around to face the desperate Mai.
"BECAUSE MY BROTHER'S HEART WAS FAILING AND HE NEEDED A NEW ONE! EVEN WITH TWO PART-TIME JOBS, I COULDN'T AFFORD THE SURGERY, OK!? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW??"
Natsuki stood stunned. For a full minute she watched Mai in disbelief. "Why…why didn't you tell me..I would have—"
"BECAUSE…because you've given up so much for me already. You've given so much…you moved to TOKYO for god sakes. You left your friends, your home, and now you work in a garage FOR ME!! I couldn't ask for more, Natsuki…" Mai trailed off almost in a whimper.
"But you asked…Tate?" Natsuki said painfully.
"He was there when the doctor called me…he was there…I didn't know he was going to borrow money for me. This is all my fault!" Mai covered her tear-streaked face with her hands.
Natsuki's mind watched as Mai drew further and further away from her being until she disappeared behind a steel wall that slowly erected itself around the bluenette's heart. Surprisingly calm, Natsuki asked, "Your brother's failing heart couldn't make you come to me, but Tate potentially getting beaten up has you crying and begging me for help?"
The question took Mai by surprise. She hadn't thought of the situation in those terms before. In fact, her only thought has been on how to save Tate since she found out that he's been kidnapped. The realization if his importance in her life hit her with the strength of a fifty ton boulder. She shakily looked at those green emerald eyes and didn't know what to say. But Natsuki wasn't expecting an answer. It was a rhetorical question really, the answer was painfully obvious.
Looking up at the sky, Natsuki calmly asks, "Do you love him, Mai?"
Trembling from head to toe, Mai's knees gave again and she fell onto the concrete. She slow shook her head and admitted, "I don't know."
"I see…" Natsuki squeezed her eyes shut and the last parts of the steel wall went up to enclose the entirety of her heart. "Get up, Mai. We've wasted enough time as it is."
"Natsuki?" Mai asked, still shaken. But the bluenette started walking away and Mai had no choice but to follow her. "What are you planning to do?"
"Take my card. Here's my pin number. There's an ATM machine down the block. Take everything." Natsuki said distantly, shoving the card and a piece of paper in Mai's hands.
"..Where are you going then?" Mai asked
"Sell my apartment. I doubt there's enough in my bank account." The bluenette said matter-a-factly.
Mai's eyes widened at the realization. "Natsuki… I'm—"
"Just go. You want to save him, don't you?" Natsuki walked off without waiting for an answer.
Consider this my last, parting gift to you, Mai. I wish you a happy life.
SO, i was the most unsure about this chapter. I kept on throwing around ideas and only this one seemed the most plausible. What do you guys think?
The next chapters are probably going to be focused around shiznat. i hope you're looking forward to them, cuz i am~