Chapter 5
The Law of Equivalency
"Good morning, Miss Sawa—wait, what?"
Azusa gaped at the sight of her music teacher as she ran into her in the hallways of the second floor on a Monday morning. Her eyebrow twitched up in shock. Sawako was smiling as she walked, but something felt completely different about her. Suddenly everything felt like the intro to the American film Legally Blonde, where they played the song Perfect Day and everyone was getting busy, getting ready and being all happy, but in this case, the only one doing that was her. It certainly looked like nothing was going to ruin their teacher's seemingly perfect day.
"She's glowing. Literally." Jun whispered to Azusa as they passed by her. They watched her as she made her way to her homeroom class, still wearing that smile.
The two of them heard someone from the other end of the hallway gasp. "My eyes!" She exclaimed.
What on earth is going on? Azusa asked herself. Things were getting weirder and weirder every day.
Sawako had been glowing like this for the past few weeks, with no one knowing exactly why. She's always in a good mood, even during after school club activities, when she's having tea with the Light Music Club. Not that it was a bad thing; it was just really, really weird.
The whole thing went on even up to fourth period, after recess, and Sawako was still shining radiantly, as if she was some sort of artificial sun. The whole thing was driving Azusa crazy. Normally, things like this were okay with her, but her eyes have had enough. Sawako was literally blinding the poor girl with her luminosity. She couldn't take it anymore!
She stood up from her seat, throwing one hand up in the air. "Please excuse me!" She exclaimed with an awkward vacant expression on her little face. She didn't even wait for her teacher's permission. She just stomped out of the classroom in the middle of the lecture.
If this goes on any further, she's going to have to bring a pair of sunglasses every day at school.
"What's up with you, Azusa? You've been acting weird since this morning." Jun observed as she took a bite off of her rice ball.
Eventually lunch came, the hour-long break that Sakuragaoka High gave its girls every day after sixth period, and as usual, Jun, Azusa and Ui were having lunch together in their classroom. Ui was looked concerned as she stared at Azusa, waiting for an answer while Jun kept nibbling on her lunch.
She blinked and looked at the two of them. "Am I the only here who thinks that Sawako-sensei's radiance is getting troublesome?"
"Probably." Jun said plainly.
"Well, I haven't really seen her so happy since I first came here, so I can't really consider it a bad thing. And I don't mind the glowing." Ui said. "Sawako-sensei and Haru-chan are dating now, after all."
Jun laughed. "Yeah, it's like some sort of Nirvana for Miss Sawa-chan."
Azusa hung her head. "It's not that I don't want to see her happy. It's just... it's just so distracting. It's good that she's always in a great mood, I just wish she'd turn off the lights."
Jun dropped a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Azusa-chan. You'll understand how she feels when you get your own boyfriend... or girlfriend."
"What?"
"I can't help but wonder, though," Ui leaned on the table, completely ignoring how red Azusa's face was turning because of what Jun just said. "Is Haru-chan just as happy?"
Jun suddenly looked at her. "Well, of course. Sawa-chan sensei's awesome."
Ui laughed and waved it off. "No, that's not what I meant. I was wondering if he's also so happy that he's glowing just like Sawako-sensei." She said. "He may live just next door, but I don't get to see him that often."
"Yeah, I can imagine him being like some head-over-heels dork. I mean, I even heard he almost always sends her flowers. The other teachers say her desk's starting to look like a garden." Jun giggled, actually thinking about it too. "He must be really happy with her."
"What the hell is this?"
Haru scratched his head, extremely devastated.
He was still wearing only his boxers and a white tank top. He was dreaming of ice cream when the doorbell was raped, being pressed over and over again for about five minutes. He looked down at the busted CPU that one of his co-workers and close friends, Yuji Hisaka, was carrying as he stood in front of his door. The damn thing was rusty, and was still discharging smoke. Haru had a bad feeling that he was here because he wanted him to fix it.
"Come on in." He ended up saying as he led Yuji inside. There was no need to explain or tell him that he didn't want to. He knew it'd be no use.
Yuji took off his sandals as he entered his friend's house, surprised with the sudden spotlessness. Everything was in order, as in everything. Even the piece of gum that Yuji threw at the ceiling last week was nowhere to be found.
He blinked. He didn't understand. He was just here a week ago, and it wasn't half as clean as it was now, although it still wasn't perfectly tidy. Was Haru so drunk over the weekend that he decided to clean his house? What the hell.
"What, is this even your place?" Yuji raised an eyebrow as he followed his friend into the bedroom, dropping the machine on the floor.
Haru shook his head. He knew Yuji would comment on the apartment's refreshing new ambience. He couldn't blame him, the place felt a lot weirder to him too now that it was clean. "I hired a cleaning lady. It was a team effort, though." He said. "It took us the whole weekend to get the place fixed."
"What made you suddenly want to clean everything up?" Yuji sat on the bed.
"I figured it wouldn't hurt." He said casually. He couldn't say, 'I cleaned up the house because one of these days my girlfriend is going to have to come over and I don't want her to think that I'm some messy idiot' because he knew Yuji would just laugh at him and tease him about it for weeks. He didn't even know that Haru and Sawako were now officially dating. Haru figured he didn't have to tell him about it and wanted him to find out about it himself.
Yuji scoffed at the unconvincing answer. "So you just woke up one morning and finally realized that your apartment was one giant mess?" He laughed. "Oh, that is rich, Haru. Maybe the next time I come here you'll have stuffed animals and Justin Bieber CDs."
"Shut up." Haru chuckled and threw one of his dirty shirts at his face. He then walked over to the miserably damaged CPU casing and stared at it. "Now is this what's so urgent that you had to wake me up?" He told Yuji. "What did you do to it this time?"
Haru crossed his arms as he watched his friend laugh in embarrassment. Yuji was notorious for being incredibly careless, especially around his gadgets. Since he didn't attend some fancy Ivy League University like Haru did, he was several positions lower, and worked as an operator, someone who initially answers calls and provide general information, while Haru was part of the Engineering Department. Three weeks ago, he asked Haru to fix his PSP; the X and O buttons were destroyed because he put too much feeling into playing Tekken. He managed to fix the damn thing in the end, but still charged for the pieces he replaced. Now Yuji was back, this time with a much bigger problem, and Haru didn't even want to know how he managed to destroy such an expensive and durable machine, from HP, no less.
"You do realize that I'm charging you extra for this, right?" Haru told him. "Look at the damage. This is ridiculous, even for you."
"You're kidding!" Yuji screamed, dreading the thought. Haru was about to fix the HP Pavilion HPE Phoenix h9z series desktop CPU that was bought for him for his 21st birthday two years ago, and considering its jaw-dropping price of 80,000 yen, who knows how much repairing it is going to cost?
Haru laughed as he looked as Yuji's surprised face. "Calm down, calm down. I was just kidding. Although I still have to charge, if that's okay with you. This is a gaming powerhouse, after all. I'm not even sure if I can fix it." Yuji eventually calmed down and sighed.
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Just skip the technical stuff and get it over with." He said. "Just do your best and I'll buy you lunch for a month. Take note—an entire month."
"That's fabulous, Yuji." Haru sighed, reeking of sarcasm.
He then continued to study the thing, pursing his lips and putting a hand on his chin. Yuji looked at him; he looked pretty focused so he just sat there and waited for him to actually start taking the damn thing apart. He looked like he had a lot on his mind, aside from the task at hand. He also noticed that Takeharu has lost a lot of weight; his shirts were always just the right fit for him, but now they looked a bit loose. His eyes were only half-open, and darkened eye bags were starting to surface right below them. Also, it seemed like he hasn't shaved in a while, as a sloppy five o'clock shadow littered his tired face.
Work must have a way of killing your appetite and hygiene.
Haru was still thinking. He had spent the last five minutes staring hopelessly at Yuji's CPU, until finally his head snapped up and he looked up at his colleague. He then stood up and reached for his bedside table, pulling the drawer and reaching for his wallet, taking out a couple of bills.
"Could you go to the store and buy me a pack of cigarettes?" He told Yuji, who was dumbfounded as he stared at the 1,000 yen bill that Haru was handing over to him.
He smacked him on the forehead. "That's what you were thinking so much about?"
"Ow!"
Haru retaliated by slapping him in the face with his wad of cash, which kind of hurt just as much. "Just shut up and take my money!" He yelled, shoving the bill into Yuji's shirt, picking him up and taking him all the way to the door. He threw him out as if he weighed nothing at all. "And don't come back without my cigarettes! You're not getting your CPU back without them!" He told him, slamming the door behind him as he went back inside.
He groaned as he stepped back into his room, smiling. They may look like they're having a serious fight, but acting like angry high school boys was their way of having fun. The past few weeks have been pretty hard on Haru, although being with Sawako lessened the stress.
Yuji coming over and bugging him might just be exactly what he needed.
After about twenty minutes of staring at Yuji's CPU, Haru heard the doorbell being repeatedly pressed downstairs, causing him to flinch before growling in irritation. He then stepped out of his room and started making his way to the door.
"Why can't you ring a doorbell like a normal—OW!" Yuji threw the half-pack of Marlboro cigarettes at his friend's face as soon as he opened the front door, cackling as he saw the red rectangular mark that it left on his pale forehead.
Haru just sighed and took the cigarette pack as he went back inside. "Grow up, why don't ya?" He groaned.
Yuji immediately reached for the Zippo on top of Haru's bedside table and lit up his own cigarette, exhaling a cloud of smoke as his friend sat back down on the floor, crossing his arms and contemplating on how he should perform his little operation. He was actually pretty scared that when he takes the CPU apart, he might not be able to reassemble it, which held a small possibility, but nevertheless was still a possibility. He has never really handled an HP computer before. He was excited, but at the same time also nervous.
Suddenly, the two of them heard the sound of raindrops against the roof, causing them to look out the window.
Haru stared blankly at the drizzle. "It's raining."
"No kidding, Sherlock." Yuji gave him a blank look. "By the way, how long do you plan on staring at that thing? Don't tell me you're just going to look at it all day?"
"A good engineer always thinks first before acting." He said, as if he was some sort of master talking to one of his pupils.
That was when his phone suddenly rang, tittering on top of his bedside table. He stared at Yuji first, and Yuji stared back, giving him a suspicious look. The two of them then impulsively leapt towards the table, racing for the mobile phone. They both crashed, knocking the entire table over, with Haru groaning in both pain and defeat.
Yuji laughed as he took the phone and looked at the screen, which showed the name Sawako. "Another one of your girls, Sato-kun?" He said. He then flipped it open and grinned, answering the call in his girliest voice. "Hello?" He said, batting his eyes as if the person on the other line could actually see him.
"Hey, give that back!" Haru yelled, trying to take his phone back, but Yuji kept him away by grabbing onto his forehead with one hand.
"Hello? Is this Takeharu?" Sawako asked over the other line.
"Oh, no, this is his girlfriend," Yuji giggled, still trying to maintain his poorly formulated female voice. "What can I do for you?"
Haru quickly took his pack of cigarettes and threw it at Yuji's face for being such a douche. "Oh, crap!" He yelled as he fell back from the impact, dropping Haru's phone in the process. The older one acted quick and dived onto the floor, sliding as his phone fell onto his palm. He then stood up and sprinted towards the living room, away from the intrusive Yuji.
"Hello?" He said, finally pressing the phone against his ear. He was afraid she actually believed what Yuji said. "Sawako? Sorry about that, that was just Yuji. You know, from work. He came over today."
It took a while before Sawako replied. "Oh. I see. I just wanted to check on you, with the rain and all." She sounded pretty embarrassed. "Will you still be coming over after school?"
Haru flinched. Oh crap.
He looked up at the analog clock on his wall, his eyes widening as soon as he saw the time. It was 4PM, only an hour left before the end of Sawako's last class for the day, if Haru remembers correctly. This morning, he had already told her he'd take her out for dinner after school, which he always does every Monday to ensure that "every week begins the right way," but when this thing with Yuji suddenly came up, the idea completely slipped off his mind.
"I am so sorry," He said, starting to panic. "I completely forgot about that. I'm really sorry." He was practically running around, unsure of what to do first. All he knew was that he needed to get to Sakuragaoka High, pronto.
"Calm down, Haru." Sawako sighed. It wasn't like him to be forgetful at all. But the way he was panicking when he remembered, she found it just sweet, which more than made up for it. "It's all right, I still have my last period anyway. We'll just wait for you at the club room afterwards, okay?"
He let himself fall back and sit with his legs crossed in the middle of his living room. "Okay." He sighed. "I'm really, really sorry."
Sawako smiled. Who could resist a guy like him? "It's fine, don't beat yourself up."
"...Okay."
Haru was just about to click and end the call when he heard her say something incomprehensible on the other line, something like 'hey', causing him to put it back on his ear. "Yeah? What is it?" He asked nonchalantly.
"I love you."
He smirked. "Yeah, I love you too."
With that, he clicked and flipped his phone closed. Almost as immediately, Yuji came out of the shadows, where he had been eavesdropping on their conversation the whole time, and looked over Haru's shoulder so he could take a glance at his phone.
Haru smacked him on the face.
"Holy sushi!" He whimpered as he felt the pain on his forehead. "What the hell is wrong with you, Takeharu?"
He started making his way up the stairs and back to his room, with Yuji still on his tail. "I'm going to have to take a rain check on that CPU, Yuji. I have... uh... I remember I have to be somewhere in an hour, like, someplace... nothing special." He rambled, running his hands through his slightly longer hair. "I'll just... I don't know, call you?"
Yuji shrugged. "You know you could just tell me you've got another one of your 'dates' tonight. It's not like you haven't told me about the last twenty girls you've nailed since you started working at the Center."
Haru was staggered. His friend was telling the truth. Sawako didn't even know about that, at least not yet. He had been itching to tell her that part of his life but he just couldn't bring himself to do it; it was a bit too heavy, especially when she's currently living in the conviction that Haru's Mr. Perfect. He paused for a moment before he just laughed and went back to searching his cabinet for any attractive clothes that may make Sawako forget about him forgetting about tonight.
Yuji could only scoff. He got the message now. "So who's the lucky girl?" He asked. "And is she really that special?"
Haru pulled out the drawer from his bedside table again and took a photograph from a messy pile, smiling as he handed it over to his friend. Yuji looked down at it and grinned, seeing Haru and a girl smiling while he wrapped an arm around her. Seeing him smile wasn't that rare, but he sure looked a lot happier in that photo.
"Is this the same wild chick in a death metal band you showed me some time ago?" He inquired.
"Yep, same one." Haru nodded. "Her name's Sawako Yamanaka."
"Wow, talk about changing for the better." Yuji laughed. "Just a little more and she'll be a better at changing her look than Michael Jackson. I mean, seriously, look! It's like the devil saw the light!" He said cackling, almost falling back on the floor.
Haru just laughed and took the photo back. "Yeah, yeah. Cut it out, will ya?"
"But seriously, man. She looks nice. Real nice." Yuji raised an eyebrow and smirked impishly. "Pretty hot too. I love the transition."
"Now don't go getting any ideas, Yuji. She's my girlfriend." Haru joked, though he still looked a bit serious.
Yuji raised both his hands and stepped back, chuckling. "Of course, of course. Wasn't planning to." He said. "Still, you picked an interesting one. I'd love to meet her some time."
"Maybe some other time, Hisaka-kun."
Haru waved Yuji goodbye as he dropped him off at the nearest station, now on his way to Sakuragaoka High at 5:15. They still had to clean the place up before locking it up, and it was still raining pretty hard, so Haru had loaned his friend one of his old umbrellas so he wouldn't have a hard time going home.
He picked up his phone and dialled Sawako's number, waiting for her to answer.
Sawako was in the music room, watching the Wakaba Girls practice when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She quietly slipped outside while the girls continued playing their song and quickly descended a couple of floors lower so that the ambient noise wouldn't be too loud when she answers her call.
"Hello?" She blinked as she answered.
"Hey," Haru greeted. He could hear the band playing. "Are you still at school? I'm on my way there now. How are things?"
Sawako smiled back at a number of students who greeted her on their way home. "Good, I guess. We just had tea and now I'm watching over the girls while they practice their new song."
"Making some progress, eh? That's good for them."
"Yeah." She said. She suddenly frowned, looking worried. "Hey, are you sure it's all right for you to call me while you're driving in this weather? You might get yourself in an accident."
She could hear him chuckle on the other line. "Oh, don't worry about me." He said. "This is nothing compared to driving in New York. Come to think of it, that's probably the reason I never drove in New York."
"That didn't make much sense, but if you say so." Sawako sighed. "In any case, you should get back to just driving. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you, now. Just come up to the music room when you get here, okay?"
Haru smirked. He was flattered at how worried she was. "Yes, ma'am."
"All right." She replied. "Take care, I love you."
"I love you too."
This time it was Sawako who ended the call. She clicked and put her phone back in her pocket and ascended up to the music room again.
It didn't take too long before Haru arrived at Sakuragaoka High. He parked his Innova at the empty lot near the school and pulled his umbrella out, along with an empty jacket, in case Sawako needed it, and a plastic bag filled with takoyaki. He could hear the song that the Light Music Club was playing from outside the school, even though the sound of the pouring rain was a little louder. He had to hand it to those girls, though, if they hadn't played Fuwa Fuwa Time after school that fateful day months ago, he would never have met their amazing club moderator.
Haru would have to thank them properly sooner or later, with something much better than feeding them snacks, as if they really needed more of that, but right now this was the best he could do on such short notice. He knew it was only supposed to be him and Sawako tonight, but he figured it wouldn't hurt if they spent it with her students.
Like Sawako had instructed, he ascended to the music room, but decided to wait for the girls to finish playing, just outside the door. He looked down and noticed a little statue of a cartoon frog standing in the corner and tilted his head like a dog, examining the thing. This was probably the first time he took notice of that thing. It was pretty weird.
A few seconds later, the Wakaba Girls finished the song, causing Haru to look back up at the door.
"That was great, girls. Though I think that's enough for today. You should all clean up and go home now."
"Yeah, it's raining pretty hard."
"Wait, I have to use the ladies' room."
He was just about to grab the knob so he could finally come inside when the door suddenly opened, revealing a flabbergasted little Ui looking up at him, blinking. Everyone else noticed that he was outside and stared.
"Oh, Haru-san." She managed to say. "What are you doing here outside the music room? You're welcome to come in, you know."
Haru laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Ah, I was waiting for you girls to finish your song. The jam sounded so good that I didn't want to interrupt anything." He said. He then raised his little plastic bag, grinning. "You girls must be pretty tired. I brought dinner."
The members of the Light Music Club all gawked at the idea. Haru coming over might just be the cure they needed for their gloomy afternoon.
Jun immediately grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him inside. "Oh, thank you, thank you! Please, come inside and make yourself at home, Haru-chan!" She then pulled a chair for him. "Please, do sit down and relax and all that jazz. Let me take that coat for you."
Sawako then smiled upon seeing him and stood up so she could greet him. "I'm glad you made it here okay." She said, letting him kiss her on the forehead.
"Of course." He smirked, causing everyone in the room to squeal.
"They're so sweet!" Jun shrieked.
Haru could only laugh. It was nice seeing these kids again.
He helped them out in preparing the takoyaki he bought at a nearby convenience store, although the girls weren't letting him do much other than getting the plates. He was a guest, so he was obligated to just shut up, sit down and eat with them. After he was done, he took a seat beside Sawako as they all looked at Ui and Sumire as they served the Takoyaki and juice, giving everyone three balls each.
"You sure we're not keeping you girls from anything?" He asked them again. "You girls still have school tomorrow, you know."
"Nah, it's fine." Said Jun. "Besides, who can turn down such good food?"
Azusa looked at everyone as she took a seat at the head of the table. She flinched, seeing that Sawako was lit up even brighter now that Haru has arrived. Am I seriously the only one who's being blinded by Miss Sawa-chan?
"Oh, hey, Azu-nyan." Haru grinned, taking notice of the awkwardness in her facial expression. Azusa blinked at him. Azu-nyan? He's probably talking to Yui-senpai too much. "Those are some nice cat ears." He chuckled, pointing at her head. "They look great on you. I didn't know you were into things like that."
She gasped and immediately put both her hands on her head, realizing that she was still wearing those stupid cat ears that Sawako 'convinced' her to wear right before they started practicing. "Oh, crap! I forgot all about that!" Her face turned red, and she quickly took it off, causing everyone in the room, including Haru, to laugh.
"Oh, why'd you have to do that, Azusa-chan?" Sawako pouted. "It looked so great on you. Like a little kitty."
Haru chuckled as he looked at the little girl and took a sip from his orange juice. He really hasn't tasted anything so sweet in a while, so he ended up taking gulps until his glass was already only half-empty.
Sumire noticed this and looked up at him. "Wow, Haru-senpai. You must be really thirsty."
"Oh, sorry about that." He said. "I guess I just missed drinking orange juice."
Jun leaned on the table, resting her cheek against her palm as she devoured a whole ball of takoyaki. She then turned to Haru. "Is orange juice that rare where you live, Haru-chan?"
"It's not that it's rare, I just don't get to drink sweet fruit drinks anymore. It's always coffee and... more coffee. Work can get really stressful sometimes." He laughed. He didn't want to tell them how often he drank alcohol, which was probably the main reason he missed sweets. He didn't want to seem like a bum or anything, and it might make them want to do the same as well.
Sawako looked at him. She knew exactly what was on his mind. It made her smile. He wanted to be a good example to these kids just as much as she did. It was really sweet of him.
"Thanks again, Haru-chan!"
"Later!"
"Take care of Miss Sawa-chan!"
Haru and Sawako waved the girls goodbye as he dropped them off at the station after they insisted not to be taken home individually since it would take too much time, despite his efforts of persuading them. It was still raining when he drove off again, which made steering a little harder than usual, meaning he had to be twice as careful, especially now when Sawako was with him.
"I still don't get why they have to do that," He groaned, still thinking of Azusa and the others. "Things would have been a lot easier for them if they rode with us."
"They just didn't want to be a burden to you, you know." Sawako said.
"But I said it was fine." He moped.
This caused Sawako to giggle. She didn't think Haru was aware of how stubbornly selfless he was being. The girls simply declined his offer because they wanted the two to have some time to themselves, which was implied by Jun, who had been giving her dirty looks since they finished their takoyaki.
That girl must have been psychic.
"Anyway, it's just the two of us now." She said. "What do you want to do?"
That question mildly surprised him. Normally they'd just eat and he'd take her home before he went back to his own place to get ready for work, but now she just implied that she wanted something different tonight, or at least he thought so.
Haru cleared his throat. He decided to play it safe. "I don't know." He said casually. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well, you want to come over to my place?" She asked innocently.
Jackpot.
At the end of the day, Haru was just another boy.
He wanted to clean his ears just to make sure he heard that right. It wasn't the first time he was going to her place, though. He'd often come there about two to three times a week to help her out with her schoolwork, which usually ended up in after-dinner make-out sessions, but this was the first time she actually invited him like that.
Was something good about to happen?
Haru took a quick awkward glance at her before staring at the road again, swallowing that lump down his nervous throat. "Sure, if it's alright with you."
And Sawako only smiled in response.
About half an hour later, they arrived at her apartment, with Haru wrapping a protective arm around his girlfriend while he held his umbrella up for the both of them after parking his car at the empty lot just across the street. He put his umbrella down as they ascended to the third floor, where her apartment was located.
He was smiling, holding her left hand while her right hand reach for the keys and opened the door. Her hand searched the wall for the switch and flicked it on as soon as she found it, revealing her place, which was spick and span as usual.
She stepped inside and hung Haru's jacket and coat by the door while he left the umbrella to dry just outside her door.
"Sorry if the place seems a little unidy." She said, laughing. "Excuse me while I go get changed. No peeking." She stuck her tongue out at him, and he only grinned in reply. She then reached out for some fresh clothes in her room and went to the bathroom to change.
Disorganized? What was she talking about? Haru thought as he removed his shoes and shyly stepped inside. The place was almost spotless.
He sat down and crossed his legs in front of the table in the living room and smiled, looking around.
Soon enough, Sawako emerged from the bathroom, wearing only a light blue cardigan with nothing but her bra underneath and short shorts, along with her favourite pair of flip flops. She then sat next to Haru, who was still smiling at her, and leaned on his shoulder.
She hit his arm playfully. "What are you so happy about?"
He laughed and shook his head. "It's nothing."
They stayed as they were for a couple of minutes, just sitting and listening to the sound of the rain, until the smile on Haru's face slowly faded. He suddenly remembered something important, but is this really the right time?
He lifted his chin, causing Sawako to look up at him. "What is it?"
Haru looked down at her and stared at her worried eyes. He then shook his idea off and quickly leaned in, kissing her gently before quickening his pace, and she really had no choice but to oblige. Sawako's eyes fluttered close, getting lost in the feeling of kissing Haru's skilful lips. He gently pushed her down so she was lying on the floor before he started making trails of kisses from her lips to her neck, tickling her a bit. He has never kissed her like this.
She moaned sharply as she felt him bite, sucking on her delicate skin. She couldn't help but feel a little strange, and skeptical. Tonight he seemed a lot... hungrier. It wasn't entirely a bad thing, but it still made her worry.
Sawako let him kiss her more, gasping in pleasure as he did so, but immediately sat up as soon as she felt him trying to undress her. That drew the line. This just wasn't like him at all.
Haru looked up at her, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "What's up?" He said, blinking. "Is something wrong?"
She fixed herself as she sat back up and crossed her legs, buttoning her shirt and putting her glasses on. "You know, I should be the one asking you that." She said. "Is there a problem? You can tell me."
"I-It's nothing. I'm fine. What are you talking about?" He shook his head.
Sawako wasn't quite satisfied with that answer. She crossed her arms and frowned; as hard as it was to act so strict around her boyfriend, she had to, especially when he was acting like some hungry hyena feeding on meat after not eating for a week.
Haru looked at her. He then sighed in defeat and hung his head, grabbing his wet hair. "You're right. I'm sorry." He mumbled. "Please excuse me. I need to smoke this one out."
With that, he stood up and hurriedly left the apartment, leaving his coat and his umbrella behind. Sawako thought of running after him, but figured he'd come back for his things if he does decide to just leave and go home, so instead she slipped her flip flops on and walked towards the balcony, from where she saw him at the empty lot across the street, where he parked his car. That was fast. He stood under the shade of the nearby tree to protect himself from the rain and put a cigarette from his pocket to his mouth, immediately lighting it up. His hands were shaking so much that he had almost missed it.
Sawako watched him from the third floor, but all she could see were his feet. The rest of his body was blocked from view by the leaves. He didn't look like he was leaving any time soon, so she decided to pick up his umbrella and come to where he was.
Haru blew out a cloud of smoke, which quickly disappeared in the fog. He smacked himself on the forehead, regretting what he just did to Sawako. "That was probably the dumbest thing I have ever done in my entire life." He told himself, taking another long drag from his cigarette. His hands were still shaking. It must have been the temperature.
He then saw his girlfriend come into view from the apartment building, holding his umbrella and apparently heading towards where he was. He quickly threw his cigarette away, rubbing his hands against his wet hair and thinking of something smart to say as an apology.
She raised an eyebrow and smirked at him as soon as she reached the spot in front of him. "Are you trying to get yourself sick?" She asked.
Haru looked down at her. "I'm sorry." It was all that could come out of his mouth. As much as he wanted to be a bit more romantic by saying something more elaborate and charming, it was really all he could come up with. He mentally smacked himself again for being such an idiot.
"You can come back inside and we can talk about it." She smiled. "Does that sound good to you?"
Haru just looked at her again, a little confused. After what he did, she should be slapping him silly by now. But she wasn't. Was it because she was still clueless about these things? She seemed to know what she was doing, though. He nodded reluctantly and followed her as she started to make her way back to the building, when suddenly...
"Haru? Haru Sato, is that you?"
He quickly turned and followed the voice, immediately recognizing it, dreading the thought that he was right about who he thought it was, and unfortunately enough, he was right.
He looked down and saw a slender young woman with a dark pixie cut, holding an umbrella and smiling up at him, obviously pleasantly surprised. Sawako could only look at the two of them, still confused. "How have you been? I honestly thought I'd never see you again, the way you took off that night." The girl said. Either she was completely ignoring Sawako or she just didn't know she was there. Either way, her full attention was on Haru, who was only staring blankly at her. "You do remember me right?" She asked. "It's me, Sayuri Kusanagi. We met at the Label, remember? We even spent the night at..."
"I'm sorry, I don't remember." Haru immediately said, cutting her off. He honestly had no idea what this woman was talking about. "You must have the wrong guy, miss."
Sayuri raised her eyebrow. "But you are Takeharu Sato, right?"
He nodded. "That's right. But you must have had me confused with someone else. I don't remember spending any time with you, ma'am, or with anyone else, for that matter, with all due respect."
Sayuri frowned in discontent, and that was when she finally noticed Sawako, who was only looking at her. "Ah," Sayuri said, rather triumphantly. "I get it now." She snickered bitterly. "Another day, another girl, eh? You are such a player."
"I don't know what you're..."
Haru was cut off with a quick, but heavy slap across the face, causing his cheek to burn red with the faint mark of Sayuri's hand. "Jerk." She said, storming off.
Sawako and Haru stared at her as she walked away and disappeared into the rain before turning to each other again. Haru looked down at her and saw her hurt expression. It was indescribable, really. She looked calm, but he could tell she was furious and confused and every little negative feeling the world. She then sighed, trying her best to maintain her composure and trying not to slap him in the face as well.
"Care to explain yourself, Mr. Sato?" She sighed, impatiently tapping her foot, as if she was talking to one of her students.
Six cans of beer and a whole pack of cigarettes later, Haru and Sawako ended up back at her apartment, the two of them lying on the floor next to each other and staring up at the ceiling. As usual, Haru was wasted, and Sawako was perfectly sober. It was one of her many strengths: no matter how much she drank, if she didn't want to get drunk, she really wouldn't. She had been waiting for him to speak up about what just happened and what's been happening to him, but at this rate, he might fall asleep before that actually happens.
Suddenly, he started coughing feverishly, causing him to roll over to the side, facing away from his worried girlfriend.
"Are you okay?" Sawako asked, sitting up and putting a hand on his waist.
He tried to laugh between his coughs, but miserably failed. "No... it's fine. I'm okay, I'm okay." He gasped. He kept at it until it gradually just went away, but he was still holding his chest in a tight grasp.
Sawako sighed, shaking her head. "It's the beer. You really need to lay off the beer, Haru. I'm serious. Look what it's doing to you." She said. "Mix alcohol with stress and whatever's been happening to you and look what happens."
"It's fine. I'm fine." He insisted.
She then dramatically took off her glasses and looked at him again, giving her the signature Death Devil glare, the same one she used to show the girls of Houkago Tea Time when they were getting too rowdy, for the first time. "No, you're not fine." She said in a delirious, ghoulish voice, completely scaring the panties out of Haru and causing him to crawl frantically to a corner, forgetting all about the pain in his chest.
He was shaking as he watched her, practically hovering towards him, surrounded by a terrifying cloud of darkness.
"Please don't eat me, please don't eat me. I've got a girlfriend, a-a-and a job!" He pleaded helplessly, whimpering as he wrapped his arms around his legs.
Sawako then went back to her 'normal form' in less than a second, blinking as she looked around as if nothing really happened, and Haru just stared blankly at her, still a little scared. He sighed in relief, seeing that there was no sign of her inner devil coming out again any time soon.
She put a hand on her forehead. "Well, that was weird."
"No kidding." He laughed nervously, sounding like he was close to losing his sanity.
Sawako sighed and sat on the spot next to him, this time looking much more serious than before. She then leaned on his shoulder and closed her eyes as he felt his arm come down and wrap itself around her slender waist. "I was serious, though, about you not being fine at all, and I wasn't talking about your health. Come on. Talk to me." She said. "Tell me what's wrong."
Haru looked down at her again before he leaned back and looked up with a tired sigh. Looks like she was determined to get some answers from him, and there was no stopping her now. Perhaps it really was time to come clean. Honesty comes with having a girlfriend, after all.
He cleared his throat before speaking. "It's a pretty long story. Where do you want me to begin?"
"You decide. I've got all the time in the world." She said calmly. "Tell me everything you believe I should know."
"All right, then." Haru put a hand on his chin, rubbing his slapdash five o'clock shadow and actually thinking about it. Everything I believe she should know. Fair enough. "Hmm, well… for starters, that girl we met a while ago, Sayuri…" He began, still a little nervous. "I may not remember her at all, but I honestly believe she was telling the truth, that I was the Takeharu Sato she was looking for."
"So, what do you think happened between the two of you?" Sawako asked, putting a hand on his lap.
"Something I wouldn't be so proud of telling, I guess." He said. "It was probably part of my little party animal phase back when I was still in college until the time I met you. It wasn't hard for me to score because New Yorkers surprisingly preferred the foreign guy, plus I played in a band so I got a lot of action. It was true: another day, another girl. I used to live by that, thanks to my friends at the Lacrosse team. And most nights I'd just get so drunk that I can't even remember what happened the previous night. And it went on even after I arrived here. Old habits die hard."
Sawako laughed at that, which surprised him. He was ruining his Mr. Perfect image right in front of her, yet it seemed okay. She wasn't as shocked as he expected her to be. But of course it hurt her, she just didn't want to show it. "I think we've all gone through that phase, but yours is probably a little worse." She said.
He chuckled. That lessened the amount of anxiety he was feeling. "Yeah, you can say that again." He continued. "But because of that, I wasn't able to keep my grades in check. I dropped a couple of subjects and I ended up taking two and a half extra years on my five-year course. I almost didn't finish CE." He hung his head and snickered at the thought of his old self. "I mean, I didn't even like that course. I only chose it because at the time, I was very irresponsible and I couldn't think of a talent or skill that I could focus on and use as a career… and because my dad 'suggested' it. He was quite the overachiever. It was like, 'Hey, son, you can be anything you want, just as long as it's an engineer'."
The perfect example of the high-expectations Asian father.
She looked up at him. "What about being a bassist? And Hirasawa told me you were pretty good at math. Didn't you think of that?"
"That's because one of my requirements back in high school involved joining an extra-curricular club. And since I was a talentless little sap, I had no choice but to join our own music club and learn to play the bass. Never really liked it." He laughed. He suddenly felt like he was a lot like Yui now. That was probably the reason he was so fond of the Hirasawa sisters, other than the fact that they were neighbors.
"That sounds a lot like someone I know." Sawako giggled. "The same went with Yui, but she ended up loving what she does. Nodoka told me she used to be so clueless about everything, but after she discovered music, she's been more focused than I'll probably ever be."
"Now that's something I've never felt before, even when playing bass." He nodded, looking up again. "Whenever I performed, I felt so robotic. I liked being onstage, but I couldn't feel that feeling that's supposed to free you when you play; that feeling that musicians talk about all the time. Maybe that's why my music always sounded so soulless."
"Then maybe music's just not your calling." She replied. "The same goes with your engineering gig. But nevertheless, you worked hard enough to finish it. That's got to count for something, right?"
Haru nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I guess. But I do hope I find that calling soon." He said. "Hey, Sawako?"
"Hmm?" She looked up.
"Are you mad at me? Now that I'm not the perfect guy you thought I was? I was a womanizer, I finished my first degree at twenty-four, and a bunch of other things." He asked. There was one minor detail that he insisted on not confessing, something that may just get him kicked out of the house, but he wasn't going to take that risk, oh no. He figured she didn't have to know that anyway. "I'm sorry I kept all that from you for so long. I was actually looking for an opportunity, but I guess it only took one slap for me to spill it." As usual, he was being his charming self.
Sawako giggled. "And I wasn't even the one who slapped you."
"Yeah." He smirked.
She then pushed herself up so she could give him a quick, reassuring kiss on the lips. "Don't worry." She said, smiling, brushing his frayed bangs to the side so she could have a clearer view of his pale face. "I'm not looking for Mr. Perfect. Who needs someone like that when I've got Mr. Honest?"
Haru could only laugh a little nervously. Way to guilt trip a man. "So," he said. "There it is. You know everything about me now. If there's anything else you need to know, you can just ask."
Yeah, right.
"Now, it's my turn." Sawako stood up and made her way towards her little bookshelf by her room, searching until she finally found her old high school scrapbook, filled with photos of her and her generation's Light Music Club. Haru looked up at her; he had a pretty good idea of what she's about to show him. She was sure now, and it really was about time she showed him all of that.
She came back and sat beside him, handing him the scrapbook with a shy smile. He was smiling to himself, but on the outside he pretended to be at least a little surprised.
He reluctantly opened it and turned to the first page, where a single picture of all the members of the band Death Devil was taped rather shabbily. Sawako giggled upon seeing it, and he could tell that just by looking at it, they were really cranking up the nostalgia.
"That's the band Norimi was talking about. We were both part of this metal band, Death Devil, and I was the guitarist and lead vocalist." She explained.
"Wow," he said, touching the photograph, "You look… really young." Sawako looked at him. "Er, I mean, really cool!"
She sighed. "Yeah, those were the wilder days."
"Yeah, really wild." He chuckled, grinning as he kept staring at the photo. He immediately recognized Norimi, who was smiling right next to Sawako, even though she used to have longer, darker hair, tied up in a messy ponytail.
Sawako looked at him as he studied the rest of the scrapbook. She could tell he was really interested, which was a huge relief, considering she has always thought that it'd creep him out if ever he knew about her high school days, but now he was acting the complete opposite. He looked so curious and fascinated that he was starting to look like an excited little boy looking at a new toy. She never expected this from him.
Haru laughed at himself after noticing how worked up he was getting. "I'm… I'm sorry, this is just too awesome." He said. He then put the scrapbook back down on the table, returning to his girlfriend and wrapping his arms around her waist. He kissed her affectionately. "That officially makes you the coolest girlfriend ever. And in my book, that deserves a trophy."
She laughed between their kisses until she finally pulled away, poking his nose and giggling. "You know you still reek. You smell like an entire bar." She told him. She then kissed him again. "But that's okay, I'll still love you even if you smelled like an entire garbage truck."
"Oh, really?" He said, chuckling. "Well, I'll still love you even if you become the wildest girl on the planet."
That made her smile. If he really meant what he said, then Sawako may have just found her soul mate. She actually thought about it, and realized just how perfect Haru really was.
He's always smiling whenever he's with her, no matter how bad his day has been. He always holds her hand as much as he can, especially in public. He has never raised her voice at her, but instead is always calm and sweet whenever they talk. He finds her cosplay antics pretty cute, and thinks she's a perfect role model for her students as she is. There's nothing he really doesn't like about her, and she could go on forever counting his perfections, but summing it all up, he was already perfect as he is, despite every flaw about himself that he's pointed out. And he was hers.
She reached out so she could touch his face and leaned in so they could kiss again.
This is it. She thought. He's the one.
Haru continued to kiss her, smirking as he did so, like always. This time Sawako directed his hands down so he could unbutton her cardigan. So something really is going to happen tonight. Though something was still tugging on his conscience. Something imaginary kept tapping on his shoulder, urging him to spill his secret out, but he couldn't, now that he and Sawako were in a good place again.
"She doesn't have to know." He thought to himself, and kept kissing her.
Perhaps she really doesn't have to know.
A/N: And I'm back! Sorry if this took a while. It's been a busy week for me, and it's gonna be a lot busier next week so the next chapter may also take a while. I hope you like it, though. :3 And as always, constructive criticism is welcome especially since I've been screwing up a lot lately. :)) I really appreciate the reviews!
BTW, I wanna give a shout out to the Filipino readers who've read my story. I just recently found out that Wild Rock also has a good number of Filipino readers, so I'd like to acknowledge you all. Mabuhay!