DISCLAIMER - WE DO NOT OWN ARISA.
There comes a time in my life where I want Natsumi Ando to add some sort of epilogue to ARISA or something. I absolutely loved the extra chapters! Especially the 'Takeru' one, I still find it sooooo cute! Oh but uh, no worries. This is still a TsubasaxManabe fanfic just gotta build things up like most people do. Hope that doesn't bore ya - Ariah
"Do you like Tsubasa now?"
Was the first thing Shizuka asked me when I walked into her room after Tsubasa had finished.
I didn't understand her question, and I didn't understand why Tsubasa had to step out...or why I even had to in the first place.
"Akira," Shizuka said again, looking at me with serious eyes. "How do you feel towards Tsubasa?"
I shrugged and leaned against the wall.
"I dunno," I responded, not sure what sort of answer would satisfy her. "I don't mind her...I guess."
Shizuka raised an eyebrow at me and looked down nervously before questioning me again.
"So...what does that mean?" She asked. "Do you...like her? Or..."
I peered at her from where I was standing.
What should I say?
What did she want?
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"What do you want from me, Shizuka?" I asked, hoping it didn't come off as harsh as it seemed.
She only shook her head at me, which I took as a negative sign.
"I simply want to know what you think about her." She replied, looking a little too eager and impatient for an answer.
"If you like her, that's great. If you don't like her that way, that's even better."
I crooked an eyebrow up and she motioned me towards her, which I obeyed and did. Moving only close enough that I was almost leaning towards her as she sat on a little floral armchair.
"Do you..." She began, taking hesitant breathes. "...Love Tsubasa?"
"Lo-... what?! It's not like that!" I stuttered back, feeling a strong wave of heat rise to my face at the words 'love' and 'Tsubasa' being used in the same sentence.
Her hard stare shot into me and I turned to escape her suspicious look.
If I remember correctly, Class prez asked me something similar to this a few days after she had woken up from her coma.
Of course I was quick to deny it (again) but...I didn't know what to say, so I kept my mouth shut and stared hard at whatever it was my eyes caught sight of.
Back then I was simply ashamed that I had changed sides so quickly, and yet at the end I was always with Tsubasa.
Now though...how did I feel about her now?
An unknown feeling rushed over me and it wasn't until Shizuka spoke again that I realized she was still there.
"I...um...I like you!" She blurted. "I've liked you ever since we were kids!"
I blinked hard at her, my face still heated up, and she continued.
"But I don't want to fight with Tsubasa, she's my friend..."
Shizuka started to choke on her words and I sighed, leaning over to wrap my arms around her.
When it came to subjects like this, she always got over emotional...
"But I don't want to lose you either."
Her grip on my shirt tightened and I brought a hand up to pet her head.
"You think too much..." I sighed, patting her head with slow strokes. "...But Sorry. Even if I DID like Tsubasa, I wouldn't tell you."
"Wh-what?! So you do?" She blurted, pulling away from me.
"I never said that..."
"Th-then, do you 'like' me?"
"Li- wait. I wouldn't tell you that either!" I scowled back. "Let's move onto a different subject!"
"But I want to know!" She whined.
"I'm not gonna tell you! Quit asking me!"
I sat down at one of the swings at the park and sighed as the tears on my face came to a stop.
I texted him earlier before I arrived and he was supposed to meet me here.
"Tsubacchi!" He called, running over and taking a seat on the swing next to me. "What's up with the text message?"
I glanced at him from the corners of my eyes, his slightly long brown strands of hair coming into view.
"It's nothing," I said, pretending to stretch. "I just wanted to hand out a bit, Takeru."
Takeru gave me a suspicious look and he quickly examined the park. Searching for whatever kind of mysterious camera or something between the rows of bushes.
"J-joke?" He stuttered, throwing me a nervous smile.
"Huh?"
My mouth hung open in disbelief as I threw him some sort of; 'what the heck are you talking about' look.
"S-sorry! Sorry!" He apologized, scratching the back of his head. "You just never call me to randomly hangout...something's gotta be up right?"
I shrugged and decided to ask him.
"Have you ever had this feeling in your gut that hurts whenever you talk to someone?"
I asked, looking him straight in the eyes.
Takeru thought about it for a moment before coming to a conclusion.
"Well..." He began. "...I admit I feel that way sometimes when I have major diarrhea. People just don't know when to leave you alone. I mean, when a guy says they gotta 'go', you gotta let them 'go'...y'know?"
I stared at him and a long silence hung over us.
"Pffftt! Diarrhea?" I laughed, not believing my ears. "That's totally not what I meant!"
Takeru blushed in embarrassment and laughed nervously.
"Oh..." He said. "...Sorry about that."
"I meant heart," I told him, a grin splattered on my face from his epic fail.
"When your heart hurts because you're near someone. It's similar to the feeling I have with Arisa but it's different somehow, Like..."
I thought about it some more.
Like the feeling I had towards Midori on those 'fake' dates...It was like...
"...Being in love..." Takeru muttered, studying the ground and stroking an imaginary beard.
My face flushed red and I shook my head violently.
"N-no way! No way!" I squeaked, waving my hands in front of me. "That's impossible! I can't possibly be in love with..."
I glanced up at Takeru and he smiled at me weakly. Both of us had an idea of who it was that I was possibly in love with...
Then we spoke at the same time.
"Midori"
"That Manabe guy"
Okay so this chapter was a bit short but I felt like this was the perfect place to stop. Hopefully you didn't get too confused at which story was which character's point of views... I tried to make it as obvious as possible. Don't forget to RxR! It really helps me out! - Ariah