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angelshill i should already be sleeping but before that...
and update... and a new story...
here's the update
TITLE: One Chance (Falling...)
CHARACTERS: Matsumoto Jun, Ikuta Toma, Inoue Mao, Horikita Maki, Toda Erika, Mizushima Hiro, Nishikido Ryo, Takaki Yuya, Sakamoto Masayuki (please proceed to cast list for more of the cast)
GENRE: AU
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
SUMMARY: She was waiting for a guy to sweep her off her feet. He was waiting for that girl he could sweep off hers... And then a new guy came to change the story... This is a story of falling in love, and realizing that you've fallen in love... Typical isn't it? Maybe... Maybe not...
Prologue, Chapter1, Chapter2, Chapter3, Chapter4, Chapter5, Chapter6, Chapter7
Chapter 8: One Night… And Maybe One More Time?
“You’re going to owe a lot for this!” Maki mumbled for what could possibly be the 20th time that afternoon as the two of them waited for the elevator to reach the lobby.
It was already Saturday, 5:00 in the afternoon, meaning that their work has already finished for the day. It also meant, however, that Mao has only an hour left in her time to prepare for that date.
She’s already relatively prepared for that though, even after Jun said he’s just going to pick her up at her place when he dropped by her workstation earlier. He also told her then that she can be in her casual clothes, which actually cuts her needed preparation time in half. But while she was fully prepared in the certain aspects of her date, there are some things she had momentarily forgotten.
It was ridiculous really, that which she forgot, because it was Toma, or the fact that Toma’s going to pick her up, like usual, for the night that she missed out. But then again, maybe it wasn’t that ridiculous, because she was banking on Toma and Ryo’s usual Saturday night boy’s night out to distract Toma away from her.
Unfortunately though, Ryo is out of town with Erika because Erika’s mother is celebrating her 50th birthday and the couple had to visit Erika’s hometown for the occasion. This is also the reason why Maki is the only one Mao can really turn to, to help her out in that tricky situation.
“I know…” Mao told her with a very sweet and thankful smile. “And this is a favor I’m never going to forget… I’ve always known I can count on you…”
“Stop patronizing me…” Maki snorted right as the door opened and the two of them walked out of the elevator. Maki only had to angle her head a bit to detect Toma’s figure, leaning against his car as he waited for them right outside the main entrance, with his arms crossed in front of his chest, from the other side of the glass walls. She groaned. “Will you tell me again why I’m doing this?”
Mao looked at her with cute puppy eyes and replied “Because you’re my friend and you love me…”
Maki looked at her disdainfully before rolling her eyes and shaking her head. “Yeah right… And you’re still not willing to say where you’re going, or what you’re doing, or why?”
Mao nodded her head. “I told you already, I need to figure things out for myself before I can tell you anything… And I will tell you everything, I promise…” she replied.
Maki could do nothing else but sigh specially since they’ve just pushed their way out of the main entrance and is within Toma’s earshot in about a couple of seconds. “You better…” she simply said.
“Mao-chan!” Toma greeted as they stepped in front of him. For a split-second, his eyes darted towards the door and whatever he saw there, or didn’t, seemed to please him, making him beam as he turn to Maki. “Horikitty!”
“You seem to be in a good mood…” Maki observed, a note of sarcasm in her voice as she slightly raised one of her eyebrows at him.
Toma though, did not take offense at her sarcasm. He chuckled even as he opened the doors for them before going around to enter the driver’s side.
“Nice day huh?” he even started conversationally as he started the car. “What are you ladies planning for today?”
“Actually…” Mao started, giving Maki a sweet pleading smile from the side mirror as she spoke. “About that… Maki-chan wants to ask you something…”
“Huh?” Toma raised an eyebrow as he took a quick glance at Maki, who’s currently glaring at Mao, before turning back to the road and asking “What is it Horikitty?”
“I need a favor…” Maki could do nothing else but say, especially with Mao looking at her with widely expectant eyes. “I have to go home to Chiba tonight… And I want you to drive me there…”
“Why?” Toma asked as Mao nodded next to him.
“My car can’t take that long of a drive at the moment, neither can my body… And I don’t like taking the bullet train…” Maki chose to reply, coming up with the lie just in time to cover up the original lie Mao made her say. “And since you seem to be in a very good mood right now, I’m hoping you would say yes…”
Toma nodded, mostly to himself, but then he added “No, what I meant was that why do you have to go back all of a sudden?”
“Because…” Maki started but no reason came to her head immediately. “Why do you keep asking stuff anyway?!” she snarled instead. “Just say it if you don’t want to help me…”
“Of course he wants to help you Maki-chan!” Mao cried, looking at Toma pointedly before she turned to smile at Maki. “Don’t you Toma-kun? Especially since Maki-chan needs to pick up something for your own cousin’s upcoming birthday?” she added, remembering just in time that Erika and her mom’s birthday are actually quite close.
“Of course I’ll help!” Toma exclaimed as though it’s an obvious fact, although Maki suspects that it’s mostly because Mao is now looking at him pointedly and in a not to be disappointed way. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place? You want to come with us Mao-chan?”
“Uhmm…” Mao started, pretending to think about it although Maki can see the obvious relief in her eyes. “I can’t… I need to do something tonight… I’m sure you two would be fine…”
“Oh… Okay…” Toma just shrugged. “Looks like it’s going to be just you and me, Horikitty…”
“My name isn’t Horikitty!” Maki snapped.
Toma simply laughed. “Nice kitty…”
-----
“Wow… Just plain wow!” Mao mumbled, her head turning to face the open water from where she was seated opposite Jun, their dinner just having ended.
The two of them were at Jun’s chosen location for that “date” of theirs, a location he didn’t share to her beforehand, even after she asked him where they were going the moment he picked her up from their apartment.
“You’ll see when we get there…” he simply smiled and said.
She chuckled and shrugged but she let it go just the same, especially since she had to focus her energy on stopping, or controlling, the butterflies that started fluttering in her stomach the moment she opened her apartment and saw him standing there.
The moment Jun said that she could just go casual, she had already expected to see him in his casual wear too. But while she expected the change of style from his usual business attire, she still had to hold her breathe the moment she saw it with her own eyes.
He wasn’t wearing anything special or extraordinary actually, just khakis paired with a loose ocean green shirt, a white jacket, and beach sandals but there seemed to be something different about him. It’s not the confidence, or the way he carried himself, or how he fitted the look, because all those things remained the same. But he sans the suit and the tie looked like someone who’s actually part of the regular world, not the rich and powerful one that he actually belongs to, and not as someone who’s just trying to fit in. He looked like just a normal Jun, albeit a very good-looking normal Jun, wearing khaki’s and beach sandals. And the look seems to have quite an effect on her.
The reason behind his choice of footwear was soon revealed to her when she caught sight of the area he had entered the car to. The beach.
She didn’t particularly love the beach, to be honest. She likes it all right, but she prefers amusement parks, her favorite place in Japan being Disneyland, but there’s just something breathe-taking about the place he brought her to. It wasn’t a private beach, judging by the presence of a couple of young families enjoying their time together while the kids are old enough to enjoy themselves but young enough to not have to go to school yet, but the place seemed to be very well maintained. And the sea, the sea just looked so magnificent as the darkness of the night took over the light of day in the skies.
Dinner was just as great, which they took in one of the huts specially prepared for them. But the best part of that night would not be the location, or the dinner, but the conversation.
Jun played it simple, light, non-intrusive. He chose topics which are more or less a safe ground for both of them, like childhood, basic likes, and dislikes. And he didn’t just kept on asking her too, he revealed stuff about himself just the same. And he had just told her that he and his brothers, with their parents, back when his mother was still alive, used to frequent that beach and that it was in fact Matsumoto Masayuki’s idea to turn the area into a semi-private location, just so there would be continuous maintenance for the place.
Looking around, Mao could not disagree that it was a good idea. The place looked great, inviting. The way the water touches the beach looked particularly enticing to her.
“Want to go closer to the water?” Jun suddenly offered, making Mao turn around to face him.
The hopeful look he saw in his face made her want to nod, which, she did, as she smile and said “Sure…”
This prompted Jun’s face to break out into a huge smile as he stood up, assisted her to her feet, before leading the way out of the hut and into the sand.
-----
“Are you cold?” Jun asked after a while.
They were just walking along the beach, on the point where the water touches the shore, as they allowed the waves to touch their feet (Mao’s sandals being in her hand already). Mao, in fact, had started feeling chilly already, owing to the strong wind that arrives with the waves, and the sleeves of her top is not long enough to cover her from it.
“A bit…” she admitted, nodding slightly as she looked down at the sand. She had already actually prepared a jacket to take along for the evening but she forgot all about it when she opened the door and saw Jun standing outside, smiling at her. That piece of garment still is at the arm of her sofa where she laid it earlier in thoughts that she could just grab it when he finally arrives.
And then she heard movement and the rustling of clothes to her side. Before she knew it, he had already draped his jacket over her shoulders as he said “I actually sort of thought you might get cold tonight…”
Looking up, she couldn’t help but chuckle, noting the tinge of red at the point of his ears. “So this is all part of your plan?” she asked playfully.
“Not exactly…” he admitted. “I was thinking of not wearing a jacket just in case so you could just use my arms to warm you up… But I didn’t think that’d be nice…” he added with a chuckle.
Mao’s jaws dropped as she looked at him in surprise. Never, in her whole life, had she heard any guy say it, admit it, for that matter, the way he did. And she found herself laughing at his brazenness. He laughed along with her too as she gave her quite a mischievous wink. That was when she had this weird feeling that what had happened might just actually be what he had planned all along.
And then their laughter died, a comfortable silence setting between them. At that moment, the moon caught her eyes. It doesn’t seem like it’s the full moon yet, but the moon’s almost round already, and there’s just something absolutely majestic with the way it looms low over the ocean.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she heard Jun say.
“Yeah…” she couldn’t help but agree. And then a thought suddenly occurred to her and she couldn’t help but laugh.
What is it?” Jun asked.
She looked at him and smiled sheepishly, wondering whether she could share her sudden thoughts without sounding or looking to foolish or childish. But the moment she saw his smiling face, she decided that she could.
“I just had this wild idea that you’d be cueing in the dolphin show any moment now…” she admitted, but keeping to herself the added thought that it’d be just an icing to the cake just in case.
Jun suddenly looked thoughtful for a second, and then he said “I did think of something like that but i decided that maybe that’s a bit too much for the first time… Next time, maybe…”
Mao chuckled, and then she stopped short, catching the slight hint in those last words.
“Are you saying what I think you’re trying to say?” she asked.
Jun turned around, fully facing her, before he replied “What do you think am I trying to say?”
Mao smiled to the challenge in his voice. “You tell me…” she answered.
Jun grinned as he took one step closer to her. With the diminished distance between them, Jun had entered the personal bubble he had allowed her to have to herself ever since he picked her up from her apartment (except of course during those moments he assisted her and the like). Yet it wasn’t quite that intrusive.
“I’m saying I want to see you again, like this, not as your boss, but just as a normal guy and a beautiful girl.”
-----
“Maki-chan! You’re here already!” Mao exclaimed the moment she entered her apartment and saw to her surprise her friend occupying her sofa as she browsed through what looks to be like old photographs. Jun had just dropped her off to her place.
“And you’ve finally arrived…” Maki deadpanned looking up from the photos she’s been looking at. “And it sounds like you weren’t alone…” she added, nodding towards the window where the sound of Jun’s car can be heard driving away.
“No, I wasn’t alone…” Mao admitted as she occupied the empty seat next to Maki, still maintaining that composure she showed the whole night.
Maki’s eyebrow shot up at her reply as a mischievous grin occupied her lips. “And who, may I ask, were you with? Or have you still not ‘figured’ things out…”
Mao looked at her with a small smile as she quoted the reason she told her earlier. That reason wasn’t a lie. She really didn’t know yet what she feels prior to that date, whether it was just being overwhelmed at the attention an experience playboy, which Jun obviously is, is giving her or something else. She thought she’d spend the duration of that date figuring things out for herself.
She did figure things out, as it happens. And there’s a giddy smile in her lips as she told Maki what she learned.
-----
Maki’s eyes went from shocked, to proud, to amused, and then to happy as she listened to what her friend had to say of her date and what she may have realized from it.
“So you’re going out again?” she asked excitedly.
Mao smiled as she nodded impishly. “This Friday…”
She looked at her with wide eyes and dropped jaws before she pulled her in for a hug. “I’m so happy for you!” she cried. “Finally, you’re giving yourself a chance to be happy…”
“Oh come on… I’ve been happy…” Mao corrected although there’s a smile on her lips.
Maki chuckled and shook her head at her endearingly. “Okay… You’re giving a guy, other than Toma-kun, the chance to make you happy…” she amended and Mao laughed.
“Toma-kun’s going to have a lot of say about this though…” Mao said.
Maki privately agreed, but there was no sign of it when she looked straight at Mao and asked “Are you going to tell Toma-kun?”
----- TBC-----
and here's the new story...
TITLE: The Chase
CHARACTERS: Sakurai Sho, Kuroki Meisa, Matsumoto Jun, Aiba Masaki, Becky, Inoue Mao, Tsukamoto Takashi, Narimiya Hiroshi, +others (TBD)
PAIRING: Sho/Meisa
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: this was one of the stories i posted last year as one of my possible stories... i just changed th background of the story so as not to make it not sound like a rehash of one of my other ongoings... :)
SUMMARY:
Sakurai Sho was the serious kind of playboy, the different kind. He wasn’t opposed to marriage and the idea of happily ever after, just as long as it doesn’t apply to him. Kuroki Meisa is aware of that but she doesn’t care. She’s immune to his charms anyway. Sho knew that and didn’t care either, because that was a bridge he wouldn’t dare cross.
But when Narimiya Hiroki entered the picture their perfect symbiotic relationship changed. And there rose Sho’s biggest problem.
“How exactly do you chase after a woman you’ve always thought you’ll never, ever want to catch?”
-----
22 years ago…
“When I’m 30, I’m going to be married!” the 8 year old boy, Sakurai Sho, exclaimed as he and his neighbor and closest female friend, Kuroki Meisa, walked home after school.
The topic arose when Meisa, who’s still in first grade whereas Sho’s already in the third, told him that the first graders would have a substitute teacher starting the next day because their teacher, Nakama-san, would be getting married to her long time boyfriend, Nakai-san. And she was just exclaiming that she liked her teacher’s boyfriend because he was nice and funny every time he drops by at their class when Sho suddenly declared that.
“Pffft…” the two year younger Meisa replied, not wanting to be defeated by her favorite playmate who’s also her number one competitor. “I’d already be a mother by the time you get married…”
“Oh really…” Sho snorted. “How would you know that? You’re just a kid!”
“You are too!” Meisa pointed out.
“But I’m two years older so I know more than you…” Sho declared with a proud grin as he held his head high and looked down at her.
“That’s unfair!” Meisa pouted. “You’re always gonna be two years older!”
Sho laughed and shrugged as he said “That’s life…”
“Life is unfair!” Meisa continued pouting as she looked up at the sky and pouted more as if showing the angels her displeasure. But then she felt something cold dropping to her cheeks. Wiping it away, she saw that it was water and she realized that the sky is cloudy too. Without further adieu, she broke out into a sprint.
Taken aback, Sho was left momentarily behind before he ran too and managed to catch up to her.
“What’s going on?” he asked, holding to her arm so that she wouldn’t run away again. After all, his mother told him that Meisa’s his responsibility, that because he’s older, he should take care of the two of them.
“It’s raining!” Meisa complained with a hint of fear already visible in her young face.
“We have an umbrella you know!” Sho replied, having already extracted the object from his bag and using it to cover both of them. But even though the umbrella was big enough to cover them both and that he’s still holding her arm, it still didn’t stop Meisa from walking very, very fast.
“Will you slow down!” Sho ended up complaining as Meisa didn’t care whether she’s stepping on land or puddle, resulting to the specks of mud now adorning his pants.
“We need to get home now!” Meisa insisted. “We have to be inside already!” she added, her voice a little panicky.
“You’re not going to get sick, we have an umbrella…” Sho patiently explained to her. But when Meisa turned to look at him, still with a pout in her lips and fear in her eyes, he remembered, it wasn’t the rain or getting sick that Meisa was afraid of. It was something else entirely.
With a resigned sigh, he placed his arm over her shoulder to pull her closer underneath the umbrella as he too hastened his footsteps.
-----
Present…
“Yes, father, I do…” Sho heard her say to the priest and he couldn’t help but smile, his heart suddenly feeling warm and giddy.
“I do father… Yes, I do…” Meisa heard him excitedly answer the priest’s question and she couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle, although there’s nothing else but happiness now present in her heart.
”By the power vested in me… I now pronounce you man and wife… You may now kiss the bride…” the priest finally said and both Meisa and Sho could no longer contain their smiles.
And by the altar, right in front of the priest, Aiba Masaki and Becky, now husband and wife, turned to each other, their faces the symbol of absolute happiness and contentment. And then Aiba raised the veil that covered his bride’s face and captured her lips amidst the applause and cheering of those present, Sho and Meisa among the loudest of all.
-----
“So, this really is it huh…” Tsukamoto Takashi exclaimed as he joined their table at the reception of their friend’s wedding with a wine glass in hand and an expression that’s a mix of happiness and nostalgia. “We really are one less from now on…”
“Yeah…” Matsumoto Jun, Aiba’s best man, agreed. “It kinda feels weird…” he added to which Sho nodded and agreed.
About a dozen years ago, ever since the four of them first met in college, he, Jun, Shii and Aiba had been friends. Well, Jun and Aiba were friends longer than that since they were high school buddies but it still did not change the fact that the four of them had always been tight knit.
They were, are, quite a good-looking group too, to the extent that their schoolmates would sometimes refer to the as the most handsome group in all of Meiji. And with those looks and intelligence came their popularity. It didn’t end there though, because it didn’t take long before their group became known as the playboys.
In Aiba’s defense though, it was mostly only Shii, Jun, and Sho, with Shii taking the lead. Aiba had always been the more serious one in terms of love issues and the like, but it still didn’t stop the tag from sticking to him.
“I’m not sure what to think of it actually…” Shii continued. “Whether to think that marriage is something that breaks up friendship like ours or whether it’s about time that I should consider seriously searching for that one special woman myself too…” he added jokingly.
Jun and Sho laughed at that, knowing that the first half was said in pure jest, seeing that they’re all so happy that Aiba had finally found that woman who compliments him and loves him as he is in Becky, but mostly because they knew that there was a hint of real realization in the second part of his statement.
“What’s this? Another one of Tokyo’s most sought-after bachelors is considering getting tied down too?” Inoue Mao asked as she joined their table, her plate now adorned with an assortment of cakes and other sweets.
Mao is Aiba’s bubbly and charming younger cousin by three years, who’s had the fortune, or misfortune, of tagging along with them in their less colorful pursuits and who now knows them like the back of her hand.
“Mao-chan… What is that?” Jun asked, eyeing her plate of sweets in confusion.
“Food Jun-kun… What else?” she replied a matter-of-factly.
“That’s not food…” Jun replied in disgust, wrinkling his nose at her.
Mao stuck out her tongue at him before taking an acceptable amount that’s just about right to fill her mouth. The three men in the table watched her in amusement as she savored the sweet taste in her mouth. Only when she had swallowed everything did she, or anyone else for that matter, spoke up.
“So, who among you guys are getting married next?” she asked interestedly.
“Absolutely…” Shii replied immediately. “Not me…”
Jun laughed but he too replied “No, not me either… Sho-kun, maybe…”
Sho almost inhaled half his drink the moment he heard his name being volunteered. “What? Why me?!”
“Well…” Shii shrugged. “I specifically remember you saying during the engagement party that you’re absolutely happy that Becky had embraced the possibility of forever with Aiba-chan… It sounds like you’re not opposed to the concept at all…”
“That’s right…” Jun agreed.
Sho snorted, remembering that night himself, specially because it was a night all three of them became quite expressive of their thoughts on Aiba and Becky’s then-pending wedding.
“That is if the concept of forever is for someone else other than me…” Sho clarified.
Before anyone could react, another woman joined their table. She was taller than Mao though, and while Mao had more of the sweet, charming air, this one had the feisty, challenging character. Her name is Kuroki Meisa.
“Why? Who’d want to spend forever with you?” she asked Sho as she took the seat next to him.
“A lot of women Mei-chan…” Sho grinned. “And it’s all thanks to you that I’m still single up until now…”
-----TBC-----
so how was it???
comments/critics are really loved... :)
and update... and a new story...
here's the update
TITLE: One Chance (Falling...)
CHARACTERS: Matsumoto Jun, Ikuta Toma, Inoue Mao, Horikita Maki, Toda Erika, Mizushima Hiro, Nishikido Ryo, Takaki Yuya, Sakamoto Masayuki (please proceed to cast list for more of the cast)
GENRE: AU
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
SUMMARY: She was waiting for a guy to sweep her off her feet. He was waiting for that girl he could sweep off hers... And then a new guy came to change the story... This is a story of falling in love, and realizing that you've fallen in love... Typical isn't it? Maybe... Maybe not...
Prologue, Chapter1, Chapter2, Chapter3, Chapter4, Chapter5, Chapter6, Chapter7
Chapter 8: One Night… And Maybe One More Time?
“You’re going to owe a lot for this!” Maki mumbled for what could possibly be the 20th time that afternoon as the two of them waited for the elevator to reach the lobby.
It was already Saturday, 5:00 in the afternoon, meaning that their work has already finished for the day. It also meant, however, that Mao has only an hour left in her time to prepare for that date.
She’s already relatively prepared for that though, even after Jun said he’s just going to pick her up at her place when he dropped by her workstation earlier. He also told her then that she can be in her casual clothes, which actually cuts her needed preparation time in half. But while she was fully prepared in the certain aspects of her date, there are some things she had momentarily forgotten.
It was ridiculous really, that which she forgot, because it was Toma, or the fact that Toma’s going to pick her up, like usual, for the night that she missed out. But then again, maybe it wasn’t that ridiculous, because she was banking on Toma and Ryo’s usual Saturday night boy’s night out to distract Toma away from her.
Unfortunately though, Ryo is out of town with Erika because Erika’s mother is celebrating her 50th birthday and the couple had to visit Erika’s hometown for the occasion. This is also the reason why Maki is the only one Mao can really turn to, to help her out in that tricky situation.
“I know…” Mao told her with a very sweet and thankful smile. “And this is a favor I’m never going to forget… I’ve always known I can count on you…”
“Stop patronizing me…” Maki snorted right as the door opened and the two of them walked out of the elevator. Maki only had to angle her head a bit to detect Toma’s figure, leaning against his car as he waited for them right outside the main entrance, with his arms crossed in front of his chest, from the other side of the glass walls. She groaned. “Will you tell me again why I’m doing this?”
Mao looked at her with cute puppy eyes and replied “Because you’re my friend and you love me…”
Maki looked at her disdainfully before rolling her eyes and shaking her head. “Yeah right… And you’re still not willing to say where you’re going, or what you’re doing, or why?”
Mao nodded her head. “I told you already, I need to figure things out for myself before I can tell you anything… And I will tell you everything, I promise…” she replied.
Maki could do nothing else but sigh specially since they’ve just pushed their way out of the main entrance and is within Toma’s earshot in about a couple of seconds. “You better…” she simply said.
“Mao-chan!” Toma greeted as they stepped in front of him. For a split-second, his eyes darted towards the door and whatever he saw there, or didn’t, seemed to please him, making him beam as he turn to Maki. “Horikitty!”
“You seem to be in a good mood…” Maki observed, a note of sarcasm in her voice as she slightly raised one of her eyebrows at him.
Toma though, did not take offense at her sarcasm. He chuckled even as he opened the doors for them before going around to enter the driver’s side.
“Nice day huh?” he even started conversationally as he started the car. “What are you ladies planning for today?”
“Actually…” Mao started, giving Maki a sweet pleading smile from the side mirror as she spoke. “About that… Maki-chan wants to ask you something…”
“Huh?” Toma raised an eyebrow as he took a quick glance at Maki, who’s currently glaring at Mao, before turning back to the road and asking “What is it Horikitty?”
“I need a favor…” Maki could do nothing else but say, especially with Mao looking at her with widely expectant eyes. “I have to go home to Chiba tonight… And I want you to drive me there…”
“Why?” Toma asked as Mao nodded next to him.
“My car can’t take that long of a drive at the moment, neither can my body… And I don’t like taking the bullet train…” Maki chose to reply, coming up with the lie just in time to cover up the original lie Mao made her say. “And since you seem to be in a very good mood right now, I’m hoping you would say yes…”
Toma nodded, mostly to himself, but then he added “No, what I meant was that why do you have to go back all of a sudden?”
“Because…” Maki started but no reason came to her head immediately. “Why do you keep asking stuff anyway?!” she snarled instead. “Just say it if you don’t want to help me…”
“Of course he wants to help you Maki-chan!” Mao cried, looking at Toma pointedly before she turned to smile at Maki. “Don’t you Toma-kun? Especially since Maki-chan needs to pick up something for your own cousin’s upcoming birthday?” she added, remembering just in time that Erika and her mom’s birthday are actually quite close.
“Of course I’ll help!” Toma exclaimed as though it’s an obvious fact, although Maki suspects that it’s mostly because Mao is now looking at him pointedly and in a not to be disappointed way. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place? You want to come with us Mao-chan?”
“Uhmm…” Mao started, pretending to think about it although Maki can see the obvious relief in her eyes. “I can’t… I need to do something tonight… I’m sure you two would be fine…”
“Oh… Okay…” Toma just shrugged. “Looks like it’s going to be just you and me, Horikitty…”
“My name isn’t Horikitty!” Maki snapped.
Toma simply laughed. “Nice kitty…”
-----
“Wow… Just plain wow!” Mao mumbled, her head turning to face the open water from where she was seated opposite Jun, their dinner just having ended.
The two of them were at Jun’s chosen location for that “date” of theirs, a location he didn’t share to her beforehand, even after she asked him where they were going the moment he picked her up from their apartment.
“You’ll see when we get there…” he simply smiled and said.
She chuckled and shrugged but she let it go just the same, especially since she had to focus her energy on stopping, or controlling, the butterflies that started fluttering in her stomach the moment she opened her apartment and saw him standing there.
The moment Jun said that she could just go casual, she had already expected to see him in his casual wear too. But while she expected the change of style from his usual business attire, she still had to hold her breathe the moment she saw it with her own eyes.
He wasn’t wearing anything special or extraordinary actually, just khakis paired with a loose ocean green shirt, a white jacket, and beach sandals but there seemed to be something different about him. It’s not the confidence, or the way he carried himself, or how he fitted the look, because all those things remained the same. But he sans the suit and the tie looked like someone who’s actually part of the regular world, not the rich and powerful one that he actually belongs to, and not as someone who’s just trying to fit in. He looked like just a normal Jun, albeit a very good-looking normal Jun, wearing khaki’s and beach sandals. And the look seems to have quite an effect on her.
The reason behind his choice of footwear was soon revealed to her when she caught sight of the area he had entered the car to. The beach.
She didn’t particularly love the beach, to be honest. She likes it all right, but she prefers amusement parks, her favorite place in Japan being Disneyland, but there’s just something breathe-taking about the place he brought her to. It wasn’t a private beach, judging by the presence of a couple of young families enjoying their time together while the kids are old enough to enjoy themselves but young enough to not have to go to school yet, but the place seemed to be very well maintained. And the sea, the sea just looked so magnificent as the darkness of the night took over the light of day in the skies.
Dinner was just as great, which they took in one of the huts specially prepared for them. But the best part of that night would not be the location, or the dinner, but the conversation.
Jun played it simple, light, non-intrusive. He chose topics which are more or less a safe ground for both of them, like childhood, basic likes, and dislikes. And he didn’t just kept on asking her too, he revealed stuff about himself just the same. And he had just told her that he and his brothers, with their parents, back when his mother was still alive, used to frequent that beach and that it was in fact Matsumoto Masayuki’s idea to turn the area into a semi-private location, just so there would be continuous maintenance for the place.
Looking around, Mao could not disagree that it was a good idea. The place looked great, inviting. The way the water touches the beach looked particularly enticing to her.
“Want to go closer to the water?” Jun suddenly offered, making Mao turn around to face him.
The hopeful look he saw in his face made her want to nod, which, she did, as she smile and said “Sure…”
This prompted Jun’s face to break out into a huge smile as he stood up, assisted her to her feet, before leading the way out of the hut and into the sand.
-----
“Are you cold?” Jun asked after a while.
They were just walking along the beach, on the point where the water touches the shore, as they allowed the waves to touch their feet (Mao’s sandals being in her hand already). Mao, in fact, had started feeling chilly already, owing to the strong wind that arrives with the waves, and the sleeves of her top is not long enough to cover her from it.
“A bit…” she admitted, nodding slightly as she looked down at the sand. She had already actually prepared a jacket to take along for the evening but she forgot all about it when she opened the door and saw Jun standing outside, smiling at her. That piece of garment still is at the arm of her sofa where she laid it earlier in thoughts that she could just grab it when he finally arrives.
And then she heard movement and the rustling of clothes to her side. Before she knew it, he had already draped his jacket over her shoulders as he said “I actually sort of thought you might get cold tonight…”
Looking up, she couldn’t help but chuckle, noting the tinge of red at the point of his ears. “So this is all part of your plan?” she asked playfully.
“Not exactly…” he admitted. “I was thinking of not wearing a jacket just in case so you could just use my arms to warm you up… But I didn’t think that’d be nice…” he added with a chuckle.
Mao’s jaws dropped as she looked at him in surprise. Never, in her whole life, had she heard any guy say it, admit it, for that matter, the way he did. And she found herself laughing at his brazenness. He laughed along with her too as she gave her quite a mischievous wink. That was when she had this weird feeling that what had happened might just actually be what he had planned all along.
And then their laughter died, a comfortable silence setting between them. At that moment, the moon caught her eyes. It doesn’t seem like it’s the full moon yet, but the moon’s almost round already, and there’s just something absolutely majestic with the way it looms low over the ocean.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she heard Jun say.
“Yeah…” she couldn’t help but agree. And then a thought suddenly occurred to her and she couldn’t help but laugh.
What is it?” Jun asked.
She looked at him and smiled sheepishly, wondering whether she could share her sudden thoughts without sounding or looking to foolish or childish. But the moment she saw his smiling face, she decided that she could.
“I just had this wild idea that you’d be cueing in the dolphin show any moment now…” she admitted, but keeping to herself the added thought that it’d be just an icing to the cake just in case.
Jun suddenly looked thoughtful for a second, and then he said “I did think of something like that but i decided that maybe that’s a bit too much for the first time… Next time, maybe…”
Mao chuckled, and then she stopped short, catching the slight hint in those last words.
“Are you saying what I think you’re trying to say?” she asked.
Jun turned around, fully facing her, before he replied “What do you think am I trying to say?”
Mao smiled to the challenge in his voice. “You tell me…” she answered.
Jun grinned as he took one step closer to her. With the diminished distance between them, Jun had entered the personal bubble he had allowed her to have to herself ever since he picked her up from her apartment (except of course during those moments he assisted her and the like). Yet it wasn’t quite that intrusive.
“I’m saying I want to see you again, like this, not as your boss, but just as a normal guy and a beautiful girl.”
-----
“Maki-chan! You’re here already!” Mao exclaimed the moment she entered her apartment and saw to her surprise her friend occupying her sofa as she browsed through what looks to be like old photographs. Jun had just dropped her off to her place.
“And you’ve finally arrived…” Maki deadpanned looking up from the photos she’s been looking at. “And it sounds like you weren’t alone…” she added, nodding towards the window where the sound of Jun’s car can be heard driving away.
“No, I wasn’t alone…” Mao admitted as she occupied the empty seat next to Maki, still maintaining that composure she showed the whole night.
Maki’s eyebrow shot up at her reply as a mischievous grin occupied her lips. “And who, may I ask, were you with? Or have you still not ‘figured’ things out…”
Mao looked at her with a small smile as she quoted the reason she told her earlier. That reason wasn’t a lie. She really didn’t know yet what she feels prior to that date, whether it was just being overwhelmed at the attention an experience playboy, which Jun obviously is, is giving her or something else. She thought she’d spend the duration of that date figuring things out for herself.
She did figure things out, as it happens. And there’s a giddy smile in her lips as she told Maki what she learned.
-----
Maki’s eyes went from shocked, to proud, to amused, and then to happy as she listened to what her friend had to say of her date and what she may have realized from it.
“So you’re going out again?” she asked excitedly.
Mao smiled as she nodded impishly. “This Friday…”
She looked at her with wide eyes and dropped jaws before she pulled her in for a hug. “I’m so happy for you!” she cried. “Finally, you’re giving yourself a chance to be happy…”
“Oh come on… I’ve been happy…” Mao corrected although there’s a smile on her lips.
Maki chuckled and shook her head at her endearingly. “Okay… You’re giving a guy, other than Toma-kun, the chance to make you happy…” she amended and Mao laughed.
“Toma-kun’s going to have a lot of say about this though…” Mao said.
Maki privately agreed, but there was no sign of it when she looked straight at Mao and asked “Are you going to tell Toma-kun?”
----- TBC-----
and here's the new story...
TITLE: The Chase
CHARACTERS: Sakurai Sho, Kuroki Meisa, Matsumoto Jun, Aiba Masaki, Becky, Inoue Mao, Tsukamoto Takashi, Narimiya Hiroshi, +others (TBD)
PAIRING: Sho/Meisa
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: this was one of the stories i posted last year as one of my possible stories... i just changed th background of the story so as not to make it not sound like a rehash of one of my other ongoings... :)
SUMMARY:
Sakurai Sho was the serious kind of playboy, the different kind. He wasn’t opposed to marriage and the idea of happily ever after, just as long as it doesn’t apply to him. Kuroki Meisa is aware of that but she doesn’t care. She’s immune to his charms anyway. Sho knew that and didn’t care either, because that was a bridge he wouldn’t dare cross.
But when Narimiya Hiroki entered the picture their perfect symbiotic relationship changed. And there rose Sho’s biggest problem.
“How exactly do you chase after a woman you’ve always thought you’ll never, ever want to catch?”
-----
22 years ago…
“When I’m 30, I’m going to be married!” the 8 year old boy, Sakurai Sho, exclaimed as he and his neighbor and closest female friend, Kuroki Meisa, walked home after school.
The topic arose when Meisa, who’s still in first grade whereas Sho’s already in the third, told him that the first graders would have a substitute teacher starting the next day because their teacher, Nakama-san, would be getting married to her long time boyfriend, Nakai-san. And she was just exclaiming that she liked her teacher’s boyfriend because he was nice and funny every time he drops by at their class when Sho suddenly declared that.
“Pffft…” the two year younger Meisa replied, not wanting to be defeated by her favorite playmate who’s also her number one competitor. “I’d already be a mother by the time you get married…”
“Oh really…” Sho snorted. “How would you know that? You’re just a kid!”
“You are too!” Meisa pointed out.
“But I’m two years older so I know more than you…” Sho declared with a proud grin as he held his head high and looked down at her.
“That’s unfair!” Meisa pouted. “You’re always gonna be two years older!”
Sho laughed and shrugged as he said “That’s life…”
“Life is unfair!” Meisa continued pouting as she looked up at the sky and pouted more as if showing the angels her displeasure. But then she felt something cold dropping to her cheeks. Wiping it away, she saw that it was water and she realized that the sky is cloudy too. Without further adieu, she broke out into a sprint.
Taken aback, Sho was left momentarily behind before he ran too and managed to catch up to her.
“What’s going on?” he asked, holding to her arm so that she wouldn’t run away again. After all, his mother told him that Meisa’s his responsibility, that because he’s older, he should take care of the two of them.
“It’s raining!” Meisa complained with a hint of fear already visible in her young face.
“We have an umbrella you know!” Sho replied, having already extracted the object from his bag and using it to cover both of them. But even though the umbrella was big enough to cover them both and that he’s still holding her arm, it still didn’t stop Meisa from walking very, very fast.
“Will you slow down!” Sho ended up complaining as Meisa didn’t care whether she’s stepping on land or puddle, resulting to the specks of mud now adorning his pants.
“We need to get home now!” Meisa insisted. “We have to be inside already!” she added, her voice a little panicky.
“You’re not going to get sick, we have an umbrella…” Sho patiently explained to her. But when Meisa turned to look at him, still with a pout in her lips and fear in her eyes, he remembered, it wasn’t the rain or getting sick that Meisa was afraid of. It was something else entirely.
With a resigned sigh, he placed his arm over her shoulder to pull her closer underneath the umbrella as he too hastened his footsteps.
-----
Present…
“Yes, father, I do…” Sho heard her say to the priest and he couldn’t help but smile, his heart suddenly feeling warm and giddy.
“I do father… Yes, I do…” Meisa heard him excitedly answer the priest’s question and she couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle, although there’s nothing else but happiness now present in her heart.
”By the power vested in me… I now pronounce you man and wife… You may now kiss the bride…” the priest finally said and both Meisa and Sho could no longer contain their smiles.
And by the altar, right in front of the priest, Aiba Masaki and Becky, now husband and wife, turned to each other, their faces the symbol of absolute happiness and contentment. And then Aiba raised the veil that covered his bride’s face and captured her lips amidst the applause and cheering of those present, Sho and Meisa among the loudest of all.
-----
“So, this really is it huh…” Tsukamoto Takashi exclaimed as he joined their table at the reception of their friend’s wedding with a wine glass in hand and an expression that’s a mix of happiness and nostalgia. “We really are one less from now on…”
“Yeah…” Matsumoto Jun, Aiba’s best man, agreed. “It kinda feels weird…” he added to which Sho nodded and agreed.
About a dozen years ago, ever since the four of them first met in college, he, Jun, Shii and Aiba had been friends. Well, Jun and Aiba were friends longer than that since they were high school buddies but it still did not change the fact that the four of them had always been tight knit.
They were, are, quite a good-looking group too, to the extent that their schoolmates would sometimes refer to the as the most handsome group in all of Meiji. And with those looks and intelligence came their popularity. It didn’t end there though, because it didn’t take long before their group became known as the playboys.
In Aiba’s defense though, it was mostly only Shii, Jun, and Sho, with Shii taking the lead. Aiba had always been the more serious one in terms of love issues and the like, but it still didn’t stop the tag from sticking to him.
“I’m not sure what to think of it actually…” Shii continued. “Whether to think that marriage is something that breaks up friendship like ours or whether it’s about time that I should consider seriously searching for that one special woman myself too…” he added jokingly.
Jun and Sho laughed at that, knowing that the first half was said in pure jest, seeing that they’re all so happy that Aiba had finally found that woman who compliments him and loves him as he is in Becky, but mostly because they knew that there was a hint of real realization in the second part of his statement.
“What’s this? Another one of Tokyo’s most sought-after bachelors is considering getting tied down too?” Inoue Mao asked as she joined their table, her plate now adorned with an assortment of cakes and other sweets.
Mao is Aiba’s bubbly and charming younger cousin by three years, who’s had the fortune, or misfortune, of tagging along with them in their less colorful pursuits and who now knows them like the back of her hand.
“Mao-chan… What is that?” Jun asked, eyeing her plate of sweets in confusion.
“Food Jun-kun… What else?” she replied a matter-of-factly.
“That’s not food…” Jun replied in disgust, wrinkling his nose at her.
Mao stuck out her tongue at him before taking an acceptable amount that’s just about right to fill her mouth. The three men in the table watched her in amusement as she savored the sweet taste in her mouth. Only when she had swallowed everything did she, or anyone else for that matter, spoke up.
“So, who among you guys are getting married next?” she asked interestedly.
“Absolutely…” Shii replied immediately. “Not me…”
Jun laughed but he too replied “No, not me either… Sho-kun, maybe…”
Sho almost inhaled half his drink the moment he heard his name being volunteered. “What? Why me?!”
“Well…” Shii shrugged. “I specifically remember you saying during the engagement party that you’re absolutely happy that Becky had embraced the possibility of forever with Aiba-chan… It sounds like you’re not opposed to the concept at all…”
“That’s right…” Jun agreed.
Sho snorted, remembering that night himself, specially because it was a night all three of them became quite expressive of their thoughts on Aiba and Becky’s then-pending wedding.
“That is if the concept of forever is for someone else other than me…” Sho clarified.
Before anyone could react, another woman joined their table. She was taller than Mao though, and while Mao had more of the sweet, charming air, this one had the feisty, challenging character. Her name is Kuroki Meisa.
“Why? Who’d want to spend forever with you?” she asked Sho as she took the seat next to him.
“A lot of women Mei-chan…” Sho grinned. “And it’s all thanks to you that I’m still single up until now…”
-----TBC-----
so how was it???
comments/critics are really loved... :)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-20 05:23 pm (UTC)And they'll have another soon <33
Can't wait for next chapter!
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-21 10:41 am (UTC)thanks for reading and commenting... :)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-21 12:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-21 10:41 am (UTC)thanks for reading and commenting... :)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-21 02:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-21 10:43 am (UTC)actually... i'm still deciding whether or not to continue the second story here on lj... but it certainly wouldn't be dropped though... if ever, it's gonna be continued somewhere else...
i'll let you know what i decide... :)
sorry...
and thanks for reading and commenting... :)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-21 02:59 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-21 10:43 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-21 10:47 am (UTC)Btw, I've been wondering for sometime, when will horikitty end up with. Toma? Will they? Haha... I just thought they made a cute pair :)
Sho n Meisa? Interesting! :)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-21 10:52 am (UTC)oh... don't worry... One Chance is progressing... and things that should happen will soon occur...
as for The Chase, i'm still contemplating on whether or not to continue with the story here on lj... i might... i might not... :) but it wouldn't be dropped though, that's for sure... :)
thanks for reading and commenting... :)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-21 12:44 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-26 11:28 pm (UTC)but i hope you enjoyed it...
happy birthday btw... :)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-27 09:33 am (UTC)=DDDD
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-27 10:43 am (UTC)as long as i'm capable of doing it... :)
what is it?
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-27 03:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-21 09:08 pm (UTC)shoxmeisa for the second fanfic? i shall read for more~
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-26 11:29 pm (UTC)the ShoxMeisa fic's 2nd chap is already up in case you're still interested... :)
thanks for reading and commenting... :)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-23 12:40 am (UTC)And Horikitty. That's funny. LOL/ :D
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-26 11:30 pm (UTC)but glad you liked it...
thanks for reading and commenting... :)