The Unfinished Story - Chapter Two

[aemrith]

The Unfinished Story
Chapter Two - Lucky Day, Hey!

A/N: They both finally arrived at Japan... what's next?

Chapter Two -Lucky Day, Hey!

With a bright smile, Louise waited as the doors of their house opened. For the very first time in her life, she was able to bake a wonderful cake -she can’t wait to show it to her mom. So when her mom got in and said “I’m home!” Louise’s face beamed brighter and shouted her best “Okaeri (welcome home).”

They sat on their dining table which is strangely decorated with lots of origami (art work of folded paper.) Her mother sat and waited as Louise proudly brings her cake on the table. She was a few inches away when she tripped and fell; her face flat on the cake. Louise can hear her mother’s laughter but it was faint, she tried to wipe off the icing on her face and then a dog jumped over her, licking her face clean. ‘A dog?! Since when did we get a dog?’ Her thoughts were shouting as the huge Golden Retriever -so it seemed to her- unlimitedly feasted on her face.

“Urgh, down boy, down… Uh, down girl… Oh geez, sit boy, um, girl, sit!” the dog kept licking and now tugging her face. Louise tried to push it away but it just won’t bulge. “STOP IT! THAT TICKLES!”

“Ruu-chan! Ruu-chan! Wake up!” Kento’s voice was irritating since he kept saying her name over and over. Louise quickly opened her eyes and saw a black, kind of sweaty nose in front of her.

“AH!” Out of reflex and complete shock, Louise pushed the dog’s face away, sat up straight and watched as Kento grabbed the dog out of her reach.

“Whoa, no need to be so violent.” Kento cradled the dog. Louise now had a good look at it - it’s a beagle, with its famous color combination of black, brown and white. The first thing she noted unique about this one is that around its left eye is a big spot of black, which makes it look like a panda.

Out of words, Louise rubbed her eyes and stared at the little canine. “Where did that come from?” Kento placed the dog in between the two of them on the sofa. He pets the dog and rubs below its chin.

“Uncle brought it. He was here a few minutes ago but said he has to run off somewhere. Emergency.” Kento held onto the dog and placed it on Louise’s lap. “He’s yours.” His smile was warm, as if he’s very happy to bring her the news.

“Oh.” Upon her lap, Louise can feel the dog shaking. It’s as if it’s some big cuddly toy that vibrates if you push onto the tummy. “For real?”

“Kento’s smile widened (if ever it can be widened any further). You’ve got to give it a name!”

“You sound more excited that I am.” Louise held onto the shivering puppy, cradled him like a baby and scratch below the ear. “Sorry buddy, I think I scared him.”

Kento laughed and patted the dog’s head. “ You think? You could’ve killed him, pushing him like that.”

“Hey, I was dreaming ya know!” Louise poked Kento and he asked her again about the dog’s name.

Louise looked at the dog’s face, rubbed his forehead and hugged him. She never really got the chance to get a dog since her mother’s allergic to them -who knows why. So ever since, Louise trained herself to be contented playing with other people’s dog. Now that she’s got her own, she doesn’t have any name prepared. “What should we call you? Hmmm…” She kept scratching the dog’s head and remembered her first look at the beagle. “I know! Suoh. Yep. How’s that?”

“Suoh? Like, dragon - Suoh?” Kento stared at the dog. “Doesn’t he look more like a panda?” he pointed at the dog’s large spot.

“Well, I don’t wanna name him ‘Panda’ neither do I wanna use ‘Spot’; they’ve used that name on dogs for ages. I want something different.”

Kento nodded and scratched the dog’s belly. “I guess Suoh sounds nice.” The dog started to warm up and play with them. Suoh tries to claw Kento’s fingers and Louise laughed whenever her cousin gets scratched. “Ow! He’s totally as Suoh now; that hurts!”

The two played with their newfound best friend as dinner was served with maids pushing trays again. After the meal, Louise looked outside and stared at the night sky. It’s a clear night, and all the stars are out. She went out on the balcony porch, and the chilly night breeze gave her the shivers. It was prickly, yet it felt nice. She breathed and there was smoke coming from her mouth. Hugging herself, she looked down. Compared to the view this afternoon, there’s nothing much down there but some street lights and few people walking. She couldn’t see the river but she could only hear its discreet flow.

It was a nice atmosphere, for a moment it reminded her of home. Although, it’s probably snowing now; or flurries are on their way at the very least.

Louise went back inside, closed the glass doors and the heavy curtains. She heard Suoh barked and come rushing out of Kento’s room then towards the main door. “Hey Suoh, where are ya going buddy?” Louise followed and the moment she stepped near the entrance door, Suoh came running towards her. She picked him up and as she looked up, her father was there, hanging his coat.

Louise’s dad is of average height, maybe a little taller than average. His built is just right for his age and she noted the slight difference in the color of his hair. She got stuck for a moment, seeing his eyes - those that are exactly like hers. “Oh, I see you’re awake. I’m home.” Her father’s voice was exactly the way she remembered it.

Louise stood frozen on her spot, with Suoh nudging his face on her arms. “Ummm… Hey.”

Her father seemed to be reading the atmosphere as well as she is. He walked closer but slowly, and smiled, as if trying not to make the situation awkward. He held her shoulders and hugged her. “Look how you’ve grown.” She felt him pat her back and then pulled away.

Louise took a deep breath and managed a smile. She’s not very sure why but her conscience tells her to just be herself, say whatever she wants, and get over with the moment. “Yeah, but I’m still not that tall.” Her father was looking at her; as if he’s been wanting this day for a long time. “Oh. Thank you for the dog.”

“You liked him? I knew you would. He kind of reminded me of you when I saw him at the pet shop.” Her father’s eyes lit up as Louise let down Suoh and the dog ran towards him. With that statement, something ran inside Louise’s head immediately. She quickly brushed the thought away and tried to act normal. “You’ve got a name for him?”

“Ah, yeah. Suoh.”

“That’s perfect.”

“Yep.”

Her father patted the dog’s head and went towards the dining area. “How was dinner?”

“It was great. I loved everything they served.”

“That’s good! Good. I’m relieved. How was the trip?”

“It wasn’t as long as I expected it to be.”

“Oh. I’m sure you’re tired still. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to pick-”

“Oh no, it’s completely fine. I mean, I’m glad to see Kento. So, it’s no big deal.”

“I asked him to stay over till tomorrow. His parent’s will pick him up tomorrow evening. They’re excited to see you again. You still remember your aunt and uncle right?”

“Uh, yeah. Aunt Mai and Uncle Hiroshi.”

There was a strange pause and Kento came into view. “Uncle Jiro, welcome back.”

“Hey Kento-kun. Thank you very much for today.” Kento smiled and talked about how he’s glad with everything. “Well, if there’s anything you guys would want, tell me right away okay?” The two nodded and Jiro went towards his room. “I’m really glad you’re back here in Yokohama, Louise.” With that he went inside his room and closed the door.

She felt like she’s been holding her breath, and the moment her dad closed the door, Louise sat on the sofa. “Well, that wasn’t pretty bad.” She uttered to herself as Kento sat beside her, Suoh running around the living room.

“He looked nervous.” Kento stated as if it’s something he found funny. Then he lowered his voice to a whisper, “I mean someone like Uncle Jiro, your dad is a pretty fit man. For him to look nervous, it’s just so different.” Louise couldn’t help but laugh at her cousin’s remarks.

It was still pretty early for sleep but Louise just felt herself fading. She took a bath and told Kento she’s going to sleep early. Kento said they’ll just wake up early tomorrow and plan the day ahead. With that, they parted rooms and Suoh ended up sleeping in Louise’s room since his stuff and pillows are there. Kento was pretty envious but he gave up right away seeing that Suoh’s already asleep.

Settled in her bed, Louise can’t help but think how she and her dad talked for the first time in years. It was like reflecting on every word they said to each other. She sighed and rolled her eyes thinking that that awkward moment would last for about a year starting today. She scratched her head, rubbed her eyes, and even though she’s drowsy already she couldn’t find the comfortable spot to help her sleep away.

Frustrated over her adjusting her body clock, Louise got up and took out her Macbook. She looked at the time, and was shocked to find out it’s already two in the morning. ‘What?? Have I been idling and rolling on the bed for hours?’ She tied her long black hair in a bun and slapped her cheeks. ‘That’s it, if I can’t sleep, then I won’t. Let’s see. If it’s two o’clock in the morning here… that means it’s… umm… twelve there? Umm, noon… yosh (great)!’

Her Macbook loaded fast, she got connected on the internet right away and opened her messenger. ‘Darn it Yuma, please be online.’

She opened an IM:

umichan_esiuol: BUZZ!
umichan_esiuol: Hey, hey!
umichan_esiuol: Baka! (idiot)

A few moments passed and Yuma’s still offline. Louise sighed and was about to close it when she heard a click.

yuma-kun01: ora! Lou-chan!
umichan_esiuol: finally
yuma-kun01: Aren’t u supposed to be sleeping? Oh right…
yuma-kun01: body clock. Haha!
yuma-kun01: LOL. XD
umichan_esiuol: urusai!
yuma-kun01 has invited you to view his webcam.
umichan_esiuol: matte!
You have started viewing yuma-kun01 webcam.

With that single click, Louise saw her best friend right away. He was waving over the camera, as always. She activated her cam as well and Yuma accepted right away. She puts on her headphones and Yuma did a call. In a flash and thanks to technology, Louise found herself talking to her best friend.

“Wow, you look tired.” Yuma laughed and noted how funny he thinks Louise looks when she’s got her hair in a bun.

“I am. But thanks to stupid body clock I can’t sleep. I mean, I slept in the afternoon, probably because it’s night time there. Argh. I wanna sleep again, but I can’t”

“So, how’s Yokohama. Great to be back huh?”

“I guess it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

“Told ya.”

“Damare (shut up)”

“Otosan no ka? (you’re dad) Daijobudesuka? (are you okay)”

“Hai, hai. (yes, yes)”

“Hontoni (really)?”

“Hai, honto. (yes, really)”

“Yukata (I’m relieved)”

“Wait, I wanna talk English! I’ve been speaking Nihongo for the whole day, give me a break.”

“hai! Gomen ne. (sorry)”

“Oh, shut it!”

The two laughed and Louise pretty much told her best friend the highlights of her arrival. He kept laughing about all the misfortunes Louise said she’s had and asked a few questions about Kento. “At least you’ve got a cousin, I guess that’s great.”

“Yeah, and he’s way much of a better companion than you!” She blew raspberries

“Oh, really? I salute your cousin for being able to successfully accompany you for a whole day. Although, I feel sorry for him.”

“Wait till I get back, you’re gonna be sorry you’ve said that.”

“Yeah, like you’ll be back anytime soon. Ha!”

“I wish I will be.” She pouted and Yuma tapped his camera so it looks like he’s tapping her screen.

“Don’t think like that. You’re in a great place, come on.”

They kept talking for a little while more and soon Yuma convince Louise that it’s best if she tries to sleep, since it’s already four in the morning.

“You’re gonna have to adjust your body clock, might as well start doing it right away. Get some sleep. Something good will happen tomorrow, don’t worry.”

“Oh, whatever. You keep saying those wonderful things yet I don’t find them helpful.”

“Ha! Hmmm… maybe you’ll meet your soul mate or whatever, just think of those normal girly thoughts.”

“Sheesh, you’re creeping me out... asking me to do something like that.”

“Oh, I forgot that you’re not a girl at heart.”

“Shut up.”

“I know, go visit places. You know, it may have been years but surely you’ll recognize some buildings. Visit your old school.”

“Yeah, yeah. Stop trying to cheer me up already.”

“Hai. Hai. Well then, get some sleep. Oyasumi (good night) and yeah, send me a picture of your dog ‘kay?”

“Ja! Arigato (Bye, thanks) Yuma.”

“It’ll be fine. And take care of Suoh.”

With that they both logged out. ‘He thinks he can have my dog, he’s wrong! Mwahahahah!’ Louise chuckled to herself and shut her laptop down. She felt a little better after talking to Yuma. When she lay down and closed her eyes, it took her about five minutes to totally doze off and humbly embrace sleep.

xXxXx

Sunday started off wonderfully with the sun reining the skies. Line, still adjusting her body clock, woke up a little late. Well, maybe… quite late.

“Ohayo, ora, Konbanwa (good afternoon) Lari-san.” It was Inoo calling, and Line hit the loudspeaker button. She’s eating her, umm, brunch at the moment since it’s eleven thirty already; almost noon.

“I couldn’t really sleep last night. Hehe. I thought I was okay with the time difference but I guess I’m still not. ” Line spoke, taking a bite off her bacon and egg sandwich.

“It’s okay. You’re pretty much settled in anyway.” Ever since Line arrived Thursday morning, she’s made her very first friend, Inoo Kei-san. He’s been helping her with pretty much everything. Today is Line’s fourth day in Japan, and she still finds it a little hard to sleep at night.

“I’ll have to make sure I wake up early tomorrow, ne?”

Inoo laughed. “It’s going to be okay. Your classes mostly start at ten, so you’ll be fine.”

For the past few days, Inoo has been showing her around campus and even introducing her to some of his teachers and friends. Line had a welcoming talk from the guidance counselor yesterday (Saturday) and she was told that her number one goal in her stay at Japan is to have fun and learn to her heart’s content. “I’m honestly very glad about my schedule.”

“They’ve arranged it so that it is convenient for you.” Line heard Inoo shouted at someone, probably he’s with a friend. “Sorry, see I’m on a train right now, and my stupid friend here keeps bugging me.”

Line laughed and finished her sandwich.

“Alright, I gotta go. I’ll be calling you again later. I wanna ask you a favor, ne?”

“Oh, hai. No problem. Ja-ne!” She clicked her phone off and finished the rest of her meal. She is to start classes tomorrow and as a normal student, she feels really nervous. Line looked at her study desk where her bag is placed. For about four times she’s checked the contents of her bag, not wanting to miss any single thing. She wants her first day to be as perfect as it can be. Not really expecting anything special, but Line wanted to make sure she leaves an okay impression. Since there’s no uniform, Line chose her most comfortable clothes for her first day. ‘Comfort comes first.’ She thought and headed for the shower.

With little time that she’s spent in her new environment, Line somehow found a comfort zone right away; and that’s the central park just outside the campus. There’s also a coffee shop near that park where she has tried and loved their cappuccino.

After her bath, Line threw in her faded jeans, puts on her black Sisler sweater over her tank top and laces up her black converse. Before she heads out of her room, she grabbed her white body bag and checked if her laptop, her camera, her iTouch and her iPhone is in there. All set and ready to go, she heads downstairs, putting on her earphones and waving good-bye to Reiko-san who’s always at the lobby.

She heads out of the campus and straight to that park. When she got there, there were families enjoying a cool picnic, couples sharing a sweet afternoon, and some kids running around playing. Line can’t help but smile. She took her camera out right away and got some great shots. Her subject: fun.

Satisfied with the amount of stuff she’s just got, she went straight to the coffee shop, purchased a Grande cappuccino and took out her laptop. The outside tables are the best and that’s where she stayed. Right away she connected her camera to her laptop and transferred pictures. She loved each and every shot. And out of habit, Line took out her iTouch and synced in the new photos as well. Because she can’t have her laptop with her all the time, Line puts all her photos in her iTouch as well so she can view them anytime, anywhere.

“Yosh.” She uttered to herself as the loading was completed. She kept her camera and iTouch while she tried to edit some of the pictures; with her photoshop, Line transformed some of her pictures to art.

There’s this one picture of a flower wherein she was using a magic hand to trace the outlines. Very carefully and slowly, she drags the pointer on the edges, she was about to complete the cut when somebody tapped her back and she yelled “ah!” out of shock. “Hello!” There was Inoo, smiling nicely and with that French-like accent in his English.

“Awww, look what you did.” Line mumbled as Inoo looked over the messy cut that resulted from his intervention.

“Oh my… Gomenasai.” He really does look like he’s sorry. He sat opposite Line and pulled the laptop so that it’s facing him. He redid the tracing and it was way better than before.

“Sugoi.”

“I’m really sorry. See, I’ll help you with the other stuff that you’re editing.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s just this one.” Line thanked him and he ordered his own drink. Inoo then insisted that he look over Line’s photos.

“These are really nice.”

“Thank you. It’s my hobby, you see.”

“Just your hobby? Wow. You can make money out of these shots.” Inoo was looking over some older photos, most of them taken from Canada. “So, this is what tons of snow looks like huh?” he stated, stopping at a shot of a park full of nothing but white snow.

“Well, it snows pretty heavily back where I came from, so yeah. But I think it’s pretty.”

“It is.” Inoo kept moving and moving then Line’s phone started playing “Angel’s Cry” by Mariah Carey and Ne-yo.

She took it out right away since it’s kind of picking up attention. It was her Alarm telling her that it’s one of her cousins’ birthdays.

“Sugoi.” Inoo looked at her.

“Sorry. My phone reminds me about everything. It gets annoying sometimes.”

“Do you have more foreign songs in your phone?” Inoo’s eyes were sparkling much like how they were when they first met. Line somehow associated that look of his with the idea that Inoo’s very excited about foreign things.

“I have more in here.” She took out her iTouch and handed it to Inoo.

“Kawai… This is so cute.” Inoo was talking about the penguin charm that’s dangling from Line’s iTouch. Line told him that it’s something that she bought a long time ago and even showed him another penguin charm attached to her iPhone.

“I’m quite a penguin fan.”

“Oh, I think I know what you mean. I have a friend that’s obsessed with penguins too. He’d love to see this.” Line told Inoo about her little penguin collection back at home then she helped him navigate through some foreign songs in her iTouch. Inoo puts on the earphones and bopped his head to some beats.

While Inoo’s so engrossed with songs, Line was looking over her newly uploaded pictures and stopped at a shot where it’s showing a face of a guy. ‘Oh. It’s my unfortunate first shot in Japan; stupid guy getting in the way.’ She was about to delete the picture when Inoo shouted her name.

“Ne Lari-san, will it be too much of a bother if I ask you to put these songs in my phone?”

“You always have to startle me.”

Inoo’s laugh was silly and cute -always like him. “Gomen ne. Onegaishimasu?”

“Sure, that’s not a problem.”

“Yay!” He exclaimed then he took out his phone.

When Line was about to sync songs, it said that there’s not enough memory.

“This is just awful.” He looked like he’s gonna cry. Haha.

“Well, you can give me your phone some other time, you know, after you’ve transferred some pictures and stuff.”

“I was hoping I could surprise my friend with those foreign songs. See, I have this close friend of mine, the one who’s obsessed with penguins, and he’s also very fond of foreign music. I haven’t seen him in a while and I’ll meet him later on today. He’s in Yokohama right now.” Still, he sounded depressed.

“Oh, you were hoping you could surprise him, huh?”

“Kind of. Argh. Stupid phone!” Inoo strangled his phone and Line laughed and then she just had an idea.

“You can bring that if you want to.” She offered, referring to her iTouch.

“Huh? Kono (this)?” Inoo picked up the iTouch. “No way. I can’t.”

“It’s fine. I’m not using it anyway.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep. Just give it back to me when we see each other at school.”

“How sure are you that I’m not gonna run away with it? You know, steal it? Or sell it to someone?” Inoo had a detective face.

“Iikara. Ususai Inoo-san.” Line waved a hand over her face and laughed.

“But, really? You’re lending this to me?”

“Uh-huh. Here.” Line took out her portable charger. “In case the battery runs out.”

“Oh no, I won’t need this. I’ll bring it back to you right away, I promise.”

Line insisted that he takes the charger and even told him that its batteries are already rusty, but Inoo refused over and over.

“Really. Thank you very much Lari-san.”

“No problem.”

Inoo accompanied her to a bookstore in town where Line got some interesting Mangas and books. It was around four o’clock when Inoo received call; conveniently, Line wanted to go back to the dormitory. Inoo walked her back to the dormitory and then went on ahead to board a train to Yokohama and meet his friend there. He thanked Line again for the iTouch before leaving.

xXxXx

“Oh, okay. No problem mom, it’s fine. I hope Ojisan’s okay.” Kento shoved his mobile phone inside his pocket. It was about two o’clock in the afternoon. He just had a talk with his mom and she said that she and his dad won’t be able to pick him up today as planned. His grandfather was rushed to the hospital and Kento’s parents are to stay there for the old man.

“We should ask someone to drive us there; how ‘bout the driver from yesterday?” Louise was worried as well. “Does my dad know about this? We should tell him.”

“No, it’s okay. Mom said it’s nothing serious. I’m fine taking the train.”

“Wow, you don’t look so worried anymore.”

“My grandpa’s tough. He probably just ate too much than he should, he’s hard-headed like that. Besides, I don’t want to bother uncle Jiro about this, he’s very busy.”

“But still…”

“Oh come on Ruu-chan, how many time must I tell you that everything is under control?” Kento had that reassuring smile so Louise eventually backed down. They were on their way to the park when Kento received a call. As much as he wanted to stay, Louise insisted that he takes the first train he could get at the moment.

The two went downstairs and walked their way to the nearest train station. Kento wasn’t even very sure about letting Louise go and drop him off.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to make it back to the condominium?” he asked before they left the building.

“Kento-kun, this is not a pea-sized building. Besides, I’ll know my way back. What do you think of me?” They went on their way but they left Suoh at the unit since he’s too busy sleeping.

While walking, Kento kept pointing at stuff he said Louise should remember so she can make it back easily. Louise however, was kind of just ignoring him.

They arrived at the train station well around two thirty and they are to expect the train at around quarter to three.

“I can take the five o’clock train you know.”

“Nah. You’ve got to get there soon. Your Ojisan may be fine but I’m sure he’ll feel much better if he sees you right away.”

“I feel bad leaving you this sudden Ruu-chan.”

“Shut up Kento. Oh train’s here!” Louise smiled as the train stopped, announcements fired away, and people got on board. “Kyaa, I haven’t seen this scenario in years. It’s kind of nostalgic. Haha! Anyway, itterasai!”

“Call me if you need any help okay?”

Louise hugged her cousin and nodded. “Say hi to auntie and uncle for me.” She watched and waved as the train went on its way.

xXxXx

“Dai-chan!” Inoo shouted as he saw his friend waiting at a bench. He just got off from his train as well.

His friend looked his way, flashed a smile and waved back. “Kei-chan!”

xXxXx

‘Aww that’s nice. I guess pick-ups are always better than drop-offs.’ Louise watched as the two guys patted each others’ backs like brothers. She shrugged and went on her way, feeling a little happy seeing people meet.

Excitement died down a little and Louise then felt a bit sad knowing that there’s no one to talk to back home anymore but Suoh, now that Kento’s gone. ‘I bet that dog’s still sleeping!’ It was a nice Sunday and Louise felt like it’s a waste if she locks herself to her room. On her way back, she took different detours and was surprise at how she’s not getting lost at all.

“Yokohama, Yokohama… she uttered while walking up on some side gutters, trying to balance herself. Soon, she saw the park near their condominium building and she ran towards the river side.

The river was pretty calm and some birds are actually on the water. Louise felt a different kind of excitement and ran back to their unit to grab some stuff.

xXxXx

Inoo and his friend kept walking and walking, their target place was the park near the river where they use to throw stones and see who gets to make it skip over the water multiple times. Yokohama is their hometown, and Inoo just felt great meeting his friend here. After he got accepted to Meiji, Inoo wasn’t able to visit home very often since he’s busy even during the summer.

They stopped walking and Inoo said, “I’m glad you called and asked me to come over. I missed this place.”

“It’s not that far from your school, why not visit often?” his friend picked up a stone and threw it; it skipped twice.

“Well, I’m just a little too busy last year. Besides, since the entire family moved, there’s not much to do here.” Inoo threw his stone and it didn’t even skip. His friend laughed hard and Inoo poked him on the head.

His friend kept laughing and then said, “Its funny how your family moved to Tokyo because of your university studies now you’re saying you wanted to stay at the dormitory.”

“I had to get away from my sister! She’s just kicking me out of the house, man!”

Inoo was about to throw another stone when his friend said, “Well, make sure you take room 202 so it’s right beside mine.”With that statement, Inoo just stared at his friend, now smiling like he’s never smiled before.

“Nani ga???”

His friend cleared his throat. “Arioka Daiki-san, congratulations! You have been accepted to Meiji University and blah-blah-blah…”

“For real??” Inoo threw the tiny stone at Daiki’s head. “Get out of here.”

“No, it’s true. Do I look like I’m kidding?”

“Uwaah!” Inoo jumped on Daiki’s back -yes, a piggy back ride- and Daiki just tried to shake him off.

“Kei-chan, we’re not kids anymore!”

Inoo was just laughing out loud, probably out of joy, as he envisions Daiki being at the same school as him again. “I’m so happy!”

“I can tell.” Daiki uttered as Inoo jumped off his back.

“Yosh. I’ll request for room 202 so we’re next to each other. Hahahah!”

“You didn’t even see me there! I saw you a few times on campus couple of days ago you know.” Daiki hid his hands inside his pockets as it felt colder the longer they stay near the water.

“Ora! Darn it.” Inoo was just trying to remember the last few days.

Then Inoo told Daiki that he was given the task to assist an exchange student.

“Oh yeah, that reminds me. Here.” He took out Line’s iTouch and handed it to Daiki. Daiki looked at it and the first thing he said was, “Ora! I want this!” referring to the penguin.

“Where did you get this?” Daiki kept playing with the penguin charm while Inoo told him he can’t have it.

“Forget about the penguin and listen to this.” Inoo took Daiki’s earphones dangling around his neck and forced Daiki to put them on. He clicked play and the excited-over-the-penguin Daiki kept his mouth shut for a moment.

While Daiki was so absorbed listening to the songs, Inoo took the time to message Line another Thank You. Then Daiki shouted, “I love this song!” and Inoo poked him on the head.

“You’re too loud, baka!”

“But I love this one.” He showed Inoo the title, it was the song “Dynamite” and Daiki just started dancing. “Your songs are amazing Kei-chan. Where did you get this??”

“Oh, that’s not mine. Someone was nice enough to lend it to me.”

“Then, I should meet that person. Sugoi.” Daiki was like a kid excited about his Christmas gift as he keeps listening to the songs, one after the other.

“You should meet her. I think you’ll get along really well.” Inoo took the other ear phone and listened with Daiki as they kind of intentionally made themselves look silly while dancing randomly. A few moments later the two went to a nearby convenience store and grabbed some snacks.

xXxXx

‘Eh? Pfft…’ he held his laughter since he doesn’t want to embarrass those guys who look like they’re his senpais. Inside his pocket, he turned on his iPod and minimized the volume as he hummed to some Kinki-kids song he’s often listening to. Walking passed by the dancing senpais, he settled himself on a bench, pressed his glasses up his nose bridge, and closed his eyes.

xXxXx

Louise was running her face lit up brightly and she’s got a shoulder bag with her this time around. She sat on the edge near the water side and took out her sketch book. She turned the pages over and over till she got to a blank one. Using her favorite charcoal pencil she started drawing some lines -lines that look like they’re not forming anything at all, but with more strokes, the picture became clearer and clearer. In a good amount of time Louise looked at what she’s accomplished so far.

There’s the outline of the river, some trees and plants on the other side, and of course her main piece - the floating leaves of different shapes and sizes. Pretty happy with what she has done, Louise closed her book. She watched at the leaves swayed with the water. Then her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“You have a voicemail.” It was automated. Louise activated it to hear her message. It was from her dad.

“Louise, I’ve heard about Kento’s grandpa. I guess your cousin already left, huh? I’m very sorry but I’m gonna be home late tonight. Don’t worry, I asked the maids to prepare whatever food you would like, okay? Should you need or want anything, feel free to tell them, alright? Oh, I’ve gotta go. Ingat (take care).”His father’s tone was pretty much the same as last night; unsure, nervous and there was a hint of hurry probably because he’s running out of things to say. What caught Louise’s attention was his last word, and it reminded Louise that her dad, much like her mom, is part-Filipino as well. His dad is Filipino-Japanese and for what she’s told, her parents met because of their Filipino side. I guess it’s their common denominator, so as what Louise’s mom use to refer it to.

With her dad’s kind of awkward message, Louise’s mood swung suddenly. She shoved her sketch book and pencils inside her bag. She was about to throw her phone in as well but she dropped it -luckily on the park grounds and not the river- and then she cursed/swore to herself. Since she was sitting on the river side, she hated the thought of coming down and picking up her phone. But with no choice, she jumped off from where she’s sitting and was about to pick it up when…

xXxXx

He opened his eyes when he heard the sound of something that dropped. He kind of figured it may be a mobile phone, or an mp3 player. The girl jumped off from the thick, rocky, river side barrier. With that jump, charcoal pencils scattered all around.

She took a deep breath, probably swore a little discreetly and started picking up her things. There were not much people in the park, not to mention on that spot, so it wasn’t really a big of a deal.

As anyone would do should they witness something like this, the guy stood up and started picking up what he can. As he was helping out, he saw the girl’s face. Something about it made his mind go blank but he couldn’t really explain what. She wasn’t smiling, but there were no tears either - instead, was he saw was total blankness. It’s as if her face is of a clean sheet of paper, a blank canvass. After realizing he was staring at her, the guy shook his head in disbelief and stood up.

xXxXx

‘Seriously? Argh.’ One by one Louise picked up her pencils. She’s just angry about random stuff and she just can’t help but sigh. Very few people looked at her and she was a little relieved. Pencil here, pencil there; she just keeps shoving them inside her bag. Then she saw a person stood near her. She looked up and wasn’t able to see his face clearly because of the setting sun hitting his features, as if blinding her a little - the bright dark-orange drawing streaks of color to his face.

Louise stood up and the guy handed her some of her pencils. She bowed and said her thanks before walking back to the condominium building. She’s just really angry -but can’t tell what’s she’s angry about- she didn’t pay attention to anybody at all - not even those who helped her.

xXxXx

‘That’s it, next time, I’m not helping people.’ He shook his head in disbelief, run a hand through his hair and sat back to the bench. He closed his eyes again and opened them quickly. One charcoal pencil was there, she probably missed it. He raised an eyebrow and picked it up. It was the color black.

‘Louise’ he read the English name inside his head; it was carved onto the pencil. He was about to sit on the bench once again when someone spoke.

“Huh? Yamada-kun?” With the mention of his name, he turned around and saw Inoo and Daiki, both having some pasty stuffed inside their mouths. He placed the pencil inside his pocket and looked at the two guys questioningly.

“Hai?” Not too sure what to say, he answered discreetly.

“It is Yamachan!” Daiki exclaimed as he finishes his first bite. “I didn’t recognize him because of the glasses!” The senpais approached him and he stared at them for a moment before recognizing them.

He squinted, pushed his glasses in place and said, “Ah Daichan… Inoo-kun?”

The senpais laughed and greeted him much like how they do when they were all still in the same school. “I told you it was him.” Daiki spoke, punching Inoo lightly.

“Well, it was hard to tell with those glasses. Are they new?”

“Yeah, I just got them.”

“We were just over there, didn’t you see us?”

“Huh?” Yamada looked at where Daiki pointed and all he could remember was the silly senpai’s dancing. “Oh, so you guys were the ones dancing before. Aren’t you embarrassed?” he laughed remembering how stupid they looked.

“Hey, that was some pretty cool dance moves!” Inoo countered, doing some more of his hand thingies.

“Oh, no thanks. I’ve seen enough.”

The three started catching up, with Yamada randomly saying stuff about how Daiki and Inoo shouldn’t have graduated. They laughed while they talk about some common teachers especially now that Yamada just started his third year.

“It’s such a coincidence to see you here. What a day!” Daiki puts his arms over Yamada and Inoo. “I think this may just be one lucky year, don’t you guys think?”

Upon stating that, Daiki clapped his hands then plugged back his earphones and he heard an English song playing. Inoo stuffed himself with some more pastry then nodded, while Yamada managed a smirk. He had his hands inside his pocket and her felt the charcoal pencil once again, with the engraved name of "Louise" on it.

Leave a comment and tell me what you think! I'll try to update regularly. Ja! ;)