[Fanfic] Love Hurts Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Re-cap:
"Read it. Onegai!" Ashley bowed and looked directly into Ryosuke's eyes. He was pyjama clad and he only wore an undershirt. He looked at the envelope and then at Ashley. She gave him a pleading sort of look, as if she didn't want him to open it. But she said nothing and looked at him with eyes that pierced Ryosuke's heart. He drew in a sharp breath and nodded.
"Goodbye." She said and turned away.
"Ja..." Ryosuke watched her retreating figure. Then, he opened the envelope and took out the letter.
Ashley wanted nothing more than to turn around and take away the letter. Her footsteps quickened as she made her way home. "Goodbye." Goodbye. Ryosuke didn't realize that that was her last goodbye. She'd do anything to take it back, to take that letter back. But she didn't. Ashley's eyes blurred and she slowed her pace, unaware of her surroundings. She continued to walk absentmindedly. It was a very sunny day, but to Ashley, it was like the sun was glaring at her. There were no clouds, but it felt like there was a cloud overtop her head. Everyone and everything that passed her appeared to be in a light mood. To Ashley, they were all just mocking her.
She could hear screams and shots all around her, even a car honk in the distance. But nothing seemed to register in her head.
"ASHLEY!" She stopped and turned around. There, she saw Daiki standing and waving his arms. Ashley couldn't explain it, but she suddenly felt somewhat light-hearted. As Daiki continued to wave his arms, Ashley smiled faintly and waved back. Then Daiki sprinted towards her, so fast that...
"AHHHHHHH!" Daiki had tackled Ashley down to the ground. The light heartedness she had felt earlier had vanished.
"What the HELL was THAT for?!" She shrieked. Daii blinked and then his face contorted with rage.
"You IDIOT! A simple thank you would've been fine!" Ashley pushed Daiki off and scrambled to her feet.
"Thanks. Thanks So much for nearly knocking me senseless. Yeah, THANKS!" She retorted sarcastically. Daiki sprang to his feet and roughly shoved Ashley in front of him. There, she saw a silver van that had crashed into the trees, black skid marks showing how it had veered off course. Then, realization dawned on her.
"You-- Me-- Van-- Crash-- Oh..." She couldn't seem to put together a proper sentence and her mouth was open in plain shock.
"Uh, Ashley..." Daiki snapped his fingers in front of her face and she flinched.
"Wha--? Oh! Yeah, thanks." She blushed. Daiki pretended not to notice and tried to get her irritated again.
"Whatever, now you owe me." Daiki smirked and Ashley was fired up at once.
"Me? Owe YOU?! For WHAT?!!" Ashley bellowed. Daiki kept on smirking and wrapped a teasing arm around her shoulders. Ashley felt a slight tingle but brushed it off with annoyance.
"You see that van?" Ashley nodded impatiently.
"You see those skid marks?" Ashley folded her arms and puffed, but nodded nonetheless.
"You see that spot right there?" He pointed at the middle of the road where Ashley had been standing just before Daiki and tackled her out of the way. Ashley shrugged out of Daiki's grasp and rounded on him.
"What?!" Daiki rolled his eyes.
"You're so slow." Ashley tapped her foot on the cement and looked at him expectantly. Daiki groaned.
"I saved YOUR life! Baka! Maybe I SHOULD have let the van hit you. You probably wouldn't have noticed until someone pointed it out." Ashley looked blank for a second and then turned red.
"But that means I owe you!" Daiki smacked his forehead.
"I thought we had established that...." But Ashley wasn't listening anymore. Instead she was kneeling on the ground and her head was facing up towards the clear blue sky.
"PLEASE, TAKE ME NOW! ANYTHING BUT THIS!" She shouted. Daiki's eyes widened an he looked around him. People were ogling and pointing at Ashley who was still shouting, "WHY?!" repeatedly to the sky, her arms oustretched. Daiki inched his way over to Ashley while waving off the bystanders who were now standing there, amused.
"Oh, this is nothing. Sorry, she's just eaten a bit too much...Overexcited you know..." He made up many random excuses and when he got to Ashley, he covered her mouth and continued to smile up at the people.
"Move along now!" He carefully carried Ashley and walked down the street, with her struggling. He was still wearing a plastic smile.
"Shut UP!" He hissed. Just as the had turned the corner and away from wandering eyes, and his face fell back to a pleading look.
"SSSH! Okay okay! You DON'T owe me! Will you PLEASE shut up?" His warm brown eyes were set on hers and she couldn't seem to look away. Her voice box didn't seem to be listening to her. She couldn't speak.
"I, uh...Duuh...." He was still looking deep into her eyes until finally Ashley managed to choke out a reply.
"Uh, y-yeah! O-Okay! Good...Yeah, I-I'll shut up..." Daiki sighed in relief and patted her shoulder.
"Hmm, you're not that bad Ashley." Ashley blushed and rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, you were just too slow to catch on to my awesomeness..." Daiki laughed and pushed her gently.
"Baka!" Ashley giggled and put her hands on her hips.
"Well, I guess now that you admitted that I am indefinitely AWESOME, why don't I treat you to some ice cream?" Daiki's eyes widened and Ashley laughed.
"HAI! ARIGATOU!" Ashley poked his cheek.
"BAKA! You're such a kid! No wonder you're so annoying..." Ashley started walking ahead, just as Daiki had stuck out his tongue.
Around the corner...
Ryosuke felt a hard tug at his heart. Ashley's laughter rang in his ears. He stared at Daiki who was sticking his tongue out at Ashley's back. He felt yet another hard tug. A tear slid down his cheek and his hand crumpled the paper he held in his right hand. He sat down against the tree and threw the paper aside. He buried his face into his hands and stayed like that for a while. Then he lifted his head and leaned back against the tree. He closed his eyes and let the sun beat down on him. But this wasn't to last for a shadow came across his still figure.
"Ryosuke-kun?" Ryosuke opened his eyes and saw the source of the voice. It was that Taiki guy from the Shoppe.
"Oh, hey Taiki-kun." He answered somberly. Ryosuke still found it odd that Taiki kept his palms up, but knew better than to ask.
"Hmm, you're aura is very...ah, cloudy." Ryosuke raised and eyebrow and that was when a low rumble erupted from afar. Taiki looked to the sky and Ryosuke followed his gaze. There, they saw the sun quickly disappearing behind a puff of dark gray clouds. Ryosuke felt his heart drop and not even a second after, it had begun to rain. Ryosuke looked back from the sky and saw that Taiki was no longer there. Ryosuke would've looked for a bit, but it had begain to pour so he jogged back home.
Ice Cream...
"OISHI!!!" Daiki exclaimed. Ashley rolled her eyes and stared at her Iced Capuccino. She let Daiki off into his own world and she went off into hers. She found it amazingly easy to talk to Daiki. It was fun to tease him and indeed they both liked to annoy the other, but something was different now. Then she thought of previous events. That letter had closed off her heart to Ryosuke and it felt like her heart had shattered. Wasn't breaking up supposed to be for the best? Why wasn't she feeling happy? Then, she looked at Daiki and her heart seemed to piece itself back a little bit if not entirely.
"Daijobu?" He looked at Ashley with concerned eyes, his spoon halfway up to his mouth. Ashley looked up and noticed that it was blurry. She hastily wiped her eyes and tried for a smile, but it looked more like a grimace.
"D-Daijobu desu..." Daiki pouted a bit and tapped his chin.
"You...You wanna tell me?" Daiki asked sincerely. Ashley looked up into his eyes. There was no trace of mockery or tease, but concern. Ashley was shocked to see such an emotion through his eyes and it took her a while before she responded.
"Uh, yeah...well..." She was a bit hesitant, so she skipped the part about writing and giving the letter and just told Daiki what she had intended and how it hurt.
"Sou ka..." He mumbled. He stared at his empty ice cream bowl and then sighed.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine. Look, I'm not one to give sympathy, but I'm always here to vent on. Then again, you always seem to vent on me so that shouldn't be a problem..." Ashley laughed and punched his arm.
"See? You're already using me as a punching bag..." Ashley rolled her eyes and poked his nose.
"Ba-ka." Daiki grinned and swatted her hand away. Ashley just laughed and sighed deeply.
"I'll take you up on your offer then! But remember, YOU said it was okay..." Ashley stuck out her tongue and Daiki snorted.
"Whatever..." And they spent most of their time speaking about random things. After about an hour or so, Ashley glanced out the window. It was pouring rain.
"Aw damn. I don't have an umbrella, ugh..." Ashley sighed and stood up. Daiki did the same.
"Hey, I gotta go. It might get worse..." Daiki looked out the window and shrugged.
"I'd say it was already at its worst." Daiki grinned but Ashley bit her lip. Daiki frowned and looked from the window to Ashley.
"Okay, I'll walk you home. I'll give you my jacket, you don't even have a hood. Baka!" Daiki shrugged off his sweater and gave it to Ashley. Ashley stared at it as if it were dirty.
"Uh, am I supposed to put that on?" Daiki clucked his tongue and threw it over her head.
"No little miss prissy, it's just to keep you as dry as possible." Ashley scowled and followed Daiki to the door. He stepped out and held the door open for her. He shivered.
"Hurry up will you?! It's freezing!" Ashley walked quickly to Daiki who was already heading towards the direction of her house. As she caught up she kept close to him.
"It's cold..." She whined. Daiki looked at her incredelously.
"YOU'RE cold?! You have TWO sweaters and I have a TSHIRT!" She didn't reply but just went even closer. Daiki felt a little uncomfortable at first, but then he didn't mind after a while. She was warm.
At last, they had reached the doorstep of her house and they stood at the front porch.
"Here," Ashley took the sweater from her head and handed it to Daiki. But he shook his head.
"It's infested. You can keep it!" Ashley rolled her eyes.
"Well then smarty, you wanna get even more wet in just a T-shirt?" Daiki looked out at the rain and then at Ashley. But Ashley had disappeared into her house and then came back with an umbrella in her hand. It was pink and frilly.
"This was all I could dig up. Use it." She handed him the bright object and he retreated from it.
"You want ME to use THAT?!" He asked in disgust.
"Either this or you get wet. Take your pick." Daiki looked out at the rain again, and then grudgingly took the pink umbrella.
"You'll pay for this..." He mumbled and opened the pink umbrella. There were pink frills all along the edge. He frowned and then stepped out into the rain. He took a deep breath and began to walk. Ashley watched happily as the pink umbrella became smaller and smaller, but her smile stayed, just getting bigger and bigger.
It's time for a new beginning.
END