Early Mornings chapter 3 AoixUruha
Title: Early Mornings
Author: mxtrxofsomer
Chapters: 3/5
Genre: Fluff
Rating: PG-R
Pairings: AoixUruha
Warnings: Unbeta-ed again.
Disclaimer: Not mine I just wish.
Synopsis: At 9:35, not always exactly but around that time, the person staying in the room opposite the building where I was living would open his curtain.
Comments: To finish this series within one week, here is the third chapter.
Chapter 2 Chapter 4
-Told in Uruha’s POV-
After the incident in the supermarket, I was more cautious in watching him. He might have realized it by now, but I did not want to give him the idea that I was following his activities though that was partly true. There was only one good thing that that encounter brought to the both of us. Whenever I would go down the stairs, I did not have to avoid him anymore.
I could now stare at him freely without feeling guilty that he would catch me. If he would catch me I would just have to bob my head and he would do the same. He always would smile at me but I found it hard to smile back at him. I do not know. It wasn’t as if I did not like to. I actually wanted to, so much, but my lip and cheek muscles were too stiff to move when it came to smiling at him. God. I just wished that he wasn’t having the wrong idea that I hated him.
Well I guess he wasn’t because he still smiled at me even though I would just frown at him. I wish I could give him my genuine smile instead of these scowls. Someone told me before that I looked good when I smile. I wish he could see that too.
I thought for a while that after that, there would be some kind of improvement between the two of us. But I guess that could never really happen. His lifestyle was too different from mine that it actually did not allow for us to cross paths again. Our connection was simply neighbors who greeted each other every morning. I refused to accept that it would stay like that but with what was happening, I highly doubted that it would come to something new.
So after another exchange of good morning greetings with him, I found myself unusually gloomy sitting behind my desk, the instant coffee long forgotten now, cold beside the stack of papers. I should remove that cup from there because it threatened the life of my sacred documents but I was too lazy to do that.
I squinted at my laptop as a notice in the corner of my eye that someone invaded my privacy. I was normally a cheerful person when it came to handling office visitors but I did not want to be bothered right now. I had lots of things to do and I did not appreciate being delayed in finishing my work.
“Uruha,” the intruder called.
My head shot up as I recognized the owner of that voice. That would be Reita. If it was him, I would not mind being bothered. He was my sempai and he had been the greatest friend I got here. And I should add that he took good care of me when I was just starting so I owed him a lot.
“Let’s go out,” he said.
“Huh?” I asked, not sure if I should believe it or not. Reita did not invite people out or if he did, that was pretty rare. I had the notion that he did not have to because he was popular in the whole office so he was the one who got invited. Hearing him like this made me wonder if there was something fishy going on.
“Well, we haven’t gone out for weeks now. I already asked the others.”
“You’re actually going out and you are inviting,” I said, giving him my signature teasing smirk. “What kind of miracle is that?”
He laughed. “You better keep your mouth shut Uruha. I’m still your sempai.”
“Well,” I just grinned more. “Can you tell me about the occasion then? I might say yes.”
“I’m just stressed out lately so it’s time for me to have some fun.”
“You don’t really need to tell me but I can’t let you like that you know,” I said. I understood perfectly well the meaning of that simple reply.
“Right,” he said, his aura lightening up a little. “So let us go somewhere after work.”
“Roger that sempai,” I said, giving him a salute.
“Stop calling me that,” he warned. “I’m barely older than you are.”
“But you just told me.”
“Do you want me to be mean?” he jokingly glared at me.
“No of course not sir,” I said as he walked out.
Okay, I was back to work. Good thing I had something to look forward to after a tiring day. That way, I could try and have some fun too and forget about the downcast thoughts that my certain neighbor brought.
Or so I thought I would.
Reita told us that he was going to introduce to us a new good place that he found out about from a friend. I did expect for it to be a bar of some sort but I did not expect what I would see there.
When we entered, we chose a random table far from the stage. We weren’t really thinking of watching the performers so I did not mind them. I did however listen to some of their songs and they were pretty good. All of us were just too engaged in chatting to focus our attention on them.
An hour later, there was a change of performers. Reita told us that the band who was going to play next was his personal favorite so he asked us to transfer somewhere near where we could watch. Informing the staff that we would be changing tables, we moved to a seat located at the side of the stage. It wasn’t a good location if you wanted to watch the band but it was the closest one that we could find because every other one was already taken.
At first, I did not bother about the band. Reita might like them but it didn’t mean that I would check out everything that he found interesting. We had different likings. We were good friends but I wasn’t even that close to him as I was with Kai.
Reita was right though. They were great and way better than the first one. The vocalist had a powerful voice that it was giving me goose bumps all over. His way of performing was also very moving. Their sound was superb. The guitar was more than beautiful especially when I learned who was the one playing.
It was him- Aoi.
I did not distinguish that it was him, not until they were already past the half of their set. I wanted to kill myself for that. Of course it would really be hard for me to notice him because he was at the other end, mostly blocked by the blond vocalist or the other band members. But still! If I had paid attention sooner, I could have recognized him. I could have stared at him for a longer time, until he would have melted. Now their set was about to finish and I could only watch him intently while I regret.
When they finished their last song, everyone applauded and I thought all of us had the same opinion that they were awesome. As much as I was happy for Aoi and his band because their performance received a good reaction from the audience, I was also sad for myself. They were already packing up and there was a very little chance for us to meet in that crowded place.
So, imagine the shock I had when I saw him coming to our table together with the blond vocalist, walking just behind him.
“Reita,” he greeted, slapping my sempai on the back.
He knew Reita?
“Oi, Aoi,” Reita greeted back. “Nice to see you and Ruki.”
I could only gape at the three of them as they exchanged words. I wanted to and join their conversation casually but they were so absorbed in talking to each other that they seemed to have forgotten that there were other people aside from them. And yeah, if I interrupted them, what would I say? I did not want to make the same mistake again do I?
It was considered impolite for Reita if he would not introduce his friends to us and back but that didn’t matter now and it sounded impossible as all of my female co-workers began swarming around the two, throwing questions here there. I think there was no need for Reita to do the introductions anymore, they already did a whole interview.
I could only stay silent watching all of them. Well, who could blame the ladies? The two guys were absolutely attractive (of course for me, Aoi was probably a little bit more stunning) so it was only natural. Maybe it was only me but I found it irritating. Could they just stop flirting with them, especially Aoi? Hey, I want a moment with him so give us a chance! If only my eyes were real-life daggers, they’d all be dead by now.
With all those women gathered around him, I was surprised to find myself face to face with Aoi. I did not know how he managed to get out of that scary horde of girls and what surprised me most was that he had stolen a chair somewhere to sit beside me.
“Uruha right?” he said.
“How did you know?” I asked, my eyes were probably as big as saucers. Did he for some reason-?
“I heard your name from one of them,” he said, tipping his head on the direction of my co-workers who were now fussing over Ruki and the other three band members who had just came from I did not know where.
Oh, right. How stupid. How could I actually think that he had been watching me like I was watching him?
“I’m Aoi,” he said with that smile of his again.
Oh no. That smile always brought bad side effects on me.
“I know,” I replied shortly, snatching a mug of beer from the table. I really needed to calm down. God, I’ve been waiting for this moment but what was I doing?
“Really?” he said. “How did you know?”
That question made me choke and I almost spat the drink on him. Of all the things he could have asked me, why that? Did that mean that he knew about my stalking? What should I do then? Hell. I would prefer this to be a nightmare.
“Are you okay?” he asked, offering some napkins to me.
I immediately took one to wipe my lips and the spot that I made on my pants. Darn it. Why was it that he always saw me like this? Why couldn’t it be in another, better way?
“Yeah, someone must have remembered me,” I answered without much thought, tossing the napkin on the table beside my drink.
“Remembered you?” he said, raising an eyebrow.
I paused, trying to recall what I just said. Geesh. Why did I say that? “Well,” I began explaining, seeing that I had no other choice. “My mom told me that if you choke like that out of the blue, it means that someone you know misses you or remembers you.”
“Oh,” he was nodding. “I didn’t know that. So someone you say misses you?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “It’s probably my mom since she was the one who told me that.”
“You’re funny,” he laughed.
What? He thought I was funny! How should I feel about that? What if that was a form of insult that I did not realize that I realized after all?
“Hey, I did not mean that to offend you. I just found it weird. I just see your way of thinking amusing.”
Okay, now that he mentioned it, I would admit that the choking superstition was indeed weird. Maybe I was overreacting again. “Of course I know,” I snapped, collecting myself. This could not get any worse.
“So you work with Reita,” he said.
Wow, was this the start of the getting-to-know-each-other phase? Finally, after long years of waiting, we could have a decent conversation.
“Yes. He’s my sempai,” I replied. “And you’re friends with him?”
“Yeah. We were…”
“Aoi, we have to go to the next location,” Ruki butted in. Wait, how come he was suddenly standing behind us?
We both turned to him then looked at each other. Aoi looked apologetic.
Why now for all heaven’s sake?
“Sorry, I have to go,” he said, slowly standing up from his chair. “We have another gig this night but we play regularly here every Wednesday so If you have time, drop by okay?”
Why were we always interrupted?
I could only nod at him, saying, “I’ll try,” giving him a faint smile.
Damn. And I thought that I could finally talk to him normally, that I could persuade him to tell me things about himself and then we would go home together, since we both live in the same place. It was again one of my many illusions then.
But hey, now I know where I could find him every Wednesday. I don’t have a lot of time in my hands but every once in a while would probably do. It was just once a week anyway. And oh! I managed to smile at him at last. I wonder how that appeared to him.
Endnotes: We have that choking superstition in our country. Actually it doesn’t end there. When you choke, you ask the person nearest you for a number (the number has to be random and not thought of and only up to 26 because that is the total number of the alphabets we have). The number corresponds to the letter. For example, if someone gave you 1 then that is A and that means that the name of the person who remembers you starts with the letter A. I did not include that part anymore because their names are in kanji. It would not work. It was cute though.
I’m not sure if I’d be able to post tomorrow because I have something to do so I don’t know if I could finish but I promise that it would be up by Tuesday. Aww… this is all nearing to the end. The muses all love you and you know that…^^
PS to
scottskydweller that idea did cross my mind but when I thought of this, Reita was the perfect person to introduce the two. I did that to give the thought that he was going to be in the party. This is the real scene but you noticed that~! I so wuv you~ ^^
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