Chapter 13 - Heartful Of Misery
~Still Ruki's POV~
"I'm ready to go." You lifted your eyes and saw Miyake exiting from her bedroom. She looked
stunning but then again, there wasn't any encounter with her where she hadn't. You sat up
from the couch and opened the door for her as you left the house and started walking towards
the poolhall a few blocks away.
"You look really pretty today" you tried to strike up the conversation and saw a smile
forming on her lips.
"Arigatoo, Ruki-san" she whispered but cleared her throat after that. "How's everyone?"
"You mean the drunks? Probably still suffering from their hangover from last night" you
chuckled thinking about what Reita had told you earlier this morning. "They'll be fine as
soon as they sleep the leftovers of the alcohol out of their system."
"That's nice" Miyake smiled. "What about you, though?"
"What about me?" The question confused you at first but you quicky understood why she was
asking that. "We have this schedule for every night we go out that one must stay fully
sober, one at least partially sober and the two have to take care of the rest. Kai's rarely
drunk and it was my turn to lessen the amount of my drinks."
"That's clever" Miyake smirked. "You actually devised a plan for drinking. Wow. I didn't
know people even did that."
"You saw the state they were in yourself. Can you say we didn't need the plan?" you retorded
and Miyake shook her head as a reply. "We're here" you stopped in front of a big house which
held the poolhall. Again you opened the door for her and you went to the second floor where
the pooltables layed. "Pick a table, I'll find the keeper" you suggested and went to search
for the guard of the room and to get something to drink, non-alcoholic this time. When you
returned, Miyake had already set the balls in order and was waiting for you.
"You go first, it's been a long time since I played" she suggested, taking a sip of mineral
water you had gotten for her.
"Alright. I'll go easy on you" you joked and made the first shot.
Soon you had to take back your words - Miyake really knew how to play and the score was 3:1
in her favor. You were stunned - she could really complete against Uruha and might even win.
There was no way you could beat her now. And with that thought she just hit the ball and
like magic it rolled into the corner socket, earning herself another victory. You closed
your eyes as accepting defeat and when you opened them again you saw her throwing you a
smile.
"I didn't even know I could still play like that" she thought out loud. "Last time I played
was years ago and I thought I'd be rusty after such a long time of not playing."
"But you beat me fair and square" you admitted. "Where did you even learn to play like
that?"
But before she could answer, her phone rang and she answered it. "Moshi-moshi. Konnichi wa,
Katsuo-chan. Hai. Ne, I'm out. What's wrong? Eeto I'm not sure yet. Later tonight, perhaps?
Alright, it's a date" she ended the call and turned her attention towards you again.
"Ruki-san, what's wrong?" she sounded worried, seeing your expression.
To be honest, your heart dropped when you heard her confirming a date with someone, probably
her boyfriend. But what did you expect - she was a beautiful woman and it would have been
suprising to find out that she wasn't seeing anyone. But she had just confirmed that she was
seeing someone. Yes, that hurt. A lot, actually. But she seemed happy so you should be happy
for her instead of scaring her with your moodswings and moping. So you shook your head and
tried your best to smile to her.
"It's nothing, just probably something I ate" you lied, having no other option. She'd surely
freak out if you told her that she's all that you've been thinking of for a while already.
And she had a boyfriend - a pretty obvious sigh telling you to back off and not ruin it for
her.
"You sure?" she gave you a questioning look. NO, I want to tell you that I really like
you and would like to spend more time with you a voice in the back of your head screamed
but all you could do was to silence it and accept the fact that you were defeated even
before having a chance with her. But hey, you can still be friends, right? So all you could
say out loud was...
"Yeah, I'm sure. I couldn't help but to overhear about your plans for tonight. Gomen, I
didn't mean to spy" you quickly apologized "but if that's the case then I'd better not keep
you from your preparations."
"It's fine, Ruki-san. But I fear you might be late for your band practice" she sounded
worried.
"Hai, you're right" you sighed. Beautiful AND thoughtful. "No, don't" you said when
you saw her pulling a wallet from her purse. "It's on me since it was me who asked you to
come with me. I just will not accept it."
"Are you always this stubborn?" Miyake laughed and you stared at her for a few seconds and
started laughing aswell.
"Not all the time" you chuckled but got serious again. "I think I should stop being a
nuisance and let you carry on with your plans. I better get to my rehersal aswell. So I'll
be seeing you, Miyake-san" you smiled to her.
"Oh you weren't, I actually enjoyed it" she smiled back. "Ja ne, Ruki-san." And with that
you both left to different directions.
This isn't fair you cursed in your head as you made way to your bandmates. But
life's not fair either. It would be better for the both of us if I just let go and move on
from these thoughts about her. you sighed and reached your destination, pulling the door
open and seeing the rest of the band.
"And you made it with 6 minutes to spare" Kai checked his watch.
"Yeah, I guess so..." you mumbled and tried diverting your thoughts and attention to the
band. Kai was energetic as usual, Reita nodded to you, putting out the cigarette he had been
smoking and picked up his bass, showing he was ready for the rehersal. Aoi and Uruha still
looked kinda sleepy with their heads resting on the table but when Kai coughed, they jumped
up and silently took their positions.
"Alright, let's start with 'Agony'" Kai declared and silently everyone nodded. IN your
opinion he couldn't have picked a better song because the lyrics kinda went along with how
you felt inside so you poured all of your emotions into the song as you sang it.
You stayed silent for the rest of the practice only speaking when spoken to. Others could
see that something was off and asked you about it but all you told them was that you're just
a bit tired.
"How can you be tired when you had so much time to sleep?" Kai asked for the second time
since you had ignored the first time he had asked the same question. "Are you sure you're
feeling well? I mean, are you sure you don't have a fever or something?" he placed his hand
on your forehead to check the temperature. "You seem to be fine..." he trailed off but still
looked worried. "Hey guys, Ruki doesn't look that good, let's pack up and call it done for
today" he turned around to the rest of the band. Everyone just nodded and looked at you
worriedly.
"Arigatoo, Kai" you mumble and walk towards the door.
"Hey, you need a ride?" Reita asks as you pass him to leave. You can see the concern
reflecting in his eyes.
"Ne,I'd rather walk. But thanks for the concern" you give him a weak smile and turn to leave
again.
Why? you ask no-one in particular as you walk down the street. Again you don't pay
much attention to your direction and end up in the park. As you look around you can see many
happy couples walking and looking picture perfect. You're not jealous, but when you see
them, something inside you aches nonstop. You pull out a pack of cigarettes and light one,
inhaling a massive whiff of the tobacco that sends a burning sensation down your throat. But
you don't even care about that as you gaze into the night sky and feel miserable about your
current situation. If I really care about her, I should let her be happy with that guy,
whoever he is you think and toss the cigarette butt on the trashcan as you leave for
home.
that's sad...
Poor Ruki. I hope he doesn't do something stupid. Feelings are confusing but hard to let go of at the same time...
PS That's another one of my favourite Ruki-sama pics.
So I hope you at leat kinda liked the chapter and don't hate me too much for hurting him like that...
< !-- BEGIN CBOX - www.cbox.ws -->
< !-- END CBOX -->
