Sukisho Fan Fiction ❯ 10 years ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

10 years

 

By Sapadu

 

A/N: If you sue me for copyright infringements, you will get a loud 'Ha ha ha ha ha... you're serious?' and MAYBE the gum off the bottom of my shoe. Because that's about all I have to give in a court case.

 

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"Fiancé... huh?" Sora poked at his drink with his straw. Matsuri was late and while Sora normally wouldn't care, he had really wanted to talk about his encounter with Sunao the other day, and if Matsuri didn't get here soon, Sora's lunch break was going to be over and he'd have to go back to the classroom.

 

"Sora! So-ra!" Ah, speak of the devil... or perhaps the devil himself, depending on what Matsuri was up to this time. Sora grumpily turned to face the chipper blond.

 

"You're late, you know." He groused while Matsuri took a seat, still smiling cheerfully.

 

"Aw, but you wouldn't have wanted me showing up without THIS would you?" Sora bent his head over his store-bought bento so he didn't see exactly what Matsuri was holding up, but the rustle of paper let him know that it was nothing he wanted to see.

 

"Zettai dame!" Sora said, not looking up.

 

Matsuri didn't talk for a while, before he finally said.

 

"Sora... it's a picture... at least look at it." He finally said, which drew Sora's attention. He looked up, mostly out of surprise, to be met, face-to-face, with a photograph of the three of them- Matsuri, Sunao, and himself- on their graduation day. Sora took the picture from Matsuri's fingers with a sigh.

 

"You said it yourself, yesterday- Nao-kun hasn't been in contact since graduation, so I figured you'd at least want a picture." Matsuri explained with a slight smile. Sora sighed again. Funny how ten years had gone by... but there were still some things that just didn't change- Sora should have known, as this kind of thing was exactly what Matsuri would have done back then, too.

 

"He hasn't changed..." Sora mumbled, staring at the picture- it was a rare shot in which all three of them were smiling and exuberantly celebrating together. Sora had always been the one who smiled the most- Matsuri had shared with him after graduation that he'd considered sometimes trying to win the title from him, but Matsuri, being vice-president and having a lot more responsibility, had to be serious more often by default- and Nao had almost never smiled or laughed out loud.

 

"It's a picture, Sora." Matsuri reminded him, gently. Sora shook his head, running a hand over his face and through his hair.

 

"...Not that... I mean..." Sora leaned back in his chair, "I ran into Fujimori, yesterday... we talked a little... more like argued through it all... he hasn't changed a bit..." Just talking about it made Sora feel pretty exhausted. Matsuri was either not surprised or hiding it very well, because he continued with his lunch.

 

"Oh... So, Nao-kun's doing well, then?" Matsuri asked, keeping the conversation moving.

 

"...I guess..." Sora mumbled, before finally saying what was bothering, "He ran off saying he was going to meet his fiancé..." Matsuri again had that look which indicated a lack of surprise, and it was both starting to make Sora feel nervous and irritated at the same time.

 

"Matsuri, teme... would you say something, at least?!" Sora finally demanded, getting sick of how suspiciously quiet the blond was being. Matsuri stopped eating for a moment and looked straight at Sora.

 

"Sora... did you ask Nao-kun why he hadn't kept in touch?" Matsuri asked, leaning forward, like he was investigating a very serious matter. Sora would have sweat dropped, except that Matsuri was being honestly serious, instead of the joking, goofy serious he was when he was just being a drama queen.

 

"...Y-yeah... He said he was busy with... his research... since he's like a data analyst or something now..." Sora replied, looking away uncomfortably. Matsuri's expression changed, and now he looked rather upset about something, "Doushita, Matsuri?"

 

"Nao-kun... that he said he was too busy... was a lie." Matsuri declared, looking straight at Sora, who blinked for a moment, "And he isn't a researcher like he told you he was- Nao-kun is hiding something."

 

"Oi, matte... How do you know if Fujimori was lying or not? You haven't seen or heard from him, either..." Sora interrupted, but his voice fading as Matsuri held his gaze.

 

"Nao-kun and I have been in contact consistently these past ten years- we called each other, sent e-mails, and even saw each other for coffee sometimes... And every time, Nao-kun said he'd call you, but he just never was able to catch you or leaving messages on your phone which you didn't return." Matsuri replied, each word making Sora feel even more and more shocked, then angry.

 

"...So... Fujimori was..." Sora said, slowly, as Matsuri nodded.

 

"I don't know why Nao-kun is avoiding you... but..." And Sora suddenly recognized the rebirth of the manic glint in Matsuri's eye- the one that used to be reserved for Jack-of-all-Trades Academy and other moneymaking schemes... "Nao-kun said he wanted me to meet his fiancé and that she wanted to meet his old childhood friend... so why don't you come along next week?" Matsuri asked, grinning madly. Sora blinked for a moment, then managed to form words.

 

"Ano sa... Matsuri..."

 

"Nani?" Matsuri asked, still smiling broadly.

 

"...You scare me sometimes..."

 

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"Good Morning, Nao-kun!" Matsuri had always used English for that, and Sora never understood why. It was even more dubious, because it was lunchtime, so 'Morning' wasn't the appropriate time to be using. Sunao was sitting at a table outside a coffeehouse with a young woman with short blond hair and a round face and turned to smile as he heard Matsuri's greeting, but stopped short when he saw Sora right behind him.

 

"M-Matsuri-chan... w-why is..." Sunao stammered, indignantly pointing at Sora, and looking quite horrified that Sora had come along. Sunao's fiancé also turned to look at Sora, smiling in a peculiar way which made Sora wonder if he'd met her before... no, that was stupid- the only women who he actually knew were the girls in his class.

 

"Hashiba... Sora?" She asked, which made Sora blink, then nod, smiling awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head, before he caught the somewhat knowing and mischievous look that Matsuri was giving Sunao, whom turned away, blushing a little.

 

"L-last week when we ran into each other, you made me late, Hashiba... S-so, I had to explain everything and... t-that's how she knows your name." He stammered, sitting back down as dignified as possible. The woman was smiling in a similar way to Matsuri at her fiancé, before turning to greet them properly.

 

"My name is Michiya Nakou. Yoroshiku- Hashiba Sora-san, Honjou Matsuri-san." The woman said, bowing a little before they all took their seats. There was an awkward silence, as Sunao was obviously disgruntled at Sora's presence, before Matsuri brought it up.

 

"Nao-kun, you kept telling me that you couldn't get in touch with Sora, so I figured I'd save you the trouble and asked him when we met for lunch on Monday!" He explained, brightly, without even a hint of accusing in his voice, which made Sunao shift slightly, embarrassed that he'd been caught, but even more uncomfortable that nobody was needling him about it.

 

"Good thing, too- since Nao-kun's talked about Sora so much, I was wondering when I was going to meet him." Nakou agreed, nodding slightly, as though pleased with herself for some reason. Sora blinked and glanced at Sunao, who was blushing again.

 

"Fujimori... talked about me?" Sora asked, surprised. Nakou put her fingertips together.

 

"Atari mai daiou! There were times that I thought I knew you just from all the things I'd heard about you from Nao-kun! You're a very important person to him, after all..." Nakou said, as though informing Sora about something obvious. Sora was quiet for a moment, before smiling a bit more congenially and continuing.

 

"Sounds like you two know each other well. How long have you known Fujimori?" He asked. Nakou held up three fingers.

 

"Three weeks." She replied, in a chipper tone. Sora's eyes bulged out of their sockets.

 

"EEEH?! Hontou desu ka?" He asked, positively shocked. Nakou tilted her head before Sunao spoke up.

 

"It's an arranged marriage, Hashiba- it's actually more common than you think." Sunao informed him, quite sharply. Sora stared at his old friend for a few moments, before turning to look at Nakou, then Matsuri, then back to Sunao.

 

"Don't worry, though- I wouldn't dream of stealing his heart away from you!" Nakou added in, with a wink. Sunao went quite red at this.

 

"Nakou-chan... you shouldn't..." He protested, before Matsuri added in.

 

"Sora isn't seeing anyone right now, too... There's no obstacle there..." He said, nodding wisely. Sora shot him a dirty look, but looked back as Nakou spoke to Sunao again.

 

"Nao-kun, you should reconsider- good-looking ones like Sora don't come along every day, you know!" She said, nudging her fiancé with her elbow. Sunao's cheeks were still painfully pink.

 

"Nakou-chan, Matsuri-chan, PLEASE! This isn't funny!" He moaned. Sora was still giving Nakou a perplexed look.

 

"Ano sa..." He finally muttered, "Why are you trying to pair us up, even though you're his fiancé?" Nakou sat up a little straighter, blinking at his question, before she smiled.

 

"Because I'm 'Nakou-chan'." She answered. Sora blinked, nonplussed, before Matsuri explained,

 

"Her name is written with the same characters as 'nakoudo'- in other words, her name means 'matchmaker'." Sora stared between the two blonds for a moment, before he realized exactly why she looked so familiar.

 

"Omae..." Sunao interrupted him with a bossy tone of voice.

 

"Hashiba, don't use language like that with a lady." Sora glared at his former roommate, who glared back with an even stronger look, until Sora looked away again. He couldn't help but feel a little... resentful- was that it?- that Sunao was being so... not protective but... something...

 

"...Anata..." Sora started over, as that was the best he could do, "...You remind me of Matsuri..."

 

There was a pause, before Sunao burst out laughing.

 

"Ha-Ha-Hashiba... I can't believe I didn't notice... they look exactly alike..." He snickered, trying to stifle the noise but failing miserably. The two in question looked between themselves, before Matsuri smiled and stood up, pulling Nakou up by the arm with him.

 

"Then, the Matsuri-duo will humbly excuse themselves to get drinks for everyone!" He announced. Nakou seemed agreeable to this, as she joined in.

 

"We'll leave Sora and Nao-kun to talk about everything they've missed in ten years!" Sunao stood, reaching after them as the two blond went off on their appointed errand.

 

"Oi, matte-ou, Matsuri-chan, Nakou-chan!" He protested, but they ignored him, until Sunao slumped back into his chair.

 

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"Nice to have a partner in crime, at least." Nakou muttered, as they waited in line to order everyone's coffees. Matsuri smiled.

 

"Sora and Nao-kun... both of them are important to me, too... I'd like to see them happy before something happens they can't reverse." He said, reflectively, as Nakou gave him an encouraging smile.

"I know how you feel- Nao-kun has been a good friend so far... I'd hate for him to be stuck with me when I'm not really who he's happiest with..." She agreed. Matsuri's eyes glittered with a kind of devious joy.

 

"With that in mind- Operation Re-Matchmake Sora and Nao-kun is go!" He concluded.

 

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A/N: I'm sorry, but when I watch the DVDs, sometimes, my brain will hear their lines in half-Japanese, half-English, where the phrases I understand will stay Japanese, and the stuff that I don't understand will be translated into what I've memorized the subtitles as saying. Does anyone else experience that?

 

Bento- Lunch (technically 'lunch BOX' but can also refer to the food inside)

 

Zettai dame- No way!

 

Matsuri, teme- Matsuri, you jerk...

 

Doushita- What is it?

 

Oi, matte- Hey, wait

 

Ano sa- (Doesn't really mean anything- more of an attention grabbing noise when you're at a loss for words)

 

Yoroshiku- Please regard me kindly, or Nice to meet you

 

Atari mai daio!- Of course!

 

Hontou desu ka?- Really?

 

Omae and Anata are both ways of saying 'You' but 'Omae' is generally not as polite as 'Anata' or 'Kimi'.