“Did you get it?” Chiaki asked as Yuri nodded and came over a few days later. He smiled, “I was able to get in touch with Mai. Her school's not that far from the fan club so its just a couple of blocks down.” She smiled, “Awesome! For once you're a great help, Yuri!” He pouted, “Geez, for once? I'm sure I've been more helpful than that...”
“Let's just focus on finding Misa and then we can argue about that as much as you want, ok?” she said headed off, dragging him along. “Come on!”
“Hey girls~!” Mai said as she came to the fan club meeting.
“Hey, Mai. What's up?” Kimiko smiled as she saw her. Mai answered, “Just checking up on the club, since Misa hasn't been attending lately. Seems like everything is fine.”
“Of course it is.” Mia said, “Did you or Misa think I couldn't handle taking over the club?”
“No, but you can never be too sure.” she answered. Then she thought, “She wanted me to remind you of something... what was it...”
“You forgot the message...” Ayako gave her a look as she said, “Hang on.. I can remember... give me a minute—oh! JUMP's having an interview tomorrow night. She wants you girls to cover it.”
“.. she's stil not back yet?” Kimiko said.
“Yea, she says she busy with all her assignments... which is weird since she's usually quick with her work.” Mai stated. “Anyways, I think that was it.” Ayako nodded, “Alright then. Wish Misa good luck from us. With her studies.”
“Will do.” she smiled as Mia stopped her, “Hang on. I need you to pass on a message to Misa for me. Tell her that the president will be back for the month of December.”
“What?! Really?!” Kimiko freaked. “So we're finally gonna meet the founder of the club?!”
“Yea... but that's still 3 weeks away. It's not set and stone yet so don't get your hopes too high.” Mia told her. Mai then nodded, “Alright, I'll let Misa know.”
“Who is it...” Haruka answered the door to see Kei smiling. “Kei, what brings you here... wait let me guess... Misa?”
“Haha, you're good.” he smiled. “Is she home?”
“Not yet...” she answered. “She's been stay after school lately.. not sure why...”
“Yuina told Chiaki that she had exams... I guess she's still studying huh?” he wondered as she shook her head, “She had exams last week...”
“What.. then why did she tell Yuina--”
“I dunno. Maybe you should ask her. Have you tried calling?”
“yea, but she's not answering any of JUMP's calls.” he sighed. He then lit up, “Can I borrow your phone?”
“...I guess...” she sighed. “Come on in. It's cold out.” He did as she closed the door behind him. He looked around, “Wow... nice place you got.” He looked at the picture frames hanging on the walls as well as some house décor. There was a flower vase on the table next to the house phone. The table sat on the side of the staircase. He then noticed how quiet the house was. “Are you alone right now?”
“Yea. My dad doesn't get home til late and my mom had to run to get groceries.” she said. “The phone's right there.” She pointed as he smiled, “Thanks.” He dialed Misa's number as she answered, “Hey, Haruka. That you?”
“Nope. It's me. Kei.” Kei laughed into the phone as she said surprised, “Kei? Wait... this is my house number... what are you doing at my house?!”
“Haha I was actually looking for you. Where've you been lately?” he asked.
“I've been busy...” she answered. “Why do you ask?”
“It's weird not seeing you around. JUMP has been making frequent appearances at the fan club and it's just bizarre not seeing you there.” he stated. She answered, “Well, I'll be back soon... as soon as I finish the things I need to get done.”
“When will that be?”
“Uh... not sure yet...” she stuttered. “I gotta go Kei. Things I need to finish. Tell Haruka I'll be home in half an hour.” He nodded, “Alright. See you around then.” They both hung up as Haruka then asked, “Well?”
“She says she'll be home in half an hour.” he told her as she then asked, “Are you sticking around?” He shook his head, “It sounds like she's not in the mood to talk to me... I guess I should get going.”
“Hey... you have a thing for my sister... don't you?” she wondered as he smiled, “Well she is cute..” He looked at the pictures again as he laughed, “Well, I guess it runs in the family... all the women here are cute~!”
“Hehe, thanks...” she smiled as he then noticed a family portrait. Their parents stood behind the three girls. Misa was in the center of the portrait, in between Haruka and another girl.
“Is this the oldest sister?” Kei wondered, remembering the day Misa had mentioned her. Haruka nodded, “Yup. Yumiko has been studying really hard at the university. The only time she's home is on summer vacation and Christmas. So.. it's been a while since we've seen her.”
“You all are really close aren't you?” he asked as she nodded, “Of course. We're sisters. We look out for one another... both Misa and I really look up to her, she's such an amazing role model.”
“Really?”
“Yup. She's always at the top of her classes both academic and athletics. She's the manager of student store at the university. She's well known throughout the entire university. She just seems so perfect, it's crazy.” she stated staring at her older sister. She sighed, “But sometimes she's just too focused on her work... so we tend to get left out... but at least I still have Misa with me. That's probably Yumiko's only flaw... she sucks at time-managing.”
“Wow... that good huh?” he said. She nodded, “Yea... anyways... I don't want to keep you any longer. It's getting dark out.”
“It's fine... thanks for letting me hang out for a while.”
“It's no problem...” she said as she opened the door for him. “So I'm assuming I'll be seeing more of you around here?”
“Definitely.” he smiled as he left.
“What are you still doing here?” Misa heard as she sat up that Friday afternoon. She had just received her exams scores, all passing grades. She was laying under the shade of a tree in front of her school, relaxing. She smiled, “Just relaxing a bit... I had some things I need to finish up.” Mai smiled, “Well I'm heading home now... you coming?” She shook her head, “My stuff is still in the classroom and I need to finish one last thing. Go ahead without me...I'll meet you at home.”
“... You alright, Misa?” Mai wondered. She nodded, “Yea... don't worry about it.”
“You sure?” she asked. “You've been... more distant than usual... you're always on your own.. and you haven't been at the fan club for the past two weeks.”
“Yea. I'm fine... I'll go back soon... just you know... these exams have been killers.” she smiled. Mai sighed, “Alright, I'll see you later then.” She nodded, “See you.” Mai took off leaving Misa alone. She went back to relaxing on the ground and after about an hour, she heard, “Misa?” She shot up as she recognized the voice.
“Y-Yuto... what are you doing here?” she panicked.
“Chiaki told me to come meet her here...” he sighed. She answered, “... well she isn't here....”
“I figured as much. She's been pushing me to get in touch with you.” he stated. “... Misa... have you been... avoiding me for a reason?” She stuttered, “W-What?! Why would you think--”
“We both know you've been avoiding me... why though?” he asked. “Can I at least know that?”
“...look, don't worry about it. I wasn't avoiding you on purpose.” she gave him a small smile. “It's all just coincidental...” she quickly stood up as she said, “I gotta grab my stuff inside. I'll see you around?”
“See, there you go again...” he pointed out. “Evading me again..”
“I gotta go. I told Mai i'd catch up to her... it's just--” she stated.
“A coincidence?” he pouted. “Misa, just please tell me the truth. If you want me to leave you alone then I will... just tell me why.” She was silent, trying to hold in her temper as she softly said, “... I really need to head home... We'll talk some other time, Yuto--”
“Misa, please! Let me walk you home, we can talk on the way.” he pleaded.
“Yuto, stop being so unreasonable--”
“Just once, please.... we really need to talk.” he told her seriously. She remained silent again as he called, “Please, Mimi--”
“Just stop!” she shouted at him, losing her patience. “Enough already! I'm not your Mimi! So don't call me that! No matter how much you think I'm her, she's some else! I can never be this girl you're so obsessed with!” He stared at her depressed, angry face as he then noticed her eyes glistening in the sun's rays. Tears were forming in her eyes as she screamed, “The only reason you hang around me is because you continuously think I'm her! That's why I've been avoiding you ok?! I can't pretend to be someone I'm not, no matter how much I really want to! And I don't want to be constantly reminded that I'm not that girl that you're so in love with!” He hung on her every words as she stared angrily at him. But then, she realized everything that had came out of her mouth.
“... I- Forget I said anything... I'm outta here...” she said quickly rushing inside the school. Tears streamed down her faces as she cried hard. What was going with her 'love' life truly hurt. She felt like millions of paper cuts were shredding her apart. Every word he spoke about 'her' was like a cup of battery acid being forced down her throat, disintegrating her heart, leaving her cold and empty. She enjoyed having him around, but she couldn't handle him always mistaking her for that girl he has a major crush on. There was always that weird feeling she got, whenever he mentioned 'her', that tore her apart. She felt like she was so close to obtaining his love, yet she was so far. As she quickly grabbed her bag and headed to leave, she saw Yuto had followed her into the class. She quickly wiped her falling tears off her face as she stuttered, “I-I told you why I was avoiding you already... would you please leave me alone now?”
“Misa... I...” he began as she said. “Look, I don't need your sympathy. Just... I really need to get home.” she went to go past him, but he grabbed her hand, “Misa. Just please listen to me. It won't take long.”
“Yuto, what's the point? I'm not the girl you're looking for--”
“But I still like you.” he interrupted as she paused. She then gave him a look, “Yuto, I hate being played with. For the last time, I'm not Mimi.”
“I know that, but I still do like you.” he stated. “Misa, it may have started out that way. With me thinking that you're … well... you know, Mimi... but these last few months with you have been fun. It was you who made it fun. I stuck around with you because you made my life more fun and enjoyable... not because of who I thought you were. I guess... I guess I just hoped you were her... because it made me feel closer to you. It doesn't matter if you're her or not... It's you I really like.” A huge blush ran across Misa's face as she felt like fireworks were being set off within her heart. She couldn't believe what she was hearing! Yuto liked her. He like her just like she liked him! But then a thought occurred to her, “... B-But what if your Mimi comes back? You promised you'd wait for her to return...”
“...I know.” he said. She could tell that he hadn't thought about that. “I guess... it's just been so long, I've began losing hope in her return... and truthfully, there's not a lot I can remember about her, except that we played together often. She was fun and all... but we were children. She.. was my first love, but first loves doesn't mean your only love. I guess I clung to her for all these years, because no one better came along... until you, Misa...”
“...” she turned away to avoid him seeing her super red face. He laughed a bit, “Yea.. its sounds so cheesy... but its true...Misa, if Mimi does ever come back here, it's you I like. I would never ever want to hurt you... especially in that way. After... after putting you in that position all this time. I'm really sorry about that.” She sighed and gave him a small smile, “Alright, I'm willing to give this a shot... just, promise me one thing.”
“What?” he questioned.
“Never... call me Mimi. Ever again.” she smiled as he nodded, “Deal.”
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