Bestfriend | Ran Takahashi

Act Cool. Be Cool.

I nodded in reply as if she's sitting next to me.

"She left Kyoto heartbroken and we all know who to blame for that," she continued.

"I was young and dumb!" I defended.

"Sure, sure, but she came back glowing, her eyes were full of life, all because of him," she added.

"Higurashi-san never liked me," I admitted.

"I mean you're the first boy his only daughter befriended. Not to mention she would basically drop everything just for you, well, she used to at least"

"What do I do?" I asked.

"You had your chance, Ran-nii, that night at the park, I told her to meet me there. I opened up that chance for you, but we all know what happened. I can't tell you what to do or what not to do. It's your life, you have to make choices and live with the consequences. I should be the one asking for advice at things like this, but instead the roles are reversed"

"I'm sorry," I apologized. She was right though. I have to make choices and live with the consequences. I made my choice that night at the park and now I'm living with the consequences.

"Ran-nii, I do have to tell you this, it's just a gut feeling and based on my observation of her when she went back here," she started.

"Okay"

"She may look like she's happy with him, well, she probably is, but I've seen her a few times at the park just sitting there. She looked lost, possibly lonely. I'm not sure, but that's just what I think," she finished.

"You think she's lonely?"

"It's possible, but like I said, it's just my opinion, anyway, I have to go, mama's calling me"

"Ok, tell mama and papa I said hi," I told her.

I don't know how long I spent on my bed just staring at my phone. Waiting. Waiting for her to text me about her day, like she used to back then. Waiting for her to call me and tell me to meet her at the park because she needed to talk to someone about something. Waiting.. for her.

I decided to go out and get some snacks, I don't think I have the appetite for a full meal right now. I went to a nearby konbini and got some tamago sando and a strawberry milk. As I was exiting, I bumped into the last person I wanted to see that night. Ishikawa.

"Ah, Takahashi-kun" he said.

"Ishikawa-senpai, small world," I replied.

"I just dropped off Aya-chan at her apartment," he said. I walked around with him inside the store, talking about the upcoming competition.

"Ano.. senpai, what's your relationship with Aya-chan?" I asked as we left the store and sat at a nearby bench.

"Aya-chan? Well, we don't have a label. We just enjoy spending time with each other," he answered as he took a sip of his grape juice.

"So, she's not your girlfriend?"

"I guess? We do act like a couple sometimes, but I don't think we're official, and I really don't want to put her through waiting for me since I do spend most of my time in Italy"

"I see"

"Why are you curious if you don't mind me asking?" He asked.

"We're childhood bestfriends and I don't want to see her get hurt," I told him honestly.

"I see, so you're that guy," he said.

The guy? What guy? Is that supposed to be good or bad? What does he know?

"That guy?"

"The one who broke her heart," he answered.

"I guess you'll probably want to punch me or something, but you'll have to get in line for that once her 4 brothers find out"

"Not really, but I'll keep that in mind. Are you trying to win her back? If you are, it's not going to be easy, I'll definitely put up a fight," he said.

"The last thing I want is for her to choose. I just want her to be happy and besides, since we're on the same team, I don't want any bad blood between us especially when we play" I told him, finishing up my snack.

"Don't worry, I know when to throw a towel in. If she's not happy with me, I will let her go, I'm not going to force her to stay. Anyway, I have to go. Lots of meetings tomorrow. I'll see you soon" he said. We bid each other goodbye. I stayed on the bench, thinking. Ahhh!! Aya is happy. Let's not ruin that, it's the least I can do after what I put her through, but seeing her with someone else just doesn't sit right with me. Alright, Ran, you had your chance, you made your choice and now you have to live with it. Yeah, giving myself a pep talk is not going to work.

I walked back to my apartment shared with a couple of friends. I heard them talking just before I opened the door. They all turned to me and they all got quiet. "What's going on?" I asked.

One of them walked up to me and showed me a picture of them. Someone took a picture of them as they were leaving a restaurant, hand in hand. It was all over social media. People are already commenting, saying that it's not Ishikawa or that they're only friends. Some of the comments even dared to say negative things about her. It also didn't help how someone mentioned that she's a Nittaidai student.

"Ano.. I heard that you two were childhood friends, so I thought that you should know," my roommate said.

"I should call her," I told them.

They all nodded.

I went to my room and proceeded on dialing her number. It rang twice before she answered.

"Hello?"

Her voice was sweet, did she sound like that before?

"Hey, it's Ran," I said.

"I know, what's up?"

"You're blowing up on social media, I'm not sure if you know"

"Oh, that. Yeah, I just got off the phone with Yuki-senpai, he told me about it and he said to not worry and that it'll die down in a few days"

"I see. Alright. I just wanted to make sure that you know and that you're alright," I told her.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. Anyway, I have to go, I still have a few assignments that I have to finish to stay ahead of my classes. I'll see you tomorrow at practice" she ended the call just like that.

I sighed. I seemed desperate, I should play it cool when I see her. Act cool. Be cool. As if I can do all that. Just the mere thought of her brings smile to my face. Get it together Takahashi Ran. Ahhh!

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*Konbini - corner store like 7-11
*Arashiyama - a place in Kyoto where you can find the bamboo forest or bamboo grove

A/N: I have one more chapter for today. maybe. I don't know how guys think, so please bare with me when I write something in Ran's POV. Also, paparazzi is Japan is not as big as in the US, so I'm just keeping most of it in social media. I also made Yuki to have 2 instagram accounts, a private one and a public one.
Ran also went on a social media break that's why he's behind the whole Aya-Yuki relationship.

Also, are you guys liking how Hana turned out to be?

I'm a little bit ehh with Hana and Ran being ok as just friends, but then again, I do know a lot of people who are more compatible as friends than as a couple, if you get what I mean.

Next chapter will be up in a few hours. I already have an outline on what's going to happen, it's just the matter of typing it and adding details.

Thanks again!