Chapter 7

Mrs. Goto tried to peep into Maki’s room to see what the two were doing. She smiled when she saw the two sleeping soundly, hugging each other. They looked cute together. She was happy that Rika was able to bring back her daughter’s smile. She closed the door silently and decided not to bother the two sleeping girls.

It was almost 5 pm when Rika woke up. She was surprised to see that she was already lying in the bed. She remembered that she fell asleep on the table. What surprised her most was Maki hugged her while she was sleeping. Maki looked peaceful while she sleeps. She didn’t want to wake up her friend yet, that’s why she tried her best to be still. She just looked at Maki’s calm face; specially her eyes and lips. Rika could not resist the urge to touch her cheeks. Doing so, Maki opened her left eye…

“Ohayou.”

Rika was surprised. Her hand was still on Maki’s face
“Does she know that I was staring at her? For how long did she wake up?”

Rika’s initial reaction was…

*WHAPAK*

“OUCH!!! That hurts! Why did you do that?” Maki put her hand on her throbbing cheek.

“I was going to wake you up, but you surprised me… And besides, it’s too late for you to say ‘ohayou’.” Rika turned her back towards Maki. She could not let the other see that she was blushing real hard.

“And slapping me hard on the face is your way of waking me up?” Maki sarcastically said. “Or is it because you were staring at me while I’m sleeping?”

“Oh my gosh, she knew! What would I tell her?” Rika was really nervous. Her face turned tomato red from blushing.

“I was not… I … I was just… you had a fly on your cheek… That’s why I slapped you… that’s right, I was going to wake you up, and then that fly landed on your cheek.”

“A fly?” Maki smiled evilly at Rika…

“A… mosquito I guess hehehe.” She was not good at lying.

“You’re such a bad liar! I’m going to punish you for slapping me.” Maki tickled Rika. Rika fought back and it ended up in a tickle fight. Maki has the advantage because she was on top of Rika.

“Yamete!!! I’m sorry!!! I’m sooooory!!! Hahahaha!!! Stop it… I have asthma, Hahahaha…. you might trigger it!” Rika screamed.

Maki stopped tickling her. But she hoped that she didn’t. Now she realized they were in such an awkward position; her face was just inches away from Rika’s. She was sitting on Rika’s stomach so she would not escape her and she just realized that their hands where intertwined to have a better grip. She could feel her face blush a little.

“You… You have asthma?”

“Hai, but thanks for my futsal training, I didn’t have an attack for such a long time now.”

“Ahhh, is that so?” Maki trailed off. She could feel Rika’s breath on her face.

“Ano, could you now release me?” Rika couldn’t stand their awkward situation anymore. Maki released Rika’s hands from her grip and stood up. Rika also stood up.

“We’ve made a mess out of your bed. I’ll fix it.”

“I’ll help too, it’s my bed after all.”

Both of them were silent throughout the cleaning process. After cleaning up, they went downstairs and ate the food cooked by Mrs. Goto. Rika stayed there for another hour but still the awkwardness did not fade away.

“Mom, I’ll just take Rika to her house. It’s pretty dark right now. I don’t want her to go home alone.”

Rika looked at Maki and blushed a little. “How about you? After you take me home, you’re going back all alone.”

“I’m glad that you worry about my daughter, but she will be fine. You don’t know how strong she was. She’s the strongest person I’ve seen in my entire life so don’t worry about her.” Mrs. Goto gave a reassuring smile to Rika.

“Hai, thank you for letting me stay here.”

“It’s ok, you’re always welcome here. Oh, here’s your ball.” Maki’s mom handed her the ball they used that morning.

“Thank you, we’ll be going now!” Rika waved goodbye at Maki’s mom.


…………

“ho… How did you know that I was staring at you?”

“It’s because I woke up first before you woke up.”

“Oh…Is that so?” Rika wanted to remove the awkward feeling between the two of them but it seems that their conversation is making it more difficult. Their house is just two blocks away but, it feels like the time is too slow.

“I was staring at you before you did.” Maki stopped at her tracks. She didn’t mean to tell Rika what she was doing but she blurted it our accidentally.

Rika looked at Maki. It has been three months since she started ‘bugging’ her. She felt that there’s something that developed between them. She liked staring at Maki’s face. She always wanted to be by her side. They were only in grade 6 but she knew that what she feels towards her friend is much more than friendship could offer. Maybe she’s entering the puberty stage already. Her hormones are causing her so much confusion… It feels weird to have a crush on your friend… And they are of the same gender.

“W… Why are you staring at me?”

“It’s just that…. So much happened this past few months… And because of you, I’ve changed dramatically. I was staring at you because I was thinking how you were able to change my life.”

Rika was silent. She had no idea what to do in this kind of situation. They were almost at her house now. She was really thankful that the uneasiness she feels will come to an end. They were at the gate now.

“I want to thank you for making my life more meaningful and happier.” Maki kissed Rika’s cheeks and ran as fast as she could towards the direction of their house. Rika was left agape on their gate for a couple of minutes. How would she approach her on Monday? Rika had a hard time to sleep that night.