Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Mao tiredly walked down the stairs from her building. She had been longing for her bed the whole day. She stifled a yawn as she rubbed her tired eyes. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, someone called out to her.

“Hey!”

She looked around and to her surprise saw Shun sitting on his Ducati motorcycle seeming to be waiting for someone. What any girl would give to have that. A guy waiting for her… just her…

He then smiled at her. “Need a ride home?”

Her brain was working extra slow because of a day’s work but she swore she heard him offer her a ride home. Shun asked her again and this time she nodded, almost vigorously.

“I noticed you’ve had a rough day. Running here and there all day,” he said, standing up. “And you seem to have disappeared for a time.”

“Yeah. Takki gave me an earful because of that,” she said, walking closer to Shun, feeling the butterflies in her stomach, not really thinking twice how Shun noticed that.

Mao looked at Shun’s motorcycle. Why would he offer her a ride? “Are you sure?”

Shun handed her his helmet with a smile. She smiled back and slowly reached out for it. She climbed up his motorcycle after putting it on, as Shun helped her.

“Hold on,” he said to Mao when she was okay.

Mao was a bit shy in wrapping her arms around his waist. She just grabbed the sides of his jacket. Shun’s lips broke into a smile.

“Here we go,” he said.

The motorcycle jerked forward and Mao involuntarily wrapped her arms around Shun’s waist tightly. She was never used to riding motorcycles and didn’t feel they were safe. But when Shun offered her a ride home, she didn’t think twice about it. Her heart thumped so hard as they rode away. She was sure it wasn’t just because she was a little scared but the fact that she was this close to Shun. She could smell his cologne, as a dreamy gaze appeared in her eyes. Hoping he wouldn’t feel her racing heartbeat, her lips broke into a giddy smile. She couldn’t help it. It was Shun after all, as she held on more tightly. What she didn’t know was Shun had the same smile on his face.

**

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Shun said, as he put on his helmet.

“Yeah. Be careful,” Mao said, trying her best to hide her giddy smile, as she self-consciously fixed her hair.

Shun turned his motorcycle around and rode away, as he made a right turn on the corner. Ryo was on his way home.

“Sweet ride,” Ryo commented as he looked at the motorcycle. Turning back around, he saw Mao standing there with a sort of wistful look on her face.

“Who was that? And what’s with that silly look?” he asked, as he walked closer to her.

“Oguri Shun. Someone I work with,” Mao said, quickly turning around towards the stairs.

“Really? He gave you a ride home, huh?” Ryo said, trailing behind her as they went up.

Reaching their floor, Mao suddenly whipped around. “So you too think it’s weird that he gave me a ride home?”

Ryo looked curiously at her. “Yeah. Why would anyone do that? I mean it’s you.”

Mao pulled down his trucker cap over his eyes hard and walked away. Ryo told her to wait. He was just joking and pulled her towards the stairs to sit down.

“Is there something you want to talk about?”

“I don’t know,” Mao shrugged. “I mean, it’s just weird he… Ah! It’s nothing! Nothing.”

She didn’t want to assume. She hates assumptions. Disappoints a person every time. And besides, why would Shun be interested in her? Isn’t that a bit arrogant on her side? Even deusional?

“Okay,” Ryo said then stood up.

“Hey!” Mao said, pulling him back down. “I thought you were genuinely concerned.”

“You said it was nothing.”

“Well, I mean isn’t it like when a guy goes out of his way to do something for a girl it means…” her voice trailed off. It sounded even more impossible when spoken out loud.

“It’s just a ride home,” Ryo explained rolling his eyes. “If it wasn’t your crush and just a normal guy, you wouldn’t think of it that way.”

But Mao wasn’t listening, a bit lost in her thoughts.

“Maybe he just thought you wouldn’t be able to go home with those short legs of yours,” Ryo smirked.

That got her attention. She hit him hard on his arm. Ryo winced, rubbing it. She sure can hit.

“I’m just looking out for you here,” he said, in a fake hurt tone.

“You’re like an annoying brother,” she said, glaring.

“I wouldn’t want to be related to you,” he retorted.

This time she pinched him. “Ow! Ow! Ow!”

“You’re too ugly and old anyway.”

Ryo opened his mouth to deliver a comeback when Kei-chan appeared before them.

“Hey, you’re aunt said we have a new tenant,” he said. “Maybe we should give him a welcome party eh?”

Ryo’s face revealed he wasn’t too keen on the idea. Kei-chan ignored him and told them to come get ready, as he turned around, wheels in his head turning.

“Come on oji-chan,” Mao said, standing up. “Haul your ugly butt over there.”

In a swift move, Ryo places his arm over her shoulder and then grabbed her to him, keeping her in a headlock. He dragged Mao over to Kei-chan’s room, laughing at the expressions her face was making as she tried to break free.

**

Yamapi arrived at his new building, noticing it was pretty dark. The lights were very dim and the place eerily quiet. It looked much better in the morning, he thought. Seems like nobody was home yet. He took out his key and opened his door. The moment he swung it open, somebody had pushed him from behind all the way to his couch. He couldn’t move his arms as someone placed them behind him and pinned him down. What the hell? He thought, struggling. It felt like more than one person was on top of him. Suddenly a gorilla’s face appeared before his eyes.

“Yamashita Tomohisa. As a new tenant in this building, you have to undergo an initiation set forth by-“

Something seems to have distracted the gorilla. Yamapi just laid there unable to believe what was happening.

“Okay, Tego,” he said, obviously talking to one of his accomplice. “Why are you wearing a teletubby mask? I said, something scary.”

“Technically, Teletubbies are kinda scary,” a female voice interjected.

Yamapi couldn’t see but he recognized Mao’s voice.

“Because someone here said it’s all that’s left,” Tego said, obviously irritated.

Yamapi could hear one of them laughing non-stop.

“It suits him, Teletubbies are short, you know.”

“I didn’t know Darth Vader was short,” Tego retorted.

“Uh… guys? I think we’re forgetting something?” Mao said.

“Oh yeah,” the three said in unison. And turned to Yamapi again.

After saying their script, they got Yamapi up his feet. He then saw a gorilla, a teletubby, and a werewolf. The werewolf gave a short little wave at him. Darth Vader must be the one holding him behind his back. He chuckled at the weirdness of the situation.

They trudged up the steps to the roof and when they reached it, bright lights opened up and a WELCOM banner was hanging on the clothesline. Yes, W-E-L-C-O-M. I ran out of poster paint, Massu said defensively. There were chips, beer, sodas, and different kinds of food on the table.

“Okay. Fun’s over. This is so lame,” Ryo muttered as he took off his mask and walked to the table.

Mao was holding hers in her hand and stood next to Yamapi, grinning. “Sorry about that but welcome to our little group.”

Yamapi stood there with a look of disbelief and an amused smile on his face, shaking his head. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Pizzas’ coming,” Kei-chan said, patting him on the back. “By the way you’re paying for it.”

Chuckling, he led them to the table. The pizzas came and introductions were made. Ryo was a bit amused at Yamapi’s nickname.

“Pi-chan like the little pig in Ranma,” Mao said, smiling.

But Ryo had a different thought. “What? Yamapi? Pi? Like ‘pee’?” he said, cackling.

Mao threw a few chips at him. He can be so obnoxious.

“Is he always like that?” Yamapi asked, unfazed. He even sounded amused.

“Everytime. See, he thinks he’s funny but really he’s not,” Mao said, grinning, as the others laughed along.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ryo said, obviously not amused.” So, are we going to talk about your crush or not?”

Mao’s eyes were shooting daggers at him. He had that sadistic smile on.

“Crush? What crush?” Tego asked, perking up, his eyes on Mao.

Kei-chan adopted a solemn look. “A crush eh? Ah, our little girl really has grown up.”

“You sound like my father,” Mao snorted. She will kill Ryo for this.

Kei-chan looked far away dramatically. “I remember when you had a crush on Ryo-“

“What?!”

Mao was off her seat and had her palms over Kei-chan’s cheeks, squeezing them together.

“I told you to keep quiet!”

Ryo’s eyes glistened. A big smile on his face. “A crush on me? When?”

He was enjoying this. Tego had a look of disgust mixed with disbelief on his face. Massu was roaring with laughter. Yamapi was chuckling as he watched Mao squeeze Kei-chan’s cheeks, not allowing him to talk.

Kei-chan swatted her hands away. “Yeah. When you first moved in here.”

Mao had her palms on his cheeks again, gritting her teeth, irritated that he has blown her secret.

“You’ll kill him,” Yamapi chuckled, as he pulled Mao back to her seat.

“Oh this is priceless! Till when was this?” Ryo asked, still having that smug smile on his face.

“Till you opened your fat mouth,” Mao said, glaring. She took some chips and munched violently.

Ryo nodded, unable to wipe the smirk off his face, looking at Mao, wiggling his eyebrows.

“So that’s why you can’t talk to me normally before. You were always shy around me.”

“Can we change the subject?”

“Yeah, it’s making me nauseous too,” Tego muttered glumly.

“Is that why you curled your hair? Because of this new crush?” Kei-chan asked.

Mao made a face at him and put her arms up to tie her hair. Yamapi watched as she did this. She then reached out for a pizza and took a huge bite.

“Oguri Shun wouldn’t like seeing you eat like that,” Ryo joked. “Right, guys?”

“I think she’s cute,” Yamapi said, as he bit into his pizza. Okay he wasn’t supposed to say it out loud.

Everyone stared at him for a while. Yamapi caught Mao’s eyes. She was surprised as well.

Recovering she said, “See? Yamapi’s got taste. I’m glad somebody’s on my side.”

She laughed, her cheeks turning a little pink. It’s not such a bad thing to hear.

Ryo then scoffed at that and they chatted and laughed some more. After an hour, Nino came by. He and Ryo had plans for the evening, hitting the bars. Kei-chan returned to his room getting ready for his second audition. With the others gone, Mao looked up at the sky. A few stars have come out. Something they don’t see often.

“Up for some stargazing, guys?” she asked.

They took down a blanket from the clothesline and laid it down on the floor. The four of them laid down in a circle, watching the stars.

“So, Pi, what do you do?” Mao asked.

“Right now? Unemployed,” he said, his head on his hands.

“But your clothes are all designer clothes,” Tego mused.

Shige had said they’d probably be curious about that. And may also be curious about certain things in his room. “I wasn’t unemployed before. I like designer clothes. Bad habit.”

He really didn’t feel comfortable lying to them. They were good people but keeping his real identity would be better as Shige had repeatedly said. They fell into comfortable silence till they heard Massu’s light snores. It was a sign for Tego to get some sleep as well.

“Early shoot tomorrow,” he said, standing up.

They both bid him good night. Tego started to walk away when he turned around and said, “Did you really have a crush on Ryo?”

“Good night, Yoshi,” Mao said.

Tego dragged his feet away, shoulders drooped.

“Yoshi?” Yamapi asked.

“Tegoshi. Yoshi. My nickname for him,” Mao said, laughing. “I know, lame. But I have nicknames for all of them.”

Yamapi chuckled. “What do you call Ryo?”

“Satan,” Mao said, her expression serious.

Yamapi turned her head and laughed at how serious she was.

Mao smiled. “Massu here is meat bun. Look at those cheeks. So meaty. Then there’s Kei-chan.”

Yamapi looked over at the snoring Massu. She was right. But her cheeks were as well. Not as meaty but he had this crazy urge to pinch them everytime she smiles.

“Everyone’s got one eh? How about me then?” he asked, a smile in his voice.

“You? Pi-chan right?” Mao said, thinking. “Or maybe Buta?”

“Ouch,” Yamapi said, as Mao laughed out loud. Something he found he liked hearing…

Mao laughed some more. For some reason, even though they just met, she felt really comfortable with him. Not usually the case when she’s around people she wasn’t familiar with. But with him, it became just natural. It was as if they were old friends. Or maybe coz she was still giddy over what happened with Shun earlier. She was still on a high.

“Buta,” she repeated, laughing softly as she watched a star twinkle. She loved stargazing. It’s just something that calms her down. She liked just lying down for a while, not thinking about all the stress and pressure.

“Hey, is there some place you really want to go to?” she suddenly asked.

“Me? I don’t know really…” he said. It was easy for him to go just about anywhere he’d like. It seems he’s never really had to think about it. All he knows is something is missing in his life. He’s still trying to find out what it is. That’s probably where he wants to go. A place where he’d find that. So he thought of this plan. Maybe it can give him a different perspective. But he couldn’t exactly tell her that.

“Me, I wanna go to Hawaii,” she said in an excited voice, her face lighting up. “Sun, surf, sand. Love it!”

“Really?” he said, biting his tongue almost spilling that he had gone there. He loves that place. “I love to go to the beach too. Maybe you’ll be able to go someday.”

“Yeah. I’d have to wait a while. Hopefully, I wouldn’t be too old,” she said, sighing. “But still, I am saving for that.”

Yamapi smiled at that and they fell into comfortable silence once more, Massu’s snores in the background. Mao suddenly let out a small laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“I just thought about how most guys always tell girls they’ll give the stars to them or something like that,” Mao said, a small smile on her face.

Yamapi turned his head to her once again. “Well, maybe that’s really what they want to do, if only they could.”

“Yeah? Nobody can give a star to anyone. Impossible and cheesy… but still… that would be nice…,” she said softly.

Yamapi looked at her with that small wistful smile on her lips, staring at the stars. He felt a tug in his heart. She then shook her head, gave a small laugh as if realizing what she was saying sounded silly. Why was she even talking to him about this? It was time for bed. She woke Massu up and they went to clean up the table. Yamapi walked straight ahead though.

“Pi, aren’t you going to help us?” Mao called after him with Massu at her side, yawning.

Yamapi stopped in his tracks and doubled back. “Oh yeah.”

He really wasn’t used to this part.

**

Yamapi and Mao came down the stairs holding the trash. They had sent Massu ahead coz he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore. But even though that’s the case, he still was able to eat a banana as he went down the stairs, leaving Mao shaking her head.

“I’ll take this down,” Mao said.

“But-“

“It’s okay. I have to buy something at the convenience store anyway. You go rest. You’re probably tired from the move.”

Yamapi hesitated but Mao pushed him to his room and said good night. When he stepped inside his room, it wasn’t long before he heard Mao’s yelp. He peeked outside and saw her getting up from the floor, rubbing her backside and angrily kicking the banana peel on the floor. Yamapi stifled a laugh at the sight. Mao pounded down the stairs, frustrated. But then she came back and picked up the banana peel, placed it in the trash bag. Somebody else might slip on it. Sighing, she went back down. Yamapi closed his door softly, grinning goofily. She really was something else…