Episode 11

**

“Oooohhhmmmm...”

Mao slowly said and then quickly swished the toy light saber in front of her, imagining herself duelling with Luke Skywalker. (Pssh! Shwing! Zzzt!) Kazu had always thought of her as Darth Vader or a Sith. The Dark Side was more fun anyway, she grinned. She lowered the light saber down (Luke was no more.) and peeked over at Kazu’s door. He still wasn’t up. Maybe she should go inside and clang some pots to wake him. That will be a lot of help for his headache. And it will serve him right for being such a pain in the asteroid last night.

She looked at the breakfast on the coffee table. Burnt eggs. Burnt toast. Burnt hot dogs. She could very well have burnt the orange juice too if it didn’t require her just pouring it out of the bottle.

Kazu better eat it all.

She looked down at the light saber in her hand. In a flash, she was now battling an imaginary Obi Wan Kenobi. (Pshing! Zzzt! Jeeng!) Obi Wan was a more experienced fighter and she was swinging her light saber with all her might. Defeated she will never be. Too into her life and death battle, she swung too hard and too wide knocking off the Darth Vader Mask off the book shelf, along with the R2D2 coin bank and… CRASH!

Sithspit!

Kazu and Aoi’s mugshot!

She stared down at the broken pieces on the floor, a hand over her mouth. Her mind racing slightly. Kazu loved that mugshot of theirs. She knew the thought of putting it in a glass case with little strobe lights lighting it had definitely crossed his mind. But he had the decency to realize it’s borderline serial killer stalker action. And so he had placed it on the bookshelf where everyone can see it. Mostly her actually. And she didn’t really lik-

Shuffling of feet made her jerk. She looked around and grabbed a throw pillow to cover the mess up and then hoping to distract Kazu. She’ll just concentrate on finding a solution later. Her head snapped up. Kazu was rubbing his eyes, his hair sticking out, looking adorable. She mentally shook her head as Kazu walked forward, stopping near the cushion.

“Good morning, Ramon!” she greeted perkily, waving her hands at him.

Nino stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at her, a slight frown on his brow.

“Ramon?”

Heh?

“Yeah, Ramon,” Mao nodded vigorously, her eyes shining. “You wanted everyone to call you that after you switched to Mojitos last night.”

“Oh, wait, it’s Rrrrrramon,” she added. “You wanted to emphasize the ‘Rs’.”

Nino stared at her, disbelieving. He wouldn’t do anything like that. Ha-Ha. Mao was looking flushed, trying hard not to laugh at the memory.

Or would he?

“Yeah, I don’t get it either,” Mao shrugged as Nino continued to stare.

“And you were doing a little cha-cha dance everytime you say ‘Mo-ji-tos’ and then give this crazy giggle,” Mao bit her lip trying to suppress a snort.

“Stop messing with me,” Nino gave a weak awkward laugh.

Mao was shaking her head. “I am not making this up, I swear.”

“And you were also proposing on producing an Ewoks musical!” she continued, her eyes gleaming with mirth.

Okay, he was never supposed to say that to anyone. What?

“You even dragged Amoeba to show off some of your choreography,” she laughed out loud.

She wasn’t laughing at Kazu though. Just laughing at his antics and how he could be that only one that can make her laugh like this. And she liked that…

“But dancing really isn’t one of your fortes,” she snorted and then started imitating the now famous ‘Tentacles of Doom’ dance.

That doesn’t look good. Nino could feel his face growing hot and his ears turning a bright pink.

“But you were always poking your eye,” she gave another laugh, still doing the dance. “Oh, Kazu, you were so adora-“

“I’m glad I provided some entertainment for you guys last night,” he suddenly snapped, glaring at her.

Mao looked taken aback. He didn’t know why but this sudden inexplicable frustration was bubbling inside him. The thought of him making a fool of himself in front of Mao… In front of those other guys… She, laughing at him with them… Right now even…

“I’m sorry I’m not as cool as Jun and Yamashita. Or even Shin and Ryu,” he tried to hide the bitterness in his voice.

But that’s what she likes best about him.

“Obviously,” she teased, laughing and doing yet another impersonation of him dancing.

“It’s a wonder how you even noticed anything else with you dancing and flirting around with all the guys.”

What was he saying? Why was he being all bitter and unreasonable? But that heaviness in his heart… He saw a frown appear on her face as she stopped flailing about. An accurate interpretation of his dancing.

“Why are you snapping at me again?” Mao complained. “You were like that the whole night so you shouldn’t be surprised I was having more fun with the others!”

He was?

“Why should I let you ruin my night? I’d hate to be stuck with you!” she added, perplexed at Nino’s weird behaviour towards her. They had been okay yesterday afternoon! Was she really that irritating to him? Is he finally showing what he really feels?

Well, it’s not like she likes being with him! That much…

“If you like them so much, why don’t you go move in with one of them instead of torturing me here!”

Jun involuntarily popped into his mind as soon as he said that. She said she likes Jun, right? Just go with him then! But he doesn’t really mean that… In fact, he somehow never wants to see that happen. What is wrong with him? He was just picking a fight all of a sudden… But seeing her right now, thinking of Jun and her, and adding the images of himself acting a fool (almost in 3D), he felt the frustration tenfold…

Why is he saying all of these things out of the blue? She felt a moment’s panic but a whole lot more of irritation. She turned a scowl at him as he scratched his head in frustration, giving her a glare.

Why bring that up all of a sudden? He screamed at himself. Does he want to hear her say ‘no’ to that? Why did it bother him so much that she was having more fun with other guys?

“Maybe I should do just that because they for sure wouldn’t go all Incredible Hulk on me and ruin my day!”

“Then go do it! I can’t wait!”

He felt like kicking something and noticed the throw pillow on the floor. In a huff, he picked it up as Mao’s angry tirade got cut off.

“W-Wait!” he heard her call.

He paused and then frowned down at the broken pieces. Slowly squatting down to see what it was.

His mugshot with Aoi.

He carefully turned some of the pieces over, suddenly realizing it had been a while he had thought of Aoi. His thoughts had always been of her. Always. But now… he slowly turned his head to Mao. It had been replaced mostly by her… Looking incredibly cute wearing his ‘I Heart Darth’ shirt (which she had grown to liking and it was a testament to how weird his actions have become giving her sole custody of it), an oversized pair of shorts, holding on to a light saber, with an apologetic look on her face and that slight pout on her lips. It’s a wonder how the image of her was threatening to let the dokis escape again. And the frustration ate at him again. That shouldn’t be happening!

“Look, Kazu, I didn’t mean-“

“You just have to ruin everything, don’t you?” Nino said as he slowly stood up.

“What?” Mao asked, frowning.

“I was perfectly happy with my life. My peace and quiet and you just have to come barging in and disrupt everything! I can’t pray hard enough for summer to be over! Do you really have to wait for the end of summer?”

Mao could feel her heart thumping painfully. Why is he saying all these hurtful things? And why is she allowing herself to be too affected by this? Somehow seeing this situation as Kazu picking Aoi over her… As always… As what would always be…

“I didn’t want this to happen! It’s not like I intentionally broke that lousy mu-“

She winced inwardly as Nino narrowed his eyes. She really wasn’t good with apologizing.

“I didn’t mean it, okay? You can’t possibly think I did it on purpose!”

The Yoda in him was wisely telling him to answer that with a ‘no’. To let this all pass. To stop thinking of trying to vent out his frustrations on her. But he couldn’t seem to do it…

His silence really didn’t reassure her.

“Why can’t you just go? Just leave and I’ll have my life back to the way it should be,” he said, teeth gritted.

Mao looked at him. He knew she wasn’t too happy with that. Neither was he for that matter. What was he doing pushing her away like that? Acting as if he doesn’t want her here… He should stop. It was hurting her for sure. Has someone melted his brain cells away?

“Are you seriously asking me to leave over a mug?” she asked steadily.

She didn’t know why but that hurt. Really hurt. She somehow thought that at least at some point she held some importance to him in his life. At least as a friend. A housemate. An archnemesis. Whatever. Because he somehow had become important to her…

Well, not as important as stuffed frog dolls, cinnamon rolls and Slurpees! Not at all! Not at all…

Now he was saying all these things? And it doesn’t look like he’s kidding…

His inner Yoda was yelling something at him but he was not listening.

“It’s not like I wanted you to stay in the first place,” he said quietly.

He watched as a dark look appeared in her eyes, threatening to go Super Saiyan on him. He braced himself for the attack.

“Fine!” she then shouted at him, giving him a fierce glare. He looked taken aback.

She then pushed him out of the way and ran to her room. He could hear her moving around noisily inside while he stood there. His inner Yoda had always been calm but now it was shouting at what an idiot he was. He remained immobile as he looked down at the broken mug. Was this all worth it?

He heard Mao fling her door open after a while. Her luggage, bulging with all the things she tried to stuff inside, in tow and headed for the front door.

“Wait!” he called.

Mao stopped in her tracks, a hope bubbling involuntarily inside her. Kazu just had a moment’s insanity. He wouldn’t really let her leave. He wouldn’t have the heart to. She’ll just think of a small punishment for this stunt he’s pulling to make things even. She turned to him, maintaining a scowl. They stared at each other for a while.

Say something! Don’t let her leave! Ask her to stay! Apologize for your words and actions right now! She didn’t do anything wrong!

“Leave the light saber.”

His inner Yoda was now displaying an uncharacteristic act of violence; hitting him repeatedly with a giant sledgehammer.

Mao had a look of disbelief on her face. She then threw the light saber at him, hitting him on the face, grabbed something on the couch and ran out huffing in anger. He heard the door slam shut as he rubbed his face. His eyes fell on the couch.

His Guitar Hero!

Gar! She took it. That- He stopped as his eyes fell on the breakfast on the coffee table. It didn’t even look like food. But… He felt a slight twinge in his heart as his shoulders drooped.

What was he doing?

Ay Caramba.

**

People were staring at the girl muttering darkly to herself. A guitar hero slung across her, walking with soft frog slippers, dragging a huge luggage with many of her clothes sticking out.

Aoi. Aoi. Aoi. She’s all he ever thinks about! He actually was throwing her out for a mug? And why did she allow that to happen? But her irritation at that thought pushed her. And it hurt that he cared more about a mug than her… He hadn’t even considered her… Her safety… That she doesn’t have anywhere to go… He was never thinking of her… At least not sincerely… What did she expect?

She had thought he will be coming out to chase after her. He should at least feel some guilt! But that never happened. She looked down at the Guitar Hero. A last act of revenge to spite him. Seems he can live without his Guitar Hero after all… And her as well… She shook herself mentally and scowled into the distance, still oblivious to the people passing by and staring at her.

She thought Kazu would be different. That she would always have somewhere she can go to, no matter what. He had made her feel that way. She shouldn’t have fooled herself. She gave another scowl. This was all Kazu’s fault! He’s the one to blame! She took off the Guitar Hero and was about to smash it on the ground rockstar style and then stopped herself.

A helplessness and vulnerability hit her right then and there. She bit her lip. Maybe it wasn’t Kazu’s fault… Maybe there really was no one that would want her… Even Kazu, with all his patience… She’s driven him away too…?

Sithspit!

She shouldn’t be feeling self-pity right now. This is all Kazu’s fault! She won’t let him get to her! She can manage on her own! She pushed her hair off her face and then a light bulb moment came up. Grinning, she took out her phone and dialled.

“Na-nu na-nu, Yamashita! How ya been?”

“What do you want?” Yamashita’s more than happy voice answered.

“Where are you right now?”

“What do you want?”

“Oh, nothing. Meet me at 7-11, will you?”

“I can’t. I’m ironing my socks.”

She scowled at that. “I am in distress right now and all you care about are your socks?”

“You never really mentioned that part.”

“Come pick me up at 7-11.”

“Why? I’m ironing my socks.”

“I need to crash at your place.”

“Why?”

“Because Kazu’s an idiot and I left the house! So you need to come here right now.”

“I can’t. I’m ironing my socks.”

“Yadaj dakl, ingot!” Seriously, he was making her curse like Kazu now.

Pause. “You’re breaking up.”

“Come on. I need a place to stay and you are going to give me just that! Isn’t that swell? And you can’t leave me out here all alone!”

“Just go home and sort it out.”

“You come here!”

“I can’t. I’m ironing my socks.”

“Gorple zo-zo!” He just brings it out of her.

Pause. “Seriously, you’re breaking up.”

“You really don’t feel like saving me right now?”

“I’m sure you like it better when you’re back home.”

Home? She thought grudgingly. That wasn’t home to her…

“But right now you’re all I have…”

Silence.

“I’m ironing my socks.”

“Loz noy jitat!”

“What is it with your connection? You’re breaking up again.”

“You know, if I get into some kind of trouble or is kidnapped to be sold to a black market, you’re going to regret it!”

“Let me know.”

“You’re really one hard guy to break.”

“Go back home.”

“Snoigit,” she said defeatedly.

“I think we need to hang up now. You’re breaking up again.”

“Have fun with your socks.”

She glared at the phone dejectedly. He’s giving her no choice but to go back! Who else can she turn to? She scrunched up her face, deep in thought. And then…

**

“Na-nu na-nu!”

Mao smiled brightly at the girl who opened the door, wearing just a Van Halen T-shirt, a slight frown on her brow. The weird girl with the Guitar Hero had her hand up in a Vulcan salute.

“Is Jun-kun up?”

She quickly pushed the girl aside and went inside, banging her luggage on the girl’s leg.

“Who are you?” the girl demanded, wincing and rubbing her leg.

Mao ignored the girl and observed the room. It was smaller compared to Kazu’s and a whole lot messier. Her room looks just like it with things strewn all over the place. At least she can still see the couch. Hmm… well, this shouldn’t be too bad. At least it looks clean. But not like Ka- Okay, she should stop thinking about the Geekus!

She turned her head hearing the door to the left opening and Jun stepped out, yawning and stretching. His eyes fell on her. She grinned at him and his mouth was left open in a mid-yawn. He then gave a jerk as if zapped by a laser.

“What are you doing here?!”

“I’m crashing here!”

“Heh?”

“I didn’t know someone else was going to be here,” she fake-whispered loudly and pointing not at all discreetly to the girl.

Jun’s head snapped to the girl as Mao’s eyes crinkled. He forgot all about her for a second. Wait…

“It’s not what it looks like,” Jun tried explaining to Mao automatically, trying to act all nonchalant.

“No worries, Jun-kun,” Mao rolled her eyes. “I don’t care about your booty calls.”

“What did you say!” the girl shouted.

“I kinda remember you confessing that you like me, Jun-kun. But you don’t seem too affected that I rejected you,” she observed as if observing the weather. “Wasn’t it just last night?”

“Well, I-“

He saw stars in front of him as the girl gave him a slap. They watched as she gathered her things, cursed at Jun and stomped out. That was his favourite Van Halen shirt. He recovered and looked at Mao who was now throwing things from the couch onto the floor. Her bulging luggage at the side.

“What’s with the Guitar Hero?” Not really the first question he should be asking.

“Kazu’s an idiot. So I’m staying here for a while. It’s okay, right?” she said, turning her pleading eyes to him and pouting. She looked so vulnerable.

His heart was weak to that but he didn’t know if it was a good idea.

“You seem to be doing okay with the girl and all,” she chirped. “I have nowhere else to go…”

Well, he can’t just do nothing. She looks like she really needs the help right now. She has nowhere else to go. Who can say no to that? But…

“Maybe we should call Nino and ask him to pick you up. I’m sure whatever you guys fought about can be settled,” Jun made to get his phone.

“I don’t want to go back!”

She’s not going back if he doesn’t want her there! Jun looked at the expression on her face. The hurt and frustration could be seen for a while and then she seemed to pull herself together.

“Come on. It will be fun! The two of us!” She forced a smile.

And she proceeded to go look at her new room, cheerfully asking if there is air-conditioning. There better be! She went on and on perkily about how the best of housemates they shall be leaving him no chance to try to dissuade her again. He watched as she happily moved around in her frog slippers, getting ready to settle into her newfound house.

He on the other hand was trying hard not to think about it. Sure he had accepted that she had no chances of ever liking him. He was fine with that. Cool even. It wasn’t anything big. He’ll get over it soon enough. It’s not as if she’s forever at his side so he’ll have no trouble doing just that. But now that they’re going to be living under the same roof… Now that’s a different case… He swallowed as Mao smiled up at him, taking off the Guitar Hero.

And in the words of Nino…

Great Gobs of Bantha Poodoo!