Memories of the Past

Chapter 4: Karmanami Time Part 1

"Hey Karma, what's up with you and Okuda these days" Nakamura asked as she lazily flopped onto the bare sofa. They had just got home from the classroom and were both in need of some sustenance. As Karma opened his fridge to look for anything they might eat he responded to the blonds question. "Well, we've been dating for only a few months now and things seem to be getting along quite smoothly." "Oh really? Well that's nice" Nakamura responded. "Oh by the way, I haven't heard of the story of you two, care to indulge me?" Karma looked back at her and shrugged. "I confessed all the way back till last year, but we didn't actually start dating till this July." Karma responded half-heartedly. Nakamura wasn't impressed. "Awww. C'mon Karma, I know you can do better than that. Gimme the goods man." As Karma cleaned the rice, he figured that it wouldn't hurt to give the girl what she wanted. "Alright, I'll tell you. But first you gotta give me your phone." Karma knew that Nakamura wasn't gonna let this conversation go by, and he needed to make sure that she wouldn't try anything that would be used against him. "What?! Cmon Karma you trust me right?" She said " Unfortunately, I don't, and the reason I don't is because I can see that mini VHS recorder sticking out of your back pocket." After Karma mentioned that Nakamura begrudgingly handed over her stuff. "Killjoy," She murmured. Karma walked back over to the rice and, after cleaning it a few more times, put it in the cooker. As he started to take the soba noodles out of the fridge, he started his story. "It was last summer in the middle of June. I had started my career and was on my way back from the Office.

Flashback

'Oh great, this was harder than I thought, now how am I gonna get back at him?' Karma was walking back from work. It was only the third day and his boss had already piled a year's worth of paperwork on him. As he was walking to his car he noticed a girl standing by herself at the bus stop. Her raven colored hair was tied into one pigtail resting on her right shoulder and her face was framed by two round spectacles. Karma knew exactly who she was and decided to say hi. "Hey Okuda whats up?" Karma said while walking toward the chemist. "Wah! Oh, hey Karma, you startled me." She said while holding her hand to her chest. "So what're you doing out here? It's awfully hot today and someone like you should probably not stand to long out in the sun." Karma said. "Oh, I'm just waiting for my bus, plus the sun is setting so you don't have to worry about that." Okuda replied. Karma thought to himself 'isn't that worse? Since the sun is down shady people will be up and about.' Suddenly an idea popped into his head. "Say Okuda, why don't I drive you home. You probably don't want to be going on a bus especially at night." "Hmmmmmm, I guess you're right. Are you sure you're ok with bringing me back? I wouldn't want to hinder your schedule." Okuda asked. "Oh, yea, it's fine. I don't have anything else to do and it's not that late. It shouldn't be too much of a hassle." "Well ok then, thanks!" As Karma and Okuda got into Karma's car Karma asked Okuda a question. "Say Okuda, where do you work?" "Oh, I work as a researcher at that building right over there." Karma looked over to where she was pointing. She pointed at a tall building covered in glass panes that was only a few buildings away from his. "Well what d'ya know, we work in the same neighborhood Okuda." "Eh?" she said in confusion. "I work at that building right over there." Karma pointed to a building that was only a bit smaller than the one Okuda pointed to. "Oh, well what a coincidence" she said. As they drove to Okuda's house they chatted about their jobs and shared with each other their joys and woes. "Yea! Oh by the way, did you know Takebayashi also works in the same department as me?" 'Takabayashi, huh?' Karma thought. "If he works with you, why doesn't he drive you back home like I'm doing?" Karma didn't want her going alone on a bus everyday, especially since gangs and thugs we're quite common in the city. "Oh, he gets off an hour earlier than I do, so it just doesn't really work out" she replied. Karma thought about what to do about Okuda's situation. He knew she always had some kind of self defence on her, whether it was smoke bombs or cidine tissues. However, he only wanted her to use them when it was absolutely necessary. "Hey Okuda, wanna come home with me every day?" Karma suggested. Okuda was surprised at this sudden offer and her face grew a light shade of red on it. "Wha-what?" she replied. Karma, realizing his mistake, sought to correct himself. "I meant is it ok if I take you home everyday. The streets are often a dangerous place and I don't need you getting hurt when I could do this anyways." Okuda smiled at Karma. "Yeah, I guess we could do that, b-but are you sure you want to go through the hassle of picking me up everyday?" 'Oh, Okuda, insecure as always' Karma thought. "I already told you this, but it's absolutely fine, I don't need you getting hurt when I have the ability to prevent that from happening." Karma responded. "O-oh, well ok then." Okuda responded. The rest of the ride was pretty silent. 'What has this girl done to me' he thought. Karma had always liked Okuda. She was easy to talk to, could keep secrets, and overall was just a nice and trustworthy person. He was able to confide in her during the test in courage and was overall helpful to him, especially in his pranks. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but it took him awhile to realize his own feelings for her. It took not seeing her anymore to realize that he actually did like her, not just as a friend but romantically. He had a feeling that he liked her back in middle school, but he didn't quite understand what it was at the time. After graduation, both Karma and Okuda slowly started falling away, causing Karma to finally realize what he felt for the girl. "Oh this is my apartment." Okuda said, interrupting Karma's thoughts. The building was humble, mostly brick laden with windows placed on every floor to signify the occupying rooms. It looked relatively clean and you could see from the glass in the double doors that the interior wasn't all that bad. Okuda unbuckled herself and grabbed her stuff then proceeded to open the door to leave. "Thanks for the ride, Karma!" she said as she stepped out of the car. "Hmmm? Oh yea, bye Okuda." Karma responded. She slammed the door shut and started to walk down the path to the door. However, before she got in Karma rolled down his windows and shouted at her. "Hey Okuda!" He said. The girl quickly turned around to signify he got her attention. "See ya tomorrow!" He said with a smirk. She smiled. "Yea, see you Karma!" She shouted back. With that she turned around and walked through the double doors. Karma rolled down his window and drove away. For the next three weeks, Karma drove Okuda back home everyday after work. Just like that, it seemed like their relationship was exactly the same as it was back in their third year of middle school. However, what came with that was the resurfacing feelings of the bispetical girl that Karma had all those years ago. Before long, he decided that he would confess those feelings. It was the fourth of July. Nothing about that date was special. However, Karma did hear that America did celebrate on this day. Something about them finding their freedom or something like that. He found it funny that he was about to be freed as well. Well, something would be freed at least. Would it be the bonds of friendship that held him down for so long or the weight of his feelings that kept him up at night? Maybe he was going to be freed, but then be recaptured and chained down by something else. Karma didn't know. He had invited Okuda to eat with him that night. Both their schedules were almost always free after work so it never was a problem to plan these sorts of things. Right now, Karma was outside of the lab that Okuda worked at. He dressed casually figuring that Okuda wouldn't just keep a spare dress or something like that tucked away in that coat of hers. As he was waiting he was looking at the restaurant where they would be eating. It was a place that he and Okuda used to go to to hang out. The location was formerly a small stand owned by a man and his family. They served different delicacies like special kinds of filled mochi and different types of pastries for example. In the past, the two went there because it harbored both Karma and Okuda's favorite foods, being strawberry milk and Honeycomb toffee respectively. Back then it wasn't that ideal of a place for a confession, but since then, it had grown. The once small stand now doubled as a bakery and a full blown restaurant, making it a lot better of a place to do what Karma wanted. The two went there so often that the man and his family were able to recognize them every time they went in and even hung out with his two kids from time to time. The man's son always thought the two were dating for the longest time, but Karma straightened out that misunderstanding after he asked. "Alright I'll see you guys later!" Okuda yelled into the lab. "Alright, ready to go?" Karma asked. "Yea, just give me a few, I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick" She said. Karma nodded and the girl walked away. After she came out the pair walked out of the building and headed straight to Karma's car. "So where are we going Karma?" Okuda asked. Karma thought a bit and decided it would be best to surprise her "It's a surprise," He said with a smirk "Oh, ok." 'she's too patient for her own good' Karma thought to himself as he started to open the car door. On the way there, Okuda kept asking questions about where they were going. Though he did like her, he was starting to feel slight droplets of irritation. 'Ok maybe I was wrong'. He thought. After a while, Okuda started to recognize the street and direction they were going and suddenly had a realization. "Wait, are we going to where I think we're going?" she said. Karma only replied with a smirk while still facing the road. As they pulled up into the parking lot, Okuda made a remark about the restaurant's new exterior. "Wow, is this really where we went back when we were in middle school?" she asked. "I don't know, you tell me." Karma said." Okuda didn't respond, but simply looked through the window in awe of the place that was at least ten times bigger than it used to be. After Karma parked the car he walked out and circled around to open the door for Okuda. "Thanks." she said. As they walked in they were greeted with warmth by the owner's son. "Woah! Karma is that you!?" he yelled as he walked over to them. "And Okuda!? Man I haven't seen you two in forever." he said. "What's up Marco!?" Karma responded. Marco Yazawa was a half-hispanic half-Japanese boy. Before he worked as a restaurant owner, his father met his mother on a business trip to Spain and they seemed to hit it off really well. They had a long distance relationship for about a year before his mother finally moved to Japan. After a few months the two got married and had Marco and another child named Lily. She was currently studying abroad in London, England . "So what can I getcha guys?" Marco said as the two former 3-E students sat down. Karma quickly responded "Get us the usual chief." he said. "Alright, two strawberry milks from the "Simmered au lait series" and two honeycomb toffee for each of ya?" he responded. Karma looked at Manami. She nodded. "Yep." "Alright, I'll be out with those in a sec." Marco responded. As he left two Karma watched as he walked through the two metal doors that led to the back of the restaurant. "It feels like forever since we've been here." Karma looked over to Okuda who was currently taking in the sights. Forever was right. Both Karma and Manami knew the restaurant before it even was one. The stand was simple. It looked like a typical ramen or udon stand, the only difference is that they didn't serve that. While looking around, Karma was thinking of a way to confess to Okuda. He knew it wasn't really the right time, but the longer he waited the harder it would be to do so. It didn't take long before their food came out. Marco came out with two plates and three cups. Also with those things was a girl holding onto his arm. "Alright two honeycomb toffee and two strawberry milks." He said while placing the said items on the table. While doing so he also placed his own drink on the table. "Nagisa, can we do this some other time, I'm working right now." He whispered to the girl next to him. While he was busy with her, Karma decided to mess with him a bit. He took the sriracha sitting at the side of the table and inserted a more than generous amount into his straw. "Karma!" Okuda yelled. "What, I just wanna relive the old times y'know?" Karma responded. After Marco was done with the girl beside him he talked to Karma and Okuda. "Sorry about that, that was my girlfriend Nagisa," he said. Suddenly a voice came from across the restaurant "But you can call me Nagi!!" the voice said. Karma smirked and started talking to Marco. "That's funny, I have a friend named Nagisa, he's a boy though," there was a pause in between his words. "Actually, I take that back, he's not quite masculine enough to be one." He continued saying. He chuckled at his own remark. "Is that so?" Marco said while taking a sip of his drink. His countenance suddenly changed, but not in the way Karma wanted it. His face started to scrunch up and he looked at his drink. "Excuse me." he said with a face full of liquid. He hastily made his way to the bathroom after putting down his drink. Karma was kind of disappointed by his reaction. Suddenly, there was screaming coming from the walls. 'That's more like it' Karma thought. "Ummm, Karma, that was a little mean don't you think." Okuda said with a worried expression on her face. "Relax , I used to do this to him all the time, remember?" he responded. Marco came back, face fully red and formerly in pain. "Sorry about that" he said all while glaring at the Red head who was laughing his head off. After that, both Karma and Okuda started eating and quickly finished their pastry. It wasn't really a meal for supper, only a small snack to friends could bond over. Karma once again thought about the confession. It had to be perfect, he couldn't afford to mess this up.