✔️ Body and Mind

The Bus

Yuzuru took the route home through the park, kicking into every stone that was in his path. He was both angry and absolutely devasted.

Angry at himself that he again believed a girl liked him for him and not his status, angry at Rachel how heartless she was, and angry at Anya that she was on it the whole time, not telling him anything.

And devasted, because he was alone again. But after hearing all those insults he didn't want to be with anyone right now anyway. Everything he heard was just swirling in his head.

"Not tall enough. Not buffed enough. Talking about skating all the time. Stupid."

Now he couldn't hold the tears any longer and he just sat down on a bench, hid his face in his palms, and started to cry, releasing all the sadness into the cold morning.

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It's been five days and Anya didn't know how to contact Yuzuru. He wasn't in school and she didn't have his number. Even though she doubted he would have wanted to talk to her anyway.
But she just wanted to get a chance to explain herself. And to see him again.

After her late shift at the library, she got on the bus as usual and sat in the back. After few stops, she saw that Yuzuru got on as well, but he didn't see her and went to sit in the open area in the middle. A few moments later, she noticed several girls approaching him and trying to chat up with him making him visibly irritated and uncomfortable.

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Yuzuru was regretting he didn't take Brian on his offer of giving him a lift tonight. He just preferred to be alone in the past few days but now again he needed to deal with his fans questioning him on the bus. He didn't want to be rude to them but he just wanted to be left alone.

Suddenly Anya appeared in front of him, speaking to him in very fast Japanese and gesturing to her seat at the back of the bus. The way she talked and the fact that none of the girls around him could understand her caught them off guard and they let their prey follow that girl in black. They knew they have lost their chance.

Yuzuru threw himself on the free seat next to Anya and bent over, holding his stomach, laughing.

In between his laughter, he was trying to talk to her.

-Do you....do you even know....what you were saying?

-Nope. I didn't get far in the Duolingo lessons.

-You were...just naming random animals and....stages of weather....

-But it sounded confident, didn't it? I kind of surprised myself. At least it got those girls off your back.

-Yeah, it did. Thank you....

And Yuzuru felt a slight sting of anger nudging him in his chest realizing he is with somebody who was part of the betrayal. His expression darkened again.

-You are mad at me, aren't you?

-Yeah.

-Can I explain myself?

-Well we will be on the bus for the next 20 minutes and I am not planning to go back to those girls.

-It's just...you really cared for Rachel, didn't you?

-Of course, I did!

-And you trusted her, right?

-Yes!

-So with that cleared....would you even believe me if I would just randomly come up to you and tell you that she is fake and just using you?

Yuzuru was thinking about it and realized he never got to know Anya, whereas he thought he knew Rachel pretty well. The only time he properly spoke with Anya was only the day before the break up when she brought him the soup. But until then the only image he had of her were the lies that Rachel told him. The more he was thinking about it, he knew he actually wouldn't have believed her.
He believed Rachel and she was the one who betrayed him, not Anya.

-You are right.

-I am rarely wrong.

-Well I was right about something though...

-And what was that?

-About your muscle memory.

They both burst into laughter, the whole bus turning to look at them.
And the moment Anya noticed that she stopped laughing and slid lower in her seat.

-Hmm, you really do get uncomfortable when people look at you, don't you?

-Well, when it's an almost full bus of people? Yeah....

Yuzuru then slid lower in his seat as well to match her level.

-You are right, it's better here anyway. - And he gave her a quick wink of approval.

-So how is her nose, is it broken?

-Oh, luckily not! I thought she gonna sue me. But it's not broken and she took an advantage of playing the pity card at school. And she also completely stopped talking to me. So it's a win-win.

-How can you two still live together?

-Well the rent is incredibly cheap, it's a great location, and both of our rooms have their own bathroom, it's just perfect. I guess at this point each of us is hoping that the other will give up first.

-Hmm, well if you would ever need a place to crash, you are always welcome. I still owe you that camomille tea anyway....and for the soup....and for rescuing me now from those girls....

Yuzuru then looked into her eyes as if he would be seeing her now in a completely different light and just quietly said.

-Thank you....

-For what?

-For caring about me.

Anya blushed and looked away.

-Oh, it's almost my stop!

She proceeded to get up, Yuzuru making space for her to pass him by.

-Goodbye Yuzu and good luck with your future endeavors.

-That sounds quite final.

-And isn't it?

Yuzuru quickly reached into his bag and fished out a pen. He grabbed her arm and quickly scribbled his number on her forearm. His fangirls on the verge of fainting seeing what he did.

-Let me know if you would ever need anything....

The bus stopped and Anya jumped out, giving Yuzuru a quick wave. He got back to his seat, trying to figure out what was it that he was feeling when she sat next to him.