This isn't your average love story, not the kind with endless happily ever afters and cliche fantasies. Neither was it his love story to begin with. He never wanted it, or expected it to happen. But it did, in the worst way possible, starting by hel...
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Sasuke noticed awfully strange the next day of school when he came to pick up Ayu like he said he would. The face she made when she met him at her house didn't make him happy.
Ayu had a lingering face on her as if she was in deep thought every time when there was silence. Not only did it happen once, it occurred several times throughout the day and it worried him.
Did something happened? He assumed her whereabouts with Satoshi last night, perhaps they talked about something so significant that he may not understand.
Maybe that's why Ayu hasn't said anything about it, and that didn't side with him. It, in fact, sketched him out.
Until lunchtime, Sasuke had the courage to pester her about it after claiming their meals at the cafeteria. The idea of her keeping secrets from him didn't satisfy him, so he planned to approach her of the mishap.
Here they are, sitting side by side on a bench, they ate quietly. Nothing but the sounds of seran wrap being peeled from their sandwiches.
There it was again. Ayu's eyes dropped suddenly when her cold egg sandwich stayed in her mouth, not chipping a bite of it. He saw that she was contemplating.
"Ayu," Sasuke called after releasing a sharp breath under his nose. She turned to him suddenly with wonder. "Is something wrong?"
The tone in his voice sounded so sincere like he was troubled by her demeanor. It nearly broke her.
Ayu lowered her sandwich to her lap, taking a break from eating as she stared at it.
She muttered honestly, "Well... Not really. It's just..."
He tilted his head impatiently, a little annoyed.
"Last night, I called Satoshi."
He would've guessed it and he automatically became spiteful.
Instead of arguing about it and interrogate her with questions, Sasuke allowed her to finish before judging.
"It has nothing to do with me, I swear," she promised quickly, and that relieved the Uchiha and his expectations. "But he told me something very important about what's going on with him, and he needs support."
"You mean, advice," he corrected and Ayu just nodded.
This brought his attention since he hasn't been updated about his former best friend's life. It gave no benefit to him for knowing, but he wants to know.
"What did he tell you?"
Ayu was about to back down from saying more than needed, but the topic already gotten so far. She had no right to keep him in the dark, not when she and Sasuke are a couple. He has every right to know why her ex lover is contacting her for whatever reason.
"It has something to do with Amaya, his current girlfriend," she said, surprising him. "I thought it was strange at first, because he called for something that I have no connection to. I wasn't a part of anything that he does now. But once he told me everything, I understood why."
"And that is...?" Sasuke trailed.
"He called, because Amaya has leukemia."
By those subtle words, his assumptions didn't even come close to what he was expecting from her. He found it quite heart-throbbing to hear something so drastic as that.
Ayu's face said it all - that she knew what the impression was.
"She's at the hospital at this very moment. According to Satoshi, she collapsed from her bedside the other day and she was unable to recover from the pain. So that's why... he called me because, in situations like this, he doesn't know what to do if someone was suffering."
Silence; the perfect way to name the moment by Ayu's heavy words that cut him deeply. He had no clue what, or how to respond to this tragic news. Never did he ever thought that Satoshi's love life would come this far.
"How come you didn't say anything about it?" he questioned sadly.
Ayu blinked lowly and sighed.
"I don't know how to bring up something so depressing. It's not that easy to just share with other people without sounding like a gossip," she explained. "And plus, you always look bothered when I talk about Satoshi."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. That he can't deny and he rather not yet it made him proud that Ayu was able to pick up on these things - only to not upset him.
"What would you do, Sasuke?" she asked suddenly, meeting eyes with him. "In a situation like that, what do you think it's best for you to do?"
Sasuke thought long and hard of the question, but he felt like he already knew the answer. It felt familiar as the scenario reflected onto him and his own personal life.
But then, he went back in time and thought of Ayu - the time when she was always there.
"I would want to be there for them no matter what, if that happens to me," she answered for him, which it was exactly what he was stirring up. "No matter how bad they are going through, I just want to stay with them and give everything that I can offer."
Sasuke remained quiet. His hand cupped his mouth in a thinking position and let her voice fill the air between them. The more she was talking, the more he felt the sadness coming from Ayu's voice.
"I can't help but to think about him. I'm just worried," she admitted. "It isn't just anybody. It's his girlfriend, the one that he believes is his special someone. Someone like that, you want to be with for the rest of your life. I can't imagine how he's feeling."
Sasuke couldn't, either. The idea of it just messed with his mind and he would rather not relate it to himself.
If Ayu was ill, then he wouldn't know what to do.
Although, at the back of his head, he doesn't quite side with Satoshi still calling her. It somehow makes Ayu side-track with her life and then going back to deal with her ex, especially right after when they had closure.
Again, just when everything seemed to go his way, Satoshi seem to keep interrupting their peace.
Instead, Sasuke leaned and grabbed the little brunette's head, guiding her to his neck. She can feel his muscles relaxing as he was giving comfort by smoothing her hair.
"I'll call him," Sasuke answered.
Ayu glanced up curiously, still holding onto her cold sandwich in her hand.
"After everything, I should at least give what I can offer, right?"
Using her words, Sasuke eyed her down with strong eyes. He can't possibly forget Satoshi. He, as his former best friend and brotherly lover, should support him in the distance.
