Stranger | Taka

Chapter 11: Answer Is Clear

"For someone who always has so much energy on stage sure is tired after only a run."

From the corner of my eye, I can see Taka's back arched and both of his hands pressed against his knees.

"This is the longest I've run in a while...Why did you do that anyway?"

"I got tired of you always being the one to drag me around all the time."

My words cause Taka to chortle.

"Okay, but I did that for a perfectly good reason. What's yours?"

"I don't know if it's as good of a reason as yours, but I just wanted to get out of there..That's all."

"Uhuh. We're definitely out of there," Taka replies, finally lifting the other half of his body up so that he's standing up straight again.

He takes a glance around the area. In a millisecond does his facial expression change. Seeing the concerned look on his face, I take a glance around the area as well. Just as I turn back around to face him, my eyes catch Taka stepping into the wilderness that sits still on the side of the empty road that we ran through just a few minutes ago. I don't how I did it, but I ran in heels. I admit I am crazy, especially since I knew that my wound would open up again once I would have. I shouldn't tell Taka that though.

"Hey! Don't leave meee..!" I yelp while chasing after him.

Once I catch up, I tug and hold onto the side of his arm. While walking, Taka is completely focused on walking ahead not even speaking a single word to me along the way.

I wanted to get away from not being reminded of my dreadful past and not being surrounded by people I don't know as far away as possible, but not this far.

The walk, which seemed like forever, comes to a stop once Taka stops in his tracks. I look down at my feet the whole time to watch where I step even though I hold onto his arm the whole time. However, when I did look up...

"The beach??!!! No way!!"

I let go of my tight grip on Taka's arm right away, feeling relieved to unstrap both of my heels and taking them off my feet again. Now holding them in my hand, I quickly let my feet sink into the smooth, soft sand that feels like silk in between my toes. I don't pay any attention to my wound. All that matters is that my feet are free. Although there is a sea breeze, it isn't too strong, so it feels cool against my bare skin. Not a single cloud in the sky either. What shines just as bright as the moon though, is a wide range of stars that clutter into what looks like a galaxy across the beautiful night sky. The blanket of stars reflects against the deep blue, which is a stunning sight to see as one gets closer and closer to the ocean shore.

Taka and I begin to walk along the shore side of the beach. After a few minutes of listening to the sounds of the ocean waves that crash against one another and overpower the silence between us, Taka decided to take off his black blazer and roll his white buttoned up shirt's long sleeves.

"Wha- Again..?"

Something was thrown over my shoulders, which surprisingly made me jump, causing Taka to purposely laugh at me.

"Yeah," Taka replies, still chuckling as he continues to adjust the rolls of his sleeves.

"I still have the other jacket you gave me by the way," I respond back while trying to put my arms through the baggy sleeves of his already warm blazer.

"Oh yeah. Return it whenever."

"I hope I can..You're usually never around."

I think something comes over me because there is a hint of sadness in my voice, which is obvious to hear.

"So you admit you missed me?"

Oh, great. Taka is now grinning from ear to ear. He tries to get my attention from the side of me by slightly bending half of his body over, turning his head towards me to look into my eyes. Yeah..There is no way I can look at him now. My cheeks...They feel like they are slowly burning up.

"Shut up," I murmur while turning my head the opposite direction of Taka's.

Minutes of comfortable silence happens again until the hotness of my face cools.

"The truth is this is my first time at the beach in a while..."

"Wow. That's sad."

"Huh? How??"

"The beach is so close by for you. I travel a lot and I don't get to see it often."

"Oh. You like the beach that much?"

"I guess you can say it's inspiring. Like right now I can come up with infinite possibilities on what to write about for a song looking at this," Taka points to the sea and answers.

"For example..?"

Suddenly, he starts to let his eyes wander.

"Um for example...
The ocean waves reflect the light.
The beauty that is hard to find.
Hidden in the mirror of your eyes."

He finally speaks as if reciting a charming poem.

"Alright....I have to admit that was good and too good because I bet you didn't even try."

"Nope I did not..But c'mon that was pretty shitty.."

"Psh. Don't even-"

We were probably the biggest, craziest dorks chasing after each other that night. Midnight to be exact.

After hearing what Taka just said, I can't help but try and hit him. When I try to do things like that, it isn't good at all. If Taka thinks that was shitty then something that I try to come up with just by looking around at my surroundings is a hundred times..no..a thousand times shittier. Other than that, I seriously did not expect something like this to happen tonight. I didn't even expect to go to E/N's wedding, but I did and I'm glad I did because if I didn't I wouldn't be where I am now. I wouldn't be who I am now. Something hit me hard with reality-the reality of knowing that it's time to let go of the person who I held dear to my heart for so many years. And with the help of someone who I know for a fact who is also dear to me..the person who I hold most dear to me now..he guided me towards something I've been searching for a while. I can't be more thankful for having someone like him in my life. Now that I think about it, up until now everything has been so unexpected. I really don't understand why and I admit I am afraid to. Most things in life happen for a reason, which is also the reason why most say that there is no need to find an answer to everything. Right now, I'll just enjoy every moment I spend with him and make the memories last. At least...I hope it lasts.