Ordinary Days

Chapter 3

“Suzuma, why do you trust him so much?”

When he asked that question, I did not answer it immediately. Instead, I let it hang there in the air for some time, and focused on eating my dinner. Haru had gone out for a while, telling us he had to run an errand. I did not question it. Takumi did not want to let it go however, and had been fuming over it for the past few hours. He always got like this when something really bothered him. I was so used to it by now that it really did not have much of an effect on me anymore. I did not mind it.

Plucking a piece of sukiyaki up with my chopsticks, I licked my lips. I had been waiting for weeks to have my favorite meal for dinner. Having Haru not here upset me though, I was hoping to share this with him. Takumi was more than enough company-wise, however. I had been living with him here for several years, ever since she left.

“Suzuma!” He slammed his fist down on the table. Surprised, I dropped the sukiyaki onto the floor. “Answer me!”

I frowned, looking at the poor piece of sukiyaki as it lay so helplessly on the floor. Why was the world so cruel to you, Sukiyaki-san? I could have sworn I teared up a bit, sniveling. Why, Sukiyaki-san?

Turning my full attention to Takumi, I let my sad eyes bore into his anger-filled ones. His expression softened slightly at the sight of my saddened face, just like it always has. He understood how much it hurt to have her leave both of us for no good reason other than her selfish one. To get a career in acting in America. Originally, I would have never suspected her of wanting to be something so sordid and chance-less. She was a smart person, and yet she still had the audacity to do something like that.

Takumi had been a dutiful and loving boyfriend to her. He never cheated, never started any arguments with her, did not get jealous or over-protective. He was a great boyfriend for her, the only thing that he was guilty of was caring a little too much or taking things too literally or personally. Takumi ‘thought more with emotions than his head’ is what people would say to me and her. I never thought that she would have taken heed of that so much that she left him. Left both of us.

“It’s not trust, per say. I was sick of the ordinary everyday scheme of things, and then he just appeared out of nowhere. I took it as something different-- out of the ordinary-- and decided that I would go with it.”

“That’s not a good enough answer!” Takumi yelled at me.

“Well, that’s all I have to say,” I told him, seeing that this conversation would only make him more upset. If he had any common sense, he wouldn’t pursue the topic anymore. He would just let it drop to the floor like Sukiyaki-san. Poor, poor Sukiyaki-san...

“Did you kiss him yet?” His question came fast enough to tell me he did not have any common sense in that head of his.

“Why should I tell you?” I muttered, getting a little annoyed.

This just got him even more upset. “You did, didn’t you?!”

“Its none of your business!” I shouted at him, trying to reach across the table to seize (and hopefully, eat) a piece of sukiyaki once tonight.

Takumi noted this and grabbed the plate, yanking it out of my reach. He wagged one of his fingers, shaking his head disapprovingly at the fixed glare I was giving him.

“It is my business! You are all I have left after she decided to leave me!” Takumi argued, his voice cracking a little towards the end of sentence. At that, I froze and my expression changed from a glare to one of sympathy. I understood what he meant by that. I was the last thing he could cling to after she left. I was a fragment of what he once had. To him, I was her.