Swing of Fate

After Feels

It was already morning but Ryota was still wide awake.

He looked at his hands and remembered how Ayaka felt in his arms when he held her.

He clearly remembered how she smelled,
how she looked at him,
how she hugged him,
how she kissed him on the cheek.

Everything was still vivid in his mind.

He can't sleep, but how could he when the girl he likes will leave in the afternoon to somewhere far from him and he can't even see her off.

They also have an album signing later and he has to be there.

"Ayaka will send me a message. I just have to be patient and keep my promise to her." He told himself.

Seeing as how trying to sleep was a lost battle, he changed to his jogging gear and went outside.

. . .

Unaware of what Ryota was going through, Ayaka wasn't able to sleep that night too. She sat by the chair near the window, looking outside and cuddling her new pet which she named "Ryo-chii."

"I bet Ryota will laugh if he would learn about the name I gave this little guy." She thought smiling.

The sound of Ryota's voice telling her “he likes her” was still echoing in her mind and heart.

The warmth of his embrace was still lingering on her skin.

She felt a stabbing pain in her heart but dismissed it immediately.

She looked at the paper with Ryota's phone number written on it.

"We can still message each other, I just have to get myself a new phone tomorrow," She thought, comforting herself.

She wasn't able to tell him that she likes him too. But she thought, it would be better if she could say it out loud for him to hear than writing it on a piece of paper.

Again, she was hoping Ryota could wait until that time comes.

She stood up and put Ryo-chii back to the cage as it was almost time for them to leave Tokyo.

. . .

Ryota went home after jogging and got ready to meet the band for their album signing since their album was officially out. He was picked up by them in front of his house. Tomoya opened the van to let him in and greeted him playfully,

"Hello, so how's your sleep, Mr. In Love?"

"I wasn't able to sleep at all. By the way, thank you for what all of you have done for me yesterday."

Ryota answered with a wide smile while getting inside the van.

Taka looked at him from the front seat,

"Hahaha, make sure to not sleep while signing the albums bought by the fans. That will be really hilarious."

"Of course not!" Ryota retorted.

Tomoya and Taka laughed loudly.

"Are you sure this is okay? Not seeing her off?" Toru asked.

"It can't be helped. And I promised her and you guys that I'll do my best and become one of the best bassist in Japan. She promised to message me that will be enough for now." Ryota answered assuringly.

The three smiled at him while Tomoya doing the thumbs up sign. They drove to the record store.

. . .

Seated at the back of her grandparent's car with her grandmother, Ayaka can't help but be nervous.

The trauma of the accident was still in her mind. She was quietly wishing Ryota was with her.

She took her notebook and wrote to her grandmother to make a quick detour by the nearest shopping mall so she could buy a new phone.

Her grandmother agreed and gave the instruction to the driver. When they reached the mall, Ayaka went to buy a new phone and saved Ryota's number immediately.

Back in the car, her grandfather spoke,

"Ayaka, you mentioned that guy, Ryota Kohama, was a special friend, right?"

Ayaka nodded.

"What does he do for a living?"

Ayaka wrote a note in her new phone, "He is a bassist in a band called One Ok Rock and has their album released now and they also have a tour coming up."

"A musician in a rock band, eh. By the way, the doctor said there's nothing wrong with your speech. When do you plan to speak?" Her grandfather stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Ayaka was caught off guard, with a sad expression she wrote,

"I can't."

She remembered that she was not really close with her grandparents but they are her only family now. She looked at her phone and started composing a message for Ryota.

"Hi Ryota. It's me Ayaka. We are on our way now to Kanazawa. We didn't take the train; we are using my grandparents’ car with their driver. I'm actually nervous. By the way, how's the album signing? Be nice to your fans. Be the best bassist there is."

She then pressed the send button.

. . .

During a quick break in their album signing because the volume of the fans that came was overwhelming,

Ryota heard his phone's notification sound. Excitedly, he looked at it and saw that he has a message from a number not registered in his phone.

His heart skipped a beat.

He was so focused in opening the message to read it that he didn't notice the three was behind him.

He smiled as he read Ayaka's message. He read it over and over again.

He almost jumped when Tomoya blurted out,

"Hey message her back already!"

Toru and Taka hit Tomoya on the head at the same time.

He just looked at his band mates and smiled widely. Ryota was so happy. But before he could type a message they were called to continue the album signing. Ryota kept his phone, "I'll message her after we are done here." He thought to himself, smiling.

After a few more hours, the band finished the album signing.

Back in the van, Tomoya was actually complaining that his hands felt sore.

"Mine too. But the number of people who came was unbelievable!" Toru agreeing with Tomoya.

"Yeah, I didn't know we had that much fans." Taka said excitedly.

The three continued talking about the album signing while Ryota was busy sending a message to Ayaka.

"Hi Ayaka. Sorry for this late reply. We just finished our album signing. The number of people who came was overwhelming. I was nice to them even though I was too sleepy. Don't be nervous. Nothing bad will happen to your trip. Message me when you're in Kanazawa already. Smile always, okay?"

Immediately after sending his message, Ryota fell asleep, Just like Ayaka, who was also asleep during the trip to Kanazawa.