Plastic Taste { Joji a.u. }

the one where its a ramyun party

It only took a few minutes for Sota to lay the ramyun noodles on the little table in the hotel room. 

He'd bought three, one for each of them. 

Emi settled against the headboard on Sota's bed. 

She took a deep inhale, slowly exhaling as she ran over all the events in her head. 

Had she acted rashly? 

She was in the right... Right?

As much as the words still stung her to think about, he was correct in that she wasnt his girlfriend. 

She had never been his girlfriend. 

Her eyebrows furrowed. 

Where did this leave them?

If he was right, and she had no right to demand the truth from him...?

No. 

What about the kisses?

In the past, in Japan, those few times? 

Were they real?

Did she dream all of it?

Was it something that happened or was it something she wished had happened?

Was it her imaginat-

"Hey," 

She flinched, quickly snapping back to reality at the sound of Sota's voice. 

He was sitting in front of her, a slightly concerned look on his face. 

She looked into his eyes for a moment. 

"Where'd you go?"  he asked, referring to her train of thought. 

Emi looked down. 

"I don't want to drag you into all of this,"

"Hey," he reached forward, taking her hand in his own. 

It was warm. 

"If you don't want to tell me anything, you absolutely do not have to. I just want to be here for you. I want to do my best to support you, regardless of if I know all the details or not. If you choose to tell me, I'll listen. If you choose not to, I'll still be here." 

She felt tears well in her eyes. 

The sincerity in his voice struck her so deep. 

He scooted forward. 

"ここに来て"  ( Come here ) 

Emi adjusted herself as well, meeting him as he wrapped his arms around her. 

He held her so tightly to his chest, his chin resting atop her soft hair as he gently rubbed her back. 

Sota inhaled, closing his eyes, hoping his sincerity could be felt.

A few moments passed, when a knock came upon the door. 

Sota was so focused on holding Emi that he didn't hear it. 

After a few moments, the door opened and Haru entered the room. 

"Sota-?" she stopped in her tracks as she saw the scene before her. 

Sota slowly parted from the hug, turning towards Haru. 

Haru stared Sota down but her eyes quickly moved towards Emi, spotting the tears that had fallen from her eyes. 

"Emi!" Haru exclaimed, quickly walking over to her and placing her hands on both of her cheeks, wiping away her tears. 

"Why are you crying? What happened?" She turned towards Sota, "Was it you? ばか！" ( Stupid! )

Haru began hitting Sota on the arm with her fists. 

"I didnt- Ow!- I didn't do anything-" Sota tried dodging her fists but she only persisted. 

Emi felt some warmth come back into her heart. 

She let out the ghost of a laugh. 

" ばか！ ばか！ ばか！" (Stupid, stupid, stupid! ) Haru continued punching his arms.

There was something behind her emotions.

He finally grabbed hold of her wrists, "I didn't do anything!" He emphasized, pulling her forward so she fell on the bed.

Haru yelped as she fell.

Sota rolled his eyes jokingly as he got up to check the water in the coffee pot.

Haru sat up quickly, turning back towards Emi. 

"What happened?" 

"It's nothing." Emi smiled, grabbing Haru's hand. 

"It's not nothing if it makes you cry!" Haru huffed. 

Emi pressed her lips together. 

It was an upsetting situation, and upon hearing those words, Emi knew she shouldn't act like it's alright when it so deeply upset her. 

"Waters done." Sota mumbled from the other side of the room, facing away from them as he scratched the back of his neck. 

"Water?" Haru asked, turning around. 

She spot the Ramyun cups on the table and inhaled excitedly. 

She then spun back around quickly, "Wait, focus-" she told herself. 

"What happened?" She repeated, looking into Emi's eyes. 

Emi glanced over to Sota, who was standing very still and facing away from them with his head down. 

"I'll explain." Emi said, squeezing Haru's hand. 

Sota poured the water into the ramyun cups and Emi organized her thoughts before they all sat on the bed to listen to her summary of the events. 

When the explanation was done, they ate their ramyun, and even found that they sold ice cream in the lobby. 

Sitting in between her two best friends, eating ice cream and watching television...

Ice cream had never tasted so sweet.