Takuto’s POV

“A kimono?!” I exclaimed, accidentally spitting some of my food onto Beardy.

Whoops.

“Wahhh! Takkun!”

“Oh suck it up, it was an accident.” I shrugged, reclining back onto my chair.

“How mean. . .”

“How annoying. . .” Turning back towards Riki I asked, “You want me to buy her a kimono?”

Riki nodded while grabbing one of those Chinese take-out containers, scooping some onto his plate. “Why not? It’s not every day you go to Hong Kong.”

“Yeah, but do you actually think Miss. Takara will wear this, Rikkun?” Hiro questioned.

“Beats me,” Riki sighed as he placed the container back onto the table, “But maybe not. You don’t even know what color or design she’d like on it anyways. What about. . . A purse?”

“I doubt she’d use it.” I said flatly. “Takara’s girly, but not that girly.”

“Oh.”

“That’s too bad you can’t buy her clothes,” Kenshi said, “It looked like magenta was her favorite color.”

“You know,” Hiro started, “If Takkun wasn’t that possessive of Miss. Takara, I could've hugged her and secretly measure her body lines. . .”

“Pervert!” I shouted, throwing my chopsticks at him.

“Woah, hey! Watch it! I could've gotten stabbed!” Hiro exclaimed in disbelief, barely dodging the flying chopsticks.

I shrugged, nonchalantly placing more food into my bowl. I then grabbed my water bottle, bringing it to my lips.

“Takkun’s so mean,” Hiro faked a cry, “If only Kara-Chan were here to soften him up like a marshmallow then he would be nice to me!”

(COUGH COUGH)

“Hey, you okay?” Riki started patting my back as I coughed my lungs out.

Just kidding.

“Yo orange!” I hissed out, still hacking. “Don’t call her that!”

“Huh? Why not?”

“Because… Because…”

Why… Why do I feel like I said that nickname before? To who?

“Takuto?” Kenshi worriedly waved his hand in front of my face.

“… Nothing… It’s nothing.” I answered, sighing.

“You sure?” This time, Riki asked. “You look spaced out.”

“Just thinking…” I lied.

Well, I guess I lied on that part. Why does that nickname sound so familiar?

Boss broke the silence by saying, “How about a hair accessory?”

“Huh?” We all turned towards him to see him staring at his chopsticks.

“Girls like that sort of thing, no? Shinobu loved that kind of stuff…” He muttered sadly, gently placing his now empty bowl back on the coffee table.

“Yeah…” We all murmured.

“Here’s the thing, Takuto.” Boss said, turning his gaze at me. “I’m not so sure if you should be liking someone due to your position but… Love is love. If she loves you just as much as you love her, then she would love anything you give her. No matter how cheap or expensive it is. It’s always the thought that matters, and not the item of choice you give her. The guys and I will always support you.”

“Beardy…”

“Well. . . The dishes won't wash themselves…” Beardy stood up, picking up the dishes. “I’ll wash these tonight; you boys should go to bed. It’s already 9:30 here.”

“I’ll help you, Boss,” Riki offered, grabbing the cups.

“I’ll put the leftovers in the fridge,” Kenshi smiled as he started packing the food away. “Takuto, you and Hiro can continue discussing about the gift. If you need anything, let us know.” With that, he walked away.

“Thanks.” I nodded grabbing my computer. In my peripheral vision, I saw Hiro looking over at me. I ignored it for the first few minutes but eventually gave up, turning towards him all the while sighing, “Why are you looking at me?”

“I want to apologize, Takkun,” He started.

Apologize? For what?

“For what?” I questioned.

He shrugged, “I don’t know, but it looked like I hit a nerve or something. You snapped at me remember?”

“T-that was because you said…”

“Kara-Chan?”

“Yeah..”

“You know someone named Kara?”

I sighed, turning back towards my computer, “A long time ago, I knew a girl named Takara. We gave each other nicknames and I decided to call her Kara.”

“Ooh, I didn’t know that!” Hiro gasped.

“Us either,” A familiar voice said.

We turned our heads to see Riki, Kenshi, and Boss standing there.

“That was quick,” I stated.

Riki tilted his head, “There weren’t a lot of dishes in the first place. Just five bowls and five pairs of chopsticks. What more do you wanna wash? Some empty take-out food containers?”

“Very funny,” I deadpanned, turning back to my computer.

“It’s a coincidence…” Kenshi started, “How you met someone with the same name as Takara.”

“Yeah,” I nodded absentmindedly.

“What happened to her?” Riki asked me.

“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “I left that school without telling her.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“… I don’t know.”

“You don’t know..”

“No.” I shook my head. “I guess because of what was happening around that time…” I said, referring to my parents, “And just everything… I didn’t have the time to tell her. I don’t even know her last name.”

“Um,” Kenshi gave me a funny look. “You didn’t tell each other during intros?”

“I told her my last name would be complicated to say since we were both very young. So I just told her my first name.”

“Oh..” Riki nodded, “I guess that would make sense. I hardly doubt you can say Hirukawa perfectly at that young of an age.”

“Yeah…” I muttered.

Though it would've probably been easier if I told her mine and she tell me hers. I could've tried finding her on the internet. Not like I'm stalking her or something! It’s just been so long since I last saw her… I wonder if she’s okay…

“You should give her this,” Hiro faced his cell phone towards me, revealing a picture of a beautiful pink hair accessory.

It’s beautiful,” Everyone gasped.

I can see Takara wearing it… Wait.. If I give this Takara a hair accessory, won't that mean I’ll be cheating on the other Takara? Idiot, it’s not like we were dating.. Though I think our relationship was really close back then. But.. I haven't seen her in ages. She probably has a boyfriend or is probably married as we speak…

“I’ll see if they have that in stores tomorrow.” I said, “Thanks.”

“Sure Takkun!~” Hiro beamed, “Welp, I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Now transform, and roll out! Night Takkun, Rikkun, Kenny, Mommy!”

“Go to bed, Hiro,” Riki chuckled, gently pushing Hiro away towards the bedrooms.

“Wahh! Mommy, Rikkun pushed me!”

“That’s okay, mommy’s got you.” Boss pat Hiro’s head like an owner would pat a dog.

“Ugh, everyone go to bed,” Riki laughed, walking towards the rooms. “See you guys tomorrow!”

“Night!”

“I guess I better go to bed too,” I said to myself, shutting down the computer. “But I’m not exactly tired so… I’ll just play some games on my phone..

/ / /

It’s 10:15…

“I wonder…” I muttered to myself quietly as to not wake up the others.

What Takara’s doing.. She didn’t go to bed yet did she? I could try sending a text… Uh, I’ll just ask about work! Yeah, I can do that! I was technically supposed to be her supervisor after all!

‘Hey Takara, you awake?’

There. Sent. I wonder if---

(PING!)

“Gahh!” I exclaimed in shock.

“What the hell Takuto?” I heard Riki muttering next door.

“You’re still awake?”

“Is that even a question?”

“S-sorry…”

“Hahh, just go to bed at some point okay?”

“Yeah I will.”

“Alright…”

I turned back towards my phone to see a ‘new message’.

‘Hey Takuto! What’s up? How’s your trip? Everything okay over there?’

Oh yeah, I told her that there was an emergency…

‘Yeah, everything’s fine now.’

‘Thank goodness then : ) Glad everything’s okay.’

‘Yeah… How was work?’

‘Work… Oh work. It’s been going well. Except for that one time when there was a power out and the computers wouldn’t restart.’

‘Are you serious? What happened after that?’

‘I fixed it, no worries. It was a piece of cake! ^^’

‘You.. know how to fix those sort of things?’

‘Yeah I mean… Um.. I was taught how to fix stuff like that should it happen, you know?’

‘That’s awesome! I didn’t know you know how to fix something like that.’

‘Eh, all in a day’s work I guess.. The faster the problem’s fixed, the faster we can finish our work, the faster we can all go home. At least that’s my thinking process.’

‘Heh, sounds like a good one.’

‘But of course.’ She typed and I can almost feel her cheerfulness as she was texting. ‘Besides, I can't help it if I love working on the computer. You can do a lot of things with it you know?’

‘Yeah of course.’

Like hacking.

‘Yeah, like hacking’

?!

‘WHAT?!’

‘Whoops! XD Sorry sorry! I was kinda hacking when I typed that >. <’

‘Baka, are you alright?’
^ (Had to reread this in case of errors and I read ‘Babe, are you alright?’ And did a double take.. Oh god.. LMAO!! X’D Anywho..)

‘Yup! Though it’s kinda hard to stop myself from choking since I don’t have anyone to pat my back XD’

‘Haha, sorry I’m not there..’

Holy shit, I thought she was actually talking about hacking on the computer..

Takara’s POV

“Holy shit, he probably thought I was actually talking about hacking on the computer…” I gasped in disbelief. “Thank goodness we were only texting instead of talking. Kudos to me for I’m great at lying when the time counts. Turning back towards the phone I typed…

‘Nah, that’s okay. I’ll live! ; )’

Takuto replied a few seconds later, ‘That’s good. Wouldn’t want you dying on me.. By the way, did you talk to your friend?’

“…”

‘I didn’t get to, things happened. I don’t think we’ll be on talking or seeing terms for a while.’

‘… I’m sorry. That was all because I held your hand.’

‘You’re an idiot, as if that would just be the cause of what happened! It’s just that I was never around them like I used to. They were probably in disbelief about that.. I was always the ‘staying indoors type of girl.’ Me being out in the middle of the night with a guy probably shocked them a little. But I guess in this case a lot. But that’s okay, I’ll figure this out.’

‘I know you will, but you know you have me and the other guys to help. We’re not in the same place right now but just know that we got your back. If you want, we can explain the situation on our perspective and they’ll most likely understand.’

‘… Thanks Takuto. That means a lot. : ) Oh, I actually have to go back to work, duty calls.’

‘Isn't it night there for you? Well duh, you’re one hour ahead. It’s 10:45 here.. We’ve been talking for a half an hour… It’s almost midnight for you, you should've been sleeping, you idiot!’

‘Don’t call me an idiot, you idiot! Shouldn’t you be sleeping as well?’

He’s an hour behind me… I thought to myself. Wonder where he went..

‘Y-yeah……….., but I wanted to talk to you………’

‘Wow… That’s a long pause. Hehe.’

‘S-shut up! You should go to bed! Your supervisor’s orders! Finish the work tomorrow, I’ll go to bed as well. Satisfied?’

‘Hmm… Okay, I’ll do it tomorrow! Night Takuto! TTYL!’

‘T.. Talk to you later. Night Takara. :   )’
‘Night. : )’

I threw my phone on the bed and headed towards the bathroom. I grabbed a bottle and stared at it. “Gotta go to work, Miss. Hoshiko.” I said and opened the bottle with a pop. “I bet you’re looking for me aren’t you? I guess you won't find me after all, Ryo.” With that, I got to work.

Sorry I haven't been updating!!! >_< I'll definitely try to update more! No promises though, but I'll try my absolute best! <3

~KohanaAyame