Err…sorry for the lateness. Looks like I'm getting a hang of this story, but I cannot promise I can update faster. Yeah. If you look at this chapter, no real conflict or action had taken place – what I can say that it still requires a few more chapters to at least build the right atmosphere. That's why I was fixing all my old chapters, please take a look at those if you had the time. And lastly, thank you very much for all the nice reviews. Really, I'm truly glad bows. Please don't hesitate to give a critic about this story, I will be really happy.

Oh, and also, I give an extra thank for Maya-nee - thank you for all this time and all your help! Hope you guys don't get bored for this story.

xxx

Feeling the cold breeze running through her skin, there she stood; and a very familiar young man appeared in her vision, standing not far from her.

"Maya-nee?" He called her again, seeing no response.

"…Tatsuya-kun, isn't it?" She gave him a smile – not losing her cheerfulness.

"…What are you doing at this late of night?" He began to descend the slides to approach her slowly, "…Surely, Katsuya-aniki didn't drop you here, did he?" He actually didn't really mean to shoot his guess – since he at least understood very well of his brother being a perfect gentleman, even though he'd most likely was too dense when romance came into matter. Toward a certain woman, maybe?

"No, no, of course not!" She replied with a small laugh and returned his question back, "Now now, what are you doing at this late?"

Finally he reached a place near her spot and sat there, followed so by her.

"…I was just searching for air." That was his small excuse. In fact, he didn't really know why was he strolling in the middle of night, and most likely, dropping to the beach – not his usual hangout place.

That was awkward – He has only met her just a few hours ago, and yet he felt really familiar with her… He never felt like this before.

"Does Katsuya know about you being here?" She started the conversation.

"…Dunno. But…I guess he knows..." There he replied, nonchalantly. "This isn't the first time I go alone in the middle of midnight. Even though he never says a word about this…but I think he knows."

It can be considered as strange to him. Particularly, he's not an introvert boy – he still has some friends that he can normally talk to, but yet, he's not and outgoing and talkative one also. He rarely talks about his life to anyone, and yet, he could easily open up to her.

"Katsuya…really cares about you, you know." She answered sweetly, "But maybe, he is having a hard time of showing it openly."

He barely nodded. "…I know. I can see it." It was so obvious ever since we were kids. Although he did change just recently.

Silence for a while. She finally hugged her knees while enjoying the breeze. Once again, she tried to strike a conversation. She never been the one hard in building a conversation – since she was practically the type who hardly shut up, but Tatsuya was a different case.

"So, how's life been doing? Tell me tell me! Like, school, your part-time job in that mechanic place?" She poked him cheerfully.

"…Nothing much though..." he paused, noticing something, "…how do you know I have part-time? And the mechanic?"

Oops. "…Ahaha..haha….err….Katsuya! Katsuya told me, once! Ahahaha.." She faked a laugh nervously. That was dangerous.

"…Aniki, huh?" Aniki indeed. Should have already guessed it.

They were enjoying the gentle breeze against their face, until Tatsuya decided to ask that single question.

"…Say…do I know you?" He suddenly blurted out of the blue. Maya gave him a confused look.

"No...I mean…Did we ever met before – no, not the one at Sevens – but…?" Before he could say anything more, she continued for him.

"Do you…feel familiar with me? Like…you have already known me for a long time..?"

That made him surprised, until finally he averted his gaze back to the ocean. "…Ah…you can say that."

To his surprise, she smiled sadly, but her soften gaze never left his. Finally she returned to the vast ocean, and lightly added, "…de javu, maybe?"

She decided to give a little dangerous strike. This cannot be ignored for forever – at least.

"You see…Yes, if you're wondering, we've met before. But..I cannot say anything else. Please…please don't ask. I shouldn't have told you about this though…but…at least I don't want you to be always confused about this. I can't tell you the details though…I'm sorry."

That made him surprised. So…they did have met before. He wanted to pursue more about that, but seeing her look, he decided against it.

"You know…I…" she stopped her sentence, before continuing slowly.

"I…once have ever known a boy…" she pause at mid-sentence, "he's really similar to you…" She nodded,"but yet, he's greatly differs. Or you can put it like; he's different than any other person. He's very mature despite of his age… He already endured so much pain more that he can carry." Her gaze now was directed to the ocean, "Funny – we need a long time to convince him that…that we will always be there to help him. He always tried to carry his burden himself – blaming himself of what has happened – without ever trying to rely on us, even though we adults were always around him, ready to offer a hand…but…" She laughed nervously, "Ahahaha...maybe because I'm not reliable?" before finally adding a smile.

"But…" Maya's expression became softer, somehow a little pained, "I'm…happy to know him."

Why…why does it ache so much? I thought…I thought I've already gotten past of this.

He himself cannot explain what he was feeling right now. Something that…I've known for the longest…yet I cannot put my finger on it.

"…Where's the boy right now?" He dared to ask – he rarely concerned about other people business though, but this time curiosity got the best of him.

Much to his surprise, her gaze now was directed to him, as if searching for the core of his soul.

"…I don't know. One day he suddenly left, in a blink of an eye. We didn't even have the time to throw a farewell party…" she chuckled, before continuing,"We couldn't even have the proper goodbye. Everything happened so fast."

"He only promised…that we can meet again by the ocean." She rested her head at her hugged knees.

"He's like….so far yet so near. …So near, but…I…we can't reach him."

"I…I can still relive those days…those days when 'he' was still with us. Those were always fun…no matter any obstacle were hiding in front of us…we could always overcome it together. We… we could never forget about him."

"But I think…it's better for him in this way. He's…he's more happier now, I guess. Even though we can't reach him anymore…but…I always wish for his happiness."

A long pause. Neither of them spoke a word, until he asked the dreaded question.

"…Who is he?" Those words snapped Maya at once.

What…what am I saying…?...I shouldn't been …telling him about this…Must stop this.

"AAAHHH!!! I'M REFRESHED!" She shouted out of the blue, giving him a surprise.

"Sorry, sorry, Tatsuya-kun. Sorry if I made you confused. Don't mind about my blabbering. Looks like I'm getting old, heheh." She gave him a little laugh, obviously avoiding his last question. He decided to drop the subject – even though it gave him the rare intriguing feeling. He respected her privacy – he always hated it when people started to butt into his privacy.

"Err…can you do me a favor? Please don't tell our conversation to Katsuya, pretty please?"

Well, he didn't really understand why she didn't want Aniki to know about it, but he complied, at the end.

She started to eye her watch and gave a little shriek.

"Oh my! 3 A.M already?...I'm doomed." She sat up and dusted the sands from her skirt. "My boss gonna chew me out if I'm late again…"

"You should sleep also, Tatsuya-kun! Lacking of sleep is no-no!" she offered him a hand, which he took it.

"See you, Tatsuya-kun! I'll go visit you and Katsuya this weekend, OK?" As she started to walk back, Tatsuya halted her.

"…Wait!"

"Yes?" She spun around, fully facing Tatsuya.

"…Let me take you back."

"…Huh?"

"…You went here on foot, didn't you? ...I… Let me drive you home." Even just offering this simple gesture, it was hard for him. He wasn't very good on stuffs that required social skill – that including socializing. He only got a few buddies to hang out with – although he chose to spend most of his time alone, doing his stuffs.

"Ahahaha…don't worry! I don't want to give you much trouble…it isn't that far from here, my apartment, you know." But once she saw his uncomfortable look, she decided to change her mind. Both of them, really have the same problem in expressing their thought very well, ne?

"Err…really, will it be okay? I mean, I don't want to trouble you – Our places aren't at the same route, are they?"

"No, don't worry about it." He gave her a helmet while walking toward his motorcycle, "Besides…I don't want to give aniki a heart-attack is something happens to you." Considering his quick-to-panic trait.

"You would be right…huh? What do you mean by that?" he gave her a smirk, "Hey! We… we're not on that term! We're just…best friends?"

"..I know, I know. Hold on tight." He started to ignite the engine before speeding with his motorcycle.

It only took a couple of minutes to reach the place – after all, like what did she say, the distance was still reachable on foot.

"Thanks a lot for the ride! …Wanna in? Although I think you won't be too comfortable inside…ahahahaha. It's in…quite a mess…" She admitted sheepishly. Well, she never good at cleaning, ahahahahahahahahahaha.

"No, thanks…It's already late – I don't wanna intrude." He started to turn on the engine, as quietly as possible.

"Okay then. Be careful on the way, Okay?" Well…she thought that the sentence that 'usually was said by Ulala every time she's going to drive in a very disapproving mode' didn't really suit him, but she said it anyway.

"Un. And…" He removed his helmet a little, to make his voice audible."Thanks…for spending some time with me. …I'm glad…to meet you. I mean it." He bid her goodbye , "See you, Maya-nee." With that, he gave a little wave before disappearing from sight. He truly meant it. He never once chatted with someone like that before – not even with his brother, not even with his hangout buddies. He was never close to his brother before, and they still have lot things in the future to be actually like what were they like when they're still children – before all things turned into mess. And yet… he felt truly comfortable in her presence.

Maya was still stunned by the words, but later was replaced with a happy grin before entering her place.

I guess…this is a good beginning.

xxx

"Ma-ya!"

No response.

"MA-YA!"

Still no response. Ulala sighed. I told her not to sleep late! Hhh...This is when her low blood pressure taking its toll.

"MAA-YAA!"

Silence.

Well, this is going to be a long fifteen minutes.

She took some fast steps into her bed –which was nearly lost in sight, no thanks to those junks - while trying to dig her way out of the laundries. And it hasn't been a week since I last cleaned this room! Geez.

After some kicking of the trash and clothes piles, she gave her some nudges to wake her up.

"Ma-ya. Wake up. That Mizu something will thrash you up if you're late again."

And she still tightly clutched into her pillows.

HEEEI!! I'VE GOT MY PROBLEMS HERE TOO! BAO WILL KILL ME IF I'M LATE AGAIN!

"MAAA-YAAAA!! THAT'S WHY I TOLD YOU TO STOP WORKING OVERNIGHT FOR SOME STRAIGHT DAYS, FOR GOODNESS!!!" She practically had to drag her out of her bed – who's still half asleep, by the way, to the bathroom and made her to brush her teeth and that kind of stuffs.

Finally, after a rough fifteen minutes, Maya started to snap out her sleep and greet Ulala cheerfully.

"G'morning, Ulalaaaaaa…. Eh, what I'm doing here…" with a muffled kind of voice.

…like usual.

"Good morning your head! It's nearly 11 AM!" Maya who's in the edge of consciousness gave her a little half-confused look. Sometimes Ulala had to restrain herself to beat some sense to her best friend especially in the morning.

"…11 am…" Maya took a glance at the bathroom clock before gave a 'little' shriek.

" GYAAAAA!! I FORGOT TO FINISH THAT SCOOP! GAAAAAH!!! AND THE DEADLINE'S TODAAYY!!!!! APOCALIPSSEEE!! STAR WAAARRS!!" And she began to throw some random words to explain her condition.

"Yeah yeah, now hurry up and change, you wouldn't want to be late more than this."

Ulala stepped out of the bathroom to give her time to change, and tapping a message for Bao, about her lateness.

She flipped her cellphone and a moment later, Maya coming out decent and in hurry, and both of them quickly locked up their room and called a cab.

"So, Ma-ya," Maya was a little busy checking her watch every 5 second, so she just give a hmm and not sparing a glance.

"Whatcha doin' last night?"

xxx

Glossary :

-aniki : means big brother. It's not as polite as Onii-san, though. I can't really confirm which one that Tatsuya uses in the actual game (mine, before it turned into not playable junk, was the USA version).

-nee : literally means big sis, but it can also refers for older woman. This side Tatsuya is kind of referring to the fusion meaning of the two, from my perception. At least, in this story, he is.

Otouto : little brother

-kun : usually for guys that are in the same or lower degree – although it can also be used for woman, but rare (Katsuya, in the Japan version of the game, is referring Maya as Amano-kun). I prefer to using the Amano-kun instead of Miss Amano (see the fixed version of former chapters), since personally, Miss Amano and Amano-kun don't have the exact same meaning, in many kind of sense.