Chapter 38: What should i do?

And so, a small but awkward silence formed in that room.

My mother's laughter was accompanied by an "Ara, ara~. These youngsters..." as she put a hand to her face.

"Suzuki? What are you doing here?" Ema asked.

Her tone was that of a jealous person, but at the same time, it was also calm so as not to reveal it.

Suzuki looked at her and remained silent for a few seconds, perhaps thinking about what to say.

I felt very embarrassed in that situation.

Suzuki was the last person I expected to find at home.

"Well... I met Fumihiro's mother and I offered to help her at home to tidy up... It was all messy," Suzuki replied, averting her gaze from Ema.

"Oh... and I see that... you also prepared lunch..." Ema replied, with an annoyed tone.

"Well, yes. Suzuki-Chan helped me prepare lunch and clean the house. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have made it," my mother added, trying to calm things down. I was grateful to have such a mother.

"Come on, why don't we eat now?" Suzuki asked.

I had almost a full stomach, as Ema and I had lunch at the sushi restaurant. "Well... actually..." I said, scratching my head.

At that moment, Ema spoke for me.

"We've already eaten," she said calmly.

"Oh... really?" My mother replied with a tone of disappointment.

After that sentence from Ema, I saw a sad look forming on Suzuki's face. I

t seemed like she had put all her effort into preparing that dish and helping my mother.

She must have felt like all her efforts were in vain.

"I'm fine with eating, I got hungry again from walking all the way here," I said, in a friendly yet decisive tone.

At my response, Ema's eyes widened. For some strange reason, I felt like she wanted to make a decision for me, and I didn't like it at all.

Suzuki's pout disappeared, replaced by a beautiful smile accompanied by an expression of joy.

My mother was also very relieved by my choice.

Ema, however, had a puzzled expression.

She didn't expect such a sentence from me, and she looked at me with surprised eyes, remaining silent.

"How nice!! Your mother and I made your favorite dishes!" Suzuki said enthusiastically.

"Yes! You should know that Suzuki-Chan worked really hard! She was very happy to be able to help me," my mother added.

I smiled despite feeling a bit uncomfortable in that situation because I knew Suzuki had done all that because she was in love with me.

I had to pretend not to know anything and behave normally. I had no other choice.

The phrase Ema said triggered a small alarm bell inside me.

"Another..." Ema whispered very quietly, so as not to be heard.

I also saw her clench her fists, but it lasted half a second.

Ema then smiled bitterly.

"Okay... you can't say no to these things..." she sighed bitterly.

She wasn't happy with the situation, and she didn't expect Suzuki to be there.

After that, we all sat down at the table, and I noticed a certain tension rising.

My mother, happy, started asking some general questions about what Ema and I had done that morning, completely unaware of what had happened between us.

I distinctly remember my mother glancing frequently between Ema and Suzuki. Perhaps she had sensed that something was wrong.

That "lunch" didn't last long since Ema and I were almost full.

Nevertheless, we still ate quite a bit.

Everything was too delicious not to eat.

Suzuki was overjoyed to see me eat, and she kept looking at me with a loving gaze.

Ema wasn't very happy about it, but she didn't say anything that could cause trouble; she just answered my mother's questions and ate.

Maybe she had sensed that there was something from Suzuki.

I pretended not to notice anything so that my mother wouldn't suspect anything.

After finishing eating, we thanked for the food and got up.

"I'll tidy up the kitchen, you go out and have fun!" my mother said lovingly.

"Yes, Anzu-San, thank you!" Suzuki replied with a bow.

"Thank you, mother!" Ema also bowed. Ema replied like this to make her position clear, as my girlfriend. I was sure.

Suzuki didn't flinch and pretended not to notice, as if she didn't want to give Ema the satisfaction of seeing her annoyed.

In a way, I could understand her hatred towards her, since she didn't know the reality of the situation between Ema and me, how she had been threatened, etc.

"I'll have to talk to her sooner or later..." I thought.

In the meantime, Ema took my hand and said: "What do you say if you stay over at my place tonight? Your clothes are still at my house." She smiled.

Suzuki lowered her gaze, as if she felt defeated.

"Well, why n-" my mother interrupted me.

"Ema-Chan, Fumihiro should take care of Takibi tonight; I have to stay at the neighbor's house, who recently became a widow," she said.

"Oh... I understand... It will be for tomorrow then" Ema said with a bitter laugh.

"I'm sorry, Ema-Chan... I would ask you to stay, but I know your parents have been worried lately..." she replied.

"What? Worried about what? Ema didn't tell me anything" I thought.

"Yes... In fact, I have to go back home as soon as possible... It's not a good time for me," Ema replied, lowering her gaze to the floor. She squeezed my hand as if seeking comfort.

"What happened, Ema?" Suzuki asked.

"Nothing much... I'll tell you later at school..." Ema replied.

"Ema, you'll tell me later," I said, stroking her back. My touch calmed her.

Ring ring A phone rang: It was Suzuki's.

We all looked at her and heard her phone call.

"Yes... Dad? Do I have to come back already? Okay..." she said with a tone of regret.

"What's wrong, Suzuki-Chan?" my mother asked.

"Nothing, I have to go back home. There are some errands to run, and I have to help my dad... How boring," Suzuki replied.

She wasn't happy at all to leave.

"There's no problem, Suzuki. We'll see each other at school, and on the weekend, I was planning to organize a day at the amusement park," I said reassuringly.

Ema looked at me in a very strange way, perhaps jealous.

"W-Well... I don't see anything wrong with that," she added.

"Yes! It's a wonderful idea!" Suzuki smiled.

One thing i noticed during this lunch was that Suzuki and Ema didn't see eye to eye.

But it was normal. For everyone, Ema had been the one who betrayed me, the one who was seen with Chiko.

I just had to explain everything, but I couldn't do it in front of my mother; she had to remain in the dark.

"Ema. Would you like a ride home?" Suzuki added, with a very cold tone.

I was taken aback by this proposal, not understanding why she did it.

Ema smiled with a malicious manner.

"Yes, Haruka-Chan, I accept. I'll go get some things from my house, and then I'll come back here. I also have to fix some things with my parents. Thank you." She said, almost with a tone of superiority, like she was marking her territory.

"Thank you so much for your kindness, Suzuki," I said with a bow.

Ema was a bit annoyed by this gesture, but she did her best not to show it.

"You're welcome, Fumi!" Suzuki replied.

For some strange reason, hearing Suzuki call me like that annoyed Ema a lot.

Behind her fake smile, you could see tremendous jealousy.

Maybe she had understood Suzuki's intentions.

"Alright, I'll go put Takibi to bed, okay?" my mother said, taking my little brother's hand.

"Suzuki-Chan, Ema-Chan, I'll wait for you here as soon as possible," my mother added, smiling lovingly.

Both Ema and Suzuki thanked her. My mother smiled again and went upstairs.

After a few minutes, a car horn sounded outside my house.

Our attention shifted to the origin of that sound.

We saw Suzuki's personal driver's car outside.

It was the same man who escorted me home and told me that Mr. Suzuki himself wanted to meet me.

Suzuki, Ema, and I went outside.

The man rolled down the window and greeted me.

"Hi!" he said with a very dark but at the same time very friendly voice.

It was Dakarai-San.

I returned the greeting. "Dakarai-San! I'm here!" Suzuki said.

"Miss, your father is waiting for you for the meeting with potential clients," the driver replied.

"Of course! Can we give Ema a ride though?" Suzuki asked kindly.

"Absolutely. There shouldn't be any problems," Dakarai replied.

After a few seconds, the door opened, and Suzuki was the first to get in after saying goodbye to me. "See you at school, Fumi!" Haruka said.

"I'll be back at your place later, Fumi. I'll pick up some things and also a gift I got for you," Ema said before giving me a kiss on the cheek and getting into the car. Her kiss made me blush a little.

"See you later!" I said.

Dakarai looked at me, as if to say "How lucky!", all accompanied by a soft laugh.

The door closed, and Dakarai said one last thing before leaving. "Remember what I told you!" he said, giving me his business card.

Then, his window went up, and he drove off.

I watched his car until it became smaller and smaller.

"Ah... all to me..." I sighed.

After that, I went into the house and went straight to my room.

I lay down on my beloved bed and started staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything I had seen today...

"Ema tried to make decisions for me again... What should i think about this? Is she really trying to change or not?" I wondered.

~~~~~~Extra chapter: Suzuki and Ema confrontation~~~~~~

And so, the two girls were sitting opposite to each other, in the luxury car of Suzuki's family.

The tension between the two was rising by each passing second.

Their silence was speaking more than 1000 words.

Ema's arms were crossed and she was trying her best to not look at Suzuki.

You could see that the word "Jealousy" was written all over her face.

Suzuki, instead, was really calm and had a smile all upon her face.

But everyone knows that inside, she was boiling with rage.

"Ema." Suzuki said, with a cold but calm voice, sharp enough to cut the steel.

The other girl raised her head and her purple eyes locked into Suzuki's.

"What do you want?" She replied. Her tone of voice was even colder than before.

"I'll be direct with you: Why are you still trying to stay with Fumihiro? Do you know that you'll hurt him way more than you did?" Suzuki said. Her cold tone was filled with a glimpse of sadness.

"Don't speak if you don't know anything, Haruka. It's none of your business." Ema replied, with an aggressive but calm tone.

"His tears were enough for me to see. They were everything i needed." Suzuki said, while also crossing her legs.

"Don't worry about that, Dakarai won't hear us." She added.

"Again, you don't know anything about us. It's NONE. OF. YOUR. BUSINESS." This time, Ema marked her last words, implying that she didn't want to tell things to her.

"Oh? You say so but you actually accepted a ride from me because you wanted to talk, right?" Suzuki giggled.

Ema's irritation after hearing Suzuki was rising and she started biting her nails.

"Haruka. Do you think that i haven't noticed? The way you look at Fumihiro? The way you talk to him?" Ema said.

"Do you know how much it hurts me?" Suzuki replied, with a cold tone. "Do you know how much it hurts me to see him suffering and crying beacause of YOU?"

Ema kept staying silent, waiting for Haruka to continue her words.

"You don't deserve someone as sweet as him, Ema. You've been manipulating him since a lot of time." Suzuki added, this time her voice was almost a sad whisper.

"Haruka. I didn't cheat on Fumihiro. We already talked about my situation... And i told you what happened when he was taken at the hospital." Ema was trying to justify herself , trying to make herself clear.

"I know you love him, Haruka. But you won't take him away from me, he's mine. I love him." Ema's words were direct like an arrow, hitting Haruka's heart.

Suzuki clenched her fist and lowered her gaze for a second.

"You don't know anything about love, Ema." Suzuki said.

Her voice was almost on the verge of crying.

"I also met Kazuha." She added.

At this statement, Ema started to tremble.

"Oh. T-that Kazuha?" She said.

Her name seemed to have activated a trigger inside Ema's heart.

"Yes. She told me everything, about what happened, and how you..." She then cleared her throat. How you erased Fumihiro's memories of her." Suzuki said.

Ema looked down, feeling guilty.

"Kazuha was the one whom he saved from the bullies... Not you... You... You manipulated Fumihiro into believing that the girl was you, right?" Suzuki asked.

Ema was trembling nervously in anger.

She didn't know what to answer to Suzuki.

"So you're gonna believe Kazuha? Someone that you met for the first time ?" Ema said with a nervous tone.

"Ema. Stop it." Suzuki said. "Don't you see what you've done to Fumihiro already? Do you know how many times he cried? How much he has been suffering because of you?" Suzuki's body was trembling.

"You clearly don't know how much it hurts me... How much much it hurts me to see him crying for someone who clearly doesn't love him... Chiko was just an excuse." Suzuki said, with a very emotional tone.

The rich girl was trying her best to hold her tears. She took all of her courage to speak to Ema about this topic.

She didn't want to interfere into their relationship but her love for Fumihiro was too strong and she wasn't feeling happy about his situation.

On the other hand, Ema was threatened by Chiko and she kept saying that it wasn't her fault.

But lies on lies aren't a good thing.

Small drops of water can actually form an entire ocean.

Ema truly loved Fumihiro, and even Suzuki.

"Haruka. Even if you say something like this, i won't break up with him. We promised to marry each other directly after graduation... meaning that the moment is close." Ema said with a fake superior tone, trying to maintain her position as Fumihiro's girlfriend.

She clearly didn't want to leave his current boyfriend and she also needed help from Chiko.

"You're an egoist, Ema. You're nothing more than a selfless egoist who only cares about herself. Chiko's situation could be fixed with our help... You know my father... But you decided to lie because... your ego felt refreshed after seeing someone other than Fumihiro chasing you. Despite everything, you were enjoying Chiko's attention. That's why you ran away when Fumihiro caught you." This time, Suzuki's words literally hit Ema deep inside. "Even if you say that you love him and you're not manipulating him, you've always been the one who took decisions for Fumi. The one in control..."

Some tears were forming inside Haruka's eyes but she tried her best to hold them.

Ema didn't know what to say or what to think.

She wanted to reply to Suzuki that everything she said was false, but she couldn't.

Maybe her words were too deep.

An akward silence was filling the atmosphere, until...

"Miss Hayashi, we arrived at destination." This voice was Dakarai.

After some seconds, the door opened.

Ema, without words, was leaving the car.

"Think about what i said, Ema. If you love him, leave him and let him breathe."

Ema kept staying silent, giving an irritated glare to Suzuki, before getting out and seeing the door closing.

After seeing the car leaving, Ema went inside the house and ran directly into her room, ignoring her parents and Kanna.

She then umped on her bed and started thinking about Suzuki's words.

"Fumihiro..." That's what she said before starting to look at the ceiling with a void expression.