Chinen X Yoshida (P1-3)

I saw his face, his eyes staring straight through me. I saw his eyes twinkling and sparkling like gems in the light. I saw his face lit up as the sides of his lips curled up to form a smile. I saw him coming towards me. I saw him reaching out to me. He was cute. He was sweet. He was charming. He was him. He was who I wanted, who I longed for, who I loved. He was everything I imagined of and exactly who I needed.

But sadly, I knew it was not reality. He, who I wanted, had never looked at me. Not for a slight second. Not once had I felt his eyes on me. Not once had I known that he knew my name. Not once had I known that he knew my existence. Yet, I felt satisfied. I knew I wasn’t good enough for him. I knew my existence did not matter to anyone, least of all him. I knew I was not important. I knew I would pass on and move on soon. All these I knew. But did I have a choice? A choice to not have this brutal illness that made my body fail me?

No, I do not. If only I had the choice. The choice to be able to go on living. But I had been deprived of all life choices. I would never have the chance to confess my feelings or have him notice me. I would never have the choice to ask for his love. I would never be able to grasp the happiness which seems so close, yet so far away. I yearned for a sense of belonging in my current world, where I would soon leave to stay at another. I did not want to but I was destined to live my life this way, to never get what I want.

Since young, I had never played with my friends, or alone. I was not allowed to do strenuous exercises for fear I might pass out. I was not able to do much. Just sitting alone, watching everyone have fun as they ran here and there or do other activities that I have been deprived of. All I could do was look at other people. Many a time I pray that I can wish for something and it would come true. But I knew that was impossible.

Looking at his face in front of me, I knew it was not real. As I stretch out my arm to touch him, my eyes opened. In front of me was thin air and my outstretched arm. As much as I would have liked for it to be true, I knew it was just not possible. I left my arm in midair and stared at it. I felt like I could have touched him if I hadn’t woken up. Just that single second and I lost my chance to, although it was just a dream. How I abhorred myself for doing so, even though I have no control over sleep.

I got up slowly and got ready for school. I had to walk slowly down the stairs where I could hear my mum preparing breakfast. A whiff of it came to my nose and I tried to hurry down so that I could have a longer time enjoying it. “Morning mum,” I said, sitting down at the dinning table.

“Inari, good morning. How was sleep?” my mum asked.

“Oh, fine. I slept great,” I lied. I couldn’t get her more worried than she already was. Just my illness was already taking a toll on her body. She was getting ill too and it was all because of me. She only slept for four hours everyday, attending my needs and working hard to pay rent and our daily necessities.

We chatted over breakfast and soon enough, we were done with it. “Let me do the dishes,” I told my mum.

“No, Inari. I’ll do it as usual.”

“Mum, just let me do it. Just this once. Please...”

She looked at me and smiled. “Okay, okay. But I’ll be beside you the whole time.”

“Yay!” I cheered. For the fourteen years of my life, and soon to be fifteen, I had never done the dishes or any housework before, unless you count changing my own pillowcase. I had always wanted to be able to do something that everyone had done before. People my age always complain of having to do housework. But I wouldn’t mind in the least. I was always forced not to instead of forced to. So, I try to take my chances when I can.

I moved to the kitchen where I placed all the dishes in the sink and turned the tap on. I’ve seen mum doing it but I was no s sure what to do. I took the sponge and put some dishwashing liquid on it. I took a plate and started washing it. But, due to my illness, I suddenly felt faint for a moment and dropped the plate on the floor. My mum managed to come in time to hold me stable. My eyesight became clear and I stared at the broken pieces of a used to be plate in dismay. My mum took my hand and led me to the dinning room where I sat as she went to clear up the mess I made.

I had wanted to help lift a little burden off my mum’s shoulders and show her that I can actually do something simple that every other people can, but instead, I ended up with a broken plate and gave her more than she had to do. I couldn’t say anything. Not even sorry. For my whole life, I’ve done nothing except waste it. Where was the justice in the world? Where was help when I needed it? Where was hope when I couldn’t see light?

Nowhere. Nowhere in sight, nowhere within grasp, nowhere at all. Life was unfair, and no one could deny that. I stood up and went to the living room to take my bag which I always leave it there before going to bed. “Mum, I’ll go to school by myself today. My friends will help me up the bus. You don’t have to worry,” I said aloud.

“No. Inari, you’re not very strong. I must bring you up the bus. If I could, I’d send you myself but I can’t. So at least, don’t stop me from helping you. I’m your mother. I must help you,” mum came to tell me. “Come on, let’s wait outside.”

I sighed. Why couldn’t life be fairer. Having me suffer was enough. Why make others suffer because of me? I shook my head. We waited for the bus which came within seconds the moment we stepped out of the door. The door opened. I walked slowly towards it and raised my leg cautiously to put it up the step into the bus. My mum helped me, as usual. “Thanks, mum. See you when I get back.”

She waved and smiled. I sat down with my friend who started talking to me about how long the rainbow was. “Do you know how long the rainbow is? You know the saying, ‘There’s a crack of gold at the end of the rainbow’. I wonder if anyone found it yet.”

“Nozomi, no one knows how long the rainbow is. Anyway, that is just a saying. It’s not true.”

“But why did the person who created that saying create it? There must be a reason. I...”

And she went on and on. As much as I liked her, I sometimes felt like I don’t really understand why she talks about all those things. The bus suddenly stopped in front of a house. It was massive and magnificent. I was awed and so was Nozomi that she actually stopped harping about the rainbow. Just the front lawn was bigger than my whole house, which was not exactly very huge. The house was about five times bigger and even the trees were the same height with my house, considering my house is not short. How lucky some people were. They were rich and they could do practically whatever they wanted. They were fed well, they slept well and they were free of all illnesses. I really wished my mum would get a pay rise. Then at least she wouldn’t have to work so hard to make ends meet.

I knew she was doing it all for me. I needed at least twenty thousand dollars to go through the operation in America. And that was only the operation. It hadn’t included the food, lodging, transport and the therapy sessions before and after the operation. All of those would include to almost fifty thousand. How was mum going to raise that much money. Each month she only receives eight hundred dollars and that was for washing the dishes, cleaning rooms and getting shouted at everyday by her boss. That eight hundred alone was obviously not enough. The both of us could barely survive on that amount of money. How nice if my dad was here with us. Unfortunately, he left this world for the other when I was three on the day right before my birthday in a car accident.

Out of nowhere, I heard footsteps in the bus. I looked up and my heart stopped. It was the person of my dreams. The boy whom I’ve liked, loved, since I saw him on the first day of school. He was so cute and popular. Not that I liked him for those, but he was kind-hearted and helpful. I once saw him attending to a sick bird a year ago until it was all better and could fly freely and happily. Everyday, he would stay at school to plant new plants and make sure they grow well. It has been told that gardening was his favourite hobby. He always looked attentive while he looked after the plants. In class, he was the smartest and always got straight As, like me. I was proud, for I had something in common with him, not that it mattered very much to him.

He walked towards Nozomi and I and stopped right beside us. He didn’t actually want to, but there were actually no more extra seats. So he had to stand. And as he was not the last one in, he had to start the standing line by standing at the back where Nozomi and I were sitting. My heart pumped loud and hard. It felt like it was going to jump out. Fortunately, it didn’t. I looked at his cute face as he stared out the window at his house. The bus rumbled on and soon everyone got sleepy as it was so early in the morning. My eyes slowly closed and my sleepiness took over as my head slumped against Nozomi’s shoulder.

~~~~~
I walked up the bus and found no seats available. Well, I guess I’ll just have to stand. I’ll have to go right to the back. “Hi, Yuri. Want to sit? Yuki can always stand,” a girl told me as she pushed her friend off the seat. “No, thank you. I’ll just stand,” I told her. Two steps later, another girl stopped me. “Chinen-kun, come sit with me. Or do you want to stand? I can always stand with you if you want,” she said. “I really appreciate your intentions, but I’ll be happy by myself,” I gave her a fake smile, at which she immediately squealed, “He smiled at me! He smiled at me!”

I quickly hurried off. I couldn’t stand girls like that. I did like having girls as friends but when they get to that level, I just can’t help feeling annoyed. All the females I’ve met so far kept trying to please me, except my mother and my servants at home. Even the girls I’ve never met before tried to act like we’re friends, when in fact, I don’t know them. When would I find a normal girl who doesn’t go crazy just because I’m present? I’m going to be sixteen soon and in a few years, I’d be taking over my father’s company. And at that time, I’d have to be married. I hope to find my other half, but it was rather tough, considering there’s no girl who seemed to hate me.

I headed off to the end of the bus where I saw two girls. Feeling quite sure that they were one of the crazed ones, I acted like I didn’t see them. I stopped, half expecting one of them to offer me her seat. But none came. I looked at them from the corner of my eye and saw the both of them talking to each other happily like I didn’t exist. Suddenly, the one sitting on the outer seat caught my eye. She blushed and quickly turned away as if to pretend like she didn’t see me. Feeling surprised and a little awkward though I don’t know why, I looked away too. But after a few seconds, I turned my head a little to look at her.

She was still talking to her friend, who actually seemed to do most of the talking. She had her long hair tied up to a ponytail and she was smiling and laughing along with her friend. I couldn’t take my eyes off her for a moment. I don’t know why but there was something pulling me towards her like a magnet. Some kind of a connection. Surprisingly, she didn’t seem to notice.

The bus moved on slowly, picking other people on the way as everyone got sleepy. I saw her head plonk on her friend’s shoulder as her eyes gradually closed. Practically everyone fell asleep as the bus moved on further. Unluckily for the standing ones which included me, we did not have the privilege. So all we could do was succumb to destiny and stand, looking enviously at the sleepyheads.

I had to be wide-eyed throughout the whole journey to school. At last, when the bus stopped at school, everyone got up slowly to get down. The girl I’ve been noticing stood up slower than slowly, and her friend helped her. I wonder why. I walked two steps and I realized she moved very slowly, as if afraid to fall. I continued my steps and manage to squeeze through the crowd in the bus. I reached firm ground and sighed to myself. Just as I was going to walk again, someone hit me and I fell.

“Ouch!” I said aloud, almost shouting. “Who hit me?”

While I was flattened on the ground, I realized no one hit me. Actually someone fell on me, causing me to continue the fall like a domino. “Can you get off me? Whoever you are?”

“Sorry.” A girl’s voice said. “Help me, Nozomi.”

“Sorry. Come.” Another voice said, as that person helped the person on me up.

I got up to my feet and turned. It was the girl. She looked shy for she was blushing. “I.. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall. I’m really sorry,” she repeated. She looked kind of cute. It was a wonder she was not acting all annoying like other girls. “Sure, it’s ok. Hi, I’m Chinen Yuri. What’s your name?” I held out my hand to her. She looked shocked but she extended her hand and took mine, smiling. “Yoshida Inari.”

I felt something go through me. Some kind of current. It was like I bonded with something. Or maybe someone. I smiled at her, “Which class are you in?”

“3A. You’re in 4A right?” she said to me. “Yeah, how did you know?” I was getting a little creeped out. Now she knew my class. Maybe I was wrong about her. Maybe she was like the other girls who go around me all day to find out information about me. “You’re not exactly not popular, you know. I think the whole school knows. And by the way, you’re a straight A student. How could I not know.”

“Oh.” I found her answer somewhat reassuring. It was like she knew something about me because of a different reason from the other girls, studies, not because she thinks I’m popular. Great. Maybe she’ll be my friend. “This is Takahashi Nozomi, my best friend. She’s in the same class as me,” she introduced her friend who started looking at me like I was some sort of a creature whom she’d never seen before. “Sorry. She’s always like that. She doesn’t really like boys. I think we’d better go now. Bye,” she said, as her friend held her arm to support her in walking.

Why did she need help? Couldn’t she walk like everyone else? She seemed normal enough. Oh, well.

~~~~~
“I’m trying to get a girlfriend. A normal one. Why does everyone stare at me? And why do they look at me with a kind of look? Even the guys do so.”

“Hah. That’s because you’re popular. And they like you, Yuto.”

“Right. The guys like me too. Wonderful. What do I do, Chinen?” Yuto said, looking gloomy.

“How’d I know? I’m getting constant stares myself. Speaking of normal people. I met two just now.”

“What type of normal do you mean?”

“You know, the type of people who don’t stare at you because you’re popular. Anyway, there were these two girls from 3A and they did not stare at me. And one of them hates boys,” Chinen replied.

“Really? What are their names?” Yuto suddenly got excited to know that they were normal people around.

“The boy-hater is Takahashi Nozomi and the other is Yoshida Inari.”

“Yoshida? You mean that smart-alect? And Takahashi? The person who looks at boys with eyes like this?” Yuto did a weird expression with his face.

“Yeah.. Something like that. You know them? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought you knew. Yoshida is the smartypants like you and Takahashi is like her sidekick or something. They’re always seen together. Takahashi always does things for Yoshida.”

“Yeah. I’ve realized that. I wonder why,” Chinen looked thoughtful.

“Yoshida has a rare illness that deprives her from doing all normal activities. She cannot move around as easily as us and she needs help in everything. I heard there is a treatment for her but it is too expensive for her to afford it.”

“I can always help her. I can sponsor her. I mean, I can pay for her. Then she’ll be alright,” Chinen said.

“Why are you so interested in helping her?” Yuto looked at Chinen suspiciously.

“I am? Well, I don’t know. I guess I just pity her or something. I mean, she’s got one of the worst illnesses and she can’t pay for treatment. How unfortunate is that?”

“Really? Or are you interested in her?”

“I’m not. So get over with it.”

~~~~~
“Here. Your sandwich.”

“Thanks, Nozomi. I don’t know how I’ll cope without you.”

“I know. I’m great, aren’t I? Haha,” Nozomi laughed.

Inari and Nozomi were having their recess under a tree, away from the crowd of people squishing each other for food. Everyday, Nozomi would rush to get some before the whole school came to grab for them. That specific day, Inari felt like something was different. But she couldn’t put her finger on it. Maybe it was just that the person she liked spoke to her and actually shook hands with her. At that time, she had felt some electricity going through her hand. She had been surprised but managed to hide it well.

Now, as she chatted with Nozomi about the coming test, she felt presence coming their way. “Hi.”

She looked up and it was none other than her crush, Chinen Yuri. “Hi. Erm.. do you want to sit?”

“Oh, it’s okay. I’ll stand.” He said.

There was an awkward silence. Even while she ate, she felt weird. She looked at him from the corner of her eye. He seemed to be waiting for someone. Suddenly his face broke into a smile. “There you are! Come here,” he said.

Another boy came and he smiled as he extended his hand to her. “I’m Nakajima Yuto. Chinen’s classmate. You must be Yoshida.”

She nodded and took his hand. Then he turned to Nozomi and said, “And you must be Takahashi. Nice to meet you.” Nozomi gave him the weird look again and Inari shook her head. “Sorry. She’s always like that,” she explained for the second time that day. “Okay. Never mind. It’s fine.”

“So, you’re the smartest of your year. Good for you,” Chinen started a conversation.

“Well, not really. As long as you study smart enough you’ll get good grades,” Inari replied.

“Hey, that’s what he always tells me,” Yuto said, surprisingly. “Great minds think alike. Hey, that’s a phrase.”

Both Chinen and Yoshida blushed and looked away. “Hey, you want to go out with us tomorrow? It’s a Saturday. And every Saturday my mother forces me to go to the mall to buy things for her. And when I buy the wrong stuff, which happens quite often, I get scolded. And Chinen’s not much help either. Since you’re girls you should be able to help me. Can you make it?” Yuto asked Inari and Nozomi.

Taken aback, both their eyes grew big. They could not believe their ears, especially Inari. No one has ever asked her out except Nozomi. “Are you sure?” she asked, uncertainly. “Sure. Why not?” Chinen smiled. “Er.. Takahashi? Will you go?” Yuto asked cautiously. “I’ll think about it,” she said, as she looked at Inari.

~~~~~
“Okay, we’re here. So where do you want to go first?”

Chinen, Nakajima, Yoshida and Takahashi were at the mall. Inari managed to persuade Nozomi to go as she was not allowed to go out alone. “First, to the supermarket part. Vegetables and fruits. That’s always first on the list,” Yuto shook his head. “My mum’s a health freak.”

They spent a long time choosing the appropriate quality of things for Yuto’s mother. After that, they just roamed around until they saw a photo booth. “Shall we take pictures? As a memory of our first date,” Yuto said, cheerily. Chinen and Yoshida caught each others’ eye and quickly turned away. They seemed always prone to looking at each other straight at the eye and immediately turning away. “Pictures? With you?” Nozomi said, eyebrows raised. “Why not? It’s our first date right? Come on,” Yuto pulled Nozomi and Inari towards the booth.

Unable to stop moving so quickly, Inari tripped over her own leg and fell onto Chinen who caught her in time. “Are you okay?” he looked at her, with a worried look. “I’m fine. Don’t mind me. I’m sorry. I’m always falling down. I..” Inari stated quickly, feeling embarrassed. “Inari, are you okay? What’s up with pulling her? What if she got injured? You know fully well she can’t move as deftly as us,” Nozomi stared at Yuto, who seemed to shrink away behind Chinen. “I forgot,” he muttered. “Forgot?! If you keep depending on that brain of yours, you’ll never make it. Let’s go,” Nozomi held Inari as both of them walked away from Chinen and Yuto.

Chinen looked at Yuto with annoyance. “What did you pull her for? You know she’s not so strong.” “Hey, are you.. angry?” Yuto looked surprised. “No, I’m not.” “Yes, you are. You like her, don’t you?” “No, I don’t.” “Yes, you do. So stop denying it.” “I’m not. So stop asking.”

~~~~~
For the next few weeks, Chinen and Yuto kept meeting up with Inari and Nozomi, although Yuto was quite reluctant for Nozomi kept giving him the look. It was like she hadn’t forgiven him for pulling Inari although nothing serious happened. Life was going quite well until one day when Chinen asked for a meeting with Inari alone. She was not sure whether she should go or not. She was not afraid of what he would do to her, since he wouldn’t hurt her. She was just anxious about what he was going to say. When finally the day came, she still couldn’t make up her mind. She hadn’t told anyone yet, not even Nozomi. She sat on the couch wondering what she should do. Maybe if she didn’t go, he’ll think she got more ill and won’t pester her to go. But he might also think she was not such a nice person to stand him up. What should she do?

Without further thoughts, the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” she shouted to her mum. She opened the door just as her mother went beside her. “Oh. Who is this boy?” she asked. “Hi, Mrs, Yoshida. I’m Chinen Yuri, Inari’s schoolmate. I came here to talk to her about something.”

“What are you doing here? I thought you said...” Inari started, but stopped because she wasn’t sure of what to say.

“Come in. Have a seat. I’ll leave the both of you alone while I go upstairs,” Inari’s mother said.

She went upstairs. Inari and Chinen sat down and there was another awkward silence, which happened most of the time. “So, what did you want to meet me for?” Inari broke the silence. “Oh, erm.. I ah.. I’d like to ah.. Can I ah.. Can we.. Uh.. You want to go out with me?”

“What?!”

“Er.. Okay. Here goes. I liked you since I met you and you were different from all the other girls I met. Every time we accidentally touch each other, I feel some kind of feeling that I’ve never felt before. And.. I liked it.”

“What?!”

“Do I have to repeat?”

“But, Chinen. I’m ill. And I’m not able to go for treatment. If I don’t go, I won’t live. I think you better find another girl.”

“Inari, are you being truthful or do you just hate me that you don’t want to go out with me? You can always tell me.”

“No, Chinen. I.. I...”

“It’s okay. I understand. You just don’t want me in your life. I’ll leave.”

Chinen got up and walked quickly out of the house without another word. Shocked and speechless, Inari just sat motionless. She couldn’t believe her luck. Just as she thought her life couldn’t get any worse, it just did. Tears formed in her eyes. She had liked Chinen for so long and when he actually asked her out, she blew the chance and made him hate her. Why, why was her life so miserable? Every single little chance of happiness was taken away from her. Why?

~~~~~
“Don’t worry, Inari. All expenses were paid for by this family who always help the needy. You just have to go through the operation and therapy. And when you’re done, you’ll be as lively as any teenager.”

“Thanks, mum,” Inari said, feeling happy and sad at the same time. She was in America. She had left Japan a day ago and she was missing it already. She was to go for the operation in a week and continue with the therapy for half a year before she could go back. And after that, she could look forward to having a better life full of activities that she’d never been able to do.

~~~~~
“I’m so glad you’re back. Mind if I hang out with her for a while, Mrs. Yoshida?”

“Sure, go ahead. Just remember to come home before dinner, Inari.”

“Ok. Let’s go,” Inari said, excited. She’d been gone for a year to America and now she was back, better than ever. For the past year, she had missed Japan so much, especially Nozomi and of course a certain other person. But she could not show her feelings, not when she practically rejected him straight in the face. But perhaps he would forgive her if she went to talk to him? Or maybe he would just ignore her for the rest of their lives? “So, where are we going?” she asked Nozomi.

“I don’t know. Maybe roam a little at the mall? We don’t need to buy anything. We’ll just chat all the way,” Nozomi replied cheerily.

“Fine with me,” Inari answered, smiling. Both Inari and Nozomi missed each other so much they were practically sticking to each other like superglue. The bond between them was so strong that even being apart for a year did not make any difference to how they were before.

They chatted while looking into shops to see the goods sold. Suddenly, they bumped into other people. “Hey, watch where you going, little girls. You don’t want to mess with us,” a big, fleshy boy towered them as his gang of five stared at them from behind him.

“Sorry. We weren’t looking. It won’t happen again. Sorry,” Nozomi pulled Inari and started to walk again.

“Oh no, you don’t. If you think you’re getting away with knocking into us, you’re thinking wrong. Come on, guys. We’re taking them with us.”

“Get off us! Get off! Help! Help!” they both shouted, but no one could hear them as the music suddenly played through the amplifiers and loud speakers in the mall, making their voices unheard. How much unluckier could we get? thought Inari.

While they screamed their lungs out though no avail, the five boys carried them to the staircase where no one would ever find them unless they decide to drop a visit there or walk all the way down to the ground floor using it. “Help! Someone help! Anyone! Hel..”

“Shut up!” the big, fleshy boy shouted at them, slapping Inari. She winced in pain but stopped shouting. Instead, Nozomi got annoyed and started shouting at them. “Hey! She didn’t do anything to you. What’s up with hurting her. Can’t you just keep your hands to yourself or find someone your own size. You..” Another slap came. This time the target was Nozomi. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain but none came. She opened her eyes and they widened.

“Is that..?” Inari’s voice whispered in her ear.

“I think.. I think it is. But how can he be here? How could he know that we’re here? And HE is here too!”

“I...” Inari blushed.

She could still remember the day when she first saw him, when he spoke to her, when he hung out with her. For a whole year she missed him terribly. But she could only hide her feelings. She knew he would never forgive her for her answer she gave him the year before but she did yearn for his forgiveness. If it was possible, she’d take the chance to get together with him. Unfortunately, she felt that there was nothing she could do. There was not a single glimmer of hope for her.

“What do you think you’re going to do to her?” the boy asked.

“What does it matter to you? She’s your freaking girlfriend?”

“Yeah, she is. So back off loser,” he said, as he lunged a punch straight at his face.

“Urgh..”

The big, fleshy guy got hit right at the eye and he fell backwards. Immediately after giving a cry, he ran off, his followers right behind him. The boy smirked and went over to Nozomi. “Hey, are you alright?”

“Yeah. But why are you here?” she asked.

“Well, we saw you girls getting pulled in here and you didn’t seem so willing so we thought we’d help out.”

“Right. Thanks, Yuto. But what did you mean by girlfriend?” Nozomi looked at him suspiciously.

“Oh, nothing. Just that, want to be my girlfriend?” Yuto asked and blushing right after that.

Nozomi was taken aback and tongue-tied for a moment. She could not believe Yuto just asked her to be his girlfriend when they had not even went on a date before. Sure, she liked him. She admitted to herself but not to others. She could not stand the embarrassment if he found out. But now, he liked her too. What should she answer?

“Er.. I.. I..” she stammered.

Inari could not believe her ears too. She nudged Nozomi and she looked at her with questioning eyes as she whispered, “You like Yuto?” and got a positive reply that he could not hear. “Go ahead and accept then. Don’t be like me. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

“I..” Nozomi stammered again. And finally, nodded, unable to speak.

“You.. You agree? You accept? Yes! I’ve got a girlfriend!” Yuto shouted and hugged Nozomi who blushed and looked kind of like she regretted her decision as she was not one who got mushy. “Let’s go! Come on,” Yuto said, pulling Nozomi’s hand and leaving Inari and his friend behind.

They both stared at each other after the couple left. “Hi,” Inari said. “Long time no see, Chinen.”

“Same to you,” he replied coldly. “Bye.”

He turned to leave, not surprising Inari. She felt her feeling grow stronger. And without hesitating, she ran to him and hugged him from the back. “I’m sorry. I.. I didn’t mean to..”

“You didn’t mean to what? Reject me like how you did last year?” he said with no change in his voice.

“I.. I.. I just couldn’t accept it back then. I.. I was ill. I could have died any moment. What would you do then? How did you think I’d feel? Of course I would feel sad. I like you. No. I love you. I’ve always did since I first met you. I know I’m not like other girls who dare to speak up about their feelings. I know I’m a coward. I know I’m not worthy of you. But, try as I might, I couldn’t forget you. You don’t know how much I missed those days when we hung out together. You don’t know how..”

Before she could finish her sentence, Chinen turned around and kissed her full on the lips. Unable to understand, she started crying. Tears dropped down her cheeks and the kiss lasted. Then he broke it. He looked at her and wiped off her tears. “How.. why.. what..” she said, as her tears continued flowing.

“I had been waiting for you to say that. For a whole year I waited for you to come back. I wanted to be with you. In the past, now, and in the future. I want to be with you forever. Nozomi told us you were coming back today. Yuto made this plan to get us together. And it succeeded.” He smiled.

Surprised and stunned, she still managed to smile and hug him. She had never felt so happy. But she was confused about some things. “What happened after you left my house that day?” she asked.

“Oh, that. Well, I was, you know, disappointed. I had wanted to go back to apologize but when I finally had the courage to, you had left. So, I waited for today.”

“You said Yuto planned this. Then why did Nozomi’s acting look so real?”

“Somehow, it didn’t go according to plan. Originally, after Yuto fake punch that big guy, he was supposed to pull Nozomi out and they chase after them. But, it sort of changed. I wonder why. But that’s not important. You’re more important. You won’t reject me again right?”

Inari shook her head and smiled again. She loved what was happening. Chinen went on his knees and held her hand. “Would you be my girlfriend?” he asked, with shining eyes. She nodded and he got up. He pulled her closer to him and planted another kiss. It was a time when Inari wanted time to stop. She wanted to be in that position for a long time. But it had to be spoilt.

“Are you together now?!” Yuto shouted as Nozomi and him entered the same way they left.

Chinen and Inari broke apart and blushed. “Aw.. So sweet. Sorry we came at the wrong moment. I just wanted to do a certain something,” Yuto said, as he took a small box out from his pocket.

“Want to go out with me?” he turned to Nozomi and opened the box which contained a necklace with a heart shaped pendant.

“Stop playing, Yuto. We’re no longer acting. I know I acted so real just now, but you don’t have to keep on doing this to see how great I act,” Nozomi’s voice quivered a little and she looked away.

“I like you. As much as Chinen loves Yoshida. You may not have known, but the plan didn’t go according to what I told you because I planned it differently. When I asked you to be my girlfriend, I meant it. Even now I do. I just hope your answer was genuine. Was it?” Yuto looked at Nozomi, who blushed.

She nodded after a moment of pause, making Yuto shout in delight. He carried her and swung her round and round before setting her back on her feet and then kissing her. “Shall we go celebrate this double happiness?” he said, after breaking the kiss.

Everyone looked at each other and smiled. The couples hooked hands and went off to enjoy the wondrous time they will be having and also for the future they’ll have together.

-brenda-