Disclaimer: Hana Yori Dango belongs to Yoko Kamio and other associated parties.
Author's Notes:
This is my first HYD fic; I've written Slam Dunk and Rurouni Kenshin ones. I'm not a HYD buff, so if there are any mistakes in content for my fic, please don't hesitate to notify me. ^___^
Well, that's all I have to say before this first chapter; enjoy!
:: When The Last Leaf Falls ::
: Chapter One :
A Promise
Makino Tsukushi looked despondently at the tall tree that stretched out above her. There seemed to be an infinite number of leaves on that tree. But she knew it was not so. And she knew it would not be so. Even though her whole heart willed for it. Because there would be one day when the last leaf, too, would fall. In the coming days of autumn. In the coming days so close ahead.
Any other year, and she might not have cared about the leaves on the trees. But this year, they were the hourglass by which she bode her time. The clock ticking away. Ticking away. Each second. Each minute. Each hour. Subtracting the time she could spend with him.
"You will be allowed to see him. For a limited period. Until the last leaf on that tree outside," at this point, a manicured finger pointed outside the window, "falls."
Doumyouji's mother had been less than supportive of her son's relationship with the common girl Makino was. And had made that very clear. All too clear. And every single time Makino Tsukushi walked by that lane, and saw that tree, now half barren already, she felt a chilly shiver down her spine.
"Are you cold?" Doumyouji had asked her once. "Winter is on its way, and the wind is stronger." He insisted on her taking his jacket, which, he claimed, and correctly, was much warmer than hers.
Winter. The ice that was forming in her heart. How could she tell him? How could she say that it was the growing cold that was inside her body and not the environment that made her shiver? How could she?
"Look, Doumyouji," she said one day, "the trees are so bare now. Their last leaves are falling." Out of the blue, she had said that. Pointed that out one day when they were walking together after her shift at work had ended. For no reason at all, she had said it.
Doumyouji had looked at her strangely. He probably never cared about the leaves on the trees. But her voice had struck her chord in him. A chord that resounded and echoed within him. Because it had a sadness and despondency Doumyouji did not know Makino possessed.
"Makino, there's something you're not telling me," he said warningly. He knew she would never listen. Until it was too late. But that did not mean that he would not try.
tbc
Liked it, hated it, don't know what to think of it; review please! ^______^
till next time
~rurouni