I've written a slightly longer prologue this time! The real chapters will probably not be as long though. Enjoy! :3
Unspoken Love
Prologue
He had met her only about 3 times in his life.
Natsume Hyuuga was 8 years old and stuck at his own overly lavish birthday party, where none of the adults seemed to realise that he did not want to be there. Being the heir to the Hyuuga Corp, one of the biggest, most well-known and wealthiest companies in the world, every year, when it came to his birthday, it meant a hotel reception, spotlight, red carpets, and too much of everything. There was always a lot of hand shaking, bowing and fake smiles.
Even as an 8 year old, he knew most of them did not come to see him either. None of them really cared about the young birthday star, nor did they know his real birthday was not until a week later. He was just their chance to build up their own industries.
He stood silent, albeit a bit grumpily at the side, as his father talked on and on to another businessman. Some of his friends were there too- Koko and Sumire were arguing again, Anna was giggling about something to Yuu, and Ruka, his best friend, came up to him a while ago to give him his birthday wishes.
And then he saw her for the first time.
The wavy lock of hazel hair. It was a girl, probably his age, and she stood with her back facing him. Her hand held on tightly to her mother's, and she gave a cute curtsy in her little red dress. In his mind, he wondered about her. Only people of high status get to show their faces here. But he had never seen her before. Not at Alice Academy, nor his 7th birthday, his 6th, or any other special event.
o0o0o0o0
Later on, he managed to slip into the crowd and wandered off on his own. He stopped right in front of the reception table. He saw two trays-one with chocolate cake, the other with strawberry. That delicate pink slice of his favourite flavor-but only one left! Nobody actually knew he liked strawberries the most. He always shrugged and let Aoi have them, and it would be quite embarrassing for a guy like him (yes, he thinks of himself highly) to be caught eating a slice of strawberry cake. Guys are supposed to like chocolate more.
But today was an exception. Surely, surely he was allowed to have a treat on his birthday? It was not like anyone was looking anyway. But his hand froze in mid air just as he reached across for the cake. He turned around, and right beside him stood that girl from just now, her hand reaching for the strawberry cake as well. He glared at her, a signal for her to move her hands away from his cake, but she just stood there, staring straight into his crimson eyes. Natsume sighed and moved aside to reach for the chocolate cake instead. She could have the strawberry one. He solemnly picked up his chocolate cake and reached for a fork and saw the girl doing the same to her strawberry one. Right before he could walk away from their wordless encounter, she pulled his slice of cake out of his hands, and shoved him her own.
"You can have it." She beamed at him.
He watched as she skipped away.
o0o0o0o0
He didn't see her again until it was time to open his presents. The last part of the party was the most important. As usual, all the big companies rushed to give him the best presents. High tech computers, bicycles, watches, clothes. They made a big show about opening them in front of all the guests every year, and he would tear open the presents with a little too much force, and other than those given to him by people he cared about, Natsume was usually bored by its contents. So far, he had opened all his presents, and his favourite presents were of course, from Aoi, a drawing of them together, and from Ruka, a brand new soccer ball with his favourite player's signature.
He thought his dratted birthday celebration was finally over, before it was announced that there was one last gift. From the crowd below, he saw a small head emerging and she hopped onto the stage. Strawberry girl.
But she was not holding anything visible, he noted.
She continued to face him, and before he could react, she reached out both her hands and held his together. "This is my present you!" And closed her eyes and broke off into a song.
"Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to Natsume-kun,
Happy birthday to you!"
The effect on the crowd was immediate. Her voice was innocent, sweet, and captivating. When she sang, everyone in the room fell silent to listen to her. Even Natsume was beyond speechless from her voice. It still rang in the back of his head as he stood immobilized, even while she bounded off the stage.
He did not see her after the party. He asked Ruka, Koko, and even his annoying senior Tsubasa, but none of them knew about the girl. She did not appear on television, or the newspapers.
"Mom," he decided to ask. His mother would know every guest in here tonight.
"Yes honey?"
"Who is that girl? The one that sang to me."
"She's the Yukihira heiress, Natsume." His mother whispered.
Yukihira? The only company in Japan on par with his? He had interacted with Mr and Mrs Yukihira for most of his life, and he had never seen or heard about them having a daughter.
"How come I haven't seen her?"
"Yuka said she wanted her to live an ordinary life, before the day she has to deal with business for the rest of her life. This is probably her first social event. It's pretty ridiculous, if you ask me. Look at the girl! Her voice is amazing, but that is not what you should give to your business partner's son for his birthday present."
Natsume did not say anything. He understood the way the adults think, and he would never argue that her song, her present, was just a teeny bit behind Aoi and Ruka's.
The next time he saw her was 2 years later.
He sat in a café, drinking his smoothie as he swung his legs and kicked the chair repeatedly. For all he knew, he was supposed to be home, but Narumi, his father's secretary, picked up a call halfway during his journey and informed him they were going to make a detour. He did not really care where they were going, but Narumi hastily dumped him in this café, got him a chocolate smoothie, and rushed off. There must be something important to do here, though it was not their company. He wondered where this place was, and how long it would take that girly assistant of his dad to come back for him. He hated being left alone like a baby.
He laid his head on the table grumpily and turned his head so that he was facing the other side of the glass wall. He seemed to be in some kind of gigantic office building. There were adults with suitcases rushing here and there, and he was practically alone in the café.
Then, from the entrance of the building, his eyes widened as an orange balloon floated in.
He traced the string of the balloon down to deduce its owner. It was her. Yukihira. He could still remember her and her voice from 2 years ago. Strangely, he had been on the lookout for her ever since that day. She did not appear for his birthday again, though he saw her parents. Not around Alice Academy, nor other important events.
He watched as she hopped around the place, greeting everyone. Does she know them? She bounced towards the receptionist and leaned over the counter to greet them, and he could see them handing a sweet to her. She was waving to the security guards now, and he could see many other people were stopping to call out to her and give her a smile. It seemed that happiness followed her wherever she went. It has been a while since he last saw her, and she must have grown a little taller. Sighing, he closed his eyes and rested on the table for a while.
Then he heard a chair being pulled out.
"You're so slow, stupid Narumi." He blurted out, eyes still closed.
"Who is that?" Came the reply. His eyes flew open and he turned around to find her grinning at him. Today, her hair was in plaits, and finished off lightly with a red ribbon.
"It's you." He managed to say.
"Long time no see, Natsume-kun! What are you doing here?" She beamed.
The waiter had approached the table, seeing her entrance. "Good evening, Yuki-sama. What would you like to have?"
"Strawberry smoothie, please!" She chirped happily, and the waiter hurried off.
She turned towards him once more. "Waiting for my dad's secretary to finish his business here, then drive me home." He grunted.
"I see." She smiled at him. This girl would not stop smiling.
"And you?" He decided to ask.
She looked a little surprised at his question. "I come here often." She simply replied.
"Why did he call you Yuki? Your name is Yukihira." He eyed her as he saw the waiter coming back with her order.
She giggled. "I see you found out who I was. I'd rather be known as Yuki then Yukihira. It sounds less official, and I didn't want them to be scared of me." She tied her balloon to the back of her chair.
The strawberry smoothie was delivered, and he drank from his own and watched her slurping it in big gulps. Then, as if she realised she was being watched, she stopped. She cocked her head to the side, (It made her look cute, but of course Natsume did not say it) and she stood up suddenly. He watched as she went off to the counter, got something and plopped back down in her seat. She then reached over and dunked a straw into her own smoothie.
"Now we can share it." She smiled.
She stayed until a little while before Narumi came. She taught him how to play some games, and she just sat there with him until she announced it was time for her to go.
The chocolate smoothie was left unfinished, and she left him her balloon.
When Narumi finally came to get him, he exited the building without a word. Narumi seemed to be anxious that Natsume was not scolding him or giving him an attitude. He had already asked if he was feeling fine about 5 times on their way out.
On his way out, he saw, printed large and flashy in front of the building: Yukihira Group.
It has been 4 months since he met her at that café in her family's business. He had gone back a few times before, and even the waiter could recognize him. After all, nobody really comes in to sit there during office hours. He was served a strawberry smoothie after that, and the waiter smiled at him each time he saw him come in.
"Yuki-sama comes here about twice or thrice a week, but on different days." He told him, in which Natsume pretended to not care.
He had thought hard to think of excuses so that Narumi would drive him there. He wondered why they never went there, when they were supposed to be business partners anyway.
"You seem to like the Yukihira heiress a lot, Natsume-kun." Narumi once winked at him from the rearview mirror. "I just like the food in the café." He shrugged.
But each time he went, he was told that he missed her by a day, or she was up at her father's office.
Natsume fell behind his determination to see her, and left it at the back of his head. The next time he heard news of her was actually from Ruka.
They were sitting in the cafeteria table in school, when Ruka brought up her name.
"I saw her again." His cheeks flushed a little.
"Who? Who's the she?" Sumire interrupted, suddenly interested.
"Natsume, you saw her too, didn't you?" Ruka asked.
"Some time ago. So?" Was his nonchalant reply. He continued to drink his juice.
"Hey hey, I can't keep up. Who saw who?" Koko stuck his face between them. Natsume angrily shoved him away so that he fell back.
"The Yukihira girl. Remember? The one who sang on Natsume's 8th birthday."
That seemed to ring a bell as the group collapsed in exclamations of "Oohs" and "Aahs". "She's a Yukihira?" "I remember her!" "Her voice was amazing." "I want to hear her sing again." "Where did she go?"
"Did you guys see Natsume's face after she sang? He was so stunned. He had that 'Oh My God' look that was so funny!" And Koko was kicked in the shin by Natsume.
"So, why did you see her?" Sumire snarled, obviously not too happy that this girl, who had been the buzz for a while in their social circle, had to resurface again. And she actually got the interest of both Natsume and Ruka this time.
"Mom says we are working together on some project. I saw her that day when I was at the office." Ruka announced proudly.
"So how is she?" asked Anna, biting into her fry.
"She's nice. She smiles a lot. I don't think she knows that I know her."
Ruka hardly mentioned her again after that, though Natsume could tell he was somewhat entranced by the girl. Some days he would catch his best friend just smiling at nothing. Why was it the Nogi's that they had to work with? Surely working with the Hyuugas would bring them more fame? Damn.
Time fast forwards once more.
Natsume Hyuuga was 12 and sitting in the armchair silently, watching as his mother quarreled with someone over the line. Aoi was sitting on his lap and fiddling with a red crayon. He flinched a little as his mother slammed the phone down.
"What's wrong?" Aoi looked up and asked.
"Nothing. Stay here for a while, ok? Mommy will be back." And Mrs Hyuuga rushed away, with her coat in her hand.
"Mommy always says that, but she never comes back until I sleep." Aoi pouted.
Natsume watched her back as she left.
o0o0o0o0
They slid into their usual seats in the cafeteria once more.
"Did any of you hear that gossip?" Koko started.
"What gossip?" Yuu asked.
"Stupid. I heard that something went wrong with the companies lately. Which means bad news for all of us. Mom's trying to hide it, but she's being extra touchy." Mochu sighed.
"My Dad is behaving weirdly too. What's happening?" Anna frowned.
"Not sure. Seems like some partnership failed." They sat in silence for a while.
"A partnership between who and who?" Ruka looked up after a while. Usually, when their families entered another partnership, they would see each other at some meeting. The same old faces around the cafeteria.
Koko gulped a little and glanced at Natsume before he continued.
"I heard it's between the Hyuugas and the Yukihiras."
Natsume was at the Yukihira's office building again. The last time he had been here was 2 years ago. He wanted to see her that time, but slowly time washed away his determination, and he forgot to come back. He slumped into the seat in the café. The waiter had changed. There was just him in the café. They didn't have strawberry smoothies anymore in the menu. And she was not here either.
But then he blinked and she appeared. He heard some loud bustling outside the building, and then a few official looking people barged into the building. All the employees' heads turned and stared after them as they disappeared into the direction of the lift.
They brought down her uncle and dragged him away. Izumi Yukihira trying to get the security. Yuka Yukihira chasing after them helplessly, screaming for them to let go. He saw his mother, standing motionlessly at the side.
He saw her.
At the back of the chaos, she stood there, hand in hand with another girl her age. She looked on for a minute before her tears fell.
That was the last time Natsume Hyuuga ever saw her again.
She was not even at her parents' funeral, he noted.
The car crash. She was caught in it. But no news of her came out.
The Yukihira company, with nobody to manage it, fell into ruins as different people tried to claim their ownership and led to great losses.
In the state of chaos they were in, Natsume wondered why nobody asked where she was.