Redhead Roses
By Yanagi Megumi
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My name is Maaya. I go to the elite Meiou High, and have had the honor for the past two years to be in the same class as The Minamino Shuuichi.
Do you know him?
I think you do. Everyone does; he's the beautiful, smart, modest boy who is just the most perfect guy a girl could have. His hair is thick and long, messy but neat, always smelling…not nice, but not horrible, and very uniquely of roses and something else, like musk and warm fur- a very masculine scent. Don't ask how I know, for I cannot remember. The color seems like it should have been from a bottle, those do-at-home hair dyes, though he assures us it is natural. I believe him. I always have.
His eyes are like rich emerald gems, dark and open, but shuttered at the same time. He is never cold to anyone, and is always so polite. His skin is lightly tanned, blemish-free and lovely. His stature is slender and female, but masculine and strong. He is one of the few I have ever seen wear the unnecessary school uniform, and the only one who looks good in it at the same time.
All the girls at my school adore him, most are head over heels for him. Some of the guys are, too. The boys like him, because of his placid, kind nature, though I daresay some hold grudges. Apparently, they could not compete.
Some people say that awhile ago, I was in love with him. The 'I will treasure you forever, 'til death do us part' kind of love. They say I was smitten, and would think of nothing else but him.
Why do I not remember such a time?
They tell me that on that day, a boy grew angry, and snapped an eraser at the back of his head. It was expected that it would hit, but he instinctively turned and caught it. They say that after class I raced out after him. They say I disappeared until late that night, brought home by Minamino-kun himself, who said that I had been studying at the library, and had fallen asleep. I cannot remember the events of that space of time, of which I had supposedly spent by Minamino-kun's side.
It was about two or three years later that I tried to follow him, curiosity grasping hold of any logic I had and throwing it out the window. I managed to trail after him, even as he shook off his fan club. It was just when I was about to give up asking him about that day, that he met up with this boy.
He was a man, I was sure. He stood with a confidence that had been earned, not of the imagined sort- kind of like Minamino-kun's quiet poise. His shoulders were much broader than those of, say, the boys at Meiou. His hair was wild, defying gravity with the intensity of its spikes, black with white in the front, like a starburst of color on a new easel. His eyes were a fierce, brilliant ruby defined red to Minamino-kun's sophisticated, glittering emerald.
Minamino-kun gave the dark stranger a slow, sultry smile, and received a knowing smirk in return. They began to go in the direction of the park, which had enough trees and wildlife to be called a small forest. There was a good foot of space between them, a pair of friends off to 'hang out'.
Strangely, to me, they looked like a couple out for a date and the silly love-struck activities that always accompanied them. I didn't know why, but there was just this feel about them, all heat and desire and lust- love? Minamino-kun's hips swayed just a bit too much to be natural, and the stranger's gaze was caught on him.
My heart pounded faster in my chest, louder in my ears. Were they-?
I left soon after, but not before I sawthe start of a lazy kiss in the shade of a tall oak, half hidden by the bushes. The kiss was one that was completely pure, wild and primal at the same time. I could tell that it was not like those lusty first kisses we children have to have before sixteen, but one that had their entire hearts and souls bared for the other to see, to treasure or crush, to defend or sacrifice. It made me weak in the knees.
Is that why I no longer love the perfect boy? Maybe. Maybe it was that single soul baring kiss, or the feel of that Kodak moment, like flower petals should be falling to perfect the perfect picture of perfection. Maybe because in my mind, I could not rid myself of the image of a single red rose, falling and brushing Minamino-kun's hair like a lover's caress, like the red-eyed boy must have had done.
I know I have forgotten something, something important that happened that one day. I do not know what it might have been, nor the reason I can no longer remember, but… But every time I see Minamino-kun, I have the strangest feeling in my chest, like a hand is squeezing my heart, like it is confining feelings barely confined.
Every time I feel that Minamino-kun is looking at me, in my direction, I can almost see what I think is a beautiful flower, colors that contrast to create vivid beauty like the romantic sunset you just can't stop thinking about, and a scent…a beautiful, heavenly scent on the wind that tickles me as it brushes by, like a memory not forgotten, but unremembered.
And then, just a few words, said clearly, but heard through a haze of disjointed fuzziness, like you are just on the brink of sleep and teeter there, anchored lightly by words but falling even as they speak.
"So, are you going to tell me your name?"
"…Hiei."
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