Chapter 1
"Think of this as a tiny date," he said as he showed her his most charming smile.
She felt blood gather around her cheeks as she was unconsciously adoring him. To end her embarrassment from realizing her newfound admiration for the boy, she tried to talk back but only ended up choking the word 'you' instead of saying something more argumentative. Just when she was about to say something, the boy started to run away from her. Dumbfounded by his action, she threw her fist into the air as she yelled at the running boy.
They spent the whole day leisurely looking at the different animals in the zoo. From gorillas, elephants, snakes and giraffes they've surveyed it all. These animals were not at all new to her, in fact she'd seen them twice with her family before and she was thrilled at the sight of them. Even so, she was still feeling excited seeing these creatures. This was odd to her as she was expecting to feel bored given that she grew out from her fondness of animals.
'Weird. Why do I still feel happy seeing these things?' Her trail of thoughts was disrupted as she caught sight of her friends.
"Ah! found theeeeeem!" she yelped pointing towards the direction of two girls who were looking at a bear enjoying his meal.
"Fuuko!" cried the girl with the light brown hair.
"What took you so long? What happened?" asked the second girl struggling to maintain her balance as she was embraced by her lost friend.
"It's a long story," for a second she felt relieved to see the faces of her two familiar friends. It did not occur to her but she sometimes felt tensed these past few hours. Somehow she manages to relax when the boy foolishly attempts to mimic each and every animal they see. Oh! She mentally kicked herself in the head as she remembered the boy standing behind them. As if witnessing her imaginary act of masochism the boy chuckled.
"Finally found your classmates, huh?" The boy walked towards them as he wore a childish smile.
"Then I'll be going." He waved at the girl in the pigtails then turned his back to walk away.
For five long seconds she stared at his back with fascination, her consciousness came back when she realized the man walking further and further away, he was leaving. Out of nowhere panic began to conquer her.
"T-Thank you." Finally, she managed to express her feelings correctly. Lately, she hasn't been able to voice out what was in her mind. Fear and embarrassment seems to be in the way from speaking up, but now she was successful in conveying her gratitude for the companionship that she shared with the boy.
Hearing her, the boy suddenly stopped. Surprise was painted across the boy's face as he looked back at the girl. She sensed what was about to come. Yes. That smile, that bright and warm smile has triggered something inside her. Once again she was happy.
Like a picture taken from a movie, his smile was immobile for a while. She tried hard to remember every line, every freckle and every detail of that face but as she focused on memorizing his features the image started to fade away. Frightened by the lost image in front of her she tried to grab the waning figure of the boy. Attempting to stop his disappearance, she screamed his name.
Daiya! Daiya! Please don't go! Stay. Stay here with me! Don't leave me alone! I'm scared. I'm scared.
The sound of thunder awoke her. Gasping for air she suddenly sat upright tossing her blanket to her lap. The noise created by the rain falling against the windowpane brought her senses back. Slowly, she stood up from her bed. Feeling the icy floor beneath her feet she made her way towards the window. All of a sudden the room was filled with bright light. Then, a roll of thunder shook the entire room sending chills down her spine. In the corner of her eye she caught a glimmer emanating from the desk near her bed. She approached the desk, carefully avoiding the chair sitting haphazardly in the room. Little by little she reached the small box that housed the delicate shimmer. She pulled the disk shaped object from the box and held it in between her thumb and forefinger. The light coming from the window met the surface of the silver object. It gleamed in the dark enchantingly, alluringly and beautifully. The light reflected by the stone embedded in the object made her feel warm, a sensation that she often felt when she sees that smile.
"Daiya Why?"She whispered. Her vision became blurry at the mention of his name. Tears started to stream down her face. She was thankful that the four walls of the room secluded her from the world, because right now she can't allow anyone to see her weep. No, she will never allow anyone to see her weep. Together with the rain she cried. Letting all her despair flow with her tears she called out to him once more. With his name she expressed her fear, hate and love. Fear because she will never see him again, hate because she detest him for leaving her alone and love because that's what she felt for him. Yes, she loved him dearly. She loved him so much that she agreed to spend the rest of her life with him, have babies with him, have responsibilities with him, grow old with him. She has never loved anyone to that extent. He was her friend, her lover and her future husband. With him gone what would become of her?
She hugged herself in the dark as she held onto the ring. She held it tight in her fist until her knuckles turned white. She doesn't want to let go. How could she? She remained in that position for hours not knowing when to stop, with that she cried all night.