FIRE AND RAIN
Author's notes: This is a sequel to my story "If I Let You Go". Yes, I know that years ago, when I just finished that other fic, I said there wouldn't be a sequel, but after reading the story again recently, I've come to realize that there are some questions still left unanswered. I pondered over them one day on the bus, and then I realized things could have been different... WAY different if I let the story continue. And this is the result of all that thinking I did. I hope you guys will like it! :D And for the new readers, well, you better start with "If I Let You Go" or otherwise you might find yourselves quite lost with some of the references that I make to the prequel. If you don't mind, then by all means read on! :)
Disclaimer: The characters from Prince of Tennis don't belong to me, although I really wish some of them did :p. However, all the OC characters are mine and the story is mine. If you want to know the timeline of this story, it occurs some two or three years after the end of the PoT anime.
Some of you also suggested I do a quick run-down of my OC characters from the previous fic because you don't remember them too well. So I will just write a few quick descriptions for each of them here as they were in my LAST fic. Obviously after the time jump of three years, things don't stay the same. We all change, especially when we are growing up :D
Harumi: light brown hair, purple eyes. Is spontaneous, oversensitive and doesn't handle shock too well. Was in love with Fuji, but also dated Eiji for a while.
Amaya: black long hair, green eyes. Oishi's girlfriend.
Chiharu: tall red-head, green eyes, very beautiful, can be cocky sometimes. Dated Atobe.
Naoki and Naoko: twin sisters. Both blonde with blue eyes. Naoki is the "planner" of the group, she's very smart and loves to gossip. She didn't date anyone but loves to set people up. Naoko is gentle and shy, and had a huge crush on Tezuka.
Mai: light blonde hair, grey eyes. Used to be the captain of the female tennis club back during their Seigaku days. She's severe and stern, very uptight, and can be extremely jealous, especially when Eiji is concerned. She warned Harumi not to get close to Eiji, but Harumi didn't listen to her back in the day.
Aika: short, dark brown hair and brown eyes, very proud, can be spiteful and tomboyish. She likes Momo but shows it by hitting him all the time. Needless to say, Momo doesn't like her back.
That's all I believe. And now, onto the long awaited first chapter of this sequel! :D
Reunion
Harumi Yamazaki stared outside the oval window of the plane. The surface of it was cool against her forehead as she leaned on it and distractedly contemplated the cumulus clouds looming below her, looking like giant mountains of floating cotton. Her heart was thumping loudly and regularly in her ears, and she found it hard to sit still.
She crossed and uncrossed her legs several times, then forced her fingers to stop tapping on the hand rest.
She nibbled her lower lip and casually put a lock of honey hair behind one ear, revealing a silver earring. The red streaks that she had put in her hair a few weeks ago were already fading to a brownish orange.
The girl at the hair salon had warned her about how quickly red color faded, but she liked red and had insisted on using it anyway. She had thought that she could maintain the color longer if she used the recommended shampoo, but to her disappointment, it hadn't worked. Right about now, she was regretting having wasted her money. She should have known she couldn't trust those products.
Her eyes travelled from the clouds outside to the picture she held in her hand.
It showed her and her long distance boyfriend of the past three years, Fuji Syusuke, sliding down the toboggan at the Winter Carnival three years ago. She caressed his laughing smile with a light touch of her finger.
Fuji had sent her pictures of himself over the years, but this was the only one she had that showed the both of them together. She wondered how it would feel like to see him again in person, and felt a mixture of nervousness and excitement seize her stomach.
She just couldn't wait!
She returned her gaze to the landscape of clouds outside her narrow window, silently marvelling at their giant structure and ethereal mysteriousness. She wondered if they were like cushions. What if she jumped out? Would she land on them? Was there a whole world built up there on the skies above their heads? She shook her head. That was just stupid. Maybe she could write a book about it though. "The City in the Sky" or something like that. After all, fantasy readers would eat it up without questioning it. It was why her short novels dealing with fantasy had done so well back in France. People would do anything to live in fairytales.
I wonder if he has changed at all.
The thought startled her.
Fuji would pop into her mind at the most random of times, and it had been like this for the past three years.
She had thought about him nearly every day, had replayed their goodbye scene on the school rooftop, had remembered how torn apart she had felt at their imminent separation. It all seemed so far away now, and yet if she closed her eyes, she could still feel his arms wrapped around her body, holding her so tight she could hardly breathe. She had wanted to stay forever with him that way.
She didn't tell him that she was coming; she had wanted it to be a surprise. The only person she had told was Amaya, and she trusted her friend to keep the secret safe.
She'd kept in contact with pretty much all of the members from her ex-tennis club. It was fun to still be kept informed of what was going on in Tokyo, of how her friends from her old life were faring for themselves.
Amaya and Oishi were still as close as ever, and she was thrilled for them. Chiharu and Atobe had broken up last time she had checked, and apparently Chiharu had been very upset and angry over it. Harumi had asked her via email how she was handling it, but Chiharu had just asked her not to mention "the stupid, conceited pig head" anymore.
So she had left it at that.
Aika had gone to America for a project, and Momo couldn't have been more thrilled. In fact, she had heard that he was developing a steady relationship with Ann Tachibana right now, and she was happy for him. Aika was too tomboyish, and she could really drive people nuts. And to top it off, Aika would also get very upset if she didn't get her way. Harumi wondered if she was still like that. Maybe she had grown out of it.
And Eiji…
Her hand tightened on the side of her bag as the image of sad dark blue eyes flashed before her eyes. She touched her forehead to the cool window surface and closed her eyes, and soon enough the image was gone.
While she was coping with fitting in her new environment in France, Eiji had been the second person her mind had wandered to the most, but for completely different reasons. She had asked Amaya and the other girls many times via email for news of the redhead, but her friends had always been very comforting, saying that he was fine, and had told Harumi not to worry.
But not knowing anything substantial about him just made her worry more!
She doubted that he would be fine.
She still remembered how he had looked the day when he had gone over to her house before she had to leave. He looked like he was struggling to get a message across to her, but she had never found out what the message was, because whatever he had wanted to say, something had made him change his mind at the last minute. Instead of speaking up, he had just looked... so defeated.
She cringed inwardly.
All her memories of Eiji were now tainted by that one expression of him. She just couldn't forget. She knew that what was done, was done, but sometimes, she wished she could turn back time.
The plane slowly started its descent down on Tokyo. Harumi inspired deeply, and then tried to smile. All those hardships, heartbreaks, and guilt… at least they weren't for nothing. At least she would see Fuji now, and hopefully everything would have been worth it.
Finally, finally, they could be together!
She quickly brushed her hair and looked at herself on her pocket mirror. She looked tired from the flight, but presentable. She applied a quick layer of lipstick on her dry lips and smacked them together with a little pop.
Yeah, this would do.
After the plane landed, she went to look for her baggage, praying that everything had arrived safely. It was easy to spot the huge blue bag that was turning on the luggage band, beside a giant bunny doll. When she collected them both with a groan, she drew several stunned and amused glances from the other passengers.
"Need a little help, miss?" a guy asked.
Harumi huffed a lock of hair away from her eyes and smiled. "No thank you! I've got it!"
She managed to get her bag and the bunny onto a cart, and then followed the crowd towards check-out. She had just passed through security, and was trying to locate the doors to the exit, when she was suddenly assaulted by a bullet of white, orange and black. The bullet made them both fall on top of her giant bag.
"SOMEONE HELP, I'M BEING ASSAULTED! WHAT THE HELL, GET OFF ME!"
She tried pushing the person (for it was a person) away from her body, but their arms were tightly wrapped around her waist.
"HARUMI, HARUMI, OH MY GOD IT'S REALLY YOU!" A girl's voice shrieked in her ear. But it wasn't just any girl's voice, it was…
"AMAYA!"
Harumi felt her heart rate increase considerably as she suddenly yanked herself away from Amaya to look at her friend's face. Amaya's beaming face was framed by mid long hair, still as black as ever, which cascaded down to her shoulders. Her green eyes were shining so bright that Harumi swore she could use them as flashlights in the dark. She was wearing an orange shirt over a white skirt.
"Amaya, it's you! It's really you!" She screamed back at her friend, the excitement making her voice climb up an octave or two.
"Harumi! You're back! You're finally back! I've missed you so much!" Amaya exclaimed while hugging her friend close to her again.
They were attracting attention to themselves with all their ruckus, but Harumi couldn't care less. It felt so good to finally hug her friend again. She quickly wiped away the few tears of joy gathering at the corners of her eyes.
"I've missed you too Amaya! I'm so glad to see you! You have no idea! I have so much to tell you… god! I love your new haircut, and your top, and… wow, you just look absolutely amazing! And I can't wait to see everyone else! You haven't told anyone right? I want to see the expression on their faces when…
Amaya laughed and shut her up with a slight shake to the shoulders. "You are as talkative as always, Harumi! Calm down, we will have all the time in the world to catch up now! And don't worry, I've definitely not told a soul about your arrival! Well, except for… I mean, there's actually…"
Harumi froze. "What? Someone knows? Amaya, I asked you…"
"Well, I didn't have a choice!" Green eyes looked away guiltily.
"Okay, but that's the only person right? Who is it?" Harumi asked, and then paled. "Uh-oh! Don't tell me it's Fuji!"
Amaya quickly reassured her: "No-no, Fuji is still in the dark."
Harumi let out a huge sigh of relief. "Good! That's all that matters. If it's one of the girls, I guess I can live with it."
Amaya looked uncomfortable. "Actually, it's not one of the girls."
She let go of Harumi and started pacing from one side of the hallway to the other.
Not one of the girls? Then it's one of the guys?
People who were walking and minding their own business were forced to stop and go around the pacing girl. Soon, they were yelling at her to stop getting in their way. Harumi sweatdropped and pulled Amaya to a halt.
"Okay, it's fine Amaya! Don't get so worked up. I'm sure you tried your best to keep it a secret. You wouldn't have told anyone on purpose, I know that. So just tell me who it is. I won't mind."
Amaya muttered something under her breath.
"What? I didn't get that. Come on, it's alright. I promise! I mean, is it Oishi? Because I would totally understand! He's your boyfriend and..."
Amaya reluctantly looked into her eyes. "No Harumi. You are going to kill me for this. But it's… Eiji."
Harumi went very silent.
Oh no! Nononono, she didn't just say what I think she said…!
"S-stop joking around."
"I'm not! I'm serious!" Amaya carefully looked into her shocked eyes, ready to jump away at the first signs of outburst. Then, the words just poured out of her: "He was there in my house when you made the call Harumi. You know I'm a lousy liar… I couldn't keep it from him… and besides, I blurted out your name on the phone too… so… he knew about it."
Harumi slowly let out the breath she'd been holding and tried to think of the implications. This couldn't be happening!
But it was.
Okay, calm down. No, I can't calm down. This is a disaster! Eiji of all people… But would that really be a bad thing? He would know eventually anyway. No, no, it is a huge deal. It's awful. I can't do this. I'm going back to France. There's no way I can face Eiji. Wait, but you would have to face him eventually anyway. Stop being a coward. Step forward dammit!
"Damn it!" She muttered out loud. "Okay…" Her mind worked quickly. "Okay so…"
"And…there's more." Amaya interrupted Harumi, her voice very small. "He's kinda… here today."
What?
"Here…?" Harumi asked while her sense of dread suddenly increased tenfold.
Amaya sighed. "Yes, here at the airport. I told him not to come, but he insisted, he… he said he'd drive me since Oishi can't, because he doesn't know I'm coming here, and I still don't have my license, and…"
Okay. This can't be happening. And if it is, then this is officially the worst day of my life! Maybe it's just a nightmare.
Seeing Harumi's eyes ready to literally bulge out of their sockets, Amaya pleaded: "Look, I'm sorry it turned out this way. I did all I could to hold him back because I know he's not the first person you want to see, but he can be very persistent. I have no idea why he insisted on coming! I mean…after how you two ended things three years ago... - Amaya stopped herself and looked away nervously, then changed subjects – Look, at least I convinced him to stay in the car, so that I could warn you first about him being here. I'm sure he knows as well as we do how awkward this can be."
Yes! Amaya is right! Why is he here? Why would he want to see me? After all I've done to him…
Harumi loosened her fists and just stared at the passersby with a vacant look.
"Why did you come, Eiji?" She muttered to herself.
Amaya caught her expression and ran both hands through her hair in desperation. Then she started pacing again. Harumi sighed and stopped her for the second time. She patted her on the shoulder and forced the anxiety out of her voice. "It's alright. He would have found out soon anyway! It doesn't matter."
"A-are you sure?"
Harumi's smile widened and she nodded.
She didn't know why Eiji had come, but maybe it was a good thing. She hadn't heard his voice nor seen his face in three years. And she actually really wanted to see him again, as selfish as it sounded. She had always thought that upon learning of her arrival, he would pack up and go as far away from her as he possibly could. But that was not in his character. Eiji had never run away from anything.
No, he wasn't like her.
With a self-deprecating smile, she started pushing her luggage cart. The two girls walked in silence for awhile before Amaya pulled down nervously on her skirt and then locked arms with Harumi. Trying to alleviate the mood, she cheerful declared:
"I rented a lobby for tonight. Everyone is gathered there because they think it's a party to celebrate the end of high school and getting into their universities of choice. But they don't have a clue what's really waiting for them."
Harumi forced her lips to twist up into an excited smile, although if she could look into a mirror right at that moment, it probably more resembled a grimace. "As it should be! I really can't wait to see everyone!"
"And to see him, right?" Amaya said with a wink.
As the glass doors to the airport slid open and the two girls stepped out into the hot afternoon air of Tokyo, Harumi felt her heart skip a beat at the thought of him.
"Yes!"
But first, she had to face Eiji.
Harumi was sweating so much she had to take off the jersey she was wearing. She grabbed her long hair and swung it to one side of her head in order to cool her neck a bit on the other side. She realized that she should attach it in a ponytail, but her hands were full with luggage right now. She wiped her sweaty palm against the side of her jeans – which felt too tight and confining – and forced her legs to move forward.
As a long line of cabs and cars came into view, she breathed in and out, eyes darting around nervously, looking for the red Toyota that Amaya told her Eiji was driving.
When she finally spotted the red car at the end of the line-up behind the cabs, she paused slightly, and then continued.
It was okay, she told herself for the hundredth time. She would have to face him sooner or later.
And sooner was better.
Even though she knew there was a good chance Eiji hated her now, she was still scared to face that fact. She had left Japan before she had had a chance to make things right between them – if things really could be made right again – but she should have at least tried harder.
Eiji deserved that much. He used to be the guy that she went to every time she had a problem; he had been someone who understood her, and who had been there for her to comfort her and to make her enjoy life again when she was at her lowest. And on the day he went to see her, she should have done more and reacted more to his feelings, but as usual, all her thoughts had been so selfishly focused on her own despair, and on how to tell Fuji that she was leaving, that she had been numbed.
She remembered feeling empty as her aunt let Eiji into her room, which she had already devastated by throwing pretty much all her belongings to the floor. She still remembered the way her things laid shattered in bits and pieces, like the vestiges of her own life.
Flashback
They stood in her room, Eiji and her, facing each other silently for a few minutes, until Harumi realized distantly that there was a look of determination in his dark eyes, like he was about to say or ask something. He opened his mouth, but before the words could come out, he rested his eyes on her face once more, and a look of sad consternation took over his features, making the words stop. Harumi had never seen him look so sad and confused before, and she was surprised at the way her heart burned.
And then it hit her.
The implication of what she had done hit her for real. She had been with another guy while she was dating him. They hadn't even broken up properly, and she was already running into the arms of Fuji every chance she got.
She felt like she could die. For a split second, she regretted everything. Even if that other guy was Fuji, she shouldn't have done what she did. She shouldn't have hurt Eiji. She shouldn't have put that look on his face.
She found herself reaching out a little to him, maybe to hug him, or to make it better for him in some way, but she just never completed the move. Because it was too late. Everything was over. The way Eiji was looking at her told her that he knew it too.
Eiji rubbed the back of his neck tiredly and simply said : "I'm so sorry."
Harumi could have handled anything, but an apology she could not. Because he had nothing to apologize for. She was the one who should have said those words.
"No!" she stammered. "Don't say that! Just… please…"
She bit her lip and took in a sharp breath. What the hell was she begging for? For him to take back his apology? For him to forgive her?
But she never found out what she wanted because Eiji was now smiling at her of all things. A forced smile, but a smile nonetheless. "I'm letting you go, Harumi." He said quietly.
Harumi shook her head, tears suddenly overflowing.
"No…" she chocked.
Eiji walked up to her, so close she could smell the scent of the shampoo he had used. For a split second, she thought he was going to hug her. He was just so close. But he simply put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed a little.
"Take care." Were the two last words whispered in her ear before he walked out of her room and out of her life.
"No…" she repeated again, her hand tightening around her skirt.
Too late.
And she didn't even get to say "I'm sorry".
End of flashback
She shook her head to get rid of the memory. The memory of her parent's death was the worst memory she had, but that day with Eiji was a pretty damn close second.
After that, Eiji hadn't contacted her at all during those three years, and she hadn't contacted him either. She didn't know how the redhead would react upon seeing her now, but no matter what his demeanor was, she would accept it. And if he let her, she would apologize to him properly, not hoping to be forgiven, but just to be at peace that she had at least tried.
She suddenly spotted him leaning against the driver side of the car, with his hands in the front pockets of his shorts, his red hair shorter and less curly than she remembered. Her heart started pounding. In three years, he seemed to have grown even taller than before.
Suddenly it was very hard to breathe. He wasn't looking in their direction, but he must have been looking at their reflection from the glass windows of the airport wall, for as they approached, he slowly turned to face them.
His eyes were hidden behind round sunglasses.
Harumi halted, and Amaya squeezed her arm reassuringly. Eiji just stared at them, at her, for the longest time, it seemed, and Harumi desperately tried to read his face, but found herself unable to because of his sunglasses. She wiped her hands against the side of her jeans nervously one more time.
She recognized the familiar aspects of him, the tall and slender build of his body, the color of his hair; and yet the grown man standing in front of her was a stranger. Suddenly, Eiji made a movement as if to go to her, and that made her heart speed up.
"Eiji?" His name dropped out of her mouth before she could help herself, and she hated the small tone of her voice.
Eiji stopped. "Hey, Harumi!" His voice also sounded more mature, but it was also unmistakably Eiji's. However, just like his face, his voice didn't hold any particular intonation.
She cleared her throat. "It's… it's good to see you! How have you been?" She grimaced at how awkwardly those words had come out.
"Oh you know, same old, same old. Still playing tennis, and high school was not quite what I expected." He stopped and scratched his head. "How was France?"
"Oh, good! It was good. A lot of things to get used to, but eventually everything settled down."
Harumi held her breath. Great, this was as uncomfortable as it could get.
Eiji pulled on his shirt and turned to look at the afternoon sun glaring at them from above. "It's really hot in here. Let's get going! There's AC in the car."
"Yeah, okay." Harumi agreed, feeling slightly relieved when he stopped looking at her up front.
Amaya, who was silent during the exchange, finally spoke up: "Wow, you finally got the AC fixed, Eiji! It hasn't worked in weeks!"
"Well, it's not my fault the mechanic was out of the town on an early vacation." The redhead answered.
"Honestly, you could have just gone to anyone else, why does it have to be him?"
"Because he's my friend and I always go to him! And besides, it wasn't this hot awhile ago, so I didn't need the AC."
Amaya huffed. "You didn't need it? AC should be needed at all times."
As they chatted back and forth, Eiji unlocked the doors and went to help Harumi load her huge bag in the back trunk. When it didn't fit, Eiji bit his lip. "You still have this thing?"
Harumi blushed and managed to say: "Of course! I've had it for years! It's my personal travelling companion."
"And weapon." Amaya interceded with one arched brow.
"Come on Amaya, I know I knocked Echizen KO with it once, but that's it! And it was an accident." Harumi replied defensively.
"From which he never recovered – Amaya declared dramatically – he's been acting strange ever since, and now he's like a little tennis machine, going around all over the world kicking other players' asses. It's all your fault Momo has been complaining day in and day out about missing his friend."
Harumi rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling. She was glad that Amaya was trying to lighten the mood, and she was also happy that Echizen was doing so well. In fact, she did remember seeing him on TV when he went to the French Open a few months ago. "So it's my fault that he's the most successful player of his generation? Alright, I guess I can live with that."
In the meantime, Eiji had managed to make her bag fit into the back seat instead. "Sorry, you will have to squeeze in with your bag." He told Harumi.
"That's okay, I will manage."
They all got into the car and Eiji pulled away from the parking lane. In the back seat, Harumi sat on top of one of the corners of her bag, praying that her butt wasn't crushing anything too important. She looked into the rear view mirror and saw Eiji staring at her from behind his sunglasses. She quickly dropped her eyes to her lap, but after a few minutes, she looked up again and stared at him from the mirror. She couldn't help it. She hadn't seen him in so long. She suddenly noticed that the band-aid that was usually on his cheek was nowhere to be seen now.
Slowly, she wiped the transpiration off her brow with her handkerchief and stared outside at the other cars rolling past by on the highway. Soon, the AC kicked in and her shoulders slumped a little in relief. She hadn't noticed how tense she had been. She looked at Eiji again and wished that he had at least smiled at her once.
On the way from the airport over to Amaya's house, where Harumi would be staying for the time being, they stopped at a flower shop where Harumi got one bouquet of lilacs, and another one of white roses.
"I'm really sorry about the detour, guys, but I just really want to see them…" Harumi said while looking outside the window.
Amaya turned around and smiled. "Don't worry about it. I totally understand. You must have missed them."
Harumi nodded softly, eyes never leaving the road.
A few minutes later, Eiji pulled in next to the local cemetery. He stopped the engine and stepped out of the car, followed by the two girls. Amaya looked around. She had never felt too comfortable in a cemetery. "Do you want me to come with you, Harumi?"
"Eh?" Harumi seemed to snap out from a reverie, and then she slowly nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that!"
As they started walking, Harumi realized that Eiji wasn't coming. When she turned around and looked at him uncertainly, he simply said. "I will watch the car. Take your time."
"What? Oh come on, Ei…"Before Amaya could protest any further, Harumi grabbed her by the arm and smiled sadly. "It's okay. Let's go."
However, as she slowly made her way among the neatly erected stones, she could feel her heart sinking. She knew she deserved every single bit of coldness from the guy who used to be one of her best friends, but it still hurt.
When she finally arrived in front of the tombs of her parents, she stood there for awhile, just looking at their names carved in the grey stone. Amaya looked around, and then settled into a respectful silence.
Harumi put down the lit incense in the middle of the two graves, and knelt down. She closed her eyes and just breathed. After a few moments, she licked her lips and spoke up quietly. "Mom, Dad! I'm finally back."
"I've been doing great. France is a great country, and Toulouse is a very nice city. I've made some friends over there. My brother Katsuo is doing well also. Actually, more than well. He finally found himself a girlfriend, that little jackass! And the awesomeness doesn't stop there for them, because last time I checked, he was even thinking of proposing to her! I'm so glad that Katsuo let her in. He was going through a lot of issues when we first got there, but she made him smile again when no one else could, and for that, I'm eternally grateful. Her name is Elodie, and she's going to the same college as him. That's how they met each other. I get along great with her too. She helped me and my brother with our French, and helped us fit in at school. And she's also very, very pretty. To be honest, I didn't know oniichan had it in him to catch the eye of a girl like her, but yeah… he's definitely proven me wrong. After everything that's happened though, he really deserves all the happiness he can get. Auntie took really good care of us too. She's so considerate, and she's like a second Mom to us now. Of course, you will always number one, Mom, but your sis is pretty cool herself."
She laughed a little. "So anyway, I'm back to Japan now, because I miss you guys. I really really do, every second of every day, I wonder what my life would be like if you guys were still here with me. But then I realize that I'm still very lucky, because when I came back, the first person I saw was my best friend Amaya. She hasn't forgotten about me, and I really feel like it's only been yesterday that we were eating lunch together at the school cafeteria, talking about boys along with all my other friends. You have never met them, but they are all very dear to my heart, and I came back here for them too. Among those special people here in Japan, there is one person who I know will make me very happy and make me feel loved. I wish I could introduce him to you. His name is Fuji Syusuke, and… I'm… kinda… well, we've been dating. Well not really dating for the past three years though, but we still kept in touch. Anyway, it's all a very long story."
Her eyes fluttered open and she blushed a little. In a rushed voice, she continued: "So don't worry about me anymore. I will be happy, and I will do my best to make you guys proud!"
She deposited the bouquet of lilacs in front of her mom's grave, and the bouquet of white roses in front of her Dad's. "I love you Mom. I love you Dad. I miss you both so much."
She then held her hands together in prayer and closed her eyes again. After a minute of silence, Harumi sighed and blinked back the tears that were threatening to flow over. After making sure her emotions were in check, she slowly rose to her feet and turned around to face her friend. Amaya's eyes were wet but she smiled a soft and encouraging smile, and stepped in to hug her tight without a word. Harumi hugged her back, and then pulled away, grinning.
"Wow, that felt good! Even if they are not here anymore, I felt like… they were here listening to me!"
"I'm sure they were, and I'm sure they are already proud of you, Harumi. I know I am. I honestly don't know what I'd do if I suddenly lost my parents and then had to move to a country I know nothing about, while leaving everyone else behind. And yet you did it, and you didn't let it break you."
"It wasn't easy at all, but I was lucky I had my Aunt and my brother there with me, you know? We all helped each other get through it."
Amaya nodded. "Yes. If you ever need to talk about anything, Harumi, know that I'm here for you."
"I know. And I'm here for you too, if you ever need me." Harumi smiled at her friend. "Come on, let's go now. I don't want to make Eiji wait."
While they were walking back to the car, Amaya knocked her elbow against her side playfully. "So it was too hard to admit to your parentsthat you're in love with Fuji?"
She giggled at Harumi's shocked expression. "We've been dating", what kind of lame statement is that?"
Harumi nearly choked on her own saliva. "Excuse me, that is NOT lame. It's the truth, isn't it?"
"Yeah yeah, but I definitely thought you'd say in a singsong voice that you are in love with him."
Harumi groaned and elbowed Amaya back. "I'm not like Oishi and you, being all mushy all the time. I'll tell them next time, if that makes you happy."
Amaya stopped short. "Oishi and I are NOT mushy."
"Yeah, right." Harumi made a gagging sound, and then sprinted away, laughing, when Amaya sprang forward to chase after her with a consternated look.
After they got back to the car, Eiji dropped them both at Amaya's house, and then drove off to the party by himself. Harumi was relieved when he finally left. He never expressed anger or rudeness towards her, but he was so far from the joyous boy she used to know!
And to top it off, he had kept his sunglasses on the entire time, so that she hadn't been able to look into his eyes and see what he really thought of her presence here.
Seriously, he could have at least looked at me in the eye for a second. Just one second. But all I got were those stupid smoked glasses. If he's turning into Inui I will officially die.
She chased thoughts of him out of her head. Feeling guilty was useless. And besides, she wanted to be ready to finally be reunited with Fuji. She had been waiting to see him for three years, and three years was a long time.
Too long.
Her movements were rushed and erratic as she took a quick shower, thoroughly massaging her hair with the new shampoo she had bought, and then rummaged inside her luggage until she found the little red summer dress she had bought in France for the occasion.
She blow dried her hair, and then brushed it carefully. Her hair was inclined to stick out in all directions after a shower, so she carefully put some product to tame the rebellious strands. Then, she put on some pink eye shadow and some light lipstick. Yeah, she looked way better now. She grinned at herself in the mirror and saw her own purple eyes twinkle back at her with impatient mirth. She was more than ready.
"You're going for the kill, girl!" Harumi caught Amaya's amused eyes in the mirror, and smiled shyly.
"I'm kinda nervous though."
"What? Why would you be nervous? It's just Fuji! And he will be SO dead when he sees you!"
Harumi giggled. "I can't have that, can I? He owes me some life and essence after 3 years of being separated."
Amaya turned around, making her own white skirt twirl. "C'mon then! Let's go get you reunited with your "life and essence"!" She mimicked quotation marks with her fingers as she walked away. Harumi considered throwing her hair brush at Amaya's retreating back, and then actually carried through with that action.
"Are you sure I look good? Like… like, he won't be repulsed by me? Like… it won't be a disappointment after three years of only seeing me via a webcam, right?"
Amaya rolled her eyes so much that she swore she could almost see her own brain. Harumi's concerns could have been endearing if she hadn't been whining like that during the entire trip from Amaya's house to the party lobby.
Feeling her smile crack, Amaya irritably passed a hand through her black hair. "You look gorgeous Harumi. Stop worrying. You will rekindle his flame so bad that he might be speechless for a week. Not that that would be a bad thing. Then he'd finally stop nagging me about lending him my Dad's high resolution camera."
Harumi grinned stupidly. "Okay!"
So Amaya turned the knob and pushed the door open.
There was a large rectangular table in the middle of the room, and to the side there was a huge TV screen with a karaoke machine wired up to it. There was already food and drinks on the table, and people were talking animatedly amongst themselves.
With wide eyes, Harumi saw Takasan rearrange the stack of sushi at one side of the table, while talking to… Naoki? Her long blonde hair was now slightly curly, but her blue eyes were still as mischievous and alert as usual. Her twin sister Naoko was talking with Chiharu and Oishi, all three seated by the table with drinks in their hands.
Harumi's eyes lingered on Chiharu for a long moment. She had always been the prettiest of all her friends, but now she was even more magnificent. In three years, she had grown some curves, and her fiery red hair was attached in a half ponytail. Her green eyes sparkled mysteriously under the lights, and her features were still as perfect as she remembered, but with an added touch of finesse and maturity to them.
Momo was asleep on the couch near the door. His hair was no longer gelled up, but falling a little over his eyes as he drooled on his Beatles tshirt.
Mai, the captain of her tennis club back in junior high, was standing at the back of the room, talking to Eiji. The Mai that Harumi remembered was a serious looking girl who was always scolding everyone and making people follow the rules; but now, as she talked with Eiji, her grey eyes looked alive and she was smiling. Her strawberry blonde hair was held up in a bun. She was quite petite, only reaching Eiji's shoulders.
Eiji was standing in front of Mai with his back to her, but when he turned sideways a little, she could see that he was smiling as he listened to Mai. Harumi chewed on her lip. Of course, she should have known it. He was only cold to her.
Still, could he make it a little less blatant?
Harumi didn't have time to look at anyone else before Amaya pushed her back behind the cover of the door and then stepped into the room. Oishi noticed her in the doorframe, and waved. "Hey, where have you been? Eiji said you were going to drop by your house first, but that was two hours ago already."
"Don't you see, Oishi? She had to get ready!" Harumi heard Chiharu say.
"Girls." Kaidoh mumbled.
"Stop saying that! That's the reason you're still single, Kai-chan," Naoki chirped up.
Kaidoh hissed. "Do NOT call me by that stupid nickname! How many times did I tell you? And it's not like you are going out with someone either, so stop talking."
Naoki hmphed and glared at him.
"Eh? What's going on?" Momo yawned while sitting up.
"Okay, calm down guys!" Amaya yelled. "I have a good reason to be late actually. Because I've got a huge surprise for all of you. It's in fact the reason for this little get together, actually." Amaya couldn't ban the excitement from her voice.
Naoko crossed her arms. "What? Aren't we here to celebrate the beginning of summer?"
"On the surface." Amaya winked, and then turned around. Her green eyes bore into Harumi's and she excitedly beckoned to her to step forward.
Harumi gulped. This was the big moment she had been waiting for. It was just her friends on the other side of the door, but still, she felt incredibly nervous.
She went around Amaya and stepped into the room.
There was the hugest silence ever, and everyone just stared at her with their mouths open like she was a ghost. While everyone was too busy mimicking a fish out of the water, Harumi's eyes darted from one familiar face to another, looking for the one person she wanted to see the most.
Her eyes glided over Eiji's face and for a second, she looked into his familiar dark blue eyes that stared back at her with no decipherable expression, before her full attention was claimed by someone standing behind Eiji, in the farthest corner of the room, beside Tezuka. Fuji's blue eyes were staring right at her, seemingly straight into her soul.
Oh God. Oh God. Ooooh God.
She had forgotten how piercing his eyes could be. Her hands started shaking and she had to clench them tight.
There was an expression of almost shock on his face. Harumi quickly took in his appearance. He was still slender, and had grown a couple of inches. His hair was shorter, but his bangs still fell on his eyes a little. He was wearing a tight white shirt, which outlined the muscles in his arms and chest.
But his gorgeous blue eyes were just as she remembered them to be, and they still knocked her breath away.
"H-Harumi?" Someone asked in a voice that sounded distant to her ears.
She could hear people getting excited, shouting out her name in joyous disbelief, could see them standing up abruptly, coming towards her with huge grins on their faces. But her eyes were still fixed upon his, and she witnessed his expression of shock melt down into the broadest smile she'd ever seen on his face.
And suddenly she was moving forward, and he was moving forward too. And a second later she was colliding against his body as she was enveloped in the embrace she had been craving for so long.
"Fuji!" She whispered as she clung to his neck and closed her eyes as the scent of his cologne washed over her senses. Fuji wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her closer until their entire bodies were pressed together. His hand ran up and down her back, as if to make sure she was real.
"Harumi." He whispered in her ear and she felt a shiver travel down her back as she heard her name spoken so softly in his familiar voice. His body seemed to be on fire as he embraced her. Or maybe it was her own body which was burning up, she didn't know.
She had missed him so much. She didn't know it was possible to miss another human being like this, but as she pressed her face against his chest and curled her fingers around the fabric of his shirt, she felt as though she was finally home.
Suddenly, she let out a little scream when she felt her feet leaving the ground. She tightened her hold around his neck as Fuji swept her off the ground and twirled her a little in the air. She laughed delightedly and held him closer. When he put her down, she finally looked around into the happy faces of all her old friends smiling at them and cheering for them and whistling loudly.
"I'm back, guys!" she said in a voice full of emotion.
From the opposite side of the room, Eiji looked at the reunited couple and gave a somewhat courteous smile. "I love happy endings!" he stated in a cheerful voice.
Mai looked up at him seriously. "Me too. They look great together," she answered, emphasizing on every word.
There was another boy standing beside Eiji and Mai, but he was eyeing the whole scene with boredom. Upon hearing Eiji and Mai's exchange, he huffed. "Tssk, you guys are funny. There's no such thing as happy endings, because there's no such thing as fairytales. Mr and Mrs I'm-so-in-love will find out soon enough."
He took a sip of his drink and licked his lips.
Mai sighed and swatted him on the arm. "Don't say things like that, Kirihara."
Cunning green eyes turned towards her as he smiled mischievously. "What. Are you scared I'm gonna jinx it?"
Mai glared at him sternly. "I'll make sure you won't."
Kirihara only smirked.
So? How do you like it? :)