CHAPTER 2

Kahoko woke up late that Saturday morning. She had a hard time sleeping last night. She spent almost all night thinking about Tsukimori's return. She was feeling the ancipation inside her and she couldn't understand herself at all. It was as if she's excited to see Tsukimori again.

Today is the day of Tsukimori's arrival. Kahoko is sure there would be many reporters and fans waiting for him in the airport. And speaking of fans, she's also sure that most of his fans waiting for him would be female fans. Not only because of Tsukimori's skills in violin was he popular to the female population, it also adds how breathtakingly handsome he is.

Tsukimori's personal life was always a mystery to the media. Probably the only personal thing the public knows about him was his equally famous parents and nothing other than that. He never speaks about his personal life, especially his love life-if there is such- in all his interviews. He was a very private guy that makes women take interest on him even more. He has been once or twice linked to some well-known female musicians but when reporters asked him about those rumors, he would just say 'nonsense'. Kahoko once thought, when she read about it in an article, how those women linked to Tsukimori must have felt when he showed no interest and even kind of annoyed to be linked to them. Kahoko thought that it was kind of rude on Tsukimori's part but she somehow understands him. She knows how Tsukimori doesn't want to get involved in something unnecessary and he especially doesn't like people prying on his privacy.

Kahoko had nothing to do that day so she decided to visit Mio at her house. She called Nao and Shoko if they wanted to come with her to visit Mio. Nao said she can but Shoko won't be able to come because she's looking after Keichi's store as Keichi attended an exhibit and the store clerk was out sick. Kahoko didn't bother asking Amou. She knows she would be one of the many reporters waiting in the airport for Tsukimori's arrival. Amou wouldn't let this day pass without getting a scoop.

*************************

"Kaho-chan, Tsukimori-kun will be arriving in Japan any moment now. Aren't you excited?" Mio was smiling widely at her. Like Amou and Nao yesterday at lunch, Mio was teasing her.

"Of course she is, Mio. I bet she almost didn't sleep last night because of excitement. Right, Kaho?" Nao was also smiling very widely at her. There they go again.

"I am not excited. And I was able to sleep last night. You guys are being silly again." Kahoko avoided her friends' eyes. She was lying. Nao was right; she was having a hard time sleeping last night because she was thinking of Tsukimori's arrival. And yeah, she can feel the excitement.

"Anyway, Mio, where is Ryuzaki? Shouldn't he be here with you?" Kahoko tried to change the topic before she could blush again. Ryuzaki, Mio's husband, has still not showed up to greet them when she and Nao arrived at their house about ten minutes ago.

"Oh, he's in our room talking on the phone to a customer in the agency. There seems to have some problem with flight schedules. Some kind of computer error. The customer's flight was set to another date by mistake so he's trying to make amends. He's been on the phone for almost half an hour now. He couldn't go to the agency himself to meet the customer personally because of me; you know, coz I can give birth any moment now—" Mio suddenly gasped then placed her hands on her stomach with wide eyes.

"Oh my god, Mio, are you okay?"

Kahoko and Nao went to either sides of Mio who is now breathing heavily.

"My water just broke. I'm gonna have the baby!" Mio said with wide eyes.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Ryuzaaakiii!!! Mio's gonna have the baby! Put down that damn phone!" Nao called out in the room while they helped Mio to stand on her feet. They saw Ryuzaki went out in one of the rooms with the phone still on his ear, looking dumbstruck with his mouth open.

"Ryuzaki, don't just stand there! Get the car. I'm gonna give birth to our baby!" Mio said to her husband with obvious excitement in her voice.

Ryuzaki recovered from his shock then said to his customer on the other line,

"Oh, my god. My wife's gonna give birth to our baby! I'll give you your money back. I don't care anymore. I'm gonna be a dad!"

*************************************

They rushed Mio in the hospital. It's a good thing there wasn't so much traffic that time and the hospital was not very far from Mio's house so they were able to get there in less than fifteen minutes. Mio and Ryuzaki are already in the delivery room. Kahoko and Mio are in the waiting area. They are excited to see the baby. They still didn't know if the baby is a boy or a girl because Mio refused to be informed of the baby's gender. She said she wanted it to be a surprise.

Kahoko went to the hospital's cafeteria to buy her and Nao some soda. Nao didn't want to leave the waiting area so Kahoko went alone.

While Kahoko was getting money from her wallet to pay the cashier for the two cans of soda, someone from behind her handed some money to the cashier. Kahoko was surprised, she turned around and saw Aoi Kaji smiling at her. Kaji was also a Seiso alumnus. They were in the same class back in high school. He transferred to their school in their second year. Like her, Kaji also played the violin but stopped when he went to college to take up medicine to follow his grandfather's order. Kaji was wearing a white coat. He is a physician in that hospital. His grandfather actually owns that hospital and Kaji is soon to be the head of the whole hospital. Kaji would sometimes visit Kahoko in Kahoko's violin tutorial center.

"Hi, Hino-san. What are you doing here?"

"Oh hi, Kaji-kun. Mio's giving birth. Nao and I were with her when her water broke. She's now in the delivery room with her husband."

"Really? How nice. I'll congratulate her and her husband later in her room." Kaji smiled.

"Yeah. Anyway, Kaji-kun, you don't have to pay the cashier earlier for the sodas I bought."

"I know, but I want to" he smiled again. Kaji has a very nice warm smile that could melt any girl's heart.

"Hmm… thanks, anyway"

Kaji and Kahoko walked together out of the cafeteria. Kaji still has some patients waiting in his clinic so he had to go but he promised to stop by at Mio's room later.

Hino went back to the waiting area. She handed Nao the soda.

"What took you so long? The cafeteria isn't really far from here."

"I bumped into Kaji-kun in the caf," Kahoko explained.

"Oh yeah, I forgot Kaji-kun is a doctor here. So what did you two talked about?" Nao has her teasing smile again on her face.

"Not much. He had to go coz he still has patients in his clinic."

"Oh, really? And am I supposed to believe that?" Trust her friends to tease her any chance they get.

Before Kahoko could answer back, a nurse came out from the delivery room.

"Your friend has given birth to a girl. She'll be brought in a regular room now." The nurse smiled and went back inside the delivery room.

Nao and Kahoko went to see Mio in her room. The baby, who was named Yuri, was also in the room with her happy parents. Kahoko and Mio stayed for a couple more hours then went home together but they promised to visit again tomorrow.

*******************************

That evening, Kahoko was talking to Amou on the phone. She called Amou to inform her that Mio had already given birth to a baby girl.

"Oh that's great! I'll visit her tomorrow at lunch. Anyway, Kaho-chan, I'm glad you called. I was about to call you myself." Amou sounded excited on the other line.

"Huh? Why?"

"I'm sure you know that I was one of the media people in the airport earlier waiting for Tsukimori-kun's arrival. And guess what happened?"

"What?" Amou sounded really excited and there's something in her voice that seems to be teasing her.

"Well, I was able to fight my way through to Tsukimori-kun and then I was asking him questions but he wasn't answering any question the reporters asked him. So I introduced myself while still following him on his way out of the airport along with the other reporters. He didn't seem to remember me at all so I said I also went to Seiso and I was in the same year with him but I was in the gen-ed department. I told him that I was in the media club and I used to interview him for the school paper. He then seemed to remember me and then he suddenly stopped walking. He turned to me and said: 'you're Hino's friend.' See? I told you he'd remember you!"

Kahoko didn't know how to react. She was glad she's not face-to-face with Amou right now because she's blushing big time. Her face is as red as her hair.

"But he must have realized what he had just said to me, so he then turned his back and started walking again. And then he was out of the airport without another word from him. I'm sure he didn't mean to say it out loud; it just came out unexpectedly from him because even he was surprised after he said the words."

That night, Kahoko had a hard time sleeping again. She kept thinking of what Amou had told her on the phone. So Tsukimori still remembers her. She cannot deny the bliss she was feeling inside.

**************************

The next day, Kahoko went to the hospital again to see Mio and the baby. She brought a basket of fruits for Mio. She was about to turn to the next corner of the hallway when she bumped into someone.

"Oh…"

Kahoko was able to control her balance when the person she bumped into held her arm so she won't fall on the floor. The person Kahoko bumped into was a guy. The guy was tall so Kahoko's face was on the guy's chest. Kahoko saw some of the fruits in her basket fell on the floor.

Kahoko immediately picked up the fruits before it gets dirty. She was saying sorry to the guy without looking up. She felt the guy also went down on the floor to help her pick up some of the fruits that fell on the floor.

The guy handed Kahoko the two oranges that fell. She was about to say thank you and take the oranges from the guy's hands when she looked up and saw the guy's face.

Kahoko felt her heart beat faster, her eyes widened and her breathing became shallow, as if she wasn't breathing at all. She blinked again to be sure that she wasn't hallucinating or imagining it.

Because the guy Kahoko bumped into was none other than Tsukimori Len.

*******************

that's it for chapter 2. Hope you'll like it. I'll leave you guys hanging for a moment. Haha.

And thanks to those who read and reviewed my chapter 1. I'm glad you liked it. It's really touching.. lol (^.^)

If you have tips or suggestions for me to improve my writing, I'll be happy to know.

Anyway, I'll update as soon as I finish chapter 3. ^.^

xoxox

E.E.