Illusions of a Promise
Chapter 2
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Pensieri
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Nokoru loosened his tie as he stepped inside his condominium, after a tiring day at college. Taking Finance and Business Administration wasn't as easy—or boring, he mentally added—as he thought it would be. And London School of Economics was known for its notoriously high standards.
Not that people did not get through; it was just that people often could not handle the pressure and subsequent stress that came with studying there. He had struggled a bit in the first year, but things seemed to be falling in place as he was able to comprehend and study and fare well slowly and steadily through the enormous workload.
He had always thought his father would let him continue with his studies in the field of Science. Apparently, he had other things in his mind.
Business.
Even though Nokoru would eventually be controlling the part of the company which specialized in scientific research, his father still wanted him to have a Business Management degree and know the basics of running a company, before he got into his own department.
It would help Nokoru being capable of running the management and being a part of research, what he wished for in the first place. Or so he thought.
He sometimes felt like he had failed to understand his father in some cases. He let out a sigh at the thought, and let his mind drift…
Workload.
It reminded him of school, back home. He smiled at the thought.
Home.
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Seemed like a dream now, but as a smile graced his chiseled features at the memories flowing into his mind, he realized he had lived a wonderful dream.
Friends like Suoh, Akira, even Nagisa and Utako, being part of the Student Council, and being with Nadeshiko.
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Nadeshiko.
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What had once seemed like a dream, an unbelievable dream…she was his, truly.
When he had set eyes on her after Suoh had introduced her that fateful Monday, for the first time in his life, he had felt a thought passing through his mind: she was like an angel.
He was surprised then by the intensity of his thoughts, and felt something that he hadn't acknowledged for Hikaru even.
He had always been one for helping out people in distress, especially women and his female classmates, but though he considered every woman beautiful and unique in her own right, in a purely platonic manner, somehow he couldn't put her in the same typecast.
He simply couldn't think of her as being something more than what she was at that moment; a member of the student council and his kouhai. Somehow he couldn't place his feelings on subsequent interactions with her as platonic anymore.
He knew it was sin to ask for it, so he stopped such thoughts. He blocked them. He was capable of such, he was aware.
Fate loves to dance, and twist like a storm. But the storm had been the one to uproot his messed up life and give him a chance to start afresh, free from commitments, free from any thoughts that might have classified him as a cheater; he no longer wished to be as available as may have seemed, he wanted her to be his, himself to be hers only.
He smiled at the reminiscence as he stripped himself off and stepped into the shower. Steam arose when the cool water hit his body and the floor. He pulled a hand upto the showerhead, to feel the water, coming out in fine channels, hit his hand. A gentle feeling.
Like when he touched her.
When they were together, it never felt like something they had to work upon; it came as naturally as the rain.
Rain.
An incident came unbidden into his mind.
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It was end of June. Which meant only one thing: rainy season. Nokoru didn't dislike the rain, but he wasn't totally fond of it either. Why did it have to rain when he was supposed to go to Nadeshiko's place for the Summer Festival files that he had left with her?
He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He calculated, if he ran very very fast, it would take him less than three minutes to get to her place—yes, he was that close to her house when it had started raining. Sending the heavens above an ominous look, he muttered a curse and ran for it.
They didn't call him intelligent for nothing. He didn't get as drenched as he thought. But then, when he realized that she wasn't inside, rather in the back, he decided to go through the open only, again groaning at the thought of getting drenched.
A sight etched itself into his mind.
There she was in a sleeveless full-length ruffled red dress , catching the raindrops into her hands. He watched as she twirled and hummed a song, dancing her heart off in the rain. She looked utterly happy.
'Nokoru-san?'
He hadn't realized that he had been getting drenched all this while; he hadn't minded one inch either, so mesmerized was he by her dance.
He shook himself out of his daze and stared back into those beautiful eyes. She had stopped dancing, a blush spread slowly on her cheeks, at his gaze lingering on her.
As he moved towards her, he noticed how her curly hair, now damp, pressed to her back, how a few stray curls framed her face, how the dress, now wet, hugged every curve of her body, bringing out her beauty, only for him to feast his eyes with.
The blush spread further on her cheeks, as she felt his intense gaze like a caress..
She wanted to move, she wanted to break the eye contact and laugh hysterically, she felt like she couldn't hold it in any further.
He stopped in front of her. She looked up at him, mesmerized by his eyes, and closed her own when she felt his lips on hers, letting him run his arms up and down hers, as she burrowed into his warmth; still feeling the warmth in him when they were both cold and wet to the bone.
A moment later, they broke the kiss and while she was still in his embrace, he asked her, a teasing smile on his lips, "Care for a dance, my lady?"
She blushed in response as she pulled away from him and gently bowed, replying, "It's my privilege, kind sir."
A dance in the rain, forever etched into their minds, as they both sang the song Nadeshiko had been humming earlier.
Twirl in the rain, forever in your arms.
When they stopped and kissed each other, he deepened the kiss, hoping with all his might that she wouldn't push him away. When she kissed him back with equal ardour, wrapping her arms around him as a response to the intensity of his kiss, his heart sighed in relief and content.
He didn't feel like stopping, she was responding to him, and it was just them. So what if someone saw them? They were engaged after all, even though they were much too young to be even close to marriage.
But when they did stop, to catch their breath, he knew he would never get a chance like that again when he heard whistles and catcalls, courtesy of her younger sister and Utako-chan.
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Nokoru chuckled as he changed to warmer clothes. 'That kiss felt like heaven…I wonder when I will be able to see her again.'
The next thought came unbidden. 'I don't know how I will react seeing her after such a long time..better not many people near us.'
He let out a short laugh and reached for his cellphone. It was past 7 pm in London, which meant that it was probably around 4 am in Japan. He hesitated, wondering whether he should call her in such an ungodly hour.
Nadeshiko was an early riser, since she went for a run at around 5 am. He himself had a problem with getting up early, because he loved to sleep in. She did too, but wanted to keep her disciplined habits alive.
He headed for the kitchen, deciding to call her after nine. He wasn't much of a cook, but knew enough and made well enough to keep himself alive. Ah, how he missed Akira's cooking…
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Nadeshiko awoke with a cool breeze hitting her body. She was sitting on the floor, in her room, still in the dress she had worn the night before. The events that took place had drained her of all her energy to even change back into something more comfortable.
She sighed and tucked her legs beneath her, covering them with the hem of her dress, and then reached for the cellphone. She flipped it open. 4:13 am.
It was a quarter past seven in the evening in England. She wondered if she should call him now, seeing as how she needed to take the load off her mind and simply needed to hear his voice.
Debating for a moment, she called his number, placed her phone on her ear and shut her eyes.
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The melodious tone of Tristesse cut off his musings as he reached for his cellphone, only to find the object of his thoughts calling him back.
He connected the call and placed the phone on his ear. "Good morning, my love. I was thinking about you."
"Good evening to you Nokoru." A pause. " You were?"
"Yes, I was. I think of you more these days; it's going to be months since I will be able to see you again. But first thing, what are you doing up so early? It's it a bit past 4 am there?"
"It is." She paused, as she pulled her legs tighter into herself, and making an effort to not let her tears flow. "I…I couldn't sleep, and I w..was wondering if talking to you could make me get some peac—uhm, rest," she said incoherently hoping fervently he wouldn't pick up much on her tone.
'Why am I hoping he wouldn't realize much? The reason I called him was to put my anxiety to rest and have me coherent enough!' she exploded in her mind.
Nokoru stopped lighting the burner and leaned back on the table, saying, " What's wrong Nadeshiko? Tell me, don't cover up."
Her voice had sent shivers down his spine. Unlike Hikaru, she was a sunny person, and was rarely subject to emotional outbursts and turmoils. Yes, there are always emotional pulls and problems, but she hadn't been a sufferer of melancholia to wear them on her sleeve, act and be a martyr. There was something wrong.
"Did I ever mention the Abaharaki to you, Nokoru?" she asked tentatively.
"No..but I am aware of their influence and the fact that they are your father's clientele. Am I right?"
"Yes. And as a matter of fact, my martial arts and ninja skills have been acquired under the tutelage of their shuhan. Many a time, I have been asked for a few favours..gory ones, as you may be able to guess," she said, trying her best to stop the trembling in her voice.
"But," said Nokoru, bracing himself by leaning on the table, "you left the clan, didn't you? Suoh said once."
"Yes, I did. And they want a final favour from me, as a promise to the deal that they wouldn't involve me anymore in their problems."
"But, why again now," he said, "when you had left them?"
"Their excuse is that there is no one capable enough for it. In their Clan," she replied, her voice dripping with venom.
He let out a chuckle. "No one to take care of a business so important? Good jokes, really."
She let out a dry laugh and continued, "Truly so. They want to cause me mental anguish. Hence they came. Last night. With such a proposition."
He stopped. They want to cause me mental anguish. " A personal target," he murmured.
He heard her cry in the other end. "Nadeshiko," he called gently over the phone, "calm down please, sweetheart."
Instead, her sobs grew harder.
"They want me to kill her, Nokoru! Her! Hikaru-chan!" she half shouted, half sobbed on the phone, before breaking down completely.
"Or?" He asked, gripping the granite table top, keeping his anger locked.
"Or they would kill her. Either way, it makes no difference to them," she sobbed. He could hear her trying out breathing exercises, learned from her years of voice training, to calm her nerves.
He waited, giving her the time and space she needed, while he refused to bombard her with questions plaguing his mind, what she told him moments ago, still ringing in her ears.
"They want to make me feel the angst of leaving them, for refusing to comply with their killings. They know that no matter what happens in the end, whether I kill them or someone else, they want to make me burn," she finished.
There was a silence in the line, as Nokoru rubbed his forehead, aching with the bombarding questions , Nadeshiko keeping quiet, looking out into the slow sunrise.
"What am I going to do, Nokoru?" she asked, feeling so lost as she hadn't in years, it seemed.
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What am I going to do?
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Am I going to lose her?
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Again?
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Author's Note: Here is the second official chapter of the pic. I had written this a while back, but decided to wait since the reviews section is a bit dry. The scene where Nadeshiko and Nokoru kiss in the rain has been made into a separate one-shot for La Corda D'Oro, entitled A Waltz in the Rain. So, if anyone wishes to read it, you can find it in my profile.
Nokoru gets some time in this chappie, and he will get a lot more in the next one as well. The relationships will get more and more complicated and the plot will turn thicker, if you can already guess from this chapter itself.
Do leave me feedback, all sorts of criticism are welcome. I appreciate the fact where people tell me how to improve the fic. All suggestions are welcome, flames, as always are not.
Reply to reviews of previous chapters:
Debatri: Thank you so much! Jani porikkhar agey matha ar kaj kortey chayna...ami wait korbo tor review er jonyo, and for your exams to end. :)
James Birdsong: Thank you!
Trisha: Thanks a million babes! Your support means the world to me. :D
Nerizu: Nokoru has an innate habit of pleasing people around, be in the manga or the anime. It's a sad thing that you don't frequent the LCDO archive anymore, there are some really nice stories that have come up recently. :)
