Alright!

So I'm back, bringing you the latest chapter. I didn't know if I'm really just inspired to write this because I finished this earlier than expected. Haha. Well, anything to keep my readers happy.

It always is a great encouragement for any author to see readers who expresses their enthusiasm with their stories. For this regard, I would like to thank the new reviewers. That was a great kick of encouragement from you, guys.

And so let's go to the chapter. I hope you like it!


Wednesday

Pre-nuptial photo shoot

Wedding rehearsal

Dinner with the groom's family

"This is your fault."

"Excuse me, how was this my fault?"

"You stick out like a sore thumb."

"You stick out more than I do!"

"How on earth will I stick out? You're the celebrity here."

"You're too tall and good-looking. In other words, conspicuous!"

Moot point. Taichi bit his tongue gently to avoid a biting retort. "Give me that. Just go into the car, start it up and I'll wait for you instead here at the front."

"What? Are you sure-?"

"Yes. Go out quickly out of the side entrance, keep to the sides and keep your head down. Go on, I could see a reporter coming."

Chihaya didn't waste any more time and followed his instructions. She whipped the keys from his outstretched left hand and darted so fast away from him in the blink of an eye like a dart. Left alone with five bags in each hand, Taichi squared his shoulders and raised his head, gripped the bags tightly and continued stepping forward, easily maneuvering his way into the entrance.

He had never been so grateful that there were a lot of people in one of Tokyo's famous malls today. It had helped him disappear into the crowd, and he whipped his shades out from his collar and slipped it easily into his eyes. It was also not the first time that he was thankful that he had grown quite tall- it gave him the advantage of slipping and weaving in without much difficulty through the crowd.

He couldn't understand why the arts and crafts store Chihaya had managed to commission the past week before she came home to create and design the would-be souvenirs and give-aways for their friends' wedding had decided to release the final products today, -when it was during the day that Wakamiya Shinobu, the former, also quite well-known Queen of Karuta was making a mall visit in order to teach kids live the art of karuta. As they had been slated as the best man and the maid of honor, it fell unto their shoulders the responsibility to pick those up. It was just their luck that the release had coincided with Wakamiya's mall tour, and also incredible misfortune that one of the media had taken a look around and happened to spot Chihaya, who had frozen beside him in response, her hand gripping half of the paper bags trembling.

Taichi had acted immediately, -he pulled her inside a jewelry store and pretended they were a couple choosing a ring before they could approach. What he hadn't anticipated was the store attendants managing to recognize Chihaya, and had started fawning over her, gushing about the last magazine she had been the cover of before she had gone to Seoul. Obviously starting to panic, he pulled her out of the store and led her fast away from it, where the media and 'witnesses' were starting to gather, nearly making her trip over herself a few times as they kept their heads down before more people recognized his best friend.

Thus, the short argument earlier.

He had given her the instructions to be the one to drive the car instead because at least, he wasn't that well-known. Even if the media managed to catch up to him, they won't be giving him much attention because he wasn't exactly a celebrity.

Taichi looked over his shoulder and saw them falter in front of a fast food chain, their eyes on him, one of them, -a short-haired woman of a medium build pulling out what looked like a walkie-talkie and speaking into it, shaking her head. He was about to breathe a sigh of relief when he saw them suddenly move towards him again, this time quicker and more determined.

He could almost hear Chihaya's voice in his head: "You were saying?"

Shit.

He hurried down an escalator, bumping other mall enthusiasts and mumbling a hurried apology as they complained, watching him hurry his way down despite of the bags he was carrying in each hand, which he had raised above their heads.

Why does this mall have to be this huge? If Otousan wanted another mall like this I'll be suggesting a few square meters instead. Saves space too.

Yes, this mall was owned by his father's company. It looked like his father's plan of asking a celebrity to pose for advertisement of the mall had paid off –big time.

Well of course it would pay off. Asking Nakahara Sunako, -one of the most well-known model-turned-celebrity and a good friend of his (him having met her during one of the business parties that his father had all but forced him to attend,) to advertise the mall was a brilliant idea. People would immediately buy it off from Sunako-chan, who has always been a favorite of the media, then and now.

He didn't want to curse the timing, but with Nakahara Sunako's popularity, of course people would come into the mall in droves. Whereas he'd been thankful to have so many people earlier, now he didn't feel that much grateful.

He wished that her popularity hadn't been effective this day too. It was practically a weekday, you know.

He was thankful when he spotted the double glass doors of the entrance, and he burst into a flat out sprint. He had always been thankful that he had kept himself fit enough. Who knew it would come in handy with these kinds of situations?

Taichi skidded to a stop outside, praying silently that Chihaya was already coming through the entrance. He thanked the heavens for her brilliant timing when he saw the silver Lexus turn a corner into the road leading to the mall's entrance, and he didn't waste time. He met the car halfway and once it stopped, he opened the back doors and all but deposited the bags inside in a hurry as Chihaya slid over into the other seat beside the driver's.

"Were they still following you?" She yelled over the combined background noise of people coming in and out of the mall.

He opened the driver's door opposite her and slid in easily, quickly strapping himself in and turning the wheel over with one hand. "Sometimes I don't know whether it's a good thing you're popular or not. Who knew you still had that effect with people?" He said without even so much as a hitch of breath, his tone indicating nothing else otherwise.

She smiled slyly over to him. "Feeling glad now that I asked you to teach me how to drive before?"

Taichi had to chuckle at that. "You were really horrible with it."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "That's because it was my first time! How could you expect me to immediately learn?" She asked, chuckling gently, and then suddenly turning morose as she looked over her shoulder. "Well, at least we've lost them. They… just probably want me to release a statement." She added, sounding quite uncomfortable and embarrassed. "After all, I left without an explanation a year ago. Now that I'm back, I'm sure they've been wanting to get a statement out of me."

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Do you want to release one?"

She turned to look outside the window. "Probably, but not now. It's horrible timing, -with Kana-chan's wedding and all. I mean, I already had my own wedding ruined a year ago, I don't want to ruin hers too."

Taichi turned to look at the road as he maneuvered the car carefully into the highway. "Are you okay?" He decided to ask, because she looked suddenly tired and harried.

Chihaya turned to look at him. "I'm fine, Taichi."

He reached over and prodded her on the forehead with his forefinger. "I mean do you still need to talk? You look like you need one."

She pouted playfully, narrowing her auburn eyes at him. "I may have been a mess a year ago, but I'm fine now, Taichi. I've moved on already. Was that difficult to believe?"

"Are you telling me it's bad to worry for you?"

"There's no need. Thank you, but I don't want you to spend your energy worrying about trivial things." She said, her eyes darting outside the window again. Then as if remembering the souvenirs, she turned in her seat and reached for one of the pink bags on the back seat, and opened it to get one of the boxes out. She settled in her seat once again as she carefully opened it and pulled out the bubble wrap protecting the ceramic figurine which had been made specifically to look very much like the soon-to-be-wedded couple.

"Ah, it's beautiful." She gushed as she turned it around and showed it to Taichi. "Don't you think?"

He gave it a once-over. "Yeah, it is. You chose well. Kana-chan will be so happy."

What was her souvenir again? Ah, a glass figurine of a couple cutting a wedding cake. Kana-chan, who was supposed to be her maid of honor, hadn't really liked it back then.

Don't get me wrong, Chihaya-chan. It looks… relatively simple.

She had given it a great deal of thought, but chose to go with it anyway. Kana-chan had shrugged and let her have her way, but she could tell that her best girlfriend had a little been wary of choosing to go with it.

Compared to her supposed wedding, Kana-chan's was a lot less stressful. From the fitting to everything else, all she needed to do was show up and suggest things, give opinions that were taken into consideration. This figurine in fact, was her idea, and she was honored that Kana-chan trusted her enough to decide to go with it.

Hers, she had to admit, had been quite… complicated. While she had gotten used to deciding for herself and planning for other things as she grew up over the years and matured, she had to admit that planning for a wedding hadn't been the easiest thing to do. It hadn't been much of a thing for her.

Chitose had of course, helped, and stopped her from wearing a hakama for her own wedding, much to her family's laughter and amusement. She joked that her theme would be karuta, which had earned her a bonk on the head around that time.

Do you want Arata-kun to run away from you in horror? Please decide like a normal bride-to-be!

She had laughed and scratched her head, not realizing that she shouldn't have expended that much effort if only she had the power to discern the future and had seen that the wedding wouldn't be happening.

Chihaya held up her right hand, looking at the ring she was wearing on her middle finger. It was red and threaded, the threads making a pattern of flowers as it wove itself around her finger. It was intricate, -she could imagine the effort the ringmaker had placed on it.

"Is it just me, or does this ring actually look good on me?" She asked, as Taichi honked loudly at a driver who had suddenly zipped in their lane, swearing a bit to himself which he hadn't done for a long time now.

"Yep, it does. Sure fits you." He responded absentmindedly, once the swearing had subsided, his full attention still on the road as she grinned over to him.

"Thanks for buying me this. You do know how to make a girl feel special, you know." She teased, grinning widely at him sideways as she continued inspecting the ring.

Taichi had bought that ring earlier for her when he had pulled her in that jewelry shop, as an apologetic gesture to the shop attendants who they had disturbed around that time when they were busy hiding from the media.

"Excuse me, you sure you're a girl? Where, exactly?" He teased, which caused her to sock him on his right arm. "Ow! Do you want Kana-chan to kill me if I got you in an accident? You really should start learning how to take a joke." He complained, snorting in laughter, and she couldn't help but join afterwards. "But really, now that I think about it, I think it's not a good idea buying you that."

"Ouch. That hurt, baka. And why do you think that?" She demanded, suddenly turning serious.

"Because they recognized you. They were watching your movements." He reasoned out, as she frowned. "Anything you do, we have to be careful. If I were you, I'll be bracing myself for the headline on the news later evening, or maybe tomorrow." He stopped as the traffic light changed to red. "Mystery man buys the former Queen of Karuta, Ayase Chihaya a ring." He added, mimicking a reporter, sounding half-joking and half-serious.

Despite of the sudden annoyance that she felt, she had to laugh at that. "Is it just me, or is your brain getting fatter all of a sudden?"

"I've always had a fat brain. If that's how you put it anyway -I need to have one, because I'm a doctor." He said, sounding strangely exasperated and worried that it really got to her nerves.

Chihaya leaned back, doing her best to hide her sudden irritation. "If you're just going to think that it's a bad idea that you bought me this ring then just take this back." She said, her tone sounding clipped, as she removed the ring and held it in her palm sideways, extending her hand out to him.

Taichi glanced at her, fixing her a disbelieving, penetrating amber stare, refusing to take her outstretched hand. "Who said I'm taking that back?" His tone sounded bewildered and mildly offended. What started out as a simple statement was turning into a sudden argument.

"I did."

"And why should I?"

"You just said earlier that it's a mistake buying me this." She fixed her stare at everything outside, refusing to meet his gaze, which she could feel was burning a hole at her left side.

"I said it's not a good idea. I'm just worried about the ladies in that store who saw you. You know how news travels fast." He responded, with all the patience he could muster as he blatantly ignored her still-outstretched hand.

Chihaya looked at him with her auburn eyes wide in surprise. "Since when have you started caring about what other people might think?" She demanded, fixing him an intense auburn gaze as her arm lowered unconsciously.

"Since when did you start forgetting you're a celebrity?" He shot back, as the light finally turned green. He stepped on the gas, even when Chihaya continued staring at him in surprise.

"I am no longer a celebrity. Hell, I left Japan a year ago! I gave up being the Queen. I gave up karuta." Her eyes were tearing up unexpectedly, unsure where all the tears were suddenly coming from. She sounded surprised and hurt as she felt something stab her chest as she recalled karuta, and her fists clenched on her lap.

"You're not a celebrity? Made me suddenly wonder why the media is chasing after us earlier." He pointed out, with that sarcastic tone that she had always known him to be famous in and she actually had grown fond of. He wouldn't be Taichi without that tone that he always used whenever he had to make a point.

"They just want me to release a statement. After that they'll leave me alone. There's nothing about me that will interest them anymore. I was a coward, a traitor who had turned her back on karuta." She sniffed heavily, as she all but held the tears threatening to suddenly fall as she admitted that.

He sighed, turned the wheel over uncaringly, and parked at the highway shoulder. He turned to look at her, as she did her best to stop the tears from flowing. Her lips were quavering, -it reminded him of a little girl who was trying her best not to cry because she had fallen hard while running and had scraped her knee, and she was blinking wildly just to hold the tears in.

"Don't stop it." He said in a gentle tone, his voice more controlled and understanding.

"I don't want to cry again, Taichi. I'm over that already." She said, even when her voice broke in the end. "I have no more tears left."

He shook his head. She had never changed out of her hardheadedness. "Apparently, there's one more thing you hadn't gotten over with. And it has nothing to do with Arata."

Her tears had gotten past her eyes. One tear dropped on the back of her hand, followed by an another, then another, until she couldn't help but let a miserable sigh escape her lips.

She lowered her head, and closed her eyes as she finally allowed the tears to fall. And Taichi, always the dear, caring best friend that he is, sighed and turned sideways, gently taking her into his arms, as she sank back into his chest, allowing the memories to finally drift in.


Then


"I… I don't understand." Her voice sounded close to whispering, unwilling to speak loudly. Her hands and her legs were starting to shake, and sweat had appeared on her forehead. Despite of the fact that it was cool inside the cozy café they were sitting in, she somehow felt as if the temperature outside had worked it's way into her bones, filling her with unusual heat.

The man sitting across her was fixing her a serious, sapphire-eyed gaze. "I'm sure you understand what I had just told you, Chihaya."

Her ears were ringing, and her hands had clenched unconsciously around her cup of coffee. Somehow, the chocolate crepe she had ordered to go with it didn't make her mouth water as well as it had earlier.

"…Why?" She asked monosyllabically, in a confused tone.

She couldn't understand. No. He couldn't say that. Him, of all people… He couldn't just possibly…

"Chihaya." He just responded in a disapproving sort of voice. "Do you really want me to repeat everythin' I had just said?"

She looked up to him, her eyes blank, seeming lost and confused, which as seconds passed, slowly started narrowing at him. "I do believe you hadn't explained yourself. Do you think marriage is a joke, Arata?" She asked, her tone still confused, but already infused with a hard undertone, -something which he had thought he would never hear from her.

"We can't do it." He repeated, this time, sounding more sure than ever. "We can't go through this wedding, Chihaya. I am very sorry." He refused to meet her gaze, which he couldn't take, but he sounded with more conviction than earlier.

Her brain refused to accept it. "I am asking you why, Arata. Explain to me why you're doing this, please." Against her better judgment, she started to sound pleading. "I don't understand. Did I do anything wrong?"

Arata fixed her with an apologetic gaze, his eyes conveying he didn't want to do this, but had no choice but to do it, anyway. "It's not somethin' you did, Chihaya. It's-"

"It's not you, it's me, is that it?" She didn't know what to feel right now, to be honest. She was hurt, no doubt. But she couldn't understand his reasoning. Or maybe that was just her brain refusing to accept what was happening.

She loved him with all her heart. There was no question about that. He had been the one who had given her a goal, which came to be her first experience of a real dream. She didn't have any real goal in life before, only wishing to see her sister become one of Japan's top models, but when he came, she finally had a dream. Something that she wanted to achieve by any means in life. Something to look forward for herself. He had shown her the light.

But now…

Now, the light was threatening to disappear.

And she didn't know what it is that she did.

"We can't continue goin' through this, Chihaya." Arata finally gave in, explaining in what seemed to her as a calm tone. That was one of the things he had always been good at. Even in the most dire of the situations, Wataya Arata knew how to be calm. Unshakable. Immovable. Like a rock resisting the powerful waves of the sea.

It was just as Kana-chan had described before. What was that word again?

Ah.

Impassionate…

"We cannot do this. We are goin' to make a mistake." He continued, his voice sounding more urgent than trying to explain why he was all of a sudden backing out of his promise. "We're… We are not for each other."

At this, she suddenly bristled, the hairs on her arms standing up, as if she was a porcupine being threatened by a bigger predator. "What?" She demanded, her tone starting to rise as her fists shook and she tried to steady them. Arata was making it hard for her to remain calm.

"You heard me." Arata responded, in a steely calm sort-of tone which she admired from him, even when she couldn't make sense of what he was saying. Nothing he was saying was actually making sense to her. It sounded like meaningless gargles coming from his mouth. "It's a mistake that I asked you to do this with me. I thought, once we were together for a long time, that it would get better for me. I was never so wrong in my entire life." Here the hurt trickled in his voice, even when he did his best not to let her hear it.

Now that was really confusing. "Are you saying you regret asking me to marry you?" Her tone was undeniably hurt, and he could feel his heart breaking with it. He had never imagined that he would be the one who will make her experience this pain, but he had no other choice. He knew that Chihaya would be making an even bigger mistake if she married him, when it was clear to him that she wasn't even as close to loving him more than a friend.

He had thought, when she told him that she loved him as well, that Chihaya had known and had thought of her feelings for him very well. After all, Chihaya was the kind of woman who wouldn't lie of her feelings, if she even can. She was a very honest woman after all, and she sucked terribly in lying. He knew this.

And Mashima Taichi, his childhood friend, had always known this as well.

But the moment they had been together, Arata couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Not between the two of them, -but with the entire relationship. Something felt incomplete. Missing.

He had thought that he was just imagining it, but as the months and weeks passed, turning to years, it became clear to him that something just wasn't right. And the revelation came to him when one day, he had chanced upon the two of them in one of the music rooms of Todai.

His last class had started late, and his professor had dismissed them even later than usual, level-setting their expectations. As they were in their final year, each grade they would have would be a crucial factor as to whether they would be graduating this year or not. Knowing that he would have to skip club practice, he had asked Chihaya not to wait for him instead, and she in turn asked if she could go with Taichi and watch a recital going to be given by the orchestra club.

"Kana-chan and the rest are going to be watching it too! You sure you don't want me to wait for you?"

He had declined, saying that he was going to be late anyway, and instead made her promise to ask Taichi to take her back into her dorm instead afterwards. She had replied with a cheerful "Okay, love you!" which hadn't failed to make his day complete.

On one side, it bothered him that she was going to see a recital with Taichi, instead of him. He was the boyfriend after all, for crying out loud. But lately his studies had started to become more demanding that he could barely sleep properly, and he had been leaving Chihaya by herself more often than had been usual.

But Taichi had always made time for her…

He knew that Taichi also had the same feelings for Chihaya. That was the unspoken truth between the two of them. Taichi didn't have to tell him that out loud. Amazingly though, he had never contested his feelings for her, and he didn't know whether he should be grateful for that or not. He had just let the two of them be, but it hadn't escaped his notice that he had tried every possible way of avoiding them whenever the two of them were together. He knew that the guy had to be just as busy as him, maybe even more busy than him as a medical student, but he had always found the time to tolerate Chihaya's whims at the drop of a hat.

Whereas he couldn't even do that…

Once the class had been dismissed, he had checked his phone, trying to see if Chihaya had any messages of having been able to return to her dorm, but he found none. Slightly puzzled, as it was already seven in the evening, he decided to check if they were still around the campus.

His footsteps had led him to the performing arts building which had their own auditorium, but something told him they weren't there. After all, the recital may have been over already an hour ago.

And then, as he stood in the hallway, he noticed that one of the lights in the third floor was still on. Without even noticing that he was doing it, his foot turned and followed the light down the hall, and he found himself taking the flight of stairs leading to the third floor. As he began getting nearer, he heard music floating down the hall. As if in a trance, he followed the wonderful sound.

He saw a room open with the door slightly ajar. He recognized this floor as the one where practice rooms, -which were used by Todai students who were Music majors, - were located. Once in a while, other students were also allowed to use the rooms, probably to help let off steam and pressure from studies.

He realized that he was listening to 'Moonlight Sonata', one of Beethoven's most famous works. It was being played on piano, and he couldn't help but feel drawn to the sound. The player had managed to make the song alive, -it reminded him of a dark night where the full moon was out, and a song was floating around him. it made him recall, against his will, memories of his loving grandfather, and unconsciously, a tear slipped down his cheek.

It was a love song being sang without words.

He approached the room, against his better judgment, and saw two figures sitting on a bench by the grand piano situated in the center of the spacious practice room. He recognized the first one as Chihaya's and the other one as Taichi's.

He was the one playing, and Chihaya was watching him closely, her face concentrated, watching his fingers dance across the keys. For some reason, Arata felt as if he was unwelcome- like he was a trespasser in this moment, an unwanted audience standing by the door, listening carefully at the music, and watching his two best friends share it together.

By the time the song ended, Chihaya's tears were flowing down her face, her hand across her mouth. He was about to rush at her side to comfort her, but then remembered that none of them were aware that he was even there and had been listening, and he took a step back warily.

After all, he was also crying.

"Chihaya no baka." He heard Taichi scold his girlfriend lightly, laughter in his voice. "Why are you such a crybaby?" He got out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from her eyes, as she sniffed heavily. As soon as he was done, she grabbed the handkerchief and blew her nose on it. While Arata had chuckled quietly at Chihaya's behavior, Taichi didn't even bat an eyelash, just watching her wipe her nose carelessly with the fabric.

"S-Sorry… I-I couldn't help it…" Chihaya had muttered, still sniffing heavily. "Man, Taichi. You are just so unfair. I didn't even know you could play the piano…" she added shakily, "That song was just… it just touched me." She had looked at Taichi with an expression Arata had yet to place. "What was the title of that song?" She asked, as Taichi turned to the keys again, pressing one key lightly. The sound echoed around the place.

"Moonlight Sonata." He responded, pressing a few more keys. The tune was familiar to him, but he couldn't place where he had heard it from. "It's one of Beethoven's masterpieces."

Chihaya had glanced at the keys he was lightly pressing. "It sounds so… romantic. And lonely in a way." She said, as Taichi continued pressing random keys lightly, the tune earlier dissipating.

"Beethoven wrote the piece for a seventeen year-old girl he had fallen in love with," he said, which made Arata stiffen by the door as he unintentionally listened with their conversation. He didn't want to eavesdrop- hell, he it wasn't a habit of his to listen to other people's talk, - but this was his rival and his girlfriend talking. He stood, rooted by the doorway. "He never had the chance to tell her about it, so he wrote the piece. It was sort of a love song created for an unrequited love, you know."

Arata's heart had started beating faster in his chest. He could see Taichi's gaze still fixated in front of him, but his expression had completely changed.

Chihaya was looking at him with a rather curious look on her face. "Really? So… does that mean you were in love with someone as well, Taichi?"

Arata couldn't explain the sudden fear that gripped his heart, his feet frozen as he stared in horror at the scene unfolding in front of him. No matter which way he looked at it, this looked very much like a confession he had unknowingly barged in.

For one wild moment, he thought Taichi would finally make her aware of his feelings, but to his amazement, the man only laughed out loud and ruffled Chihaya's hair.

"Just because you're together with Arata doesn't mean everyone's in love like you." Taichi still chuckled, though Arata could see that the laughter hadn't extended to his eyes. "No, I'm not. Unfortunately."

Chihaya's expression was one of bewilderment. "B-But that's impossible! The way you played Moonlight Sonata? Feelings can't be faked! Mou, you're lying!"

Arata had watched the two of them banter, Taichi teasing her and vehemently denying his love, Chihaya forcing him to admit the truth. And then and there, he realized one thing as he watched Chihaya closely.

Her smile. Her laugh. The way her eyes lit up whenever Taichi joked.

It was different.

It had become a pattern over the years. There was the old fear, Arata had to admit. But Taichi had kept his word.

"I am not going to take her from you. I have no plans of telling her what I feel. I ask only one thing." He recalled Taichi telling him, when they had finally touched upon the subject of the two of them being together. It was the one thing they both couldn't avoid. They would have to talk about it sooner or later.

"You take care of her. I can't do that as often as I would want now, so it's your responsibility. And when I say that, I do mean taking care of her." Taichi had told him, not really asking a favor, but ordering him in a way that only he could do. "Don't make her cry, Arata. Because if you do, rest assured I'll be here to make you regret it."

As the years passed, Arata had tried to ignore that wrong feeling that had always followed him around. And it was one of the reasons why he had suddenly proposed to Chihaya.

It had been wrong of him to suddenly decide to do that, but what could he say? He was still human.

But more and more as the wedding date approached did he realize that there really is something wrong with everything regarding their relationship. And he couldn't stand the thought that Chihaya was going to be with the wrong person her entire life.

It was for this reason that he was doing this now. He had to correct his mistakes before it was too late. Better to hurt her now than cause her misery for the rest of her life.

Better for him to hurt himself for her sake.

"No." Arata had finally responded to her question, which made her flinch unconsciously, as if his words were a whip instead of just being words. "We… We shouldn't have been together in the first place. I'm sorry. We are making a mistake."

Her eyes had widened. "What?" Her face had gone pale, which had made him flinch inwardly, as if she had just slapped him. "H-How are we making a mistake? Explain it to me, please, Arata." She looked as if she was ready to throw up.

He sighed, taking a deep breath, mustering his courage and steeling himself at what he was about to say. "You don't love me, Chihaya."

Chihaya stared at him with a bewildered, open-mouthed expression. She would have looked rather ridiculous, but this was not a laughing matter. She felt as if she had gone deaf, because she couldn't understand what he was saying. "W-What? I don't understand what you're talking about Arata!" She had exclaimed, trying her best not to raise her voice, because other people were turning to stare at them. "For so long we were together, and now all of a sudden you say things like that?" She demanded, unable to figure out why Arata was doing this.

"I wasn't the one you love, Chihaya." He repeated, and this time, Arata knew it was true.

"T-That's not true…" Chihaya didn't know what to say as she felt her world fall in around her. Her brain was refusing to accept what the current Meijin had been saying. It all felt as if the air was being sucked out of her lungs. "That's not true and you know it…"

He leaned forward, and against his will, took her hands into his, which he could feel were shaking uncontrollably. "I'm not accusing you, Chihaya. But you have to listen to me." He said, his voice more urgent this time again. "I am not the right one for you. I have seen it, even years ago. But I was so scared of losing you, and I just…" he trailed off, not knowing how else to explain his idiocy to her. "I am so sorry I have let this go on for so long."

She shook her head vehemently, refusing to acknowledge what he was saying, but Arata held onto her hands as if it was his lifeline. "I know it's hard to believe it, Chihaya. But I know you don't love me. I wasn't the one for you."

She was still shaking her head. "Usotsuki. Liar." Chihaya said, quietly, and seeing her expression, Arata's heart just broke.

She looked like a lost child, confused, overwhelmed and bewildered. He wanted to take his words back, but Arata couldn't. He didn't want to, because he knew that it was a mistake, and just taking it back would be an another brilliant display of his idiocy.

And he isn't willing to. He had stolen her from the one person who should have been with her. Four years were more than enough.

"I am so sorry I have let this go on for so long." He repeated, feeling like a pathetic fool. "I know no amount of apology would make you forgive me, but all the same, I'm hoping that one day you will be able to."

"Usotsuki…" She repeated, and Arata knew he deserved the hurt he was feeling right now. She had looked at him, then, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "If you were just going to leave me, you shouldn't have asked me to marry you in the first place…"

The tears had also formed in his eyes. "I-I am so sorry, Chihaya."

She tore her hands away from his grasp, as it finally sank into her brain that all of this were really happening, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. "Leave me alone, Arata." Her tone was steely, as she tried her best to calm down.

"Chihaya-"

"Just leave me alone, Arata. Leave me be." She said, turning to finally gaze outside the window of the café. "You've done enough."

And Arata, having no other choice, stood up and left her, and his heart, right in that spot.


It was already established that the supposed wedding had been a disaster. What hurt Chihaya the most was the effect it had on her.

She soon discovered that she couldn't play karuta without her remembering him. It was a side-effect, if you could call it that. Everywhere she looked, every time she tried to take a card, she could see his shadow, his silhouette, as if taunting her, playing around with her. And the memories would begin to drift in, and she would feel as if her heart was being sliced open.

Arata… her dream… her goal.

All of that was gone, so all of a sudden that she felt as if the world had swept her off her feet.

That hurt her so much that Taichi had to restrain her from just throwing away her deck of cards. She had gotten so fed up one day that she had just decided to have it shredded and thrown away.

It was probably a good thing that he had visited her back in her parents' house that day. People from her work who knew him, (and who had never failed to refer to him as the 'proper boyfriend') had been calling him or mailing him, asking where she was because she hadn't even shown up for their scheduled shoots. At first he had thought that she had just needed time alone, until Tsuboguchi-san informed him as well that she had skipped several practice matches already.

"You're going to regret that tomorrow." He had told her patiently, barging in her room unceremoniously, catching her just about ready to shred her deck of cards. She had not been in the mood to be reprimanded that she had yelled at him and told him to leave her the freaking hell alone. But he hadn't even flinched.

"You want to hit something? Go ahead and hit me. I'm here as your personal punching bag. Go on. I'll take it."

That had gotten her speechless, as did her father and mother. They were witnesses when that entire exchange between the two of them had happened.

He had grabbed her fist, -which was so tightly curled around itself that he thought she was enduring the pain of her fingernails already, - and made it sock his chest. "What? You're mad right? Go on and hit me. But I want you to promise me that you won't throw your cards, OR even act remotely like this tomorrow. You understand, Ayase?"

She had stared at him, completely bewildered and caught off-guard. And then slowly, like a crystal weathered and beaten, she started breaking in front of his eyes.

She sobbed. For days after the whole break-up scenario, she had finally cried.

Taichi had held her in his arms for the rest of the night. She didn't even know what time it was that she was able to sleep. All she knew was that she had cried endlessly on Taichi's shirt, and he had never said anything, just allowing her to use him as her pillow and her own, personal shock-absorber.

So the cause of her pain really, wasn't that Arata had called the wedding off. It was something else entirely, one that she couldn't easily accept for herself.

The one who had given her a dream, a goal, was the last person she had thought would do this to her. But man, was she so spectacularly wrong in that department.

Arata had given her karuta as a gift.

And he also had taken it away from her.


I have to say, I've been a bit scared to update too long. Hahaha. Appreciate everyone who left reviews! Let me hear more from you guys. It always helps!

Thank you all and see you in the next chapters!