A Chance to Love
By Shellagh22
Disclaimer: I obviously don't own the anime, I just write about it. But how I wish it were otherwise...(",) Shellagh and Zoë are my own creation.
Author's Note: Oh, yeah, I changed some of the facts here to suit my story so I hope you guys won't be confused. Please tell me what you think!!! Reviews please :p
Chapter 6: The Confession
Mitsui felt her hand hold his and he was amazed by the flash of memories that paraded in his mind. It felt too much like old times that he also remembered of the many instances he dreamed of them. He looked at her beside him, leading him somewhere to talk and he felt this indescribable peace inside him ever since...well, for a very long time.
Shellagh wondered what he was thinking. Probably about the past, she thought to herself. The same thing I'm thinking, the past that started it all and brought us together. Suddenly a thought of Zoë waiting in school entered her mind. She didn't know what to tell her sister, IF she would tell her what she was going to do. She knew Zoë wouldn't really understand why she wanted this to happen. She wouldn't comprehend fully this urge she had to just talk to Mitsui and finally know. Zoë would probably see that Mitsui was the bad guy.
Mitsui, who was watching her for quite some time, saw the shadow of an emotion cross her face but it was gone before he could know what it was. He thought that she might be having second thoughts when she stopped in front of the swings in the deserted children's playground. "Shellagh?"
Shellagh gave him a nod to the swings and she let his hand go. Mitsui felt the loss almost immediately but he walked to the swings and sat on one. Shellagh sat down beside him and spoke to him in a soft voice, "Mi-chan, when you left without any word why, it hurt me. I thought we had something together that both of us have not experienced with anyone else. But you just left as if nothing happened."
Mitsui leaned forward, placing his clasped arms on his thighs. "I know. I realize that's why you've been avoiding me. I had my reasons, Shellagh. Reasons that forced me to leave quickly."
Shellagh stared at the ground. "Why then?"
Mitsui felt his eyes water a little when he remembered that summer. It was easier as a year passed by but the grief was still there. He tried to clear his throat. "One day of that summer of two years ago, I got a phone call from my mom and I learned that my father died. He had some kind of accident, coma and internal bleeding. I didn't understand what really happened but the fact is he died."
Shellagh looked at him in horror, shocked with what he said. She never thought in a million years that this would be the reason why he left. He went away because of his father's death, and she had condemned him for it. "Mi-chan."
Mitsui shook his head as he remembered his mother's sobbing and his younger sister's grief-stricken voice over the phone. "I had to go back home and help my family cope with the loss. I was the eldest, you see, and I had to be there for them."
"I didn't know, Mi-chan. I'm so sorry."
Mitsui saw a tear roll down her cheek and he reached out to wipe it away. "It's not your fault. I'm the one who left you and didn't tell you what was happening to me. I just wasn't thinking clearly. I hurried to get back here, as fast as I could and when I came here I was so busy spending time with my family and settling some matters for my father. You were always at the back of my mind, Shellagh. You never left me. But because of my family and the months turned to years, I thought you must have forgotten me. When I saw you here, I was so surprised but then I thought, maybe, just maybe, it's fate that brought us back together again. But I saw how Zoë acted the way she did towards me that I knew you didn't forget us. I'm sorry."
Shellagh looked at his face and saw the grief that still lived inside him in his eyes. She stood up and knelt down in front of him. She placed her hands on his cheeks and said, "I realize now that you were never at fault and I'm sorry for placing blame on you without knowing the full truth. I was angry with you because I thought I meant nothing to you. But I know now that it wasn't that way at all." She moved closer to him and whispered, "But I'm still angry at you, Mi-chan, because I could have been there for you. So now I ask, has anyone consoled you with your grief?"
Mitsui rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes. "Shellagh."
Shellagh touched the wetness coming through his eyes with her thumbs. "Tell me. Let it all out now then we'll never speak of it again."
Mitsui took a deep shuddering breath, finally allowing his emotions free rein. "I loved him so much, Shellagh! He was my idol, my mentor, and my coach. He was the best father I could ever have and now he's gone. For a time, I turned to other stuff that I'm not proud of doing but I'm glad that I finally got out of it. I have been trying to deal with the loss through basketball right now and sometimes I'm grateful that I forget."
"But it's not enough, is it?" Shellagh felt sorrow for him in her heart and could do nothing but this. She leaned in and pressed her mouth on his, giving him what she thought was a healing touch. A meeting of lips that she hoped took his grief away.
Mitsui's eyes widened as Shellagh kissed him. She was incredibly sweet and gentle that he felt so lucky to be with her in this moment. Suddenly, slowly he felt the pain of his father's death seeping out of him and disappearing to forever.
Shellagh moved back, blush staining her cheeks. She slowly stood up and whispered, "I'm really sorry, Mi-chan. I hope I can change things for you. I only want the best for you."
Mitsui caught her hand and squeezed it with his own. "Does this mean...?"
Shellagh shook her head. "I don't know yet. Maybe. I still need time to think things through. Is that okay?"
Mitsui nodded. "I understand. Maybe we could start all over again."
Shellagh covered his hand with her own. "Yeah, we could."
***
AN: Pretty emotional, huh? It will get better, I promise. (",)
Reviews please!!