Beautiful Lie . [ Chapter 8 : Fan Mail ]
Haruhisa Mika sighed , as she flipped through the magazine that one of her assistants gave . But she came to a halt when she saw an interview of a person .
A person that she always admire .
A person that made her smile .
"Mika – san ! You're going to be late !" Mika stood as she heard her manager shouted from the door . With a smile , she walked out from the room .
.
Kise ruffled his hair , as he sat on the bench after their practice . Just then , Moriyama sat next to him , along with the others . I can't concentrate at all ! Kise thought , mentally cursing himself .
"Oi , Kise !" Moriyama looked at him .
"What ?" he asked , not giving Moriyama his attention . I've other things to think about . He silently thought .
"You … are worse than usual ." Moriyama calmly stated while wiping his face with a towel .
"Senpai ? Don't you know how to sugarcoat your words a little ?" Kise whined childishly , turning his head towards Moriyama .
"Kise , have you ever heard of the saying , 'honesty is the best policy' ?" Moriyama smirked . Now you've paid attention to me !
"Senpai ! You do realize that sometimes honesty isn't the best policy right ?" Kise hissed , earning Hayakawa's attention .
"Woah ! Kise , if you keep on doing that … wrinkles will form on your face !" Hayakawa interrupted , causing Kise to punch on the face .
"Oi ! What the hell is happening with you guys ?!" Kasamatsu shouted , totally annoyed by his team mates immature behaviour . Why must I be a captain to a bunch of idiots ? He sighed , as he listened to their not-so-interesting conversation .
"But hey ! It's true you know !" Hayakawa defended himself while Moriyama laughed . Suddenly , a teacher came inside the gymnasium , making all eyes adverted on him .
Kasamatsu , holding the responsibility as a captain , walked towards the teacher , and asked , "Is there anything that we can help you , sensei ?"
"Oh well , there's a note for … let's see , it's for Kise Ryouta ." he said , shifting his gaze to Kise .
"Eh ? Me ?" Kise raised a brow , confused . Why is there a note for me ? Kise thought and uneasiness struck him .
Walking forward , Kise asked , "Who gave me that note ?"
"It's from a girl , but she didn't say who is she though – even after I asked her for a few times ." the teacher explained .
Hearing the teachers revelations , all of the boys shot Kise a death glare . "It must be from one his fans !" Hayakawa stated , looking really confident with his statement .
"What if it's not ?" Moriyama's idea made Kise felt more and more uneasy . He always received fan mails from his workplace , but he never received one from the school .
It can't be Yukira ! She will never do something like this ! He thought , thinking hard about the sender of that fan mail . Kise ruffled his hair , thinking that he shouldn't worry about unimportant things .
"Kise , you're okay ?" Kasamatsu placed his hand on Kise's shoulder , giving it a pat . Even though it's kind of weird , but as a captain , he need to take care of his team mates properly – either by sharing their problems with each other or even gave them support . That's what he always thought .
"Yeah , senpai . I'm fine ." I guess … Kise flashed a smile – a fake smile to hide his true feelings from be seen by others . And it's so fake that Kise himself felt hurt . What the hell is happening … ?
Kasamatsu winced when he saw Kise's smile . Even though sometimes they did bickered because of something , Kasamatsu still thought Kise as his kouhai , fellow team mates – and of course , someone he would call a friend .
Taking a deep breath , he announced , "That's all for today , guys ! After all , it's already past 5.30 ."
"Eh ? Really ?" most of them looked dumbfounded . Is captain serious ? They thought in unison .
"What's the use of practicing too hard and the next day you can't even lift a finger ?" Kasamatsu spoke – sarcasm dripping in his words .
"… H – Hai , senpai !"
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Kise walked away from his school , alone . He didn't planned to go home that early , so he wandered around the neighbourhood . As he walked , Kise was thinking about all the unexpected events that happened in his life these few days .
He remembered the incident in Shibuya – that one event that caused Yukira didn't even bother to call me up till now .
Even I myself is scared to call her …
And although he's not there to see her , Kise could imagine her expression .
I can't stand to look at her teary eyes …
The guilt that haunting him days and nights – making him unfocused and shrouding his mind with misery .
And making me wide awake when the others were deep in their sleep …
A fan mail – with no information about the sender – was sent to him at school , making his friends worried sick about him .
The words on the note is still clear in my mind …
'Dear love , I'm your biggest fan and I know everything about you – including your little secret .'
Damn , what the hell does that mean ?!
Somehow , Kise ended up sitting on a bench that was located at a playground . He watched the kids played , enjoying themselves and laughing together . He smiled faintly , before covering his face with his hands .
"… Seriously , what am I doing … ?" he whispered softly , as if trying to forget everything that had happened .
"Seriously Kise ? What are you doing here ?" Kise immediately looked up when he heard the voice belong to someone so familiar to him .
"… Aominecchi … ?" was the only words escaped from his thin lips .
"Yeah , who else , idiot ?" frowning at Kise's attitude , Aomine sat next to Kise . What's wrong with this guy ?
"A – Aominecchi … what are you doing here ?"
"I'm escaping from Satsuki of course ! She nags like an old woman . And you , what the hell are you doing here alone ?"
"Ahahahaha ! N – nothing ! Just relaxing and chilling , y – you know ?" Kise gave out a nervous laugh – avoiding Aomine's questioning look .
"Really , Kise ? That's the stupidest reason I ever know okay ?" Aomine commented .
"Uh , yeah … I think so too …" Kise sighed . I don't know what to do anymore …
"Oi , Kise ! I'm going to ask you again , for the last time . You are not okay , am I right ?"
"… Yeah , I guessed you're right …"
"Look , I'm not really a caring person who'll listen to anyone's story . But now , I'm making an exception , that's for you ."
"Aominecchi … ?" Kise startled at Aomine's sudden outburst .
"Decide it now , Kise …"
"… Okay , fine ." Kise agreed and began to tell his story to Aomine .
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"So that's it ?" Aomine looked at Kise – who finally ended his story . He noticed the pain flashed on Kise's eyes – and it's quite obvious actually . Who wouldn't notice it anyway ?
"Yeah … that's the reason to my misery ." Kise admitted .
"So , you date a girl just because of a dare ?" Aomine questioned him .
"Yup … and now I'm actually falling for her ." Kise replied .
"Oh , that's what you get for playing with a girl's heart ."
"What ?! Wait ! No ! I'm not playing with her heart !"
"But then , after 33 days , you're planning to ditch her , am I right ?"
"… That's … the plan , I guess …"
"See ? Well , I'm not really close to woman – Satsuki is the only exception – but I think you can handle this better than me ."
"What do you mean ?"
"I don't know . That's the mystery that you should solve it by yourself . After all , only you can help yourself , her and your relationship ."
Kise's eyes widen at Aomine's words . "… I think you're right …" he can't help but to agree with what Aomine just told him . He realized that he played with the girls heart , it's just that he can't believe that he started to like her – to actually fall in love with her .
"So , just think of it as your punishment for what you did ." Aomine continued .
"Eh ?" Punishment ? Why is that ?
"The feeling of love for her – think of it as your punishment . But , that doesn't mean that you need to love her for that single reason ."
"Huh ?"
"Love her with sincerity , Kise . Even if you date her , you'll never feel happy because your love is just a lie – a façade ." Aomine said , while standing up and walked a few steps forward .
As he realized that Aomine was ready to leave , he asked a single question , making Aomine froze .
"Why do you help me , Aominecchi ?"
Aomine sighed and turned back . Irritation obviously written on his face , making Kise felt thousand times smaller . "You know , I'm no genius and I'm a total idiot . But I never know that you're worse than me , Kise ."
"H – huh ? Wait ! Did you just call me an idiot ?!" Startled Kise started to shout .
"Baka ! You already are !" with a smirk , Aomine began to walk away from Kise .
"A – Aominecchi ! You didn't answer my question !"
Aomine sighed . Damn this kid sure is persistent . Turning back for one final time , he mouthed 'Ganbatte' to Kise and continue walking .
Kise watched Aomine's back as he leave . He recalled back their conversations earlier . Just then , he smiled .
Maybe what Aominecchi said were true .
Maybe I'm really an idiot , after all .
Of course I know the answer to my question .
Feeling a little refreshed , Kise stood and walked back home . And for the first time after these few stressing days , he felt happy and he prayed that she's feeling the same as him – even though they're miles apart .
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Yukira stared at the ceiling of the room . Lately , staring is now a new hobby of hers . She sighed softly and closed her eyes – trying to forget the stabbing pain on her head .
It has been nearly a week after that incident on Saturday and now she lied on her bed because of a fever . And it has been three days she was absent from school .
Memories of that day replayed again and again inside her mind .
Memories of their happy times came flooding into her mind .
At last , she opened her eyes and sat . She felt her eyes were teary . Memories of her and Kise keep on haunting her , and she felt hurt every time she remembered about it .
Luckily , okaa –san isn't at home …
Luckily , Izumi's at school …
Alone in her room , she finally gave up .
Tears slipped from her eyes and she covered her face with both of her hands .
I can't take it anymore …
I'm not invincible …
And you know about that …
So then why … ?
The silence were broke by the sobs of a girl .
