Chapter 10

The day finally arrived at last after the long wait for Misaki. It was the middle of summer. She felt the excitement pent up as the days passed. She got dressed up in a light blue Yukata which matches her eyes. There was a light purple bow which was tied around her waist.

She tied her hair up in a bun and pierced them with pins and found a matching purple bag to carry her things in. She went downstairs to the shop and Shin's jaw dropped.

"Misaki? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to the festival. See you later!" She said as she went out the shop doors.

"Wait! Who are you going with?" Shin screamed after her.

She was already too far to be heard. He just gave a sigh and felt worried.

"Sub-shop manager. What should I do? I hope she isn't going with a boy I don't know about. It's killing me!" He said to the cat.

The cat meowed and went back to his usual nap.

"Don't ignore me too!" He said.

As Misaki walked towards the festival, she bumped into Miwa. He was surprised at how she looked.

"Sis. Where are you going?"

"Ah. Miwa? I'm going to the festival."

"Wow. You look great. I almost couldn't recognize you." He complimented.

"Thanks. I got to go. Kai's waiting for me there."

She felt herself blush a little as she said Kai was waiting for her. Miwa laughed and waved goodbye.

She arrived at the festival after a five minute walk. Upon arriving at the main entrance, she noticed that the festival was already crowded with people. She tried to look around for any signs of Kai but she couldn't find him anywhere. She decided to wait at the entrance before noticing someone familiar heading her way.

It was Ren. He had a smirk on his face while approaching her slowly. She stood there, frozen in fear.

"Hello. Misaki right?" He asked.

"Suzugamori Ren? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the festival. I assume you are here waiting for Kai?"

Misaki's eyes widen when he said that. She was pushed back onto the wall slightly as he approached her closer.

"How did you…"

"Ah. I know everything about you and Kai."

She looked at him foolishly. There was a question on her mind right now which seems to be eating her alive.

"Where is Kai?" She asked courageously.

"Oh… You got tough all of a sudden? Hmm. Interesting."

He chuckled at her. Her hands are balled up into fists and are shaking with rage and fear.

"Where is Kai?" She demanded.

"Tsk. Who are you to make demands?" He smirked as he said that.

She was getting impatient and worried. Is Kai really with him? What should I do? She kept asking herself those questions.

"Why do you even like that guy? He has nothing. Why don't you come with me instead?"

She contemplated on whether she should follow him. She thought: If Kai really is with him, I could try to help him. Yet part of her knows that this is merely a trap to get to Kai. She thought about it long and hard.

Meanwhile, not very far from the festival, Miwa was on the way home. He bumped into someone he didn't expect to see and fell flat on the ground.

"Ouch! I'm sorry."

"Are you ok?"

The voice sounded familiar. Miwa looked up to see Kai looking at him.

"Kai? What are you doing here?" Miwa asked.

Kai gave him a puzzled look. He offered Miwa a hand up from the ground.

"I just met Sis just now. She said that she was going to the festival with you and that you were already waiting for her there." Miwa said as he cleaned off the dirt from his clothes.

"What?"

Kai was shocked. Even though he wanted to invite her to the festival, he didn't know how to say it. He then felt worried and ran towards the festival.

"Kai!" Miwa called out to him.

He couldn't be bothered by anyone else at the moment. He thought that this was what Kyou warned him about. He must find her before Ren gets to her.

Running as fast as he can was about all he could do at the moment. His mind was blank with fear of what Ren would do to her.

As he got there, out of breath, he could only see one thing. There was an unknown guy who has dark purple hair, dressed in a sleeveless white jacket with a shirt matching is hair. He was holding onto Misaki's hand and dragging her in towards the festival. She looks hesitant but followed him anyway.

All Kai wanted to do was run to Misaki's aid then, to comfort her and make her feel better. Even though he doesn't know who the mystery man is, he didn't think it would matter because she was waiting for him. But what he saw a few seconds later changed everything. The mystery guy got up to hug Misaki all of a sudden.

The sight caused Kai to be stunned. He was speechless. Wondering what should be done, he decided to leave the festival in despair. He could feel someone following him from behind. He turned around to find Ren approaching.

"Ren? What do you want?" Kai asked.

"Well, I thought I saw someone familiar. So I came over here to see you head over heels over a random girl."

Ren sniggered and Kai pretended that it wasn't true. However he tried, his feelings were too confusing that he couldn't help looking at Misaki to make sure she was alright.

"You may keep quiet but I know deep down you really care about her." Ren added

"Whatever happened between us has nothing to do with her. So leave her out of this." Kai snapped.

Losing his cool was something Kai never did. No matter what situation he was in, keeping his cool was all he could do. This peaked Ren's interest in Misaki.

"I know what happened between us has nothing to do with her. But I don't care. Watching you like this makes my efforts all worth it."

Kai kept silent. Anything else he said would only be coal to the train known as Ren. Nothing which can be said can change anything now. Ren is here to harm Misaki. Kai thought that it should be Ren is here to harm him. For everything which happened.

"Don't you want to know who that guy was? He's not a bad guy actually. He saw her terrified and came to help her by pretending to be someone she knows. He even went to the extent of saying he is dating her. I wonder why someone would do that for someone who he doesn't even know. Probably because he has feelings for her as well."

Ren smirked as the final sentence sunk into Kai like repeated stabbings in the chest. His heart pounded hard in his throat. Yet he knew he couldn't let Ren win.

"Since he already said that he is her boyfriend, why are you bothering her for? She has nothing to do with me."

The smile on Ren's face was wiped off immediately. To him it looks like he was about to lose this round. So all he could do was damage control.

"Sure. That may be the case. However, I still won't give up on her." Ren said as he walked away.

Kai watched as Ren left. All he could do now was follow suit. If he went to see her now, everything he did to protect her would be for nothing. Leaving the festival is the only choice he got, he thought as he walked off home in the opposite direction to the sound of his own broken heart.