A/N: I edited this, the original was awful. The content is still the same, I've just added more to make it a little bit better.
I feel like my heart has stopped when I see the articles.
Has Akira found love elsewhere?
Akira has a new boyfriend?
Akira Hanakawa is off the market!
Photos of Kakashi and me are plastered all over each article. Us smiling, laughing and having a good time.
I bite my lip and fight the tears that threaten to fall.
Why can't I have privacy anymore?
The metallic taste of blood hits my tongue as I continue to scroll through the article.
There's no way Itachi wouldn't see this.
I drop my phone on the bed next to me before burying my head into my hands and letting out the sobs I've been holding back.
December slowly turned into January, and the months flew by. I stopped being followed, the press forgetting about my existence. Of course, they would. I'm no longer involved with their main source of income. Everyone reads articles with Itachi in them, they don't care about the girl he was once speculated to have been involved with, especially when she's gone off with another guy.
I'm glad, I didn't want my name to be well-known either. I hated it. I hated being followed, having no privacy.
Work has been the same, I still work for Izumi. I've passed by Itachi occasionally and have had to be around him at work dinners, but we've not said anything to each other. We're both with other people, why would we talk? Feelings got involved in our friendship, thus dooming it when we get involved with someone else. He's presumably happy with Tsubaki, maybe even in love with her. Even if he was forced into being with her.
Soon enough, the cold, wintry air was soon replaced by warm, spring air.
My birthday passes, I turn 25, surrounded by my family, minus my older brother, Yuki, Izumi and Kakashi. The day feeling empty, like someone was missing.
Itachi.
I didn't hear from him.
Not once, I checked my phone countless of times around the date. Hoping, wishing, that he'd call or at least send a text. Nothing. As my birthday came and went, I gave up hope and accepted that I'd never hear from him.
May begins to draw to a close, the warm air becoming uncomfortably hot.
"I think we should just be friends." I snap my head up and stare at Kakashi like he grew another head.
"Huh?" I say, shocked. For some odd reason, I don't feel sad. I feel relieved.
"I think we should just be friends. I can tell you're not in this relationship completely. It's fine, but I feel like you still hold strong feelings for Itachi. He was once my friend, and I feel like being with you is betraying that." Kakashi explains. I nod. Yes, Kakashi is a lovely person, but my heart lies with someone else. He deserves to be with someone who makes me happy, not me. Not a person who's in love with another person.
I place my chopsticks down and take a deep breath. "I'm really sorry, Kakashi." I say, genuinely sorry. I've just wasted his time, I should have ended things earlier but I didn't. It's probably better if I get dumped, then Yuki won't pester me. "I shouldn't have let things get here, it was wrong. I do like you, just not in the way you want. I hoped I'd get over Itachi with time, but obviously that hasn't happened. I'm sorry."
"It's fine, let's just go home as friends."
I nod in agreement.
When I'm home, curled up on the sofa in a blanket, I call Yuki.
"Kakashi broke up with me." I say when she answers.
"Oh, I'm sorry." She says sadly. "Want me to come over?"
"No, it's fine. I'm fine."
"You do sound fine, I'm guessing my strategy didn't work then?"
"Mm-hmm. I'm sorry."
A month later, I receive heart-wrenching news.
"I don't know how to tell you this. The date for Itachi's wedding has been set."
I grip the phone tighter. "When is it?" I ask, slipping shoes on and heading outside to check my letter box. I open it, to find nothing inside. My heart falls into my stomach. I swallow, the action hurting like if a shard of glass was embedded in my throat. I fight back the tears.
"August 13th."
"Thank you, Izumi." I say, my voice cracking.
"I received an invite this morning, did you?"
"No." My voice cracks again and I head back inside.
"I'm sorry." Izumi says before hanging up. I let my phone fall to the ground, and I let my legs give out. Crumpling to the floor, sobbing into my hands.
I've lost him forever.
I hear my phone vibrate, I ignore it.
The dreaded date approaches slowly.
Izumi lets me know the venue and the time the wedding takes place, since I didn't receive an invitation. Although, I'd never be let in. I don't doubt the security would be high and they'd check who you are at the door. If they didn't, it would be overrun by paparazzi. To be honest, I wouldn't want to see it.
12th August
From Izumi: Good luck! I've told him I'm on my way to see him, the gates should be open for you.
I drive to Itachi's house. It was Izumi's idea. She'd lie to him and say she's on her way to see him, and then I'd see him instead and tell him how I feel.
When I arrive, I sit in my car, my hands clenched on my lap as I look up at a foreign house. I kill the engine and step out. I walk towards the front door and press the bell.
My heart is beating so loud, I can hear it clearly in my ears. My body trembles, as anxiety begins to eat me alive.
What if he sees me and slams the door in my face?
I'm going to see him.
What if Tsubaki is here? Would she slam the door in my face too? Or would she listen and let me speak to him? No, she'd slam the door in my face. If I was in her shoes, I'd definitely slam the door in my face.
The door opens, and stood there is Itachi, confusion written all over his face. My breath gets caught in my throat. His eyes grow cold, his brows furrow and he his hand clenches around the door frame.
"Hanakawa-san? What are you doing here?" He says briskly. His tone cuts me like a knife. It's so hostile, so different to the tone I once remembered. I stare at him, memorising his face in case I never see it again.
"I never told you how I felt- how I feel." I confess. "You left without me telling you."
His eyes are so cold and he goes to shut the door, my hand reaches out and I try my best to stop the door from shutting. I can't let my final opportunity go to waste. I need to tell him.
"Wait! Just hear me out, please!" I beg, my voice cracking. I fight the tears wanting to stream down my face. "Itachi, I… I love you. I have for ages. I'm sorry I never told you."
"It's too late." He whispers. His eyes stare into mine. All familiarity gone, all traces of what we had gone. I'm just a stranger to him now. Someone he used to know. "I've moved on. It will be best if you go." He shuts the door. I stare at it, numb.
It's too late.
I've moved on.
The words circle around my head as I walk back to my car. I pull my phone out of my pocket and try to type a text out, my eyes blurry from the tears.
I give up trying, opening the door and sitting in my car, still cool from the aircon being on from the journey here. I wipe away the tears and throw my phone onto the passenger seat before starting the engine.
It's too late.
I grip the steering wheel and let the sobs shake my body. I cry, sobbing into my hands.
After several minutes, I stop crying and make the short journey home.
"He shut the door on me." I tell Izumi, my voice cracking as I try my best to fight the sobs away.
"I'm so sorry, Akira. I really thought he'd listen. I'm so, so sorry. Please forgive me." Izumi says softly.
"Anyway, I hope you have a good time tomorrow." We say goodbye and the line goes dead. I put my phone on my nightstand and pull the duvet up to my the duvet up to my chin.