Chapter 11

Misaki was stunned by the actions of the mystery guy. It took her awhile before coming to her senses. Her thoughts were on Ren and mostly Kai. She pushed him away as hard as she could as the mystery guy fell onto the ground.

"I could have handled it all by myself. He was about to tell me where Kai is. Why did you have to interrupt?" She was enraged by now.

"I helped you out back there. I don't get any gratitude but instead get pushed to the ground?" The guy replied. He was losing his patience as well.

"Like I said, I don't need your help. Just leave me alone." She stormed off, leaving him on the ground with his mouth agape.

She felt that she had given them a reasonable amount of distance before resting at a bench. She kept looking at the clock tower of a nearby school to check the time. One minute felt like an hour to her. Even though deep inside her knows that Kai wasn't coming, she still insisted on waiting for him.

The question on her mind right then was the location of Kai. His safety was not ensured yet. She didn't know where he was. She thought of all the "what if" scenarios in her head. What if he is captured by Ren and needed me to save him? The question made her worry more with each passing minute. She continued to stare at the clock tower, still hoping he would come. Tears started to form in her blue eyes.

Misaki couldn't help but fight back her tears. She didn't want Kai to see her this way. She gazed at the night sky. The moon was hidden behind the clouds tonight. She thought of that night at the camp where he came back for her. She remembered how happy she felt after that. Reuniting with a friend and developing feelings for him was something she never saw coming.

She was the type of girl who calculated each move meticulously and made sure the outcome was what she already expected. Love was always something she wanted to avoid as it has so many unforeseen circumstances and outcomes. She chuckled when she thought of the saying she read somewhere before: Love always comes when least expected. She thought that she could have stopped all this if only the mystery guy didn't come to ruin everything.

She thought back of the time Ren had her backed up against the wall. He gave her only one option: to follow him so that he would reveal to her where Kai was. She wanted to agree even though she knew that this was going to be a trap. She had already calculated it and all the outcomes would not be good. Just before she could agree, the mystery guy approached them and there was an evil smirk on Ren's face.

"Excuse me. Do you mind? You're scaring my girlfriend." Said the mystery guy as he held onto Misaki's hand.

"Oh. So she's your girlfriend?" Ren asked inquisitively. The smirk was still there and it was wider than ever.

"Yes. She is. She's meeting me here but I came later than expected." He lied casually.

Ren raised an eyebrow. To him, this was getting more and more interesting.

Misaki seems to be stunned momentarily. She couldn't even say anything before the mysterious guy pulled her away. Ren watched and smirked as he left the scene.

The clock tower chimed. It was about 12am. This snapped her back into reality. She sighed as she thought it was late. A huge part of her didn't want to leave yet, believing he might still show up. Since the festival stalls are closing up for the day, she knew that she had to leave eventually. She seems to be stuck in slow motion as she got up and slowly walked home in sadness and despair. Little did she know, Miwa was watching her from a distance, making sure she got home safely before heading home himself.

The whole way back, Miwa wondered why Kai didn't show up even though he rushed all the way to Misaki's aid. Miwa reached his house and just then, he realized the only thing which was tearing Kai and Misaki apart was Ren. He smiled to himself, opening the house door, as he thought: I won't let you win so easily!