What If

Chapter 12 – She Loves Him, She Loves Him Not (2)

It was already three in the morning and Shizuka was tossing and turning, moaning and crying softly. It was THE time of the month and that was always a problem for her.

For hours she had dwelled fitfully on the rim of sleep and finally, she fell more into a state of troubled unconsciousness than the peaceful oblivion that she had so desperately sought. As a matter of fact, the pain was only part of the reason why she was still being awake at such unearthly hours.

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"Pst…" Akira gave Shizuka a gentle nudge when he noticed Rui was finally out of the room.

"Let me tell you something…"

"How can I help you?" Shizuka teased and feeling somehow bemused by Akira's sudden reaction. He was actually behaving like he was about to reveal a news with the red 'CONFIDENTIAL' stamped on it.

"I think Rui is going out with someone without letting us know…"

Akira sat back and tucked his hand behind his hands behind his head as he spoke.

"Do you know that he was practically not at home during three in the afternoon for the past two weeks?"

"What is that got to do with this?" Shizuka questioned.

"Can't you see the link?" Akira asked and his eyes filled were filled with excitement over the anticipation.

"Frankly speaking, I can't get the link either." Soujirou frowned.

"Me too…" Tsukasa joined in.

"When did the two of you come in?" Akira's eyes widened.

"Ehh…how about when you were saying 'Pst…'?" Soujirou laughed out.

"Come on…" Soujirou quickly took a seat beside Akira, "how can that be possible?"

"Ya…" Tsukasa added in.

"Rui is seeing somebody?" Tsukasa sat forward, shaking his head as he did so.

"Unless the sun is coming out from the South."

For a moment, the trios were speechless even though they had already quite getting used to the vocabularies and phrases coming from the 'DTD' (Domyouji Tsukasa Dictionary).

"There's Geography tomorrow, perhaps you can try a little harder not to skip it?" Akira reminded.

"Forget about the directions, he has a driver and pilot. He doesn't need a compass." Soujirou was getting a little impatient from the entire unnecessary interlude. "What is the link anyway?"

"Three in the afternoon and WHERE will our dear Rui normally be?" Akira carefully rephrased his earlier sentence, emphasizing on the location.

"DREAMLAND!"

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"Hanazawa Rui…" Shizuka muttered softly to herself and sighed as she recalled the conversation that she had had with the F3 during that afternoon.

As a matter of fact, she didn't really know whether to love him or pity him. It was like someone riding a merry-go-round, all the horses constantly moving up and down and around, nothing still enough to afford a point of reference.

All her feelings were like those fanciful ponies, being pulled from both directions, up and down and spun around until she felt dizzy inside. Shizuka sat up quickly. The moonlight cast a thin white beam through the curtains and she felt as though she was looking through gauze.

Suddenly the silence around her was pierced by the slivery soft notes of violin below. "Is it my active imagination at work?" Shizuka wondered aloud.

She then got out of her bed, put on her velvet slippers and headed towards the direction of her balcony. Her fingers trembled as she turned the brass handle.

When she opened the door, the music was getting nearer and of course, clearer as she stepped into the balcony. For a moment, she lingered just a few meters away from the ledge, enjoying the beautifully played tune.

"Rui?" Shizuka was a little surprised by what she had seen. "Why are you here with a…violin?"

"Shizuka…" Hanazawa Rui said, appearing uncomfortable, standing in the middle of Shizuka's little private garden below her room.

"This is for you…" All he could think of was to continuing with the playing of another new piece of music, dedicated to that special somebody.

"Just two weeks and he can play so beautifully…" Shizuka thought as the speculation done by Akira was now all clear to her.

How she had wanted to hug and kiss him then as she allowed herself to be drowned by the heavenly tune made especially for her. It was then she realized that she had fallen in love with him, slipping and sliding down a tunnel of affection.

The walls of which was greased with sympathetic words had evolved into loving phrases and hopeful promises.

"You are mine. Hanazawa Rui…" Shizuka whispered to herself.

"And will forever be mine…"

To be continued…