Chapter Thirty-Six.

All the good things take time and patience.

Kenya just left the house after a small, heated confrontation rooted from a little misunderstanding. It was inconsiderate and quite rude of him, but Yume could not shake off the worry that he might get lost. Taking into consideration that the boy is likely to be not very familiar with the streets of the city, she has decided to pedal her bicycle to look for him. Few months of not seeing each other, the girl hoped that they can have a proper catch-up. But it did not go well.

The train station is her best bet. Hopefully, he hasn't left Tokyo yet. The place is crowded even though it is a weekend. A lot of face but none familiar. Her hand reaches for the phone inside her pocket. Yume scrolls down on her contact list, as she briefly prays that her friend hasn't changed his number yet.

'Kriing! Kriing!'

She waits.

'Kriing! Kriing!'

Yume bites her lower lip while her feet taps on the ground.

'Kriing! Kriing!'

She continues to be alert if he ever passes by the station.

'Kriing! Kri-'

"Hello." He finally picks it up.

"K-Kenya-san!" Yume sighs out of relief. "Oh, great. Thank goodness."

"What is it?"

"Y-you just went out. I was- well, w-we were really worried." She still looks at every people passing by if there should be any chance that he is right there. "Mmm... w-where are you right now?"

"A-actually, I…" Kenya weakly chuckles, "… I think I got lost. I seriously do not know where I am."

"What?!" Yume gasps. "Oh, no." She taps her finger on her hip. "Can you, uhm, tell me what you see there? At least, any buildings, stores, or anything remarkable?"

"Uhh… let's see…" Kenya pauses for a while until he gasps. "I can see a fountain over there, little children running around. Also, a few food carts… oh, wait. I think it's a park."

"Great!" She starts to walk towards a certain direction. "Are there any benches?"

"I can see wooden ones."

"East wing, I see," she mutters to herself. "I know that place. Um, Kenya-san, please wait for me there. It'll be around twenty minutes or so. I'm coming."

"O-okay. Thanks," he weakly replies.

Yume rides on her bicycle and she pedals as fast as she can. She hopes that Kenya will be patient enough to actually wait for her. The distance from the train station to the park is not a joke, and her legs have already been hurting after speeding to the train station.

Her phone buzzes inside her pocket. The girl pauses for a while and reaches for it. An unknown number. Thinking that it might be one of those friends or classmates whom she failed to get a number, she answers it anyway. "Hello?"

"Ah! H-hello!" An unfamiliar voice.

She frowns as she rides the bicycle again. "I'm sorry. Who is this?"

A chuckle. "Oh. Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. This is Ootori Choutarou, speaking."

"Oh. Right." Yume shakes her head. She chuckles. "So, uhmm, what's up, Choutarou-kun?"

"D-does this mean that I've got the right number? Yume-senpai, it's you, right?"

She laughs. "Y-yeah. This is her." Yume nods even though the person on the other line will not see. "Congrats! You've got the right number."

Choutarou laughs as well. "I just called to, uhm, make sure that you… uhh, remember our appointment tomorrow." Another faint chuckle. "My dad told me to call you to remind you or… something."

"Ahh… It's fine. I understand." She stops pedaling on a red light. "I think I'll remember that. But, for now, uhh… This is really not a good time. I'm sorry." Yume looks at the traffic light turn to yellow. "…I better get going."

"I-it's okay! I was the one who suddenly called. I bet you're a little busy."

"Uhh… yeah. Maybe I'll just call you later… if there are other things we have to talk to." She steps on her pedal. The light turns to green. "Bye!" Not even waiting for a reply from the other line, Yume ends the call and swiftly shoves her phone back into the pocket. She glances at her wristwatch. Fifteen minutes.


The girl finally arrives at the park. Still taking heaps of breath, her heart pounds and her blood rushes all throughout her veins. Her head turns to the left and to the right, searching for Kenya. Sweat slides across her face while she feels a weak burning sensation over her whole body. It is after all a terribly sunny day. Yume walks towards the fountain, dragging her bicycle along. She reaches for her phone and rings for his number.

"Hey." Someone places a hand on her shoulder.

She almost jumped. Yume turns to see that it is Kenya. She gasps. Then, a sigh of relief. "Thank heavens, you're here."

Kenya scratches the back of his head as he weakly chuckles. "I'm sorry. I was supposed to be, uhh, really mad at everyone… including you."

"I… uhm… I am really so-"

"I'm sorry," he cuts her short.

"Uh, what?"

He takes a deep breath. "I was the one who... misbehaved like a child back there. I should be the one to apologize for being very unreasonable. I kinda feel bad now that after all this time, you were the one who always bear the brunt of my emotions. Even until now." Kenya looks at her. "Of course, you can have other friends. I was just being very selfish. You deserve to be happy..." he sighs "... with or without me."

Yume frowns. "I, uhm, I don't really understand where you're coming from, Kenya-san. It's alright, y'know. We are still friends," she pauses, "...aren't we?"

Kenya shoves a hand inside his pocket and shows a charm. "Do you remember this?"

She nods. "That was during the tournament," she smiles as he gives the charm to her.

He looks at how she smiles as she inspects the charm. It came from her, but she looks so amazed. Maybe the memories are coming back to her. "Thank you," Kenya says.

Confused, she looks at the taller person. "What?" A frown. She does not like the way he says it or the way he has been looking at her while he says it. "F-for what?"

He thought he could already see every meaning there is to their relationship. "For everything." Kenya smiles weakly. "I realized I don't deserve you."

"H-hey, now. That's not right-"

He holds both her hands. "You're an amazing person. And all this time, I've been this person who couldn't move on. You now have a new school, new friends, new…" Kenya pauses to look at the hair that grew longer over time. "… haircut." He chuckles weakly. "You even have a job now. And that's great. There's no point for me to interfere with whatever you have right now, right? I'm just a bother to you anyway."

Yume slaps the boy. She blinks as she watches him get his senses back.

He looks at her as well, equally confused, as he rubs his cheek. Kenya looks at her. "Wha-"

She shakes her head. "I-I-I don't- I'm sorry, but-" Yume frowns. "Y-you aren't really making sense. I almost thought we can go back to where we used to be. But, but you suddenly tell me all these things." She lightly bites her lower lip. "Th-that's…" She looks down to the ground. "… very unfair of you, Kenya-san."

He hears a sniff from the girl in front of him. Kenya lightly rubs his elbow. "But you were so happy… I'm sorry."

"I won't let you just leave." She suddenly starts sobbing. "I even went out here for you. Don't leave me. I'm so sorry for just leaving you out there. I only wanted my friends to be happy. I thought you could be happy." Her cries become louder that her words are becoming less audible.

He gulps. He has no idea how to stop the girl from crying. "It's uhh…" Kenya takes a deep breath. "I-is it okay if I hug you?" he asks permission so as to make sure that he will not further offend the girl.

Yume nods as she sniffs.

Kenya slowly wraps his arms around her. "P-please don't cry now," he pleads, "Yume-chan, you're making me feel a little guilty."

"I was always wishing that you'd ask me out. I didn't want to see you again, but I missed you so much. And this was the day we see each other again."

"S-sorry."

She wipes the tears off her eyes. "Ask me out. Please."

"A-ask you out? L-like a date or like ask you out of... here?"

Yume lightly pounds on his chest. "You, dummy! Of course, like on a date."

"Uhm, I, uh…" Kenya scratches his head. "… are you sure 'bout that? D-don't you want to start again with being friends first?" He smiles. "Aren't we going a little fast... again?"

She sniffs. "Being friends is fine, too." Yume smiles as she looks at him. "Just promise me that you won't give up on us. You won't just decide to leave."

He nods. "The same applies to you, too, y'know, idiot." Kenya chuckles.

Yume laughs. She holds her head. "I-I don't know what just happened." She looks at him again.

"I also don't." He laughs. "At least we're fine again now, right?"

Her hands suddenly reach for his face and caresses it just to make sure that the boy is real. She remembers so much how she misses Kenya and their memories together. Yume pulls the taller figure closer as she tiptoed to steal a kiss.

~ End Chapter ~