Chapter Fifty-Six
"Kotoko, have you lost your mind?"
"Poor thing…"
"It's true!" Kotoko argued with her friends from across the walkway. Jinko and Satomi gaped at me like there was no stranger thing in the world.
That was when they got louder, unintentionally announcing the news to everyone within a thirty-foot radius. And I doubted it would stop there. If I knew them at all, they would repeat it to everything with a pulse.
Some were outraged, others in amazement, as I could tell from the looks I got on the way to class… The man who was engaged to one girl one day, and a different one the next. And for once, I didn't care about the rumors because my strifes were at their finish. I may have still been in the engineering department, but these would be my last weeks attending.
"Irie-kun!"
Here we go.
Yuuko caught me the moment I entered the classroom.
"Hey," She said and surveyed me, "I've been hearing some things today, and I just want to make sure it's true before I say anything."
"What have you been hearing?" I said, as it wasn't unlike rumors to become distorted in passing.
"Well, that you're engaged to Aihara now. Are you?" Yuuko went on considering me, searching me for the answer. I couldn't tell if she was intrigued or offended.
"Yes." I said.
She nodded, "I see… congratulations. But, if you don't mind me asking, what happened? You seemed so set on marrying Oizumi-san."
Since that had been the case yesterday, I supposed her questions were warranted, "I couldn't." I gave the simple answer.
Yuuko said, "At least I can say Aihara deserves it. The distance she went to get you was admirable, I will admit," she smiled now, "Anyway, I hope you're happy."
"Thank you."
The class began. Throughout it, some fancied catching glimpses of me, either out of confusion or to judge. Half of me wondered if I was still in high school, to be the focal point of the majority's gossip. The other half of me understood it. I had been absent for a solid month, ran a business, got engaged and re-engaged all in that time frame.
With my first class ended and an hour freed up from having dropped a class last semester, I went for the library to read my medical books.
It was different being in the library and reading. This time, it wasn't a secret and I knew for a fact that my transfer was in progress.
I read for a while and finished a textbook. Taking that as my queue to wrap up, I made again for the door. That was where I came across Kotoko.
"I was looking for you," She said, "And… um… I was wondering if you would come with me to help tell Kin-chan. He won't let me talk to him." She sucked up with a wide smile. This didn't come as a surprise, though. Kinnosuke was often difficult, but if he wasn't talking to Kotoko, he certainly wasn't talking to me as I'd stolen his dreams from him less than twenty four hours ago.
I sighed, already seeing it going down in my head, "Yeah. I'll come with."
"Thanks. Anytime I try to talk to him, he cuts me off and says he's busy. I feel so bad about doing this to him."
But, as bad as it sounded, Kinnosuke had known from the start the risk he was taking. Now he just wasn't facing up to the consequences of said risk. He was making this harder than it had to be.
Across campus, we approached the back of the cafeteria building where Kinnosuke was tending to the garbage.
"Wait here, I want to try one more time." Kotoko straightened herself out, took a breath, and made for him.
He footed it to the door the moment he saw her.
"Kin-chan…" She hurried to catch him in time.
"I'm very busy today. Sorry, I can't talk right now." He said and reached for the door handle. She claimed his arm.
"Wait, I need to talk to you about something. Please." Kotoko tugged him back. Kinnosuke took his hand off of the knob.
"I don't want to hear it."
"Stop a minute!" She said, becoming upset. He went to swing the door to the cafeteria open and I stepped into view. I may not have been a person he wanted anywhere near him, but it seemed to be the only thing that brought his refusal to a grinding stop.
"Ikezawa," there was an instant shift of emotions, disappointment into blind hatred, "Do you have a minute?"
He seethed and reclosed the door. Kinnosuke faced me dead-on and crossed his arms, "Naoki Irie…" he said, "We have nothing to talk about."
"But we do." I joined Kotoko.
Kinnosuke was perfectly silent, but his eyes followed my every move, hating me more with every word I uttered.
"I'm marrying Kotoko. We just thought you should know."
Still silence, but now he was disgusted as well.
"Kin-chan, please say something." Kotoko said, pleading with her eyes for him to open his mouth. I, for one, hoped just the opposite.
And with all the malice he could conjure up, Kinnosuke said, "So, you're really going through with it, are you? I've been hearing this all day, thinking "no way that's true, she wouldn't marry someone like him after all he put her through". I don't understand how you could love him after all this," he turned to me now, "Do you realize how much you hurt her?"
Beside his rage and loathing, I could see his pain, and I actually felt for him. Despite being total opposites, I understood him a little better.
"I didn't want to." I said with full truth.
Kinnosuke offered a bitter breath of a laugh, one of someone shutting himself off, "I can't believe this… I don't have to be hearing this from you of all people. You're despicable. You feel nothing." Before her, that might've been true, and it was a huge reason I couldn't have let her go.
"To you, I am truly sorry. But I can't let you have Kotoko." I said. He stared at something in the distance.
"I have loved Kotoko for a long time. Tried my hardest to win her over for years, and you traipse in and take her in one day," He locked eyes with me, "I don't need your pity. Just stay away from me." He lifted off through the door.
Kotoko watched it long after he had gone, her face twisted in grief, "I feel like such a bad person."
I hugged her around the shoulders. Kinnosuke may not understand now, but maybe later he would see that I was not the same person I had been. And for that, I could only hold one person accountable. He may have hated me for taking that person, but I hoped he would see why someday.
A/N: Yes, I know the chapter is short, but I thought I should let you know that, for the first part of the fic, there will be one more chapter after this. I will indeed be writing the second season, but it will probably be shorter and I may replace certain unimportant aspects of it with ones that were mostly cut out of that season. I will be continuing off of 'Coming Alive' for the second part, just to make things easier, but I will be taking a break before posting chapter 58. I hope you all have been having a nice weekend. I can't say the same for Kinnosuke, though, since I guess you could say he's down in the dumps. xD
