CHAPTER 4 – DARKNESS CLOSING IN

"If you break off communication with them, how will you know when she wakes up?"

"The hospital will call me..." said Yuu. "I've asked them to do so."

"Well," Dorris said after a long pause. "It's you're life, and it's up to you what you want to do with it..." She turned towards the open doorway, "So, where are you going then?"

"I'm going to Boston." Mumbled Yuu. "I'm going to spend spring break with An."

"Suit yourself..." said Dorris as she left the room, and shut the door. She walked out onto the balcony, everyone turned to her with smiles lighting their faces.

"Where's Yuu?" Asked Jinny.

"Packing..." muttered Dorris, "We all need to have a talk about Yuu..."

Boston

"Thank you for coming, Yuu." Said Anju as he set down his bags and looked around.

"What a nice apartment!" commented Yuu.

"It's pretty small, but I teach violin lessons to little kids, it's enough for rent." Anju showed him the apartment.

"This is going to be your room." She walked into a wide open room, Yuu looked around confused.

"But, this is your room isn't it?"

"Oh, this is only a one room apartment. I'll sleep on the couch." Anju said with a nod.

"What? No way! I'll sleep on the couch." Argued Yuu. " I didn't know that my coming here would kick you out of your room!"

"But, you're my guest! I don't want you to think-"

"-please, I don't mind sleeping on the couch." Smiled Yuu. "I came here to spend time with you, we haven't talked in a long time."

Anju opened her mouth to retort, but at the look Yuu gave her, she shut it and smiled. "I can never argue with you, ok then."

The next week passed quickly, they spent time talking, went to cafés, clubs, and movies. Yuu was having a good time, but Anju wasn't so comfortable...

"Yuu..." muttered Anju as they walked down a brightly lit street at night on the way back from a nice dinner.

"Yes?" Yuu smiled down at her.

And bit her lip. "Haven't you noticed?"

Yuu looked puzzled. "Noticed what?"

"How strong I've become?" she looked up at him, and stopped walking. Yuu stopped and turned to look at her.

"You've become very healthy, I'm very proud of how far you've come." Yuu smiled, then turned again to continue walking. "Come on, let's get home."

"That's- not what I meant..." said Anju, making Yuu halt his steps once more.

"An, what's wrong?"

"I feel as though I'm being selfish, but these are the feelings that I have locked inside of me, and I can't let them loose!" she ran to him, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm strong enough now to tell you, how much I love you!"

Yuu froze as she hugged him, then bit his lip and stepped away from her.

"An," He said quietly as he put his hands on her shoulders. "You've told me before-"

"-But this time it's different!" she cried, "This time, I WANT you to choose! I won't settle for second best. You should choose me Yuu, because I love you more than Miki-san does! I've known you for longer-and we get along so..." she trailed off at the stern look that Yuu gave her.

"An, I love you dearly as one of my best friends... but, Miki is the only one..." he clenched his fists tightly, "The only one that I could ever want to spend my life with. I truly love Miki. I- I'm sorry if I've hurt you." He looked at her worried.

An stepped further away from him, her hands clenched tightly together and held up to her mouth, tears poured down her cheeks. "What have I done wrong? I've always cared so deeply for you! I've done everything for you- I've gotten strong for you, I've had the courage to get well because of YOU! BUT WHY DON'T YOU LOVE ME FOR IT?" she turned and ran from him.

"AN! STOP! DON'T HURT YOURSELF!" Yuu ran after her. He easily caught up with her, put his hand on her shoulder and jerked her to a stop. "An, please don't do this!"

Anju turned around slowly to face him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I- I'm sorry... I guess I felt that if Miki-san was so far away from you, and so far apart, that I might have a chance..." she looked down. "I'm ashamed of myself, because I really do like Miki-san. But, I've never had this feeling for anyone else but you, and I can't get rid of it."

Yuu put an arm around her comfortingly and started to lead her back to the apartment. "You'll find a wonderful guy, who will be able to return those feelings of love someday. Just be patient."

A Year Later

"Yuu! Bill and I are going out for Italian. Want anything?" asked Jinny as she popped her head in the door.

"No! I'm just fine. I'm not that hungry..." said Yuu as he looked up from his books and smiled.

"Ahhh.. Yuu, you're NEVER hungry! You're going to waste away if you don't eat anything! I'm bringing you back some lasagna." Jinny stuck her tongue at him and shut the door. Yuu chuckled then turned back to his work. He glanced at the picture of him and Miki on his desk, put his pen down and picked it up, gazing at it.

"Miki, I wonder how you're faring... Have you grown even more while asleep?" he thought as he cleaned the dust from the glass. "How much longer will you make me wait like this?"

He bit his lip, then put the picture in his drawer, then slumped over on the desk, arms hugging his head. "It's already been two years. You're 20 years old today." A stray tear ran down his cheek, Yuu stood up and quickly wiped it away. " No, I won't think about it! I won't get depressed again!"

He suddenly felt very hungry, and walked into the kitchen. "I'm glad that Jinny decided to get me something to eat... we don't have ANYTHING in the fridge." he thought as he scanned the interior of the refrigerator. "But, I can't wait for them to get back, it'll be an hour at the most, there's got to be something around here except salsa." He opened a cabinet and froze. A lonely jar of Marmalade sat on the bottom shelf. Partially used.

"You're like Marmalade!" laughed Miki as she pointed to the jar.

"Huh?" Yuu stopped with his coffee cup half raised towards his mouth.

"It's true! You look good on the outside, but on the inside you're really full of tricks! You're a Marmalade Boy for sure!"

Yuu shut his eyes tightly as he quickly shut the cabinet door and leaned with his back to the refrigerator.

Miki stopped in mid-bite and grabbed the jar from her. " Marmalade!" She laughed. "Do you remember Yuu?"

Yuu suddenly froze, he looked over at her slyly. "Don't you dare-"

Miki ignored him and turned to the rest of the table, all intently watching her, " I remember the day after we moved in together, I asked for a jar of jelly for my toast, but instead Yuu handed me Marmalade! And suddenly, it hit me- Yuu is just like Marmalade!"

"Like marmalade?" asked Doris confused.

"Why me?" Yuu looked up at the ceiling.

" It's true!" exclaimed Miki. " See, it looks good on the outside, like it's going to be absolutely delicious, but when you taste it, it's actually very bittersweet, and fools you!"

"No..." Yuu thought as he forced the image out of his mind, "I mustn't torture myself like this!" He quickly walked from the kitchen and out onto the balcony. "I don't know how much more I can take… It's been eating at me so long, there's not much left to hold onto."

The Next Day

"We need to do something.." said Dorris as she put down her Italian Soda. She looked at Brian worried.

"Yeah...Yuu acts so happy, but this waiting for Miki is destroying him," commented Bill.

"What can we possibly do? There's no way to bring Miki back..." mumbled Jinny.

"What about another girlfriend?" said Brian. "To make him forget about Miki? If Yuu can think about someone else, then he'll be ok."

"But, who in the world could take that kind of role besides Miki?" said Jinny. "Yuu's stubborn, I know from experience that it WON'T be easy to get him to change over to another girl!"

"I know a girl-" said Bill.

Everyone looked at him stunned.

"You- do?"

"Yes.." Bill nodded. "Anju loves Yuu, she loves him very deeply. And Yuu thinks of her very fondly."

"But, it didn't work when she told him over a year ago..." said Jinny.

"That was a year ago- I know that Yuu would do ANYTHING to get his mind off of Miki, because the pain gets more every day, he's desperate for some kind of relief. Anju is the perfect girl for him! She'll get him back on his feet!" said Bill excited.

"I don't think this is a good idea..." mumbled Dorris. "Do you realize what we're doing? We're just sitting here and deciding our best friends' future? Is it right?"

"But, it's for his good!" piped in Jinny.

"Then it's decided!" Brian stood up abruptly and slammed his fist on the table. All the drinks jumped and clanked loudly. "WE'LL GET THEM TOGETHER!"

"Shhhh-" Jinny and Dorris looked around with sweatdrops as all the eyes in the cafe turned to them.

"Heh- how many has he had?" mumbled Jinny to Dorris slyly.

"I think three.." whispered Dorris back. The two girls exchanged glances and looked up at Brian who swayed slightly, then giggled at each other.

A Week Later

Yuu sat reading under his favorite tree. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the day was fresh and beautiful. His morning classes were over with, and he decided to take the opportunity to sit outside.

"Yuu!"

Yuu looked up to see Anju running over to him.

"An!" Yuu smiled big and stood up to greet her. "What are you doing here? It's great to see you."

"Oh, well, you know... busy busy!" Anju laughed. "I just transferred to the music academy here. You know how I've always loved New York!"

" Yeah," nodded Yuu. "Nothing beats a day like this!"

" Do you want to grab something to eat?" asked Anju hopefully.

" Sure! Lets go get something."

Four shadowy figures crouched in the bushes as the two walked away.

"Yes! That went very well!" nodded Brian with approval.

"Hardly..." mumbled Jinny annoyed, "Yuu didn't even touch her, not a hug, nothing... he's still regarding her as JUST a friend."

"Anju will change that." Said Bill with a grin. "I have confidence she'll play her cards with more caution this time."

Dorris stayed silent, watching the retreating figures with a worried expression.

"I still don't know about this- I have a feeling one of them is going to end up getting hurt." She thought to herself.

" Thank you for the meal!" said Anju, bowing as they rose from the table and walked out of the restaurant.

"You're welcome." Smiled Yuu. " It's nice to see you again An-" he stopped in mid sentence as she nonchalantly put her arm through his.

"Yes! I'm really enjoying myself today. What are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"Well, I have homework..." he said a little uncomfortably as he held up the book he'd been reading.

"Oh, do you have any time to do something tonight?" she asked smiling.

Yuu smiled, "Not for you, no."

Anju blinked a few times, she couldn't think of what to say... "Ohhh- is that so?"

Yuu suddenly burst out laughing. "I'm just joking! You took me seriously?"

"Grr- Yuu!" Anju playfully hit him as he laughed even harder.

"Ouch! Now don't hurt me! I'll go with you tonight!" Yuu laughed as he jumped away from her.

Anju laughed. "Good! I knew you'd see it my way!"

Yuu smiled at her. "You talked me into it... Any ways, I should be getting back to my book."

"It's ok! How about I come by your apartment tonight at 7:30."

"Sounds good!" Yuu started to turn away, but Anju threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him. He stood still as a statue, his smile strained.

"Ok! I'll see you then."

Yuu bit his lip, as she let go and then turned and walked away. He stared after her for a long minute, and then turned and walked the opposite way.

"What am I thinking?" he said to himself. "I shouldn't do this, I'll only hurt An if I let her think I'm interested...but..." he still remembered the smell of her perfume as she'd hugged him, then shook his head. "No, I can't let myself be sidetracked- I love Miki.." he nodded determined and walked faster towards his apartment.

Later That Night

"I'm leaving now!" called Yuu as he opened the door. "See you all later!"

"Bye Yuu!" waved Jinny with a big smile as she sat on the couch with Bill.

As the door closed the group huddled together.

"Looks like things are going well, he agreed to meet with her again." Said Bill.

"But, is it just as friends? I wish I could tell what he was thinking!" said Jinny.

"He looked a bit more cheerful since he got home today." Dorris said as she looked towards the door. "He even ate his entire dinner."

"I don't know, Yuu's great at making us THINK he's cheerful." Brian said quietly.

"Heh- lets just have faith in this guys... if Yuu's going to pull out of this depression, he's got to stop thinking about Miki."

The Date

"Thanks for coming with me." Said Anju as they walked down the sidewalk. Yuu put his hands in his pockets, and she nonchalantly put her arm around his again.

"Err- I'm glad to." Said Yuu nervously. " We're friends after all- and there's nothing wrong with going out on the town once and a while..."

Anju looked at the ground and thought to herself. " He's trying to justify his actions... but it's a good sign."

"Yeah!" she looked up at him and smiled. "There's a nice place that I go to, it's just like Lizard back in Japan.

"Oh? Sounds very nice." Smiled Yuu.

Anju nodded and held his arm tighter to her, shivering a little.

"Are you cold?" asked Yuu. "You should have worn something warmer."

"Oh? No- I just got a bad feeling all of a sudden." Anju looked around nervously. "Like we're being followed."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you." Said Yuu in a melodramatic tone.

Anju laughed and tugged at his arm. "Silly, you don't have to tease me!"

Yuu laughed as they rounded the corner but then stopped dead as he ran face to face with the same thug he'd punched two years ago when Miki had been attacked while lost in the city.

"Y-you.." Yuu took a step back. The guy had his gang of two others with him, and they recognized him as well.

"Well- if it isn't pretty boy!" said the leader with a sneer. "I can't believe I'd run into you again after all these years!"

Yuu grabbed Anju's hand and turned quickly away. "RUN!"

"What?" Anju said stunned, but one of the gang caught her other hand and pulled her towards him. "OUCH! YUU!"

Yuu stopped, still holding Anju tightly. "LET HER GO!"

"Hey, we're more interested in you pretty boy." The leader laughed. "But, she's a sweet one too, I guess we'll have some fun with her later. If you want to run, by all means, go!"

The leader and the one not holding onto Anju sprung at him, the leader brandishing his knife. Yuu grabbed his arm to keep him from stabbing him.

"YUU!" screamed Anju. "NO YUU!"

The leader sneered at him as the other one locked Yuu into a full nelson.

"You're pretty strong with those scrawny arms. I'm impressed." He said as he stood over Yuu. "But now, payback time for when you humiliated me. I don't take that kind of thing lightly."

"Go ahead and kill me, but don't hurt Anju. Please..." muttered Yuu, he looked up at the leader with a painful expression. "Kill me now."

"What crazy stuff are you talking about?" the leader sneered. "Now you want to die? That's no fun." He threw his head back and laughed. "Hey- wasn't there another chick that you were trying to save? I know she's not the one. "He pointed his knife back at Anju. "The chick with the short brown hair..."

Yuu bit his lip.

The leader noticed Yuu's painful reaction to mentioning her. He leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Where is she hmm? I bet I could rock her world ten times more than you could."

Yuu's eyes opened wide and suddenly all the hate, all the anguish, stress, frustration, and confusion exploded inside of him as he threw the other guy off of his back.

"FUCKER!" He threw his hardest fist and knocked the leader off his feet. Then turned to the last guy who was holding Anju. The guy took one look at his unconscious leader, then turned and ran.

Yuu grabbed Anju's hand and they ran across the street and darted into the park. He ran long and hard, jumping over bushes, hardly noticing Anju struggling to keep up with him.

"YUU! WAIT UP! YUU!"

Yuu finally slowed down and leaned against a tree. His back to Anju. She stopped, gasping for breath, looking at him stricken.

"Damn them..." he muttered. " DAMN THEM!"

Anju bit her lip and approached him carefully. "Y-yuu... it's ok now, I'm fine, you're fine..."

Yuu sunk to his knees, trying not to let the sobs escape him. He kept his back to her, not wanting to show the tears pouring down his cheeks.

Anju kneeled beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Yuu..."

"I give up!" he cried out, Anju jumped back startled, removing her hand. Yuu took a deep breath and said calmly, "I can't take this waiting. And then, what he said about Miki- what he said, Something inside of me exploded, I CAN'T wait anymore!" he turned and wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her and crying against her shoulder. "I give up!"

Anju stood frozen for a moment, and then put her arms around him, hugging him closely to her.

"It's eating away at me, slowly, every day the pain grows! I HAVE to forget but I can't!" cried Yuu.

Anju stroked his hair softly. "Please, let me help you." She said soothingly. "You're in pain, how can I help you?"

"How could you stop this pain?" He muttered in a low voice.

Anju hugged him tighter. "I could stop it, if you'd only let me into that broken heart, to clean up the pieces." She whispered.

The shaking stopped and Yuu slowly rose his face up to meet hers.

"An..."

She stopped his words with a soft kiss on the lips.

The Dream

"Something doesn't feel right..." Thought Miki. She gazed down at the warm glowing ball in her hands. The same ball that had been giving her comfort for so long in such a dark, scary place.

"What's wrong? The warmth, it's fading..." she pressed her palms against it, trying to regain the little warmth that it was losing.

She looked up at darkness around her, penetrating and menacing.

"Yuu?" She asked into the darkness. "When will you come for me?"

The Park

Anju slowly opened her eyes and pulled away from him. She got to her feet. Yuu looked at her, a little shocked, but with understanding.

"I'm sorry.." Anju looked down, clenching her fists tightly. "I don't know why I just did that..."

"Don't apologize." Smiled Yuu. "You may be right."

"Huh?" Anju looked up at him, her heart began to beat faster.

Yuu bit his lip, and slowly raised his hand up and set it on her shoulder, and drew her to him. "You've stood by me through all this... thank you."

"Yuu.." Anju's heart raced, she looked up at him. "Don't do this because you feel sorry for me..."

"No…" Yuu shook his head. " I really love Miki, but she's so far from me now..." he looked down. "I thought I could wait for her... but the pain slowly consumed me. So this is how Miki felt when she got tired before… I understand now."

"Yuu..."

" -But when I'm with you, I feel at peace." He smiled at her. "That warm feeling in my heart, that's been absent these 2 years, it's starting to come back."

"Yuu." Anju hugged him tightly.

The Dream

"It's getting colder!" Miki bit her lip, holding the orb closer to her, soon it began to suck the warmth from her own body, and she shivered.

" I don't want to let go of it! Where is Yuu?" She looked around frantically. " How long have I been waiting?" She peered into the glowing ball and saw Yuu's smiling face, and felt relief.

"Yuu," she held the ball closely to her, allowing it to suck away the warmth. "Why do I no longer feel secure with this? It always made me feel warm with his presence before..."

A Year Later

"Yuuuuu!" Anju called as she ran out into the snow, "hurry up! It's the first snowfall!"

Yuu smiled as he walked out after her into the bitter cold morning. He took a deep breath of air and let it out slowly, watching Anju beginning to make a snowman.

"Help me make a snowman Yuu!"

Yuu laughed, "You're such a kid!"

"Ahh- don't tease me!"

They both laughed for a moment, then a strong image of Miki hit Yuu's mind. He remembered the time they'd gone on the ski trip, and he'd gone outside with Miki at night to take a walk. She was having so much fun making a snowman instead though.

"Miki, you're a kid!"

Yuu bit his lip and forced the images away from his mind.

"An," he said, taking a deep breath.

"Hm?" Anju looked up at him from her giant snowball, which she'd been smoothing out.

"It's senior year already for both of us..." he smiled as he looked around at the quiet serenity surrounding them. "And, I've been offered a very good position at an Architectural firm..."

Anju's eyes grew wide. "Really? That's wonderful!" She jumped up to hug him.

Yuu put his hands on her shoulders and drew her away slightly, "But," he looked down at her, "It's in Japan."

"Japan?" Anju blinked a few times, stunned. "So, you're going back to Japan?"

Yuu nodded. "I'm transferring schools to a good college in Hiroshima, where the firm is, ... I'm going to live there."

A long silence hung between them, Anju wrung her hands nervously biting her lip.

"You're leaving me?" she said with a shaking voice.

"I have to think about my future..."

"...What about our future?" she stepped away from his arms, looking up into his face angrily.

"I'm sorry-" he sighed heavily.

Anju couldn't contain the tears any more, she wrapped her arms around him and cried into his jacket. Yuu hugged her, trying to comfort her. "I'll still write to you, and phone you, it'll be ok."

"Let me come with you." She said slowly, muffled by his coat. "If I can go with you, I'll be fine!" Yuu's eyes opened wide for a moment. "But, what about your life here?"

Anju shook her head. "I don't need it! Please take me with you!"

"But- live together?" Yuu bit his lip, it was such a large jump, and all the way across the world for that matter. New York had been his home for so long...

"Please?" Anju pleaded. "You'll need to find an apartment! You'll need a roommate- if not as your girlfriend, then as your friend!"

"Well- I was planning on getting a roommate..." muttered Yuu under his breath, then he smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. "Ok then… if you're sure…"

"I am! Thank you Yuu!"

A Week Later

"Yuu, may I come in?" Dorris asked as she knocked on his door.

"Sure."

She opened the door and walked in, the room was stripped clean of all of Yuu's belongings that he'd accumulated over the past 4 years. Now, he was going to finish college in Japan, and work as an architect in Hiroshima. She took a deep breath.

"You're taking Anju along with you?"

Yuu nodded.

"Did you tell your parents you were transferring schools to Hiroshima?"

Yuu stopped his packing, then looked out of the window with a blank expression.

"You didn't then?" Dorris folded her arms and sighed. "When are you going to learn that running away won't solve anything!"

"But, I can't talk to them... it's been too long already. I can't be part of that family anymore."

"WHY?"

"The memories of Miki, make it too painful... I've been waiting for that phone to ring over there, for THREE years!" He clenched his fist. "But, the call that I've been waiting for hasn't come yet, and I can't wait any longer."

"Well, at least give us your number." Said Dorris. "That way we can all stay in touch.

Yuu nodded. "I will."

The Next Day

"Last call for flight #308, service to Hiroshima."

Yuu stood with Anju holding his arm, he shook Bill's hand, then Brian's.

" Well, I'll be back to visit soon." He smiled at everyone. Jinny wiped a tear from her eye and gave him and then Anju a hug.

"Goodbye Yuu. Good luck! Goodbye Anju"

"Thank you." Yuu smiled and gave Dorris a hug as well. "I'll do my best."

"Good bye everyone." Said Anju quietly.

"Take care." Said Dorris.

"I put our new phone number and address on the refrigerator at the apartment. "Yuu said as he turned towards the gate. "Good bye everyone!"

" Good bye!" They called and waved.

The Dream

"AHHHHH!" Miki screamed out in pain and doubled over, lying on the ground. She felt as if someone had stuck a knife in her chest, right into her heart. She gasped for breath, still holding onto the faintly glowing orb. The light was flickering, as if on the verge of going out.

"Yuu-" she whispered. "WHAT is happening to me?"

Suddenly the orb grew very, very hot. Miki dropped it in shock as it burned her hands.

"OUCH!" She drew her hands away and watched it in horror as the orb rose up in front of her, floating in front of her eyes. A picture of Yuu appeared in it.

"Y-Yuu..." Miki mumbled as tears formed in her eyes. She reached out towards it but it drew away from her, she saw the image of Anju in it, standing next to Yuu, holding his arm.

"A-Anju..." Miki looked in horror as Yuu turned towards Anju and held her in his arms. "Yuu, what are you doing? Do you still love me?" The tears poured from her eyes, she reached out for the orb but it drew further away.

"YUU!" she screamed as the orb started to float slowly away from her. "YUUUU! COME BACK!"

Her legs felt as heavy as lead, but she forced herself to stand, she hadn't moved from that spot since she'd first fallen into the darkness. But she forced herself to take a step. "YUUUUUU!" She screamed again at the top of her lungs as she stumbled forward. Every step fell heavy, her muscles screamed at her as she strained to move forward. She wanted to sit and rest, but the only light and warmth that she had was floating away from her. And she couldn't bear to be left alone in the darkness. If she sat, then she'd never find the strength to stand up again after that. She had to follow the orb.

" STOP YUUU! YUUUUUUUU DON'T LEAVE ME!"