Fate Beckons

Chapter 11: Sparks

Disclaimers apply. Song lyrics from 'Melodies of Life' (English version) by Shiratori Emiko

"Misao, we haven't heard you play the piano for a long time. Come help us warm up our piano. Just any song!" Mrs. Shinomori practically begged. "Aoshi has 'given back' what he learnt to his teacher so...just provide us with entertainment!"

Obliging, Misao walked over to the piano and uncovered it. She sat down on the stool and laid her fingers on the keys, curling them over the starting chords of her favorite song. Gathering her breath, she began to play.

The music echoed throughout the flat. Misao poured her entire heart into it, cherishing a fragile hope that Aoshi would read her feelings from the song. Her fingers flew over the piano keys fluently, and with every note, she recalled the happy times she had with Aoshi. She did not think she had ever played with so much sentiment and emotions before, but thinking about Aoshi always made her emotional. She closed her eyes and drowned herself in the waves of music, memories flashing back like sunlight on water.

Aoshi carrying her on his back in the water as she was so afraid of drowning even though it was a shallow pool and not the deep sea...that day, Misao--all of four years old, had been crying as she had hated water then. She had run away as far as her tiny legs could carry her, trying to escape from the adults who had tried in vain to coax her into the water. He ran after her and just barely managed to catch her and hoist her on his back. Amidst her complains and wails, he promised to act as her 'float' so that she would not drown. From that day on, she fell in love with him--and the water.

The day she knew he was graduating from primary school and she would not get to see him everyday anymore, she cried her eyes out, latching on to him and not letting him out of her sight. Although his friends teased him mercilessly, he never scolded her or showed any irritation, although he must have been embarrassed--his friends were calling her his "little girlfriend". When she hugged him and sobbed that she would miss him, he smiled and told her that they would still see each other and he would always be "her Aoshi".

His every wide grin, which she had not seen since their childhood...everything about him floated back into her mind, so far away yet so nearby.

In my dearest memories, I see you reaching out to me
Though you're gone, I still believe that you can call out my name

Her confidante, playmate and best friend, and now, object of affection. But if she did not work fast enough, she would lose him for good. Was fate playing a trick on them, uniting them after so many years, only to tear them apart again? She pressed the keys down with as much strength as she could, and the music, on a crescendo, seemed to yell and scream like her heart.

Was it fate
That brought us close and now leaves me behind?

A tear tenderly trailed down her cheeks, but she was too absorbed in the music that related so much to her heart to notice it. Everything in the room faded away, until she, Aoshi and the piano remained. She played for him, to him, offering her heart with the music.

As the music faded in finality, the world around Misao came back into focus. She realised that her cheeks were wet, and reached her hand up to some into contact with tears.

Tears? She had never cried while playing music before. But it was no mistake. She reached up once more to wipe them away. They could not see her cry!

There was applause. She turned her head to look at her miniature audience. Aoshi was staring at her with blank, unfathomable eyes again, but this time, there was something new. Warmth? Or love? She did not know.

"That was amazing! Miyako, you never told me how much Misao's playing has improved. What grade is she in now?" Turning to Misao, "Your school has MEP [Music Elective Programme] right? Are you in it?"

"Well, not anymore...I was in it for half a term but got too busy for it...anyway, I thought that Home Economics would be more useful. Classical music isn't really my interest, "she replied [that goes for yours truly too].

"That's a pity, but I'm sure you'll make a good wife for someone someday," Mrs. Shinomori replied with a pointed look at Aoshi, whose eyes seemed to soften. Misao blushed and dropped her eyes, but in her mind, she knew that someday, she would want to be a good wife...to no one other than Aoshi.

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The both of them were staring out of the window in Aoshi's room. The sun was setting, its rays tinting the sky a golden red. Cars honked on the road below, as people began to fill the streets, rushing home from work.

Aoshi noticed that Misao's spirits were like the setting sun...dipping lower and lower. Her eyes did not shine like they usually did--behaving like this was completely unlike her, and he did not like it.

"You...play with a lot of emotion," he complimented, hoping to lighten the mood. She smiled wistfully. "Only because I had to pour out my feelings somewhere...usually I don't play like that but just now, my heart just took over."

"Hey, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'll always be here," he told her softly. She almost burst out in hysterical laughs.

"You? You're not going to be here forever. You're leaving us--leaving me--again." She looked at him, anger flushing her face. "You still can't forgive yourself for what happened to Hannya and the rest, what makes you think you can comfort me? Seeing you like this hurts me, Aoshi." She stopped to take a breath.

Aoshi opened his mouth, but before he could get a word in, Misao continued, "You want to know what emotions I was pouring into that piece just now? Well, it was anger and hurt! Someone I've loved for more than ten years doesn't have a clue to my feelings and he's leaving soon!" She was practically yelling by then. "And then I'll probably never see him again--EVER!" She collapsed on her knees, sobbing. "He's still clueless...I've tried to let him know...he's just as cool and icy as ever! He can't forgive himself and I can see that clearly, I wish I could help him but--"

A pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her and the next thing she knew, she was sobbing into his broad, muscular chest.

"Maybe he knows after all," a low, thick voice told her. "But perhaps he doesn't want to hurt you by telling you straight to the face that he doesn't feel the same way."

With an angered cry, Misao pushed him away. "Well, he's wrong!" She strode out of the room. Aoshi did not follow. By the time she reached the leaving room where their parents were, her face was a cold mask, as void of feeling as Aoshi's.

"I just realise I've got a lot of homework to do. I guess I have to leave now." They looked at her strangely, before Mr. Shinomori broke the silence. "Okay then, be careful."

She walked out without a word, except for an emotionless, "Bye," not noticing the glare their mothers threw in the direction of Aoshi's room.

Meanwhile, Aoshi collapsed into his bed and closed his eyes, trying to shut out the waves of emotions that had flooded over him.

Maybe I shouldn't have done that. But it had been for the best, Misao deserved better than him, who could not even protect his friends.

Right?

tbc....

I have been busy...with the start of the 2nd school term (more homework) and all and house meetings for Sports Day...leaving me with the most excruciating headache! (Or was it algebra and quadratic equations? Almost all my friends wish that a, b, x, y and all the other letters they love to use in algebra questions will just disappear for a while.) Thank goodness for this Good Friday public holiday! As always, thanks for your reviews, pls continue to C&C!