Rescued - Part2 by shamaniaclyde
"Baka Haruka." It's what I always say to myself when there's two
voices in my mind contradicting each other. One said, 'No you're not
in love. You just haven't experienced having someone so close to
you.' Then the other voice said louder, 'How will you explain those nights spent thinking about her and wishing it was morning already so you can see her again? And since you've met her you became a lot happier, and I MEAN A LOT HAPPIER! You could've had someone as your close friend but you didn't like to be close to anyone. But when you met her, you let her become close to you. And lastly, how will you explain all those wide smiles when you're with her or thinking of
her?' The other one retorted back but I couldn't hear it clearly.
"Ok, ok so I'm in love" I mumbled finally admitting it. But does she feel the same way too?
I continued thinking until I reached the auditorium where Michiru was practicing. Before I entered, I had already decided that
if she doesn't feel the same then I'd just have to woo her. Ok, here
I am, a few inches from the door of the backstage. For the
first time I became a nervous wreck, and a girl was the reason behind it. I paced to and fro in front of the door. Thankfully there's not a soul in here, nobody would see me in this state. Damn, this is ridiculous. I opened the door, the doorknob was as cold as my hand,
and then I caught a glimpse of Michiru, then her manager. I entered stealthily for fear of her seeing me so nervous, then I
noticed that she was talking. She couldn't have been talking
to her manager -the only person I saw present in the stage- because he's
A few feet away talking to someone over the phone. So still nervously, I walked a few feet more hoping to get a better view.
then what I saw bothered me a lot. A whole lot. Michiru was talking
to some guy. Ok, it wasn't just some guy. He looked nice to
say the least and from what he was wearing he seems to be rich. But what bothered me is the way he was looking at the girl I just
realized that I'm in love with. I know that look, the kind of look
that says 'I want you.' And it also wasn't helping me that Michiru seemed a bit entertaining to the guy.
I don't know if I'm angry or jealous but I just had to know what
was going on, so I summoned all my courage to approach the two.
"Uhhrm." I hope that got her attention.
She turned to her side and looked surprised, "Haruka! I thought
you were practicing?"
I answered sheepishly, "I'm done practicing. I came to see if you
need a ride home already." I looked at her then to the guy then
back to her. Damn, it's so hard to restrain myself. The moment I
met the eyes of the guy I knew I hated him.
"Oh..." I didn't know if she noticed the animosity between the guy
and myself but she did notice that we're not acquainted with each other.
"Oh sorry. Haruka this is Kaji Iwakawa, he's the youngest member of
the Tokyo Symphony. And Kaji-san this is Haruka Tenoh, my closest friend and a fellow musician and a sports star."
If it weren't for Michiru I wouldn't shake his hand. "Hi."
"Haruka Tenoh, I've heard a lot about you. My friends say you'll be
the next Michael Schumacher."
I hate this guy. He acts so big and important I'd love to beat him
up. We were scrutinizing each other; I think he's older than me
for about 5 years, looks commanding and determined, someone who
will get anything he wants.
Michiru then looked at me, "Uhm, I wouldn't be able to come home
with you tonight..."
Then that irritating guy spoke before Michiru could finish her statement, "I hope you don't mind if I take her out to dinner."
I glanced at Michiru and took all my restraint to answer politely to the guy, "I understand." After that I couldn't stand it anymore, I didn't even say proper leave to Michiru. I turned my back after I
spoke and went home feeling awfully angry and as hard as it is to admit, well...hurt.
I didn't even bother to eat dinner. I've already lost my
appetite just thinking about Michiru having dinner with Kaji.
Pictures flooded to my mind, like Michiru slowly succumbing to the charms of that guy...damn it. All patience exhausted, I decided a ride with my beloved convertible might help me forget about this...pain.
A few rounds on the hi way at hair raising speeds sounds like fun
but still the adrenaline rush couldn't help me forget. I always
thought driving like this clears my mind, but it's not working. I've felt hurt before, but not this kind. To most people the night view
of the skylines of Tokyo and the magnificent lights of the city is absolutely breath taking, but to me right now all I could see is her face, and Kaji's. Did Michiru like him? Yeah sure I know she's
polite to men who flock to her, but she never did go out with them, that's as far as I'm concerned since we met. Or maybe she's just a
fan of his or something. Shimatta! My mind is really a mess, but
it's more bearable than this throbbing pain inside my chest that
feels like I'm gonna implode any minute now. I'm still the same
wreck an hour ago; maybe I should just call it a night. But when
I saw that there's still no light in her house, the nagging pain
hurt even more. Ok, a few minutes more of driving. And that few
minutes turned out to be about a dozen rounds around the whole residential area.
I'm still driving, good thing I'm always on full tank. Why do feel so uneasy? Do I even have the right to feel this way? She's
not even committed to me let alone interested in me...ouch, that
thought hurt. I slowed down a bit when I neared her house again, so
if she happened to be there already and sees me it would appear that I've just gotten out of my driveway and will just start a little stroll. It's 10:30 already; she has to be there. And I was right. I
saw a car parked in front of her lawn; it has to be Kaji's. Then when
I got a better look, I saw her with his coat draped over her
shoulders and to my horror he was bending down to kiss her. I was directly across them at that moment, and before he could succeed,
they saw the passing car, which Michiru noticed as mine. I stared, stunned and hurt more than ever. And it was evident on her face that she saw mine. What her eyes told I couldn't decipher as pain and
anger clouded my whole consciousness. I revved up; the last scene I
saw on my side mirror was Michiru telling him to go home. It wasn't even a consolation.
It's been 4 days. And today is race day for me and concert day for her.Spending the last 4 days on rigid practice and driving kept
me busy. But I didn't have to practice that much; it's just a way to avoid her. In fact, we haven't talked since that night...
"Congratulations Tenoh-san, you broke another record!"
Well I won, as usual. But the victory wasn't as sweet as before. I
went away from the tracks as soon as possible. This isn't the time
to celebrate, not when I feel like this. It's not just my heart
aching, my whole body is too. I've unnecessarily pushed myself too hard. I checked the time; it's 3 hours before the concert. Shall I watch? I don't know. I should probably go home now.
On my way, thoughts of her still vexed me. Then I caught sight
of that café, I remembered I haven't eaten yet. As I entered the
café, my head automatically turned to the direction of the table
where Michiru and I usually occupied. Hmm, it's ridiculous of me to
sit there knowing that this will reminded me again of her but hey,
I like it here. No, my mind said, you like it here because being
here reminds you of her and you don't care if it hurts because you
miss her already.
"Yeah, I miss her." So after graciously devouring my food, I headed
for the park. It wasn't crowded yet when I arrived. That nagging
voice again is speaking inside my head, 'Are you going to watch and hurt yourself doing it?'
Nah, I won't watch. I'll just listen to her, she'll be performing
the opening piece, after that I'll go. What will I get by doing this,
I asked myself. Unfortunately no voices answered. So I busied myself looking for a good parking space. I chose the one closest to the
stage, which is located at its side. I just leaned and slumped
against the car when I stepped out, I have no intention of getting mixed up with the crowd. Another free concert, definitely many would
go see this. Which is why I'm not going to stay, just one piece from
Michiru and I'll go. I looked around, feeling stupid because I
realized that it's still an hour and half before it starts. The
crowd is getting larger but it was all a blur to me. Then I saw a
big screen lighting up beside the stage. And it showed the names of
the performers for the night. There's Michiru's name, some bands,
then to my disappointment, Tokyo Symphony. I bowed my head and
tared at the ground. Great, just great. So they'll be together at
the backstage again, then my imagination showed unwanted images to
my mind. I shook my head to clear my mind, I thought,
'I'd better go.' Now that that was decided, I tilted my head
upwards, closed my eyes and breathed deeply. When I opened my eyes,
I didn't know if the image in front of me is real or my messy mind
is playing games with me. Until that image came closer...it was
Michiru, standing so close to me that I could feel her breath.
Because I was slumped against my car, she's now level me with me. I could sense she was as nervous as I was. I don't have a clue as to
what to do now; we were just looking eye to eye. We were like that
for a few seconds, and it seemed like eternity as if everything stopped, I couldn't even hear a thing, as all my thoughts and
senses were on her.
"I'm sorry Haruka." I never saw her so serious and desperate at the same time before. "I'm really sorry about that night, it wasn't..."
She continued but I wasn't listening earnestly, as my head turned
to the direction of limousines just arriving. The last one to get
out
of the last limousine was Kaji. And he immediately saw us, to my dismay.
"Haruka please listen." I was so busy staring eye to eye with Kaji
a few meters from us; I didn't bother to tell Michiru her 'prince charming' was there. Then her following words definitely caught my attention.
"I love you."
"What?" That was an immediate reaction from me. Did I hear her correctly? Then I looked at her eyes...eyes that were expressing the
deep emotions, so deep it felt like I'm drowning in them.
"I said I love you." How will I react to those words spoken with honesty and passion? Her voice seemed to tremble but I understood,
just by looking at her. But that pain was still there, but then I thought if she's speaking this way then there must be an explanation. But I'm straying from what I'm supposed to do, which I don't know
what. What will I say to her? Shall I tell her that I love her too?
"You're kidding." What? Where did that come from? That was
definitely not the right words I should've said. Baka Haruka!
Then she spoke again, this time in a deep voice and a darker face,
"No I'm not." Of all the things that will happen, what she did next
is something I didn't expect. She pulled me by the collar as I was
now standing straight, and pulled my face gently close to hers then
she kissed me, lightly and nervously. I was caught by surprise, then
in a second or two the whole place dimmed and the last image I saw
was Kaji's face, completely shocked. Then as I closed my eyes, I smiled. My arms seemed to move instinctively as they wrapped around Michiru's waist ever so carefully, as if she was something so
fragile that will break with the slightest movement. I felt her
smile as we deepened our kiss, probing each other in a passionate manner. My arms tightened around her, our sensual kiss seemed to electrify my body.At the same time her arms were now around my neck, holding me tighter than I do her.
"Hey you better be in the backstage by now." I hated to break away
from the kiss that seemed like forever to us, but this isn't the
place that she's supposed to be at right now. At that moment, the
sound of the now numerous crowd and the whole place were present a
gain, as if we went to another world and came back
Her eyes glimmered in joy, appropriately accompanied by her smile,
"I'm not going back there without you." Oh I missed that teasing
tone of hers.
"Why not?" I replied, in the same tone.
"Don't you want to help me prove to Kaji that I'm not interested
in him because I'm already in love with a certain blonde who I
just kissed a moment ago?
Hearing that gave me relief. I just noticed that my heart is still beating so hard as it did moments ago, I'm so happy I wouldn't mind
if it jumps out of my chest. "Well, if you put it that way then I'll
be glad to help." Then I remembered him; as I looked back where he
was standing a while ago, I found out that he's gone.
"So shall we go?" She asked, all the nervousness and hurt drained
out from her, as was from me.
"Yes ma'am." I'm smiling again! Haruka, get a hold of yourself, I
said in my mind as I offered my arm to Michiru.
She took it and we walked towards the backstage, "By the way, you
were blushing back there."
I was? Now that's something new. "Like you weren't." I whispered
to her, smirking as usual. And a charming smile from her is what
I got for my remark.
"Baka Haruka." It's what I always say to myself when there's two
voices in my mind contradicting each other. One said, 'No you're not
in love. You just haven't experienced having someone so close to
you.' Then the other voice said louder, 'How will you explain those nights spent thinking about her and wishing it was morning already so you can see her again? And since you've met her you became a lot happier, and I MEAN A LOT HAPPIER! You could've had someone as your close friend but you didn't like to be close to anyone. But when you met her, you let her become close to you. And lastly, how will you explain all those wide smiles when you're with her or thinking of
her?' The other one retorted back but I couldn't hear it clearly.
"Ok, ok so I'm in love" I mumbled finally admitting it. But does she feel the same way too?
I continued thinking until I reached the auditorium where Michiru was practicing. Before I entered, I had already decided that
if she doesn't feel the same then I'd just have to woo her. Ok, here
I am, a few inches from the door of the backstage. For the
first time I became a nervous wreck, and a girl was the reason behind it. I paced to and fro in front of the door. Thankfully there's not a soul in here, nobody would see me in this state. Damn, this is ridiculous. I opened the door, the doorknob was as cold as my hand,
and then I caught a glimpse of Michiru, then her manager. I entered stealthily for fear of her seeing me so nervous, then I
noticed that she was talking. She couldn't have been talking
to her manager -the only person I saw present in the stage- because he's
A few feet away talking to someone over the phone. So still nervously, I walked a few feet more hoping to get a better view.
then what I saw bothered me a lot. A whole lot. Michiru was talking
to some guy. Ok, it wasn't just some guy. He looked nice to
say the least and from what he was wearing he seems to be rich. But what bothered me is the way he was looking at the girl I just
realized that I'm in love with. I know that look, the kind of look
that says 'I want you.' And it also wasn't helping me that Michiru seemed a bit entertaining to the guy.
I don't know if I'm angry or jealous but I just had to know what
was going on, so I summoned all my courage to approach the two.
"Uhhrm." I hope that got her attention.
She turned to her side and looked surprised, "Haruka! I thought
you were practicing?"
I answered sheepishly, "I'm done practicing. I came to see if you
need a ride home already." I looked at her then to the guy then
back to her. Damn, it's so hard to restrain myself. The moment I
met the eyes of the guy I knew I hated him.
"Oh..." I didn't know if she noticed the animosity between the guy
and myself but she did notice that we're not acquainted with each other.
"Oh sorry. Haruka this is Kaji Iwakawa, he's the youngest member of
the Tokyo Symphony. And Kaji-san this is Haruka Tenoh, my closest friend and a fellow musician and a sports star."
If it weren't for Michiru I wouldn't shake his hand. "Hi."
"Haruka Tenoh, I've heard a lot about you. My friends say you'll be
the next Michael Schumacher."
I hate this guy. He acts so big and important I'd love to beat him
up. We were scrutinizing each other; I think he's older than me
for about 5 years, looks commanding and determined, someone who
will get anything he wants.
Michiru then looked at me, "Uhm, I wouldn't be able to come home
with you tonight..."
Then that irritating guy spoke before Michiru could finish her statement, "I hope you don't mind if I take her out to dinner."
I glanced at Michiru and took all my restraint to answer politely to the guy, "I understand." After that I couldn't stand it anymore, I didn't even say proper leave to Michiru. I turned my back after I
spoke and went home feeling awfully angry and as hard as it is to admit, well...hurt.
I didn't even bother to eat dinner. I've already lost my
appetite just thinking about Michiru having dinner with Kaji.
Pictures flooded to my mind, like Michiru slowly succumbing to the charms of that guy...damn it. All patience exhausted, I decided a ride with my beloved convertible might help me forget about this...pain.
A few rounds on the hi way at hair raising speeds sounds like fun
but still the adrenaline rush couldn't help me forget. I always
thought driving like this clears my mind, but it's not working. I've felt hurt before, but not this kind. To most people the night view
of the skylines of Tokyo and the magnificent lights of the city is absolutely breath taking, but to me right now all I could see is her face, and Kaji's. Did Michiru like him? Yeah sure I know she's
polite to men who flock to her, but she never did go out with them, that's as far as I'm concerned since we met. Or maybe she's just a
fan of his or something. Shimatta! My mind is really a mess, but
it's more bearable than this throbbing pain inside my chest that
feels like I'm gonna implode any minute now. I'm still the same
wreck an hour ago; maybe I should just call it a night. But when
I saw that there's still no light in her house, the nagging pain
hurt even more. Ok, a few minutes more of driving. And that few
minutes turned out to be about a dozen rounds around the whole residential area.
I'm still driving, good thing I'm always on full tank. Why do feel so uneasy? Do I even have the right to feel this way? She's
not even committed to me let alone interested in me...ouch, that
thought hurt. I slowed down a bit when I neared her house again, so
if she happened to be there already and sees me it would appear that I've just gotten out of my driveway and will just start a little stroll. It's 10:30 already; she has to be there. And I was right. I
saw a car parked in front of her lawn; it has to be Kaji's. Then when
I got a better look, I saw her with his coat draped over her
shoulders and to my horror he was bending down to kiss her. I was directly across them at that moment, and before he could succeed,
they saw the passing car, which Michiru noticed as mine. I stared, stunned and hurt more than ever. And it was evident on her face that she saw mine. What her eyes told I couldn't decipher as pain and
anger clouded my whole consciousness. I revved up; the last scene I
saw on my side mirror was Michiru telling him to go home. It wasn't even a consolation.
It's been 4 days. And today is race day for me and concert day for her.Spending the last 4 days on rigid practice and driving kept
me busy. But I didn't have to practice that much; it's just a way to avoid her. In fact, we haven't talked since that night...
"Congratulations Tenoh-san, you broke another record!"
Well I won, as usual. But the victory wasn't as sweet as before. I
went away from the tracks as soon as possible. This isn't the time
to celebrate, not when I feel like this. It's not just my heart
aching, my whole body is too. I've unnecessarily pushed myself too hard. I checked the time; it's 3 hours before the concert. Shall I watch? I don't know. I should probably go home now.
On my way, thoughts of her still vexed me. Then I caught sight
of that café, I remembered I haven't eaten yet. As I entered the
café, my head automatically turned to the direction of the table
where Michiru and I usually occupied. Hmm, it's ridiculous of me to
sit there knowing that this will reminded me again of her but hey,
I like it here. No, my mind said, you like it here because being
here reminds you of her and you don't care if it hurts because you
miss her already.
"Yeah, I miss her." So after graciously devouring my food, I headed
for the park. It wasn't crowded yet when I arrived. That nagging
voice again is speaking inside my head, 'Are you going to watch and hurt yourself doing it?'
Nah, I won't watch. I'll just listen to her, she'll be performing
the opening piece, after that I'll go. What will I get by doing this,
I asked myself. Unfortunately no voices answered. So I busied myself looking for a good parking space. I chose the one closest to the
stage, which is located at its side. I just leaned and slumped
against the car when I stepped out, I have no intention of getting mixed up with the crowd. Another free concert, definitely many would
go see this. Which is why I'm not going to stay, just one piece from
Michiru and I'll go. I looked around, feeling stupid because I
realized that it's still an hour and half before it starts. The
crowd is getting larger but it was all a blur to me. Then I saw a
big screen lighting up beside the stage. And it showed the names of
the performers for the night. There's Michiru's name, some bands,
then to my disappointment, Tokyo Symphony. I bowed my head and
tared at the ground. Great, just great. So they'll be together at
the backstage again, then my imagination showed unwanted images to
my mind. I shook my head to clear my mind, I thought,
'I'd better go.' Now that that was decided, I tilted my head
upwards, closed my eyes and breathed deeply. When I opened my eyes,
I didn't know if the image in front of me is real or my messy mind
is playing games with me. Until that image came closer...it was
Michiru, standing so close to me that I could feel her breath.
Because I was slumped against my car, she's now level me with me. I could sense she was as nervous as I was. I don't have a clue as to
what to do now; we were just looking eye to eye. We were like that
for a few seconds, and it seemed like eternity as if everything stopped, I couldn't even hear a thing, as all my thoughts and
senses were on her.
"I'm sorry Haruka." I never saw her so serious and desperate at the same time before. "I'm really sorry about that night, it wasn't..."
She continued but I wasn't listening earnestly, as my head turned
to the direction of limousines just arriving. The last one to get
out
of the last limousine was Kaji. And he immediately saw us, to my dismay.
"Haruka please listen." I was so busy staring eye to eye with Kaji
a few meters from us; I didn't bother to tell Michiru her 'prince charming' was there. Then her following words definitely caught my attention.
"I love you."
"What?" That was an immediate reaction from me. Did I hear her correctly? Then I looked at her eyes...eyes that were expressing the
deep emotions, so deep it felt like I'm drowning in them.
"I said I love you." How will I react to those words spoken with honesty and passion? Her voice seemed to tremble but I understood,
just by looking at her. But that pain was still there, but then I thought if she's speaking this way then there must be an explanation. But I'm straying from what I'm supposed to do, which I don't know
what. What will I say to her? Shall I tell her that I love her too?
"You're kidding." What? Where did that come from? That was
definitely not the right words I should've said. Baka Haruka!
Then she spoke again, this time in a deep voice and a darker face,
"No I'm not." Of all the things that will happen, what she did next
is something I didn't expect. She pulled me by the collar as I was
now standing straight, and pulled my face gently close to hers then
she kissed me, lightly and nervously. I was caught by surprise, then
in a second or two the whole place dimmed and the last image I saw
was Kaji's face, completely shocked. Then as I closed my eyes, I smiled. My arms seemed to move instinctively as they wrapped around Michiru's waist ever so carefully, as if she was something so
fragile that will break with the slightest movement. I felt her
smile as we deepened our kiss, probing each other in a passionate manner. My arms tightened around her, our sensual kiss seemed to electrify my body.At the same time her arms were now around my neck, holding me tighter than I do her.
"Hey you better be in the backstage by now." I hated to break away
from the kiss that seemed like forever to us, but this isn't the
place that she's supposed to be at right now. At that moment, the
sound of the now numerous crowd and the whole place were present a
gain, as if we went to another world and came back
Her eyes glimmered in joy, appropriately accompanied by her smile,
"I'm not going back there without you." Oh I missed that teasing
tone of hers.
"Why not?" I replied, in the same tone.
"Don't you want to help me prove to Kaji that I'm not interested
in him because I'm already in love with a certain blonde who I
just kissed a moment ago?
Hearing that gave me relief. I just noticed that my heart is still beating so hard as it did moments ago, I'm so happy I wouldn't mind
if it jumps out of my chest. "Well, if you put it that way then I'll
be glad to help." Then I remembered him; as I looked back where he
was standing a while ago, I found out that he's gone.
"So shall we go?" She asked, all the nervousness and hurt drained
out from her, as was from me.
"Yes ma'am." I'm smiling again! Haruka, get a hold of yourself, I
said in my mind as I offered my arm to Michiru.
She took it and we walked towards the backstage, "By the way, you
were blushing back there."
I was? Now that's something new. "Like you weren't." I whispered
to her, smirking as usual. And a charming smile from her is what
I got for my remark.