Chapter 5
Kuki looked at Wally. She stood up and looked deep into his green eyes.
"Wally, I do love you. I love you more than anyone in the world. But I can't love you. I was born into the Sanban family to take charge of a very prominent business. We have over 100 stores placed in Japan. I am...betrothed to a man whom I do not like at all. He is mean, obnoxious, and never talks to me unless he is insulting me or telling me to do something! I love you more than anything Wally! But I can't love you because it would cause turmoil... I would have to leave the family."
Wally had never been in a place where you could leave a family just because of a business.
"Can't you just leave?"
Kuki shook her head. "Wally, I wish I could. My mother is ill with a horrible sickness. She will die this year. My sister Mushi is too young to run a business and my father left my mother when I was young. I have no cousins or other relatives, so I have no choice. We could hand the company to another company, but we would go bankrupt and live among the streets."
Wally was shocked. Why? Why did it have to be this way? His face suddenly boiled with anger. He loved her but she wasn't allowed to love him? Couldn't she just break off the engagement? He wanted to ask her all these questions, but he had no right. He knew he had no right to ask about her culture. He was afraid that he would offend her.
"But Kuki..."
"Wally, you've given me what no one else could give me. You gave me friend and someone who I could trust with anything. You've given me something to live for. I want to marry you Wally, but I cannot. I am not allowed."
He was surprised the she wanted to marry him. I wonder if she meant to say that aloud? His brain thought of many things to try to get he back, but he could think of nothing. He grabbed her hand and walked her home, still thinking, a tear falling from his eye.
"When are you getting married?" She looked at him with tears in her eyes. They flew down her red cheeks and she sobbed, "In 3 days."