--Broken Echo: Part 3--
Warning: NOT FOR TAKAKO/SASAME FANS! Spoilers ahead from Episode 8. I'm just relieved that I was able to finish watching all 13 episode of this show. Unfortunately, this series is VERY short. It's a shame though.
Shout-out to Venus of Love VOL-chan, Aino Yuy aka Usagi-hater, Kei and Ashley. Thanks a lot for your support. Comments/reviews are appreciated! I hate this chapter, btw. Stupid bitch took Sasame. LOL.
She still haunted him to this day. No matter what he did, he couldn't escape her. The guilt, shame, loss and betrayal were a list of conflicting emotions that he never wanted to feel nor the painful memories that he wanted to erase from his memories. It all came back to him that fateful day sixteen years ago…
Takako…
A given name that held so precious to him, yet so close to his heart and mind. It would have been heaven and earth just to be with her; to be able to hold, to touch and cherish her forever. It was all for love. But in the end, fate was not kind to people. Unrequited love was a hard lesson to experience, a foolish gamble to lose your heart in the process.
His heart was still bound to his troubled past, unable for him to let her go. It was unforgivable act of cowardice when he abandoned her at the time of her despair. Until to this day, he could still hear her pleas and his wounded heart still yearns for her…
"Sasame… Hello Sasame… Earth to Sasame!!!" An amused voice belonging to a man broke into Sasame's wandering thoughts.
"Oh, pardon me…" Sasame excused himself, snapping out of his trance. He coughed discreetly and turned to greet his co-worker, Kenji who came inside the small recording studio. "Good morning, Kenji. I didn't see you there for a minute. Ready for another session?" He gave Kenji his usual cheerful smile.
"Hey! Looks like someone stayed up partying all night long." Kenji lightly teased him, his eyes twinkled mischievously. For a moment there, he could have sworn he saw a sad forlorn look on Sasame's eyes but he didn't want to intrude on his co-worker's personal life. He had no right to butt into other peoples' business but he figured that Sasame was the quiet and sensitive type of a guy after all.
Sasame's laughed. "No, it was just a quiet and tiring night. I had trouble sleeping lately…" He admitted.
"Well, this will wake you up then." Kenji announced, handing over the script to him and a mailbag of crazed-mania loyal fans placed on Sasame's desk.
"Thanks Kenji." Sasame replied gratefully, opening the mailbag and carefully sorting through the mail.
"No sweat." Kenji was glancing at a pile of letters and postcards stack carefully on Sasame's table. He looked rather overwhelmed. "Wow, man. You sure are popular with the ladies out there! You must be loving it every minute." He whistled appreciatively.
"I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for them." Sasame gave him an honest, down-to-earth answer.
"Aww… Come on, Sasame. You don't have to be modest." Kenji said playfully, "Half of guys out there would kill to be in your shoes right now. You could be the next international American star, Dr. Phil as they say. In fact, I overheard in the meeting yesterday that the general station manager, Mr. Aida is so impressed with your work. He may even extend your contract. Isn't that great news for us?" His voice lowered, whispering.
"And where did you hear that exactly?" Sasame questioned innocently.
"I have my sources." Was all Kenji said, keeping his mouth sealed from revealing any more information.
Sasame only smiled but said nothing. Kenji eyed him suspiciously. "So, you knew it after all!" Kenji exploded in excitement. "Oh man… That's unbelievable." He was at a loss for words. "This is great and all. Rita and the baby, I mean." He babbled incoherently.
It was Sasame's turn to look surprised. "Well, I guess it would be my turn to congratulate you Kenji. That's wonderful news." He beamed. "You must be very excited to be a first time father."
Kenji scratched his head in embarrassment. "Yeah well… With this promising job and the little munchkin on the way, Rita is going to be ecstatic once she hears the good news. Gotta go and make a quick phone call." Before leaving, he added hastily. "Oh by the way Sasame, I happen to know this nice girl…" His voice trailed off.
Sasame chuckled. "Thanks Kenji but I'll pass this time."
"Well, can't blame a guy for trying huh?" Kenji's laughter echoed as he quickly exited leaving Sasame alone in the studio. Suddenly, a man about Sasame's age appeared out of nowhere, his whole body materializing.
"What a blabber mouth." Hayate commented rather rudely. "I thought he'd never leave the place." The annoyance look on his face disappeared, his mouth lopsided into a lazy grin. "'Morning." He greeted politely, with a slight nod of his head. Sasame arched his eyebrows questioningly. It was rather unusual to see his friend, Hayate dropping by to visit him in the FM Awayuki station.
Sasame sighed. "Relax Hayate. He was only kidding. Give the poor guy a break would you?" He said lightly. "And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about our oath as Knights. Falling in love would be the unthinkable." His voice sounded bitter and edgy which Hayate didn't seem to notice.
Hayate's face looked deeply troubled. "No, that's not it. My mind's on something else." He turned his gaze away from Sasame and stared into the window.
"Princess of Disaster?" Sasame guessed. He was beginning to loosen up, grateful for the small talk rather than remembering his painful past.
"I don't like this," Hayate muttered. "How long can we keep up with all these pretences, Sasame? This is just another mindless game of hers." He slammed his hand on Sasame's desk in frustration.
"I understand your concern, Hayate. But we're all doing our best as we can to help Himeno to do her job as the Prétear. Have faith in her and she needs us more than ever." Sasame stated simply.
"Humph. I see! Talking behind my back now are we?" Himeno said jokingly, pretending to be angry and insulted as she came inside. She smiled warmly at Sasame but gave Hayate a nasty glare.
"Tuliphead." Hayate mocked her. "What brings you here? Skipping class as usual?" He crossed his arms, leaning against the wall.
"FYI, I was in Volleyball practice." She informed him. "And I made into the team. TADA!!" She proudly showed off her school team uniform. "The reason that I came here it's because I want to take you all out for lunch to celebrate if you're not that busy."
"Hmmm… I think I can manage to squeeze that in my schedule today." Sasame said thoughtfully, "Sure, how about you Hayate?" He asked.
Hayate shrugged his shoulder indifferently. "Sure, whatever."
"Great." Himeno smiled happily. "I'll stop by later on and I'm sure Sasame has other things to do." She playfully shoved Hayate out of the studio indicating for them to leave Sasame to his work. Once outside, they started bickering like children.
Sasame shook his head in disbelief. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a Sailor V manga on the floor. "Hmm… This must be Himeno. She must have dropped it by accident." He leaned over and grabbed the small booklet. Curiously, he scanned through the pages and started reading…
--Part 3 ends/to be continued--
A lot of future chapters will be divided between Sasame and Mina. I thought it'd be nice to get character's inputs/thoughts as the story progress (I hope). Pls. update your fics btw, VOL-chan. J You haven't given up have you? Please