Love Worth Fighting For
By Indigo Siren
Disclaimer: Tekken is © to Namco. I am making no money from this fan fiction; it is just for fun. I however own all the characters that are not apart of the Tekken franchise. All rights reserved.
Chapter 5
The wind blew lightly, pressing gently against the heads of the vast field of flowers, making them sway in the same soft rhythm. Though, Miharu's bare legs broke this as she passed through the thick patches, looking around with confusion at the setting.
She was intrigued to find herself within this open field, made up of beautiful blue flowers that glimmered royally in the beaming sunlight. The soft blooming petals tickled against her legs as she passed them carefully. As the wind breathed against her, she unexpectedly smelled something sweet and aromatic and soon realised it was the potent flowers releasing their perfume into the hot air. Miharu closed her eyes to take in the fragrance. Never in her life had she smelled anything so beautiful.
She suddenly stopped when she heard the sound of running water close by and she began looking around for the source. It was getting louder and louder, though she was not moving in any direction at all and she began to spin around frantically in her search. The sound of the water was suddenly deafening, but not only that, she could hear harsh whispers that snapped at her in a language she didn't understand.
She covered her ears, flinching, as the sun seemed to blaze with a tormenting white light. The surroundings glowed with such a blinding radiance, she thought her eyes might burn out of their sockets.
She jumped as a shimmering form appeared in front of her. The sound stopped abruptly, as if it had been sucked from the universe. Nothing could be heard at all.
She blinked, looking clueless to this shimmering thing in front of her. It was like a thick oily liquid that flowed in the distorted shape of a human. It seemed to be looking at her, even though no eyes could be seen. It made her shudder as she could feel an iciness prickle over her skin, raising Goosebumps on her arms. She jumped, turning to see more of them form around her, sensing her in some way, finding intrigue with her being.
She gulped, hearing their whispers pass between each other. She couldn't understand what they were saying, but the words passing were becoming harsh, and she suddenly felt fear creep up her spine.
They began to close in around her in tight unison. She gasped, looking for a way of escape. What were these things and what did they want from her?
One to her right hissed and its liquid form shot at her. She screamed and ducked down, feeling its slick fluid form flow over her head. Seeing an opportunity of escape, she dived for the opening, getting back to her feet and putting all her energy into running as fast as she could.
Her breath was practically caught in her throat as she ran, hearing them give chase to her, moving through the field like raging rivers, swamping the flowers as they went. They were closing on her fast and she knew she couldn't run forever.
She looked back to see they were right behind her and she squeaked, turning and colliding with someone. She fell back with a cry of shock and quickly looked up to whom she had run into. She was surprised to see it was a beautiful young, Japanese woman, with fairly long raven hair, held back by a white headband. She was dressed in a long, white, flowing summer gown; the thin material rustled against the wind, licking at Miharu's face with such a feathery touch, it made her quiver. Looking up at the face of the women, her eyes were welcoming orbs, soft and assuring.
The woman looked away from Miharu and up to the liquid creatures, which were ready to crash down over Miharu.
"STOP!" The single word held so much power; Miharu felt her whole body jolt with a sudden burst of invisible electricity coming from this woman. It surged through her and then up into the sky high above, making it glow a brilliant white. And like magic, the pernicious liquid beings suddenly froze up like ice statues. Seconds later, they shattered in an explosion of light, raining soft droplets of cool water over both of them.
Miharu looked up through those raindrops at the woman, who knelt down to her, touching Miharu's face with a warm hand. Miharu couldn't help but recognise something in the woman that she hadn't noticed before. She reminded her of someone. Those eyes…
"You should be careful," she said to Miharu, whom was startled by the sweet, angelic voice. "You have to be ready for the dangers, whatever form they come in."
"Dangers? What do you mean?" Miharu asked.
"You'll know, soon enough," and the soft hand left her face, with the woman standing, turning to walk away.
Miharu watched her glide through the flowers with such unearthly perfection. The flowers seemed to part for her as she moved, making it seem more of an illusion.
Miharu jumped up, and began to run after her. "Hey! Wait! I don't understand!"
The woman didn't turn, but kept walking as the land around them began to glow a blinding white once again.
"WAIT!" She shouted once again, reaching out, just as the world around her flashed and she was met by darkness.
Miharu jumped, looking around quickly, realising she was sat now, hand reaching out into the darkness of her bedroom. She sighed and flopped back down on her bed, shuddering at the dampness of her nightshirt. She'd been sweating buckets.
'What did she mean about dangers in different forms?' She thought while stifling a yawn. 'It's got to mean something…'
She rolled onto her side, pulling the pillow against her face, closing her eyes.
'Who was she anyway?' Her minded whispered in wonderment as she began to drift back to sleep.
***
Konoha straightened his tie before knocking on the door of his boss's office. He waited patiently for permission to enter.
"Come!" Konoha jumped when hearing the loud, deep voice. He managed to keep the folder under his arm from slipping as he shuddered slightly, reaching for the handle of the door, opening it and stepping into the plush decorated room.
The black leather seat behind the main desk was turned towards the large paned windows, overlooking the Tokyo streets below. The occupier of the seat was indeed infatuated within momentary silence, as he watched the little worker ants scurry far below.
Konoha approached the centralised burgundy desk, licking dry lips, wondering whether or not to address his boss or wait for him to grant the permission to speak. With this man, nobody truly knew how anyone stood with him. Konoha found himself biting his lip, silence taking him as he glanced from the beautifully framed landscape pictures on the wall to the front of the desk, where a little plaque sat, adorned with gold writing, reading, 'G-Corporation CEO Kazuya Mishima.'
The seat turned in a flash making the man in front of the desk involuntarily step back in fear. Kazuya turned somewhat amused eyes on his associate, but they were unseen behind the dark frames of his sunglasses. The chair let out a high pitched squeak as the older man shifted position on the finely upholstered leather.
"What do you have for me, Konoha?" Kazuya asked as he rested back in the chair, with his hands pressed under his chin.
Konoha stumbled on his words, trying to remember through the sudden strike of fear why he was there in the first place. He remembered and pulled the folder from under his arm and produced it in front of his boss.
"You wanted me to find out more information about the girl in the café, sir," he said, putting the folder on the desk, pushing it forward, letting Kazuya take pick up the fairly heavy folder of extensive pages. "The girl in question is Miharu Hirano, an eighteen year old student from the Mishima High School. She lives with her father, Shinka Hirano, a business financier. Her mother, Jasumin Hirano died two years ago. From what we found from asking some of the Mishima High School students, that Miss Hirano has fair connections with Heihachi Mishima's estate, as she is a friend of fellow tournament member, Ling Xiaoyu, who lives at the Mishima residence. Nobody knows really why she entered the tournament, she never said. From information we got through the school files, it said one point she was listed for special needs and was tutored in her last year at junior high. You maybe interested to know that one of the students told us her tutor was none other than your son, Jin Kazama."
Kazuya looked up from the long passages of writing in the folder, pretty much reading off in what Konoha had just recited but with a few more statistics on the pages, which displayed that of irrelevant exam scores and school reports. Konoha had really taken him seriously when asking him to find out as much as he could about this girl.
Kazuya set the folder down on the desk. "Is there any other connections between this, Miharu Hirano and my son?"
"We asked a few of the students discreetly if Miharu and Jin had any further connections beyond tutoring. Most said that Miharu didn't like him and was reluctantly letting Jin tutor her, and they had nothing really to do with each other. But some said that they had seemed to build some kind friendship, but it may have been more than that. They were all pretty unsure about them."
Kazuya chuckled. "Somehow I don't think she was really THAT reluctant, the way she called his name when mistaking me for him back in that café."
"Yes, I suppose so," Konoha said, clearing his throat. "You'll find the information we got on her is quite extensive."
"I'm sure it will come to good use." Kazuya reached into a small pocket within the front of the folder and retrieved a small photo of Miharu, taken from the school's personal file.
'Such an innocent face,' Kazuya thought, letting his thumb trail over the small printed Miharu. He smiled to himself and looked up at Konoha. "Excellent work. You've seemingly got me some useful information. You are excused now."
"Thank you, sir," Konoha said as he bowed, stepping towards the door, which opened for him as Miss Safaia stepped in with a tray of coffee. She smiled at the departing man and headed towards the desk.
Kazuya was still staring at the picture of Miharu as Miss Safaia set the tray down on his desk and picked up a cup and saucer, putting it down in front if her boss. She began pouring the hot coffee into the cup, but not before stealing a glance at the picture in his hand and smiling insidiously.
"If you don't mind me saying, sir, she's a bit young to be your girlfriend," she said, the smile never leaving her face.
He turned slowly to look at her sharply, making her smile wider. She picked up the sugar cube pot and presented it in front of him. "One lump or two?"
***
Miharu's head snapped up as the bell rang signally the end of school. She rubbed her tired eyes, covering up a yawn that threatened to escape her lips. The teacher prattled on about revision notes, which she half listened to as she packed her things away, making her way from the classroom as they were dismissed.
Recently, she'd been having a few restless nights; monsters that seemed intent on seeing her destroyed, invaded her dreams nearly every night. But they never got the chance, because the mysterious woman in white would appear and make them disappear, always giving her the same message.
"You have to be ready for the dangers, whatever form they come in."
'What the heck does she mean?' Miharu thought, wincing as she stepped out into the sunlight, rubbing her eyes once again.
Whispers picked up around her and she noticed that people's eyes followed her until she looked their way and they quickly turned, still making undertone comments. Miharu was baffled. It had started this morning with people whispering about her and watching her with somewhat intrigued eyes. She was curious to find out what was being said.
Rubi caught her up, having not seen her all day. "Miharu, I'm so glad I've caught you. I need to talk to you."
Miharu frowned. "Why?"
Rubi looked about, then back to her. "Come on, let's go somewhere a little more private."
Miharu silently agreed and followed Rubi back inside the school, following her down the winding corridors, right down to the far end of the institute where the gym halls were. Rubi pushed open the double doors into the locker rooms and hung a right to the girl's ones. Miharu entered and took a seat on the opposing bench to the doorway, head back on one of the steel doors of the dressing room lockers.
"So, what you want to talk about?" Miharu asked.
"You maybe wondering why everyone seems interested in you all of a sudden," Rubi said as she took a seat next to her friend.
"Sure, I guess," Miharu said, looking down at her feet.
"Well, yesterday after school, just after you'd gone, these men in suits started going around some of the departing students and asking questions. They were all about you… and some about you and Jin Kazama."
Miharu's eyes widened and she suddenly sat forward. "Me and Jin!"
Rubi nodded. "Yeah, they were asking whether you and him had had a special relationship, but people knew nothing. It does raise a lot of questions…"
Miharu's head hung low and she bit her lip. This is not what she wanted to happen at all. Nobody was supposed to get suspicious. Who were those suited men anyway?
"Miharu?" Rubi snapped Miharu back from thought. "Honestly, what was your relationship with Jin?"
Miharu just stared at her, lips pressed tightly together as a fearful chill crept up her spine. After so long, could she actually tell someone that she had been dating him? Everything was laid out on the table against her. Could she deny the truth after two years of keeping the secret?
She stood up slowly and began to pace the locker room. "Rubi… look, what I tell you now, mustn't leave this room. And you have to swear not to tell anybody, and I mean, not even the others."
"Okay," Rubi said with a slight nod. "I promise."
Miharu looked into her eyes for a few moments, seeing the truth within them. She sighed, turning her back as she spoke. "I hated him at first. I think everyone pretty much knew what I thought of him, and left it at that. Then he became my tutor and things changed…" She turned, finding the courage to meet Rubi's eyes. "… We found out we had so much in common and we ended up… falling in love with each other, and… we became lovers."
There was a heavy silence as Rubi sat there, mouth a gape. Miharu shifted uncomfortably, waiting for Rubi to speak.
It wasn't long before the girl found the words. "How long?"
"Well, nearly two months, then he disappeared," Miharu said softly, looking down.
"So, Hari was practically right when she thought something was going on between you," Rubi said and Miharu reluctantly nodded. "Wow, that's… really surprising news. I would have never guessed. You know, since Jin was such a recluse and all. Nobody truly knew him."
"That's right, nobody did…" Miharu sat down again. "… And I started to find out… and then…"
All the memories of pain began to flood back to her and she closed her eyes as the tears began to stream down her cheeks.
"And then he disappeared and left me all alone. I felt abandoned after all the love I gave…" Miharu's voice shook with pain and she hunched over slightly, overwhelmed with the reopened wound in her heart. She missed him now more than ever, since he was around somewhere, she could feel it, and he wasn't even trying to contact her.
"I'm so sorry," Rubi murmured, putting an arm around Miharu in comfort.
"He promised to come back, Rubi. He promised me," she cried softly, desperately trying to wipe the tears away. "Damn it, I promised myself I wouldn't be emotional. Rubi, you're the only one I've told, and I've known Yumi, Mika and Xiaoyu longer. It means I put a lot of trust in you not to say anything to anyone unless I tell you to. Promise you won't tell; promise on your life you won't spread this around!"
"I promise on my life, Miharu. I will stay loyal to the promise," Rubi said, hand over her heart.
"Please keep this promise. I don't think I could handle another person breaking a promise to me," she whispered, head still low.
By Indigo Siren
Disclaimer: Tekken is © to Namco. I am making no money from this fan fiction; it is just for fun. I however own all the characters that are not apart of the Tekken franchise. All rights reserved.
Chapter 5
The wind blew lightly, pressing gently against the heads of the vast field of flowers, making them sway in the same soft rhythm. Though, Miharu's bare legs broke this as she passed through the thick patches, looking around with confusion at the setting.
She was intrigued to find herself within this open field, made up of beautiful blue flowers that glimmered royally in the beaming sunlight. The soft blooming petals tickled against her legs as she passed them carefully. As the wind breathed against her, she unexpectedly smelled something sweet and aromatic and soon realised it was the potent flowers releasing their perfume into the hot air. Miharu closed her eyes to take in the fragrance. Never in her life had she smelled anything so beautiful.
She suddenly stopped when she heard the sound of running water close by and she began looking around for the source. It was getting louder and louder, though she was not moving in any direction at all and she began to spin around frantically in her search. The sound of the water was suddenly deafening, but not only that, she could hear harsh whispers that snapped at her in a language she didn't understand.
She covered her ears, flinching, as the sun seemed to blaze with a tormenting white light. The surroundings glowed with such a blinding radiance, she thought her eyes might burn out of their sockets.
She jumped as a shimmering form appeared in front of her. The sound stopped abruptly, as if it had been sucked from the universe. Nothing could be heard at all.
She blinked, looking clueless to this shimmering thing in front of her. It was like a thick oily liquid that flowed in the distorted shape of a human. It seemed to be looking at her, even though no eyes could be seen. It made her shudder as she could feel an iciness prickle over her skin, raising Goosebumps on her arms. She jumped, turning to see more of them form around her, sensing her in some way, finding intrigue with her being.
She gulped, hearing their whispers pass between each other. She couldn't understand what they were saying, but the words passing were becoming harsh, and she suddenly felt fear creep up her spine.
They began to close in around her in tight unison. She gasped, looking for a way of escape. What were these things and what did they want from her?
One to her right hissed and its liquid form shot at her. She screamed and ducked down, feeling its slick fluid form flow over her head. Seeing an opportunity of escape, she dived for the opening, getting back to her feet and putting all her energy into running as fast as she could.
Her breath was practically caught in her throat as she ran, hearing them give chase to her, moving through the field like raging rivers, swamping the flowers as they went. They were closing on her fast and she knew she couldn't run forever.
She looked back to see they were right behind her and she squeaked, turning and colliding with someone. She fell back with a cry of shock and quickly looked up to whom she had run into. She was surprised to see it was a beautiful young, Japanese woman, with fairly long raven hair, held back by a white headband. She was dressed in a long, white, flowing summer gown; the thin material rustled against the wind, licking at Miharu's face with such a feathery touch, it made her quiver. Looking up at the face of the women, her eyes were welcoming orbs, soft and assuring.
The woman looked away from Miharu and up to the liquid creatures, which were ready to crash down over Miharu.
"STOP!" The single word held so much power; Miharu felt her whole body jolt with a sudden burst of invisible electricity coming from this woman. It surged through her and then up into the sky high above, making it glow a brilliant white. And like magic, the pernicious liquid beings suddenly froze up like ice statues. Seconds later, they shattered in an explosion of light, raining soft droplets of cool water over both of them.
Miharu looked up through those raindrops at the woman, who knelt down to her, touching Miharu's face with a warm hand. Miharu couldn't help but recognise something in the woman that she hadn't noticed before. She reminded her of someone. Those eyes…
"You should be careful," she said to Miharu, whom was startled by the sweet, angelic voice. "You have to be ready for the dangers, whatever form they come in."
"Dangers? What do you mean?" Miharu asked.
"You'll know, soon enough," and the soft hand left her face, with the woman standing, turning to walk away.
Miharu watched her glide through the flowers with such unearthly perfection. The flowers seemed to part for her as she moved, making it seem more of an illusion.
Miharu jumped up, and began to run after her. "Hey! Wait! I don't understand!"
The woman didn't turn, but kept walking as the land around them began to glow a blinding white once again.
"WAIT!" She shouted once again, reaching out, just as the world around her flashed and she was met by darkness.
Miharu jumped, looking around quickly, realising she was sat now, hand reaching out into the darkness of her bedroom. She sighed and flopped back down on her bed, shuddering at the dampness of her nightshirt. She'd been sweating buckets.
'What did she mean about dangers in different forms?' She thought while stifling a yawn. 'It's got to mean something…'
She rolled onto her side, pulling the pillow against her face, closing her eyes.
'Who was she anyway?' Her minded whispered in wonderment as she began to drift back to sleep.
***
Konoha straightened his tie before knocking on the door of his boss's office. He waited patiently for permission to enter.
"Come!" Konoha jumped when hearing the loud, deep voice. He managed to keep the folder under his arm from slipping as he shuddered slightly, reaching for the handle of the door, opening it and stepping into the plush decorated room.
The black leather seat behind the main desk was turned towards the large paned windows, overlooking the Tokyo streets below. The occupier of the seat was indeed infatuated within momentary silence, as he watched the little worker ants scurry far below.
Konoha approached the centralised burgundy desk, licking dry lips, wondering whether or not to address his boss or wait for him to grant the permission to speak. With this man, nobody truly knew how anyone stood with him. Konoha found himself biting his lip, silence taking him as he glanced from the beautifully framed landscape pictures on the wall to the front of the desk, where a little plaque sat, adorned with gold writing, reading, 'G-Corporation CEO Kazuya Mishima.'
The seat turned in a flash making the man in front of the desk involuntarily step back in fear. Kazuya turned somewhat amused eyes on his associate, but they were unseen behind the dark frames of his sunglasses. The chair let out a high pitched squeak as the older man shifted position on the finely upholstered leather.
"What do you have for me, Konoha?" Kazuya asked as he rested back in the chair, with his hands pressed under his chin.
Konoha stumbled on his words, trying to remember through the sudden strike of fear why he was there in the first place. He remembered and pulled the folder from under his arm and produced it in front of his boss.
"You wanted me to find out more information about the girl in the café, sir," he said, putting the folder on the desk, pushing it forward, letting Kazuya take pick up the fairly heavy folder of extensive pages. "The girl in question is Miharu Hirano, an eighteen year old student from the Mishima High School. She lives with her father, Shinka Hirano, a business financier. Her mother, Jasumin Hirano died two years ago. From what we found from asking some of the Mishima High School students, that Miss Hirano has fair connections with Heihachi Mishima's estate, as she is a friend of fellow tournament member, Ling Xiaoyu, who lives at the Mishima residence. Nobody knows really why she entered the tournament, she never said. From information we got through the school files, it said one point she was listed for special needs and was tutored in her last year at junior high. You maybe interested to know that one of the students told us her tutor was none other than your son, Jin Kazama."
Kazuya looked up from the long passages of writing in the folder, pretty much reading off in what Konoha had just recited but with a few more statistics on the pages, which displayed that of irrelevant exam scores and school reports. Konoha had really taken him seriously when asking him to find out as much as he could about this girl.
Kazuya set the folder down on the desk. "Is there any other connections between this, Miharu Hirano and my son?"
"We asked a few of the students discreetly if Miharu and Jin had any further connections beyond tutoring. Most said that Miharu didn't like him and was reluctantly letting Jin tutor her, and they had nothing really to do with each other. But some said that they had seemed to build some kind friendship, but it may have been more than that. They were all pretty unsure about them."
Kazuya chuckled. "Somehow I don't think she was really THAT reluctant, the way she called his name when mistaking me for him back in that café."
"Yes, I suppose so," Konoha said, clearing his throat. "You'll find the information we got on her is quite extensive."
"I'm sure it will come to good use." Kazuya reached into a small pocket within the front of the folder and retrieved a small photo of Miharu, taken from the school's personal file.
'Such an innocent face,' Kazuya thought, letting his thumb trail over the small printed Miharu. He smiled to himself and looked up at Konoha. "Excellent work. You've seemingly got me some useful information. You are excused now."
"Thank you, sir," Konoha said as he bowed, stepping towards the door, which opened for him as Miss Safaia stepped in with a tray of coffee. She smiled at the departing man and headed towards the desk.
Kazuya was still staring at the picture of Miharu as Miss Safaia set the tray down on his desk and picked up a cup and saucer, putting it down in front if her boss. She began pouring the hot coffee into the cup, but not before stealing a glance at the picture in his hand and smiling insidiously.
"If you don't mind me saying, sir, she's a bit young to be your girlfriend," she said, the smile never leaving her face.
He turned slowly to look at her sharply, making her smile wider. She picked up the sugar cube pot and presented it in front of him. "One lump or two?"
***
Miharu's head snapped up as the bell rang signally the end of school. She rubbed her tired eyes, covering up a yawn that threatened to escape her lips. The teacher prattled on about revision notes, which she half listened to as she packed her things away, making her way from the classroom as they were dismissed.
Recently, she'd been having a few restless nights; monsters that seemed intent on seeing her destroyed, invaded her dreams nearly every night. But they never got the chance, because the mysterious woman in white would appear and make them disappear, always giving her the same message.
"You have to be ready for the dangers, whatever form they come in."
'What the heck does she mean?' Miharu thought, wincing as she stepped out into the sunlight, rubbing her eyes once again.
Whispers picked up around her and she noticed that people's eyes followed her until she looked their way and they quickly turned, still making undertone comments. Miharu was baffled. It had started this morning with people whispering about her and watching her with somewhat intrigued eyes. She was curious to find out what was being said.
Rubi caught her up, having not seen her all day. "Miharu, I'm so glad I've caught you. I need to talk to you."
Miharu frowned. "Why?"
Rubi looked about, then back to her. "Come on, let's go somewhere a little more private."
Miharu silently agreed and followed Rubi back inside the school, following her down the winding corridors, right down to the far end of the institute where the gym halls were. Rubi pushed open the double doors into the locker rooms and hung a right to the girl's ones. Miharu entered and took a seat on the opposing bench to the doorway, head back on one of the steel doors of the dressing room lockers.
"So, what you want to talk about?" Miharu asked.
"You maybe wondering why everyone seems interested in you all of a sudden," Rubi said as she took a seat next to her friend.
"Sure, I guess," Miharu said, looking down at her feet.
"Well, yesterday after school, just after you'd gone, these men in suits started going around some of the departing students and asking questions. They were all about you… and some about you and Jin Kazama."
Miharu's eyes widened and she suddenly sat forward. "Me and Jin!"
Rubi nodded. "Yeah, they were asking whether you and him had had a special relationship, but people knew nothing. It does raise a lot of questions…"
Miharu's head hung low and she bit her lip. This is not what she wanted to happen at all. Nobody was supposed to get suspicious. Who were those suited men anyway?
"Miharu?" Rubi snapped Miharu back from thought. "Honestly, what was your relationship with Jin?"
Miharu just stared at her, lips pressed tightly together as a fearful chill crept up her spine. After so long, could she actually tell someone that she had been dating him? Everything was laid out on the table against her. Could she deny the truth after two years of keeping the secret?
She stood up slowly and began to pace the locker room. "Rubi… look, what I tell you now, mustn't leave this room. And you have to swear not to tell anybody, and I mean, not even the others."
"Okay," Rubi said with a slight nod. "I promise."
Miharu looked into her eyes for a few moments, seeing the truth within them. She sighed, turning her back as she spoke. "I hated him at first. I think everyone pretty much knew what I thought of him, and left it at that. Then he became my tutor and things changed…" She turned, finding the courage to meet Rubi's eyes. "… We found out we had so much in common and we ended up… falling in love with each other, and… we became lovers."
There was a heavy silence as Rubi sat there, mouth a gape. Miharu shifted uncomfortably, waiting for Rubi to speak.
It wasn't long before the girl found the words. "How long?"
"Well, nearly two months, then he disappeared," Miharu said softly, looking down.
"So, Hari was practically right when she thought something was going on between you," Rubi said and Miharu reluctantly nodded. "Wow, that's… really surprising news. I would have never guessed. You know, since Jin was such a recluse and all. Nobody truly knew him."
"That's right, nobody did…" Miharu sat down again. "… And I started to find out… and then…"
All the memories of pain began to flood back to her and she closed her eyes as the tears began to stream down her cheeks.
"And then he disappeared and left me all alone. I felt abandoned after all the love I gave…" Miharu's voice shook with pain and she hunched over slightly, overwhelmed with the reopened wound in her heart. She missed him now more than ever, since he was around somewhere, she could feel it, and he wasn't even trying to contact her.
"I'm so sorry," Rubi murmured, putting an arm around Miharu in comfort.
"He promised to come back, Rubi. He promised me," she cried softly, desperately trying to wipe the tears away. "Damn it, I promised myself I wouldn't be emotional. Rubi, you're the only one I've told, and I've known Yumi, Mika and Xiaoyu longer. It means I put a lot of trust in you not to say anything to anyone unless I tell you to. Promise you won't tell; promise on your life you won't spread this around!"
"I promise on my life, Miharu. I will stay loyal to the promise," Rubi said, hand over her heart.
"Please keep this promise. I don't think I could handle another person breaking a promise to me," she whispered, head still low.