Disclaimer: All characters, titles, franchises, etc. are solely copyrighted 1999-2004 to companies such as but is not limited to Toei, TV Asahi, BANDAI, etc. unless stated otherwise. I am not affiliated with any of the companies noted above, nor do I have contact with them. This is solely created for fan enjoyment.


Chained to a Letter
Part 4: Honesty and Hazuki


All week Kotake had suffered from countless experiences with Doremi's troublesome friends. That whole thing started when Asuka visited him, and Segawa only made the letter a hindrance. Senoo nearly blasted his ear off with her reckless singing. Oh, woe was he. But he figured this is the punishment he deserved from forgetting his notes at school.

Blast. All because of those stupid notes, he had to go through this.

A few times Segawa had called him, giving him more tips on making the first move, and at school, Asuka, who sat near him, would have an impish smirk pasted on her face whenever he walked by her. Even Senoo, who had nearly beat him up for hurting one of her friends, had become super-friendly to him for the past week.

This was starting to make him paranoid.

One day, when Kotake was cleaning his room (yes, his parents did force him), he came upon the letter again. In frustration he was about to split it in miniscule pieces with his bare hands when the doorbell rang.

With a scowl he marched down the stairs and pulled the door open. There stood the innocent Fujiwara Hazuki, with a gentle smile beamed onto her pale face.

"Good afternoon, Kotake-kun," she greeted cheerfully.

Oh, joy. Another one of Doremi's groupies. She was probably the last person he wanted to see right now, but just because she was Doremi's best friend didn't mean he could be mean to her. Fujiwara was way past different than the other girls — she was more quiet, sweet, and passive.

Still. She had yet to find out about the letter and bug him about it. Sure, Kotake knew that the girl was kind, but Hazuki got interested in something, she would not hesitate to stop. Kotake still felt nervous about the time she had peeked at him while he was in the midst of discarding his clothes at a man's bathhouse.

He still had to be polite. "Oh, hey, Fujiwara. What brings you here?"

"Well,"Fujiwara started, pondering on what she had to say. "Onpu-chan called you on her cell phone a few times, but she wouldn't tell me why. Momo-chan and Ai-chan were acting sort of weird as well. I was wondering if you had anything to do with this because I overheard them talking about you."

Kotake's insides lurched. "Um... may I ask what they said?"

Fujiwara nodded. "Sure. They were saying something about Kotake-kun with a letter, and that you kept hanging up on Onpu-chan. I know it was greatly wrong of me to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help it. Please forgive me." She swept an elegant bow so deep that her auburn ponytail nearly brushed the pavement.

"It's okay," Kotake heard himself say, whereas in his mind he groaned, It's definitely NOT okay.

"Is there something going on between with you guys?" asked Fujiwara timidly. "Did they blackmail you?"

Kotake was about to reply with no... but in a way, they did without taking a miserable photograph of him. Speaking of photos, it reminded him of that stupid photo of him and Doremi! What was he thinking? He blushed, feeling the wave of heat flurrying onto his face, but he turned his nose up in the air with, "Please. Why would they blackmail me?"

Fujiwara pushed up her glasses in response. "I remember... that they did throw the topic of Doremi-chan into the conversation as well. I don't know what's going on, but it's fine if you won't tell me. If they're bothering you too much, I can help you."

His jaw immediately dropped. Hearing this nearly made Kotake scream out in joy and he felt that he could hug Fujiwara. His problems were solved! No more "friendly" punches from Senoo; no more phone calls from Segawa; no more sly glances from Asuka. Kotake swallowed, supressing his excitement. He opened his mouth and calmly said, "You can? T-that's wonderful, Fujiwara!"

Fujiwara blushed in embarrassment. "I'm pleased to help, Kotake-kun. I'll be on your side if things get rough."

Kotake almost laughed. "Thank you, Fujiwara! I cannot owe you enough! You certainly made my week better after those three girls tried to make me write a love letter to Dojimi after finding out my mad love for her —"

He stopped. He had let too much information pass, and he could feel his face scorching into a scarlet color.

Fujiwara's glasses glazed with the well-known gleam. Uh-oh, that meant trouble for Kotake. "D-d-did you say love letter?" she asked cautiously, leaning closer to him.

Kotake looked away. "No! I meant... um..." He suddenly remembered the ball of paper in his hands from cleaning his room and quickly hid it behind his back.

The girl shyly blushed and giggled. "May I see the said letter?"

"You can't."

Fujiwara's face fell. "Why not?"

"I, er, threw it away," lied Kotake, avoiding Fujiwara's crestfallen stare.

He sensed that she could tell that he lied, but she didn't persist. Instead of pressing, she replied, "That's a shame. I think if you feel that way about Doremi-chan, you should be honest and tell her straightforward. It would mean more to her than just a He likes you! from your friends."

He grumbled. "Whoever said that I liked her?"

Fujiwara smiled sheepishly. "It was a sense of intuition that told me. You also said so yourself. I think you should show me the letter. I definitely won't show Doremi-chan. It's up to you to make that decision."

Kotake jammed the wad into his back pocket. "No freaking way! Like I will let you see this stupid paper ball!"

"But I thought you threw it away," reminded Fujiwara, displaying a sneaky grin on her face, yet showing apology for tricking the soccer player like that.

Tricked and cornered like a mouse.

Kotake reminded himself to be much more careful to smart girls.

"Here," murmured Kotake, surrending the paper ball to Hazuki.

"Oh, you don't have to if you're not —"

"Shut up and just get on with it!" Kotake heard himself say. "You already know about it. Like it makes any difference!"

It was too late to back out. Kotake had to give him a slap on the forehead for that.

Fujiwara uncrinkled the ball and slowly recognized the handwriting scrawled on the surface of the paper. She read the words over and over again, then neatly folding it into halves.

"I think that's very sweet, Kotake-kun," she started. "In my opinion, you need to be honest. Don't be so flattering like Momoko or too dramatic like Onpu-chan. Just a plain and honest confession will do."

She drew out a pen from a desk nearby and started writing slowly. Gradually, after a few seconds, she put the pen down. "See? You don't need to make it complicated. Just memories of the past and —"

"Dude, I'm not in school right now," said Kotake. "This isn't an essay!"

Fujiwara held up a hand. "But —"

The boy shot Fujiwara an awkward glare. "Don't you have your own boyfriend to attend to?"

It was the orange girl's turn to become slightly red with embarassment. "Who do you... what... um... Masaru-kun and I aren't..."

Kotake took this advantage to push Fujiwara out of his house. She tumbled out of the door with a, "Whoop!"

The navy boy stuck his head out through the door and called, "I think I hear your dear boyfriend calling. Goodbye!"

The door slammed between them.


Dearest Doremi,

You remind me of a tulip I saw at the garden in the park before Kimura accidentally trampled over it. Its petals are really pretty, and the color of it looks like the same shade of your hair and your eyes.

Your name is just exquisite. Harukaze Doremi; just perfect for you. Your soft personality is as gentle as the spring breeze, and your voice is as musical as your name. All the spring beauties envy you whenever you stand in their presence.

Doremi-chan, you don't know how much you mean to me. How can I go on without telling the person I deeply care for about how I really feel? I'm surprised that I haven't shattered like a mirror yet. Every night and day I suffer from the pain of being pushed away from the warmth of your kindness. My true feelings towards you are too deep to fathom. I can't survive without you. Please accept my love for you or else I'll die.

Through the times that we've had, all the times that I've been bad were for the sake of you. This proves that I love you true.

Even though I don't show it, I guess it's true to say that I care. As they say, "You tease the ones you love." I may pick on you because of your hairstyle, but deep down I don't really think you're as horrible as I say you are.