Hello, I am back with chapter 3. A shorter chapter but faster update compared to the previous time, hehe. Although I am quite sad that this fic is not getting attention as much as I hope, but I am trying to give the best for those who have reviewed/faved/alerted. Thank you so much :)

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Chapter 3 : The Burden of A Promise

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It was past dinner the next day when I excused myself to take a walk. "I need to get fresh air." I tried to explain to my parents as I put on my coat.

Hikari looked at me questioningly, as it was a ridiculus idea to get out now because the day had turned dark, but I quickly dismissed her off. I just needed to clear my mind a little bit.

My little wandering brought me to the park near my home. The park was empty and dimly lit, somehow a little perfect for me to clear my head off. Sitting on one of the rusty swing, I slowly realized that it was the park I had met Daisuke for the first time.

"You may think that It's some kind of joke but even now, after seven years, my feeling for you hasn't changed. I do like you."

No matter how much effort I put to shake off the memory of that night, Daisuke's voice still echoed inside my head. Somehow it was startling how he faced his feeling thoroughly head on, without any trace of doubt or fear.

And in retrospect, it was also startling how cowardly I had acted towards all of this.

"Taichi!"

Having been lost in thoughts, I nearly tumbled forward as someone suddenly shoved my back. I whipped my head to see a woman with short orange hair grinning widely at me.

"Sora!" I exclaimed and spread my arms to invite her in an embrace, which she took it gleefully.

Like Yamato, Takenouchi Sora was one of my first childhood friends in this town. When she was younger, she used to be quite a tomboy, even playing for a female football team at the school. Sometimes she argued with her mother, who was the teacher of flower-arranging class, who had always demanded her to be a little more of the feminine side. But now she had grown into a fine woman, and a quite beautiful one at that. She had been dating my best friends Yama for years now.

"How are you doing? I heard from Yama that you came back here, but are you really that busy to drop us a visit?" Sora teased as I released her.

"Uh," I laughed nervously, scratching the back of my head. I really have to stop doing that. "It's not like that, it's just there are…things that keep me occupied. Besides, Yama said he's busy preparing his next tour, so.."

"I see." She simply commented as she sat on the swing beside me. "You look troubled, Tai."

I turned my head to raise an eyebrow at her, which she replied by rolling her eyes. "Do you really need to ask how I guessed that? Come on, Tai, I've known you better than you give me credits for."

My chest warmed at her words. It was nice that even after my leave seven years ago, I still had friends who knew me so well.

"Right, I guess that's what you call growing up together." I commented and Sora nodded at that.

"So, everything's alright?"

I hesitated for a moment before replying, "..Yeah."

"Mmhm, right." She said disbelievingly. Unsurprisingly, she saw through my lie. I always wondered why women are really good at that. I could never lie straight to Hikari and my mother too. I guess it was a special trait given to women, the ability to read a man like an open book."Care to share, Tai? I promise I won't tell, I am like, the best secret keeper in the world!"

That actually made me laugh. So she still remembered that phrase. When we had been younger, I had always said that to cheer her up when she was upset, especially when she argued with her mother again. I was one of her most trusted fellows and she was one of mine.

"It's nothing, really." I shrugged and gripped the chains of the swing hard. A familiar ache began to seize my chest whenever I thought of Daisuke. "It's just that there is a certain person I care about so much, but it seems the more we see each other, it'll create bigger gap of misunderstanding and so..I just..I don't have any idea how to act."

"Mmhm…" Sora hummed softly and turned her head forward. With a gentle kick, she began to swing. "Ah, I remember. You've always been like that, Tai."

"Like what?"

"You always put the others' feelings first, sometimes too much that you even forget about your own too. I always think that Taichi is too kind." Sora said as she continued swinging. "Sometimes, when we care deeply about someone, we held ourselves back because we are afraid of hurting them. Although I am not saying that it's a bad thing, Taichi, but sometimes, it's our own acts of kindness that hurt the most."

"I am…afraid of hurting them?" I asked dumbly repeating her words.

Sora looked at me with a knowing smile, "Are you not?"

Daisuke, despite of his cheerful persona and stubborn demeanor, in my eyes he was just a fragile and delicate person. I had learned this through firsthand experience. I was not to mess with his feelings or his health. Perhaps I was afraid to love him back because separation will be inevitable for us. He was someone who could slip away from my grasp at anytime without notice, leaving me behind with emptiness I could never fill.

"I don't know." I said finally, "Maybe it's me who's afraid of getting hurt."

"Taichi…you've never been in a serious relationship before, right?" Sora suddenly asked and I felt embarrassment crept up to my face.

"W-what does that have to do with anything?" I stumbled upon my own words and looked away, embarrassed.

Sora was right, I had never liked anyone seriously before. Crushes here and there, but it never stayed long enough to turn into a real relationship. So perhaps this was why Daisuke stood out as a peculiar experience to me.

"Aw, I was right. Really, Taichi, you're a doctor, you have quite a look, you treat women finely, and it beats me why you're still single up until now." Sora sighed in exasperation although I did trace amusement in her voice. "There's an old saying, it goes like this, 'You're not ready to love until you're ready to get hurt'. Just look at me and Yama, I won't deny that there were times when things were difficult and we barely pulled it together, but surely, there were also times when better stuffs happened that we're glad to have each other."

So, Taichi, if you're really that afraid of getting hurt, that is fine to be that way. And even if you're afraid of getting her hurt, that is fine too, but, has it ever occured to you that perhaps she's been waiting for you, too?"

"That is.." I casted my eyes downward and thought about the seven excruciating years where I couldn't get Daisuke out of my head while he had been always waiting for me. I had him waiting fot me for far too long.

I got up and reached out my hand to Sora to help her get up. "Thanks Sora. You're a great help."

"Sure, anytime Taichi." Sora smiled and took my hand. I offered to accompany her go home since it was late, which she gladly took.

"Oh, anyway," Sora suddenly said as she opened the door to her house, "make sure to introduce her to us, and the others too. I am curious as to who this lucky girl might be."

I grinned back."Sure, I'd like to introduce him to you all."

Stiffling a laugh at Sora's aghast expression, I bid farewell to her and take my leave.

With certain resolve in my head, I believed that it was time to make things right.

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On the next day, Daisuke was surprised at seeing me waiting for him after his football practice.

"Yo." I called him and waved my hand. He must've not noticed my nervousness because he easily called me back.

"Taichi-senpai!" He jogged after me with a boy with navy hair following close behind. "What are you doing here?"

"Mmm, is waiting for you a good reason enough?"

"Ha, you bet." Daisuke dismissed my teasing and laughed before he suddenly turned around, dragging the boy who was with him towards me. "So, meet Ken-kun here, senpai. He's like, my best friend since middle school."

"Pleased to meet you. I am Taichi Yagami." I offered a hand which Ken eagerly took.

"Oh, no, the pleasure is mine, Taichi-san. My name is Ichijouji Ken. I am truly grateful for your help back then." Ken replied politely, indicating the incident when Daisuke had collapsed during the previous match. He turned to Daisuke, "So, I'll see you later, Dai?"

Daisuke looked a bit unsure and he directed his gaze towards me. When I nodded as an affirmation, he replied to Ken, "Yeah, I'm sorry Ken. I'll catch you later."

Ken smiled good-naturedly and waved his hands at us as he took his leave.

"He's a good kid." I commented as I watch Ken's back disappear into the crowd.

"'Good'? Nah, he's incredible. He's the top student at school, has good look, and good at sports too. He's the best person you can ask for a friend!" Daisuke exclaimed. Hearing that, I remembered that when I first met Daisuke, he'd been home-schooled so he hadn't had many friends.

"Hmm, right. I am glad for you, then." I said ruffling his hair briefly before starting to walk. Daisuke quickly took his place beside me, following me without any question.

We walked around the town aimlessly. Sometimes we chatted lazily with each other, but most of the time was filled with silence. It seemed that both of us were content with each other's presence.

The day had gotten dark before I realized it and we took a rest in the fountain in the town park. I treated Daisuke into an ice cream. He got vanilla while I had myself chocolate. We just sat there enjoying the treat and watching the busy crowd.

"This is like a date, you know." Daisuke said suddenly and I, almost choked by my own spit, snapped my head at him.

"Like hell it is." I grumbled as I threw the cone of the ice cream at the nearby trash bin. Somehow I got this weird habit of not eating the cone of an ice cream while my other friends would happily do it.

Daisuke laughed, and somehow I sensed a bitter annoyance in it, even if it was faint.

"God, you're cruel, Taichi." I noted how he suddenly dropped the "-senpai" on my name, or how his mood had suddenly changed, or how his throwing of the remaining cone had missed by a few inches. "It feels like, you brought my hopes high to heaven when you decided to see me, and then you'll drop me down back to earth without mercy. Give this dying kid a break, will ya?"

Guilt suddenly washed over me. I didn't mean that, really. But when Daisuke suddenly stood up, and seeing only his back towards me, it felt like my hands froze in mid-air when I attempted to reach him.

Did I hurt him again?

My heart was sent into panicking as Daisuke began walking away and I was nearly tripped myself down when I scrambled to reach him. His hand felt cold and clammy in my hand and the fear of hurting him seized my chest again, making it hard to breathe.

"Where are you going?" I breathed out, wishing my voice hadn't trembled as much as it did.

"It's late. I am heading back home." Daisuke said quietly, before slowly adding, "But there is a place I want to go first."

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It turned out that the place Daisuke had wanted to go was the streamside beside the football field, our secret place seven years ago. I tried to be quiet even though the hammering in my chest wouldn't quit. Through the trip, I didn't let go of Daisuke's hand even for a second.

I was afraid that he could suddenly disappear again and this time, I won't be able to reach him.

We carefully threaded our way between the rocks and the weeds, and finally we found a place level enough to sit down. We sat there in silence, watching the sunset and listening the sound of rushing water below.

"Do you remember this place, Taichi?"

"How could I forget?" I replied as I tried to look at Daisuke's face. He was staring at his feet so intently that I couldn't even read what was in his mind at all. "Dai, look, I am—"

Daisuke held a hand to me as to stop my words before reaching for his messenger back and tore a paper from his notebook. With a trained hand, he carefully folded the paper into a paperboat. I watched him doing it with pressing silence and unease feeling I couldn't shake off.

Daisuke began untying his shoelaces and a second later he was immersed on the shallow water barefooted. The water was shallow enough it barely reached his knees. Daisuke actually had to speak his words loud enough so I could hear him from this distance. "Do you still remember what your wish was, Taichi?"

"I remember. My wish was to pass the entrance exam." I replied and braved myself to say the next. "And your wish….was for my wish to come true."

"Ah, right." He commented lightly. "Several days after you suddenly disappeared, I went back here again, with hundreds of paperboats. It seemed that Ihad it mixed up with the papercranes thing, it was quite silly now that I think about it-" Daisuke gave a bitter laugh, "and my wish…was for you to return back. I wanted to see you again."

I watched Daisuke's back against the sunset, noticing how small and fragile he truly was, as he knelt and placed down the paperboat in his hand onto the water surface.

"Now, what would you wish for, Taichi?"

For me, there was only one answer to that question but somehow I felt that it was not to be spoken. Also, it seemed like Daisuke disn't need me to speak it aloud for him so I held dear to the wish I have engraved to my heart.

He went back and sat beside me, hugging his knees together. We watched the sun went down at the distance, the sky was a mixture of red and golden.

"Lately, I have been thinking…about, how would it be if I had met you earlier. If I had been born the same age with you, and just had had a normal heart." Daisuke suddenly said. When I turned his head to look at him, he wasn't looking at me.

"It must be nice, growing up with you. Always be with you." He continued in a quieter voice as if they were thoughts not meant to be known to the rest of the world.

I reached out a hand to pull him closer to me, and to my relief, Daisuke didn't try to resist. I leaned forward and placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth, but I didn't advance further because I knew that this moment was too precious and fragile to be broken.

"Stay with me. I won't leave you again." I said, as I rested my head on the junction between his neck and shoulder. Daisuke's heartbeat was loud and irregular, despite his even breathing. His ill heart, I thought, was the time-bomb that would surely tear us apart at some point of time.

My heart ached so much like it never had before. It was the first time that the probability of losing someone so important sat so heavy in my chest. Perhaps Sora was right, I was afraid to face my own feelings because I was afraid both getting hurt and hurting Daisuke. But I don't want to lose him, and for now, perhaps it was the only true truth that mattered.

"So, please don't leave. Don't disappear from my life. Please, I am begging you, Dai."

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Looking back on that day, through it all, Daisuke hadn't uttered a single word. Perhaps I understand a little about him not saying anything rather than trying to lie or give out empty promises. Perhaps it was because both of us know the weight of words, thus the burden of a promise.

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Oh, and before I forget, the papercrane I was reffering to is the Japanese cultural legend that when you have a wish, you create a thousand (1000) papercranes and hung it on the ceiling (or so I believe). Please do look for other reference, because I don't know much about it either.

Thank you for reading, please do tell what you think about this fic. English is not my native language so I would be grateful if you'd point out where I did wrong so I could learn from it.

Thank you again :)