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Verse Three
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In just a few minutes, Kahoko will be celebrating New Year with her family. It was not fair that only her mother and sister were busy preparing their meals for the transition of the year, but she did have a good excuse to not help out.
She had a minor fever that morning and her mother, like most caring parent, ordered her to take it easy. Even though her sister thought it was unjust of Kahoko to be bed ridden so early in the morning, she complied with her mother's wishes and kept a close watch on her younger sister.
"Don't stay out there for too long, Kaho," her sister reminded her, "You have not fully recovered yet."
"Okay," she answered.
Kahoko was out on her balcony, staring at the city lights and a few fireworks from beyond. The coldness of the climate was to blame for her brief illness. She spun around to follow her sister's order but had jumped back in shock to find her standing on the balcony door with arms crossed.
"What?"
"You snuck out a few days ago," she mused, smirking at her little sister, "Didn't you?"
"How did you—"
"Oh c'mon," she exasperated, leaving her spot and leaning on the railings of the balcony, "All these years, do you not expect me to be so familiar with the creak that loose board under your doormat makes?"
"Well, if you must know," Kahoko started, shuffling her feet, "I made peace."
"Peace?" her sister repeated, "Are you some kind of secret diplomat?"
"No, silly" she laughed, "It's complicated."
"Ehh?"
"What now?" frowning at how interested her sister had become.
"My own little sister," reaching out to pinch Kahoko's cheeks, "Is now using the infamous 'it's complicated' phrase to describe her troubled love life. When did this happen?"
"Not that long," Kahoko said, removing her sister's hands on her face and rubbing the part where she held her flesh in a teasing manner, "And I don't have a love life."
"If you say so," she mocked then pulled away from the railings and made her way out the room, "Better get changed. You know how mum wants us to look our best during New Year's Eve."
She merely nodded and left the balcony. Sitting in front of her vanity table, her eyes unintentionally wandered over to the pink phone perched next to the tissue box. Her eyes softened as the memory of her sneaking out paid her a visit.
The call took place almost around midnight and she quickly answered to her caller. It was Len and he sounded like he was in a hurry. He wanted to meet with her, the very night before his departure. So, she agreed and snuck out like her sister had heard. They met at the park where he once told her about his fatal encounter with a fellow violin student a few years ago when he was but ten years old and where he played music for her with the help of a leaf.
Upon arriving, she saw him sitting on one of the swings. His eyes looked restless but he managed to stagger forward and give her one of his rare smiles. As he held her hands, she saw that he was trembling and so with his words. He apologized for his rudeness at the concert and had begged to be forgiven. Kahoko immediately forgave him and asked to be forgiven in return for being impolite herself. Len casually shook his head and said to forget about it.
For a few minutes they stood holding hands and gazing at each other. It was comforting to both that they were able to fix things without escalating into another miscommunication.
Len then admitted that she was absolutely right about him and his devotion to music but wanted to clarify that he was very much in love with her. If it wasn't for her, he would not have learned how to open his heart to people. She smiled at how much he had changed.
If he had just enough guts back then, he could have chosen to cancel his transfer and continue with Seiso. He would resume teaching her and graduate alongside her and more importantly formally court her putting an end to all her other admirers. Regret filled his eyes and his quivering worsened.
Kahoko wasn't going to let him blame himself for everything. She took part in this for being too transparent and too careless with her actions. To steady him by, she gave his hands a reassuring squeeze which, thankfully, had brought him back to his composed self.
He wanted her to at least wait for his return and then perhaps they could rekindle everything from there. But she argued and suggested that they should leave it all to the all-knowing unprecedented force. If they were really meant to be then both their waiting would pay off and everything that has hindered them in the past would be disregarded entirely. After careful consideration, he agreed.
And so, before they parted, Len held her in his arms as tight as he could. Time felt meaningless and reality was but a distant memory. How he wished for the heavens to make time stop for them, but that would be too much.
"Tsukimori-kun," Kahoko whispered, getting up and walking over to her drawer.
She opened and saw the white handkerchief neatly folded on top of her clothes. Of all people who would hear and see her cry, why does it have to be Akihiko? But his parting words did made sense.
Yes, they were perfectly even.
Kahoko wanted to cast away those unfortunate encounters. Wish granted, the knock on the door brought her back to her senses. She has no clear picture of how the coming year would treat her but she hoped that everything would be better. More laughter and less tears, she added. It was simple, she knew, but those were her only wishes. She clicked off her desk lamp and had proceeded to join her sister and mother for the long awaited countdown to start.
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