Thank you very much to those people who supported this fiction. Regarding alcyone15's comment, yes, I will continue this fiction. I just hoped that all of you will be willing enough to wait for the updates though. Anyway, a million thanks again to Twelve Winterflowers for basically everything!

SEVEN WISHES

"My tears, my voice, this broken beat

In hopes for a song that's incomplete."

Chapter Two | BROKEN STRINGS

Let me hold you for the last time

It's the last chance to feel again…

They say that relationships can be likened to a song, where the piece itself is the hidden tale of the songwriter; of the person that made it from the experiences he had. Each story, each song is entirely unique and different from the other—from the techniques used to the tune that coated it, whether it is of happiness, of anger or of pure bitterness and regret.

It could sometimes start with a verse, an intro of a love that was either meant to last forever or not. Or it could be like some which would directly jump to the chorus, to the repeating melody of happiness or sadness. The chorus—the one that held the important details. The theme. The over-all message the composition wanted to convey.

Then, there would be the bridge. Something that would connect the beginning to its possible ending. An ending that is repeatedly sung until it completely fades, or one that would end immediately after one last note.

When finished, it would result to a track that some would come to relate and love and replay all over again.

Or it could become a noise that everybody wished to ignore, but simply can't.

When I love you, it's so untrue

I can't even convince myself

For Natsume, girls were just there to entertain men —men like him, who have to face the troubles of earning a living. That was what he thought, what he believed in until she came and showed him a new perspective of the world. Someone like her—a nerd, an innocent, a virgin —had taught him things he never knew, things he would never know, until a nobody like her showed up.

How they came to be was far from what everyone had expected.

It was like a song that had a broken beat; a random tune that soon blended into a once beautiful harmony.

-7WISHES-

It was back in those high school days, when he and his gang were the kings of their school. They were the law. They were feared by guys and chased down by girls. And it was one of those usual mornings, during lunch, when they'd do nothing but stroll around the campus, looking for decent prey. Then, all of a sudden, BAM!

Natsume had collided with a girl so hideous he hadn't learned of her existence until now.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the girl apologized, bending down to retrieve the books that fell from her grasp.

Natsume looked up, hoping to see her face, but his vision of her was blocked by the towering books between them. He laughed instead, while his friends snickered around him. Then, he stood up. He didn't even know her, only that she was a brunette. But his hands had crawled boldly to her waist. His sudden touch made her flinch, but he paid no heed to it. He didn't even bother helping her, blinded by the sole focus of winning her out.

"If you were that desperate, all you have to do is ask. Anyway, my friends and I are going out tonight. Want to come, Polkadots? I could give you anything you want, you know," he said seductively as he leaned into her.

He thought that she was like the other girls, that she would drop the books and throw herself at him. But he thought wrong.

In a matter of seconds, the world had witnessed a feat only she had the power to pull off.

Natsume's left cheek was slapped… by the Biology book she had just picked up from the ground.

"Pervert!" She hissed at him before she stormed out.

Natsume was left speechless. His cheek was starting to sting, but he still did not move from where he stood.

"God… that was priceless. She got you back there, didn't she, Natsume?" he heard one of his friends mock as the others continued to laugh hard. Natsume ignored them. His gaze focused on the back features of the girl who just left him like an idiot. You'll soon get your chance, Polkadots, he said to himself.

But the event that soon transpired was the very thing he did not plan.

He fell for her. Unexpectedly. Coincidentally. Accidentally.

He did.

It tears me up

I tried to hold on but it hurts so much

"Natsume," a girl's voice called, pulling him out of his reverie. "…anything wrong?"

He gave her no answer. Natsume realized he had spaced out long enough. He turned to her and gave her a smile. An unsure one. Insincere. And then he led her to a place he reserved for just the two of them.

It was that place, that same room of the same bar for all the girls whom he dated and had sex with –the dumping spot. The noise. The alcohol. It had become a good sanctuary for him and his confused self somehow. A good place to drink and drown himself to nothingness after he broke another person's heart, which was never his intention. But he had no choice.

Natsume called for a waitress after he had settled himself. He ordered three bottles of beer.

"Hey, Natsume!" he heard a familiar voice call. Natsume turned around to see a blond lad with deep blue eyes, his best friend, coming towards him.

"Ruka," he acknowledged. "It's been a long time. What are you doing here?"

"Uh… Nothing, actually. I just met with a few friends a while back," Ruka replied.

"I see… So, how's Italy?"

"Fine, I guess," Ruka answered with a smile as he carefully studied his friend… before his gaze travelled to the company he hadn't notice until now.

"Who's this girl?" Natsume ignored the question. Instead, he diverted the topic and invited Ruka to come sit for a while as they talked about things they had longed to talk about. For the blond lad, it was more on curiosity as to what happened to his friend's life.

"I actually didn't expect to still see you here in Japan, Natsume," he began, earning a chuckle from his friend, who had just finished a bottle. "I thought you're already somewhere in America. You know. With Mikan," he continued before he grabbed a beer and emptied it halfway. He eyed the girl who constantly gave him dirty looks. But Ruka just smiled, before he completely ignored it. Then, he drank and faced his friend… only to see him quite distracted.

"Hey, Natsume?" he asked again as he waved his hand in front. But Natsume wasn't listening anymore. Ruka sighed. "Is this about Mikan? Did she finally dump you?" He then chuckled at the possible irony. "Well, I wouldn't be surprised about it."

"We are still together, Ruka," Natsume vaguely murmured. Ruka scoffed as he took another sip. He turned towards the girl who looked undoubtedly confused.

"Yeah right, like I'd believe you."

As Ruka put the bottle down, he was shocked to see Natsume completely spaced-out. "Hey? Natsume? Bro!"

But Ruka's calls had already died down to distant echoes for Natsume—nothing but soft whispers slowly carried away by a raging wind; something that his mind had intentionally blocked. His thoughts centered into thinking and remembering the familiarity of a name he had heard countless of times a long time ago.

Mikan.

Who was she again? Ah yes… It was her –the girl that once captivated and changed him. Unknowingly. It was her –the girl whom he considered his sole and soul mate. Whom he had shared his joys and sorrows with. Someone whom he had loved.

Had.

And upon hearing her name mentioned right now, Natsume was no longer quite sure what emotion he should show. Must he be happy? Now why would he be again? Because it was the girl's name that he should be thankful for. Guilty? For what? For being with another girl in a bar. Or simply emotionless? For he had already forgotten what the name Mikan had once meant to him.

Or had he really?

You can't play on broken strings

You can't feel anything that your heart don't want to feel

"NATSUME HYUUGA!" Ruka slammed a bottle on the table. It surprised both the inattentive lad and the nearby crowd. Natsume turned absent-mindedly to him. "Finally! I've been calling you for the hundredth time already! What the hell happened to you?"

Natsume did not answer.

"Natsume? Baby?" Baby? Remarkably, that one word had caught his attention. Baby. He turned beside him to see the woman who just called him that. His red eyes instantly met forest green ones. And a face with a faked expression. Wait! Who was this girl? And who gave her the right to call him baby?

His mind was so confused that he didn't even know what he was doing. Ruka wasn't helping at all. Then, he just said it. "We're through." Without any sort of emotion. He just broke her heart. Without saying as much as a 'sorry' or even a 'thank you for putting up with me through the night'. It was simply done in a manner that clearly said he doesn't care. After that, he just stood up and left. The girl remained rooted to her seat, speechless. The girl whose name he didn't even bother to remember.

The truth hurts and lies worse

How can I give anymore?

"Hey, Natsume!" Ruka called.

"Stop following me, Ruka."

"No. Hey, bro! Is this about Mikan?" Natsume stopped dead on his tracks.

"No," he replied. "It has nothing to do with her."

"You know you can't run away from your feelings forever, Natsume." Natsume remain silenced.

"If it has nothing to do with her, then why are you so affected when I mentioned her name? You love her, Natsume. Why do you keep on denying—?"

"Would you just stop it, Ruka?"

"Yeah? And why? You'd tell me another of your I-don't-love-her speech? You know what Natsume? I'm sick of your stubbornness. If you really don't love her, you would've dumped her a long time ago like the other girls. But you didn't. Why?" Natsume didn't reply.

"If you keep on denying her, Natsume, then you're might as well denying to yourself."

Ruka sighed. There was no point in explaining everything to a grown man. And as he looked at his best friend, he knew that an overnight talk would still be an insufficient approach to change his opinions. And changing him completely would be another difficult thing. Difficult, but not impossible—Mikan had already done that. Before.

"Anyway, before I forget. Here." Ruka hesitantly neared his friend before he gave him a letter, which Natsume instantly hid inside his pocket.

"I'll read it later," Natsume said before he walked further away. Ruka only watched him retreat. Natsume. He muttered before he finally left the bar, still unsure if it was the right thing to do.

The moment he saw Ruka leave, Natsume snickered. Who does he think he is? Dr. Phil? He spat as he heavily breathed out, desperately trying to release the war that raged within him. "You alright, sir?" He heard the bartender ask. He turned towards his direction with an emotionless façade. He closed his eyes and slowly opened them again, his mind in the process of clearing the clutters that began to fog his reasonable thinking.

Then, he moved towards the counter. He picked up a stool and sat on it.

"Give me spirits, would you?" Natsume demanded.

"Sir, are you sure—"

"Just mind your own business!" And the poor bartender was left with no choice but to retrieve the drinks. He took a bottle from the shelves and he was about to get a glass.

"Give me the bottle," Natsume insisted. Without a choice, the man obliged.

Once the bottle was within his grasp, Natsume swiftly took it and drank everything down. He did not even care whether he'll sooner or later collapse on the floor for being drunk. He did not. Or tried not to.

Ruka…

That stupid bastard! Natsume cussed. If you keep on denying her, then you're might as well denying to yourself. He tch-ed. He turned towards the bartender and told him to get another. He doesn't know anything. Natsume tried to convince himself, playing with the empty bottle in hand. He doesn't… His mind repeated, pushing the thought of a very possible does. After all, what are the odds that he was wrong?

Then, he remembered… the way she'd look at him. Her expression. Hoping. Yearning. Simply waiting. The way her slender arms would hesitantly extend to touch his face to feel the warmth that he had shared with her before. Even those simplest gestures would leave him petrified. Like he had forgotten what to do and how to react. Especially after those tears would fall like melancholic raindrops.

Those tears she'd shed for him. He couldn't deny it, those quizzical feelings that suddenly rushed over him like a stream. It made him feel shame. It made him feel regretful. And then, it made him feel… nothing. In a snap, everything vanished. Even after all the struggles of trying to remember that feeling over and over again, in the end, there was only nothing. Like the last beat of a dying man's heart. Like music that stopped automatically after one last strum of the guitar.

The song… ended.

Oh we're running to the fire when there's nothing left to save

It's like chasing the very last train when we both know it's too late

Too late

Chapter Two ends | TO BE CONTINUED

To those who are curious...

The statement written in the cover: I only wished to be with you... forever.

Thank you for reading! Please review.