Together Forever

Chapter 8

Coming Back Around

Things were starting to finally settle down with me. Meeting Umi-chan in the morning to walk to school together was a regular thing that I didn't even need to think about anymore. Classes were okay. Lunch was another thing that was second nature to us. We took our lunch underneath one of the trees in the courtyard of the school and enjoyed our time together. Something that really made me happy was that our conversations were becoming a lot less awkward. We were able to talk about whatever we wanted and we didn't have to worry. All I could think about was how amazing this girl was.

She literally took me in and made me want to live again. This still surprises me because as we hang out more and more, I notice that she only really talks to me. Other girls try to get a word in, but she just smiles and moves along. It may seem standoffish, but they all love her regardless; and I'm lucky enough to be with her all of the time.

With the school day over, we ready ourselves for another day of archery practice. Personally, I was kind of excited because I wanted to show Umi-chan that I was ready to improve. My first day wasn't all that great, but I knew there was no way that I could do worse than that.

Once everyone was ready, we let loose our arrows. Unfortunately, Umi-chan didn't get to do a lot of shooting since she was making sure that I was doing everything right. The thing was that her comments were a lot less recurrent. I shot multiple arrows with only a few corrections her and there. When the first round was over, we dropped our bows and retrieved our arrows.

"Kotori, you're already making great progress. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you. You know that I wouldn't have been able to do it without you."

"Don't worry about it. It's my job to make sure everyone in the archery club feels confident in their ability."

"Well, thank you."

"You're welcome."

When all of the arrows were retrieved, we went another round. This time, Umi decided to shoot some arrows. When this happened, I couldn't help but watch her. As I watched her, I almost thought I was dreaming. Everything about her form and style was simply breathtaking. Her posture was perfect, her form looked like something out of a movie, and her accuracy was way above any of the other girls. Once she was done, she turned back around to see how I was doing and that's when I realized that I hadn't shoot a single arrow. I quickly pulled one out and did my best to make it look like I was concentrating on the target… It didn't work.

"Halt!"

The field manager called for everyone to stop firing and my face just went red. My target was completely empty with my arrow bag completely full. I didn't know what to say. However, Umi surprised me yet again.

"I appreciate you watching me, but if you're gonna do that, you can just step out for a round."

"Haha, right… Sorry."

Once practice was over, we headed home like we usually did. Smiles were on our faces as things were finally becoming normal between us. I didn't have any worries anymore and it looked as though Umi was enjoying herself as well. Life was seeming to be perfect all of the way up until the unthinkable happened to me.

…

Another morning went by and I was walking to my classroom when my name was called out from behind. I didn't recognize it so I turned around and immediately got swamped by a girl I did not recognize. She buried her face in my chest and was crying hysterically.

"Um, what's wrong?"

"Tsubasa-chan broke up with me. Please comfort me."

I was speechless. The girl was clinging to me was the same girl that I nearly devoted my entire life to me. Of course, this made me completely mindless. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. I just stood there and let her tears soak my uniform. It wasn't until about a minute later when I finally thought of something to say.

"I don't…"

"I'm sorry." She interjected to promptly which forced me to stop talking. "What I did to you, what I said to you; I take it all back. I'm so sorry. Please just… Stay like this."

I was growing weak at the knees. I couldn't believe what was happening to me. My behavior led us to staying like that until the bell rang. When it rang, she asked if I could meet her on the roof during lunch. I was a little hesitant, but I eventually agreed to meeting with her. Unfortunately, that meant not being able to eat lunch with Umi-chan. A big part of me was saying I should let her know that I had plans. However, a small part of me was saying just to go with the flow of things. I grew weak and decided to go with the flow of things.

When lunch came around, I packed up my things and headed to roof. On the way there, I was actually afraid that this girl might not even be there. The circumstances were still a little weird and I wasn't really sure why all of this was happening to me. However, I was given a surprise. She was waiting for me on the roof. My entrance caught her attention, causing her to run at me and wrap her arms around me.

"So why are we meeting here? I'm confused." I had to be honest because I wanted to know what was really going on here.

"I was dumb. I was stupid. I rejected you horribly because I was so involved in the idea of love that I couldn't think straight. But now, I'm ready to take things seriously. You said that I was this special person to you. Well, I'm ready to be that special person. I'm ready to accept your feelings because I want to be with you. I want to get to know you."

My heart started beating out of my chest. I told myself to forget everything about this girl, but as she spoke the words to my face, I couldn't help but remember back to all of those lifetimes we shared together. The love and affection that we gave to each other; it was all coming back to me.

"So what do you say? Will accept my apologies and my request?"

…

When school ended, I quickly headed down to the lockers to see if I could meet up with Umi-chan. Thankfully, I did so I pulled her aside to tell her what happened.

"I missed you at lunch. What happened?"

"You're not going to believe what just happened. You know the girl that I told you about."

"You mean… The one that you've dated multiple times before."

"Yeah, her." I could tell the details were a little jumbled up for her, but she pretty much got the gist of it. "Well, she got dumped and now she said she's ready to accept my feelings. Isn't that great? What do you think?"

There was a long pause before she answered me.

"That's great. I'm so happy it managed to work out for you."

"Really? I'm so thankful you think that. Your opinion means a lot to me."

"So what are you gonna do now?"

"Well, her and I are gonna walk home together. I hope that's okay."

"Of course it's okay. I have things I need to do today anyway. Maybe another time, okay?"

"Alright."

"I hope you have fun."

And like that, our conversation ended. I don't know how this change of heart came about, but it felt so right. The girl I've loved for so long has finally come back to me. It was almost like a dream and I was pretty much living a dream. As we walked home, we immediately started catching up on everything that we've been through. She talked about all of the stuff that she liked and everything matched up with her previous lives. When it was my turn, I talked about all of the stuff that I've been through and she was really intrigued. However, I didn't tell her about those two incidents that I had. For some reason, I felt that I could talk about that with Umi-chan.

She was the first house that we came across. When we arrived, she gave me a big hug and said that we could walk back and forth from school every day if I wanted. Of course, I agreed to this since this would give us more time to spend with each other, and that's all I wanted. I wanted to be with this girl.

And now, she wants to be with me. How life has its ways.

End of Chapter 8