Chapter 13
It's just another day in school and Miki was still having problems with Ginta. Yuu sighed and continued to stare at Miki from where he was sitting at his desk.
They were in class during break. Everybody was chatting except for Miki. She was just staring at the top of her desk with a troubled look on her face. Normally, Yuu wouldn't really talk too much with Miki in front of their classmates so that nobody suspected anything out of the ordinary. But seeing her just sitting there made Yuu just want to go over and ease whatever problems on her mind right then.
Suddenly, Miki got up from her desk and walked to the front of the class where Ginta was cleaning the blackboard. Miki called out to Ginta and stood very close to him to whisper something. Yuu tried not to let the sight of them standing so close to each other irritate him.
They appeared to be discussing about something but it's hard to tell with all the noise in the classroom and from where he was sitting. Miki wasn't looking at Ginta in the eye while she was talking. After a while, Ginta seemed to have agreed with something she said and gave a brief nod. Miki appeared relieved and immediately rushed out of the classroom.
Yuu didn't know what to make of all this. It appeared that whatever that was troubling Miki concerned Ginta. But it didn't seem as if things had been resolved between the two. They still weren't talking like usual. All of these uncertainties was getting on Yuu's nerves. If Miki was unable to settle her feelings for Ginta, how would Yuu expect to get anywhere with Miki's feelings for him?
Later, during the next few classes, Miki acted as if nothing happened. She responded like normal to the teachers and even chatted with her friends between classes.
Ginta on the other hand, also acted as if nothing happened. Everything appeared to be as usual except the fact that both of them were keeping their distance from each other. Ever since the tension between the two, Ginta would normally try to get to Miki to talk to her but this time it was different.
Finally, school ended. Yuu got up from his desk and walked to Miki's desk.
"Hey, Miki."
Miki looked up from her packing. "Huh?"
Miki looked a bit dazed. A trace of stress appeared briefly in her eyes. "Are you alright?" Yuu asked, wanting to touch her face and wipe away the unhappiness he can see in her eyes.
Miki blinked and smiled to cover her momentary display of vulnerability,"Yeah, I'm fine. Why, what's up? Are we ready to go home now?"
"Yeah, about that. You go on home without me, okay? I have to go for my part-time job right now. I'll be back home in time for dinner, okay?"
Miki got up with her school bag already packed, "That's right, you have a job. How do you keep up with all of your studies?" Miki frowned at him.
Yuu grinned,"Unlike you, I'm a smart guy. I can handle it,"Yuu teased. And to be expected, Miki glared at him for daring to mention that she was not as bright as he was.
"Hmph! One of these days, you won't have enough time for studies and we shall see who's the smart one. Don't say I didn't warn you!" with that, Miki marched out of class, leaving Yuu behind, grinning.
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It was in the later part of his afternoon shift when Yuu decided to go outside for a little bit of air.
Yuu stretched his arms wide and took a deep breath to clear his thoughts. Despite what Miki said earlier today, Yuu really could handle working part time. In fact, he found that working part time helped him to cut down on his stress, to take his mind off school for a while. Studies were reserved for at home. He didn't usually have much homework to do because he'd finish them in class as much as possible. Lessons were reviewed later at home to keep them fresh in his memories. If he was too tired to study after a hard day's work, he'd take a short nap first. All because of careful time management on his part, Yuu somehow managed to do well in his exams.
Yuu was about to turn and head back in, when he spotted Miki and Meiko walking by across the street. Miki appeared to be her almost energetic self again. Yuu decided to wave them over, "Hey, Miki! What are you getting excited over?"
Miki paused and turned towards where Yuu was calling from,"Yuu?" Miki and Meiko hurried over,"So this is where you work part-time in?"
Yuu made a show of setting the table,"Yeah. Feel free to come here anytime you want. I'd be glad to help with anything you need here," a sound coming from the back of the shop alerted him to his boss's presence.
"Hey, boss! We have customers!" Yuu called out. A short while later, his boss came out looking like a hippie in a leather jacket and sun shades.
"Hey, what cute looking girls we have here. Must be some of your girl fans, huh, Yuu?" his boss winked at Miki and Meiko.
"Hey! Quit it, boss!" Yuu cut in, feeling a little embarrassed. Miki was cute but he didn't appreciate his boss calling her one of his girl fans. He didn't want Miki to get the wrong idea of him. From the looks of it, Miki already looked miffed about it.
"Chill out, Yuu! Why don't you go get these ladies some coffee," his boss pushed him away to do his bidding.
"In the mean time, why don't you girls have a look around."
Yuu went to prepare the coffee. Yuu looked up once in a while to see how Miki was doing. She appeared to be pleased with the shop's merchandise. The shop Yuu was working at may not be big, but it had some tasteful looking clothes that would catch a young girl's fancy.
"Alright, coffee's ready!"
Miki and Meiko came over and took a sip of the coffee. "Hey, this is great coffee!" Miki beamed at Yuu. Yuu felt his heart flutter at the sight of Miki's pleased look trained on him.
"I thought Yuu how to make the coffee. Unfortunately, his coffee is better than mine now," Yuu's boss admitted grudgingly. Everybody laughed at this comment and they then continue to enjoy their coffee.
A sudden thought occured to Yuu at that moment and he had been meaning to ask Miki about it. Yuu supposed it was a good time as any to ask. "Hey, Miki, do you know anything about this medallion?" Yuu took out the medallion from his pocket and showed it to Miki. "Namura sensei gave it to me earlier today at school saying that every student in the school has one and it's been a tradition. I was wondering if you could explain it to me."
Miki looked at Yuu's medallion and confirmed,"That's right. Everybody in school has this. It's considered like a personalised good luck charm."
Yuu looked skeptical and thought that it was a little silly to have one.
Miki continued to elaborate,"Some say that if you put a photo of your loved one in the medallion, it is almost a sure thing that the person in the photo will love you back,"Miki sighed at the romantic thought. "Look, my medallion has a picture of my parents!" Miki showed it to everybody, beaming happily.
Yuu wondered if one day Miki would keep a picture of him in her medallion. But all of it still sounded too fantastic to be real,"It sounds too ridiculous to me. Would it really happen that way?"
Miki glared up at him,"It's possible! Why won't you believe it? Many people have exchanged their medallions during graduation and they found love just like how it would happen."
"Now, now. No need to get so worked up. I graduated from your school too, you know," Yuu's boss interrupted.
"Hey, that's right. Maybe my boss here can tell us the real story behind this medallion," Yuu turned to look at his boss.
"So, you want to know the real story, eh? Well, I don't know whether it's real or not, but I knew of a girl who once put a picture of the one she loved in the medallion and carried it with her wherever she went. But because she was too shy to reveal her feelings for the person, she never confessed her love to him. One day, the guy had to move away because of his parents' promotion. Knowing that she would never see him again, she decided to give her medallion to the guy she loved to let him know that someone cared for him. And then he left. She never forgot about him. And she even turned down a lot of guys who wanted to go out with her because she was still in love with the guy who left. Ten years later, while working as a tour guide in New York, a guy walked pass her and dropped something. She bent to pick it up and to her surprise, found out that it was the medallion that she gave to the guy a long time ago. For some reason, the guy kept the medallion after all these years. And after they bumped into each other, they fell in love." Yuu's boss fell silent after telling his tale.
Yuu thought that this was too fantastic a tale to believe as well and turned to ask what Miki thought. But seeing the look on Miki's face told Yuu all he needed to know. Miki had stars in her eyes and she was sighing.
"Oh, how romantic!"
Yuu's boss just gave a mysterious smile and walked to the back of the store to let them ponder over his tale. As he was passing by, he brushed aside a curtain hanging over a wall.
Yuu just shook his head. It can't be true. His boss just like to be over dramatic. He probably knows young girls like romantic stuff like this and exagerated the story a bit.
"Hey, guys! Look at this!" Miki called out, breaking Yuu's train of thought. Yuu walked over to where Miki was standing. Miki was looking at something the curtain had uncovered. It was a picture. Strange, he didn't know there was a picture behind this curtain before.
Yuu took a closer look and it turned out to be a picture of his boss and a woman. What caught Yuu's attention however was the fact that the picture was taken in New York city! Could it be? Could his boss actually be telling them a story of what happened in his life? Nah, it can't be true....
Yuu looked down at Miki beside him. Miki appeared to be thinking the same thing as he was and clearly believing it.
If this was true and the medallion did have some power to connect two people in love together, then maybe...
Yuu, gave himself a mental shake. It seems too far fetched.
Later that night back in his room, Yuu was still thinking about it. What if it's real? But what if it isn't, he'd feel like a fool for believing it. Yuu tried to concentrate on his homework but after a few seconds his thoughts were back on the medallion.
Yuu sat back, feeling frustrated. Fool! He was already feeling like one because he actually wanted to believe it. Taking a deep breath, Yuu opened his desk drawer and took out a photo of Miki he secretly kept. The angelic smile on her face in the picture lightened Yuu's heart. His thumb brushed over her lips in a gentle caress.
After a while, Yuu finally decided. Whether it was true or not, the medallion does allow a picture to be kept in it. So, basically there's no harm in putting her photo in it. Afraid that he would have second thoughts about what he was about to do, Yuu took out a pair of scissors and started cutting Miki's photo to fit into the medallion.
Once finished, Yuu cradled the medallion in his palm and looked into Miki's smiling face in it. Yuu felt better already and the feeling of foolishness slowly went away, leaving behind a sort of peaceful acceptance. He could almost feel the medallion's magic working on him already.
Nobody had to know he kept her photo in it except maybe Miki herself. All of a sudden his situation right now reminded Yuu of the woman his boss was telling them about earlier that day. Would Yuu ever reveal his feelings for Miki one day? And would Miki return those feelings just like his boss did for the woman, whom Yuu suspects is his wife now.
Maybe. Yuu tucked the medallion in his shirt pocket.
Maybe he and Miki would have their own happy ending one day because of this medallion.