Broken Fragments

Chapter 11: A Heavenly Sensation

Hiroto slowly opened his eyes as he felt a breeze coming from the balcony behind him. When he turned around after stretching his arms, he found Yuuhi standing outside the balcony, appreciating the summer breeze that blew by. The sunlight bathed her fair skin and beautiful auburn hair while the birds flew by with their wonderful songs. Hiroto was wonderstruck, his eyes and mouth wide open in awe, as he looked at the goddess-like girl that stood in front of him as the curtains danced with the wind.

"Hiroto, good morning," Yuuhi smiled, turning around to find Hiroto staring at her.

"Oh! Yeah, good morning," Hiroto shook his head to wake him from his heaven-like daydream.

Yuuhi walked back in, still wobbling. She was feeling better, but she wasn't well enough. Before she could fall to the ground, Hiroto was able to catch her with his strong arms.

"You still have a slight fever, Yuuhi," Hiroto said as he felt Yuuhi's warmth by putting his forehead on hers.

Yuuhi felt her heart beat faster, making her blush and feel nervous. She and Hiroto's face were so close that she could feel his warm, minty breath.

"I-I'm fine. We have to go to work. I'm debuting soon, right? Hiroto-san?" Yuuhi awkwardly smiled as she walked away from him.

Hiroto recalled that he was now the soon-to-debut idol's manager. Her debut date, which was a three days after he arrived, was cancelled because they still couldn't find her a manager, but since he volunteered, her debut date was changed to five days after he became her manager. It's been two days, so Yuuhi only had three days to rehearse. She already got the song she'd perform and was able to practice the dance, so she should be set, but it wasn't that easy. Yuuhi still had to work with the fashion designers of her company and the stage manager for her debut concert. It was hectic, but Hiroto had faith in both of them.

The two got ready and ate breakfast at Yuuhi's house. After preparing the stuff they needed to bring, they got ready to leave the house.

"Wait, Yuuhi," Hiroto interrupted, stopping Yuuhi from taking another step out of her apartment.

"Take your medicine. We wouldn't want you passing out anywhere today, do we?" Hiroto gently smiled.

Yuuhi's face flushed with anxiety and nervousness, seeing a smile Hiroto had never showed her.

"Wh-what is he doing? Why is he being like this?" Yuuhi thought, taking the medicine.

"Let's go," Hiroto said, putting a hand on Yuuhi's back to guide her.

She looked to the side, seeing Hiroto walk beside her. She gulped down, still nervous. When they reached Hiroto's car, he opened the door for her and put the seatbelt on for her, too. As he reached for the seatbelt, Yuuhi smelled his aromatic cologne that smelled fresh and sophisticated. Yuuhi was feeling stranger and stranger, not knowing what was happening to her. She was trembling, not because of fear, but because of uneasiness. Hiroto sat in the driver's seat and started the car. The drove out of the parking lot and out to the city in silence. Yuuhi kept her eyes out the window, but would take small peeks to look at Hiroto. He looked like he was in a really good mood because he had a gentle smile on his face and his eyes were shimmering.

"Wh-what happened?" Yuuhi said after she gathered her courage to break the silence.

"What do you mean?" Hiroto asked, confused.

"You're smiling while you're driving. Th-that's unusual."

"Really? Have I been frowning the whole time?"

"Yes? You were always frowning especially when you're with me."

"What do you mean?" Hiroto jokingly smiled.

Yuuhi was tired of the unusual things she was seeing. Hiroto was talking to her in a relaxed way and he had a smile on his face that he'd never shown her before for his smiles for her were always awkward.

"Stop it!" Yuuhi yelled, her hands clenched on her lap.

Her timing was just right for the car stopped for a red light even though she didn't mean for the car to stop.

"You're acting strange! Is it because I saved Kirika yesterday? The only reason why I did that is because I had to! If she were to get injured, Kumoi-san would've killed me. Don't think we can get along just because of what happened yesterday!"

"So, I guess we're never getting along, huh?" Hiroto painfully smiled with a hint of sadness and disappointment in his eyes.

When Yuuhi saw this, she felt something sharp that pierced her heart. She didn't know why she was feeling this way and she didn't know what was causing it. Panicking, she clicked the seatbelt's button to release herself before the traffic light turned green.

"I'm leaving," she said, opening Hiroto's door.

Hiroto didn't stop her, knowing that if he tried, she would still leave. He looked at the stirring wheel and didn't watch Yuuhi walk away. When the light turned green, he had no choice but to push the pedal and get the car moving. After he passed by Yuuhi, he looked at his rear-view mirror and saw her sad and angry face. Hiroto was surprised to see a small trace of sadness in her face, but then again, he had seen something alike before in her eyes.

Minutes later, he arrived at the company building and was greeted by everyone. He smiled to mask away what happened earlier and just walked to his office, a room that he got from the Chairman yesterday. After Hiroto took Yuuhi to her apartment, he returned to the company building to return Kirika. He told her parents everything that happened, their expressions changing from a smile, to a shock, and then to a relieved smile. Before Hiroto left to go back to take care of Yuuhi, the Chairman gave him his personal office. It wasn't a really big office like the Chairman's, but it was good enough for Hiroto. After reminiscing about what happened yesterday, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," he said.

It was Kumoi-san with Kirika.

"I brought some of your stuff like you said," Kumoi-san said as she placed the small box on his desk.

"Oh, thank you, Kumoi-san. Sorry for the trouble," Hiroto replied as he looked at the contents in the box.

"I'll help you unpack. Kirika, sit at the couch over there," Kumoi-san pointed at the dark-blue couch on the right.

Kirika followed her mother's order like a good girl and sat there with her doll. Hiroto smiled as he watched her skip to the couch. Indeed, Kirika was a cute, adorable child that could brighten anyone's day.

Kumoi-san and Hiroto took out the contents of the box, putting some books on the shelf on the left, some of his papers in the drawer of his desk, and some frames on the wall. When Hiroto looked back inside the box, the only thing left was a framed picture that was facing down. He lifted it out of the box and looked at whose picture was framed.

It was the last picture Hiroto took of Kirari. The picture was taken on her last day when she wore her white sundress when they went to the beach. Hiroto remembered how he took the picture that he was going to keep forever.

"The breeze feels so good, doesn't it, Hiroto-kun?" Kirari smiled as the breeze passed by while the sun bathed both of them.

Hiroto took out his camera and took pictures of the beach, the seagulls, the sand, and the cotton-like clouds. When he saw Kirari dozing off as she looked out to the sea, he decided to take a few snapshots. Kirari looked at him while she tucked some of her hair behind her ears, making her look flirty, but Hiroto missed the opportunity to take the picture.

"Are you taking pictures of me?" Kirari said, playfully in shock.

"Yeah. You look beautiful in your white dress. Is that the sundress I gave you for your birthday before you left?"

"Yeah. Surprisingly, it still fits me."

The two laughed, remembering how small and petit Kirari was before she left for America. She shocked everybody in her return with her lady-like appearance that enticed everybody.

The two kept on walking along the sandy beach, the breeze still blowing. Hiroto held his camera and called for Kirari. When she turned around, she tucked some of her gorgeous dark-brown locks of hair behind her ear to keep it out of her face as the breeze blew by stronger. Finally, Hiroto was able to take her picture in her flirty pose, her smile so ever stunning.

"You really are a goddess," smiled Hiroto, looking at the picture he took.

Kirari hugged him tightly and they kept on walking, their fingers interlocked with each other's.

Hiroto kept his tears to himself, knowing that he must stay strong for everyone's sake. He didn't want anybody to worry about him because that was something Kirari would do. With a tender smile on his face, he placed the framed picture on his desk in a position where he could always see it while his guests also could. He sat down on his desk to check on its position while his smile grew bigger as he realized the perfection of the framed picture's position. Kumoi-san smiled too, seeing the picture from where she was.

"I'll head out now. I still have to confirm the order for your computer that would be brought here. We'll see you later, okay? Come, Kirika. Say bye to Hiro-nii-chan," Kumoi-san smiled.

"Bye, bye Hiro-nii-chan," Kirika said with her tiny voice.

Hiroto waved goodbye as they closed the door behind them. He let out a big sigh as he leaned back on his chair. Slowly, his eyelids closed, sending him to sleep.

"Wh-what's going on?" he thought, feeling a sensation on his lips a few hours later.

"It's warm…and soft."

Hiroto partially opened his eyes, seeing a small image of what was in front of him. He could see closed eyes and long lashes. Suddenly, the eyes started opening and he could see cyan eyes that looked really familiar. He finally realized that the sensation he was feeling on his lips was a heavenly kiss.

"Who are you?" Hiroto thought, falling back asleep.