Broken Fragments

Chapter 35: The Right and Wrong

Hiroto rushed to Yuuhi and the unknown man that suddenly hugged her. Without thinking, Hiroto pulled the man away from Yuuhi and punched him, causing the man to fall to the ground on his back. Everyone's attention were drawn to the three of them because they were already having a commotion at an early time.

"She's not her! She's Yuuhi, alright!" Hiroto roared at the man, everyone stopping to see what was going on.

Yuuhi held onto Hiroto's arm to pull him away from the man and to prevent Hiroto from hurting him any longer. The man stayed on the ground, still trying to conceal his identity with his hoodie.

"Kazama-san. It's alright. I get that a lot, anyways," Yuuhi tried to calm Hiroto down, even though she was hurting inside.

Yuuhi turned Hiroto around to walk away from the man. However, the mysterious boy's persistency led to his pulling Yuuhi away from Hiroto and dragging her out of the building. The boy continued pulling Yuuhi away, causing some of the people in the building to panic. He pushed people out of the way in the streets and turned to the alleys. Hiroto followed him, but his energy has yet to be restored.

"Hey, you bastard! Come back here!" Hiroto yelled as he ran with all his strength to follow the boy and Yuuhi.

The people in the MEC building began to worry until the Chairman came down. He told them not to panic and not to call anybody until the situation is fully cleared by Hiroto, Yuuhi's manager, himself. Chairman Muranishi felt uneasy, but he knew that he should believe in Hiroto.

While the Chairman and his wife continued to keep the order in the MEC building, Yuuhi and the boy were still running with Hiroto just behind. It didn't take a long time, though, until Hiroto lost them after they made many turns to different alleys.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed in frustration, kicking a trash bin down.

Little did Hiroto know, however, was that Yuuhi and the man were only a few feet away from him, hiding. The man placed Yuuhi against him in the narrow alley and covered her mouth. They could still see Hiroto, kicking the trash everywhere in anger.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Just listen to me," the man whispered into Yuuhi's ear.

She was calm, her eyes cold and emotionless because somehow, she knew the man that quietly whispered into her ear without looking at his face or asking for his name. Her heart didn't beat fast, neither for nervousness nor for excitement. Instead, it beat silently, like the atmosphere around her and the mysterious boy.

As soon as Hiroto walked away from where he was, Yuuhi was dragged to the other side of the narrow alley and was finally let go. Normally, people would rejoice when they are no longer held like a hostage by some unknown person. However, with the person that Yuuhi was, she kept standing at the area where she was released, not turning around but hoping for an explanation.

"I didn't mistake you for her, you know," the man said, taking off his hood.

When the man started talking in a normal volume, Yuuhi knew that her hunch was right, though she didn't want it to be. Yuuhi didn't want to turn around to see him, but she was aware that at one point in time, she'll have to see him again.

"Turn around, Yuuhi," the man asked.

Her body didn't listen to her, but listened to the man instead. She turned around, despite her not wanting to, to look at the boy who carried her away. Though she felt a small bit of shock inside, Yuuhi's eyes remained cold and unwavering. The man's reflection clearly showed in Yuuhi's icy blue eyes, his facial expression happy and pained at the same time.

"Subaru."

Hiroto panicked as he kept looking for Yuuhi and the unknown man that took her away. He was calling her phone, which she had in her hand when they ran away, but she wasn't answering. Hiroto was getting more and more frustrated that he couldn't do anything.

"Why am I always so weak?" Hiroto kicked another trash can to release his anger.

"I can't even protect her from a dangerous fan," he told himself.

Hiroto already felt horrible that Yuuhi had to get treated unwantedly by her own boyfriend, all because Hiroto didn't stay with her for the movie festival. Now, he had to deal with a new problem of not being able to protect her again, even if it's just from a fan. He felt as if he was giving up, but a guilt in his mind surfaced after he thought about what he would've done in a different situation, or actually, a different person.

"If it was Kirari…would I have been better?" he thought to himself, making himself feel worse.

"Why didn't you tell me you'd become an idol?"

"I didn't have to."

"Why not?"

"We—no, you ended it a long time ago."

"No, I didn't."

Yuuhi was angered, but her demeanor was still calm and icy as always. Yuuhi and the boy named Subaru kept a good distance away from each other as they continued to talk, war being implied in the heavy atmosphere.

"It doesn't matter. I'm leaving," Yuuhi turned away from him to return to the other side of the alley where they were.

"Wait!" Subaru said, grabbing Yuuhi's wrist once again.

"Do you have feelings for him?"

Yuuhi didn't turn around or pull away from Subaru's grasp. She thought about his question and answered him honestly. However, before she could say her answer, Subaru interrupted her with his clarification.

"I'm talking about your manager…not Cloudy," Subaru cleared.

Yuuhi was quite taken aback because the answer she was going to say was meant for Cloudy. A little shaken, Yuuhi couldn't answer him and pulled away.

"You do, don't you?" Subaru stopped Yuuhi from walking any further away.

Yuuhi was quiet once again, thinking of what to reply to Subaru so that he'd stop bothering her. She knew her answer, but she couldn't accept it. Yuuhi couldn't accept her own feelings because she was afraid of getting hurt any more.

"I'm with Cloudy," Yuuhi answered after a few moments of silence.

She continued walking down the alley, leaving Subaru behind. Before she could reach the other side of the alley, Subaru yelled at her from behind.

"You won't get the right one unless you let go of the wrong one, Yuuhi," Subaru shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth.

Yuuhi reached the other side of the alley, the light completely different from the side where Subaru was. Before she could make her turn, Yuuhi thought about what Subaru had said.

"I'll probably never get the right one," Yuuhi quietly said to herself, looking down in pain as she clenched her fist.

"Since he can't let go of the previous one," she thought, walking.

Yuuhi returned to the building and told Chairman Muranishi that she was going to her jobs by herself. The Chairman was a little worried of what happened, but he wanted to give Yuuhi her space.

"I'll inform Hiroto-kun, okay?" he awkwardly smiled before Yuuhi walked out of his office.

She made her way to the rehearsals, photo shoots, and radio shows she had to go to all by herself. Yuuhi kept her meeting with Subaru in her head, but maintaining the fake smile and mask she had for the public.

In the middle of her first photo shoot, Yuuhi was given a time to rest and eat her lunch. Too stressed to eat, Yuuhi just walked to the vending machine by her dressing room to get herself a bottle of water.

She pressed the button on the machine after dropping coins into the slot. The bottled rolled down in a few seconds, making a loud thump as it dropped down from inside the machine. Yuuhi picked it up and walked back to her dressing room and sat in front of the mirror, not looking at herself. After gulping down one-fourth of the water in the bottle, she turned the cap and closed it.

"Is that why you let go, Subaru?" Yuuhi thought, remembering the picture she had at home and what happened to them back then.

"There's the transfer student," the girls from Yuuhi's school exclaimed as a boy with golden hair and gorgeous blue eyes walked down the hallway with his new friends.

It had already been a week since the new student came, but he was still the talk of the school. Even though the golden-haired transfer student started school only a week after everyone else did, he still became popular right away because of his looks. He explained to everyone that because his Japanese mother has European blood, he has natural golden hair and blue eyes, even though he was full Japanese.

Yuuhi didn't really pay much attention to the boy with golden hair since he sat next to her in class. Though everyone adored him for his blue eyes and foreign-colored hair, Yuuhi wasn't too impressed since she, too, had blue eyes. Plus, if she were to be seen by the girls in her class just taking a peek at him, she'd get bullied by them, especially when he was always trying to talk to her.

The boy always tried to make conversation with Yuuhi or just simply stare at her during class. He was definitely showing interest in Yuuhi, which was something the girls in her class disapproved. Without being told, Yuuhi kept ignoring him, always turning to the window when he's talking to her or when he's staring at her. It was already bad enough that she was getting bullied because she's adopted and that the teacher made the transfer student sit next to her. Yuuhi didn't want to cause anymore troubles to her classmates and herself if she were to try befriending him.

Days passed and summer vacation began for them. The blazing sun shone above everyone as they enjoyed their break in beaches, pools, or the countryside. Yuuhi, though, stayed at home to keep studying.

"Yuuhi-chan, why are you always studying? Why don't you go out with your friends?" Saeko's motherly smile was not aware that her daughter didn't have any friends in school.

"Oh…uhh...we don't know where to go, Mama. Trips to the beach are a little expensive for me and my friends," Yuuhi lied.

Since Yuuhi didn't tell the truth about her not having friends, her parents were still thinking that Yuuhi finally had friends. On Yuuhi's first week in third-year junior high school, she was already bullied by her classmates and even the teachers. Yuuhi felt guilty from the words that she heard from her teachers about her burdening her family because they moved a lot. Wanting to prove them wrong, Yuuhi lied and told her parents that they didn't have to move because she 'loved' her new school when in truth, she was getting hurt every day.

"Why don't you go to that new amusement park? They're having free admissions for this week since they just opened," Saeko suggested, picking up an empty plate where Yuuhi's snack was.

"Okay. I'll go today then," Yuuhi smiled, faking it.

Yuuhi wasn't excited to get ready, like always. This was going to be her first time not wearing her uniform to go to a place where her classmates might be.

After greeting her mom, Yuuhi left and walked aimlessly downtown. She knew that her classmates would be in the amusement park, so Yuuhi avoided any place near it and went to the shrine, instead.

When she reached the top of the shrine stairs, Yuuhi found someone familiar praying to the shrine's office. Though she wanted to correct him and show him the main hall where he's supposed to be praying, Yuuhi kept walking to avoid the boy that she saw. Yuuhi felt a little joy that she was able to pass him until one of the shrine priests stopped her in her tracks.

"Boy! You're praying to the wrong building. Come follow Yuuhi-chan over there," the priest called out to the golden-haired boy and pointed at Yuuhi, stopping her.

The boy's eyes lit up right away and he ran to Yuuhi with a smile on his face. Yuuhi, however,

"So your name's Yuuhi?" the boy asked with a hopeful smile that she would reply.

Still trying to avoid him, Yuuhi kept walking and trying to speed up her pace. The boy noticed it right away and did the same. Yuuhi looked as if she was jogging, but the boy seemed to just nonchalantly walk by her side. Yuuhi was contented with that since she didn't really have to stop to reply to him. However, all of a sudden, the tip of Yuuhi's shoe gets caught on the crack of the stone path, causing her to trip. It all happened too fast that the boy couldn't help and catch her.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked.

Yuuhi couldn't get up because she received a little pain from landing on her behind. The boy extended his hand out to her, offering help.

"I'm Subaru."

Having no choice, Yuuhi took his hand to slowly get up. She brushed the dirt off of her skirt and took all her hip-length, light brown hair to her back.

"Yuuhi."

Ever since then, Subaru would take Yuuhi home and had been coming to her house to pick her up. They'd go to the shrine because he wanted to learn more, or just walk around and sit on the swings in the park.

"Why do you not want to go anywhere, but the shrine? Why don't you want to go to the beach or the amusement park?" Subaru asked, lightly swinging by Yuuhi.

"I don't really have any friends…and a lot of girls hate me," Yuuhi replied without a care.

"Why?"

"Because I sit next to you," she straightforwardly replied, hiding from him that she was also getting bullied because she was adopted.

Subaru began to laugh out loud, making Yuuhi feel embarrassed. Even some of the birds by the tree were startled, that they flew away from the area.

"W-what's so funny?" she asked, her cheeks red.

"Japanese girls are so cute! They get jealous so easily! Heck, I'm not even dating any of them!" Subaru continued to hoot.

"Yes! We're like that. We get jealous easily. Got a problem with that?" Yuuhi crossed her arms, trying to act tough.

Subaru kept laughing, making Yuuhi feel offended, instead of embarrassed. Subaru noticed that she was starting to look upset, so did his best to stop and told her his side of the story.

"It's actually only my second time here in Japan. I've always been in America since my mom is an actress there. I've only been with American girls for most of my life, so I don't really know how Asian girls act," Subaru confessed, looking up at the sky full of orange rays from the setting sun.

"When was your first?" Yuuhi asked, fascinated.

"My first was when I met my little sister, who's in our grade," Subaru answered.

"Wait! So, if she's in our grade, why are you in our grade?" the confused Yuuhi asked again.

"The school system in America was different, so when I moved back here, I had to stay in this grade. I'm actually supposed to be in senior high school here now," Subaru explained.

It was quiet again between the two of them. Yuuhi gently swung around while Subaru kept his head up to watch the orange clouds roll by. The birds chirped their goodbyes as they made their way back to their families before the moon was to come out.

After spending a little more time at the park, Subaru took Yuuhi home again, like how he'd been doing for the past week of their summer vacation.

"Yuuhi," Subaru called out before Yuuhi closed the gate of their house.

"Hm?"

"Come out tonight. I'm going to show you something."

Yuuhi and Subaru made a promise that they were going to see each other that same night. After Yuuhi ate dinner, she said her goodnight to her parents and waited in her room for them to fall asleep. The time for them to meet came in what felt like a short time and Yuuhi snuck out of the house for the first time.

Subaru picked her up and they went to a hill near the shrine where the trees were cleared. There, Subaru placed the picnic cloth where the two of them laid down and looked at the stars.

"I'm so glad I chose this countryside," Subaru said, seeing the stars twinkle.

"You chose?"

"Yeah. My mother wanted me to go here to Japan to learn a little more about our culture, but I wanted some place different. So I tried the countryside."

"Is the city better?" Yuuhi wondered.

"It's amazing there. It's full of people, but sometimes, you just need a rest and find a quiet place."

Subaru's words felt lightening to Yuuhi's chest. For some reason, Yuuhi enjoyed the times she had with Subaru, and she was aware of that. However, her feelings for him were still confusing.

A few moments later, the sky was showered with meteors that shot from far away. It looked as if it was raining stars above them. Yuuhi extended her arm, pretending to catch them while Subaru watched her enjoy the natural meteor show.

"Wow!" she exclaimed.

"I'm glad I got to show you this. I found out about it before I got here," Subaru said, also extending his arm to the heavens.

"Is that why you picked this area?"

"Yeah. According to the website where I heard of it, the meteor shower was going to be vivid here in this area of Japan. I'm happy that I chose this place,"

"I would be, too! Especially if I get to see this," Yuuhi happily twirled, making her look like a fairy bathing in pixie dust.

"Now, I'm happy because of something else," Subaru said, watching over Yuuhi.

"And what is that?" she cheerfully asked.

Yuuhi lost her balance when her head began to spin. She walked around as if she was drunk until Subaru caught her before she could roll down the hill. Subaru grabbed her hand and pulled Yuuhi to his chest, holding onto her to support her. Unexpectedly, Yuuhi's face ended up close to Subaru's face, their eyes meeting each other's and their lips feeling each other's minty breaths.

"I'm happy I chose this place…because I got to meet you."

Subaru moved his face closer to Yuuhi's as she slowly closed her eyes. The two teenagers shared a passionate kiss under the meteor shower in each other's embrace. While they kissed for many moments, Subaru would stroke Yuuhi's hair or cheeks while she'd run her fingers through his hair. Nothing ran through their heads but each other's heartbeats. Yuuhi was worried at first, but she let her walls down and let Subaru in.

"I don't know what this feeling is," Yuuhi thought, still kissing Subaru.

"But I hope this would last."

Summer vacation passed and the autumn season arrived. Just as Yuuhi requested, Subaru didn't let anyone know that they were seeing each other. Yuuhi would sneak out at school nights just to see Subaru privately, since they'd always act like strangers in school. They'd meet at the hill by the shrine where they kissed under the meteors. There, they'd spend precious time together without having a care about the world.

Winter came and Yuuhi's feelings for Subaru were as pure and white as the snow that rained down from the skies before Christmas Eve. Subaru bought a giant muffler as a surprise gift for him and Yuuhi to share on their date on Christmas Eve. Yuuhi was excited, of course, but nervous since they'd probably see their classmates in town. Yuuhi felt a little comfort when she remembered Subaru's promise when they met over the weekend.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you," Subaru reassured when he noticed Yuuhi's worried look.

Friday came and Yuuhi was more excited than ever. It was the last Friday that Subaru and Yuuhi would have to hide their secret relationship from everyone because on Sunday was Christmas Eve, the night they'll show everyone their fervent love for each other.

Yuuhi smiled the whole day, scaring some of the girls in her class. Of course, their hatred of Yuuhi made them concoct a prank on her. After school, Yuuhi was assigned the classroom duty with the leader of the girls in her class.

"Tsubasa-san, can you sweep the snow downstairs? We're actually assigned to do that, but I'm sick, so I can't stay out in the cold for a long time," the preppy leader from Yuuhi's class requested.

"Sure," Yuuhi replied with a smile on her face, staggering and frustrating the girl and her friends.

Yuuhi went downstairs to find a mountain of snow by the entrance. The wind violently blew as the snow kept pouring. Yuuhi's hands were already cold and she hasn't even touched the snow, yet. She wanted to just slack off, but because she was enthusiastic for Christmas Eve, Yuuhi did the task anyways.

"She's such an idiot! That Yuuhi actually believed our lie? Oh my gosh! No teacher would ever ask you to clean the entrance of the school during this season," the preppy leader of the mean girls in Yuuhi's class laughed as they watched her from the classroom in the third floor.

The girls left through the back entrance of the school and didn't even clean the classroom, like they were supposed to. When Yuuhi came back, her hair and uniform wet from the ice that melted from the school's heater, the classroom was a wreck. Not having any other choice, Yuuhi had to stay for an hour more to clean up.

With all her energy drained, Yuuhi walked out of the school to find that the snow had stopped. On her way out of the campus, Yuuhi found Subaru with a thick and long muffler by the school's gate.

"You were waiting for me, Subaru?" Yuuhi worriedly asked as she approached him.

Subaru nodded, his eyes feeling distant from Yuuhi. She could already sense the difference in him, but Yuuhi was afraid to acknowledge it. Yuuhi was about to grab Subaru's hand to hold it when suddenly, he raised it up and waved to a boy in the distant.

"What's up, Su?" the boy greeted Subaru with carefree handshakes and hand-fives.

"Can you take our picture?" Subaru threw a camera to the boy as he walked back to Yuuhi.

Subaru grabbed her shoulders and roughly placed her by the school's marble sign. Yuuhi's eyes were widened in shock because she didn't know what was going on. Subaru, who felt her uneasiness, gave her a gentle smile as he wrapped the muffler around the two of them. Yuuhi's fears of Subaru's changing quickly disappeared and the boy took their picture. Yuuhi hid her coy smile beneath the muffler, her cheeks as red as apples. Subaru smiled, but it was a smile that looked agonizing to show.

After the single shot was taken, Subaru took Yuuhi home and left the camera and muffler with her. Without saying anything else, Subaru had gone away. Little did Yuuhi know that Subaru was going to break his promise to her.

Christmas Eve came and Yuuhi waited for Subaru in the town plaza with the muffler and camera he left her. While waiting for him, Yuuhi went to the camera store to get the picture of her and Subaru developed. The night passed like the faint snow that came for Christmas and Subaru never came. Yuuhi went home, worried that Subaru got sick because he waited for her in the cold and he didn't have his muffler before Christmas Eve.

When she arrived home, Yuuhi placed the picture of her and Subaru on her bookshelf and had it leaned on some of the books' spines. After admiring it, Yuuhi called Subaru to ensure his health and safety.

"I'm sorry, but the number you are trying to call is no longer available or operating. Please try a different number," the recorded operator said, startling Yuuhi.

She tried to call Subaru many times, only to get the same recorded answer from the operator. Yuuhi gave up as her eyes turned back to how icy and emotionless it was before she met Subaru.

During the winter break, Kirari's fame finally reached Yuuhi's area. Her career began over the last week of fall, but it didn't arrive at the country until the winter. School began again and Yuuhi's life grew worse as Kirari's fame accelerated to the top along with her finding out that Subaru, the only person Yuuhi thought she had, had left without telling anyone where he went. That week, Yuuhi's heart shattered from the pressure of keeping her pain inside. She didn't shed a single tear from Subaru's leaving her without a word. Yuuhi didn't and never showed her anger to the people that tormented her. Yuuhi kept all her hatred of everyone to herself with no one to consult.

After the first week of their return from winter break, Yuuhi went to an out-of-town salon by herself and got her hair cut and dyed. When she returned to school the following week, rumors spread about her getting plastic surgery to look like Kirari. Her hairstyle and color were criticized, not only by the students, but also by the teachers who gave her dirty looks.

Since then, until Yuuhi became an idol, everything was horrific for her. Since then, she hadn't heard from Subaru. Since then, her eyes had been colder and her walls had been rebuilt higher and stronger to prevent anyone from climbing over it or wrecking it to get to her heart. Yuuhi became the hardhearted 'fallen angel' that she was.

"Tsubasa-san, we're going to get started again in a little bit," one of the costume artists alarmed Yuuhi, who just finished reminiscing her past.

"Alright," she replied right away.

Before she left the room after getting dressed, she looked at her shoulder-length, auburn hair, which used to be light brown and extended to her hips. She ran her fingers through her hair and continued down to her hips, as if she still had long hair.

"Was I the right one?" she thought to herself, following her hand in the mirror as it ran through her hair a couple more times.

Yuuhi remembered what Subaru had told her earlier in the alley. She knew the answer but, like how she didn't want to admit her noticing Subaru's quick change of character, Yuuhi was afraid to acknowledge it.

"You won't get the right one unless you let go of the wrong one, huh," Yuuhi silently told herself.

"I was the wrong one, wasn't I, Subaru?"