I pick up my own phone, aware that my hands are shaking, and dial Kashino's number. He picks up almost immediately. "Amano?"
His voice makes my blood rush to my cheeks, but I ignore it. There's no way that I'm still in love with him... not after all he's done to me.
I take a deep breath. "Kashino..." his name feels so foreign against my lips. "I need your help."
"With what?"
"I need you to tell me about Emi."
There's a pause at the other end. "She's a nice girl," Kashino admits. "She doesn't have a specific aptitude for anything... she's talented with all kinds of ingredients. She lacks your creativity, though. Why?"
His words resound in my mind for a bit longer than they should. She lacks your creativity. I blink. Did Kashino just compliment me?
I shake my head; there's no time for trivial things like that. "Recently, two of my friends, Aoi and Noboru, have been involved in a car accident." I swallow. "I just thought that Emi might be behind it–"
"What makes you think that?" Kashino interrupts me. He sounds angry.
"Aoi gave me a strange warning about her the day before the car crash," I reply. "I just thought..."
"That the two events were related?" He finishes for me.
I bite my lip. "Yeah."
"Well, I can assure you that Emi would never do something like that," Kashino states. "You can't frame her for something this serious, especially when you have no evidence at all."
Just like I thought, I muse bitterly. He was too attached to her to help me out.
"Okay," I say dejectedly, though I don't really believe him. "Goodbye, Kashi–"
"Wait!" He yells into the phone, so loudly that it startles me. "A-Amano... can we meet up sometime? I sort of... miss you."
My heart nearly stops. All of a sudden, I feel tears blur my vision.
"Sure," I say softly. "How about tomorrow afternoon, at the café in St. Marie?"
"That sounds great. I'll see you then, Amano."
"Yeah." I let my face fall into a smile. "S-See you."
It's only when I hang up that I realize I was wrong.
I'm still madly in love with him. Just as much as I was before I left.
~x~
Last part in awhile! x.x I'm sort of stuck plot wise... and life wise, too...
Yesterday I went to the doctor's office for a normal checkup and I just... broke down and started crying... for no reason at all? I guess I'm sort of stressed? I don't really know.
So... yeah. Hopefully this chapter was okay.
Thanks so much for all your reviews! ;A; Sorry I couldn't thank you all individually, and sorry I can't reply to them all, but seriously... I read each and every one of them and they mean so much to me. 'Replaced' isn't over, I promise!
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