I wake up early the next day; knowing me, deciding what to wear could take hours, and I have no idea when Hikaru's car will be here for me. After some contemplation, I pick out a short black dress, with a pink floral pattern on it. It seems cute enough.

I glance at myself in the mirror. I look how I always look; perfect. My blonde hair, trimmed immaculately falls in perfectly arranged waves to my waist. My makeup isn't heavy; it simply enhances my natural face. My outfit, though casual, has been tailored to fit me exactly, and my nails are perfectly manicured. When you're rich, you have to look perfect all the time. Is it a curse or a blessing?

My maid informs me that a car has arrived for me and I rush downstairs. Hikaru is there, talking to my mother. She's…smiling? Albeit, it's a small smile, but still, it seems genuine.

"Ah, Etsu!" Hikaru turns, noticing me, then turns a little pink. "You look cute."

"Thank you." I blush.

"Shall we go?" Hikaru laughs, holding out his hand for me.

"Of course." I giggle, taking it.

"Have fun." My mother smiles, and I smile to myself. It's nice to see her a little happy.

I follow Hikaru to the car and sit next to him on the way to the amusement park. He hasn't let go of my hand from when he took it earlier. His thumb lightly runs along the underside of my wrist and my heart skips a beat.

We arrive at the amusement park shortly and as we enter, I feel that pang in my heart again. I relax a little and start to really enjoy myself for a while. Hikaru is actually a lot of fun, and I spend most of the day laughing.

"How about we ride that?" Hikaru motions to the giant roller coaster in front of us. My smile fades and I look away.

"I don't think I can." I whisper.

"Don't be afraid, I'll be riding with you." Hikaru grins playfully.

"It's not that – " My eyes begin to fill up with tears and Hikaru's face starts to express concern.

"Etsu, what's wrong?"

"I-I can't…" My sentence won't finish coming out of my mouth, and the tears start to spill down my cheeks. I turn around and run away, trying to find someplace secluded to hide. Crying in front of all these people is embarrassing and Hikaru must think I'm so petty, crying over a ride.

I find a place behind a building where no one seems to be around and I lean against the wall, clapping my hand over my mouth to stifle my tears. I'm aware that Hikaru has followed me and leaned against the wall right next to me, and he stays silent for a while.

"Please tell me what's wrong." He finally says quietly.

"Kuri." I whisper, and my tears start to flow uncontrollably. I haven't said her name in so long.

"Kuri?"

"My twin." I choke out.

"You…have a twin?" He asks, his voice barely audible.

"She disappeared when I was 7." I answer. Hikaru moves in front of me then wraps his arms around me tightly.

"Tell me about it." He says, his lips against my ear.

"Kuri and I…we liked to disappear on our parents. When they weren't looking, we would just leave. There was a river we'd play by. There was a second when I wasn't paying attention, and when I looked back, she was gone." The painful memories force more tears out of my eyes.

"What happened to her?"

"We thought at first that she drowned in the river, but I insisted that she had been kidnapped. Because of the possibility of kidnapping, we kept it quiet from the media. We waited for weeks for a ransom call, but there was nothing. So we had the river dragged. We had it dragged three times a year for six years in a row, but there was no body." I clutch at Hikaru's shirt, reliving all those terrible years.

"You don't have to talk about it." Hikaru tightens his arms around me.

"No, I want to." I reply, pulling him closer. "More time passed and we started to believe she was dead. We almost held a funeral. But then the police caught a human trafficker they had been searching for since around the time Kuri disappeared. They managed to get a full confession from him, and he admitted that Kuri was one of the children he kidnapped."

"That's…"

"Awful?"

"Yeah."

"The thing is, this man claims he doesn't remember the name of the person he sold Kuri to. So we kept searching. A couple months ago, we discovered that the man who bought Kuri was in Japan. Once my grandmother heard this, she invited us all to live here, and we came as soon as possible. That's why I joined mid-term. The only reason I'm in Japan is because we might be able to find Kuri. But so far there's been nothing. No leads. Nothing at all." I sob.

"I'm so sorry." Hikaru whispers quietly. I manage to stop crying so hard and take a deep breath. This is the first time I've really talked about it.

"The day she disappeared, we had discussed going somewhere other than the river. She wanted to go to the amusement park, but I insisted that the rides were too scary, and I didn't want to go. If we had gone there, she would never have been abducted."

"Don't blame yourself." Hikaru puts his hands on my shoulders and pushes me back so he can look into my eyes. "Blame the bastard that took her." I blink, then nod, giving him a very small smile.

"Thank you." I say gratefully. As I realize how close Hikaru's face is to mine, a blush creeps across my face. He closes the gap, kissing me lightly, but moments later Hikaru presses me against the building we're behind and starts to kiss me more fiercely. I tighten my arms around his waist, almost afraid to believe he's really kissing me like this; like he can't help himself. Like all he wants is me.

"Etsu." Hikaru says, parting from me and pressing our foreheads together. "That time I kissed you because I love you."

"You…love me?" I whisper. He smiles and nods. "I love you too." I smile in return.