Seasons of Chances and Love 3: Promised Love In Autumn

One October's Memory

CHAPTER 5

"Woah... I never thought something like that happened," Hanako commented after recovering from shock.

"But can Kana-chan really do that? I mean turn dead on the outside in an instant? It could really be a perfect front but in my opinion, that's not normal at all," Aika added.

A wry smile crossed Miyako's face soon after. "She was trained to do that. But using it in this situation just to save her heart, in the end it would only hurt her too much and I won't be surprised if this act would cost Kana her sanity."

"Oi, Miyako, that's not even a nice joke!"

"... that is, if we don't do something to fix this," Kazumi countered.

"But how are we supposed to fix this? Kana-chan had been avoiding Oishi-kun since the incident."

"And besides, she wouldn't even let me explain the truth," Oishi said in frustration. "Whenever I could find a chance to do so, she was avoiding me. She wouldn't even talk to me or answer me at all. It's like I don't even to her at all."

Well, frustration wasn't the only reason why Oishi suddenly decided to seek for help from Kazumi and the others. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't fully rely on his teammates' help at this point. He thought that those people who knew Kana probably much more than he does could help him.

But that thought was slowly becoming obscured by his worries when he saw how serious the girls' faces were. At the instant he noticed it, tension hovered around. He knew the severity of the issue upon realizing his actions and the words he uttered back then. But he wasn't lying when he said to Maya—the girl who asked him to pretend to be her boyfriend but later on provoked to prove to his obsessed suitor that he was indeed her boyfriend, leading to that kiss—that he wasn't falling in love with Kana.

He has his reasons for saying that, though. But it seemed that he didn't put it in a better word to make it understandable. It was solely his fault that he was facing this kind of predicament. And now he felt that he wasn't deserving to even ask for him from the other Columns.

"Oishi-kun..." Kazumi stated that caught his attention. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Eh?" He blinked. "You mean... alone?"

Kazumi nodded, still with a serious face on. "I just need to confirm something from you. But I won't be able to do that if there are some... possible interruptions."

"But..." Oishi was unsure and so he glanced at Tezuka. The man just gave him a nod of approval—probably saying that it was okay. Feeling relieved with that, he stood up and Miyako told them where to go.

However, he couldn't help thinking about the possible questions that Kazumi was going to ask to him. From what he knew, Kazumi wasn't the type of person who would just barge people with her questions. In fact, Kazumi was the silent type among the Five Columns. But as they say, the silent ones were those that could be considered extremely dangerous.

Especially when they snapped.

"I'm not going to eat you if that's what you're thinking."

He winced at those words. With that, he found himself in front of Kazumi inside a small study room. The look on her face was surely serious. But weird enough, it wasn't a scary type of seriousness.

"What you said to Nakajima-san that day..." Kazumi started. "...it's a lie, right?"

Surprise filled his whole being as he heard those words. What part of his statement was a lie? "I-I don't... understand..."

"Oh, wait! Let me rephrase that. What you said to Nakajima-san about not being in love with Kana-chan... Could it be that what you're trying to say is... you are not falling in love with her because... you have been in love with Kana-chan since first year middle school?"

Though Kazumi's words had tiniest bit of reluctance in the way she said it, he could tell that she was sure of it. Of course, it definitely caught him surprised that he had the urge to exclaim a really loud "WHAT?!" but he clamped his mouth right before he could let out any sound. As much as possible, he didn't want to catch the other's attention on the other side of the room.

"Don't worry. Even if you scream out loud in her, no sound will come out to the others. This room is actually soundproofed—the same goes to the other study rooms of this house," Kazumi explained calmly when she saw Oishi's expression as soon as she was done asking her question. But to be honest, she would classify what she said as a statement.

All because she knew the truth.

Oishi took his time to recover from the shock he felt before slowly putting down his hand that he used to clamp his mouth. Well, because there was nothing else obscured it, the dark blush on his cheeks was evident to the brunette at the moment. She found it quite amusing, though.

"Am I wrong?" she asked with a small smile.

Oishi looked down and closed his eyes. "Even if you're right, would it matter that much?"

"Well, if you want Kana-chan to talk to you again, then yes. Your answer will matter so much. Especially to both of you who were obviously suffering because of misunderstanding."

"But..." He opened his eyes, raised his head and faced Kazumi. "How did you... figure out that those words were exactly what I was supposed to say?"

"To be honest... I really don't know that the words "I'm not in lover with her" actually meant like that at first. But when I saw the way you looked at her that one rainy day wherein you lent her your towel, and when I remembered something that has happened from a long time ago, it all made sense."

He frowned. "I-I don't understand..."

"Before I left more than two years ago, I saw something which involved you. If I remembered it right, it happened one October... at the steps of Izumi Shrine," the brunette answered.

When the words "October" and "Izumi Shrine" finally sank into his mind, he tried his best not to flush but failed. He didn't know someone was watching him during that time.

Recalling that, his mind couldn't stop replaying the memory deeply engraved at the bottom of his heart. It stayed there, even after two years had already passed. On that particular October two years ago, his feelings for Kana had blossomed. And Izumi Shrine held the promise he made the moment he did something to his best friend...

-x-x-

2 years ago, October, Izumi Shrine...

Middle school life was tough and so was tennis for both 3rd year middle schoolers Oishi and Kana. But the fact that they could still spend time together despite all that was more than enough for both of them. After all, their status was definitely something strong enough for most people to create a barrier. Yes, Kana was born in a well-known and wealthy Miyuzaki family and one of the heirs of the Shinjou Group. Both families were not only known for their wealth but also for their one common ability—martial arts.

Their friendship didn't stem from this fact but because that was what they felt. They felt that they were destined to be friends. But to Oishi, he felt that it was more than that. From the start, he could feel that something would happen between him and Kana. And he knew that friendship would never be the reason for that.

He and Kana agreed to head out to Izumi Shrine right after tennis practice. That particular shrine was actually the place where they first met and became friends. And every year that came after that, it was the very same shrine where they celebrated their birthdays and few important occasions to them.

But that afternoon was a little different. It wasn't their birthdays at all. And yet they chose to go to Izumi Shrine to do something—to buy good luck charms and to pray that somehow, their friendship could still last longer than how it was now. But aside from that, he was thinking of praying for one more thing.

Once they already met at the start of the stairway leading up to the shrine, they greeted each other with the sweet smiles they used to share to each other. But Oishi's smile at the time held another deeper meaning to him. Unfortunately, that meaning was something that only he knew.

"Ready? We have to pray hard for our wished to come true, you know," she said with a sneaky smile.

"Y-yeah. I guess we have to, huh?" Would it really come true? Would his wish be able to come true one of these days?

Going up and down the stairs of Izumi Shrine was nothing for them since they've been going there and traversing these stairs ever since they were kids. It was one of the place he considered important to him, as well.

Once they reached the stairs, they immediately went to buy charms specially blessed by the shrine's resident priest and priestess. In fact, the miko (shrine priestess) living there was a freshman by the name of Yoshino Hitomi. Her ESP and 6th sense was often accurate, making her able to do fortune-telling to their customers. Hitomi's ability used a technique called fire-reading while the youngest miko-in-training there—who happened to be Hitomi's little sister—was a bit special. It was the trees that were giving her accurate fortune-telling.

Buying charms for good luck and praying were originally their purpose why they headed to Izumi Shrine. But a really large camphor tree with a large sacred rope tied around the trunk caught their attention. It wasn't the height of the tree or the sacred rope that made them stop and look at it.

It was the tree's aura.

They were just ordinary humans. So how come they could sense something from this tree?

"You can feel it, right? This tree's sacred aura..."

Oishi turned around to see a dark green-haired young man in his hakama walking towards them.

"Sacred aura? You mean even us powerless humans can feel such magical aura?" he asked the young man.

"Not all people can feel it, though. But to those who can, it is said a long time ago that this tree can grant those people's wishes and greatest desires. Of course, it has to be a good wish or something like that."

This tree could do such a thing? Oishi didn't want to believe it, not matter what he could actually feel exuding mysteriously from it. When he glanced at Kana, he saw her hands clasped in front of her with eyes closed.

So his friend was praying, huh? He couldn't help wondering what could she possibly be wishing at the moment. But if people would ask him, he only had one wish he wanted to come true. And that wish concerned Kana alone. If it would be possible, he wanted Kana to love him back.

But would that really happen?

Right after watching Kana finished her prayer in front of that sacred tree, she saw her turn to him and smiled. "Let's go?"

"W-where?"

"Where else? Of course, home. But before that, I want to watch the sunset. The stairs leading here provide the best view of it. Come on!"

Before he could even protest, Kana already took ahold of his wrist and dragged him away from the sacred tree. Either he was too stunned to protest or he didn't want Kana to let go of his hand, he couldn't tell at that point. But all in all, he liked the feeling it gave him.

He liked it—a lot.

After a few more running, they finally ended up to their destination—underneath the gingko tree just on the right of the stairs. It was their favorite spot ever since they discovered that no one dared to approach it for some reasons. It was October so it was obvious that the tree leaves were starting to shed. They loved to watch the gingko leaves because of their unique shape. Even though they were already middle schoolers, they still continue doing so because it was their outlet in some sense to forget their troubles and be themselves once in a while... while they were together.

Among those things that they still continue to do until now was letting each other sleep side by side—with Kana's head on Oishi's arm. It was a common thing for them to do even before.

"Let's sleep here for a short while," Kana suddenly suggested.

"Eh? You mean now? I thought you're going to watch the sunset."

Kana's face became sad that surprised Oishi but chose not to show it.

"I don't think I can watch the sunset the same way again..." she said in a defeated and sad tone.

He couldn't understand what was really going on for Kana to say such a thing. But he could tell one thing. Something must have happened.

"Kana..."

"Otou-sama... died two months ago, you know..." she cut him off gently. "He gave up fighting for his life. Shouda-neesan already expected it, though. So now... Now... I don't know what to do."

"What does the sunset has something to do with that?" Well, asking that seemed to have been a very bad move—one that he realized too late. But before he could do something about that, he saw her closed her eyes and a tear fell from it.

It was just a teardrop but it was more than enough for him to feel an unimaginable clenching pain in his heart. He wasn't used to seeing Kana cry silently like this at all. And so because of that, he constantly worry about her. Thought it wasn't an unusual thing to do to her—since he was, after all, a childhood friend to her, he wouldn't deny the fact that by feeling such worry for her made him think of doing everything he could to make her happy. To see her smile and hear her laugh... He was willing to do a lot just for her.

His musings led him to keep caressing her red hair as he allowed her to continue. At this point, he knew words were not enough to comfort her. Kana couldn't look at the sunset the same way again. And it was because of her father's death. He had no idea of the details about how her father died. But he didn't dare ask. All he wanted to do was to soothe her pain and dissipate it in any ways he could. He would give her a reason to look at the sunset happily once again.

He'd do it willingly... whatever it takes to do it.

A few more minutes had passed but he didn't stop caressing her hair gently. He did it continuously until he could feel Kana's steady breathing. With that, he stopped and faced her. He didn't know if he would laugh or be irritated by the fact that his friend actually fell asleep. In the end, he did neither.

Instead, he did something far bizarre than he could have ever thought of—at least in his perception. The sight of Kana's peaceful sleeping face somewhat entranced him to an extent that he didn't realize how it all happened. He just realized his actions when it happened... and when he felt it.

It was unexplainable at first but at the same time, it was undeniable. Kissing her lightly like that never felt so... right. Wait just a freakin' minute! Why was he kissing her, anyway? What in the world was he doing? He wasn't supposed to do this to his best friend. Damn it! Why wouldn't he stop himself? Why couldn't he just stop it all before something worst happen?

But he must admit, the warmth he felt at the instant their lips touched lightly had never felt this right his whole life. Whether he denied it or not, one truth lingered. That kiss he gave to her proved it all.

He would never love any other girl except Miyuzaki Kana.

One way or another, he would do his best to let her know that.

One way or another, he would treasure their first kiss.

He just hoped that Kana would do the same... even though she had no idea at all.

"Can I just say I love you, Kana? Can I make you mine?" He chuckled bitterly soon after. "I guess it doesn't matter. But I want you to remember something. One day, I'll let you know all this. I'll let you know how much I love you. Once it all happened, I can promise you—I will never ever let you go. I can promise that this love I have for you will always be true. And I promise... I'll become one of the reasons for you to look at the sunset with a happy and serene smile again. I'll fulfill all that... Okay?"

For a middle schooler like him to make such promise, it was deemed preposterous. Incredulous. But Oishi Shuichiro wasn't someone who would make a promise just for the heck of it. One of the reasons why his friendship with Kana lasted this long was because of his ability to fulfill his promise to the best of his abilities.

And the promise he just made right there and then was something he would fulfill in the same way.

It was a great deal of a promise that he has no desire of breaking.

He'd fulfill them no matter what.

"Just be patient, okay? Kana..."

This time, he sealed it with a light kiss on her lips once again.

A promise that he made and sealed underneath a gingko tree that one cold October—the month that showed the beauty of autumn season. It was the season that had made him this determined.

Well, unbeknownst to him, there was one person who was all too surprised and very much glad to see all that. And that someone vowed to keep it until the truth would finally be revealed...

-x-x-

"Oishi-kun, I know at that time that you have feelings for her. But I chose not to say anything because I respect your privacy. But now, do you think it will be wiser if you tell Kana-chan the truth?" Kazumi said in an obviously concerned tone.

Oishi couldn't help sighing helplessly. "I wish it was that easy, Hondou-san. But every time I find the chance, she was walking away from me. You have no idea how much it hurts me. I want to turn back time so I could fix everything that I had done to hurt her that time."

"Turning back the time isn't actually the best wish we could to ourselves when we make mistakes. Mistakes are what made us stronger, what shaped us to become someone better and they are teachers that we must learn from."

He faced Kazumi when he heard that. "How sure are you about that?"

"Do I really have to answer that?" Kazumi asked back with an eyebrow raised.

Oishi didn't dare say anything. Kazumi did have a point about that. In some way, he could say that she had been in a similar situation before.

"I know you still have the will to fight for her and let her know how you truly feel for her. It's not yet over for the two of you."

It's not yet over... huh? But how was he supposed to fight for her if she was the one turning her back away from him?

With all that frustration and thought, he came to realize one thing as he remembered his promise. Wallowing in pity and hurt like this won't do anything. If he couldn't find the chance to make it up with Kana, then he'd create that chance. He has to let her know the truth... before it would all be over for good.