Seasons of Chances and Love 2: Perfect Love In Summer

Just For Now

Fuji didn't know how long he sat there and watched Miyako drifted off to sleep. Her slow, even breathing was the proof of that. He didn't actually track down the time since he really has no plans of leaving her side while she was sleeping peacefully at that moment.

He smiled at the sight of Miyako now peacefully sleeping like that. He didn't know what came over him. But as he watched he close her eyes, he had the urge to hum a certain melody. Eventually, he sang it long before he could think of what he was doing.

I wonder if she can still hear me... especially now that I'm singing this song she sang once before...

But if she could still hear him, then he would be glad. At least she would know that he didn't forget. He could never ever do something like that.

Especially if it was about that day...

-x-x-

Flashback: Almost a year ago...

During Seishun Gakuen's Cultural Festival, everyone was surely in a good mood. All were pumped up for the said occasion to be a success. Of course, Fuji and the others were no exception to that. But for the said tensai, that day somehow felt different. And in a way, he knew the reason why.

"Ne, Fujiko, what are you going to do first?" Eiji asked while exuberantly looking around the school ground where the booths were located.

But Fuji just answered him with that ever-present smile of his and readied his camera. Of course, Eiji noticed this.

"You're going to take pictures, huh? Nya, who's your subject this time? Is there any particular person?" Eiji inquired excitedly.

"There is. But up until now, I couldn't find that person," Fuji said as he looked around the area. What he said was the truth. He had been there for about two hours and yet he had yet to see even the shadow of the person he was looking for.

At that point, he couldn't help heaving a sigh—albeit inwardly. He should have expected this since it always happened. If she was looking for him—that happened rarely—whenever she needed something to take care of, she could find him easily. But the case was different if it was the other way around. It would take a puzzle that he couldn't solve or a maze which he had no clue of getting out for him to describe the situation where he was the one looking for Miyako.

"Fujiko!"

He got startled upon realizing that a flamboyant red head had been trying to get his attention. From what he could tell, Eiji hadn't been doing it for quite some time yet.

"Hmm? Is there something wrong?"

"Nya, I've been asking you about this person for five times now. You're not even listening to me," Eiji pouted as he whined.

He just smiled at his friend. "Sorry about that. It's just that I've been looking for her until now. But every time..." Every time, she moves away... far from my reach... And from that reason, he only had a few shot about her—most of which were stolen shots. Good thing he got them on a good angle, though. Her angelic features were emphasized with those shots even though they were only stolen shots.

But as days passed, he felt like he could never stay contented with just taking photos of her secretly. He didn't know why he felt that way.

"Every time? What do you mean by that, Fujiko?" came an innocent question from Eiji yet it still had hints of interest and curiosity in his voice.

But Fuji didn't get to answer that at all because his attention was focused on the group of girls passing by his direction. He recognized them as Miyako's classmates in Class 1-3.

"I wonder what Yumemiya-san will sing later."

"I'm excited! Especially since I heard her sing during our Music class the other day. Her song back then was so wonderful."

"What queue number is she, anyway?"

"She didn't mention. But it seems that the order will be determined on the spot. Using lot, I think."

Listening to that conversation made him remember a certain event about to happen later, which might be the one that those girls were talking about. With that, he looked around the area to look for a poster about that event. Ignoring Eiji's call (or maybe he wasn't really paying much attention to that), he ran away from that place and headed towards the bulletin board just near the entrance of the building. And right there, he smiled triumphantly.

"Nya! You're definitely acting weird, Fuji. Why did you suddenly head out here?"

But then Fuji chose not to answer. The answer was right in front of them, anyway. It didn't take long for Eiji to realize that. He saw the poster that he didn't know Fuji was looking for.

"Song of Love: The Search for Seigaku's Siren Contest? Why are you suddenly interested in this, nya?"

Fuji chuckled. "Do I really look that interested?"

"A bit." And then Eiji exclaimed. "Could it be that your subject will be coming here?"

"I think so."

"Huh? You think so? What kind of answer is that, nya?"

But Fuji chose not to elaborate further. He just read the information on the poster and immediately looked for the specific part of information he was looking for. It didn't take him long enough, though.

"Ne, Eiji, are you free later at 2:30?"

The red head thoght of it for a few moments. "I guess I don't have anything to do by that time. Besides, our booth will be taken care of by our class rep so we could roam around before our shift's turn. Why did you ask, nya?"

Fuji faced Eiji with a smile. "You wanted to meet the person that I've chosen to be my subject, right? If you're up to it, then we'll head out together to that contest. I'm sure we'll meet her there."

Of course, his friend agreed to it. All they needed to do was to wait for about three and a half hours before that. When the meeting time approached, Fuji was surprised to see not just Eiji in their meeting place but also Oishi and the others, as well. Even Momoshiro and Kaidoh were there, too. If Ryoma was still in Japan and studying in Seigaku, then the whole gang would have been complete.

"It seems to me you've brought a lot of companions for this one, Eiji," Fuji commented with a chuckle.

"But this is something that we should see along with everyone, Fujiko. We can also judge if that person was beautiful and inspiring enough to be your subject for your pictures, nya!"

The rest agreed to the red head's words. But Tezuka remained unfazed.

"You don't have to be shy about it, Fuji-senpai," Momoshiro teased afterwards.

"He's not being shy about it," Inui countered as his glasses tinted. "It's just a question of whether he'll tell us about it or not once he sees her there."

Well, at least Inui figured that out. Fuji smiled wider at that.

They reached their destination in time—that was at the gym, by the way. They managed to find seats near the stage easily. Fuji was surprised to see Tezuka quietly and nonchalantly getting along with this. He wondered how Oishi or at least one of his friends managed to convince Tezuka to go with them.

But he could think about that later.

"Wow... It's rare to find you all watching something like this, Fuji-kun." A voice of a girl came from behind him.

Fuji turned around and smiled upon seeing Kana, Aika, and Hanako.

"Something interesting made me decide to come here," he answered mysteriously.

"Something interesting? I hope it won't be just a passing interest," Kana said. "This should be a place—at least for now—where you can do thing like internalizing some of the songs meant to touch your heart. After all, this is a contest on how can you express your love to the person meant for it."

"Nya, then I guess someone like Tezuka or even Kaidoh shouldn't be here. They're not exactly the romantic people, much less somebody who can internalize love songs," Eiji whispered to Fuji while glancing several times to the stoic man and to their hissing kouhai.

"Don't be that mean, Kikumaru-kun," Aika said with an amused smile. "It's not really that hard to internalize those songs. As long as you can find it in your heart to understand its meaning, even those people regarded as someone with a heart of ice can be moved by those songs."

Fuji couldn't help but give some thought about Aika's words. Was Miyako the type of person who could be moved by her songs? Was she someone who had shielded her heart in ice a long time ago and that ice could only be melted through music—even just for a while? If he wanted to base it on her actions towards him despite the rare number of chanced that they encountered each other for long, then the answer would have already been obvious from the start.

The lights went out—an indication of the start of the show. A spotlight turned on and aimed to the center of the stage. The emcee came out with a smile. From what was written on the poster and what the emcee said, the contest had actually two categories—one for English and one for Japanese. Out of 20 contestants who signed in and joined, 8 had actually joined for both categories.

Fuji smiled upon learning that one of those 8 contestants was someone named Yumemiya Miyako—his potential subject for his photography. That means he had more chances to take photos of her. At that point, he just realized something. He never had the slightest idea that Miyako could actually sing in front of an audience. He couldn't help wondering how she sounded when she was singing.

The first category was Japanese. One by one, the contestants performed their chosen songs and in best forms, at the very least. But the tensai paid them with little to no interest since he was busy adjusting his camera. When it was announced that it was Miyako's turn to perform, he was just done with his camera. He lifted his head and waited for Miyako to appear on stage. But not once it had struck him that she would be so beautiful standing on that platform. Especially with that sweet smile on her face as she faced the audience cheerfully.

"Everyone, my name is Yumemiya Miyako representing Class 1-3. I hope you enjoy listening to this song I chose for this event," was her introduction before bowing to the audience.

Fuji looked around. He noticed that even though she was just a first year, Miyako sure had many fans cheering for her.

"Let's date, Yumemiya-san!" one of the audience shouted.

"Wanna have some fun after this?" another followed with a whistle.

Of course, the tensai couldn't help feeling a bit infuriated with that as he heard it. But that slight fury was something that Kana and her friends felt. The three girls couldn't suppress their smiles at that.

As soon as the cheers and teasing subsided, the music played. The intro of the song seemed a bit familiar to Fuji. If he wasn't mistaken, he had heard that song once. But where and when could he have heard it? His thoughts, however, soon became clouded almost instantly upon hearing the voice of the singer standing on the stage at that moment.

Douka ima dake wa furimukanaide

Yuugure sawagu kaze fure sou na kyori

Kimi wo mitsumetera zutto

(Please, just for now, please don't turn around

The evening, the rustling wind, the distance of nearly touching

I could keep looking at you forever)

Beautiful...

Angelic...

Emotional...

Melancholic...

Fuji had no idea what other words he could possibly think of to describe the way Miyako sang in front of the audience. For the first time, he couldn't think of ways on how to expand his vocabulary even further. He couldn't find the right words to fully explain the emotions lying in that song.

Damn right, he was speechless and he would admit it... at least to himself. But trying to find words in his head wasn't the only reason why he was speechless at that point.

Kimi ni todoke kimi ni todoke

Kanawanai koi de mo ii kizutsuite mo ii

Nan do demo tsutaetai

(I'm reaching to you, I'm reaching to you

Even an unrequited love would be fine, to get hurt too would be fine

No matter how many times, I want to tell you)

It was her eyes.

Even from his spot, he could see those sparkling silver eyes of hers. With thanks to the spotlight that shone on her, he was able to see it. His azure eyes opened as soon as he noticed it.

Was music that powerful to crumble down the barrier that made Miyako's eyes looked a lot like blank and emotionless? Did it contain so much force that made him feel how melancholic and vulnerable Miyako's life really was? Her eyes that looked like they were about to cry as she continued to sing the song... How come they were revealing too much right now that made him speechless?

It was those ice silver eyes that made him ask so many questions at that moment to himself.

Questions that he would really want to have answers soon.

Kimi ga suki de kimi ga suki de

Nemurenai yoru demo ii asa ga konakute mo ii

Nan do demo tsutaetai kimi ni todoke

(I like you, I like you

Even sleepless nights would be fine, if morning didn't come it would be fine

No matter how many times, I want to tell you, I'm reaching to you)

Those moments of speechlessness made him temporarily forget that he was supposed to take pictures of her while she was on stage. He only remembered that when Miyako stopped singing and the melody playing was the interlude of the song. Though she was smiling, the same overflowing emotions—most likely melancholic in many aspects—was still there in her eyes. Without trying to waste more time—and also opportunities—for something like this to take a picture of, he set up his camera and looked at the digital screen. He smiled upon seeing a smiling angel with blonde hair and ice silver eyes on that screen.

He looked up as he watched Miyako started singing the last part of the song. But he did so after he had taken two to three shots of that one beautiful sight. His smile had never left his face as he continued to do that.

That smiling face...

Her beautiful, angelic voice similar to that of a Siren from the Greek mythology where it could hypnotize those who listened to it singing beautifully...

Her blonde hair that seemed to sparkle even more as she moved on that stage, as if it was her own world with no care of anything else at all...

Those ice silver orbs where so many emotions kept on swirling as long as music continued to play... Silver eyes that only she was rightful to possess, the eyes that first caught his attention...

Right from the start, he knew why photos weren't enough to capture those lovely features. He knew why her voice sounded so different, even though it was beautiful—captivating would have been the most appropriate word to describe it.

And from the start, there was one thing he thought of after watching Miyako's performance for the Japanese category.

He would do what it takes to reach out to her. He would break that invisible barrier, to crumble it down to dust.

Whatever it takes, he would do it...

End of flashback...

-x-x-

...or at least that was what Fuji had promised to himself, which he rarely did if it was about a girl. But it was different when it comes to Miyako. It would always be different if it would involve her.

An audible sigh escape his lips as he relished the feeling—no matter how foreign or weird—that touched his heart while watching her sleep like a child. Her face was so innocent, so serene, in that sleep. It was like the feeling was similar to that being felt as if there was nothing the world had to offer but peace and warmth.

Fuji found himself humming a song again. Until it came to the point where he started singing the same song that Miyako sang that day.

Kyou mo omoide ga hitotsu fueteku

Tameiki tamerai ne itoshii kurai

Kimi no matte ita zutto

Kimi ni todoke kimi ni todoke

Kanawanai koi de mo ii kizutsuite mo ii

Nan do demo tsutaetai

Kimi ga suki de kimi ga suki de

Nemurenai yoru demo ii asa ga konakute mo ii

Nan do demo tsutaetai kimi ni todoke

(Today too, my memories of you increase

Your sigh, even if it's only a hesitation, is still dear to me

I have waited for you, forever

I'm reaching to you, I'm reaching to you

Even an unrequited love would be fine, to get hurt too would be fine

No matter how many times, I want to tell you

I like you, I like you

Even sleepless nights would be fine, if morning didn't come it would be fine

No matter how many times, I want to tell you, I'm reaching to you)

A smile formed on his lips as he sang that song to his heart's content.

No matter how long it had been, no matter how short he could have this moment with her like this, it would always come down to one realization. He would always find himself smiling at the memory of that song. He would find himself relishing the warm feeling as he remembered her smile that day. He would find himself feeling his heart twist and turn in anguish—even though he didn't want to feel it—as he recalled those sad silver eyes that showed her vulnerability even for a few moments.

Everything he had ever felt that day would always be something he'd feel over and over. He would always feel it in his heart just like that first time it all happened.

He was snapped out of his musings when he heard something. As he peered at Miyako, he froze for a few seconds at the sight of something unexpected. At the same time, he felt something as if a hand clenched his heart tight because of what he saw.

Miyako was crying in her sleep.

"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..." were her words that she whispered. But it was still loud enough for Fuji to hear.

Could this be the reason? The dream that she was having now—whatever it was—was it giving her a hard time to sleep? Could it be that Miyako didn't want to sleep because she was afraid of seeing the same dream—one that gave her pain and making her cry—over and over?

Judging from her voice as she spoke those words, he could tell. She was hurt and regretful over... something. Afraid, he could possibly add that as well.

Long before he thought of it, he found himself sitting on the bed as careful as he could. He watched Miyako continue to silently cry—letting him feel that wrenching feeling in his heart again. His one hand moved and held hers that was laid beside her other hand which she was facing at. He squeezed it a bit tight but still with tinge of gentleness.

He smiled a gentle smile this time before leaning down and whispering something to her ear.

"I'm here for you, Miyako..." The way he said her first name sounded a lot like music to his ears. And he did so without honorifics to go with it. But he could only do that at that moment—while she was still asleep. Nevertheless, it still sounded nice.

Just... perfect.

"I won't leave you... at least until you wake up. I won't let those bad dreams make you sad and hurt like this again. I promise..." Then he squeezed her hand again just to let her know all that.

To his surprise, though, he felt her slightly squeeze his hand that held hers in return. It was just a slight squeeze, but still...

"At least you heard me... even just in your dreams..." he muttered and continued watching her sleep once more.

-x-x-

Blissful might be an overstatement to describe Miyako's feelings after waking up from a four-hour sleep in the infirmary. But it was undeniable that she felt refreshed, without the heavy feeling in her chest that she had a while back before she came to school. It was a relief on her part despite the shock she felt upon seeing that Fuji was sitting on her bed, holding her hand.

A sigh was all she could do after remembering that. Along with that, her cheeks felt hot again. Unconsciously, she touched her hand that Fuji held a while back. Even though two hours had already passed since she woke up, that hand of hers still felt warm. It was a sort of warmth which gave her the feeling of assurance.

Like it was saying that he would never leave her side... that he would never let her cry like that again...

At tha point of her thoughts, she frowned. Was it her or she seemed to have heard the same thing in her sleep? Though when Miyako asked Fuji about it, he just smiled that infernal smile of his and denied it.

"Why would I do such a thing? It's not as if I'll be getting some credit for saying something like that..."

Those were his words. Of course, he had a point about that. But still, something felt off about those words. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Are you alright, Miyako-chan?"

That worried voice startled her. She looked up to know who it was and she found out it was Kazumi. Despite the concern she saw in those green eyes of her brunette friend, it was easy for her to see that Kazumi was indeed happy about her life right now. It was evident since Kazumi's relationship with a certain Tezuka Kunimitsu was surprisingly progressing. It has been more than a month since the incident that almost tore the two apart.

Miyako remembered the words she had spoken to Tezuka. How she tried to prevent him from making the same mistake he did once before, how she scared him (though she wasn't sure if it worked) if he didn't make a move to settle the problem, how she reprimanded him as coolly as she could about him hesitating to do anything...

She remembered how strong and brave she was in speaking those words to him. But that strength and bravery didn't last long on her. It always faded. Now she has no words—bravely spoken which was accompanied with firm and strong disposition—to say to herself. The words which could convince her that she could do it, that she could pull through, was long gone.

Now words could help her now. No such thing could make her get out of the darkness which hid her heart all this time since the incident that almost cost her sanity.

"You know, you can just go home right after class instead of practicing with us," Aika said as the maroon-haired girl turned and looked at her.

"And miss the opportunity for the Ranking Tournaments? I don't think so."

"But we're worried about you right now, Miya-chan," Kana reasoned. Her voice proved her words which made Miyako want to heave an exasperated sigh but chose not to. "I don't really know what made you unable to sleep this past days. And I'm sure you're not going to tell us anything about that. But we're only saying this to make sure you're okay. After all, we are your friends."

Miyako fought the urge to cry upon hearing those words from her friends. And due to that, she'd never felt even more guilty than how she was now. But it was really hard for her to tell them the truth.

"Thanks, girls..." she said those words gratefully from the bottom of her heart. "For real."

-x-x-

In the end, Miyako's friends weren't able to convince her to go home and continue to rest. Despite the negative air hovering around her, she participated in the practice in preparation for the Ranking Tournaments. That negative air gradually faded as the practice went on. Their coach, Nakayama Yukino, announced later that day that even first year members were allowed to participate in the Ranking Tournaments. But compared to the second and third year members, the first years must be able to win two out of three matches as part of the preliminary round on the first day.

Those freshmen who managed to pass the preliminary round were the only ones allowed to participate with the second and third years for the second round on the second day. The spot for the regulars (which contained eight excluding the captain and the vice-captain's positions) won't be determined on their number of victories but on their performances during the matches. Which means, the qualified players were allowed to use their aces during their matches if it was deemed necessary.

The Ranking Tournaments would start the next day. Coach Nakayama dismissed the club earlier than usual in order to rest in preparation for the next day's event. After all, it was a whole day event.

"Miyako-chan, are you going to come with us? We're heading downtown to buy a new tennis racket and a few tennis balls," Hanako inquired as they finished packing up their things in their respective tennis bags.

Miyako slung her tennis bag onto her shoulder. "Sure. I need to buy a new grip tape and a headband, anyway. By the way, why are you going to buy a new tennis racket? What happened to your old one?"

"It's still fine. I just want to have an extra racket just in case something happened to the one I'm using by tomorrow's tournament."

"Hmm? I guess you have a point on that." Miyako then made a mental note to buy a new tennis racket, as well. Who knew how long would her current tennis racket last considering the skills of her possible opponents tomorrow for the Ranking Tournaments.

As they stepped out of the locker room, she flinched at the voice that suddenly greeted her a few steps outside. She fought the urge to sigh exasperatingly. Just what in the world was Fuji Syuusuke doing outside the girls' locker room, anyway? Good thing the other tennis club members went home as soon as they were dismissed for some reasons or else, hell will break lose.

Of course, she never realized that she voiced out that question she had in her mind. So it came as a surprise that Fuji replied with a chuckle. Whether it was because of amusement or to keep reining in his control not to be offended, she had no clue.

"Tezuka said he'll be accompanying Hondou-san downtown. Oishi, Inui and Taka-san said the same thing since Eiji overheard your friends talking about it during lunch," Fuji started before she could say anything. "You're heading there, as well, right?"

"I believe it's none of your business if I head there or not," was all she said a bit coldly before she faced her friends. "Would it be okay if I go ahead of you? I remembered that I need to buy a novel in the bookstore today. Onii-san was waiting for its release since last month."

"Sure. Let's just meet at the same place."

Miyako nodded and walked ahead, passing by Tezuka and the others with a glance that said she would go on ahead. Much to the confusion of the other girls, though, Miyako passed by Fuji without anything to indicate the same thing she did to the other guys. It was like the girl passed by the tensai like he didn't exist at all.

It might have been rude of her to do such a thing. But she didn't even know what came over her to treat Fuji like that. But it would be much better this way. Having him near her, whether intentional on either part or otherwise, would only bring her intense pain in the end. Letting him stay away from her at all cost was probably the best way for her to live her life.

After all, he didn't deserve to spend his undivided attention with her.

She wasn't deserving to be given such attention at all.

I guess things should better remain this way...

-x-x-

"Ne, Fujiko," Eiji caught his attention with that. Fuji faced the red head as soon as he was done watching Miyako disappear from his sight.

"I guess she hates me," he said jokingly. But little did the others know, he felt like there were needles pricking his heart a thousand times over as he said it. He decided not to show that to his friends.

"That's weird. Something's definitely wrong with Miya-chan."

He raised his head and his attention fixated on Kana. Her face was undoubtedly serious, with the frown and all. "What do you mean?"

"Something's wrong with her. She's not that lively compared to when she was back in Kanagawa. It's not that she hates you, Fuji-kun. But that's as far as I can tell."

"Well, Yumemiya-chan acts otherwise," Eiji countered.

"So you're telling us that she has her reasons for doing this?"

Kana could only sigh as a sign of giving up. "Well, whatever her reasons, I don't think it's something she wanted us to find out at all."

Fuji knew Kana was right. From those words alone, he figured it out. Miyako held a secret that she must not reveal even to her friends. She was protecting them from... something. But what could it be? And why was she treating him like this?

It wasn't like him to feel bitter towards somebody because of their treatment to him. But in all honesty, this would have been the first time he felt a slight bitterness. Even though he didn't want to, he felt bitter towards Miyako's way of treating him. He could only watch her from afar, have little conversations with her during those rare chances that came their way, and yet he got treated this way.

And then, something struck him.

"Ne, Fuji, are you sure you're alright?"

But no words came out from him to answer Eiji's question. His mind was still focused on the thought—the realization—that suddenly hit him.

Why didn't I notice that earlier? It should've been clear to me since I was with her the entire time.

"Fuji."

It made him look up after feling startled at the voice. Tezuka's face was stoic but he could see something else in it. His eyes showed it.

But all the answer the he gave to Tezuka was a determined smile hidden in his ever-present smile. The stoic man was able to notice that, of course.

"What are you planning to do?" came a placidly asked question from Tezuka.

That question caused several curious and baffled gazes to be fixated at Tezuka, then to Fuji.

A few moments later, the tensai smiled mysteriously. "A lot."

Before anyone there could say anything with regards to that, Fuji took off towards the direction that Miyako headed to. He ran as fast as he could. He has to reach her. Whatever it takes, he has to reach her and do what it takes to never let her out of his sight. To never let her go at all.

After a few turns within a few minutes of running, he finally saw Miyako. She was slightly looking down while walking lifelessly. It looked like she was in deep thoughts but still has a part of her attention on the path she was taking.

He was about to approach her as fast as he could. No matter how slow Miyako walked at the moment, he wanted to do what he must before he lose the courage he built up and let it crumble down. Or if not crumble down, then maybe it would fade one way or another.

He took a few steps to do it but then halted to a stop. He looked up, froze and let his azure eyes open in surprise. Soon after, he found himself running once more...

...towards Miyako before something happened in his watch!

"Miyako, watch out!"