I will have to add the individual thanks later, but thank you to everyone for their comments!
Enjoy Chapter 1!
Chapter 1“You are the most beautiful princess in the kingdom…”
“Haruna.”
Somebody was calling her.
“Haruna.”
She could hear the voice again.
Who was calling her?
And where was she?
She tried to remember. She had a full day of photoshoots yesterday. After her work was finished last night, she didn’t go home. Instead, she went to the hospital and visited…
Suddenly, she jolted awake.
“Yuko!”
Kojima Haruna opened her eyes and looked at the bed. The girl who laid there still had her eyes closed. The machines that were hook up to her showed no signs of any change in the girl’s status.
Takahashi Minami looked at her in concern.
“Haruna, did you sleep here again?” Minami asked softly.
Haruna turned to face Minami. “Takamina.”
“I knew that I would find you here.”
Haruna sat back down on the chair and placed her hand over Yuko’s. The feel of Yuko’s hand slowly calmed her racing heart.
“Haruna, you have to stop doing this.” The worry in Minami’s voice was evident. “You are over-exerting yourself. Yuko wouldn’t want to see you like this.”
Haruna remained silent.
Minami sighed. “I have to go to the agency before heading to the theatre. So, I just wanted to come by and remind you that we have a performance tonight.”
“Thanks.” Haruna replied blankly.
“C’mon Haruna, you better go home and freshen up first before the performance tonight.”
Haruna nodded. She got up and kissed Yuko softly on the forehead. She grabbed her bag and walked out of the room with Minami.
~~~~~
Haruna walked into her apartment and dropped her bag onto the couch.
She walked over to the small cabinet and picked up a picture frame. Yuko had her arms around Haruna in the photo and they were both smiling brightly.
It had been 3 months since Yuko’s accident. It had been the worst 3 months in her life.
“Yuko is not here yet?” Haruna asked as she walked into the dressing room.
Miyazawa Sae shook her head. “I had tried calling her earlier but she didn’t pick up.”
“That’s strange.” Minami answered. “She took the first van here with some of the staff. They had left the theatre a lot earlier than we did, so they should be here by now.”
“It’s almost time for our performance.” Maeda Atsuko said as she looked at the clock on the wall.
Just then, the ringing of Minami’s cell phone interrupted their conversation.
“Moshi moshi.” Minami answered. “Kudo-san?”
Everyone in the room turned their attention to Minami as they recognized the name of one of their managers.
“Yes, we are at the studio right now. There are still 30 minutes until our recording, but Yuko is not here yet.” Minami paused as she listened to their manager speak. “Ee?”
Haruna could not stop the bad feeling that was forming in her stomach as she watched Minami’s face turned pale.
“No… Yuko… She…” Minami started to cry as their manager continued to talk. “O… Okay.”
Minami passed the phone to the staff member that was standing close to her. The staff continued to talk on the phone as Minami turned to face the other members in the room.
“Minami? What happened?” Shinoda Mariko asked carefully.
Minami bit her lips and shook her head.
“Takamina, what happened to Yuko?” Haruna walked up to Minami and asked.
“The van that Yuko was in got into an accident. They were hit by a car that had lost control. The driver and the other staff members are okay, but Yuko…” Minami looked up into Haruna’s face. “Yuko was sitting in the back of the van and that’s… That’s where the other car slammed into the van…”
Minami could not continue anymore. Mariko walked over and wrapped her arms around Minami.
Haruna stepped back and dropped onto the floor. She could not believe her ears. Minami had to be lying. It just could not be true.
“No…” Haruna shook her head in disbelief. “Not Yuko…”
“Haruna.” Minegishi Minami wrapped her arms around the taller girl.
“Yuko…”It had been 3 months since Yuko was in a coma. The doctor had said that Yuko had suffered a serious head trauma as a result of the accident. They didn’t know when she would wake up.
Haruna touched Yuko’s face in the photograph.
“When are you going to wake up, Yuko?” Haruna whispered as a lone tear rolled down her. “I’m waiting for you. I’m going to stay by your side until you wake up.”
~~~~~
“Good afternoon, Takamina-san.”
Minami smiled as she nodded at the kenkyusei. She walked into the dressing room and sat down in front of the mirror.
Today was Team A’s Mokugekisha performance. A couple of the Team A members would not be able to participate in the performance, so a number of kenkyusei would be subbing in for them.
Normally, Minami loved being at the theatre and being able to perform on stage. But lately, she was missing the motivation or passion she usually had when she’s at the theatre.
After the accident, they had stopped their stage performances since all of the girls were shaken up by what had happened. They had only re-started their stages recently.
Minami looked at herself in the mirror. She looked exhausted. But she knew that Haruna probably looked worst than she did. After the accident, it seemed like Haruna went on autopilot.
Minami was worried about Haruna since she had barely slept and barely ate. Most of the time, Haruna would rather be at the hospital than at work.
Minami often had to remind Haruna about her work, so she wouldn’t miss any appointments. She knew Haruna’s schedule like her own now.
She wished that things could return to the way they were, but she knew that was impossible.
“Kojiharu-san.”
Minami turned around as Haruna nodded blankly at the kenkyusei who had greeted her earlier.
Haruna sat down at the empty seat beside Minami and started to take out her makeup kit. She did not say a word to Minami as she began to do her makeup. Minami watched her silently for a few minutes before starting to prepare for the stage herself.
A few hours later, the performance had finished without any incidents. The members went back to the dressing room to pack up their belongings.
Minami stopped at the doorway. She felt very sorry to the fans who had attended their show as she knew that she was not at her best. She had tried very hard but her heart was just not in the performance. Minami sighed and walked back to her seat.
“Are you going back to hospital tonight?” Minami asked as she watched Haruna gathered her stuff.
Haruna shook her head. “Yuko’s father is going to stay with her tonight.”
Minami patted Haruna softly on the shoulder. “Go home and get some rest.”
“Hmm.” Haruna zipped up her bag. “Good night.”
“Good night.” Minami answered as she watched Haruna walked out of the dressing room. She sat down and looked into the mirror.
“When can we go back to normal?” Minami whispered softly. She flipped open her phone. She searched through the photos and stopped at a picture of Yuko that was taken during their trip to Guam.
“I’m so sorry, Yuko…”
~~~~~
The apartment was dark when Haruna returned. She did not bother turning on any lights. She sat down on her couch and closed her eyes.
It was quiet. She had sent her dogs back to her family in Saitama as she was in no condition to care for them right now.
She had never felt so alone.
Suddenly, she could hear her cell phone rang.
“Moshi moshi.”
“Haruna-chan?”
“Oshima-san?” Haruna recognized the voice of Yuko’s father immediately. “Is everything okay?”
“Haruna-chan, I think you need to come to the hospital now. It’s Yuko…”
Topic: Yakusoku - chapter 4 (KojiYuu & AtsuMina) 11/07/2011 (Read 28968 times)