Soredewa....
Forever This Way
Just as always, I will wait for you here at the canteen because you have a lot of activities to do before going home. It's not your club activities, in fact you're just join the track and field club and today you're free. But still, you're involve in many things. One of it is running away from those creepy girls, the fans of yours.
"Sorry for being late," I know that it's your voice. I look up to find you, dress up in a baggy jeans, black jacket, a black glasses, a mask and a hat. Nobody knows, unless me, that it's you. Your long hair is hidden under that hat.
"It's okay," I stand up and grab my bag. "Let's go," then we're off to go home.
We run, literally, until a few yards away from school and will always turn right by the T-junction. This dark hidden place is our favorite place to hide and waiting until everyone from school, maybe, reach their homes.
We're panting, out of breathe.
"Ah, that was tiring," I say.
You lean your body against the wall of the hallway we're hiding in,"Sorry for always drag you into this, Rena-chan," you look at me with those pitiful eyes.
I can't help but laugh,"You're funny, Jurina. I'm already used to it since our first year."
Your chest keep turning upside down, you're tiring. I see your sweat rolling from your forehead. You're all wet, and I'm sure that thick jacket makes it even worse.
You smile at me, now look at me with those caring eyes. "I'm glad that it's our last year in high school. Those creepy girls wouldn't run for me everyday anymore. And we don't have to hide here anymore."
You're right. I just realize that we're in our last year. Somehow, I don't want that to happen. If that happen, it means no more time you will hold my hand tightly like your life depends on me while we're running together, no more time for just the two of us in this dark hallway chatting about things and-
"But, I'm gonna miss this. Somehow, I want it like this, forever," you smile again at me.
"Me too," I say.
Both of us leaning against the wall. From this dark place we could see the girls who use the same uniform as us passing by. You would close our mouth with your palm, not letting them to spot where we are.
"Jurina-sama is running away again this time,"
"Mou, I planed about to hug her and kiss her today,"
"That annoying Matsui must be the one who steal her from us,"
"Right! I can't forgive her!"
There, those random girls talking about you, and bad things about me. After their voices fade away, you pull back your palm from your mouth. I gasp for air, I guess I was holding back my breathe.
"Huh, the annoying one is you guys, not Rena-chan," you curse them under your breathe. I can hear it clearly and it makes me laugh. But when I'm about to laugh harder, you close my mouth again with your palm.
"I wonder where Jurina-sama right now, I made her cookies but she's gone way too fast,"
"Me too, I bought this super huge teddy bear for her yesterday, but she's just gone,"
"What a waste,"
I see you roll your eyes hearing those girls blabbering about you. I smile look at you copying them silently.
Again, their voices fade away. There are still some girls passing the way. Maybe it sounds stupid to hide here for hours. But there's a story behind it.
Back then, the earlier days>>>
"Let's go home," you said after changing to your uniform.
"Un," I nodded then I stood up from my chair.
It was a week after your popularity became knowledgable by the students. One by one, whisper by whisper, the story of someone who brought back the school's pride by winning the 1st place in running competition after like years our school joined just to feel the bitter to be defeated by the other school.
We went home like usual. Walking the usual path, passing the usual places. It was a calm evening, until we reached your home. There are a lot of girls from our school (we're studying in all-girls school, so yeah).
"What's this occasion?" You asked.
I thought you were just whispering it to me, but then those eyes looking at you like maniac and approached you, more like attacked you. Once we had surrounded by them, they started to pinching your cheeks, your arms, and some tried to kiss you.
I pulled you from those crazy people. But no, I failed, they pulled you harder and made me fell to the ground.
"Don't go near Jurina-sama, you unknown girl,"
"Jurina-sama deserves someone better,"
Where was this insults going on, I didn't know either.
After that I felt, for the very first time in my life, someone kicked my stomach. It was like really, really hurt. I clutched on my stomach. I couldn't breathe properly and it was too hard for me to stand up. I saw your worry face between them, you tried to reach my hand but for another times, stoped by them.
Dark...
I opened my eyes when I flinched, a thousand needle were like barging into my stomach. And I felt something terrible in my arms, bruises.
"I don't believe those bunch of stupid people did this to you, Rena-chan. Oh please, for God's sake, wake up Rena-chan..." I heard your hopeless whisper. I tried to answer you but failed, I couldn't say a word, instead a cough.
"Oh my God, finally you're awake, thanks God." You hugged me really tight and a small winched from me made you let go of the hug.
"It's okay, you better rest." You kissed my forehead. The habbit of yours that I secretly like.
I didn't come to school the next day, and I heard from you that they kept on coming to your house. Since my house were quite close to your house, so it couldn't be helped that I would go home with you. That day they found you, or us literally. They catched on us and we ended up hiding together in the dark hallway near our school. That was the first time and your mom would give us a call and tell us if they already left your house.Now everything is different...
Hearing that you will miss this 'run away' things makes me really happy. This feeling isn't one-sided after all. We will truly, really miss our way home after school. It's like we're in a club where the member is just the two of us, the hallway club or run away club.
We smile to each other still leaning our back on the hallway. It's finally dawn. I see your face glimmering under the dawn's shine.
You look at me right in my eyes, maybe right through my heart, with your calm eyes. I quickly wash away by your look, you make me calm as well. Finally you make your move. You trap me between your body and the wall. Your slender body cover me, everything I see is you, everything I smell is you. Slowly but surely, the gap between your face and mine getting closer.
"You know, Rena-chan. I will miss this moment so much after we graduate," you say half whispering.
"We still have time, 2 months is quite a long time, Jurina," I tell you. Right, our graduation will be held the next two months. I just try to make you calm. "We still can have this time for another two months."
I hear you let out a small chuckle. "I wanna make a lot of moments with you, Rena-chan," you look at me right in the eyes, again.
"We will."
You close the distance between us. You kiss me gently right in my forehead and go down. That's when our lips meet for I don't know how many times already. We're not lovers, but we've done things like kissing and clinging to each other when we sleep. There's no further action between us. We're more than best friend, but less than lovers. People call it friends with benefits, but we don't care about it at all. As long as there is 'you and me', we will be happy.
This, is the moment that I will miss the most...
You deepen the kiss by tilting your head and dive in further inside my mouth. I can feel the warmth radiating from your palm to my cheeks and behind my neck as my legs lose it's balance and force me to cling to you. I clutch on your uniform tightly, not gonna let my body fall down.
Your hands find their way under my shirt, and your kisses reach my neck, but that is when your phone suddenly rings. But you keep on your job.
"Jurina, your phone," I try to stop you but you don't stop.
You pull out from my neck and look at me,"That must be mom tell us those creepy girls have gone home," you continue on biting my neck, but your phone keep on ringing. You pull out your phone from your pocket and turn it off.
"Bad girl," I tease you.
You shrug your shoulder, put it back inside your pocket and look back at me. "Should we continue?"
"It's getting darker, we better go home," I tell you. You're sulking, protesting it but end up following me to go home. You put your right arm around my neck and start to share your day along our way home. What happen in the hallway will end there.
Graduation Day>>>"Congratulation on your graduation, girls," our parents congratulate us. They gave us their warmest and tightest hug. They shed tears knowing that their little kids are one step closer to adulthood.
They wait for us in the car, leaving us with our friends and enjoy our last time as a highschool girl a bit longer.
As usual, people will have their eyes on you. Greeting you here and there, take a two-shoot picture with you, giving you their last presents. Right now your hand is already full with presents, chocolates and flowers.
"I thought today isn't valentine's day," I nudge your arm and make you laugh.
"You know that everyday is valentine's day for me since I get these everyday," you say confidently and show me those presents.
"Yeah, I know that Miss Popular~ Shall we go home?"
"Can we stop
there for a moment?" You ask while wiggling your eyebrow.
"Un."
You put all your things inside your parent's car. We tell our parents that we have something to do and they let us go.
"Just don't be too late, Jurina. You have to-"
"Yeah, yeah, reach home before 7. I got that, Daddy. Bye bye~" you pull my wrist and then we leave.
Of course I know where you will drag me, to the dark hallway, our favorite place. Today is different though, nobody catching on us, it's just us catching the certain place. As we reach the hallway, you pull me in for a kiss. I lost any words, instead of pulling back from the kiss, I deepen the kiss. I don't know why, but this kiss... You look desperate to kiss me as I notice your tears slowly roll down from the corner of your eyes.
"Wh-what happen, Jurina?" I look at you, you're crying silently, avoiding my gaze by looking at your feet.
"I... Tomorrow..."
"What? Tomorrow what?" I ask you, shaking your shoulder to find an answer. You're just being oblivious today. I don't get it at all. You're scaring me.
"I will... leave to England..." You say in a low voice, but in this hallway even a whisper could be heard clearly.
"Oh..." All I could say. I don't know what to respond that. It's tomorrow anyway, moreover I don't have the right to judge you or prevent you to not to go wherever you want.
"For years, I would be there to study," you continue. Eventhough your voice isn't cracking, your tears keep on flowing from your eyes, even your smile keep plastering on your lips. You're just amazing.
I tap your shoulder, signaling it would be okay for me. I pull you for a hug,"I understand, it's your dream, right? Nothing to worry about," right, nothing to worry about. I inhale deeply, memorizing the smell of your perfume and your body.
"I'm gonna miss you so, so bad," you sigh.
"I know that, me too."
We go home after that. I guess it would be hard for us, from now on.
The next day>>>"Oh, I'm gonna miss you so much Jurina..." Your mom says and give you a hug, as well as your father.
"Give us a call everyday, okay?" Your father adds.
You nod your head, agreeing whatever your parents say. After that, you drag me to another place. Toilet.
Right after locking the door, you approach me and hug me really tight. "I don't feel like to leave now," you cry. How adorable.
I pull back from the hug and look at you, full of tears in your beautiful face. I brush away the tears from your face. "Don't cry, we'll meet again-"
"Years later," you cut me. "I can't stand it," you whine again.
"Just call me, I'll always answer your call."
You pull out your necklace from your neck,"Keep this, I want you to bring it with you everyday," you say then put it around my neck.
I don't have anything for you, but then I remember,"Then here," I put my bracelet on your wrist. "Bring it with you everywhere as well, just to know that I'm here waiting for you."
"I love you, Rena," this is the first time I hear you call my name in such a manner. And this is the very first time you say that you love me. I hope it's not a mere dream, if it is, then I wish I will never wake up.
"I love you too, Jurina."
You pin me against the wall and lean in for a deep kiss. The memories of us being catch by your fangirls, hiding in the dark hallway, waiting until your mom calls us until it's down and kissing in that dark place, all flashing through my head. How I'm gonna miss those times so bad. Unconsciously, my tears flow as well as yours.
I try to pull back because I can hear the call for your flight has announced. "Let me kiss you, just a bit longer," and thus, we continued for a moment until the announcer speaks for the second time.
"I guess, it's really the time," you say.
We head to the departure section. Along the way, I have a big question in my mind.
"Wait, are we... Um..." I'm not sure about it, but I have to ask you right away. "Are we dating, now?"
You laugh at my question,"Yes, we are officially dating now, Rena-chan," you say with a wide smile.
With that, I send you to leave...
4 years later>>>"Good work, Matsui-san," another worker greets me after the day end.
Working in one of the well-known advertising company isn't easy. I have to deal with many things like deadline and photoshoot for the product. It's not like I'm the model for the photoshoot, I'm just a mere assistant of the manager and I have to follow his tight schedule.
However, the end of a day is the thing I always waiting for. To meet a shower and my fluffy bed are the best job in the world. I pass the same path I used back in highschool. And the memories are just too sweet and fun to remember. I hold the necklace in my neck. It has been 4 years since your departure to England. I sigh. I miss you just so bad.
Maybe I'm just spacing out way too much along the way back home, now I almost reach my house. I spot a figure in front of my house. A tall figure with those classy outift, looking at my house and just stand there. The two of this stranger hands are hide inside her thick jacket.
I approach that figure and tap her shoulder only to find an all-too-familiar girl that I miss a lot in front of me.
"Ah, Rena-chan!" That voice... "I miss you so much! I really miss you, Rena-chan..." The voice talk, mixing Japanese and English.
"J-Jurina?"
"Yes, tadaima~" so it's really you. That smile would never become someone else's smile, it's yours.
"Okaeri..." Finally, I meet you again...
<<< END >>>
Mata ato de nee