Chapter 3: ROMANCE IRANE!
A RUNNING girl bumped Natsu but the girl didn’t even say sorry to him. She just continued running while sobbing. Question marks popped out of his head. He went to look to direction in which the girl came from; his question was immediately answered.
He went towards the kid playing on the sand box alone.
“Fuyu-nii…” he called out. “Did you say something weird to that girl?”
The boy lifted up his pail but the sand that he was molding immediately crumbled. He turned to Natsu with his cold eyes.
“She told me that she likes me but then I sniffed her and told her that I don’t like the way she smells.” Fuyu answered monotonously. “And, we are just in pre-school. It is too early to talk about this kind of things.”
Natsu nodded. He sat beside the other boy and grabbed the toy shovel.
“Fuyu-nii, you are always saying that you will find the girl for you just by her scent. How sure are you with that?”
“1000% sure.” Fuyu simply answered while filling up his pail with sand again. “I just have a strong feeling that I will know her by her scent.”
Natsu helped in putting sand in the pail. “What will you do once you found her?”
Fuyu let go of his tools and sat on the sand. He looked up to the sky and heaved a sigh. “I will treasure her and never let go of her. I will lay my life on her. I will love her with everything that I have.”
Natsu’s eyes glittered while looking at the other boy. Somehow Fuyu looks like a kid in shining armor in Natsu’s eyes.
“You are always so deep, Fuyu-nii.” Natsu said with a cute smile on his face. “I want to be cool like you!”
Fuyu smiled back at him and ruined his hair. “I doubt that. You are way cooler than me! You’ve already come out on television, right?”
Natsu remained silent. He blushed at the compliment of the other boy but something in his heart is telling him that what he said was wrong in some point.
“I don’t have any dream or anything I like to achieve but you are already living your dream, Natsu. The only thing I am certain now is I will feel complete once I found that girl.”
“Are you kids really pre-schoolers?”
Their heads automatically turned to the source of the voice.
“Uncle Mario!” they ran towards the then 23-year old, Shinoda Mario, and gave him a hug. He wore off his mask and rubbed the boys’ heads.
“Come on, kids! Your hands are so dirty. You are ruining my clothes!”
Shinoda tried to shake them off but the kids tightened their hugs to his legs even more. Earlier they were just talking like adults but here they are chuckling according to their age.
“What are you, kids, talking about? It seems like a gentlemen’s talk.”
“I was talking with Fuyu-nii about the girl that he wants!” Natsu energetically answered. Fuyu just nodded.
Shinoda forced a smile. “You guys are too young to be talking about girls!”
“But I’m serious, Uncle Mario!” Fuyu argued. “My goal is to find that girl! My heart is aching for her!” He was even clenching his chest to prove it.
Shinoda laughed and patted their heads. “Hai, hai. You say so.”
A familiar looking car suddenly stopped in front of the school. Natsu instantly held on to Fuyu right after seeing the said vehicle.
“I guess you have to go back home now, Natsu.” Shinoda sighed.
The kid just looked at the other kid. The smile on Fuyu’s face has already faded. An old guy who seems to be the Matsui Family’s butler came out of the car.
“Natsu-kun, it’s time to go home.” He said without any expression on his face.
“Go now, Natsu.” Shinoda told him with a faint smile.
“B-But… how about Fuyu-nii?”
“What are you talking about, Natsu? I got my own home and I have a different family, remember?” He nonchalantly placed his hand on Natsu’s shoulder. “You’ll slowly get used to this. Go home now.”
He nodded but his heart was in great disagreement. He dragged his feet towards the car and rode it with his head bowed down. He looked at the other boy who waved at him with a faint smile on his face.
The car left soon after but Natsu looked at Fuyu and Shinoda through the back window. His eyes were tearing up a little bit but he couldn’t show it to the butler. He dropped himself on the seat and continued sulking.
“Fuyu-nii…”
FUMIE GAVE out an exasperated sigh after seeing Fuyu waiting for her to pass by again. She managed to escape him yesterday after sending Miyu to tell him that she got a sudden appointment and it somehow drove him away.
She could clearly remember how Fuyu’s face became downcast after Miyu told him that she will not be able to go home with him. He started walking away with heavy shoulders. On the other hand, her friend came back to her with a huge smile on her face, telling her how handsome Hoshizora Fuyu could be up close and personal.
The guy noticed her and immediately waved at her, pulling his back from the fence he is leaning to. He is smiling so warmly that all the threads that she has read about him never talked about that he can do. But man, she couldn’t deny it that he is indeed breath-taking.
Looking at it, he isn’t wearing a mask now. Is his allergy to pollen already disappeared?
“Good morning, Fumie.” Fuyu greeted her with that heart-melting smile.
She tried to look at him but she quickly threw her stare somewhere else. “G-Good morning, Senpai.” She stuttered and then hurriedly started walking. She walked pass Fuyu but the guy just casually walked beside her like yesterday.
“You can just call me with my first name.” he stated. Fumie could feel that he is all eyes to her and that is making everything more awkward. She is looking on the other side so she could hide her face.
“I couldn’t just call you by your first name just like that.” She answered in a faint voice.
“Why not? I am your boyfriend anyway.”
Fumie’s brows furrowed. She stopped walking, her fists clenched. She looked up at Fuyu who also stopped walking right after she did. He is looking at her with a curious face.
“Is something bothering you, Fumie?”
The girl grumpily puffed her cheeks but she then continued walking.
“When did I become your girlfriend?” is what she wanted to ask but she still couldn’t voice out what she feels. She still doesn’t know what kind of guy Fuyu is.
Fuyu just shrugged his shoulders and followed her. His cheeks burnt a little because he couldn’t deny how cute Fumie was when she puffed her cheeks.
When they arrived at the school, they became the center of attention once again. It is the second day that they came to school together. Fumie tried so hard to shake him by walking very fast but the guy has longer legs which made it effortless for him to catch up. Her effort was futile.
“Fuyu-nii, good morning!” That was Natsu who just finished changing into his school shoes. “Have you already eaten breakfast?”
“I had some toast and milk.” Fuyu thriftily answered.
“Are you okay with just that?” The other guy worriedly asked which Fuyu answered with a nod. “Anyway, Fuyu-nii, how about we go home together today?”
Fuyu looked at him after changing his shoes. “Are you serious? Our homes are in opposite directions.”
Natsu gave out a forced laugh. “W-Well, I’m kind of free today so how about let’s hang out on your house.”
Fuyu picked up his shoes and put them in the locker. “You know we can’t do that.”
“E-Eh… How about we hang out on Aki’s house? That’s fine, right?”
Fuyu heaved a sigh. “Sorry Natsu… But today I’m planning to go home with Fumie.”
Fumie suddenly walked pass them. She changed her shoes on the other side where the juniors’ lockers are in. She had a glimpse of the two but she immediately tried to escape them. Their stares met again for a moment.
“I’m sorry, Natsu. See you around.” That’s all and Fuyu went running to catch up with Fumie. He just broke a school rule of no running in the hallway.
“Tch!” Natsu clicked his tongue. “You are like a dog going after her like that… She obviously doesn’t like you… You are losing your coolness, Fuyu-nii…”
“IS HE GONE?”
That was Fumie talking with Miyu through the phone. She is snooping outside by the window of her classroom. She is the only one left in the classroom.
“Hoshi-senpai is gone. It seems like he got tired of waiting for you.” Miyu answered her. The other girl was already in the car on her way to a photoshoot. “You can get out now.”
Fumie heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness he already left. I thought he would stay until I get out.”
A sarcastic laugh was heard from Miyu. “Just tell him that you are planning to be a nun so he could stop with following you.”
“I’m not planning to be a nun! I want to be an idol, Miyu!”
“I’m just playing with speech!” Miyu sighed. “Just tell him that you couldn’t return his feelings. It will be bad for him if you remain silent like this. It will be bad for the both of you.”
Fumie picked up her bag then checked if all her things are inside. “What’s up with that
foolishness anyway? How can someone say that he has found the one for him just by scent?”
She jerked when she heard a gasp coming from one of the lockers behind. She was about to go near it but Miyu continued talking making her forget about the locker.
“Don’t you feel anything about him at the very least? If he thinks like that then maybe destiny is involved with this, right?”
“Destiny?” Fumie’s shoulders dropped. “I wonder what year it is for us to be talking about destiny.”
Knots appeared on Miyu’s forehead. “Well, ask that to yourself when you are also crazy about a certain story. If you don’t tell him what you feel today I will seriously be mad at you. I’m hanging up.”
“E-Eh… Chotto! Miyu!” Fumie looked at her phone only to see that Miyu indeed dropped the call. She kind of felt guilty after that conversation. She knows that Miyu is probably getting annoyed of her being like this. “Why does it have to be me anyway?”
“Yeah… Why does it have to be you?”
Her eyes darted to the door. She gulped. She never thought that she would see this guy here and he is looking at her with a smirk—Matsui Natsu.
“Why does it have to be you out of all people?” He asked once more and then closed the door. Fumie looked back at him. She isn’t going to let herself be frightened by this guy.
“Sorry, but I was eavesdropping on your conversation a while ago. I couldn’t hear the person you were talking with but…” his eyes grew even sharper, the smirk faded from his face. “I heard that you called Fuyu-nii a
fool.”
Fumie tightened her grip to her bag. She might have not said it directly but in a sense she did call Fuyu stupid.
“Trash talking Fuyu-nii on his back… That is something that I can never forgive.” Natsu smiled and brushed his blonde hair upwards. “This is something that I’m really afraid of…
What if the girl with the scent won’t take him seriously and think that he is crazy? What if she won’t see how much Fuyu-nii values this thing?” He weakly shook his head. “I
hate you for making him wait like this.”
“Why are you being angry at me like this?”
Natsu’s eyes widened for a moment. This girl just dared to answer him. Her eyes are fixed to him, they aren’t wavering. Things are just getting interesting.
“Maa…” Natsu shrugged. He went closer to Fumie and looked down on her. “I know that it isn’t your fault to be the
girl. You’re probably surprised as well but you know…” he leaned towards her and whispered right next to her ear. “If you don’t like him at the very least, tell him right away. Don’t make him look like a dog. Fuyu-nii doesn’t deserve the likes of you.”
Natsu saw Fumie’s shook expression and this pleased him. A sneer curved up his lips. He then turned his back to her and went towards the door. “It would be nice if I won’t see you together with Fuyu-nii ever again.”
“You guys are crazy!” Natsu was halted with that shout from Fumie. “Really, I can’t say anything but you are all crazy! Why are you all pressuring me with this!? How is someone supposed to like a person she just met!? Tell me how I could like a person I just met!”
Fumie clenched her fists. “You, guys, don’t even think of what I feel. You don’t even dare to ask about me and here you are pushing things to me! You don’t even know me—“
She gasped when Natsu suddenly kicked the table near him. His face is a complete picture of anger. Fumie was taken aback.
“You also don’t know Fuyu-nii so don’t act like you are the only victim here! You don’t know how this thing is very important to him! He just wants to go home
with you but you are making him look like an idiot waiting for nothing at the school gate! He has allergy to pollen for goodness’ sake!”
The guy brushed his hair up once again and took a deep breath. “I heard you want to be an idol. Consider this a training. Nobody will bother about your feelings the moment you become one.”
He kicked one more seat before going out. “How I wish that it was
Asuka-chan and not anyone else.”
Fumie finally found air when Natsu is finally out of the room. She took a seat first. Her knees are trembling. She never imagined that she would be having an argument with someone just a few days after the term starts and that person is one of the famous people not just in NeoHorikoshi but in all Japan.
She held her chest for it felt like it is tightening.
“Why do I feel like I have hurt a dear friend?”
IT’S already past 5 in the afternoon when Fumie went out of the classroom. Her heart still feels a bit heavy with those words she heard from Miyu and Natsu. She believes that she has a point but she couldn’t help but feel guilty. She has no clue why.
A girl was standing in front of the gate and it seems like she is talking to someone. This made her stop. It feels like she will ruin something once she goes close to them. The girl’s face is pinkish, probably confessing to someone.
“Are you still waiting for her, Senpai?” she heard the girl said which made her heart skipped a beat. Could it be…
She didn’t hear any answer from the one who is being asked. She saw the girl took a deep breath.
“S-Senpai… The truth is I—“
“I’m sorry.” Her sentence was immediately cut which made Fumie gasped. She covered her mouth so she won’t get noticed. “I’ve already found the girl I was searching for.”
Fumie’s heart tightened when she heard that voice. She’s sure that it was Fuyu.
“But Senpai! Everyone can see that she isn’t interested to you. Don’t wait for her like this!”
“You got a point.” Fumie felt like her heart stopped beating for a moment. “But you know this doesn’t change the fact that she is the one with the scent. I don’t care if she doesn’t look at me the same way.”
“B-But—“
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about me.”
Fumie heard groans from the guy. Fuyu tried to stand up, his legs numb for sitting for a long time. The other girl tried to help her but Fumie was caught in her line of sight. The girl bowed at her jolted away.
Fuyu, curious of what made the girl run took a peek inside the school grounds. A wonderful smile curved up his lips. “As I thought, you are still here.” He waved at her.
Fumie released a sigh. How could he smile like that to her when she just made her wait for almost two hours outside?
She slowly walked towards him, trying not to look at his happy face as much as possible.
“Did something hold you back?” Fuyu cheerfully asked her. His tone is much different to the way he talked with the other girl. “Let’s go home.”
The guy started to walk, dragging his feet that are still numb.
“If you don’t like him at the very least, tell him right away. Don’t make him look like a dog. Fuyu-nii doesn’t deserve the likes of you.”The lass took a deep breath. This thing has to stop.
“U-Uhm…” She called unto him. “Can we stop by somewhere to talk?”
FUYU went running back to Fumie with cans of chocolate drink in both of his hands. He handed it to her before sitting to the other side on the bench. Fumie was hesitating to accept the drink but in the end she accepted it.
“Today is a very nice day.” Fuyu looked up to the sky after taking a gulp of his drink. “The weather is just right.”
Fumie weakly nodded. “Y-You were wearing a mask when we first met, right? D-Do you feel better now?”
“Yes! Strangely, my allergy immediately went away the first time I came to smell you.” He turned to her with eyes adoring her whole being. “It’s the first time I’m walking so freely in spring.”
“I-Is that so?” Fumie stared blankly at her can of chocolate drink. She isn’t in the mood to take even a sip of it. She’s looking at the guy through the corner of her eyes, trying to find the right time to tell him what she really feels. Fuyu is currently looking at the two boys who seemed to be brothers playing ball.
“S-Senpai… Your house is kind of big. W-Who are you living with?”
“Great, Fumie. Great! What’s wrong with you asking that question out of nowhere?”She saw him smiled weakly. That smile seemed kind of forced.
“I’m…living with my mother.” He answered in a low voice. Judging the way he answered, it seems like Fumie touched something that she shouldn’t have. She immediately thought of another topic.
“W-W-What do you want to be in the future?”
“Good! Your questions really flow!” Fumie nagged to herself.
“Future, huh?” Fuyu inclined his back to the bench. “I never thought about my future. All this time I was only thinking of how to find you and live the rest of my life with you.”
“You also don’t know Fuyu-nii so don’t act like you are the only victim here! You don’t know how this thing is very important to him!”She remembered those words of Natsu. It seems like Fuyu is really serious of this thing basing on how he talks about it. She bit her lower lip.
“How sure are you that I am the one you are looking for?” she asked, finally getting to her point.
Fuyu dropped his head and looked at his drink. “Since I was young, I know deep within me that I am here for a purpose. I know that I am here to search for a certain girl and be with her. I’m here to give my life to her and I just know that I will come to recognize her through her scent.” He started smiling to himself; his cheeks light pink. “And it happened that I found that scent from you.”
“What’s making you so sure?” Fumie asked once again. “What if there is someone else other than me who has the scent you are talking about? Someone else in Japan or someone else from the other side of the world?”
Fuyu shook his head. “You have a very unique scent. I have never smelled this scent ever in my life.” He turned to her smiling. “I’m 1000% sure about this. I have been talking about this stuff ever since I was a kid to the point that my father thought I was crazy and concluded that I will have a wasted life. I don’t mind though. I believe that once I find you I will be complete.”
Fumie tightened her hold to the can. Everything that the guy is saying makes it harder for her to tell the truth. He definitely looks so happy about finding her. How could she break that smile? She’s aiming to be someone who can deliver smiles to people but here she is, about to took a smile away.
“S-Senpai…”
“I told you, Fuyu is fine. I am your boy—“
“I cannot be your girlfriend!”The world’s rotation seemed to stop for Fuyu. He got deafened. For a moment he could only hear a faint yet long beeping sound. His eyes wide opened; his lips parted.
“I have a dream to be an idol. Right now I am under some training, hoping that I will be chosen to debut. It has been my dream since I was young.” She paused to hydrate her dry throat. “In order to become one I have to remain pure in the eyes of the public. I… I can’t involve myself in a relationship.”
She said it! She finally said it! Her chest started to feel at ease after finally letting out what’s making her feel heavy. She looked up in the sky and smiled, trying to lift up the heavy atmosphere.
“And above everything else, we are talking about a serious thing here. I just met you. I only know your name. I have a very faint knowledge of you. I can’t just agree with you about making me your girlfriend even though you are famous and everything.”
There was a short reign of silence which was soon broken by Fuyu.
“I-Is that so?” He smiled and scratched his head. “I’m sorry about that. Aki was right. I guess I really shocked you. My bad… I’m really sorry. I got…
a bit excited…”The way he sighed the last phrase pinched Fumie’s heart but she chose not to mind it.
“I finally found you and it got me so happy. I’m sorry that I neglected what you feel. I’m really sorry. Believe me all I want is to treat you properly.” He emptied his can before continuing. “If that is your wish then I will stop pursuing you but…
I will wait for you.”
Fumie turned to him with a surprised expression on her face. “B-But—“
“I’m convinced that you are the one I was searching for. Let me support you from the sideline. I would love to see you achieving your dreams. I promise that I will stop bothering you. I won’t even lay a hand on you. But…”
Fuyu turned to Fumie. He is still smiling but his eyes are telling a different story. “Let me wait for you. I promise I won’t do anything that will ruin your dream. Just let me wait for you. I don’t mind even how long it will take or if you will ever look at me the same way, just let me do this for now…
Because I will literally lose the will to live if you tell me to forget about you…”-TBC-
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Hello everyone! Thank you for reading this fic! I am overwhelmed with the amount of views and comments when it only has 2 chapters (3 now). Compared to Things That Mix, I guess this one had a good start. I'm really thankful for all of you!
Here's a little gift from me~
SHIKI CHIBI ART~(Sorry for the quality tho.)
If ever there is anyone who likes a copy of the phone wallpaper version, just pm me and I will send it to you. Don’t expect much tho. Just in case someone likes it. Haha.
Have a nice week~!
(Questions will be answered soon~~~)