Chapter 124

Miku.

The concert was a huge success. We weren't making money or anything; that was never the intention, and that's why it was free, but everybody really enjoyed it.

"You know, I didn't expect Gumi to actually sing with him!" Rin gushed, "They were perfect!"

We were all putting the things away and taking a break. Neru was talking to Oliver and Kaito had gone to get us all some ice cream. I was sitting on the steps behind the curtains that led up to the stage, drinking water and eating a leek.

"Say...where is Gumi?" I mused just as Luka came running and grabbed Gakupo. She hugged him tightly and started squeaking excitedly about the concert. Looking at those two made me smile warmly. It really was an accomplishment, this concert. It would never have happened the way it did without all that practice and planning. The audience was really important too, of course.

"Here you go!" Kaito came with a box of ice cream bars and started distributing them. He handed one to me and took the last one himself, sitting down beside me.

We tore the wrappers off started eating. Kaito was clearly very excited, because he was eating it really fast.

"Hey," he began, "Someone's missing..."

"Yuma," I said, "And Gumi."

"Hmm? Where'd he go? No wonder I didn't need more ice creams..."

"I don't know," I shrugged, "Somewhere, but it's fine. They'll be back later."

"Allegro, agitate....miminari ga kienai yamanai, allegro, agitate, miminari ga kienai yamanai," Len and Rin sang as they danced around the area. Gakupo and Oliver pulled the instruments to one side.

"Do you guys want to buy food?" Meiko asked, "You all can treat me!"

"I just did!" Kaito said, gesturing towards the ice cream bar in the brunette's hand, "The Food Eater song really suits you..."

She hurled the ice cream at Kaito's face and I yelped. Kaito grabbed the ice cream and shoved it into his mouth with a smile.

"Thanks," he grinned. Meiko rolled her eyes. Mikuo ran over to her and hugged her, taking her in his arms and spinning her around. I looked away and tried to block out their laughter. My heart still thumped erratically at the sound of Mikuo's voice.

"You okay?" Kaito pulled me close and I rested my head on his shoulder, "It's alright."

"Huh?" He seemed to know what was wrong, but I would never admit that I still kind of liked Mikuo, "I'm fine."

Kaito finished off both his ice cream and Meiko's. Slowly, he wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.

"Look at them," he whispered, "They're so happy."

I glanced up towards them. They were talking with Len and Rin about the concert. Mikuo had a leek in one hand and a bag of popcorn in another. I sighed and looked down at my shoes.

"Aren't you happy, princess?" Kaito whispered. His tone indicated seriousness, "If you're not, then be honest. I don't want to put you through something that you don't want."

I snapped my gaze up at him and gripped the hem of his shirt in my fists. "If I wasn't happy, why would I hold your hand? Why would I go out for dinner with you? Why would I have...cried the way I did when I accidentally hurt you? W-Why would I have kissed you in the rain that day in the first place?"

He was speechless, and he should've been. I blushed a little and looked away.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, "I can't control these feelings..."

"I'm not asking you to," he said, tilting my face upwards and looking at me calmly, "I love you. If you're still not sure, I'll do my best to make you sure. Sometimes, this happens, but I don't want my princess to go through this sort of pain."

He gave me a small kiss and smiled when he pulled away. I smiled back. I was so stupid, so pathetic, I realized. I had Kaito, and he was so wonderful yet still, I found my pulse quickening at the sight of Mikuo.

"Give it some time," Kaito said, "Don't worry. People have feelings, and they're not governed by on and off switches. I'm not angry or anything."

He hugged me and held me like that for a few minutes. I was quiet, focusing on Kaito and only Kaito, my ice cream loving, blue haired prince.

Gumi.

I gaped at Yuma. He still held me close but now I wanted to be closer. "Y-You're what?"

His gaze slipped down to his shoes before meeting my eyes again. "...I'm moving," he said quietly, his grip on my waist tightening.

"When?" I was doing my best not to raise my voice.

Yuma exhaled slowly, closing his eyes, his hands slipping off of me. "The...the flight's tomorrow."

"T-Tomorrow?" This had to be a nightmare. Yuma couldn't just get up and leave me like this! Could he?

"T-Tomorrow, five in the morning," he whispered, "Gumi, I love you. I don't want to leave you, but I have to."

"What...kind of love is that?" I croaked, feeling tears welling up in my eyes, "Yuma, why're you...you..."

He shook his head solemnly. "My dad works in another city, so we rarely see him and it's tearing my mom and him apart. Now, he's being transferred to a country on the other side of the globe and..."

"N-No!" I slammed my fists against Yuma's chest repeatedly. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. My world was going to end in a matter of hours, "I hate you, Yuma, why..."

My voice cracked and I started to sob. His hands clamped down on my shoulders but I shook him away. I turned and ran, sprinting down the side of the school, not wanting to go back to him or anyone else.

"Gumi!" His voice was distant and I didn't want to hear it anymore. I wanted to hate him. The phrase had left my mouth but its significance and meaning hadn't seeped into my heart yet.

If Yuma left me and I loved him, I'd be broken forever. So, I had to make myself hate him, no matter what, as impossible as it seemed, lest I crumble to nothing.

Yuma.

"No, Gumi...," I held my head in my hands and slid down to the pavement, my back grating against the brick wall, "C-Come back..."

I cringed and swallowed slowly, getting to my feet. I didn't want this, I didn't want this at all, but nobody would listen to me. When Kaito told me that Gumi had a crush on me, I was thrilled and hardly afraid. I knew that we were probably going to move, but I kept pushing it aside. I had Gumi and I wanted her to have the greatest month of her life. I always had this little glimmer of hope that maybe, somehow, I'd get to stay with her, but such a thing hadn't happened yet.

I walked around the school's perimeter, down the way she had gone, trying to find her.

Gumi.

I ran to the spot where Yuma and I used to sit at lunch, near the front entrance of the school, behind the bushes. I fell to the dirt, my knees hugged to my chest as I sobbed uncontrollably.

Yuma and I did so much in one month. It was starting to make sense, why he had been acting so strangely yesterday and today. When I thought about those moments, his kisses, whispers and embraces, I just fell deeper into my sadness. He was leaving me. We just sang Meltdown in front of the entire school and now he was leaving me.

Just the thought of him disappearing form my life hurt so much that I could never properly put it into words. I wiped my eyes furiously and balled my fists. I wouldn't be able to live on if I kept loving him the way I did. That was why hating him was the only answer.

For a few minutes, I sat silently in the shadows, my eyes still wet from crying. I had never, ever cried so much. I had never, ever been so hurt. I heard his voice calling my name, his footsteps thumping as he looked for me, and while I wanted to be in his arms, I forced myself to hold back the naïve urge.

"Gumi!" Yuma suddenly peered through the bushes and saw me with my knees still hugged to my chest, "Gumi, listen..."

"No," I answered bitterly in spite of myself. If I was going to lose him, then I had to pull myself away from him first, "Leave me alone!"

"I can't, Gumi," Yuma said softly, sitting down beside me, "It's my last day, and I want to be with you."

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I whispered, "This is worse than losing you to death, dammit!"

"No, no, don't say that," Yuma took my hand and immediately, I pulled away, looking back at him with fiery, wet eyes. He sighed, "I know you love me."

"S-So what if I do?" I spat, "I don't want to love you anymore! I want to hate you!"

"But you can't," he answered, taking my hands firmly this time, "Gumi...I don't doubt our love for a second. I could never hate you. You could never hate me. If we do this now, we'll both regret it forever. I just...I want to leave you with memories. Good memories."

He let go of one of my hands and slipped reached into my pocket, pulling out my phone and holding it in front of me.

"Memories," he said softly with a sad smile, "I love you, Gumi, and I never want to leave you, but it's not like I have a say in this. My entire future...everything's been planned out. My dad really isn't someone who listens. I honestly don't know where I'll be, five years from now, but it's not looking good."

"But you do, you listen," I looked down at the grass, trying not to look at that perfect face of his, that mouth that kissed me so many times. My love for him broke through my slowly developing shell of dislike, "Please, Yuma. You can't leave."

"I have to leave this place," he said firmly, suddenly dropping my phone and cupping my face in his hands, "But I will never leave you."

He leaned forward and closed his eyes, bringing his mouth to mine and kissing me. I didn't close my eyes. I didn't kiss back. His brow was furrowed. My heart ached. His hands moved from my face to my shoulders.

"Please," he said against my lips, "Gumi, we're perfect, but...nothing ever stays perfect..."

He kissed me again, sweetly this time, twirling a strand of my lime green hair between his gloved fingers. I could tell that he was hoping that I'd reciprocate. I wanted to, but I held back, which was an extremely difficult thing to do. I couldn't give him what he wanted, because if I did, we'd both break. Slowly, he brought his tongue to my lips and I nearly lost control. Immediately, I pressed the flat of my palms against his chest and pulled away, shaking my head and turning to leave.

"It could've been perfect," I whispered, my voice cracking as I got to my feet, "But you...you had to keep it from me till today."

Yuma.

Her words were like arrows being rained down on me, leaving me bloody and half-dead. I couldn't have told her. That would have ruined our relationship.

"It would've been a ticking time bomb," I replied, getting up and grabbing her arm, "I didn't want to put you through that."

"Let go!" She yanked her arm out of my grip and sprinted out of the schoolyard, "I don't want to see you! I hate you!"

"Gumi, please!" I held my hand out, as though I could reach her like that. She disappeared into the distance and my arms began to shake. My vision grew blurry and I fell to my knees, holding back tears. Why did it hurt so much? I wanted to comfort her, to make her hurt as little as possible, but I had failed miserably.

Now she was gone. The girl I loved, the only girl I'd run after, she had run away from me. She hated me, she said. I still loved her. I could never stop loving her.

My flight was early in the morning and then I'd never see her again.

This chapter's length reminds me of the old days, when chapters were shorter. Ah, nostalgia!

Four chapters left. (Before somebody decides to yell at me in the future and call me a liar, that's four chapters EXCLUDING the epilogue.)