Severed Red Strings

Chapter 1: Red Strings

If you guys don't know about the Red String Of Fate, you can find out about it in one of my other books called The Red Scarf Of Fate

Nejima Pov

I sat at my desk in class while my friends were talking about something. My curiosity got the best of me and I went up to them. "Hey guys what are you talking about?" I asked.
"I'm going to be getting my letter from the government." Takeda said.
"Isn't that good? You get to spend your life with your compatible match." I said.
"I don't want to just marry someone, who knows what she'll look like? She could be a complete nerd for all I know!" He said.
"Yeah, but she could also be very cute." I responded.
"Your in the same boat as me Nejima, your birthday is coming up soon right?" He asked.
"Yeah, I turn 16 next week." I responded.
"Let's make a pact, no one will ever marry anyone ever." He said then placed his hand in the center.
"Yeah." They responded. All of us put our hands on top of each other's. "I will never marry anyone for as long as I live." Everyone said, but another hand was added on top of mine. It was Takasaki's. All of them looked surprised at her.
"What am I not allowed to join?" She asked.
"No it's fine, it's just..I thought you would've liked marrying someone." I said.
"No, at least not to a stranger." She responded. Misaki Takasaki, I haven't talked to her much, but I sat next to her back when we were in 5th grade. One day she forgot her eraser and was having trouble with erasing mistakes, so I gave her half.
-Flashback-
I broke my eraser in half. "Here, you can have half." I said and handed her half of my eraser.
"Thank you." She responded. At that moment I felt something I've never felt before. What is this feeling? Why am I experiencing it?
After class we didn't talk much, or at all really, but I'll never forget that feeling.

-End Flashback-

I later found out that the feeling was love, something our government had deemed forbidden. This was because of the the population and it's gpa going down, but because of the system the population's gpa has skyrocketed. I don't want to marry someone whom I don't like. We then got in our seats and class started.

6 days have passed, and my birthday's tomorrow. I haven't talked to her at all.
There she is, she's with her friends, but I need to talk to her. "Hey, Takasaki." I said.
"Yeah?" She responded.
"Um..I..." I said but couldn't say it.
"Ugh, don't tell me it's another person confessing to you." One of her friends said.
"You and me, we used to go to the same school in 5th grade." I said.
"We did?" She responded.
"Yeah, we did. It was a long time ago, so I guess it might be hard to remember me." I said.
"Sorry, I can't remember." She said.
"Meet me at the park at our old elementary school at 6:00 pm. I mean if you want to, I'll be waiting." I said then ran to class.

Misaki Pov

"Geez, who was that guy?" My friend said. Nejima wants to meet with me? We haven't talked since 5th grade. What does he want to say?
"I don't know." I lied.
I then headed to class.

Nejima Pov

After school I headed home, dropped off my bag, and changed clothes.
I then went to the park and waited for people to leave. At about 6:20 everyone was gone. At 10:30 I made burial mounds in the sandbox.
It was late and there no sign of her. Calm down, I did say if you want to.

"Hey kid, it's 10:30, you better head home, it's past curfew." An officer said.
"Alright, I'll get going." I lied.
He then left and I remained on the bench.
10:20, she's really late. Maybe she's not coming. No, I'll wait as long as I need to.
When I was about to leave she sprinted up to me. "Hey, Wait!" She said as she grabbed my shirt. "I'm sorry I'm late." She said out of breath. There she was, the girl I've always loved right in front of me.
We then went to a bench. We sat there for a minute with complete silence. "Um..those are-" She said.
"Yeah, they're burial mounds. They're often thought upon as the same but they're really all different. These are also the same ones I did a project on back in middle school." I said. What am I doing? I need to calm down. She giggled.
"You haven't changed a bit." She said. What?! She remembers me.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Back then on our project day, you gave a long and passionate explanation on different types of burial mounds, even though no one asked you any questions." She said.
"I guess I did." I responded.
"Wait, I thought you didn't remember me." I said.
"Oh, that? I lied." She said.
"You lied?" I asked.
"Yeah. I lied. I'm sorry." She responded.
"Oh! Well, that's good." I responded. But why did she lie?

I then looked at her. She was pretty. Her eyelashes are so long. Her eyes are so big, and whites are so clear they look blue, and her hair is so long and pretty. But I'm just...
"Nejima, is there something wrong?" She asked.
"I don't really stand out in class, I know I'm not ugly nor am I good looking either. My looks aren't worth complementing on, good or bad. I wanted to be the kind of man who'd look good next to you, so I've tried a lot of different things. I've asked Nisaka about different hairstyles, or new ways to wear my uniform. Even when it came to high school...I wanted to go to the same one as you, so I studied really hard. I made me parents stress out over the money for cram school...Wait what am I saying? Anyway, what I wanted to say is...Everything I am now, I owe to you." I said. I need to say it. There's no more time. I could get my notice tomorrow. "I like you." I said. And with those three words she started to cry.
"Takasaki!" I said in worry.
"Sorry, it's nothing." She said.
"That's not nothing." I said. "I'm sorry! I didn't think about how you might feel about this, I just-" I said. I don't care if she rejects me, I don't want to see her cry! I then said something random off the top of my head to change the subject but she spoke.
"Nejima, have you forgotten already?" She asked and pulled out of her pocket the other half of my eraser. "I..Ive always liked you too. All this time." She said.
"But I never thought you'd still have that eraser." I said.
"Back then, you realized all the way back in first period that I'd forgotten my eraser, right?" She asked.
"H-How did you know that?" I asked.
"It was obvious." She responded.
"I shouldn't have waited till fifth period to hand mine over, huh?" I asked.
"But it made me happy." She responded. "You could've just pretended to not notice, but when I realized you spent all day worrying about me, trying to figure out how to help, it made my heart skip a beat." She said.
"Really?" I asked.
"You're a nice person, aren't you Nejima?" She asked.
"Am I?" I asked.
"I think you are." She responded. "You plucked up all your courage to do something kind for me back then, didn't you?" She asked. "I think its wonderful and special. At least, that's what it was for me." She said. What do I do? I think I'm going to cry. "It's so weird that I'm talking with you like this. I'm all flustered." She said. I then embraced her. "Nejima?" She asked.
"Takasaki! I've been in love with you for five years! All this time!" I said. "I want to be with you forever!" I said. She then cried on my shoulder and returned the hug. I'm glad that I fell in love with her.
"Hey, should we kiss?" She asked.
"Huh?" I asked confused.
"Let's kiss." She said. She then got up and sat down facing me. "The way I like you..makes me want to kiss you and do...other things..." She said. "What about you?" She asked.
"I feel the same." I responded.
We then kissed for the first time. After that we kissed again but more passionately. "Takasaki, I-" I started but my phone went off. "Wonder who it is, maybe my parents?" I said. I looked at it and the message read:
Congratulations on turning 16, your fiancé is Misaki Takasaki.
And listed her contact information and address. It was the same as her.
"Takasaki, it's a miracle-huh what happened?" I asked. My phone was at 80% it shouldn't have died.
After my phone died, some people wearing government uniforms came up to me.

In this I'll be making some people have different personalities and goals. I think I'm also the first person to post a story here for Love and Lies or Koi To Uso with a NejimaxTakasaki theme for their story. I haven't read the entire manga series but I'll have some differences between the manga and this book.