Naruse Haruki never believed the concept or idea of the so-called love at first sight. At least, that’s what she thought now. To her, it’s completely absurd and ridiculous – actually – when she remembered her past self that acted that way. Thus, now she felt a tinge of curious – along with annoyance – when most of her friends will talk about love at first sight.
And they are getting totally worked up on this topic.
Gosh.
“Kyaa! Look at his charming smile! My heart’s melting! I’m so in love with him!” Her friend, Mayuri giggled as she flipped through the magazine.
“No way! No freaking way! Satou-kun is way better than him! Plus, he’s an actor too. That’s a total bonus!” Ayame, which is her best companion too, commented.
Haruki can’t hold back the urge of rolling her eyes at that moment. Or maybe she had a wishful thinking hoping that she could hid herself in the library while indulging herself into the world of fictions. But sadly, Haruki neither is a saint, nor a fairy to make that happen.
So instead, she decided to go with the flow. She grabbed one of the stacking magazines that belong to her friends, and she just flipped through the pages slowly.
But nothing really caught her attention though.
I mean, what’s so awesome about looking at these guys?
Slowly, she let out a small sigh, but still audible to her friends’ hearing.
“Haru-kun, are you bored?” Ayame asked innocently, tilting her head slightly.
“Nee, Aya-chan! Let her be! She’s just bored to death. Look at her face.” Her friend, Mayuri chided, glancing at Haruki’s direction.
“But, but! She looks completely uninterested!”
“Hey now! She ain’t called the ‘Ice Prince’ for nothing, you know.” Mayuri commented at her friend’s attitude.
Yes, ‘Ice Prince’. That’s what she was called the moment she enters Hiratsuka High. She was thought as someone’s cold and uncaring because of her tomboyish behaviour and distant personality. Hence, she never really had a group of friends in school.
Mostly, girls will kept their distance from her – saying that she had such cool aura that make everyone feel so insecure and such – but Haruki often thinks that they’re just uncomfortable around her. She was quite tall for a girl around her age and in fact, she was easily called the tallest in her school.
Plus with her straight mid-length that reached just a little longer below her shoulder, along with a piercing gaze, she felt weird by how come a person could pointed out that she looked like a guy.
Not that she mind though.
Maybe a little bizarre, but…
Who cares about it anyways?
Because of that too, she often received confessions from the girls – she was totally mind blown for the first time – but she politely rejected them. Haruki simply not interested in girls… the same goes for boys as well. Haruki simply not interested in love.
“After all, she’s popular with the girls!” Ayame teased, poking her cheeks.
“Yeah, I don’t know whether to be envious or happy for you.” Mayuri smirked, earning a free glare from the Ice Prince.
Mayuri realized that love never been her friend’s interest anymore. But deep inside, under that cold personality, she was truly a lovable person with the people she holds dear. Despite, she knew – she believed – that one day she’ll be able to love someone again. Mayuri remembered, after that ‘incident’, Haruki completely shut the doors to her heart – refusing to let anyone in.
“One day, Haru, you’ll understand…” she whispered.
“Understand what?” Haruki’s voice made her snapped back to reality.
“Understand how much of an idiot you are.” She simply replied, which succeed in making Ayame laughed.
“Well, excuse this idiot of a friend of yours then!” she bitterly replied, making the smile on Mayuri’s wider.
“Nee, nee! Guys! I just remembered something!” Ayame’s sudden exclaim make her friends’ bickering stop.
“And what is that about?” Mayuri asked, raising a brow.
“It’s something really hot! Like the hottest of all!”
“Yes, yes. Spill it out Ayame!”
“There’s this one guy and he’s every girl’s dream guy, you know! And he’s a model actually!” If they were in a manga, sparks totally surrounding the overly excited Ayame.
“A model? Just a model? Cheh, that’s normal!” Mayuri frowned. ‘What’s wrong with this woman?’ she secretly did a mental face-palm.
“No, he’s not just an ordinary model! This hotshot is actually a 16 years old basketball player and he was named as one of the Kiseki no Sedai!”
“What?” Mayuri gaped. “Kiseki no Sedai? You mean, that Kiseki no Sedai?” she gulped nervously, noticing that Haruki tensed when she heard ‘Kiseki no Sedai’.
“Yeah! I mean like seriously! Who wouldn’t fall for him? He’s drop dead gorgeous! Gosh!” Ayame’s face flushed red and she starts to fan herself.
Haruki clicked her tongue. She hated this topic. Hell, she knew exactly who were Ayame talking about. She silently cursed. It reminded her of old scars that began threatening to reopen back. Her chest felt suffocated – like a snake trying to coil and crush her with memories that she tried to obliterate from her memory.
“And they called him ‘the Copycat from the Blue Elites’! I mean, that so undeniably cool right? I would kiss him even if he was drenched in sweat after his match!” Ayame’s voice that kept on praising the well-known model made Haruki felt sick.
Honestly, she didn’t want to hear – to know – anything about that guy.
“Even Haruki’s in deep silence when she heard about him, nee?” Ayame’s voice rang cheerfully, as she nudged her arm.
“Hey, stop that Ayame. Don’t do that!” Mayuri tried to stop her, but no avail. Since Ayame’s a total oblivious person, she wouldn’t notice that Mayuri’s trying to tell her to drop the subject.
The sudden sound of a chair moving backwards made the two friends averted their gaze towards Haruki almost immedietly. “Look, guys. I have to go.” She simply excused herself, taking her bag and started to walk away.
“Where are you going Haru-chan?” she heard Ayame’s voice questioned her, deep in concern. Instead of giving a proper reply, she just waved her hand towards them, hoping that no more question will be ask to her.
.
Haruki stared at the sky. It was painted with orange and yellow, with a small shade of blue indicating that the moon will rise up next – taking turns after the sun. Somehow, she felt calm by looking at the sight before her.
It was peaceful.
As she lie at the rooftop, there were winds caressing her gently and Haruki was quite sure that nobody was there – since it was filled with silence – so she was free to do anything that she like.
As minutes passed by, Haruki lost track of the time. The orange sky was now filled with darker colours of purple mixing itself with red. Haruki realized that she was late. And furthermore, her heart felt truly uneasy. Panic began to grip her sanity.
“… No way!” she tried to deny the possibilities of her trapping inside the school ground, but she failed. A frown appeared on her face as she tried to think of a way to walk out from the school. She was sure that her mother was feeling anxious because she was not home yet.
And she felt a pang of guilty lingered deep inside her heart.
‘I shouldn’t have come here!’ she thought bitterly. Haruki used to come to this school’s rooftop whenever she had a problem. It was a place that she secretly adores whenever sadness came to her. But she never expect to come there again after such long time.
As she reached the main gate, she knew it was hopeless. The gate was closed and even though the guards weren’t there, surely they’ll come after a while. Haruki sighed. ‘It was totally my fault to mess up this time.’ She thought as she glanced to her watch.
Suddenly she heard rustles of footsteps coming towards her. Panic once again gripped her as she thought it was the steps belonged to the school guard. ‘What should I do? No! No! What the hell should I say in the first place?’ Her mind and her heart bickered.
And the footsteps were getting nearer.
Suddenly, Haruki felt liked she was dragged by someone from the back. “Don’t struggle, or we’ll going to be caught.” That voice whispered softly while she found herself was lead by someone. Not that she mind in that state of panic. So she simply obeyed without any complains.
After they reached to the back of the building, they halted. “Who are you?” she managed to ask after sighing in relief. A pair of eyes watched her with surprise. “Don’t you remember me?” the husky voice made Haruki froze. ‘Sounds familiar, but a little different…’ she thought as she felt her heart started to race.
“It’s just a few months since we last met.” He whined.
Haruki suddenly felt liked she lacked of oxygen. She was breathing, but she felt like the oxygen was used up. Her heart pounding so loud that she had to strain her ears to hear what the guy in front of her was talking about. Memories flashed in her mind and she felt sick suddenly.
“… Kise Ryouta…” she managed to rasp out when she finally recognized who that voice belonged to.
And black took over her consciousness as she faintly heard her name was called.
“Haruki!”