:: Attempt 12.5 | Savior ::
"When you fall in love with someone, you don't have a choice. Love takes away your choices."
- "The Mortal Instruments" Book Two: "The City of Ashes" by Cassandra Clare
x + x
He doesn't know when it began.
He still remembers a time when her smile blinded his strained eyes, tired from all the times he spent poring over his books as he studied like there was no tomorrow. She was always there, pestering him to go out and play, to accompany her to their favorite spot: underneath a sakura tree which blossomed behind her family's house. Here was where they frequently went; he with an immense amount of reluctance, she with carefree giggles and the occasional trip over bothersome tree roots or stones.
She always laughed; her azure eyes were as clear as the skies on a sunny day, her smile as radiant as the summer sun. He often scowled at her "airheaded" nature, finding her to be someone easily tricked and manipulated.
He doesn't know when it began.
Not even the slightest hint as to when, exactly, she changed into who she is now. Certainly, there are moments he thought are peculiar; her demeanor changed into a more serious, taciturn girl's. There are times when he can't read her expression, her eyes clouded with what he now realized were self-hatred and guilt.
Had he been so blind as to never see the broken personage within?
Her words struck his most vulnerable, despite the calm facade he wears upon the exterior. Asano Gakushu had simply been prodding at her fragile visage, and it fragmented, leaving her in pieces. She spoke the truth, her tears splattering upon the grass underfoot.
Her image - the one he often thought of during the past three years of her absence, of him missing her - shattered as that same saddened smile touched her lips, leaving him unable to utter a single word. Not a single phrase left his proclaimed "silver tongue" as he watches her ascend the mountain, each footstep carrying her - his childhood friend, his fiancée - away from where he stands.
And for the first time since she broke apart merely ten minutes before, he utters a single sentence, taking a step towards her retreating form. Her name, accompanied with three simple words he thought only to show through actions, not through verbal means.
She didn't listen.
It's ironic; it appears that karma had struck yet again, his parted lips falling shut as he abruptly turns away, retreating into the main edifice. She will come back to him sooner rather than later - he himself would make it certain.
It isn't a sin to want her to be by his side, after all.
A dry smile curls his lips as he enters his class nearly half an hour late, earning questioning looks from his peers, which he merely ignores. Love does take away one's choices. He muses, lacing his fingers together as he scans the written notes upon the blackboard.
x + x
The electronic bell dings once more to signal the end of yet another period.
Gakushu reclines upon his seat, his gaze occasionally wandering towards the outside of the open windows. An obscure shadow seems to head towards the E Class Mountain, treading through the grass at a rapid speed.
What on earth...?
His eyes narrow as he watches his own father—Asano Gakuho, the Board Chairman of the school—gesture towards a familiar figure, her red hair evident among the trees. With that, they both start their ascent, towards the dreaded mount.
I must be seeing things, he thinks.
Or is he?
- To be continued.
[Word Count: 610. Originally written March 21st, 2016. Edited: February 4th, 2017. Song In the Multimedia: "Savior" by Rise Against.]