When Kimiko and Taiyou finally broke apart, Kimiko was still teary. Taiyou lifted his hand up to her cheek and wiped the tears from her face slowly. The warmth of his touch soothed her and the tears gradually went away.
"If you ever need someone to tell your troubles to, I can be that someone and if you ever need someone to cry to, I can be your shoulder to cry on"
Kimiko let out a giggle, "I never knew you were so cheesy"
"But I really meant that you know, if you ever have any troubles, you can always come and find me"
"Then can you be that someone for me now?"
"Let's go for a walk in the gardens and we can talk about this"
***
Tsurugi saw it all. The image crushed him.
If he wanted his girl, he would have to start earning some points because he was now behind by a lot.
But what if I just make a fool out of myself? Kimiko seems to like that random dude and if I try to talk to her, she'll just think of me as a friend and thats the most painful place to be for me.
From behind the wall, Tsurugi kept peering out to look at Kimiko and the "guy". He watched the guy placed his arm over Kimiko's shoulder and guided her to the elevator.
He was going to have to find a way to tell her how he felt because he didn't want to leave any regrets behind.
***
Kimiko and Taiyou walked silently out of the hospital into the garden. When Kimiko reached the garden, the images suddenly struck into her mind again. Death, darkness, blood and terror. They forced Kimiko to close her eyes and prevented her from moving on.
When Taiyou saw that Kimiko stopped, he was confused.
"Are you ok?"
"I don't think I am. I would feel much better if we went back inside"
"Sure. We can go sit in the waiting area"
So Taiyou and Kimiko walked back inside the hospital and past the elevator to the waiting area just a moment before Tsurugi walked out of the elevator.
The moment Tsurugi saw them together, he made the instantaneous decision to follow them. Hiding behind pillars and artificial plants, he went, slipping into the shadows of the hallways. He made sure he was unseen by the two because things would be so much more complicated if he was. Tsurugi had one goal now - to find out who the boy with orange hair was.
Tsurugi stalked them all the way to the waiting area and slipped into a seat on the other side of the hedges that separated the couches. He kept his ears open and listened to their conversation intently.
"So, care to tell me what's been bothering you lately?" Taiyou asked once he sat down in the armchair across from Kimiko, who sighed before giving her answer.
"I think I must be paranoid"
Paranoid? Kimiko looked fine to me when we were in niisan's room. Or is this just to show me how little I know about her life. I seriously need to pay more attention.
"Paranoid? What do you mean?"
"I've been getting these nightmares. They haunt me. I keep seeing this man in a black hood at the other end of the hospital. I think he's after me."
"Is it ok if you could tell me what happens in your nightmares? I might be able to help."
"Well, the man comes to us when we are playing in the gardens and he ki-kills us with his gun and-" by now, tears are flowing down her cheeks again. Taiyou could tell she was afraid. After listening to her story, even he shuddered at the thought of himself dying.
"I get why you don't want to go to the garden now. We should stop going there for a while. But can I ask, how long have you been having these nightmares"
We should stop going there for a while? What is that supposed to mean. Have they been going there together often?
"The nightmares started ever since we found out about your grandfather and my father and the same scene keeps playing over and over every night. I'm scared, Taiyou"
Taiyou... so that's his name. I'm going to find out more about him. And her father and his grandfather know each other too? Wow, I really had no idea how little I knew.
Taiyou reaches over and held Kimiko's hand in his while she uses her free hand to wipe the tears from her face.
"Just remember that if you ever need anyone to talk to, always know that I'm open to listen to your troubles" he said with a warm smile.
No wonder Kimiko likes this guy. He's just too nice. Just look at the smile. Looks like I'm going to have to work real hard if I want to win this girl's heart, Tsurugi sighs almost too loudly.