A Second Chance at Love~An Amamatsu Love Story

Chapter 9~ I Love You

Rantaro's POV
I don't know how long I've been crying. It's like I've lost track of time. I didn't care anyway. I wasn't in the mood to care. I managed to calm down after a while, but remained in my bed. I didn't want to leave, ever again. Just as I felt like falling asleep, I heard my phone go off. I reached for my phone and saw that I had a message from Kaede. I sighed as I opened the message.

"Hey, Rantaro. I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm extremely worried about you. Could you please meet me at the park so we can talk? I promise everything will be okay." She's worried about me huh? I'm scared to face her, but if I just avoid her for the rest of my life, we'll lose our friendship together. I've got to meet with her. I got up from my bed, fixed myself up a bit and left the house. As I walked to the park, I started getting very nervous. I wasn't sure if I would be able to face her after all this. But I wasn't going to back down. She's worried about me and I need to let her know that everything's fine.

I took a deep breath and slowly approached the park. Right away, I saw Kaede sitting on a bench. "Hey, Rantaro!" She smiled. "H...hi." I greeted her, slightly blushing. I sat next to her and stared at the ground. "So..uh...what did you want to talk about?" I asked. "Well....I'll just jump straight to the point. I....heard from Kokichi that you have feelings for me." Kokichi told her?! This isn't good! "Oh! I....uh...h..he did?" I stuttered out.

"Yeah. And....he also told me that you've been avoiding me because you think I have feelings for Shuichi. Is that true?" I looked down, not wanting to admit the truth. "N..no! Of course not!" I lied. "Nothing's wrong at all!" Kaede simply looked at me with a serious look on her face. "Tell me the truth, Taro." I couldn't keep up the facade after she said that. I felt tears falling from my eyes again. "Okay...it's true...I do think that..." I said to her. "Why would you think like that?"

"Isn't it obvious? Shuichi's perfect for you. You two have the perfect chemistry and spend lots of time together. I'm nothing compared to him. I'm not good enough for you." "Rantaro! How could you say that?!" She exclaimed. "Because it's true!" I snapped. "I'm nothing but a disappointment to you! Shuichi's a successful and hardworking person. I'm nothing compared to him!" "Rantaro! Please listen to me! I don't have any romantic feelings for Shuichi. It's true like I like him, but only as a friend."

I looked at her with disbelief. This can't be true, can it? "Y...you don't?" "Yes! And that's the honest truth." So this morning at the courtyard, she wasn't blushing for Shuichi. But if it's not Shuichi, than who is it? "You see, Rantaro. Even though I've only just come to terms with this....I've actually had feelings for you as well." I didn't know what to say. All I could do was sit there in shock. "You're....serious?" "Yes! When I heard about all of this from Kokichi, I felt absolutely awful. It hurt me to see you pain like this. You're an amazing person, Rantaro! You comforted me when I was in guilt of your death. You were always so sweet to me and was there for me when I needed it! So please, don't say that you're not good enough when you're more than enough!"

I quickly felt the tears rush back to me. Kaede noticed and was quick to give me a hug. "I'm so sorry, Kaede. I'm so sorry you have to see me like this." "It's okay, Rantaro! You can bet that I'll always be here for you!" For the first time in forever, I felt a smile on my face. "Thank you, Kaede. I love you." I looked up and saw that Kaede was blushing. I thought it was adorable. She smiled back at me. "I love you too, Taro!" I immediately where this was going. I brought my face to hers and slowly our lips touched.

It felt like a dream come true. My first kiss with my true love. I didn't want it to end and I could tell Kaede didn't want to end either. We eventually pulled away after a while and smiled to each other. "I suppose this means we're a thing now." She said. "I guess, but only if you want to." I said. "Of course I do! I love you and I always will!" "In that case, I'm honored to be your boyfriend, Kaede Akamatsu!" We shared another kiss together before standing up. "Now then, would my new girlfriend like to accompany me on a nice date?" "Of course!"

We held hands smiling and laughing as we walked. I felt like the luckiest man in the world to have such a wonderful girlfriend like Kaede. I promised myself that I would be the best boyfriend Kaede's ever had. That I would protect her from any harm, comfort her in her darkest of times and show her just how much I love her. I'm so glad that I've taken this second chance.