Time After Time 🌹 Daniel LaRusso [1]

Chapter 25: Glory of Love

Rosalía wakes up, feeling a bit refreshed after having cried herself to sleep. She remembers the events from the previous night and heavily sighs, her heart feeling heavy. Daniel slept in a different room, feeling uncomfortable sharing a bed with his girlfriend after that fight. Rosalía gets up and goes to the bathroom to take a shower. After getting dressed and doing her hair, she goes on a stroll to clear her head. She walks around the village for a bit before deciding to return to the house. As she nears it, she spots Kumiko going to sit down at the dock. Curious about what she's up to, Rosalía approaches the girl.

"Hey," she greets as she sits beside her. Kumiko doesn't look up as she continues to gracefully throw rice into the water. "Hi," she returns. Rosalía notices her glum demeanor. "What are you doing?" she politely questions. "Old custom. When fishermen would go out to sea, families would offer rice to the gods," Kumiko answers. Rosalía nods her head. "That's beautiful. In exchange for what?" she questions, gazing at her friend. "For a quick return," Kumiko replies, finally glancing at her with a sad expression. Rosalía realizes what she means and returns the sad look. "I'm gonna miss you. I'm glad we became friends," she tells her.

The girl looks up at her and dimly smiles. "Me too," she says. Rosalía softly grins before going quiet, just watching the girl drop more rice into the water. "Have you ever thought about applying to a dance school?" she suddenly asks. Kumiko shrugs. "No schools for that here." Rosalía slightly frowns. "There are many in the US. It'd be really cool if you went back with us," she offers.

"My home is here."

"You can make any place your home."

Kumiko thinks about it before glancing at her friend. "You think I would like America?" she asks. Rosalía makes a face, not wanting to lie to her but not wanting to turn her away from the idea either. "Well, I personally like where I grew up because of the people, and there are some cool places, I guess," she replies. Kumiko lightly chuckles. "Do you think it would like me?" she asks. Rosalía feels conflicted again, not wanting to romanticize America. "To be honest, America wasn't made for people like you and me... but other than that, yeah. I think there would be a lot of people who'd love you," she voices.

Kumiko gives her a baffled face. "I'd love to have you there! You could meet my friends! Oh, my God, I know they would love you," Rosalía adds, making her smile. Kumiko laughs and nods her head. "Then I would like to go," she affirms. Rosalía smiles brightly, "there you go, girl!" Kumiko laughs along as Rosalía nudges her shoulder.

Meanwhile, Daniel is packing his suitcase in the room he spent the night in. He looks out the window and spots the two girls sitting by the water. His stomach turns when he sees Rosalía, still heartbroken over last night's revelations. He still feels like he needs space, but desperately wants to talk to her at the same time. He decides to try to speak to her and heads downstairs. As he reaches the bottom floor, he hears Mr. Miyagi and Yukie conversing.

"I did not want for us to end this way again. I would stay if I could."

"I know."

"Yukie, what can I do to ease your pain?"

"Take me with you?"

Daniel frowns upon hearing this. He feels so bad for the older couple, they deserve better. Now he knows that he and Rosalía really need to resolve their issues. He doesn't want to have a similar ending to Yukie and Mr. Miyagi. He turns around to head outside, trying to build up the courage to confront his girlfriend. Just as he's about to step outside, a loud horn is heard. He runs into the room where the older couple is and questions, "what's going on?"

Rosalía and Kumiko whirl around when they hear the sound. "What the hell is that?" Rosalía asks. "Let's go see," Kumiko responds. "Okay, let's go," the other girl replies, standing up and pulling Kumiko up before they run in the direction of the commotion. When they get there, they view Miyagi and Sato arguing. Rosalía locks eyes with Daniel, who's standing near Mr. Miyagi, before averting her gaze in embarrassment. Daniel's eyes linger on her for a little while longer before focusing on the two men.