Spring came again, replacing the white planes to green fields with pink blooming cherry blossoms on every tree found in every street. Normally, the trio would meet up or visit one and another, celebrating the change of the season but this year Yukihiro has to celebrate it by himself. The other support members, Akiko Yano, Hideki Matsutake and Kazumi Watanabe sent Yukihiro gift cards along with flower bouquets and even Leo Imai reminded him to attend the METAFIVE party.
Yukihiro will come to the party which will be held in a few days so he decided to visit Haruomi and Ryuichi today. "Hello, you two. I hope you're not on each other's necks up there." Yuki greeted them. He apologized for almost joining them and told them that he's doing well. "A nice young lady saved me and reminded me that I can still be the hero." Yuki gladly added.
"I held a tribute concert for the two of you in case you haven't heard." Yuki informed. "It was just like my first live! Masami-kun, Hajime-kun and Steve came to play but you weren't there, Hosono-san." He remembered that Ryuichi joined at the last day. Those were good memories. "I-I have to go n-now." He tried not to cry. "I'll visit again soon." And left after putting the flowers.
On his way, Yukihiro met up with Shigeru Suzuki and Takashi Matsumoto. "Ah! Yukihiro-kun!" Shigeru waved at Yuki. "Suzuki-san... Matsumoto-san..." he somewhat greeted the two. "Are you here to visit too?" asked Takashi and Yuki nodded. "You two then must've visited Ohtaki-san.". "Yes, we were and Matsumoto-san insisted on bringing apples." Joked Shigeru and Yuki had a good chuckle from it.
Both Shigeru and Takashi noticed Yuki's sadness. "We understand how you feel, Yukihiro-kun." Said Shigeru. "We were devastated too when Eiichi passed and we did the same thing on our first spring without him." Takashi empathized. The two agreed on Yuki's idea of his tribute concert for Haru and Ryuichi. "We're certain that Hosono-san and Sakamoto-kun are proud of you." Both of them gave Yuki a proud smile. "Thank you, both of you." Yukihiro gladly thanked them, almost to tears.
The three of them waved goodbye and went on their separate paths. Yukihiro went back to Karuizawa. He arrived and decided to take a nap after changing his clothes. The day has been emotionally draining for him. Then he heard knocking on his door followed by a familiar voice. "Yukihiro-kun? Yukihiro-kun... come on! You don't want to be late!". 'Late for what?' Yuki questioned in his head.
Although he didn't want to wake up, the knocking was annoying him. Yukihiro reluctantly walked to the door and opened it. "H-Hosono-san? Sakamoto-kun?" his eyes widened on seeing his bandmates again, alive and well and immediately gave them a big hug. "H-hey.". "What's with you? We're not dead yet." Ryuichi shot a teasing sass and Yuki finally let go, "Come on! You said it yourself that you want to watch the flowers, didn't you?" said Ryuichi and the two headed to another door.
Yuki followed the two and when Haru opened the door, a flash of bright light filled the view before changing to a familiar scene. A green landscape with a big blooming cherry blossom tree by the riverside and under the tree was a cute picnic spot. He was still in disbelieve while Haru and Ryuichi casually took their seats. "Now we just have to wait the others." Said Haru. "Others?". "Matsu, Shigeru and Ohtaki." Haru mentioned Happy End.
After a while, the other three men finally arrived. "Sorry we're late, Hosono-san!" Takashi apologized. "Ohtaki-san and Matsumoto-san were fighting which apple dessert we should bring." Shigeru blurted out and both Takashi and Eiichi chuckled in embarrassment. "Join us! We still have plenty of room." Haru invited his old bandmates and the three of them took their seats. "Are you alright, Yukihiro?". "H-huh?" Ryuichi's question snapped Yuki back. "You okay? You haven't said a word." Said Ryuichi.
"I.. I'm fine. I'm fine!" Yuki finally gave an answer. "Let's enjoy the day! It's nice weather after all!". "Yeah!!" Shigeru and Eiichi cheered and the six of them enjoyed the picnic. YMO and Happy End talked a lot of things, from the basketball and bowling they did, Yukihiro and Shigeru would bump into each other in some occasions, the trip and Haru's birthday. Especially the cake slapping on Haru's birthday.
"It was really fun.". "Yeah... for you who enjoyed it..." Ryuichi was still annoyed with that day. Yuki then asked who threw the icing at Takashi's face and Eiichi was whistling innocently. "That's why I slapped it back at him." Takashi answered a possible non-existing question. "Can we do it again?". "I still have an unpaid debt for that." Said Ryuichi after Eiichi.
Both Takashi and Haru pointed at the two and gave a firm 'no'. Ryuichi and Eiichi huffed a defeated pout and sigh while Yuki and Shigeru laughed at their bandmates' antics. Eiichi brought his guitar and the six of them played some songs. Mostly Happy End's songs with Haru and Shigeru's too but they didn't it at all.
Takashi then pulled out his notebook and pen and started writing something. "Got something on your mind, Matsumoto-san?" Shigeru half teased and Takashi said he got an inspiration. "Under a shade of a purple tree. Is that good?" he asked for their opinions. "The tree is pink... not purple." Eiichi threw a sarcasm and they laughed.
The six of them continued their fun and Takashi finished his poem. Shigeru then played the guitar while singing the poem and he got the right tune. Both YMO and Happy End enjoyed the song and it was almost at the end. "Under a shade of a purple tree, I'm a sleeping doll." Shigeru strum the ending and the rest gave their applause.
Suddenly, Yukihiro felt like something was pulling him and everything around him slowly turning dark. "W-wait, no! Wait!!" he screamed and finally woke up, sat straight up on his bed. He pant and held his head, "I-it was... just a dream?". Yuki then covered his face with his hands and started crying again, wishing he could stay in the dream a bit longer.
A.N : Hey, guys! I'm back with this thick boi. I can't believe I've been making this for a year now and like last year, here's the spring edition! I'm mentioning the rest of the members and the next chapter will be the final one. I might be writing a full length chapter that I usually write for full fledged stories.
As usual, college and other books took my time on writing this book and I'm working on three new books. Three of them are war themed and one of them is a backstory of my very first OC I've ever made. That's all for the note and I'll see you in the final chapter! RD out!! Boi!!!
