"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable." – C.S. Lewis
Pet Clinic
Chifuyu was startled by what he heard. Mitsuya narrated what he remembered doing the day before. He clenched his fist but it's not like he wanted to punch Mitsuya. "Then, why are you apologizing to me?", the blonde leaned on the counter. "I'm a scum who tried to take away something I shouldn't have", the lilac head massaged his temple. "But you didn't, right?", Chifuyu offered a fist bump. "You're too nice, Chifuyu. You can give me 100 punches. That wouldn't even be enough to get even with what I did", Mitsuya furrowed his brow. "It takes so a lot of self-control when it comes to Azumi. I perfectly understand that so I congratulate you", Chifuyu was glad there was a counter separating the two of them.
"Taka-san. Why didn't you confess to her that day? It's very clear that she will respond to your feelings", the blonde asked. "I wanted to gain your approval", Mitsuya said with a serious tone. "But I failed. I just showed you how irresponsible I could be", the lilac head leaned on the wall. "Why do you have to gain my approval? It's not like Azumi is my daughter", the blonde faked his laugh. Mitsuya can see right through him. "Chifuyu. You love her, right? Not just as a friend", the lad said straightforwardly. "You know about it and you'd still come here saying you need approval. Taka-san, you're a high-caliber man. You can take any woman you desire", the blonde went out of the counter.
"I want you to tell Hanami what you feel", Mitsuya felt like punching himself as well with what he said. Chifuyu furrowed his brow but still tried to keep his calm. "What are you saying, Taka-san? Compared to you, I'm just-", he was about to say something but the lilac head grabbed on his collar. "Chifuyu, don't sell yourself short. I am a coward who can't even tell her my feelings. I wasn't able to tell her what I really want", Mitsuya gritted his teeth. "I came here to relay what Fumi-san once told me before. She hoped that I won't regret it in the future that I wasn't able to tell Azumi about my feelings. We're younger and there's no greater consequence rather than when things are too late", he lectured on the blonde. "Then, remind that to yourself, Taka-san", Chifuyu tried to remove the lad's grip but there's still a difference between their strength.
"Let's do it, the two of us", Mitsuya lets him go. Chifuyu clenched his fist and punched the guy in the face. "Taka-san, sorry but I had been holding back. That was for backing off with your confession", he explained and gave another punch. "This is for asking me to tell Azumi how I feel when you know that you're the one she likes. You disturbed the peace I had been trying to establish for many years", the lad panted. Mitsuya pulled the blonde for a hug.
Playground
After eating at the restaurant, Chifuyu invited the lady to visit the playground where they first met.
"Shiba-k told me that you had a big fight with Taka-san resulting in him getting punched in the face. He didn't tell me the details", Azumi opened. "I apologized for that. Hakkai called me right away to ask who did it and I confessed", Chifuyu admitted. "Then, why did you punch him?", the lady felt a little scared that Chifuyu knew about Mitsuya kissing her. "He just started blurting some crazy things", the lad sighed. "Was it because I brought him into the apartment? I have a part in that so I hope he's not totally blamed for it", Azumi grabbed on Chifuyu's sleeves. The blonde just looked at her hands and paused for a while. "Ever since we were younger, I never commented about you being careful because someone with a big head like you already knows not to get into something you cannot handle. But then, you started getting bold and appearing in places you shouldn't have", the lad grabbed her hand.
"Sorry Chifuyu. I made you worried, right? Even if it's Taka-san, he was still intoxicated and things might have gone bad. I'm sorry. I will make sure not to make the same mistake again", Azumi felt desperate to make Chifuyu forgive her. His eyes just looked so sad and there was something painful happening in the atmosphere. "I should be the one who should be apologizing. I knew way back then how much you admire Taka-san but never really encouraged you to pursue him", the blonde patted her head and forced a smile. "Chifuyu, why do you look so sad?", Azumi reached out to his face and cupped it. "I wonder why?", he looked away. "You're going to leave me in a few months and someone else will be standing beside you. I just don't know where to stand anymore", he covered his eyes feeling that they were about to give up. "I'm not sure about the second one but please don't think that I'd be drifting apart from you just because of distance. I'd call, okay? We're in the digital days. We can still see each other every day if you want to?", Azumi tried to remove the lad's hand from covering his eyes and she was successful.
She saw that he was crying. The sight of Chifuyu being hurt by something she could not understand broke her heart making her hug him. "Chifuyu, sorry. Sorry, I might have hurt you many times before. I was so insensitive this time. You were hurt because Taka-san is a good friend of yours and you fought because of me. Please, I will do my best from this time on. Please don't cry", she tightened her hug as she heard the lad sobs.
"I really like you, Azumi but I know that you wouldn't look at me the same. I wanted us to remain friends as much as we could so I hid my feelings all these years", Chifuyu placed his hand on the lady's head making her look up to him. "If it is not me who can continue to walk beside you, I will wish the best for someone who you would gladly walk with", the lad gave a wide smile. Azumi started to cry. She doesn't want to hurt Chifuyu getting hurt, physically and emotionally.
________________________________________
Mitsuya's Studio
Takemichi came and was amazed at the wedding dress that Mitsuya made for Hina. The man had tears in his eyes. He had been fighting for moments like this. To see Hina live her life. Yuzuha helped Hina to change clothes. The two men talked about the past. "How come you never got married? Amongst all of us, you're the more deserving one", Takemichi commented. Mitsuya felt like being talkative today and gave a trip back in the past.
"So it was her who decided to draw the line between you and her", Takemichi inferred from the story. "I still tried to be friends but she would always find her way to avoid me or cut our conversation short", Mitsuya sighed.
Car
"Don't you dare tell Taka-san that I'm coming. I will just be outside his studio to congratulate Hina and give her this bouquet of flowers", Azumi threatened Draken. "You're just stubborn. Chifuyu already told you to move on with your life and not continue being in debt with him. The more you're holding back, the more you're hurting the man", Draken advised. "What's the use of thinking about it now? It's been 10 years already ", the lady looked outside the window and could already see the building.
"Tell that to me once you decide to look straight into his eyes", Draken gave a short laugh.
Chapter end.
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Existence Precedes Essence
Fanfiction"The literal meaning of life is whatever you're doing that prevents you from killing yourself." ― Albert Camus "Azumi, what is that sin you are referring to?", Chifuyu toned down. "Just merely existing. Because I happened, people had faced so many m...
