Showered by the Stars

47. We meet again

It has been four years since I started living in Europe for my College course, Nursing. I decided to enroll for another course, Business Administration. I decided to study for it once I get back from my visit to Japan.

“Japan is still Japan.” I said to myself. I didn’t tell anybody except for my parents that I’d be coming home.

“Welcome back, Young Miss.” Chou greeted, bowing.

“I’m back.” I said, getting inside the car.

We drove towards the Minami Household main house.

It’s already been two years since my parents sold our old house and transferred here. My grandfather, Kyuusuke Minami passed away while I was in Europe.

I went to the altar to pay my respects.

“Grandfather—Grandmother—I’m back.” I said. Kyuusuke Minami is finally together with his dear wife, Yukari Tamine Minami.

I took a quick bath and called Ran and Kana.

“Hey! I’m back in Japan.” I said to them.

“Really? Then we should meet up.” Ran said.

“Ah! I know! How about the Cake Shop near our old school?” Kana said.

“Okay. Sure. What time?” I asked.

“An hour from now.” Ran said.

“’Kay.” We hung up. I quickly changed to my new clothes.

The three of us haven’t talked for awhile. It costs too much to make long-distance calls just to chat. And university life made us so busy for that.

When I finally saw them, old memories kept rushing back. The day we had our graduation ceremony, we celebrated it in this Cake shop. We also celebrated our birthdays here when we were on our last year in High School. It was a year that the three of us became greedy. We wanted to spend each time for the three of us to be together.

“So how’s it?” Ran asked.

“Great. I managed to become the top of the batch.” I said.

“You said you’ll study MN and Ph.D. How will you do that when you’ll take Business Administration as well.” She said.

“Ah! It’ll be alright. I can manage it. I’ll just have to take exams. How about the two of you?” I asked.

“Juilliard was great. It made me improve drastically and because of that it opened lots of new opportunities for me.” Kana said.

“Whoa. That’s great. I saw you on TV when I was in Europe. You got another award.” I said. “Congrats!”

“Tee-hee. Thanks. Did you see Jun as well? He also got an award for Best Actor.” She said, proudly.

“Yes. I did. Congratulate him for me.” I said.

“I will. We’ll see each other at home later on anyway.” She said. Huh?

“Huh? Why’s that? You’re both living together?” I asked.

“Ah? No. Not yet. Tee-hee. But he’s spending a lot of time at home talking to my dad. They both seem to get along well. We’re already planning to have an engagement party.” She said, blushing.

Ran and I looked at each other and laughed.

“That’s great. You should invite us!” Ran said.

“Of course! You know Ran, you’re laughing so much. You should tell something about yourself and Ryu.” Kana said.

“Eh? What is it? Tell me about it Ran.” I said, eagerly.

“Geez—alright. Alright. Ryu already proposed to me.” She said, blushing.

“Kyaaaaaa!” Kana and I screamed.

“So—so—what did you say to him?” I asked.

“Urk! What else? I agreed.”

“Kyaaaa!” Kana screamed. I chuckled.

“Hey! Stop it already. It’s embarrassing.”

“Oops—Sorry. I just couldn’t help it.” Kana said.

“Well, we were just waiting for me to finish Business Administration. Ryu  is already his company’s CEO, so there’s no more reason to wait.” Ran finally said.

I chuckled. “That’s great.”

“And you?” Ran said.

“Eh?”

“Why is it that you’re still Mizuki Minami? You were the first one to be engaged.” She said.

Ah! That—

I laughed dryly.

“I haven’t talked to him since grandfather passed away. And there’s also his grandfather being hospitalized. I guess it’s hard on him nowadays.” I said.

“He took over their company, right?” Kana said.

“Yes. Since there might not be a chance of his grandfather recovering.” I said.

“So, you should see him now that you’re in Japan.” Ran said.

“I guess. But I’m just thinking. What if our arranged marriage is called off? Since my grandfather passed away and his grandfather has fallen sick before the marriage has even been conducted. Perhaps, Eri-kun is also thinking the same way. We’re not really in any romantic relationship, you know? It’s something our grandfathers decided.” I said.

Ran and Kana just stayed quiet. They must be feeling sorry for me. They’re happy and I’m feeling really uneasy.

We separated. I thought of what I said when I was in the Coffee shop. I decided to visit my father in our company building. I entered the elevator. 18th floor is still a long way.

My uneasiness got the better of me. My tears spilled. It sucks when you two are just connected through some contract. When I looked at my reflection in a window, I decided to go to the top floor. I can’t let my father see me like this. I looked like a child whose candy got snatched.

It was awfully quiet in the top floor. Not many people come here. It’s just a place reserved for VIPs. In this building, it’s my hiding place.

I sat on the floor, looking at the sky. I raised my hand as if touching the sky. I wished that every teardrop will solidify and turn into diamonds. ‘cause if it’ll happen, I’ll put it in a box and give it to him as a remembrance. At least that way, he’ll have something to remember me by if ever he’ll decide to break the contract.

“Your tears are beautiful.” Someone whispered to my ear. It’s strange. I’ve heard those words before. My tears stopped falling. Could it be him? The boy from my past? No way!

I turned to face the one who whispered.

Someone who wore a suit sat next to me.

My heart skipped a beat.

“It looks like it still works. It can still make you stop crying.” He said.

“It was you?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“Yes. Surprised?” he said.

“Of course. I didn’t think that what I suspected would turn out to be true.” I said.

“You already suspected?” he asked.

“Yes. Do you remember when I said that your hair and eyes look the same?” I asked.

“Ah! Yes! You did say that. So—are you disappointed?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Not at all. I’m glad it’s you. Eri-kun.” I smiled.