Say "I Love You" - Kimi Ni Todoke

7

After their moment, they were interrupted by yet another person screaming. Except this time they were screaming in fear. The had seen her. Someone had spotted Sawako for the first time since her parents were killed. She was so careful when she went out. Going places with Shota seemed to have damaged her barrier and now she was going to be reported and possibly sent away to some place that she never wanted to go to. All because she wanted to hang out with an old friend. Well an old friend that didn't seem to remember her. Her life was in the line once again because of another stupid mistake. First it was her parents making the mistake. Now it was hers. 'Well the apple doesn't fall far from the tree' she thought. Covering her face, she started to make her way towards her home, but was stopped by Shota. His hand clung to hers preventing her from leaving. The look on his face was one of confusion which was completely different to the look on hers. She looked ashamed, worried, and most of all, frightened, extremely frightened. Her hands soon started shaking due to her being scared so Shota placed his other hand on her cheek to make her face him. His eyes seemed to tell her that everything would be okay and she slowly stopped shaking, feeling safer than ever at the fact that she was with him.

He lead her out of the park and offered to take her to his home for a while to 'hide out'. She refused instantly knowing that he would get into a lot of trouble if he was seen with her. As much as she didn't want to leave him so soon, she had to do so. She untangled her hand from his and ran from him as fast as she could ignoring his voice that was calling for her. Footsteps were soon heard behind her after Shota stopped yelling for her to stop so she ran faster, as fast as her legs would carry her. She eventually made it to outside her house and fumbled for her keys that were situated inside of her handbag. Her hands were cold and sensitive which caused her to hiss at the pain of the keys scraping across her hands while she tried to find the right one. The footsteps got louder and louder as Shota got closer to the entrance of Sawako's apartment. He was almost there and was about to grab a hold of her coat before she opened her door and slipped inside, shutting the door behind her. She had made it but he hadn't. He wasn't able to hold onto her and she slipped away. Now all he could do was wait; he had to wait until she opened the door. 'Knowing her she could be cooped up in there for ages without wanting to see a glimpse of sunlight.' He didn't know how he knew that. He barely even knew who she was, right? They had only been on a few dates and had met for the first time at the park. 'I'm probably mixing her up with someone else... I think.'

Sawako felt extremely guilty about leaving Shota outside like that. There was a small knocking sound at her window. It was raining. It was raining and she had left him out there. He didn't even have an umbrella with him because the weather was supposed to be sunny. She immediately felt guilty but she couldn't move her feet to go and open the door for him. 'What if he hates me now? What if he never wants to see me again? I don't know if I can handle being alone again. I don't want to be alone again'. Thoughts like these consumed her brain until the sound of thunder woke her from her trance. Over the few minutes that she had been trapped in her thoughts, the rain had turned into a roaring thunder storm. She ran towards the door, opened it, and dragged Shota inside, away from the thunder and rain. This action resulted in him being very confused but didn't complain as this meant that he could stay inside instead of standing in the pouring rain.

"I'm sorry Shota. I should have let you in."

She felt so embarrassed that she did that. What was she thinking? Clearly she wasn't at the time, but now she was, and now she regretted every action that she made after someone screamed at the park.

"It's alright Sawako. You don't have to apologise."

Shota gave her a kind smile before asking where the bathroom was so that he could take a shower. She showed him the way and offered to place his clothes in the dryer and ensured they would be dry soon. He left his clothes outside of the bathroom door so that Sawako could dry them without blushing at him before doing so. That blush. It drove him crazy. He would have loved to make her blush all day long but had a feeling that that would eventually push her away so he made the decision not to.

After his shower, Shota found his clothes in a neat pile inside a basket outside of the bathroom door. He quickly changed with hopes that Sawako didn't have to wait for a long time while he got ready.

Once he was finished, he ventured around the house until he came across the living room where he noticed that Sawako was simply staring at the blank TV screen that was situated a few metres in front of her. He sat next to her on the floor but not too close as she didn't want to scare her.

They say in blissful silence before he spoke.

"You know, you still haven't told me you're name yet. Then again I've never asked you have I?."

This caused Sawako to pause as she made poured a cup of warm milk. She set down the milk carton and turned to face him with a grim look plastered on her face. She wasn't ready to tell him everything, especially when he couldn't remember her. But she would eventually tell him. At least this was what she kept on telling herself. She told herself to be patient and wait for him to remember her on his own. But it was taking all of her strength to stop herself from telling him everything each and every time they met. Among other things, this is what caused her to avoid him the most. She eventually spoke.

"You haven't asked but I know that if I told you who I was, then you might start hating me and won't even want to go near me anymore."

Shota couldn't believe what she was telling him. Never had he ever hated her, let alone think about hating her, so what would change if she told him? He hoped that what she said wouldn't happen, because he couldn't bear the thought of the two of them drifting apart. He felt like she had been through something like this before. Not with him, but someone else. He just wanted to have enough power to help soothe her pain and remove her scars.

"Why would I do that? You seem like a perfectly normal person to me and I don't know if I even want to think about something like that ever happening to us."

He knew that she was scared. But of what? He needed and wanted to find out but he knew that Sawako would tell him when she was ready. He just had to be patient until then. After some time, Sawako finally spoke up

"It doesn't matter anyway. You'll find out who I am sooner or later. It's just a matter of time."

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A/n: quick little authors note here guys. I have no idea how to reveal Sawako's past. Should I do flashbacks or something else? Let me know what you guys would like and I'll try to please everyone. Thanks for reading this far. I know that my writing is pretty bad so I'm happy that you guys are reading this book, even if it may only be a handful of people. if you have any ideas about where the story should go then send me a message and I'll see what I can do. Enjoy the rest of the book when it comes out.

-N