夏の愛 (Natsu no ai) Volume 2

Prologue

"WHAT?!" 

Kinjiro's mother was shocked as she watched her eldest son stare at him as if she was the last person he would trust, all faith on her gone as he showed his dispair.

"You would let him do that?" He yelled at his mother. His father, scared of his sudden outburst, pushed her at his back and glared at his son.

"This is all your fault. If you didn't befriend the girl we wouldn't even be in this mess!"

Kinjiro laughed humorlessly. Sa tingin ba nila nagsisisi siya na maging kaibigan si Aya? No! Every moment they had, he treasured. Hindi siya dapat makaramdam ng pagsisisi dahil una sa lahat, hindi naman siya ang may kasalanan kung bakit naaksidente si Aya. 

"I told you countless times, I didn't do it!" Clenching his fists, he stared at his father with anger.

"I know you didn't, but think of it this way, going to Manila would help you release the stress you're feeling right now. We have a lot of condominiums there so you can go hide and--"

"Hide?!" He couldn't help but laugh once more. "If you really believe that I'm innocent, you wouldn't throw me in an unknown place and make me live there until what? Until the issue disappears? What if it doesn't, huh?! My name will forever be tainted because of this!" 

He stared at his birth parents with much distaste. Glaring at them one last time before he walked out of their house.

His father was left massaging his forehead as his mother stared at the door he ran off to. Giving out a deep sigh, his father then called out for Itsuki.

XXX

Days passed and Kinjiro's things has all been packed up. With a heavy heart, he trudged his belongings out of the house and into the car. Stealing a last glance at their villa, he quickly went in the car when he heard his mom yelling for him. Pulling down the window, he stared coldly at his mother.

"Here," she quickly placed a package at his lap and stared at him. "I love you son, know that this is all for you." She quickly hugged him and ran back into the house before Kinjiro even knew what was happening. Letting out a sad sigh, he told the driver to drive to Sora's place first before dropping him off to the airport.

XXX

"kuni hanareru ka?" (Aalis ka ng bansa?) A man wearing a kimono asked the young man seated in front of him. Watching as the young man fidgeted in his seat as he stared hard at the steam coming from their hot untouched tea.

"Hai aniki."  He said with a slight bow, "Chichi ga ore o ikari." (Oo, boss. Nagalit tatay ko.)

Letting out a huge sigh, the gang leader could only nod at one of his best members' plea for a break. "Anata mamoru da." (Ingatan mo sarili mo.) His voice was hard, but it was laced with concern.

"Hai aniki." (Yes boss)

Matapos nilang mag usap ay nag bow si Kinjiro sa kaniyang gang leader na si Sora at nag patuloy nang umalis. Sumakay siya sa kanilang kotse na maghahatid sa kaniya papuntang airport.

Once they have arrived, Kinjiro quickly gathered his things and was about to go out when his driver, Francis, suddenly locked the doors once more and looked at him through the mirror.

"Kinjiro dono." Biglang salita ni Francis, isang Amerikano na nag migrate sa Japan at naging butler ng pamilya Sakamichi.

Tinignan lamang ito ni Kinjiro mula sa rear view mirror, inaabangan ang mga sasabihin ni Francis sa salitang Ingles. Mahina ang kanyang Nihonggo kaya madalas ingles ang ginagamit nitong wika.

"I hope you can learn to forget about what happened in the past, but never forget the lessons learned from those experiences."

Napatango na lamang si Kinjiro at bumaba na ng kotse. Tinulungan siya ni Francis na ibaba ang kanyang mga gamit bago tuluyan na iwan sa tapat ng airport.

Napangiti na lamang ito habang nag lalakad papasok ng airport, patungo sa isang future na walang kasiguraduhan, sa isang hinaharap na walang maaasahan kundi ang kaniyang sarili.

"Furidomu, ikuyo." (Freedom here I come.)