CIRCLE - Chapter 7

 CIRCLE

Chapter 7

***
“Michishige-san, this is Kusumi Koharu, the 7th gen member. From now on, you’ll be her mentor.”
“Me? Her mentor?”
“Michishige-san, hajimemashite. Doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu~~

*
“Koharu-chan! How many times have I told you about that? Don’t walk with your right hand and right leg moving together!”

“Koharu-chan! Don’t yell loudly like that! You’ve made a lot of damages on my ears!”

“Don’t annoy me anymore! Why are you so annoying like that?”

*
“Michishige-san, you see, I’m taller than you now.”
“I see, I see.”
“I’ll also be cuter than you.”
“No way. I’m always the world’s cutest.”

*
“Michishige-san, I’m 16 now. Am I pretty?”
“Yes, you’re an annoying pretty girl.”

*
“Why did you do this when you don’t have any feeling for me?”
“How do you know that I don’t have any feeling for you?”
“What do you know about my feeling for you?”

“I love you, Sayu-chan.
***




“Sayu-chan? What are you thinking?”
I put my hand on her hair and stroke it. She’s lying next to me. Her head is nuzzling on my neck and her arms are wrapping around my waist.
“I’m thinking about you a few years ago.”
“Ah~~ what do you think about me at that time??” she looks at me.
“You were annoying.”
“No way! I was cute!!”
“Yes, you were cute, but annoying.”
She pouts. I giggle and give her a quick kiss. Her face turns blushed. She smiles and nuzzles to my neck again.
“Nee, Koharu-chan. When did you fall in love with me?”
“Hm… I don’t remember exactly… Maybe when I was 13… when you were still my mentor…”
“What? So young like that?” I tease. She glares at me.
“One day I realized that I locked my eyes on you all the time… I always tried to make you notice me by annoying you everyday. I really wanted to stay with you. I always wanted to be touched by you. Every time when you held my hands, you taught me how to dance… Maybe you didn’t know, but my heart actually beats very fast…”
“Ah~~ it’s cute, Koharu-chan!” I laugh at her.
“But… Despite all of that, you didn’t notice me at all. You… you were in love with Kamei-san…”
I stop laughing.
“Everyday, I stayed with you, but your eyes only looked at her. Whenever I see you and her holding hands, I was hurt, you know? I didn’t know what to do… Sometimes I stayed alone at my room and cried…”
I silence her with a kiss.
“Sayu-chan?”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s not your fault… I was so scared… I should have told you about my feeling earlier…”
“I’m sorry.”

She lets out a sigh. She lies on top of me and looks into my eyes.
“Now I have already had you with me, right? Everything is OK now, so don’t worry about that.”
“But…”
“As long as you’re here, I’m always happy. You’re mine. You’ll never abandon me, we’ll never be apart, right?”
“Yes…” I nod.
“Can you promise with me?”
“I promise…” My eyes begin to tear. “I don’t know how many times I have hurt you in the past… But from now on I’ll never hurt you anymore…”
“Hey, what do you cry for?” She dries my tears with her thumb. Then she smiles and leans to kiss me gently on my lips.


Koharu-chan,
I think you know those tears were not tears of hurt. They were tears of happiness.
But because at that time I was deeply wallowed in happiness,
So I didn’t know that I had made a promise that I couldn’t keep to the bitter end.