Ch 2-Past life part 2

"I will come get you when we are bigger ! We will get married!"

Kyle said ,mustering all his courage to make the first and last confession of his life. "That way ... we will always be together, I will always be beside you ,and I can protect you with my life!"

Thump,Thump. He could hear his own racing heartbeat. "Is that okay ?"Kyle asked with a trembling voice.

Kyla had stopped crying at some point ,staring at Kyle's face blankly instead .

" Yes," she answered after a beat, beaming with dazzling bright smile. "Yes I want to marry

Kyle!"

Seeing her smile made Kyle so happy. He vowed to fulfill that promise. No mattr how many years passed ... He would protect it — he would protect her smile. And so, with that promise and a small kiss goodbye, Kyle and Kyla went their seprate ways.

It was a faint and fleeting promise, with no binding power behind it at all. It was an innocent promise,made when they had no idea what the future held... But that promise was wedged firmly into Kyle's chest,continuing to support his life to a nearly foolish degree.

After their sepration,young Kyle pushed head on into moving forward dreaming only of his reunion with Kyla.

He wanted to see her ... but in order to do that,he couldn't afford to stop. As long as he put all of his effort into everything he did, he believed that their reunion would come faster.

He threw himself into his studies and helped with the chores on his family's farm. His strict father even taught him him ancient martial arts to train his mind — which was rare to see nowadays. Thanks to that, Kyle grew into a diligent and honest adult. And his unwavering efforts didn't go unanswered : his father allowed him to enroll in a famous prep school in town where he and Kyla grew up. As a result, Kyle reunited with Kyla in the most shocking way ....

In another twist of fate, the two of them enrolled into the same high school.

Though they were in diffrent classes, the sight of Kyla's name on one of the class lists made him freeze in shock. He froze once more when he saw her.

The sight of Kyla in a school uniform took his breath away.

There was no mistaking her despite the time that had passed — because she had always been precious to him. Dhe was so near, yet so far.

Her silky straight black hair reached all the way down her back. Her facial features were elegant and refined, and her skin was porcelain white. Her height was almost equal to Kyle and her figure was well — balanced and she seemed to be quite lively and graceful person that attracted the gaze of anyone around her.

Kyla had grown into a picture perfect beauty .

Kyle felt his heart skip a beat— he was overwhelmed with joy at seeing his beloved childhood friend again. Yet at the same time, he was dumbstruck... Next to Kyla was a boy that Kyle didn't know. Seeing Kyla chatting intimately with this unknown boy shook Kyle to his core.

He lost the will to talk to Kyla on the day of entrance ceremony. On that Kyle went home deep in thought. It wasn't as if he fully expected their promise to be unconditionally fulfilled upon their reunion... but Kyle's memories with Kyla were special to him. And it was because of those memories that he had been able to come this far without wavering. The thought of Kyla forgetting their promise— the thought of there no longer being a place for Kyle — made him feel as through he had lost his way. They might never be able to return to their past relationship.

Kyla might have someone else she loves... and Kyle may have been the fool for having such dreams. And yet ,even so,Kyle still wanted to talk to Kyla. Tomorrow,he had gather the courage to do so . But then ... Kyla disappeared from Kyle's sight. She was absent for a few days after the entrance ceremony before suddenly dropping out of school completely.

There were several other students who dropped out in a similar fashion to Kyle, which caused quite a bit of a commotion amongst the students. But the school never disclosed any details,citing the protection of personal information. As he was but a helpless student at the time, Kyle could only watch as time passed by with no further hints or leads. He came to resent himself.

Why didn't he speak to Kyla on the day of the entrance ceremony? If he had spoken to Kyla that day,at that moment,the future might have turned out differently. He had no proof, but he couldn't help believing that.

With nothing left in him but regret,Kyle's feelings towards Kyla intensified and grew twisted.

He couldn't give up. He didn't want to give up.

A silent scream of agony reverberated through his body. He'd received romantic confessions from girls before,but the thought of a future with a woman other than Kyla left him with an indescribable guilt. And yet despite his strong feelings,there wasn't a thing he could do to find Kyla. With no path to follow,Kyle became more and more detached from the world around him.

Five years passed since Kyla's disappearance.

Now,in the present day, Kyle was a 21 year old

senior attending a university in the city. But time had stopped for the young man.

He might have been attending university and through he is putting efforts into his studies, but he doesn't show interest in any club activities.Expect his studies at university he had nothing he wanted to do other than a part- time job at the tidy little cafe. He woke up in the morning,went to university,went to work ,and came home — every day was an unchanging, fixed routine. To an onlooker,it might have seemed normal for a university student. But that's all it was. Kyle was wandering aimlessly with no goal, and time continued to pass in the world—until that day.

It was in the middle of summer; just like that summer day when he parted with Kyla, the sun hovered in the clear blue sky and shone down brightly on the asphalt— covered ground. But contrary to the summer weather, Kyle's expression was cold as he boarded the bus near his university campus. As it was still early in the afternoon, there weren't many passengers on board yet. After a few of them had gotten on, then off, there were only three passengers left on board: Kyle, a female university student a primary school- aged boy.

Other than the occasional announcement from the bus' PA system,the rumble of the engine was the only sound that could be heard

as Kyle stared out the window at the passing scenery.

... Hmm?

Kyle suddenly felt someone's eyes fixed on him. At the other end of the gaze was the primary-aged-school little boy.

He's ,...Asahi -san if I recall correctly .

It just so happened that Kyle knew this boy. One time,he'd fallen asleep on his way home and missed his stop. He burst into tears when he realized how lost and Kyle him back to his house. Every now and then they'd end up on the same bus again, with Asahi looking his way. It made an impression on him. This time,Kyle returned the gaze and watched as he panicked and looked away.

....

Did I do something wrong ....?

Nothing came to mind,obviously. The only time he'd ever spoken to him was the time he'd saved him. He'd taken him to his house and was thanked by his mother,so it was hard to think of any issues.

Was he just imagining it...? He considered asking him directly ,but didn't want to be mistaken and end up coming off like a creep. Afterall people ,were extremely wary of child predators nowadays.

Kyle thought "No matter how you look at it, only a creep would talk to a little boy they barely know on the bus,right?"

Yeah,better not. It was a little bothersome, but Kyle gave up with a small sigh and forced Asahi gaze out of his mind.

"—!"

The bus gave a sudden lurching jerk. Kyle felt a soaring sensation before intense pain rippled throughout his body – he was launched through the air and slammed into roof.

" Gah ,Gah."

Everything hurt. He couldn't breathe.

His body felt hot,like it had been doused in the boiling water. The horribly crused interior of the bus reflected in his darkening vision as his consciousness rapidly slipped away.

D-Did we crash?

Despite his extremely hazy mind,Kyle somehow managed to process that thought. He was aware of his probable death. Everything should have been in pain, Yet he was slowly losing feeling in his body instead. He could tell he was on death's doorstep. With that thought,he was suddenly wracked with fear.

"Nngh... hah"

He mustered the last bit of strength he had to open his mouth, but all escaped was a cough filled with blood.

Ky....laa..

As his heart called out for Kyla's name,a single tear drop fell from his eye mixed with blood. But just as Kyle was about to lose consciousness....

Kyle .....

A melodic voice echoed in Kyle's head. At the same time,a huge ,circular,geometric pattern started to rise from the ground,emitting a glowing light.

"And now,the news. A truck collided with the bus in the Tokyo metropolitan area at 4:03 pm today. Three passengers on board the bus have been confirmed dead,while the drivers of both vehicles are critically injured but miraculously alive. The cause of the accident was determined to be driver of the truck being drunk while driving..."