<Chapter Eight>

PAST ACQUAINTANCE .

"Shun!, wakey wakey sleepy head."

He tossed around but didn't feel like getting up. He didn't get much sleep and he had hoped he would be able to sleep in.

"Shun, you promised to take me out today." She shook him, trying to get him to get up.

"Ugh...okay." He opened his eyes and sat up. He had dreamt of her, again. That would make it the third time in a week. He didn't know why he kept seeing her repeatedly. The image of her smiling face still lingered in his mind.

As he prepared for his date, he couldn't stop thinking her and the time they met. He wondered if she knew who he was then.

"I know where we should go. That restaurant where we first met." She smiled broadly but he didn't seem to excited. "Is...everything okay?"

"Yes. Let me just grab my keys and we'll be on our way."

The drive to the restaurant wasn't long, thank God, because shun hated driving long distances. When they arrived, they both alighted from the car and just before they went in, a woman approached them.

"Why hello there young couple." Her voice was thin, like that of a teenager and her English was fluent, for someone dressed so poorly. "You look like my next project." She said simply and it made shun wonder what she meant.

"We don't really have time for--"

"You know Nakamura, you may have blended well with your new life but I can see the dragon in you still burns so brightly."

"What is she talking about shun?"

"I have no idea. It's probably nothing." They started to go in but she held his arm.

"You made a mistake, and it cost a life."

"A life?, what is she talking about shun?"

"Its not me. She probably mistook me with someone else." He took one last look at the short woman before leading his girlfriend inside.

                                      <πππππππ>

As they were having lunch, shun couldn't focus. His mind kept wandering to what she said. "Sarah, would you excuse me for a second?" He went outside in search for the woman but she was out if sight.

"Looking for me?"

He heard her from behind him and he quickly turned to face her. "Yes. You said something, about a mistake I made."

"Yes. You wronged someone, and it ended up taking a life. If you want to be at peace with yourself, you have to undo what you did."

"What?" He wasn't sure he understood her but she go any further. "How can I do that?"

"Here." She handed him a pearl necklace. "Put it under your pillow when you sleep. Whatever you see, let me know. This is my address." She handed him a small card with a number and an address on it.

"Okay."

                   <~~~~~~~~~~ππ~~~~~~~~~~>

"Princess Hinata, you have to pay for what you have done." She stood in the throne room where her father, sister and some other people were present. "You have once again proven yourself to be dangerous and unstable, hence unfit to live among society.

I hereby sentence you to be locked away for twelve moons with limited food and water, and no one is allowed to visit you."

"Otosan, you can't be serious. It wasn't intentional, I had no control over what happened." Her voice sounded shaky and she looked scared.

"Tell that to the people who lost their loved ones today. Take her away."

The royal guards detained her and dragged her out ignoring her pleas and protest. Among the faces present, one particular man looked familiar in a peculiar way and he tried talking to him but the scene changed and he was suddenly I'm another room.

"Aw Hinata, Chīsana ryū, look where you ended up. How sad." The tone of her voice made it obvious that she was mocking her. "Aw don't cry little sis, it's only a year. It will be over before you know it."

Hinata refused to say anything, instead, she wore a frown and looked directly at her sister.

"What?, are you going to attack me? What could you possibly do, locked up like an animal. You know, I always knew you would end up here, locked away."  She started to walk away but stopped a few steps away. "You know, I hope you would actually just die. That way you can't bother me anymore."

After she left, Hinata collapsed to the ground, sobbing sorely and shun felt bad for her. He wished there was a way he could comfort her but he didn't know how. The image began to dissipate and soon, he could only hear the sound of her painful sobs.

                 <~~~~~~~~~~ππ~~~~~~~~~~>

He laid in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. He had never seen her that hurt before, it made him feel like a terrible person. The sound of his phone brought him back from his chain of thoughts.

It was a message from Sarah. She wanted to know if she could go to his room. He tossed the phone aside and tried to clear his head.

The mistake he had made was with Hinata, and it had probably cost her her life. Now he had to make it up to her, somehow.

                                  <πππππππ>

"That was what I saw." He narrated his dream to the woman who looked less concerned.

"You have to look for her, and when you find her, gift her with the necklace and make sure she accepts it."

"How do I find her?"

"Not my problem." She turned her back and shun figured that signaled the end of their meeting.

On his way back home, he ran into someone. Someone he had been trying to avoid since the day he met her. They had bumped into each other three days ago when he went for a run.

"Hey, Shun, right?"

"Yes. How are you?"

"You promised to call but you never did. Why?"

"Work." He tried to avoid getting involved with her because he felt it would only bring back memories he wanted to forget.

"Okay, but this time, promise me you'll make time for me. I would really like to know you better."

"I'll try. See you then." He hurried to his car and locked the doors. Seeing his wife from the past made his heart ache a little. He never thought he would ever see her again. He started the engine and drove off.

                                  <πππππππ>

"Shun,"

The sound of his voice annoyed Shun. The last time they met, he had almost lost his cool. "Well, if it isn't my favorite brother." He tried not to sound too formal but it was difficult, considering the fact that they were practically strangers.

"How have you been?"

He would have been better of he hadn't showed up. Shun didn't really like meeting any of his 'families' because it always made him feel weird.

His least favorite was Takumi, his immediate younger brother. Shun didn't know what his problem was but he was always tackling him, trying to prove he was better than he was.

"What are you doing here Takumi?" He didn't mean to come out rude he just wasn't comfortable having him around.

"Father wants you back home. Something about sharing an inheritance."

"Back home?" That house always made him feel weird, probably because he wasn't their son. The day he woke up here, he was in the hospital. Turns out, a man who looked exactly like he did was a patient in that same hospital. Everything about them was completely identical, except for their hair colors.

His essence found his way into his body and he had been living as shun Nakamura ever since, the second son of a billionaire.

"Yes, you have three days to prepare."

"Okay." He hoped Takumi wasn't planning on staying any longer because he wasn't sure he could take it.

Thankfully, he didn't and that was good news. The bad news was that he had only three days to find Hinata.