CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 3 - Ayumi's other side

After a tiring day, Mori takes Yumi back home. Because of the exhausting activity they did the whole day, she falls asleep during the ride. When she wakes up, she's already in her room dressed in her expensive night-gown. She then gets up and heads downstairs to look for food in the kitchen. As she's about to reach the dining hall, she happens to hear her parents and Mori's conversation so she decided to eavesdrop.

"Mori, how is Yumi doing in school?" her mother asks.

"as usual Miyamoto-sama, she's doing great and is making great friends with everyone" he answers directly.

"how about her health? did she ever got so tired and got sent to the clinic?" her father asked.

"no, Miyamoto-sama"

"thank goodness she's doing fine," her mom says while touching her chest.

They're in the middle of a conversation when they suddenly see Yumi standing by the entrance, looking at them.

"Yumi chan," her mom greets her. "konbanwa"

"konbanwa," she replies with a sweet smile.

"how are you sweety?" her dad asks as she takes her seat.

"I'm ok papa,"

"How was school today?" he asks.

"was tiring, they had us roam around the whole campus to look for hidden books. . . and that was fun," she cheerfully said while clutching both of her hands together.

"wha-" her father was about to scream but her mother stops him.

"that's great Yumi-chan, tell us more"

Yumi did have a great time that day so she excitedly narrates everything to her parents while eating, and they attentively listen to her. After she finishes her meal, Yumi smiles at her parents sweetly, expressing how delighted she is by the food. Her mom then claps her hand and swiftly, a servant comes into the room - carrying a tray with a glass and a small glass kettle of warm water then places it next to Yumi's empty plate.

"it's time to drink your meds, Yumi," her mom says with a smile on her face.

The sweet smile on Yumi's face immediately fades and turns to gloom. Mori then gently pours the warm water into the glass and hands her the first tablet.

"what's the use of these?" she asks, choking back. "it won't change anything anyway"

"Yumi chan,"

She left the dining room without any other words, leaving her parents stunned by her reaction, and climbs back to her room. Under the bright moonlight, she sits at the balcony outside her room gazing at their wide lawn.

"Isn't this place so big, Mori?" she asks sadly.

"Yes it is, Yumi-sama," he says looking at the wide garden. "This mansion indeed have everything you could ever wish for"

"but why can't these make me happy?" she said with teary eyes.

"Yumi sama"

Yumi looks down, making a tear fall from her eyes.

"Ever since that day they knew about that thing, they never treated me like I'm normal again," looking away from Mori while shedding tears.

"Yumi-sama,"

"Before that day, I wanna be happy. . I want to experience real happiness. . to play with my friends. . to go shopping with my friends. . go on vacation with them. . I wanna feel like I'm normal again. . Before I die, I wanna feel what is love, how does it feel to love and to be loved. . but how Mori? How?" she says while crying so hard.

"Yumi sama please stop. . it's not good for you-"

"this?" holding an organizer box full of medicines. "this won't change anything" she cries so hard and throws it as hard as she could.

"Yumi sama. . please. . that's enough"

She pauses at the side of the table weeping, "I wanna live longer"

Just a split second after she said that, Yumi starts to breathe heavily, touching her chest - gasping for air. Mori immediately knows what's happening so he's able to catch her in his arms as soon as she faints. He then carries her to her bed and alarms everyone to gather all the equipment to the room and call her doctor. Thankfully, the doctor lives not too far from their mansion so he made it on time and manage to save Yumi's life. After checking her vitals and is certain that she's now safe, he then goes to her parents - who're watching from the corner of the room and speaks with them.

"How is she?" her mom asks worryingly.

"she's fine. . she just needs some rest," he explains. "make sure that she's taking her medicines on time and don't tire her. . and don't forget that too much emotions could harm her too. . just let her rest tomorrow"

Clutching their arms together, Yumi's mother burst into tears as she leans her head to her husband.

The next morning. . .

Everyone in the school is debating of where Yumi is because they haven't seen her came to school this morning.

"maybe she's out of the town with her parents," a girl student said to her friends.

"yeah. . . you know, they often go to luxurious parties they got invited to,"

"I know right"

"--ooorrrrr something happened yesterday that's why she's in no mood to come to school today," a girl says as she turns her head towards Hiro's direction.

Hiro who's not minding any other's business', is just sitting on his chair, with his headphones on while looking at the trees outside, when a group of girls approaches him and ask him many questions. A girl then places her hand on the table and takes off his headphones slamming it to the table. "Hey, what did you do to Yumi huh?" she asks arrogantly. Hiro looks at her irritated, grabs his headphones, and walks out of the room leaving the arrogant girls stunned. Walking through the quiet hallway, Hiro makes his way up to the rooftop unnoticeable to avoid everyone. Meanwhile, Yumi, who just wake up from a deep sleep, wakes up with an oxygen mask and dextrose attach to her. She slowly then gets up as she takes off the mask, seeing Mori standing at the side of her bed.

"Yumi-sama," he said as he bows down.

"what time is it Mori?" she asks weakly.

"It's already 11 in the morning Yumi-sama"

"what am I doing here? I need to go to school" gently push aside the blanket.

When she's about to get off of the bed, Mori blocks her way and tells her she needs to take a rest for now. She trusts Mori more than anyone else in the house so she listens to him all the time. Instead of getting angry and resist, she instead asks Mori to help her go to the balcony to breathe some fresh air. With Mori holding her arm while pushing the dextrose stand, Yumi steadily walks towards the wide window and pauses just as when a warm breeze embraces her.

---Breathes in deeply---