6 Eps 4

The distance between the train station and their house only took 6 minutes walking. It's already night, and the stars shone luminously in the dark.They didn't say anything for the whole journey.

Yua and Ryuu waved at Misaki and Charles as they part ways back to their own home. Ryuu looked down at Yua."Let's head home"Yua looked up at him, straight to his brown eyes. Her eyes glow in the dark of the night."Let's go" She murmured.

The distance between the train station and their house only took 6 minutes walking. It's already night, and the stars shone luminously in the dark. They didn't say anything for the whole journey. They stride side by side, embracing the silence between them. Yua glimpsed at Ryuu, he was staring blankly at the road in front of him, staying quiet all along the journey. It was rare for him to be this quiet. Yua knows why he's been like this. But she rather keeps this information for herself because she knew that this knowledge will break her heart.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes as they finally arrived at Yua's house. She lives in a modern two-story house with a small backyard where it is full of blooming flowers and lovely vegetables that her mother had planted."Do you wanna come in, have some tea?"Yua asked her as she reaches for the gate of the house."My mom would be happy to see you," She continued.

Ryuu shook his head slightly while giving him a subtle smile."Nah it's okay, it's already late after all."He wiggles his hands which he holds a little bag contained souvenirs that he had bought for her sister before. The souvenir jiggles softly." I..should go now" He said to her.

Yua swallowed up her fears and then tugged his hand."You like Misaki right?"

Ryuu gazed at her oval brown eyes, staring at him deeply. He sighed. There's no use in lying to her anyway. Sooner or later she'll know about this."I don't know if I like her, because I don't know for myself what kind of feeling I have for her."He admitted."Every time I see her, alone, I felt like I need to protect her. To be with her. Sometimes I feel like I want to be with her forever, being with her all day amuses me. She's unique as a blue diamond."He then stopped, realizing what he had said before."Man, is that too much?"

"That's what people say when they like someone. You're head over heels for Misaki." Yua said blankly and smiles when he blushes in response. He looked so sweet yet frail when his cheek reddens.

"Yeah, fine, I like Misaki, since I met her when we're kiddos." He let go of Yua's hand deliberately.

"But..she had no interest in you, she clearly said that before" Yua mumbled, unable to meet his eyes but then she dared herself to stare at his coal-black eyes."You somehow, need to move on from her"

The blush on Ryuu's check fades as he looks up to the sky, which is full of stars. Then back to Yua's face. Her complexion gleamed lovely under the moon's light. What she had said rings true. He had to move on."I've thought of it, just now, when we were walking back, which explains why I'm so quiet. If Misaki says that she doesn't want to be in a relationship, then she will, until she dies I guess. There's no way I can get her heart."He said solemnly.

"But, I don't care if she likes me or not"

Yua's brows knitted in confusion.

"I'll still like her. Because I like liking her" He chuckled charmingly.

After hearing that, Yua's heart broke into pieces. She realized that not only that Ryuu liked her, but he's madly in love with her."But why do you like her so much?"She wants to know, she wants to know so badly, what Misaki had what she hadn't.

"I don't know..maybe the way she acts towards society? She's a free spirit, she knows what she wants, and what she wants to do with life". He answered, looking a little bit lost about it, but then nodded." Yeah, that part of her attracts me the most"

Yua holds back her tears, realizing that Ryuu is becoming farther away from her grasp.

She loved Ryuu, she loved him so much she would do anything to have him. She even buried her dreams to be in her dream school, so that she can be with Ryuu at all time. Seeing him falling in love with anyone else besides her makes her want to cry all night long. She looked down at her shoes. Struggling hard not to let go of her tears."I see" She took a deep breath and nodded."That's cute of you" She gave a half-heartedly giggle."Goodbye, Ryuu" She said as she walked into her house, leaving Ryuu alone in the night. The automatic lamp in her house turns on as she walked into the house."Tadaima" She said softly as she closed the door. Nobody answers her. She slowly walked upstairs, to her room, each step is heavier than ever, she could feel a lump in her throat, her breathing is unstable, the results of all these mixed emotions.

Sadness, disappointment, anger, heartbroken.

As she finally got to her room, she closed the door and sat on the floor. She never felt so alone and pathetic. She clasps her mouth and let all the emotions that she had before flow. She cried hardly like she never cried before.'Why would she be so broken over a man?'She thought. She gathers herself, then went to the bathroom to get a bath. She opens her clothes, revealing her fair skin. She stepped into the shower and have a warm bath.

'He means everything for me' She thought again.

Then she broke down again.

That day she swore that she will do anything to have him back.

...

Charles invited Misaki to come to his house to see his cats, Elizabeth and Grace. Misaki always asked for his cat's pictures and she is a big fan of his cats. So he invited her before she heads home. Charles called his driver, Nakada, to fetch him at the station. Misaki kept silent, standing beside him, playing candy crush. The game melody is the only sound in the quiet night. Charles wanted to talk to Misaki, either some stuffs or anything to brighten the atmosphere. But he ran off of topics to talk to. At first, when he first gets to hang out with Misaki he dislikes the fact that she's so..untalkative, and unresponsive. All his friends are energetic and lively. Like Ryuu, maybe that's why he clicked well with him. But later on, after spending months being in the same class with Misaki, he finds that Misaki's silence somehow comforts him. Being with her calms him, even.

A black SUV parked in front of them both. They both get into the SUV, sitting side by side. Misaki is still busy with the game. Charles sat nearer to Misaki to see how's the progress and he was shocked."Damn, you're at 120 now?"He looked at her fingers, fast and steady.

Misaki just nodded."Ah, it's raining" She said simply, looking at the window for a while, and continued playing.

"Lemme try eh?" He asked."This is going to be so easy "He bragged.

Misaki hand him her phone." You can try" She said while hugging herself, keeping her body warm.

After countless times, Charles kept failing in the game. Misaki couldn't help but smile looking at how stupid Charles looked when he loses his temper over a game."Maybe you should try this game, it's easier, for someone with your level of IQ" She suggested, then she search up a game online.

A dress-up game. Funnily, he enjoyed it.

...

Misaki was amazed at the size of Charles's house as the car enters the house, the gate of the house is automatic. And the lovely outdoor light gave a dim, kinda hotel-like image to his house. His house is more to wide than tall, a two-story villa, with a medium-sized koi pond, located in the garden. The garden is almost like Yua's small garden, but bigger, and is well kept.

"Rich ass" Is all she said. Her eyes roamed the structure of the house.

"Is that a compliment?" He laughed a little, then invited her into the house. Misaki puts her shoes on the shoe rack, the inside of the house is full of lovely, elegant drawing, which by the looks of it, it's cost thousands of yen. The house's floor is made of marble, and not wood, like another Japanese house. There's a big glass door, along the corridor that allows them to see the rectangular swimming pool, with a mini jacuzzi. Misaki wondered where on earth is other people?

"The only ones that live here are my father and me." He said, reading her mind."My father is away for a business trip, in LA if I'm not mistaken."He continued."Come, let's meet the cats, they're probably in their room, snoozing"

"They have their room?"Misaki gasped. The cats lived a more wealthy life than she is.

" yeah," He laughed.

They went upstairs, Charles leads her to a room, as he opened the door, there she saw the two Princess. Elizabeth and Grace. Elizabeth is a 3year old, long-haired white Scottish fold, while Grace is a big, luxurious brown Maine Coon with some white on the tip of her toes, like socks. Upon seeing Charles, Elizabeth meowed happily and jumped off from the tall cat tree to greet Charles, While Grace still sleeping, ignoring their arrival in the room.

Misaki crouch down to stroke Elizabeth's white fur. Elizabeth purred contentedly. The cat licked her hands, already falling in love with the new stranger. Her engaging blue coral eyes gleamed, clearly wanting more affection from her."She's so sweet" She said, smiling at Charles.

"You should see your face when you smile, it's more sweeter."He said jokingly." Rare of you to be this soft" He said, as he crouched down, beside Misaki, petting Elizabeth's fluffy belly. He stared at Elizabeth who is enjoying the moment, then he started at Misaki. She looked happy, playing with Elizabeth. Grace joined in suddenly, demand for some affection from her. The cat purred, then rubbed her face on Misaki's leg. Misaki took a picture of the felines.

"So..does your father always away, like this?" She asked, now sitting on the floor, looking at the pictures that she took before.

"Yeah" He answered."At first, I'm not used to being alone like this, but I get used to it after a few years. Usually, my mother will take me to a park or somewhere to entertain ourselves when my father is away."He said solemnly."But since they get a divorce, my mom no longer visiting me, and father is always busy with his work."He continued."Well, thanks to his hard work that I got to live this well-off lifestyle" He grinned."I noticed that you live alone too?"

Misaki nodded."It's not that bad when you think of it though"She answered while taking a close-up picture of Elizabeth's pink paws."You can do all the things you want, without anyone telling you what to do or not to do."

Like entering an agency where you got to kill suicidal people. She thought.

He smiled, then stared at Misaki's brown eye."Hey, how about you.."Then he shook his head."Nevermind, "Then he stood up."Want to see my room?" He asked."To be honest, I want you to complete a level in a game that I bought years before. The boss is really hard to defeat "He groaned." Spent months trying to defeat that asshole but nothing works, since you're a gaming freak, would you help me out?"He lends a hand, helping Misaki stand up.

"Can we bring the cats?" She asked, hugging Elizabeth.

...

Charles waved her goodbye as she entered the SUV. He asked his driver, Nakada, to sent Misaki back to her apartment since it was raining heavily. He stared at the automatic gate as it closed slowly and steadily. Then he went into the house. He sighed, looking at the empty house. Alone again, he told himself."If only he's here.." He murmured, referring to his big brother. He walked upstairs, then entered his room. His room is decorated with basketball posters and basketball-related decorations. There is a corner glass cupboard that is full of medals and trophies that he gets from winning tournaments before. He throws himself to the bed, with his eyes closed, he stretches and reached for his phone at the end of the bed. He then stared at the phone, opened the group chat, where Yua had sent them the picture they took before. It's a decent picture."But I, of course, look incredibly gorgeous like always"He laughed at his thought. He turned himself to the tv, which he forgot to turn it off. After a few attempts, Misaki successfully defeat the boss in the game, she told him that she had played this game before, so that's why it doesn't take a long time to win.

To be honest, he wanted to ask if she could stay here for a little longer, or even spend the night here. She can sleep in the guest room. All he needed is company. He can't help being alone again. He hates hearing that voices. That awful, horrible voices that kept bugging him. Tearing him down. He needed a company to keep himself sane. At least for a while.

He opened the gallery app on his phone. Then he saw a video where his brother played basketball with him. Then more pictures of him, and tapes. The last picture In his phone is a picture which shows his brother when he is in teens, carrying him, which is still a baby. There is a huge age gap between the two, but that doesn't stop them from being besties.

'Maybe he left because of you'

"No, not again.." He groaned. The voices.

'You're an annoying brat, you're such a nuisance. That's the explanation why he left!'

'You can't even solve your own problems'

'Just an attention seeker'

'Your father must be so disappointed in you. You're a burden'

And more voices came in and out, whispering awful stuff about him. Charles closed his ears, biting his lips, and pulled his legs towards his chest. He rocked slowly, trying to ignore all the voices. But then it becomes heavier. And more louder than before.

"Stop." He said."Stop it!"He groaned, pressing both of his hands harder on his ears, trying to push all the voices away but it's no use at all. The voices kept coming, torturing him. He groaned and scruffed his hair

'You're the cause for his death'

That hit him hard. He screamed. Saying that it is not his fault. But then saying yes it is his fault. But then he denied again, but then agree to the voices. He laughed. Then he cried. Then he laughed again.

The maid that heard his screaming came into his room. When she saw Charles who is on the floor, rolling on the floor while closing his ears.Talking to himself. She can't help but feel sorry for the child, she leaned and hugged him tightly, while stroking his back to calm the boy."There, there.."She said slowly, hugging him tighter as Charles kept weeping. The maid looked at him with a motherly look. She had worked in the residence since Charles a little child, so she had treat Charles like her own son. Charles had been diagnosed with bipolar since he was 12, which brings only bad news to his parents, who are at the end of the divorce. When he had episodes of manic or depressions, his brother will always be there, by his side, telling him that things will be okay, and he did nothing wrong. Only his brother understands his problems as his parents thought that bipolar is a made-up thing.

After his brother died, his manic and depressed episodes become more horrible than before. And what's worse, there is no one there to be by his side. Being the only child, his father, David had high expectations for him to be perfect, and excellent like his brother, so that he could be his successor, to continue the family business, and bring more prosperity to the family. But business was never Charles thing, he hated that, even. His dream is to become a professional basketball player, but he's willing to bury his dream just to make his father feel proud of him. He had been skipping pills and medications when his father says so, he had already go through all the company files to get familiar with all the systems in the company. He studied hard so that he would always get good grades to show his father that he's worth it. He had done everything.

"Am I going crazy, Inari? Am I going crazy?" He asked, his eyes are red. Then he ran a hand over his dark maroon hair.He chuckled"I am crazy, I am"He answered."Help me, please, I can't stop the voices from coming"He pleaded."Help"His voice cracked.He looked so fragile,despite his strong body.

The maid brings him closer to his chest."Have you eaten your pills yet?"She asked.

He shooked his head.Removing his head off from head from Inari's chest.Letting th frail touch of Inari's touch push away the tears."No, father threw it away." He answered. He became more calm slowly."He told me I need to learn how to get over it by myself. I need to become independent. I need to become more like my brother, just like what my father wants me too"He then sighed."What did I do wrong, Inari? Am I a nuisance? Did the voices I heard is somehow made up?"He wept deeper,feeling hopeless,and fed up with life."Why can't he understands me?"

Inari can't help but let her tears get the best out of her.She stroked his silky maroon hair." oh poor boy, you did nothing wrong, you did nothing wrong" She said again and again. Again and again.And hugged him tight.

Oh poor boy.

.