I was sitting on a chair in the infirmary with Miku after telling her the back story of my past.
"So eversince then, I haven't felt anything like this for a awhile." I said while feeling sad.
Miku who was sitting beside me, suddenly wraps her arms around me, trying to comfort me.
"It's not fair. You finally got to confess to the person you loved, and they just shot you down like you didn't meant anything to her, I'm sorry." Miku says with small tears falling off of her face.
"It's fine, you don't need to apologise. It's not even your fault to begin with." I then slowly release her from the hug. "If she didn't turn me down then... You wouldn't be with me." I smiled.
She blushed happily with tears forming in her eyes. Miku then hugs me one more time to wipe her tears on my shoulders.
"I'm so happy to be with you too Ren-kun." Her voice was muffled because she buried her face on my chest.
I smiled, and for a while we hugged in silance.
13 minutes later...
I parted ways with her and now I'm heading home....
"There you are!" The voice said that came from the school gates.
I open my eyes to see who called me. There was a black car waiting infront of me while Shikimori was waiting for me with a man in black beside her.
"I've been waiting for you." Shikimori says while dripping sweats.
"I can tell... It did say that it would be around 35 or 37 degrees today." I said while my index and thumb hold my chin.
"So you intentionally stayed back and let me burn in this heat!?" She said. I just shrugged.
"Actually I had things to do back in class." I said.
This made her more frustrated and snaps her fingers. Then the person beside her walked up to me and forced my arm.
"Sorry sir but, it's an order from my mistriss. Your coming with us." He said while I struggle to get out of his grip.
"I'm not coming with you! Plus what's in it for me!?" I shout.
"Free snacks in the car?" the man said trying to persuade me.
I freeze and just stop resisting.
"Tell me more about these free snacks?" I said.
"It's that easy!?" said Shikimori.
We were already in the car by the time he showed me the snacks they got.
"How did I fall for an idiot?" Shikimori said while feeling dumbfounded.
"Hey! If its free, then it's something I need!" I scold while crunching on some snacks.
She then face palms herself.
We finally made it to the Shikimori residence, as we enter the first thing I notice is how big their fountain is, and their house too.
I hopped out of the car and Shikimori followed sue. I was still eating my snacks while walking.
By the time we made it to her door. One of her gaurds snatched my snacks.
"Hey!?" I said to the man that took my crunchy curn.
"No food in the house!" Said the gaurd.
"Then where the hell do they eat? Outside?" I said.
"It's okay, give him his snack back." Shikimori said.
"Yes mistriss." The man did as he told and gave me back my crunchy curn. I then continue to crunch on my snack, but somehow it feels empty.
"Hey? Where did the rest go?" I look down and see the pile of crunch on the floor. "Oh... I guess now I know where." I said.
Shikimori sighs in frustration. "Tell the maids to clean that up." She said.
The door then open and we enter the living room first where I meet the two Shikimori parents.
"Welcome, Ren Hiyama." Said mister Shikimori.
"Hello there, mister?" I tried to think on how I should call him.
He laughs. "No son, you can call me Akira. And this woman next to me is my wife who is named Reiko." He says while looking at his wife.
"But please call me mom if you don't mind." she giggles.
"Um no thank you. I'll just stick with miss Reiko-san." I said, trying to avoid calling her my mother in law.
"Oh, so noble, and polite. You've picked a nice one dear. But please you can call me mom." She said while giggling again. Her comment made Shiki- I meant Rise blush.
"Mom... Please just don't." Rise says while hiding her blush.
"Ohh is my daughter blushing? That's adorable. But please get used to it, after all your here to talk about your engagement with this young boy named Ren Hiyama correct?" Her father, Akira said.
"That's correct dad. And I want to be wed as soon as possible." She says while facing towards me with a smirk.
"Well, we cannot do it this year or next year, how about after your graduation?" Her father ask her.
Meanwhile, I felt like they forgot I was even here.
"Um... Excuse me, don't I get a word in this?" I ask the two father and daughter.
"Ah yes, when do you think son?" Akira says.
'Son!?' I thought.
"I didn't said I agree to this engagement!" I told Akira.
"Oh.. You didn't?" Reiko tilts her head.
"Then why are you here? Isn't it because my daughter wants to have an engagement with you?" Akira ask.
"Of course it is about that father. He's just shy that's all." Rise said.
"No I'm not. I said I don't want to be engaged to your daughter" I said to the two Shikimori.
"Oh... That's a shame." the two of them looks down in dissapointment.
"But why Ren-kun!?" Rise panics. "I love you, why won't you be with me?" She said.
"Didn't I told you this multiple times? I'm not in love with you and I will never be with someone like you." I said.
Suddenly she felt like words were coming back to her. And it was the words of her friend, Hakari.
"If he's not willing to be with you, then just give up." The voice of Hakari echos through her head.
"It's not over. I don't want to give up." She whispers, I couldn't hear what she said though. She grabs my arms and drags me upstairs.
"Dear, where are you going?" Reiko ask.
"Give me a minute or an hour, also close your ears and don't come into my room." She says while frustrated.
"Oh... Okay, wait what!?" Akira said.
Meanwhile, I'm being dragged by her. Going up 2 stairs.
"Where are you taking me!?" I ask.
She didn't answer me and just kept going, her eyes didn't show but I could notice her anger.
We enter her room and she just shoved me in making me lose my balance and landed on her bed. She locks and takes off her hair band that was making her hairstyle twined tailed. She then walked towards me.
"Hey what the was that for?!" I shouted.
She still didn't answer me. She then pulls my tie and unbutton some of my buttons on my shirt. I stop her hands before she could take off my school uniform.
"Hey stop it!" I yelled at her while trying to get her hands off of my buttons.
She got more frustrated and pushes me on the bed, making me land on my back on the soft covers of her bed. She then got on top of me trying to remove more of my clothes. At this point she is pining me down.
"Get off of me!" I then rolled to the side while bringing her with me, changing the position from her being on top, to me pining her down to her own bed.
We both took heavy breaths after her attempt to take off my clothes. Her eyes weren't visible to me since it was blocked by her hair.
"What are you doi-" I tried to ask but she cuts me off.
"Why?.." her voice shivers.
I didn't understand on what she meant. But she continues.
"Why won't you be with me? Why won't you accept my confessions? Why won't you be my fiancé!?" She said while tears falling off her cheeks.
She looks at me, making it easy for me to see her eyes which was flooded by tears. She cries while telling me everything how she feels.
"No matter how much I said love you, no matter how much I show my affection towards you. Could it ever be enough? Tell me Hiyama!" She shouts at me. "Will you ever be satisfied with me!? Can someone like me ever be loved by you!?" The more she speaks the more tears starts falling off. "Are you ever going to love me!?" She question me while I just wonder in my thoughts.
'Did I... Over did the whole rejection thing? I did, did I? But I really don't like her that way, but if I tell her that, it would make her all the more frustrated. I can't make her feel even more sadder, she deserves the right answer... The truth.' I decided to tell her everything.
"Hiyama-kun! Tell me!" she yelled.
"You reminded me of someone. Someone that I hate to see again. Everytime I see you, I see her. I don't know why, but it just feels like that." I said wondering why she feels familiar to me.
"You actually don't remember me don't you?..." she says with an upset look.
"Huh!?" I said wondering what she meant.
"On the day of my graduation day... I was heading home after the celebration, and on my way I bumped into you.. You were crying and I didn't understand why." She starts trying to remember that time.
'That was her?!' I question my thoughts. 'She looks very different. She looked liked someone who was always bullied... Don't tell me, is the reason she looks different... Was because of her old middle school years?' I thought. I deicide to ask her a question before telling her the truth.
"Were you bullied back in your middle school?" I said to her.
Her eyes widen and she didn't said a thing. But instead, she felt like the memories of her Past life came back.
'I knew it. She was picked on back in her middle school year, and I pushed her away. I'm such a dick.' I scold myself.
"I'm sorry, Shikimori-san." I said while looking apologetic.
"Why are you apologising? It's not your fault, infact you helped me." she says.
I gave her a quizzical expression, showing her my confusion.
"Don't you remember, you helped me change." She said.
I was even more confused until I remember something.
"Don't tell me that you change because I was the only person who was nice to you. What about your parents? They seemed nice to you." I said.
"I meant people other then them and no, you weren't the only person who was nice to me. You were the first person who was genuinely nice to me other then my parents. I fell in love with you because of that. I felt like I had some worth in this world because of you." She smiled with small droplet of tears going down her cheeks.
She laid there silent, then remember that I wasn't alone that time too.
"Oh yeah, you weren't alone there too. There was girl that seemed upset." She said.
I then notice what she meant.
"Was she... Your girlfriend? Did you guys broke up and you felt sad about it?" she ask me.
I stayed silent and got off of her.
"If it was something you don't want to talk about then... I won't-" She was cut off by me.
"She was my crush." I said.
Shikimori's eyes widen due to my response.
"Your... Crush?" she ask.
"Yes, infact she was my first crush. I fell in love with her. But she..." Tears were starting to form in my eyelids.
Shikimori notice this and decided to comfort me.
"It's fine. Please don't talk anymore, she must've rejected you right?" She ask while wondering.
"She didn't just reject me. She called me names, she lied to me... She didn't love me at all." I cried while my voice shakes.
Shikimori held me tighter.
"This world is cruel, some people are ungreatful and some people menipulate others just so they can hurt them in the end. But your not alone, I was menipulated and lied to as well." She said while my face dropped tears on her shoulders. "But we've change, we are not those people back then anymore. Your more handsome and more stronger then before, and I'm more prettier and smarter too." She held my cheeks with both of her hands trying to make me look at her face. "We went through the same change by people who denied us, but now it's time for us to bury that past and move on. To accept a change we can't bring our past selves with us to the present. We must be greater." Her words made my eyes sparkle with hope. "Forget about her. It's time for you to accept who you are now."
I buried my face on her shoulder trying to feel her comfort. As I cry, I tried to forget about Aiko. I looked at Shikimori and notice that the face of Aiko disappeared from her face, but was instead replaced with the face of the person who comforted me, the face of Rise Shikimori.
Couple of seconds later, Shikimori asked me a question.
"Is this the reason why you didn't want to go out with me?" She ask.
"No... I wanted to give you a chance, but I was having second thoughts about dating you." My words look sad.
"Oh... So you wanted to go out with me?" She ask.
"I did. But I can't now." I said and made her confused.
"Why?" Her voice shakes.
"I already have someone... Someone I love." Her heart shatters after hearing the words I said.
"You... Have a girlfriend?" She ask.
"Yes." I said while looking down feeling sorry for her.
"It's... Amasawa-Sensei isn't it?" She guessed.
I was Suprise and couldn't help but ask.
"How did you know?" I ask.
"I simply guessed." She said.
"But how did you guessed correctly?" I wonder.
"You two came to school together today, I thought maybe you two had some sort of relation between each other, but it turns out you do. There was that one time where you smiled at her, and don't think i didn't notice that you went to the rooftop right after she entered yesterday." All of her assumption was spot on.
I sigh and just accept defeat. "Your something else" I said then smiled at her as she breaks the hug.
Her face lit up when she saw my smile.
'I made him smile?' Shikimori thought. 'Finally... But I doubt that we can be together.' She question herself.
"Thank you, Shiki-" I shake my head before rethinking my words. "Thank you, Rise-chan." I smiled brightly.
She felt a joyful aura around us and smiled back. "No problem." She then snapped back into her queen mode. "Also, please don't use -Chan at the end of my name." she said to me with a blank face.
"I thought that it's cute?" I said.
But she wasn't fazed by my compliment, but was instead acting like a spoiled child. "I don't care if it's cute! I want my name to be more mature!" She said to me.
I groaned to myself and just fell back on her bed lying there.
"Forgot the part where you sometimes act like a spoiled brat." I said.
"And your always a total douchbag when it comes to me." She pout.
"And this is one of the reason why I'm not gonna fall in love with you." I scold.
"And this is one of the reason why your so god damn annoying!." she yelled.
"And here I thought your the most prettiest girl in this school." I said.
"And I thought we could be lovers." She cross her arms.
"And I thought we could be the best of friends!" I also cross my arms.
"Me too!" She said and there was a moment of silance.
We both then laugh afterwards.
"So you want to be friends?" I said while wiping tears of laughter.
"I mean like, your a taken man now. I guess dating you would be pointless, plus I don't like sharing." She said.
"Of course you do." I gave a soft smile.
We both shared another laugh.
2 hours later...
After the whole thing between me and Rise. We ended up as friends, I told her parents about it and they thought that we were about to make them grandparents. I cleared up the whole misunderstanding and left their home.
On my way home, I realised that my sister wanted me to make dinner. I rushed home and burst through the door.
"Sorry I'm late!" I look down to see Rika on the ground with her face on the floor. "Rika-nee!" I shout with worries. I shake her body and ask. "What happend?!"
She points at the kitchen.
"She... Puts poison... In foods." She said before passing out.
I rushed into the kitchen and notice Miku on the floor.
"Miku-chan?!" I rushed to her side.
"I'm... Hopeless." She said.
I gave a confused expression before she points at the stove.
I made my way to the stove and slowly open the lid.
I open it and all I could say is. "..." I suddenly held my mouth holding my puke close the pot throwing it into the trashcan and throw it out of the house, and lit it on fire.
"That monstrosity is now destroyed." I said with sweat dropping down my face.
I'm not gonna ask who cooked it, because my sister can't cook food that bad, sure she can burn it but not to the point on making a level 15 JRPG slime monster. I'm just gonna assume Miku can't cook so... I'm just gonna leave it at that for now...