Maybe this Time
Chapter 1
Meioh Hikaru
“Ahh…..!”
a voice screamed behind me. “Koenma-sama!”
I
looked back and saw a woman in that tattered, dirty pink kimono. Her lavender
eyes were filled with tears and she seemed to be very weak. She was asking for
someone’s help. Although I wanted to help her, I couldn’t. I was really
confused.
Suddenly,
we appeared in a cliff. She is grasping for her life. I attempted to give my
hand to her, but I couldn’t reach her. All of the sudden, it became too
steep. We both had been thrown helplessly from the cliff. This is my end---our
end.
“I
love you, Koenma-sama!” That’s the last thing I had heard.
I
got up. My body is all sweaty and tired. I didn’t seem to have some sleep. I
was panting, crying, mixed emotions were with me. Why am I turning like this?
This is only a stupid nightmare.
“Hikaru!”
my mother shouted angrily. “Get up now!”
Let
me introduce myself to you. I am Meioh Hikaru. I am seventeen years old and I
am in third year high school. I live here in Tokyo with my parents, my sisters
and my brother. I am the second child of my mother and father.
“I
guessed,” she rolled her eyes. “Oh, could you please forget about that
girl?! You don’t even know her name.”
“Besides,”
my youngest sister, Mirei chipped. “You already have a girlfriend.”
I
smiled. Mirei is right. I already have a girlfriend. Her name is Raikouji
Chizuru. She is my childhood best friend. It is not a surprise that I had
fallen in love with her. She is smart and fun plus she is also very beautiful.
Anyone could fall for those long, straight black hair, those blue eyes and her
flawless fair skin. I love her so much that I told her that I would never love
anyone besides her.
“I
am not saying that I’ll forget Chizuru,” I told Mirei. “But if you had
that nightmare since you are little then you’ll be bothered too...”
Mirei
just eyed me and drank her milk up.
“But
you know,” my older brother, Ryu said. “I think we must think of something
to take that girl out of your mind. If this continue Hikaru-ototo, a bigger
and more dangerous problem would occur.”
I
shivered but I didn’t show it to Ryu. Ryu is really amazing. Everything he
says actually come true. He is a ‘psychic’ sort of person. He can see your
future. That’s why he is such a popular guy in school. Everyone can’t wait
to hear on what date are they supposed to die...
After
breakfast, I hurried outside the door. It was 30 minutes to eight o’clock. I
am almost late to fetch Chizuru. I am sure she’ll be furious.
She
lives thirteen blocks away from my house. And from the gate of my house, I
could see her beautiful face turning crimson because of anger. As fast as I
could, I ran and meet her at her place.
“I
am sorry,” I apologized as soon as I reach her gate. “I didn’t mean to
be a little late in fetching you...”
“Oh...”
she eyed me very angrily. “And I suppose you want to have a ‘tardy’
record.”
“No!”
I exclaimed. “Of course not!”
“Well
come on now,” she told me bossily. “The best student in school would
surely wouldn’t want a stain in his perpetually clean record...”
“Aw
Chizuru-chan...you don’t need to say that. C’mon...” I felt my cheeks
turned red. I am not ‘arrogant’ but it is true---I am the best student in
school ever since I was in preschool and I never had any bad records either.
“Race
you from here to the train station,” she suddenly then broke into a smile.
“The last one’s the rotten egg...”
“CHIZURU-CHAN!”
~~~~~~
“Oh
Lord,” I groaned as I open my locker. Hundreds of
‘love letters’ came rushing down. “Not again...”
“Can
you blame them Meioh-san,” my classmate, Mikono Rui said teasingly. “You
are very intelligent, gentleman and you are so handsome too...Oh, Meioh-san,
you are very dreamy...”
“Mikono-san,”
I said with a worried sort of voice. “Don’t tell me you also place a love
letter here too!”
Rui’s
face inflamed. “Is it obvious, Meioh-sama? I love you...”
Argh...Lord,
not again. I am in it again. I could hear that phrase more than ten times a
day and this is the third one for this day.
“Um, Mikono-san,” I uttered uneasily. “You have a very early decision to ‘love’ me. Maybe you are just feeling a little ‘infatuation’ towards me..."
She
doesn’t seem to listen to any word that I say. She seized me and hugged me
like a juvenile girl does to her little doll.
“Mikono-san!
Please release me!” I cried as I try my best to struggle away from her.
“I
love you Meioh-sama,” she sighed as we stumbled to the floor then showered
my face with kisses.
“Ah,”
she moaned sadly, while suffocating me with her embrace. “Meioh-san, why
don’t you leave that girl? You don’t know how much I adore you.”
“What
girl?” my eyes then looked up and saw Chizuru’s face burning red with
anger. She raised her tightened fist and you know it, I was hit badly on my
face. It was so hard that I barely forget about myself.
“Hikaru-kun!
You are such a big PERVERT!”
Is
being a very attractive guy now a crime?
~~~~~
“Chizuru-chan,”
I tried to apologize at our lunch. “You
know that I didn’t try to lure her or anything...Rui-san was just ‘carried
away’ by her ‘obsession’ towards me.”
She
gulped down her soda and stared at me suspiciously. “How can I know that I
can trust you now? You are assaulted by more than seven girls since this
morning...”
“B-but...what
can I do, itooshi? I can’t get away from those girls,” Then my eyes
sparkle seriously towards her. I need to tell her this now. “Chizuru, all I
wanted is for you to trust me then after all of this, I’ll make you the
happiest bride in the world...”
Her
pale cheeks turned redder than the reddest tomatoes. “D-do you mean
it...?”
“Do
I look like joking?” I asked her sincerely at the same time placing my hand
over her shoulders. “I love you with all my heart. Nothing’s going to tear
us apart. Nothing...”
“Hikaru,”
she cried desperately over my shirt. “I am indeed blessed to have you...”
I
feel I am the luckiest person in the world too.
~~~~~
“I
am home now mother,”
Then
I could hear something black and soft running towards me. It jumped over me
and I realized it was my dog, Aki. She was wagging her tail. She is certainly
happy to see me. You know, I found her when I was four years old. She followed
me wherever I go so I adopted her. My family likes her too except maybe, Yuuki.
She is not fond of furry animals because it makes her sneeze.
“How
are you old girl?” I asked her as I patted her fur. “Did you miss your old
man?”
She
just licked my in my face affectionately. It tickles!
“Hey
stop that!” I laughed.
Mom
suddenly appeared with a great smile in her face.
“What’s
up, mother?”
“Good
news!” her eyes gleamed with deep happiness. “Your father would stay here
for a month!”
I
grinned. We hardly see dad. He is such a big businessman with a very boring
life. He is always away and I know how mother miss him. “That’s a good
news mom!”
“But...”
she suddenly frowned. “He has to bring his Chinese business partner, Mr. Li
and his wife, Xiaoyu and only daughter, Meilin. I’m sure we would talk about
business here all month. Oh my Lord...”
I
shrugged. I already expected that. Then, I hearing the surname Li, Aki ran out
of the door and out of our house. She is really puzzling and very clueless.
But we’re used to her anyway...
“But,”
mother paused. “After two months of not seeing him...oh, Hikaru, you don’t
know how much I miss him...”
I
gazed upon her face now mixed with sadness and happiness as well as
anxiousness and excitement. Truly, my father is very fortunate to have a
Penelope-like wife. I wonder if Chizuru-chan would be the same if we were
married? I am sure I’ll take my father’s position in running our big
business but...
“Why
the sudden quietness, Hikaru?” mother asked.
“Um...when
will father return?”
“Two
days from now,” she smiled heavenly and run to the nearest mirror. “Now
maybe I have to give a new style to my brown hair. What if I dyed it with
other colors? And Hikaru-chan, do you notice that I am already looking like an
old woman because of these wrinkles? Oh my...how can I possibly face him? I am
hideous!”
“You
just look perfect mother,” I said proudly. “You look perfect...”
~~~~~
Aki, the dog then looked at her reflection at the Meioh’s swimming pool. Her furry black reflection then changed into a pale woman in blue kimono with her black hair pulled into a bun. Then from the thin air, a blue, funny-looking ‘oni’ then appeared behind her.
“So
how was it, Ayame-chan?” the oni then asked the pale woman. “What’s your
report for this day?”
“George...All
I can say is,” she replied. “Li.”
“Li?”
asked the oni excitedly. “Do you think...?”
“Hush,”
she told him like the night soft breeze. “Don’t get too excited yet.
We’ll see...in the next two days.”
She
smiled to her reflection as she saw the full moon rose above her.
“Maybe
you can now get what you wanted,” she told herself. “Koenma-sama...Meioh
Hikaru…whoever you are...”