CINDERELLA BOY CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 16: To LOVE is TO HATE BUT TO HATE is TO LOVE....
Rain was pouring heavily. Yuri waved as Hyori trotted away to her transport. Yuto pulled his jacket closer around him. Daiki and Ryu stood still. “Why is it raining so heavily, on the day we need to WALK home.....”
Ryu muttered upsettingly. “Where’s Kitty? How’d she go home?” Daiki asked as Yuto and Yuri were furiously rubbing themselves. It was really cold rain. Like those raindrops which fall prior to ice. Keito stared at the mountains in the distance were already heavily dressed in white.
Ryu pulled his shawl on. “Her friends took her home....”
Daiki stared. A boy ran to them in the heavy rain. When he approached, Daiki recognised a soaked Jun. Jun smiled. “ You boys need a lift?”
“YES!”
Jun nodded. “Come on then...”
But as the boys moved, Yuto turned. “Ano, Ryosuke, where are you going?”
Yamada stared. “I have to go somewhere...minna, go home without me....”
“Demo...”
“Gomen ne” and without a word, he ran off into the heavy rain.
Jun stared. Then he beckoned the others to follow him. Reluctantly, the rest of JUMP got into JUN’s carriage.
Jun smiled as Ryu practically hugged the warm seat of the carriage. Jun was dressed in a white coat bordered with fur (Very prince like ne?) and he pulled the hood on. “Actually I wanted to invite you all to my birthday ne...Since your good friends thought I’d do it personally.....it’s this week...I will hold a Masquerade Ball in Daia’s hall, please come...it’s not every day I turn 20....”
Chinen laughed. Keito nodded but become thoughtful. ‘A ball? And Jun’s a prince....no way....is it....Jun...is The Cinderella Prince? Then.......but............’
Ryutaro nodded politely as Daiki patted Jun. “Wow...20....your older than me???”
Jun laughed and began explaining on how he was a bit late on entering high school because of shifting from one country to another after his parents moved. Yuto was still shivering. Yuri was blowing his hands with warm breath. Keito wondered.
‘If Jun, is the prince.....then....if....the ball is here soon...then...wait who is the fairy godmother?....”
************
Ryosuke went into the nearby woods. He was completely drenched. He threw his bag and ran in. He knew why he was going here. Earlier, from the classroom window, he saw a very devastated figure run in. A very tearful and horrified form went into the woods to conceal itself. He knew why... so he ran in after.
And soon, he found it. A sobbing Yuki sat against the lower branch of a huge tree. Ryosuke pushed his wet hair out of his eyes and moved closer. She was bathed in cold rain water, and she didn’t respond. He took his blazer and covered her. “Baka...”
Yuki looked up. “What do you want? Stay away...”
The rain grew harder. Ryosuke sat beside her and covered himself.
“I want to say sorry....”
Sakura looked at him bitterly. “Nande? You want to play nice now....You jerk...”
Yamada just sat silently. “You know me?”
“OF course...Yamada...Yuto ...CHinen ...Daiki Arioka...and...urm.... Ryu..and Keito....I think...whatever...your JUMP. I recognized you the first day you bumped into me....”
“Then why fight? You’re the one who saved us back then right? Why do you always fight...?”
Yuki stared. “I hate you..”
Yamada stared. Sakura pushed the blazer he gave back to him.
“Look at me...I’m pathetic....I have no life....MY father is a Yakuza. That’s why nobody befriends me. You saw. Hyori and I have known each other since small, but she helped you during our fight. I have no one...
“The Karate club?..”
“The Karate Club...is just a club. The Sensei’s took me in because I can fight. It’s the only thing I know how to do. People use to look up to me. Because I Could fight. YOU? Your perfect, you have a great life, a great family, sisters, friends you love, I’ve had nothing, not even love...and the only thing I had you took away.....dakara....I hate you.....”
“I hate you too...”
“Eh?” Sakura stared. The winds began howling. The rain got harder.
“When I came here, I wanted to come near you, you pushed me away. I hated you. I wanted to say Thank you for saving us that day but you fought with me. I hated you. I wanted some way to meet you, I joined the fight club, but you beat me up, I really hated you. You called me servant boy, I hated you even more. But when You stopped fighting, I missed you. When I couldn’t see those kind eyes of yours anymore, I missed you. And now, I just love you. I think that’s why I hate you. Because you really broke me...”
Sakura stared tearfully. Yamada came closer and pulled her gently. “I’ll hate you even more of you don’t kiss me...”
Yuki smiled weakly and came into his arms. The wind was so cold. The rain was so hard. But his embrace felt so comforting. This was something she would never want to break out of. At that moment, drenched in rain, all she could think as she saw the raindrops on his soft eyelash...the three words she had been longing to tell her enemy.....
“Ryosuke... I love you............”