You're Beautiful - Part 3
Pain. It's too painful. All he could feel was the pain. What happened to him?
"Nino, are you okay?"
A familiar voice called him. It was near him. Too near, he thought. He opened his eyes to look for the sound. However, what he found surprised him. Aiba, the owner of the voice, was on the top of him. For a second, he forgot about his pain as he was surprised with their close proximity. Without thinking, he pushed the other boy.
"Are you crazy? What are you trying to do to me?" He scolded the other guy. Then he gasped as the pain returned, making him cursed Aiba for causing him trouble.
"What language is that? It sounds weird," said another voice. He also knew this voice. It belonged to Jun.
"It's called cursing. And, I learnt it from you," said Nino. Yes, Jun was the one who loved to curse among them. As a result, Nino started to be influenced by him.
"Ha? What are you talking about? I never heard that before," said Jun. "Anyway, we better hurry, little princess. Your father will be angry if you're not in your room. And don't let him know about the fall. He will punish Aiba if he finds out,"
Little princess? What was he talking about? Why was he calling Nino a princess when it was what Nino often called him whenever he cared too much about his appearance.
However, he understood what Jun meant by that. As he stood, the surrounding was totally different from what he usually sees. They were in a forest, with a lot of trees standing tall above them. Jun and Aiba were wearing a yukata, and when he looked at himself, he was even weirder than the two of them. He was wearing a kimono. Feeling something strange on his head, he touched his hair. His hair was long. It seemed to be styled in the way ancient people usually styled their hair. The weirdest thing of all he had something on his chest that he knew shouldn't be there.
"Why do I wear this? Why do I have this?" He said, pointing to his breast. Aiba and Jun looked at him in confusion before Jun answered his question, looking concerned.
"Did that fall somehow made you stupid? Of course, you have that! You're a grown lady,"
"Lady?"
What on earth has happened to him? And where was he actually?
Nino paced back and forth in his chamber. At first, he thought wherever he was right now, it had to be a dream. Everything would be back to normal later. All he had to do was sleep. Hopefully, when he woke up, he would be freed from this dream.
But, no matter how many times he tried, he still ended up in this weird time in the past. Now, it had been a week since he woke up in the forest. What worse, tomorrow would be his wedding day.
He figured out from the time he spent here that he was actually a daughter of a wealthy man in the village. His name was Kazumi while Jun and Aiba were his bodyguards and also his childhood friends. His friendship with both Aiba and Jun wasn't approved by his father as it made him acted more like a man instead of a young lady. However, his not so lady-like personality had attracted the prince. That's why he's going to marry the prince tomorrow. So, now he had to figure out a way to get out of here so that he won't marry a stranger.
He stopped his movement when he heard noises from outside. Not long after that, he could listen to his father walking towards his room. It's funny to think how this world he encountered right now was parallel to his real world. His family members were the same person he had in the real world. However, their personality is a bit different as his father was more stern in this period.
"Kazumi," said his father as the door was opened from the outside. "What are you doing? You should go to sleep. Tomorrow is your big day,"
Nino gave him a small smile as he sat down on the bed. His father followed him and sat next to him.
"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Asked his father. Nino only nodded his head.
His father laughed. Nino frowned in confusion, wondering what was so funny.
"I cannot believe that my little daughter was afraid of a wedding. You, who never know any fear as you constantly give me a headache because of your mischief, are afraid of getting married,"
"Maybe because I was about to share my life with a man I barely know,"
"He is a good person," said his father. "I know you barely know him but trust me, he's the best for you,"
Nino only sighed in response. He knew not a single thing could be done to change his father's decision to get him to marry. The young boy could only pray that this dream would end soon. He missed the technology in his real world. Also, he was tired of wearing this heavy garment.
"He's going to treat you nicely," continued his father. "He is a nice man. But maybe a little stupid for falling in love with a lady like you. You don't behave like a lady at all,"
"But, I'm still the fairest lady in this land," said Nino conceitedly. In the real world, he was seldom categorized as handsome. He was often called cute. Sometimes people would say he is beautiful. So, now that he got a chance to be a lady, it would emphasize more of his feminine features and made him more beautiful than what he used to be.
"Yes. It must be because of that," Nino's father hummed in agreement. "Now, go to sleep. Tomorrow is your big day,"
Nino obeyed what his father said. He wasn't ready for tomorrow. However, it's not like there's another choice. No matter what, he had to do it.
The night passed so quickly. The next thing he knew, a few ladies, including his mother and sister, entered his room to prepare him for the wedding. He didn't object, knowing it was futile.
Everything else happened so quickly. Nino was in the hall waiting for the prince to come in. When the prince arrived, he cursed silently, feeling stupid for unable to guess the identity of the prince before the wedding. Knowing that this world was parallel to his, he should know who would be his future husband. It made sense that the prince should be Ohno Satoshi, his eternal crush.
Nino scanned his surrounding, looking for a familiar face that was going to pick him up at the airport. He couldn't believe that it had been 15 years since he left Japan. Ah, Nino was only 15 when his family went to Canada. Now, he was already 30, spending his twenties in Canada. His family had returned 5 years ago. However, he decided to stay behind and work there. Well, it seemed like he cannot live without his family. So, here he was, coming back to Japan for good.
He didn't tell anyone about him coming back except to Aiba. He decided to surprise everyone. But, now, he was the one who was surprised when he saw his family members and Jun stood with Aiba in the arrival hall.
"What the heck!" Complained Nino as he got closer. "Didn't I tell you to keep it a secret?"
"Consider it as a payback for all the pranks you did to me years ago," said Aiba before pulling him into a bear-hug. Nino wanted to resist at first but decided not to because he missed the guy so much.
"So, you don't change so much. Did you travel from the past to get here? You didn't look 30 at all," said Jun, joining the hug.
Nino was stunned. Time travel. Hearing what Jun had said made him feel pain all of a sudden. He knew it was impossible to time travel. But he did so before. Accidentally. At first, he was grumpy when he was stuck in the past. Now, no matter what, Nino wished that he could go to that time again. No matter how good his present was, he wanted to go to the past. There's someone that Nino hoped to see again. Someone he wished to say goodbye to. Most importantly, he wanted to have closure.
And somehow, thinking of the past reminded him of someone. He wondered how he was right now. He had been asking Aiba about all his friends in Japan. However, he couldn't bring himself to ask about someone particular. Aiba, being a good friend, never mentioned his name at all.
"Why do you look sad all of a sudden?" Asked Jun concernedly.
"I'm just tired," answered Nino.
"Yeah, he's been on that flight for a long time. Let's get home so Nino could rest," said Aiba. He gave him a silent 'Thank you' when their eyes met, knowing well that Aiba knew the reason for his sudden change.
"Can you believe that Aiba is now a veterinarian?" Said Jun when the three of them talked in the living room after dinner. His parents and sister were doing their own stuff, leaving Nino a space to talk alone with his friends. "I was surprised when he informed me that he's going to take that for college. But, he is very good with his work,"
"Actually, I cannot imagine him doing a job other than that," said Nino, feeling proud of his best friend. Aiba may seem a little clumsy to other people. However, he knew no one else cares about animal more than Aiba.
All of them, the trio who often caused troubles in school, somehow managed to get a decent job. Well, decent might have been underrated. Most of the teachers in school probably think that all three of them will end up being a freeter. They were not the smartest kid in school, not like Sakurai Sho, who was the teacher's pet. Most of the time, they just barely pass the test because they were too lazy to study. But, they started to focus more in class and been less naughty to excel in their exam. Maybe they were late to become aware of their future. Even so, they still managed to become a successful person.
Jun is now a lawyer. According to Aiba, an annoying lawyer. He worked at a law firm which focused mainly on business law but decided to open a criminal department so that Jun will work with them. Wow. His boss must be impressed with his job if he did so only to hire Jun.
"At least Aiba isn't the kind of doctor who wouldn't sleep at home," Kazuha suddenly interrupted.
Nino could only chuckle, knowing well that his sister was talking about him. Well, believe it or not, he is a doctor. And just like his sister said, Nino rarely slept at home. Usually, he will sleep at the hospital.
"It's easier," answered Nino, defending his action.
"Whatever. Are you going to do the same in Japan? If you do, then just give me your room to store all my clothes. I don't have space anymore in my room,"
"Keep dreaming," answered Nino. His sister just glared at him before heading to her own room.
"So, where and when..." Jun wasn't able to finish his question when the doorbell rang. Nino hurried to get to the door to see who came to his house.
"Hel...," Nino couldn't finish his greeting when he saw who was on the door. He was surprised, not expecting to see the man so soon. However, the man didn't seem surprised to see him at all.
"Well, at least you're not wearing a dress today," said the man, reminding Nino of the event that happened a long time ago. Well, there was something different with the way he was talking. He spoke like a robot, totally different from the guy who used to flirt with him.
"Ohchan..." That was all he could say.
"Nice to see you again but I'm in a hurry. This is the cake that my sister made today. She wants to give it to your family," said Ohno, putting a box in his hand. Then before he could express his thanks, Ohno just left him.
"Is that the cake from Mina? Yipee, I ordered a cake from her to celebrate your return," said Kazuha, once again appeared in the living room.
"Well, thank you!"
"Why didn't you invite her inside?"
"Well... Ohchan left before I could say anything,"
"Oh, I thought it was Mina," said his sister, looking guilty. When Nino heard his sister ordered a cake for him, he thought that she was up to something with Mina. Maybe she was trying to set him up again with Ohno. But, she looked genuinely sorry.
"He's always busy. Too busy to even have time to date. Maybe he's waiting for you," said Jun.
Waiting for him?
It had been 15 years. Did Ohno still wait for him? That would be stupid, right?
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