AT LEAST WE HAVE FOREVER
CHAPTER 19
Blazing Hearts
The kiss ended and then they faced each other. It might not have been a direct declaration of love or any confession of some sort. But it was enough for them to reach a silent understanding. They smiled and then they embraced, savoring the presence and warmth of each other while they could.
That way, doubts and fears would fade away and leave them… even just for a while.
For that sole reason, they didn't even notice the hidden presence of some people who actually followed them to that cliff. Seriously, none of them could react properly or say anything when they witnessed an unexpected kissing scene between Kurama and Riya. They also heard their conversation.
"They really have that kind of feelings for each other. I can't believe it," Yusuke muttered as he continued to watch his cousin and his fox demon friend together. "I guess Kurama's worries for her safety became the reason why he got injured most of the time when fighting the demon shinobis."
"And now that Riya-chan told the truth to him, he would be even more worried for her," Botan added.
"They're willing to trust each other forever… I wonder what made them say that."
They glanced at Keiko when they heard her say that. But somehow, Yusuke came up with a possible and probably and plausible explanation for that.
"I bet it's Riya-chan who first said that since she trusted Kurama with all her heart despite already knowing that he's a fox demon. In some way, they trusted each other that only they could feel and understand. We just have to let them do so."
"I guess Kurama's effort to be with Riya-chan paid off," Kuwabara commented seriously. "I wish my effort to let Yukina-san know that I love her would pay off someday, too."
The others just looked at him with such doubtful eyes and they began to giggle.
"Now you ruined the serious mode here, Kuwabara. Dream on," Botan said while struggling to contain her laughter.
Kuwabara just glared at them as they continued to laugh.
I hope you finally find yourself, Riya. That alone could make me happy for you, Yusuke thought as he glanced at the said girl in the arms of Kurama.
The next morning…
Many students were already at the school when Riya arrived there. Since they decided to practice earlier than scheduled, she arrived early. The day before the Rose Festival, the class decided that the script should be performed through movie and not as a play. After further discussions with the teachers concerned, especially Miss Ryuuzaki, it was agreed on.
Now the scenes to be filmed would be at the school. Some of the scenes had her and Kurama in it. That was why she has to practice her lines with Kurama. She could only hope she wouldn't stammer in front of him since the event on the cliff last night was still vividly etched in her mind that made her unable to sleep early.
But she couldn't deny the fact that it made her happy deep inside. It was something she had never felt before. That sort of indefinable happiness welling up inside of her just simply recalling the kiss—it was something that was undeniably new.
"Good morning, Riya-chan," Kirika, her classmate and Ayako's friend, greeted her as soon as she entered the room.
"Good morning, Kirika-chan," she replied with a smile. Then she saw the said girl approached her. "Are you getting ready for the shooting?"
Kirika nodded. "We were about to head out to the rooftop since some of the scenes with you and Minamino-kun will be filmed there. We'll wait for you here so that we could go together."
"Alright." Riya proceeded to her seat and placed her bag there. After taking her script out of her bag, she placed the bag on the table and left the room with Kirika and Miwako, Ayako's other friend.
"You know, I'm actually a bit envious that you have the lead role along with Minamino-kun," Kirika started that made her face the girl. "But I guess it's much beter if you really got paired up with him rather than pairing him with the other girls in his fan club."
"I agree with Kirika-chan," Miwako said before the two girls laughed and left Riya pondering a bit on that.
"But why do you think that, Kirika-chan?" she asked.
Kirika and Miwako looked at her and then smiled.
"Well, you look perfect with Minamino-kun," Miwako said.
It took her a while before the thought actually registered in her mind. When it finally did…
"What?" she exclaimed. "W-what are you talking about, Miwako-chan? Y-you know that's impossible to happen."
"No, it's not. Besides, it's quite obvious that Minamino-kun was totally into you," Miwako replied. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if you and Minamino-kun ended up together. I hope that our movie could bring you two closer than you are now."
"Miwako-chan…" Riya mumbled as she stared at Miwako. Then she sighed. "I guess you're right. But whenever I keep on thinking about it, I couldn't help but to feel worried for so many reasons."
The two girls looked at her while she looked down. "Worried? What for?"
"I don't want to hurt him in the end," she admitted. "In any way, I don't want to hurt him. A lot of things and possibilities could happen and I'm worried that it might lead me to hurt him, cause pain to him. I wouldn't be able to bear that."
No one said a word after that which filled the air with silence. The only thing they could hear was their footsteps as they walked through the hallway.
Now that her fears doubled, she didn't know how to deal with it in order not to be consumed by it. She wouldn't want her fears to be the reason for her to give up completely.
"But you know," Kirika said that broke the silence. "It's natural for any of us to be worried over many things, especially when we're in love and we're already sure of our feelings for that person. We're afraid of hurting them that would eventually be the reason for them to leave us. It would be unbearable. But if we don't spend much time with them for as long as we could because of that fear inside of us, we're already letting that one chance given to us slip from the palm of our hands." Kirika looked at her the moment Riya raised her head. "That's why spend as much time as you can with him."
"You'll be fine, Riya-chan," Miwako added. "And we'll make sure that the girls in Minamino-kun's fan club wouldn't bother you two."
Though she was surprised to hear that from Kirika and Miwako, Riya was still happy. It made her laugh.
"Thank you, Kirika-chan, Miwako-chan," she said sincerely. "Now I felt better somehow."
Rooftop…
When Riya, Kirika and Miwako arrived, they were surprised to see that the whole class were there, getting ready for the shooting. Some were practicing their lines while others were fixing the equipments needed for the filming.
"Wow! Everyone's really getting into it," Kirika commented as they just looked around the place.
But there were other reasons for Riya to look around other than to watch her classmates prepare. She couldn't help but to feel down when she wasn't able to see what she was looking for.
Stupid… Why do I want to see him this bad even though we were just together last night? She sighed so that she could calm herself for some reason.
"Good morning, Riya," a familiar voice greeted that came from behind her and made her heart pound wildly. For that reason, she couldn't even turn around to face that person. She felt like it was awkward for her to him in the eyes after what happened to them.
But it would be rude of her if she didn't greet him as usual. Besides, the whole class would suspect that something happened when she did that. So even though she was blushing and her heart continued to beat fast, she would still face Kurama and act like she usually did. She sighed heavily before she turned around and faced the said guy.
"Good morning, Shuichi-kun. You're late," she said with a smile. Good thing her tongue didn't slip when mentioning his name.
Though her smile caught Kurama a little surprised, she managed to return the gesture. "I ran down a few little things with Yusuke."
"With Yusuke?" she asked; worries evident in her voice. "Did something happen?"
Kurama shook his head. "No, nothing unexpected happened if you're thinking about that."
That was when she heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I thought something happened that made you meet up with Yusuke."
Before Kurama could speak up, Kirika approached them. "Riya-chan, Minamino-kun, better get ready since we will start the filming in 15 minutes. Your scenes will be the first to be filmed."
"Okay," both of them said that made them look at each other for some seconds and afterwards, they laughed.
I guess what happened last night didn't bother you that much, Kurama said to her telepathically that surprised her inwardly. If what she noticed was right, there was a hint of sadness and disappointment in his voice when he said that.
She turned around and started walking away from him, but not without answering him the same way. Who said I wasn't bothered at all? Because of that, I couldn't even sleep last night. I just hope I wouldn't stammer in front of you when we're doing our scenes and saying my lines.
Is that so? I'm glad, he replied that made her frown because of that.
Glad? Why would you be glad? You're glad that I couldn't sleep because of that kiss? She blurted in her mind but she tried not to say it to him telepathically. What he said next made her heart skip a beat and stopped her to her tracks.
I'm glad… that I wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep because of that kiss, he continued. Because of that kiss, I finally figured out the answer to my question bugging me this entire time.
She couldn't look at him even though she already stopped walking away from him. He was staring at her, she could feel that. Her grip to the script she was holding tightened as her heartbeat increased its tempo once again. Does that mean…?
She clutched her chest, to where her heart was. How many times did her heart beat that way ever since she met Kurama and got close to him? Actually, she couldn't tell. There was no way she could tell anymore. Now, he was being honest—or maybe a little too honest—about what he felt after that mind-blowing kiss that almost took her breath—and her sanity—away. It was more than enough for her heart to beat fast over and over.
After all, it was her first kiss. And she was actually glad that it came from Kurama, her first and probably her only true love… no matter what fate might bring to them from then on.
Even if everything about all of that comes to an unexpected end that she could never avoid…
"It's natural for any of us to be worried over many things, especially when we're in love and we're already sure of our feelings for that person. We're afraid of hurting them that would eventually be the reason for them to leave us. It would be unbearable. But if we don't spend much time with them for as long as we could because of that fear inside of us, we're already letting that one chance given to us slip from the palm of our hands…" She remembered those words that Kirika said a while back. It made her think of something. Since she only had a short time to do what she must, she had to do whatever she needed to do in order for her not to let go of the chance she had right now. That's why…
Hey, Kurama… she started telepathically. She still didn't turn around but she opened her script and pretended to focus herself on reading it. Would it be okay for you if we meet up at the school gate after this day's shooting?
Huh? I-I don't really mind. But what for? He asked, puzzled as to why she would ask such a thing when he was the one who usually asked that to her.
There's a lot of thing I wanted to tell you… Things related to me and how it would affect everything between us. She looked down after that, allowing her bangs to cover her eyes that made it unable for the others to know what she was actually thinking. Somehow, I don't want us to live in secrecy anymore… especially with what happened to us last night…
But still, I couldn't tell you everything that would make you unable to forgive me… she regrettably thought that made her close her eyes to prevent her tears from falling. She knew why those tears came out but she has to prevent them from falling no matter what.
She vaguely heard Kurama sigh behind her even though she was a few feet away from him.
I'll see you there, then, he said to her telepathically.
That made her smile inwardly before she continued walking away from him.
Kurama, on the other hand, couldn't even move from his spot even after Riya left. His hand was clutching on the script he rolled and his grip on it tightened when he felt his heart beat wildly. But not as wild as it was the night he kissed her.
He smiled after he saw Riya began reading the script in one corner along with their other classmates who would be in the scene that they were about to film. And with that, he also headed in one corner to prepare for the filming of the scenes between Hoshino Kenji (that's his role) and Nagishima Kimiko (Riya's role) the rooftop of the school.
After that day's shooting…
"Alright, everyone! Be sure to come here early for us to film the other school-related scenes tomorrow. We only have a month to finish this, that's why we need to focus ourselves in making this movie a magnificent one."
"Yes!" the students replied to what Ayako said since she was the assistant director of that project. Miss Ryuuzaki proclaimed Kurama and Riya to be the directors since they were the ones who wrote the script and they knew very well how the scenes would go. Everyone began to pack things up in order to put it temporarily to the storage room.
Riya then approached Ayako as soon as the packing was done and everyone left the place, including Kurama.
"Ayako-chan, would it be okay if I skip the meeting just for today? You see, I have to talk to Kurama about something important," she said while slightly blushing as soon as she mentioned the name Kurama.
The brown-haired girl smiled at her. "A date, huh? If that's the case, then I won't hold you back."
Riya's face turned red because of that. "It's not a date, okay? We're just going to talk about something."
"But you're not going to tell him everything, are you?" Ayako asked seriously and with hint of worries.
She was about to turn around and then stopped when Ayako asked that. Silence filled the air as the wind gently blew. After a few seconds, she turned around and started walking away.
"I'm not that dumb enough to tell him everything… because I'm not yet ready to face his wrath and bear his harsh words once I did that," she uttered in a tone that was loud enough for the Light Wielder to hear it. I wouldn't be able to bear that to my grave once something like that happened… she thought after she said those words.
When Riya finally left, Ayako clasped her hands and closed her eyes as she felt the wind blow gently. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep her calm.
The destined days of the final revelation and the final battle are both coming near. But even if we're wielders, we couldn't even do anything to protect her… Ayako thought sadly before looking up to the sky with sad eyes. I guess Captain Yumi's right. Only Kurama could probably change that fate of hers. I just don't know how he will do that…
And with that, she also left the rooftop.
"Sorry. Were you waiting so long?" a familiar voice suddenly asked from behind Kurama followed by footsteps—running footsteps—growing closer and closer. And that made him turn around to have a look at the girl who said that.
He shook his head before he smiled. "Not really. I'm only a few minutes ahead of you." He saw Riya finally stopped running and stood in front of him. "So what do you want us to talk about? I bet it's quite serious judging from the way you told me about meeting here earlier."
"You're right. Sorry about that." And then they started walking away from that place. "But the reason I said regarding that is true. Since we know each other's identity and our abilities, I might as well tell you other thing related to that."
He looked at her seriously. "What made you decide to do that?"
"One of them was the kiss that we shared last night," she answered that surprised him and made him blush. "I kind of figured out that the kiss might not be a direct confession or anything but it's enough for me to know that our relationship somehow reached a new level. And I thought I couldn't keep a secret to you anymore…" But I'm not going to tell you all of my secrets yet. Only those I know that wouldn't affect everything that we have right now… Not yet… she added in her thoughts as she tightened her grip on the handle of her bag.
He could only look at her since he couldn't figure out what to say with regards to that. He, too, also thought that the kiss they shared that night might not be a direct confession of his feelings for her. But thanks to that, everything became clear to him.
"So who will start spilling out secrets?" he asked.
She frowned. "Huh?"
"Do you really think I would let you spill out your secrets without spilling some of mine, as well?" He then faced her and smiled. "I still have a lot to tell you aside from the fact that I'm a demon."
What he said made her smile, as well. "Really, huh? So I guess we should start with—" But her sentence abruptly halted to a stop when a sudden foreboding feeling struck her that made her stop to her tracks and looked around to confirm what she had just sensed.
And it appeared that it wasn't only her who sensed the dark energy hovering near… and fast! Kurama sensed it, too.
"Those demon shinobi really have some guts showing up here," he commented before he glanced at Riya.
But before he could say anything else, the sky began to change its color fast from orange to bloody red as the suspected demon shinobi launched its first attack. Kurama might have spotted the demon shinobi's position but then he was late to sense the incoming lightning attack aimed directly against them.
He ran towards Riya and took her for them to evade the attack but it came fast. Before he knew it, it smashed into the ground and the blast blew them away but it rolled towards them. He then faced the girl.
"Riya, you have to run now!" he said, before he knocked her over to one side. That moment already made himself expose to the attack he never saw coming besides the lightning attack rolling towards him.
And when the two attacks came into clash, an extremely powerful blast occurred followed by the expansion of another barrier at the scene. During that event, the rest of the Spirit Detectives arrived before the barrier trapped them inside.
"Kurama! Riya!" Yusuke screamed when the blast occurred and almost threw them away from there.
The resulting glow and shockwaves from the blast faded slowly but the thick smoke continued to block the view of the area. And what they saw made them quite surprised.
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