At Least We Have Forever 42 - Two Hearts' Duet

Riya and Mari were talking at the school gate when Yumi arrived. Both ladies smiled at the sight of the Fire Wielder.

"Yumi-san, you're here," Mari exclaimed. Yumi just smiled at that.

"I just came here to record the gang's performances. After that, I'll be helping Yusuke and Keiko-chan deliver the invitations. By the way, have you handed the invitations to Kurama's family?"

Mari nodded. "I just handed it to them before I came here."

"I guess the same goes to Koenma, Botan-chan, Genkai-san, and Yukina-chan," Riya said, more of a statement than a question.

"That's right." And then Mari handed a tote bag where the invitations were placed. After that, she took out an envelope from the right chest pocket of her brown overcoat. "I know you'll be the one to personally invite him."

Riya took the envelope from Mari and silently read the name encoded on it. Minamino Shuichi. And with that, she smiled before facing the silver-haired maiden. "Thank you, Mari-san. When you go to the hotel, please say hello to Mama and Haruna-neesan for me."

"I will, my Lady."

"We need to head back to the auditorium. Your 45-minute break will be over soon," Yumi said to Riya.

She agreed and said goodbye to Mari before heading back to the auditorium. But as she walked closer and closer to the place, she couldn't help but to feel nervous for their duet performance. Yumi sensed that and so the blonde tapped her best friend's head which surprised Riya.

"Yumi?" Riya asked with a frown

The blonde smiled gently. "You don't have to feel nervous about it. Just sing like you usually do."

"But this is different, Yumi. This time, I'll be singing with a partner. I don't usually sing with a partner and you know that," Riya said.

"He's not just a partner... Is that what you're saying?" Yumi commented as she looked at her mistress. "...because you love him..."

She snapped out from her worry and looked at Yumi wide-eyed. After a few seconds, her face turned solemn. "You really can tell?"

"Of course I can tell. We've been best friends for a long time. There's just something that prevented you from expressing your feelings for Kurama and I can understand that. At first, I was like that with Hiei, that's why we always ended up bickering all the time while we were in the Demon World. Give yourself some time to assess your feelings in order to be sure. That way, you won't end up regretting," Yumi said seriously.

"Thank you, Yumi. Saying it to you like that made me feel calm somehow. Give me a copy of the video later, okay?"

Yumi laughed and nodded. Then they headed to the auditorium.

xxxxxx

The duet performance was about to start when the two girls reached the hall. Yumi sat on one of the chairs away from the students but far enough to record the performances in a good angle. Riya sat beside Kurama who was getting slightly worried for her.

"Where have you been? You went out without telling me where you were heading," Kurama said, worry evident in his tone.

Riya smiled apologetically and put her palms together to the level of her chin. "Sorry. It's just that I have to get something from Mari-san. Did I make you worry?"

That question surprised Kurama but he recovered soon after.

"I was and I admit that. But since you came back safe and sound, it's alright. Next time, tell me where you are heading so that I wouldn't worry here. Okay?"

Riya smiled brightly and nodded.

The performances by pairs went well and much to their surprise, the first 22 performances were beautiful and amazing enough since they gave their best to it. And when it was their favorite pair's turn to perform, the students were happy and at the same time, excited to see them sing as a pair.

For sure, it would be a romantic sight they wouldn't want to miss.

Kurama and Riya stood a few feet apart from each other since it was what they had rehearsed yesterday. A student assisted them in playing the song but as it was done, Riya placed her hand to her chest and clutched it as her hand slightly quivered. It was obvious to Kurama that she was nervous but when he saw her took a deep breath before looking at him with a smile, he figured that she overcame it.

For what reason? Riya remembered what she said earlier. Singing truly for someone, that was the true beauty of singing. And that someone was her partner. She wanted to convey her feelings to Kurama and singing with all of her heart was one way for her to do that.

The music started to play Riya closed her eyes and pretended that no one was watching. Soon after, Kurama started singing.

After that, Riya opened her eyes and began singing her part. And with that as a signal, the pair walked towards each other. The students started to take pictures and videos using their phones as the girls held their squeals in because of that sight.

It was a beautiful song and the pair singing that song happened to be the favorite couple of not only the Class 2-C and Class 2-D but also the entire campus. For them, the song was perfect. But to those who knew the true story of the pair's love life, they knew that the song chosen had somewhat a reversed story.

The one who was waiting for the person they love to return was Kurama and not Riya. But they knew that Riya was also doing the same thing unconsciously. They were waiting for each other, though the only obvious person doing that was Kurama. He was waiting for Riya's real memories to return.

Yumi frowned as she further heard the lyrics of the song. Not only Yumi, but also her fellow Wielders. Yusuke and Kuwabara just watched the performance without paying attention to the song itself.

If would appear that Riya was expressing her part of the song which should be something that Kurama surely felt and vice versa, especially the "waiting" part. But they decided to shrug it off and listen to the song.

After the song, the pair exchanged smiles to each other and noticed that Kurama was holding Riya's hand. He didn't let go, though. Riya heaved a sigh of relief before they were snapped out from their trance upon hearing the applause from the students. They just faced each other and laughed softly before facing their audience and bowed to them. The applause became louder when they did that.

They went down to the stage and back to their seats soon after. When all of the performances were done, the teacher told that the results of the assignments would be announced the next day and so, the class ended at that hour. Several preparations were still made for the ongoing Rose Festival and so the afternoon classes were suspended because of the meeting with regards to that.

Before the students of Class 2-C and Class 2-D left the auditorium, Yusuke called their attention. But before Yusuke did that, Riya asked him not to say anything yet until she and Kurama left the hall. And though the said fox was curious about it, he just let it be. After that, he left along with Riya. That was when Yusuke announced the news to the students.

Meanwhile, Kurama and Riya headed to the classroom first to get their things.

"I wonder what Yusuke's up to," Kurama mumbled most likely to himself that Riya managed to hear.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked even though she already had an idea about it.

"About Yusuke calling both classes' attentions to say something. Anyway, I just hope it wasn't some kind of trouble."

Riya smiled before answering. "Oh, he'll be fine. Keiko-chan and Yumi's with him so don't worry. Besides, he's just going to say something important to them. It's something that will happen soon."

"Something important? What could that be?"

But Riya didn't say anything anymore. She just smiled mysteriously. When they reached Class 2-C's room, Riya hurried to her seat and took her bag. After placing it on the table, she took the envelop that was on her pocket and stared at it for several seconds before her hold on it tightened. She turned it over to where Kurama's name (his human name) was encoded. Soon after, she took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart before facing Kurama.

"Shuichi-kun?" Riya called out. In turn, Kurama faced him.

"Hm? Do you need something?"

"Umm... I want to give you this," she said and handed the envelop to him. "This is actually the reason why Yusuke called the two classes' attention in the hall."

Slightly confused and also curious, Kurama took the envelop from Riya and slowly opened it. Soon after, he was reading the content of that envelop, only to be surprised after that.

"Your birthday is... a week from now?" Kurama asked, almost in a whisper. Riya smiled and nodded.

"My 17th birthday, to be exact. I wasn't sure if I told you about it before, though. But I hope you're not angry about it."

Kurama soon recovered and burst out a soft laugh upon hearing the last sentence. "Why would I be angry? There's no reason for me to feel like that. Anyway, thank you for inviting me. Don't worry. I'll come."

"Really? Thank you so much!" And then Riya jumped on him and gave him a tight hug. It caught Kurama off guard but soon after, he smiled.

After a few seconds or so, Riya released him and looked at him. "Shuichi-kun, will it be okay if I ask you a favor?"

"A favor? What kind?" Kurama asked with a frown.

"Actually, there's another reason why I personally gave this invitation to you. Will it be okay if you read what was written on the on the back of the card?" Riya said in a hopeful tone.

Kurama did what she wanted him to do. But it caught him surprised to see a fateful question written at the back of the card... in Riya's handwriting.

Will you be my escort and my last dance? These words were what was written that made him look at her. Though Riya was looking at him seriously, her amethyst eyes have glints of pleading in them. And from what he could remember, not once he had failed her.

Or maybe he did once...

...during the time of the battle of the first full moon, when Riya was begging for him to live and fight for his life. In the end, he failed her.

"What's wrong, Shuichi-kun? Are you okay?" Riya asked in a concerned tone that snapped him from his thought-trailing.

In order not to make her worry anymore, Kurama smiled and nodded. He looked at the card again with the written question on it.

"What does being your last dance supposed to mean?" he asked.

"It's actually a tradition in the Miyuzaki family about the female members of the clan turning 17. What I'm actually asking is that you being my 17th dance. That's what the last dance is about," Riya explained plainly.

"But how does that actually relates to me?"

But Riya just slyly smiled that confused Kurama. "You'll know the answer to that soon. So? Will you?"

Kurama looked at the card, his hold on it tightened as he remembered something that was important. He didn't know how but it just came rushing in his mind.

"You must find the one item which will become the trigger for those memories to return. And you must give it to her on this month's second full moon..." Those words that Riya said in his consciousness-traveling event echoed in his mind. Further analyzing the said words, he realized something.

The eve of the second full moon of the month-the rare blue moon-appeared to be the day of Riya's birthday. And so with that realization, he faced Riya with a gentle smile before he nodded as an answer. In turn, her face lit up and smiled before saying, "Thank you so much, Shuichi-kun. It means a lot to me."

"Same goes for me," Kurama said and then they decided to go home together as they talked about the special event a week from now.

An event that would unfold another event to affect both Kurama and Riya's lives for good.