Kahoru felt like she didn't want to exist anymore. All she could hear were Risa's words echoing in her head. Her whole world was crumbling around her, she felt embarrassed and ashamed. Whilst being lost in her thought a hand reached out towards her and gave her a tap on the shoulder. She quickly turned around and slapped a woman's hand away. It was Yuuki. Yuuki was in shock but noticed as Kahoru slapped her hand away, the sadness in Kaho's eyes. Kahoru backed away from her, holding in her tears and ran out of the reception hall. Yuuki naturally ran after her.
Kahoru ran towards the lobby. Yuuki who was right behind her had called out to Kahoru. "Kaho, Wait! Where are you going?"
Kahoru stopped in her tracks with her back facing Yuuki. She remained silent with a dark shadow looming over her face. When Yuuki finally caught up to Kahoru and tried to comfort her, but Kahoru suddenly pushed her away. "J-just leave me alone! I can't trust anyone anymore!"
People around them started to gather to see what the commotion was about.
Yuuki was taken aback by her statement and pause for a moment to recollect her thoughts. She calmly tried to reassure Kahoru, but Kahoru was so overwhelmed with emotions she couldn't think of anything but to escape the lobby as fast as she could.
"Kaho, don't listen to them, please calm down" Yuuki pleaded Kahoru.
But it was too late, Kahoru turned around, her sadness turned into anger and in the moment she blurted out. "I HATE YOU ALL!"
The lobby went silent as Kahoru's words echoed throughout the room. Everyone was stunned as they started to whisper amongst themselves. Kahoru gasped as she came to the realization of what she said and took a step back. Everything around her began to spin, as the whispers of the bystander became louder, it felt like an eternity as she stood there watching everyone talk about her. She panicked; her breath became shorter and shorter. Kahoru couldn't stand being there a moment longer and fled toward the exit.
As she ran out of the resort, she bumped shoulders with a man. She didn't apologize. She looked at him but withheld her emotions and simply ran off. "Kahoru, Where are you going?" The man yelled.
"Who are you?" Takao questioned the man who was now facing his back towards him. He turned around and replied with, "I am Kahoru's cousin, Tanaka Ryoma. I didn't expect to see her today. I wonder where she is going in such a rush." As he completed his introduction, Yuuki who was behind Takao started to sob.
"Did I miss anything?"
"We will explain." Jun butted into the conversation.
...
Kahoru ran over to a large park nearby and sat down on a bench. She leaned forward and placed both hands on her face and her tears had started to fall down. She sat alone in the park crying to herself for an hour. People had walked passed but paid no attention to her as they were enjoying the cherry blossoms.
As she stared at the ground, she felt someone tapping her shoulder. She wiped away her tears with the back of her hands.
As she turned to face the person, he was sitting right next to her reading away as if she wasn't there. "How did he even get here?" she thought. "Um, Do you need something?" she asked the man.
The man without hesitation reached into his pockets and handed her a packet of tissues. "Here, take them."
"T-thank you." She accepted the strange man's offer and took the tissues from him. The man put his book down on the bench and looked at her. There was an awkward silence between them. He had no expression on his face. He was alike to a robot!
Kahoru remembered she had just been crying, and he must've seen her horrible messed-up makeup and swollen eyes. She quickly turned her face away in embarrassment. She used the pack of tissues and wiped her makeup and tears away.
The strange man put his book in his messenger bag and placed it down and walked off. Kahoru turned to see that he was walking away. Kahoru confusedly thought, "Where was he going and why did he leave his things here?"
"E-excuse me! You forgot your things!" She called out to him but he simply ignored her. She stayed on the bench and waited for the man to come back.
...
A few moments later, Kahoru was watching the children play nearby the playground. She wished she was a child again as she had reminiscence the carefree life she had. The man then came back with a small plastic bag. Kahoru did not notice him walk up to her as she was watching the children play, she had zoned out into her own world.
Kahoru noticed a figure blocking her way and she looked up toward him. He came back!
The man looked at her before rummaging through the plastic bag and handed a can of hot green tea to Kahoru. "Here."
She blinked a few times and hesitantly accept the can of tea. When she opened the can and took a sip from it, she felt a little warmer. Since it was April, it was spring time in Japan, so the weather outside was a little chilly. "Thank you..."
"Mm." The man stared at the playground where Kahoru was zoning out. It was nice watching the kids play. It also reminded him of his childhood. As they sat in silence, it got a little colder. The silence was interrupted by a small sneeze. Kahoru started to shiver and she rubbed her arms. She had completely forgotten to bring a jacket.
A black stripy blazer was placed over her shoulders. Kahoru was stunned as she turned to look at the man. "Thank you, you don't have to do this. Aren't you cold too?"
"It's fine."
Kahoru pouted. "I don't know... this air is quite chilly. You'll get a cold."
She intently stared at the man as he watched the sky. He noticed someone staring at him, he turned to Kahoru. She was pouting. Her cheeks puffed and her nose and cheeks had a pink tinge from the cold. Her brows furrowed. It was quite cute.
"Pouty."
"What?"
"I'll call you pouty." Then he poked at the furrows that formed between her eyebrows.
"Don't furrow your eyebrows so much. You'll get wrinkles."
"O-okay."
Kahoru was once again stunned. She wondered why this stranger was spending time with her. He was quite handsome. He wore a three-piece black suit and his black hair was a little fluffy with bangs covering parts of his forehead. He was very tall and had a slim figure. He could be a model if he wanted.
And she? She felt like rubbish. People throw away rubbish like how her boyfriend and her friends threw her out.
This stranger was the only one who sat beside her and somehow she felt relaxed around him. As the two stared into the park, Kahoru's phone started ringing. "Sorry, just a moment."
"Go ahead."
"Thanks."
Kahoru accepted the phone call and held her phone up to her ear. "Hi dad, did you need anything?"
Kahoru pretended to be cheerful but her face quickly became fearful. She quickly stood up and had an expression of terror. "Okay, I'll come right now."
She hung up her phone and turned to the man. "I'm sorry I have to go now. I need to go to the hospital."
As Kahoru was about to start sprinting, the man grabbed her arm. "Wait, I'll take you. State the location."
"It's okay you don't need to do this anymore. I'll take a taxi."
"How long will you have to wait until a taxi comes?"
Kahoru paused and thought for a minute,"...Yukira medical group, please."
"Okay, let's go."
As they walked towards the road, the man took his phone out and called someone. He headed towards the parked cars as Kahoru followed behind him, a black Rolls Royce had pulled up next to them. "Let's go."
They were in a hurry, Kahoru did not have time to process what was happening. The stranger next to her was instructing his driver. "Yukira Medical group and hurry."
"Yes, Young Master."
"Young Master? Who exactly is this person? Why would he comfort me?" she thought.
"Um... Thank you so much, but why are you so kind to someone like me? Let alone a stranger."
The man turned and said, "I was like you a while back ago. I'm not sure what you went through, but you need to be strong and move forward."
"I'll keep that in mind. If you don't mind, Could... I ask you for your name?"
"Hiro."
"H-hiro? I'm sure there's a reason not to give me your surname but thank you for staying with me this past hour. I feel a little better that someone helped me get back on my feet."
"No problem."
Ten minutes later, the Rolls Royce pulled into the hospital entrance. Kahoru hastily climbed out of the car and turned to face Hiro and his driver and bowed to them."Thank you so much for today. I hope we run into each other next time."
"Pouty. Best wishes for your future."
"Same to you Hiro."
Kahoru bowed once again and ran inside. The windows to the black Rolls Royce rolled up and drove off. She ran towards the surgical waiting room. When she arrived, her family were in the room waiting anxiously. The air was tense. "Father what happened?" Kahoru said as she tried to catch her breath.
Makoto stood up and placed his hands on Kahoru's shoulders with a firm grip. "Your mother has gotten into a car accident. A car had ran a red light and hit our car. Mr Ito got out with minor injuries, your mother did not."
"Mother..."
Kahoru couldn't do much. All she could do was wait. As she sat in the room feeling helpless, she stared at the clock, watching it tick as time passed by.
An hour felt longer than usual, then the surgery sign light switched off. There was tension in the air. Everyone stood up and looked towards the door.
The double door opened. Kenjiro walked out of the room with his head hanging low. Everyone ran and gathered around him.
"How did it go?" Ryutaro asked.
"I really don't want to say this but, I'm sorry. We tried our best but her injuries were too severe. She won't make it."
"WHAT!?" Ryutaro grabbed Kenjiro's shoulders and shook him. "What do you mean?!"
Kenjiro's eyes flooded with tears. He didn't have the strength to fight back. Shintaro and his father tried to hold Ryutaro back. They too had tears streaming their faces. Ryutaro was crying out for his mother, his screams were heartbreaking.
Kahoru watched everyone in front of her. Everyone was fighting. The family seemed like it was going to fall apart.
Ryutaro finally gave up and hugged Makoto tightly, He sobbed uncontrollably. Kahoru had went through so much today and it had gotten worse with her mother's death. It felt like it was truly the end of the world. She stood there watching everyone else mourn as she quietly cried.
...
They headed into the ICU to say their goodbyes to their beloved mother, turned off her life support and waited for the funeral home to take her away to get ready for her funeral.
It was not easy for everyone who knew Aiko. She was well-loved and she had changed people's lives.
For her to suddenly leave them was truly heartbreaking.
...
It had been a week since Aiko's death. The Yukimura Residence that was once bustling with noise has become quiet. Everyone was grieving and some had to go on with their work. It felt rather cold and lonely.
Kahoru was packing her bags as she wanted to leave Japan for a while to complete her internship in America. She felt that if she stayed any longer, something even worse would happen.
She didn't want to see the friends that had betrayed her. They had hurt her a lot. She was even humiliated by her ex-boyfriend and the woman he had claimed as his fiancee; Kahoru's own cousin.
When Kahoru reached the airport, She came in a taxi because her family was busy with their work, so she did not tell anyone that she was leaving as she did not want to bother them.
Before she entered the boarding gates, Kahoru looked from the floor to ceiling window of the airport and looked out at the sky. Her eyes were cold and had lost it's life.
All her hope she had disappeared. She spent the fifteen-hour flight staring blankly at the seat in front of her. When she arrived in America, her roommates greeted her. When they realised that Kahoru, was not herself anymore, they immediately went to hug her. The warmth made Kahoru start to weep as it was the only thing that she had to warmed her up.
As soon as her and her roommates got to their apartment, Kahoru shut herself in her room. She looked at herself in the mirror. "I'm a mess." She uttered to herself. "Maybe it's time for a change."
She was so broken, that her emotions had slowly withered away. She had nothing left.