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The morning breeze caressed Ren's skin gently, giving it a warm, chilly touch that marked the early beginning of a new dawn, different from how she had felt for years. A light wind outside the lattice swayed a branch of roses to and fro, shaking out their perfume.
There was a knock on the door.
"I'll get the door," Ren said, going to check who it was. She opened the door and saw a woman wearing a neatly pressed suit. The woman was holding a uniform. Without being told, Ren knew it was hers. "Good morning, Ma," she smiled.
The woman was unsmiling. She waved a greeting. "Are you Ren Kadashi?"
"Yes, yes, I am." Ren's eyes gleamed with excitement, not minding the woman's sour face so early in the morning.
The woman handed Ren the uniform. Before Ren could say thank you, she had trotted out. Ren went inside and got dressed for school.
"Hey…" she called Midori gently. Midori was lying on the bed. "I don't know your name yet. What's your name?" Midori didn't reply. "That's cool if you don't want to tell," she shrugged. "Aren't you going to class? Midori didn't reply. I'm going. See ya." She waved at Midori in a childlike manner.
***
Ren was standing in front of the class. The teacher was standing beside her and introduced her as a new student. She gave the floor to Ren to introduce herself properly, which she did. When she was done, the teacher told her to sit in an empty chair in the third row, close to the window.
Ren walked calmly to the seat.
Her footsteps made a rhythmic click which echoed calmly in the classroom. Taku's head snapped up from looking in his bag, trying to get out his books. His breath stopped. He recognized the sound.
That sound came to his aid when he was at the brink of death.
A sound that brought hope, which peached in his soul and awakened it—a solemn promise for him to live.
A sound that calmed the storming wave.
A light at the end of the tunnel.
A warmth of ray that sprang him back to life.
How could he forget? That sound rang in his head day and night.
He gasped and leapt to his feet.
"The healer!" he exclaimed under his breath.
All eyes turned on him.
"Taku, are you okay?" the teacher asked.
"Oh! Ye… yes. I'm… sorry sir." He sat down.
While the teacher was teaching, Taku wasn't listening. His foot was tapping impatiently on the floor, but gently. He sat at the edge of his seat and was glancing at the wall clock above the classroom board.
Immediately after the teacher left, he went to where Ren was sitting. He stood smiling, a smile full of subtle charm which made Ren's heart skip.
"Hi, I'm Taku."
"Hi. I'm Ren."
"Do you remember me?"
She raised her brows questioningly.
"Where?"
Taku bent down. "You are the healer," Taku whispered.
"What the hell are you talking about? I don't have any plans to study medicine." She gave an awkward chuckle.
Taku gave a suspicious stare. "You know what I'm talking about."
"I think you are mistaken. I don't know who you are, and I've never seen you before. Coming to this class on my first day is the first time I've set my eyes on you."
"Wow!" he exclaimed unbelievably.
"I think you need to find the right person to talk to," she stood up. "Excuse me."
Ren hurriedly left for the restroom. Her mind was racing. Her heart beat like rain during a storm, hurling towards the ground, pounding against pavement. She was pacing about, her brows knitted together. Little beads of sweat shimmered on her forehead.
"How did he find out I was the one who healed him? What the heck! I should have been more careful. I was very careful, as careful as I could be. I did everything meticulously, but now he has found out I have the power of healing." She paused pacing and then tapped her nose with her index finger in deep thought. "Maybe I'll just continue denying it.The fact he was able to know I'm the healer who healed him… Maybe he'd figured out I came to this school because of him and I'm in love with him." She roughed her hair with her hands, expressing her frustration. "I just hope not. I really do hope not." She drew in a deep breath and exhaled.
A female student came in. Miki. She was in the same class as Ren.
"Hi," Miki said, smiling.
"Hi," Ren replied, returning the smile, using her hands to keep her hair in order.
"You are the new student, right?"
"Yeah." Ren nodded.
"I'm in the same class as you. I'm Miki. You are Ren."
"You're right. I'll get back to the class, if you'll excuse me."
"Sure thing."
Ren hurriedly left.
Ren fell in love with Taku at first sight. Her driver was taking her to school in the car one sunny morning when she saw Taku in uniform crossing the road while it was a pedestrian crossing. Cars were not allowed to move as the sign was not green yet. They had to wait for pedestrians to cross first.
She rolled down the window and cocked her head to have a better view of the cute guy she'd seen, who she admired and who had given her butterflies in her stomach.
Everything about Taku created a magnetic attraction in Ren. Although he was wearing his worn out uniform and was trekking, by his look it could be guessed that he wasn't from a wealthy background, but he still had his charm.
A charm that attracted a girl from a wealthy background to him, a charm that had attracted a betrothed girl to him!
Ren was grinning along in her little dreamy world. She imagined herself in a sparkling white wedding gown with Taku in a smart suit in a fantasy world, and they were getting married.
A priest blessed their union and told Taku to kiss the bride. But she was the one taking the lead first to kiss the groom. Her lips were about to touch his when Aoto patted her gently on her back, telling her to sit down properly and wind up the window because they were about to move.
She jolted back to reality, a little bit angry at Aoto for not letting her kiss her groom. But, well, if she wasn't able to kiss him in her fantasy world, she would kiss him in reality. She promised herself that.
She asked Aoto if he knew the school the guy she had just seen was going to, using his school uniform. Aoto told her the name of the school that students wearing that particular uniform attended. And she nodded slowly, her mouth curling into a smile.
"Such a guy will do you no good. I saw the way you were looking at him. He will end up like me, if not a driver, then other peasant jobs. He is obviously from a penurious background. No parents will allow their daughter to associate with such a peasant. There is nothing good that can come from a peasant like that. We know how such people end up. He is like me. Maybe worse than me. I get to drive the heir apparent of a company to school. He…"
"Enough! Enough, Aoto!" she snapped. Her brow knit together and she had a deep frown. She wasn't pleased to hear any of the horrible words Aoto had spat out like venom. She couldn't bear to hear more of such stings. They drove to school in brooding silence.
Taku's image burned in her mind. She thought about him so much that her mind leaped whenever she saw any guy in uniform like Taku, only for it to be crushed upon realizing it wasn't Taku.
Although she didn't have any romantic feelings towards Shin, she was ready to go on with the wedding since that would make her parents happy and her, the ever obedient and loving daughter.
But upon seeing Taku for the first time, she was sure all these had changed. She was determined to be with the guy she loves no matter what happens and no matter what she would lose at the end of it all. For once, she wanted to be genuinely happy.
And that she must do!
Even if it meant going a thousand miles!
She wanted to see Taku again. So she skipped school and went to his, disguising her uniform by wearing a big white hood.
She was able to describe him the best way she could, and some students directed her to where they knew he would be, scared that he was in danger on a rooftop and that the leader of the school bully would likely throw him down with the blazing fury he had come to the cafeteria to get him.
It was already getting too late as Kenji was already beating the hell out of Taku.
Ren was panting and puffing as she ran. She didn't want to see Taku hurt, let alone see him fall down the rooftop after being badly beaten up. There was every possibility he wouldn't make it out alive.
There were many rooftops in the school, up to four. She didn't know which one Taku was on. She stood in the middle of the school and scanned through with her senses heightened.
She was a healer, so she had special abilities. She was able to sight Kenji holding Taku at a rooftop, threatening to throw him down.
She ran with ultimate speed in that direction. As she was running, Kenji pushed Taku down the rooftop, and he began falling down the rooftop.
Before he could touch the ground, she was quick enough to catch him. She carried him to an abandoned part of the school where she healed him.
She never thought Taku would recognize her as the healer who healed him. She didn't want that. She didn't want anyone to know she was a healer.
Only her parents knew. Her maternal grandfather was a healer, and the power passed to her without getting to any of his children.
Her mother was delighted and grateful her daughter was chosen to be the next generation healer.
That was their family secret. She didn't parade Ren as a healer; she wanted other kids to see her as a normal kid like them, without having a supernatural power.
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