Shihou is currently on his way home. He's thinking about what he needs to do to take Mayumi back. Arihiko refuses his request, and even he can't do anything to break the engagement. Is this the end? Or maybe they are not meant for each other? What should he do now?
"Shihou!" turning around, his eyes widen, seeing the person who called him.
"Seichi-sensei!" he exclaims, surprised as he did not expect to see him here.
"Do you have a minute?"
Mayumi is walking in the school corridor on her way to Tennou's classroom. The school was already over, and he wanted the both of them to go home together. Mayumi sighed; her days for the past few weeks weren't as happy as when she was still with Shihou. She knows she can't be with Shihou anymore because she agrees with the engagement. Once the partner of a Miya accepts the offer, they can never break it anymore.
Besides, there's no way to reject the offer. It has somehow become forbidden because, in the end, they'll force them to accept. That's why some people like herself hesitantly accept the engagement without protest. The arrangement can only be annulled if the partner is from a noble family. That's the special treatment the noble families received. They are also the only people who can request a divorce from the Miya without any requirements.
Mayumi sighs as she keeps walking down deep in her thoughts. She's been thinking a lot lately. Mayumi suddenly halts in her tracks when she hears the chit-chat of a few schoolmates.
"Did you hear? Haru-san is already engaged?"
Mayumi looks in the student's direction after hearing their statement. Haru? Could it be possible that it's Hikari? Is she engaged? To who? Slowly walking toward the students, she began to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"With who?"
"With the Ame's! They're one of the noble, right?"
"Yeah! I've heard that Ame's fortune is close to the required wealth to belong to one of the families! How did she manage to get a jackpot?!"
Mayumi's eyes widen as she hears the words. Haru is engaged with the Ame's?! But doesn't she like Shihou? What's happening makes her confused. She remembers the sad smile she wore when she met her last time. It looks like something is troubling her. Even if she wanted to ask her what was wrong with her, she wouldn't be able to do it because of what had happened; she couldn't face her.
Mayumi looked at the students one more time before leaving altogether. For now, she needs to focus on her problems before the others. Maybe she can find a way to annul her engagement with Tennou.
Shihou is sitting upright in front of Seichi. He doesn't know why he feels like this, but somehow he feels guilty. Maybe because he kept his and Mayumi's relationship a secret, he feels terrible about it because he respects the man so much. Nervously he looks at Seichi; he is casually drinking his coffee when suddenly he looks at him with a fierce glare, causing him to flinch.
"If only you announce it right away, this won't happen!" hearing what he said, Shihou eye's widened. Could it be possible that he knows about their relationship?
"Sei-Seichi-sensei you know?!"
"Hmm, so I was right?" Shihou freezes.
Its a bait! And he got caught! Then it only means that Seichi already has a feeling about their relationship, and he is waiting for them to say it first! Now he feels guilty about it. But he is right! If only he had told them sooner.
"Seichi-sensei, do you think if Tennou still remembers his promise to her, this won't happen?"
Seichi takes a firm glance at him. It's no doubt that this won't happen if Tennou remembers everything. But he doesn't, and this already happens, so they can't do anything about it now.
"Maybe if only Tennou didn't forget about his promise to her. Then maybe he can use his chance to marry her, to marry Himari..."
~~~•••~~~•••~~~•••~~~
"What?! Tennou fell down the stairs?!" Shihou and Himari are talking to each other. When suddenly, one of the Isami servants came and broke the news.
"Shihou, let's go visit him! I'm worried!" Himari said, tears forming in her eyes. He sighs and pats her head to calm her down.
"Don't worry! He is tough, and he won't die easily!"
The two hurriedly went to the hospital where Tennou currently is. Reaching his hospital room, they saw him looking sadly at the window. Shihou slowly approaches him while Himari dashes out to Tennou's bed. Standing beside him with a worried face, she holds his hand.
"Ten-chan, are you alright? What happened? I was so worried!" Shihou looked at them, confused.
Why does it seem like Tennou looks so surprised to see his girlfriend? He usually hugs her right away whenever they see each other. Something is not right! He has a bad feeling about this.
"Excuse me, but who are you?" He asks in the same tone he always used with the strangers he's meeting.
At that moment, the girl stares at him as if realization dawned on her. The tears pooling in her eyes slowly drops after hearing the question. Shihou, who is also there, looks at him confused, wondering what's happening.
"Are you birdy's friend?" Himari looks down and wipes down her tears.
So that's it. That's the first thought that came to Himari's mind. Maybe it's just the Earth telling her she had enough happiness. Perhaps it's telling her they are not suited for one another, that there is one person destined to be with her. But that's impossible! She loves this person in front of her.
She looks at him and notices his irritated face. Yeah, maybe she needs to stop this. He will no longer stress himself to find a way for them to be together. Somehow, perhaps, this is a blessing in disguise. Looking at him, she smiles slightly.
"My name is Haru Hikari! You can call me by my first name if you like. I am Shihou's childhood friend!"
Still smiling, she can feel her heartache. It hurts, but she needs to hold it in. She needs to do it for Tennou.
The both of them left and looked for the doctor assigned to Tennou. What happened to him, and why did he become like this?
"The patient has systematized amnesia. It's a type of dissociative amnesia where the person loses memory of a specific category of information. The information can be all the memories of their family, a particular person, or their childhood. In his case, you are the one he forgot, his girlfriend. Well, let's hope that he'll remember soon. Let's not force him to remember, though!"
"We understand, thank you!" Shihou said.
When the doctor takes his leave, Shihou looks at Himari sadly. Himari is sitting on a chair with a sullen look. He can't blame her for feeling like this, and she had all the valid reasons to be like this. Shihou sits beside her. He's not good at comforting people, so he doesn't know what to do. Looking at her hurt him. The last time he saw her like this was when they were still 13 years old.
"Did you hear everything?" He saw Himari nods her head.
Since he didn't know what to do, he decided to ask her the question that had been bugging him.
"Why did you tell him your second name?"
"Shihou, it hurts! He promises me that he will do anything for us to be married in the future. But, but he forgot about me! Maybe, just maybe, this is the way fate is telling me! That both of us are not for each other. Now that he has forgotten about me, I won't be able to stand next to him anymore. So what's the point of telling him about us? I am alone again..." Himari said, crying her heart out.
He can only look at her with sadness. He can't do anything since he doesn't know what to do in this situation; this is a matter of awareness. It is out of his control, so he can't be able to help her with anything. Sighing, he turns towards her and pats her head; this is all he can do right now: to support her.
"What are you talking about? You're not alone! We're best friends, and I'm still here! You can depend on me!" he said as he continued to pat her head.
Himari looks at him and nods. He's right asides from Tennou; Shihou is the only one who doesn't care about the law about illegitimate children. But even with his support, it won't be enough. Her poor heart won't be able to handle seeing Tennou interact with her like a stranger.
"Shihou, I think I need to leave the country for a while. I want to forget everything. I'll take Sumi-sama's offer to study abroad!" She said, looking down again at the floor sadly. Shihou looks at her worriedly.
"Will you be fine?" he asks, concerned about her well-being. Himari looks up at him and smiles. Seeing her smile, Shihou already knows what she means.
Two days after Himari left the country. He decided to visit Tennou.
"Hmm? Birdy, you are alone? Where's your friend?" Tennou asks, quite surprised.
It's been a week since the last time he visited him. Shihou looked at him carefully as he gave him the answer.
"She left the country. I don't know when she'll be back or if she will ever come back again!" Shihou said with a sigh as he sat beside his friend.
"Is that so?" Tennou smirks sadly and looks down.
Based on Shihou's observation, it seems like only his mind forgot about Himari. But he did not forget her in his heart. Maybe there is still a chance for both of them. He hopes it won't be too late by then.
~~~•••~~~•••~~~•••~~~
"The 12 families don't support their relationship, so Himari didn't let Tennou remember her. When we met again, I saw her smiling. But I know it's not true. After all, Himari is good at pretending everything's fine with her. Because that's how she's been living since Sumi-san took her to the Shima house, I can sense the sadness from her no matter how hard she hides it. She still loves Tennou. After all, for Himari, he is her savior!"
"Well, we can't do anything about it! And now the problem is my daughter's freedom!" Seichi said, glaring at him.
Mayumi's freedom is indeed the current problem right now. After all, the reason why Seichi wanted Mayumi to grow up normally. Is that so she can have the freedom that a member of a 12 family, especially the heirs, is hard to acquire.
But of course, no matter how hard he tries, he won't be able to stop his daughter from taking the title since Mayumi is the only legitimate heir of their family. Shihou sighs. He messes up! If only he announce it sooner!
Mayumi is currently sitting at the park waiting for Tennou. He suddenly called her and told her to come to the park instead and wait for him there. She doesn't know what he will do this time but hopes it won't be another snack raid from the food stalls.
Suddenly her mind drifted off to the topic of Hikari's engagement. It has taken her aback. Somehow she could feel something was wrong because Hikari looked sad the last time they met, and she had a feeling it was not about what happened before or about their title.
"Neko-chan, you look like something's in your mind!" Tennou said, suddenly appearing next to her, with his usual smirk on his face. His sudden appearance causes her to flinch.
"Oh! Umm, I've heard something..." she said, standing up.
"What did you hear?" Tennou asks as they start to walk together. He looks at her with curiosity, wondering what she is thinking.
"It seems like Hikari is engaged with the Ame's..." Tennou halts at his steps and looks at her, eyes wide in disbelief.
"What did you say?"
Mayumi looks at him, confused. She also stops to look at him. She began to wonder why he was suddenly acting weird.
"Hikari is already engaged!"
"Engaged?" Tennou looks down, clenching his fist.
Why? That's the only question swirling in his head. After all the trouble he has done to be able to be with her. In the end, it was all gone to waste. When Tennou thinks about her engagement with someone else, it feels like someone is stabbing him in his heart.
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"Why? I love you so much, so why?"
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