"Hey, Mayu! You're finally here!" Sayuri cheerfully greeted her as she approached and tackled her into a hug.
A month has passed since then. Yesterday, Shihou finally finished his work regarding his engagement with Mayumi, and today, she plans to surprise him.
"Where is your brother?"
"Brother is watering his bonsai right now! He said he wanted to visit you! But he didn't know that you would surprise him today! Ahhh! I'm so excited!" She squeals as she waves around her arms in excitement.
"Okay! I'm going there now! Wish me luck!" Smiling, she went off to where Shihou was.
Shihou is currently watering his plants. He can finally rest after a load of work, and he decides that he's going to visit Mayumi later because he misses her so much. He needs a well-deserved hug from her. He's been so busy that he can't see her. But now he has finished everything so he can finally visit her.
What he didn't know was that Mayumi was already behind him. She quickly tackles him into a hug. Startled, he looked behind him, surprised when he saw it was Mayumi who was hugging him. Smiling, he decided to peck her cheeks.
"How are you doing, Shihou? Did you miss me?" she asks, grinning from ear to ear.
Oh, how much did he miss her? He faces her as he hugs her tightly.
"Yes, I miss you!" He cupped Mayumi's cheeks and leaned in. As they are about to kiss, someone interrupts them.
"Shihou! Did you already hear the news?!" Keisuke yelled, panic evident in his voice, which was unusual for him.
Realizing the current situation, he suddenly stops as Shihou and Mayumi look at him with red faces from embarrassment. Mayumi is extremely embarrassed about what happened, while Shihou gives Keisuke a deadly glare, face still red.
"What is it?"
"It's about Himari..."
Mayumi and Shihou are now standing in front of the local library. After hearing the news about Himari's disappearance from the Ame family, they decided to look for her. No one can find her, and she hides well, something she is excellent at, according to Shihou.
Now they are here because Shihou is certain that Himari will be here. The library is one of the places where Himari always goes whenever she feels terrible.
"Are you sure that she will be here?"
"Yeah, I'm sure! Let's go inside, shall we?"
They both went inside and decided to split up to find her quickly. While looking around for Himari, Mayumi enters one of the aisles and sees a book. Curious, she took the book and looked at the title "The Thread". It's all about a girl who can see the red thread of fate, but apparently, she doesn't have someone connected to her.
It made her wonder if she and Shihou connected. Thinking about the possibility makes her happy. She loves him and will be ecstatic if the red threads are true and she is connected to him.
"I hope we are connected."
"I think you both do!"
Surprise, Mayumi turned and saw Himari. Somehow, the air around her now seemed different than the first time she had met her. It got less bright.
"Himari! Finally, we found you! I'm going to ca--"
"Don't!" Himari said, putting a finger in front of her with a slight smile.
"Huh?" Mayumi looks at her, confused.
"Seeing that you are here must mean that you have already heard about the news, huh?"
"Yeah, they said that you are missing! What happened?!"
Himari looked at her confused before sighing. Her face showed frustration as she walked down the aisle and sat on one of the couches. Mayumi decided to sit beside her.
"I see... they didn't tell everything. That's to be expected, I guess."
Mayumi looks at her with confusion and worry written on her face. Just what happened to her? Why does she sport that kind of look?
"What happened, Himari?" someone suddenly said. Mayumi knew the voice very well. Turning around, she saw Shihou frowning.
"I decided to go to a doctor to get check up..."
She looked at them and clenched her fist, still uncomfortable talking about it.
"According to him, I might have repressed my memory to protect myself, and that must be the reason why I don't remember anything about what happened. Now I regret what I have done and wish I did not do any of this."
Sitting in front of her, Shihou gently takes her hand to hold it for comfort. At the same time, Mayumi put her hand on the small of her back.
"Yuki... he used to abuse me when we were still children. He was the very first friend I made; it made me happy, but I didn't know how hideous he was. When I reached age 10, he confessed to me, saying he loved me. My ignorance at that time made me let him do everything he wanted. I'm happy, of course, for all the love I've been receiving, but..."
"But after a few months, he started to show me his real colors, and he decided to lock me up in his home. He beats me every time I try to escape. That's how it is."
Seeing Himari's face full of emptiness and despair, Shihou clenches his fist in disappointment. He is disappointed in himself.
He did not know any of this! They met each other when they were 11 years old. Tennou introduces her to him, but he didn't told him how the two of them met. This must be the reason why Tennou decided not to say anything. Because it's too much of an experience for Himari, and it will be much better for her not to remember anything.
"But... Himari, isn't the first time you met Ame Yuki is when we were 12? How did Tennou know it was his doing, and why didn't he stop you from interacting with him? Knowing him, he'll do something about it."
"Yeah, it is my first time meeting him after I lost my memory of him. Ten-chan knows about it because he is the one who saves me from that hell. His father forced him to come there and befriend him, as it is a common practice between the 1st great families and the 1st noble families." Himari looks at Shihou and Mayumi with a slight smile before continuing her story.
"But you know how Tennou can be, Shihou. Once he does not like someone, he won't care about them. That's why, instead of hanging out with Yuki, he decided to look around the house instead. That's when he saw the room I was in; before losing consciousness, I told him the perpetrator. When I woke up, I found myself in a hospital with no memory of what happened."
Himari looks away at both of them; somehow, she feels terrible as she's only talking about this to Shihou now. She's also not at fault regarding this as she had forgotten what had happened.
"You can also say that it is the time I created my alter ego. At that time, I introduced myself as Haru Hikari because I felt something bad might happen if I told them my real name." Himari looked at them with a small smile, then they returned with sadness.
"Tennou took care of me. I'm also unsure why he did, but I'm grateful. It's also the start of me frequently changing my hair color because I don't want to be recognized. Then, at 11 years old, we met Shihou, and you introduced me to Sumi-sama, who, for some reason, looked a lot like me!"
"Despite my new hair, she still recognized me and told both of you of my real name. Then I met Yuki again at 12; he still has a cunning personality. Somehow, because of my naivety, he managed to resume his plans with me, but as you can see, it didn't succeed..." Himari looks away in the distance, wondering what will happen to her now.
"Just what are you implying, Himari?" Shihou asks as he grows frustrated with every second count. Mayumi looks at them, confused. Himari clasps her hands together before smiling at them.
"I'll be going abroad! I'm going to run away from him!" She exclaims cheerfully. Their eyes went wide as they heard her statement.
"But Himari, aren't you pregnant with his child? You two are also engaged! What will you do about it?" Mayumi worriedly asked.
Mayumi will support Himari's decision, as she finds it fit after all the suffering the poor girl has already received. But raising a child alone is another matter; it will be tough as she has witnessed it once. She looks at her worriedly, while Himari returns her worried look with a sad smile as she holds Mayumi's hands.
"I had a miscarriage! The baby died after Yuki pushed me out of anger..." Mayumi's eyes went wide; somehow, she could feel the sadness radiating from Himari. She feels like she's going to cry any minute now.
"I don't like what happened to my baby. But I also use this as an advantage to break free from him. I canceled the engagement, and his family agreed. Because if I wasn't able to protect the precious heir while it was still inside of me, what would happen if they were alive and running free? They said. In those circumstances, the elders can break the engagement even without the approval of the betrothed."
"Of course, it reaches Yuki's ear, and now he is mad and currently looking for me. That's why I'm going to flee. I don't want this to happen too. But, I've got no choice...besides, he's not the only one I should stay away from," mumbling to herself in the last part.
"So Tennou knows about Yuki, huh?" Shihou ask. Himari looks at him; she knows what he is referring to. Maybe he feels betrayed right now for being left out.
"Yes, that's why he's so opposed to my engagement. He told me he's willing to accept anyone, not just him..." Mayumi looks at Himari with sadness. They love each other very much but can't be together because of their circumstances. She feels terrible; if it weren't for the law, Himari and Tennou would be in a happy relationship with each other.
Himari stands up, surprising the two; she smiles at them, adding to their concerns.
"I'll be leaving now! But, promise me Mayumi-san, Shihou..."
"What is it?" They ask in unison. Himari looks at them and smiles from her heart.
"You better not forget to invite me to your wedding, okay!"
The two look at each other and smile.
"Of course!"
Mayumi decided to borrow the book she saw at the library. Now that she had read it, she wondered if she was connected to Shihou by the red thread of fate. Does Himari and Tennou are also connected? How does one know if they are connected? How will one see if they are connected with the thread? As these thoughts swirled in her mind, she was startled when someone suddenly hugged her from behind.
"What are you thinking? You are frowning..." He asks worriedly.
"Oh, I'm just wondering if Himari and Tennou are connected by the thread!"
"Thread?" He curiously looks at the book Mayumi is holding. As he sees the book, he smiles slightly. He holds her hand and kisses her head.
"I don't know about them, but I know very well that the two of us are connected by the thread!" Mayumi pouted at him and jabbed his sides.
"How can you even be so sure about that, you!" He smiles as he cups her face.
"How could I not? We're going to get married, right?" Mayumi smiled and pecked his lips upon hearing this.
"Yep, you're right! I love you!"
"I love you too!"