Get your own Free Home Page“HEE YAH!” Fuuko gave a cry of triumph as she executed a high kick, then doubled a snap kick, sending her opponent, a heavy boned young man, sprawling to the ground. As Fuuko calmed herself to reduce the adrenaline level, a burst of applause and cheers greeted her. She knew that compared to the big sized adversary, Fuuko was, although lithe and athletic, considered small and petite. And she defeated him without even using the fuujin. This made the victory even sweeter. But one small fact marred her conquest; he was a martial arts student, and she was the instructor. She was suppose to win.
“Now do you all understand how to deliver a high kick and snap kick ?” Fuuko faced all her students. A chorus of “Yes” echoed back, and Fuuko was inclined to end the lesson. After a long day of boring classes, a session of workout was indeed refreshing, but having to coach and look out for her juniors was tiring, if not exhausting. Taking a peep at the hall clock, Fuuko made a few light quick calculations in her mind, and decided that she had indeed been instructing for 2 whole hours, and declared the lesson over.
After a relaxing shower, Fuuko gathered her perspiration-soaked track suit and dumped the whole pile into her bag, and walked out of the gymnasium. Waving ‘good-byes’ to a few classmates, Fuuko made her way back to the hostel. She was dead-beat, and she would much prefer a personal training session. She hadn’t even eaten since that afternoon, and lunch was only a soggy sandwich. However, coaching the martial arts class was a price she had agreed to pay. Now, she was thoroughly regretting her choice. Fuuko had tried to enroll in Tokyo University, a prestigious Japanese college with a course in meteorology that she was extremely interested in. Her marks, though, were a different story. However, the school had a long history of brilliant sporting achievements, including martial arts, and the administrative board had allowed Fuuko to enlist, on account of her skills. However, not only did she have to join the school’s official team, she also had to coach her juniors. ’Well, I can’t step-down now, not when it’s so late in the term. How I wish I had Mikagami’s money and brains.’ Fuuko muttered. Tokiya, whose scores were astounding, was welcomed into the university with open arms. The fact that he was rich did not hurt one little bit. Although the school would have liked Mikagami on the martial arts team, his previous 2 qualifications were enough to ensure he could do pretty much as he wanted. As though to prove a point, Tokiya suddenly appeared at the far end of the field, just across Fuuko’s path. She waved fervently to her old friend, but he just regarded her with an icy glare, then acknowledged her presence and greeting with a slight nod of his head, and stalked off in the other direction.
‘What a way to greet an old buddy. Maybe I should have left him to bleed or burn to death in the Uroubatousatoujin.’ Fuuko was rather peeved by Tokiya’s cold accosting, and the fact he was headed to the private housing estate, where the wealthier students had their private apartments with their personal housekeepers. Being prosperous, it was obvious Tokiya had property in that section of the campus. Fuuko just shrugged and ignored the retreating figure as she continued her path back to her lodgings. Then, suddenly, by the pale moonlight, Fuuko made out 2 dark shadows, and recognized the tall, muscular one belonging to her boyfriend, Raiha. The latter was not a student in Tokyo University; he attended a nearby private college for business students. ’That sweet Raiha, coming all the way here to see me on the middle of the night.’ All of Fuuko’s weariness and exhaustion disappeared immediately. She ran the remaining distance towards her boyfriend, but what welcomed her arrival was not at all as she expected. The other shadow morphed into a female figure, and to Fuuko’s mirth, saw that it was Yokko Sashima, a rival student from her course. It didn’t help that Yokko was beautiful as she was intelligent, and what made matters a whole lot worse was that Yokko was sobbing with all her heart, as she held on to Raiha, preventing him from walking away. Under normal circumstances, Fuuko would have seized the opportunity to make fun of her nemesis, but when Yoko was crying on Raiha, Fuuko had no urge to laugh at all. She had always prided herself as being able to totally trust Raiha, whom she was certain was absolutely faithful to her. But Fuuko was dead certain something was going on now, and she didn’t like it one single bit.
Reminding herself to keep her mind open and listen to all explanations, Fuuko ventured nearer to the couple. “Raiha, Yokko? What’s going on?”. Raiha saw his girlfriend, and he appeared shocked and guilty. He was about to say something, but Yokko beat him to it. She launched herself onto Fuuko, grabbed her arm, and begged, “Fuuko, please, I beg of you. Please let me win this time… I need Raiha, I just can’t live without him!” Fuuko directed an angry glare at Raiha, who just reddened and looked away. “Fuuko, you are so popular in the school, and you score so well in meteorology class. I know that I can’t compete with you in martial arts, but please, I really, really need Raiha. Please, let me have him. He refused to be with me unless you allow him too. He loves me so much, but he doesn’t want to break your heart. Please, I’ll do anything for you, just release him…” Yokko burst into hysterical sobs once again. Fuuko was stunned. She never expected Raiha to betray her. She was convinced that this crying scene was just another of Yokko's little schemes to upstaged her. So, she put herself directly in front of Raiha, and demanded an explanation.
“Raiha, is Yokko telling the truth?”
“Fuuko… I…” Raiha could not continue. But he did not have to. Fuuko could see the truth in his eyes. He loved Yokko, her enemy, not her. Fuuko wanted to scream, to cry, to lash out at someone, but with steel like determination managed to prevent that. Instead, she just waved one hand at the wailing Yokko and said to her ex-boyfriend, “I can see that Yokko really loves you. And since you love her back, I can’t keep you anymore. I’ll be the third party. It won’t be fair to any of us.”
“Fuuko, you mean…’ Raiha could not believe his ears. He had not expected Fuuko to give in so willingly. For a second, he was upset that he was only worth so little in Fuuko’s heart, so low that she could just give away, just with a hand gesture. But Fuuko’s next words made his heart burst with sorrow and regret.
“Yes, I mean it. I don’t deny that I love you very much, but I believe that loving someone is to ensure that person’s happiness. And since I can’t give you that, I should, no, I must allow someone else to shoulder that responsibility. Yokko is a rival of mine, but if you, the best person in the world, loves her, then there must be something good about her that I have not noticed. Well, I just wish you all the best. “
“Fuuko, I really don’t know what to say…” Raiha was stumped for words. He knew that she had many good qualities, but showing sensibility and affection was new to him.
“You don’t need to say anything, Raiha. I know you feel guilty, but I give you permission not to. You literally saved my life more that once, and then for 2 years, made me the happiest girl alive. I can’t thank you enough. Leaving you is the very least I can do. Bye.” Fuuko ended this conversation abruptly, for although her face betrayed no emotion, and she had opted for a calm, cool and collected exterior, her heart was already bursting with sadness and grief. She turned away from the couple, and jogged towards the hostels. She did this so that there would be no witness the her tears, now pouring uncontrollably out of her eyes, and now her face. If she had turned back for a last glimpse at Raiha, the poor girl would definitely have noticed a malicious grin on Yokko’s face. Fuuko couldn’t believe it. In one split second, her perfect world had crumbled, leaving only debris and rubble for her. She had never known heartache this painful before. “Now I know why Mikagami refused to love again. To go through all this pain another time, would surely tear the heart and mind.” Fuuko mused through her misery. Around her, the wind swirled around the buildings, as though mourning for her lost love. The skies darkened as rain clouds gathered; a storm was in the brewing, as the angels cried for Fuuko. Raindrops came in the from of a fine drizzle, but Fuuko didn’t care. She just concentrated on blindly running through the rain, as though to wash away all her sorrow and misery…
Tokiya saw and heard the whole scene through from a short distance away. He didn’t have to guess how Fuuko was feeling. In fact, he had passed by Raiha and Yokko on his way home, but they were too engrossed to notice him. He had turned back after seeing Fuuko advancing on the couple. He sighed; Fuuko did not deserve that kind of treatment. She was too kind, and the way she reacted was a surprise to him. He had thought that she would have beaten Raiha up, or at least screamed at him. Tokiya was impressed by Fuuko’s self-control and sacrifice. “That Raiha deserves a beating,” Tokiya spoke to himself, “Not Fuuko or Yokko. Still, I wonder if Fuuko knows that Yokko planned this whole set-up tonight?” Then, shaking his head, Tokiya decided to mind his own business and pushed this incident to the back of his head. By the time he returned to his own apartment, the weather outside had worsened into a full-blown storm. Putting his damp clothes in the wash, Tokiya slipped on a long sleeve shirt and pants, and heated up the cold dinner awaiting him, prepared by his part time housekeeper, Mrs. Miyuki Taketo, who was also the nanny that brought him up. While waiting for his food, Tokiya wandered towards the full glass doors that opened to the balcony. On a cool and serene day, he would take his meals overlooking the city. On rainy and blustery days such as this night, he would much rather prefer his dinner indoors. It was not that Tokiya disliked water, oh he loved it. After all, it gave ‘life’ to his ensui, which was the most precious item he owned. But, he much prefer admiring water in a fountain, pond, bath tub, as snow or the means for ice-skating. Rain was only to nurture the surroundings. As he was letting the pale blue French curtains down, he noticed something that made him shudder slightly with distaste. Glancing from a 25th floor elevation, down to a 20 stories high office building, he made an observation. ‘That gargoyle on top of that building looks pretty ugly. Why haven’t I noticed it before? Oh well, it’s not my building, so why should I care?’ With a shrug, Tokiya let down the rest of the curtain, obscuring the mysterious figurine, and went to take a rest.
Tokiya woke up suddenly to the roaring of the wind outside his window. Grabbing the alarm clock, and taking a look, he just couldn’t believe that it was only 3am in the morning. For no reason at all, he had spent hours turning and tossing in bed, unable to sleep. He did not and never suffered from insomnia, and he usually slept best during cold weather. The worse was yet to come. When he finally managed to sleep, he was plagued with nightmares about Raiha dumping Fuuko, the same picture repeating over and over again in his head. ‘This should be Fuuko’s nightmare, not mine. And why am I feeling so sorry for that tomboyish brat!?’ Tokiya vented his frustration on his pillow. Then, simmering down and realizing it was not the pillow’s fault, Tokiya put his headrest away and went to the kitchen for a drink. After taking a dose of hot, cooling tea, Tokiya felt much, much better. However, the weather outside was anther story. The wind was still howling its lungs out, (if it had any), and rain pelted repeatedly against the windows. He walked to the glass door leading to the balcony and raised the French curtains, wanting to see the extent and strength of the wind. Frankly, he was rather amazed at the storm’s strength. Wind howled like mad wolves, rain felt like fine needles, trees bent to almost double their height, lightning and thunder raced across the sky, claiming it as their own. ‘It’s really uncanny that such a big storm occurred when Fuuko was upset. Could that mean that Fuuko’s emotions could affect her fuujin without her control? Or is it just a coincidence?’ Tokiya was puzzled, but could not come up with any answer. Resolving to speak to Fuuko the next day, or maybe a week after because of that touchy incident, Tokiya let down the curtains once more. Then, something caught his attention. ‘I swear that hideous gargoyle was on the left of the building just now. Yet, it’s on the right now! How can that be?’ Tokiya was again troubled by another perplexity. As though answering his question, a streak of bright lightning lit up the area, giving him a clearer look at the Gothic statue. To his surprise and then shock, he realized that the ‘gargoyle’ was a person and not a sculpture. Taking in the drenched clothing and colouring, Tokiya just shook his head at the folly of his ‘gargoyle’. Suddenly, memories of the previous night flashed before him, and came soaring back. With a frown, he took a closer look at the small figure, and confirmed his suspicions. As though agreeing with Tokiya, the skies then boomed it’s approval, which rang out through the night. After the thunder had finally ceased, Tokiya just sighed deeply as he looked through a wet glass plane at the distorted figure of his dear, old, heartbroken friend, Fuuko.
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