All For the Love of You
chapter 1
by Manille
I stared at the girl who looked back at me. Her eyes were a bright brown; her long, black hair set in a low ponytail.
"You’re as kawaii as ever," I told her.
I smiled to myself. Toosan had always told me that looking in front of a mirror in the morning and saying, "You’re pretty!" or "You’re handsome!" is good therapy. It makes you feel somewhat refreshed all day with the thought that you’re unique from everyone else.
Toosan is that silly.
"Ohayo, Misako-chan," Toosan greeted me as he went through my open doorway. He gave me a peck on the cheek. His moustache tickled my skin. "How’s my very, very pretty daughter?"
I rolled my eyes. "Good morning too, Toosan," I replied dryly.
"Yusuke! Misako! We’ll all be late if you don’t hurry!"
Toosan smiled. "Your mother is very insistent, ne?"
"Heh. Tell me about it."
"Yusuke!!!"
"Ah, let’s go now, Misako."
"Right, toosan."
Sighing, I picked up my old reliable laptop computer, which Toosan gave me some years ago, and followed him downstairs. I looked at his figure, so fatherly, yet so young. Well, I must say, he is very handsome.
Then I looked at my mother, a poised elementary school teacher. "Good morning, Misako-chan," she told me as she gave me a kiss on the forehead.
"Good morning, O-kaasan," I said, smiling. I am, as a lot of people say, an almost-exact carbon copy of her. Thank God she’s very beautiful…okay, laugh at me. (Go ahead.)
Toosan drove us towards our destinations—Kaasan at the elementary school and I at the junior high school. He would later go to the restaurant he had patiently put up and maintained during his life, and thanks to him, we live a quite comfortable life.
A while later, I was lounging at a bench underneath a cherry tree, the pink petals falling all around me. I inhaled the sweetness of the blossoms, savoring its scent, and the fact that it was springtime. Hey, what the heck, it was the last week of March!
"Misako!"
I smiled and waved at the boy who was running towards me. It was Isozaki Saikaku, my best friend. He waved back, ran a hand through his black hair that turned brown under the morning sunlight, and ran faster.
"Whoa, was I late?" he asked, panting.
"I just came," I answered, motioning for him to sit down beside me.
He threw me his large black backpack. "Good. I need help with Chemistry."
I scratched my head. "Chemistry?"
"Yeah. Ionic bonding and the sort…."
"What the heck…it’s a piece of cake."
Saikaku rolled his eyes. "You know what, Misako? This is the reason why I hate you very, very much."
I nodded sarcastically. "So you hate me because I’m smart."
"Oh, did I say you’re smart?" Saikaku shivered playfully. "I can feel the wind strengthen…."
"Baka," I mumbled as I opened his bag and put out a large red notebook. "Here I am, trying to help you with your assignments, and you give me snide remarks."
"Hey, it was meant as a joke," he protested, his clear blue eyes growing somber.
"I know, I know." I opened the notebook on a blank page and wrote the letters O and F. "So how do you bond oxygen and fluorine?"
Saikaku focused on the notebook intently. I waited for a reply.
"Misako…this is the reason why I’m asking for help."
I rolled my eyes.
Patiently, I opened Saikaku’s world into that of electronegativity differences, valence electrons, electron dot notations, the octet rule, metals and non-metals, and others.
That was my role as Saikaku’s friend.
No, just kidding. Really, I know Saikaku doesn’t use me as someone to teach him our lessons. He’s always there for me, ready to lend a helping hand or a shoulder to cry upon.
Maybe I should explain first.
Urameshi Misako is my name, fourteen years old, a junior high school student. I’d describe myself as talkative, wild in every sense of the word, but, like that day, I have my serious, quiet times. As everyone who knew my mother and father say, "You’re a crossover of two very different people who became husband and wife."
As I had said earlier, I got my features from Kaasan and most of my personality from Toosan. My love for studying (strange as it may sound to anyone, including myself) and music comes from Kaasan, and my fondness of tackling boys into the ground is Toosan’s.
Yes, I tackle boys into the ground. Heck, I’m better in fighting than half of the male population in the school! I have a very strong fist—don’t know where it came from, for Toosan always told me that Kaasan had a good slap—but I can’t fight Saikaku. That guy. He takes up martial arts, kung fu. And I’m just a frustrated battle-seeker.
Or I should say, I once were. Recently, I got into some kind of a rest from the good old days of bruises and wounds. I haven’t had a good fight in a little over a fortnight, since this school year started. Okay, so Saikaku still had received a few slaps and kicks from me, but that was just about it.
Should I tell you why?
Oh, why not.
It’s with a guy. One of Saikaku’s guy friends. His name is Hosokawa Ryutaro. I didn’t understand it at first, but ever since I saw him in a new haircut—with his thick pile of longish auburn hair parted in the middle—I felt a little flutter in my chest.
From that moment onwards, I caught myself staring at the mirror for too long, brushing my hair too much, and staring at him whenever he passed by.
"My God, Misako, you’ve fallen pretty hard!"
Such was Saikaku’s remark when I told him of my feelings. Yeah, obviously, it was sarcastic—although Saikaku is a very good friend, he barely cares about my apathetic love life. I know that hoards of girls are jealous of me because I hang out with him every vacant minute of the school day, and he even visits me at home.
No wonder he didn’t want to hear me whine over Ryutaro.
What with tons of girls fawning over him, and me fawning over Ryutaro, it’s a miracle we get along. Well, ever since the first grade, we have gotten along…so there’s nothing strange in that, after all.
How? I didn’t remember anymore.
"There," I said now, leaning back so that Saikaku could see the illustrations I had drawn on his notebook. "That’s how."
Saikaku frowned, licking his lips. Then slowly, he nodded—uncertainly, but with comprehension.
"Whew." I wiped a drop of sweat that had formed on my forehead. "Thank God you understand now."
"Yep, thanks." Saikaku flashed a grin.
A moment of silence fell, with each of us intent on our own thoughts. I mused he was thinking about chemistry, so I didn’t bother to make a remark.
I was thinking about Ryutaro. His beautiful hazel-colored eyes, his wide grin, reddish hair…oh, when will the guy notice me? Will he ever…?
"Can I ask you something, Misako?"
"Uh…what?"
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Saikaku raise an eyebrow and search my face for something. "You’re…different nowadays."
It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. I didn’t expect that statement. Me? Different? Well, in some ways…but what had Saikaku noticed? "Oh? In what way?"
"I don’t know…ever since that Hosokawa thing, I never heard you laugh loudly."
"Oh. Okay, Hosokawa."
"Yeah, the jerk."
I looked at him indignantly. Jerk. "You want to talk about him?"
Saikaku shrugged. "He two-timed his girlfriend…saw him at the bar with her."
"Oh, whoa," I gasped, my eyes widening. "No way."
"Would I lie to you, especially about Ryutaro?"
I shook my head in disbelief. Ryutaro…yeah, I had known for ages that he had a girlfriend (and this fact is what made Saikaku enjoy making fun of me), but…hey, he’s a great guy…. "He can’t do that, for heaven’s sake!"
"Ask the heaven and it will tell you that what I’m saying is true."
I still couldn’t believe it. I knew that Ryutaro was fond of his girlfriend. He couldn’t just dump her! He has dignity, respect, fidelity…that’s Hosokawa Ryutaro for you. And although I was quite (okay, very) jealous of her, I just stood back and watched half hopefully….
Then, a sudden inspiration hit me. He broke up with his girlfriend. That means he’s free. Free. And here I am….
I snapped my fingers in sudden delight. "I want to thank that girl!"
Saikaku’s jaw dropped. "WHAT?"
"The girl…the other, not the ex," I told him. "Thanks to her, Ryutaro is free! And now I can have him…." my voice trailed off as I imagined myself walking to school with him, my arm hooked in his….
"Misako!"
I giggled. "I’m getting carried away."
"Tell me about it!"
I watched Saikaku, staring back at me. He shook his head. He did it again. He rolled his eyes.
"My, my. You have fallen pretty
hard."