Withering away with you

VII)"My happiness!"

Days were passing real quick! Hirotaka finally found someone like him. Those two used the recess period to make a small world of their own! Soon he realized the feelings he has towards Yuri isn't normal, it's a special one! The feelings which he never had for anyone, not even his fiancée!

Though he was afraid enough to fall in love. There were many factors- age gap, society & his cruel fate, as his loved one always gets snatched away! But this time, he wanted to feel the warmth of love which he yearned for 15 years but never found. The barrier of loneliness which was built around his heart was only invaded by Yurika.

The first time she brought soda for him as a token of thanks for taking in Na-ri, he cut his finger by the soda can. Yurika was panicking for him. The worry, the pain, the care-- which he saw in her eyes, that's what he always wanted to see within his mother. He was someone who was always devoid of love from the very childhood.

He was mesmerized, He thought 'she would blame me for wasting her soda can! But she cares more about the cut than the can!' He was happy! Very happy!

"Yurika! Can you really heal my pain? Can you be the keeper of my broken heart?'  He asked himself.

"Hiro-san! Is your finger really okay?" She was still worried.

"Are you my mother?" He was laughing.

"Don't laugh at me like this! You never know a small cut can cause you to lose your finger or your hand too!" She was serious.

Hirotaka was looking at the sky. 'Even if I lose any part of this body it won't pain! This is just an empty vessel now Yurika. But somehow the heart still beats! It still feels the warmth!'. She was staring at him.

"Yurika? Are you always this caring or I am a special case??"

"Sp-special! What do you mean by that! I-I am not caring at all. Taki says I am cold as ice! I don't know to socialize!" She was trying her best to hide the shyness. Hirotaka was glancing at her with a small smile.

"You know, you are really cute!", he told in a soft voice.

Yurika was blushing hard. "Hi-Hiro San you are always saying weird things to me, I just wanted to thank you that's why I brought the can! I don't mean to impress you or anything like that, I just--"

'Yeah-yeah! You don't need to give an explanation! Even if you don't mean anything, still I am not lonely anymore! Looking at you makes me feel that I am looking at my inner self! I don't know how, but you have become an important person to me Yurika!', he was smiling.

'Darn it! Why is my heart pounding so fast!' Yurika thought.

Hirotaka was smiling more often after she came into his life. The blossoms of love and purity came to his life which he never experienced though! She gave him the warmth & the reason to smile.

"Hiro! You are back so soon?" His mother called him. He nodded his head with a smile.

"Hiro, I have observed, nowadays you are smiling more often! Are you meeting Ayame?"

Suddenly his smile vanished. A painful reality came before his eyes- 'Yes! I have Ayame! Doesn't that mean I can't smile with someone else? Does it mean I am cheating on Ayame?? But why!! My heart terrifies with the thought of losing Yurika! She is the reason for my happiness! How can I compare her with Ayame! I don't feel anything towards Ayame! My heart- it aches from the fear of separation!' All these thoughts crowded his mind.

"Hiro?? What happened son??", his mother asked.

"No!"

"Huh? What no?"