Fate, Reason and Destiny - Chapter 6 Sunny hummed to herself as she looked among the racks. “Sunny!” She turned to see Haruko watching her with a smile. She smiled back. This was a large shopping center, and she was amazed that she had actually met someone she knew. Then the smile froze. “What are you doing here?” Sunny smiled slightly. “Just looking.” Haruko smiled back. “Its lunch time. Why don’t we go get something to eat?” Sunny nodded. She wondered why for a moment. They entered a small café, where Haruko ordered a small salad, and Sunny ordered -with slight embarrassment- a large cheeseburger and french-fries. For a few moments, they sat together in silence until their food arrived. Sunny bit into her burger, and watched as Haruko pick through her salad. Feeling like a pig, she tried to bite into her burger daintily. “Sunny… Do you like Rukawa-san?” Sunny suddenly looked up, surprised and almost choked. “Uhm…” she said, clearing her throat. “Kaede? Nah…” Haruko looked up, and stared at Sunny intently. “Kaede? You call Rukawa-san by his first name?” Sunny cursed. Haruko smiled slightly. “I don’t mind, really. I’ve realized that he isn’t the guy for me. All he cares about his basketball. It’s a sort of… doomed love you can say. But, I do wish you luck Sunny-chan, we are friends, are we not?” Sunny looked up, her eyes widening. “You mean, you don’t like him anymore?” Haruko laughed. “I do, I suppose I always will, but I know he won’t return the feeling, and that maybe someday, the feeling with die down.” Sunny smiled. Haruko stared down at her salad for a moment. “You do know…” she said quietly. Sunny looked up, cleaning up her plate. She was finished. “Know what?” “Its Rukawa’s birthday on the first of January.” Sunny stared up at her. **New years Eve** Pulling her jacket around her more securely, she looked around. They were gathered under the Christmas tree. Sakuragi wasn’t here because of his back, but the Gundam were. As they smiled at each other and talked, Sunny let herself drift away. Where was Rukawa? “10… 9… 8…” The count down had started, and still there was no sign of Rukawa. She sighed. So maybe he wasn’t coming. “5… 4… 3…” Just then, a figure made his way towards them. Sunny frowned, and smiled as she saw Rukawa. “Ruk-Kaede-san!” she whispered. “1… Happy New Year!” They all gathered around him, exchanging blessings. Sunny stayed quiet for a moment until the group seemed to split up, and smiled. “Kaede-san.” She said softly. He turned towards her sharply, and seemed to relax slightly. She smiled up at him, and gave him a silver wrapped box. She smiled. “Let me be the first to wish you Happy Birthday.” He stared at it for a moment, and slowly unwrapped it. The box was a jewelry box, and as he opened it, there was a single ring inside. “What, you proposing to him?” came Mitsui’s voice. Sunny chuckled, and shook her head. Then her smile faded. “Kaede-san, that’s so you remember me…” she said softly. It was a single silver-ish band with two studs in side. One was a dark red, the other a pale ice blue. She flashed her own finger, showing a similar, yet thinner band with the identical studs. “The red stands for me -they don’t have black- and the blue stands for you. It reminded me of your eyes.” She blushed. “Remember you?” Mitsui asked, frowning. He grinned. “You mean when he leaves..?” Sunny looked up sharply. “You’re leaving?” Mitsui smiled. “He’s going to Tokyo to become a real basketball player.” Sunny stared into the blue eyes for a moment, and sighed. “Well then, I guess it won’t make a difference… I’m moving as well. My father’s being transferred to Korea in two days time, I’ll be leaving today, in fact, for Korea.” Her eyes were pained slightly. “I’ll… I’ll miss you.” She whispered. “All of you.” He stared at her for a moment, and the moment seemed to go on forever. Then suddenly, his hands shot out of nowhere, and wrapped themselves around her in a hug. Sunny stood there, shocked for a moment, then hugged him back. “Sayonara…” he murmured. “Soyanara…” she whispered back. Wiping the tears off her face, she grinned. “But don’t you ignore me if I come to visit. I don’t want Ayako to tell me off again.” She smirked. She turned to Mitsui. “And the next time one of his hellcats attack you, just hide in the locker room.” She grinned at him. She looked at the rest of them with a smile, her eyes lingering on Haruko. “Well, I’ll miss you… all of you…” To be Continued... **Previous ** Next **