Fall
The leaves made soft rustling sounds. It was a cold fall afternoon and a certain young man watched said leaves gently fall as he looked out the window of this train he was riding in.

Niou Masaharu sighed and crossed his arms across his chest, looking like he was trying to keep himself warm. But in truth, he was warm enough wearing a blue, handmade sweater made by someone he considered special.

He couldn't help but remember her again. , a girl younger than him by a year, his junior. They had not met in good terms, really. But as time went by, they ended up as really good friends.

Niou still remembered the time she had given him this sweater.

It had been a cold fall afternoon, just like this one. They had taken the same train home, too. Both were still clad in their uniforms, carrying the same bags they always take to school with them. But then , Niou had noticed, had brought with her an unfamiliar paper bag. He was able to see a hint of blue from its contents and curiosity had nudged him a little. He continued to stare at it, until had realized his attention was caught by the simple paper bag.

He asked her, "What's in it?"

And she smiled the way he had always liked. "It's a gift."

He didn't ask her about it anymore.

A little later, it was December 24th, Christmas Eve. She appeared at his doorstep, carrying the same paper bag he had seen a month ago, only it was decorated with a red ribbon. grinned, handing it over to him. "Merry Christmas." Her face was slightly flushed, but she was still smiling.

He opened it and there was the familiar blue he had seen. Niou took the whole thing out and saw that it was a sweater, handmade one, made by the hands of an amateur. But for some reason this blue knit wear had awakened something within him. It was an unfamiliar feeling but it was kind of pleasant.

That night was the one night he had smiled truly.

The tennis player ran a hand through his silver strands as memories came back to him. He still remembered her grinning face and her pink cheeks when he had said thank you to her. He chuckled a bit, once again reminding himself that he could possibly never see that same face ever again.

He knew though, that the feeling that awakened that night had not went away yet, for he still felt it whenever he sees a picture of her. Masaharu was still unsure though of what that feeling might possibly be. It was unlike something he had felt before. A mix of liking and possessiveness, wanting her to be his only, maybe? He was not sure and he did not know if he would ever be.

Niou started fiddling with the hem of his sweater. It was starting to become a habit; he did it every time he thought about . He sighed once more before continuing to look out the window.

At that time, Masaharu started to remember everything about her, as he always did. Her voice, her smile, the silky hair he would always like to run his hand through, everything. He didn't deny it: he wanted to see and feel all of this over and over again.

The question was if he will still be able to.

She left the first year of high school. He regretted it, not being able to say goodbye properly.

"I'm leaving next week, Niou-senpai." had told him in an empty classroom one day. "I was offered a scholarship overseas."

"…And you accepted?" For some reason, his voice had felt cold and a little harsh. Niou didn't understand why he was angry, he should be happy for her, right? Even with his back turned away from her, he knew she nodded at his question.

"It'll be for only a year…" She said, in an unusually small voice. "I'll be back after that."

His eyes narrowed and he faced her. "What do you want me to say to that, huh?"

"I… don't know." didn't look at him. "But I just wanted to say goodbye!" Her eyes were welling up with tears and Niou knew that he had screwed up.

"…Sorry." He didn't understand, why with , he wasn't the cool and cunning Trickster everyone knew. Feelings he had not felt before awakened around her and he found it frustrating not knowing the reason why.

"Will you wait… for me?" She asked him.

"…Of course."

That was three years ago. And she never did come back. The awakened feeling had gone and was never felt with anyone else. It was as if only held the key to it.

[We have arrived at Kanagawa station.] The speaker rang.

At that, Niou stood up and grabbed his bag. He got off the train, ready to go home. Until, something or rather someone caught his eye.

" ."

"Niou-senpai."

Before he knew what he was doing, he had captured her in his arms and that hidden feeling he used to feel had awakened once more.

"I missed you." Both of them murmured, oddly at the same time. They laughed and smiled at him, finally, after a very long time.

And for some reason something at back of his head realized what the roused feeling was.

Love.


©Karu