Stolen Memories

As I stepped out into the cold, brisk air, I shivered. It had snowed again yesterday and all around, a clean, fresh coat covered the earth. To me, it looked like sparkling little fairies innocent to the ways of the world. I took in the world around me, trying not to miss a single thing; after all, I would never be coming back here again. Not to this house where I grew up or this street I knew so well, not even to Tokyo itself where my school and friends were. The reason: my family was moving to some stupid island called Okinawa cuz of my dad’s job. I really didn’t want to move, but letting me keep the house and live on my own apparently wasn’t an option. According to my parents, it wasn’t safe for a very capable high school girl to live by herself, but whatever. Turning around, I walked back into the house I would never see again and watched as the packers weaved in and out of the rooms, carrying boxes of stuff to load into the moving truck.

‘Don’t touch that, where do you think you’re going with our stuff?’ I thought to myself. It pissed me off to see them emptying the place I loved. Suddenly, a piece of paper slid from one of the boxes and onto the floor. I picked it up and saw that it was an envelope addressed to some guy named Kisegawa Daichi. Not surprisingly, my parents were nowhere to be seen, so I called out for my mom.

“HEY MOM!!!” I shouted, and she came running from the kitchen. She made a sound to say “What’s up?” So I continued, “Who’s this Kisegawa Daichi guy? And why were writing to him?” I asked, holding up the envelope. Her eyes went huge.

“Who he is, and why I’m writing to him is absolutely none of your concern. Now stop snooping and go finish packing!” She snapped, snatching the envelope outta my hand and storming back to the kitchen. It was honestly whatever, but I went upstairs to my room and just sat on the ledge by the window, wishing this was all a dream. I’d wake up and everything would be the way it’s always been. My mom cooking up something in the kitchen and my dad sitting on the couch watching TV. But I knew that things couldn’t be like that anymore. It may sound incredibly dramatic, but that’s how I felt. I started to drift off from all my thinking when I heard,

“RIIINNNNAAAAA!!!!!!!!!” I jumped up and looked out my window, to see my three best friends Mio, Taki, and Hinata standing outside my-the house.

“RIIINNAAA, WE KNOW YOU’RE UP THERE SULKING!! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE SO WE CAN SAY GOODBYE!!!!” Mio shouted. She was always the loudest of the four of us.

“I’ll be right down!!” I shouted back even though I knew she couldn’t hear me. Feeling a little better, I ran out of my room, down the stairs, out the door, and over to my friends. Mio threw her arms around me in an exaggerated way and pretended to cry (she learned from the best). I was a member of the theater club all through middle school. Taki might have actually been crying (she was the sensitive one), because her eyes were red and puffy. Hinata on the other hand looked perfectly fine. With Mio still attached to me, I exclaimed, “What are you guys doing here? I told you that you didn’t have to come all the out here to see me!” I guess that was the last draw, because Hinata started yelling at me.

“WHY ARE YOU SO DAMN STUBBORN!!? TODAY’S THE LAST FUCKING DAY WE’RE GOING TO SEE YOU AND YOU TELL US NOT TO COME!!? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! LIKE HELL I’D LISTEN TO THAT BULLSHIT! WHAT, WERE YOU AFRAID YOU WERE GONNA CRY IF YOU SAW US!? WELL GO AHEAD! FUCKING CRY FOR ALL I CARE, BUT DON’T YOU EVERTELL US NOT TO COME OVER!! GOT IT!!?” Hinata was breathing heavy now after all that yelling and the three of us just looked at him in awe. None of us-not me, Mio, or Taki-had ever seen Hina that angry before. We were shocked, especially since the four of us had always been together. There was clearly something up with him today. This was not the Hinata I knew and liked...like, like liked. I just had to find out. I looked at my phone and it was 1:15. We were almost done loading everything up, but I wasn’t leaving until I found out what was wrong with Hinata. Trying not to seem anxious, I reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Come with me.” I ordered, hoping that my voice hadn’t betrayed me. I pulled him along leaving Mio and Taki behind temporarily to talk to Hinata. I finally stopped when I knew that we were out of earshot of everyone and let go of Hinata’s wrist then turned to face him.

"What’s wrong with you today!? You seem so volatile for some reason.” Hinata only stared at me. I couldn’t take it anymore. It made me so mad when he wouldn’t talk to me.

“ANSWER ME YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE” I’d started to cry. I could feel the hot tears rolling down my face, “WHY WONT YOu talk to me!?” It became hard to talk for me as well, but I knew I couldn’t just leave things as they were. The tears kept flowing out and after what felt like a decade of silence, Hinata said the three words I had always imagined him saying to me.

“I like you.” So pure and innocent that it made me cry harder. I couldn’t believe my ears. He said it again.

“I like you Rina. I’ve liked you for a long time. I know it’s unfair to tell you this now, with you moving and all but...” All his words faded away and all I could see was him. Without a second thought, I swept towards him, took his face in my hands, and kissed him. Hinata pulled back in surprise and the tears had stopped.

“I like you too Hinata. I’ve liked you ever since we were little. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d ever hear you say that you like me.” I couldn’t help but smile. Gently, Hinata pulled me close and kissed me again. He was very gentle, as though if he was too forcefully with me, I’d break. The kiss lasted what seemed like forever, and when finally he drew back, there was an enormous smile on his face. Gazing deeply into my eyes he asked, “Will you go out with me? I know you’re moving and all but-” I cut him off.

“Yes!! I’ll go out with you!!” I exclaimed. No words had ever made me happier in my life. Hinata looked as if he wanted to devour me right there, but instead kissed me one last time. Then, hand in hand, we went to rejoin our friends.

Mio looked at us dumbfounded; Taki just smiled. She had known for a while that I liked Hinata. I started to blush, and Taki burst into laughter.

“So you finally came clean about your feelings, huh? I was starting to think you two numbskulls would never confess. I just never thought that it would be right before you moved. Geez Hina, what took you so long?” Taki laughed. She was clearly having fun with this. Hinata turned a bright shade of red and looked childishly at me. For someone who usually played it cool, you could tell that now wasn’t one of those times.

“She’s known for a while that I like you. Taki may be emotional, but she’s pretty smart, you know.” I replied to the obvious question in his eyes. Mio, who was still standing by herself, finally decided to join us.

“So all this time, you liked him, he liked you, and Taki knew about it, too?! Where have I been all this time?! To think that shit this big was happening behind my back and I didn’t even notice!!” We all laughed, knowing how much of an airhead Mio was. God how I’d miss these guys. I felt my heart drop as my dad came out to tell me it was almost time to go. At that moment, reality had hit me at last. This was really happening. Tomorrow, I would wake up in an unfamiliar house, in an unfamiliar place; with no friends and no Tokyo. I would be all alone. I wished that these last passing moments with my three childhood friends would just last forever. I could feel eyes on me and looked up, not even aware I had been looking down. Mio, Taki, and Hinata were all staring at me; and I could feel tears welling up in my eyes.

“Hey! You’re not allowed to cry, so stop that right now Corrina Azuhi Masamune! You’re here with your three best friends...and now boyfriend, and you’re just gonna cry? No fucking way! And besides, it’s not like we’re saying goodbye forever. We’ll still talk to you every day and even visit you on weekends! So cheer up ya big baby!” Mio shouted with a huge smile on her face. Whenever she smiled like that, no matter how upset you were, you couldn’t help but smile back. Everyone around her was always pulled into her flow.

“I love you guys, ya know that? Honestly, I think would probably be crying my eyes out in my room right now if you three hadn’t completely ignored what I said and came over. Thanks for being the greatest friend a kid could ask for.” Tears still streaming down my face, I smiled.

“Oh come here!” Mio pulled us into a group hug for the last time. I was still crying, but I didn’t really notice. All I could think about were the great times we had through the years and how it was all coming to an end; so naturally I was taken by surprise when I heard Taki speaking.

“Hey, I have an idea. Promise me that no matter what life throws our way, we’ll always be friends.” Taki declared, sticking out her pinky. We all nodded and exclaimed, ”PROMISE”, hooking our pinkies to hers. And after what felt like eternity, my parents came out and said it was time to go then got into the car. Mio and Taki awkwardly shuffled away to give me and Hinata some privacy before we said goodbye for good. I became aware that I wasn’t crying harder by that point, so I looked down to prevent him from seeing my tear stained face. Suddenly, I felt him take my hand.

“Hey, look at me,” Hinata raised my head with his free hand and brushed away my tears, “Don’t cry anymore, okay? Like Taki said, we’ll always be friends. And now, for us, we’re more than friends. Even if we’re miles apart, you know, I’m always just a phone call away. No matter what time it is, I’ll always answer. I...love you Rina and that’s never gonna change.” Hinata lowered his face to mine, and gently kissed me. I allowed myself to be swept away by him and gave in to the kiss. When it was over, I opened my eyes to see Hinata holding a small black box.

“Here, this is for you.” He handed it to me and I opened it to reveal a crescent moon necklace with a circular charm behind it that read ′You are my moon’. It was absolutely adorable. I took it out of the box to put it on.

“Here let me,” Hinata took the necklace and put it on for me, “and I have the matching sun.” He showed me his own necklace. It was a sun with the same little charm mine had; only it said ′You are my sun’. I kissed him again and said, “I love it. Thank you!” Then we called Mio and Taki over to say my final goodbyes. Now both Taki and Mio were crying.

“Oh come on guys. Don’t cry,” I reached into my pocket and pulled out for bracelets, “Here I made these for us just in case you guys came. When you put them together, they say ‘Friends Until The End’. Take whichever one you want...except this one, cuz its mine.” I took the ‘Friends’ bracelet for myself. Mio took ‘Until’, Taki took ‘The’, and Hinata was left with ‘End’. We all put them on and recited the words on our bracelets then all huddled together for a picture.

“Come on, hurry up Rina! We have to go!” My dad shouted as he honked the horn. He was always a bit impatient.

“Coming!” I shouted back and turned to my friends for one last goodbye hug...and kiss from Hinata.

“We’ll miss you!” Mio sobbed, then buries her face in Taki’s shoulder, who faintly smiled and said, “Don’t forget about us.”

“Never”. I replied, then turned to Hinata. He pulled me into a tight hug and whispered,

“Don’t fall for another guy while you’re gone.” I knew he was kidding, but I hit him anyway.

“Ow what was that fo-” before Hinata could finish, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a kiss to remind him of what he’d be missing while I was gone. When I released him I simply smiled, then slowly slipped from his grasp and ran to the car. Before I got in, I turned around and dramatically blew a kiss to the three kick ass friends I was leaving behind. They blew one right back and heard Mio shout, “FRIENDS UNTIL THE END!!!”

“NO MATTER WHAT!!” Taki yelled.

“IT’S A PROMISE” I cried.

“I LOVE YOU!!!” Hinata called out, and Taki punched him in the arm. I smiled as slid into the passenger seat. I rolled down the window and waved like a madman. I knew they were waving back, and I whispered to myself, “It’s a promise.” Little did we know that our promise would be shattered by an unthinkable tragedy. A single tear rolled down my cheek as the car slowly turned the corner and my friends disappeared into the cold, afternoon sun; none of us knowing that would be the last time all 4 of us would be together.