61 I want to confirm something

"are you ok?" umezaki yushiro stares at kiyohira. rie and ren have left with yuhara kozue. they will come home straight after seeing a movie.

she has chosen ren over him. he doesn't even have the right to feel jealous. "i want to see her happy."

umezaki yushiro smiles mildly. "she isn't afraid of you like before she was. it's a good sign toward her recovery."

kiyohira touches the unshapely vessel in his hands. she wouldn't have chosen him even if the things hadn't gone the way it did. she hated him for being the eldest son of the kamiyama family. she hated him for hurting her adopted mother. she hated him more when he tried to force her to come with him. his wish is fulfilled. he is in her heart. even when she doesn't remember his face, she still hates him subconsciously. if he had known that being hated hurts this much, he would have never chosen it.

"don't look like the world is ending." umezaki yushiro sympathizes with the heartbroken man. "her recovery is a priority. ren won't cross his lines when she is like this. she is getting better. did you find anything about the people from her past?"

he has reinvestigated chisa's past. so far, he can't find anything that connects chisa and rie. he has met with rie's old school teachers. they didn't recognize chisa. they did say that takeuchi miwako might have bullied rie. some of her old classmates have also confirmed that fact. they told him what they saw during lunchtime in elementary school. takeuchi miwako threatened them to keep quiet back then. when it comes to middle and high school, the results are the same. miwako's name keeps coming up. she is the one who spread the rumors and asked fujita toshi to drug rie's drink.

he went to find fujita toshi to confirm whether chisa and miwako have known each other. fujita toshi killed himself after he went bankrupt.

kiyohira regrets for being hasty in ruining that man. so far, he can't find any connection between miwako and chisa either.

on top of everything, takeuchi miwako left the country before he could get to her.

umezaki yushiro scratches his chin habitually. "i told you that it might not be chisa. it must be something about her that reminded her of miwako."

"but, something isn't right." kiyohira taps his fingers on the desk. "i have seen takeuchi miwako at the hospital confronting rie. that woman talked about another woman waiting to see rie. she didn't say the name."

"there is another one? but, no one knows about that person."

the phone rings and interrupts their conversation. kiyohira excuses himself and picks up the phone.

"did you find takeuchi miwako?"

[boss, she is found dead in h country.]

"what? how?"

[she was attacked by sharks when she went for snorkeling. she was saved, but she took her last breath at the hospital.]

that kind of death...

"are you sure that it's her?"

[it's confirmed by her family members. they are bringing her body back to the country today.]

kiyohira finishes the call.

"what happened?" umezaki yushiro asks.

"takeuchi miwako is dead. i have to return. that person might come to her funeral."

***

"that movie was good." ren takes her straight to the car after the movie. "i like playing games more."

"level grinding is more fun than watching movies with pointless plots." rie stares at him. "you didn't do anything during the movie.

yuhara kozue blushes. he can hear everything. self note: the woman speaks whatever she wants whenever she wants. she doesn't care about the people around her.

"rie chan, what do you want me to do?" ren decides to tease her a bit. she squints at him. he laughs and says, "tell me."

she lifts her head and kisses his lips. "this."

yuhara presses the break and runs out of the car screaming. "i didn't see anything."

"what's wrong with that guy?" she stares at the back of yuhara who is running on the road like a crazy man. "it was just a kiss. there were deeper kissing scenes in the movie."

"rie chan, you are bold." ren pushes her away slowly. "we shouldn't do this before marriage. i am a traditional man."

rie grabs his collar and pulls him closer. "traditional man, i want to confirm something."

"what do you want to confirm?" he tries to push her away. he doubts her intentions.

"did you heart flutter when i kissed you?" she asks with a grave tone.

"what?" he blinks at her. his brain is having a hard time processing those words. heart fluttering?

"like they said it in the movie." she moves closer and stares into his eyes. "the butterflies in the stomach. the throbbing heart. the urge to kiss a lot..."

he swallows his saliva. his rie chan is a romantic type at heart. "rie chan, did you feel it?"

"that yuhara interrupted before i could feel it. he screamed like crazy and ran away like we were having sex in the car." she grabs his face. "i wanted to do this for a long time."

"rie chan."

"just once, ren."

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"okay, but don't kill me afterwards."

"i won't. come here."

when he closes his eyes, she kisses him again. again. again.

"that's enough." he shoves her away. "it feels wrong."

"i feel the same." she scratches her head. "why? i didn't feel anything in my stomach or my heart. ren, i do love you."

he sighs. perhaps, she was right that day. "you and i care about each other. we are best friends. but, we can't force feelings. rie chan, this is a wrong time to fall in love. when we grow older, we might find the right moment with the right feelings."

rie stares at him. "so, we are back to friends?"

"not a bad idea." he pecks her forehead. "now, did you feel something?"

"i felt that you love and care a lot about me as a friend." she pokes his forehead. "at least, we are not awkward exes."

ren laughs, but his heart feels sad. rie chan is not rie chan. he isn't the 'ren' he used to be. both of them have changed in the last 8 years. "want to go home?"

suddenly, a van stops in front of the car. several men dressed in black with masked faces come to the car and drag rie out. ren holds on to her arm and yells, "who are you? where are you taking her?"

it all happens in seconds. one of the men gives an injection in his leg before he can react. he begins to lose consciousness, but he tries to hold her hand. she screams his names before she is taken away. he manages to take his phone out and dials kiyohira's number.

"save her."