Chapter 353 - (2019: Case 02) Part 4

*UNEDITED*

Her seed of lies, lead her to meeting the one person she wants to be with for the rest of her life. Unlike her companions She has never once thought of love in all seriousness. Sure there were the other guys  But the feelings she had then were nothing in contrast to when she met that person. When she asked her best friend about love.

'I'm not too sure myself. But from what I've gathered so far. First of all you feel happy when your together. A sort of happiness that you can't describe, a feeling you've never felt before. And when your separated, you want to be together for a little while more. Separated again, and when you'd meet you'll feel happy. That is how love starts. I think. '

Love. That word wasn't foreign to her. She knew right away despite her lack of experience, that she was in love with her fiancee and Akito.

When she met Akito, that's when she experienced the feelings that her friend described. If that's the begining of love. Then the moments they shares with each other afterwards may have been exactly what she has been looking for this entire time.

Over and over she had told lies.

To him and herself.

'I want us to break up. '

Lie.

'I may still have feelings for someone else.'

Lie.

'I can't love you as much as you love me. '

Lie.

'It's suffocating to be with you. '

The truth was, she never wanted to let go of his hand. She wanted those days, as uncertain as they were to continue forever. Even though there was no clear future for them then.

Sure what happened with the other ones still bothered to a certain extent. But her feelings could no longer be swayed. However she was afraid. Afraid to continue a love that she could not see the outcome of. Even if she had to lie, they had to separate.

In the end she was the one who told the biggest lie of all.

When she first met Akito, the first words he said to her were 'your cute. ' A typical line. At the start she didn't want anything to do with him at all. But before long she realised it she was in love with him.

However, the wish - to be with him. It's no longer possible. It would be far too selfish. When Setsura realized her feelings, she tried to keep a lid on those feelings. She didn't want anybody to discover them.

He would never feel the same way towards her. That's how it was supposed to be. So when he told her that he loved her, that he wanted to go out with her. Setsura thought it was a dream.

A dream that would eventually have to end. How wrong was she. In the end. Her lie only caused him to suffer more. Even if he doesn't accept it now. She has to convey these feelings to him. 'When she returns..she should tell him.' But, if she did that - she would have to break up with Yang. Yang did not do anything wrong, he treated her so well.

......

Tokyo 2019 - Base -

When they arrived at the base, Taiga was there. But Setsura noted how many people were there, 'so many wounded..' Taiga most likely rushed all the wounded to this place. There is no medical center nearby, so this is the closest place they could go. Still, Setsura found it strange that nobody notified the police. So many people saw that building blow up, why did nobody report. Or rather, why didn't the scanners detect it?

So many people are here, some familiar faces. Like her former crush Izuha Miyamoto. Setsura however no longer had feelings for him, so she could remain calm. Everything was working out well, Setsura helped Taiga sort some files out...

The balance that she had been trying to keep since she saw Miyamoto again broke.

"You idiot! That has nothing to do with this! "Oze shouted.

"What's going on?" Setsura asked puzzled. She paused her work and glanced over.

Or rather, this is the first time she ever saw being so agitated before. It would be bad for them to start a fight in this place. She made her way over.

"You don't have to get up. It's nothing. " Miyamoto said. Although he said it normally she could sense it in his voice. Panic. Fear. A distressed expression.

Ah, it's a familiar sight. She saw it before. It was the same one back then.

"It's not nothing."

Feelings that, when you say them break.

Oze turned to her with a serious expression.

"Oze, what are you --"

There it is again, panic, fear and uncertantity.

"There is something I've wanted to tell you entire time. It's about the incident back then. I saw what happened before the accident. Miyamoto and Nara's argument."

"Argument? " she repeated. But, 'Setsu-chan just now Miyamamoto asked me out. But I rejected him. ' "You guys fought, because you got rejected asking her out?"

No, that's not it either, is it?

Setsura sensed it then. She may have been a average person then. But she sensed something unusual in her friends voice that day. Lies. Why would she lie? She couldn't be too certain, and yet Setsura trusted in her instincts.

She didn't have time to think about it at all, since her brother asked her to do a favour. When she finished that favour, Nara was already dead. Forget thinking about why she would lie.

Nara's true feelings and Miyamoto's words. .. .or her own feelings. Everything disappeared just like that. An unexplainable kiss that day. Being able to call out to him but only his name. An act that left her completely speechless.

"What?" Miyamoto looked very surprised.

"What do you mean? I never even asked her out."

After that day Setsura never thought of the lie again. That girl died, the person who understood her the most. It didn't matter whether or not she lied.

It didn't matter, even if it was a lie.

"Then tell me honestly Miyamoto, why did you guys fight?" Setsura mumbled.

"I mean, Nara called me just to tell me that you asked her out. There must have been a reason for that."

Questions and answers she avoided for so long, because she didn't want to hear the answer.

Things she wanted to say. Things she could never say. Feelings she could never express. She has to say it now.

She has to confront it properly now, otherwise moving forward is impossible. Even if everything is destroyed. However, is there any need? That part of her story is already over.

Setsura always thought that she would be scared of change. Scared of leaving the world she knew. When Nara sister passed away, she moved to a new environment. Spoke and met new people.

A place that didn't have her, and yet the scars of the past would not heal. Even surrounded in a new environment, it made no difference. Everything around her was already different, all she had to do was accept that change; yet she couldn't do it.

She couldn't accept it, and that guy. It was her fiancee who taught her how to shoulder it and live her life without feeling burdened.