How many years has it been? Right now, I'm standing here in front of her grave. Four bouquets of flowers lined up on it. I chuckled. "I guess I'm last, huh." I look at the thorn-less stem of rose I brought. I lay it down gently beside the rightmost bouquet. I quietly walked towards the exit of the cemetery. 

---~~~---

"Sho-chan?" I heard my name being called. I slightly open my eyes. The curtains were opened and it was too bright, everything was blurry. "Sho-chan!" She jumped on my bed. "Wake up~!!!" I sat up while rubbing my eyes. When my vision became clearer, I looked at her who just stopped jumping because she got tired. She sat beside me and smiled. "Sho-chan, your hair is sooo~ cute!" She played with my messed up hair. I was just staring at her. She stopped and smiled. "What?"

"It's Saturday today." I said. I go back to lying down and I put my blanket on me. "Don't wake me up again. What time is it anyway?" I closed my eyes and curled up under the blanket while yawning. 

"It's already 11 o'clock." She giggled. "Everyone's already there." I opened my eyes sharply. I stood up and ran down the stairs. I saw my mother placing the plates on the table.

"Ara~ Ohayou Sho." She said.

"Ohayou." I ran to the storage room and searched around. I ran back to the living room and opened the drawers and cabinets. "Okaasan, are there any gift wrappers here?"

"Ah, I used them on the gifts we gave the Harada family last Tuesday." She placed the last batch of eating utensils on the table. "Will you be eating here?"

"I won't!" I ran upstairs and saw Chiyomi sitting on my bed, taping some origami pieces together. I walked towards her to take a closer look. "What are you making?"

"Wait. I'm almost done." She smiled. She cut the tape and put the two ends of the paper together. She smiled at me and handed the paper bag to me. "I'm done!" She giggled.

I stared at the paper bag she made. I was speechless. She did such a colorful and neat paper bag in such a short time. I went to my table and opened my drawer. I got the music notebook I bought last week. I looked down, I was embarrassed. Only she could make me blush like this.

"Thank you." I softly said. I felt her hand holding mine.

"We're gonna be late for the party, you know." She dragged me outside my room while I was still holding the paper bag.

"Wait. I haven't changed my clothes yet." I stopped. Chiyomi stared at me.

"Go! I'll wait for you outside." She continued walking down the stairs. "We'll go now, Sakurai-san!" I heard her tell my mom.

"Take care of yourselves!" I heard her reply while I was already changing my clothes. I ran downstairs and wore my shoes.

"Ittekimasu!" I shouted. "Itterashai." She said while eating lunch with my two siblings. I jumped out of the door and saw Chiyomi at the end of the street. I ran for meters to catch up with her.

"Hey, why didn't you wait for me outside?!" I said while catching my breath.

"I'm here outside, waiting." She smiled innocently. "You expect me to race against time and run there? You know they've been waiting for us." She said. I couldn't say anything other than "I'm sorry." For a moment there, I almost forgot that Chiyomi had a weak heart. She was always excused during our physical exercises and activities in school.

We were just a street away from Daniel's, a small diner where the six of us always hung out. Chiyomi and I briskly walked towards the door. The small bells chimed and four pairs of eyes looked at our direction.

"Osoi yo~" Jun said. The four of them were sitting on a table at the farthest corner of the building. There were only 2 sets of customers other than us. Chiyomi and I walked to the table and sat down. Our arrangement was Satoshi, who was leaning his side against the wall, then Nino was seated between Satoshi and Chiyomi. Chiyomi was seated across the table but directly in front of me. Beside me was Jun, then Masaki beside the wall.

"Now that we're complete, let's celebrate!" Masaki said with his usual sweet and cute voice. Ohno put his book down. I saw Nino whisper something to Chiyomi's ear and she giggled. Jun tapped my shoulder which surprised me because I was too focused at the two. 

"Ne, give a signal to the waiter now." Jun said. I didn't know what was about to happen. I turned my back and looked at the waiter who looked like he was really waiting for a signal. I gestured for him to come, he did a thumbs up and got something from the refrigerator. I watched him walk towards us while holding a big box. I figured it was a cake. He reached our table and removed the cover from the box. It was a custard flavored cake with candles planted on it. 

We started singing. "Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday dear Nino. Happy birthday to you~" The five of us applauded after Nino blew the flames on 17 candles. I reached for the paper bag which was behind me and handed it to him.

"Wooo~ Arigatou." He said while he observed the design of the paper bag. Then he opened it and got the music notebook. "Arigatou na." He gave me a high five. I remembered hearing him say that he needed a new music notebook for his songs. The others followed with their own gifts for him. The last one who gave him a gift was Chiyomi. It was presented in a blue box, which I think was also hand-made by Chiyomi, like the paper bag. I always noticed the two of them kept on looking at each other and ended up smiling. Nino then opens the box and finds a white and black crocheted wristband, which was obviously made by her. He wore it on his left wrist and honestly speaking, it looked great. 

I looked at Chiyomi. She was smiling at the sight of Nino wearing her gift. Then she looked at me. I immediately looked away. I suddenly remembered the first time we met...

*flashback to when I was 4*

"Oh-chan!" I shouted. We were in the park while playing with Jun and Nino. Masaki wasn't there because he was sick.

I chased Satoshi around and stopped when I got tired. I was trying to catch my breath until I saw a girl standing by the flowerbed. I felt my heart started to beat fast. She was wearing a dress and a hat which matched her clothes. I was staring at her and thought that she looked cute. Then she noticed me and smiled. I immediately looked away. She walked towards me and said "Konnichiwa." I felt my heart beat faster. She held out her right hand. She shook my hand.

"Ko.. Konnichiwa." I shyly said. "My name.. is Sakurai Sho." I tried to smile.

"Call me Chiyomi. Yoroshiku~!"

She looked so cute when she smiled then. She still looks cute when she smiles now. She was my first love. And it was love at first sight.

---~~~---

To be continued. ^_^

So there. I posted the first chapter even though I am not yet finished with my other fic. XD 

'Ittekimasu' - 'I'll be going now!'

'Itterasshai' - 'Have a nice trip!'

'Osoi yo' - 'So slow' or 'You're late'

Anyway, according to my research (XD), a thorn-less rose symbolizes love at first sight. So what kind of flowers did the other 4 give her..? Haha find out when I post the next chapter. (: Which might not be so soon SO SUBSCRIBE! XD 

*edit (01/14/12):

future is highlighted gray

present stays normal

past is colored brown

Next chapter: MatsuJun's POV. ^_^