Chapter Text
“Have you heard about the female student who planned on asking this guy in school to be her boyfriend?” The young brunette waitress with shoulder-length hair asked her best friend as she handed her her order: a large vanilla parfait with large chocolate covered strawberries and cookies sprinkled on the top.
“Thanks, Kumiko! It looks so tasty!” The other brunette, albeit with even shorter hair, greedily accepted the icy treat and licked her lips in anticipation, but then brought her finger to her chin to ponder the question her friend just asked her.
“Hmm… you mean Yuka and Kenichi? Didn’t she intimidate him into going out with her at some point? I’m sure that no guy would be willing to return to a relationship like that.”
“Yes, that’s what I’ve heard too. But apparently, she had a plan that she was sure would get him to accept.”
“Oh?” Chiyoko grabbed a spoonful of parfait and gulped it down, savoring the icy sweet feel of the vanilla on her tongue. “And what would that be? She didn’t plan on bullying him into submission again, did she?”
Yumiko turned to put away some ingredients that were left out before continuing her explanation.
“No, no. She said that she heard about this legend that has apparently worked for everyone who confesses to it. According to it, if you confess your true feelings to another person in front of the statue, they will become your soulmate and you will live out the rest of your lives happily together.”
At the sound of this news, a certain reddish-ginger-haired little girl perked up and snapped at her bald best friend to shush as she tried to eavesdrop in the conversation.
The shorter-haired brunette snorted on her ice cream and burst out laughing, “That’s ridiculous! You don’t actually believe in that stuff, do you? There’s no way that a statue, of all things, would be able to unite two totally different people like that! I think her plan is going to fail.”
“That’s where you’re wrong!” Yumiko, always the hopeful romantic, placed down a glass that she was polishing a little forcefully in order to defend the reputation of the mysterious miracle statue. “She took him there yesterday to confess and can you guess what he said??”
“No way… do you mean?”
“Yes! He accepted! Apparently at some point after she confessed he had a change of heart and he began to fall in love with her! They’re a happy couple now and many other students are starting to make plans to confess at the statue! But she’s being careful about who she tells its location… Apparently it’s not widely known in order to preserve the peacefulness of the area. Thankfully, I have a friend who is a close friend of Kenichi and he told me where it is.”
At the sound of this confirmation, excitement and anticipation rushed through the little girl. In a matter of seconds, she was creating a plan in order to achieve her own unrequited love. If it could work for those two (and the others who have confessed there), then surely it would work for her!
Soon enough, her dream of being her doctor’s real wife would become a reality.
_-_-_-_
An elderly woman followed a dirt path to a clearing near a wooded area. The place was taken over by flowers of all sorts, but the most prevalent ones were roses of a lovely crimson shade that surrounded the center of the clearing. They twisted and caressed the stone cloth draped over the chest and lower body of a young woman; a beautiful stone carving that looked like it was crafted by the hands of angels themselves. Her pose was delicate and graceful; her hand reached out below towards something only she could see, but the most mesmerizing of her features was her face. Her lips were left partly open, her eyebrows were set delicately over her eyes; eyes that looked as if they were gazing into the pools of her own love; eyes that held, if you paid close attention, a hint of sadness for something only she knew. She was set in a permanent expression of yearning, cursed to forever reach for the thing she desires most.
“Ah, I see you are doing well, old friend.”
The old woman took the watering can she gripped in her worn hands and proceeded to tip the spout over the delicate flowers.
“But I’m afraid I did not come today in the typical fashion I do. I have come bearing some sad news. This will be the last time I visit in a while. My grandchildren need someone to watch them, so I have taken that responsibility. I will miss you, and I’ll never forget the blessing you have placed on me and so many others. My only regret will be not being able to watch you bloom with life.”
After spending some time just relishing in the peacefulness of the surrounding nature, she said her last goodbyes and hobbled away.
“Good luck, my friend. May you find your love soon.”