“SHINDO’S so stupid...” Creak... The swing next to Satsuko cried on her behalf. “The jerk...” she muttered, tears welling in her eyes as the memory of him appeared in her mind. How many times had the tears formed in her eyes only to dry unshed?
At the moment, Satsuki was in a small park located behind the Tsujikawa mansion’s massive property line. For such a small park, it was very pretty and well maintained.
There weren’t any normal homes in the vicinity of the mansion. There were several small-scale mansions that were relatively large for Japan and some luxury high-rise apartments. Some of those residents came to this park despite its small size. Although it was here from the time Satsuki was a little girl, it never looked rundown.
As a child, Manabu frequently brought her here to play behind Shindo’s back. Not allowed to leave the mansion without Shindo, this park was the one place she was able to visit on her own thanks to her cousin.
Satsuki was sitting on a normal swing. When she was little, Shindo once turned red in the face when he saw Manabu push her high on this very swing. He chastised Manabu, claiming, “It would be horrible if she fell!”
“Shindo...has always been a worrywart...”
From an early age, she was the only thing to enter Shindo’s eyes. He only moved for Satsuki and only took action with her in mind. Even if the whole world found fault with her, he would be the only one to stand at her side for life.
“I belong to you in my entirety, Miss,” he once said. True to his words, Shindo’s world continually revolved around Satsuki. He wished for Satsuki’s happiness. He protected Satsuki’s smile. Everything he did, he did for Satsuki...
Creak... Satsuki forced the barely moving swing to a stop as a single, glistening tear finally slid down her cheek. Thoughts of Shindo brought back words she didn’t want to remember, making them echo in her ears. “If it will make you happy...then I have nothing to say...”
“Shindo...”
Her chest grew tight. Recollection of what he said made tears spill over one after the next. They streamed down her cheeks and tumbled like raindrops onto her dress.
What did I want Shindo to say? Satsuki sneered at herself. It felt as though the starry sky could absorb her as she gazed at it. The hazy moon emitted a dim light among a sea of glistening stars. They looked down on Satsuki, shedding what little light they could upon her.
“‘I don’t approve of you having to pick a fiancé or me having to relinquish my position as retainer’... Is that what I wanted to hear?” Satsuki asked herself while facing the moon.
It answered in mimicry of her voice, “Yes, you did. You wanted him to disapprove of both.”
Satsuki dismissed such desires with a sneer, “Ridiculous...”
That was ridiculous. It would never happen. Neither could voice such desires. Satsuki fully understood as much. She knew this day had to come eventually. As the only daughter to the Tsujikawa name, she knew what destiny ultimately held in store for her. It was drilled into her from the time she was a little girl. She was taught that someday she would pick a fiancé, get married, and give birth to an heir to ensure the Tsujikawa line prospered. They were among her important duties as an heiress.
She was prepared to accept her destiny from an early age, so why was it so painful? Why was it so excruciating?
“Shindo...”
Why does it hurt? What is excruciating? The fact that I have to pick a fiancé? No, that’s not it...
“It...”
It hurts to have Shindo leave my side...
“I don’t want to be separated from him...” she admitted.
The wind and trees chided Satsuki for openly expressing the truth in her heart that must never be voiced. The moon ridiculed her.
“MISS!”
Satsuki’s ears were deceiving her yet again. She was certain of it.
“I knew I’d find you here.”
A gentle breeze embraced Satsuki, slightly pushing the swing with a creak... Sensing someone next to her, Satsuki tilted her head to see who was standing there.
With the moon shining behind him, the kind face that looked at her in concern belonged to the man who could heal her heart unlike any other.
“How did you know I was here?” Satsuki quietly asked. There was no way the trees told him. She asked them not to tell a soul, not even Shindo, where she went.
Shindo offered his same gentle smile as always and teasingly jostled the chains to the swing Satsuki was sitting on. Then he swooped in front of her and fell to his knees.
“How could I possibly not know where you are?” he answered.
Noticing the tearstains on Satsuki’s cheeks, Shindo’s heart was pained by the realization that she was crying.
“I will always be able to find you, even if no one else can,” he promised. He gently grasped Satsuki’s hands resting atop the skirt of her dress and held them tenderly against his chest. “Because I hold you dear...”