Two days after the accident, Kazuya was back to school. Suzume was happy that he�s able to attend his classes, and his injuries were not serious too. What�s made her most happy was that her students were so concerned about Kazuya that they immediately surrounded Kazuya once he stepped into the classroom. But once Maki Shinichi shown up, she didn�t feel anything, except the increasing beating rhythm of her heart.
Maki was the one who drove Kazuya back to school. He had also bought toys for Kazuya and his classmates. While Maki started distributing the toys, Suzume immediately grabbed his hand, and shook her head when Maki�s attention was on her. But Maki just put on a smile and said, �It�s okay. I promise you that I won�t buy anymore toys for them.�
Suzume was shocked by how did he know what she�s thinking. But since Maki came from a rich family and these toys didn�t cost him much, why not let the children happy by having them? When Maki handed all the presents to the children, Suzume got their attention by blowing the whistle from their new toys. She signed to them and the children began to sign the �Thank you� hand language to Maki. For those who are not mute, they were able to say it together with the sign, but their pronunciation were not perfectly accurate.
Maki then turned to Suzume and asked. �How do I tell them �You�re welcome� by using the sign language?� She smiled and taught him. Maki then used it again to the children. Suddenly, the children started giggling. Suzume and Maki didn�t know that they were laughing about the way Suzume was teaching him. In their minds, both of them looked like a young loving couple who just got married.
A few hours later, the school ended. Maki leaned back on his black coloured Porsche and smiled at those cute innocent-laughing children running towards to their parents who had also waited at the school gates. Suddenly, Maki wanted to have children with Suzume. Lots of them.
Just as he finished that thought, Suzume turned up and waved goodbye to her students. Soon, her students saw Maki and immediately ran to him and said their thanks again. Maki stood up and smiled to them. When he noticed Suzume was looking at him, he grinned. �Yo~!�
Suzume was surprised at first, but she smiled back. Finally when her students were gone with their parents, she walked up to him and wrote on her memo pad.
Maki seem couldn�t take his smile away from her. �You look like you didn�t want to see me again.� Suzume was so nervous that she quickly shook her head. Suzume wanted so much to see him every day when she woke up from her bed. Of course, Maki won�t get to see her every morning in his bed, but her pampered stepsister in the future. �I did go for the meeting. When it ended, I came back because I got something for you.�
Maki opened his passenger seat door and took out a large bouquet of red roses to Suzume. She was so shocked that she thought she must have been dreaming. Although she had received flowers from other men, she didn�t felt so happy, so content, so�warm.
Large hands held her face up and wiped away her tears. �Don�t cry. You are making nervous, as if I did something wrong. You don�t like roses? I could get lilies or anything to you.� Again, Suzume shook her head violently. Maki watched how her beautiful, full lips formed the words. �Gomen nasai.� Unable to control himself, Maki pulled her in his arms and hugged her tightly. �I don�t know what had happened to me, but I just can�t resist myself to hug you.�
Just when Maki turned his head and took a deep breath to smell the sweet fragrance of her hair, a shout stopped him. �Let go of her~!� Suddenly, someone pulled them apart and gave a hard punch on Maki�s face that caused him landed hard on the ground. When Suzume saw that the guy wanted to beat Maki again, immediately she stopped the guy by pulling his left arm.
Maki used his right hand to wipe off the blood on his chin. The guy was about 178cm tall, well build, and with a same haircut of the ex-Shohoku Basketball player, who called Hisami something. What�s amazed him was not the strength he got, but the jacket he wore was from Kainan University High School Basketball Team. (Author�s Words: �Maki, Maki, you are getting old. His name is Hisashi Mitsui, not Hisami something. ^^;;�)
�I won�t allow you touch my sister again!� The guy shouted to Maki and turned to Suzume. �Let�s go home.� He grabbed Suzume�s left arm and walked down the path to the back of the school. Suzume kept turning back to Maki with concern look. Maki didn�t want her to worry, so he put on his usual smile and waved goodbye to her.
Ryuji angrily opened the door of the car, which was waiting behind of the school, and when he saw Suzume didn�t get in, he took a deep breath and said. �Surely you don�t want both of us arguing in the public.� Suzume gave him an angry stare before she got into the car.
Once Ryuji sat down beside her, Suzume moved farther away from him as possible as the seats allow. Their chauffeur drove the car for about 5 minutes before Suzume broke the tension between both of them. She looked at him angrily and signed.
Ryuji signed back and said. �It breaks your heart, doesn�t it?� Ignoring the shocked look from Suzume, he continued. �You should know that he�s going to match-making Akiko nee-san tomorrow. You should forget about him.� (Author�s Words: �nee-san means sister in Japanese�)
�Still, you don�t have the right to beat him! And it�s my right to see anyone!� It�s not a secret that Ryuji knew about Suzume likes Maki Shinichi since he was a boy. In the past, Suzume would secretly bring him to watch high schools basketball IH trial matches. The strange thing was that every match they watched was Kainan University High School VS another high school. Just when he wanted to ask his sister why they are watching or supporting Kainan, he was stunned by the look on Suzume. It�s the first time he saw her smiled so warmly. Every time when Maki made a score, Suzume would grinned happily.
�Of course I have the right to interfere when it concerns our family�s future!� Ryuji knew he said out something that shouldn�t let Suzume knows and looked outside the window. Suzume knew he�s keeping something from her and pulled his clothes to make him look at her eyes. Since she couldn�t let go of her hands and knew her brother knows lips reading, her mouth formed the words. �What do you mean I�m seeing Maki concerns our family�s future?�
Knewing his sister�s stubbornness, Ryuji had no choice but to say it out. �A few days before Dad announced the match-making, I accidentally heard Dad speaking on the phone in his study room that our company is facing financial problems because of the economic crisis.�
Suzume loosed her grip and said. �That bad?� Suzume was getting sadder after she got Ryuji�s nod. �And it looks like only Maki Electronic Components which gain a lot of profits from the crisis, able to help our company and family to survive.� Suzume lowered her head and turned away from her brother. �Onee-chan?� She put up her left hand to indicate that the talk was over.
When they got home, Suzume didn�t greet her father who was sitting in the living room reading newspaper and went up the staircase to her bedroom. Ryuji followed behind her and greeted their father. �Tadaima.�
�Ryuji., what happened to Suzume?� Their father got up from the chair and put his hands on his hips, indicating that he won�t let Ryuji off unless he tells him the whole story. Unless something bad happened to Suzume, she would greet her father every time she saw him. About half an hour later, their father took off his spectacles and rubbed the bridge of his nose. �Go back to your room.�
�But Otoo-san I . . .�
�I said go back to your room. I know what to do.� Ryuji don�t know what was going on in his father�s mind, but he had no choice except go to his room.
It�s been 5 weeks and 12 days since the day Suzume won�t see him, and these are the most painful days of Maki. He didn�t know why Suzume wouldn�t see him and she wouldn�t give him a chance to ask why. Every time he went to the school, she would treat him as if he was an invisible man. Until that day when she wrote that she�s not interested in him and got a new boyfriend, Maki finally stopped looking for her.
Today was his engagement day with Matsumi Akiko. Hundreds of people turned up for this big event; everyone came up and congratulated Maki and Akiko. But he didn�t feel happy marrying someone he didn�t like or love. He knew this marriage was a business deal, which he had to accept, because Matsumi Takami was a great friend of his late father and had helped their company a lot in the past. He also knew that this was his late father�s wish that Maki and Matsumi families were not just friends relationship.
While Maki was kept thinking about Suzume, Ryuji was pulling his sister into the hotel lobby. Suzume angrily bit his hand and Ryuji had no choice but to let go. �What are you doing, Onee-chan?�
Suzume angrily signed to him. �I told you I don�t want to come here!�
�And I also told you that it�s dad�s order! You have to go in there no matter what!� Ryuji grabbed her right hand again and walked into the lift. Although his sister bit and kicked him, he won�t let go. Cause this concerns his sister�s future happiness.
The time they walked into the ballroom, the Maki and Matsumi family members were already on the stage. Matsumi Takami was saying his speech about how proud he was to have Maki Shinichi as his son-in-law and so on. He paused when he saw his son opened the door and walked into the ballroom with his sister, and smiled. The show is on, he thought.
Everyone in the ballroom turned to the sudden opened door at this rude time while Matsumi Takami was saying his speech. Maki was shocked when he saw Suzume. Oh god, how much he missed her. She didn�t know how much pain she had caused to him.
Seeing Shinichi didn�t make any move, Takami knew he had to make the first move then. �Sorry ladies and gentlemen, my eldest daughter was held up earlier on, so I got my son to bring her to this happy event.�
Daughter? Shinichi turned to look at Uncle Matsumi then back to Suzume. Suddenly, he remembered his mum told him before that he got an elder daughter who was handicap. If his mother told him what�s the name of his elder daughter or look at her photo, he wouldn�t mind she�s a handicap at all. �Shinichi? Where are you going? Come back here!� Mrs. Maki shouted from the stage while Maki jumped down the stage and walked towards his only love.
Seeing Maki was walking closer to her, Suzume used all her strength to pull her hand away from Ryuji. But it was no use as Ryuji was too strong for her. Only when Maki was in front of her, Ryuji let go of her hand and said to Maki. �Make sure you took good care of my sister, or else I�m sure that I will give you another harder punch than last time.�
Maki didn�t take his eyes off Suzume and said. �I won�t take good care of her, but I will take the best care of her.� Ryuji smiled and walked to the stage when his father was waiting.
After writing her words on her memo pad, she showed it to Maki. My brother is right. I�m also won�t forgive you if you didn�t treat my sister well. Although she and Akiko were not close, Akiko was her sister and it�s her duty as elder sister to look after her siblings.
Maki just grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the stage. Suzume ignored the curious looks from the guests and tried her best to release Maki�s grab, which was useless. When they were on the stage, Maki was surprised that Uncle Matsumi passed him the microphone, but he didn�t care and said out the words he kept inside. �Ladies and Gentlemen, I�m sorry to say that the engagement between me and Akiko-san is cancelled.�
Suzume was shocked; Her father and brother smiled happily; her stepmother looked like she�s going to faint and her stepsister was going to cry. Mrs. Maki walked to his son and scolded. �What are you doing, Shinichi? What is this all about?�
Maki looked at his mom and said. �Sorry mom. Please let me finished the words I want to say.� Mrs. Maki knew his son was an adult now and allowed him to carry on. Maki looked back to the guests and said. �The reason why the engagement is cancelled because I�m going to marry the eldest daughter of Matsumi Takami, Miss Matsumi Suzume.� Maki looked at Uncle Matsumi, who put on a great smile and nodded his head.
The applause started by Ryuji and it�s getting louder and louder from the guests. Maybe this sounds too sudden, but to some guests, especially ladies, it was a wonderful love story for them. �Otoo-san~! What�s going on? I�m supposed to be the one who�s going to marry Shinichi!� Akiko was so nervous that she grabbed her father�s arm very tightly. �That�s right, dear. Akiko is the bride! Not her!� His wife came up and grabbed his other arm tightly too.
�Shut up! It doesn�t matter Maki choose Suzume or you, Akiko. Cause I knew he will be a good husband and bring happiness to Suzume.� Hearing this, Akiko covered her face and cried while her mother comforted her.
Suzume looked at her loving father, her brother and finally, Maki. This looked like a plot set up by three of them and she felt sad for Akiko, but somehow she didn�t know why she didn�t object when Maki said he�s going to marry her. The party ended while Suzume was in a stunned and confusing mood all along.