• Koyoko hung up her phone with a long, dreary sigh after calling her best-friend, Hikage, to get yet another voice-mail answering. It had been two weeks since Hikage went into her house and never came back out. After the first three days, Koyoko started to worry about her friend. Hikage never answered her phone and each time Koyoko called her house, Hikage’s mother always answered saying she was busy with something, a new task. The last task Hikage was supposedly busy with was she had to clean her room. Koyoko couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of Hikage cleaning her room. Hikage’s room was about one-hundred square feet of a lush light, oak-brown, carpeting, but only about nine-percent of her carpet was visible. The rest was covered with an assortment of items. Hundreds of clothes and useless knickknacks littered her floor. The only way to relive her poor floor of such a load would be to open a shop and sell them.

    Koyoko was a young girl of 16, light brown hair with spots of a darker brown flowing down to her shoulder blades. Her creamy-tan skin was well kept with constant applications of an advance healing lotion. She had come home from school only moment ago so she was still in her school clothes, a light blue skirt and a white, thin jacket. Her dark brown eyes had hints of dark circles, mainly from worrying about her best friend most of the night, only getting a few hours of sleep every night. Her lip had teeth marks from when she bit it in her nervous panics.

    She had only just walked into the door of her small house, an old wooden cottage in the outskirts of town. It had flat brown carpeting from years of travel on it. To the right when one walks through the large oak-doors is the living room. In the living room, there is a large leather sofa parallel to the wall with a large 4 feet by 6 feet widow. Adjacent to the sofa was an old wooden rocking chair. There was no television in the room, only a brick fire-place. Up stairs was her room, a more colorful pink hue to her walls that complemented her dark, vibrant pink bed. Her bed was in the farthest corner of her room. Next to it was her desk which her computer laid on, untouched for several weeks. On the opposite side of her room was her closet which had every kind of clothing imaginable

    Koyoko placed her phone on her desk and plopped down on her bed. This had been the end of the second week since Hikage disappeared. Each day had been like months for Koyoko, everyday seeming to gain more boredom than the last. Koyoko didn’t know what to do now. She had tried everything that she could think of to establish some sort of contact with her best-friend. She had tried calling every number that could reach Hikage all in vain. She had gone up to her house an knocked but every time her mother answered and said Hikage was gone on some errand. At first Koyoko believed it, but she guessed after a while that it was all a lie. She saw other people go in and out of Hikage’s house, so she didn’t have a highly contagious disease or anything. Koyoko was surprised to even see a doctor-looking man go into the house on several occasions. Koyoko was once so desperate to find what was wrong with her friend, she scaled Hikage’s house to try and look in the window but only found the blinds to be pulled down.

    It didn’t make any sense to Koyoko. Her best friend was either one of two things, one locked up in her rooms for unobvious reasons, or dead, the earlier being the most likely. So there has to be some explanation to why she locked herself away. With another long dreary sigh, she opened her bag to lay across the neat desk the home assignments for today. Right after she was finished, she would probably eat and go right to bed to belay any further thought about Hikage. She picked up her pencil and started to do the first of her math problems before she set it back down, holding her face in her hands. “Damn it” she finally said. “Why is this so hard?”. Then a tantalizing thought crossed her mind. What if it’s her? What if something Koyoko did forced Hikage away? Faster than she could realize, Koyoko started to scan through her recent memories to find any mistakes of fights they might have had. She tried over and over until she could clearly remember each moment a week before Hikage’s disappearance. Nothing happened between them that could have cause such a mishap. Her thoughts relaxed as she realize nothing she did could have cause her friends odd behavior and picked her pencil back up to finish the problems on the paper in front of her.

    ***

    It was late in the evening when Koyoko finished the last part of her assignments. She slammed her pencil down on the desk with a long, happy, relieved, sigh. Almost always she lets a few problem slip and pays for them later, but today she did every problem. “Finally done” she said with a stretch. Her mind had finally begun to relax after two weeks of constant stress. She didn’t know why, but she had a feeling this would all be over soon. She felt her eye lids get heavy and her bed looked more and more alluring. But she was quickly brought back to the present when she heard a rapping on the door. “Koyoko, let me in” she heard her mother call. Koyoko laughed at her mother as she huddled down the stairs. “Coming mom”.

    Koyoko opened the door and her mother came bursting in. Her mother, Anna, was 43 years old, and looked the part. She was not ugly by any means but she was gaining the signs of age, the freckles, the constant body aches, wrinkles. Anna had dark brown hair cut to her shoulders, a cute little head-band holding back the neat, smooth strands of hair out of her face. She had tight, blue jeans on, with a yellow top that hugged her lightly. In her hands she had more groceries than she should be carrying at one time. Koyoko took the bags and set them on her kitchen counter. She looked at her mother. “You really shouldn’t be carrying this much mom. I would have helped you if you asked.”

    “I know but you seem so down lately and I didn’t want to burden you”. Koyoko silently cursed herself for letting it show. “It’s Hikage isn’t it?” Anna asked.

    Koyoko stared at her mother. “How did you know?”.

    “I’m a mother, I know everything”. Koyoko stuck her tongue out at her mom playfully. “But seriously honey, you two have been best-friends since the second grade. I know that she has not been to school in a while. Am I right?”

    Koyoko looked down at the ground and nodded silently. “Koyoko, I don’t know how to help you. I know you are worried about her but if I had to choose, I would wait. Things will get better I promise”. Koyoko looked into her mothers loving brown eyes. They held all her emotions, stress, sympathy, pain, sorrow, love, hate, happiness.

    “Thanks mom. I hope it will get better”.

    And better it will be
    ***

    Koyoko sighed as she woke to the sound of her alarm. ‘Another boring day’ she thought. And so it turned out she was right for the most part. Aside from tripping over one of the many back-packs in the bus aisle, nothing out of the ordinary happened. After her long, grueling hour bus-ride, she got off an went straight to her class, only stopping occasionally to greet one of her many other friends. Once she was inside of her class, there was nothing to do but sit and wait for it to start. It had to be one of the most boring times for Koyoko. Normally she would spend all but the last second talking with Hikage. They would have so much fun just talking. They would laugh at each others jokes, cry at each others sorrow, comfort each other, lift each other’s spirits, they were more than friends. Think about such times brought tears to Koyoko’s eyes. She missed Hikage so much. Her happy smile, her loving laugh, her comforting hands. Not having Hikage was like not having half herself.

    Koyoko wiped her tears and sniffed a few times. This happened every time she thought of Hikage. It hurt but it felt good to let a few tears go, even in public. She would never usually be seen crying about anything in public, but then again this isn’t usual. She was relieved when the bell finally rang, a class lecture would help get her mind off the painful thoughts of Hikage.

    The teacher walked to the Front of the class and wasted no time beginning his long, boring lecture about the Industrial Revolution. Koyoko was grateful that it at least flooded her mind, leaving no room for anything else to enter her mind. So marked the beginning of a day that would change to the better for our young heart-torn teen.
    ***
    It was during lunch when Koyoko was finally able to relax. Her mind was completely shut off and it gave her a sense of relief. It seemed like nothing was happening, just a void of faces. She didn’t acknowledge anyone, anything, just herself and her space. She was glad when she could get to this state considering it rarely ever happens. Because she was so out-of-it, she failed to notice the small, timid girl, standing in the door way of the lunch room. The timid girl walked to the lunch line and directly pass Koyoko, who took no notice. Koyoko did, however notice a familiar scent. It was a perfume of roses and a sweet forest fragrance. She was snapped back to reality as thoughts of Hikage were forced into her mind. The perfume smelled so much like Hikage’s. The same deep pit in her stomach returned as she was hit by a flood of memories. Tears once again dotted her eyes pain engulfed her heart. Now everyone was staring, including the timid girl who spurred this shock. Koyoko lifted her head up to yell at the timid girl for she had no other way of relieving her. But her anger was soon replaced with shock as she saw who the timid girl was. Her long black hair as smooth as silk. He pale skin flourishing with beauty. Her dress hugged around her thighs and hips perfectly. Her face was flawless, and her dazzling blue eyes pierced into any soul that happened upon them. She looked so much like-

    “Hikage!”. Koyoko couldn’t believe her eyes. Her best-friend who had been missing for almost three weeks now, standing before her. The happiest smile she has every had, came across her face. “Hikage” she said again. She expected a similar reaction from her best-friend, but was confused when Hikage looked over her once more and turned away, not acknowledging Koyoko. The smile Koyoko once bore turned away. They haven’t seen so much as even seen each other for almost three weeks and Hikage didn’t even say “hello”.

    Koyoko walked up and put a hand on Hikage’s shoulder. “Hikage, what’s wrong?”. Hikage shrugged the hand off, still not making eye contact. The cold-shoulder Koyoko was getting confused her. Why was hikage acting like this? It sacred her, almost like a nightmare, where you know who you are but nobody else does. Koyoko circled around and looked at Hikage. “Hikage, please tell me if there is something wrong”. Hikage had a mix of emotions on her face. There was anger yet peace, there was pain yet comfort, there was sorrow yet happiness. She looked away, to avoid looking at Koyoko, but Koyoko was persistent. She grabbed Hikage’s shoulder lightly. “Hikage” she asked slowly but sternly. “What is wrong”.

    Hikage finally looked at Koyoko, but her face now was one of anger. Pushing the hand off her shoulder, she yelled. “Leave me alone damn it!”. The words hit Koyoko like a bullet. Hikage moved up ahead to follow the line, leaving Koyoko to take the full force of her words. The shock was too much for Koyoko, too much to handle after three weeks of depression. But soon her shock turned to anger. She looked at Hikage, who was looking at the lunch menu. “Alright” she said quietly. “You go missing for three weeks and when I try to welcome you back, you just blow me off. Fine, if you want to be a jerk, SEE IF I CARE!”. Koyoko walked through the line, pushing several other people out of the way to grab her bag. Once she did she left the lunchroom with tears streaming down her face. But she didn’t notice, in her rage, the tears that flooded Hikage’s own eye.
    ***
    Koyoko was sitting on a park bench. She had skipped the rest of her classes to come here and be alone. She still had tears on her cheeks. The pain that once was loneliness changed into abandonment. Everything hit her all at once. She was the reason Hikage had left. For some reason, she upset her so much that it caused this. And the worse part is that she couldn’t think of anything she might have done to cause this. She looked up at the park through blurry eyes. From where she was sitting, across from her there was a pond that she would always sit with Hikage. To her left and right was a regular walking trail that few people every took, leaving Koyoko to her thoughts alone. Behind her was a forest that was blocked off by fence, to keep people out and animals in. But Koyoko didn’t care about anything except being alone, but that was not going to happen.

    Koyoko had gotten over her sobs and just sat on the bench, contemplating the events of the day. At first it hurt to much to even think about, but now she had built a resistance to it, a wall around her heart. No more did it claw at her emotions, it only gave her more reason to keep her shield strong. She was so lost in thought, she didn’t notice someone walking close to her on the path. The person whispered to herself, “Oh thank God she’s here”. The person walked closer to Koyoko until she was too close to be ignored. Koyoko barely noticed the person next to her, but when she looked up she saw the one person she never expected; Hikage. They stared at each other, neither one knowing what to say. Finally Koyoko found enough words to form a working sentence. “What the hell do you want?” she asked harshly. “Come to brush me off some more?”.

    Hikage didn’t respond for several seconds. She looked up and took in a breath as if to speak, but instead, threw her arms around Koyoko and squeeze tightly. Hikage held onto Koyoko for all she was worth, afraid to let go. Koyoko was stunned by her actions, but soon she too held Hikage in her loving embrace. Hikage let go and sat down next to Koyoko. She looked up into Koyoko’s eyes. She didn’t know what to say, so she blurted out the first thing she thought of. “I’m sorry” she said quietly. “That was so wrong of me. I should never had brushed you aside like that”. Tears were starting to form in her eyes again. “You just need to understand that I… I have had problems. Problems with myself”.

    Koyoko wiped away Hikage’s tears. She felt something, something that has never arisen before. Hikage felt like more than just a friend to Koyoko. It gave her a warm and fuzzy feeling inside, as if someone was tickling her insides. She dismissed her thoughts and focused on the matters at hand. “I will always be here for you. I will always try to help through any problem”.

    Hikage shook her head. “That’s the thing, you are the root of the problem”. Koyoko was taken aback by her statement. Her fear she felt earlier slipped pass the wall around her heart and did their damage. Koyoko looked at Hikage in horror. “Wha-what do you mean?” she asked.

    Hikage move so she could face her whole body to Koyoko. “The day that I left, I had realize something, something that change my view on life and everything else. It cause me so much conflict that it kept me home for three weeks, never leaving once. The therapist had to come to me. Today at lunch, I was still conflicting with myself, but seeing how I hurt you helped me get over my struggle”. She took Koyoko’s hands in her own. “Koyoko, I had to come to terms with a love; a love for you. Koyoko, I love you”.

    The same warm and fuzzy feeling flooded Koyoko’s body, but it was more powerful. ‘So its love’ she thought. ‘This feeling is love’. Hikage looked at Koyoko with hope in her eyes, hoping that Koyoko would feel the same. “Hikage” Koyoko said in a quiet voice. “I’m glad you are back, because the past three-weeks made me realize that I have feelings for you too. More than just friends. Hikage, I love you too”.

    Hikage started to cry tears of joy and threw her arms around Koyoko once more, but this time, pressing her lips against Koyoko’s. Koyoko was surprised at first by the bold move of her new lover, but soon added her own efforts to the kiss. It lasted for what seemed like a lifetime to both girls. They broke it to look at each other once more. They both were filled with joy at the sight of their lover. So they locked lips again and again until the sun faded away.

    So that is the story of how Koyoko and Hikage began their relationship. After the confessed their loves for each other, it only got better. They stayed as a secret relationship until senior year. Then they both came out to their parents, who were very accepting. Koyoko and Hikage grew up and married at the age of thirty-two. Today they live in a wonderful house in Quebec, still growing happier forever more.