A remembrance of the past

It has been two years since I proposed to the girl of my life, and I have to tell you, my life has been great ever since. That day, the fourteenth of July. I still remember it clearly. Although it makes my skin jump, thinking back on it. I didn't do much except make a fool of myself. Honestly, I couldn't believe my ears when Naomi accepted my hand in marriage.

Despite everything, she felt the same way about me. Which was another shock I had not account for. She did sometimes say I was a bit dense. Not that I could prove her wrong, but that aside. After we had our first kiss, it was hmm.... How do I say this appropriately...... Yeah, freaking awesome.

So people were right that your first kiss feels like you've just entered paradise or something, because how I felt can't simply be described in words, but I'll do my best to make it easy to understand. It was as if angels had descended from the heavens above, then they surrounded me and Naomi, and they made us slowly ascend into the sky. I could hear them singing beautiful melodies as the cold wind spread across my face that morning. I don't think I can get the same thrill now as I had that day.

After we stopped kissing each other, we decided to call it a day, and head home. When we were about to go our separate ways, she had grabbed my arm tight. She urged me to go to her home instead. She kept nagging me that she wanted to tell her parents, but I didn't feel comfortable doing that. Because of the potential danger that is her father, I would love to avoid any kind of confrontation.

As I tried to refuse, her grip wouldn't loosen. I tried my best, but to no avail. Having no other choice I accepted my fate, and went with her. After walking for an hour or so, and some cuddling along the way, we had arrived at her house. We saw a figure patiently waiting at her front door. As we got closer, we found out who it was. It was Youji Watanabe, her father.

He had short brown hair, and his build was on the larger side. Despite his build, he was quite muscular. You could clearly see that he was active in his prime years. However, it wasn’t his bulky muscles that terrified me, it was his eyes.

I don’t know why, but whenever he looked at me, I could feel an immense pressure, that would almost squash me, come from it. His blue pupils would turn into black holes, void of any color, slowly sucking my life away. I could see death waiting to take me away. It made my skin itch. That was the reason I avoided contact with him as much as possible. But now that I had proposed to Naomi, the leverage was gone. I knew that I had to resolve things with her father, but deep inside I was still afraid of him.

I looked at the person to my left. Her hazel eyes stared right at me, her arms still locked with mine. I could feel her grip getting tighter. Normally she would pout herself away, but to my surprise her face was stone cold right now. Her mouth slowly formed into a gentle smile.

“It’ll be fine, okay.” She said, as she embraced my arm more. I felt the warmth of her bosom wrapping around it. For someone her age, to be this straightforward, it was quite the sight to behold. Although it did make me a bit uncomfortable, since her father was nearby. I had only hoped he didn’t notice us, because otherwise I wouldn’t have seen tomorrow.

Naomi gradually came closer, her head leant against my shoulder. “He doesn’t bite, you know.” She assured me. Yeah, she was absolutely right. If I didn’t patch things up with her father, then nowhere in hell would he approve of our marriage. At that moment, I hardened my resolve, and continued walking towards the menace that was her father.

When we came closer, Naomi had called out to him, waving her arm several times at him. Upon hearing her calling, his head turned our direction. Without missing a beat, he began sprinting towards us. For a guy in his late forties, he had quite the stamina. I guess that just how much he loves his daughter. When he stopped right in front of us, he ignored me and embraced his daughter with all his strength. I felt the wind behind the force passing across my face.

I felt sweat dripping from my head, my legs numbed slowly. I couldn’t do it after all. I was incapable of facing this monstrosity. I wanted to call it a day and run away, but after seeing how strong their bond was, I decided against it. It would’ve been a dick move to do so, and also I wasn’t planning on becoming dead meat any time soon.

So I bit my lip, and watched their bonding in silence. Only after a minute or so did he let go of her, and turned towards me, his eyes staring right at me. The air around him became cold. “Akira…” He said, his tone void of any emotions. I trembled as I couldn’t withstand this immense pressure placed upon me. My mind almost went blank, but one thing prevented that.

“Dad, I have something to tell you.” It was the soothing voice of the girl I proposed, she had diverted the attention from me to her. In other words, she saved me from pissing myself. Thank you Naomi!! I practically worshiped her at this point. Her quick thinking was something I always admired about her.

“What is it, sweety?” Her father asked her, his tone hinted concern. “Your not going to believe this but,” Naomi took a moment, before embracing me rather aggressively. She had latched onto me in a matter of seconds, I hadn’t been given the opportunity to react. I couldn’t help but feel like my life was in danger, and there was a reason for it.

It seemed that her father didn't like seeing his daughter be so intimate with me. His pupils vanished and became blank. A dark aura began manifesting around him. Oh man, he was pissed. Even a dog could tell that things wouldn't end well for me.

While I was trembling like crazy, Naomi didn't seem fazed at all. She smiled proudly, as she lifted her left hand up. "I'm engaged!" She exclaimed happily. Now, I knew that he would be confused since we brought this up all of a sudden, and I get that. Waiting the entire night for your daughter to come home, only to find out she came back as a married woman. Any parent for that matter would ask questions. But Youij Watanabe didn't, he just stood there, like a statue.

Slowly, I was getting scared. His silence was somehow threatening. The air around him became colder, so much so that my skin began to itch. Then after five minutes of awkward silence, he walked towards me, and looked down at me.

“Akira,” He said quietly, he placed his right hand at my shoulder. He took a deep breath before continuing. “Is it true?” I couldn’t answer. As much as I wanted to yell out, I couldn’t. If I answered, I would undoubtedly die. I wanted to run, but there was no escape, and even if I did, Youij Watanabe wouldn’t let that slide. Surely he would chase after me. The best thing for me was to stay quiet. Naomi would understand, she would definitely understand, right?

I looked towards the girl in question. She moved her pupils from me, towards her father, silently urging me to confront him. I see, I thought. She wouldn’t want me to fear him, she couldn’t handle it if we didn’t gotten along. So, after I took a deep breath, I looked towards Youij Watanabe, and hardened my resolve.

“Yes,” I finally spoke up, I expected him to lung at me, but he stayed still. Without wasting time, I continued. “It’s true that I proposed to her.” I expected to get hit any moment now, but he didn’t move. Instead, he kneeled before me, as if his stomach ached. He was quiet. For about a minute or so, he stayed in that position.

Then out of nowhere, he straightened his back, and embraced me with all his might. I felt like suffocating. I didn’t get any air. How the hell was Naomi fine when he hugged her? The raw strength of this man was unbelievable, so how on earth was she fine when he did it to her. I guess she got used to it. That was the only logical explanation. As fragile as the human body is, it adapts to its environment in order to survive, or so I’ve heard.

Wait... Something didn't feel right. My sight began blurring, my other senses also robbed from me. I felt my consciousness fading. It was so bad that I thought I'd die any second now. All while being in his grip, a rather unpleasant memory had resurfaced from deep within my mind.

"Haha, he's as red as a strawberry!" A voice that belonged to a kid said, rather enthusiastically. He had quite the ordinary appearance. His black hair, that was of average length, reached not further than his neck. His clothing style also lacked originality, he wore a white T-shirt with light blue jeans. His brown pupils would always wonder, in hopes of finding fun.

"Yeah, you're right Arata!" another agreed. This one was quite the special one. For starters, his hair was gold-blonde, and it was quite long. He wore it in a short ponytail. For some reason he had a dragon figure tattooed on his shoulder. He had an average build, and was of average height.

"How long do think he can endure it, Akemi?" A third voice questioned, he seemed genuinely interested. He had a small build, and wore glasses. He was like your typical bookworm. His gray hair would strike a first impression, since it was a color that you wouldn't see often.

"I don’t know...." Akemi held his hands against the back of his head, like the topic didn't interest him. Out of everybody else he was the prettiest. With his long brown hair, that covered his left eye, he attracted the attention of every girl he passed. Normally, any other boy would've felt happy about this, but he didn't. In general, he didn't seem to care about anything.

"About a minute or so, I believe." A fourth had come in, and said it confidently as if he had experience with this sort of thing. He had short blond hair, he wore a tank-top, and brown shorts. He was the tallest of the four. He was quite muscular. On first glance, you could see that he was an athletic kid. He wore a eerie grin.

"What makes you so sure, Daisuke?" The gray haired kid asked the blond haired kid, as he adjusted his glasses. "Just look at his face, stupid Akihiro." Daisuke responded, his grin expanded from ear to ear. "You see that it's changing blue." Akihiro had come closer, taking a closer look; As if satisfied with his answer, he too wore a eerie grin.

On the outside, the four boys looked like any ordinary kid from elementary school. They were nothing to worry about, but...

That couldn't be further from the truth. Because these boys had an dangerously desire for destruction. They would harass people on the streets of Kyoto, vandalize public property, but their most favorite pass-time would be conducting experiments on their test subject.

Now you would normally assume that they conduct their experiments on primarily animals, but you would be wrong. "Aaarrghh…" that was the sound that their test subject made. It was a boy, their classmate. His name was Akira. That boy was none other than me. I was subject of many experiments, many of them left me physically and mentally scarred.

And on that day, they had brought me here, under an abandoned bridge. It was dark, and the constant stream of water was louder than our young voices, which was perfect for them, so I couldn't yell for help. It was a bad experience. They surrounded me, as one of them, namely Daisuke, had his hands around my neck, and tightened it hard. He had done this for four minutes now.

I tried whatever I could to loosen his grip, but it was futile. He wouldn't let go. I thought I was going to die, but then I looked between his legs, a sudden idea popped up. With all the strength I had left, I kicked his private parts. "Aaaaah!!" Daisuke had let go, and fell to the ground, his hands between his legs. The others laughed after witnessing this spectacle. I quickly breathed in and out, and when I had mustered enough strength, I ran away from them.

I heard the other kids behind me still laughing, and heard Daisuke curse me. I thought they would chase after me, but they didn't. I simply ran, and planned on doing so. At the time, I didn't think much of it, but the experiment, next day, would come to haunt me to this day.

After my mind came back, I realized that Noami's father was still hugging me, but now I could breath properly. “Finally…” he said, after he had let go of me. He placed both hands on my shoulders, his face came close to mine. "It was about time." he said loudly, tears began dripping from his eyes.

Huh…, that was all I could think of. The man, that I was so afraid of, was crying right in front of me. Impossible, My mind couldn’t believe it. I don’t remember exactly why, but I knew for sure that he hated my guts. He treated me coldly since I’ve known him. That’s Youij Watanabe, right? I asked myself. I knew that I wasn’t making any sense, I knew that much.

“Finally?” I asked the man before me, my brow raised. Naomi’s father had removed his hands from my shoulders, and wiped his tears off. He looked straight at me. “You sure took your time Akira,” he said, with his arms crossed. “Couldn’t you have done it sooner?” he asked, whilst glaring at me. “W-wait, you’re not mad?” confused as I was that moment, the only thing I wanted was answers.

“Mad?” he had a puzzled look on his face. “Why would I be mad?” After taking a second or so, did he ask me. “W-well,” I struggled. Normally I wouldn’t have any problems saying it, but the fear from deep within me was still present. “I thought that you might disapprove of our relationship.” that was the truth, after all. I had finally come to turn, and properly faced him, now all that was left was his responsibility.

Naomi’s father sighed at my comment, he had placed his palm against his face. “If I was against it, I wouldn’t have let her go in the first place.” he said, a hint of disappointment painted his face. “Heck, I wouldn’t have let you near my daughter, if that was the case.” he added. “Ha ha….” I forced an awkward laugh. The air around him loosened, I didn’t feel so nervous as I did earlier. Something was on my mind, though. It was about the last bit he said. To think that what I feared could’ve been true, a cold sweat dripped from my spine. Fortunately, that was only if he didn’t approve, which was for the better. I could finally be at ease, for now.

“Come inside,” as he urged me and Naomi, he opened his front door. “You should bring the news to your mother.” Naomi went in first. After I was about to enter, he had stopped me and came awfully close. “Welcome to the family, son.” he whispered into my ear, his smile shone from ear to ear. He tapped my shoulder several times, then entered. I still stood at the door, frozen. Did he call me son, just now?, Did I hear that correctly, I wasn’t hearing things, was I?

Well it was safe to assume that I was wrong about him hating my guts, and about him being a scary person. With the wind now blowing harder, I quickly turned around. The sun was already at its zenith. Its orange beams spread beautifully across town. However, one thing was still downing at me in the back of my head. It was that memory, that replayed when Youij Watanabe had almost suffocated me.

Those four children, that made life a living hell for me, I hadn’t seen them lately. It was like they disappeared out of thin air. I was happy about it, though. It made life a lot better, without those assholes.

“Akira!” I was brought back to reality, when someone had called me. “I’m coming.” Yeah, it was for the better that I’d hurry. Without much further delaying, I had gone inside Naomi’s entrance, and closed the door behind me.

After arriving at the living, I saw Naomi’s entire family surround her, closely admiring the metal ring I’d bought her. Her little brother came launching into me. He hugged my legs, seeing an opportunity, I patted his head. Then her mother came towards me. She embraced me, and said: ”Take care of her for me. ” I responded with a nod. Satisfied with my answer, she gave me a kiss on my cheek.

She returned to her daughter, and continued talking with her. Noami’s little brother had already let go of me, and was now with his father. Seeing the four of them so happy was quite the rare sight for me. Family, indeed, all those years on my lonesome were now over. They would become my family.

For some reason, my heart ached. My eyes began blurring, as I felt tears dripping from it. All of them had noticed. I quickly wiped my face. I wanted to say something, but there was nothing to say. Naomi looked straight at me, I could only smile brightly, that was enough. Deep down, they all understood what I meant to say.

On the afternoon, we celebrated our engagement with a big party. The following day, me and Naomi had been officially married, after signing the last of the many documents. That night, me and Naomi were sitting on the roof of her house. The moon shone brightly, stars painted the dark sky above us, and the wind blew softly. It was the definition of beauty. Both of us said nothing, since there was nothing to be said.

What was more romantic than star seeing. Slowly, my gaze fell from the sky above, to the gorgeous woman next to me. She had noticed my gaze, and did the same. Slowly but surely our eyes met, she smiled brightly. She held my hand tightly. As we continued staring at each other, our heads slowly came closer. My lips made contact with hers.

The hours flew by, as of that day, I officially became a married man. At the time, I couldn’t have know that my life would turn for the better, since all I’ve known was hatred, and disgust. Being with Naomi had helped me for the better.

I would treasure every day that had yet to come, with her by my side, I could overcome it all. I reminded myself.

Everything around me slowly faded, everything became blank white. I was all alone, and before I knew it, a loud screeching had entered my ears. I tried to cover my ears, but it was useless. I could still hear it. Suddenly I heard a voice calling to me. "Wake up..." it said. Confused about what to do, I closed my eyes. I heard the voice again. "Wake up." it repeated. Then it dawned on me, and in that moment I slowly regained consciousness.

I slowly opened my eyes. I blinked a few times, after my eyes adjusted. I recognized the first thing I saw. That brown wooden ceiling had already become so familiar to me. I tilted my head slightly, and a smile stuck on my face. "Good morning," I said to the person next to me. "Good morning," the person replied. That was none other than my wife, Naomi. "Darling," she grinned from ear to ear.

In that moment, I vowed to protect her smile. I would take care of it, even if I had to die. As we kissed, I didn't think much about the future ahead of us, but I couldn't help but feel anxious about it.