Until I Met You ||Kyoya Ootori|| DISCONTINUED

•11• Back to School •11•

It was noon, and the orphans were playing hide and seek with the caretakers. A little girl with long raven-colored hair hid behind a tall cherry blossom tree. Around this time of the year, the sakura flowers were at the peak of their full beauty. Michiya looked around, trying to see if anybody was near her, a breath of relief left her lips when she thought she was safe.

After a few moments of silence, she heard a leaf crunch a few meters away from the tree. She covered her mouth to muffle her loud gasp. She started to panic, knowing she was going to be found. The small child mentally scolded herself for not finding a better hiding place, but there was no use dwelling on it now.

"Michiya! I know you're behind that tree. You hide there everytime we play." She heard a familiar voice call out, and then a few more sounds of dead leaves being stepped on.

"Well, if you knew I always hid here, then you would've found me earlier!" Michiya yelled back after releasing her hands from her face.

The footsteps stopped, and for a brief moment the only sound was the soft breeze carrying the sakura flowers across the garden. Then Michiya heard the footsteps start again, but faster. The small girl stood up and ran off. Even though Michiya's legs were small, the caretaker wasn't exactly a track star and Michiya had a lot of experience when it came to running. This was a relatively fair chase.

"If you think I'm gonna lose! You're gonna have to catch me!" Michiya called out to her favorite caretaker.

"You're gonna regret wasting your breath! I chase kids around everyday!" The caretaker shot back and began to pick up her pace.

Michiya stopped in her tracks when she reached a steep hill, there were probably lots of small sticks down there that could scratch her.

It's better to forfeit now so no one gets hurt.

Michiya turned around to see that her seeker was getting closer. "I don't want to lose!" She screamed before preparing herself to roll down the hill.

Seeing this, the caretaker ran at full speed to jump at her. Both of them rolled down the steep hill. Protecting her with her arms, none of the sticks even reached Michiya.

"I got you!" The woman laughed once they reached the end.

"You idiot! Are you hurt, Candy?" Michiya sat up with a mixture of worry and guilt in her eyes. But Candy wrapped her arms around Michiya and laid her back down. "Don't worry about me, I'm just glad you're okay.." She whispered into the young girl's ear. The warmness of her voice made Michiya feel happy. They both eventually got tired and fell asleep there.

Later they got scolded because people were out looking for them for hours.

Times were so easy then...

"Ah geez, Michiya-san. You can't keep on falling asleep here. Especially when you're going back to school today." A maid walked in the private library that Michiya had fallen asleep in the previous night while doing schoolwork. She opened the curtains letting in the bright early-morning sunlight.

I didn't expect to be awoken like this. For a second, I believed I was a little girl again. It's such a disappointment to realize it was only a dream. I rub my tired eyes and try to adjust to the light.

"Sorry, I guess I lost track of time.." I yawned, and as soon as I was done stretching I began thinking of my plan for the day. The maid rushed me to my room so I could change into my uniform and do my hair. I wish she would leave me alone today, this maid in particular annoys me for no reason in particular. I know she is right when saying I shouldn't have slept on a chair in the library, but her nagging isn't helping with the pain in my neck.