Love and Peace

Friendship or Love?

" What? Nozomu did that to Yume? " Asahi exclaims with surprise. " I cannot believe it... In my memories, Nozomu is a good boy who will always care for the others' feelings. " Kanata says. " He has changed already... He is not the one we knew! He is not my friend now! " Subaru shouts at them. They get into silence.  " Nozomu becomes the one we unknown now... I just can't imagine that there is a bad side hidden under his nice and friendly side. " Laura murmurs when hugging Yume with care. " I think that he is a dangerous person now... We should not meet him in this moment...  " Hime says calmly. " You means that we need to isolate him...? " Mahiru asks her loudly. " Mahiru! You should know that he is getting out of control... We don't know what will he do next to express his anger. We should have measures to treat him... Also, we should report to Principal Moroboshi as well... " Yozora tells her younger sister with a cold voice. " Do we really need to drive to extreme? He is pity as well... " Yume mumbles softly with tears. Everyone go silence. Subaru hugs her from the back and says, " We should not allow Nozomu to continue his immoral behaviors... We should correct him and bring him to the right side. " Yume gazes at him and nods unwillingly.

It is a nice morning. Nozomu starts his jogging around the school. When he jogs around, he sees a lot of students. When he greets with them, they stare at him with shame and ignore him. This makes him feel strange and hurt. He tries to find some familiar students to ask for the reasons. They just shout at him, " How could you treat Nijino san so badly? Shame on you! " Nozomu immediately knows what has happened. He wants to argue with Subaru and his friends. When he finds him in the canteen, he hears them talking about him.

" Every students in this school ignore Nozomu after knowing this news. " Hime says, " He seems to be hurt... " " This serves Nozomu right! He is mad! " Asahi yells loudly. " I feel shameful to have such a bad friend! " The others nod to show their agreements. 

Nozomu kneels on the ground suddenly. He feels that all his energy is removed. He cannot stand up still. " They all hate me... " He murmurs softly. " Who is there? " Suddenly, Yume asks when noticing the sound Nozomu made. Nozomu is shocked. He tries his best to leave by placing a hand on the wall for support.

He goes back to his room and locks the door. He sits on the bed and recalls everything happened yesterday.  " I have never thought of how bad your personality. I thought that you were still a good man before I saw this. However, you totally changed my view on you. Listen! We will never be friends from now on! "  He can clearly remember what Subaru said yesterday. His heart is so painful, just like being stabbed in his heart by a knife. Tears start to run down his cheek. He doesn't cry so much. He remembers, when he entered Four Stars Academy in the first day, he was too shy to meet new friends. He only lived in his own circle. He had meal alone, studied alone, underwent training alone... He was very lonely at that time. Vice versa, Subaru is an outgoing person. He could meet friends easily. And he was well-known among all the students, especially girls.  He was so brilliant... However, Subaru could notice Nozomu. He praised the hard work of Nozomu and trained with him. He helped Nozomu a lots. Gradually, they became friends. And Nozomu became more outgoing. He could be friends with Asahi and Kanata then. These all thanks to Subaru. Nozomu smiles unconsciously. It was so happy at that time because he can stay with his best friends, Subaru, Asahi and Kanata. The friendship is so precious... He knows, forced love can not bring happiness to the both sides. It is just a painful love, and it will gradually turn into hate. If he chooses love, he will lose all his best friends. He will lose his precious friendship. If he chooses friendship, he will lose his crush as well. "Which one is more important to me...? " He cries. Suddenly, he notices a photo on his desk. It is kept protectively in a photo frame. He cries even harder. It is the photo taken on the day they formed M4. They wore their new M4 uniform and took this photo after their first group performance. He mumbles when sobbing, " I know now! I understand now! The answer of which one is the most important for me, love or friendship... I finally understand... Friends is the precious thing for me! I can fall in love with many other girls in the future. And I can change my girlfriends... However, friends cannot be replaced by the others. They are my forever treasure. They will support me forever. They will help me when I face difficulties. They will comfort me when I am sad... How can I find such best friends again...? " He stands up, " I will choose my friends. " Then, he rushes out his room. 

He runs to the canteen. Everyone are still in there. " Nozomu kun? " Yume asks when standing out. Nozomu walks to the front of Yume. Subaru immediately protects Yume by stopping him to approach her. " What are you going to do? I won't let you to hurt Yume, Nozomu! " Nozomu suddenly bows to them. " Sorry, Yume chan! I finally understand, I should not force you to love me! And I do that to you... Sorry! I will not force you to love me anymore. I should support you and Subaru from now on! " Then, he turns to Subaru, " Sorry, I tried to steal Yume from your side. And I did something bad to Yume. I hurt your heart. I make you feel disappointed to me... I know that I should not plead for your forgiveness... But I really want to apologize to you. And I hope that we can still be friends... haha ... It is impossible, right? " Tears rolls down from his eyes onto the floor. All of them stare at him crying. Suddenly, Subaru hugs him. Asahi and Kanata follow up and hug him. " It is possible! The real Nozomu is coming back! The Nozomu I knew finally comes back! We are friends forever... " They mumble when crying. Nozomu cannot look at them with fully opened eyes. They are so shiny and sparkling. " Thank you... thank you... " He murmurs when smiling with his true heart. After they separate, Subaru asks Yume, " Will you blame me by accepting Nozomu? " Yume shakes her head gently, and says, " I won't blame you. And I won't blame Nozomu also. Nozomu kun, I have forgiven you! " She grins with tears. Subaru gives her a sudden hug, " Thank you, Yume... " Nozomu also cries, " Thank you, Yume chan... Although I have done a lot of bad things to you , you still forgive me... Thank you... " He looks at the others. Out of his expectation, everyone smile to him and say, " I have also forgiven you! " All of them hug together and cry for a while.

After tears are dried, Laura asks Nozomu, " Why do you understand everything in a sudden? " Everyone gaze at him and wait for his answer. Nozomu says with smile, " It is just because I have the best memories with Subaru and the others. They are my best friends. They are my treasures. I will regret if I lose them. " Subaru, Asahi and Kanata's eyes lighten up. They grin happily. Someone suggests them to take a photo. Four of them stand next to each other again. " I will never forget today. " Nozomu murmurs with a bright smile. " Because I understood an very important thing... " He looks at the smiles of his best friends. He smiles even brighter. " My best friends... "

Next chapter: Finale