She's the Real Challenge

52: The Runaway

10 Years Ago

The fifteen-year-old released a huge sigh of relief. 'Di niya mapigilang mapangiti dahil nakamit niya na ang kalayaan. Basking in her successful attempt at escaping, Yumi reminisced about the event that pushed her into running away from the luxurious yet controlled life she had lived for years.

It was dinner time at the Kazehaya residence when Yumi received the shock of her life.

"Yumi, you will be meeting your future husband next month," her father announced as he took a sip of water. Walang pagbabago sa expression ng ama niya matapos nitong sabihin iyon. Para bang nakiusap lang ito sa kanyang ipasa ang ulam.

Gulat na napatingin ang magkapatid na Yumi at Yuki sa kanilang ama. Yumi swallowed hard before speaking as calmly as she could. Alam niyang strict ang tatay niya at wala siyang balak na i-trigger pa ito. "What do you mean, Otou-sama?"

"You heard me. Just be on your best behavior. His very conservative family will join us for dinner on the first Sunday of next month." Iyon na ang huling sinabi ng kanilang ama bago ito tumayo mula sa dinner table. There was no point in arguing, the Kazehaya siblings were raised knowing that their father's word was always final.

Yumi turned to look at their mother who was still sipping her tea. "Be an obedient daughter, Yumi." As expected, her mother was a hundred percent in agreement with her father. Yumi held in the sigh she wanted to release. It was hard to mask her disappointment, shock and fear but she kept a straight face and continued eating her dinner.

Mabilis ang takbo ng isip ni Yumi. There was no way in hell that she'd let herself be in an arranged marriage like some possession. She didn't even want to meet the guy she was supposed to marry. Even if this guy happened to be a prince, her feelings for Cas wouldn't fade.

In the time it took to finish her meal, Yumi had already come up with a plan to run away. She will withdraw all her savings from the bank account that she kept a secret from her parents 'cause there's no way she could get the money from her trust fund. It should be enough to survive for a few months in Manila, where commodities were much cheaper than in Tokyo.

She was still hesitant to ask help from Lily, a friend she met in preschool. They were close but Lily and her brother seemed to have a special connection that she cannot keep up with. Lily even called Yuki by his other name—Kendrick, and she was the only one who did that. Siguradong hindi hindi maitatago ni Lily kay Yuki ang plano niya. And Yuki, being the perfect filial son that he is, wouldn't be able to keep the secret from their parents. Yumi wasn't going to take that risk.

Planning came easy to her because she craved freedom. With her limited resources, executing the plan was harder but she was determined to make it work. The hardest thing about running away was that she also had to run away from Cas. Hindi niya na ito pwedeng reply-an pa. Her life was going to be chaotic and she won't be dragging him into it.

So here she was, three weeks later, sitting on the floor, surrounded by large boxes in the cargo hold of a cargo ship bound for Manila.

Yumi managed to sneak out of her school earlier that day. She proceeded to the Port of Tokyo where she stealthily slipped into one of the freight ships bound for the Philippines. 'Di naman siya nahirapan doon, she was familiar with the logistics of the cargo ship business. Her family owned KZ Shipping Co., a multinational freight ship company. She had just illegally boarded a ship that her father owns.

* * *

Nanatili siya sa cargo hold, kasama ng daan-daang kahon. Lumalabas lang siya 'pag gabi para kumuha ng pagkain sa kusina ng barko at gumamit ng banyo. She was lucky that she wasn't caught by anyone but after ten days of only eating at night, she was feeling rather weak when they finally arrived at their destination.