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ellie-winthrope · 2 years

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Remembrance - [Kiro]

It is because separation is inevitable that we should cherish the moment and those dear to us.

Words: 3258 words

When the girl had reached home after work, she turned on her phone to quickly skim through the notifications, which had popped up in succession on her phone screen.

Without looking away from the screen, she habitually took off her shoes and placed them into the open cabinet by the entrance door with one hand, while her other hand was skillfully sorting through the list of notifications by swiping away the unimportant ones.

Eventually, her finger, which was actively swiping across the phone screen, had halted upon a specific notification. It was neither work-related nor was it from anyone she knew. It was a notification regarding a news that she had been following for months.

Without hesitation, she opened the notification by unlocking her phone’s lock screen. Her grim expression gradually darkened as she read the full news article. By the time she was done, she had seemed even more weary and dispirited than before.

“So, it’s really happening…”

Few months ago, the government had decided to redevelop the rural areas at the outskirts of Loveland City. The town, where the girl used to live together with his late father before they moved to Loveland City, had been selected as part of the areas for redevelopment.

Since the entire town would need to be demolished for the redevelopment to take place, this had incurred severe opposition from the townspeople, who had been living there for generations. Of course, the government had offered the townspeople monetary compensation, along with arranging for their temporary residence before they could move back into their new homes in the redeveloped town, but it didn’t help much in appeasing the townspeople’s grievances.

After all, sentimentality was something that could never be compensated monetarily.

Moreover, the idea of tearing down the entire place that was filled with memories just to remake it into a new settlement was a disconcerting proposal. Having been living there in peace all these years, the townspeople would prefer that everything stayed the same. Even the girl, who had moved away from the town around a decade ago, had felt wistful at the thought of the town that she remembered in her childhood memories being erased just like that.

Although she had expected this outcome, that it would be unlikely for the redevelopment project to be retracted, she still held on to the slim hope that things would somehow take a turn for the better. She supported the townspeople’s effort in protesting against the redevelopment project by signing the public petition they organized and using what little spare time she had to spread awareness about the matter in social media.

Even though she knew that those efforts might not have made any difference, she still couldn’t avoid being disappointed and sad when reading the news article.

After closing off the news article, a message notification had coincidentally popped up on her phone screen.

[Is everything okay, Miss Chips?]

She blinked twice while reading the message.

Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t spent much time with Kiro recently, despite the two of them being involved in the filming of a food show for the past two weeks. At most, they only exchanged fleeting glances with one another before she was called off to review the details of the show with the director, while Kiro would be dragged off by the make-up artist to get ready for the filming.

[You seemed down today.]

Was it that obvious?

It was true that she was feeling disheartened these few days because of the town redevelopment, but she thought she had done well in hiding her feelings and acting like usual while on the filming site.

If Kiro had noticed it, did that mean that everyone else on site was aware too but was merely keeping quiet about it?

That possibility had caused the girl to frown unconsciously. On top of being in low spirits, she instantly felt ashamed at that moment. The last thing she wanted was for others, especially her colleagues, to think of her as someone who couldn’t manage her emotions during work.

Feeling frustrated and burdened by her train of thoughts, the girl tossed her bag down at the side of the coffee table before plopping herself face-down onto the couch in the living room. She felt tired, so very tired, be it physically or mentally. She could already feel herself drifting in and out of consciousness just by keeping her eyes closed.

How nice would it be if the next time she woke up, all her worries were merely a passing dream.

Just when the girl was on the brink of dozing off on the couch, the smartphone that she had unknowingly clutched within her right hand had vibrated twice while emitting a ‘ding’ sound. She would have ignored it, if she hadn’t suddenly remembered the most recent message and how worried the sender would be if she were to remain unresponsive. So, she reluctantly rolled over onto her back and held her phone above her face as she read the message notification on the screen.

[If Miss Chips ever needs someone to talk to, superstar Kiro is always ready to hear you out.]

The corner of the girl’s lips had curved upwards involuntarily when reading the message. She held her phone close to her lips as she whispered softly.

“Thank you.”

Even though Kiro didn’t know about the source of her unhappiness, the girl had felt a little better from reading his message. It was like a gentle reminder, telling her that she didn’t have to bear everything on her own.

Having promised to never hide things from each other, the girl had initially planned to talk to Kiro about the town redevelopment matter, but there hadn’t been an appropriate time for that due to their respective jam-packed work schedules. As the days passed, she gradually hesitated to talk about her problem as she felt that it was trivial and insignificant when compared with other more pressing matters. Believing that she will eventually get over it after a while, she hid her feelings and acted like nothing was amiss.

In the end, Kiro still noticed it.

The girl knew that he wouldn’t belittle her problems and he would listen attentively to her until she was done, but she didn’t want to trouble him with her insignificant issues when he barely had time for himself.

Nonetheless, he had currently taken the initiative by messaging her and offering to be her listener. It would be impolite and hypocritical of her to refuse and insist on keeping the matter to herself now, especially when she was the one who had always asked him to tell her if there was something troubling him.

Nodding to herself, the girl sat up properly on the couch and started composing a message to Kiro. After several repetitions of typing and deleting her words for the past few minutes, she eventually delivered a short and simple reply to her intended recipient.

[Kiro, do you have time next Wednesday?]

————————

While shielding her eyes from the glaring sun, the girl gazed up at the cloudless blue sky. It seemed unlikely that it would rain today, which was great since she would be able to make full use of the entire day for her plans. With a resolute smile, she held the digital camera tightly with both hands and strode towards Kiro, who was currently adjusting his disguise, which consisted of a cap, a pair of sunglasses and a face mask.

To be honest, she didn’t think that any form of disguise would be enough to prevent the celebrity from being identified, but it would still be safer for Kiro to have disguises on than for him to go out without them. Even if the town was situated at the outskirts of Loveland City, it wouldn’t be surprising for his fame to have reached this rural town or even the possibility of stumbling upon his fans during their exploration of the town.

Having noticed her approaching, Kiro stopped fiddling with his disguise. Although his expression had been fully concealed by the sunglasses and mask, the girl could still sense that he was beaming at her.

“Decided on where to go?” he asked while stuffing his hands into his jean pockets.

Before their arrival at the town, the girl had told him about the rural town’s significance to her and the redevelopment project that will be carried out soon. She had also informed him about her plans on visiting the town to preserve the last scenes of the memorable places there with her camera, which Kiro found to be meaningful and was enthusiastic to be involved in her little project.

“Mmhm.” The girl hummed with a firm nod. “There are a few places I planned to visit today, but I am not sure if there are still there since it’s been so long since the last time I was here.”

“That’s okay. We have the entire day to explore this place. So, just take this as our little adventure.”

The girl smiled and nodded in agreement.

The bit of melancholy feeling that she was feeling ever since she decided to visit the town had dissipated at that moment, making her heart felt lighter. Kiro had always been adept at lifting one’s spirit simply through his words and cheerful vibe. It was no wonder that he was regarded as a “little sun” by his fans.

After keeping her digital camera in her handbag, the girl pointed at the street ahead.

“Since it’s close to lunch time, let’s go check out if the family restaurant is still there. I remember they made the best pork buns in town.”

“If you said so, then I definitely have to try it!” exclaimed Kiro with evident excitement in his voice.

The girl had giggled in response before she reached out to grab Kiro’s hand.

“In that case, we better be quick before it’s sold out!”

Having said that, the girl turned and ran ahead while pulling Kiro along with her.

Kiro, who hadn’t expected that, was initially surprised. Behind the black-tinted sunglasses, his bright blue eyes had widened when the girl initially took hold of his hand. However, upon seeing her bright smile and their intertwined hands, he found himself gradually breaking into a grin while being pulled along by the girl.

As they held each other’s hand and ran down the old cobblestone street, he felt liberated, as though nothing else mattered.

As though it was just the two of them in the whole wide world.

————————

For the entire day, the girl visited several places in the rural town as she followed the traces of her vague childhood memories together with Kiro.

Much to her relief, the family restaurant that she remembers was still up and running. It was still managed by the same owner from before she had moved out of the town a decade ago. The most surprising thing was that, even now, the owner still remembers her and her father. After exchanging words with the owner about the changes in their respective lives during this past decade, the owner had given her and Kiro extra servings of the pork buns to takeaway for free as a gift of their unexpected reunion.

“Delicious!”

Seeing Kiro with his cheeks stuffed full with the pork bun like a hamster, the girl giggled while suppressing the urge to poke his cheeks. Having been stuck on a strict diet after completing the shooting of the recent food show, the girl could understand Kiro’s current bliss in being able to enjoy flavorful and hearty food without any regards about his diet.

Of course, for Kiro’s sake, she would be keeping this hearty meal a secret from Savin.

After they were done with the pork buns, the girl then brought Kiro along to look for her primary school, which was still there. The most noticeable differences from her memories would be the addition of a small athletic field for outdoor sport activities and the once plain white walls were now covered with various colorful but faded murals.

While admiring the faded murals on the wall from outside the school compound, the girl caught sight of a group of primary school students from beyond the adjacent wire fences. The students were shrieking excitedly while running around the school field in their gym clothes. It took her a moment of observation to realize that they were playing a game of tag among themselves.

The sight made her smiled as she recalled the time when she used to play tag with her friends after school. Back then, the whole school was like their private playground after the classes were over. They would run along the school hallways and hide in the empty classrooms.

“This is where little Miss Chips used to study?”

Snapping back to reality, the girl nodded at Kiro before she looked back towards the students at the athletic field.

“Since I moved into town a few months after the school semester had started, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to catch up on my studies or that I couldn’t fit in with the other students in class. It didn’t help much that I was a timid and socially-awkward child back then.”

“Eh? Little Miss Chips being socially awkward? Really?”

“It’s true! That’s why dad was always worried about me.”

At the mention of her late father, the girl slowly lowered her gaze to the floor. After a moment, she lifted her head and turned towards Kiro, the momentary gloom from before had dissipated as she continued light-heartedly while smiling, “Fortunately, everyone was nice and considerate towards me. They help me catch up with my studies and they even accompany me when dad was late in picking me up from school.”

“Those are nice friends you have there.”

“Yes, they are.”

After the trip to the primary school, the girl visited the community library and then the playground. Those were places where she used to spend her weekends with her late father. At each location, she would retell the fond memories of those places to Kiro.

It was truly strange.

She had expected that by reminiscing about those times that she had spent with her late father in this town will inevitable brought back the grief and sadness that she had over his death. It was for that reason that she had avoided visiting the town until now, but now that she had visited those places with Kiro, she didn’t feel as miserable as she had anticipated. Although there was still a tinge of pain along with melancholy when recalling those past childhood memories at each of those familiar places, she had felt more warm tenderness than heartache.

Was it because the current her had grown to be able to cope with the grief from that time?

Did this mean that she had matured from her past self?

Honestly, she wasn’t sure.

While looking through the pictures that she had taken with her digital camera throughout the day, the girl noticed that the sun had already descended, which allowed the stars to make their appearance along with the crescent moon on the violet-tinged sky. Thinking that the view of the sky was beautiful, the girl instinctively directed her camera at the sky and took a picture of it. She spent a moment to examine the picture that she had taken before eventually nodding in satisfaction.

These photos would be the last mementos that she had of this town before the redevelopment effort, which would be taking place in less than a week later. Even though the only changes to the rebuilt town would be the addition of more facilities and everything else would merely be made anew in their respective locations, it was still fundamentally different from the town before the redevelopment. Thus, she intended to preserve the current perspectives of this town in her photographs.

All in all, today’s outing had been a fulfilling one for her.

Aside from fulfilling her main objective in visiting all the places in her memories, she had managed to lift her spirits as well. While she couldn’t say that she was feeling completely fine, she had at least been able to come to terms with the town’s inevitable redevelopment and the memories related to her father. Honestly, if she had been on her own today, she doubted that she would have been able to accomplish all that she had achieved today.

After tucking the wind-blown strands of hair behind her ear, the girl looked over her shoulder at Kiro, who was resting at a distance away from her. He was gazing up at the sky while sitting on the one and only wooden bench at the small playground. Ever since the sun had descended, he had taken off his face mask and sunglasses, which revealed his captivating blue eyes. Having noticed her gaze, those bright eyes were filled with unconcealed joy as he waved his hand in her direction.

Seeing him in such a jovial mood had made her felt the same. Keeping the camera back into her handbag, the girl walked towards the wooden bench and sat down on the empty space next to Kiro. After a moment of silence, she turned towards the celebrity.

“Kiro.”

When he met her gaze, she had suddenly felt self-conscious. Even so, she didn’t look away from him and resumed her words.

“Thank you … for always being there for me. I am truly glad that you are here with me today.”

Upon hearing that, Kiro’s face had lit up brightly.

“I am the one who should be thanking you for the invitation! Besides getting to know about Miss Chip’s childhood, the fact that Miss Chips is comfortable with sharing those precious memories with me makes me super proud and delighted!”

The girl felt her cheeks burned up, but she still managed to spoke in a steady voice without looking away from him, “Just like how you have entrusted me with your secrets, I trust you too. Besides…”

If there was anything that she realized from today’s outing, it would be to not take things for granted. Just like the rural town, just like her late father, no one knew how long would things remain or when they would disappear. It might be years, months or they might even be gone on the very next day.

Even for Kiro, who was she to be certain that they would always be together in the future?

Hence, the constant reminder, “to cherish the moment and those dear to you”.

Seeing the questioning look on Kiro’s face, she hesitated on continuing her words for a moment. Since she wasn’t certain about how he felt towards her, the girl couldn’t help feeling cold feet all of a sudden. Although he had always been kind and cordial towards her, that didn’t necessarily mean that he felt the same way as her.

Moreover, words that had been spoken could never be taken back.

However, when she thought of her past regrets that was due to her indecisiveness, she regained the determination to carry on with her words.

“You’re the dearest person to me.”

No matter the outcome, she didn’t want to regret it when the opportunities had passed and she was left with an unchangeable outcome.

So, she will tell him this now.

“Kiro, I love you. I love you very, very much.”

Instead of gazing from afar, this time she will reach out to grasp her beloved star.

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