If We Fall In Love

Chapter 1

She slowly opened the window to let all the sunshine enter her room. She looked outside and watched the little children playing. A smile ran across her face. She stretched out her hands in the air to feel the coolness of the morning, to feel the breeze rushing against her face. She gazed out the window and realized how delightful life truly is.
“Yume! Come down now! Breakfast is ready!” A shout broke out into the quietness. Yume alarmed herself. Oh yes! She still has to prepare for school. She almost forgot after being so carried away by the cool breeze of the morning she always enjoys.
“Yes, Mama! I’m almost coming!” Yume shouted back. She quickly took a bath, dressed in her Shoki Senior High School uniform and fixed her hair in pigtails. Yes, in the childish pigtails way even if she is now a seventeen-year-old and is near to graduate soon after her last year in high school. Everyone comments and grumbles about her style and tells her to grow up but she simply replies that she doesn’t care about what they say and likes her hair that way. Yume looked at herself one more time on the mirror, smiled, and quickly rushed downstairs. She kissed her mama lightly on the cheek and sat down before the table. She glared surprisingly at the boy sitting opposite her.
“Uchi?! What are you doing here?” Yume exclaimed. The boy called Uchi, in his early twenties, looked away and ignored the question. Her mama laughed and answered for him.
“Oh, Yume! Aren’t you glad he’s here? My boy Uchi hasn’t been around for so long!” her mama, Mrs. Hiruka, exclaimed back, as she continued preparing the orange juice for all of them.
“But I thought he was on some mission, doing his duty as a bounty hunter!” Yume said.
Hiruka Uchi, Yume’s youngest brother but still is older than her since she is simply the youngest child, is a not-so-serious bounty hunter who is easily bored with his life. Yume isn’t even sure if he really is a bounty hunter, because it is also rumored that he is a ninja who studied in some ninja school in a faraway country. Sometimes, he is also a merchant who sells all sorts of good-luck stuff. He does not know what to really do with his life. He didn’t want to have a doctor for a wife, like his oldest brother Masuke who is having troubles pretending to be rich; neither did he want to be betrothed to some daughter of a modern-day businessman like his older brother Narukami who is trying to learn now to love that damned girl. Probably it will be nice to be like Yume, but it would be the worst because she doesn’t know how to grow up.
Yume, Uchi and Mrs. Hiruka ate Western-style pancakes and drank native orange juice for their breakfast.
“Mama, these pancakes are so delicious!” Yume praised.
“Oh thank you, dear!” Mrs. Hiruka replied cheerfully.
Uchi grunted and said, “Aah, Yume. You’re just glad because it’s not noodles. You’re tired of Mama’s noodles.”
Yume frowned at him sharply. “That’s not true, Uchi. Whatever you say!” she exclaimed. They glared at each other fiercely.
“Stop it, okay? Yeah, I realized I wanted to take a break for awhile from noodles. Besides, it’s the first day of the month. But I’ll be cooking them again tomorrow, don’t you worry.” Mrs. Hiruka said, with a smile. Yume and Uchi both sighed.
Mrs. Hiruka has been long fond of noodles and she even has a business of selling noodles she experimented with. The people love it but as for the Hiruka children, having a ‘noodle mom’ is not such a good idea especially if they’re the first ones to taste the new noodles. And if it’s not good, they can do nothing but finish the food. But even so, the Hiruka Noodle Shop is one of their means of living. The other is the Hiruka Kendo Club, built by the Hiruka brothers with Yume as the star member, which invites everyone to take Kendo lessons.
After much thought, Uchi suddenly stood up. “I have to go now.” He said and rushed out the door in a split second.
“What has happened to him?” Mrs. Hiruka asked surprisingly.
“Oh yes! I almost forgot. Today is the coming of the famous Takamaru clan.” Yume said. It took awhile for her mother to absorb it.
“Takamaru? The clan that Master Shokigure mentioned, that wants to help Shoki country out?” She confirmed.
“Yes, Mama. And we have to welcome them today. I might as well go now.” Yume said.
“Yes you must and probably surely Kenji is waiting for you.” Mrs Hiruka reminded.
“Kenji! I almost forgot about him! I’d go now, Mama!” Yume exclaimed. She grabbed her backpack, kissed her mama and hurried out the door.

A brown-haired boy, also around in his late teen years, waited impatiently under the Sakura tree as a pigtailed girl wearing a matching khaki long-sleeved blouse and miniskirt approached him.
“Kenji, I’m sorry!” Yume pleaded as she approached her long time best friend, Kenji. He ignored her and started walking away.
“Kenji, please. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to – uh, really. This is the last time, I promise.” Yume whined. He didn’t stop walking and she clung to his elbows. Kenji stopped abruptly and glanced at Yume seriously.
“Promise me that this is the last time, okay?” He said solemnly.
Yume smiled and nodded. “I promise!” She said. Kenji smiled a bit.
“Kenji-kun, do you know where the parade is?” Yume asked.
“Somewhere near school. But hey, why are you late?” Kenji asked back.
Yume sighed and smiled. “I don’t know. Probably because Uchi is back or maybe I enjoyed pancakes so much because mama always cooked noodles.” Yume laughed and shrugged.
“Uchi’s back? That’s great. Tell him I’m challenging him on a one-on-one Kendo match!” Kenji replied loudly.
“Kendo match? Are you sure? The last time you had a match with him, you were torn into pieces! Haha, improve a little more!” Yume teased.
“Ah! Don’t belittle me! I’ve trained so well!” Kenji bragged.
“Oh really? Then fight with me first.” Yume challenged, raising her fists up. Kenji let out a little laugh.
“You? You’re no match for me! Grow up first and remove those pigtails, will you?” Kenji teased back. Yume frowned and rolled her eyes.
For years, this has been the usual situation between Kenji and Yume. They have been the best of friends since they were three years old but yet has been the best of cat-and-dog enemies too. They casually fight for the fun of it and ended up bursting into laughs. The truth is, they have even met in a fight when they both went to the same preschool and Kenji decided to spill some juice on Yume when they were having a recess. They hated each other from then on and decided to become friends when they reached third grade. No one ever thought that they’d become best friends even until this long. They were complete opposites.
Yume was bubbly, bright, cheerful and childish while Kenji was somewhat serious and quiet. He only becomes outspoken when he is with Yume. Kenji also grew in a famous wealthy clan, the Morimato clan and in fact, he is the protector of the clan princess Maia, his cousin. It was a good thing that the clan accepted Yume even if she came from a broken family. She has also been Maia’s closest friend. Apart from these differences, Yume is more inclined into the arts while Kenji is an academic honor student who is also a good tennis player and an aspiring monochrome painter. The only thing that could have bind them together is their love for the martial arts specifically Kendo. Being the protector of the princess, Kenji is required to learn martial arts to be a good protector so he took lessons at the Hiruka Kendo Club where he became closer to Yume. Yume, on the other hand, learned martial arts because her brothers told her to do so. Yume is obviously better than Kenji when it comes to Kendo, but he doesn’t want to accept it.
Finally, after walking and teasing each other, Kenji and Yume reached the road of the parade. It was already crowded with the townspeople and they made their way through the crowd to look for their friends and schoolmates. They found Maia, Kenji’s cousin and her fiancé, Karumichi Shiso. Maia was a young girl of sixteen but was already engaged to a man she did not love. She was betrothed and not allowed to love any other man.
A loud trumpet sounded. The townspeople clapped. The Shoki country soldiers blew their follow-up trumpets. Music started to play everywhere. A man on royal suits riding on a horse appeared first. Then soldiers followed and an announcer introduced him to the townspeople. Everyone focused their attention finally to a very beautiful young lady in a very elegant dress. She too was riding a white horse which stopped and let her wave shyly to the townspeople. She was attractive and lovely and no doubt that she was the clan princess. Everyone clapped and cheered. Finally, the clan master, introduced as Master Nosa of the Takamaru clan appeared. He waved higher and smiled at the people. This is the town he chose to stay and serve for so long. He gave up his country not because of any country vs. family matters but because Shoki country is rich and prosperous and he wants to find a nice, young and brave man for his daughter to marry. That wouldn’t be hard after his clan being so well-known for the unending riches. The parade moved on to the center building of Shoki country where Master Shokigure is staying. Some business matters are to be discussed.

“Classes are cancelled!” Someone announced after the parade disappeared on. “Classes are cancelled!” The scream repeated. All the students cheered loudly.
“We have no classes!” Yume cheered. Maia and Shiso jumped. Kenji sighed. While everyone hated school, he didn’t. He is a sort of genius and he loved school. For him, life is like a candy when he’s at school.
“That’s okay, Kenji-kun. How about if we all treat ourselves some special chocolates?” Yume suggested, who definitely had a sweet tooth. The three cheered and Kenji can’t do anything but follow. Yume clung to Kenji’s arms.

Note: Shoki Country has a culture somewhere near Japan’s. But then again, there are some differences…