N/N: Hi

N/N: Hi! Minnasan! Thank you very much for the reviews of this story. You can imagine how happy and encouraged I was whenever I received a review alert in my mail box. Thank you very much for liking the story. I will try my very best to complete it.

This is the last few chapters of the entire flash back. I might need another one or two more chapters to go before wrapping up the entire flashbacks and moving on to the current scenarios from Chapter 6.

Once again…THANK YOU!

--

WHAT IF…

Chapter 20 – Express Love (2)

Shizuka was standing in front of Rui staring at him, obviously ill at ease. "Unfair to her…? What have you done to create the unfairness?" Shizuka started to speak and her voice trembled with hidden anger.

"I…" Rui rose to his feet and stood behind the door for a moment, shock still, then began to move toward her. "Why are you here?" Rui tried to avoid answering the question.

"So…" Shizuka looked at him incredulously. "You do have feelings for Makino Tsukushi. Am I right to say that?" The sudden sharp pain Shizuka felt at the pit of her stomach made her realized that how much she wanted him to deny it. "I…I probably shouldn't have come." Shizuka said, then turned and hurried off.

"Don't go!" Rui quickly grabbed hold of her arm from behind, encircling her waist with his other arm.

"If I weren't so selfish, Rui…" Shizuka swallowed. "You would probably be happier today."

"For goodness sake," Rui muttered, "what have you been thinking?" Rui was looking at her with a mixture of feelings, "You know I love you, you do know, right?"

Shizuka turned to stare at Rui, "Of course I do." Shizuka quickly nodded. "But still, it scares me. It's as though two different people are living inside me, and I don't even know them."

"Don't leave me." Rui pleaded and looked into her eyes but she turned away, unable to look into his eyes. "I won't go….but…don't…ever…let me go." Her voice was trembling; she then put her arms around his neck and held him close to her. The moment she felt Rui's hands tightening around her waist, she had once again become the victor in this game. It was an extra bonus for her when she noticed a vague figure standing somewhere far away and yet near enough to see what was happening between them.

--

For Makino Tsukushi, time had lost its circadian rhythm; she had fallen into a tesseract of time where second, minute and hour blended into one.

Why did I turn back?

Makino stared at the two lovers, there they stood, in each other's arms. Her mind become paralyzed, refusing to function when their lips finally met each other. She thought again of Rui's position and those irreplaceable feelings he had had for Toudou Shizuka. As she looked at them, Makino knew that this might be the turning point in their relationship, perhaps, even hers.

If Rui had chosen to be with her, his love for her wouldn't have been complete. For the first time, Makino Tsukushi felt that she really understood Hanazawa Rui.

Maybe it is better this way.

Makino had concluded; it was much easier to face what was happening to her life and she could no longer hide from herself the fact that she would never become the person whom Hanazawa Rui trusted his most intimate and secret thoughts, someone whom he could share his dreams with.

--

Shizuka had been staring at Makino's leaving silhouette as she held Rui tighter.

Not having a direct confrontation with me?

Just as she was getting very puzzled by Makino's reaction, a strong realization slapped her hard across the face. Makino Tsukushi held nothing back from life, giving herself to everything wholeheartedly.

By not making the confrontation, was she mocking those who were afraid to give?

Who were afraid, period.

Someone like…Toudou Shizuka.

Makino Tsukushi, it is not over yet.

Although Shizuka was where she wanted to be, doing what she wanted to do, her eyes were filled with fury when Makino's reaction didn't make sense to her.

Irrationally, Shizuka hated Makino even more because she was a giver.

If it had not been Makino Tsukushi, Toudou Shizuka would have had no worries at all.

To be continued…