Behind Closed Doors
-TheSilentReader-
SUMMARY:
Touko found out from the Yuuki himself about her the secret of her birth. Then, without explaining when, where, how he got that information, Yuuki confessed to her that he loved her. Since then, series of events that possibly happened before that fateful event was captured in this fan-fiction, from the day they met two years ago to the present time, when Yuuki finally confessed to her. The time line was meant to be not in order; the story jumps from different parts of the their lives where they silently affect each other.
At present time:
Touko went outside the room, silently closing the door with a soft click. She was furious, but she maintained her manners as a lady should. She went rigid after closing the door, and scavenged for air, just to maintain the blood that rose to her head. She was determined not to have tantrums right now.
Yuuki sank on the couch, terrified of what happened. It was a quick fight, and as far as the argument went, nothing was concluded out of it. She was unusually angry. She threw her anger at him very calmly; apathy almost enveloped her face as her tongue lashed words through his heart. Her face smiled bitterly before she closed the door. It was so hard watching her.
Before she made her grand exit, a slap contacted Yuuki's face. The slap squarely hit his left cheek that a powerful, crisp sound resonated through the living room, leaving Yuuki struck with surprise. He tried to stop her from exiting the room, yet his feet could not move.
The same thing was happening all over again.
It was a slip of his tongue that he overheard Yumi and Touko's conversation inside the former's room. He kept it for almost two months. Touko did not know that she and sister's conversation had slipped away through the door, and prodded right through Yuuki's ears. It was uncalled for, but he could not help it.
He wants to know more about her. He was very intrigued by drill-hair girl that once came to the house and ate dinner with them. She was the mere reason why Yumi was growing to be as mature as ever. His sister was very lucky to have Touko's confidence. And now, her confidence to him was shattered because of that damned slip-of-the-tongue. He dreaded more what she said than the sound slap of her hand against his face.
He gained strength after hearing the soft that the door lock made, and rushed to open the door once more. He almost lost balance as he ignored the couches that occupied the room. He felt sudden cold wind that rushed through his now sensitive face. He went for the doorknob. He opened the door and look for the petite figure. He thought that she was gone, and went home immediately.
(Un)Fortunately, he was wrong.
He felt her collide against his chest, but because of this, he lost balance and forgot that his hand was still attached to the door knob. Eventually, they both fell.
-ooo-
-ooo-
Touko's rested her back against the wooden door. Even though she told him bitterly that she will never set foot again at his house whenever he was present, she could not even take a step further away from the room. No matter how angry she wanted herself to be, she could not muster the right emotion. Had she gone soft? No, that has never been the problem. Ever since Yumi-sama accepted her as she was, the burden of being... of different kin was beyond her. She knew, that day, for the first time that she held hands with Yumi-sama in the train station, she knew, that blood ties does not count for the ones that we love. Why? Why does he know?
Then she heard troubling footsteps resonating from the door. Yuuki-san. He must—
She turned instinctively, out of reflex, to know what's happening, and before common sense kicked in that it was such a stupid impulse, the door opened. The wooden door creaked against the aging nuts-and-bolts, and gravity was pulling her to the next solid object. It was his chest.
Talk about awkward. Never in her life that she felt unguarded. He tried to regain his composure, but since she was on top of her, "dying" was now the right term for such herculean effort not to move against her. Their eyes met. She started to struggle—
"Get off me!"
"Shouldn't you be the one who must 'get off me'?"
"Then, let me go!" Why on earth were his hands locked and rested in the small of her back?
"No."
Tackling a girl is one thing; tackling Touko-san is...calming. She dared not to scream; she did not want to show Yuuki-san that she could not do anything because she's a woman. Stupid men and their strength, she decided, and before she knew it, she was flipped with her back against the floor. This was definitely not a good position to be into.
"Please, just let me explain. Promise me that you'll listen, then I'll set you free."
"No. What I heard a while ago was enough."
"No, you are jumping into ridiculous conclusions! Ouch!"
Ridiculous? "Fine!"
"Alright, fine." He immediately rolled over and jumped straight up, and quickly let out his hand for Touko. As usual, she did not take it. Stubborn as she was, she straightened up too, and arranged the pleats of her short black skirt. Her black stockings did not have any mark even after the fall. Her long sleeved cardigan was pure white, and in contrast with her red blouse underneath it. Her eyes once again focused to his. It wasn't easy to face him again. After all, his warmth was too much for her.
Touko returned again to the living room, and sat on the largest couch in the room. She sat to the extreme left corner, determined to be nearest to the door. Reading her thoughts, Yuuki positioned himself to a smaller couch, but just in front of her. Only a coffee table separated them.
Brave enough. She maintained as a rigid figure in front of him. And after expressing the perfect "irritation", she lowered her eyelids and pasted a smirk about her lips. Her signature face. Even Yumi-sama had a hard time figuring her whole facade.
She began: "You may begin."
Permission accepted. "Touko." He exhaled. She blinked a little.
"I know that it was very rude of me to pry on your personal life. And I know that..." His voice trailed off.
"Look. I love you." He looked into her eyes. I thought this whole conversation is about my secret! Why the sudden confession? She tried to turn her face away, but it seemed that she was more interested to his facial expression and hated to admit it, wanted to paint it to memory.
"Is this out of pity?" Endure it. Endure it.
"No."
"You know my secret; you've seen the rudest of my actions. Yet, you love me?"
"I do. I love you."
"Since when?"
"I don't know."
"You should know."
"Should I?"
Silence. It took a moment for Touko to debate, ponder, sort out and pick the very best scenario for her to get away from being cornered by Yuuki-san. She literally jumped of the couch.
"Wait!" He grabbed her right arm firmly as she tried to escape from the room. Barely out of it, she decided that fighting him would do no good. He waited patiently for her reply. No, he could not wait. Knowing his sister's imoto, he deduced that only two answers would suffice for this situation: a yes or a no. He feared for both.
She exhaled a huge volume of air. Does he know that she's very nervous about this confrontation? What if he doesn't like her response?
"I'll think about it."
Huh? "That I love you?"
"No. That if I have loved you, too."
"Oh." He released her left arm, leaving warmth upon her. His heat lingered a little. She's missing his hand that fast.
"Goodbye."
That was all she said. She ran out of the corridor heading outside the house. She could not stand the pressure of wanting to try more, more of what happened a while ago. Yuuki was surprisingly heavy and hard. Falling into his arms was like breathing fresh air after a long, long while. But then, this feeling, it felt like it happened before.
-ooo-
-ooo-
He met her two years ago during the time when he, along with her sister, inquired to Kashiwagi-sempai about a matter regarding the Hanadera festival and indirectly about Sachiko-sama. It was a hot afternoon when they barged into Kashiwagi's house and bribed him with Maple Parlor jello. He was only expecting to see Kashiwagi-sempai, and for Yuuki, this was just one of the ordinary days that he would borrow his senior's power to endure this burden of presidency. But after he stepped outside of the house, his mind was not focused anymore on his mission, but on Matsudaira Touko, who served them iced tea.
She asked Yumi about her, and later found out that Matsudaira was a relative of Sachiko-sama and Kashiwagi-sempai. It was like dealing with a horrifying combination of both seniors—Kashiwagi-sempai's unforgivable wit and the Ojou-sama-elegance innate in Sachiko-sama. Intimidating is the right word. Yumi seemed to be the first to see beyond her facade, even after all the rejection and apathy that Yumi tolerated when she had a misunderstanding with Sachiko-sama. He liked nice girls. She acted otherwise. So, was Matsudaira Touko a "nice girl" based from his intuition, or was he starting to deviate from his usual preference?
Against the door of Yumi's bedroom, against his wishes, he found out her secret. After over-hearing Touko's confessions and problems after a very private conversation with Yumi, he told himself, I like nice girls.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Each chapter could be independent from one another, however, it is advised that you read every chapter. Each chapter was dedicated for a single point in the light novels that Yuuki and Touko possibly interacted with each other. Please read and review.