I thought it would be cool for me to come up with some other ways Misaki and Usagi met. Misaki might have a different attitude towards Usagi. I can still make him his spazztastic self, but he could also not be too afraid to admit his feelings to Usagi. So if Misaki hadn't walked in that fateful and seen Usagi attempting to kanoodle with his dumb brother...how would they have met?
I stood in the grocery store staring at the same things over and over again. If I passed out one more time Aikawa would just kill me. It didn't occur to me I had never made anything other than coffee, and I didn't know how to make any meals let alone what ingredients to make one with. It seemed like anything I would reach for was wrong.
"Do you need help with something?" Ah. This guy. He'd caught my attention when I first walked in. Everyone who worked here was a girl except for him. He looked girly with his big green eyes, pouty lips, and clipped back hair. He was also wearing a pick apron and cleaning vegetables with weird intensity when I walked in. I never liked guys who looked like him, but I felt a strange attraction to him from the moment I looked at him. I looked at his nametag. Takahashi.
I stared harder. Takahiro's brother. He couldn't be the same one from the wedding could he. That guy definitely didn't look like this. The same eyes though...I remember that night he was wearing all white. Every piece of his suite was white. He looked very good. His crazy hair was slicked back. He had a feminine face with strong features especially those eyes.
Girls were lingering around his table all night. He was staring into the crowd with little to no interest. I almost didn't believe he was the idiot Takahiro had always described to me. Actually he seemed rather cruel. I understood why after watching a girl approach him. She asked him to dance. He replied "I asked you to dance in middle school, but you rejected me in front of everyone. I'd rather not inflict the same pain on you if you don't mind." Then he went back to staring blankly into the crowd of everyone having fun. Everyone but me. The person I loved was being stolen.
Takahiro introduced us briefly after that. "This is my kid brother Misaki. Misaki, Usagi-san." His face lit up in an unexpected smile. It was cute. After I'd seen him scowl all night I thought he had no feelings. He left us at the table there. His frown reappeared once his brother walked away.
"Well Usagi-san, do you believe this will only end in someone being hurt? Your eyes say you do. Don't worry my brother wouldn't notice if you told him you loved him." It shocked me so much that he realized. I was more intrigued than anything. "You're a better person than me." After he said that I handed him a drink.
"You won't feel anything after this. That's how I am coping." He only smiled and sipped on the drink all night while staring blankly at everyone the same way. I was vaguely aware of Misaki suggesting things.
"Misaki I almost didn't notice you without the fancy suit." He looked at me for a minute and then smiled.
"Ah! Usagi-san. Well you look more comfortable today too. I get out of work in a couple minutes...why don't you have dinner with me instead?"
Misaki lived across the street from the grocery store in a place I would never live in. It wasn't bad, just cramped to say the least. An old couch was crammed into his small living room which was filled in every corner with manga. I saw The Kan and a couple girly things. It ranged from crazy action shows to paranormal things and just romances. He had a computer shoved in one corner and a small TV on a table.
His room was neat and tidy. A pretty big bed for a small person that probably used to be Takahiro's. It was filled with books too. These were mostly school books and practice work books. There were a couple papers about M University crumpled up and thrown in the trash can. I was about to bring it up when I saw a paper pinned to his wall that looked well used. Culinary arts. So that's what he really wanted to do.
The only way I could help was with money. I had plenty and barely anything to spend it on anyway. Misaki didn't seem to have a phone, cable, or a reliable computer. Tomorrow I'd have to pay a surprise visit here or something.
His bathroom was decorated with frogs. Everything seemed so...Misaki. He was someone that really couldn't be described with a couple words. He was just him and that was that. I didn't know him well yet, but I knew myself well enough. I wanted him. I was 28 and hadn't really had a relationship that wasn't a fling. The way I liked other people was different from the way I felt about Misaki now. I realize that what I wanted with Takahiro could've been with anyone. I just wanted to be in love.
I found it ironic not only did I have a serious crush on my best friend's brother, but that I was just moping over loving him yesterday. I sat on Misaki's couch with my hands clasped together tight. I wouldn't do anything to push Misaki away. After all he probably wasn't into guys if he was anything like Takahiro. I would have to test that though.
"So Misaki you must have a girlfriend by now." I mentioned this casually while we were eating. He spit water everywhere and then laughed. I tried not to smile and failed. "What?"
"I'm sorry. It's a natural question. I guess I always wanted a girlfriend...when I invited some people from school to Nii-chan's wedding I figured something would happen. Something did. I realized how people were. The girls that would never talk to me sat around my table because Nii-chan's wife Manami wanted everyone looking a certain way at her wedding. I'm not a different person because of how I looked. If they didn't like me before they shouldn't have bothered then." With a sigh he relaxed again. "How have you been? Something's changed."
"Yes. I realized I had a meaningless crush all these years. At first I was mad because I wasted my time, but now I am glad I was around. I also realized how easily I can fall for someone." Misaki glanced up.
"What do you mean?"
"Well I already like you. This is entirely different though." It was quiet for a while. Misaki just looked like he was thinking though.
"I'm not sure what to say."
"Well, I know you don't feel the same so it doesn't matter."
"No. Not that. I've just never even been with anyone so I'm happy sort of. I just thought that maybe the person who liked me might be a little different. Female to start with."
"You don't need to be with the opposite sex to fall in love Misaki. Maybe I can show you that." He looked panicked for a minute. He looked around a lot. I finally gave up and leaned over the table pulling him forward to meet me and kissed him.
