Tonight
"I don't care about what others say…" The blonde looked her straight in the eyes and didn't speak again until she closed hers. "But, Ayuzawa, you feel that you have to be approved by others, isn't that so?"
Some stray tears formed in the corners of her eyes, which remained closed. She had to find the courage to speak, and when she found it, she stuttered a little.
"W-what's with you?" One of the tears fell but she ignored it. "What are you angry about?"
Takumi brought his hands up to her face, cupping it, causing her to open her eyes at last. A light blush appeared on her face, but his expression was serious.
"I'm angry because I'm lonely. Is that bad?"
Misaki's blush grew darker and she looked away, not knowing what to say. She hesitated once she found her words, stuttering in embarrassment again. "What? It can't be helped, can it?" Her gaze met the floor and she suddenly felt worthless, like she didn't deserve such an amazing person like him. "I… I've been like this all along…"
How selfish, she thought, to allow herself to be the same person throughout their entire relationship. Even Usui, her perverted, outer space alien boyfriend, had progressed, though it was mainly because of the hardships he had just faced in England. There were very serious issues that he faced alone for almost an entire month – an entire month of not being together. Even when she finally mustered up the strength and skills to follow him across the globe, she let her feelings get the best of her and ended up acting rashly.
Though he had stayed the same in his perverted ways (such as asking Misaki to tell him the color of her underwear), he had become so much stronger. He'd grown into a strong, sensible, reliable young man. She felt like she couldn't compare to him at all.
He was always showing up just at the right times to save her, she realized. When they first met at Maid Latte, he allowed her to rest because he knew how exhausted she was. Several other occurrences after that, too, including her meeting with Igarashi and the school trip and Sakura's planned date with Kuuga and so many other instances that she didn't quite know how to thank him.
"I know," Takumi said suddenly. He still wore his serious expression, but after seeing hers as she glanced up at him, he allowed concern to show. "It's not like I want you to change yourself."
Misaki was rendered speechless, and even her thoughts weren't fully making sense at the time. He was fine with her just the way she was? She didn't have time to think about it, however, because soon he began speaking again.
"Still… It's just that, at least for tonight – "
His lips meshed into hers before he could force himself to get another word out, and he could feel her relaxing under his embrace. The kiss lasted little longer than a few seconds, but once they pulled away she opened her eyes and, seeing his own rose-tinted cheeks, she finally understood.
"Fine."
Just the one little word cleared her mind of everything that was worrying her, and she pushed herself closer to Takumi to claim his lips once more, her hands around his face. It was a bit fiercer and lasted longer than the previous one, and she took the precious time to reflect on her current thoughts, now peaceful.
He accepted her just the way she was. It didn't matter to him that she was a bit shy around him, because he was the only one who had the privilege of seeing her like that. Her aggressiveness was just a bonus because of his slightly masochistic nature, and he made sure she knew of this every so often. And even though her secret of being a maid had gotten around to more than a few people at the school now, Usui didn't care because he was the first to know – and besides, he knew that Misaki would never comply to anybody else's request to become his maid for a day.
For whatever reason, he loved her.
And she definitely loved him back.
So she didn't try and wriggle out of his grasp when his arms snaked around her waist, bringing her closer to his body, nor did she try and escape when he deepened the kiss, heat emanating from him like the kitchen at the café.
Misaki tried her best to remain calm because, while he told her he didn't want her to change, he did hint to her changing her personality a bit if only for the night. At her unwarranted outbreak of a moan as Takumi's hands made their way up to her shoulder, she blushed deeply and her eyes snapped open, though she tried to close them again as if nothing had happened.
Much to her dismay, though, the blonde smiled into the kiss and pulled away, chuckling. He stared at Misaki's face and his blush grew a little darker as well. "Misa-chan, did you like that?"
"Sh-shut up, you perverted outer space alien…" she muttered, mainly under her breath. Then she gasped as Takumi's face moved to the side of hers, getting closer to her ear.
"I prefer the name Takumi," he whispered. She shivered due to the warmth of his breath and blushed harder, her heart beating faster and faster with every second. Did he know what he did to her?
Without thinking much at all, her hands traveled down to his torso and clutched onto his shirt. It was a regular v-neck t-shirt so it would prove troublesome, but she didn't dare say that out loud. Instead, she resorted to burying her face into his chest, trying to hide some of the heat spreading across her face.
But Takumi rested his hands on her back, which only caused more blood to rush up to her face, and she buried herself deeper into him, her arms moving around to his back, gripping at the back of his jacket.
Not fully understanding his girlfriend's intent, Takumi pulled away, causing her to loosen her grip. "Ayuzawa, what's wrong all of the sudden?"
She answered by glancing straight up at his face, her bright amber eyes reflecting the confusion she felt. "I… I prefer the name Misaki." As soon as she said it she looked away, though her face couldn't have gotten any darker at that point. She decided to look back and when she did she saw the hue on his face and, instead of getting embarrassed, she smiled.
Takumi smiled back after a few seconds, not expecting her to be so open or blunt, let alone cute. "Misaki," he spoke, her name floating off his tongue like a peaceful dove from someone's hand. She couldn't help but smile brighter and wider, and as she caressed his face with a free hand, her other being held in his, she was reminded over and over of all the reasons she loved him.
"Takumi."
For the rest of the night, it didn't matter that she was embarrassed, because he was right there beside her. It didn't matter that she wasn't the perfect girl in her eyes because she was the perfect girl in his. As long as she had Takumi beside her, she could accomplish anything, including the entrance exam for university which was coming up rather quickly. He made her feel like she was invincible.
"Tonight… let's be together, Takumi."
He smiled. "I wouldn't want it any other way, Misaki."
A/N: Can't believe we have to wait until the 24th of next month for the next chapter... I need my fix right now. I'll probably end up watching the anime 20 more times and rereading the manga at least ten more times. I haven't been this obsessed with a series since I watched Code Geass, lol.
Thanks for reading! And already, 2 reviewers. Thanks :)
~CGA