People it's done. FINALLY, after all those sleepless nights and brain-cranking I present before you my latest, longest and probably the best of all my works- We were both young when I first saw you! WOO-HOO (Que to applause) (I will jump out of your PC, MAC, phone whatever and murder you if you don't. Nah, just kidding, I'm really agitated right now though because my stomach has been complaining and so has my forehead...and well, a lot of other things and people. Yes, this is a part of the Misakiumi one-shot challenge, and yes my entry does not exceed 5k it's total lenght is 4,617 though the author's note kind of adds up to it. The rest of the details were-
Challenge word- COLOR PENCILS
Challenge genre- FAMILY
Okay. now, it's time for me to shut up so that you guys can read. But lemme wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Are you guys working well with your resolutions?
Her first impression of him, she would never forget. Often girls in her class had talked about having crushes on guys, wanting to date them, and so on, but Misaki had never understood the feeling so intimately, sure she had nodded when they had asked for her opinion, but she hadn't felt it until...well until now.
It was his eyes she first saw when her teacher came in with a newbie. The rich emerald green that went so spectacularly with his blonde hair (Or so said her classmates, the snooty girls that sat behind her) But she saw something else, the uncertainty, anxiety behind his eyes made her heart break. Maybe because he too would have to deal with third grade trauma. Or maybe because she was still dealing with the loss of her best friend- Hinata Shintani.
"Introduce yourself" The teacher had pleaded him to, and it surprised her that her usually jolly teacher's forehead was beaded with sweat, her mouth twisted with worry. It was only later when she would find out about Usui Takumi's social status or should she say Takumi Walker.
His voice was such a faint mumble that she doubted the people seated on the rear rows would have heard him, but she heard him just fine, learning his name would have probably be easier than learning anything else about him. Little did she know how right she would be.
And when her teacher assigned him the desk beside her, she couldn't help but look, stare at him. But not once did he ever bother glancing her way. In lunch break, he sat alone, with nothing to eat.
She sat in a similar manner, with no one to engage in conversation, only her mom had packed those special rabbit-shaped carrots.
During all the periods, he did nothing but look at the teacher and do whatever she asked him to. At one point of time, one of the bullies even threw a wad of paper at him. The paper hit him and fell down beside his mat, right next to her. And it stayed there, until school was over.
A man was waiting outside already to pick him up, and he looked scary, big frame, huge height, dressed in black from sunglasses to boot tassels, and he, Misaki noted, did not look like Takumi's dad. But why would such a gigantic and horrific man wait on a tiny little kid?
Since then, Usui Takumi was all she thought about. His eyes- their green hue was so entrancing that they looked almost...alien. His hair- never once, had she, in her nation heard of a blonde native. His dress made him look like a mini-businessman, children at their school dressed up in no more than colourful sundresses and pants, yet Takumi had worn a formal suit
Days passed at school, and finally, she built up the courage to go offer lunch to him, a timid gesture, it was, and resulted in nothing but failure. She scooted towards him quietly, remembering that he had run off like a triggered animal when the boys had tried to strike conversation. And when she finally thought that she couldn't get any closer without being subtle, Misaki had inhaled deeply and breathed the words out. "Would you like to share-"
And that was all she had managed to get out before he left the threshold of the class. The girls seated behind her snickered and immediately launched into conversation about her that was obnoxiously (and purposely) loud, loud enough for her to hear.
"Oh the red dress girl again! She won't stop with her mischief." One said "Scared the poor guy off with her ugliness." The rest agred like obedient pets, they might as well have been, Misaki had never heard them say no. "I wonder why she won't leave like that fatso Shintani, would have been nice to get rid of both of them at the same time." Her disappointment heated up into anger at Hinata's name. "You never even knew him." She glared at her despicable classmates.
"Shut up freak!" One of them screamed, Aika, her name was, the master of the puppets around her. "No one ever asked you to talk" Misaki bit back the response on her tongue, afraid of getting into trouble and knowing that her mother would ask her to do the same. Despite her withdrawal Aika glared holes into her back with her pretty pink eyes.
Nevertheless, tears did cloud her vision, tears that she did not want to let out,, but they did come out anyway. No, she wasn't crying because she had just been rejected and then insulted but because she was beginning to think that what they said about her was true, that she was really a freak because she had no friends, because she was ugly. Maybe that was why Takumi had run off after all, it because he was shy.
And that was when Takumi came in, and for the first time in forever, he spared her a glance. She saw his eyes widen slightly and realized that she had still been crying. Misaki furiously wiped the tears off her face.
After school, the first thing she did was to ask her mom, "Mom, do I look ugly?" Her mom had frowned in disbelief and answered with a strict negative. Misaki, in turn had asked her, dreading the answer "Are you only saying that because you're my mom?" Her mom easily spotted the tears in her eyes. Her mom bent down and picked her up, instantaneously comforting her."Misaki, dear, you are the cutest thing I've ever seen, the apple of our eyes, our beautiful daughter. Never, ever think that about yourself again. Tell me honey, did someone in school say something to you? Misaki couldn't manage a single word through her sobs. Her mother sighed and stroked her hair, "What did I tell you, Misaki? Ignore them, their words are meaningless, do they know you as well as we do?" Slowly, she stopped crying, but her hold on her mom remained as tight as it had been. Her mom kissed her and put her down on the sidewalk. "If you want then I can talk to your sensei about this. What do you say Misa?"
But Misaki was busy staring ahead at the green-eyed boy who stared back with wide eyes, regret pooled in his green orbs, the flecks of gold were duller than they usually were.
And then he disappeared into that colossal black vehicle like he always did. Misaki couldn't help with the faint blush on her cheeks.
"Misaki?" Her mother called. "Hai mom, I mean no, I can handle myself . Her mom smiled, pleased "Looks like my little girl is growing up." Her blush darkened at her mom's words and her mouth's corners too turned upwards.
Art class became her favorite the next day at school.
Misaki was slowly drawing away with her color pencils, when she saw the the darkness of a shadow next to her. Timidly, she looked up, thinking of it to be Aika, criticizing her drawing. But to her utmost surprise, it was Takumi.
And when she saw that his eyes were on her drawing she covered it quickly, afraid that he would rejoice in making fun of it. But he crouched low, next to her, close enough to affect the blood pressure in her cheeks. The words that came out of his mouth were as soft as a whisper, nothing like the bored mumbling she had heard on the first day. "I'm sorry" Takumi said and he really meant it, she could see it in his eyes. "I made you cry twice yesterday." His usually emotionless held nothing but guilt.
Despite the fact that she was embarrassed at his words, Misaki rushed to correct him, "I wasn't c-crying" She had to spit the word out "because of you, it was...something else."
"Still" Takumi did not look convinced "It was rude to walk out when you were just offering me lunch. "
"It's alright..." She murmured, at the corner of her vision she saw his tense shoulders relax. "Why don't you bring lunch though?" She asked, out of plain curiosity. He appeared to be rich, so why wouldn't he bring a bento?
She regretted asking the question as soon as she looked at his face, his eyes glared at the whiteboard in front of them and his mouth was set into a firm line. He looked las if he were a thousand miles away from where he was currently standing.
Misaki apologized quickly, terrified that she might have scared him off again "Gomen. Gomen, Takumi. I shouldn't have been so nosy. Gomen" That was when he looked down at her, and smiled a wholehearted grin. Misaki's heart melted at the sight, he looked absolutely adorable.
"I do bring one." He said cautiously, as if his caution could block her curiosity. But it only aroused it further. "I'm sure you get hungry, don't you? Then why don't you eat?"
Again. Silence fell over the pair, but before Misaki could start expressing her regret, he answered swiftly, "I don't want any of those chef made lunches, I want my mom to make me one."
And this time, Misaki fell silent with him to, fearful of asking the next question. But Takumi sensed her hesitation, "No, she alive and kicking but she's in England...so really, it's impossible."
"So you don't want to have mine? Because when I introduce you to my mom, I'm sure she will love you as much as your own mother does." The bell rang for lunch, but Takumi sat unmoving staring at her as if she was younger than him, unaware of what she was saying,"
And finally he said those words, that left her pondering all day, "If your mother loved me as much as my own mother did then she would not love me very much, in fact she probably wouldn't even love me at all." He refused to take even a bite out of her snack.
A few days passed, without much conversation between them. Weekdays would stretch as long as they usually did, the 50 minutes per class lasting longer than they were supposed to. Especially after Misaki had stopped eating her own lunch. The first few days had been terrible, the hunger had brought her headaches and extremely loud grumbles that were audible to the entire class, much to her embarrassment. But Misaki had managed.
If her mom asked her why she would leave her midday-meal then she would shake her head and stalk off to a place where she couldn't' find her. It so happened that her mother had complained of this to her teacher who had brought the issue back to her. "Tell me Ayuzawa, why won't you eat your snack. Just because breakfast is the most important meal of the day, doesn't mean you can skip lunch."
Her cheeks had burned out of embarrassment, but she had uttered the phrase that had been bothering her for so long. "Why doesn't Takumi eat his lunch then?"
It had been safe to say that the teacher had been stumped, considering the fact that she had been silent for over a minute now. Only, that was before the screaming had began.
"Why can't you just eat your lunch instead to talking back to your teacher! Is this really what I have taught you throughout the year Misaki Ayuzawa?!" And it went on and on until the tears made her entire body feel heavy. At the end, she had asked her sensei to excuse her to the washroom, but her preacher was beyond any sign of kindness. "No!" She had shouted again, "Not until you have learned your lesson." She could hear the class chortling at her condition, Takumi might have been the only person with their eyes on the floor and mouth shut.
That was the main reason why she had been seated on her mattress, leafing through her dry ramen, a meal that happened to be her favorite. Though, she was in no mood to eat it at that time.
"Can I please have some?" Her eyes widened when she heard that voice and looked up to see the emerald irises that matched it. She must have gaped at him for too long a time because he decided to repeat himself. "I said can I please have some?"
"Yes, yes please!" She had exclaimed as he took a seat beside her. "B-but" She had realized that the box contained only one pair of chopsticks, "I have only one ..." Her disapointement was too vast for her to finish that sentence
Takumi simply rolled his eyes, "It's not like I'm going to die if I eat with the same utensils"
He snatched the wooden sticks from the blushing youngster's hand and began to gobble up the ramen.
"Wow" he said "I never knew that homemade food could taste this good." Takumi took a few more mouthfuls and shortly after he had arrived the box was empty, 10 minutes of break still remaining.
"You really like it?" Misaki asked cautiously. He nodded chewing the last of the noodles and then gulped, "I'm sorry, I didn't leave anything for you."
"It's alright" Misaki couldn't help the cheerful tone "I'll ask my mom to make a little extra tomorrow." Takumi smiled at her.
"Wait" Something had just caught at the back of her mind. "You were just trying to cheer up, weren't you? You don't really want the bento, do you?" She wanted him to day he did, because beyond her bad luck, she saw that he had suffered more than she could ever dream of, and as strange as it may seem, she wanted to help him recover, to comfort him when he needed it.
"No" Answered Takumi, immediately deflating her high risen hopes, "I did not want the bento, I only wished to cheer you up."
"But he said his hand resting below her chin, gently changing its position so that she would look him in the eye "Once I sampled it, I realized that it was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted, and that I would want more from where it came from."
Needless to say, Misaki's eyes had widened to the eyes of saucers and her cheeks darkened to the shade of tomatoes. "Ne Misaki" Takumi said leaning in closer, "You're very red."
And this time she was the one running to the bathroom and glaring at him "Baka Usui" She would say often "I do not like you at all." After all, our amber-eyed princess could never hate him and had still not learned the whereabouts of 'Perverted outer space aliens from planet Pheromone'
It was only later when she realized that it had been the first time he had spoken her name.
Days passed and their friendship too, flourished. Misaki hung out with him at school all the time, they shared lunch, their knowledge about themselves and much more. Misaki thought that she could never have asked for a better friend. It was only when Aika took a strange liking to Takumi, did the tables turn.
Aika's offensive language got meaner and meaner, taunting Misaki to come out of her comfort zone beside Takumi and wager a war for his friendship. It only made matters worse that Aika's goons accompanied her everywhere.
One day, Misaki had gotten to school a little late, only to see Aika nonchalantly conversing with Takumi, only he didn't bother replying with a single word. What really brought red into her vision was her hands around Takumi's arm like a poison ivy that wouldn't let you go and it might have also had something to do with the fact that Aika was seated on Misaki's seat.
Takumi had gotten up as soon as Misaki had arrived. "Glad to see you Misaki-chan" And then he went on nonchalantly as if the suffix meant absolutely nothing to him. "I've been very bored. And it's your fault, why were you late in the first place?"
But his words were no longer audible to Misaki 'Misaki-chan, Misai-chan' the single phrase repeated itself over and over again in her head. until her cheeks released so much heat that she was sure they would be able to fry an omelet.
"Misaki-chan!" Repeated Takumi, shaking her shoulders, this time he looked worried. Bringing his hand to her forehead, he frowned at its warmth. "Misa-chan I think you might be sick!"
"Misa-chan" The new phrase her brain had taken a liking to, by this time the world swam before her and Takumi's eyes appeared to be the sea. "Misa-chan? Misa-chan!" Somehow, she heard him and the concern behind his words. The last thing she felt before she passed out was his unwavering grip on her.
Likewise, the first thing she woke up to was him and his grip on her left hand. "Misaki." He shouted, and for a moment he looked as if he were going to hug her, but he didn't it was as if some sort of force held him back. Her mom came running equipped with her honey syrup, the one she made when she or Susana were sick.
It was later when she found out what had happened, her mild fever had turned into a scarlet one because of her insistence of going to school. Takumi had called on the teacher as soon as she had fainted and he had insisted on going to visit her after school.
Misaki couldn't go to school for a while after that and she was well and fit again, the winter vacations prevented her from going. All throughout the vacations, she waited eagerly for them to end, to be able to play with Takumi again, to be able to share her bento with him.
Little did she know, what waited for her back at school would not be what she expected it to be, and not at all what she wanted it to be.
To say Misaki was happy might have been the understatement of the century, she was absolutely delighted, extremely giddy and so delirious that she might have smiled even at someone like Aika. Her mom knew well enough why her daughter was so heartened at the moment. She was going to see Takumi after 25 days, 9 hours, 38 minutes and 19 seconds. 'Finally' She thought.
Takumi, however was not so happy to see her. She called his name twice, thrice, a million times, but he would not listen to her. This scared her, so much that she sat down quietly at her seat, thinking about what she had done wrong and soon enough, her insecurities got the best of her and she was sure that he had decided that she was not good enough to be around. Misaki felt like crying, she had lost her only, that too because of a reason she didn't know or understand at all.
And that was exactly what happened for awhile, they had adopted the same etiquette of the time when the didn't know each other. Misaki went back to being friendless, putting up whatever defense she had to Aika's taunts. And slowly, the bullying and name-calling started to get the best of her. She started believing that she was ugly, dimwitted and unwanted, never once did she say a word to her mother about this.
However, this was only until the day Aika crossed the limits. It was their recess period and everyone in their class was playing, unsupervised, outside, in the playground, tag whatever they called the game, Misaki never participated in that game, no one ever let her. And that was when Aika decided that she wanted to take a break by the swings, specifically on the swing that Misaki was sitting on.
"Get off!" Was her greeting, along with a slight thrust, as much as she could manage. But Misaki managed to grip the suspenders hard enough not to fall off. "I said get off!" She shouted once again, her words implied with a push once again.
This time Misaki did, and she simply sat on the swing beside it relieved, thinking that Aika wouldn't bother her anymore, However, she figured out that she was wrong as soon as she felt the push. She heard Aika calling to some of the gangly boys of her class, Misaki shut her eyes tightly, hoping that she would leave.
And then suddenly there was pressure on her back, that too at a bruising magnitude, it sent her flying off to the cemented ground before her. Her knees had split, along with her palms, which bore scratches. He sight and stench of blood made her feel woozy. Wishing that someone would come to her aid, she tried to stand up, but collapsed.
The laughing behind her was plenty audible, she could deal with it of course, she was used to it by now. But, what she couldn't deal with were the violence-hungry boys coming in her direction.
And then suddenly there were arms under her shoulders, Misaki flinched, not bothering to put up a fight, no resistance meant that it would end quickly, the former option would only agitate them further.
No blows came to her face. Slowly, she peeked with one eye, scared that they would start as soon as she had her eyes open. She saw no juvenile bully, it was...Takumi.
As soon as her feet were firm on the ground, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling Misaki into a bear hug considering the fact that he was a foot taller than her. And suddenly all her pain from her wounds disappeared and teleported to her heart, becoming so overwhelming that it escaped in the form of tears, soaking into Takumi's shirt. "It's alright" He whispered in her ear "I'm here, it's going to be okay."
He pulled back, but held her at an arm's length, wiping her tears tenderly he let her go and headed towards the swings, towards the boys who had pushed her. "Boys! Apologize to her right now or there will be worse for you."
"No!" Misaki cried "Takumi, baka come back! You'll get hurt." Takumi turned slightly and smiled at her, the words that came out of his mouth made her blush to the tips of her toes. "It's worth it."
She watched him swing punches at them so expertly that she wondered if CIA agents came as elementary schoolers too. She forgot the times she had been alone in class, when he had ignored her. This easily made up for all of it.
5 minutes later he came back with a slight bruise on his cheek. Misaki gaped at the boys sprawled on the floor, clutching themselves in pain and then at Aika, who for once had run out of mean things to say to her.
"A-are you a-alright?" Misaki asked him, she still hadn't manage to swallow the fact that he was talking to her again, let alone that he had stood up and fought for her.
Takumi simply chuckled and took her hand. "I feel great but let's get you fixed up." And then he walked up to the clinic. The nurse bandaged her wounds without a word, whenever Misaki winced, Takumi was there to hold her hand, he let her squeeze it even though it had gone sore from all that punching.
"Takumi?"Misaki asked him, fiddling with her thumbs, it was a nervous habit that she had.
"Mmmh?" Takumi asked her through a mouthful of Onigiri (rice cakes)
"W-why" Misaki cleared her throat because her voice had sounded like she was whimpering "Why did you stop talking to me?" She weighed her reaction from under her lashes.
Takumi sighed, looking out of the window and then finally, he said, "My family was getting mad."
"Why? Is it because I have no friends, because I'm ugly, because-"
"No!" Takumi shushed her and ruffled her hair. "I think you're very cute..."
"Baka." Misaki whispered to him and he burst out laughing, but then, his expression turned grim as it had been.
"My family always thinks that having friends will distract me and they also want to...punish me."
Misaki looked horrified, why in the world would someone want to punish a boy as sweet and caring as Takumi?
Takumi shrugged in answer to her unsaid question and at the same time, a smirk quirked up his lips. That was when Misaki realized that she had said it out loud.
Hiding her blush was impossible, but Misaki gave it an effort anyway, burrowing her overheated face in her hands she shook her head as if the gesture could release the heat.
When she finally looked up, she saw Takumi gazing down at her "So...you thought I was sweet?" That set her off again, arms flailing and all.
"Baka, baka, baka." Only this time she was calling herself an idiot.
Takumi gripped her wrists bringing them down so that he could look at her. "Ne Misa-chan, you'll get wrinkles at the age of seven if you worry so much."
"B-but" Misaki herself did not know what she was going to say, so she said what she usually said in situations like this "Baka Usui!" She swung a punch at him that might have been half-hearted as she didn't aim for a particular region.
Misaki's bad luck struck again as her fist collided with his bruised cheek. Her eyes widened and she apologized frantically as she had once did, "Gomen! Gomen Takumi, gomen" His finger was on her lips before she could get out any more.
Takumi was grinning like a maniac "I love it when you get all worried about me, Misaki. But, I'm sorry to say that didn't even hurt a bit." She glanced frantically at his cheek and saw that the area of red had widened.
"It's alright." He said patting her head.
"You won't get mad?" His eyes widened slightly at her words.
"No, I won't get mad." Takumi said reassuringly, biting back the lecture he wanted to recite.
"Promise you won't leave me, ever, stay with me forever." She had clutched his shirt, wrinkling the white silk, as if her desperate need for him to be by her side could somehow infect him too. Maybe he might feel the same
"I promise" He smiled at her, that crooked smile of his, the one that she had yearned for in his absence. Little did she know that their promise of forever would be broken the very next day.
The next day, he never came to school, and neither did he the day after that. Misaki waited and waited but soon, a year had passed and there was still no sign of Takumi. She longed to see his smile, the one he had given her when she had been blabbering apologies to him or when she was lending him her bento snack, and his eyes- the comfort she found in them was overwhelming. Alas, he never came back to school. Misaki changed schools to attend middle school and even made some new friends, yet she never saw him.
She was sure it had something to do with the fight he had interfered in. Why had he stood up with her? She could have dealt with the pain and embarrassment but this...How could he have expect to simply move on?
Despite his long-term absence, she knew deep inside her heart that she would one day, see him again.
Little did she know how right she was, but then again, she had not been wrong about him in the first place.
I really hope that you guys liked it! As y'all know, the Misakumi challenge says that the story with the most likes by 27th of April wins. So please review, tell me what I should work on, though I will not force you to favorite it, becuase that is something that comes from the heart.
Thank you for the support,
Annabeth-AD