True Love at Last
Chapter 1:Deep Regret and Lost Time
Harima took another swig from his bottle. He wasn't really the drinking type, but lately he needed something to keep his mind off his troubles. No, it wasn't Tenma for a change. He never in a thousand years would believe he was thinking this, but he was over her.
Looking back on it Harima realized that Tenma was just a crush, or better yet a delusion. Every time he had a chance to tell her how he felt he always chickened out, and for good reason. He came to the realization that the reason he couldn't tell her that he loved her was the fact that he didn't, at least not romantically. The love he felt for Tenma was that of a little sister. Although he didn't have feelings for Tenma, he came to the realization that he did for another member for her family.
"How could I've been so stupid and blind?"Harima asked himself, his words a bit slurred. He hiccuped and gulped down some more of the liqour,"I'm so sorry Yakumo. I really screwed up this time."
Yes, he admitted it, Kenji Harima was in love with Tenma's little sister, Yakumo Tsukamoto. It had hit him like a frieght train when he realized who his heart truly belonged to. Yakumo had always been there for him. She had helped him out all the time with his comics, even took him into her home when he had locked himself out of his cousin's apartment. Yakumo had even given him a present for his birthday when no one else had even remembered. He should have realized sooner, but he was so hard-headed and stupid.
"I finally know who I want to be with for the rest of my life,"Harima said,"but now it's too late to tell her how I feel about her."
Harima was mostly referring to the fact that during class today Hanai had asked Yakumo out on a date for the hundredth time. What was different this time that Yakumo said she would think about it. He wasn't in Yakumo's class,but Hanai made sure everyone knew when he screamed it out in the hallways in school. When Harima had heard it, it practically shattered his heart.
He left the school quickly after hearing that, he wanted to be alone. All his emotions started churning inside him. His tears had started to well up behind his shades, it was like a dam that was about to burst. He had bought a couple bottles of beer to drown his sorrows, and so here he was now, in an alley like the loser he was. His face was wet with tears and his sunglasses slipped from his face and clattered to the alley floor. He didn't even bother to pick them up, what was the point after all.
Suddenly he heard footsteps approaching. Harima didn't even bother to look up, it was probably some cop telling him to scram. The person stopped in front of him and he could see the person's shoes. They looked familar to him. The person bent down and picked up his shades.
"Harima," he recognized that voice and it caused him to quickly look up. He was greeted by the woman of his dreams, Yakumo.
She had a look of concern on her face. He hated it when she had that look on her face, and it made him feel even worse because he was the one that put it there. He got lost staring into her beautiful eyes. It always seemed that she had a blush on her face, and he found that overwhelmingly cute.
"Harima what are you doing out here?" Yakumo asked as she handed his shades back to him. He took them from her outstretched hand and placed them back on his face.
"Just getting some fresh air." Harima simply replied, although they both knew that was lie due to the fact that the alley was full of garbage,"Anyway, how did your date go with Hanai?"
Her expression changed to shock at hearing that,"I didn't go out with Hanai."
"Why that's?"Harima questioned, he was about to take another swig of his beer when he felt Yakumo's hand gently wrap around his own to stop him.
"Please Harima,"Yakumo said, barely in a whisper,"don't do that."
He simply nodded and tossed the bottle into a nearby dumpster. He didn't want her to see him this way anyway. Slowly, he rose to his feet. However it was a bad move to make as his vision started to blur and his head spin. He was about to fall to the floor when he felt Yakumo's arms wrap around him to balance him.
"Please take it easy Harima. Don't hurt yourself."Yakumo pleaded.
"Yakumo you never did answer my question."Harima continued as she slowly lead him out of the alley," Why did you not go out with Hanai?"
"Well uhm..."Yakumo stammered,"It's just...I don't like him. He's not my type."
At that Harima couldn't help but smile. So maybe he still had a chance with Yakumo. He wasn't going to let this chance slip away, cause it might be the only one he would ever get.
"Yakumo I have to tell you something."Harima said, trying his best not to slur his words. He had to make sure she knew what he was saying at least.
"Oh. What is it?"Yakumo replied, continuing to lead them down the empty street. It was well into the night, so most people were already safe and sound in their little homes.
"I-I love you."Harima confessed, which caused Yakumo to gasp,"I have for a very long time. I'm telling you this now cause I thought that you were going to be Hanai's 's why I'm a mess right now. Now that your not I can't risk losing this chance."
"Let's just get you off the streets ok. You can stay at my place for the night."Yakumo answered, which caused Harima to look over at her.
That was not really the reply he was hoping for. Maybe she didn't like him and she didn't want to say so. She was too kind to ever hurt someone's feelings. Or maybe she thought that Harima was drunk(which he was but he knew what he was saying).
He decided that he would wait till tomorrow to continue this conversation. Maybe then she would believe his confession of love to her. He hicupped and brought his hand to his lips, only to remember that he had thrown away his liqour bottle back in the alley. They walked back to Yakumo's house in silence, with Harima leaning heavily on Yakumo and her slowly but surely guiding them to her nearby home.