Author's note: Hello everyone! Yeah, I'm back from the dead. AKA 2012 is the last time I updated. Sorry! ANYWAAAAAYS, I hope you enjoy this new story!
Satsuki could feel it in his bones. The time was drawing near to finally pop the question. It had been 4 years since he told Suzume how he felt at the hospital. The words he heard and the words she said back to him filled the room with what seemed to be tiny butterflies that made them feel all… fluttery inside. There he was, sitting like an idiot staring at her. He finally said it, though. He still remembers it as if it was yesterday.
~ WHOA, FLASH BACK~
"…Sensei has liked me all this time?"
"I do." Satsuki said, his eyes locked on hers. "I love you, Suzume."
Her face grew red as she averted her eyes to the ground. "Sensei…" she started. She shook it off, put on her game face, and looked back at him. "What about what you said to me before? That you didn't love me? You just threw me away!" She felt like crying from all this emotional stress at this point, but she couldn't give in just yet. You could see it in her eyes.
"I know what I said." He scrunched his eyebrows, also bringing his eyes somewhere else. He thought of Yukichi, Suzume's uncle. What Satsuki just revealed to Suzume was for sure going to land him a punch in the stomach already, but it was too late. He couldn't hold himself back anymore. "I know that I said those things, but it was to protect you… But if I'm being completely honest here, maybe I did it to protect myself." He brought his eyes back up to Suzume's. He caught her eyes widen as this was one of the very first times this has happened. Where he would return her gaze.
"What do you mean?" She was so confused (as usual).
"I thought, with me being your teacher, I could not possibly have a relationship with you. It was just not going to work." A silence came between them. Is this a confession-rejection? Or a confession-confession? What the hell is even going on right now? He made a fist on his lap and raised his head even higher, then he yelled. "But I'm tired of holding back, Chun-Chun!"
Suzume gasped, her eyes widening at the sound his confession. "I… So you mean to say…"
"Suzume," he grabbed her hand with a bit of force, but not enough to startle her. "I want to protect you. Please let me do that."
Again. A silence came between them. Suzume had the dumbest, most absent-minded expression on her face. She was so in shock that her mind ran off somewhere else. Maybe to go get some food. "Huh?"
Satsuki's face drained of any and all determination it had. He was a bit embarrassed that he exerted so much energy and confidence to say these things, only for her to answer with… 'Huh?' He cleared his throat and continued. "Chun… Suzume… I'm quitting my job as a teacher. I am going to pursue my other dreams. And… I want you to be there to see me achieve them!"
"What?!" Suzume yelled, standing up from her seat while he was still holding her hand. Finally, a reaction!
He stood up as well, expecting this reaction. "Yes, I'm quitting my job. Not because I hate it, but because I need to move on. But I want to be happy. And to be happy, I need to be honest with myself and the person I love the most…" He was so embarrassed at this point that he might as well have been tomato. He looked so much like one, you wouldn't notice if he was switched out for one. "…and that's you."
Suzume looked to the floor sheepishly and blushed. She used her free hand to put her loose hair behind her ear. She blinked a couple times at the ground, maybe to check if she was really awake or if this was all a dream. She then raised her head and smiled at him, and cupped her hand on his face. " Then I'll be honest too. I want to protect Sensei. And if it's alright, I'd really like Sensei to be the one to take care of me." He smiled at her and nodded.
Then, Suzume cried. She felt a weight being lifted from her heart. For the first time in so long, when she closed her eyes, she saw it. A shooting star. Then she opened her eyes. The shooting star was still there.
And it was him.
