Nonjudgmental Love

I was in the classroom, waiting for him to come. Whenever classes ended, he would pick me up and he'll escort me home. Sometimes we stop by shops to buy things for each other, or eat at a restaurant, but usually, we would just decide to walk home together. We would talk about things; like how are things going with school, or how much we've improved on playing our instruments, (well, most of the time, he would tease me or make fun of me but I've grown to get used to it). And I don't know, I feel flattered because he chose to walk with me, rather than we ride his car together.

As I saw his figure from the windows going near my classroom, I felt the glares of my female classmates. Everyone's talking with each other and they were talking about me; how ungrateful I was, how much of a mistake I was, and how stupid I was to believe that this guy, their perfect senpai, was actually in love with me. There was never a day when one of his "fans" would send me a death threat. And sometimes, I'm convinced that I am what they think I am. I mean, why me of all the people? A lot of girls were prettier than me, smarter, funnier… so why me? I wanted to tell that to him, I've tried, but he would always ignore it, insisting that it wasn't important. And sometimes I become insecure and start to think that he doesn't really care about me, or something like that. And the mere thought of that made me nervous and scared. But I knew that that couldn't possibly be true. He told me he loved me… He loves me, right? …Right? I prayed that he'd finally come, that he'd quicken his pace to my classroom so he could finally take me away… And suddenly, God finally answering my prayers, he came in. The glaring stopped and the harsh noise of whispering was put to an end. As he walked towards me, everyone was looking at him, then to me, and then back to him. Some classmates snickered at the thought of me, a mere speck in our school, would be noticed by someone like him. Some even had the saddest of faces on. Either they were looking at him with pity because he ended up with me or because the dream of being with their senpai was crushed. I probably looked horrible in his eyes, with wrinkles on my forehead because of me over-thinking about this kind of things. But as he approached me, he greeted me with a smile, "Kaho-san," he said. "How are you, my dear? I missed you." I felt like a huge weight was lifted from my chest the moment I heard my name escape from his lips. "I'm fine,"
"You don't look like you do…" he said with a pout. "What's wrong, Kahoko?"
"Oh you know…"
"Still not thinking about that, are you?"
"Well… I can't just ignore them you know." I sighed, as I walked for the door.
But he caught my hand, "You stay here with me. I want to flaunt you to them." And after saying those words, he kissed my forehead and hugged me afterwards. I heard their gasps and whispers, I felt their glares… "Hey, stop it now." I said. But it was no use, I felt my hands involuntarily embrace him. "See? Not too bad is it? Now let's go."

And in no time at all, we were out of Seiso. We were blocks away from my house, when he said, "Kahoko… you should stop thinking that way."
"Huh?"
"Getting all worked up because of them."
"No, it's not that… I mean, it's just… I don't know Azuma-san."
"What, are you worried about me? About us?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm worried. Okay? There, I said it." I told him.
"What are you so worried about?" he quietly whispered, concern evident in his voice.
"It's not that important. It's between me, and only me. Better that way, I think. No more asking, okay?" I looked at him, making sure that I sounded playful and at the same time, forced myself to flash him a smile. He laughed at me. And with that, I thought that it worked. But then he hung his arm on my shoulder and pulled me closer. "What's mine is yours, what's yours is mine. Remember?" an evil grin formed across his lips.
"Well," I said, "we're not yet married. So, I could still keep these things to myself."
He smirked, "Are you saying you want us to get married?"
I stopped in my tracks and waved my hands in front of him, "N-n-no! Th-that's not what I me-meant!"
"Tell me then." He went closer, "Come now, I won't bite. Trust me."
I pushed him away. "Anything you don't know won't hurt you."

After moments of silence, I started to walk again. And feeling that he had no intention of following me, I looked back. And what I saw made my heart sink. He was wearing one of the saddest masks I've ever seen him wear, his eyes were closed, his forehead creased, and his knuckles clenched… I went to him immediately, held his hands, unclenching his fingers one by one. "Hey? Look at me." He slowly opened his eyes and held me close. "You know I love you right?"
"Yes." And I hugged him.
"And you love me too?"
"Of course"
"Well, just tell me then." He replied, letting go of me and pushing me away. I hate it when he does that. I fell into one of his traps again.
"Give me one good reason why I should." I told him, doing my best to make it sound like I was in control.

He thought for a while, then said, "I'll just have to force you into doing so. I hope you won't hate me after doing this."

He pulled me to him and kissed me. My eyes were wide open and I tried to push him away. But his grip on my arms as he pinned me to the walls were too strong, and I couldn't move. His lips, as I thought, were soft and gentle. He let go of his grip and slowly moved his hand up to my hair, slowly caressing it until it made its way to my face. Our lips were dancing to the beat of our hearts. I wanted this to last, but I know that it was about to end because he finally moved his lips away from mine. "Can you-"

I cut him off, "I was worried of what people might think of you, what they might think of us. I thought that, I was very unworthy, that… that I didn't deserve someone like you. I was afraid of what people might think about us because; I didn't want them to misunderstand our relationship. And I didn't want you to regret your decision of picking me. I don't want to lose you. I just… I…" I sighed, "I love you?"

He laughed. "What a coincidence. I was thinking the same thing."

Then we both laughed.

"I just can't believe that you are mine now." I said, looking deeply into his eyes.
"You don't know how lucky I am to have you." He tucked the strands of hair covering my face to my ear. "We're here."

"Get some rest, okay?" He said as we headed for my front porch. "Eat your dinner, don't skip meals." He continued.

It makes me laugh when he says things like that. It makes me feel happy and important to know that he cares about me.

He kissed my forehead and whispered something to me again, "Bye sweetie. I love you. Keep safe, okay?" And as he walked his way down our driveway, he waved. And I waved back. I closed the door, and I heard myself say:

"I love you too."

A/N: This was originally "opposite people's worth" but I changed it to "Nonjudgmental Love". Concept wasn't far from the first one, but the whole thing changed a lot. Their dialogues, the places… Anyway, how was it? Review please! And I hope you enjoyed your stay~

Oh! And by the way, special mention to my awesome friend Justine. :-bd She gave me the idea for the title. Thanks nak! hahahaha