Kaichō wa Maid-sama! 2005 © Fujiwara Hiro

Lala Magazine under Hakusensha Publishing

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Chapter 02: Stuck Together Like Glue

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A shotgun marriage and an impromptu honeymoon cruise with someone from your distant childhood memories shouldn't be this fun. But for the last couple of days, Misaki was having the time of her life as she cruised around Europe with her husband.

At first, her mind was so busy being frustrated that she'd forgotten it was actually one of her dreams to go there someday. But once the ship docked at its first port of call, Misaki visibly lightened up.

The couple explored the European cities and towns together. Sometimes, Takumi would securely wrap his arm around Misaki's waist, or sometimes, she would link her arm with his, tugging at it and excitedly pointing at something that had caught her attention.

But more frequently, they would keep their fingers intertwined together. Little gestures like that made the distance between them decrease. It made them more of a couple rather than strangers they once were.

They had an archeological tour in Croatia, and of course, shopping was on the list of things to do there. They went boat sailing in Capri and tasted authentic pizzas in the place where it originated: Naples. Rome had a pretty big crowd when they got there, so Takumi had to keep a tight hold of his wife as she had the tendency to get excited at random things and ran off without him.

The Mediterranean sunshine in Florence was so beautiful it looked like it came straight from an ancient painting. They went on a quiet walk there and snapped a few pictures together.

Barcelona, Spain was the last destination of their ship. They already had a plan to visit churches and museums before their flight.

During the long cruising nights, the couple would sit in the open area of their deck. They would sit there and talked about all sorts of things there is in life.

One time, Takumi caught Misaki staring at their matching rings that was wrapped around her finger. He quietly approached her.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

"Nothing," she answered immediately. "Just wondering how I end up like this." She held up her hand to show the glinting silver ring.

Takumi smiled. Yeah, sometimes he wondered about that, too.

"It's weird, you know. It never crossed my mind that someday, I would marry you," she added thoughtfully.

"It's weird," he agreed with a small nod.

"We've practically known each other since we were babies; tell me why did we never become friends? Maybe it would be a lot easier that way," she muttered.

That was true; they've known each other ever since they were kids. The Usui family frequented the Ayuzawa's home on weekends and during holidays; Ayuzawa family would come to Usui Estate in Hokkaido. Even though they spent a lot of their childhood together, they never really became friends. They weren't exactly enemies, but it was just that they had different interests as children; you know, being a girl and a boy and all.

The frequent visits vanished when Takumi's family moved away. The two families stayed connected but the two children drifted apart.

Well, that was it. Until a week ago, when they were suddenly bound together by two rings and a promise.

"You were really elusive back then. Always the mature one, always the obedient one. You preferred taking care of your little sister than running around the house with me. You wanted clean, while I liked making mess. You know… things like that," Takumi shrugged. "I think it's the best that way. Besides, it would be awkward to marry the friend you've known your whole life, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, maybe this is better. And I think we're working it out well," Misaki smiled at him.

"Yes," Takumi nodded, returning her smile with his crooked one. He took her hand and tugged at it, "Let's go get some food?"

"Sure." Her hand automatically tightened around his...

Sometimes, when procrastination didn't possess them, they would take long walks on the top deck where an improvised garden was made. They teased each other and laughed together as they went by, like some old best friends would.

There were also times where they would just sit on the couch in the balcony of their cabin and quietly read books.

It was the first time Misaki saw Takumi in eyeglasses. He had just entered the balcony while she was already sitting in one of the couches; a book resting on her hands.

"You wear glasses?" She looked up and tilted her head curiously. She scooted over to give him space to sit even though there were still two other couches available.

"Well... yeah," Takumi smirked at her as he sat down beside her. The black couch was big enough for two but that left no space between them. Either they didn't mind or they've gotten used to their constant physical contact. They slept on the same bed, after all.

"How bad?" She took the glasses off from him and tried it on.

"Not so bad," he answered, watching her as she roamed her new eyesight around.

"Everything's seems magnified," she commented.

"Looks good on you," he said, brushing away the stubborn bangs from her face.

"Thanks, but I don't need one." She gave it back to him and went back on reading her book.

"Good for you," he replied and the comforting silence settled down on them.

A moment later, Misaki would lightly rest her head on his shoulder, still engrossed with the book she was reading, while her husband would absently ran his fingers through her raven locks.

Life is so much easier like that.

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It was an exhausting thirteen-hour flight from Barcelona back to Tokyo. Even in the first class cabin, Misaki could feel the heavy blows of travel on her body. She fell in and out of sleep all through the flight. Whenever the plane found turbulence, she would snap out of sleep like an electrocuted fish. Good thing, Takumi was there to calm her down. He had his arm around her shoulder while she slept on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and calm breathing.

When Takumi finally shook her awake, a voice in the intercom was already instructing the cabin to sit up properly and prepare for landing.

"Good morning," he greeted her with a blinding smile, softly brushing away the stray locks of raven hair from her face.

"Good morning," she croaked; her throat thick with sleep.

Takumi handed her a bottle of water which she gratefully chugged down.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you," she smiled back. "How close are we?" She opened the window shades and streams of bright sunlight flooded in.

He reached over and adjusted her seatbelt for her. "Fifteen minutes to landing," he answered.

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"What do you mean I do not belong here?"

Once they got out of the busy Narita Airport, they went straight to Misaki's house.

As the couple stood there, Misaki gritted her teeth in annoyance. She very nearly bit her sister's head off when her younger version blocked her way into the house, saying that she no longer had a space in there. She was tired and all she wanted to do was to drop dead on her bed. She got no time to play stupid games with her sister.

"Dad said this isn't your house anymore," Suzuna said rather bluntly. She looked past her sister's shoulder and acknowledged the presence of her brother-in-law with a small awkward smile, which Takumi returned warmly.

"What?! That's bullshit. Where is that old man?" She pushed her way through, stomping angrily on the wooden floor.

Takumi and Suzuna followed her, looking at each other like, Exasperating, isn't she?

"Dad!" Misaki called out.

The wanted old man poked his head from the second floor. His eyes were strained as if he just woke up. Well, it was only fifteen minutes past seven in the morning, he ought to be sleeping. But Misaki couldn't care about that as she glared at his dear ol' dad.

"Oh, Misaki-chan. Welcome back! How's your honeymoon? Was it cool? Did you have fun? By the way, why are you here? You shouldn't be here. Good morning, Takumi-kun! Did you take good care of my daughter? Are we expecting a bunch of grandbabies soon?" Sakuya said in one breath, not bothering to pause and was oblivious to the enormous killing intent coming off his daughter.

Takumi didn't have the chance to open his mouth to greet the old man back as his wife breathed fire at her father.

"That is why I am here, what the hell are you talking about? Why shouldn't I be here? This is my house and I have every right to be here. And what are you saying about grandbabies? You must be delusional," Misaki said incredulously, ignoring her suddenly aflame cheeks.

Sakuya sighed dramatically. He stepped down the stairs and put an arm on her shoulder. "My daughter," he started, "you're married now, and you know married women do not live with her family anymore, right?"

A few heartbeats past in silence.

"So in a genius translation: you're kicking me out," Misaki concluded as she crossed her arms against her chest.

"No!" Sakuya cried. "What I'm saying is, this house is still your home, but as a married couple, you two should live in the privacy your own house."

"And where, pray tell, do we suppose to get it? We haven't got the money to buy a goddamn house. Hell, we haven't even got our high school diplomas to get proper jobs!"

Her dad grinned; eyes twinkling in a creepy mixture of excitement and mischief. Misaki cringed away from him.

"What's with that look?" she asked cautiously.

Sakuya went over to a wooden cabinet in the hallway and pulled out a set of keys from one of the drawers. He held it out to them.

"What's this?" she asked confusedly as she took it.

"A set of keys, obviously."

"I know that," she snapped, glaring pointedly.

"It's for your house, of course!" he said exasperatedly.

Misaki and Takumi whipped their heads and stared at each other for exactly five seconds without blinking; shock was written all over their faces.

"You're saying..." Takumi spoke slowly, prompting the old man.

"I'm saying that you already have your own house! It's our wedding gift for you two," Sakuya said. "Your father and I pooled it together. It's a nice, cozy house. You'll love it! It has three bedrooms, lots of space and even has a small garden. It's all yours, children."

Misaki shook her head in both disbelief and amusement. "Are you for real? Since when did you buy it? Why didn't I know of this? This is crazy!"

"We bought it a few months ago. And you really weren't supposed to know until now. So, off you go!" He shooed them towards the door.

Misaki held on to the cabinet to avoid being swept away. "Wait, wait, wait! Why are you so in a hurry to kick me out? Where's mom? I haven't seen her yet. And my things, I haven't even packed my things! My bed, my closet, my computer–"

"We already have your things moved there. Yours, too, Takumi. No need to fret over your personal belongings; they're already there. As for your mom, she went grocery shopping. Ah, I almost forgot!" He took a pen from the cabinet and bent over to scribble something on a post-it note.

When he finished, he presented it to the couple. "Here, it's your new address. Oh, and I was just kidding about grandbabies. I'm actually not ready to have one yet, so don't start making them. Bask in your carefree youth!" he grinned insanely.

Misaki wanted to throttle her father then and there. She could not believe her father had the nerve to say that to them. "Excuse me, I don't want to hear that from someone who chucked his own daughter in an arranged marriage," she spat out.

Before Sakuya could defend himself, Takumi was ushering his battle-ready wife out the door, saying goodbye's and thank you's unnecessarily loud to drown out the insults coming from Misaki.

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When the cab stopped in front of a two-story white house with half-wall brick fence, reality struck her hard; Misaki was only sixteen and her father had already kicked her out. Now, she stood side-by-side with her husband as they looked up their new house like they were expecting it to speak and welcome them.

They looked at each other, telepathically saying, Let's do this.

Silently, Misaki opened the metal gate. Takumi followed her; taking all their luggage in.

The front porch was nice. It was filled with flowering plants and bushes. The short walk from the gate to the door was paved in narrow brick flooring. The door was a light mahogany wood.

Misaki opened it and the warmth of her new home wafted on her cheeks as if welcoming her. She stepped inside and took in her surroundings.

The living room was already furnished with a wide sofa and matching two couches on either side of a wooden center table. The glass windows had bright yellow and pink laced curtains. On the opposite side, a large plasma TV hang against the bare wall. There was a bookshelf on the far end filled with vases in various shapes and sizes. There was also a bunch of different displays neatly scattered around, making the white room jump in colors.

Misaki slumped on the sofa, exhaustion taking over her. She closed her eyes and took her time swallowing it all in. She felt a movement beside her.

"Pretty nice," Takumi said quietly, sitting closely next to her.

"Yeah," she agreed.

There was a beat of extra silence in the room. She scooted closer to him and just like she used to in the past week, she rested her head on his shoulder. It wasn't something she did on purpose, it was like an act purely on instinct and almost unconsciously.

"So..." She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Does this mean we're officially stuck with each other?" she asked so innocently cute Takumi had to laugh. The sound of it filled the void quietness and it rang in her ears like the bells hanging in her old bedroom window. It sounded like home.

"Seems like it," he replied.

Misaki sighed.

Having spent a week-long cruise with him was one thing. Living with him was another. It was two completely different situations. So many things to consider, too many things were to be affected. Was it really okay? Were they compatible to live under the same roof? Could they both get out alive and survive?

Well, the test had just begun.

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29 October 2013

OWARI

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SORA'S RAMBLING CORNER:

Too fast paced!

I think the way they became close to each other is way too fast. But I actually like it, hahaha! I want this story to become more snuggly-cuddly-fluffy so I guess... no more dilly dallying!

Thank you for dropping by, I appreciate it a lot. Please continue to support my story :)

Itte kuru ne~