Fake Romance
By: money127
Hey, long time no see. I was really hoping for at least some people to answer my question in the beginning of chapter 6 but since no one answered, I shall repeat it again (don't throw tomatoes at me for this). Please answer me this time because this will affect what you'll be reading,
I was thinking of including a gay couple (minor characters, and they will act very differently from the original story). I was wondering what you think about it. I tried to set a poll in my profile, but I'm not so smart when it comes to technology. Therefore, it didn't seem to work. So would you mind telling me what you think about this idea by e-mailing me (as in private message)? If it's too much of a bother to you, you can just review. But I would prefer a message (not that I have the right to choose, huh?).
Here is my 7th chapter. Enjoy!
Previous:
We all came inside the library and sat down on the sofas. Sakura and I sat on one, Grandmother – opposite to us on another sofa.
"As I can see right now, you can't leave each other alone, huh?" Grandmother asked, totally believing that our relationship was real. (Credits go to Mikan Sakura).
"I'm embarrassed to tell you this but… Yes." Sakura said, blushing (once more). She was laying it too thick for her own good.
"Well since that's the case, I was thinking…" Grandmother said, and then paused.
"Yes?" Sakura asked.
"How about you guys move in with each other?"
"M-m-m-move in?" I asked. At that moment a maid came in with some tea and served us. After that she went out humbly.
"Yes, into a commoner's house!" My grandmother repeated, more confidently than before.
"That's…" Sakura didn't get to finish as I covered her mouth.
"Wonderful!" I exclaimed and, unfortunately, lied.
"Yes, I know!" My grandmother smiled, she looked extremely happy about the complement I gave about her idea.
There was a long silence…
"Actually, I was thinking of letting Mikan move into this mansion. But then…" Grandmother told us.
"But then?" Sakura asked.
"I heard that Nogi's have already done that. We'll look ridiculous if we try to copy them. We MUST SURPASS them!" Grandmother said and stood up, looking like a hero. It seemed like Sakura ignored grandmother's answer, probably thinking that it was lame to even hear the old woman out. I find it lame myself – oh well, surpassing everyone runs through Huyga's blood.
"Besides, commoner's style is in fashion now. I heard that they sleep, eat and store their clothes in the same room!" Grandmother stated.
For me, it wasn't much of a deal as I have already been in a commoner's house. I've been in Luna's, Sonoko's,… But for grandmother, who looked like she never seen such thing, it must have been a wonder how they survived.
"Really? I can't believe it! Is their room that big?" Sakura looked awed. (Notice the word "looked".) Please, she was obviously faking it. Not that I would blame her for not being surprised for real. Who would want to hear about those facts when they just heard that they'll have to move in with their fake boyfriend? Exactly, no one!
"No, I heard it's just as big as our formal dresses wardrobe."
Sakura gasped. "How can they have a place for a table, a bed and an extra bed when it's only enough space for formal dresses? Do they have some kind of magical wardrobe?" Sakura looked like a 5 year old talking about where babies come from.
"I heard that they use something like our nightgown wardrobes to store all of their clothes."
"That's so horrible, yet fascinating!" Sakura beamed.
Oh please Mikan, you're faking it too much… I took a sip of tea. It seemed like only I bothered drinking some.
"I know! So how about you visit your future house tomorrow and decide on a few last details?" Grandmother seemed much more excited than usual.
The whole idea of us moving in together was already absurd, now we had to act like a "just married" couple and decide on "a few last details" of the house? This was going way too far! But… WHAT COULD I DO? It was THE grandmother.
"Uhm, I'm so sorry, but I'll have to discuss this matter with my parents first." Sakura said, apologetically and drank some tea.
Why didn't I think of that? If her parents say no, then we won't have to move in at all! Oh yeah… Credits again to Mikan!
"Oh, no need. I already talked to your parents on the phone. They seem to be fine with it." Grandmother said, even more happily than before.
I was speechless. How could she be so ahead of me and Sakura? I glanced back at Sakura – she didn't seem surprised.
"Also…" Grandmother started, now looking worried. "Uhm… I know that I can trust you to be careful, but I just want to remind you…" Grandmother seemed hesitant.
"Yes?" Sakura asked and took another sip of tea.
"About getting pregnant before marriage…"
Sakura immediately choked on her tea as she covered her mouth. And then she blushed, this time, I think, for real.
After a long, and very awkward, discussion, it was time for Sakura to go home. I volunteered (yep, that's me) to give her a ride home. As all of us went outside, grandmother gestured Sakura to wait for her. They walked together chatting, with me walking behind. After a small chat, grandmother whispered something in Sakura's ear, Sakura covered her mouth. That was the last thing Grandmother said before saying goodbye to Sakura.
After we passed the gates of the mansion, Sakura showed her true face and started complaining.
"Move in? That's crazy! Your grandmother… she is totally crazy!"
"Hey don't call my grandmother like that! I don't want to move in either but this is to please my grandmother. Besides, it's a part of our deal right? We'll act like we're a couple, and a normal couple would be happy to start living with each other… Get it?"
"Fine… And getting pregnant before marriage? That was just ridiculous!"
There was a silence between us, a silence to put all our thought in place.
After a few minutes, I saw Sakura smile from the corner of my eyes.
"Hey look, a bunny!" She yelled, only loud enough for me to hear.
"Where?" I asked and looked outside, trying to spot a bunny somewhere on the big, lonely road. After a few unsuccessful searches for the bunny, I have realized that she tricked me as she started laughing hysterically.
"Hahaha…. I can't believe it! Hahahaha…"
"Haha, keep laughing." So she found out about me liking bunnies, huh?
The next day, after school, Sakura and I went to what we were supposed to call "our new home". It was a tiny (compared to my mansion) yellow 3-floor house with a tiny garden (compared to the one in my mansion) and a tiny gate (compared to the one in my mansion). The house seemed pretty much finished. Furniture was already decided by grandmother and the carpet floors were all clean, to welcome the new "couple". The only things that were left were the design on walls and our personal belongings.
An interior designer was already waiting for us. Her name is Yura Otonashi – she is pretty famous these days…
"Hello, my name is Otonashi, your interior designer." A young woman greeted us and shook our hands. "Do you like your new home?"
"Yes, It's wonderful, I can't wait to move in!" Sakura smiled. I could feel the slight sarcastic aura in her words. The designer didn't seem to feel it though.
"That's great! Now how about we go visit your rooms where you'll decide what pattern you want for your walls?" She smiled and led us to our rooms, mine was first.
"This is goin' to be your room, Mr. Hyuga. Have you looked at your room design yet?"
"Yes, I have. It's very nice." I replied calmly.
"Have you decided on the walls?" Otonashi asked. Sakura came closer to me.
"How about stripes?" Sakura whispered smirking.
Was she daring me to choose stripes? Ok then, I like stripes anyway.
"I think stripes would be nice." I answered and looked into Sakura's eyes.
"Alright then, should we proceed to the next room?" Ototnashi gestured us to move on.
The room across from mine was Sakura's. Sakura, seeing how small her room was, was speechless. She was probably calculating how much clothes she could store in such a small room.
"How is it, Mrs. Hyuga?" Otonashi asked. Did she think that we were married?
"It's Sakura." Sakura had to correct her
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Otonashi looked like she was going to get fired.
"No, it's ok. I saw my room's design, it really suits me." Sakura comforted Otonashi.
"That's great!" Otonashi exclaimed, probably happy to be forgiven for her mistake. "Have you decided on the design of your walls?"
I looked at Sakura, daring her to choose polka dots.
Sakura looked at me confidently and smirked. "I'll choose polka dot design." She smiled. Otonashi recorded something in a small notebook.
"Actually, there's one more thing." Otonashi said as we walked down to the first floor. She gestured us to go inside the kitchen/dinning room, which still had white walls. "The person who ordered this house for you, asked me to decide on the walls of this room for you, but I think that's it's best to let you decide. The kitchen is the heart of the house, after all."
Sakura and I didn't say a word for a while.
"Stripes!"
"Polka-dots!" we said at the same time.
Sakura, who was probably irritated, pulled me into the restroom, and shut the door behind.
"Let's just choose polka-dots." She said, like she had the right to choose.
"But I want stripes!"
"Polka-dots!"
"Stripes!"
"Polka-dots !"
"Stripes!"
"Polka-dots!"
"Stripes !"
"Polka-dots !"
"Stripes!"
"Arg!" She exploded and went out of the restroom. I followed her. Otonashi was waiting for us in the kitchen/dinning room.
"I think we can find a pattern with both polka-dots and stripes." She said, trying to calm both of us down.
"NO!" We yelled. Otonashi looked like she was attacked by some lions.
"S-s-s-s-s-sorry…" Otonashi said and bowed down.
"We both agreed on orange. I heard that orange makes you hungry." Sakura calmed herself and smiled like nothing happened. Otonashi looked relieved and wrote something down in her small notebook. We said goodbye to each other and parted.
Over 3 days, half of our belongings were moved to the commoner's house and on Sunday, Sakura and I were ready to start "living together". After I went inside my room and started putting pictures of bunnies on my bookshelf, Sakura knocked my door and came in.
"Hey!" She greeted, looking suspiciously happy.
"Hey." I replied, too occupied with putting white bunny pictures in their new place.
"Whatcha doin'?" Sakura asked and came to my side. "Oh, you also put pictures of animals in your room?" she asked.
"Uh-hum." I answered. They are the biggest collection of mine!
"Let me show you my pictures!" Sakura looked excited and pulled my arm to her room.
The walls in front of her bed were filled with pictures of tigers. Yep, those evil creatures! How could she like those animals?
"There's my favorite photo!" she smiled and pointed at the highest picture. I looked up…and was terrified about what I saw. A tiger with a head of a bunny in its jaw!
I was speechless. What an evil picture!
"You like it?" Sakura asked.
I was standing still. Wasn't it obvious that I didn't?
"Good! Cause I have another copy of that picture." She said and took out a human size version of the picture. So many questions popped out in my head: 1)Why did she make such a big copy of the picture? 2)Why did she have to give it to me? and the most important question 3) How could she hold such a big picture (Was she superman or something?)? "Let's put it in your room!" Sakura said and hoped to my room, still holding the picture. (Seriously, some day, I'll have to look for a superman outfit in her closet.) She stuck the picture on the wall in front of my bed and left the room.
After some peaceful hours of sleep, Sakura knocked on my door again.
"Hey, did you receive a box that didn't belong to you?" Sakura asked. "The delivering company must have confused my box for yours." She came in.
"Yep, I left it next to the bed drawer." I said, still lying on the bed.
"Speaking of bed drawers, what did you put inside yours? I just can't think of anything to put inside mine." Sakura asked and walked to my bed drawer.
"Nothing, I don't know what to put inside mine, too." Sakura looked at me like she couldn't believe a word of what I say.
"Really?" she said and opened my drawer and gasped.
"What?" I asked.
Sakura looked at me angrily. "YOU JERK!" she yelled and slapped me before stomping out of my room. I heard a loud thud outside.
I leaned over to my bed drawer and looked at what Sakura discovered.
…
Wait!
…
That's…
…
Condoms? I took them out and found a paper underneath. It read: "Just in case. *wink wink* Love, grandmother." Not again! I stood up and walked to Sakura's room.
"Hey, it's not my fault, my grandmother left them here for me. Look!" I said and knocked her door.
"Shut up, don't use your grandmother to cover for you." She yelled. I didn't say anything back and stayed there, waiting for her to open up.
After a few minutes, Mikan came out. Holding a pack of condoms in her left hand and a piece of paper in her right hand.
"Look at this." She said and handed me the paper. It read: "My onii-chan is a very irresponsible person, please help him out. *wink wink* Love, Aoi Hyuga. PS: your future sister-in-law." I signed. It was SOOOO grandmother and Aoi to do something like that.
"So we're good?" I asked.
"I guess. And yeah… Sorry for slapping you." She said and went back to her room.
The whole morning was so tiring, I decided to skip lunch. By the time I woke up, it was time for dinner. I went down to kitchen/dining room, planning to make some instant noodles. I just couldn't ask Sakura to cook; she'll probably make something like the "spaghetti" again. But what I saw amazed me: Sakura sitting at the table with two plates of spaghetti waiting for me.
"For me?" I asked. I couldn't believe my own eyes!
"Who else? Easter bunny?" she said sarcastically.
"Thanks." I sat down. But just to make sure, I asked: "Is it edible?"
"It is this time."
"Alright than. Bon appétit."
"Wait!"
"What?"
"First, let's discuss something."
"What is it?"
"Just some small details to make sure that we won't have to argue everyday. From now on, no matter how much I hate it, we're on the same boat, and therefore we're comrades."
"Alright."
"First, somewhere in the middle of the month, I maybe a little cranky… due to certain reasons… I'll apologize right now just in case."
"Ok. I'm usually very hyper in the morning, be careful."
"Next, house chores. We need to split them up. There're two reasons for that: one – I can't just do all of them. It's unfair and tiring for me. If we split them up, your grandmother will think of us as a nice and friendly couple and you as a young man trying to help the one he loves. It benefits for both of us." I have to admit one thing – Sakura sure uses her brain cells well.
"That sounds pretty good. So what will I do?"
"I was thinking. Since I know how to cook edible things – instant noodles don't count – I'll do the cooking and you will do the dishes. Ok?"
"Yep." Wait a second – she COOKS?
"I do the laundry and you do the floors and stuff. We will both maintain our rooms clean on our own. REMEMBER! And the garden – you cut down weeds and I water the plants. Uhm… I guess that's all."
"No, there's still buying groceries."
"Uhm, we'll split that up. If we see anything missing, we'll just go buy it. But remember to write it down on a paper and stick it on the refrigerator, so I'll know what to buy and not to buy. We'll just use the money provided by your grandmother. Don't feel like using mine… since I have already sacrificed A LOT! OK?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Not, unless you don't want to eat my spaghetti."
"Fine, now can we eat?"
"Bon appétit." Sakura said and started eating. I followed her suit. The spaghetti was more then just edible, it was delicious. From now on I could rely on Sakura to fill my stomach. Maybe, this living together thing is not that bad…
The whole week went through normally, except I couldn't sleep at night. Was it because I didn't get used to my new bed or was it the scary picture Sakura gave me? I had no idea. But one person might know. Tsubasa Andou, my personal psychologist. I dialed his number.
"Tsubasa, help."
After a few minutes, the door bell rang. I opened the door for a tall raven headed dude. Tsubasa Andou is a very handsome and rich guy. His family is, at least. Unfortunately, he's not his parent's successor, thus he has to make his own money (which, I tell you, is not that little). Good news for you ladies out there – he is still available!
"Hey, Tsubasa."`
"Yo, kiddo. How's it going? I heard that you moved in with your fiancée." He seemed happy about this news.
I let him in the house. And we both went upstairs.
"She's not my fiancée, grandmother's just exaggerating."
"Well, in our world, once you date a rich and cute girl, you marry that same rich and cute girl. At least, that's what usually happens." Sakura is not even my real girlfriend, for God's sake!
"True, but our case is kinda different…"
"Really, tell me."
"Not yet." I can't just tell him that we are not a couple…
"So what's your problem?"
"I can't sleep."
"Well… I can see that by looking at your face… So, is that all?"
"Is there supposed to be more?"
"No, I'm just surprised. I mean, you usually have some complicated issues about one of your commoner girlfriends..."
"Now I have a rich girlfriend, circumstances changed." I said and let him in my room. "So what do you think is wrong?"
"Well, for starters, I think that picture." He said and pointed at the huge picture that Sakura gave me.
"Oh, that one? Sakura gave it to me."
"Your girlfriend? Does she know that you like bunnies?"
"She does… WAIT! Did she do this on purpose? Oh, she's so dead!" I said and ran to her room. "SAKURAAAAAAA!" I yelled as I open her door and let myself in.
"What the hell? At least knock, will you?" Sakura asked from her bed.
"Did you do that on purpose?" I asked. I shouldn't have stopped hating her just because she made me meals. She is two-faced, after all…
"Did what on purpose?" She looked at me with those puppy eyes… STOP pretending, woman!
"Don't act innocent in front of me. Did you give me that damn picture on purpose?"
"Oh, you mean the tiger and the bunny?" She said calmly and pointed at the picture of the tiger and bunny (the same one as in my room) on her wall.
"Yeah! Because of it, I couldn't sleep for a whole week!"
"I thought that it would be nice to share a photo, since we are supposed to be a couple and stuff. And that was the only picture that had both the tiger and the bunny together, so I thought we can both have that picture. I never thought that it would harm you! Really…"
"You could have just taken a picture of us together!" And I thought she was smart…
"We don't have a picture of both of us together, dumbass. We are a FAKE couple, remember?"
"Fake?" I heard a voice in the hallway.
It was Tsubasa.