PART SIX
=.=.=.=.=.=.The New Year=.=.=.=.=.=.=
Many people went to the shrine, hoping that their wishes would come true. Lena was nervous however. Krad never said anything that would give her a clue whether he liked her back or not. So the possibility of her losing the game…was big.
When she arrived at the shrine, familiar faces of friends, classmates, and schoolmates greeted her. Her friends, the Harada twins, were with their boyfriends. She decided to walk up to them to greet them.
"Happy new year everyone!" she beamed.
"Lena-chan!" the Harada twins tackled her in a hug.
"Happy New Year Lena-chan!" Daisuke greeted her.
"Happy New Year," Satoshi simply nodded.
"I really haven't had the chance to talk to you the whole week!" Riku said.
"I'm sorry. I was busy," Lena told her.
"I just want to tell you that Krad rejected Mio!" Riku grinned at her.
Risa nodded enthusiastically. "Right! And I heard that she transferred to another school last week!"
Lena's hope grew at what they said. "Really?!"
"Oh, there's the soccer club!" Daisuke pointed. "And there's Krad!"
"Go and talk to him!" the twins practically shoved her to Krad's direction and she laughed at them as she walked away.
"Krad-san," Lena called softly when she was near.
"Oh, Torah-chan, Happy New Year," some club members greeted her and she smiled at them. And they scooted a few steps away from the two, chuckling.
"Happy New Year, Krad-san," she smiled at him.
And Krad retained that straight and bored look of his as he nodded at her. "Happy New Year."
With that, she went to the shrine and lighted some candle and made her wish.
"Happy New Year, Lena-chan~"
Lena, after making her wish turned to her side and was greeted by Dark's grinning face.
"Happy New Year, Dark," she smiled at him.
"So, did he fall for you or not?" Dark asked.
She then turned away from him, remembering the game. "…No…"
"Hm…You have until tomorrow, then," Dark ruffled her hair.
"I thought the deadline was today?" she looked back at him.
"Do you want it to be today?" Dark smirked at her.
She blushed at that. "No!" she whined. Dark just chuckled at her.
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"Will you look at that?" a club member chuckled at his companion. "Looks like Mousy is still hitting on Torah-chan!"
"I think he's serious about her," the other grinned casting a glance at the two.
"Maybe!" the other laughed.
Krad however, even though he was a few feet away from the members, could hear them. He was glaring daggers at the scene in front of him: Dark ruffling Lena's hair while she was blushing. He just couldn't help felt…jealous? He shouldn't be, right?
"Krad-kun!"
He turned around to the person who called him and he glared at him or rather…her.
"What do you want now, Mio-san?" Krad asked, annoyed.
"Look, I just want to talk," Mio crossed her arms.
Krad casted a side-glance to where Lena was. She was still talking with Dark. 'It would be bad if she saw me and Mio talking. "Not here, follow me."
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"Isn't that Mio?" a schoolmate of hers whispered to a friend.
Lena looked at where they were looking and she saw Mio and Krad, too. He said something to her and walked away as Mio followed. Why were they together now? Didn't Krad already reject her?
"Do you want me to spy on them?" Dark asked her with a grin. "I will report to you whatever they will talk about or they will do."
"Don't, Dark," Lena said sadly. "Whatever they will talk about…it will just be between them. I don't want to know either."
"Don't, Dark," Lena said sadly. "Whatever they will talk about…it will just be between them. I don't want to know either."
"You really should talk to him, you know?" Dark told her. "Tell him what you truly feel about all this. You need to resolve everything now."
"I guess so," Lena smiled at him. "Thanks, Dark."
"Heh," he grinned, "Anytime."
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"What do you want to talk about?" Krad asked.
"I just want to…apologize," Mio said. It was clear that her pride was getting stepped on. "Well at least my father told me to apologize."
'As expected,' Krad almost said it out loud. Almost.
"Either way, I don't expect you to like that girl," said she.
That caught him off guard. "What do you mean I like her?"
"That Lena girl," she said. "You like her. It's clear as day."
"I don't."
"Keep telling yourself that," Mio retorted. "It was obvious. I can see the way you look at her and the way you glare whenever Dark's with her. If I were you, tell her that already. Because if you don't Dark will surely have her at the end of all this."
"Why are you telling me these things?"
"Maybe to do correct my doings," Mio scoffed. "I am merely helping here so can't you listen without asking? Anyhow, I will go now. My family is moving to another city. Farewell and go and talk to her."
With that, Mio left. Krad contemplated the things that she said. It was no use in denying it. She was right. He really needed to talk to her.
=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=..=.=..=.=.=..=.=.=
Lena looked around for Krad. And at last, when she asked a soccer club member, she was able to know the direction he went off to. Walking in that direction, she found Krad walking back to the shrine.
"Krad-san…" she uttered as she halted to a stop.
Krad, too, stopped walking and was a mere three feet away from her.
"I want to talk to you," Lena said. Krad looked at her and she took it as a cue to go on. It was now or never. "You know, this past year is fun. I got to be close with you although it wasn't really much and maybe it was really nothing at all for you. But you know…" she looked at him and smiled. "Even if it was just for a little while, I am happy. I am happy to be with you, to see you, talk to you. I must've been a nuisance to you, though. Hehehehehe…."
Krad stared at her, confused. Where was she getting at? He had a bad feeling at where her words would end. But he felt like his own tongue wouldn't move to let him speak.
"Thank you though for everything. I really like you, Krad-san," she was blushing. "Though you have that glare and aura, you really are a kind person. I…really like you. But I know that you don't feel the same," her smile grew sad. But then she chuckled…it was strange. It was unlike the usual one. It was…sad. "So I won't bother you anymore this year. I'm sorry for being a nuisance." She looked directly in his eyes and smiled. "Good bye."
With that she turned around and started to walk off.
"Is that it?"
"Eh?" she stopped walking as she tilted her head to the side to look at him.
He was glaring. "Is that all that you really want to say?"
She turned her head and hid her face from him. "Yes," then walked away again.
"So you're giving up? You're giving up without even hearing a word from me?!"
"I'm sorry," she uttered then ran off.
"H-Hey!" Krad ran after her."Listen! And stop running, you idiot!"
"I'd rather run!" she said.
"You don't get it at all!" he shouted as they ran through streets which were luckily empty. It seemed that the people were still at the shrine or maybe at some malls. "That time when you saw me with Mio at the gate, it was nothing! She was the one who started it! And I've—I've rejected her" he yelled as he chased after her. 'For a girl, she sure runs fast!'
"Just like what you did to me!" Lena retorted. She was blinking away the tears on her eyes.
They ran up to the park where there was a mini forest and the ground covered with grass. That was where Krad caught her arm.
"Listen to me!" he growled as he pulled her to him. He wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her in place and…kissed her.
Lena's eyes widened upon feeling his lips on hers. When he pulled away, her eyes were still wide and a radiant blush crept to her cheeks. "What-? Why…?"
"I…I love you," Krad said to her, trying not to blush himself but in vain. "It just seems that I…all that time you keep on getting close to me…I fell for you… And I admit that I am jealous as hell whenever that Dark Mousy is with you! Let alone, he confessed to you in that blasted library!"
Lena blinked at him. How did he know about that confession?! He was there?! "Krad-san…"
"I'm sorry for not telling you this earlier but Mio was right, I really should've told you straight out instead of taking it too long and giving that Mousy enough time to get closer to you…"
"Mio—She told you what?" Lena's mind was still in a mess. She couldn't think straight not when the feeling of his lips still lingered on hers as well as his arms around her.
"You heard me," Krad leaned his forehead on hers. "She told me to confess a while ago."
Now Lena understood why Krad left with Mio. They were talking about her. And she was glad that Mio wasn't exactly the bad girl she thought she was.
Lena's eyes watered and some tears found their way out. "Is it really true? What you just said? Those words…They're true right?"
"Yes," Krad breathed. "I love you, Lena," and he kissed her again.
This time, without the initial shock and without hesitation, she kissed him back.
=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=Extended Ending=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=
"So…What the exactly happened on New Year?" Daisuke asked.
Now they were sitting on one of the tables at the cafeteria, spending their lunch break. On one table, there sat Daisuke, Riku, Risa, Satoshi, Dark, Lena, and Krad (Saehara would've joined, too, if only he wasn't busy about the school paper's front page: Krad and Lena's 'love story'). Krad sat between Lena and Dark, making sure that Dark was far from Lena as possible. Across them, Daisuke was beside Riku and Risa beside her twin while on her other side was Satoshi.
"The Great Dark Mousy, got these two together," Dark proudly grinned at them.
Satoshi raised his eyebrow at him. Krad grunted. Daisuke sighed, clearly expecting what Dark would say. The Harada twins squealed in happiness in seeing their friend got the happy-ending she deserved. And Lena just sweat-dropped.
Actually, that little thing that happened in the park, Krad and Lena went back to the shrine with their hands entwined. Krad made sure to inform Dark that Lena was his as well as he made sure that everyone would know about it, though he was flushed. And they all found out that Dark purposely 'confessed' to Lena when he saw Krad hiding behind the bookshelf to make the Hikari jealous and get him to chase after Lena.
"You forgive, right Lena-chan?" Dark sneakily grinned at her past Krad's glares at him.
"You're cruel, Dark," Lena muttered.
"Just don't mind him, Lena," Krad snorted. "He's not worth it."
"Hey, is that how you treat your girlfriend's friend?" Dark whined.
Cue sweat-drop from Daisuke and the Harada twins. Satoshi just coughed.
"Torah-san, I think you need to shut thee both of them before they choke each other," Satoshi commented.
"Shut up, Satoshi," Krad grunted at him.
"Stay out of this, commander," Dark snickered.
"Will you please, stop it you two?" Lena pleaded with a sigh.
"Roger, Lena-chan," Dark winked to which Krad glared at.
"As you wish," Krad muttered as he silently wrapped an arm on her waist.
Lena just chuckled as well as the others. It was not an everyday scene to see Krad being obedient to someone.
Above them all, it was Lena who was the happiest . At last the love game was over. At last she got her happy-ending with the man she loved most and who loved her as well.
=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.==.=FIN=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=
((A/N: At last I've finished it! It was fun writing this story while reading 'Crazy Love Game (by Kana Nanajima)' over and over again! I really might write a Dark one-shot some time! And I'm going to based it on 'Zenbu Kimi no Mono' a manga one-shot by Aikawa Saki. If you want! Read it! It's a great manga! Or maybe based it on 'Love Graduation' another one-shot manga by…I don't know! I forgot who! Anyhows, See ya! Arigato for reading and for the review[s]))
