Kaichō wa Maid-sama! 2005 © Fujiwara Hiro

Lala Magazine under Hakusensha Publishing


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Chapter 06: Because We Are

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Misaki didn't know whether she was just paranoid or there were really whispers in the wind as she walked in the hallway of Seika High. Her eyes darted consciously to every student and she swore they looked at her one or two seconds longer than necessary.

She had the urge to glare daggers at them but she resisted. That would give them something more to speculate.

She walked purposely towards her classroom. She was running a bit late but the teacher wouldn't be there yet because she just had a meeting with her along with the rest of the Student Council.

Stopping at the close door, she took a deep breath. She could hear the noisy chatters of her classmates; the loud boastings of the boys and the high-pitched giggles of the girls.

Misaki slid the door open. Everybody paused. Every head turned to look at her, every eyes seemed to scrutinize her.

The group of girls –the very same bitches who chased them– were, of course, huddled over her husband's desk again. And they still have the nerves to narrow their eyes on her when in fact, she should be the one piercing them with a flaming, ice-cold, demon glare.

How infuriating.

Takumi sat there, his hands were stuffed in his pants' pockets, layback and relaxed. He was looking at her, as well. But in a very calming way, like he was telepathically telling her: Don't let them get to you. Ignore them. We're fine.

Misaki caught a small quirk of his lips; a smile. She wanted to childishly stick her tongue out to him in return but everyone was watching.

That morning, they didn't go to school together like they normally do. Partly because she had an early meeting with the Student Council (even though he usually tagged along with her no matter how early the meetings were). But the bigger part of it was because they couldn't risk being seen together. Not after the Akihabara incident that Saturday. It might fuel the rumors that were apparently overflowed to every direction of Seika High.

"Ms. Iwato is on her way here. If I were you, I'd start reviewing my notes instead of chitchatting over useless crap," and flirting with my husband, she added mentally as she made sat on her seat.

She pulled out her notes and tried to focus her attention in memorizing their last lesson. She was sure she heard Ms. Iwato mumbling something about a surprise quiz.

Being the Student Council President, most of her classmates listened to her and copied her as they went back to their seats and pulled out their own notes. Except for some boys who either didn't hear her or simply ignored her, and of course, the girls who were still grouped together over Takumi's desk like they were discussing the national budget.

She didn't know why they even bother to try conversing with him when the guy obviously wasn't listening to them. He stared out the window, his eyes glazing over. Misaki knew that look; due to extreme boredom, his soul had already left his mortal body and wandered off somewhere better. He always had that look on his face whenever she made him sit down in the living room with her and watch her favorite evening show on TV.

Thankfully, the teacher arrived before his soul got lost into The Further. The girls went back to their seats albeit reluctantly.

And she was right; Ms. Iwato just popped a surprise quiz.

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Takumi frowned at the empty rooftop. After successfully sneaking past his fangirls, he quickly went to their secret, little rendezvous to find nothing. He glanced at his wristwatch and his frown deepened. It was already half hour past twelve; fifteen minutes more and lunch would be over.

Where was she?

Takumi waited for another five minutes and when his wife still didn't show up, he went back to their classroom; their matching lunch boxes still in hand.

He looked around the room, trying to be discreet, hoping to see the familiar raven hair...

He sighed; she wasn't in there, either. Then he remembered the Student Council room. She's got to be there, he thought. Before his fangirls could detect him in their radars, he quickly made his way towards the far end of the hallway and slipped inside the room.

Nobody was in there. Except for the petite, raven-haired girl bent over the president's desk with her head resting on her arms, and her eyes closed. Misaki was fast asleep.

Takumi smiled at the sight and quietly approached her. He put their bento boxes on the next table and peeked at her sleeping face. He reached out and very gently caressed her wild, raven hair and tucked it behind her ear. She looked peaceful as she breathed slowly and deeply; her lips were set in a slight pout and the cute crease on her forehead that was usually present had disappeared.

She was beautiful.

Takumi could've sat there all day, just watching her sleep.

She must be tired, what with all the stack of school papers on the floor which she must've forced herself to finish. She probably didn't get a proper sleep last night, too, for overly thinking about the circulating rumor in the school. Living with her for months now, he knew that much. She was always pushing herself to the limit, even with just small, little things. She always wanted the best. She always wanted to win. And he admired her for that. But that didn't mean he always approved of it. That girl needed a limiter, a set-pointer. And since he was her husband, he'd taken up the role to look after her. He would often checked her up in her room (when she didn't sleep in his room) at night to make sure she wasn't pulling an all-nighter to finish whatever school-related things she had. He was the one to tell her to stop whenever he seemed she was overdoing it. He was the one to pull her back when necessary.

Now, he was going to let her sleep no matter how long she would take. Screw afternoon classes, he thought almost rebelliously. She would be mad at him for not waking her up, he was sure. But that would be worth it.

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Misaki snapped her eyes open. She blinked a few times, trying to remember where she was and what she was supposed to be doing.

A flash of blonde caught the corner of her bleary eye. She lifted her head and cursed mentally; her shoulders all the way down her back hurt like hell.

Takumi was sitting awkwardly with his head leaned to one side, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes closed. Misaki took a few seconds taking in his appearance. He looked out of place, she thought. Like he wasn't supposed to be in there because he never belonged there. Wait... why was he here, anyway? No, where were they? Her mind was still swirling around the boundary of unconsciousness; she wasn't fully awake, yet. Until the sudden thunderstruck realization upon seeing their wrapped bento boxes on the next table and the stack of school papers on the floor. She jumped up with a loud gasp, accidentally toppling the chair over and waking up her husband the hard way.

Takumi jolted out of his nap, almost falling off the chair. "W-what? Misa-chan, what is it?" He stood up quickly, adrenaline was pumping throughout his veins. Seeing the horrified look on his wife's face, the last of his sleep instantly vanished. "What's wrong?"

"Takumi, w-we're..." her voice faded out in utter disbelief. "The afternoon classes were finished two hours ago!"

Takumi blinked. "What?" Then he glanced at his wristwatch. "Oh," he mumbled.

"Don't you oh me there, Usui Takumi. What were you doing in here? Why didn't you wake me up?" she demanded.

"Well, in case you didn't notice, I was asleep, too," he said sarcastically that annoyed her even more.

"One more of that and I'll bash you up..." she threatened with her balled fist.

"I was up in the rooftop waiting for you during lunch but you didn't come. So I looked for you and I found you here, fast asleep. You were tired" –he looked down on the stack of papers piled on the floor– "and I thought you could use some sleep but then I fell asleep, too and you woke me up with your screams," Takumi explained without pausing, afraid that she might pulp him.

Silence engulfed them as she processed this.

"I did not scream," she grumbled, then sighed. There was nothing she could do now; it's useless to be angry at something already done. She fixed her crumpled uniform and picked up her bag from the floor. "Come on, we should get out of here."

Takumi took their uneaten, probably spoiled, bento boxes. "I left my bag in the classroom."

Misaki cautiously peeked in the hallway before completely opening the door. "Do you think someone's still in there?" she asked quietly as they walked towards their classroom. The hall was conveniently deserted.

"I don't think someone has a business to do there two hours after school," Takumi replied.

He got his bag from his seat. The couple carefully watched their surroundings as they left. Thankfully, the school seemed already empty.

"I'm hungry," Misaki complained when they were walking out the gate.

Takumi took her hand, squeezed it and smiled at her sweetly. "Wanna go out on a dinner date with me?"

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The little restaurant down the corner of the street, a few blocks away from Seika High School was cozy and warm and quiet. The kind of place where you can let your imagination create a world its own, or to share stories with your best friend over a cup of coffee, or simply whip out your favorite book and settle in for a nice, long read.

Some tables were occupied but the atmosphere remained silent. A voiceless music of Mozart or Beethoven drifted in the background. Misaki instantly felt like slouching on the chair and falling asleep again.

A waiter approached them with a soft smile and handed them the menu. Takumi ordered a full course dinner because they were both freaking hungry.

"With both of us missing this afternoon, I swear, we're going to be on the headline news tomorrow," Misaki said, taking a small sip of cold water from the tall glass the waiter left for them.

"So?" Takumi arched an eyebrow and his lips pouted slightly.

"And so, your little fanclub will have my head on a platter."

Takumi leaned back on the chair and didn't say anything. It was true. Their classmates (and other "concerned" citizen in Seika) were already speculating that there was something between the Student Council President and the new transferee. There was nothing wrong with that; it's a normal occurrence in a normal high school. Except that his wife was so fidgety about it. Misaki hated being in the spotlight of something not related to studying and education. And he kind of understands her because he noticed some girls in their class were overly zealous for him to the point of possessiveness and he guessed they have the tendency to become violent...

"Oh, fuck. Now they'll be positively sure I was the one with you the other day," she said, looking at him wide amber eyes. "Takumi, what do we do?"

"You know..." he said slowly.

"What?"

"Just ignore them. Let them say whatever they want to say, I don't care. And I suggest you do, too. Life is much easier when you don't care."

"Much easier for you because you're not me. You'll not be the one taking the blows from your fangirls," she said acidly and crossed her arms.

"I'll be your knight in shining armor if that happens," he grinned.

"Not funny, Takumi." She glared at him. "I'm not a damsel in distress and I'm not planning to be."

"Then what to you want me to do?"

"I don't know! Ugh, I hate this." She hung her head and the frown on her forehead deepened. "This is exactly the kind of thing I don't want to get myself into," she muttered.

"Okay, fine. Let's just say we're dating, that'll be the end of it."

Misaki stared at him. "Are you kidding me?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Takumi stared back at her. His usually warm eyes were hard and glinting coldly. His lips were tightly pressed together. "I had enough of this matter and if you want to save yourself from trouble, you'll agree with me."

"You want them to believe I'm your... g-girlfriend?" She blushed and helplessly hoped it wasn't too pink.

"What, do you want me to shout to the whole world you're my wife? I'd like that better," he smirked.

"No!" She blurted out quickly.

"Then from now on, in Seika High School, you're my girlfriend. Any questions?"

The food arrived and that was the end of their conversation.

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On the way home, the couple walked slowly under the bright streetlights. The night was quiet and there wasn't any other people around, which was weird. Misaki's arm was linked around Takumi's, a habit she'd recently developed.

"So... If I am your boyfriend, does that mean I can go over to your seat during breaks?" Takumi asked out of the blue. "And we can eat lunch together without hiding in the rooftop. And we can go to school together now, too. Wow, so many benefits." He grinned widely.

"What do you mean you can come over to my seat? Hey, just because I agreed to become your girlfriend," she air quoted with a roll of her eyes, "doesn't mean we can act like we're all over each other."

He pouted. "Why not?"

"Because we're not."

Takumi looked down at her for a second before bending his knees to her height and kissed her cheek.

Misaki jerked as if he'd just electrocuted her. Heat spread rapidly from where his lips touched her skin. There was a helicopter taking off from her chest but was caged in her ribs. The strong joints of her knees were seemingly not so strong at that moment. Her stomach which was heavy and full from their dinner felt feather-like and ready to fly off.

"W-what was that for?!" She stuttered, her hand felt like ice against her hot cheek. She looked at him with dilated eyes it made them looked black instead of ambers.

"That's for your 'we're not'. Because we are," he said smoothly.

It took her a few seconds before she could reply. "If-if you do that in front of everybody, I swear–"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he smiled oh-so charmingly. "I won't do it in front of everybody. It's a secret between us." He winked and linked their arms again.

Misaki wobbled as they walked. It wasn't the first time he kissed her, hell, it sure surprised the lights out of her because it was so out of routine. The kiss wasn't on schedule. Kisses like that were usually in the morning before or after breakfast. Sometimes before and after. It didn't matter, at least she was aware of it. But that kiss; warm and soft and moist... Do all unanticipated kisses feel like that? If so, then she preferred it over scheduled kisses.

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A shrill scream echoed in all four corners of the house that made Takumi jumped out of his bed in the middle of the night and ran towards the source of the terrifying scream in record time. He yanked open his wife's bedroom door so hard he nearly pulled the knob off.

"Misaki, what's–"

A black thing slammed itself against him, choking him in a metal hug.

"THERE'S A SPIDER ON MY BED! THERE'S A SPIDER ON MY BED! TAKE IT OUT, TAKE IT OUT, TAKE IT OUT!" Misaki's screams went directly into his ears as he steadied her in his arms.

"Okay, okay! Calm down, Misaki." Takumi reached around her to click the light switch on.

"It crawled on my arm..." she whimpered. She squinted hard when brilliant lights flashed in the room. Her eyes were red on the rims. The bed looked as if a hurricane just passed through it; the pillows were scattered, the bed sheet was crumpled and the blanket was thrown off the floor.

"Let me check." Takumi gently peeled her arms off his neck. He took the blanket and shook it. He inspected her bed, fixing it as he did. Misaki remained frozen by the door, gripping the wooden frame and watching her husband's epic search for the goddamn spider.

Takumi looked under the mattress and under the bed. Then he stood up, hands on his waist and looked at her amusedly. "There aren't any spiders in here."

Misaki insisted that there was. "There is! A really big spider, like a tarantula or something. I felt it!"

"Maybe you're just dreaming," he suggested.

"I was dreaming before the little shit crawled on my skin," she grumbled stubbornly.

"Maybe it went away."

Misaki shook her vigorously. "I'm not gonna go in there until you find it."

Takumi grinned sleepily. "In that case," he snatched her pillow on the bed, "you're sleeping with me on my bed, dear wife."

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30 May 2014

おわり

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SORA'S RAMBLING CORNER:

I don't know what to say... I've missed writing this, I've missed plotting some fluffiness, I've missed updating, I've especially missed you guys!

I'm sorry for keeping you waiting for so long. I received a lot of reviews in my other stories asking me to continue this story and so continue it, I shall. I never actually planning dropping this, I just got pressured in finishing Back To Me so I went hiatus on this one. But since Back To Me is finished, I think we're back on tracks.

Well, my sister -who also keeps on bugging me to update but never leave a single review, thank you- asked me if they already kissed. A kiss on the cheek still counts as a kiss, right? So there yah go, LOL! This chapter turned out to be so fluffy, though I didn't plan it to be, hahaha! The very last part was a bonus, I think it's cute.

So... if my sister would just leave some reviews, maybe I'll update faster. Muehehehe!

Thank you as always! See you around :)