Of Truth and Lies
Um, yeah . . . KWMS is not mine. Virtual oreos for the reviewers! :3
Chapter 9: Love in the Air
". . . and are essential for bone formation, tooth formation, blood clotting, muscle contraction and relaxation, and in normal heart functioning. Deficiency of calcium may result to poor tooth formation, delayed blood clotting, porous bones, and rickets." Their teacher stopped reading aloud, and peered at a certain glassy-eyed student over her spectacles.
Other students began to stare at Misaki as well, brows furrowing at their classmate's very unusual behavior.
"Ayuzawa-san," their teacher said sternly, but Misaki didn't seem to have heard what she said. "Ayuzawa-san," she said again, though louder.
Whispers aroused from the class, and Misaki's reverie still haven't snapped.
"Ayuzawa-san!"
"Y – yes!" Misaki jerked from her seat, amber eyes wide at the sight of her glaring teacher.
"Are you feeling well?"
"Uh . . . yes, sensei . . ."
Their teacher narrowed her eyes at Misaki, who was laughing awkwardly and muttering apologies.
"You certainly don't look like you're very well." She looked around the class, which immediately turned silent. "Hinata-san, take Ayuzawa-san to the infirmary."
"But sensei! I'm just fine –" Misaki started to protest.
"Nonsense! I expect a model student like you, Ayuzawa-san, to be much more alert next time. Anyway, have you been eating well?"
"I – I think so . . ."
"Well." Their teacher sighed. "You don't want your grades to be dropping, now, do you? Get on with it, Hinata-san."
Shintani nodded nervously and accompanied an indeed paler-than-usual Misaki out of the classroom.
xxx
"Honestly, Shintani, I'm fine!" Misaki said, trying to convince Shintani with a twitching smile. "I even ate a full breakfast earlier!"
"I know you can't cook very well, and I also know that you always eat either bread or cupped noodles for breakfast, and I don't really consider either of those as a full breakfast," Shintani stated, quickening his strides through the corridors on the way to the infirmary.
"But, Shintani –"
"Misaki," he said, suddenly seriously yet his voice still showed hints of concern. "You know I'm always paranoid about you . . . but please, what really happened last night?"
"I told you, I wasn't that girl in that video with Igarashi! I was safe at home last night!" 'I think so . . .' she added inwardly. Misaki wasn't very sure about what happened last night either. It was just all a blur.
"Sakura saw it all herself, and she was also the one who submitted the video, so it's impossible that you weren't that girl! Why do you keep on denying that fact?"
"But it's what I remember . . ."
"Misaki, please don't keep secrets from me."
"I'm not! Trust me, Shintani . . ." Misaki's voice trailed off as they both locked eyes.
Because of the thickening awkward silence, Shintani cleared his throat. "Let's . . . just drop that subject. Come on."
Misaki's cheeks almost overheated when he suddenly grabbed her hand while they walked. Of all the years they were together, this was the very first time their hands touched. She never knew he had such a warm hand, though it was evident of scratches and roughness.
'This feeling,' she thought, 'is almost surreal.'
xxx
[top floor, Igarashi Group Headquarters, Tokyo]
"Sir."
His secretary's baritone voice made him swivel his seat and face the newcomer. Raising his brows when he recognized the familiar face of his son, Igarashi Ryosuke flashed a mischievous smirk.
The secretary bowed and exited the room, leaving a soft click of the door echo inside the extravagant head office. As soon as the echo subsided, the room drowned in silence. Two blond men of the same blood stared at each other, neither one moving a muscle.
Then the older Igarashi spoke, abandoning his smirk. "Tora," he said.
"Otou-sama," Tora replied, making a slight nod.
"I need a true and complete explanation of last night's events."
Before speaking, Tora weighed the consequences if he told the truth or mix up a believable story. When he finally made his choice, he began. "I went to visit my girlfriend –"
"Who is this girlfriend you speak of?"
Tora's features threw back a smirk very reminiscent of his father's. "We shall speak about that later on, otou-sama."
Ryosuke, understanding the little curious secret behind Tora's words, tilted his head, gesturing for his son to continue.
"As I was saying, I went to visit my girlfriend, who works part-time in a restaurant downtown. I was very careless last night, not bringing bodyguards to surround the area, though I was eager to have a little private time with her. And that little carelessness fruited into . . . that scandal video."
"And careless you were," Ryosuke said, frowning in disappointment. "Not only did it cause the media to pressure the company for a press conference, it also caused the Igarashi name to be tainted. There was also a 0.2% decrease in the daily international profit. What will you do to make up for this, you brat?"
Tora gulped and he could feel a bead of sweat trail down the side of his forehead. Mustering up an evil grin, he said, "You see, otou-sama, there was this little family incident that two college students, who are still breathing until now, witnessed. One of them was a male, the other was a female, and she has very much caught my interest. That event caused me to research about the girl, and from the information I have gathered, she has a quite . . . interesting family background."
"And this interesting family background is what, exactly?"
The younger Igarashi let out a dark chuckle. "I can certainly make up for that 0.2% decrease, otou-sama."
"Spit it out, boy!"
"That girl . . . happens to be my girlfriend, Ayuzawa Misaki. You do know who your long-time rival married, don't you, otou-sama? Or rather . . . what he married."
On Ryosuke's aged features, a grin of greed and glee showed up. "I see what you are trying to do, my son."
xxx
Night arrived. Shintani and Misaki just finished their shifts at the restaurant, and were both preparing to go home.
And Shintani wasacting weird today. Misaki, being with him for the most of her life, unfailingly noticed this.
"Hey, Shintani," she said, pulling her bag up to her shoulder.
"Y – yeah?"
'There's definitely something bugging him today,' Misaki thought. "Something wrong?"
"N – nothing . . ."
"Shintani!" Misaki groaned. "Tell me – now. I'm always paranoid about you too, you know."
Upon seeing Misaki's heavenly (in Shintani's eyes) smile dawn upon him, his heart almost melted, just like it always did when he saw Misaki do pretty things like that. "Just this morning you refused to tell me what was wrong, and now you're doing it. Funny, right? Hehe!" He pushed a thumb on the side of his nose, grinning idiotically at her as a deep blush appeared on his cheeks.
Misaki, though she admitted it was somehow funny, was not amused, but did not push the topic further. They both stood and made their leave from the restaurant, locking it, and then walked their way home as always.
But for Misaki and Shintani, it didn't felt like this walk was going to be like as always. There was this unusual, sickly feeling in the air that naturally made both of them randomly blush, and they didn't like every second of it.
When they turned around a familiar corner, Shintani stuttered up. "U – um, Misaki?"
"Yeah?"
"This is where – you know – we met that mafia . . ."
Misaki looked at the alley, and immediately the memories of that day flashed through her mind. The black-clad men, their boss, the muscular man that caught them, the girl who almost got raped, and how they escaped the clutches of an actual mafia – which wasn't a common occurrence. She nodded and muttered, "I remember."
"Mhmphm . . ." Shintani obviously didn't have anything more in mind on what to say, but after ten minutes, he spoke up again. "Misaki, h – how are you and Igarashi-san? I mean, after last night's scandal, I heard some people talk about, um . . . how the two of you were in a – a non-romantic mutual relationship – something like, he uses you for, um, you know what it is – and you using him for, um . . . his money and all. B – but I don't believe those rumors at all! I mean – I mean, uh, you both love each other fairly, r – right?"
She almost jerked at his question, then she let out a fake chuckle. "Oh, that . . . well, you see, we're just a fresh . . . couple, and he still haven't taken me on a proper date yet, but . . . yeah, he is really gentlemanly. And as for the 'we both love each other fairly' thing . . . I can't really answer that yet."
Misaki inwardly slapped and smacked herself at how she described her relationship with Tora. The guy was too gentlemanly it was almost fake! Anyone could see that! Were they blind or something? She was getting more embarrassed with every passing second. Shintani and she didn't really have this kind of girly conversations a lot, as it was almost ignored.
And now here they were, talking about her boyfriend in front of his guy best friend.
"Misaki, d'you remember when we were still in high school?"
'Change topic, eh?' she thought, and this made her chuckle. He thanked the heavens for being one of the fortunate to actually see her chuckle like that.
"Of course I do, idiot Shintani! And hell, I still remember when I was the renowned first female president of Seika High! The once smelly, stinky, heck of a boys school transformed into a much better high school for boys and girls now! And I started it." Misaki told him proudly, reminiscing through her high school memories.
"You always shouted at the guys for misbehaving and stuff, but that trait kind of faded away now, and I sort of miss it. I guess college and living alone makes you more mature. And oh! The guys actually thought you were a demon, but I think you're an angel sent from above!"
Crickets. Silence. Crickets. More awkward silence.
"N – NO! NO NO NO NO NO! Damn, that sounded wrong . . ." Shintani facepalmed, almost wanting to forever hide from Misaki's shocked stare.
The two of them were both blushing madly, and they were thankful that it was very dark so they couldn't see how red the other's face was. Misaki could only look at Shintani with wide, dumbstruck amber eyes. Sure, he complemented her every now and then, but . . . 'Was that his first pick-up line?' she thought, reddening even more at the thought.
Shintani took a deep breath, and shook off the heat on his cheeks. He stood in front of Misaki, gripped her shoulders tightly, and his own eyes dug their intense yet sincere gaze into hers.
"M – Misaki . . . I – I . . ." he tore his gaze away from her, and bent his head down. "There's no turning back on this, Hinata Shintani!" he whispered to himself, though Misaki could still hear him.
"Shintani, what's going –"
"Misaki! I love you! Please be my girlfriend!"
Forget the awkward silence, this was humiliating silence. Both of their faces were red, both of them standing under the moonlight, both of their hearts beating so fast, both pairs of their eyes staring at each other, one pair shining with hope and pleading, the other confused and at the same time somehow happy.
"I . . ." Misaki started, and Shintani desperately strained his ears for each word. ". . . will think about it."
His bright face saddened a little, but he still had a sincere smile. "I won't let you rush. I'll wait for it."
Misaki stared at his face fully and saw something she hadn't seen on Shintani before. Under the eerie glow of the moonlight, the contours and features on his face were sharper, and with that honest smile on his lips, he almost looked very handsome. Scratch the almost, he certainly did look very handsome, and she just noticed that fact NOW – after years and years and years of seeing him every single day since childhood. Heck, even the short scar on the side of his right eye even made a new definition of handsome.
"Um, there's something I want to give you," he said, taking something from his pocket. He lifted her hand very gently and placed an object on her palm.
"A shell necklace?" she asked.
"Nah, nah, it's a necklace with a shell." He cheekily grinned, and soon after, both of them were laughing loudly in the middle of the dark and silent street.
"T – that was the lamest joke I've ever heard!" Misaki spurted out between fits of laughter.
"But you still laughed at it, right?"
The laughter faded a few seconds after, and she took the moment to look at the necklace some more. It was a small shell that had a very hard surface although it looked fragile on the outside. It was peach colored, with streaks of dark brown, sienna, and white. Knotted on the top of the shell was a silver cord that shone when moonlight struck on it.
"You like it?" he asked.
"Very much," she replied. "Thanks, Shintani-kun!"
His grin went back his face again. "So we're back with the kun now, aren't we?"
"Don't flatter yourself." Misaki smacked his elbow playfully, though it rather hurt him a bit. "Come on, it's getting really late."
xxx
The two separated paths after a while, and Misaki found herself inwardly humming to herself, unaware of the small curves at the ends of her lips as she walked. Then she reached a memorable road where a handsome blond guy once lay across on. She frowned at the thought that said handsome blond guy was waiting for her at her apartment, one that she happened to consider as an outer-space perverted alien.
She sighed. "I wonder when that idiot Yamato will ever leave . . ." She hated to admit it, but she did like the feeling of having company in her apartment. And bonus points for having a handsome blond guy as company in her apartment. She increased her speed, just wanting to study for tomorrow's lessons and maybe have some welcome-back cookies if Yamato was feeling thoughtful, which was highly possible in her imagination.
To sum up her current lovelife up to now – she has a boyfriend, she has her guy best friend courting her, and she has a crush on her 'adopted roommate.' And Misaki was unaware of how it was going to get all screwed up in the future.
xxx
The icky lovey-dovey stuff is blooming ._.
Moe moe rebbyu desu?