A/N: Thanks a lot, folks! I hope 2012 will be a better year for us, though as of now I can't see it as my work and studies are having conflicting schedule that I am being forced to do things the hard way! Still, I'm hoping for the better as soon as it's over!

Anyway, here's my first update for the new year. Hope you'll enjoy! Most especially, I hope this will cheer you up, lostvindications and missmakebelieve. And thanks for that heartfelt greeting! ;) It cheered me up! Guess I've gotten older again haha;)

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Chapter 10

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MISAKI thought she'd puked. She was so nervous she was shaking all over. This was the most nervous she had ever felt before. As time grew nearer, nervousness crept in to the point that she could hardly focus on anything. She could hear her mother and sister talking, but she couldn't grasp what they were talking about. Her ears were buzzing, her stomach tied in a knot.

"Breathe, Misaki," her mother said, shaking her gently.

"Huh?"

She blinked and then looked at her mother like she wasn't aware that she was there.

"If you don't calm down, I think you're going to pass out, Sis. If you don't want to get married, then we should go back home and get you out of that dress," Suzuna suggested flatly. "Shame that he won't be able to see you in that."

"What? No, no," she denied. The idea was tempting, but she could never do that to her alien who seemed had used alien powers to make things ready in such a short time. Really. She didn't know that wedding ceremonies could be prepared that easily.

'Unless he had it prepared even before and was just waiting for the chance to ask me and make me agree?'

"You want to marry Takumi-kun, don't you?" Her mother said, breaking her train of thought. When she nodded in affirmation, her mother continued, "It's normal to be nervous, so don't worry so much. I'm sure everything will be alright."

"What if I tripped? Aoi-chan made me wear these high heels. What if I made a fool with myself? What if I..."

"What if you didn't show up and your groom got disappointed and sad?" Suzuna interrupted. "I wonder if he'd cry. What do you think, Sis?" She continued with a curious gleam in her eyes, as if she was hoping it would happen if only for her entertainment.

"If you don't want to, Takumi-kun will understand. Everything is fast so you're having a hard time. A few days before, you didn't think about marriage, and then suddenly, you found out you'll get married, with not much time to process everything, I presume. It's understandable that you are nervous if not confused."

'Fast? It is beyond fast?'

"Even if you say that...No. He will be devastated. Of course he will understand. He's Takumi and it's me we're talking about. But I won't be able to look his face. I'd die before I hurt him," she said, more to herself rather than her mother and sister. She knew Takumi would understand. She knew if she refused adamantly, he would let her. He would never really force her if she didn't want to. She recalled the scene the other day at his apartment, at his, or theirs as he constantly reminded her, bedroom.

"How nice. Honeymoon first before marriage. I like this," Takumi said as he finally crashed his lips on her waiting ones.

His words echoed in Misaki's head, especially the word marriage which brought her out of her pleasure-induced trance.

"Takumi s-stop," she whispered weakly.

Her words halted Takumi's exploration.

"Why?" He asked with puzzlement as he looked at her flushed face.

"It's just that...I...C-can't we do this on our wedding night?" She asked shyly as she looked away.

It took Takumi a minute before he responded.

"You really want me to stop?" He asked huskily as he leaned down and bit on one pink nipple. She jolted in surprise and gasped with pleasure. Still, with great difficulty, she nodded, even if her body screamed at her otherwise.

"Even if your body says otherwise?"

"Y-yes..." she managed to stutter, trying to be firm.

"Okay," he said as he lifted his head and stopped torturing her in the most pleasurable ways.

"Huh?"

She looked at him with puzzlement. His easy acquiescence surprised her. But Misaki should know by now that there was always a catch when it came to Takumi, especially at activities he took great pleasure to do.

"What do I get in return then?"

"I should have known. What do you want?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

He didn't answer and instead kissed the base of her breast. She inhaled sharply.

"N-not that!"

"Then what will you give me in return?" He asked as he continued peppering her chest with little kisses.

"I...It's...Will you stop that!" She snapped as she pulled his head away from her.

"Nope," he said, popping the p. "I'll do this until you thought of something else."

"I can't think when you do that, pervert!"

Her admission brought a wide grin in his face.

"Alright. If I can't do it to Misaki, then she will do it instead," he said as he rolled over until his back was flat on the bed. He looked at her expectantly once he was settled. "I'm waiting, Misaki."

"You...you're really a pervert, aren't you? Can't you think of something else that doesn't involve kissing and stuff!"

"What stuff?"

"Stuff!"

"Like what?"

"You know what it is!"

"Maybe we have different definition of stuff."

"You know what, I'm going home," she said wearily as she sat up. She didn't manage to leave the bed though, because he pulled her back.

"Alright I'll behave," he said as he burrowed his face on her hair. He felt her relax, and then tensed again when the next words left his mouth. "After the wedding though, I'll make sure to have my way over and over until Misaki can't move."

Misaki felt goose bumps at his words. There was no mistaking his seriousness.

"Pervert."

He chuckled and bit her shoulder.

"H-hey! Stop biting me as you pleased, you animal!"

"Animal?" He parroted in surprise, before he burst out laughing, and then stopped when a dark aura started to surround Misaki.

"I just remembered something. Usui Takumi! How dare you left marks all over me! I was so embarrassed I thought I'd die!" She punctuated her words with smacks on his chest and shoulders, which he endured as always.

"But I give you marks all the time," he commented as his finger traced one mark on her shoulder blade.

"But not like what I have right now!" She said angrily, ignoring the pleasant shivers brought by his finger tracing her skin. "I am bruised all over!"

"Do they hurt?"

Her anger lessened at the concern in his voice, but she was still annoyed.

"No, but Erika saw them!"

"Really? What did she say?"

She glared angrily when he grinned. He looked please at the fact that someone saw his marks on her.

"I was embarrassed! I still am! How can I face her again?"

"You survived being with her even after she saw it, right?"

"Yes but-"

"Then you have nothing to worry about," he said as he teasingly bit another delectable skin.

She smacked his shoulder in response.

"And stop hypnotizing me, you alien!" She commented as she quickly wore her discarded bra as well as her shirt. She rolled her eyes at the sad puppy look he gave her. "As you have said earlier, you'll have...um..." she paused, embarrassed to repeat his words of having his way on her over and over until she couldn't move. She blushed.

He chuckled in amusement at her shyness and she glared again at him when she heard and saw his chuckles.

"Definitely, Misaki. So you're safe for now. I'll let you rest because after tomorrow, you won't be resting for the next several days."

She sputtered incoherent nonsense in indignation and embarrassment, while he took delight at her reactions.

"Pervert," Misaki murmured in half-exasperation and half-fondness at the memory of Takumi's antics. She took a deep breath and straightened her slumped shoulders and looked on the window, suddenly impatient to get to where she would be wedded to her perverted alien. Busy thinking about her future husband, she missed the look of relief that passed between her mother and sister.

Minutes later, they arrived at their destination. Even when she had determined to herself that she would go through it, when it was time to get off the bridal car, she started to get nervous once more. However, the firm hand of her mother as she helped her out prompted her to move and take step towards the place where her groom was waiting.

The first thing Misaki saw was the abundance of flowers that decorated the place where she and Takumi would be wedded in a western ceremony. It was the first time she saw the place, which Takumi had kept from her. She just knew that they would have a garden wedding. She had no idea how Takumi managed to pull this beautiful scene in just a couple of days, nor how much money had been involved. She shivered at the thought of the money spent for her wedding. She'd probably scold him later for the extravagance, but for now, she pushed the thought away as she marvelled at the different colors, though most were white, of flowers that littered around.

As Misaki took unsteady steps. She hoped she wouldn't embarrass herself. She knew there would be familiar faces in attendance, like people from the Maid Latte. Except Erika and Aoi, she hadn't seen the others ever since her marriage with her outer-space alien boyfriend had been decided. Her eyes narrowed at the recollection of how Takumi thwarted her attempts to see their friends before the wedding.

"Why can't I?" Misaki hissed as she tried to pass through the gate of her house which Takumi currently blocked. "It's not like I intend to work today."

"Then why do you want to go?"

"Because...well...why do you not want me to go?" She asked instead when she couldn't come up with a reason. She also wondered why he refused to let her go to Maid Latte. "Is something wrong with me going to my friends?" She continued, suspicion lacing her voice. If Erika and Aoi knew about the wedding, then probably the others also. But she wanted to make sure that the rest knew and that like Erika and Aoi, they would come to the wedding, wherever it would be held which he refused to tell her, too. Their friends, the people at the Maid Latte, deserved to witness their wedding because things started between them through the cafe.

"It's late, Misaki. You should be resting now."

"I won't take long...You can come with me if you want. Besides, I would have come there earlier if you didn't stop me at every turn," she accused, remembering how at first he'd attacked her with kisses to stop her from going out of his apartment, and then threatened to undress at the train station when she decided to detour. In the end, he followed her until she was home, in which she waited for about 15 minutes before leaving again, only to find him outside her house guarding.

"No."

She glared at him.

"Is this revenge for earlier?" She asked as she remembered what happened earlier at his apartment right after he brought her to the bedroom, how she had asked for him to wait after the wedding.

"Not really."

"Then why?"

"Why do you want to see them? Do you want a bridal shower?"

"What?" She asked in confusion.

"Do you want to have a bridal shower? Is that why you're going to see them?"

"I don't need one."

"Aw, how sweet."

"What's sweet about it?"

"If you come to Maid Latte, they'll give you one."

"So? What's the connection of that with me being sweet?" She spat the word sweet as if it was something vile.

"Because Misa-chan doesn't want to watch naked men dancing. She didn't want to hurt my feelings."

"N-naked men?" She stammered as her eyes widened a fraction.

"Yes. Don't you know that when a bride has a bridal shower, the friends of the bride hire strippers and the stripper will dance in front of the bride and show him his..."

Takumi trailed off suggestively even as Misaki paled.

"I-is that really true? You aren't just saying that because you don't want me to come to Maid Latte?"

Misaki cursed herself for her lack of knowledge about a lot of things about marriage. Who knew if Takumi was telling the truth or he was just playing with her? In any case, it seemed she wouldn't be seeing the people at the Maid Latte until she was wed with him. Better safe than sorry. She didn't want to see other male naked in front of her. Takumi was enough. Besides, she didn't think she could escape him to sneak to Maid Latte anyway, unless she wanted to do it in the middle of the night. Yeah right. If he thought she would come, he'd probably stay all night at the gate of her house. And the cafe would be close already at the middle of the night.

"It's true. Besides, if you need to see a male stripper, I'll gladly do it for you."

Misaki's eyes widened to the size of saucers and her jaw dropped when Takumi started moving his body provocatively, sensually. His movements were suspiciously similar to the way he did when they...when he...

Her cheeks flamed. Fire ignited within her. And when he grinned at her knowingly, she became embarrassed and furious.

"SHAMELESS PERVERT!"

She took off towards her house as if a horde of ghosts were after her. She slammed the door which shook the whole house and for a moment gave her a pause as she worried of their old house crumbling down. When the house remained as it was, she stomped towards her room, ignoring both her surprised mother and her indifferent sister as she muttered expletives against perverted outer-space aliens and their stupidity and shamelessness. She was astounded at his audacity.

"And he had the gall to do it outside where anyone could see his stupidity?"

A sudden thought had her clutching her chest.

"Did anyone see him doing that embarrassing thing?"

She frantically tried to recall if there were other souls outside while Takumi tried to embarrass them both.

"No. There was no one there...And it's not like I can do anything about it now. What's done is done."

For an hour or so, she seethed with anger at Takumi.

"Geez. Why am I losing sleep just because he's being himself? This is Takumi. He's a pervert and an idiot as well as ridiculous. I shouldn't be so surprised by the antics he comes up with. He does the most unpredictable and unexpected things all the time. And I still want to marry him. I must be an idiot as well."

"That alien," she muttered angrily, agitated once more. She flushed when her mother glanced her way. She fidgeted as her mother touched her arm gently and then left her standing alone at the end of the makeshift aisle. She panicked at first, her body flexing to follow her mother and sister as they moved towards their seats. It was a good thing that the sound of wedding march distracted her. Startled eyes looked forward, and her eyes widened even more when she spotted her waiting groom. He was standing confidently and handsomely near a priest.

Misaki's heart drummed as her feet involuntarily moved towards Takumi. She barely paid attention to other familiar faces that she didn't expect to see, such as Sakura and Shizuko, and Shintani who looked like he was about to cry. A dazed Yukimura and Kanou were also present! Even the idiot trio were surprisingly there! They probably got rope into helping in the preparation for this wedding. Probably as errand boys. At least they were behaving themselves this time, even though they wore expression similar to Shintani if not worse.

Misaki only paid the other people a bit of her attention, because as soon as her eyes landed on Takumi, looking handsome in his formal wear, she forgot about the others. Their eyes met. And then suddenly, everything around her disappeared. There was only him and her. And as she looked at him, she recalled the first time she had seen him, standing nonchalantly as a girl cried in front of him. She remembered threatening him for making a girl cry. As she did the second time. And third time. And fourth time. And a lot more times. She hated him. First, because he belonged to the opposite sex. And second, he made girls cry. Her opinion of him didn't change when he discovered, and even when he kept, her secret. In fact, her opinion of him worsened. He was perverted, annoying, and disgustingly perfect. But despite all the bad things she saw in him, she couldn't also ignore all the good things. Slowly and steadily, he became a constant in her life, and despite herself, she learned to like him, after she got over her confusion, of course. He broke down all her walls and then entered her mind and heart, and stayed there until the thought of not being with him, of him not loving her, brought a pain in her chest like no other she had known or felt. Young they might be, and the future was unknown, but she was confident in her belief that he would always be the one and only man for her.

'Look at me now. When I entered high school, marriage was the farthest thing in my mind, if it ever crossed my mind. And yet here I am, barely out of high school, and already getting married to the man I'd never thought I'd marry. I never thought it would become like this. Me? The demon president of Seika High? Strong, stubborn, and hated by the male population just as I hated them? Changed because of love? Who would have thought?'

Misaki blinked and focused once more on the eyes that bored into hers with gentleness and love. He was hypnotizing her, she was sure, because she couldn't take her eyes off him as she moved towards him, her steps lighter, eager even. Even if her ears were buzzing and her heart racing with excitement, she didn't feel the hesitation and nervousness that she felt earlier. It seemed that only his presence could calm her.

Takumi watched Misaki as if in a dream. She was walking slowly yet surely towards him, and he had never been that impatient to the distance that separated them. It took all his might not to run towards his bride and hug her with everything he was worth. She was looking at him, meeting his gaze unflinchingly, looking like a dream with a beautiful blush that her light make up didn't manage to conceal. A blushing bride indeed.

And then they were standing beside each other, their eyes locked, a small happy smile playing in their lips. Hers was a shy one, his confident. Together, they turned to the priest, and throughout the ceremony, they never took their eyes off each other. Both of them were solemn as traditional vows were exchanged.

"I do."

He said the words with clarity and huskiness that had her catching her breathe. She knew she had the same effect on him because she saw him swallow hard after she had spoken the words.

'This is real.'

It probably was only half an hour. Or probably longer. They both lost count of time, more so when they were declared as husband and wife. Ignoring the crowd, Takumi kissed Misaki passionately, lifting her off her feet, and after her initial surprise, she mentally rolled her eyes at his eagerness even as she returned his passion. Of course since it was the perverted alien, he didn't let them separate until her lungs screamed for oxygen, and then she flushed a beautiful shade of red at the applause and catcalls that she became aware of. She glared at him when he bowed in front of their giggling and laughing audience.

"Have I told you how beautiful you are?" He murmured as they finally faced together their friends and family.

"No, you haven't."

"I am telling you now. You're beautiful, dear wife, you take my breath away."

Takumi was speaking softly. There was sparkle in his eyes.

"Not just beautiful but delectable, too. I can't wait for us to be alone and have my wicked ways with you."

"Shut up," she said through her teeth as she smiled at their friends. She tried to suppress the pleasant shiver that travelled in her spine at his words.

"Not for long."

"Usui-kun, how does it feel to finally have Misa-chan carry your name?" Erika asked after greeting the newly-wed couple.

"Incomparable," Takumi answered with a wide grin, while Misaki smiled shyly, the blush permanent in her cheeks.

Erika giggled as she walked away to let the others greet Misaki and Takumi.

"Usui Misaki. I love the sound of it," he murmured in Misaki's ears as they continued to accept well-wishes from their friends.

'Usui Misaki huh. I love the sound of it, too.'

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A/N: Only one chapter is left for this story.

Until next time! Have a nice day, folks! And again, thanks to all of you! I smiled as I read your comments ;)

- - -Arvendell- - -

07 January 2012

1:05 PM