A/N: Last chapter… A huge thanks to everyone who have supported this story! I can't thank you guys enough! Well, PLZ ENJOY THE FINAL CHAPTER! ;3
«My goodness, Yoshiki! And… Ayumi-chan!»
I immediately felt nostalgia when I heard that voice I hadn't heard in so many years and forgotten in so many years. Ayako… Kishinuma.
Yoshiki closed the door behind us and kindly took my coat. The mansion he lived in was just as big as the one I lived in, if not bigger. Yeah, his father is a business manager while his motehr is a lawyer. No wonder he lives in a house like this.
Yoshiki's mother was running towards us, still not aged a day. I remember her being in Yoshiki's father's room in the hospital when I used to visit that room to play with him. Her hair was still as light and flawless, like her face and skin. I feel kinda touched to know that she still remembers me.
When she got close enough, she cupped my cold cheeks and sweetly said: «You've grown so beautifully, Ayumi-chan! Goodness, no wonder Yoshiki fell for you!» «Mom!» Yoshiki yelled out, shyly crossing his arms.
She sighed and suddenly turned all serious. «Ayumi-chan… I know that the request was very sudden, but after Yoshiki told us about you being locked in your own room, I had to speak up!» she said. Yoshiki breathed out a slight laugh. «Her parents will hate you after this, mom,» Yoshiki said. «Well, let them! I can't let precious Ayumi-chan get kept in her room like a grandmother's doll!» she said, sincerely. Wow, am I really that important to her? Almost like I'm her daughter or something.
«Woah… Thank you so much, Kishinuma-san…» I said very gratefully and politely bowed to her, hearing Yoshiki trying to choke down a chuckle. Even Kishinuma-san giggled and said: «No need to be so polite, dear. Call me Ayako and make yourself at home.» I raised my head and said, once again: «Thank you so much!» I can't even believe that there are people as nice as her. How could a woman like her, create such a… pervert?!
…
«Darling, have you eaten dinner yet?» Ayako-san asked from the kitchen. Me and Yoshiki were relaxing on the couch, drinking some tea that Ayako-san had prepared for us. Even now… It's hard to digest all I've done in just a day. Yoshiki broke the window to my room, I dicovered that he was my childhood friend, we confessed to each other, he finally took my virginity and probably the most shocking thing… I ran away from home.
Even if I tell Seiko or Yui sensei, I know that they'll first think that I'm joking. How can good girl-student Ayumi Shinozaki who comes from such a respectable family run away from such a perfect life? Just to get together with a guy? Bullshit!
«Oh, yes! But… Um…» I twiddled my thumbs, too shy to admit that I was still hungry. As a part of the punishment, I only got one portion. Plus, mom made a salad today which isn't exactly the food I eat to become full. Yoshiki noticed this and yelled:
«She's famished, so you better give her the leftovers from the stake we just had!»
«S-STEAK!?» I blurted out, too hungry to reflect on my really bad behaviour. Ayako-san laughed and said: «Just a minute, dear!»
I turned to Yoshiki and whispered: «How did you know that I was hungry?» He chuckled and replied: «Why else would you be shy if you weren't hungry?» Ah, good point. Yoshiki is smarter than he looks.
…
«My gosh, that was delicious! You're a really good cook, Ayako-san!» I said after I finished the meal. «Thank you very much!» Ayako-san said, taking my plate to the dishwasher for me. Looking at the huge clock next to the TV, my eyes widened when I noticed how late it really was. Plus, we have school tomorrow.
«Right, uh.. Where am I going to sleep?» I asked. None of them said a word. Come on, is it really that embarrasing of a question!?
«My room, I guess…» Yoshiki mumbled. «WHAT?!» me and Ayako-san yelled in sync. «Yoshiki… Don't you dare…» Ayako-san hissed out, raising her fist into the air. «Don't worryyyy. I'll be nice to her,» he huskily whispered and grabbed my hand, pulling me to the stairs. «Woah, wait!» I yelled, but he kept dragging me to his room.
…
Yoshiki's room was… unexpectedly clean. I imagined his clothes being everywhere and the smell of sweaty gymsocks was missing… to my appreciation. It was replaced by a nice scent of manly cologne. What my gaze focused on first however, was the enormous collection of CD's right beside his bed.
«God… You have every Debussy CD that has ever existed!» I blurted out, looking through all of them without even asking for his premission. But judging by his reply, I guess he had allowed me, through telepathy.
«You thought you were the only one who liked classical music? Screw you, honey,» Yoshiki playfully said in a scolding voice. I showed my tongue to him and kept looking. Ah, Clair de Lune! I stopped looking through them when I saw that song title. Looking beside that huge stack of CD's, I noticed a CD-player which I put the CD in, waiting for Claire de Lune to play.
«It's a nice one, ain't it…?» Yoshiki muttered. I nodded. Clair de Lune… Dancing downstairs at the living room, like Cinderella… In my home…
Home…
Involuntarily, I shed a few tears at the thought of leaving my family. They were good parents… Yet, I left them because of my selfish desires. Yoshiki sat down next to me and kissed my tears away. «You can still go back, if you regret coming with me.»
I didn't think I would even consider going back… After everything mom and dad have done to us, I mean. But… Running away like this and just live with a family I haven't seen for years… It doesn't feel right!
«I don't know… How are we even supposed to live like this? I can't suddenly start calling Ayako-san, mom!» I said. He gently ran his hand through my hair and said: «I know… Maybe you could just go back to them in a few months? Like, to teach them a lesson?»
I turned to him and raised an eyebrow. «What do you mean?» I asked in confusion. «It's almost as if you're saying "I'll run away for real if you guys don't give him a chance!" And then… Won't they be able to see us in a little different light?» he explained. I sighed and leaned my arms and head against his bed.
«I don't know… This is my parents we're talking about. The mother that locked me inside my own room. The father that slapped you. I don't think they'll even take me back after this. And if that happens, I'll…» Ugh, my stomach feels really weird when I even think of that.
«But, remember…» Yoshiki started and hugged me from behind. «This is up to you. No matter what you choose… You'll always find a home here, and you'll always be the most important person in the whole world to me.»
I turned to him and hugged him back, enjoying his warmth, his smell… And to think that all of that belonged to me now. I will be the only one to embrace him like this. I will be the only one that he can share all of his feelings with. I will hold the only lips he'll ever kiss, and the only body he'll make love to.
I will be the only one that's his.
«Yoshiki…» I breathed out, before he powerfully pressed his lips against mine. Holding my cheeks, he lifted my face up so that he could increasingly make the kiss sweeter and deeper. It lasted for almost an eternity, which gave me more than enough time to remember those bittersweet childhood memories from when I was in the hospital…
Yoshiki… I didn't know it then, but… I really didn't know how important you were to me when I was a kid.
I'm not sure what would've happened if we weren't there for each other at that time…
The thought scares me…
*4 YEARS LATER*
«Oh, welcome! Please, come in!»
Oh crap… They're here! They're here! Yoshiki, who was next to me by the staircase noticed me being all nervous, rubbed my back and said: «It's gonna be alright, Ayumi. At least you know that they won't be completely mad at you. And… They've learned to respect me a bit now, haven't they?» «It depends… Ugh, I'm just scared that they will start a fight from the moment they see you!» I blurted out.
«Ayumi…» he groaned out and clapsed his heavy arm onto my shoulder. «If it helps you, I won't try to fight back, even if they do,» he said to reassure me. «I guess that kinda helps… Thanks a lot,» I said gratefully.
«Ayumi-chan! Yoshiki! Come down please!»
I took a deep breath, grasped Yoshiki's hand and gave him one last look before going down the stairs. I haven't seen them for about two years. Only a few phonecalls to know what school I got into and stuff, but nothing else! Gosh, it feels like I'm on a date or something! Alright… Calm down. They're… A little proud of me at least, since I got into such a good university and got a great job as a manga artist. They won't be that mad at me… like when they visited me for the first time.
My hand that was tightly clenching Yoshiki's when I saw their faces at the end of the hallway, waiting for us, along with Ayako-san and Isao-san. I gulped and tried to keep my composure when we got close enough to greet them.
«Hi mom… Hi dad,» I started. Huh…? Mom's eyes are shining a bit. Dad looked down on my finger that had a diamond ring on it and said: «I forgot to congratulate you on the phone last month… Congratulations, you two.» Me and Yoshiki gave each other a warm smile. I didn't think that he would do it that early, but… Yoshiki has never been patient, shall we say.
«Um…mom and dad… I'm so sorry. I know I shouldn't have done what I did a few years back. But… I don't regret it,» I started saying. In four years, I still hadn't apologized properly. That's why Ayako-san decided to invite them for dinner.
Mom pressed her lips together, trying to keep her tears hidden. «I… I don't feel like I can ever be truly happy unless I'm with Yoshiki. That's why I left. That doesn't mean that I don't love you guys anymore!» I said.
«Oh… Ayumi!»
Before I knew it, I was trapped in an embrace with my dearest mother, Asuka Shinozaki.
«Ayumi… We love you too… So much!» she whimpered out, holding me tightly. After all these years that seemed like they lasted for over a decade, I had waited so long to feel a mother's love and warmth. I wrapped my arms around her back and held her even tighter.
…
«So… The dinner wasn't so bad, eh?» Yoshiki asked. «Well, they left without you getting a red mark, so I say they like you!» I said and giggled. «Hey…» he mumbled and nuzzled his nose in my hair. «You were really brave back there…»
«I just told them what was on my mind… That was a load off, thank god,» I mumbled. «Hehe… Now, want some of my sweet lovin'?» Yoshiki slyly asked, giving me a slow lick on the earlobe, making me shudder in pleasure.
«You're so bad…» I whispered and pulled him in for a passionate kiss, pushing him down on the bed.
«Hey… Ayumi?» Yoshiki mumbled in between kisses. «Hm?» I mumbled. «This might me REALLYYY cheesy, like in those romantic movies, but… I love you,» he said. I tried my best not to laugh at that sincere moment, so I nodded at him and whispered: «I love you too, Yoshiki…»
He smiled and pulled me in for another kiss, repeating the events that have happened so many times during those four long years. I guess… An ending like this is not all bad.
At least my ending wasn't as tragic as Juliet's…
Because in the end… I would stay with Romeo, for as long as I lived.
A/N: HOPE YOU ENJOYED ROMEO AND CINDERELLA! What did you like? What didn't you like? Go ahead and tell me your thoughts! Not kidding, right after I upload this chapter I'll be travelling to Sweden! Gosh, I can't wait! Oh well, hope you guys will enjoy the rest of the holidays too! Merry Christmas, or as we say in Norway:
God Jul! ;3
Senpai's Boo is out ;3