Disclaimer: I don't own Zatch Bell.
Kiyomaro: Hey guys, long time no see.
Megumi: Yeah, same here. We really missed you. Right, Kiyomaro?
Kiyomaro: That's right!
Megumi: I hope you guys are excited. I think there will be a lot of developments in Kiyomaro and I's relationship during and after this chapter. Kiyomaro might even propose to me! (Spoiler alert! XD)
Kiyomaro: *sweat drops* Baby, maybe we shouldn't get the audience's hopes up too high...
Megumi: Baby? *eyes sparkles* It's like we're married already. Anyway, I'm just setting up the mood for the readers. And you are going to propose to me, right?
Kiyomaro: Yeah, eventually we'll get married.
Seitaro: I heard that son.
Kiyomaro: Uhh, dad... What are you doing here?
Seitaro: You're too young to get married. Go back to studying!
Kiyomaro: Yes, sir. *starts studying*
Megumi: *whispers to Kiyomaro* But what about our date?
Kiyomaro: *stands up grabbing the food Megumi made her* Hey dad, my girlfriend made you food.
Seitaro: Really? How nice. *starts eating food* Hmm, this is good. I think Megumi would make a good wife for you son. *starts falling asleep*
Kiyomaro: I put some sleeping drug on the food so we can sneak out. Megumi let's go. *grabs Megumi's hand*
Megumi: Oh wait, before we go. I hope you guys like this chapter.
Kiyomaro: Same here. Hope this keeps you occupied while we go to our date.
Megumi: Can we go ice skating?
Kiyomaro: Ehh? *falls down*
Mizuno
It was almost midnight in Mochinoki. Almost everyone is in bed in the peaceful town except for a girl crying in the corner of her room. As she wipes away her tears, she tried to keep her focus on the fruits she's peeling. Around her are dozens of apples, pears and oranges with faces ached with sorrow, it's her way of expressing herself as she desperately tries to heal her broken heart. She has never been the brightest from the start, but she knows her feelings well enough to understand the source of her pain.
As she thought about her defeat in love, she recalled the time when she first met "him." It all started in elementary school. She was running to a classroom in the school hallway until she stepped on her untied laces and tripped. Everyone in the hallway just laughed at her and ridiculed her for her clumsiness. When she tried to fix her untied shoes, she realized that it was her mother who has done it all the time and found herself helpless in tying her shoes. She was about to cry until a young boy walked to her and tied her shoes for her. As the boy tied her shoes, she felt warmth on her cheeks and cannot seem to find the words to thank the boy. After he finished tying her shoes, he calmly said, "Here it's done. Be more careful next time, ok?" She nodded her head and he got up with a smile on his face. He held out his hand to her and helped her get up. Afterwards, he immediately walk towards his classroom before the bell rings. She would never forget that moment. And she would never forget the boy who helped get back up. As the years went by, both of them grew older and they made it to the same middle school. However, he was not aware of her presence. She came to learn that he's very smart. However, he also grew out casted from everyone because of this gift. That was when she found the opportunity to become closer to him. And eventually, they did. Unfortunately for her, their relationship never grew to where she wanted it to be, and it may never will.
As she tried to reminisce the good times they were together in school, she tried to think of all her flaws that would keep him away from her. Is it her stupidity, which always seem to cause others trouble? Is it her awkwardness, whenever she's too loss daydreaming when he talks to her? Is it the fruits, with various faces that creeps other students out? Is it her looks? Is that because she's not pretty enough for him, knowing he found himself a gorgeous other? What is it? She wondered confused and empty in the corner of her room as she cried herself to sleep.
Next day in Ashford Academy.
"NO!" "Woo hoo!" Different emotions filled the entire institution. Today is the day midterm examination results are released. All the students are gathered in front of the Bulletin Boards. Megumi looked at the board and turned her head at the top, not surprisingly, the name written at the first rank is Takamine, Kiyomaro with a perfect examination score. She found her heart skipped a beat uncertain about her performance in the exams.
A week before, she cancelled all of priorities in her music career in able to prepare for the exam. She was working very hard with some sleepless nights studying with her boyfriend. "Kiyomaro-kun, this is way too hard, I'm never going to get this," she whined looking at the physics problem she has been working on for an hour. Her boyfriend smiled, "Megumi-san, don't worry. It's not complicated at all." "Everything is simple for you Kiyomaro-kun, you know I'm not as smart as you." Kiyomaro pouted and apologized for his mistake, "I'm sorry but I bet you can get this problem." He continued and stayed up all night until Megumi finally understood all her school work. He was confident that Megumi would answer the problem eventually. After all, she is her best student. None of his friends could understand any subject as fast as Megumi. It's only her work that's keeping her from excelling from her studies.
Megumi was never the top student in her class. In fact, she always found herself near the bottom during middle school. However, after thinking about all the efforts Kiyomaro put it in to help her, she somehow feels pressured to perform well on her tests. She looked at the board and fixation her eyes on the names below Kiyomaro's and at last she found hers. She looked at the rank and was thrilled to rank at thirteenth. There are more than six hundred students in their class. She looked behind her and found Kiyomaro looking at the board. She immediately hugged him and thank him.
"Wow, Megumi-san, you did really well." He smiled. "You've earned it. You worked really hard before the exams, I'm proud of you.
"Ahh, stop being so formal, Kiyomaro-kun" Megumi teased. "And besides, I want to be number one someday."
"Oh really?" Kiyomaro shot back, sarcastically. "I guess you won't be needing my help next time, huhh?"
"Hey, I didn't mean that! You know I wouldn't make it this far if it wasn't for you." Smiling at Kiyomaro. "Anyway, we need to start planning for the Sportsfest soon, now that the exams are over. "
"Yeah, you're right." Kiyomaro agreed. "We better head to the Council room then."
As they are walking towards the council room, two familiar voices were calling on Kiyomaro.
"Kiyomaro! Kiyomaro! We need your help!" They were Tonami and Tenjo. They ranked near the bottom of their class. "We're not doing too well."
"If this keeps up, we'll be kicked out of our club sports." Tenjo added.
"We promise we won't tease you and Megumi-san again. Please help us!" Tonami cried, holding on to Kiyomaro's knees.
Kiyomaro rolled his eyes, "Geez, Tonami get off me. And besides, it's your fault for not doing well, you and Tenjo are too busy messing with girls and harassing me."
"Help us!" The two cried in unison, only adding to Kiyomaro's frustration.
Kiyomaro was about to scold them and put on his oni face when Megumi interrupted, "Tenjo, Tonami, why don't you guys join us after class after to study next time?"
"Megumi-san?" Kiyomaro looked surprised, Megumi pouted at him. Kiyomaro composed himself and sighed, "Fine, you guys can study with us…."
"Oh thank you Megumi-san, you're the best" they thanked her in unison.
"No problem guys, I'm sure Kiyomaro-kun wouldn't mind, right Kiyomaro-kun." She winked at him.
"Hehe. Right!" Kiyomaro agreed, hesitantly.
As the boys were about to leave, they stuck their tongues out at Kiyomaro, mocking him. Kiyomaro was frustrated but found himself helpless, not wanting to do anything Megumi wouldn't approve of.
"Megumi-san, why did you allow them to study with us?" Kiyomaro asked innocently. "You know that.." He tried to find the words, starting to feel embarrassed. "You that's our special time together. I don't want those two to ruin my time with you."
"Everytime were together is a special time for me Kiyomaro-kun. Don't worry Kiyomaro, I'm pretty sure we'll still have plenty of time together. And besides, it looks like they really need your help. And the Kiyomaro I know never let his friends down, right?"
"Yeah" Kiyomaro agreed, defeated, knowing he cannot find himself arguing against Megumi.
After school, Kiyomaro and Megumi headed to Megumi's apartment to plan for the school events. It's fall. The leaves are changing into various colors, falling off trees as they cover the entire base area of the road.
"Kiyomaro-kun, after we get done with the Sportsfest, do you want to stay in my apartment for a little bit longer." Megumi asked.
"Sure, no problem Megumi-san." Kiyomaro replied. "And maybe, we could, you know."
"What?" Megumi started to blush.
"Do what we did on my birthday, remember?" Kiyomaro answered, slightly turning away from Megumi's direction. A red shade on his cheeks starting to appear.
"Kiyomaro! I gave you the chance because it's your birthday." Megumi pouted, still embarrassed as she instantly recalled Kiyomaro's last birthday. It was on Kiyomaro's sixteenth birthday. She planned a surprise party for Kiyomaro as he did for her. Kiyomaro made her really happy on her birthday last month by admitting his feelings to her. They have been very intimate ever since. She knows that her boyfriend has been making weak attempts to have sex with her. So, she decided to let him have his way on his birthday.
"But Megumi-san, didn't you like it? I want to keep making love to you. You know I love you so much." Kiyomaro tried to convince Megumi.
"I liked it. But we're so young, and I thought you supposed to be smart." Megumi answered.
"Ok Megumi-san, I won't force you if you don't want to." Kiyomaro replied. "But I was good at it, right?"
Megumi nodded, blushing. Kiyomaro brightened up. "Sorry if I'm so persistent Megumi-san."
"It's ok, I know you're only joking anyway." Megumi added, looking at Kiyomaro scratching his cheeks. At that moment, she realized how much taller he's growing. They used to be nearly the same height, but now, she to look up whenever she needs to talk to him. She blushed at this thought, finding herself more attracted to the man she loves. As she grabbed his arm, she lightly squeezed her arms to feel his biceps. Megumi left out a small giggle admiring her boyfriend.
Kiyomaro realized what Megumi was doing. "Uhh, Megumi, what are you laughing about?" He raised an eyebrow.
Megumi turned more red, caught with her actions. "You're soo strong Kiyomaro-kun... Since when did your arms get this big?"
Kiyomaro blushed, confused if he should glad from his girlfriend's compliment or be embarassed from admitting he regularly works out in secret to impress his girlfriend. "Well, you know I've been training a lot since we fought Clear..."
"I know that, but something's different, you've been growing a lot. You're a lot taller than me now. We used to be about the same height." Megumi exclaimed.
"Yeah, I guess puberty's hitting me hard lately. Actually, I've had growth pains all over my body ever since summer." Kiyomaro thought aloud."
"Wow, I guess you're just really starting to grow. I wonder how handsome you'll become once you stop growing." Megumi giggled.
Kiyomaro turned into an even darker shade of red.
"I'm never letting you go." Megumi added, cuddling closer to her boyfriend.
Once they reached Megumi's apartment, the coupled immediately worked on their extracurricular agenda. Used in working together from the mamodo battle, the two finished all their work in no time. Megumi then started cooking dinner for while Kiyomaro decided to watch TV. As he is changing channels, he found an entertainment news show. They are talking about Megumi's relationship with a high school classmate. "It has been confirmed that the pop princess is dating a classmate. According to a source, the two stated seeing each other on Megumi's secret birthday party" A video clip of Dr. Riddle's interview with the reporters suddenly popped out.
"You want answers?" asked Dr. Riddles. "I know the answer to everything!
"Yes, could you please tell us who is Megumi-dono dating?" asked the reporter.
"Megumi has a boyfriend and his name is Takamine, Kiyomaro" replied Dr. Riddles.
"Is it true that Italian superstar Parco Folgore set them up?" added the reporter. "We thought that Megumi and Folgore has been meeting in secret, but evidence for our photos taken by the paparazzi showed that Megumi has been spotted more often with this Takamine guy."
Dr. Riddles nodded his head. "So, the amazing Parco Folgore really is involved in this!" the reporter stated in enthusiastically.
Dr. Riddles kept nodding his head and then paused and said, "Kidding!" The reporter fell off her chair.
Kiyomaro sweat dropped watching the disturbing footage, accepting the fact that his life will never be the same after the dating the Japan's sweetheart. Kiyomaro turned off the TV to eat dinner with his beloved.
"So, it's Dr. Riddles who spilled to the media about our relationship." Kiyomaro started.
"Don't be too hard on the professor." Megumi kindly replied. "And besides, none of our friends were good at hiding it either." It's true. All of their friends have confirmed to the public about their relationship.
"Well, as long as we get to spend time together, that's all that matters" Kiyomaro said, smiling looking into Megumi's eyes. Megumi blushed at his words.
"Thanks, Kiyomaro-kun"
After dinner, Kiyomaro headed back to his house.
"Mom, I'm home!" Kiyomaro shouted. "I already ate dinner at Megumi-san's so don't worry about fixing me anything."
"Ok" his mother replied. "By the way, someone is waiting for you at the living room."
Kiyomaro headed to their living room, not expecting a visitor. It's almost 9pm, who could be visiting him at this time. He entered the living room to find a girl sitting still at the sofa with a blank expression on her face. He knows this girl very well and he never so her wearing such expression. She's usually very positive and cheerful; he didn't like what he's seeing. As he tried to overcome his uneasiness, he approached the girl trying to determine what's wrong, although he already has a clue what caused it. "Long time, no see…. Mizuno."
A/N: I'm so so sorry for not updating recently. I kinda almost forgot about this fic. Anyway, I hope you guys like the new chapter. I actually have many plans to develop this story. I just can't find the time to write lately. I'll try to update after this one as soon as I can though. I don't wanna leave you all hanging in your seats too long for the next chapter. :) Finally, there's a possibility of another fanfic Rated M related to this one. I love KiyoXMegu. XD