Kaichō wa Maid-sama!
28/09/17

This chapter is a little sensual? A little too adulty? (And OOC maybe, but hey it's an AU) But it isn't enough to be rated M, so I guess it's safe to read :D

Please give Yonezu Kenshi's Eine Kleine／アイネクライネa listen, as well as mafumafu's acoustic arrange for it. I have probably ranted about mafumafu, and how high his vocals can get (a height that I would like to see my grades reach one day). Anyhow, I am uploading this chapter because I know that if I don't, I never will. I have been anxiously waiting for this moment, as I feel that the next chapter will open up more stuff for this story.

Yo celebrating bc ArrowBee didn't fail General Mathematics and Pre-calculus :') eek these subjects are the death of mee

xxxx

Juliastes ― Oh yeh. Thanks for always reading btw! ;_; I love you Juliaaa

ShadowOfDarkness2004 ― THANK YOU LOVE (don't stop the bee puns!)

Afe Niel ― Or would he? ;) thanks for reading and reviewing btw!

KitsunePl ― So glad I'm not the only one zoning out every now and then, but oml you took time to reread omg THANK YOU ILY

kokoro neko ― /to those who don't know, this is my sister on random guest accounts, and she openly admitted to me that she even pretended to be some inspired reviewer on Of Prayers And Firsts (*shameless plug* hah, read it if you haven't *stops shameless plug*) in hopes that I'll update faster? Man that made me realise how bad things are going here, but hey thanks "kokoro neko"

Padfoot Starfyre ― EXPLANATION COMING UP REAL SOON/ thank you for being so patient w me I love you Padfoot!

unknown ― Aww ; u ; THANK YOU SO MUCH

Minniemiss123 ― your reaction was my reaction when I found out I still got reviews ; u ; LIKE THANK YOU YOU'RE STILL READING AND REVIEWING I CAN'T EVEN/ and ooh, misunderstandings are mah faves. AND STOP. DON'T SAY STUFF LIKE THAT ABOUT YOU AI. I LOVE YOU TO BITS THAT I UPDATED TODAY!

Patricia Walker ― MY BEES I LOVE MY BEES ! Tysm for telling me your ideas omg. Mine were just a wee bit similar ;D And omg stop being my bee isn't such a big thing omyleg. Please don't expect much from me :( I FEEL SO BAD NOW

Chapter 12: Linger

"Shintani Hinata?"

The brunet smiled, a sudden rush of euphoria nipping at his senses at the thought that his old schoolmate recognised him. "U-Usui Takumi…!"

She was still standing by the doorway, whilst Hinata had already gone in. She didn't know how he would react ― their last interaction replayed in her memories, rendering her frozen and unresponsive.

As she licked her bottom lip, she could taste the remnants of the brewed coffee that her sister had bought them at the hospital's cafeteria, and upon doing so, regret came flooding in. The taste of him lingered in her mouth, and after five years of only seeing him in newspapers, magazines, and the television that he suddenly sprang up with which she could not bring herself to give away, it was too much. It was way too much to be straddling him as he lay frail on a cold hospital bed. It was too much; after having sleepless nights and cold mornings, it was too much to have his lips against hers; his hands roaming her figure, carressing her face ever so gently, as if she was china and he was afraid to break her. To have him whispering her name in a voice that only she knew ― the same voice that she would hear whenever there was only the two of them in the world ― Misaki knew that she would not be able to stand it all any longer.

"Shintani Hinata", he said once again, but this time did he break into a smile.

And Misaki thought she couldn't bear to see that.

And so she shunned the need to look at him, because it was too painful to remember the last time she had seen him look like that ― he was watching little children play in the park. It was snowing then, and she caught him smiling at the sky, chuckling at every little thing around him.

She could recall her heart swelling at the sight of him as she cleared her throat then to grab his attention ― she would be the reason why that smile would disappear.

"It's been a while", said he, and his velvety voice flowed like milk and honey, a craving of hers that hasn't been sated for a while. A very long while, the intrusive voice in her head penetrated through.

"Misaki, why aren't you coming in?"

She looked up to see Hinata's gaze focused on her, and before she could chuckle nervously, the ringing of her phone beat her to it, and Misaki could only excuse herself with an awkward bow.

She felt that maybe it didn't really matter, but it still hurt to leave without so much as a word.

A coward, she said to herself. You're a coward, Misaki.

"Suzuna?"

"'Nee-chan, could you come fast? Kyo had a wee bit of an accident, and I can't ask Hinata to come in the ladies' room."

"Y-Yeah, sure."

"I'm really sorry, onee-chan, but please come fast."

"So… how's it been Takumi?"

The blond's eyes didn't leave Shintani Hinata, nor did it fail to see how she left.

It all made sense now.

He had thought himself irrational for being irritated at the boy's conviviality, but it only made perfect sense. It made sense why the child never failed to remind him of a certain someone that Takumi almost wanted to laugh for trying to shake off the thought that the boy could pass for a "Shintani-Ayuzawa creation". It made sense why he felt trapped in his eyes. Ayuzawa was in them, calling out to him, and his eyes burned in the same way that hers did.

And fuck, he yearned for her fire to keep him warm.

He wanted it ― needed it so bad that it was almost a sin to need something that much.

"Not really used to getting hit by trucks, so you could say it isn't really easy."

Shintani Hinata did not know what to say, knowing that he was on thin ice with every word that came out of his mouth. Misaki never really said anything about her relationship with Takumi ― they suddenly moved away, and that was it. It was Suzuna actually, who let him know of the breakup. That was all, and not even she knew why the couple did, or even when it all happened for that matter.

"Oh."

He was dangling on the same fucking string again, and Usui Takumi berated himself for the umpteenth time as a pained voice screamed deep within him, begging him to stop the torture he had imposed upon himself.

"So, how's it been, with you… and Ayuzawa, that is."

But he didn't, and Takumi told himself that he was being a masochist, but for the wrong reasons.

"Oh, Misaki... told you?"

Was it because she introduced herself as Ayuzawa?

"Not really", he groaned as he moved the wrong muscle, "but I've seen the little guy. Kyo, right?"

Was it because of the way she cried?

The blond nodded as he listened to the man's stories about his son at daycare, and once again, that constricting feeling in his chest came with every word that flew out of the brunet's mouth.

But he didn't stop him anyway.

Was it because through the kiss that they shared, he had felt her love?

"Oh Takumi, here, I found a picture of them all together ― Suzuna, Kyo, and Misa―"

"Shintani."

"Takumi?"

Was it because of the way she said his name?

He has heard someone say it, probably in the hallways back at high school as he strode with his book bag nonchalantly bouncing behind his back as he held it there. "When you find out that the person who you've been in love with for the longest time has fallen out of love with you, your pain will be like a rising hot air balloon.

It will continue to rise until it can't go any higher, and eventually, it'll go down and deflate. You'll get over it, probably, but then a fire will start in you again, and you're above the clouds. It isn't that 'above-the-clouds' heaven sensation, no ― you'll recognise how you are where you once were, and shit, it fucking hurts, and you're on another fucking mind journey to who knows where."

His heart tore ― that was the number of years that they had been apart.

She fell out of love with him five years ago.

And he didn't even know when she did.

"When did you and Ayuzawa get married?"

Was it because she was Ayuzawa Misaki, that even getting his heart trampled on did not matter, just so he could hear about her?

Hinata smiled. "It was a nice spring day. Five years ago, late February, and Kyo was born around January."

He could feel his heart in his ears as he tried to process the fact that she had gotten married, only two months after she had left him. "Do you have a picture… of the both of you that day?"

Relieved that their conversation was going well, Shintani Hinata browsed through his phone before flipping it to show the blond. "She gets embarrassed when other people see this picture, but to be honest, it's my favourite one."

He had only seen it for a brief moment, almost too fast for him to doubt if what he had seen was what he really thought it was, for the brunet had clumsily dropped his phone when someone knocked on the door.

"Mr. Walker, you have another visitor. Shall I let him—"

The nurse hadn't finished speaking when a lanky figure brushed her off, gallantly striding through the metal door, followed by a bespectacled man whom Takumi had expected the moment the former had entered the room.

"Dear brother, here I am―" Gerard Walker's flamboyant entrance was ruined as he raised an eyebrow at the unexpected company. "Hmm?"

Shintani Hinata's brow quirked upwards at the sound of the word 'brother', before noticing the unmistakable resemblance between the men, the only differences being the colours of their hair, as well as the pheromonal aura that each male seemed to emit.

"Oh, Shintani Hinata", the brunet bowed, before realising that the navy-haired had extended his hand for a handshake. "Uhh, Takumi's—"

"Yes, a schoolmate in high school", Gerard stated. "No need for formalities", he smiled, before his voice lowering to a volume that he could only hear, "I probably know more about yourself than you do."

Hinata could only nod slowly, taking in all the new knowledge that he had just received. "W-Walker?" he whispered to himself.

"Oh yes. That is—"

"Something very unnecessary", Takumi growled slightly, sighing as he felt exhaustion take over him again, a feeling he had known quite well, yet still something he had not been used to.

"But, you're Usui, and—"

"That's how it is going to be."

Gerard rolled his eyes as he watched the brown-haired man (who really was a child in an adult's body) fussing over the topic. 'Did he not see the name outside the room? Takumi Fucking Walker in fucking bold?'

"Well, I guess I'll be going now. Sorry for the disturbance, and please get well soon, Takumi."

Usui Takumi smiled weakly as he watched the brunet's figure retreat before walking out of the door. He settled back, exhaling slowly as the conversation with Shintani tired him out, before the other man peeped his head back in to say a few words: "Oh and Misaki asked if she could talk to you sometime!"

"What a handful", Gerard sighed as Hinata closed the door behind him, "But seriously, I never knew that Cedric could fail at investigating. That boy is more of a puppy than Ceddy had made him seem to be."

The mere mention of her name caused his heart to beat as if he was running a marathon, the image in the Sanshita-kun's phone burning at the back of his mind. He could blame his faulty eyes later, but Takumi knew that he could not have been mistaken.

Standing there was Shintani Hinata looking his best in a suit, his smile reaching both ears as he stood hand-in-hand with his blushing wife, the woman beside him wide-eyed as if someone had said something embarrassing, and all she could do was stand there, mortified and rigid in place.

Standing there was Shintani Hinata, eyes disappearing as he smiled next to her, and that's when Takumi realised that the Ayuzawa women might just have something in common: all could blush on a whole nother level, and Ayuzawa Suzuna was no exception to that.

A/n: Oh crap oh crap it has been revealed! I swear if Takumi misunderstands once more I will get him hit by a train and actually get him killed for being that stupid. Well, stay tuned mah bees :) And oh, sorry in advance for any typos or errors! I usually check after uploading if I made any mistakes, so please do point them out!