DISCLAIMER:

I do not own "The Wallflower" franchise, nor am I the author of this series. This credit goes to TOMOKO HAYAKAWA. Please support the mangaka!

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Author's Note:

I really appreciate all the reviews. I hope you continue to support my work (and my upcoming novels hehe). The moment everyone is waiting for is now here! Enjoy!

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CHAPTER 14: THE MOST RADIANT CREATURE

"Sunako-chan, if you're wondering where Kyohei is… he said he wouldn't go to the farewell party."

He's not going.

Why did it bother her so much? It's not like she wanted to have him around. In fact, she would much rather not see him at all. That would definitely save her from the massive nosebleeds he often caused her to have.

Takenaga and the rest waited for Sunako's reaction to his statement. However, Sunako remained silent and expressionless.

Noi's eyes widened. "You're not bothered at all that Kyohei's not coming?!"

"It will be better if he's not around." Sunako replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Poor Sunako-chan…you still haven't forgiven Kyohei for rejecting your peace offering?" Ranmaru asked her. Then he stroked her hair and sighed loudly. "He just wants you to miss him, Sunako-chan! He could not bear seeing you with Zaki at the party so he decided not to go. His heart can only take so much rejection!"

"Yes, yes, yes…" Noi nodded. "Because he thinks you chose Zaki over him, he got so hurt and didn't want to see you tonight. He feared that he'd get his heart broken if he saw Zaki with you!"

Takenaga sighed as he looked at Noi and Ranmaru who were both caught up in their imaginations. "Looks like Yuki and I are the only sane persons here."

Yuki laughed. "It would be interesting though if what they're both saying is true? Actually, I don't even know the reason why Kyohei didn't want to go."

"Who knows? Maybe Kyohei will surprise us."

---

Sunako was silent on their way to the hotel's ballroom. They were greeted by Suzu who was waiting at the entrance. "I'm so happy that you decided to come!"

Sunako didn't reply but gave a quick bow. 'He's not here so why is it bothering you so much?' she thought to herself. Just then, Zaki approached her and took her hand. When she cringed, he suddenly dropped it.

"Sun-chan! I'm glad you could make it!" He smiled and looked at the others who accompanied her. It looked like the idiot wasn't with them. Zaki sighed. 'Oh well, I guess there's no point in talking to this creepy girl anymore. After all, if the idiot isn't here, it's less fun.' Zaki thought to himself. He turned away from Sunako and left her side without saying another word.

Noi pouted. "How rude! First he talks to you as though he were really glad to see you and then he turns his back on you!"

Takenaga eyed Zaki's retreating back suspiciously. Could it be possible that Kyohei was right? That Zaki was just pretending to like Sunako?

"He's worse than Ranmaru!" Yuki exclaimed.

"Hey! I resent that!" Ranmaru cried out. Suddenly, two pretty girls approached them.

"What a cutie!" one of the girls said.

Ranmaru flashed his killer smile and said in a sexy tone, "I could say the same for both of you…" He then walked away, an arm around each pretty girl.

"See what I mean?" Yuki laughed as they watched Ranmaru flirt with the girls.

"I…I want to go look around." Sunako finally spoke.

Noi's eyes twinkled. "Good idea!" She grabbed Takenaga's arm and snuggled close to him. "Takenaga-kun, let's have a look around the place, too. Bye, Yuki!" All three left Yuki and headed to different parts of the room.

Yuki sighed. "I guess I'm on my own again."

---

'Peace and quiet at last.' Sunako thought to herself. It would be easier for her to stay at the party without the radiant creatures following her every move. It was better to be alone. No one bothered with her, and she didn't have to bother anybody. She didn't know why she had to attend the party in the first place. No one seemed to notice she was around, and she was better off not being seen anyway. Ranmaru looked like he was having a good time flirting with her old classmates. Yuki was hanging out with Suzu-chan, and Noi and Takenaga were having their own moment in another part of the room. She wondered how they could manage to be themselves even when they weren't back home in Tokyo. The only one missing was…

Sunako shrugged the thought away. How could she even think of that radiant creature?! It shouldn't bother her in the least that he wasn't around. If he were, he'd either be lounging away in the buffet table area or picking a fight with someone. Someone like Zaki…

She hated herself for even thinking about him. But she had to admit that it was strange that the radiant creature had refused to come, knowing that he could never resist food, free food at that. Suddenly, she heard voices from behind her.

"So it looks like your plan isn't going to work, eh?" One of the voices said.

"It's pointless to even think about it. I mean, if that idiot isn't here, what's the point of me wasting my time with that creepy chick?"

Sunako's eyes flared. They couldn't be talking about her, could they? She couldn't resist listening in. When she turned around to see who the voices belonged to, she saw Zaki talking to another old classmate, Mido Kasagi.

"Why did you even bother talking to her in the first place?" Mido asked Zaki.

"Well, when I saw her at the party, I thought she looked really pretty. I guess Tokyo is the best place to get a makeover. But spending time with her, she never changed. She's still as creepy as ever. And she's still totally in love with me. She even told that idiot she hated him in front of me!"

Mido laughed. "Probably to show that she still had the hots for you. She is blind though…that friend of hers was quite the pretty boy."

Zaki rolled his eyes. "Mido, his charms couldn't even work with an ugly chick. I think the pretty boy will still be me. He's so pathetic to even try to challenge me!"

She could not believe what she was hearing. Before she could even think of what she was doing, Sunako marched towards Zaki and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "I can tolerate you calling me ugly, but you have no right to say that you are better than the creature of light!"

Zaki and Mido were taken aback by Sunako's sudden intrusion. "You're crazy! How dare you touch me?! And where's your creature of the light now? That idiot abandoned you because he can never bring down Zaki Shinomori!" Zaki answered back.

Her reply was slamming him on the floor. "You're the ugly one. You're heartless and think only of yourself. I was a fool to even fall in love with the likes of you." She gave one last look at Zaki who was still on the floor. "And by the way, his name is not idiot. It's Kyohei." With that, she left the two of them speechless.

Mido was about to say something but Zaki stopped him. "You messed with the wrong person, Sunako Nakahara."

---

Sunako could feel the tears falling down her cheeks. She didn't even stop to wipe them off. She kept walking, blinded by her tears, trying to find the exit.

"I want to leave."

Just then, the music stopped playing. All eyes turned to the stage to see what the fuss was about. Even Sunako couldn't help but turn her eyes to the stage. There was Zaki, a mike in hand, calling the attention of everyone in the room.

"I'm sure everyone here because Suzu asked all of us to be nice to our old classmate whom all of us gave a bad time during the reunion," Zaki's eyes scanned the room and when he saw Sunako, he pointed towards her direction and the spotlight turned on her. "Sunako Nakahara, our old classmate back in junior high. I'm sure all of us here know of the incident between us." He smiled, making sure not to break his gaze from her face.

What was he up to? Sunako wondered. She tried to move from her place but she could feel her body resisting. Everyone in the room was silent, eyes both on Zaki and Sunako, wondering what was going to take place.

"Yes, our dear little Sunako approached me two years ago and confessed her love for me. My reply?" He gave a smile, emphasizing word for word his next sentence. "I hate ugly girls."

His words caused sudden chatter from the crowd. Noi, Takenaga, Yuki and Ranmaru could not understand why Zaki was saying those words. Noi wanted to throttle Zaki but Takenaga held her hand tightly and shook his head. "Wait, Noi-chi. We have to see what he's up to."

"And our dear Sunako left Hokkaido and moved to Tokyo. Two years later, I finally had peace, talk finally ended about my incident with Sunako, until the reunion…" Zaki paused, trying to settle down the crowd to make them listen to what he wanted to say. "I hoped you never came to the reunion, Sun-chan. Because I knew you'd make a living hell out of my life again. But when I saw you, I had to admit, you had changed your looks. Was all that to prepare to win me back?" Zaki laughed then gave another one of his smiles. "Suzu-chan, you said Sunako didn't deserve the words her classmates told her back at the reunion that's why you organized another party. But you're wrong. She deserved it. She's one crazy bitch who tried to hit me when I refused to fall in love with her again."

That was a total lie and Sunako knew it. However, her body felt numb and as much as she wanted to run away, she could not.

"Sunako Nakahara, no one will ever love such an ugly girl like you…" Zaki continued, but his words were drowned by another who shouted:

"That's a lie!"

Everyone turned to see who it was. Was it Sunako who finally spoke up? Everyone, who's eyes were fixed on Zaki who was speaking, suddenly turned to Sunako's direction. Noi, Takenaga, Yuki and Ranmaru all turned to Sunako and their jaws dropped.

"This ugly girl you're calling is the most beautiful person in this room."

Sunako's head turned, her eyes blurred with tears, but she saw who had spoken on her behalf.

It was Kyohei.

"She's the most beautiful person in this room because unlike all of you, she cares for her friends. Even if she didn't want to see the people who hurt her, she still came to this party to see you all again," He slipped an arm around Sunako's waist and held her tightly. "And if you say that no one could ever love her, you're wrong too."

Sunako's eyes widened. What was the radiant creature saying? Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Kyohei's lips pressing against hers. Everyone's eyes widened as they saw Kyohei kissing Sunako in front of all those in the room. The next thing that happened was Sunako's nose turning into a geyser of blood and her fainting in Kyohei's arms.

"You're the ugly one, Zaki. You're ugly because you failed to see how much Sunako is worth."

END OF CHAPTER 14

I hope you liked the chapter and continue to support this series. It's really tough to get them together! Will they ever? What will Sunako's reaction be? We can only find out on the next chapter!