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A/N: Sorry for the lateness…BTW I have a poll going on right now for the next story that I should update. Info on the stories and the poll itself are located in my profile.

That Night

Part 20

The days went on with Misaki living a relatively calm life. Though she was aware of the fact that she was now carrying another person, she still lived on as if the whole pregnancy issue was a dream. To add on to her joyous feeling, Hinata had stopped asking for time alone with her, his attitude hadn't changed either. He was still the happy go lucky man she grew to love when Usui was gone…but that was only the beginning.

As the days progressed, Misaki felt her happiness fade. A dark cloud was visibly growing about her. She was falling farther and farther into depression. She would wake up in the middle of the night from spontaneous nightmares of her losing everything, she would cry silently to herself on break when she was at work then hastily lie to Aoi or anyone else that caught her in such a position and then feel horrible for lying soon after. It was as if the weight of everything was finally, truly, falling on her, weighing her down drastically, and as the days continued in that pattern she found that she was feeling sick of the whole ordeal. Several times she wanted to end it, she wanted to stop her charade and just come out and tell everyone everything. She wanted to tell Hinata and Usui both about everything. She didn't want to be in this situation anymore.

Even so, she couldn't bring it in her to literally tell them. Several times she was faced with them, having either one of them standing in front of her after she called them out with expecting eyes just for her to chicken out and tell them something completely off.

She was now in her tenth week, and she was already having regrets, thoughts of depression and unspoken emotions. She already did not want to go through with this parenting thing. She already started to not see the outcome.

She moaned as she watched the clock slowly move along. Today was the day. Today was the day she was going to find out who the father of her child was so it was only natural that she was nervous. It was only natural, yet she didn't understand why. True, she felt nervous, and yes she did feel a little jittery from the rush of nerves, but she didn't know what was causing it. Was it her curiosity or her yearning for the truth? Was it the thought of how fast or slow the process would take or how the process was going to go about? She couldn't tell right then and there, but what she did know was that the more she thought about it, the more she felt the need to move, to feel the breeze against her legs…and strangely enough to eat.

"Stuffing your face again I see." Aoi's soothing voice came, making Misaki smile for reasons unknown.

"Boy am I glad to hear your voice." She cooed, letting her thoughts surface as she popped another strawberry in her mouth.

"Don't you think you need to lay off the strawberries, Misaki?" Aoi continued, ignoring the growing blush that made its way to his cheeks.

"I do." She mumbled under a mouthful of strawberry. "But I can't stop eating them. I don't know why? I'm not even sure when I started wanting strawberries so much."

"Being pregnant does change ones eating habits." Satsuki sighed as she passed by them. "Aoi, some girls out front are requesting your presence. They look about your age, so I just assumed they were from your school."

"Right." Aoi clucked. "Looks like I'll just have to bless them, ne? I'll see ya' later, Misaki."

"Go get em' tiger." Misaki yelled out, suddenly feeling a heap of a lot better since he arrived. "Is he a crowd pleaser or what?"

"Really now." Satsuki laughed. "You better be careful, Misaki. Pregnancy does a toll on the body. It can even change someone's tastes and attitude. Basically, you won't be yourself for some time."

"So sudden weight gain is not my only issue? Right, just make it harder for me." She sighed, feeling the depression coming back heavier than before.

"Now that's no reason to go and give up."

"I know." Misaki sighed again as she stood form her spot. "But, honestly, it's pretty hard not to. I mean, is all this even worth it?"

"Eh?"

"Sorry." Misaki suddenly apologized. "I shouldn't have burdened you with such a question. It's just that…I no longer feel like myself. I feel like my name's not even Misaki anymore. I feel like I don't want to…do this anymore."

"Misaki…"

"First off, am I even sure that I want to bring my child up in this kind of atmosphere that I, alone, created? I don't want him/her to grow up as the center of hatred from either one of the men that I've loved in my lifetime."

"Misaki, please calm down for a minute." Satsuki began. "You're over thinking things."

"No." Misaki suddenly burst. "I'm not over thinking anything. I mean, just think about it, Manager. If the child is Usui's then I have to tell Hinata that I was cheating on him and that I am pregnant with Usui's child. If it's Hinata's then I have to tell Usui that I'm pregnant with Hinata's child and that I have to leave him alone…forever! Even then, in the end, I'll still have to tell Hinata about my affair, and he'll probably never want to see my face again! No matter where I turn, I can only see my life getting worse!"

"Misaki, please just…just calm down. Take a deep breath and think about it."

"I am." Misaki near cried. "I am…but it's just…it's not getting any better, Manager."

Misaki… Satsuki thought as she watched her cry silently. Why were you harboring this alone?

"It'll all be okay…I promise."

After closing hours:

"Are you sure that you'll be okay, Misaki?" Aoi asked with a skeptical look.

Misaki smiled nervously then sighed before nodding. "I'm sure off it. There's nothing to worry about."

"Okay." Satsuki sighed as well. "Well then, take good care of her, Usui."

"Will do." He nodded as they walked off.

Misaki stiffened once it was clear that they were alone. He was so close. She couldn't even breathe without feeling him take it all in. She was too aware of him, and it was getting harder and harder to concentrate on being normal.

"Misaki." Usui suddenly called, making her jump out of her thoughts. The reaction she gave only made him smile a little. Normally he would be overjoyed with this, but for some reason he wasn't. Not this time. He was rather normal actually. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Hm? Yeah, why?"

"You look…kind of out of it. Almost as if you're tired. You've been like that for some time now. Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.

Misaki smiled at him to calm his worries, but the moment he looked away, her smile faded and she felt worry build its way up. Since that time he came with coworkers, Usui has been constantly visiting the café during his breaks, and though the visits were never long, she still enjoyed seeing him again. The same goes for Hinata. Whenever he popped his head in, she instantly brightened up. He just had the kind of attitude that made stuff like that happen, but aside from that, Usui did visit more often, and whenever he was there, he was studying her. He never took his eyes off of her unless she vanished behind the curtain to retrieve an order. So it was only obvious that he would notice her subtle changes as big changes. Meaning, he knew she was lying. He just let it slide.

"Misaki I –"

"Usui look." She interrupted him, surprising him a little, but he let her talk nonetheless. "I…I'm…getting bigger."

"…Eh?"

"I'm getting fatter."

"So."

"So! Usui I…wait no…I worded that wrong."

"Misaki, are you sure you're okay?"

"I have to rethink that."

"Misaki!"

She looked up for the first time in a long, time, into his eyes with wide, curious ones, and for a moment they just stood there staring down at each other, neither one phasing from the scrutiny of the other's eyes. Then, out of nowhere, Misaki's eyes moved. She blinked once, twice, three times before she caught herself and dropped her face as the tears dropped carefully out of her eyes. She was crying…but what for.

"Misaki!" Usui screamed, cupping her face in his hands to bring it up to get a better look. "What's the matter? Why are you crying?"

Misaki stared once more before the tears came back again, and she was forcing herself out of his grasp. She thought the last feeling was overwhelming, but this new one, this one was overpowering her. Her will to go on was slowly disintegrating, and she was too. Her chest was hurting, her eyes burning and her heart was heavy with frustration. She wasn't thinking anymore. Hell she couldn't hear anything past her heartbeat, so thinking as pointless.

She was, however, faintly aware of Usui's presence. She was more than sure that he was still there, by her side and probably closer than she had bargained for. She was sure that he was holding her, cooing sweet promises to her as he rocked her lightly. She was sure that he was only trying to help her, but what he was doing only made her feel more guilty. She was slowly falling faster.

"…nant."

"What?" Usui asked, looking down at the top of her head to the best of his abilities. "What did you say?"

Misaki breathed then pushed him away. Another croak left her as she tried to suppress her tears but to no avail. Then, with one more deep breath she looked up with watered eyes and a red face and put on her sad smile before it faded into a frown. "I'm pregnant, Usui." she began. The look he gave her was nothing less than what she expected. "And I don't know who the father is."

His expression widened and his mouth opened, to speak, but she was gone by then. She was already around the corner by the time he moved.

"Misaki!" he screamed as he ran after her. His hope was lost the moment he turned the corner just in time to see her climb into a cab on the far end of the street and drive off. Where to, he didn't know, and he couldn't take the risk of going to her house to confront her on the issue with Hinata around, so, basically, he was stuck.

Misaki. He thought.

With Misaki:

Leaving him behind after seeing that face was harder to do than she had expected. She ended up crying harder from just that alone. So when the pressure she felt earlier came back, she cried even harder. By the time she stepped into the room to get the test done, she was lost. Her eyes were bottomless pits and her heart was an abyss of nothing. She no longer knew who she was. She no longer knew what she was doing or why she was doing it to begin with. She felt as if she was no longer Misaki, just like before at the shop after Aoi left. She felt like she was just born and already, no one was around to tell her who she was, to shape her life. She felt…alone, broken and so much more.

Before she knew it, the procedure was over and the doctor was taking off his gloves, and dismissing her.

"Okay." The doctor began. "You'll get your results in weeks' notice."

Misaki's eyes widened. "I'll have to wait a whole week?"

"I'm sorry, but these things take time. You'll just be waiting for some time."

She sighed but left nevertheless, felling less hopeful for the future as time progressed. "Thank you, doctor."

"Have a nice day, ma'am."

Misaki stepped out, feeling the rush of the wind take control of her now sensitive skin and found that it was a rather fitting type of weather for her situation. When a boom of thunder roared by, she protectively placed her hand over her stomach, surprising even herself, but not enough to want to move just yet.

She smiled sadly at herself then started for the street to call a taxi cab as thoughts swam through her head of a better tomorrow…hopefully.

Later that day:

"Misaki!" Hinata yelled as he wrapped his arms around her, picking her up and swinging her in his arms. She barely had enough time to breathe before he and the others were on her with questions. Though, at the time she only heard Hinata's voice.

"Where were you this whole time? Manager-sama said that you left the café hours ago when we called. You had us worried sick."

"I'm sorry." She smiled sadly again without even trying to hide how much hurt she was harboring. "The lines at the store were unnecessarily long."

"Eh?" Hinata questioned as his eyes made their way down to the contents in her bags: diapers, baby bottles and tops, bibs, and pacifiers.

"Misaki?" Hinata asked again, this time with a calmer voice. "What…what's this? Are you…"

He couldn't finish his words, and behind him, her sister and mother couldn't believe hers. She smiled then slowly held out her hand, dropping the bag into Hinata's waiting hands. "Hinata…" she began with a serious face and tone. "We need to talk."

PLEASE DROP THE PITCH FORKS AND TORCHES AND SUCH.

I'm sorry for the ending, but hey, I gotta make up for the week time I haven't been writing. I hope you liked it. This one was actually harder to write because I didn't know how to start or end it, but I knew what the middle was going to be…yea, that happens a lot though.

Don't forget to go visit the poll and vote, because there are other stories that are on the lists. Have fun with it though, you get two votes I believe.

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