I was walking along in the woods with Takashi by my side. We had been forced out of the pension together for the day. I think Kyoya and Mitsukuni decided to set us up on a date, but that's just me speculating things. I was jolted out of my thoughts when I felt Takashi warp his hand around mine, causing to look up at him with a blush on my face.
He smiled down at me and we continued walking, trying to find a nice place to stop for a little break. We saw a gazebo up ahead. I don't know why there was a gazebo in the middle of the woods, but it was a convenience since it started to rain. We took cover in the gazebo, watching as the rain started to pound against the roof.
I'm not sure how long I was staring out at the rain, but when I felt arms wrap themselves around me, I looked up, seeing Takashi pressing me close to him. He then pulled me back a bit, away from the banister, keeping me close the entire time, the warmth of his body, wrapping itself around me.
"Don't want you to get cold." He whispered into my ear, gently nuzzling my shoulder with his nose.
I smiled as I leaned against him, wrapping my arms around his, keeping him close to me as well. I closed my eyes, noticing the slight scent of his cologne sneak into my nose as I took a deep breath.
"I don't think I could around you." I whispered back to him, feeling the grip of his arms tighten a bit more around me.
He gently turned me around, cupping my face in the palm of his hand and leaned towards me, his nose gently brushing against mine, his face coming closer to my own that I could feel his breath hitting my lips...
I opened my eyes, with a pout placed on my lips. My heart reminding me of what I had just dreamt. I felt it squeeze a little in pain of what would have happened if I had just stayed asleep just a little longer. I mentally groaned as I pushed myself from the oddly plush bed I was in. I looked around the large room, my brows furrowed in thought as I realized that I was, in fact, staying at Takashi's summer home, with him only across the hall from where I was.
Letting out a sigh, I flopped down on the bed, closing my eyes, trying to force myself back to sleep so I could return back to my dream. Though, I was afraid of what it meant, after all, a dream like that, could mean just about anything.
Opening my eyes again, I let out a frustrated sigh, sitting up once more as I removed the covers from my pyjama covered body. I slipped off the bed, letting out a yawn as I made my way out of the bedroom. I had the day off since it was my birthday, on the insistence of Misuzu-san. I walked down to the kitchen, remembering where it was from the slight tour that Takashi had given me the night before.
Deciding to make breakfast for Takashi and I, I searched the cupboards, finding the ingredients for making some French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Humming lightly to myself, I started to cook, feeling myself waking up as I continued to cook. Humming a bit to myself, I found some lemons and decided that it would be a good to have some lemonade to drink.
About an hour passed when I got everything done, and I noticed that Takashi was still asleep. Tilting my head a bit, I looked at the clock, noticing that it was around eight o'clock. I blinked a bit, wondering exactly how long I had been up for. Shrugging it off, I prepared a plate and glass for Takashi, deciding to take it to him since he seemed to be tired for some reason. Probably from doing all those chores for Misuzu-san the day before. I placed the plate, some utensils and the glass on a tray that I found, making my way over to Takashi's room, lightly knocking on his door. When I didn't get an answer, I tilted my head a bit and knocked once more, a little harder.
"Takashi? Are you awake? I made some breakfast." I said, lightly knocking again.
I heard some shuffling before the door opened, revealing a tired looking Takashi, who was rubbing his eyes a bit with his hand. His hair was flattened from sleeping on it, and he was only wearing black night pants. His dark eyes seemed to be smoldering me as we looked at each other. I immediately flushed and turned my head away, holding out the tray for him.
"Gomen Takashi... I shouldn't have woken you... I just thought you might want some breakfast before heading over to the pension for the day." I said, with a surprisingly calm voice.
He was quiet when I heard his feet shuffle a bit, back into the room, and I took that as a signal to follow him. I entered his room, noticing that it was almost the same as the one at his mansion back in the city. Simple, clean, and relaxed. I looked over at the bed and noticed that Takashi was sitting down on it, and he motioned for me to join him, which I did.
"Makoto, don't you have to be working?" he asked me as he took the tray from my hands, placing it on the bedside table.
"Iie, Misuzu-san gave me the day off." I said, leaning back on my hands a bit.
"That was nice of him." He said, as he pushed a stray piece of hair behind my ear, "Your hair is growing longer." He noticed, twirling a piece of it around his finger.
His eyes were on me, solely on me, never straying, never wavering as I nodded my head.
"Hai, I'm thinking of cutting it again, after all, I still need to keep up appearances as a male neh?" I said with a small chuckle.
"Iie, I think you should grow it out. To about here." he said quietly, his fingers tracing down to the tip of my shoulder, where it still had another inch to grow too. "That would look good on you." He had leaned closer to me, so his breath was hitting the side of my neck, which startled me.
Before I had the chance to jump up, I became trapped between Takashi and the bed. The former was leaning quite close to me, making me feel uncomfortable, for I wasn't sure what he was going to do. When I looked in his eyes, I felt a rush of warmth flood into my cheeks as I tried to lean back away from Takashi, who, in turn followed me. I bit my lip hard as I looked into his eyes, finally noticing that he was looking quite tired, for his eyes were slowly shutting on him.
His head fell onto my shoulder, his eyes closing, freezing me from any and all movements. I was trapped, not being able to move, with Takashi, now fast asleep on me. Summoning my strength, I was able to turn him over, onto his back, causing a grunt of disapproval to leave his lips, as I replaced his sheets over his body once more. Looking down at him, I couldn't help but let out a quiet giggle. Takashi looked like an angel while he slept. His facial features were gentle, calm, carefree, and even happy. Some of his hair fell in front of his face, and I gently brushed it away as I turned to the tray that I had brought.
I shook my head a bit and picked up the tray, walking out of Takashi's room, closing the door quietly behind me, so I didn't wake him up again. Walking down to the kitchen, I placed Takashi's plate into the oven, putting it on low so his food would stay warm, before eating my share, and washed the dishes up. I then went back to the room I was staying in and took my duffle bag with me into the bathroom, so I could shower and dress.
Looking down at him, I couldn't help but let out a quiet giggle. Takashi looked like an angel while he slept. His facial features were gentle, calm, carefree, and even happy. Some of his hair fell in front of his face, and I gently brushed it away as I turned to the tray that I had brought.
I shook my head a bit and picked up the tray, walking out of Takashi's room, closing the door quietly behind me, so I didn't wake him up again. Walking down to the kitchen, I placed Takashi's plate into the oven, putting it on low so his food would stay warm, before eating my share, and washed the dishes up. I then went back to the room I was staying in and took my duffle bag with me into the attached bathroom, so I could shower and dress.
After showering, I stepped out into the foggy bathroom, and started drying myself off. I rummaged through my duffle bag, trying to find a clean pair of pants and shirt, only to see that there wasn't any that were clean. The only thing that was, was a summer dress in the colour of light purple with blue and pink flowers along the bottom of the dress. Around the waist was a blue ribbon that tied around my back, right under my bust.
I sighed at this, but put the dress on anyway, before walking back into the room, a towel wrapped around my shoulders, so I could dry my hair better. Setting my duffle bag down, I sat on the bed, drying my hair while I looked through the side pocket with my feet, and saw that my sisters had in fact, stuck a pair of dress flat into my bag along with this dress. Shaking my head, I draped the towel onto the bed and slipped the flats on. Standing up, I picked up the towel and walked back to the bathroom, hanging the towel back up. I then grabbed my brush and started brushing my hair, pinning it back a little so it didn't hit my neck.
Grabbing my string purse, I put my wallet, and a few other things in it, then walked out of the room. I headed back to the kitchen again. It was around nine now, since I last saw Takashi. I was feeling a bit hungry again, and looked for something light to munch on. I found some fruit, and grabbed an apple, biting into it. I leaned against the counter, munching on the apple, and made sure that I hadn't burnt Takashi's breakfast.
As I was taking it out of the oven, I heard footsteps, and a yawn from behind me, causing me to turn around, to see Takashi, walking into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes a bit, to get the sleep out of them. I smiled at him as I placed the plate in front of him, as well as some utensils.
"Ohayou Takashi." I said with a smile, noticing that he was fully dressed.
"Ah, Ohayou Makoto." He replied as he sat down on one of the stools that sat on the other side of the counter.
I couldn't help but flush though, remembering what had happened earlier that morning. As Takashi ate his breakfast, I finished the apple, and placed it in the garbage. We were silent as Takashi ate his breakfast. I busied myself with cleaning up the counters and oven, putting the pitcher of lemonade into the fridge. Having my back turned to Takashi, I didn't notice him coming up behind me as I finished up the dishes, placing his empty ones next to me.
I looked up at him, with a nod and smile as I started on his dishes. I was surprised though when he grabbed the drying towel from my shoulder and stood next to me, drying the dishes that were on the drying rack. I looked over at him with a tilted head, wondering what he was thinking about.
"Takashi, when are we going to be meeting up with the rest of the club?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Soon, after the dishes." He replied as I handed the last of the dishes to him.
I nodded my head and cleaned the sink after draining the dirty water. I used another towel to dry it up, before washing my hands, then drying them.
"Are we picking Mitsukuni?" I asked turning to him as I hung up the towels.
"Iie, he said he'll meet us at the pension." He told me causing me to nod my head.
Soon we headed towards the door, planning on going to the pension. While we walked down the street, I felt something lightly tugged on my hand. Looking down, I saw that Takashi had lightly intertwined our fingers together. I blushed at this and leaned a little closer to him, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze as we continued walking down the street. People all around us were going about their day, laughing and talking with one another. I looked around at some of the stalls, making metal notes about which ones to revisit when I got kicked out of the pension. When we got there, our hands released themselves from another as we walked inside.
What I saw when we got in there was Haruhi sitting across from a boy that I vaguely remembered from my last year in middle school. The rest of the club, expect for Tamaki, was sitting at a table, enjoying some tea as Takashi and I joined them. I noticed from the corner of my eye that Tamaki was shredding something in a corner, adjacent to the two.
"What's going on with Tama-kun?" I asked curiously, sitting on a bar stood next to Kaoru, while Takashi took a seat next to Mitsukuni.
"Ah Ryuu-senpai! Tono is just depressed because Haruhi didn't acknowledge him as her senpai." Kaoru replied with a slight shrug.
"Sokka, and if I'm right, this guy's Haru-chan's old classmate neh." I mused, resting my head in my hand.
Soon I tuned into Hikaru's criticizing words about Haruhi's friend, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him, and at how jealous he was being. I couldn't help but think that he was as bad as Tamaki with how he felt towards Haruhi. I watched the two, noticing that the male was a little flushed when he looked at Haruhi. This made me chuckle for it seemed that everyone was crushing on the girl.
I'm not sure how much more time went, but Hikaru became more and more annoying with his snide comments. I stood up , flattening my skirt down just as Haruhi stood up, saying Hikaru's name, telling him that he's was being a jerk. Aria-san then told us that he had a crush on Haruhi when they were in middle school, surprising all of us, including Haruhi, but I wasn't surprised about that. She wasn't the type to notice another's feelings of others. Though, I couldn't help but chuckle at the story, I wasn't surprised about it. I looked over towards Hikaru, seeing the look on his face and ruffled his hair a bit.
"Don't look so jealous Hikaru. I'm sure your day will come." I teased him quietly.
The look on his face was one that held confusion, while the look on Kaoru's face was one of slight amusement as he snickered a little. Hikaru scowled at me as he turned back to his empty glass, which I took as dismissal. I notice everyone gathering around Aria and Haruhi. I smiled at that as I decided to take my leave, to go out. As I made my way towards the door, I heard the sound of skin making contact with skin, and looked back over my shoulder, seeing that Haruhi had just slapped Hikaru across the face. Shaking my head I left the pension, knowing that in some way he would make it up to Haruhi, though, it would probably be by force.
As I walked down the street, I noticed that Aria was riding down the street on his bike. I waved as he passed me, getting a wave in return as I walked over to one of the stalls that I had spotted before. It was a jewellery stall, and I was curious to see what they had. Even though I was very big on jewellery, I didn't mind looking at them, or getting some if I liked them. As I gently fingered a piece of jewellery, a charm bracelet, I felt someone come up next to me. I thought it was another patron, like myself, so I didn't give it any thought as I tried the bracelet on. It fit nicely around my wrist, it currently only had one charm on it, a Chinese symbol that meant sincerity. The meaning of my name, ironically.
"You should get it." A voice told me, causing me to jump and whip around startled.
"Takashi! You shouldn't sneak up on someone like that!" I scolded lightly, unable to hide the blush or smile on my face.
There Takashi was, standing next to me, looking at me with amusement in his eyes. He didn't say anything though, but the upturn in the corner of his lips, made me knew he had enjoyed startling me. I pouted up at him as I turned back to the vendor, and started taking off my bracelet, but Takashi's large hand covered mine, topping me from doing so. I looked up at him curiously, watching as he shook his head, taking out some money to pay the vendor. I frowned at Takashi, but before I could stay anything, I noticed that he was buying something else, but he had hid it in his pocket before I could see what it was. Takashi then turned to me, with the smile still on his face as he took my hand in his own, taking me to another vendor to look at what they had. This caused me to laugh a bit, for I didn't think Takashi was a person to like shopping.
"Takashi, are you sure you want to shop?" I asked, watching his expression, lightly tugging on his hand so he would look at me.
When he did, I saw in his eyes that he actually didn't mind going around looking at stuff. I felt his hand gently grip my own. We continued walking then, just looking at the attractions and not buying any more besides from the one vendor. Our shoulders soon touched lightly as we walked, the crowds were letting thicker as people pushed by us, forcing us to get closer to one another.
It was around midday, getting close to supper time when the winds started picking up. Takashi and I were walking in the woods when the sound of thunder rumbled in the sky. We both paused in our steps, and looked up at the sky. We continued walking, hoping to find a shelter before the rain hit. We weren't lucky though, for the rain it just moments after the flash of lightning, when the rain hit full force, drenching us completely.
I couldn't help but laugh when Takashi gently tugged my hand, pulling me not only closer to him, but faster as we looked for shelter. It was about a half an hour later when we spotted an old shrine up ahead. Looking at each other from the corner of our eyes and nodded to each other, picking up some speed, reaching the shrine.
Once in the shrine, I couldn't help but look out, hearing the thunder crash while the wind and the rain picked up. I was entranced by the scene of the rain, wind, thunder and lightning, that I didn't notice Takashi look at me, until I felt his arms bring me to him, surprising me, and snapping me out of my trance. He gently pulled me deeper into the shrine, shielding me and him from the elements. I looked up at Takashi, leaning against him a bit since he wasn't going to get me go it seemed.
"Don't want you to get sick." He murmured to me, "You're prone to getting sick."
I flushed a bit at that and nodded my head, already knowing that it was true. We went to the neck of the shrine, finding some pillows to sit on. Takashi sat us down together, with me in between his legs, trying to keep the two of us warm with our body heat. We were silent, until I started sneezing a little, and squirmed a bit in his arms.
"Taka-kun, could you let me up so I can look for some blankets?" I asked with a pout as I looked up at him.
He seemed to hesitate at this, but soon enough he agreed and released me from his arms, letting me stand up. I walked over to some of the cupboards there, and searched through them, looking for something that was relatively dry. In the end of my search, I found two thick blankets and walked back to Takashi with a smile. He smiled back and took the offered blanket from me, wrapping it around his shoulders as I did the same with the one in my hands.
It didn't seem like the storm was going to let up anytime soon so we made our way back to the shrine, sitting down again. We were silent for a while, and I couldn't help but lean a bit against Takashi's shoulder. I felt his arm wrap around me shoulders a bit, feeling his warm, but damp skin, brush against my damp blanket. I shivered a little, and felt him pull me closer to him, securely trapping me at his side so he could share his warmth with me.
"Arigato Taka-kun." I said softly, closing me eyes a bit.
In response, instead of using words, I just felt soft lips brush against my temple, causing me to blush deeply. I looked up at him shyly as he looked down at me, his other hand brushing away the damp, scattered hair that was matted against my face, gently tucking it behind my ear. His hand left a trail of warmth against my skin, as his hand delayed on my cheek, his thumb gently brushing against my cheek, in a feather light touch.
I leaned against his hand a bit, opening my eyes a little. My eyes traveled up his face, taking in his high cheeks, soft, tanned skin, and angled features, I knew why girls swooned over him for his looks and his silent, protective stature. But I knew that there was more to Takashi than what meets the eye. He was kind, gentle, caring, understanding, fun, patient and more.
I didn't realize Takashi had moved us, or rather, moved me onto his lap, and moved us towards the entrance, but a few feet away so we weren't hit by the storm. I blinked, snapping out of my thoughts, and tilted my head at Takashi, wondering what was on his mind. He seemed to be lost in thought as he stared out of the shrine, at the pelting rain.
"Takashi?" I asked softly, causing him to look at me with a slightly raised eyebrow, indicating that he was listening. "Is everything alright?"
He smiled smally at me and nodded his head as he moved the stray pieces of my hair, tucking it behind my ear once again. I had the distinct feeling that my hair hated me in that time. Takashi's hand strayed on my cheek against, gently cupping it, running his thumb over my cheek, sometimes straying towards me the corner of my lips. My heart started beating heavily, as Takashi leaned towards me. I was soon reminded of me of the dream that morning.
"Makoto..." I heard Takashi whispered, making my eyes snap into to his, noticing how close he was to me now.
"Yes Takashi?" I asked quietly, feeling his breath hitting my lips, causing a shiver to run through my body.
He didn't reply to me as I felt his nose brush against my own. I watched his eyes close partially as his face grew closer to me. I soon found myself doing to the same and soon our foreheads were pressing against one another. The next thing that happened, I could only express that my breath had been literally taken away from me the moment his lips brushed against mine. His lips were soft, slightly chapped, but they felt nice. I didn't notice that his arms tightened around me, or that my arms found their way around his neck.
My mind seemed to have left my head for I couldn't think of anything else, or be able to wrap my mind around what was happening. We pulled away once our bodies reminded us that we needed air. Our breaths were laboured, and our faces were flushed as we looked at each other. We blinked a bit and just gave each other a smile.
Things just got more interesting as the thunder crashed in the sky. We knew we didn't need to say anything, Our actions spoke louder than any words we could use or think of using.