"Dead" The raven haired beauty sighed falling on to the bed and immediately pulling the covers over her head.
I don't like how this house is so quiet and eerie.
"Who cares? I could live in this comfortable bed forever now"
She heard a sound and clicked her tongue in irritation , getting up "Or maybe not" Walking towards the kitchen , she opened the first cabinet which was filled with instant noodles.
"I could definitely survive four years with this for dinner" Misaki grinned "And look! It comes in different flavors too!"
"And there are almost 10 companies that produce instant noodles so that's a good thing for you"
Heart almost leaping out of her chest , Misaki crouched down and placed a hand over the place where her heart was and willed it to calm down. Once she did , she immediately turned and stood up but was forced to take a step back as to not bump into him.
"I know you have a key to my house and all but don't give me jumpscares like these! I almost had a cardiac arrest because of you!"
"I have given lots of girls a heart attack. Don't feel so special , Princess"
"By blackmailing them?" The amber eyed girl scoffed "Only you would do that"
"Not every girl in the World gets the joy of being my neighbour who I have personally requested for"
"Geez. How haughty" Misaki rolled her eyes , pouring water into the kettle and placing it on the stove "With an ego that big , I wonder how he survives under its weight" She muttered under her breath.
There was silence between the duo as Misaki impatiently waited for the water to boil quietly glancing at Takumi poking around the kitchen.
"Whoa. You have cabinets one after another filled with Instant Noodles. Where is the rest of the food? Are you this hellbent on not cooking?"
"Instant Noodles doesn't take much time and it fills you up just fine. So no , no other food" She didn't want to disclose about her disaster skills at cooking. Especially not to him.
"I take it you aren't used to cooking?"
"Nope. I didn't have to touch the kitchen when my Sister and Mom were around"
The blonde haired gentleman looked at her weirdly for a while and then proceeded to laugh "I bet you can't cook"
Willing her cheeks not to heat up , Misaki crossed her arms in defiance "What makes you say that? I can cook just fine" She lied through her teeth.
"Dinner at your place then" He grinned , obviously very aware that she was lying.
"Why should I entertain you? I need to study so get out"
"I feel like I need a change. Cook for me?"
"I don't want to. Go play with someone else"
"Oh I can play you just fine"
"I said someone else. Stop bothering me" Opening one of her cabinets , Misaki grabbed another cup of instant noodles and gave it to Takumi and proceeded to push him out of her house.
"Whoa Whoa" Takumi managed to splutter as Misaki pushed him out "Dinner at my place okay?"
"Get out" With a final push , Takumi was out of the door and Misaki closed the door behind him.
Takumi rose an eyebrow at the closed door and then looked down at the cup of instant noodles. Laughing he walked towards the elevator "Grocery store it is"
"Hey! You home?" The blonde haired gentleman called out , entering the raven haired beauty's house "Or maybe not" He concluded looking at the darkness that was spread.
Putting the card in the case , the entire house lit up as emerald eyes narrowed at the lack of homely aura in the house "She should really try and decorate it better"
Assured that the said girl wasn't home , Takumi proceeded to turn around and walk away when a thought struck him.
No no no. Bad bad idea. I may be playing around with her but I am not going to be sneaking around. Besides. Why would I?
Why did you crush the cup then? Conscience questioned
So that they cannot reuse the cup to serve someone else. Every bottled water says that.
Liars will gets an entire week of teasing. Conscience threatened.
The Devil sitting on his left shoulder laughed "Conscience is serious this time"
The Angel tried reasoning "Maybe you were angry because you couldn't befriend her earlier"
"Idiot!' The Devil screeched "Why would Takumi want to befriend that girl? He's going to rip her heart into shreds!"
"Oh no!" The Angel cried "You cannot. She's such a pure soul"
Takumi scoffed "Pure soul? She's dangerous"
"Why don't you pretend to like her , come to know of her past and then give her the same treatment?" Devil suggested , poking his trident into Takumi's shoulder "That'd be a good comeback for her pouring the entire can of soda on you"
"I like how smart you are" The emerald eyed model complimented , waving the Angel's protest off along with the Devil's victory laughter "Did she really think I'd let her off easy?"
Without a second thought , Takumi started walking around and inspecting things making sure not to touch or move anything. He hadn't even made it past the living room when something on the third shelf of the Television Set caught his eye.
In the midst of line of DVD's , there was a photo frame kept in the same position as the stack of CD's. Anyone would miss it if it weren't a contrast color of brown whereas the rest was all black. Slowly opening the shelf , Takumi took the photo frame out and inspected it with narrowed eyes.
Misaki was kissing some red haired guy's cheek in the picture with him grinning. There was decoration all around with both of them in party hats in the picture so he guessed it was someone's surprise birthday party.
There was a small labelling below the frame which caught his attention even more.
Misaki and -
The name was ripped out and so it only remained half with the surprise discovery of Misaki's ex whose name remained unknown.
Takumi placed the frame back in it's shelf and proceeded to walk out with a new goal in mind.
He was going to find out who this guy was and what he had done to her to make her despise guys to such an extent , if given the chance she would slaughter them brutally.
And if he was given the chance , he would slaughter the ex brutally.
"Crap"
She looked through her bag again and again. Where had she kept it? There was no way she could have forgotten it in her car 'cause she hadn't even taken it out at all.
Had it...fallen out?
"I am such a…" Turning her back to her house door , Misaki slid down , head hung low "Where could I have..?" Taking her phone out , she dialled a number and placed the phone on her ear.
"Wow. For a girl who does not make the first move , you sure called fast"
"And you can shut up , Ryusuke" The raven haired girl rolled her eyes "Are you still at the University?"
"I am currently throwing my bag in the backseat of the car , ready to leave. Why? You left anything?"
"My house card. I think it's fallen there from when I was helping you with the assignment. Can you probably go look?"
"Yeah sure. Stay on the line. I'll quickly jog there"
Misaki waited for a while , eyes closed as she hoped it was there "Uh. Misaki?"
"Yeah?"
"I ..don't think...it's here. Nope it's not"
"Geez. I couldn't have lost anything else , huh?"
"Hey..You wanna crash at my place? We could probably complete my assignment today and not tomorrow"
"Nuh uh. Like I had said. No shortcuts. You got to do the rest by yourself. Also? Don't worry about me , I'll go over to Sakura's place"
"Aww. Alright" The raven haired girl smirked as she almost pictured him pouting "You don't have a spare key?"
"Uh no.." But Takumi Walker does.
"Well. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yes. Same time , same place"
"My house door is always open for you"
"I'll shut it on your face when I pass by"
"Feisty girl"
"Flirty boy"
Together they laughed and hung up as Misaki sighed. Maybe she really left it in her car. If she actually lost it , it'd be problematic.
"Who's next?" Scrolling through her contacts , she stopped at Sakura's name "It's Sakura huh?"
"Wow wow wow. That's a nice way of camping 'out'"
Rolling her eyes , Misaki looked up "What do you want?"
"What are you doing?"
"Like you said , camping out" A second later she added "Involuntarily"
A full smirk spread on the Emerald eyed model's lips as he tried his best not to laugh "Don't tell me the Princess locked herself out of her Palace"
"Wow. You won a lottery by cracking this huge riddle" Misaki rolled her eyes. Upon realizing something she looked up hopefully "You have a spare key right?"
"I ...did"
"Did?"
"Left it at Tora's place yesterday"
"Why were you carrying it everywhere?"
"I thought it was the spare key to my house"
"Genius"
"Says the girl who lost her house keys"
"Yeah yeah. Rub it in my face as much as you want to"
"I can rub a lot of things in your face , Princess-"
"-God forbid if you-"
"-like a scrub for instance"
Silence.
"What? It's not my fault you think dirty"
"Just leave me alone" Pulling her legs to her chest , Misaki buried her face in it.
"You can come in you know? Probably take a shower or something. Till then I'll have some new clothes ordered for you and ask Tora to send someone with the key"
Amber orbs looked up in suspicion "You are being way too nice"
"If you are mean , you are rude. If you are good , you are flirting?"
"Don't act so innocent. Chivalry is not dead. It's extinct"
"Well. Feel free to sit out all day then"
"Will you really call Igarashi up if I come in?"
"You can call him up yourself if you want to"
"Nope" Misaki got up "I"ll let you do that" With that said , she proceeded to walk inside as Takumi held the door open for her.
Once inside , Misaki almost lost her breath. For a guy's place , his house was beautifully maintained despite the monochrome theme.
"Welcome to my humble aboard Princess"
"Thanks"
"Enjoy your stay" Then his voice dropped down to a whisper "I can help you make it a lot more enjoyable"
"No thanks" Misaki turned to admire the house before Takumi could notice the slight blush on her face.
The walls of the house were painted monochrome. The furniture was monochrome and so were the curtains , rugs and carpets. Despite the fact that it was an exact replica of how Misaki's house was. It somehow didn't look like it. At all.
"Want to go take a shower? It's late"
"Clothes?"
"I'll have my assistant get you some. And I'll also call Tora up"
"Uh… You know I can go over to Sakura's place for the night and take the keys from you tomorrow. You don't have to go this far" I don't want to be indebted anymore.
"I am not asking you to permanently live with me. I was asking you to freshen up and shower. Unless…" His voice dropped down to a whisper again "You want to do it together"
"I'll break every organ of your body if you dare peep at me while I shower. And then I'll go home"
"As you wish , Cupcake" He sighed , running a hand through his hair and for the first time , Misaki noticed up close how his body shape could be perfectly seen through slim Tee shirts like the one he wore and how his biceps flexed "Guess you know where the bedroom is?"
Misaki narrowed her eyes as he purposely emphasized on bedroom and then nodded turning on her heel and walking towards the spiral staircase.
Wrapping the towel around her , the ravenette stepped out of the steaming bathroom and into the air conditioned bedroom of Takumi Walker.
As promised , there were clean clothes neatly folded and placed on his round bed (which was also monochrome). Amber eyes looked around wearily as if suspicious about someone spying on her dressed only in her towel.
She decided to call her neighbour but it was now that she realized , she had never called him by his name. The need had never been there.
But now there was one.
Slowly clearing her throat , she awkwardly called out "Uh...Ta-ku-mi! Do you have a bathrobe?"
There was a long pause and the raven haired beauty actually turned around as if sure that he was going to come out of his hiding place soon.
"The leftmost section of my wardrobe!" He called back and Misaki let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding.
"Do you have cameras in your room?!" She asked loudly again.
"If you want me to see you without any clothes on Princess , you just have to ask!" He called back.
"Shut up!"
Making sure to bolt the door , Misaki walked towards the wardrobe that covered an entire wall next to the bathroom door. She walked to the leftmost door and opened it. Sure enough there were lines of towels neatly stacked with bathrobes hanging and other toiletries like shampoos , soaps , conditioners , colognes and others stacked in shelves below.
"Why do I even need a bathrobe right now?" She silently muttered to herself as she inspected and silently awed at how neat everything was.
Curiosity got the better of her and she looked around a little , still suspicious before picking up the first cologne bottle and smelling it.
Holy potatoes. This smells freaking amazing.
Misaki gulped and immediately placed it back almost smacking herself. What are you? A pervert?
But she would be lying if she said she didn't have an urge to spray it on herself. But she had a strong willpower. Especially (and at least!) against cologne.
Quickly closing the door of the wardrobe shut , Misaki proceeded on putting her clothes on. Her suspicion grew even more when the shorts and her inner wear fit her perfectly. She didn't mind the oversized hoodie because she knew she couldn't have asked for something more comfortable.
She remembered that the last closet had a full length mirror and so Misaki walked back making sure not to touch any cologne. Absentmindedly , she opened the closet and gasped a little.
The closet which she had opened was wrong but the lines of clothes made Misaki feel like her entire wardrobe was nothing. But it was odd.
Even though the closet didn't take up much space , it was fairly large. The weirdest thing was that , there were line of dresses and clothing that belonged to a girl. And Misaki was assured that Takumi Walker didn't like to cross dress
There was a knock on the door and Misaki quickly shut the closet and sprinted across the room to open the door. Before Takumi could even open his mouth , Misaki beat him to it.
"Did you get the key?"
"Tora is out for a business meeting is what Kuuga tells me. And I can't talk to him till then"
"God" Misaki sighed , leaning against the door frame "I am sorry for intruding"
"Don't sweat it , Princess" He turned around and started walking downstairs with Misaki following suit "It's nice to have company even if it's an annoyingly sarcastic girl"
"Ha-ha. Pleased to be acquainted with you as well"
"Either ways. I made dinner. So I guess you are staying"
"I'll go over to Sakura's place-"
"I have a spare bedroom. And you can lock it"
"Um. Thanks. A lot"
"Anytime Cupcake. Also? Keep the hoodie. It suits you better than me"
"It's really comfortable. Can't deny that" And then a thought struck her "How did you know my measurements? The clothes fit me well"
"I measured your clothes secretly"
When Misaki smacked his arm , he winced and admitted "I am a model. I can presume the fitting"
"I don't think modeling requires you to wear clothes of the opposite gender"
"No. Ofcourse not" By now they had reached the dining table and Misaki silently marvelled at how delicious everything looked.
"Then why do you have a closet full of clothes for girls?"
There was a long pause. The silence that took over was almost deafening. And Misaki wanted to get rid of it.
"I am sorry. I didn't mean to intrude -"
"They belong to my ex - fiancee"
The silence that followed was even more deafening and longer than the previous one. Misaki knew she had crossed a line she shouldn't have.
"Oh" Was all she could muster up as Takumi set the cutleries up
There was a pause.
The emerald eyed model looked up and started laughing "What..What kind of a - What kind of a pathetic response was that?"
Misaki was bewildered for a second before she gave him an incredulous glare "N-Not my fault! I thought it was a sensitive topic for you!"
"It used to be" Takumi confessed , sobering up "Now I am over it"
"So you can share it?"
"Someone's curious" He teased
Snorting , Misaki scoffed "You wish"
"Oh I wish for a lot of things you have no idea about , Princess"
"That sounds so dirty"
"That's your fault"
"I am sure you meant it that way. Which girl would stick around such a guy anyway?"
Takumi's hand stopped mid way as he was placing forks and spoons down "Maybe you are right"
Guilt washed over her and Misaki facepalmed , literally "Hey hey. I am so sorry-"
"Don't be"
"I am sure you were the best thing that happened to her and she lost her chance at achieving it"
There was silence for a while before he started to speak again "I was used by her so that she could achieve the popularity and the guy she craved for"
"Wow. Talk about the typical 'Sleep my way til' the top' type"
"More or less. Come…" He gestured for her to sit "Let's test how good you can hold your alcohol"
"Pardon?"
Takumi pulled out a bottle of expensive looking wine from out of the cabinet above the cutlery shelves and popped it open "I said…" He started pouring it in the glasses "Let's see how good you can hold your alcohol"
"Is that all you got?!"
"Wow. You are still very stable after four shots of vodka and three glasses of wine"
"Duh. That was nothing"
Currently , the duo was seated in the balcony couches with glasses and bottles laid out in front of them as they had the most beautiful landscape in front of them.
Takumi's eyes narrowed a little and he was in a little doubt about whether his current company was sober or acting sober.
He grabbed a hold of her hand when she made a move to pour herself more wine "As much as I'd love to toast you , we have classes to attend tomorrow"
"To hell with it!"
She's drunk. Takumi concluded.
"Woah woah" Takumi grabbed the glass out of her hand before she could take another sip "You need to rest , Princess. And I doubt you can hold anymore alcohol"
"Rubbish! My record is waaaaay higher than this!"
"Oh yeah? How come people let you drink so much when you get drunk so easily?"
"No one stops you from drinking when you are drowning away in sorrow!"
"Drowning away in sorrow?"
Misaki scoffed "What else can you do when your boyfriend cheats on you with the girl who is last on your favorite list?!"
"Wait. Rewind. You got cheated upon?"
"With the worst girl ever! To think he didn't even try and make up a excuse-" Her voice died in her throat and she choked as Takumi started rubbing her back in soothing circles.
"Please don't cry"
"Nah. I am over that stage" She leaned so close to Takumi that he was taken aback and by surprise and almost let go of the glass he had been holding away from the Misaki
"No no Princess" He placed the glass on the table and turned to Misaki and grabbed her by the waist as she tried to grab a hold of the glass.
"Please?" She turned to give Takumi her best puppy dog eyes and Takumi almost gave in before pulling her back again.
"Won't work Princess"
She pouted and turned away "Was worth a try"
Somehow things became a tad bit clearer about Misaki. Why she behaved how she did. And most importantly why she didn't trust any guy.
And somehow , Takumi wanted to be the one changing that
Misaki had pulled the hood over her head as she sat half on Takumi's lap and half on the couch seemingly unbothered by all of it. At least for now.
"Princess. Alcohol is injurious to health"
"So are you"
"No Cupcake. I am a very nice person"
"And me?"
"So are you"
"So why did my ex cheat on me?"
"Even he didn't know why"
Takumi waited for a moment and thought the drunk Misaki would miss the pun but right then laughter filled the air spreading a warm feeling through him despite the cold.
"Hey Takumi?"
It somehow didn't seem very weird when she uttered his name now then the time she had called him earlier. And even though he would never tell her , he liked it coming from her.
"Yes?"
"Protect me the next time a guy tries to hurt me. And then together we can give him a reason as to why he shouldn't do it"
"What if I am the guy who hurts you?"
"I have enough trust that you won't ever do it" Placing her head on his collarbone , Misaki happily adjusted on his lap , slowly falling asleep.
And that left Takumi in a dilemma he never thought he would be in. He couldn't decide if he liked the usual feisty and sarcastic Misaki or the current honest and vulnerable one. He didn't know if taking advantage would be the right thing to do or not. Heck. He didn't even know whether he wanted to do it or not.
The thing that confused him the most was whether he wanted to break her heart anymore or not.
Heyy everyone!
I am sorry to say that this story along with the others will be on hiatus til' April. I really need to focus on my studies and I hope you all understand. Gomenasai everyone.
I"ll try and fit another update before January ends but I won't promise anything so if I am unable to please don't blame me. If not before February starts , I am afraid it is after March.
Thank you for all the lovely support. I love all of you so much!
Til' 32nd December is introduced!
|Tear Blaze|