Chapter 19

Confessions

Fairly short chapter.

But it's got the thing that you all desire the most in this fanfic.

Fluff between Misaki and Takumi.

This is the chapter where Takumi confesses his feelings for Misaki, and what Misaki's reply is to that. Will she accept him? Or will she break his heart?

The italicized parts are flashbacks. The regular font is present time.

Enjoy~

Misaki sat there with an impassive expression as she watched the fighters in the arena. Today's challenge was a hard core game of hide and seek. Find all your opponents and attack them, the player with the least amount of attacks receives the lowest ranking, while the player who found the most prays wins the highest ranking.

From YSA X team, Shou had taken the pleasure of participating, while from the regular team it was Yukimura.

She prayed that he would be fine. She had told Shou to go easy on him, but being the wise guy he was he probably would have attacked all his opponents the same way.

Misaki shifted her gaze to the other players. It seemed like Tora was the one participating from Miyabigaoka. From Ouran it was Kyoya Otori. From Kokusen it was Ishimoto Eien. From Hokusai the participant was a boy named Ryu. She knew him well personally. In fact he was a friend of hers for a while now. He waved at her on his from the field and she waved back.

She was going to mouth good luck but when she saw the aura surrounding Takumi she froze. Memories of that night came back to her.

"I love you," he confessed.

What?

She let go of him. There it was again. That feeling of betrayal and pain. She didn't want to go through something like that.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he reached out to stroke her hair.

But Misaki stepped back with her teeth bared.

Takumi frowned but then calmed himself. "If you don't tell me what's wrong how can we make things work?"

Misaki blinked the tears that stung her eyes. This wasn't like her. So why was she being so fragile.

Before she knew it a tear gushed out. She felt Takumi brush it away. "Please don't cry," he almost begged. She dared not to meet his eyes. "It hurts me to see you cry," he told her as he pulled her closer. She flinched at his touch. "Even though you look pretty when you cry, you're much more beautiful when you smile."

Takumi pulled her closer to him and stroked her hair. She buried her face in his chest and he felt her loosen up and fist his shirt.

"Why do you run away from me?" he asked softly.

No response.

"Are you afraid?" he urged her.

He felt her nod her head. He continued on. "Are you afraid that I'll hurt you?" She nodded again. Takumi Pursed his lips slightly. "Are you afraid of me?" he asked. There was a pause then she shook her head.

Takumi relaxed. He pulled back and lifted her chin to make her look at him. He avoided his gaze, and blushed slightly. "Then there's no reason for you to be afraid at all," he reassured her as he kissed her head. For a moment he stood there with his lips pressed against her skin. But he eventually pulled away from her and looked into her eyes and gave her a loving smile.

Misaki finally decided she had enough of it. He had a beautiful smile that reached his eyes. She didn't wish to break it for him.

"You shouldn't love me," she told him.

Takumi froze. His hands fell off her shoulders and rested at his side. "Why?" he managed to ask.

Misaki had her head bowed and her bangs covered her eyes. He couldn't tell what her expression was but he knew she was somewhat upset.

"You'll only end up getting hurt if you're with me," she told him. He paid no heed and grabbed her hands and held them to his chest. Right over his heart.

"Can you hear it?" he asked. At first she was surprised by the glare he gave her. But then soon she regained from her shock and listened to the rhythm of his heart. "It's fast," she said with an impassive tone.

"You're making it fast," he confessed. She looked up at him. "Isn't that the main symptom of love?" he urged forward. His emerald eyes pierced into her amber ones. "When people fall in love, their hearts beat faster when they're with the person they love, does it not?"

Misaki didn't respond.

"Do you not trust me?" he asked.

"It's not that," Misaki almost yelled.

She looked up at him with a glare and yanked her arms away. "Like I said you shouldn't fall for me because you'll only end up getting hurt," she scowled. "My life isn't simple. If you stay with me you'll only feel nothing but sadness and pain in the end."

"I beg to differ," he said nonchalantly. "I know you can make me happy." He reached out for her but she batted his hands away.

"No I can't make you happy," she argued. Then she turned away with the tears that once more threatened to fall. "So for your own sake please don't follow me.

With that the raven haired girl ran. Faster than she had ever run before. She didn't dare look back. Because she knew if she did she wouldn't want anything more than to run into his arms.

Misaki tore her eyes from him.

Takumi was awfully quiet. When he saw her this morning he didn't even bother saying hello.

Usually he wouldn't have said something mocking or obnoxious.

But seeing his aura now, she knew he was sulking. He really did love her. But she couldn't return the favor. If she did it would only cost him his own life.

She had never had a lover before but she was confident about their fate.

Everyone who loved her always paid a heavy price in the end. People often told her she had nothing to do with their suffering, but she didn't wish to believe it. She had enough people loving her already who will suffer one day somehow. She didn't need anyone else to be consumed by agony.

She focused on the match when the crowd went silent.

"Is he trying to get himself attacked," someone asked. Misaki looked up at Shou.

The field had changed into a small city. Shou stood on the top of a library roof that was hundred feet above his opponents heads.

Show was one of the best summoners in the land. He had spirits that were not to be reckoned with. He summoned three spirits. This was a skill only a few people could pull off. You had to be very strong to do it. One by one they all appeared, winds surrounding them in the forms of tornadoes. That's right. Shou was a wind summoner. One by one the pirates lunged forward and attacked all the opponents including Yukimura with a gust of wind. All except for Ouran Kyoya fell back.

Misaki watched as Kyoya and Shou brawled against each other for a while in combat mode. Once in awhile they would both summon spirits to help them out. In the end, Shou ended the fight with a one last gust of wind before time was called.

YSA was at second rank but Misaki knew they would make it to the top. One way or another.

For today the fight was over. Tora approached the stage with a scowl.

"Don't worry you'll do better next time," Chiyo his fiancee wrapped her arms around his neck as she reassured him. He smiled and gave her a small kiss on the lips before sitting down. Misaki found herself smiling as well. Unconsciously she looked at Takumi who had an unreadable expression. His eyes were full of some sort of longing. He looked at her. For a second their eyes met before Misaki looked away in guilt. She felt him look at him still but couldn't bring herself to say anything.

In the end the day was over and Misaki walked away from the arena, letting Takumi's eyes see through her soul.

Meh.

"Love. Relationships. Why do we get caught up by such feelings? They're all such vexing feelings." - Takumi Usui Walker.

What did you all think?

Was it fluffy enough?

I nearly cried after reading it, so I think it was well.

Review, fave and follow.