Author's Notes: See chapter one for disclaimer and explanation. This is the last chapter, minna-san!
Love, Life, and Death By Annie-chan Chapter Thirty-Two: Epilogue"Naaaaaa…shimatta!" Takechi swore. He was going to be late for his own party! He and his college friends were all getting together at Takechi's parent's house about a mile from the university for an end-of-year party, and Takechi, the host, was absent. At the moment, he was running down the sidewalk toward his parent's house. He could have sworn the people in front of him at the checkout at the grocery store had gotten as many items as they could have on purpose, then further slowed him up by either talking to the clerk or suddenly deciding they had forgotten something or that they didn't want something they had. Takechi had almost ground his teeth at the annoyance.
As he ran the last block, grocery bags swinging in his hands—he had to make a last-minute run to the grocery store, as Miaka and Taka had been the first ones to show up, and neither Taka nor Takechi could find something to distract Miaka before she ate all the snacks—he heard a familiar voice shout his name.
"Take-chan!" his girlfriend Naoko called. "Wait up, will you!" she, apparently, was running behind as well, as she seemed in a hurry to get to Takechi's like he was. When she caught up to him, she chided him, "You don't need to run, Koi. I'm late, too, but I didn't start running until I saw you. All you're doing is wearing yourself down."
"Hai, hai," Takechi mocked-groaned, but he knew Naoko meant well. She mother-henned him worse than his own mother sometimes.
When they got there, the door was open, and they could hear the sound of several people inside. "I guess everyone's here," Naoko said, and as soon as she said that, Keiichi came out of the front door toward them.
"Hey, man, what took you so long?" he asked Takechi, though there was no malice in his voice.
"The checkout line was populated by galaxy-class bakas, that's what," Takechi answered, handing one of the grocery bags to his best friend. "Take that in and put the chips in a bowl, will ya? I gotta put the non-snacky stuff away." He had had to pick up aspirin and some other bathroom essentials for his parents while he was at the store.
When he had put the stuff away in the bathroom and entered the living room, he saw indeed that everyone was there.
Naoko and Keiichi's girlfriend Mai were chatting lively about their boyfriends, while Mai hung on Keiichi's arm—though Takechi failed to see how she could do that, as they were both sitting down. Keiichi was trying his best to seem indifferent, but Takechi could see that he was blushing slightly at the girl-talk.
Taka and Keisuke were trying to keep Miaka occupied with a game of cards, as they didn't want the snacks disappearing at record pace again. Taka's petite little fiancée was winning hands-down, much to the guys' chagrin, as it was her first time playing that particular game.
Yui and Tetsuya were near Taka, Keisuke, and Miaka. Yui was beside herself fawning over Takechi's parent's new kitten, Sota, and Tetsuya was patiently listening to Yui's girlish giggles over how kawaii the kitten was.
Takechi spotted Mikado just inside the hallway, trying to "fix" his hair in a mirror on the wall. Mikado was a complete narcissist, and was constantly looking in mirrors and such to fix this or that, almost to the point of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Takechi thought Mikado looked fine, and so did Mikado's girlfriend, Susumi. Mikado, however, paid no attention to the fact that Susumi was right behind him, saying he looked perfect and didn't need anymore primping. The young man's narcissism pervaded everything he did, it seemed, but it somehow endeared him to the others, instead of making him seem arrogant.
Sitting in a chair near Mikado and Susumi, trying not to look like he was staring, was Kenzi. Kenzi was very openly a cross-dresser and a bisexual, and he had a rather huge crush on Mikado. Kenzi barely at all hid it, much to Mikado's dismay. Mikado, however, never seemed to be able to deter Kenzi's fawning attentions, even though it was very plain that Mikado was an item with Susumi. Everyone else found this predicament amusing, even outright hilarious at times.
Takechi glanced over at Yoshitaka and Tadashi near the middle of the room, and was slightly relieved to see that Tadashi was making his best friend empty his pockets to make sure he didn't have any matches or lighters. Yoshitaka was a bit of a pyromaniac, and though he never went so far as to ignite a building, you never knew when he'd decide to light up something else just to watch it burn.
Against the far wall, near a big bookcase, were Hisashi, Minae, and Daisuke. Hisashi, a medical student at the university, was busy trying to keep Daisuke from grabbing a book and reading. Minae, a pre-med student and Hisashi's girlfriend, was attempting to help him out. Daisuke, a child prodigy who was years younger than anyone else at the university, had an insatiable appetite for reading, and was usually the wallflower at a party, choosing instead to stick his nose in a book instead of socialize.
Takechi stopped as he passed them by. "Daisuke, forget reading for now. This is a party! Have some fun!"
"But, Takechi-san," Daisuke protested, "reading IS how I have fun!"
Takechi sighed, deciding it'd be best to leave the little bookworm to Hisashi and Minae.
Takechi hadn't taken two steps farther—he was headed over to Keiichi, Naoko, and Mai—when music suddenly started blaring from the stereo system in the corner. Everyone jumped and whirled around to see Yoshitaka standing there, his finger on the "play" button of the CD player, grinning.
"Hey!" Yoshitaka almost had to shout over the music. "What's a party without a little music, huh?"
OwariAuthor's Notes: There ya go. After nearly a year and a half, it's finally finished. I don't know whether I should be happy or sad! This fic is my pride and joy, and I loved writing it (even though I could be slow at that at times -_-), but I know that I should wrap it up, because I've been working on it for long enough. I very, very sincerely thank all of my readers, and I especially thank all who've taken the time to review this story. You've been the true driving force behind this fic. I don't know if I would have gotten very far if people didn't like it. Dômo arigatô gozaimasu, minna-sama! Chichiri loves you (and so do I)! ^_^V
I hope I made it clear who was who, but I decided to make a list, just in case I confused some people: Miaka, Yui, Keisuke, Tetsuya = themselves (obviously); Taka = Tamahome (also obviously); Mikado = Hotohori; Susumi = Hôki; Kenzi = Nuriko; Takechi = Chichiri; Naoko = Kôran; Keiichi = Hikô; Mai = a girl I made up because I wanted to give Hikô a girlfriend; Yoshitaka =Tasuki; Tadashi = Kôji; Hisashi = Mitsukake; Minae = Shôka; and Daisuke = Chiriko.
As always, I would really, really like to hear how you all like this! Leave a review or email me at mangareader@hotmail.com, onegai shimasu!