Disclaimer: I don't own any character except Aiko. The rest ain't mine.
Author's Note: I'm extremely sorry for anyone who's been waiting for this chapter (*looks around, blinks, anyone?*)! I'll blame it on the lack of inspiration as I waited for the fifth U.S. MB manga book… (Really, it had nothing to do with being totally sidetracked by a Harry Potter obsession *cough*) Anyway, now that I've got MB5 and am impatiently waiting for MB6 in April, I thought I'd finally wrap this story up. So here you go.
Chapter 9 – Once In A Lifetime
"Did you see Aiko?" Miki sighed, her eyes downcast. She bit her lip. "She looks gorgeous…and Yuu seems to love it."
Meiko patted her shoulder sympathetically. "Don't worry about it, Miki."
"I just can't believe I agreed to go with Ginta." Miki tugged listlessly at her dress as she scanned the couples on the dance floor. Her date was currently swaying to the melody with a red-clad girl. Arimi Suzuki, to be specific. Miki shook her head in disbelief. "I'm actually glad he's dancing with Arimi…"
"How on earth did she get in?" Meiko wondered.
Miki shrugged. "I think she's here with Rokutanda. Where's Satoshi?" she asked her friend, changing the subject.
"Around." Meiko waved her hand dismissively, looking unconcerned. She tucked a strand of wavy blonde hair behind her ear and shrugged. "Probably dancing with some girl."
Slightly amused that her friend didn't really seem to care, Miki said, "I'm surprised he let you out of his sight. He seemed so devoted to spending the entire night granting your every wish."
"Well," her friend replied with a grin, "it was my wish that he leave me alone for awhile."
Miki laughed. She found it endearing how Miwa Satoshi pursued Meiko so fervently and how her best friend continued to brush him off. It seemed a bit like poetic justice to her that the popular, senior class president was constantly getting turned down by the only girl he was truly interested in. About to make another comment to Meiko, Miki was silenced when a warm hand slid over her mouth. Her eyes widened and she twisted her head to see…
Yuu.
"Hi," she said with a smile when he removed his hand and turned her around fully, too surprised to be very eloquent.
"Hi," he replied, a smile gracing his face as well.
Miki reminded herself that breathing was necessary to live.
And she most definitely wanted to live, especially when he looked at her like that, like they were alone and she was the world, and oh…
Miki blinked. "So how's your night been? Where's Aiko?" Now was that not the stupidest question ever? She berated herself for her idiocy. Why bring up his date? She didn't want to talk about his date! What good could possibly come out of—wait, what did he say?
"What?" she repeated, staring at Yuu.
He was still smiling at her. "Do you want to dance?" he asked a little shyly, his blonde hair a little disheveled and flopping over his eyes.
Oh.
Oh.
Miki drew in a long breath. He was asking her to—oh. "Of course!"
He took her hand. Her heart raced. He led her onto the dance floor and wrapped his arms around her waist, settling them comfortably over her hips. Her heart sped off a cliff and soared.
Oh, how perfectly lovely.
All thoughts of Aiko and Arimi and Ginta and even Meiko and Miwa flew out of her head. Miki closed her eyes, let the soft strains of the band drift over her, and leaned into the welcoming warmth of the man she loved.
Perfect night.
~*~
"It was nice of you to take me home." She smiled a little sadly at him as she stood at her front door, ready to bid farewell to the night. "Seems like both of our dates abandoned us, hmm?"
He shook his head. "Yeah. Pretty unbelievable, huh?" He glanced at her. "I don't know what he was thinking. You look absolutely gorgeous."
"Thank you." She looked at him in consideration.
He titled his head. "What?"
"I don't know much about you…"
"Do you want to?"
"That'd be nice."
He smiled at her. "How about lunch sometime? Say, tomorrow?"
"Pick me up at noon," she agreed. Then, standing on her tiptoes, she brushed a light kiss across his cheek. "Thank you for being so kind." And with another smile, she disappeared into her house.
And in the dark night, illuminated with the false sunlight of nearby street lamps, Ginta stood and stared into the shadows where Arimi had left him.
Not too far away, Rokutanda left Aiko's house, anticipating the next day when he would finally get a once in a lifetime opportunity to let a girl other than Arimi into his heart.
And at home, Yuu and Miki were in Miki's room, dancing.
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A/N: This is the end. Yay! Though I may have an epilogue or a last interlude, just for the heck of it. And this story (if it isn't obvious) is set pretty early on in the series, before anything major happens. We'll say the fourth book. My version. You know, since Aiko wasn't really a character…lolz Please review!
*This last scene without names meant it was for both Ginta/Arimi as well as Rokutanda/Aiko. Just at different houses. Ah, romance.