Author: Tevrah
Email: writergirl852@yahoo.com
***
Chapter Four: Eighteen
Van and Hitomi walked down the park path, their linked hands swinging back and forth in a constant motion. The moon made the path seeable, and the trees cast odd shadows in front of the two people. Van felt Hitomi shiver.
"Are you cold?" he asked.
Hitomi shook her head. "No."
Van rolled his eyes at her and took off his jacket, settling it on her shoulders. "You can't lie very well."
Hitomi laughed softly. "Sure I can."
Van stopped and ran his fingers down her cheek gently. "No you can't. Your eyes give you away." Before she could respond, he lowered his face and kissed her gently.
He pulled away and Hitomi narrowed her eyes. "I hate it when you do that."
"Do what?" he smiled.
"Kiss me," she grinned. "It makes me feel like agreeing to everything you say."
Van smirked and kissed her again. When he pulled back, her eyes were still closed and she had a soft smile on her face. "You are so beautiful," he said quietly.
She opened her eyes and looked at him. His eyes were darker than usual with a certain look in them that she couldn't explain. "What?" she asked. "Do I have something on my face?"
"I love you," he said.
Hitomi's eyes widened. "W-what?"
"I love you, Hitomi," he said again. Hitomi's eyes got so wide that Van thought they might pop out. "Hitomi?"
Hitomi quickly got out of his embrace and backed away. She was shaking her head. "No," she whispered.
He took a step toward her but stopped when she backed away again. "Hitomi? What's wrong?"
She just kept backing away and shaking her head. "No, no, no!"
"Hitomi!" he yelled. "What is wrong with you?"
She turned on her heel and ran in the opposite direction. He took off after her. What was wrong with her? She was acting like he had said something bad. All he had said was that he loved her. And he did. So, why was she running away? He saw her head out of the park and followed her, but she was just such a fast runner, that he had a hard time keeping up with her. When they got on the crowded Tokyo sidewalks, he lost sight of her. He sighed and looked around in defeat.
What had just happened?
***
Hitomi let the hot water run down her body as she stood still in the tub. She placed her head on the wall and squeezed her eyes as shut as they would go. The tears came anyway. She sobbed and cried until she felt like she didn't have any tears left.
Turning off the water, she stepped out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her small body. She wiped the mirror until she could see herself and sighed at what she saw. Her reflection made her look twenty years older.
She dried her hair as she walked into her and Yukari's room. Yukari was already fast asleep. Hitomi dressed in her pajamas and sat down at her favorite spot in the whole house: the windowsill. She brought her legs up and propped her chin on her knees.
The moon was brighter than usual, but even that didn't offer her comfort and peace like it usually did. She sighed. She knew that she had confused Van and maybe even hurt him a little when she had just run away like that. But it was all for the best. Besides, he didn't really love her. It was just a phase that would pass.
He just had to understand. He couldn't love her.
No one could.
***
Van walked into the doors of the Sweetheart Restaurant and looked around. It was a cozy place that went well with its name. Everything was red and white. There were mostly booths, but a few tables stood in the middle of the floor.
"How can I help you?"
He turned and saw a woman with bleach blond hair behind the counter. Her nametag said Candy. She was looking at him like a piece of meat. He forced a smile. "I'm looking for Yukari Uchida. Is she around?"
"Why don't you take a seat, sweetheart, and I'll go get her," Candy said.
Van sat down in the nearest booth, and when Candy walked by she swished her hips more than was needed. A few minutes later, Yukari came and sat down in front of him.
"Van!" she said in her normally cheerful self. "What brings you over here?"
"I need to talk with you," he said. "Could you give me a few minutes?"
"Sure," she said. "I was on my ten minute break anyway. So what do you want to talk about?"
"Hitomi," Van said. "I said something to her last night, and she kind of freaked out. I was hoping you could tell me why?"
"Well, what did you say?" Yukari asked.
Van took a deep breath. "I told her I loved her."
"Oh," was all Yukari said. Then she smiled sadly. "Boy did you pick a thing to say."
"But I do love her," Van protested. "And I just want to know why she thinks that is so wrong."
"Oh, Van, there's nothing wrong with it, at least not to anyone other than Hitomi," she said.
"I don't understand," Van said. "What do you mean?"
"You see," she began, "when Hitomi's family died, she didn't really have any other family to lean on. I mean, sure, she had my family, but it wasn't her family. Do you get what I'm saying?"
Van nodded slowly. "I think so."
"Hitomi loved her family more than anything in the world, and they loved her," Yukari explained, "but she lost them, Van."
Realization was beginning to come to Van.
"Hitomi thinks that if anyone loves her, or if she loves anyone else, then they'll leave her, just like her family did," Yukari said. "She hasn't said that she loves me or the rest of my family in a long, long time. She doesn't even hug us anymore. She grateful to us, don't get me wrong, but it's like she's just afraid to get close to people.
I have to tell you something, though," she continued. "Ever since she met you last year, she's been getting better. A whole lot better, actually. She even hugged me the other day after she hung up the phone after talking to you. You may not believe it, but you've been making her a lot better than anyone else ever could. But she's still afraid, Van, and it will take a lot more work for her to get over losing her family."
Van nodded. "Thanks. And Yukari, you're a great friend. Could you deliver a message to Hitomi for me?"
Yukari nodded and Van wrote something down on a napkin, folded it, and handed it to her. "Thanks," he said. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You're the best." He got up and left.
Yukari smiled. There was a boy in love. She got up, noticing that she only had about a minute left of her break.
"So you can't keep yourself to just one guy, huh? You gotta steal the rest of the hot ones, too?"
Yukari turned around with her hands on her hips and glared at Candy. "Van is not my guy."
"Sure didn't look that way," Candy said. "So are you telling me that kiss was just a friendship kiss?"
"Yes," Yukari said, trying to keep her temper in check. Candy was about to get hurt if she didn't step back.
"So you won't mind if I take a nip or two at him?"
"He's taken," Yukari said as calmly as possible.
Candy smirked. "Thought he was only a friend."
"He is," Yukari snapped. "But he's in love with my best friend."
"Kanzaki?" Candy said with distain.
"Yeah," Yukari said taking a step toward the blond haired witch. "So stay away from him."
The door opened and Candy's eyes flicked to it. She smiled. "You can keep him, honey. I see a deliciously looking pastry over there with my name on it." She walked off with her hips swishing and went to the man standing at the door.
Yukari groaned. Some people were just born pains in the butt.
***
Van opened his apartment door and went straight to his bedroom. He hadn't slept much last night because of what had happened between he and Hitomi. But now he was so relieved that he hadn't done anything wrong that he felt like a huge weight had been taken off of his shoulders and he could sleep forever.
He stared up at the ceiling and sighed. There was still the problem of Hitomi not being afraid to love him back, though. What could he do about that? An idea clicked. He organized everything in his mind before he fell asleep.
And when he did fall asleep, it was with a smile on his face.
***
Van looked at his watch for the fifth time since arriving at the park. He heard soft footsteps walking toward him and looked up. Hitomi stopped a few feet from him.
"Sorry I'm late," she said quietly, looking at the ground.
"For a moment there I thought you weren't going to come," he said.
She shrugged in response. "What did you want to see me about?"
Van sighed. So much for greetings. "Will you sit with me for a moment?" he asked, motioning to the empty seat beside him.
Hitomi sat down as far away from him as she could. Van took a deep breath. "I know why you don't want me to tell you that I love you," he said.
Hitomi jumped up and started to walk away. He grabbed her and pulled her back down. He wrapped his arms around her stiff body and held her close.
Leaning by her ear he whispered, "Now we are going to talk about this, Hitomi. No one has ever made you talk about your feelings because you hide them so well that everyone thinks you're getting along just fine. But you aren't fine. You're hurting inside. There's this big void in her heart that you can't seem to fill and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger until it begins to devour you. I love you Hitomi. And I'm not going away. I'm here forever. I want to fill that void in your heart, just like you fill mine. I know you love me, too, Hitomi. Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. Please."
"But you'll leave," Hitomi said in a small voice. "Something will happen, and you'll leave me."
Van placed his finger under her chin and pulled her face up. There were tears running down her cheeks. "I will never leave you, Hitomi," he said, wiping her tears with his thumbs.
"You don't know that!" she cried.
Van smiled at her gently. "Neither do you. And if anything ever does happen to me, I'll still be with you no matter what. Because when people get in your heart, they never go away." He kissed her forehead and held her close while she cried, making soothing gestures and noises.
When she calmed down he said, "I love you, Hitomi Kanzaki, and nothing you do or say will make me change my mind or make me want to leave you."
"I love you, too," she whispered. "Just don't leave me."
"Never," Van said. He took something out of his jacket and held it in his hand. He took her hand and slipped the small diamond ring on her ring finger.
Hitomi looked at her hand, at him, then repeated the process.
"Hitomi Kanzaki," Van said. "I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?"
Hitomi's eyes welled up with tears again, but now they were tears of joy. She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck. Van held her close and buried his face in her hair. He breathed in her scent. She smelled like roses.
And roses just happened to be his favorite flower.
Look, I know this is short, but it's kinda to the point, don't cha think? I just wanted them to tell each other they love each other and I wanted Van to propose.
The next chapter (and final chapter) will have their wedding! You guys know what? I've never been to a wedding before, so I'll probably just be winging it! ^_^
Well, thanks to everyone who has been reviewing and who will review! Gotta go now! Tevrah ^_~