10 Steps To Make You Mine
Written & Edited by Hikari-sama





EPILOGUE


"Eh... who are you? How did you get here?" Junnosuke asked with fury and confusion.

"You don't know who I am?" the shadowy figure said, as the phrase echoed over and over in Junnosuke's mind. "I'm your worst nightmare, Junnosuke."

Your WORST NIGHTMARE! Your WORST NIGHTMARE! Your WORST NIGHTMARE!


Two days after Takenouchi Sora and Yagami Taichi confessed their feelings for one another, it seemed, Junnosuke died. Some people at Odaiba say he probably committed suicide after hearing Sora was going out with Taichi, others say his useless brain must have affected his actions and killed himself. Some accuse Sora and Tai for the murder, but never found any sort of evidence. An old man came up the couple once, and told Sora, "Your old boyfriend must have been killed by a deity from above." But, of course, this theory was never proved to be accurate, so the legend of Junnosuke's death has come to haunt the Odaiba residents. A couple of parents use this story to teach their kids a lesson or two, while some think of it as a fairy tale. But not only is Junnosuke's death a legend, but Sora and Taichi's relationship has been very well known throughout Odaiba.

TAKENOUCHI SORA

I have been dating Yagami Taichi for several years now. I've never really thought of our relationship so profoundly until I was asked to write about us for the Odaiba Newsletter. Exactly seven years ago, on this very day, my boyfriend and I united like destiny obliged us to. It all occurred so quickly, but I reminisce it as if it were only yesterday.

In my high school years, I used to be an ordinary girl with a best friend like everybody else. Tachikawa Mimi was a beautiful social girl with a peculiar potential in her warm heart. Only she didn't know that I was in love with somebody she would write down his name on her "Sora Deserves Better" list.

I had actually noticed Taichi developing a small crush on me since the first day he saw me. At that time, Odaiba High didn't have enough lockers for everybody, so each student was assigned to a locker partner. Tai was mine, and everyday he passed by, the twinkle in his eyes gave my heart a slight hop.

I remember being forced to go out with a man who would continuously interfere with Taichi and I. I could have just kicked his shin and run away with Taichi forever, but instead, I agreed to do so. What came to me was a shock of pity, because when I looked back at Taichi, his eyes would fill up with sorrow that made me want to help him more than to help myself. I'd rather be the girlfriend of the murderer than the girl who didn't defend the love of her life.

I never believed in guardian angels until I met Taichi. When I went to Aoi Megami-sama's (the hottest restaurant in my time) with one of the school's gangsters, I had nothing to expect. Nobody knew about the bombing there, neither did I. Taichi knew something about it, but I had always refused to listen to him. I had always thought the gangster was the one that saved me from the bombing.

You may not believe in guardian angels, but I do. After that incident, I began talking to Taichi, sorting out little by little that a guardian angel was looking down at both of us. Maybe it wasn't a guardian angel... maybe it was love. I never really understood, because this certain Sander had a stronger connection with Tai. I think Sander has acted as a magnetic force in our relationship. Even if he literally isn't, Sander will always be my guardian angel to me.

Back then, I never understood why Taichi was the only person I could blush in front of, smile with, and talk with. I didn't know how he made my heart rise to my throat every time he stepped closer to me. I thought he was some kind of god with all those magnificent powers of his. But why was I the only one who felt this way? Did Tai think about me this way too?

I didn't know how else to act but to act aloof and disinterested. There were times when Taichi annoyed me by pretending to be somebody else. He tried to make me love him, but I ended up shaking my head at him instead. I was beginning to think that Taichi only wanted a girlfriend for his own good and popularity, that he didn't really care about me at all. If he wanted me so much, why couldn't he just tell me? Did he think I wouldn't believe him?

Tai started going through all these different steps. I think he started with flirting with me, making me laugh, kissing me, apologizing to me... these steps were half-satisfying, but I expected so much more to come from those humble lips of his.

So, Taichi, if you're reading this, I just wanted to let you know that the best thing that has ever come to my life was the day when you told me that you loved me. That's when I was positive that I loved you too.

Yagami Taichi, I love you with all my life.

YAGAMI TAICHI

Takenouchi Sora is the most beautiful girl, or woman, I have ever met in my whole life. Now that I was asked to write this for the Odaiba Newsletter, I am grateful to share all of my worthy memories with all of you. Through high and low, laughs and cries, happy and sad, I would never trade these past events for anything else. These memories are like golden trophies stored in a locked metallic door with a security code. This door is my heart. And the key to it is my beloved girlfriend Takenouchi Sora.

When I first met her, I couldn't keep my eyes off her. I couldn't talk or move, because my eyes were locked on her. It was when I found out we were locker partners at Odaiba High that I began to receive the slightest idea that we were made for each other.

I would go to school everyday expecting to talk to my high school pal, Ishida Yamato, and listen to his advice on how I could make Sora notice me. Right now, as I am writing this, I laugh along with the embarrassing but emotional experiences I have gone through. At first, Yamato would keep messing me up--giving me the advice to be somebody else and say something else that normally I wouldn't have done myself. Everytime I listened to these pieces of advice, Sora's reaction would give me a painful look that made me want to turn back time and change everything before I did anything else wrong.

But what I didn't know was that every single mistake I've done and every single emotion I've felt have influenced my life. If it hadn't been for Sora, Junnosuke, Mimi, or Yamato, my future wouldn't turn out like this. I have learned that things like these really affect my future. Like writing this piece of work, for instance. Who knows what fate will upon me next? But what I do know is that if I never try, I'll never know. This is what I learned.

Takenouchi Sora is smart, gentle, and a great friend. I couldn't expect anything else from any other woman. True love hits you when you know there is no perfect match, when you know that nobody is perfect, or more perfect than, the person you're with.

I love you, Sora.

I love you so much that I would die for you, cry for you... do anything for you! But there's nothing better than doing something with you. I want you to stay with me forever by my side... stay with me for eternity. But how about you? What do you say, Sora? What do you think? Will you marry and spend your life forever with a man like me?