Chapter 18 –Never again will I let you go
'go after her, Aniki! go after her and ask her back!'
'yes, I must go and ask her back' Ryousuke thought as he drove his fastest ever speed towards Tokyo. The people who saw him passing by merely saw a white blur. Many people who knew him and his reputation muttered 'the white comet of Akagi is really fast' but Ryousuke didn't care about his reputation now. The only thing on his brain was Yuki, and how to take her back. He passed by the restaurant 'Family's' where most of the team members hanged out after practices. Since they were sitting by the window, most of them noticed the white blur.
"who the heck was that?" Shingo asked
"I think I know who it was" Kenta said as he got his walkie-talkie and called through it "Keisuke? Its me, Kenta"
"Kenta? What now?" Keisuke's voice answered
"Where's your Aniki?"
It took a few moments till Keisuke answered in a half amused tone
"my Aniki is not here at the moment. He's headed for Tokyo to get Yuki-chan back"
The team gasped as they heard what Keisuke just mentioned
"as I thought so……we saw him and he was driving his fastest ever"
"good for him, this is another chance for him to never make the same mistake as he did before"
"alright"
"better look forward to tomorrow, guys. I think there's a surprise waiting for the whole team" Keisuke then concluded "bye!"
Wataru said "a surprise??"
"I wonder what it is?" Mako said
'I have a tiny hunch on what it is' Nakazato thought as he sipped his coffee.
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Ryousuke finally made it to his destination. He parked by a nearby tree and looked to his left. A lake situated Yuki's house. Lampposts were on either sides of the house and it had a 1-car garage. There he saw Yuki, wiping an ice-blue civic SIR dry.
"There she is, Ryousuke. Go for it" Ryousuke told himself
Yuki saw the White FC parked beside the tree and muttered "Ryousuke-san?"
At that same moment, the man inside the FC stepped out casually and shut his door. He looked at Yuki, who had a surprised looked upon her face. He approached her slowly, staring down at the floor beneath him while she wringed dries the rag on her hand.
"Ryousuke-san? What're you doing here?" Yuki said as she shook a hand dry.
Ryousuke lifted his head to look at her and smiled.
"I'm here to take you back"
Yuki just looked at him, puzzled.
"let me explain………you see, ever since college, I've been nice to you. It was because you're different from all the other girls in school. You were simple and quiet yet you were as smart as I am."
He paused and took in some air
"I had a liking for you, Yuki-chan. I saw you, as a completely different girl on whom I then believed was rare. All the others were crazy about me, yet you remained your composure unlike them."
He smiled inwardly then looked at her
"you must be now wondering what this is all about. As I said earlier, I'm here to take you back. Never again will I make the same mistake as I did when we were still in college. I lived my life, regretting that I let you slip through my grasp. Without you, my life was incomplete. But when I'm around you, it completes itself and I feel…alive. That's why I'm here right now. I'm here to tell you something I never told you long before "
He took a step forward to Yuki
"I love you. Yuki-chan"
An astonished face replaced Yuki's puzzled look and she dropped the rag in her hand in shock
"please, come and stay with me" Ryousuke pleaded
The evening breeze swept across them, calming both of them.
Yuki turned her back at him and started walking
Ryousuke looked away in utter disappointment
Then Yuki stopped and said,
"wait here while I go pack my stuff and bid my parents goodbye"
He looked up and said "…you mean?" and she glanced at him
"yeah sure, I'll stay with you" and she smiled sweetly at him.
He took swift steps towards her and hugged her. She did the same.
"Thank you, Yuki-chan" he muttered to her
"it's no problem Ryousuke, for I…also love you…" and she hugged him tightly.
He pulled away from her and locked their gazes together. Then he leaned closer and closer, till their lips were a mere centimeter apart. He motioned his head much closer until their lips finally met. They kissed each other lovingly. The very first kiss given by Takahashi Ryousuke was bestowed upon Kazama Yuki. Two distinct racers, sharing a lot in common, and above all, they loved each other equally.
"I'll just be waiting here, Yuki-chan" Ryousuke said when they pulled away
Yuki nodded at him and went inside. In a few minutes time, Yuki emerged, followed by her parents who were smiling and waving goodbye at her. She approached her car and started the engine. Looking out of her window, she called to Ryousuke, "c'mon, let's go! Lead the way, Ryousuke-kun!"
"alright" Ryousuke said as he went inside his FC with a smile plastered on his face. He approached Akagi with Yuki-chan following him.
'I can never be happier than this' Ryousuke thought as he drove off.