Author's Notes: I want to thank all those people who have been with me all the way. Thank you, my dear readers and reviewers for spending time and making me happy with your comments. If it weren't for you, the project would've taken a longer time to finish.
Thank you to my imouto, Reeza, for without her, I wouldn't have anyone to consult. Thank you for being there especially when I'm being frustrating.
And most specially, thank you to CLAMP for creating such a wonderful series.
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Chapter Twelve
Golden eyes widened – fear, exasperation, frustration, panic – rushing through his veins. Nokoru and Nagisa were free-falling to the ground. And the fall would result to death. Quick, immediate, gruesome death.
And it was only because he could not choose.
Nokoru and Nagisa would die because of his indecisiveness.
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Idomu bit his lip, willing himself not to rush down and save Nokoru himself. He glanced at the ninja, eyes desperately telling him to jump and save one.
Jump and save Nokoru.
He remembered those aquamarine orbs before he let Nokoru fall. Eyes that longed for something, something that only Suoh can give. And yet these eyes also knew that he wasn't the one to who was supposed to be saved. He wasn't the one.
Until when… until when will Nokoru hide from the fact that he needed Suoh? Until when would he be deprived of the freedom in expressing how you truly feel? Until when would Nokoru continue to try and shield himself from pain with a mask of smiles?
Until when?
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Utako wanted to open her eyes. She wanted to close them. She wanted to know who Suoh would pick. She didn't want to see her best friend falling thousands of feet t the ground.
She didn't know what to feel.
All she knew was, Nagisa deserved the truth. They all deserved the truth.
The truth of how Suoh felt for her.
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Rijchou wanted to scream at the ninja. She wanted him to pick someone, save someone. She didn't want to see Nokoru falling. He had fallen enough.
Her son had fallen enough.
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She knew just how difficult it was to pick between two people you loved the most. She knew it, felt it. And she knew just how Suoh felt.
But, the truth was, one can never love two people, protect two people, both and at the same time. That was why the Takamura clan had specific rules. There would be one. And only one.
Suoh-san, pick with your heart. Follow it. It will lead you to the answer.
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They wanted to do something. They knew they needed to do something. And yet, they knew it wasn't their place to do anything.
Hikaru and Anita held hands, praying. Marron had his arms around the girls, hoping that Suoh would pick. Now.
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His hands balled into a fist, retraining himself from doing anything that would destroy their plan.
But what he feared the most was that Suoh would not be able to pick and rescue both Nokoru and Nagisa.
He sighed.
Until when would that uncertainty last? Until when would Suoh break both hearts? Until when would Nokoru and Nagisa wait?
Dark eyes, darker now with worry, shot up when he saw the ninja move, running down the building from the middle. His eyes met with Idomu's – both uncertain of who Suoh was to pick. Both wishing he would pick one. Just one.
Suoh was fast, and they were thankful that he was. When he was near the two falling people, he launched himself forward and turned…
Akira put his hands on his mouth to prevent him from screaming…
He turned…
Idomu found himself leaning closely to the edge, his grip on the device in his pocket becoming tighter by the second…
He turned…
And wrapped his arms around Nokoru.
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Tears cascaded from Nagisa's eyes as she closed it. She had known, she repeatedly told herself. But it was useless. She knew that even if she could close her eyes, ban them from seeing what was unfolding before her, she could never close her heart and shield it from feeling the pain.
Suddenly, a parachute opened on her back.
It was good, she taught, that at least she would not die.
At least not physically and biologically.
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Ocean eyes shot up in surprise. He did not expect the turn of events. He did not expect for Suoh to be wrapping his arms around him.
"Suoh…"
The ninja smiled at him. "Nokoru…"
But wait, the blonde thought. If Suoh was with him, if Suoh rescued him, then Nagisa was…
No… Suoh would not…
He pounded on his ninja's chest, wriggling out of Suoh's hold. "SUOH! WHAT ABOUT NAGISA-JO? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE RESCUING HER, NOT ME! SUOH!"
But the ninja said nothing. He just looked at those eyes and did what he knew he should've done a long time ago. Something he knew he should have done long before this moment.
He kissed Nokoru.
It wasn't a hard one, just enough to make the blonde silent. It was enough to tell him something. Yet Suoh knew it was in this time that words were needed. He had postponed this long enough.
"I chose you, Nokoru. I told you before and I'm telling you again. You are my one, the one I will protect forever with my whole being. And I realized just now that you are the one I really love, Nokoru."
Aquamarine eyes were wide, the blonde rendered mute for the time being. Those were the words he had longed to hear. Words he thought he would never hear; words that he was now hearing on the moment of his imminent death.
"And under that summer night sky, I made a vow. A vow to protect you for all time. I didn't recognize it then. I thought it was only a crush, puppy love.
"But now I know that it wasn't. That all these years, it was love – real love – that made me stay beside you, not duty."
It was a moment he had waited for so long. A moment he never thought would come. A moment that has now come in the most bizarre situations.
Yet he didn't care. He didn't care if this wasn't how he dreamed about it, how he imagined it. What the important thing was, it was happening.
He wanted to say something, knew he needed to. But he couldn't find the words, couldn't arrange them into sentences.
The only word that he could say was, "Suoh…"
The ninja shook his head, a rare soft smile on those lips. Suoh understood, he knew even without the words. He could see it in Nokoru's eyes, every fleeting emotion that it held. And he was honored to have been given such an opportunity to be loved by Nokoru.
Even if he realized it all too late.
Nokoru's hands tightened around him and he could feel tears dampening his shirt. And Suoh held him close.
"I love you."
Perhaps, Nokoru thought, it was the most appropriate thing to say at that moment. Something that needn't be coherent or phrased correctly. Three words that held meanings more than any sentence would.
"I love you, Nokoru."
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Rare tears flowed from those forest eyes, a smile painting his lips, as he saw the scene transpire below him. He saw his companion, expression the same as his.
He reached for the device in his pocket and pressed the button he had been meaning to press for quite sometime.
Finally, Idomu thought. Finally, you're happy, Nokoru.
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Author's Note: Please stand by for the epilogue. I will try to publish it ASAP. I want to end this before the year does.