Stuck-up Beauty, Reformed Beast, by Raberba girl

Part 9 (Akito)

Don't get me wrong, I have seen movies before. Just not many of them, and never in a theater. It was always too much trouble to find a day when I felt well enough to ride in the car and sit still in the dark for two hours, with people and the smell of movie-food filling the place. This time...I don't know, I must be getting used to mingling with strangers.

I never used to read much or watch movies, or get involved with a story about anyone other than me and the people I cared about. My own life was always so full of miserable excitement and angst for me to care about others' misery and angst.

But now...there's something fascinating about losing yourself in another person's story. Experiencing things you never would in your ordinary life, seeing things from a completely different perspective. It's mind-opening. It's a rush, it's frightening, and I am discovering that I love it. It's almost like the experience of listening to other people talk about themselves, even something as mundane as how their day went.

It sounds strange, but the realization never really hit me before that other people actually have full lives that don't have anything to do with me. It's so strange to sit and listen to Momiji or Kyo or Ayame, telling me about their day, and many times they don't even mention me. Momiji's violin practice, Kyo's last date with Kagura, how Ayame's store is doing...

It makes me sad to think how much I was missing out on all these years. I could cry at the utter waste the majority of my life has been, if I wasn't so determined to make sure that the rest of my life is completely different.

Anyway, the DDR girl is back. She looks annoyed. No doubt she'd claimed me as mine in her head, and then she walks in now-- it hurts her that I've got another girl. Why am I feeling bad about this? Yay, progress. I'm thrilled.

Great, now Motoko's getting jealous. Am I really that valuable to them?

"I don't see why you need to know who I am," DDR girl answers Motoko coolly. Come to think of it, I never asked her name. She turns to me. "Hey, beautiful. I don't know what your deal is, but you're a special person. I wish I'd gotten to you first, but-- Don't waste it, what you've got."

I feel breathless and weepy. I don't know if she just complimented me or not, but something about her words touched me. This girl has met me only once before, and already she recognizes a worth in me that I wasn't even sure of myself.

"Thank you," I whisper.

She nods at me. Then she walks away.

"You two-timer! You're just like him!"

I turn to find Motoko staring at me with fury and hurt in her eyes.

"You...leading me on, when really it was-- someone else you cared for all this time."

She's going to cry. I'm going to cry, too. Marvelous. The theater's almost empty by now.

"Motoko, I don't even know that girl's name."

"That's even worse!"

"What I meant was, she's just some random person I met in an arcade. We barely even talked. I don't care about her."

'Toko-chan doesn't believe me, I can tell. She's silent and still, with her lips pressed together and her face turning pink, like she's holding things back, and I know that if I do not recapture her now she will be lost to me forever.

And that thought disturbs me more than I like to think about.

"Motoko," I whisper, desperately calling on every ounce of grace, beauty, and command that I possess. "I've never felt about anyone the way I feel about you." Good, Aki, keep up the good sap. "You...you're so intense, so passionate. I'm like a man of snow only learning how to live again - you shine so brightly, and I don't think I could live without your warmth." Hm, that was a bit too over-the-top, but I can't take it back now.

She's not responding.

Think, think, think, Aki.

Very cautiously, I touch her chin, trying to get her eyes to meet mine. She jerks back, but at least she's facing me squarely now. "I know...that you've been hurt," I say with careful awkwardness. "I'm sorry about that, Motoko. And I'm just learning how to do this relationship thing. But please, please don't walk away from me? Just give me a chance. We don't have to get serious right away or anything, but please don't dismiss me."

She looks away from me again. I see her draw in a breath, then let it out slowly. Theater employees are going around, sweeping up fallen bits of popcorn.

"I put my whole life into Yuki," she finally whispers. "I worshipped him. And I shouldn't have. It was such a waste, in the end." A pang goes through me. She's experienced the same feeling I have.

I smile gently at her. Not teasing; I'm trying to look as understanding as I can. "You don't have to make the same mistake again. I'm not asking for your worship - all I want is for you to be my friend." She raises her eyebrow, and I chuckle. "And maybe, later on, my girlfriend. I just don't want to lose you."

The employees are beginning to hover with polite, anxious expressions, but there's no way we are going to leave and break this moment.

"Akito, I--" She looks at the floor. "The truth is, I...I really like you, Akito."

"Come on, Akito, what're you gonna do when a girl tells you someday that she likes you?"

"How insane and/or stupid would this girl have to be?"

"Very much both ways, but that's not the point."

Kyo knew, when we had that conversation. He knew, somehow, that this day would come. Kyo is a genius, and I must tell him so later.

"I liked you from the moment I saw you, but I was too afraid...you'd turn out to be-- not what I expected."

"Well, did I?"

She looks up at me and smiles. "No, you're not what I expected. And I'm glad."

"Kiss me again, Motoko."

"Why?"

"Because I have had only one kiss in my entire life, and I need more practice."

"You're not very romantic. But you're gorgeous enough to make up for it, so come here." She pulls my face close to hers, and the next few minutes are sweet.

A/N: Again, this fic was written before Akito's Secret came out. I am (now) fully aware of what Aki's love life is really like. I respectfully lay all blame on Natsuki Takaya (for taking so long to finish the series!).

Epilogue (Neither)

"Akito, why do you want to meet The Hag?"

"Is that what you call her?"

"Well, she IS!" Motoko parked, and the two of them got out of the car and walked to the Minagawa house. "She's hideous and whiny and nagging and I hate her!"

"She's the reason we met, my sweet angel."

"You've already had one awful glimpse of her, why can't you just spare yourself and leave it at that?"

"Motoko, I WANT to be properly introduced to your mother. Indulge me."

Motoko ripped open the door. "Mom, I'm home!" she screamed.

"About time!" came the gravelly voice from the kitchen. "You barely even call me anymore! I'm sick of you always lollygagging off with that wispy girly Akio creature!"

"It's AkiTO!" Motoko yelled. "And he's standing right HERE, Mom! Shut up and stop embarrassing yourself!"

The old woman came out of the kitchen, glaring as if she meant to take on the world single-handedly.

"So! You've been dating my daughter for months now, you sickly thing. Have you done anything improper towards her yet?"

"I have not, esteemed lady." Akito's manner was courteous, and his eyes full of admiration. "And I have been working out, you know."

"Let me see your muscles, then."

"Mother!" Motoko wailed in embarrassment, but Akito obligingly rolled up his sleeve and flexed.

"Pitiful!"

"I know," he said humbly.

"I have no use for a weakling son-in-law!"

"I'm learning how to cook," he offered.

"Feh!"

"Perhaps if you teach me, I will get better."

"Men are idiots in the kitchen."

"Madam, I am filthy rich. Does that, at least, redeem me somewhat in your eyes?"

Motoko put her face in her hands. Her mother eyed Akito greedily.

"Come here, young man, into the kitchen. Wash your hands; we're going to make dinner." Motoko's mother marched back into the kitchen.

Akito turned to his girlfriend of four months, and smiled hugely. "Your mother is fantastic."

Motoko had no reply to that.