A Glance Away

by disilluzional88

PG

Disclaimer: I don't own imakoki or any of the characters:P

A/N: Thanks for those who reviewed! If you really want to hurt me for not updating soon and taking soooooo long, uh... go ahead. im angry at myself for updating so late but as long as i finish the fic right? that's what im gonna do. And to answer...

Dark Deity: This fic doesn't really have anything to do with the actual story. Well... maybe some parts but I'm not trying to continue the real thing. Since I greatly dislike Erika, especially after reading the fourth book, she does not exist. LoL... unless I make her appear out of nowhere and let Ryusaki have her. Good match, eh? Heh heh heh...

To all the reviewers, thanks for supporting me and enjoying the fic. Again, I appreciate them... so keep those reviews coming!

For the flamer: for your information, i do NOT write my own reviews! but believe all you want, I know for a fact that i dont do that and i also dislike writers who do. maybe they really like my stories. if they want to review each of my chapters, let them. i really appreciate them. i just wanted to clear that.

Chapter 9- "Take My Hand" (Last chapter guys!)

"Drop the gun," the person demanded.

Ryusaki tensed and slowly, he bent down and put the gun on the floor, his hands up in the air.

"Yoji!" Tanpopo exclaimed gleefully. Then she looked past him. "And Arisa!"

Arisa smiled and said, "I knew there'd be trouble. You know how I am. I can't miss anything important. But it's a good thing I came!"

Tanpopo was horrified. 'She shouldn't be here!' She was pregnant and due at anytime. 'Arisa, you shouldn't have come!' She wrung her hands in worry.

Ryusaki had turned around and was eyeing Arisa's stomach. "It isn't safe for someone pregnant to be here at a time like this." Surprisingly, his voice sounded concerned.

"Well, I felt as if I needed to be here," she said angrily. "And I'm glad because I get to witness the asshole, who's been hurting my friends, get locked up and put away."

The concern was gone just as it had come and he quickly tried to retrieve his gun. But Yoji was fast and immediately wrestled him to the ground. He kicked the gun away from them and threw a punch at Ryusaki's face.

Aoi gleefully went over and joined in. He kicked him in his side. "That's for threatening my Tsuki!"

Tanpopo couldn't take it. 'They're gonna get seriously hurt! I've gotta put an end to this right away!' "Stop!" She ran over and pulled them apart.

Koki stepped forward and wondered what he should do. He wanted to kill the guy but he couldn't literally do that... could he? 'Nah... yes... noOo..'

Aoi and Ryusaki both looked confused. "Why aren't you glad that I finally got that jackass what he deserves! You sure confuse me Tanpopo," Aoi said still glaring at the enemy.

"Yeah, why did you pull us apart? I was just about ready to pull off my special move that will make him regret he ever laid a hand on me!" Ryusaki roared. Yoji started laughing right then and laughed even harder when he received a glare from him.

"Ha! Special move! Yeah... right... ha!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"Uh... guys?" All eyes were on Arisa who was panting in small breaths. "Was water spilled around here earlier or did my water just break?"

Her friends widened their eyes and quickly ran over to help. Shockingly, even Ryusaki came over to help guide Arisa with great concern.

Koki and Aoi shot a look of resentment towards him but decided that they needed all the help they could get-- especially if they hadn't done this before.

"Whatdowedo?" Aoi asked worriedly as he took deep breaths as if he were the one in labor. Tsuki whacked him on the head. "You are not the one in pain you moron!" she hissed as he stuck his tongue out at her.

"We need to take her to a hospital now!" Ryusaki shouted already lifting Arisa off the ground. Arisa glanced at him a couple of times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. Wasn't he the enemy? "Hurry! We can't waste any time!"

Tanpopo smiled as she held on to Arisa's hand. "Hang on, ok? You're gonna be alright. You're gonna be alright..." she whispered looking at Ryusaki.

Koki, Aoi, and Yoji looked at each other. "Well? What are we waiting for?" Koki asked, "You heard the man. Let's get going!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Arisa screamed at the top of her lungs. Yoji's face was turning white. 'There's so much blood and Arisa is grabbing on to my a hand a bit too hard.' Since Yoji was unattached to anyone, they ordered him to pretend to be the father of the baby. He had glared at them and almost beat the crap out of the laughing Aoi. Ryusaki had volunteered to do it but they still didn't trust him enough to take part in their friend's labor.

Arisa panted and sweat trickled down the side of her face, tears streaming down her cheeks. "AHHHHHHHH! JUST COME OUT ALREADY! SCREW U OGATA!"

Yoji chuckled but once again paled when the doctor announced that he saw the head. 'Oh God,' he panicked, 'What do I do!' Arisa gripped his hand even tighter. 'Dammit Arisa!'

"It's coming. Keep on breathing. You're doing great. Just relax," the doctor told her. She grabbed his collar and yelled, "RELAX! YOU WANT ME TO RELAX! YOU TRY GIVING BIRTH FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YOUR LIFE!"

The doctor straightened out his coat and got back to business. "Ok.. I just want you to calm down and breath in and out some more. It'll get the baby out faster. Do you understand, Ms. Uchimura?"

Yoji expected another outburst from her but she calmly nodded.

"The baby's coming! Just a few more deep breaths. Alright. Almost there..." the doctor was shocked when Arisa let out a big deep breath which caused the baby to shoot out like a football. Yoji fainted and slumped to the ground.

Arisa was alarmed. "Did you catch my baby? What is it? Is it a girl? A boy? WHAT THE HELL IS IT!"

Surprise aside, the doctor handed the concerned mother her baby and quickly backed away.

She looked at it adoringly. "Awww... she's so cute... and she's mine..." she whispered and kissed her daughter's forehead softly.

"What's taking so long?" Aoi whined with a huff. Tsuki glared at him. "What? You think giving birth is easy?"

"I'm so worried," Tanpopo said wringing her hands together. Koki nodded his head with agreement and allowed her to rest her head on his chest. Stroking her hair, he said,
"She'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

Ryusaki had left without a word right after he helped bring Arisa to the hospital. Tanpopo wondered where he went.

"Ahem. Excuse me," the doctor had come out of the room. "Ms. Uchimura would like to see you all now."

They rushed into her room, anxious to see if she was alright. They all let out sighs of relief when they saw her. Arisa was smiling and holding her baby. "It's a girl!"

"She's beautiful..." Tanpopo whispered with a grin.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" Koki asked gazing at the newborn in front of him. There was something so precious and special about this moment.

"I don't really know... maybe Akina. It mean's 'spring flower'. It'll be a perfect name for her," Arisa said, snuggling the little baby.

Her friends all smiled. " Yeah... perfect." They heard footsteps behind them and when they saw who it was, they were shocked.

"Um.. I just wanted to know if the baby was alright. So if it is, then I'll be going." It was Ogata, the father of Akina. Tears welled up in Arisa's eyes.

"Come here.." she whispered. When he didn't budge, she yelled, "Ogata! Get your ass over here right now and introduce yourself or I'll do it for you!"

Koki and Aoi glared at him with evil looks.

"Alright, alright." Grumbling, he went over to her and looked at the tiny baby in Arisa's arms. There was something special about having your first child and it happens to everyone--even those who didn't want one in the first place. Something softened inside of Ogata, and the gang, except for Tanpopo, was surprised to see tears streaming down his cheeks.

"She's... she's so small and tiny..." He said softly, cuddling the baby in his arms. For a few minutes, there was only silence as everyone watched Ogata handling the baby with such care, that they couldn't stay mad at him. He then looked to Arisa. "Arisa... I know I don't deserve a second chance but--"

"Of course. I'm still in love with you, you know," she said, glowing with happiness as she looked at the baby and Ogata. They were going to be a family. "I couldn't wish for anything more... but I'm the one who's gonna be wearing the pants in this relationship, you understand me!"

"Uh.. yeah. Sure. Whatever you want. I'm fine with it. Yeah..." Ogata said hurriedly.

Tanpopo looked around for Ryusaki. When she couldn't see him, she snuck away from the group. About five minutes later, she found him outside, fixtated on his feet with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey.." she whispered. Ryusaki glanced up, surprised to see her. He was expecting her, and the rest of them, to stay away from him. She continued, "It's cold outside, isn't it?" No answer. "Arisa had a girl. She named her Akina. She's so cute and small and--"

"Why are you even talking to me? I don't deserve to be talked to. I shouldn't even be here. I know I'm not welcome," he said gruffly.

"I'm not going to lie to you. You may not be welcome but that's only because you went too far. Maybe you do have a better side, Ryusaki. You're showing it right now by not being crazy and obsessed-like." Tanpopo smiled. "Like I told you before, there's a girl out there that's waiting for you. It's not me. Trust me. I found who I want to be with."

"Yeah.. I guess.. but it's just so hard, you know? I've liked you way longer than that Koki did! But then again... I'm not even worthy of being in your presence. You're right. I went too far. I mean, a GUN. I brought a gun and threatened people with it."

Tanpopo walked closer and put a hand on his arm. "That wasn't you. LIke I said, you can change. You seem like you've already changed. I know that you're a good person.
just deep, and I mean deep, inside of this confused person."

"Heh.. again, you're right. The minute I saw Arisa, and her pregnant, I panicked a little. That's my weakness, ya know? But I should get going... and I don't think I'm coming back. I'm going to move soon. That's what I was doing out here. Thinking my life through. I want to start over." He looked at her now. "I want to thank you for everything. even though I was a real pain in the ass, you believed in me. I guess that's what attracted me to you the most. You care about everyone, no matter how bad they are."

Teary-eyed, she hugged him. When she let go, she saw that Ryusaki was smiling. She returned the favor. "Goodbye Tanpopo. Tell them that I'm sorry for the way I acted."
And then he was gone.

"Goodbye... Ryusaki."

'No! What am I doing! I think I DO care about him!' She yelled, "Wait! Ryusaki! Take me with you!" He turned around and smiled a smile so big, wrinkles grew rapidly at the corner of his eyes. She ran to him and they kissed right there in the middle of the street, with people staring at them...

Nah, just kidding! This is what REALLY happens:

"Geez, Tanpopo. I've been looking for you," Koki said walking out of the hospital. Then he saw the sad look in her eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. It's nothing... Ryusaki has finally moved on. He's sorry for everything. He says he's moving away from this place, to start over. I think that'll be good for him. I just hope he visits once in a while."

Koki put an arm around her shoulders. "Now that this ordeal is over, and how he tried to help out Arisa, he's not such a bad guy after all."

"Yeah, he's not... really. I don't think he would've pulled the trigger. It's not in his nature."

"But he did break your window and stalked you like, every single day," Koki said frowning. Tanpopo laughed and hugged him. Glancing at his watch, he said, "Hey, I still have a surprise for you. Let's go back to your apartment. And fast because we're running out of time."

"My apartment? Why?" She was curious about the surprise. "You're not going to take advantage of me? Are ya?"

Koki shook his head and blushed. "Nononononono! Not at all! Not that I'm not tempted or anything-- I mean, no, of course not. Geez... well come on."

When they were in front of her apartment, Koki took out a blindfold and put it on Tanpopo. "What are you doing?" she asked smiling. "You'll see." He grabbed her hand and went around to the back of the building. Once they stopped, she heard him murmuring to someone. "Okay..." Koki took off the blindfold and Tanpopo stood there paralyzed.
There were lights hung everywhere and rose petals on the ground. A band was playing slow and beautiful music while singing the loveliest tunes.

"I-I don't know what to say... this is just wonderful. How'd you plan all this?" she asked softly while turning towards him.

"Doesn't matter." Bowing, he asked, "Shall we dance, my love?" Blushing, Tanpopo took his hand and they slow danced under the thousands of stars in the sky.

"You know that I've dreamed of this? I dreamed that I was dancing in your arms on a night like this..." She sighed dreamily, her head against his chest as they danced.

"Really?" Koki asked with surprise.

"Mmmhmm. I love you, Koki."

"I love you more, Tanpopo." Everything was going to be okay from now on and she was sure of that. Their future was going to be great... all nice and peaceful...

Tanpopo's POV...

"DITZZZZ! YOU BETTER GET THAT BUTT OF YOURS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Running in, I worriedly asked. "What? What's wrong, Tsuki!" Looking more closely, I saw that her lipstick was smeared so I took out a napkin and fixed her 'major problem' for her. "There. I'm done. Now what?"

It was the day of Tsuki's rehearsal wedding. Yes, she was getting married. But it was sort of weird because she let me pick out every single thing... the invitations (even though I haven't actually seen one), the cake, the food, the decorations, the flowers, the place to hold the wedding, and even her wedding dress! I picked out the wedding dress I would wear to my own wedding, which unfortunately hasn't come yet. Koki hadn't even asked me. I expected him to ask me about a year ago but it never happened. I guess he's still unsure...

"I want you to try on my dress," Tsuki said while putting on her maid of honor dress.

"Mmmmhmmm... WHAT!" I don't think I heard her right... because I couldn't possibly have heard what I think she said. And why is she putting on my dress?

"Try on my dress because I want to see how it'd look on you. We're about the same size. Hurry up! Geez, we don't have all day!" Tsuki started tapping her foot impaciently.
"I just want to see how it looks like on someone else."

Excitedly, I took off my clothes and slipped on the dress. It fit perfectly! I looked into the mirror, surprised to see how wonderful I looked, not that I'm vain or anything, but I had to admit that I looked really good in the dress.

Tsuki grabbed my hand and made me sit down in front of the vanity mirror. "What are you doing, Tsuki?" I asked confused. "You can't just have on the dress and not have any makeup or your hair fixed. I have to see the whole picture." I guess it made sense.

After she was done, I quickly glanced in the mirror. Tsuki did an excellent job. I looked like a princess. The makeup was perfect and she had curled my hair into thin bouncy ringlets and she even put the veil on me! I looked like a bride.

"I wish I was getting married..." I whispered and Tsuki laughed. "Of course you will! Koki is head over heels for you.. except he's a guy so that phrase doesn't seem right.
well, maybe. Anways, he's crazy if he doesn't ask you to marry you soon. I mean, he can be dense, denser than you even!"

"Yeah.. I hope so."

"Ok, now I want to show you how it's done. Come on. I want to show you wear to stand tomorrow." Grabbing my arm, she led me to the back of the garden where the bride was supposed to enter. Omigod. There were people here! Oh yeah, duh Tanpopo, it's a rehearsal wedding. But weren't they only supposed to come to rehearsal dinnerWhatever, like I would know what goes on during these things.

Tsuki nudged me and said, "Ok, this is what I want you to do. I want you to walk gracefully down the aisle and I'll follow. I just want to make sure you don't mess my wedding up tomorrow. When the music starts, start walking or else I'll do something to make you start running." I managed to nod. This was just too overwhelming. Doing this made me feel even worse that Koki hadn't asked me. But I have to be strong for Tsuki.

The music began and I started walking fearfully down the aisle. Akina was in a cute little dress, throwing flower petals in people's faces. Wait... why is Grandma and Grandpa here? Oh, right, they were invited. I also saw Arisa sitting down. Her 7 month pregnant belly stuck out. Ogata was right next to her. Then, for the first time, I set my eyes on the altar. Aoi wasn't standing there but... Koki! I saw that Aoi was right next to him where the best man was supposed to be. I walked slower and slower, but Tsuki poked me in the back. Geez. Standing in front of Koki, I whispered, "What are you doing? And what is Aoi doing? This is all wrong!" He smiled and took my hand. OMGOMGOMG! He's kneeling down. Why is he kneeling! Nervously, I asked, "Uh... Koki. I don't think you're supposed to be doing this. Um, this is Aoi and Tsuki's wedding and we're ruining it. This isn't how this is supposed to go. Why is everyone acting so weird?"

"Will you marry me?" I froze.

"K-Koki.. this isn't our wedding... it's our best--"

"Tanpopo, will you marry me?" he said with a serious face. Omigod, he's serious. But he can't be serious. I m-mean, we've been planning this wedding for months. Together, we've planned th... oh. No wonder Tsuki let me plan this entire wedding. No wonder she made the decisions up to me... this is my wedding I've been planning, I thought with realization. Koki wants to marry me.

"Ahem. Tanpopo...?" Koki said. I could hint a little bit of nervousness in his voice this time.

"Yes! Of course I'll marry you Koki!" I threw my arms around his neck and felt the tears come tumbling down my cheeks. "Heh.. my makeup's ruined. Sorry Tsuki." Her best friend smiled and waved her hand, "Psh. No problem. Now go on and get married already." I mouthed the words thank you and did the same to Aoi. Koki turned my head towards his and grinned. "You look beautiful. And you're gonna be all mine! WhoO!" Then he straightened up and acted serious again. "So, shall we proceed, my love?"

"Definitely," I giggled. This was definitely the best day of my entire life. Marrying Koki was my dream. He was my first love and he was going to be my last... forever and ever and ever and forever and ever.

The End.

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"A Glance Away" is done! Phew! I know, I know, I should've finished this a long time ago. I should kick and punch and knock my eye out myself, right? Everyone would enjoy that, I bet. As for Ryusaki, in my mind, I sent him off to Ericka's house. Haha. Just kidding. Thanks everyone for still reading this fic even though I haven't updated. SORRRRRRRYYYY! But I still don't know if I'm continuing "One Wrong Call." I'm sorta writer's blockish for that one. My ideas aren't too good. So, we'll see. I'll try to continue it if you guys want but I can't promise anything. And if you didn't like this ending, well, tell me why. Maybe I'll do an alternate ending if you guys aren't satisfied. Well, thanks again and sorry again for the long wait. :(