He swallowed hard as he stood in front of the building he was supposed to pick her up from. He glanced at his watch. Five o'clock...right on time. He checked his clothes... it looked swell. He checked the flowers... not to dull, not dry, don't look anywhere near like they're meant for the dead. All in all, it would go on pretty well.
Then why the hell was he very nervous?
'Then do what you have to do.' Reiko had told him, and if he still wanted to live up to his fifties, it'd be best to take her advice.
It took seven minutes for him to think and re-think about everything. Many people would see... new rumors would flare up and waver around. What about Mikagami, his apprentice? What about...
'Ah, heck!' He decided that he should forget about it.
The bell rang, and after a minute of waiting, she emerged from the doors of the buildings.
"Yuu-kun, gomen. Mihara-sensei held us up."
He only nodded his head, promptly forgetting about the flowers. He had only remembered them when she asked who it was for.
"Ah, here." He shoved the flowers to her hands.
"Arigato. What's the occasion?" She, being used to be given such gifts only on special occasions, seemed to have her mind set that something was being celebrated whenever she would receive something, especially from him.
He frowned. It didn't seem like so with Mikagami.
He shook his head. 'No, this is not the time to think about it.' He thought. She peered at him.
He waved at her. "Iie, it's nothing. Do you wanna go?"
She shrugged and he guided her to his car.
It was now her turn to swallow. "I-it's so expensive. Are you sure its alright to treat me here?"
"Of course." He replied, trying to sound as confident as possible. "Here, let me take care of that for you."
He then picked up the table napkins and covered the prices on the menu. "Order away!"
Still feeling rather hesitant, she stared at the menu, then shrugged and proceeded to order.
"Um, umai!" She exclaimed while eating. He smiled at the simple pleasure he had managed to give her. It almost made him forget about something.
"You know, I've never eaten in one of these restaurants before... and I'm sure I won't be able to treat myself here. Mou, I was hoping to torture Mi-chan by dragging him into one of these when he takes me to dinner. Ha! It will be enough to drain the blood from his system!" She had said continuously and as bubbly as possible.
He had listened promptly, only wincing at the mention of Mikagami's very cute nickname. 'I think you're torturing me enough just by the mention of his name.'
"Hello! Earth to Yuu-kun! Come in, Yuu!" She said as she waved her hand in front of his face. He only stared blankly at her. She then made a face. He almost laughed.
"Don't space out like that! You're scaring me..." she joked. He laughed along with her.
After all that, dinner had went along well.
"That was such a nice dinner... don't you think?" She asked as they walked a block away from his parking space to their dormitory.
He only nodded. She frowned.
"Is there something wrong? You seem out of it."
He stopped in front of her. Taking a few minutes of silence... and time to gather up courage, her brows raised in confusion at his actions.
He took one deep breathe... and asked.
"What would you do if I told you I like you?"
'Well, that was quite a jumpstart.' He thought.
Her face was written with obvious shock. He had no idea what she was thinking. She did quick mental calculations on her mind.
A slightly bitter laugh came out, then came a reply.
"I'd probably laugh out loud."
He still looked sternly at her. "You aren't laughing now."
Her lips formed a thin line. She then turned her back from him and started walking away... leaving him alone with his thoughts.
She had closed the door to her room, her heart still pounding within her chest. No one was in yet, it seemed her roommate had plans she wasn't aware of. She plopped herself down to the bed. It was so unusual for Akira to tell something that was not funny...
...and what he had just told her was not funny at all.
And now, thoughts came running to her mind on how she would act around him after this, or how she would treat him...
In a more honest way, she felt nervous about it; and when she thought about it, there was no spark - like she had read on the novels before.
She buried her face with her hands... and she suddenly fell into thinking.
She almost jumped at the sudden ringing of her phone.
She took it out of her bag, albeit hesitant to answer... thinking it would be Akira.
She sighed in relief as she saw Mikagami's cute nickname on it.
"Where the hell have you been, monkey? I've been waiting in the library like an idiot and there was no sight of a female purplehead!" The voice on the other line had said, although obviously trying to suppress his anger.
Her eyebrows arched. Library? She then checked the date. August Eighth. Shit! She forgot that Mi-chan and her would do that Chemistry Experiment Misanagi-sensei assigned to the class. So that's why Mi-chan sounded so pissed.
"Gomen, I kind of forgot." She said in a calm voice, which roused the sudden concern from the ice bloke himself.
"Look, take a cab and go to my place. I'll pay for it... and we'll discuss whatever the heck is wrong with you today." He said, like he just gave her an order.
Not in the mood to argue with him, she said yes, and set out to leave again. Anyways, it was only eight thirty.
The cab was still three houses away when she saw him standing outside waiting. As she got off the cab, he quickly paid the driver and motioned her to follow him. His face remained impassive.
As they came inside, she sat on his sofa and sighed. He did not miss her not-so-cheerful nature that night.
He went straight to the kitchen, and came back with a pitcher of iced tea and two glasses with ice on them.
"I assume you already had dinner?" She nodded. His curiousity peaked even more.
He filled the glasses with iced tea and handed one to her. She took it and muttered her thanks in a low voice. She then took small sips off it... then went off to La-La-Land again.
He replaced his glass on the tray, not even bothering to touch it. "Okay, monkey. What's wrong?"
She didn't even look at him. Instead she continued to sip, sigh and travel La-La-Land once more. Only when he nudged her she went back to earth.
"Mi-chan," She started. Even in a situation as serious as this, the nickname still prevails. He would've winced if it wasn't that serious. "Yuu-kun said something to me earlier."
'Oh, so that's why she forgot.' He thought, but didn't say out loud, seeing the seriousness in her face.
"He asked me what would I do if he told me that he likes me." She continued rather hesitantly, thinking that this is Mikagami after all.
He still didn't speak.
"And I answered that I'd probably laugh."
Mikagami almost laughed, if it weren't for his icy demeanor. "Of all the answers you could give sempai, why that one?"
She took a deep breathe, sipped her drink, and continued. "It seemed like the nicest answer at the time."
Silence.
"Honestly, then, what would've you done?" He asked, though feeling suddenly uncomfortable discussing Kirisawa Fuuko's love life connected with a certain Akira Yuu.
She remained silent. Then answered. "Probably still the same thing."
He looked at her in question.
"I know it sounds mean and all, but I can't think of him anywhere more than a friend. I mean maybe you I could think of, but him? I think of him as a brother and a friend and nothing else." She stammered out, not even knowing what she was saying.
Silence fell again as Mikagami assessed what she had all said that very moment.
'I mean maybe you I could think of, but him?'
The discomfort he felt earlier, suddenly disappeared...
...and was replaced with utter joy.
He'd never let her see it though. Not yet.
She still remained seated there, pouting like a little girl. She almost seemed like she was back to normal... if she didn't have to ask a crazy favor out of him.
"Would you do me a favor?"
He didn't answer, apparently still too busy lingering at the happy thought that had suddenly engulfed him.
"Can you like hug me... or better yet, kiss me?"
Mikagami was suddenly thrown back down to Earth. "I beg your pardon?" He asked, just to be sure he was hearing this out right. Not to mention it was coming out from the least person he had expected.
"I said, can you like hug me, you know, like you did before... or better yet, kiss me?"
She had to repeat it, and it was like a trigger to some dormant feelings he had been hiding.
"I know I hugged you before, but kiss you? Are you serious?"
"As a heart attack." She said looking at him directly.
He then made mental excuses to avoid it. It was too soon, and he wasn't ready. "Where'd you run off anyways? Did you went out on some drinking session, Kirisawa?"
"Stop making excuses!" She huffed. "I'm not drunk, if that's what you're implying on. It's just a simple request!"
He started thinking again. An excuse came again... he had to thank his lucky stars.
"Give me a good reason."
She took a deep breathe. "Recall what I said? I mean maybe you I could think of, but him? You may be thinking that I just blabbered that out... but no. I thought about that. It's true... and I think that this simple request of mine would rid me of the questions that have been running like a broken CD inside my head. But if you don't want to do it, fine! Leave me confused... like you would give a damn."
She said it all. Not even pausing, only stopping in the end.
And the sight of Kirisawa Fuuko flushed was not a sight for Mikagami right now...
...because at the moment he did look at her, he wasn't able to contain his feelings anymore.
He then kissed her and hugged her at the same time. He kissed her softly, covering her mouth with his. She had responded well. When he started nibbling at her soft lips, she did the same to his. She held on tight to him, and he pulled her closer, like she might disappear if he had let her go.
He then kissed her deeper, parting her lips with his tongue. Not long after, she followed his suit. Their kiss was soon filled with fevered ardor as his lips left hers and trailed downwards her neck.
She wasn't shying away, and he wasn't being hesitant.
If it wasn't for the knock on the door, they would'd gone all the way.
Mikagami had stopped kissing Fuuko, but stared at her. He gave her one last peck on the lips before letting her go to answer the door.
She had retreated in the bathroom... just in case it was someone from the school. There, she inspected herself - all flushed, hair ruined and breathing labored. And just like she was struck by lightning, she was jolted back to reality.
The reality was she asked Mi-chan to kiss her. He did... and she kissed back.
Then she remembered why she was all of the sudden interested in the stuff Mi-chan does. She liked him.
She frowned. She then thought that maybe she was indeed not herself earlier. Now that she reflected on it, she had no idea what had pushed her to tell him about how she felt for him. She was only intending to let Mi-chan help her with how she had felt about Akira's confession, not to kiss the ice man.
She was snapped out of her reverie as a soft knock was heard. Blood started coming up to her face again. With trembling hands, she opened the door, revealing the dashing Ice Man.
He didn't say anything but guided her out of the bathroom and closed the door. He then tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, staring at her, and traced her face with his fingers. Then, swooped down and kissed her again.
She didn't complain... she just let him.
The assignment they were supposed to do fell completely forgotten.
This was the fifth time he had dialled her cellphone number; fourth time he had dialled for her in her room. In both accounts, no one picked up. Yuu frowned. He buried his face in his hands in frustration. He had just officially ruined his relationship with Fuuko. He had to fix it. He didn't want to lose her.
Yuu went down to her room, knocking on it. But no one answered. Then, he realized she just left... maybe to confide to HIM.
Anger and jealousy rose in him, but did his best to control him. There was only one person he can go to.
He then left to go and pay Reiko a visit.
A/N: Well, a bit short, isn't it? But I am definitely sure not the least you were expecting, huh? Too fast? Nah... it was just right. Besides, I was kinda feeling off the mood to write and suddenly this idea struck me. Hehe... confusing, ain't I? Well, chapter 11 done. Do your part!