Emichii: Hi everybody!
Tamayo: Hiya! Haven't seen you all in ages!
Misaki: Same here!
Ohjiro: Hai, that's right.
Emichii: Anyway, this chapter is the second last one! And can anyone guess what's happening?
Tamayo: (waving hand) Ooh! Ooh! Pick me! I know!
Emichii: Yeah, Tamayo?
Tamayo: It's Mr Ichiro and Ms Hibiya's wedding!
Emichii: YEEAAHH! THAT'S RIGHT!
Misaki: Oh yeah! I knew that!
Ohjiro: Me too!
Misaki: Well anyway, without further ado…
Tamayo: We present…
Ohjiro: CHAPTER 8!
Emichii: Yaaayyyy! Don't forget to review everybody!
Oh by the way everybody, I don't own Angelic Layer. And I don't own Chobits either. They're both owned by CLAMP.
Chapter 8: Congratulations on your wedding day!
"Misaki… Misaki…"
"Uhhh…" Misaki groaned and turned over.
"Misaki, wake up…" Shoko's voice said gently.
Misaki pulled the covers over her head. Shoko said again, "Misaki, if you don't wake up. you won't be ready for Ichiro's wedding."
"Ah! Mr Icchan's wedding!" Misaki cried as she sat up straight in bed. She got up and started making her bed. For some reason she felt floaty as if not having any memory of the past week.
Shoko smiled and left the room.
Misaki frowned. I don't understand… If today is Mr Icchan's wedding then that means… she jolted at the thought and rushed to the calendar. …that means that tomorrow is… my match with Ohjiro!
But I don't understand! How did a month go by so quickly? Last time I checked there was still a week left! I don't remember…
She shook her head to get rid of her confusion.
Besides, I still have to get ready!
Mr Icchan's wedding began at 10 in the morning. It was going to be held outdoors. It wasn't gonna be a very big deal. They wanted it to be a small wedding.
When Misaki got there, the only other people there were Ohjiro, Kaede, Minoru, Tamayo and Ichiro.
"Hi Misakichi!" shouted Tamayo, rushing to her friend's side.
"Hello Misaki," said Kaede and Minoru at the same time.
Ichiro said, "Well, you're here early, Misaki."
"Yes, I know," she said politely.
She was going to sit down at the seat next to Tamayo's when a someone tapped her on the shoulder.
"Eh?" she turned to look.
"Hi Misaki," said Ohjiro in his sweet voice.
Misaki stared at him. "Ah… yeah… hi." Wow, he looks amazing.
He did look amazing. He was the best man, so he was wearing a black suit and a white tie and his hair was brushed.
"Um, you… look really amazing." she said, blushing.
Ohjiro smiled, almost shyly. "Thankyou. But you… look very pretty, Misaki."
Misaki didn't think her face could get any redder, but it did. "Th-thankyou," she sputtered.
She didn't know what to say but tried to make conversation. "Uh… Ohjiro?"
"Yes?"
"Um…" she was about to ask him about their match tomorrow but then:
"Oh!" Ohjiro said. He gave Misaki an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Misaki, but I have to go. You know, I'm part of the wedding party and all…?"
"Oh yeah," Misaki said. "I… better not keep you any longer…"
"Okay," He smiled. "Talk to you after the wedding then."
He turned and went in the direction of Ogata and Ichiro.
"Bye…" whispered Misaki as he left.
"Oooooh…"
"Uh- WAAH!" Misaki jumped as she saw Tamayo standing next to her with a very mischievous look on her face.
"Misakichi, you like him don't you?" she asked.
"Yeah!" Misaki cried. "I mean, no! Of course not! … No, I do! Yeah! No! Uh…"
"Whatever," Tamayo sighed. "I'm not really interested." She looked over at Minoru and smiled. Misaki followed her gaze and saw Minoru smiled back at Tamayo.
Minoru came over to them. "The wedding's about to start. We should sit down."
"Yeah," agreed Tamayo.
Ms Hibiya looks really pretty… Misaki thought.
She did. She was wearing a typical white wedding dress with a long train. And she looked really happy.
She was walking down the aisle towards Ichiro. Ichiro was turning red but he looked really happy as well. After Ms Hibiya got there, the priest started a long talk about extremely boring stuff. Misaki seriously though she was gonna fall asleep.
Still, she managed to stay awake through it, though she half drifted through the whole thing. She didn't pay attention until the wedding march came up again and she noticed that Mr Icchan and Ms Hibiya were leaving together and everyone was cheering and throwing rice at them.
Emichii: But why rice? Why not something else? Why rice?
The wedding was over.
Minoru and Tamayo were talking excitedly about something. Misaki started looking around for someone she knew. Then she saw Ohjiro coming towards her.
"Hi Misaki!" he said cheerfully.
Misaki smiled. "Hello."
Ohjiro sighed. "I'm so glad that's over. I had to stand up there for eternity, and my legs are dead now…"
He looked at Misaki. "Well, what were you gonna say before?"
"Um…" she suddenly felt very self-conscious. "It's about the match… we're gonna have tomorrow…"
The wedding was over, and Kotaro stood up, trying to find Misaki or Tamayo. His eyes widened when he saw Misaki and Ohjiro together. All of a sudden, everything was clear.
Misaki and Ohjiro- they belonged together. And he knew how much Misaki liked Ohjiro.
He frowned. But something continued to bother him. Tamayo. Why did seeing her with Minoru annoy him so? He didn't get it. And did he really love her like she loved him? And would she accept him now after how mean he'd been to her? Would she hate him now?
I do not understand. He turned to leave. And as he turned he caught her eye.
Tamayo was talking to Minoru, but then, she saw Kotaro. He looked like he was about to leave. For a second, their eyes met. Then he left. And didn't look back.
"What's wrong, Tamayo-chan?" Minoru wondered.
"Ah… nothing." she said. But there was something wrong.
"What about our battle tomorrow?" asked Ohjiro. He looked worried. "Can't you make it?"
"No…" Misaki said. "It's just that… I… I-" She wasn't looking at him; she was staring at the ground, feeling awkward.
"Misaki?" Ohjiro put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up to face him.
"I-I… I'm afraid…" she said slowly.
"…?" He was truly puzzled.
"I… haven't stopped thinking about you since… since I last battled you. And I'm… afraid to battle you… because if I win, then… you'll hate me, because you can't beat me. But… if I lose, then… you'll hate me even more because… I'm so weak… you'll lose all your respect from me…"
Ohjiro opened his mouth. He was about to speak.
Misaki rushed on. "And… all this time you've acted like you're interested in me… like you were my friend… and… was it all just to find out how to defeat me? Is that what you wanted? Just to beat me so that you could become the next champion?"
"No! Misaki, what are you talking about-"
Misaki's eyes slowly started to fill with tears.
"Ohjiro, I don't want to battle you!" she pulled away from him and started to run. She was running away from Ohjiro, something she hadn't done before, but she was confused. She didn't understand herself.
Ohjiro… I'm so sorry!
Tamayo: Yaaayyyy!
Emichii: Yeaahh! That was a great chappie! I'm so proud of myself!
Misaki: Congratulations! Next chapter's gonna be the last one!
Emichii: (sniffing) Yeah, I know…
Misaki: Usually, your chapters are actually quite basic and shorter than this one. How come…
Emichii: That's cuz usually I have to write everything on school days after dinner and after my homework's done. Usually I don't have much time left. But now… IT'S THE HOLIDAYS!
Tamayo: Long live the holidays!
All: Yaaaaayyyyy!
Well read and review everyone! And thankyou for reading Thinking About You!