"...C-Charlotte...?" I stammer.
"Ayuzawa," she says. "What kind of potion did you give him? What kind of magic did you use?!" she demands. What was the talking about?
"Potions? Magic? What?" I ask. She paces back and forth across the room.
"Yes. How else would you make Takumi fall in love with you?" she scoffs.
"I don't know!" I exclaim. "But Charlotte, you're taking this too far-"
"SHUT UP!" she shrieks. "He was my ONLY friend when I was a child, and you STOLE him from me!" she yells. I decide it would be wise to not speak at all right now. "But it's okay," she giggles. I stare at her unreadable expression. Wow, I can't believe I thought Sakura had mood swings.
"What...?" I ask quietly.
"I said it's okay," she repeats. "He's simply confused. Soon he'll realize it wasn't you he loved- but me," she says dreamily.
"How will you make him 'realize' that?" I inquire, genuinely curious.
"I was just about to get there," she snorts. "I left a note in the aquarium for him. If he really loves you, he'll come save you at his inconvenience," she explains.
"How do you know someone else didn't get the note?" I ask her.
"Why are you talking to me?! You're being held hostage! You should be afraid!" she whines angrily. "I just know he's the one who got it," she says dismissively.
Ring!
"OH! Takumi-kun's calling me!" she cheers, picking up her phone and placing it against her ear. "Hello, Takumi!~" she greets. She's silent for a few seconds before wearing a frown on her face.
"Of course I didn't kidnap her! Why would you think such a thing?" she pouts. A few moments later, she chirps a happy "Goodbye!" and hangs up.
"What'd he say?" I ask. She glares at me.
"Shut up. Speak another word and I'll cut your tongue off," she threatens, pulling out a sharp knife. I shudder at the sight of it. Suddenly, I hear a loud 'SLAM' sound, and I can see the door being broken off its hinges.
"You will not lay a finger on her," a very familiar voice says.
"T-Takumi?" she stutters, dropping the knife onto the floor in surprise.
"I'll never love you Charlotte. Please get over it," he growls bitterly, walking over to where I was. "Misaki, are you okay?" he asks, untying my arms and legs.
"Yeah," I mumble, although I really wanted to yell at him for asking such a stupid question. I was just freaking kidnapped by his psychotic childhood friend, and all he has to say is 'are you okay'?!
"Good, we're getting out of he-" BAM!
"T-Takumi?!" I shriek in horror, watching his body go limp and fall to the floor. Charlotte stood behind his body with a chair raised above her head. This crazy bitch just knocked him out cold with a chair! Thanks to Takumi untying my limbs, I could now move around freely, so I stood up and was ready to fight her.
"If I can't have Takumi... NOBODY CAN!" Charlotte cackles loudly as if she's completely gone insane- which I'm pretty sure she has. I stare at the girl in horror.
"Charlotte, please calm down-"
"Calm down?! CALM D-"
Knock knock!
"Charlotte, I'm coming in," the voice of a young man says. I see the door handle turn and the door swings open. He flips the lights on, and his eyes immediately widen at the sight of Charlotte holding a knife, my tattered clothes, and an unconscious Takumi. But what was more surprising is the fact that I knew this boy. And this boy happened to be my stylist.
"A-Aoi?!" I squeak. He drops the tray he was holding, causing two glass cups to shatter against the hard floor.
"Misaki! What happened?!" he asks, rushing over to my side. "Charlotte, what the fuck are you doing?!" he yells. She looks a bit guilty- hell, she better be guilty after what she's done.
"Uh, well-"
"I don't want to hear your excuses! I'm sending you back to Britain, you crazy yandere!" he screams. I smile a bit at the fact that he was protecting me. I've known Aoi for as long as I've known Satsuki- after all, they were related.
"You know Charlotte?" I ask. He sighs and runs a hand through his dark purple hair.
"She's my half-cousin," he mutters with a frown. "I'm going to tell Satsuki about this," he tells Charlotte.
"No! DON'T TELL SATSUKI!" she shrieks.
"You're lucky I'm not calling the police. Better start packing, you're taking the first flight to Britain tomorrow morning," Aoi says sternly. Charlotte's eyes get watery.
"Aoi, you big meanie!" she cries, running out of the room. His eyes land on the blonde haired man that was sprawled on the floor. "Wow, she actually knocked out Takumi?" he snorts, walking over to him. I follow behind.
"You know Takumi?" I ask. He nods.
"Charlotte always hung out with him, so I came a few times," he replies, searching his head for injuries. "He'll be fine. Actually, Satsuki arrived here a few hours ago. I'll ask her to help you bring him home," he offers.
"Sure," I say, and with that Aoi leaves the room. The lights were now turned on, so it wasn't as scary in this basement. I had to admit, Charlotte wasn't the brightest girl to hide us in her freaking basement while two or more of her family members were present. Not that I'm complaining, because her stupidity saved our asses.
"Takumi," I call gently, tapping his shoulder. He lets out a quiet groan, but doesn't move. I hear the sound of a door being slammed open, and through the door came a squealing Satsuki.
"Oh my god! What did Charlotte do to him?!" she exclaims.
"Knocked him out with a chair," I reply, wincing as that moment replays in my head again and again. Satsuki's expression turns dark.
"I knew bringing Charlotte to Japan wasn't a good idea..." she sighs. She walks over to Takumi's head and motions for me to grab his legs. Satsuki secures her arms beneath his upper body, while I his lower.
We pretty much awkwardly carry him home from there, ignoring the pissed off Aoi's scolding that you could hear from even miles away from the house (slight exaggeration).
"Misaki...?" Takumi groans from the bed. That immediately catches my attention, and my head jerks up to face him.
"Takumi! You're awake!" I exclaim, standing up and wrapping my arms around him. "You got me so worried," I murmur, squeezing him as tight as I could. He seems a bit surprised, but after a few moments, he returns the gesture and envelopes his arms around me.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you," he whispers with a frown. I shake my head.
"It's not your fault," I whisper back. He chuckles. "What's so funny?" I ask.
"You really want me to do something to you, don't you?" he says, clearing his throat and gesturing to our position. I was straddling his waist, and my arms were wrapped securely around his neck. His bent legs caged me in on either side of my hips, while his hands rested on my back. My face heats up at the sight of the suggestive position.
"No way! Don't touch me," I squeak, clumsily scrambling off of him and landing on the marble floor with a 'thud'.
"Calm down, it was a joke," he chuckles, extending his hand out for me to grab. I instead let out a frustrated huff and stand on my own.
"Well, it wasn't very funny," I mutter, wiping the invisible dust off my shorts.
"Sorry," he apologizes with a sheepish smile. I give him a confused look.
"What? There's no need to be sorry," I say. He raises an eyebrow.
"But I thought the joke hurt your feelings?" he asks, now thoroughly confused.
"What- you know I didn't mean it..." I mutter. "Did she hit your head too hard? Should I call a doctor?" I inquire, sitting up and massaging the back of his head with my index and middle finger.
"I'm fine. She didn't hit me very hard. She hit me in just the right spot- that's what knocked me out," he explains. I frown, still not fully convinced.
"You better tell me if anything hurts," I tell him. He nods obediently.
"Of course, mother," he replies sarcastically. I glare at him.
"I just feel bad since all of this happened because of me," I sigh. He pats my head.
"It's not your fault- it's Charlotte's. I can't believe I trusted her so much," he assures me. There was a kind of awkward and tense air between us that I wanted to break, so I decided to make the dumbest and most random suggestion ever.
"Takumi, lets play Chess," I say, running over to a shelf and pulling out the boxed game. He raises an eyebrow.
"I don't see why not," he agrees, sliding over towards the pillows to give me some space to sit on the bed. I gratefully take the spot across from him and let him set up the game in-between us both.
"I'll go first," he decides. He picks up a creamy white lamppost looking piece and moves it forward one square. Seemed easy enough. I pick up a black lamppost piece and move it forward one as well.
"Haha, take that," I taunt him. He gives me a strange look.
"That was your first turn," he states.
"I know. I'm just confident," I grin. He chuckles.
"Okay then," he says, moving the same lamppost piece forward again. I also move my same lamppost piece another square. He then proceeds to move his horse piece by making an "L" shape. What?! Each of them move differently?! I'm screwed.
Following along with what he did to pretend as if I knew what I was doing, I picked up my horse piece and moved it in an "L" shape as well. He stares at me as if I grew two heads.
"What?" I ask, wondering if I did something wrong. He grabs my horse piece and moves it to a different space.
"You moved that one wrong," he states, amusement evident in his eyes. I blush.
"I knew that! It's been a while since I've played, get off my case," I defend.
"Alright alright, I won't underestimate the great Misaki," he jokes. I watch as he picks up his horse and knocks over one of my lampposts with it. He picks up the knocked over piece and sets it aside. Ah, so this game was kind of like checkers?
"Tch," I scoff, eyeing my poor lamppost that was set aside. It's okay, I'll win it back!
I pick up my horse and knock over his lamppost with it. With a smug smile on my face, I grab his lamppost and set it aside, before grabbing my lamppost and putting it back on the board. Two could play at that game.
To my disappointment, instead of him being caught of guard or jealous of my amazing chess-playing skills, he starts laughing obnoxiously.
"Wha- are you laughing at me right now, Takumi Usui?!" I demand, standing up on the soft mattress. He simply ignores me and continues to laugh and clutch his stomach. "Takumi, you better answer me right now or you're DEAD!" I scream, causing him to cease his laughter.
"You don't know how to play chess, do you?" he inquires, eyes now full of amusement. I blush.
"I-I do!" I argue. He raises an eyebrow skeptically. His hand reaches down to grab a chess piece, before lifting it up in front of his face.
"Then, what's this piece called?" he challenges. I glare at him.
"Lamppost," I reply hesitantly. Again, he shakes with laughter and even falls backwards onto the bed. Damn, I never knew it was so embarrassing to not know the name of a chess piece.
"T-This is-" another laugh. "A pawn," he explains, handing the lamppost like piece to me. I take it out of his hand and hold it in mine.
"A pawn..." I repeat. "Can you teach me how to play chess?" I request suddenly.
"Sure," he answers, rearranging a few pieces on the chess board so we could start over.
"Okay, this one's a pawn, as I told you earlier," he says, pointing to the lamppost piece. I nod in understanding, before he taps another piece. "This one's a rook," he explains, his finger resting on a piece that resembled a castle.
"Why do they call it a rook?" I ask him.
"Beats me," he replies with a shrug. "Anyway, this one's a knight," he continues, pointing at the horse piece. "And this one's a bishop," he says, resting his finger on a piece that looked like a lit candle.
"I like the bishop most," I decide. He chuckles.
"And last but not least, the queen," he says, holding up a piece that reminded me of a crown. "And the king," he adds, holding in his other hand a piece that looked like it had a cross on the top of it.
"Wow... They're all really cool," I remark. He smiles.
"Okay, now I'll tell you how they all move." he says.
For the rest of the night, Takumi taught me how to play Chess, and we both had lots of fun. The Charlotte incident was temporarily forgotten as we spent the night only preoccupied by the game and each other (not in a dirty way... get your mind out of the gutter).