Love at Greater Heights
Chapter 9
AN: I know, I know, it's been ages. I am so sorry, I had mid terms and a bunch of other stuff which was horrible. And I got distracted with Modern Family. On a brighter note, I hope to have the last chapter up my Valentine's Day and I just finished Eleanor & Park (by Rainbow Rowell) which is an amazing book. Again, sorry for the delay, please enjoy the chapter.
"So, don't you have to get ready for your date?" Yuki asked turning to Akira while subconscously organizing Akira's desk which was in its usual state of disarray.
"It's not a date." Akira protested hopping of her bed and walking towards her wardrobe "No matter how much I wish it was. You should've seen him when I mentioned the word date. He completely freaked out." she said yanking the wardrobe door open.
"Maybe that's an indicator of how much he likes you?" Yuki suggested, wincing as she watched a bunch of random crumpled clothes fall out.
"I doubt it it." Akira said shrugging as pulled out a few outfits which made even more clothes fall out. "What do you think I should wear?" she asked.
"Well, you don't want to be too casual, in case it is kind of a date but you don't want to be too fancy. What about a nice top and some jeans?" Yuki suggested.
Akira frowned "Aren't all my tops nice?" she asked, holding up a crumpled orange t-shirt in one hand and a faded black one with ink spots all over it in the other."
Yuki examined the shirts critically "No" she said bluntly. Akira pouted. Yuki rolled her eyes "It's the ugly truth, or in this case absolutely hideous." she said taking both the shirts from Akira's hands and putting them back in the wardrobe (after folding them, obviously)
"What about this one?" she asked pulling out a shirt carefully such that none of the other clothes would fall out. It was a ruffled white scoop neck with small sequins at the neckline and hem.
Akira stared at her incredulously "I really hope you are joking. It's way too tight and super-itchy. I'd rather go naked than wear that shirt. Move, let me pick. You are terrible at this, the whole clothes and fashion scene in general" she said snatching the top from Yuki and shoving it right to the back.
Yuki scowled, "Says the person who has apparently never heard of an iron or a stain remover, come to think of it." she muttered, shaking her head as she spotted a glaringly conscipous mustard stain on an otherwise pristine white skirt.
Akira playfully shoved her away and started digging through her wardrobe. She finally pulled out, a surprisinngly unrumpled, beaded and blue-green shirt.
"How about this?" she asked holding the shirt against her.
"Why are you asking me?" Yuki replied "After all, I suck at fashion, don't I?"
"Yuki" Akira whined "Just tell me"
"It looks fine." Yuki said shrugging "Wear it with your skinny jeans, but just iron them for Pete's sake. I have to get going, okay?" she said, walking out of Akira's room and down the stairs
"Wait!" Akira protested, chasing the red-head down the stairs and to the front door "Aren't you supposed to help with my hair and stuff. Isn't that kind of the best friend's role?"
Yuki smirked "That's when you are preparing for a date. And you might recall telling me a few minutes that this is by no means a date." she said. Akira whined in protest. "Don't worry" Yuki said, her smirk growing "When you and Chitose finally get together and go on a proper date, I'll be sure to lend my services. Bye!" Saying so, she walked out, a small grin gracing her face.
Akira sighed and closed the front door. She wasn't really good at fixing up her hair. Maybe she'd just tie it up. It wasn't that bad, anyway. As she made her way up the stairs, she glanced at her reflection and saw the bed-head she hadn't bothered to fix this morning. Her hair, literally (really literally, not figuratively) looked like a bird's nest. She groaned and buried her face in her hands.
*****Scene Break *****
Chitose stared at the aisle filled with flowers and chocolates. He still hadn't decided what to Akira or even whether he was supposed to get her something. He caught sight of his reflection in one of the polished glass surfaces and grinned. He had initially decided to go with his usual khaki shirt, jeans and geta but Shiraishi who had called him just as he was about to leave insisited on something classier. If Chitose had let him, he would have probably gotten Chitose to wear a tuxedo. Instead he had opted, for a slightly more form-fitting white shirt and less faded pair of jeans. Much to Shiraishi's dismay he had kept the geta.
He paced up and down the aisle one more time before a tap on his shoulder interrupted him. He turned to face a smiling shop assistant who he had spotted earlier arranging bottles of preserves in the adjacent aisle and still had a cart full of preserves next to her.
"Hi, can I help you with something. You seem a little confused?" she asked she asked shooting him a 1000 watt smile.
"No, I'm fine. I didn't mean to bother you." Chitose replied politely.
"It's no bother." the girl replied "Trust me on this, there is nothing as boring as shelving." she said, disdainfully glancing at the bottle of preserve "I mean, bitter plum preserve, who even eats this stuff?" she said incredulously, holding the jar up to Chitose's face.
"Bitter plum preserve!" Chitose exclaimed. It would be the perfect gift. He wouldn't have to go empty-handed and plus he was pretty sure bitter plum preserve in no way was romantic. It would be better if it was from Isa-san's shop but he didn't have the time for that. He glanced, he barely had 15 minutes left to get to the stadium.
"Do you want it?" the shop assistant asked, a look of mild confusion on her face.
"Yeah, thank you so much!" he said, hurriedly grabbing the jar and making his way to the counter.
As if the fates were against him, there was a large queue at every counter. Chitose kept tapping his foot impatiently till the grumpy-looking old lady in front of him kept glaring at him till she was at the front of the line, at that point she turned place her items on the counter. Chitose groaned internally, the old lady had a cart full of random items and to make matters worse the cashier was a nervous beginner who kept fumbling. Just as she was about to place her first item on the counter she stopped and turned to him.
"You can go first, if that's all you have." she said scowling.
Chitose's eyes widened in surprise "Are you serious?"
The old lady glared at him "Do I look like I am joking. Now, hurry up before I change my mind."
"Of course." Chitose said grinning. "Thank you so much!" he said with a deep bow. He quickly ran out with the paper bag after turning and thanking the old lady who just scowled at him. He frowned as he glanced at his watch, no matter how fast he ran at this point, he would be late.
When Chitose reached the stadium, he spotted Akira at the entrance talking on her cell phone. "No, he's not here yet." she was saying worriedly. She was pacing up and down. She looked cute in a beaded top and jeans. Blue was a good colour on her, he decided. "Oh wait, I see him!" she said joyously, waving at him. He grinned and waved back. "Bye!" she said into the phone before hanging up and putting it into her pocket.
"You're late" she said accusingly.
"Only because I got into a huge queue at the supermarket when I went to get you this." Chitose reasoned handing her the paper bag.
"What's this now?" she muttered to herself. He couldn't help but smile as a huge grin graced her face "Bitter plum preserve!" she exclaimed, surprising both of them by throwing her arms around his neck. She smelled nice, he noted, like vanilla. She quickly pulled back, her face a furious shade of red. "Sorry" she muttered with a sudden interest in her feet. "Thanks for the preserve"
"You're welcome." he said, he said taking her hand in his while fighting off a blush "Now hurry up, the match probably already started." he said as they entered the stadium and made their way to where the match was being held.
"You act like it's my fault we're late" she retorted, previous embarrassment forgotten.
"Tickets, please" interrupted a guard.
"Yeah sure" Chitose said with a smile. He reached into his back pocket to find that there was nothing in them. He checked again just to be sure. Suddenly he remmebered he had kept the tickets in the back of usual faded jeans which Shiraishi had made him change out of. He groaned. "I am sorry" he said both to the guard and Akira. "I forgot them" he said apologetically. "Is there anyway you can let us in?" he asked pleadingly to the guard.
"Sorry" the guard, not looking very sorry "No ticket, no entry. I am going to have to ask you both to leave if you don't have tickets." Chitose froze as one of his rare panic attacks took over. This was not happening. His perfectly set out kind of date was completely ruined.
"Hey come on let's leave." Akira said taking his hand and ushering him out of the door. They walked a few minutes in silence, not even facing each other. Finally, Chitose turned towards her and spoke "Hey, I'm really sorry. Are you mad?" he asked slowly, almost afraid of the reply.
Akira shrugged "Not particularly. I'm not the biggest basketball fan. My cousins convinced me to try it out once, considering how tall I was but I sucked at it, I have zero hand-eye coordination, if you haven't guess already." she said.
"Nah," he said smirking "That was pretty obvious." He ignored her squeak of protest and turned serious again "Seriously, though" he said looking straight into her eyes examining them for disappointment "Is there any way I can make it up to you?"
"The bitter plum preserve was more than enough" Akira said happily "Why are you so down though? You said you didn't like basketball?" she asked curiously.
"It's just that, well" Chitose said. Suddenly the part of brain which planned to perfection and also the one that handled his skills of coherent speaking shut down and his impulsiveness woke up. "I really like you." he muttered hurriedly. As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished he could have stopped himself. Confessions weren't supposed to happen like this, messy and mumbled. They were supposed to flawless and planned to perfection. The matchmaker part of groaned in frustration. The rest of him went into panic attack awaiting Akira's response to his messy confession.
Akira's heart skipped a beat. Part of her was going into overdrive while the other part convinced her that she had misheard Chitose. She gulped as noticed Chitose staring at her with bated breath or at least that's what it looked like but she couldn't be sure. "Could you repeat what you said?" she asked, an embarrased blush covering her face.
Chitose took a deep breath. This was his chance, he could make some silly joke and they could go on with their banter. The fates were handing him a second oppotunity on a silver platter. But he was tired of waiting for this elusive and frankly unattainble perfect moment. "I really like you, like you know 'more than friend' like you" he said clearly, ignoring ths blush on his face "And the basketball game was where I was going to confess at the perfect moment and that just went down the drain so..." he said leaving his sentence unfinished.
"Oh" Akira said her eyes wide. "Wait a minute" she said raising her eyebrows "I know this is not what I am supposed to be focusing on, but seriously a basketball game to confess. How would that have worked. 'Hey look the red team is winning. By the way, I like you' because let me be honest, as much as I like, yes I like-like you and wanted you to tell me that you like me, that is hardly the perfect confession."
"I know" Chitose seriously even though eyes were gleaming.
"Knew what, that I like you or the aforementioned confession is horrible?" Akira demanded.
"Both actually" Chitose said.
"Wait, who told you that? Me likeing you, I mean"
"Zaizen" Chitose answered shame-faced
"I am going to kill him. Wait, so you knew I like you and you knew that you like me, why didn't you mention this sooner." Akira demanded, hands on her hips.
"I was waiting for the perfect moment" Chitose said shuffling his feet "I didn't want to mess it up."
"I think we're past this stage" Akira said chuckling.
Chitose grinned "By the way, the basketball match confession wouldn't have been like that. I would've waited for the break or maybe, the whole kiss cam scenario."
"Kiss cam" Akira asked, staring at him incredulously "You know there are hundreds of people in that stadium, what're the chances it would've reached us. 1 is to a lot. And plus even if by some miracle it worked out, it would've been super-awkward."
"It would not have been super-awkward" Chitose protested. "I'll let you know that I am super suave." Chitose said puffing out his chest.
"Sure you are" Akira said with a laugh.
"I really would like to though, you know" Chitose said out loud.
"Like to what?" Akira inquired.
"Kiss you" Chitose muttered. He didn't like feeling like this, he was the one who has supposed to embarrass Akira not the other way around.
"What's stopping you?" Akira said with a smirk, as she pressed her lips onto Chitose. She almost melted inside, as she felt his soft yet slightly chapped lips under her own but managed to keep it inside. Before Chitose could respond she pulled back to catch a glimpse of Chitose's absolutely adorable blushing face.
Akira chuckled,she liked this role reversal. She could see why Chitose enjoyed embarrasing her so much. "Super-suave, sure" she said as her chuckles turned into full-out laughter.
Chitose couldn't help laughing along with her. She could still feel his laugh as he kissed her softly. Even though she would never tell him, even at gunpoint, Chitose was pretty suave, that is when he wasn't being a completely adorable blushing idiot.
AN: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed. The fic is more or less complete. All that's left is the epilogue. My next fic, is going to a ByaHisa fic (Bleach). If any of you are interested, I may write a series of AkiraXChitose one-shots as a side story. Leave your thoughts in a review. Please favourite, follow and review. Till next time.
IceCrystal