A/N: New chapter~! I know, it's progressing fast! But that's a good thing, no? Enjoy!
Her clock read quarter to eight pm.
.
'What time is your flight Hiroko-san?' Aoi asked friendly.
'Nine; oh damn it, I won't make it! I only have an hour and a half barely...!'
...Everyone looked at her wondered, Aoi even fell behind...what was she talking about? If that was the case then she'd already...!
Himekawa looked at them over his glasses, winking; "stay back" he mouthed to the rest, taking the lead next to her. And then the pieces fell into place! This was all his doing! But what and how exactly did he do this?
.
The clock on the wall read quarter to nine.
.
'Hello; I'd like to check in for the flight to Britain. Here is my ticket...' Hiroko gave it to the receptionist gleeful.
Her heart was beating so fast and she felt her knees would give out. She couldn't wait to get to her destination '...and these are my luggage so-!'
'Excuse me miss, but I can no longer accept your ticket.'
Her heart almost stopped. She felt she had just been slapped in the face.
'What? Why?'
'Your flight leaves at nine o'clock; now it is quarter to nine. Check-in is no longer available, I'm sorry.'
'What! No, it's still-!'
'Thank you miss; we shall be taking our leave. Come now Hiroko, no need to annoy the woman any longer...'
He took her by the shoulders and led her away from the reception, gently pushing her towards the exit, while Natsume and Kanzaki were carrying her luggage in her stead; Natsume immediately realized what had happened. He whispered it to Kanzaki, making sure the girl never heard any of it.
'B-but, I mean; I didn't-...why is this happening? It's not quarter to ni-...'
But she looked at the clock on the wall; the time was the one the woman told her. Then she looked at hers...it showed an hour earlier! Immediately becoming suspicious, she grabbed Himekawa's wrist and looked at his watch: it read the same as hers. When she literally attacked Natsume -and she had no regrets whatsoever- seeing his cell phone read the same time as the clock on the wall...
Her eyes grew wide, turning to Himekawa.
'Y-you...!' her eyes travelled from Himekawa to the wall; Himekawa to the wall... 'UGH! YOU! I don't believe you did this! You-you-...you made it so I lose my flight!' she hit him. 'You sabotaged my watches and all the watches I had access to! You plotted against me! No wonder you had this whole reception committee ready, you diverted me and kept me occupied so I will certainly be delayed! UGH!'
She continued hitting and hitting and hitting him.
'Was Yoshiro up to this? Was anyone else up to this, too?' she asked shaking him from the collar of that stupid Hawaiian shirt of his she right now hated!
He of course was more than satisfied with this turn of events -and ultimately with his shirt-. 'Oh yes; Kaya, Mari, everyone...' he said looking away with a smirk on his face 'as soon as I told them I could make you stay they obeyed my every command...'
Her eyes snapped wide. 'You used my friends' love for me to make them do something which would hurt me!' she shook him again. 'You are such a bastard!' she initiated the hitting barrage once more 'I hate you I hate you I hate you! Did you know your father set the condition or did you just think it'd be funny if I lost my flight?'
Now he'd lost her. '...what do you mean?'
'Oh my God-you tell me I just lost my chance to go abroad for fucking ever because you had a lucky guess! AH! I really, really hate you!' she finally let go of him. 'Don't ever come near me ever again! You are a despicable, pitiable, miserable human being who doesn't know how to be happy for other people!'
Wow, she definitely had a big mouth on her...
Oga and the baby were sitting back, watching them fight mightily amused, while munching Yoshiro's food...this was better than the movies! He ought to thank Hilda for deciding to come. Well, he'd never actually do it but it was a thought.
Himekawa looked around him uncomfortable; of all the places for her to freak out she chose this one where everyone and his classmates included could see them. 'J-just tell me the condition...'
'Like hell I will! Or maybe I should-just so you know what you did and hopefully make you feel bad enough to honour my wishes and stay away from me: your father promised to let me study abroad paying everything for me but if for any reason I changed my mind then all I had to do was not take the flight...but at the same time that meant I'd never mention going abroad ever again! Do you know what this means! It means I will never be able to have another chance to-!' she saw him approaching with his arms open 'don't touch me, stay away from me...!'
'Stop squirming goddamn it...'
Not only was she attracting everyone's attention, but she was almost hyperventilating; that wouldn't be a problem for any other person but she had a bad case of asthma...so he did what he always did in these situations - even though usually it wasn't his fault -: he hugged her tightly enough to immobilize her.
She resisted 'Le-let go of me...' she started sobbing 'let go' her shoulders started shaking 'l-let...go...w-w-wuah...!' She cried. 'I hate you, I really hate you! You are the worst!' she was saying through sobs and sniffles, her head no longer visible, buried in his shirt.
If you hate him then what are you doing crying in his arms...?Aoi thought sweatdropped. Like communicating her thoughts, most of the girls nodded like agreeing with her.
- But not Hilda; evidently their relationship, no matter how weird it appeared, was deep enough. So she can easily start her plan "get on good terms with the millionaire wife-to-be" as soon as she gets a chance -
Himekawa felt almost sorry for Hiroko; in truth, he almost felt guilty. He had no idea that if he did this then he'd irrevocably recall her right to leave and do what she always wanted, ever since she was a child...! And her very bad -and very appropriate under the circumstances- reaction only made things much worse: he hadn't seen her cry ever since she was twelve.
This was serious.
.
.
She really wanted to pound on him; were she able to kick his ass with her own strength -and not just because he let her- she would have done it thirty seconds ago, but she knew that wasn't the case. She already wanted to hit him too badly but when he actually hugged her, she couldn't help but feel a little consoled. He was always the one holding her hand through difficulties and this was no exception-in fact, this was the biggest trial of her life till now. And either his fault or not, he still had the same effect...
'I'm sorry' he barely said, making sure no one but she heard him 'I didn't know. Sure, I'm still kind of mad you used me and everything but...' she sniffled 'if you'd actually talked to me about it I might have helped with the negotiations you know.' she sniffled again 'tch, such an "all or nothing" deal...'
'I tried talking to you about it you know but you didn't even care, remember? And I'm sorry but-...I really hate you right now...'
'So I guess that this is not the best time to tell you that my father said should you not leave tonight, tomorrow dinner at my house...?'
She knee-ed him where it counted.
'Ooh...' the boys let out simultaneously.
'OK, I get it; bad timing...' he barely said, clutching his crotch in pain.
She finally pried herself away from him, wiping at her now puffy eyes and running nose. 'Very bad; I hate your father for being such an asshole.'
He gave a knowing yet sad smile. 'Heh; take a number.' Himekawa said when he finally stood up and as he put his hand around her shoulders to move her away from the crowd -in other words the rest of his classmates-.
'...let's just go home.' She sniffed. 'And you're not getting away with this; you'll sleep with me either you like it or not.'
Everyone looked at the pair of them wondered or surprised; since when was sleeping with your girlfriend a threat? Especially when directed to the certain man...? But Furuichi was crying; why women "threatened" men like him with the threat they'll sleep together yet all the threats he got were more in the lines of "I'll kill you"...He wasn't a delinquent, he wasn't a criminal in the making, and he was much better looking that Himekawa, that was for sure... life was so unfair!
'Fine...!' he agreed reluctantly. But then he realized everyone was still there, watching them engrossed... 'Natsume, leave the luggage already. I'll call the chauffer to pick them up...'
Hiroko's eyes glimmered maliciously. 'That would be an upgrade for Natsume, to be someone's chauffer or bell boy...'
'But I really want to carry these luggages to your car Hime-chan' he said as if he hadn't heard the girl at all 'after all, I want to be of some comfort to the girl who has to threaten her own boyfriend into sleeping with her.'
The sparks flew from their eyes once again.
Oh he did hear her alright...and the others heard him, too; chuckles and laughs spread all over as Hiroko turned deep purple -no relation to the band or else there would be copyright infringement- and she buried her face deeper into Tatsuya's sleeve, feeling her hair get curlier out of frustration.
'Oi Natsume; only I can talk to her like that. Besides...she'd never threaten me into sleeping with her in the sense you're making it out to be.'
For effect, his hand slipped from her shoulders to her waist and down her butt.
'T-Tatsuya...!' she whispered so low only he would hear her and put her head into her hands, too-the shame was too big to hide only behind Tatsuya's shirt. This was too embarrassing.
'Shush, it's working: they are blushing...by the way are we onlysleeping together or are we-OW! OK, geez, I get it no need to keep hitting me where you know I'm sensitive.'
They left; they all left. After Natsume carried her bags back to the car instead of the chauffer -they used his father's limo because this was a special occasion- they all left one by one; the red tails followed Aoi out while Furuichi, Oga and Hilda -who was already playing with the baby- lingered till everyone was out of sight...
When they left, too it was ten minutes later when Yoshiro reappeared and headed where all of his stuff and the huge group of people used to be...
He was really worried about how Kanzaki would take the news: he found no yogurt vending machine in the whole airport! And he looked, oh did he look, he even went to all the alleys and the duty-free section yet he found nothing! How could he explain that to him and not get beaten up?
...but there was no one left. Not even one person was where nine of them used to be and -worst of all- not a sign of his personal effects!
'Where is everyone...? Kanzaki-san; Hiroko-chan?'
.
.
.
Hiroko rolled on her side for the umpteenth time that night unable to drift into the sweet, sweet sleep she was in so much need of. 'Tatsuya...you're snoring. Shut up.'
He gave a loud snore.
Her hair stood up straight; first she loses her flight and now her sleep. 'Ugh-shut up, shut up!' she shook him violently.
He only snored louder.
'UGH!'
.
.
.
One could say that after all that, they lived happily ever after...only they didn't. He kept annoying her and making her crazy for the rest of their lives together as she kept embarassing him, too. They came to a mutual understanding and after ten years of beating around the bush they finally married.
And Himekawa's father never allowed her to go abroad to study, ever again. Because he's a man of his word...
