Woh, I'm seriously in awe. xD Never thought people would really like it and that many would dislike ReitoxNatsuki pairing. But I honestly didn't think anyone could fit the role of the Prince, besides Reito. Tate - No. Takeda - A big no-no. Sakomizu - lol.
Thank you so much for the amazing feedback. xD About the technical writing stuff, my friend is usually the one who helps me edit my writing and she tends to write in short sentences, because it's kind of both her writing habit and style. So, it's hard to change immediately and I'm sorry if it bothered anyone. =)
~Happily Ever After?~
.
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Since that very one day, I vaguely knew something had changed. Permanently.
Shizuru and me. We started to do that a lot. Staring.
When she thought nobody was looking, I could feel her enchanting eyes burn a hole in the back of my head or the side of my face. When I turned and caught her heated gaze, she didn't look annoyed or angry. She didn't even bother to pretend that she wasn't staring at me.
And just like that, she held my gaze for a little too long that I could no longer stand the strength of her eyes and had to look away, cheeks blushing a fire.
Sometimes, I believed I saw the corners of her lips curl up slightly, as if she tried to hide a smile. A lot of times, I caught a glimmer of something in her mysterious red eyes. Something making my heart beat incredibly faster and knocking the air out of me.
And I was so freaking lost again.
I didn't know her direction's destination. I just didn't know what her intentions were anymore.
It was a game I didn't know the rules. And it should have crept me out but it didn't. And I still blindly, wholeheartedly played her ambiguous game. Officially feeling like an idiot.
Throwing and tossing lingering glances.
Staring, gazing, and looking.
Never speaking or talking too much.
Soft fingertips brushed over my skin so innocently and accidentally one too many times.
I desperately wished I could read her mind to figure out what was going on.
Because I didn't know what I was getting into.
Because I couldn't bring myself to ask anyone else or even Reito, either.
For once, he suddenly was an outsider.
.
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2.
People stare at different people for different reasons. Most of the time, it is either because you're pretty or because you're wearing something weird.
I could easily understand why guys gawked at me – I usually gave them my famous "I'm-gonna-kill-you" glare in return anyway. I could somewhat understand why girls stared at me – They were not that hard to read. Jealousy, curiosity, or admiration was clearly written all over their faces.
But I couldn't find a good reason why she suddenly wanted to look at me.
Honestly, she had been ignoring my presence for a very long and good while.
Why did she change?
Maybe the invisible thing on my face had magically disappeared? Maybe the princess just decided that the better she knew about her enemy, the higher chance she had to win the prince back?
Even so, did people really look at their enemy the way Shizuru always looked at me whenever Reito and everybody else didn't seem to pay attention to us?
No matter how hard I tried, it's nearly impossible to know what was in her layered and complex heart.
And just when I thought things couldn't get any more complicated, the day Reito, she, and I hung out with our other friends in a bar to change "air" proved how dead wrong I was.
That day, he was absolutely drunk. His stupid buddies forced him to drink too much. So when he went in for a kiss, I wanted to pull away. I hated alcohol. It smelled so damn disgusting.
But I was too late. His lips already found mine.
And instead of closing my eyes and kissing him back like a girlfriend should, I found her. Looking straight at us. And I was staring at her. Staring at her who was staring straight back at me. Strangely.
My pulse jerked in my neck and my heartbeat quickened to a near maddening pace.
After what felt like forever, she blinked blankly, turned her heels, and walked away. Into the noisy, crazy crowd on the dance floor. Far away from me. Without a backward glance.
I felt empty and more guilty than I ever had before.
I didn't understand why.
I was always the winner, so how come I felt like I was losing something very important and no matter what I had, I would still be empty-handed in the end?
"I'll get another drink. Wait for me, 'kay?" Kissing my forehead affectionately, he stood up, slid out of the booth, and swaggered his way to the packed bar.
I nodded absentmindedly. I would've stopped him if my eyes weren't too busy searching around for a certain someone. If my mind wasn't too busy wondering where she was and what she's doing.
After several frustrating minutes, my eyes finally settled on her across the large room.
She was sitting next to some ugly freaky guy in a corner of the bar. Okay, I lied. He's super gorgeous but there was no way in hell I would admit it.
Anyway, he was shamelessly flirting with her and incredulously, she seemed to go along with that pretty well.
I furrowed my brows, supremely irritated.
So much for madly in love with Reito huh?
But it wasn't my place to judge.
Reito loved me so it's not strange for her to move on. To find someone else. To love someone else.
I should've felt happy. Like a huge stone had been lifted off my chest. I wouldn't have needed to worry about her and Reito anymore. I wouldn't have needed to deal with her anymore. And, really, wasn't that what I'd always wanted in the first place?
I bit my lips, gritting my teeth, trying to tear my gaze away. My eyes had a mind of their own though. They kept flying back to her. To them. Anxiously.
He was telling some lame jokes and she smiled again.
Heck. I wasn't bothered by this. Nope. Not at all.
He was whispering something into her ear and flashing her a perfect and glittering smile which could effortlessly melt all the girls.
God. It was enough to make me gag. In fact, I felt slightly nauseated.
He was touching her hands, grinning seductively with a dimple alongside his mouth.
And I thought I was seriously drunk. Seriously out of my mind. Because I sure as hell had never met that guy before and I had a sudden impulse to slam my fist against his handsome face. Hard.
The funny thing was, I had drunk only orange juice since I stepped into this place.
For the 1,320th time looking back at them, I realized the distance between that jerk and her had decreased drastically.
And the next thing I knew, their faces came closer and closer to one another.
I froze, my heart stopping completely as that guy closed his eyes in anticipation.
I was sweating and terrified. I couldn't watch this.
Their lips were mere inches apart.
My stomach nearly leapt out of my throat.
No. Don't... I found myself praying helplessly, my hands clenching up into tight fists.
And at the very last second, she abruptly jerked her head back, pushing an arm between them.
"Sorry. I can't do this," was hastily whispered out of her lips, her face full of indescribable sorrow.
Before that guy even had a chance to react, she turned around and waltzed away, toward the restroom, never glancing back once at his shocked face.
Serves you right. Jerk!
I let out a breath of relief that I didn't realise I had been holding. Without really thinking about it, I mustered my strength, stumbled to my feet, and followed her.
When I entered the girl restroom, there were several stalls closed. I had no idea which one she was in so I casually walked along the stalls, as if I was trying to find the cleanest one to use.
Red high heels... White boots... Silver gray pumps...
Gosh… This was insane. What the heck was wrong with me? Why the hell should I be here anyway? I didn't care about her, did I?
She was my love rival. She hated me for stealing her supposed-to-be boyfriend.
Whatever happened to her was none of my business, was it?
I pursed my lips into a thin line and decided to leave her alone. But the sound of someone sighing ever so sadly and almost inaudibly from the stall in the farthest corner of the restroom halted my walking immediately. I didn't even need to look at the shoes to know that it was Shizuru. Setting my intention to leave aside, I had a ridiculous urge to knock on the door and ask her what's wrong. However, in the end I changed my mind because seriously, I felt like some sort of a stalker right now.
On second thought, wasn't I the culprit who made everything so wrong in her perfect life?
Wordlessly, I retreated back to the sink nearest to the entrance and leaned against it, staring at the dim light reflected on the wall, arms crossing.
After a few minutes, or perhaps just a few very long seconds, she eventually came out. She didn't pay attention to anything around. Her face was blank, her eyes void of any emotion.
She calmly washed her hands and dried them. Then, looking up to check her slightly pale features, she was obviously surprised to see me staring at her reflection in the mirror.
Normally, I would turn beet red and immediately broke contact. But this time, somehow I just couldn't take my eyes off her in spite of the hot blush creeping up my neck.
For a long while, we just stood motionless like that, silently staring at each other's reflection, never facing directly.
Fortunately, nobody was in the restroom at the time, besides us. Otherwise, we probably would look like fools.
And still keeping her crimson eyes fixed on me in the mirror, she started to stroll toward me, her movements so slow and drawn out.
There was that familiar emotion in those ethereal eyes that I was yet to recognize.
It wasn't anger. Nor was it jealousy or hatred. For some odd reason, it left me breathless, my heart thumping wildly inside my tight chest.
When she stepped up right in front of me, we both automatically turned our heads and gazed right into each other's eyes.
Her eyes were so intense, boring deep into mine as though she was trying to read my soul. As though she could see straight through me.
Or as though she wanted me to see something in her, behind that carefully composed mask.
The tiny hairs on my arms stood on end and a shiver ran down my spine. I felt that invisible and indefinable fear. Once again.
And without warning, she raised her hand.
I instinctively snapped my eyes close, bracing myself for a hard slap in the face. If hitting me could make her feel better, I was willing to be her punching bag.
Instead, I felt an amazingly soft, warm hand press gently against my cheek, tenderly tugging a strand of dark hair behind my ear.
Her thumb glided over my skin, stroking it so softly, so very softly.
My eyes flew open, easily locking into hers again.
And my breath hitched so hard in my throat. My heart started palpitating a mile a second.
Like a flame, her beautiful eyes consumed me. Everything around me. Leaving absolutely nothing behind.
Thousands of questions were dying to leave my frozen lips. Yet all I could barely breathe out was her name.
"Shizuru…"
And I could feel her shuddering as she slammed her eyes shut. Like she was in some kind of pain.
When she opened her eyes, a weak smile danced on her curved lips. She studied my face for a very short moment before letting out a shaky sigh. In a frenzied daze, she made a mad dash for the door, running away again.
And I stood still there, so dumbstruck and frustrated.
What did she want?
What did... I want?
Suddenly, I wasn't so sure anymore.
And I had never been more confused in my whole life.
