Hey, folks! ^^ I guess I don't need to explain the reason for this delay anymore, right? :p

I want to express my deep gratitude to everyone who read and reviewed my previous chapters. It means a lot to me. So THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

Here is my new update, titled 'The Message'. I'm sorry in advance if you find mistakes here and there as I'm still learning and trying to improve. I will be very pleased if you will help me by pointing out the mistakes so that I can correct it as soon as I can. Thanks in advance :)

Have a pleasant reading! ^^

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Disclamer: I clearly do not have that much great imagination to create such amazing characters and story like Maid-sama, it's all the property of the magnificent Hiro Fujiwara.

The street was still deserted when Takumi and Misaki was on their way to Misaki's house since it was still very early in the morning. When they reached the gate of the house, Takumi stood still for a while, staring at the house with a longing look, as if trying to capture it for one last time.

He remembered when he spent all night sitting in front of the house before. It happened almost two years ago, but yet it felt like yesterday. He was amazed by how quickly a life could be turned upside down in just a blink of an eye and how he wished that he could have done something more for her with the time they had, but then he realized that whatever things he could have done wouldn't make his situation easier.

Misaki glanced at him and realized how hard he tried to conceal his sadness during the night so that he wouldn't make things more difficult for her than it already was. He had been suppressing his feelings for her sake for so many times before, and it was all very touching, but this time, she wouldn't let him do it again.

She threw her hands around him and hugged him tightly while whispering to him. "Don't you ever suppress your feelings for my sake anymore. I am stronger than you thought. Believe me, Takumi."

Takumi couldn't be more impressed by her. She always had a way to sooth his troubled mind, at the exact right time. And she just did it again. Misaki… What am I going to do without you… He hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head while caressing her hairs dearly.

They stayed in each other's warm embrace for a few minutes before he slowly pulled away and cupped her face.

"I know, Misaki… But isn't it my job to worry about my girlfriend?" He said while shooting her a smile that she wouldn't forget.

It was a smile that abruptly implied how deep his feeling for her, which she swore made her heart stopped for a few milliseconds. She couldn't even describe how amazing she was feeling when she saw his expression at that moment. It was priceless.

She was speechless for a few fine moments, and when she managed to pull herself together, she replied hesitantly.

"Y..You have a lot more things to worry about, but you are worrying about things that you shouldn't be worried about instead, are you stupid?" She said boldly, trying to sound disturbed, but inside of her, she was deeply moved by his words.

It surely didn't go unnoticed. Takumi couldn't help but thinking about how cute she was when she tried to deny her own feeling and said something harsh instead, but in the end, it only made her true feelings clearer to him, which made him want to tease her more. He just couldn't miss it.

"I like worrying about my girlfriend, so I don't mind being an idiot because of it." Purposely emphasizing the girlfriend part, he smiled satisfactorily when her face went red instantly.

"D…Don't say such embarrassing things so casually, idiot perv—"

She didn't get to finish her outcry as she felt his lips capturing hers and her petite body fully drowned in his embrace. His warm lips caressed hers softly for a few moments, then he slowly pulled away while whispering to her ears.

"Misa-chan… Do you want to wake everybody up and let them ruin our precious moments?"

"I… Ukh… It's your fault for saying such embarrassing words!" She said, half yelling, half whispering.

"Then I won't say anything anymore…"

Before she had time to react, he captured her lips once again and kissed her passionately. She kissed him back with the same rhythm once she had recovered from her surprise upon his sudden move. She could feel him smiling in between their kisses, feeling somewhat thrilled by her reaction.

"If only I don't have to go, I can do this all day, Misa-chan…"

"Saying it now of all time, you are really a perverted idiot!"

"Then will you prefer me saying it when I'm back so that we'll be able to actually doing it all day? What a foxy pres…" He smirked when instantly her face turned beet red.

"WHA…YOU—" She covered her mouth quickly, preventing herself from saying it out loud.

Takumi laughed when he saw her looking at him furiously without being able to yell at him.

She took a deep breath and when she calmed down, she continued with a lower voice. "You better get yourself back here first before imagining such things, pervert!"

"Don't worry, Misa-chan. As long as you still need me, I will find my way back to you…"

Misaki felt something calming in his words. It was exactly the words that she needed to hear, to save her from growing doubts about the possibility of him not coming back to her side. Misaki leaned her head on his broad chest while clutching his shirt tightly and said to him. "Don't be ridiculous, there's no way that I don't need you…"

He smiled while putting his hands around her and kissed the top of her head. "Then you've got yourself a lifetime stalker, Misa-chan…" He said while smiling innocently.

"Yeah, a perverted one…" Misaki said, and both of them laughed while embracing each other, it was indeed a very fine moment for both of them.

But when they saw sunlight started to break the dawn, they realized that their time was up. "It is time…" Takumi said to her, then slowly let go of her.

"Please take good care of yourself when I'm not around, okay?" He added while ruffling her hairs.

Misaki nodded. "I will, and you too…"

He gently tucked some of her hairs behind her ears to take one last glance at her beautiful features. Then he looked at her charming golden eyes and gave her a very warm smile.

"Then… I'll see you later, Misaki…" He said while leaning forward and slowly kissed her cheek.

"…Yes… See you later, Takumi…" Misaki said while watching him turning his back and walked away from her sight.

She decided to restrain herself from crying and showing her true emotions until the very last second, until she couldn't see his figure anymore. It was the hardest thing she ever had to do, because she was already crying inside, and her heart kept commanding her to run after him and tell him to not leave her side.

But she couldn't. She knew that he was the one who suffered the most from that situation. He was walking toward his ruthless destiny and facing it all by himself. She hated herself for not having the power to protect him from his family, but she knew enough that she shouldn't make things worse for him. So she stood still, clenching her hands and let those emotions burnt inside of her.

Until I see you again, Takumi…

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Misaki was sitting on her bed with her hands covering her face while bowing her head. She knew that she had reached her limit. She couldn't suppress those feelings any longer as she sobbed and next thing she knew, the tears that she had been holding before were starting to stream down her face.

Forgive me, Takumi… Even though I know I shouldn't be crying again, I don't know how to control this anymore… But, this is the last time you'll ever see me giving you up… By the time we meet again, I won't allow myself to be in the position of having no choice but to let you leave me like this… I will try my hardest until I am qualified to stand by your side, that I won't have time to crumble and cry over the loneliness of not having you here with me… So please forgive me this time… Allow me to feel this pain just once, and tomorrow I will be stronger, I promise…

Misaki cried herself out without holding it back. Her arms grasped her head in a futile attempt to stop time, because as time went by, the fact that Takumi had gone became more and more real. It was the only moment she allowed herself to pour out those soulful cries that she wouldn't express before. She let her sorrow brought forth tears, expressing the emotional breakdown within her that was never once revealed to anyone.

Hot tears stung her face and soaked her clothes in an unending flow and she lost track of time for how long she had been crying until she fell asleep peacefully, for a while at least.

Suddenly there was a knock on the bedroom door, but she didn't react. Few more knocks and still no reaction, the door slowly opened, revealing Minako's worried face. She looked at her daughter and slowly approached her, keeping it as quiet as possible. She could see traces of overflowing tears on her swollen eyes, and it hurt her to see her beloved daughter in that state. She slowly stroked her hairs, hoping that the touch would shove away her pain, even in her dreams.

My poor little girl… This is the first time I've seen you like this… You always been unbreakable in front of me, even when your father left us… I know it was all because you don't want to make me sad… You've sacrificed too much, Misaki…

Minako sighed then walked to the desk and put an expensive looking box she was carrying onto the desk, the reason why she came to Misaki's bedroom in the first place. I hope you will get better when you see this, Misaki… His message for you… She smiled when she remembered Takumi's face when he gave it to her last night and how he asked her to watch over Misaki and remind her not to overwork herself. He really worries about her… what a thoughtful boy…

She moved closer and kissed Misaki's forehead. Sleep well, Misaki... She then walked to the door and took one last glance at her sleeping daughter while smiling to her peaceful face before she closed the door behind her.

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Few hours later Misaki woke up and obviously felt uncomfortable because of the numbness throughout her body. She straightened up and walked towards the curtained window to burst it open, but she regretted it almost immediately. It was a really bright day and by the time she slid the curtain open, a huge amount of light came rushing into her bedroom and blinding her for a few seconds.

As her eyes adjusted to the light, she opened her eyes slowly and the first thing she looked at was her desk that was located just below the window. That's when she realized there was something foreign sitting pleasantly on it. A dark-red colored box that matched her golden eyes perfectly.

She slowly opened its cover and found a luxurious looking book placed neatly inside of it, which turned out to be a photo album. She opened the cover curiously and found herself looking at a lot of images of herself. It was all a photo collection of her that was gathered by Takumi ever since they knew each other.

Taking pictures of her was Takumi's favorite activity whenever they were together. Misaki remembered being irritated by his constant whining about taking her 'extremely cute expressions' because he loved to see the way her expression changes when she was near him.

She was amazed by so many expressions he could capture from her, with that limited access she gave him to take pictures of her. She had no idea that there were so many photos he took, because he had never showed it all to her before.

Seeing page after page, she could sense his deep feeling for her, because the pictures evidently showed how he always observed her and captured every little moments of her. The softness in each of the pictures reminded her of his gentleness, and undeniably, it made her missed him so much.

When she reached the last page of the album, she saw her name written on an envelope that was attached to its back cover. She quickly opened it and found a letter with his handwriting.

Dear Misaki,

I think this is the first time you saw my collection, am I right?

This is my treasure, so please take good care of it for me.

Are you wondering why I give you this?

The truth is… I just want you to have more self consciousness after seeing these photos, so that you'll understand a little why I can't control myself whenever I see your cute expressions in front of me.

Pervert… Misaki smiled when she read the first three lines of the letter. It was the first smile that emerged on her face ever since that morning.

As I write this letter, I imagine you are smiling and calling me pervert right about now.

Misaki stopped for a moment. Then her smile widened. You are really a perverted outer space alien….

Yes, I am your perverted outer space alien.

Misaki laughed. She always knew that he had some kind of alien power to read minds, but she didn't expect that he could predict things accurately before it actually happened.

I hope these words find you in the perfect mood, so somehow you will think of me and smile.

I love it when you smile so please don't make me be the one who take it away from you.

This is not goodbye, Misaki… No matter how far away I am from you, I will definitely come back to you, because being by your side is the only place I want to be.

In my whole life, I wasn't able to live the life I want. There are times when I lost the reason of living along the line. But ever since you came into my life, there's nothing else I want more than to live, so that I can be there for you whenever you need me.

You asked me once, why did I care so much about you to the extent of sacrificing myself for you… I said it's because I will lose myself if I lose you, but you laughed and thought that I was teasing you, but I want you to know, what I said to you is a complete honesty… I need you in my life, Misaki… Because you make me whole…

Please believe me this time…

I love you with all my heart,

-Takumi-

Misaki was deeply touched by his outpouring of affection in the letter, in which she guessed he put so much effort to get it done, because she knew he was not the kind of guy who would say something like that easily. She smiled as hugged the letter dearly as if it was him.

I always believe in you, baka…

To be continued….
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Author's note: Done! Haha finally I've finished this chapter! Sorry for taking so long time to finish this. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoy writing it :)

Thank you so much for reading, and please tell me how you guys feeling about it. I will be very glad to receive feedbacks , in short, please click the review button below, and tell me everything you want ^^

Until next time, guys!

-Fin-

May 04, 2011.