"Waiting"

Author's Note: An aftermath of "The cracked mask", set some time after Aizuki and Watanabe's marriage.

Written: March 26-27, 2008

The night was unusually long, and neither the rain nor wind was helping Aizuki at all.

She did not usually have insomniac problems, but she always ended up being an extremely light sleeper whenever her husband was away as she would wake up soon after he entered their apartment. But he was still unaware of this as she did not want him to sleep on the sofa due to the concern of waking her up.

Aizuki did not wish for that- one of the best things about their marriage was that he would always hold her when they laid together, his body pressed right against her's: a very comforting thing.

Utterly frustrated, she sat up. Sleep without him did not seem to be possible this night.

She only ended up worrying even more when she saw that it was two o'clock in the morning: he had never been this late.

He was absent because Shitenhouji Chuu's tennis team was in the nationals again, and they naturally stayed until the end of the whole tournament regardless of their own performance. Since he was a good coach, he would always make sure that all the boys were picked up before he goes home himself on the rare occasions when they returned to Osaka at night time.

But why was he still not back?

She switched on the light and began to rummage through her wardrobe, she needed to do something in order to stop all the possibilities that her mind was providing.

Cleaning her clothes…that was a good idea. One of her worst habits was to just leave all her clothes lying on the floor, if not shoving them in her closet. She always promised herself to change this habit, but she still has not succeeded.

When she lived with her siblings she would only sort out the clothes of her and her sister, since her twin brother was responsible for his own room. He would leave his dirty clothes in their laundry basket.

But her husband's clothes were mingled with hers and she was much comforted by the sight of her yukata being tangled with his shirt when she shoved them inside. It served as another sign of the two of them being truly together.

Her hand suddenly stopped their work when she saw the black kimono-like outfit. The out fit made the day after she learnt of her parents' death.

She had been remarkably calm upon hearing the news, and she managed to see the officer off and took the barely used cups to the sink, while Akio continued to weep.

Her immediate emotion was actually anger, that her parents were taken away from her when they were finally being parents to her. Just before they left for that ill fated trip to the supermarket, her mother was talking to her about her job as they washed the dishes together, and Aizuki decided to tell her mother about the problems she was having with her boyfriend the very next day..

"I refuse." was all she would say.

Ashita naturally had a long and loud cry about this because they were her parents, even if they were hardly home.

Aizuki did not cry when she asked for some days off in order to prepare for the funeral, and after she obtained permission she actually brought some black fabric before heading home, as she did not have any black outfits that she could wear.

As she started to sew, she suddenly recollected how her mother would often stand behind her and gently guide the fabric by holding her hand.

That warmth was a very deep comfort to her, making her realize that her mother did care for her, even if she refused to stay beside her when she once had a nightmare.

Something she would never feel again…

Her hands began to shake and within seconds she was crying violently. After fifteen years she still missed that warmth- a feeling similar to that of her husband when he held her so close.

Watanabe had to catch an early train so he went to sleep as soon as he finished his packing. By the time she went to bed he was already asleep, so she climbed in very quietly and wrapped her arms around him. But when she woke up the next day, there was only the faintest warmth on the spot beside her.

She didn't want that to be her last memory of him.

Let him come in now! Let him make his way across the dark and then wrap his arms around her as he always would.

But there was nothing other then the sound of rain and wind along with the tickling of the clock.

Watanabe was in a rather lousy mood so he used this as a justification of having a few drinks before he went home.

Their train was delayed due to a mixture of reasons and even though most boys had someone to wait for them, there were a few who had intended to take the public transport home, which was not possible now that it was quite late. Since he was the adult responsible, he had to borrow the car of someone's parents who lived near by and drove them home, he who hated driving due to what happened.

This was why he was in a bad mood and went to the nearby bar to have a few drinks .

He reasoned that Aizuki would be sleeping- most people would be by this time, and he did provide an explanation through a brief text, just in case she woke up.

He actually felt really happy just by returning here, as he knew that Aizuki would be in this house. It was Sunday tomorrow so she might still be in his arms when he wakes up, a feeling that he really enjoyed. He almost risked being late on the day he left as he felt like holding onto her a bit longer.

He frowned when he saw the light from their bedroom- why wasn't she sleeping at this time? It was almost four in the morning! But he hardly has time to react as he soon heard her crying.

"Aizuki, what is wrong?" he demanded as he charge in, only to have her clinging onto him in a rather uncharacteristic tightness.

"I am so sorry that I got home so late but didn't you get my text? Or did something happen to Ashita or your brother?" he continued rather incoherently when she showed no sign of stopping. "Did something go wrong in the weekend?"

"I was really worried." Aizuki finally whispered over and over again, after he retorted to shaking her. "It was so late and you still didn't' come back. I don't know what I'd do if you are gone like them!"

Ten minutes later she was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in front of her while he knelt beside her in order to lock his arms around her. She was considerable calmer, even blushing a bit.

"I admit, comforting a slightly hysterical wife is not what I thought I'll be doing when I get home." He said with a slight smile.

"I was really worried!" she snapped.

"I know, and the truth is I am kind of glad about this." He told her gently. "It makes me realise that you really do care for me."

"Of course I love you." She began rather indignantly. "Why will I marry you and remain married to you for five years if I don't love you?"

"Because I often wonder whether I asked you to marry me a bit too soon." He admitted. "The truth is that you were never my girl friend, you just became my fiancée and then my wife after a very short amount of time."

"But weren't you the one who said that our relationship progressed in all but name?"

The truth was that he was equally paranoid.

"But Aizuki, how did you know that I was unusually late when you don't know when I usually come back?" he suddenly pointed out.

"I…I always wake up when you come home late at night." She finally admitted. "But I didn't want you to worry about waking me."

"So I can be as loud as I want?" he asked merrily. "So I can kiss you every time I come back?"

He didn't want her to deliberately stay up and wait for him but he was secretly disappointed that she would always be sleeping, even when he embraced her.

Perhaps every husband liked to think that there was some sort of special bond that would cause his wife to sense his presence as soon as he entered their home.

"And this is something that we do have." He whispered out aloud.

Author's Note: I quite like doing this little one shot as I am really glad to be able to talk more about Watanabe and Aizuki, showing what their relationship is like after marriage, since the cracked mask is about how they end up admitting their love and being together, so I like the opportunity of writing about them being sweet together.