Chapter 12: Meeting the Kaito's
Here I was.
Awkwardly, sitting with the Kaito family.
This was supposed to be a plan to get rid of that crappy rumor! I really do not know why the hell I agreed to have dinner with Takeshi's family. I remember he said his older brother told their parents he was dating a girl. The parents demanded to see Takeshi's 'girlfriend' and the rest is history. I couldn't have just said no, right? That would blow our cover as a dating romatic couple! Perhaps Takeshi Kaito is not the most intelligent genius around these frigid parts of town.
Kenichi eyed me and loudly questioned, "Hey, earth to Thalia?"
Escaping from my complicated web of thoughts, I snapped back to reality and reassuringly smiled, "Sorry. The food is really tasty, Ms. Kaito."
The woman smiled proudly and replied, "Thank you. Call me Misae. I am glad that you enjoy eating the food I cooked. Normally, my husband does the cooking... But today is a special day. We cannot afford to eat burned food for dinner with Takeshi's partner. That would be a bit embarrassing."
The said husband scoffed and exclaimed, "My food isn't that bad! It's edible and downright delicious. Right, kids?"
"No," the twins chorused, "sometimes, it's rather disgusting, Dad."
He frowned and dejectedly cried out, "Even my own children are against me! One day, Thalia will try my cooking and say it's the most amazing thing she has ever tasted in her life. I promise!"
Takeshi directed a dirty look to his father and lowered his voice, "Stop putting pressure on Thalia. I am sure she will try your food, Dad. However, I doubt she will comment that."
"Even Takeshi is against me," the blue eyed man flinched, "my food doesn't taste that bad. Be easier on me, you guys. Life was so much easier back in Corona. Freedom, nobody rudely judging me, and bodies of water awaiting for my next commands."
My blue eyes widened in shock. "Mr. Kaito. Y-you went to Corona as well? My mom used to live there."
"Use my first name, Aoi, not Mr. Kaito. I'm not a grandpa yet," he winked, "yes... Your mother was Rapunzel, no? She was actually the royal princess of the entire kingdom of Corona. Her family was immensely powerful. That would mean that you're Jack Frost's daughter too?"
I nodded and Misae beamed approvingly, "Takeshi, this girl is definitely a keeper."
"Yeah, bro," Izumi grinned, "who knows what kind of powers your babies will have? Water bending ice resistant babies! That'd be so awesome. I'm sure that Mom and Dad want lots and lots of grandchildren too!"
"I'd want to be the uncle of those cool kids! You've gotta propose to her soon, bro," Kenichi identically grinned, the twins sharing devious looks.
My cheeks were heated up to the absolute maximum. I was surprised my heart hasn't burst out my chest yet. It's beating so incredibly fast. I can't even count how many times. Takeshi looked equally embarrassed and mouthed a 'sorry about that' in my general direction. He was awkwardly scratching his dark blue locks, a faint blush painted over his ivory cheeks.
"You two troublemakers," the mother sternly stated, "you are going to scare both of them out of this house! Look at their faces. There is no need to rush them in their relationship. They are only in high school."
"Wouldn't want Thalia to play the lead role in 16 and Pregnant, am I right?" Aoi commented in mouthfuls of steaming ramen.
"And please do not talk when you are eating," Misae sighed, "it makes you sound like a pig, Aoi. For heaven's sake, sometimes I feel as if I am raising four children."
I stifled a giggle. The twins howled with laughter and almost fell off their chairs. I even caught Takeshi chuckle at the whole scene. Aoi was glaring at practically everybody and Misae was simply smirking. Coolest family ever. Sounds like something Hunter would say. Ew. That was one scary thought indeed.
"Anyways, how did you two meet? I'm curious," Izumi smiled, lazily twirling a hair strand.
"It was a sunny day at Green Park. I was walking around, enjoying nature, until the rain started to pour down. I was soaked from head to toe. I thought I would be walking back home wet that day. Until Takeshi showed up and offered his umbrella," I warmly smiled, "he's such a gentleman. We became friends and I think the rest is obvious."
A lopsided grin appeared on Takeshi's face, a sign of held in laughter, "Yeah. I thought it would be nice of me to do that. I'm happy I chose to do that. If I didn't... Thalia would have gotten sick and I doubt we would even acknowledge each other's existences. I would not want that to happen."
"Aww, looks like otouto is finally growing up," Kenichi chuckled.
Takeshi arched an eyebrow and I explained, "Otouto means little brother in Japanese."
My 'boyfriend' sighed and answered, "I know. It's just extremely rare for him to call me his little brother in Japanese."
"You see, Thalia," Kenichi regarded me, "my bro and twin were taught Japanese by my parents at a young age. I wasn't interested in learning. Totally regret it now since I have to learn it at school."
"Yeah, Kenichi, you're so stupid," Izumi unkindly commented, cracking a insidious smile.
"I may be stupid. But, at least I'm not mean like you!"
"I'd rather be intelligent and mean than stupid and nice."
"Tch. You don't mean that, sis."
"Yeah. I do."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah really. People will still like me for my intelligence."
"What happened to personality coming first?"
She scoffed. "It's not like that matters anymore in this world. Nowadays, people either care if you're smart or popular at school. That's how it works. Not kindness. If you look like a loser, people won't talk to you. Even if you are nice."
"Those are some deep words," I blurted out.
Misae smiled and inquired, "Is it time for you to return home? It is already 9:45 PM."
"Wow. Time just flew by, huh? It was a pleasure eating with all of you. The food was delicious. Thank you," I bowed politely since they are Japanese.
"I seem to like her more and more every minute. It would be nice to have her as a daughter-in-law," I heard Aoi loudly whisper to his wife.
By instinct, I blushed and Takeshi cleared his throat. "I'll walk Thalia back home."
As both of us walked out the house, I could feel stares hitting my back like daggers. In my peripheral vision, I noticed the entire family were squished against the front window, trying to see what we were doing. Perhaps they were expecting us to kiss. I laced my fingers in Takeshi's hand as a message that we were being watched. We discussed about how we should us lovey-dovey signs to silently communicate to each other. To suddenly hold hands either means we're being watched or being stalked.
"Sometimes, I wish my family would not be so embarrassing," the bluenette shook his head.
I smiled instead and lowered my voice, "It seems like they're expecting us to... do something..."
"... Something?"
"You know, what generic couples normally do?"
"I am lost."
"Kissing... That's what."
"Oh."
Both of us stood there awkwardly, stealing glances towards our peeping audience. What to do, what to do? If only we just let ourselves suffer in that rumor... It wouldn't have turned out like this. This epitome of awkwardity. Those moments where you wished you were able to use invisibility powers. Unfortunately, my cold resistant and healing powers are useless right now. If only Jack Frost could control who can see him... Maybe I would have inherited that power. It would suck if Hunter did and I didn't. That would also be unfair.
Gently, Takeshi placed his long fingers on my cheek. His hands were warm. Not sweaty. Simply warm. I almost wanted to lean into his touch since he felt so warm. The distance between our faces became shorter and shorter. My pulse dangerously started speeding. Soon, his mouth was directly above mine, hesitantly hovering. Do I want to lose my first kiss to Takeshi Kaito? Well, he is not that mean or bad looking. Still, doing this do simply fool others? I want my first kiss with a real boyfriend. Not a fake one. No. Stop this nonsense. However, my body was frozen and frigid in the moment.
At the last second, Takeshi changed his path and gingerly placed his lips on the opposite cheek. It only lasted a few seconds. I swear, I could hear the Kaito family cheering like their hockey team just scored the winning goal in the background. His family just wants to look out for him. Or wants to spy on his love life. Takeshi's lips were just as warm as his hand. For a second there, I was afraid that he was going to actually do it on the lips.
Takeshi avoided looking at me and practically dragged me a block away from his house. He looked incredibly flustered. The blush displayed on his cheeks were fully bright red in the moonlight. I have never saw him act this way before. I never thought it was possible until this very minute. Interesting.
"Sorry about that Thalia," his words were rushed.
I laughed and comfortingly patted his back, "It's fine. That was bound to happen some time, right? When do we plan the fake break up, anyways? People seem to have forgotten the whole 'Takeshi kissing Thalia on rooftop' incident. It's been two weeks now."
Takeshi chuckled and replied, "Your choice. Honestly, I'd still want to be friends with you. When we do... 'break up', let's still be friends. Please."
"Of course," a genuine smile graced my gleeful face, "I wouldn't want to lose a friend like you, Takeshi!"
"The feeling's mutual. Are we going to break up dramatically, casually, normally, or what?"
"... I never knew there were several ways. I thought that one partner would confess that it is not working between them and walk away."
"Now that is the normal way," I explained in an amused tone, "Dramatic would be for you to say you fell out of love with me and I'd start loudly crying. By the way, this should all happen in a public place such as the cafeteria during lunch. In tears, I'd ask what I did wrong. You'd do nothing and simply avoid eye contact. Then, I'd grab your arm or something and demand what I did wrong. You give no answer still and just ditch me. Similar to drama shows."
"How about casually?"
I stroked my imaginary beard in deep thought. "I'm not exactly sure, to be honest... Maybe just nonchalantly mentioning that you don't feel the same as you did in the beginning. Both parties agree and they still are friends."
"That sounds like the best one."
Nodding, I agreed, "That dramatic one is a bit too much for us, don't you think?"
"Most definitely."
"Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks that way," I laughed.
Eventually, we were standing in front of my door. Without even thinking, I carelessly threw my arms around Takeshi's neck.
"Thanks for tonight, my fake boyfriend," I whispered in the embrace.
Takeshi snuck his arms around my waist and huskily breathed, "It was no problem, my poser girlfriend."
His voice sounds hot. Ugh, it's like a repeat of the rooftop scene! My life is turning into a cliche anime show about a school girl wearing a short skirt having a crush on the most popular boy in her homeroom class. Hate those types. Kimi ni Todoke and Boys Over Flowers are an exception though. They were cute and not overly cheesy with plot bunnies hopping everywhere. I want some action. Not that type of action for all you sick perverts out there. As in adventures and mysteries and stuff that makes you stop and think.
Speaking of thinking, there's still that issue about Dad disappearing. We tried helping but only failed miserably. People just don't want to believe anymore. They rely more on what they see than faith. It's rather sad. Santa Clause was one of my favourite people as a kid. Now, he's second behind my father. You see, I did not know Dad was Jack Frost until I started school. That's also when my parents told me that it is not normal for Dads to fly down staircases or throw snowballs without touching it.
We both laughed quietly and pulled away.
"Well... see you tomorrow then, Takeshi."
"Hope the bed bugs don't bite you in your sleep," he smirked and started strolling away.
"Very reassuring!" I shouted at his retreating figure.
I swear, I could hear Takeshi's musical laugh as I entered my silent house.
A/N: Wow, a long chapter! Mainly centering on Thalia x Takeshi. Haven't updated for awhile and I am sorry for that. School just decided to be hectic this week in particular. Gym's also sucking the energy out of me. Don't worry, maybe I'll have six pack abs at the end of the semester! (Haha, I wish) Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Y'all are awesome. Please review and tell me what you think? Thank you.
Is it weird that I keep on listening to this French song? I even memorized the chorus and I don't know a lot of French. XD It's called Mozart L'Opera Rock Le Bien Qui Fait Mal by Mikelangelo Loconte. I came across this Fullmetal Alchemist AMV on YouTube and became obsessed with it. Here's the link for all you curious people out there... [add ".com"]
www . youtube / watch?v=-dXRClwk-h0&list=PLelxke-54R3ISW5RVSVyPh4-yQIPeZAxE
