I'm a procrastinator. What can I say? I just lost inspiration with this story, and I am soooooo sorry about that. So I'm gonna give you a longer chapter to make up for that. Or I hope it's longer. Also, I want to thank all the people who have left reviews:
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Disclaimer: I don't own Junjou Romantica
-JR—JR—JR-
Misaki's POV
I walked into Akihiko's apartment, letting a small growl of annoyance at my living arrangements. I hadn't wanted to stay here at all, but my brother left no room for argument. "Don't look so annoyed. I thought you like it here," Akihiko said, motioning to his penthouse he somehow managed to get back. Or he never lost it in the first place.
"I don't," I said, dropping my single suitcase by the stairs and walking into the kitchen. "Did you hire someone to clean it?" I asked, wondering how it was so spotless when I'd been gone for so long.
"Yeah," Akihiko said. "I thought it would be better than making you clean it." I nodded in approval, noting how well the cleaning job had been done.
"They did a good job, anyway," I said. "But I would've been perfectly fine with cleaning it. As long as you paid me. I'm out of money."
I looked at the silver haired man in time to see a frown on his face. "What?" I asked, noticing the weird look he gave me.
"You're different. You used to refuse money. You wouldn't even let me mention it without getting flustered," Akihiko said.
I shook my head and sighed. "Well, yeah, I'm different. I went to jail for years. Did you expect me to come out the same as I was before that? I wasn't even the same after you left me, let alone after something like that.
Akihiko flinched at the mention of him leaving me. "Oh, don't look so guilty. It doesn't matter anymore. You can't change it so let it go."
"And I can't change you back," he whispered in a voice so low I barely heard it.
My eyes widened. "What?" I asked. "You'd prefer me the way I used to be, then?" Akihiko tried to say something, but I continued talking. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not gonna happen. That Misaki broke the day you left, and he died when he went to jail. As much as you may hate it, you're stuck this me. Get over it." My voice was a growl, the hurt hidden by my anger.
I didn't let the author say anything, already up the steps and slamming my bedroom door, then locking it. I flopped down on the bed, letting myself calm down. "If only the old me would come back," I whispered, letting a soft but bitter laugh escape me.
I sat up from my lying position and pushed my sleeves up, looking at the fresh scars that had formed. I shoved them back down when I heard a knock on the door. "Misaki, I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean it that way," Akihiko said, and I could imagine him on the other side, leaning his forehead against the door.
"Then how did you mean it? Because that was how it sounded," I said, chuckling and shaking my head.
"I just meant that I wish we could have those times back. When we didn't have so much pain," he sighed the last part.
"Yeah, well we can't!" I snapped, pent up frustration coming out. "Those times are over! And they're not coming back." The last part was barely audible, but somehow the author heard.
"They can come back though. You just have to let me help you. Just . . . stop pushing me away." I went over to the door, unlocking it so that it could be heard easily, then backed away.
The door opened slowly, and when I saw Akihiko he had the most heartbreaking look on his face. I almost broke when I saw that look, but pushed those feelings away and refused to return the hug he gave me.
I just let my arms hang limp beside me and kept my expression neutral. "Misaki," Akihiko whispered.
When I decided that the hug was too much human contact for comfort, I pushed Akihiko away with little force. He let go quickly.
"If you want the old life we had back so much, why did you invite me to live with you?" I asked, not meeting the silverette's (pretend that's a word) eyes.
"It seemed like the right thing to do," he said, shrugging. I scoffed.
"Yes, that's the perfect thing to do. Remind yourself that you'll never be able to get that life back again," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Who says we can't have it back? It may not be the same, but we can still have peace," Akihiko responded.
"I'm an ex-convict, Akihiko. How can you expect lead any kind of life?!" I exclaimed. "And who says I still love you? I never did."
Akihiko smirked. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Because I know you, and I can tell you still love me. I'll just have to make you say it." He said this in such a Haitani-like way that I shoved him away.
"Don't do that," I hissed, glaring at him. The author's smirk grew wider at my words. "Get out." My words were a sigh. "I need some sleep."
"Why don't I sleep with you?" he purred.
"Nope," I said, pushing him out the door. I had to restrain myself from slamming it again, but didn't stop myself from locking it rather loudly.
Apparently Akihiko didn't question the fact that I was saying I needed sleep in the middle of the day. I shrugged to myself, letting it go and flopping on the bed again. Unbeknownst to myself, I actually did fall asleep, and was woken by knocking on my door.
"What is it Akihiko?" I asked.
"Dinner is ready," he said. My eyes widened when I smelled something that was a combination of smoke and . . . something I couldn't identify. I got up and unlocked the door, then threw it open. I dashed past Akihiko and down the stairs to see just how much damage he had done.
When I saw the mess the kitchen was in and the black-purple blobs of 'food' on plates set out on the table I ran a hand down my face, sighing in exasperation. "You should've just gotten me to make dinner. It may not seem like it, but I can still cook after a few years," I said, giving the man a look.
I went over to the blobs and picked the plates up, promptly dumping the poison in the trash can. Smelling them up close, I vowed that I would take the trash out after dinner. I went to work cleaning the kitchen, but was stopped when Akihiko asked, "What are you doing?"
"Cleaning. And then I'll make dinner. I'm doing this for my own self-preservation. I'm sure that if I ate that . . . poison, I'd get sick and have to go to the hospital," I responded, wiping the strange black grime off of the counter top. "What were you trying to make?" I asked. When there was no response, I turned to see Akihiko giving me a strange look.
"What?" I asked, irritation leaking into my voice.
"I guess that's another thing that you kept. You still look adorable when you're cleaning and cooking," he said, giving me one of his trademark smirks. I shook my head and continued to clean the kitchen. Once that was done (it took at least forty-five minutes), I started on making dinner.
From the looks of the refrigerator, he stocked up on food recently. Dinner was done in thirty minutes, and I laid it on the table. Akihiko frowned when he saw the green bell peppers in the food. "You know I don't like green bell peppers."
"Yeah, well tough. I like them, so I put them in. Also, if you don't like them, don't put them in your refrigerator," I countered.
"I'm not the one who went shopping," Akihiko pouted.
"Specify that you don't want them to the people who are getting the food and you won't have any," I said, sitting down.
"Itadakimasu," I said and dug in.
Akihiko repeated after me, but picked around the peppers and ate the rest of it. I shook my head at how childish he was being. We ate I silence other than the sound of the chopsticks hitting out plates occasionally.
The silence was awkward and tense, but I ignored it, quite used to it by then. When the both of us were done I picked the plates up and went to the sink to clean all of the dishes (unfortunately including the ones Akihiko used). "I can do that," the silverette said.
"No," I said. "Knowing you, you would mess even this up." As I put the last dish on the drying rack and was drying my hands with a towel, hands slipped around my waist. My body tensed up and I spun around in the man's grip, shoving at his chest. He barely stumbled back, but looked surprised at my reaction.
"Don't," was all I said, or rather hissed.
"What's wrong?" he asked, a confused look on his face.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, trying to calm my racing heart. Don't get the wrong idea. I wasn't excited by that. Fear had gripped at my heart, and for a second I thought it had been Haitani. "I don't like being touched. You know that."
"But you don't usually react that violently. You didn't earlier," he said, referring to when I let him hug me.
"I knew it was you then. You just scared me," I said and threw the towel on the counter, then made my way towards the stairs, hoping Akihiko wasn't following me. Of course, whatever god there was loved to spite me, so naturally Akihiko was following behind me.
Before he could catch up I closed my bedroom door and locked it, ignoring the knocks coming from the other side. I was about to lay on the bed and try to sleep when my phone began to buzz in my pocket, indicating that I was getting a call.
"Misaki," I said in a bored tone, not bothering with being polite.
"Misaki Takahashi, yes?" the person on the other end asked.
"Hai," I replied. "What is it?"
"I have a message from someone you may know. His name is Rae Okamoto," the person said.
"What is it?" I asked, suddenly alarmed.
"He said, 'Misaki, these will be the last words you hear from me. Live on. Know that I still love you. –Rae'," the person said.
I swallowed hard. "And why are you telling me this?"
The man suddenly sounded sad. "I'm sorry to tell you, but Rae-san has died. He was in a car wreck."
I hung up and fell to my knees. "No," I whispered. "No, no, no." One tear fell. The phone fell from my hand and hit the ground with a thud. I stood up and wiped the stray tear away, then opened the door and looked both ways to come to the conclusion that Akihiko was in his office, most likely working on his next book.
I went down stairs and pulled a jacket and my shoes on. I ran out the door, not caring how loud I had been. I needed to take a walk. Or a run as it seemed to be. I was running without a destination, without a thought of where I was going.
I hadn't even realized I was crying. I eventually stopped and sat down on a bench, crying silently into my hands. After an unknown amount of time someone sat down next to me, breathing heavily. "Are you okay?" the man asked.
"No," I whispered, the tears stopping. I didn't remove my hands from my face.
"What happened?" he asked, and I could feel his gaze on my hunched back.
"Rae is dead," I said, voice breaking.
I heard a soft gasp, and suddenly gentle arms were around me, cradling me against Akihiko's chest. "You love him," the silverette whispered.
"Maybe. He was more of a brother to me than anything," I said quietly. "And now he's dead." Quiet sobs shook my shoulders. Akihiko rubbed gentle circles into my back, whispering reassurances into my ear. When my sobs finally died down, a wave of tiredness crashed over me and I fell asleep in the comfortable embrace of Akihiko.
-JR—JR—JR-
So there's chapter fifteen. I decided to give you some fluff there as an apology. I'm really sorry about not updating for so long. 5+ reviews for the next update.
So favorite, follow, review, and PM me! Until next time . . .
~O'Malley
