A/N: Looks like this isn't going to be the last chapter after all. Apologies for the very late update; I had tonnes of work to do once varsity started. To compensate for that, I've included two new chapters instead of one, and both are rather long, so yay for that.
I've proof-read them but let me know if you find any errors.
Title: Until I Say (by Rie Fu)
Summary: Ten things he didn't know about her. (Part 1)
He would never tell her this, but Akihiko's new year's resolution for 2009 was one of the more unusual ones he had had before. For his final year in high school, he decided to get to know Mitsuru better. Sure, they had known each other since middle school, and she was arguably his closest friend after Shinji, but there were still a few blanks about her that he couldn't fill. During the first few years of their friendship, he had noticed that she was a rather private person—a consequence of the somewhat restricted life that she led (or in his opinion, forced upon her at times). He knew growing up without parents was tough, but having a prominent and well-known businessman as a father seemed even more difficult, in her case.
Still, with the determination he instilled in himself for training, he did his best during the year to find—subtly, of course—at least ten things about Mitsuru that he didn't know. Granted, it would have been easier if he had chosen someone else like a fellow classmate or somebody on the boxing team, but Akihiko had always liked a challenge, and when he was in a match, he wanted to win. He knew a lot about her already, but he was sure he'd be able to find out more.
He wondered if she would find the idea amusing or just plain annoying. Perhaps it'd be best if he made sure she never caught on…
o-o-o-o-o
i.
"Hey, senpai, what are ya up to?" Junpei cheerfully asked as he threw himself down onto the couch, a manga in hand. Opposite him, Akihiko, who was slurping his remaining ramen, arched an eyebrow at him.
"Uh… eating?" the boxer replied in a tone that sounded as if he was talking to an idiot. Junpei either didn't notice or simply ignored it. He gestured towards the book in his grasp, a wide grin on his face. "Check this out. I got the latest volume of Ball Boy from the bookstore today," he said proudly. "I've been waiting weeks for it! Heh, good thing I pre-ordered it, huh? I heard they sold out in just over an hour!"
Akihiko merely grunted and shrugged. He liked reading manga too, but not the ones Junpei usually did.
"What's all that racket upstairs anyway?" the junior inquired, flipping to the first page as a loud thud was heard from the ceiling.
"Mitsuru and Yukari are cleaning out one of the rooms for Fuuka. I wanted to help but apparently, no males are allowed in that part of the dorm…" said Akihiko with a roll of his eyes.
"Nyeh, whatever. Less work for us."
Just then, a squeal that sounded distinctively like Yukari's echoed down the stairs, making both boys look up in surprise. Even from the living room, they could hear the quick patter of feet and more soft thuds that came from the third floor. There was a short pause before Mitsuru's voice called out down the two floors, "Akihiko? Are you there?"
"Yeah?" he responded amiably. She cleared her throat rather hastily. "Could you come up here for a minute?"
Junpei shot Akihiko a gleeful look and chuckled, "Heh heh, senpai, looks like you'll be helping out after all."
"Is Iori there too? Get him to come with you." At her words, Junpei's face fell immediately and Akihiko couldn't help the smug expression on his face as the junior sourly put down his manga. Both boys went up to the third floor and found the Yukari and Mitsuru standing by the stairs, appearing hot and bothered. The brunette in particular seemed rather sheepish but Mitsuru looked normal, arms crossed and face neutral.
"Arisato is not back yet?" she asked. Akihiko shook his head.
"What's up, Mitsuru-senpai?" Junpei scratched the back of his neck. "Did you want us to help you with some cleaning?"
"Something like that…" Mitsuru shrugged, not appearing to want to say anymore, and that made a certain silver-haired senior a little suspicious.
"Uh, didn't you say boys aren't allowed in the female rooms or something?" Akihiko pointed out but Mitsuru did not reply and just led them to the room she and Yukari were cleaning out before, gesturing towards something on the floor. "You need to get rid of that," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
The boys peered into the room, staring at the black spot on the wide, empty space before them with raised eyebrows and surprised looks…
"… A cockroach? You called us up here to kill that?" said Akihiko in disbelief. "Why don't you take care of it yourself?"
Near him, Yukari took a step back with an involuntary shudder. "Ugh, I can't even look at it," she said in a pained voice, shaking her head and edging away from the door.
"I'm not going near that thing," Mitsuru said firmly.
Junpei suddenly gave one of his uproarious guffaws. "You girls fight Shadows and you're still afraid of a little bug?" he teased. Yukari flushed at once. Mitsuru cast him a rather cold glare, but Akihiko noticed something flicker in her eyes.
"I'm not afraid of cockroaches," she said in a rather affected tone, which, coming from her, sounded quite unusual. "Do you know the things they actually feed on? They're filthy and disgusting and that's why I'm not going anywhere near them," the redhead pointed out hotly. Her words had no effect on Junpei, though. He continued snickering, nudging Akihiko by the shoulder. "So she says," he whispered.
Mitsuru gave an explosive sigh of annoyance, gritting her teeth. "Iori—" she started in a dangerous tone.
"Okay…!" Akihiko hurriedly stepped in, already having a premonition of Junpei getting 'executed'. He pushed the chuckling junior into the room and grabbed some old newspapers that were lying on the floor, rolling them up quickly. "Let's just get rid of that thing and let the girls get on with their work, shall we?" he said as nonchalantly as he could.
"Hey, Yuka-tan." Junpei looked back, grinning widely. "What if we have to fight a Shadow that takes the form of a cockroach or somethin'? Think you can handle it?"
"Knock it off." Akihiko threw the roll of paper at him, hitting him square in the face. At the door, the two girls were silent, appearing to consider his words very intently. Yukari looked as if she had just seen a ghost, and Mitsuru… well, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, Akihiko still saw the hint of pink on her cheeks and as he turned back to confront the offending bug on the floor, he couldn't help the small smile on his lips.
Oh, there was no way he was going to fall for that speech of hers …
o-o-o-o-o
Ten Things I didn't know about Mitsuru:
#1: She's afraid of cockroaches… regardless of what she says…
o-o-o-o-o
ii.
"You got it fixed, huh? It looks good as new," remarked Akihiko as he took a step back to admire the gleaming motorcycle before him. Nearby, Mitsuru smiled as she capped the bottle of wax and tucked it away in the cupboard, pleased.
"Yes, they did a good job at the garage. I'm very happy at how it turned out."
"I thought you'd be scrapping it after what happened."
"I did consider that, to be honest," she replied truthfully. "But after thinking about it for a while, I decided not to. It means a lot to me… having a motorcycle, that is."
The melancholic tone in her voice shifted his eyes to her and he was surprised to find her staring at the bike with such fondness. "So… you never told me, but why did you get it?" he asked. "I mean, I know you like riding it, but sometimes it seems to me like there's more to that motorcycle than you're letting on."
It was one of those moments she wondered how he could be so perceptive at times. Moving closer to the bike, she ran a hand almost lovingly along the leather seat and answered softly, "I got it because my father didn't like the idea."
He blinked at her. "What?"
"Consider it my very pathetic attempt of a youthful rebellion," she said with a thin smile.
"… I'm finding it really hard to imagine you being anything but a good, obedient daughter." He couldn't help the rather teasing tone. She laughed quietly at his words, fingers pushing back her crimson bangs.
"Yes, I'm sure that's what everyone else thinks as well." She nodded. "That's why I wanted to be impulsive for once; to do something I shouldn't. I wanted to know how defying my father—and my life—felt."
He raised his eyebrows, shifting his weight to his other foot and slipping gloved hands into his pockets. "Your life, huh?"
She sighed and shut her eyes for a moment, crossing her arms. "You know how it is for me…" she mumbled. "As a Kirijo, everything is already set out in front of me, be they responsibilities I can never escape from in the future, or unforgivable sins in the past."
Akihiko frowned a little at what she said. "What your grandfather did was not your fault, Mitsuru. You should know that by now."
She gave him another wan smile and sat herself down on the seat of the motorbike. "You're starting to sound like my father; he's always telling me that. I used to agree with him, but now, I'm not so sure anymore…" Mitsuru averted her gaze from his, crossing her arms with a wistful expression. "I know there's nothing we can do to change my grandfather's mistakes, but regardless, it's a burden my family has to bear, whether we like it or not. No matter what people tell me, it's still a weight I have to carry—a mistake I have to rectify, because even though I'm nothing like my grandfather, his blood runs through my veins, and that's just something I have to deal with."
He found himself loss for words, unable to think of anything to say about that. Akihiko knew that although her life appeared perfect to everyone around them, most of the time it was the complete opposite. People didn't realise just how hard she sometimes tried to uphold the good impression she gave them. There was more to Mitsuru than just her beauty, wealth and intelligence. She had pretty much anything everyone else wanted, but most of the time, he sensed that the one thing she really yearned was her freedom.
"You know something?" she said quietly, breaking the brief silence between them. Her fingers were unconsciously grazing the smooth surface of the bike and she was staring outside with a distant look in her eyes. "Sometimes… I feel like jumping on this and just riding away—far from everything I have here. I've fantasized about how it'd be like to not have to worry about anything, or how different things would be if I hadn't been born a Kirijo…" She paused, shaking her head slightly. "But everytime I think about that, I want to hit myself. It's selfish of me to ever have thoughts like so, and I'm ashamed of that…"
As Akihiko listened silently, he found himself edging closer to the motorcycle and resting his back against the nearby wall, raising his gaze to the clear, blue sky. It was almost summer and the warm breeze testified to that. His eyes shifted to some children who were running around energetically on the playground directly opposite the dorm garage, watching them laugh and giggle without a care in the world.
"You're not selfish, Mitsuru," he began earnestly. "It's human nature to want things we don't have, to be people we're not, or to get the easiest way out of anything we don't like. You shouldn't be too hard on yourself for having those thoughts—they're something everyone else has some time or other in their lives. In the end, the important thing is that instead of running away, you faced everything head on regardless of how you feel or how much you hate them, and that just shows how strong you really are. Honestly… that's what I admire most about you. Your strength… here—" He patted his chest. "—and here." His finger moved to his forehead. "It's not something everyone has, you know?"
Mitsuru cocked her head to the side slightly, studying him with a thoughtful expression. His words stirred a warm feeling within her—she was deeply touched and flattered by him. They had been friends for years but this was the first he had ever been that honest with her. Strangely enough, she didn't know what to say to him after that, so she just kept quiet.
Each suddenly silent and still, they were staring at one another when a short beep was heard. Akihiko gave an involuntary start as his cellphone vibrated in his pocket and he hastily took it out. It was a text message from the vice-captain of the boxing team.
"Dammit, I forgot about practice," he muttered with an annoyed frown, getting off the wall he was leaning on.
"Get your stuff and I'll give you a ride," she offered. He paused, considering the option, and then nodded. "Yeah, sure. Thanks."
Mitsuru stood there with crossed arms, gazing after him as he disappeared behind the door. When she was alone, she let out a heavy sigh, shutting her eyes for a second.
"… I should be the one thanking you, Akihiko…" she said under her breath.
o-o-o-o-o
#2: She sees her motorcycle as a means of escaping from reality at times. Her father had been against the idea, but she bought it anyway.
o-o-o-o-o
iii.
"Akihiko, stop it!"
He barely recalled hearing those words and feeling the stinging slap on his cheek. The only thing he remembered was seeing tussles of red, feeling firm hands pushing against his chest and a struggling body underneath him…
Realizing he was on top of someone… on top of her…
The moment he saw her face, he leapt off in alarm, almost falling over the edge of the bed they had been lying on. Panicked thoughts rushed through his mind at once as he took in the sight before him. Mitsuru was sitting up, wide-eyed, clad only in a pink towel that showed far too much of her skin for his comfort. Her hair was wet and she looked uncharacteristically flustered. He gasped and averted his gaze immediately, taking a few steps away and turning to face the wall.
"I-I'm sorry, Mitsuru, I… I don't know what came over me," he stammered, clearly very distressed.
"It's okay…" Her response was very quiet.
He was too caught up in his own jumbled thoughts to realize how similar her feelings were to his. What had they been doing? The last thing he remembered was defeating that Shadow. He didn't remember entering this room at all, or seeing Mitsuru like this (or getting atop of her, for that matter). Were they kissing? Did he touch her in places he shouldn't have? Why was she in a towel? Were they doing things? His heart jumped to his throat and he looked down to feel about his clothes. He wasn't missing anything. A wave of relief flowed through him, but regardless, the word execution popped into his head at once and before he could stop himself, he found his own voice almost yelling in panic, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"Akihiko!" Her sharp tone commanded his eyes to meet hers, as much as he didn't want to see her in such a state again. Her expression was one of slight puzzlement. "I told you, it's okay. I'm not mad," she said. "It wasn't your fault... Clearly, we weren't… we weren't ourselves..."
"… I don't remember anything, except that we fought that Shadow with the others." He couldn't help the rather defensive tone.
"I can't remember anything either," she admitted. "Nothing since that battle. It's as if… something's trying to mess with our heads… It might have been another Shadow, or possibly the same one we were fighting. Maybe we didn't really defeat it…"
He bit his lip, still unable to shake off the feelings of guilt in his guts. "Did I hurt you?" he asked softly. "Did I… do anything to you?" He remembered her struggling below him, the sharp smack on his face. What exactly had he been doing to her?
Her cheeks turned a little pink and she shifted uncomfortably. "I-I don't know. I don't think so… When I came to, you were already—" She broke off and crossed her arms, as if just realizing how scantily dressed she was. "Can we… not talk about it?" she said and quickly changed the subject. "We should find Arisato and Takeba. Hopefully, Yamagishi will be able to contact us soon. We need to find that Shadow before it tries another mental attack again." He nodded mutely. As she got off the bed, he looked away again, but this time, couldn't help stealing involuntary glances at her as she retreated into the bathroom.
It was then that he noticed the mark that marred her pale, flawless skin; on the left side of her thigh, above her knee. It looked like a nasty scar, but from his point of view, he couldn't see just how deep it was, or how long it extended under her towel. She disappeared into the bathroom and he stood there waiting, scanning the room to look for anything suspicious, but nothing seemed amiss. The only hint of what had happened was the wrinkled sheets on the bed. Still feeling a little uneasy, he felt his outfit again thoroughly. His vest was not unbuttoned at all and his belt was buckled the way he usually did every morning. He sighed heavily. It appeared that nothing did happen between them. He would have never forgiven himself if he had found out that he had forced himself on her, even if they were both not in their right minds.
When Mitsuru came out, she was dressed in her school uniform, though her hair was still damp. She retrieved her rapier that was lying on the corner of the room and then looked at him with a concerned expression. "I'm sorry I hit you," she murmured.
He touched his cheek and shrugged. "I didn't even feel a thing," he said truthfully. The next words on the tip of his tongue was a question about the scar he saw, but when she turned to the door, cautiously opening it, he stopped himself just in time. Now wasn't the right moment for such a conversation. They had to find the others quickly and take care of that Shadow.
o-o-o-o-o
#3: She has a scar on the left side of her thigh.
o-o-o-o-o
iv.
"… 'Operation Babe Hunt', huh?" He had been studying the many photographs in the living room, but at the sound of her voice, Akihiko spun around at once, his eyes growing wide. His red-headed friend was standing by the doorway, an eyebrow raised delicately, her expression amused. He stared at her, completely speechless for a moment, before saying, "What?"
"Iori was just telling us how the three of you spent the day." Mitsuru gestured towards the room next door, where the karaoke bar was. He could still hear Ikutsuki-san singing faintly. "I didn't know you were the type to… 'pick up girls', as he would say," she pointed out.
That… stupid idiot! "… I was testing myself. When I'm in a match, I wanna win," he muttered defensively, a hand reaching up to scratch his head. Then he swiftly changed the subject, "Were you looking for me? Or am I not supposed to be here?"
"No, you're fine. Why aren't you joining us, though? You disappeared after the chairman started his third song…" An involuntary smile touched her lips, evoking a chuckle from him.
"Oh, I think you know why," he joked and she laughed. He turned back to the pictures he had been looking at and nodded towards one that had a young couple on it. "This is the first time I've seen your mother. She's beautiful." Akihiko wasn't one who would normally comment on such things, but it was the first thought in his mind when he had seen the gentle look in the lady's eyes. It roused a sort of cosy, pleasant emotion in him. Suddenly, he wondered what his own parents had been like…
"Thank you. They took that picture on their second anniversary, I was told. My mother was two-months pregnant with me then," Mitsuru said, stepping up beside him.
"There're quite a few pictures of you as a kid," he pointed out, scanning some nearby photographs of a beaming little girl. To be honest, he actually found it hard to imagine her as a toddler or pre-teen.
She nodded good-naturedly. "No embarrassing moments, thankfully, though this one here—" Mitsuru pointed at a picture showing her much younger self standing at the top of a slide, looking as if she had just conquered a mountain. "—was taken just before I had a little accident…"
"Really? What happened?"
"Well, you can't see it from here, but there was a little bit of metal jutting out at the end of the slide and as I came down, it sliced through my skirt and gave me a rather nasty cut," she explained. When he noticed her hand touching the area near her left knee, he was reminded of what he had seen back in the hotel at Shirakawa Boulevard (as much as he didn't want to recall that memory…). "My father said I bawled my eyes out after that. Apparently, I was crying so loudly I scared some of the other children away," continued Mitsuru with a little laugh.
"… So that's how you got that scar?" His question caused her to stiffen immediately and turn to him with a surprised but slightly wary expression. He quickly answered before she jumped to any conclusions, "Sorry, I couldn't help but notice when we were at the… uh, I mean… the last full-moon, we…"
"The hotel," she mumbled in a tone that sounded as if she had suddenly remembered the embarrassing incident as well.
"Yeah." Akihiko shrugged, his cheeks flaming and a familiar feeling of discomfort creeping up the back of his neck. They hadn't spoken about it since that night. Feeling the light tension between them, he moved away from her and settled his attention on an ornately-framed picture of an elderly man. He voiced the first thing that popped into his head, "Who's this?"
"… My grandfather," Mitsuru replied after a pause.
"Your grandfather? The one who…" He looked at her and she nodded. He was a little taken aback by her answer. When she used to mention him, Akihiko always thought of her grandfather as a mean, bad-tempered tyrant, but the man in the photograph, although unsmiling, had a kind look about him. Frowning slightly, Akihiko stared at the picture, finding himself unable to imagine that this was the person who had caused everything—the Dark Hour, Shadows, Tartarus…
Mitsuru saw his expression and sighed softly, going to one of the luxurious couches and sitting down. "I know what you're thinking," she shrewdly said. "He doesn't seem like the kind of man who would do what he did, right?"
"Well… from what you've told me about him, I guess I just got a different impression."
She crossed her arms and legs, leaning back against the couch and said, "That was a mistake on my part. Now that I think about it, everytime I talked about him in the past, it was always regarding his research and experiments of Shadows, not him as a person."
Intrigued, Akihiko turned at her expectantly. "And how was he, as a person?" he asked.
A distant look glazed over her eyes. She ran a hand in her hair and smiled faintly. "He was… very kind and loving," she murmured. "Back when I was younger, he used to bring me here for vacations when my father was too busy. He bought me my first ice-cream, my first bar of chocolate, the first doll I ever had… Whenever he went to Europe on business, he always brought me back something from France. He'd tell me stories about his travels, about my father when he was a child, and my mother before her death. He gave me books, came to my plays, helped me with my school projects..."
Her words surprised him. Akihiko had no idea she had been so close to her grandfather. Then Mitsuru sighed again, this time pensively. "But in spite of that," she added. "He was madly obsessed with Shadows. Well, he still is now…"
Again, he was stunned. "What? He's… alive?" Now that was something Akihiko had never thought about at all. She nodded. "He lives in Kobe now, at a rest home. His mind is…" She paused, biting her lip. "… fragile. He can't remember much about everything that's happened. He's forgotten a lot about my father and me. Most of the time, he talks about Shadows—about their power, their behaviour, anything about them. I try to visit whenever I can, but he usually doesn't even recognize me."
Akihiko watched as her attention was subconsciously drawn to the photograph he had been studying, melancholia clouding her countenance. His gaze softened. "You love him, don't you?"
"… Yes," she whispered. "Even though I want to hate him for what happened in the past, I still can't help but love the person he was. I get angry when I think about how he had no right to do what he did with the Shadows. If it weren't for his selfish needs, things would be much simpler now… and my father wouldn't be—" She broke off suddenly, leaving the sentence hanging. Regardless, he understood what she was getting at. Mitsuru fell silent for a moment, and then continued under her breath, "If it weren't for him, we'd all be normal; no Personas, no Dark Hour, no risking our lives every night, no unnecessary deaths. It infuriates me, but when I think about everything he's ever done for me, I… I just can't bring myself to hate him."
As she turned away, Akihiko thought he saw her eyes glistening, but before he could say anything, the door practically crashed open and Junpei stuck his head in. "Hey, Senpai! Ikutsuki-san's finally gone now. Come join us for some karaoke!" he called out cheerfully.
It was strange how his bright, excited tone managed to dissipate the gloom in the air, and for once, Akihiko was actually thankful for the interruption. Mitsuru had gotten up from the couch and was already moving to the door, her expression neutral.
"Akihiko-senpai, you not comin'?" Junpei's voice brought him back to reality and he realized he had simply been standing there staring off into the distance. "Minato and I will be trying to get Aigis-san to sing, you know… C'mon, you know you don't wanna miss that!"
"The hell? Why would I even care?" Annoyed, Akihiko frowned and narrowed his gaze at the junior. A stifled chuckle that sounded remarkably like Mitsuru's reached his ears. He shook his head with a sigh and quickly walked over to them. Before he shut the door, he couldn't help sneaking one last look at the photograph of the man who, despite his past errors, remained loved by the one person who should have hated him the most.
o-o-o-o-o
#3: She has a scar on the left side of her thigh. It was from a childhood accident.
#4: She loves her grandfather in spite of his actions in the past. He is actually still alive, living at a rest home in Kobe.
o-o-o-o-o
v.
As she walked through the front doors of the dorm, Mitsuru heaved a sigh of relief. She had just returned from the Summer Festival with Aigis, who, upon setting foot in the dorm, had immediately announced that she was retiring into her room to recharge. Placing her bag on the nearby counter, the redhead wanted nothing more than to just sit down and have a relaxing cup of tea with a slice of that divine chocol—
"Hey, you're back. Had fun?" Akihiko's voice burst her bubbles of thoughts. She turned and found him on one of the couches. Ken was sitting in the dining room, reading. The others were nowhere to be found.
"Hello. No, not really… I spent most of the time—" Mitsuru started to say, but suddenly stopped, staring at the silver-haired boxer with widening eyes. He was munching something and stared back at her in surprise, but her attention wasn't on him. Oh no, it was on the little plate he was holding; the little plate that had on it a small piece of something brown, soft and deliciously coated in rich, mouth-watering cocoa icing…
"Mitsuru?"
"Is that—" She had to take a deep breath to stop her blood pressure from skyrocketing. "… Is that my chocolate cake?"
At her words, Akihiko's chewing jaw gradually slowed down to a stop, his own eyes beginning to grow as big as saucers. "What?"
"Is that my chocolate cake?" she repeated, taking a step closer to him and making him instinctively shrink back in his seat. "Uh… yes?" he managed to squeak.
"… Why are you eating my chocolate cake?" Her tone was calm but he could sense how forced it was. In the dining room, Ken looked up from his book, silently watching their amusing exchange with interest.
"Uh…" Akihiko swallowed quickly. "Because you gave it to me?"
"Why would I give you the last slice of my chocolate cake?"
He was beginning to think she loved the words 'chocolate cake' as much as she loved tea. "Because… I helped you clean your bike?"
"… When did I ever say I'd give you my chocolate cake—the cake I can only get from that little French bakery in Tokyo—for cleaning my bike?"
"When you told me to get my thank-you gift from the fridge?" Akihiko was getting a little tired of answering her questions with even more questions. She gave a loud sigh of exasperation, fingers reaching up to massage the bridge of her nose wearily. "When I said gift, Akihiko…" she said through gritted teeth, walking to the kitchen and pulling the fridge open, a wave of cool air hitting her hot cheeks. "… I meant this!" She took out a bottle of expensive energy drink; the type that workout buffs and bodybuilders usually drank.
Akihiko blinked, suddenly finding himself speechless. To be honest, he didn't even notice the drink when he was looking through the fridge. The first thing he had seen was one thick slice of chocolate cake on a plate and he had immediately pounced on it, very pleased that Mitsuru was finally letting him try the cake she always seemed to enjoy. And now…
That damned cake…! "Uh…" He really didn't know what to say.
"Akihiko, do you know what kept me going the past two hours at the festival with Aigis?" Mitsuru asked dangerously, her gaze narrowing, a warning glint in her eyes. "The thought of finally being able to come home and have a nice cup of tea with my chocolate cake."
By that moment, Ken had to press his lips together to keep from laughing as he watched for Akihiko's reaction. The boxer could only goggle at the glaring redhead in helplessness, still lost for words.
"Um…" Swallowing the lump in his throat, Akihiko lifted the plate and the pathetic remains of the cake towards her weakly and feebly said, "There's still some left, if you want…"
Mitsuru's eyebrows arched up even higher and a strangled sort of growl escaped her throat, sending warning signals to Akihiko and threatening to make Ken laugh out loud. She took a deep breath and turned to the young boy, giving him a bright smile and saying as calmly as she could, "Amada, would you kindly give the two of us a minute, please?"
All Akihiko could do was stare at her, almost in despair and panic.
"Sure thing, Mitsuru-senpai." Ken slid off his chair and sauntered to the stairs, seemingly nonchalant. He couldn't help flashing Akihiko a wide, cheesy grin, though, and as the dark-haired boy left the seniors, only two words crashed into the boxer's head…
Oh shit…
o-o-o-o-o
#5: … As I learnt the hard way today, she really, really likes her chocolate cake. X--X