Previously…
He leans down to capture and drink from her delectably juicy lips as if he was a parched man in need of water. He feels her hands clutching his shirt desperately as she is being overwhelmed by his desire for her which only fuels his yearning to devour her. He commits to memory every surface, every muscle, every bone, every feature, every scent…every essence that is the woman he loves without any shadow of a doubt in his mind. For, he knows that these memories must sustain him for an indefinite period of time.
Very reluctantly, he releases her kissable lips to arrogantly find them swollen and bruised proving that they were thoroughly kissed. He nuzzles his nose in his currently dazed beloved's hair. "What more could I ask for? You have given me in just a fleeting moment all I ever needed or wanted."
Chapter 10: Parting
4:20 a.m.
A very lengthy argument ensues within Takumi's apartment over who will take Misaki's overnight duffle bag which continues even after Takumi takes not only his small suitcase and Sanshita's carrier but also her bag as well. Misaki rants and raves the whole trek down to the main floor of the apartment complex. As they step out of the building, one look at a grim Misaki who is being followed by a smug Takumi still carrying all the baggage, one can undeniably surmise who won that argument.
Misaki sulks, "I keep forgetting how stubborn you can be."
Takumi grins at her triumphantly, "Ah, but my love, that is one of my finer qualities that captivated you. Of course, I wouldn't call it that. I would call it perseverance as without it, we would probably not be a couple now. But obviously, you're the one to talk as you are the epitome of stubbornness."
She is just about to pull back her arm to give him a well-deserved punch but stops herself short at realizing her violent behavior that she promised to curb. So instead, she glares at him but after a moment sighs as she responds, "Call it what you like, but I guess that is one particular trait we both may have to get use to since it seems that this is not going to disappear in the near future for either one of us."
Misaki suddenly begins to shivers as a cool morning mist breezes along her bare arms that are dampened by the drizzling spring shower. Observant as ever, Takumi sees her tremble. "Although I have been enjoying the fair amount of skin that delightful tank top has allowed me to view far, I do care for your welfare more."
He places the bags down on the ground and shrugs out of his navy blue button-up shirt he's wearing as an outer shirt leaving him with a black t-shirt that he wore underneath and drapes it around her goose-bump covered flesh. He pulls her close to him and rubs her arms gently to warm her.
Misaki doesn't even try to argue with him about taking his shirt as she recalls the last time he offered his shirt to her. So to avoid another repeat, she meekly responds, "Thank you."
He mournfully sighs as he presses her closer to his frame and rubs his nose in her smooth hair.
"The longer you stay in my arms, the harder it is for me to part from you. I am dreading the moment when I must speak those parting words…for parting is such sweet sorrow."
He feels her stiffen is his arms. He gently pulls her far enough away so that he can see her face.
"Why has my words disturbed you so much?"
She snaps her gaze up at him in surprise, "How did you…"
She stops herself and shakes her head. She lets out a soft chuckle. "I see your alien mind-reading skills are still hard at work."
She exhales slowly as she twines their hands together in a familiar gesture, "Since that time when we had dressed as Romeo and Juliet at the Yumesaki High's cultural festival, I can't shake the feeling sometimes that it may have been a bad omen to dress as the tragic star-crossed lovers especially for our current relationship as they had such a tragic ending. Even though you will no longer be by my side, I can't begin to imagine the thought of living the rest of my life with any possibility that your presence may be permanently taken from me."
She couldn't keep the tremor from her voice as she states the last sentence. Takumi pulls her again close to him as he squeezes her tightly against him in comfort.
"I am surprised that for a woman who told me earlier she doesn't believe in fate, that you would be so superstitious. But you shouldn't worry, Misaki. I promised you that I will return to you, and I will always keep my word to the one I love, and of course, the one I love is…you. Just remember that everything I do, I do it for you."
His reassuring words and calming presence soothe her. She looks up at him and smiles contentedly.
She suddenly notices something glisten in the corner of her eye. She turns her attention to the street and surprisingly spots two shiny new Lexus sedans, one black and the other white. She sees two figures each standing under a large umbrella one was holding beside the black Lexus, but her attention is specifically set on the clearly more womanly of the two figures. Although both wore matching black chauffeur-style uniforms even down to the caps, the woman could not hide her womanly assets underneath her manly garbs as they seem to even accentuate her hour glass figure. She could tell by the woman's stance and close-eyed expression that she's tolerating the very exuberant and flirtatious colleague whom appears to not mind having a one-sided conversation with her.
Also noticing the cars, Takumi again takes hold of all the baggage and ascends towards the vehicles in question as Misaki, dumb-founded, follows along. Sensing Takumi and Misaki's approach, the woman immediately straightens her posture and bows. The other male figure suddenly realizes that they are approaching as well and hastily imitates her actions.
Both chauffeurs stride purposely toward them to cover Takumi and Misaki with the umbrellas that each is now holding. They both take their caps off, bow again and formally greet them, "Good morning, Master Takumi, Ayuzawa-san."
The male is the first to introduce himself. "I am Souji Inoue and I have been assigned to accompany Ayuzawa-san today."
Struggling to overcome the fact that she will have a chauffeur for the day, Misaki bows in return and takes a brief glance at the male to notice nothing of significance about the average-looking Japanese man. Her attention is then drawn to the woman. She's very surprised to find that the woman has fiery red hair which is fastened in a tight French braid. This unique factor is overshadowed when Misaki notices the woman's piercing eyes when they lift to meet Takumi's. Misaki becomes mesmerized by their unique color which is no color that she has ever seen before. They are the most crystal clear shade of azure blue which reminds her of the translucent afternoon skies. Misaki's first impression of this woman is that she is more beautiful than Miyazono-sensei but in a more exotic and foreign way.
Acting unaware of being scrutinized, the female confidently introduces herself to Takumi in English, "I am Nikita Pavlovich, and I have been personally assigned by your grandmother as your assistant during your prolonged stay in England."
Misaki eyes widen in surprise at immediately recognizing that the woman spoke in English. Although she is curious to know why the woman would be speaking in English, Misaki is somewhat perturbed that she could not translate but a few words as the woman has a very prominent foreign accent that Misaki could not decipher. She could not place the accent even though Misaki can definitely tell that it is not anything that she is familiar with such as American or British.
Takumi's reaction to the woman is a curious arch of his brow and a guarded expression as he, in kind, responds in English, "So, Ms. Pavlovich, Obaa-san personally assigned you to me?"
The woman whose name they now know as Nikita bows her head deeply and explains, "You may call me Kit. And yes, Master Takumi, your grandmother feared that your grandfather had plans to dispatch one of his devoted retainers to not only be your bodyguard but also as a spy for him, so she made a compromise with him to maintain some semblance of privacy for you. He agreed to allow her to select someone competent enough to ensure your safety as well as provide with proper business support when you take the reigns as CEO of Walker Enterprise. She may have forgotten to mention to your grandfather that this person's loyalty lies with her and now of course to you, Master Takumi."
He stares at her suspiciously. Intuitively aware of his misgivings, she looks up at him with apparent sincerity in her eyes. "Your grandmother had foreseen that you may doubt my words so she requested that I give this to you."
With that being said, she pulls from her coat pocket a lavender envelope. He takes notice of the familiar envelope that is addressed to "Taki" on the front of it. Before even opening to read the note inside, he immediately identifies the author to be his Obaa-san as she is the only one that addresses him by that nickname as well as recognizing her uniquely elegant penmanship that he became quite acquainted with over the years from the numerous notes that accompanied his special gifts he now realizes came from her. He opens the envelope to read the note that he accurately predicted came from his Obaa-san.
My Darling Taki:
I wish I was there but I am sure that this note is delivered safely into your hands as I have specifically designated Kit (My fond nickname for Nikita) to be your personal assistant. It seems that jackass husband of mine has become even more paranoid which each passing year since the last time we spoke. It was after great coercion and cajoling with him to finally allow me to select your very own personal assistant. I could not trust him to not take it upon himself to plant someone to spy on you.
I have briefed her about your situation so do not be afraid to ask her for any assistance. I assure you that she is quite proficient in tending to any request that you may require of her as well as maintaining your utmost confidentiality. She will be a great asset to you. Not only is she former SIS and RAF but I trust Kit wholeheartedly as I have raised her most of her life so Kit is like family to me. Just don't mention that bit of detail to jackass as I do have a few secrets that I have kept from him over the years.
I apologize that I am unable to do more for you. I entrust that all is going according to your plans and anticipate seeing you again soon.
With all my love,
Obaa-san
Sayuri Usui Walker
Takumi smiles with satisfaction after reading the affectionate and enlightening words. He tenderly refolds the note placing it back in the envelope and slips it in one of his pants pocket. He replies, "I will concede to Obaa-san's judgment in the matter of entrusting you into my confidence. With the requirement for utmost discretion, I do hope that you have taken extra precautions."
Nikita smirks mischievously, "Of course, Master Takumi. That is why your Grandmother requested that I accompany you to England. She wanted absolute assurance that you will not be unnecessarily disturbed for your last hours here in Japan and hoped your leave would be peaceful."
He glances and nods his head to gesture over at the male driver, Souji, who is watching them in perplexity, "What about him?"
Nikita winks at Takumi, "Don't worry about him. He is temporarily employed by your Grandmother to assist Ayuzawa-san for today, and I had specifically chosen him due to the fact that I've worked with him before. I can vouch that he can be very discrete."
She lets a heavy sigh, "Thankfully he doesn't know English that well but he can be pretty oblivious about the simplest of English words."
She grumpily continues, "It especially appears he doesn't understand the meaning of the word No even if I say it in five different languages."
Takumi grins in understanding as he's well aware of the other man's interest in Nikita even though they have only met a few moments ago.
He turns his gaze back to Misaki to see her glare at him suspiciously. He wonders what brought on such a reaction from her but he didn't have to wait long to find out.
"What are you hiding from me now?"
He gives her curious look. "What makes you think I'm hiding something?"
Misaki did not even break her stare as she gestures to Nikita.
"I may not know enough English to translate everything you two said, but I got the gist that it has something to do with your business arrangement with your family in England. What does the CEO of Walker Enterprise having anything to do with you?"
He looks nervously at her, "Did I forget to mention that I am now the CEO of Walker Enterprise?"
"YOU'RE WHAT!"
Dropping all the baggage on the curb, Takumi takes the umbrella from Souji and quickly speaks to Nikita and Souji, "Please allow us to have a few moments in private."
They both bow before him and reply, "As you wish, Master Takumi."
Souji slides into the driver's seat of the black Lexus while Nikita walks over to the white Lexus that is parked in front of the black one and leans against the passenger's door. Takumi takes Misaki by the arm to guide her towards the back of the car and leans nonchalantly against the trunk.
"Now Ayuzawa, calm down."
"Calm down? You just so happen to forget to mention the tiny detail that YOU are CEO of a business in England and you want me to calm down! When are you going to learn to trust me enough to tell me everything? Am I that unreliable that you must hide your deepest secrets from me?"
He contritely gives her his sincerest expression, "I am sorry that withholding this bit of information made you feel that I was hiding it as a secret. But I will endeavor from this moment to share my everything with you. What mine is yours and yours is mine."
He grins impishly, "That means that you must share your everything with me as well."
She gives him a stern warning look that only means one thing. "Like hell I will, you perverted space alien!"
Misaki freezes in embarrassment at her violent outbursts. She takes a deep breath and lets it out. She mumbles, "How in the world do I let you get under my skin like that?"
She looks determinedly at him, "You are completely missing my point. I want you to trust me as much as I trust you. I am not one of those fragile doll-like girls who have to be handled with kid gloves. I may be a lot of things but delicate I am not. You have been carrying your entire burden alone for so long, but I am here for you now to give you my shoulder to lean on when you don't think you have the strength to carry on. I am strong enough to carry some of the burden for you. I do not want become just another burden for you to bear."
Takumi is truly humbled by her fervent declaration. He brushes a lock of her hair that has fallen unruly in front of one of her eyes and tucks it behind her ear.
"It is not that I don't trust you or that I don't think you are strong enough. You are the only person that I trust with my life, and you are the strongest woman that I know."
Misaki cannot believe what she is seeing as she looks up into Takumi's blushing face. She has never seen him blush like this, and it made him somewhat more human, more relevant, and more tangible than she has ever seen him before. He clears his throat to try to hide his embarrassment. "Quoting your own words, old habits die hard. I have been accustom so long to endure what has been my sole burden to bear. I am as new to being in such a personal intimate relationship with someone just as you are, and it will be an adjustment for me to share such details with another person especially with my...girlfriend."
She tilts her head as she studies his features. His defined chiseled jaw normally firmly set in confidence is now just wearily set in dejection making him look vulnerable, something that Misaki could not fathom Takumi ever being. But these last few hours has provided her with more revelations of the different facets of Takumi that she has never witnessed before in the past few years that she has him.
She suppresses her irritation as she takes one of her hands and gently strokes his hair like a mother consoling her long-lost child. "Stop looking so depressed. It doesn't suit you. I forgive you even though I don't know why."
"It's because you love me."
When she finally sees a smile grace his lips, she couldn't help but chuckle.
"So, you are now CEO?"
"Yep."
"Of Walker Enterprise."
"Yep."
"Which is...?"
He dispassionately explains, "Which is the family business that I have acquired the reigns as CEO due to my arrangement with my grandfather. I am to assist in the company's recovery back to its previous financial status since it's recent restructure and public stocks have not met the profitable expectations that was predicted. Actually before it went public, Forbes use to rank Walker Enterprise as England's number one most lucrative and influential technological advancement corporation."
She shrieks, "IT'S WHAT?"
He winces, "Could you refrain from screaming? I can hear you clearly. You know people do sleep around here and I would prefer that we do not disturb their peaceful slumber."
Misaki takes a few even breaths to calmly respond, "So now you're telling me that I am dating one of the most important, influential and if not the youngest businessman in England?"
Takumi grins sheepishly, "So you think that I am all that, huh?"
She groans in annoyance, "Well if the shoe fits..."
He pouts childishly, "When you put it that way, you make it sound like you're describing a cocky prick."
She shakes her head in frustration. "Granted, you may be cocky but you're not a prick. You're just a cocky outer-space alien with inhumanly extraordinary abilities."
He beams brightly, "I will take that as Misaki's round-about way of complimenting me."
She huffs as she crosses her arms across her chest and tries to change the subject of her inadvertent compliment. "Any more details that you have forgot to mention?"
Takumi places his free hand in his pocket to hide the fingers that he has just crossed and smiles innocently at her. "Nope."
He immediately sends a prayer to whatever god out there that is listening that Misaki will forgive him later for this little white lie.
She looks at him suspiciously but nods in acceptance of his answer.
"Well since you are now CEO, I'll take that to mean that you will not be going all the way over there to resolve this issue half-heartedly then. I will give you all my support as long I know that you are giving all of your efforts in return."
She gives him a formidable look. "I guess I don't have to warn you what the penalty will be if you just gave up half way and return here."
He takes one of her hands and kisses it gallantly. "You don't have to say another word. I do not want to cross paths with the Demon President when I return so rest assured that I will whole-heartedly use all my inhumanly extraordinary abilities to fulfill my duties."
She lets out a sigh of relief but then groans in vexation as her gaze fell towards the curb. "I just hope that our bags are not too wet now."
He follows her gaze and, seeing the forgotten baggage by the curb where he had placed them, he looks over at Nikita and motions for her to come forward. When she arrives by his side, Takumi orders, "Kit, you may take my suitcase to the car. I will be placing Ayuzawa's bag in this one as well as this carrier."
"Yes, Master Takumi."
Misaki stares in shock after hearing Takumi's comment of which car Sanshita's carrier will be placed, the one that she will be using to take her home. Her eye twitches as she realizes what this implies. Dumbfounded, she holds the umbrella that he hands to her as she watches him open the car door to place her bags and carrier within the opposite side of the car. She tries desperately to hold on to her composure and remain calm, but it appears that she couldn't restrain her temper for much longer. Once Misaki sees that Nikita has deposited Takumi's luggage in the trunk of the other car and returns to her previous post by the passenger's door, she lets Takumi have it.
"WHAT THE HELL!"
After he straightens himself upright and quietly closes the car door, he turns his undivided attention back to Misaki with amusement. She angrily glares back at him grasping what he is about to say.
Knowing full well what she meant by her outburst, he calmly replies, "Must I remind you that I can hear you clearly. And I'm placing Sanshita in the car with his new owner as I cannot give him the amount of attention that he needs while I am in England."
Infuriated she hisses, "Like hell you are! You can't do that without asking for my permission! Besides, my mother may not allow me to have San...ah...San...shita especially with the expense that comes with owning a pet."
She looks at him quizzically when she notices that he is not even perturbed by her response. Instead, a smug expression is on his face.
"Rest your mind at ease as I spoke with Ayuzawa-san beforehand and she has graciously agreed to allow you to keep Sanshita while I am gone. As for expenses, he will only need water, milk and periodically some cat food. And if I'm not mistaken, your mother informed me that Suzuna actually recently won a lifetime supply of cat food and litter. Besides, Sanshita primarily prowls the streets for most of his meals."
She is somewhat surprised at learning that he allows the cat such freedom.
"You actually allow San…San…um…him to go outside? Aren't you afraid that he won't come back?"
"When he was a kitten, I didn't allow him outside, but I had such problems with him sneaking out the fire escape when I left the window open, it got so tiresome for me to retrieve him. So after he got old enough that I was comfortable for him to take care of himself, I gave him freedom to roam the streets. Sometimes he may not come back for several days, but he always return home in one piece as he seem to know that this was his home. Don't be too concerned about him. He is too smart for his own good, so he will adjust to his new surroundings quickly. Besides, it seems that he was quite taken with you earlier today so I have no doubt that he will not have any problems attaching himself to you."
She lets out an unladylike snort. "I'm sure these behaviors were probably rubbed off on him from his owner."
She suddenly reaches over and gives him a firm hard pinch on his forearm.
"Ouch! How many more bruises are you planning to give me before I leave!"
She casually shrugs her shoulder in response. "Didn't I warn you that old habits die hard? Just be glad it was a puny pinch and not a good swift kick on your ass that you so deserve. And by the way, that was for being so…so…"
He smirks at seeing her cute face scrunch as she concentrates to overcome her mind's inability to provide her with an appropriate word. "Sooo what, my dear Misa-chan?"
Her face immediately brightens, "Facetious!"
Takumi couldn't help but snicker. "Isn't facetious the word for the week in English class? I am surprised that you would waste such a big and extravagant word on a little old outer-space alien such as myself."
She smiles triumphantly at him. "Well it appears to fit you perfectly. I'm going to have to thank Miyazono-sensei for providing me with such an apt word to describe your teasing ways."
Takumi leans down so that his mouth was a breath away from her ear and whispers seductively, "I only tease the ones I love."
She twists her face away immediately as it turns flushes in resentment at the possibility there may be others whom he teases. "Should I be worried about how many people you tease?"
Takumi could hear the anger in her voice. He turns her face back and leans further toward her face as if he's going to kiss her lips but surprises her by kissing her nose and replies, "You have no worries as I only love to tease one person. I'm sure you can guess who that certain person may be."
She gives him one of her signature glares. "I assume that since you constantly tease me, I am the only one you love."
He chuckles as he pokes her nose lightly with his finger. "Bingo."
She pokes her finger on his nose in return. "Well, it better stay that way."
He couldn't help but wrap his free arm around her waist and twirls her around, "My Misa-chan is the only one I love."
She screams, "Put me down, you idiot! You're going to get me wet!"
He grins mischievously as he places her gently back on the ground, "Maybe that is my intention?"
Takumi is taken quite by surprise when she innocently says, "So what would you do if you got me wet?"
He wonders if she really knew how her words affected him. He could take that question to mean two quite different ways, one quite provocative or the other quite innocent. Knowing his naive girlfriend, he would have interpreted it as the latter, if it wasn't for Misaki's next actions. He cannot be more shocked when she suddenly sticks her tongue out at him and winks, "Too slow. You had your chance."
It is now Misaki's turn to grin mischievously at him. He stares in disbelief as his face flushes for understanding what her words implied. "Did I witness my shy and modest girlfriend...flirt with me?"
She looks at him innocently, "Did I?"
As he tries to calm his beating heart as well as his receding blush, she gives him a devilish smirk, "I now know why you like to tease me so much. It is way too much fun to see so many different expressions on your face…especially that last one."
He suddenly breaks out into a fit of laughter. "Ah Misa-chan, if wonders never cease."
He pulls her into a warm embrace. "You are too cute for your own good. What am I going to do with you? As your master, I should forbid you to become any cuter that you are right now."
Instead of getting angry like she normally would have, his infectious laughter makes Misaki giggle. "Do you really think that I will actually obey that silly command? I cannot guarantee anything of the sort."
He can only shake his head at her response. "So like Ayuzawa to disobey her master's command."
As he releases her, his attention is suddenly drawn to the necklace around Misaki's neck, and his jovial expression turns to tenderness. He gently strokes the surface of the pendant. "This suits you well. I'm sure my mother is pleased that you accepted to wear it. I have no doubt that I left it in safe hands."
Misaki covers his hand with hers. "You needn't worry. I will keep this safe with me always. I am honored to wear something that was once precious to your mother. How can I not accept and treasure it?"
Her expression unknowingly changes to an adorable pout as she looks away. "But still, I can't believe that you would go to such lengths as to plan all this without my knowledge from the very beginning…your departure…the birthday sleepover…my personal ride home…even entrusting…ah…um…San…San…shita with me. I somewhat feel cheated that I do not have enough time to mentally prepare myself for the moment before you leave."
He lifts her chin to look deep within her melancholy amber eyes. "I truly am sorry that I wasn't able to give you more time to prepare, but I was afraid that my grandfather would back out of our agreement which left me with little time to even prepare myself. To be quite frank, I truly feared your reaction and I was afraid that you would ultimately reject me. But you keep surprising me. You are definitely one of a kind and I am lucky have you in my life."
She smiles affectionately, "You don't have to apologize. Besides, for quite some time now, in the deep recesses of my mind, I knew the day would come when our two completely different worlds would collide. I subconsciously prepared myself for your family to separate us especially since the day I met your brother. So, this shouldn't have been a surprise to me."
He lowers his head to give her chaste kiss on her cheek. "You are amazing."
Then he looks at her with concern. "I do want to rectify something before I leave that seems to be bothering you. By the manner in which you speak his name, I can tell that you that you are very uncomfortable with calling the cat Sanshita, so since he is now going to be considered yours, I will not take offense if you wish to change his name. I should have just asked you to name him in the first place which would have saved me some grief. Besides I believe that he never really cared for the name Sanshita which is probably why we never really got along."
To be honest with herself, it is an awkward reminder of Shintani as it is the ridiculous nickname that Takumi refers to her dear friend. She finally admits to herself that Shintani will never be more to her than that…a friend. She cannot even fathom to view him as anything more as every time she thinks about him, her mind's eyes see him as that adorable chubby friend from her past, Yu-kun. Her heart never skips a beat and her face never flushes in embarrassment when his name crosses her mind…unlike the name of the young man who is standing before her.
Since she doesn't want to waste this opportunity that he is giving her to rename the cat, she quickly gazes around for inspiration. Her gaze quickly falls on the pack of cigarettes that Nikita has just pulled from her jacket pocket. While she pulls a cigarette, Nikita glances curiously at her as Misaki continues to stare intently at the brand that is printed on the small package in elaborately big and bold font.
She translates the word from English aloud, "Licht."
Takumi looks at her quizzically, "Licht? Hmm, that's German for light."
After learning this information, she immediately feels that this should be the appropriate name for the cat that she is will now be calling her own. "I think Licht will be a suitable name for him then. Despite his dark appearance and demeanor I can tell that deep within him a certain light wishes to shine through all that darkness."
He gently caresses her cheek with the back of his hand and smiles tenderly. "That is the same impression I get from his new owner. If Licht is the name you wish, then so be it, Licht it is."
He takes out the watch that Misaki gave him for his birthday, and his expression changes from bright to somber in an instant as he looks at the time. "It is almost time for me to leave for my flight. Souji-san will take you home so that you can at least get a few more hours of rest before school."
Without another word Takumi guides her to the side of the black car. He chivalrously opens the door to the car and takes her hand to assist her in taking her seat within. Misaki stops suddenly and turns around to face him with a look as if she remembered something. She begins to shrug out of Takumi's shirt.
"Oh, wait. You will probably need this shirt back. Thank you for letting me borrow it."
Takumi places his hand over hers to stop her. "Keep it as I said earlier, what is mine is yours. Besides, it will ease my mind knowing that something of mine will keep you warm, even if my presence cannot."
Misaki pulls the shirt back around her as she slides into the plush leather seat within the car. She stares up at him in wonder at how she will be able to live without him.
She reluctantly turns her gaze away from his, knowing her next words will be the most painful for her to say. "Well, I guess this is good-b—"
He quickly interrupts her by placing a finger on her lips. "Let's not part with that word as it seems so final. Remember my promise that I'll come back to you. And do not forget your own promises, my North Star. You must shine brightly to guide me back home. So, until we meet again, I will treasure these precious moments before dawn…with the woman I love."
He leans down towards her and tenderly brushes his lips on hers one final time and whispers softly just enough that only she could hear, "I love you, Ayuzawa Misaki." Fearing to touch her even more, it is taking every ounce of his willpower to resist the temptation to capture her in his arms, to ravish her enticing lips…and to never let her go. He successfully pulls away from her and releases her hand to shut the car door. Without looking back, he turns toward his car where Nikita waits patiently by the open passenger door.
Misaki sits stiffly and remains silent. Although her senses takes in her surroundings, she ignores the comfortable softness of the expensive superior quality leather seats and the fresh distinct new car smell that lingers in the air as she absorbs all the events that have happened within the last few hours. She watches through the front windshield the man she loves disappears inside the sleek black Lexus. She could not take her eyes away as the car drives off toward its destination, to the airport where she knew a plane awaits to take Takumi far away from her side.
She wonders if he knows that he takes a part of her heart with him. As harsh reality is finally settling in, she clutches her chest in pain. She feels as if a piece of her soul fades just as the car fades from her sight. Without his reassuring presence, all her doubts and fears ascend upon her in waves when she realizes that she will no longer have any contact with that man…her beloved. She questions if she will have the strength to endure the pain of her loss.
She takes a deep breath to try to calm herself knowing that Takumi would not want her to feel this way. She suddenly smells a faint comforting scent that is familiar to her. She realizes that she has been absent-mindedly stroking the hem of Takumi's shirt which she clearly forgot she still had on. She brings the soft cotton fabric and rubs it against her cheek giving her comfort in knowing she still has a piece of him with her. She breaths in the lingering scent that can only be Takumi for Misaki has never known him to wear any artificial cologne to enhance his already potent natural pheromones. She remembers that she also has another piece of Takumi, one she will treasure always as she caresses the necklace that he gave her, recalling the promises that they made to each other. This surprisingly gives her the strength she needs to overcome the desolation and despair that had descended upon her. Her thoughts now turn to how to prepare herself for her immediate future without Takumi.
The driver whose name she suddenly remembers as Souji interrupts her musing. "Would you like for me to take you home now, Ayuzawa-san?"
She contemplates his question for a moment then shakes her head. "No. Change of plans. Would you please take me to…"
Notice:
I would like to dedicate this chapter to animelovr16 to whom without her review to mention the OVA episode of Kaichou wa Maidsama that I hadn't seen, I may never been inspired to write some of the scenes within this chapter regarding the cat.
To all my readers, I am deeply sorry for my extremely long hiatus and I am unworthy to be addressed as an author. Circumstances had left me with a bittersweet taste on my tongue where I lost my enthusiasm for writing and inspiration has left me completely desolate. I am not entirely satisfied with this work but can't make myself take this down due to my loyal reviewers' encouragements. So I will continue as long as I still have enough avid readers that are interested in this wretched piece that I hate to label as a story. For those that wish for me to continue, please review, for I do not think I can complete the next chapter which should be the last without my readers' support.
Completion Date: 07/25/2012