A/N: I've written a little prologue (or whatever it may be) before this chapter. It's a departure from the scene at the end of the previous chapter but please do read it too.

Here's the concluding part of the story, Chapter 3 - Can Spring Be Far Behind?

Shintani Hinata lay on his bed, staring unseeingly at the shadows on the ceiling of the hotel room he was staying in. He couldn't hear the soft, regular breathing of his roommates above the raging wind and storm but knew they were lost in dreamland. But sleep eluded him.

"Shintani, I'm in a relationship... with Usui."

Misaki's words haunted him. All day, he'd babbled, laughed and played around... hadn't let anyone guess what had happened. He'd worn a mask the entire time so that nobody would know and he'd be peacefully left alone. He couldn't let anyone watch him falling apart.

For all the brave, spirited words he'd said to her after she'd revealed to him that she was going out with Usui, he now felt neither brave nor a shred of spirit. Because only a fool would dream to hope now...

Usui Takumi. Strangely enough, no matter how much he tried to hate him, he couldn't. All he could muster was envy, and though he struggled to pretend otherwise, but there it was- Admiration.

The most charismatic person he'd ever come across. Although Usui mostly kept to himself, he was still the most popular guy in school. The male students looked up to and relied on 'Usui san' while the female students were just crazy about him. It was not just his looks or many varied talents but something indefinable about his personality, the way he carried himself, that even when he sat still and said nothing, he didn't fail to make an impression on you.

Shintani hadn't failed to notice any of this about him, in spite of Usui's mostly obnoxious behaviour towards him. "He treats me like a child!" Shintani thought in indignation.

"Shintani, I'm in a relationship... with Usui."

The words echoed in his head again and all feeling of annoyance vanished to be replaced by despair and heartache.

"Why him? Why not me? Doesn't she know, that every time I close my eyes, it's her face I see. She's there in my dreams, laughing and smiling. That my thoughts always follow Misaki chan." But of course, she didn't know any of this.

"If you only knew how much I love you... maybe you'd have been able to see how it could have been to be with me... how easy, how carefree and simple..." But she chose to be with Takumi.

"Even when he distracts her, annoys her, upsets her, causes her so much trouble... she still wants to be with him." And he realized, that if she'd accepted Usui when he'd been the reason for her strife, then her love must be true and irrevocable. As this realization sunk in, a tear trickled down Shintani's cheek.

And Usui, who'd hung around her for so long, just to watch her, hear her, be with her, even when she hadn't cared for him. He could have had anyone but he waited patiently, only for her. His love for Misaki was no less deep.

"Maybe You kun would be better for me after all."

These very words which he'd spoken to her seemed so stupid and pointless now. Because if they'd chosen to be with each other, each knowing the other's flaws and remained next to each other even when it was troublesome... then where did he, Shintani, stand a chance?

Hot tears rushed down his face. Even the sky seemed to feel sorry for him and poured down harder, as if crying for the agonies of unrequited love.

Long moments passed. All he could see beyond his tears was Misaki's face. Bright, happy memories associated with her flooded his mind - He and Misaki playing together, Misaki smiling at him, Misaki scolding him for being lazy, making Misaki that promise... and he drew strength from them.

"Even if I can't have Misaki chan right now, nevertheless, nothing and no one can take away these memories from me. I'll never forget, always cherish and honour them. And so, no matter what may come, I'll keep my side of the promise that I'd made her all those years ago. I'll always be there, right behind her, watching out for her. Hoping, that one day, she'll see me as only I see her."

He reached his hand under the pillow to pull out a faded brown sachet. He loosened its strings and took out a pink plastic wrapper of cherry candy. He gazed at it for a moment, nostalgia stealing over him.

"I know it's stupid to hope now and chase after a lost cause... but what can I do?" and a faint smile touched his lips as he thought wistfully, "I'm and always will be Misaki chan's idiot, her lovesick idiot..."

Aloud, Usui murmured silkily, "So you want to go all the way? Then I hope you're ready..." His green eyes glowed.

Usui released one of her arms as his hand traveled to the zipper of his jersey which Misaki was wearing. Slowly, he pulled the zipper down, down all the way, his eyes never leaving hers. He felt her other arm, the one that was still in his grip, give a little jerk, as though it had involuntarily jumped to push his hand away from the zipper. But Misaki controlled it.

Her amber eyes were huge in her lovely face, a pinkish hue creeping into her cheeks. Calmly, he pushed the collar of the jersey and her T-shirt away from her neck and slowly lowered his head, till his lips touched the vein throbbing in her neck. Misaki inhaled sharply.

Her skin was soft, smooth and warm. He drew in a deep breath, reveling in the sweet flowery fragrance of her body. He trailed tiny kisses along the column of her neck, up to her jaw line and back again.

The hand which rested on her arm rose to stroke her cheek. It was very warm. His fingers lightly traced the curve of her cheek, the fine cheekbones, the narrow temples and forehead, the slightly trembling eyelids, the slim and straight bridge of her nose and down to her soft, curved lips. "Usui..." she murmured against his fingertips.

Deliberately, never losing his focus, he raised his head to nuzzle her ear. Softly, the tip of his tongue grazed her earlobe. He felt her grow rigid. Pretending as if he didn't notice, he flicked her earlobe with his tongue and slowly ran it up and down her ear, as Misaki began trembling. He could feel the rapid rise and fall of her chest, the frantic beat of the vein just beneath her ear.

Then, he tugged at her earlobe with his teeth.

Misaki gave a gasp of shocked surprise and reflexively tried to pull away from him. Usui drew away from her, studying her. There was a heated flush across her face, her golden eyes were fever bright, her soft lips agape and quivering.

"See, Ayuzawa," he said in a mild, non provoking manner, "You're not ready, yet."

Usui glimpsed dismay and another emotion which he couldn't identify in her eyes before she quickly turned away.

"Stupid, i-if you do things l-like t-that all of a-a sudden, who's going to be prepared? I'm j-just surprised, t-that's all!" she exclaimed with false bravado.

"What kind of things?" he inquired innocently.

"T-those perverted things, you idiot!"

"Perverted? Was what I did perverted?"

"Yes, it was!"

"Oh? You seem to know a great deal about this. Are you speaking from personal experiences?"

"What are you talking about? You know I have no experience in these matters, you're the first person with whom - whom I - I..." she trailed off, blushing to the roots of her hair at having admitted such a thing.

Usui didn't come to her rescue, didn't try to absolve her from her embarrassment. He wanted her to realize that she was rushing blindly into a physical relationship, with no idea of its consequences and implications.

"Well, then... s-since you don't want any warmth from me," she whispered, her voice brittle, "then I-I'll just go," and before Usui could do more than stare at her in confusion, she got up, took off his jersey and reached for her damp one. "You'd better put your jersey back on before you freeze to death," she uttered in that same brittle way and she turned to leave.

"No, wait Ayuzawa!" and he half rose to grab her hand. She stopped but kept her face averted from him.

"I did it again, didn't I? I hurt you... I always end up being the one who troubles you the most. But that's because I love you too much. So much so, that I always crave more when it concerns you; your presence, your words, your affection. I should be grateful to have your merest presence in my life. Before you came, I just existed. I didn't live. Those people, who were coldly polite to me on the exterior but inwardly sneered at me in their arrogance, was all I knew." He felt Misaki's fingers tighten around his hands.

"But being with you and your warm, unassuming self is so different, so healing... I should have been satisfied with whatever attention you deigned to give me. Due to some miracle, you gave me so much more. You're a remarkably selfless and generous person, you know? Whereas I... am such a rotten boyfriend."

"Don't!" came the strangled whisper. "Don't say that!" Misaki finally faced him, her expression pained.

"If anything, I'm the one who's rotten- a rotten girlfriend. I already shut you up from telling anyone that we're dating. It was only natural for you to want more of my company, to get closer to me. But I always drew away. I-I was n-never really honest, neither to you, nor to myself," she admitted.

"But today I realized just how much you mean to me, when I imagined living without your presence beside me. I saw how wrong I was to deny you... After all that I'd said that night, after vowing that I'd change, as your girlfriend," she said.

She dropped to her knees in front of him, as though the strength from her legs had suddenly vanished. "I'm just so useless. I thought that maybe, tonight I could make you happy, that if I showed you how much I cared you'd stay here at Seika, with me. That was just so selfish, I realized soon after. But losing you now, like this," and she ran an errant hand through her hair, "and not being able to protect you..."

"However," she continued, "I understand that you need to go, that this may be the chance to solve everything with the Walkers. I just wanted to make sure that you knew how much I loved you. Even if I can't stay by your side, my thoughts will always be wherever you are, hoping for your well-being. But, that tactic of mine failed horribly, didn't it?" she said in an embarrassed and rueful way, "I couldn't even make myself desirable enough for you. I'm just so stupi-" but her words were lost in the embrace that Usui pulled her into.

"Really, Ayuzawa, you're so unselfconscious. What am I going to do with you?" he said in exasperation, his face resting on the top of her head.

"Do you think I already don't know how much you love me? Do you think that I don't appreciate it? And as for you not being desirable enough - " he drew back, took her hand and placed the palm against the left side of his chest. "It's been beating like crazy all this time. Even if I ever lie to you, my heart won't," his green eyes gazing into her gold ones, " because it belongs to you, Ayuzawa. It'll never deny you; never not want you, because it beats for you."

"Usui..." Misaki breathed, deeply touched.

"And," he continued, "I'm not leaving you. No, listen to me," he said when she showed every sign of interrupting him, "I'm going to transfer to Miyabigaoka, now that you're agreed too, but not at your cost. If I do so, it's on my own terms. The position that they're in now, they're ready to comply with my demands." As Misaki looked at him questioningly, he elaborated, "Maria Miyazono told me a few days back that Gerard is ill. Very ill. If his condition persists, he'll soon be rendered incapable of performing his duties in the Walker Enterprise. My grandfather," his lips twisted into a grim smirk on uttering this word, "is aware of this, which is why he wants me, to fulfill the role of the Walker heir in Gerard's place."

"You mean," Misaki ventured, "Gerard will...?

"Die? Yes, it's very much possible under the present circumstances. You see, his condition is very unstable. The slightest aggravation can mean the end for him." A shadow marred his face.

"The rumour has reached the ears of the company's top rivals and shareholders, there's a lot of unrest. The family can't take such a risk. They want me to come to the fore now, so that I can be declared as the next in line as the head of Walker Enterprise. They want me trained and shown the job so that at the opportune time, I can take the place at the head of the company," he finished.

"But that's just so wrong!" Misaki exclaimed in outrage. "How can they ask such a thing of you? First, for the greater part of your life, they pretend like you don't exist, treat you as an outcast and now, when their own tails are on fire, they rush to you with a proposition like that, like they've every right in the world to - to..." Her rage rendered her incapable of speech.

"Ah, but that's not how they see it. To a Walker, everything is either an asset or a liability. Due to my illegitimate status, I was the latter to them. Now that my older half brother has ceased to be an asset, they turned to me, the next easily available alternative and evaluated my potential. When they found it suitable, they decided it was time for me to do my duty as a bearer of the Walker blood."

Misaki didn't know what was worse; the things which he revealed to her or the matter-of-fact way in which he said them.

"But they're trying to use you..." she said sadly.

"I know. But I'm not going to be their puppet. Like I said before, they're desperate. If I'd point blank refused to help them, they might have made me do so forcefully. My guess would be that they'd have targeted what is most precious to me in this world. You," he said with a tiny smile at her blank expression. "Or your family. Igarashi had threatened the Cafe before. I don't know what rash step they'd have taken next. But I couldn't let that happen, couldn't let anything hurt you when it was in my power to prevent it. So I thought of a way by which the Walkers could be appeased and I kept control over my life. Like Ayuzawa, I'd made my resolve too. That if any sacrifices need to be made because of the Walkers interference, it's only Ayuzawa who I won't sacrifice."

A lovely blush tinged her cheeks at his pronouncement. There was a flash of happiness in her eyes. But it was replaced by concern.

"Why do you want to get their backs up against you from the very beginning? I told you, you don't have to do anything for my sake. I don't want to hold you back. Just do what's best for you. I understand that they don't approve of my relationship with you-"

"Ayuzawa, don't you get what I've been trying to say all this time?" he interrupted impatiently. "I don't want a life without you! My life is completely meaningless if a certain person named Ayuzawa Misaki is not in it!"

There was a short silence. Unknown to them both, the storm outside had subsided.

"That was my prerequisite before agreeing to their proposal - That I will be able to see you even after I join Miyabigaoka. I will visit Maid Latte whenever I wish to. I won't tolerate any interference in my personal life. Although I can't guarantee that I won't be followed when I come to meet you or my movements won't be tracked. But I won't let a thing like that come between us."

Usui cupped Misaki's face in his hands. "Yes, troubled times may be ahead of us, but-" He touched his forehead to hers and continued, "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

The lights in the room flickered on, illuminating everything with a yellow glow. They looked around in surprise. It seemed both of them had forgotten where they'd been.

"Wha- t-the lights are back on? The storm's ended?" muttered Misaki, slightly disoriented. She looked back at Usui, took in his bare torso and the green eyes which were steadily gazing at her. Something in his gaze made her blush furiously and she stammered, "Y-you, w-why haven't you put y-your jacket back o-on? You wanna d-die or w-what!" She hastily shoved his jersey at him, covering him partially with it.

For some reason, this made Usui laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" she demanded.

Smothering his chuckles, he smiled widely at her, " Now that you're back to normal, I guess I'll admit it. Ayuzawa is a great attacker."

"Haaah!"

"I wanna see more of Ayuzawa's attacking side," he said mischievously.

And as her colour deepened, he gently pulled her into a warm hug. He noted with a little surprise that she didn't struggle but willingly complied. He pressed his lips against her sweet smelling hair and murmured to her, "This is what I'd meant when I said about you giving me your warmth. I'm happy with whatever makes my Ayuzawa happy. This is the warmth I want, the warmth of your happy presence."

"Yes, I'm happy," she thought to herself, "Because this is where I want to be."

After sometime, Usui pulled away from her to say, "You'd better return to your room now. I don't want my girlfriend to get into any trouble on my account."

"Yeah, but first wear your jersey. I'll put on mine too."

"Hai hai, Ayuzawa Kaichou."

They both rose and pulled their jerseys on. As Usui was about to open the door, Misaki asked him, "Hey, Usui! Why do you always call me Ayuzawa?"

Usui glanced back at her and said with a grin, "Because you call me Usui."

"Huh? You mean to say that since I always use your last name, you do the same?" she looked at him. "What kind of reason is that!" she wondered in irritation.

"Uh-huh. We should start using each other's first names, don't you think? After all, we're dating... even though we haven't done 'that' yet," he teased her.

"Urggh! You don't have to remind me! I get it!" she hissed at him.

Usui's smile broadened before he cautiously opened the door. The corridor was deserted. They both stepped out quietly.

"Well then," said Usui, smiling down at her, "How about a goodnight kiss?"

"Not now!"

"Never mind, some other time maybe," he whispered in a martyred tone." Goodnight, Misaki," and he turned away.

He heard a quite step and half turned around. Misaki swooped at him, touching her lips briefly against his in a sweet kiss.

As she rushed away into the darkness, he heard her voice saying softly, "Goodnight... Takumi."

A/N: And that's all folks! That's how events turn out in my version. Again, this story was written between chapters, when the author was taking one of her breaks and gave Me the opportunity to let my imagination run wild. This story is an ORIGINAL.

Do let me know what you thought of this story. :)