Chapter 3: Beginning


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Hino Kahoko was frozen stiff.

No, scratch that. Completely and utterly dumfounded would be a more appropriate description.

Mixed feelings were swirling inside her she couldn't even begin to connect the words with their meanings. Her mind was a jumbled mess.

She was ridiculously scared…like when she watched that horror movie with the ghost who could climb off from a television set (thanks to that, she had nightmares for weeks that she would never look at the tv the same way again). She could feel her eyes would almost pop out of their sockets any minute. Not only that, she was having goose bumps all over.

She was dumbly confused…she never had imagined even in her wildest dreams that something like this would happen more so, with him whom she, (actually not just her but almost all of the female population in the General Education department) considered as someone unattainable and like gods' gift to women that you were only supposed to look at. Well, she always looked at him though and found him really interesting.

She was shamelessly elated…like she became the prettiest person on earth. Heh. She never thought she'd have this conceited side to her. Oh well. Maybe she'd be entitled to feel that way and be a little immodest every once in a while especially when one of the 'princes' in the prestigious Seisou Academy Music department just confessed to her.

And most of all, there was this tingling happy feeling that just seemed to sprout at the tips of her fingers and had spread at an alarming rate throughout her whole system she feared she'd die of an unusual death any minute.

Just like a dream or an illusion, she found herself standing before a prince with him asking her to go out with him. Asking her to love him. Talk about cliché' and stupid randomness that she felt like Julia Roberts in that one movie (something with a hill on the title), only the situation was reversed.

Would he not disappear when she blink her eyes or pinch her skin?

"Hino. Did you hear me? Seems like I scared the heck out of you."

Hearing his shaky voice and looking at his flustered face, she surmised this was real alright. More real than any of those reality tv shows. And no matter how many times she blinked and how hard she pinched herself, he was there…in the flesh and not just a figment of her wild imagination.

Tsukimori Len was there in front of her.

And she was like seeing him for the first time ever.

Were his eyes really that rich golden brown color? His nose perfectly shaped and his lips that soft-looking and supple like her favorite gummy bears candy? His amazingly bluish-streaked hair was so fascinating to look at she had the urge to touch his fringe hanging loosely over his forehead slightly covering his beautiful eyes.

As if in a trance, her right hand followed her desire and reached over, carefully brushing his hair aside but to her dismay, the strands went back to the way they were.

"Your fringe is somewhat obstructing your eyes. It's a shame because they're so beautiful." She heard herself whisper.

She saw him stiffen with her remark and she realized she wanted to disappear at that moment. How could she be so shameless and dumbstruck to do and say something like that?

"Ah…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…It's just that your eyes are so richly golden brown…do you happen to wear contacts? Ah…no…of course not…what am I saying?" She frantically tried to recover her dignity but it was of no use. She was digging her own grave!

"They're not as beautiful as yours." He said quietly that made her almost tumble over.

"W-what?" Shocked for the nth time, she asked, catching her runaway breath in the process.

His lips curved at the corners of his mouth and gave her such an irresistible smile, she just stared at him hard, wishing that moment and that smile would last forever.

"Your eyes sparkle when you smile and they turn a deeper shade of chocolate brown when you're concentrating on something…they perfectly blend with the scarlet hair of yours. But the most fascinating thing about them is that they give off a kind of warmth and wonderful feeling especially when the morning sun shines on them…"

She was at a loss for words. She just stared at him because she wasn't sure if her ability to speak hadn't left her for good. Or maybe because she just wanted nothing else but to look at him and listen to him like it was the most natural thing to do in the world. She didn't expect that Tsukimori Len, the so-called "cold and isolated prince" could be this romantic. Maybe he was possessed or something? Nevertheless, she liked this side of him.

Oh. Now, she had no more doubt about it.

She was dead sure. Absolutely and definitely sure.

She was in love with him.

Crap.

She completely fell in love with Tsukimori Len.

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Tsukimori Len was getting increasingly agitated.

He already plucked up enough courage and self-confidence to finally confess to Hino Kahoko. Against all odds, he bravely confronted his feelings and found himself standing before her, declaring his pure intentions of acquiring her affections before anyone else did. Embarrassing and too out-of-character as it might seem, he didn't really care.

All he cared and thought about was the girl in front of him now with wide and surprised deep brown eyes staring back at him. It was such a quiet revelation that he felt there was nothing truer than that fact.

Still, the uncertainty that she felt the same way about him was making him the nervous wrecked he'd never thought he would be. Where had all his composure and nonchalance gone to? Seriously, he was so uncool. He just hoped she didn't notice the panic rising in him with her continuous silence.

She'd been silent for a couple of minutes now after his admission that her eyes were fascinating him to no end. Did he sound like a love struck school boy to her? An overly romantic fool? That even he himself didn't know that he could be a lovesick teenager that he so very much detested in the past about the people of his age, dismissing love and romance like nothing but a waste of precious time.

Now, he knew one of the little ironies of life. He'd learned his lesson never to make assumptions and prejudices about things until he experienced them first hand.

Nonetheless, he couldn't take back what he said because that would seem rude and ungentlemanly. And it was true anyway. Just one of the many truths he discovered about her.

Looking at her, he couldn't believe it took him until now to realize his feelings. How could he have been so slow?

She heaved a deep breath and finally he heard her speak.

"Okay."

He hadn't thought that such a simple four-letter word could be so confusing and cryptic. Or rather, did he suddenly lose all his innate perceptive abilities?

His expression must have looked outrageously thunderstruck, she took pity on him and explained patiently what she meant.

"I mean, I'd be very happy to go out with you." And then she smiled while her eyes sparkled, rendering him speechless even more. "Please take care of me."

It took him a full minute before he finally found his voice. It amazed him when he heard himself sounding calm and relaxed though in reality, he wanted to shout at the top of his lungs. The sudden desire to hug her was so much, he could hardly bear to restrict himself, afraid that she would take back her answer if he lose his control.

"Thank you. And I'd be more than glad to take care of you." He contented himself with staring at her face now bright with a blush so lovely, she took his breath away.

She was his.

Hino Kahoko, this captivating girl now belonged to him.

And he would do everything in his power never to let her go.

Because he was already hopelessly and impossibly in love with her.

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A/n: Really the mushiness is killing me! Seriously, I wish Len and Kaho would just materialize from the manga so I can hug them both! Anyways, a lot is in store for them in this story. I hope they'd be up for more (and I mean much much more!) achingly sweet predicaments, which make me wonder how they would handle them. I also hope they're still themselves albeit with all the author mercilessly put them through (note: the author is crazily, obsessively fond of them so it's a given she'll make their lives a living heaven and/or hell err whatever)...So yeah, again thanks for reading! I'd be more than happy to know what you thought of this chapter. ^^