iii
He should celebrate. Their little game with their parents is over. Karin will already leave.
He and Karin; it will never work. They have never made sense at all.
Starting tomorrow, he will never see her again.
He really should be happy, but somehow, he feels like something is wrong. With the idea of Karin leaving, Toushirou is not thrilled. If anything, he is perturbed.
Right, he hates her.
But far from other's belief, he knows that hate is not the antipodal of love; not even close.
He hates her because he cares. He's angry at her because she always makes him feel the things that he doesn't want to feel.
To care for someone.
The need to protect them.
To love.
And the desire to be loved in return.
He can't let himself to fall in love again. All women are the same. Manipulator. User. Angel of disguise. Like the woman of his past relationship.
Still... something on the back of his head is telling that Karin is different... That he should give himself another chance... That he should give him and Karin a shot.
But is he ready to open his heart for a woman once more?
Will Karin understand him? Will she be able to accept?
Will he be able to accept?
.
"You're just afraid to fall for her, son." A statement from his father which keeps replaying on his mind.
He drives fast, almost going beyond the speed limit. If only it's possible to make his car fly, he had already done it.
He needs to talk to her, he has to get home before it's too late. He's hoping that she's still there when he arrives at the house. She better be.
But he's already running out of time...
He curses, and slams the steering wheel as the traffic light turns red.
He won't make it. He won't be able to see Karin again.
And at that time, he realizes something very important. His father was wrong... He's not afraid to fall for Karin.
No, the truth is... he has already fallen in-love with her. And he just doesn't want to welcome it.
He bangs his head on the back of his hands which are tightly gripping on the steering wheel.
Why?
Why didn't he realize it sooner? Why did he still have to go away from the house today just to avoid seeing her leave? Why was he an idiot? Why?
'It's better to regret the things that you did, than to regret the things that you didn't do when you had the chance.'
Maybe... it's not just a mere saying after all.
.
He sits on the edge of Karin's former bed, looking around the room, searching for any evidence that she was once there. Tired, he sighs and burries his face on his palms.
"Toushirou?"
He shakes his head, muttering, "This is crazy. Now I'm already hearing her voice in my mind."
"Toushirou... What are you doing... here?" The voice has become more audible than the first one.
Perplexed, he brings his head up, looking at the direction of the door. His eyes widen, and that moment, he wonders if his vision is playing a trick on him.
Standing on the door with a confused expression on her face is none other than the woman who he thought he would never see again.
"K-Karin?"
Toushirou notices how Karin's expression changes from confused to surprised. Surprised on hearing him call her on her given name, he assumes.
"Karin," he repeats, his eyes unblinking "Is that... Is that really you?"
"Y-yeah?" Karin answers, unsure. "What's wrong?"
Not a single second is wasted as Toushirou walks to her, his strides long, his pace fast. Stopping in front of her, Toushirou holds up a shaky hand and reluctantly touches Karin's face, as if afraid to realize that she is just an apparition.
But she's real, has a physical form.
"You're real," Toushirou whispers, bringing his other hand to cup the other side of her face, "You're real."
"T-Toushirou, I'm real. I always am real." Karin anwers, frowning, hint of worry on her voice, "Why are you acting strange? Is the—"
She isn't already able to finish what she's saying when Toushirou suddenly crashes his lips on hers, and pulls her lean frame flushed against his body. His kiss is rather eager, but surprisingly gentlier than the ones that he had given her in the past.
Before Karin can get the chance to comprehend what's happening, Toushirou has already broken the kiss, though not the embrace.
"I-I thought you already left," Toushirou breathes on her locks, pulling her closer if possible, "I'm sorry... I really am a jerk, aren't I? For almost... Letting you go."
"Toushirou..."
"Please, stay..."
He has already decided. Screw his past, screw the bitch who had broken his heart. He's already tired of living on those ugly memories. It's already the perfect time for him to move on.
"I'm sorry for the times that I hurt you. I guess, it was just a defense mechanism on my part. I'd already known from the start that you have those traits... Those traits that will be able to break the walls that I had built around me."
"Karin, I was just afraid that you're also going to leave me after being able to cut through my barrier. I hadn't realized that in the process of protecting myself from being hurt again, I was already hurting you... I'm sorry... I'm sorry." Toushirou leans away to see Karin's reaction.
The moment he sees Karin slowly smile, he already knows that he has made the right decision of taking another shot.
"Then, all you have to do is to trust me, right Toushirou?"
Right. And he thinks he'll live with that.
.
Karin's straddling Toushirou's lap; Toushirou's sitting on the corner of Karin's bed, securing her waist within his arms.
"I always thought you're sexy. But I still wonder... How much more of this hotness do you hide behind the clothes?" Karin purrs on his ear, before nibbling it.
"How about I show you?" Toushirou offers, smirking.
Karin pulls away, grinning. "Please do, and I will join you. Let's get hot together."
Toushirou doesn't already need any further proding. He actually is more that willing to oblige.
.
A crazy romantic drama. A series of twists and turns. Their love story has revolved on that outline.
One moment, they were arguing, getting on each other's nerve and even emotionally hurting— intentional or not—one another.
Then the next thing they know, they wake up, cuddling each other, as if afraid that one will leave if they let go for a second; smiling at the memory of their heated night.
They are so naïve, yet so experienced; so immature, yet so grown up.
It indeed is not a happy ending fairy tale.
For it is just the happy beginning...
Of their endless love story.
.
OWARI.
Mushy ending, eh?