WatchDogShipping

Mikage's POV

I had seen him! Everybody had, and not only him… but her too. I had seen them both. I had watched Jack approach Carly, talk with her, and for an unknown reason, I had felt my inside writhing like snakes. I had anticipated what was next; I had already seen it coming.

Jack had kissed her and held her in his strong arms when Carly fainted in his lap, laughing in happiness. Of course she was happy—I would have done the same if Jack had kissed me, but now I knew. This desire of mine, even if I had always known it was just a dream, would now remain a dream forever.

I had witnessed him kissing her and, at the same time, I felt something inside me breaking into thousands of pieces, cutting me and hurting me non-stop.

Seeing what was in front of my eyes, it was impossible to keep myself from crying. I did my best to remain calm. I was in the middle of the closing ceremony for the WRGP tournament, not in my bedroom for crying out loud! This was so ironic since that was exactly what I wanted to do right now. Crying and crying, I wanted to leave this place. I wanted to run far away from him and her, far away from their happiness, and let myself weep and mourn in my own sorrow until morning.

But I couldn't! I couldn't do that. Duty called—no matter what, I had to stay here and swallow every bitter cup he served me until the end.

Deep down, I had known of his feelings for Carly. But I also knew he cared for me too. That was the only reason I had still been hoping. I was always wishing that one day, he would approach me just like he approached Carly and he would kiss me just like he kissed her. But no! This wish was destroyed, lost forever, leaving me alone in despair. Inside, I felt naked and hurt from the bottom of my heart.

Tears were rolling down my cheeks unable to stay back anymore. I felt like I was marching into a dream, or, more accurately, a nightmare. And then I woke up! I was standing in the middle of the room and I was crying. I blinked my eyes and shook my head, trying to gain my right mind again. I ran to the first place that I could think of—the ladies' room.

Only when I closed the door behind me did I allow myself to break down. This time I burst into a silent but tearing cry, burying my face in my palms. I stayed like this for an innumerable amount of time. Even if I had to stay behind the cover of my hands, I wanted to remain and suffer until the sunrise. But I couldn't; I had to go back to work. I had to.

I unlocked the door and splashed cold water on my face. Taking one last breath, I went back. The first thing my eyes caught was him… and her. I swallowed, trying to maintain my self-control. I tried to turn my eyes from him… and her, but I couldn't. He was pulling my gaze like magnet.

"Not a total surprise," a familiar voice sounded from behind. "Isn't it Migake-san?"

"Ushio?" I responded almost mechanically, trying to keep my voice straight. I glanced away as I finally found my eye-control. "What do you mean?"

He came closer, standing next to me. "Jack's feelings," his voice was calm, but had a strange hint of an emotion that I couldn't translate.

I saw with the corner of my eyes that he wasn't looking at me. He was looking at Jack, who hugged Carly on his lap, kissing the top of her head.

I held my breath, getting ready for another wave of tears. To my surprise, his actions didn't actually hurt me. Of course I didn't like it, but there were no tears in my eyes this time. How strange!

"What about Jack's feelings?" I acted like nothing affected me, even if I was heartbroken.

"You know what I mean, Mikage," Ushio shot me a strange look. He tried to lock his eyes on mine.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied, both angry and irritated. Getting off the balcony, I let the cool breeze hit my face. I needed it.

An hour ago, I had been a complete mess, totally broken. Now, my heart was somehow already healing. Was this possible? Maybe it was because I secretly always knew Jack's feelings for Carly. Just like Ushio said: I wasn't really surprised. I shook my head confusedly. What did that mean?

"You may trick yourself, but not me Mikage," Ushio suddenly said and I jumped.

I glared at him, mostly because he was right.

"Hope never dies, right?" he continued. "That's the reason you grasped at any hope that Jack might forget Carly." It wasn't even a question. He was simply stating the facts.

"This is none of your business," I snapped, trying not to be rude or reveal how angry I was with him for messing with my life. This was personal!

"You're right," he flinched. "It's not. But I'll make it my business, especially since it makes you so sad."

"I'm not sad!"

"Then why were you crying?"

I bit my lip. "I don't need your pity, OK?" I raised my voice angrily and disappointedly.

There was something in his eyes…the way he was staring at me, his piercing gaze, his soft voice and his pure, caring feelings toward me…. It made it impossible to stay angry with him.

"You don't know what it's like. I appreciate your concern, but you can't help me," I said, softer this time.

He took one step closer and locked my eyes with his. This time I didn't try to look away.

"I do know what its like," he murmured. I felt strange, weak, and puzzled under his voice, as he did something I wasn't expecting. He gently cupped my face with both of his hands.

"W-what, are you…" I stammered as my heartbeats grew stronger. He stopped me.

"I know how you feel," he stated. "I know what it's like to have feelings for someone who doesn't return them to you because they have an eye on someone else. And even if you know that the chances of being noticed by them are few, you don't give up. You still hope that one day you will have your chance. You keep hoping, even if all the evidence is against you. So yeah, I know how you feel, Mikage."

I opened my mouth, but my voice was lost, just like the breath from my lips. He peered deeply into my eyes and he smiled with… sadness?

"I always knew that Jack would make his move on Carly one day and I'm really glad he finally did," his words caused me pain, but I surprisingly got over it immediately. "Even though I knew you'd be sad, and I hate seeing you sad, I'm still glad…and I think you know why."

I gasped, unable to breath. Once again, he had knocked the air from my lungs. My answer came in the form of a slow nod. I felt my heart beating like crazy as another realization hit me in the face at full force. I had known, of course. I had been aware of Ushio's feelings for me. What I hadn't known…and discovered at that moment…were my feelings for him. I had been so focused and obsessed with Jack that I hadn't paid any attention to him.

Just like me, Ushio too kept hoping. Now that Jack had made his move and kissed Carly, all of my hopes had died. But as my hopes were scattered, his hopes came to the surface. I had cried about Jack, but I was already mending my broken heart. One hour and I had started recovering. It had been the same time that Ushio approached me. His presence had helped me. That meant only one thing.

Blinking, I felt water in my eyes. This time, it wasn't tears for Jack. I had been stupid, sticking with him and ignoring what had been in front of me all this time. Ushio brought his face closer and wiped my eyes as he tenderly kept hold of my face, like it was made of glass.

I just hoped that it was not too late to fix my mistake.

"Since you know," his voice was a whisper. "Will you give me this chance? Will you give us this chance?"

I wanted to reply to him—to say 'yes!' with all of my heart, but I was paralyzed. Too many emotions had struck me in such a short time. All I could do was nod again, knowing that any attempt to speak would be worthless.

His face lit up. He moved his lips only an inch away from mine.

"I'll do anything in my power to make you smile again," he promised.

"Don't promise-" I tried to say but I failed. My voice was too weak to be heard.

"I love you!" he whispered before he covered my lips, kissing me fully, "I love you!"

Closing my eyes, I kissed him back. No longer did I feel broken. He had taken every last drop of my pain away.

I wrote this when I was at work and having nothing to do! I hope you like it!

My special thanks to my lovely betas PrincessWindNight and BlackRoseDragonCK!

Please review!