No beta so if anyone finds an error, please do tell me about it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Guilty Crown or any of it's characters and story plot/arcs. What i do own is my ideas if any, that are incorporated into the fic and the few changes that I've made.
"People speaking"
'People thinking'
Enjoy~ R&R
Guilty Crown - Sins of an Emperor
Phase 09: Ayase
Previously on Guilty Crown – Sins of an Emperor
He then muttered." Kurosu… I'm not stopping." As he left the place, an eerie wind blew across the grave.
Scene: Inside the Undertakers' base
P.O.V: Shu
It's been three weeks since the trip to Ooshima… the events that happened on that island were still stuck in my mind…
How I visited dad's grave and met up with Gai, learning something new about dad…
The time where I actually had a proper talk with Souta, and to finally have gotten a tad bit friendlier with him…
How Souta reacted when I went to console him about being rejected by Inori…
And finally the thoughts I had back then… my uncertainty of whether I wanted to pursue something with Ayase…
As I thought about that, I smiled happily as I recalled the three weeks that have passed. Ayase and I along with the rest of the Undertaker members have gotten a bit closer, especially Ayase.
Though for some reason, Gai has been easily irritable ever since we lost our objective to that Keido person who I then found out from Tsugumi after asking her was…
That this 'Keido' was Keido Shuuichirou,the head of the GHQ's Antibodies… Apparently he had used my dad's card to gain access to that facility ahead of us.
Going by the fact that he has my dad's card which was a shock in itself, I concluded that he had worked together with my father or at least knew him and that was proven when I asked Tsugumi to hack and check the records… I wonder, what had happened between them.
Over the span of the three weeks, I'd always come and visit the HQ just to spend time with Ayase, either by training against her in an Endlave or simply chatting with her…
As we spent more and more time together, the thought of pursuing something with Ayase kept coming back and eventually I knew… that I had a crush on Ayase, when did that happen? To be honest, I myself don't know… Perhaps it was when I crashed into her when I found out about Inori tricking me and when I mistook Inori's relationship with Gai.
It was on the first day of the second week that something significant happened, I had decided to take Ayase out somewhere to have some fun… after all we've been training almost every day without a break.
As I entered the Undertaker's HQ's cafeteria…. Nervous was the only word that could describe me right now, I couldn't help it! Despite how close we've gotten from simply spending time with each other, I was worried that she wouldn't accept.
It was already quite late at night and Ayase and I had just finished our training session, I had just gotten out of the showers and expected Ayase to be at the cafeteria since we skipped out on dinner, not knowing what time it was until it was already this late.
I approached her and as I reached her table, she gave me a soft smile causing me to return it instinctively.
"Hey…" I greeted her.
"Hey yourself" she replied as I took a seat opposite from her.
We began talking about our training and what could be done to improve it when I decided to just wing it.
"I still thin-" I interrupted her as she was about to suggest something that we've already talked about,
"Hey Ayase, wanna go out and have some fun tomorrow?"
I swore that I was blushing as I asked that but I felt scared yet happy that I got to ask what I wanted to, afraid of her reaction, I closed my eyes in anticipation and simply waited.
If I had opened them, I would've seen that Ayase was blushing as well; after a few moments of silence, Ayase answered, " Sure."
I opened my eyes in shock for a moment causing Ayase to teasingly tell me.
"What? You didn't think that I'd accept?"
I chuckled sheepishly and gave her a nod, this caused her to giggle and I smiled as I then asked.
"So… tomorrow 10 o'clock in the morning? I'll come by and we can walk to the city."
It seemed that this topic was still a bit embarrassing for the both of us as we blushed ever so slightly before Ayase agreed.
As we continued eating in peaceful silence, I began to plan 'our' date… Gah, I'm blushing just by thinking about it…
Recovering my composure, as we finished our food, I brought my tray to the kitchen staff and helped Ayase with hers as she waited for me at the exit of the cafeteria.
I then took my place behind her as I pushed her wheelchair; we began talking aimlessly before I asked her if there was something she wanted to do tomorrow.
She simply said that she'd be alright with whatever I decided, then we were asked to go to the briefing room and I was worried that our date might have to be canceled due to a mission but fortunately it was simply a recap on our objectives and what we have done so far.
After that was done, I accompanied Ayase to her room as we got to her door, she turned around and we both bid good night to each other.
As she was about to turn to enter her room, I decided to do something I would've never done had I not met Ayase… Boldly leaning down, I gave her a kiss on the cheek before bidding her good night sweet dreams once more and leaving Ayase blushing like a tomato as she placed a hand on her cheek in surprise.
As amusing of a sight that was, and I would forever keep that in my memory, I couldn't with confidence say that I wasn't in such a state as well.
Scene change: Ayase's room
Ayase was by her bed still blushing while thinking about Shu's actions earlier.
'why would he do that all of a sudden… such a bold move for Shu but it felt… nice… !'
She blushed hard as her mind began replaying by itself, that scene again and again. She couldn't help but think about Shu doing more than a simple kiss on the cheek. That train of thought caused her blush to rekindle once more and she began thinking…
'do I like Shu?' She shook her head 'No… despite us getting closer, I mean look at him… what with his normal brown spiky hair and brown eyes that show his sincerity and kindess…'
Her eyes widened as she mentally screamed ' Oh My God, I'm crushing on Shu! Wait, wait… hold on for a moment… That can't be true! What happened to my crush on Gai…'
Despite her denial, she couldn't help but imagine herself being hugged by Shu as they kissed, it didn't help that she didn't find any excuse nor try to stop the images this time.
As she laid her head on her pillow, she told herself with a blush on her face…
"This settles it, I'm crushing on Shu…" Before going into the state of bliss that is sleep where she was assaulted by events that she imagined would happen the very next day.
Scene change: At Shu's apartment: Shu's room
P.O.V: Shu
'I can't believe I did such a thing! ARGH… but it did feel nice to do something like that for once…"
As I continued replaying what I did in my mind, I began to feel less worried about it, besides… Ayase didn't seem to be uncomfortable with what I did…
"Oh well no point in worrying over something like that, I gotta get some sleep or I won't have any energy for tomorrow'
And with the fleeting thought of actually kissing Ayase properly on the lips, I fell asleep hoping to be greeted by events that could inspire me to make tomorrow worthwhile.
The following day…
P.O.V: Shu
Ring~~~ Ring~~~ Ring~~~ Slam!
I woke up grumbling about stupid alarm clocks, rubbing my eyes I turned towards my now silent clock and looked at the time…
"Oh its only 8…" My eyes widened as I quickly got out of bed and jumped into the showers of which its cold water instantly made me awake without fail.
As I dried off, I managed to get ready by 8:30 and after putting on my sneakers I only had to bid Haruka good bye as Inori had been staying at HQ for the summer, I made it by 9:30 and waited for Ayase as It seemed that she hadn't arrived yet.
I began to feel nervous yet again, I wondered… what if Ayase didn't turn up and simply leave me here feeling like fool. Just as I thought that, someone suddenly poked me on my side and I yelped before turning around and was met with a beautiful sight.
Ayase had her hair in her usual pony tail except she was wearing a blue skirt that reached down to her knees and a red shirt with sakura petal designs… what really got my attention was her smile as she laughed at my reaction.
Feeling a little impish, I went over to her and leaned down to give her a small peck on the cheek which successfully got her to stop giggling and start blushing like a tomato causing me to give a small chuckle at her expense which caused her to give a glare.
Ignoring her glare, I simply smiled as I greeted, "Morning Ayase."
Not able to hold the glare for long, Ayase too smiled as she returned the greeting.
We then headed for the city with me pushing Ayase's wheelchair as per usual. As we passed some elderly couples, I overheard them commenting about how they used to be just like them going on a date at a park like this…
Hearing that made me blush slightly, when I noticed a crepe stand, I asked Ayase.
"Hey, have you eaten?"
She looked upwards as I was behind her and shook her head, causing me to smile and ask if she wanted to eat that, gesturing to the crepe stand.
Receiving a nod, we went over to the stand and ordered. I wanted a caramel crepe while Ayase wanted to try the strawberry one. We went over to a nearby bench and ate our crepes as I tried to figure out what to talk about… Considering that this is my first time going on a date, I have no clue as to what to do.
As I was furrowing my brows, thinking hard about something, Ayase patted my shoulder and pushed her crepe over to my face and playfully saying.
"Here, have a bite…"
I blushed at her actions and looked at her indecisively but she simply smiled and pushed the crepe towards me, so I decided to just go for it and lean down to take a bite out of her strawberry crepe.
Blushing while, chewing and tasting the crepe… I decided that strawberry wasn't bad though I still prefer caramel. i looked over at Ayase and saw that she was giggling at my embarrassment.
Not one to be outdone, I followed her example and pushed mine over to her while saying.
"Your turn." That successfully got her to stop giggling and a small blush appeared on her face probably not expecting I'd do the same thing she did.
She took a timid bite while blushing causing me to smile.
As she finished chewing, I asked her, So how was it? I prefer mine over strawberry though it wasn't bad."
She took another bite out of hers and after chewing and swallowing, she answered. " Strawberry is better I guess, your caramel one is nice but strawberry beats it."
She winked at me before going back to her crepe which I followed. Eventually we were both done with the crepe and I grabbed the papers that we used to hold the crepe and threw them into a bin.
Feeling a bit thirsty, I guessed that Ayase would be thirsty as well, so I went over to the vending machine and as I inserted the money for two drinks, I froze and thought to myself.
Oh crap… I didn't think to ask Ayase what she'd want… c'mon Shu, think! What does Ayase like to drink…
I recalled all the times I've eaten with Ayase and thankfully, I could remember most of them and from those memories, I concluded that Ayase liked fruit drinks so I chose orange juice for her while grabbing an energy drink for myself.
As I returned to where Ayase was, I was surprised to find she was surrounded by guys who seemed to want to bring her somewhere.
Gritting my teeth when one of them actually had the gall to grab her arm when she clearly didn't want to go with them, what with the glare she was sending to them and the attempt of grabbing her arm nearly caused her wheel chair to topple.
Angered by what nearly happened, I went over there and poured my drink all over the guy's head
All of them froze as the sound of liquid being poured was heard, for few moments no one did anything until finally the guy that I was pouring my drink on, screamed and turned towards me with anger evident in his eyes.
What he saw however were my eyes glaring back at him and if I could see myself, I would've been able to notice that my eyes flashed red for a moment once again, this froze him for a moment before he got his wits back and leaned towards me and shouted.
"Punk! Do you any fucking idea what you just did ?"
My voice was eerily calm and cool as I replied, "And do you guys have any clue about what you were about to do to my date?" I glared even harder as my anger peaked.
Though I noticed that Ayase was blushing a bit after hearing me referring to this as a date, I turned my attention back to the people in front of me and saw two of them backing off as I continued to glare at them.
Eventually the leader of the three noticed this and panicked, shouting at them, " Hey! Why are the two of you backing away! Don't tell me you guys are going to be cowards, letting him scare you like that!"
It seemed that didn't have the effect he wanted it to as the two of his underlings ran regardless as they saw me approach their leader, as I reached their leader, I grabbed onto his collar and brought his face nearer to mine while saying, "Now would you mind leaving us allow or am I going to have to do something about you?"
Not having his underlings seemed to make him uncertain and afraid of facing me as he quickly shook his head and ran away apologizing to Ayase before I let him go.
I turned to Ayase who seemed surprised at my rage and statement earlier.
I approached her and kneeled down, I asked, "Hey you alright? Sorry I took so long."
She smiled slightly and said, "Yeah, they didn't do anything, where'd you go?"
I gave her the fruit juice I bought and told her, "Went to go buy us drinks, didn't think something would've happen during my detour."
She simply told me , "It's alright… so where do we go now?"
Hmm… that's a good question, I thought to myself as I stood up and went behind Ayase's wheel chair once more and I then noticed a flyer that mentioned the Tokyo's aquarium having a dolphin performance, I pointed out the flyer and asked if Ayase wanted to go and watch.
Seeing her eyes light up after she looked at the flyer, I knew that we'd be going and soon we were moving towards the aquarium.
It wasn't pretty far, and only took us around 25 minutes of walking before we reached the entrance.
I paid for our tickets and we entered the place. On the way to the water stage, we were greeted by the sights of various marine life: ranging from sharks to turtles and simple yet exotic fishes.
Ayase giggled when a turtle came close and in sync, the turtle and I blinked before it went away.
I pouted saying, " it wasn't that funny…"
Ayase who was wiping her tears caused by her laughter yelped when she came face to face with an opened jaw of a shark that had come close to the glass.
I caught her just in time to prevent her from falling and I chuckled as I said.
"Now that was funny, "
Ayase mock glared at me before smacking me on my arm and moved ahead while I chuckled lightly before I went after her.
Eventually, we reached the water stage and it was quite packed with a lot of excited people coming to watch this show.
Despite the impressive amount of people, we managed to get a spot quite near to the dolphins that began to pass a beach ball between them
It seems that we were able to find a spot a little too near to the dolphins because they were particularly playful and would occasionally splash water at the audience when they swam past.
As Ayase and I got splashed a bit, we simply laughed and watched the dolphins jump through hoops and some even seemed to be bouncing or walking on water all the while clapping!
I glanced at Ayase and I was happy to find a smile on her face, knowing that she was enjoying this; I continued to watch the dolphins perform for us.
At one point, the trainers announced that the audience would be given a chance to feed the dolphins, excited about it, Ayase was about to take the food from the trainer before she remembered that she was in a wheel chair and that it'd be difficult for her to actually feed the dolphins.
Seeing her so disheartened, I went and grabbed a handful of the food before placing it on Ayase's hands.
She looked at me in surprise and a bit of confusion as she asked.
"Shu?"
I smiled before carrying her over nearer to the dolphins, bridal-style which caused her to blush in embarrassment which she made sure I knew as she smacked my chest nearly causing me to fall due to the water residue that the dolphins left with their splashing.
"H-Hey, what're you doing."
However, undeterred I brought her near enough and bent down bringing her close to one of the dolphins who apparoached us.
Ayase timidly brought the food over the dolphins and they gladly opened their mouths and allowed Ayase to feed them. After they ate the last piece of food, they rubbed their heads on Ayase's palm as well as mine as we petted them.
Seeing her smile so brightly after doing that was so worth it…
In the end of the performance, we left the aquarium with smiles and Ayase was still praising the dolphin who had rubbed its head on her palm, it was easy to tell the difference since that dolphin had a shinier skin and looked a bit bigger than the rest.
I was sure it was a male and that was confirmed by the trainers there, I teased Ayase saying.
"I'm sure he loved you with all the attention it was giving you." Just like I am…
Ayase blushed before saying, " Maybe…"
With that, we headed back. On our way, we passed by a lot of stores and Ayase soon stopped in front of one… it was an accessories store and she asked if we could go take a look. I didn't see why not and agreed giving a nod.
We entered the store and it seemed that it sold accessories for both the male and female gender.
As Ayase was browsing through the different accessories, I told her that'd I would go and look around as well. Receiving a nod and confirming that she'd be alright on her own.
I went about looking through various accessories ranging from watches, bracelets, rings, pocket watches, chokers and so on.
I eventually saw something that caught my interest: it was two necklaces, one was in the shape of heart with a white wing on the left and the necklace next to it was simply a card that had a black wing imprinted on it.
I asked the attendant to allow me to see the two necklaces and found that they were lockets for couples as they could fit a picture in it.
I knew that I wanted to buy them and deciding on it, I told the attendant to that I would take them and he informed me of its price which I then paid for.
Keeping the lockets in my pocket, I went and looked for Ayase who was by the ring section.
She looked at my direction when she heard me approach her and I waved to which she returned.
"So… did you find anything you wanted?" I asked
She shook her head before asking me the same question.
A smile tugged at my lips before I could stop it; I told her.
"It's a surprise"
Her eyes lit up in interest before she said.
"Oh? Who's it for?"
I didn't even try to hide my smile this time as I playfully answered.
"I'm not saying."
The pout I received nearly caused me to give in as she asked.
"C'mon pretty please?"
I simply smiled as I told her cheerfully, "Nope."
She let out a resigned sigh before turning her head to the side and muttering, "Fine…"
Oh Ayase, I would've loved to give you this now, but it isn't complete yet.
We then left the store and once more, went on our way back to HQ but on our way, I happened to notice a picture booth. I knew then that this was the perfect chance to get a picture for the two lockets.
I pointed it out to Ayase but it seemed that my refusal to answer her question earlier made her refuse even taking just one shot with me.
So I had to come to a compromise with her.
"If you take one picture with me, I promise I'll show you what I bought yesterday and who I'm going to give to… so please?"
She thought about it for awhile, evident due to her furrowing her brows before relenting and made me promise to keep my end of the deal.
I smiled sincerely and chuckled mentally at how I thought this would end up.
We entered the booth as the automated voice asked us, "Please select your option."
It then showed a number of choices to choose from and after making our choices; we stood ready as the monitor counted down.
As the countdown reached 1, I grabbed Ayase onto a hug before smiling, she however simply blushed and timidly smiled at the camera.
I smiled fondly at our picture before taking out the two prints I requested which had two pictures of us along with two copies of the same picture. One was the picture where I grabbed Ayase into a hug and the other one was me leaning down to give her a peck on the cheek.
I passed the other copy to Ayase and she looked at me wanting to say something but simply closed her mouth and looked her copy and smiled unconsciously.
Placing my copy into my pocket safely and securely, we finally headed back to the HQ.
As we moved towards her room, which I found out after she showed me once.
I asked her, "So…did you have fun or was my first attempt on a date, ends as a failure?"
It seems that Ayase wanted to tease me as she acted as if it was hard for her to decide which made me pout leading to her laughing at me.
Eventually she decided to spare me the suffering and said, " I had fun so don't worry about, Thanks for asking me out Shu."
She had a smile on her face showing that she indeed had fun which caused me to blush for a moment as we reached her door.
Opening her door for her, she went in her room before turning back to face me, It was a bit awkward with both of us not knowing what to do, clearing my throat I said, " Well I guess this is it, Good night Ayase"
Ayase gave me a timid smile in return as she too said "Good Night". I then leaned down to give her a peck once more but as I was closing my eyes I didn't notice Ayase moving her head about to say something causing me to kiss her right on the lips.
As I felt something soft and wet on my lips, my eyes shot open and met Ayase's own widened eyes before I backed away quickly and began to apologize only to be stopped by Ayase saying, "No… its alright, that was my fault… and besides it's not like I hated it or anything." As she finished saying that, her eyes shot open once more as she blushed and she gave a brief " Good night" before closing the door.
I leaned on the door not knowing that Ayase was doing the same on the opposite side. I then touched my lips as I recalled the feeling of hers which caused me to blush as the impact of the event hit me,
' I KISSED AYASE!' I screamed in my mind and with a goofy smile on my face as I headed back to my home , leaving everyone who saw at the giddy expression on my face confused.
Scene change: Ayase's Room
Ayase mumbled to herself while lying face down on her pillow, " I can't believe I said that!… despite it being true.." She then leaned into the pillow and sighed in bliss before going to sleep.
Scene change: Shu's room
P.O.V: Shu
I took out the two lockets as well as the two pictures along with the copies on the same print.
I took a pair of scissors and cut the edges until they fit in both the locket's spaces.
After placing them in, I closed both lockets before opening them one by one.
Opening the locket, the first picture one would see is the one with me hugging Ayase and one were to turn to look at the other half; it was the one where I kissed Ayase on the cheeks with her blushing.
Checking the one I would wear, and making sure both were alright and satisfactory, I kept them inside my drawer before falling asleep as I recalled the events of the day.
Scene change: Undertakers' HQ the following day,
I looked around for Ayase and eventually found her at the training room.
She saw me as I approached her and came to meet me. Excited, she then asked.
"So…? Where is the thing you bought and who're you going to give it to?"
I fingered the heart shaped locket in my right pocket before telling Ayase.
"Ayase… can you please close your eyes for a moment?"
She seemed skeptical but she trusted me enough to close her eyes after a moment of thinking.
I took out the locket and unlatched it before moving it over her neck and as the locket touched her, she moved a bit but didn't open her eyes, I was touched at the trust she was showing me and I finally latched the locket; I asked her to open her eyes.
As she did so and looked down, she gasped before fingering the gold colored heart shaped locket, she looked at me with sincere eyes and thanked me.
I chuckled before telling her to open it.
Once more, she gasped and fingered the two pictures before boldly giving me a kiss on the cheeks causing me to blush and telling me that she loved it.
"This is a symbol of my promise that I made that day… to one day heal your legs and ultimately provide you with wings that'll allow you to soar."
I smiled and showed her my own locket and as we gazed at our lockets, our hands intertwined softly and at that moment, for just a brief period of time despite whatever would happen… All was right in both our worlds.
I'm soo sorry for the late update . and from today onwards, I'm not going to be able to work on this fic as I have exams and I've gotta study for them so forgive me! .
On the other hand, what'd you all think about this chapter? I wanted to write a little something between Ayase and Shu... They're probably very Ooc but I guess I'm a bit happy with the result at least. Ok i'm stopping now! Reviews will be appreciated and Flames will be noted~