He walked straight into the door and landed himself a bruised nose. Still distracted by the disarray of his mood he pushed a key through the keyhole to let himself into his apartment, only to be greeted by a room of emptiness. She was not here tonight, and he was not by her side either. What's holding them apart was the brand new information he had just acquired from their mutual friend, Riko. Every time he relived the moment of Riko telling him what had happened that afternoon, a thousand thoughts scrambled across his disconcerted mind.

Why was I not by her side when it happened?

How can I not be bothered, Riko was crazy to even request that from me!

I am bothered. And, like what Riko said, I am an adult so of course I have to remain rational about this.

It was just an accident.

Is she crying?

What can I do, to undo all these?!

He fell onto his bed with a heavy thud and he watched his bare ceiling in concentration, he needed to do something for her. He was jealous and insanely angry at the guy who triggered this series of commotion but more than anything, his heart ached so badly he could feel it trying to pierce its way out of his rib cage. He reached for his phone, and began to text his beloved princess and as he imagined her crestfallen expression, his heart contorted in pain. Be tender, he reminded himself sternly.

But the truth is he would be unable to face her if he was to meet her now. No, the reality he wanted to deny was that his maturity and level-headed thinking was dissolved the moment he imagined the scene unfolding before him. He was trying to hold back, this green-eyed feeling of wanting to reclaim what was taken away from him. He wanted to have it all for himself, and now a mysterious youth drops into the frame and takes the one thing he had always wanted to reach out to but restrained himself from.

Teru's kiss was taken away and he had no way of salvaging it.

Be patient. Riko's kind words to him was right in every logical sense, he knew that and was trying his utmost to uphold that.

He straightened himself on his bed and collected his thoughts before he returned to texting Teru with the identity of Daisy, her faithful patient guardian. Yet he could not stop his mind from imagining the scene of that kiss and he could feel his mind getting unfocused as he tried to reel back from the hideous, imaginary scene. He hit the sent button, and re-read his message just the way he always did but instead of flipping his phone shut, he fell to the ground with a red flush across his cheeks.

But more than anything, I want to come to your side and kiss you so you would forget about that immature kiss in an instant.

He covered his eyes with his hands as he tried to remain calm, but his heart was pounding at such an incredible speed, he could feel the blood rush to his head and his ears were heated and red. Darn it, what was I thinking of! I am to console her, not confide my darkest secret to her! I'm such an idiot, ahhh! He rolled to his side and thought of Teru's plausible reaction and he laughed aloud to the empty room. If he was reduced into such an unsightly state, he can only imagine his precious, tentatively shy princess blushing red from head-to-toe all thanks to his accidental confession. At least he completed one task on hand, which was to make her forget about that meaningless kiss stolen from her.

The next morning, they ran into each other in the lift and their awkward attempt at pretending that the 'accidental confession' had not happened was a laughable attempt. Teru could hardly focus at all throughout the entire day, and she blushed like a tomato every time she recalled that message, prompting her classmate to tease her endlessly. An hour more to go and school would be over for the day and she could hardly stop herself from fidgeting every five seconds. The mere thought of spending an entire afternoon with Kurosaki had sent butterflies fluttering inside her. The realization that Kurosaki had confessed his feelings towards her in the identity of Daisy was exciting and yet extremely confusing. What if they would never be able to return back to being normal? But if they do return to their normal self, Teru would have no proof that this beautiful moment had happened between them except for a message sent by a seemingly mysterious guardian.

She sighed in worry and retrieved her 'janitor' uniform from the locker. She stopped her movements as she sighted a shade of baby blue sitting quietly on top of her uniform, her favorite Daisy flower carefully wrapped in a handkerchief belonging to Kurosaki. She held the daisy gently in her hands and smiled longingly at the checkered handkerchief. Just minutes ago she was torn and worried about what the future would hold for them, but he would always know how to ease her fears and make her smile. It was undeniable to Teru in an instant that she had been given the greatest blessing to have her faithful guardian also be the man she loved with all her heart. And if being in love means their safety cage would be rattled once in a while by a passionate confession, she was more than ready for it.

'What is that ridiculous flower doing in your pocket?' Kurosaki looked up from his mahjong game and stared bewilderedly at a grinning Teru. She patted the front pocket of her janitor uniform gently and grinned knowingly at Kurosaki. Just as she had expected, he would return to his usual aloof self but she knows how she has the upper hand this time round.

'I'm not sure what it means either, but I'm guessing it was a love token from an admirer who recently acquired a new-found courage to confess his love for me.' Teru watched Kurosaki's reaction carefully from the corner of her eyes, she was tempted to win this hand but she took care to not push it too far. She almost caught a flush across his cheeks before he removed his cigarette from his mouth with his right hand to respond, 'Well that guy must be an idiot to confess in that corny fashion.' Teru perched her hands on hips and stared down at a fidgety Kurosaki before replying, 'Maybe. But underneath it all that just means that he is an idiot who happened to be in love with me, right?' She walked away haughtily as she noted a flush of red spread across Kurosaki's face, she was contented to being patient but this time round getting back at him for that 'confession' would be worth a try. Although it would be impossible for her to do that without a little blushing.

-End of chapter 13-

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To my readers:

Thank you for patiently waiting for the stories, I was a little caught up trying to decide what to write for the #13 chapter which if you can be superstitious like me would come to realize the significance of that number. So I thought of bringing in that element of 'a blessing in disguise' and it made me recall this particular incident in the main story-line. I have to be honest, I was squealing when I first read it and it was impossible to not loooove it so I decided to expand a little on it and add my personal touch on this. Hope you love it too, and I sure hope it brought you the same delight for you as it did for me to watch Kurosaki be a little less grown up and more honest about his feelings!