A/N: Okay, I couldn't update one more chapter in August :( In my defense, I was busy with my birthday (YAY!) and there were quite a lot of other things like my unit tests (again *groan*) to deal with, not to mention our upcoming programme for Teacher's Day, but that's still not over, obviously.
Anyway, I got a day off school today and thought I might as well do something constructive. I'm so sorry I couldn't uphold my promise of updating in August, guys, I really am!
AND WHOA! 300+ reviews- I never imagined this story would get that much! I wanna thank each and every one of you for reviewing, which is impossible because I'd die typing all your names/usernames in here, so I just want you ALL to know that each and every review means so much to me, whether it's criticism or praise! I'm sure to improve on my mistakes (and I hope I'm improving) and my writing skills. I love you all and thank you constantly for all the alerts/ favorites/ reviews and ESPECIALLY for reading!
…Okay, I'm rambling now.
Now, this chapter is for SweetLittleGirl16. Thanks for your suggestion, and I hope I did it justice in here. Only one way to know!
DISCLAIMER- Ha! Like I even need to say it.
Deluge (Usui's POV)
"Pssst! Prez?"
Misaki scowls, refusing to look at me. I pout, poking her.
"Misa-chan!" I whisper again.
She's trying her hardest to look at the teacher and pay attention, but it seems to be giving her great trouble. I smirk inwardly, knowing I am distracting her how much ever she may deny it.
"Misa, Misa, Misa, Misa, Misa, Misa-"
"What?" she hisses, finally looking at me, her eyes blazing. Had I been any other normal male, I would have cowered under her glare. Instead, I smile in return and point over to the window.
She looks out and sees that I'm gesturing to the weather. It's unreasonably windy and there is a distant flash of lightning, and I can feel the breeze flowing in from the open window "The weather's so niiiiiiice!" I say.
She gives me a dirty look "So?"
I pout once again. I don't know what's wrong with her these days, but clearly something has been bothering her, and if it's bothering her, then it's very much bothering me.
From the past one week, ever since she came to know that her mother had called in sick, Misaki has been upset. I know how an ill mother would sadden her, but she's stopped being her usual self- she's been fretting over her mother's health (not that unusual), she's stopped shouting at the perverts who go around worshipping every ground she and the other girls tread on, she's stopped having that passion and urge to give hell to the males of Seika High, but most importantly….she's stopped fighting with me.
Now I can see how that would make any other boyfriend happy, but when it comes to my Misaki, something's clearly wrong if she doesn't want to fight.
"So it's a cheerful weather- how about I take you out for dinner tonight?" I whisper over to her.
She just shakes her head "No."
"Aw, come on, when was the last time we had a proper date?"
"Oh, do I really look like I care?!" she whispers back harshly.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing!"
"You're getting too worked-up for nothing."
"When was it ever your business?"
"Since you became my girlfriend"
"Oh, well, newsflash- you're not the cause for every problem that I've ever had in my life, so obviously you know much less about me than you think you do and I'm not going to be telling you, so get out of my hair!"
She is flushed by the time she finishes the sentence, and half of it is drowned by her heavy breaths as she stares at me angrily before turning towards the teacher once again.
I say nothing, but my eyes narrow as I notice her reddened eyes, and how she quickly blinks the tears away.
"Usui? Usui! Takumi Usui, can't you- WATCH OUT!"
I come back to earth just in time to notice the ball that's heading my way. I raise my hand and block it from hitting my face and then look up to find my teammates breathe in relief.
"I thought you were done for-"
"Man, what the hell were you thinking?!"
I don't say anything as the bell rings. I'm just happy that the period is over and I will get to see Misaki again- she is beginning to worry me now. If I wasn't that paranoid alien stalker then, now I certainly am.
"Hey- man, where you going- you sure you didn't hurt yourself?" someone calls from behind me but I don't notice.
I skip two steps at a time and burst inside the Council Room, only to find Yukimura sitting there with Kanou. They both look up at me, stunned.
"Hey, Usui- is everything okay?"
"Where's Misaki?"
Yukimura frowns "She left when the bell rang. Her mother's not well so she's got to be home, I thought you knew about that."
I do, although it would have been nice to have Misaki waiting for me so that we could go together. I could help her take care of Minako.
I wonder what she's up to.
The walk to The Ayuzawa household is extremely short, as I run half of the way. I don't know what has gotten me so anxious about this all- Misaki is no one normal. If I expect bipolar, weird and completely irrational behavior from someone, it's got to be her. Maybe it is nothing and Misaki's just being herself and freaking out over it and making a big deal out of it. But I know her more than she thinks she does, despite what she said to me earlier, and I know there has to be some reason behind this.
It's raining by the time I reach her house and I'm soaked. I'm standing right in front of her front gate, wondering what's going on in her mind when I hear a thud from inside.
The normal thing to do would be to ring the doorbell and wait for one of the Ayuzawa's to open up but I don't feel up to it. Besides, Misaki is going to pounce on me and start her scolding- she just needs an excuse to start.
So slowly, I climb over the meek wood fence and tiptoe to the window overlooking Minako's room. The curtains aren't drawn, so I can see everything going on inside.
Misaki is standing at the foot of her mother's bed, looking extremely agitated, while Minako just smiles and says something to her.
Misaki argues back, and I press my ear tightly to the glass to try to listen in to the conversation.
"-doing to you! This is the third time, Mom, and I'm getting worried!"
"Seriously, Misaki, I know what's best for me, and I assure you I'm completely fine."
"No, you're not! How can you say that? You're tiring yourself out- you're getting so weak!" Misaki's face is flushed with anger and frustration. But for the first time, I see something else in those eyes. I see helplessness- the inability to be able to have control over something. I see Misaki gaze at her mother, looking like she deeply regrets something. Looking like she might burst in tears anytime.
"Please, Mom- just quit. I'm not telling you to quit all of them- just do one job, don't overdo yourself-"
"Misaki, I promise you, I'm fine." Minako smiles, pulling her covers up and turning in her bed. I cannot help but agree with Misaki though - Minako looks horribly weak. "If this continues, I'll quit my job. Happy?"
Misaki looks skeptical "You promise?"
Her mother nods.
"I promise."
"Okay then…I guess I'll let you rest for a while."
Thunder flashes. The chilling breeze hits my face and I breathe deeply, closing my eyes. The soft pitter-patter of the rain fills my ears- the water trickling down leaves, hitting the pavement, bustling and soothing...
I hear footsteps from inside the house, and the front door opens while I barely manage to hide myself behind a few shrubs, kneeling down.
Misaki comes out, sighing. I can see the distress in her face- it kills me to see her like this. The cold raindrops hit my skin, numbing me. I watch her with entranced eyes as she runs a hand through her hair and closes her eyes, looking up at the sky, letting the rain hit her face.
Her expression relaxes and she stands there unmoving. It's such a perfect moment, the rain falling around us, and the water slowly soaking her clothes and hair, but she doesn't look like she cares that much. Her lips quiver as she bites them, putting her arms around her waist and hugging herself tightly as she bows her head down.
I'm afraid for a moment that she's succumbed to tears, for who knows why, but then she looks up and I see something worse than tears- she looks broken.
"Great!" she calls out to the sky all of a sudden. I blink in surprise "Rain! Just what I want so that even I catch Pneumonia and Suzuna is left to look after both of us! Perfect!"
"Misaki-" I walk out of my hiding place "-you're talking to yourself."
She whips around to stare at me "Usui- what the hell are you doing here?!"
She actually looks fearful. Fearful that I might have seen her display of weakness earlier. I don't like this sort of Misaki, I really don't.
"I'm here to see you obviously. Just to see if you're okay." I stride behind her her and grip her waist softly, bringing her closer to me and burying my face in her neck, inhaling her amazing scent. She always smelled so nice- warm and soap-scented, with a little tinge of cherry.
"I'm fine." she mumbles.
"Clearly, you're not." I softly move my lips up to kiss her cheek "So- what is it?"
She doesn't say anything, gritting her teeth.
"We should go inside, you know. We'll catch our death in here. And remind me to put electric fences!" she says.
I smirk, not letting go of her. Instead, I begin to lead her into the lonely street where the rain is falling hard on the stone pavements "I don't think that's a good idea." I call out over the sound of the rain.
"Wha-? Usui- no- I don't want to get wet-!"
"It's not like you already aren't, sweetheart." I say sweetly, before pulling her hand and throwing her into the full-fledged rain. The effect is remarkable, she is soaked in less than a minute as she jumps up and shrieks at suddenly being plunged into the heavy downpour instead of standing in the corner. She pulls at her drenched clothes as I laugh and run away from her.
"Usui Takumi- you are so DEAD!" she runs after me.
I stick my tongue out at her as she catches up with me. She reaches out to catch hold of me but I slide to a stop, do a swift turn and send her barreling into empty air while I run the other direction, laughing.
"You alien!"
"I love you too, Misa-chaaaan!"
She looks like she might explode and pounces to punch me again. I grin and dodge, pulling a face at her. She makes to punch me again and I grip her wrist.
"Let's dance"
She stares up at me, her hair rough and soppy, making her look even more adorable "What?"
"Let's dance."
And I pull on her hand, enveloping her in my embrace, dragging me with her in a ball dance. She stumbles and steps on my shoes, crying out as I flail her and swirl her around in one go.
"W-What the-"
"For someone who's learnt ball dancing, you're terrible, Prez"
"I swear, Usui Takumi, if you do not stop right now, I'll-" her voice is cut off as I fling her around, catching her around the waist and coming to a sudden halt. Her breath hitches as the rain patters around us, falling in between, our cold shivering hands gripped in each others' while we look into each other's eyes.
We're panting as I grin at her.
"Or you'll what?"
She scowls but says nothing.
I grin more.
"Cat got your tongue, Prez?"
And then it comes- it's so sudden I don't even have time to recover. She grips my hand and flings me around, slipping out of my grip. The streets are flooded with the rainwater washing down as she raises a leg and kicks the water. The cold water hits my face with a huge splash and I fall back, spluttering. I hear her peal of laughter from somewhere in front of me before she runs away so that I can't see where she is.
I gasp, rubbing my eyes when another SPLASH! and chilling, freezing water is biting my back, running down my spine.
I leap to my feet, growling, looking around to see Misaki laugh and run behind a streetlight.
I can't help but hitch a small smirk as I make my way over to her.
"Okay, then, Prez. War it is!"
It's not everyday you see a couple running around shrieking and laughing in the rain, jumping on puddles and dancing, so it is quite a memorable moment.
Misaki notices me as I take hold of one of the broken fences off her front yard and angle it in front of me, eyeing the slope.
"Usui…what are you planning on doing…?" she sounds a little suspicious, and I send her a charming smile.
"Nothing too dangerous, darling."
The slope down the street is not that high- it actually looks like a perfect slide as the rain rushes down the pavement. I'm tempted to slide down as I finger the wooden fence in my hand.
"Usui-" she catches hold of my wrist, the raindrops falling off her hair as they are are flown back in the breeze "I don't think-"
All I can say is- wrong time to catch hold of me.
The wooden fence in my hand is thrown on the ground as I climb on it and push myself forward. Misaki, whose hand is gripped around my wrist, shrieks as I take off, boogie-boarding down the slope, dragging her behind me as the fence screeches and splashes against the rain.
The wind hits my face strongly as we both zoom down in incredible speed. I have the sudden urge to shout "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!" just to annoy her.
"YOU. DEMENTED. IDIOT!" Misaki shouts against the wind. Her hair whip around while I balance the 'boogie-board', pulling her next to me so she wouldn't fall off. The rain is pretty heavy and it distorts the scene in front of me so I can't really see where we're headed. Misaki's grip on my hand is freezing against my sticking clothes, and she is continuously yelling profanities into my ear.
The scene in front of me clears as we both see that we're hauling down straight towards a wall. Misaki's fingers tighten around my hand.
"Uh-oh"
The neighborhood is filled with loud cries of help as we screech downwards in the loud gush of the rain, calling out on top of our lungs.
One gut-clenching moment of horror, when I turn the boogie-board around at the last moment, and we crash headfirst into a bunch of trees…
…And then silence.
Granted, Misaki's initial reaction was constant yelling and hitting me once we'd managed to untangle ourselves from the leaves and branches (the places those branches end up sticking can be quite uncomfortable). But now I take her hand and pull her to her feet and she's huffing. She's finally stopped shouting- either because she's out of breath or has lost her voice at last.
"What are you looking so smug about?" she snaps at me.
I just smirk right back, noticing that her hair are standing roughly on her head, with bits of sticks and mud sticking to it. I can't help laughing, really, so that's what I do.
She looks irate at my reaction, but I just continue laughing.
"What's so funny?!"
"I just spied on you in your house, ambushed you into the rain and we boogie-boarded down the street." I manage to say, holding my stomach as I laugh "Oh. And not to mention, you have mud all over you, and you look unbelievingly cute!"
She turns red at that, but then eyes me "If I'm covered with mud, then you should look at your- wait, what do you mean you spied on me?"
I just shake my head, and soon, to my pleasant surprise, Misaki is joining in the laughter.
Her face glows as the raindrops cling to her like pearls. She cries out when I catch her around the waist and pull her off her feet in my tight embrace. She kicks out her legs but to no avail as I laugh.
"Now try to drown me" I say smugly.
"L-Let go of me! That's cheating, you alien!"
"Who said I was ever fair? That's reserved for the great Seika High President."
I can't help but feel my insides jump out in joy as I see her luminous face. She's cold and wet, yet she turns so unmeasurably warm when I hold her like this.
I finally set her down, relishing in the fact that I've made her smile once again. It's still raining, but not as heavily as I would have liked. The chilling moisture stays in the air and bites my skin deliciously as I look at Misaki's twinkling amber eyes.
I can't help it- before I know it, I'm bending down and pressing my wet lips on hers, bringing her soaking body closer to mine. She doesn't mind, she grips me even more firmly and kisses me back, her fingers ruffled up in my wet hair.
I sigh against her lips and reluctantly let go. Her amber eyes have become warm.
"Will you please tell me what's been bothering you now?"
She looks away, but I put a finger under her chin and tip her head upwards once again.
"Tell me or I will make sure every part of you is wet by the time I'm done with you" I purr against her ear, knowing she'll be embarrassed by the double meaning of the sentence.
She slaps me on the arm "Pervert."
I tilt my head sideways, as I know she loves it when I do that "Tell me"
She sighs and lets her arms grip me around my waist in a desperate attempt to keep me there by her side.
"I- I just- I miss my Dad" she says softly, looking angrily with herself for feeling that way. My eyes go wide"I mean- I miss being with him, I miss the strawberry lollies, the mock restaurants, the l-laughing, the cardboard TV set- everything! I know I c-can't let him get to me! I try to distract myself, but every time…every-time, he j-just sneaks into my mind somehow! I can deal with everything but I can't deal with M-Mom…looking like she's the reason he left or that we're suffering! We're not- and then she goes around taking f-four jobs all at once and falling ill very other day- I hate him! I hate him for doing this to us- to her! I hate him!"
I don't say anything as I notice her grip me tighter, her expression growing more and more distressed. She sighs slowly into my chest and I bow down to meet her height, smiling. It surprises me she has let me see this side of her. I always knew she missed her father- anyone in her place would. But Misaki never showed it, and the fact that she is now makes me feel even more special.
"Have you noticed you have a knack of loving the people you say you hate?"
She blushes darkly and looks down at the ground, letting the rustling of the leaves in the wind interrupt our conversation as the wind blows.
"You think too much, Misaki." I say "Don't think so much about something that happened. It's done for and it's the past."
"I feel like an idiot" she mutters.
I laugh "That you are."
She pushes me off "Shut up!"
She pauses for a minute, but then for good measure, kneels and then performs a huge jump, landing on the puddle right beside me.
SPLASH!
"Oh, no, you didn't…." I wipe the water off my face, looking around frantically to see where she's run off to.
All I hear is laughter from among the soft pattering of the rain.
"I play to win, Usui Takumi!" she calls from somewhere.
I allow myself a small smile.
"Bring it on, then."
A/N: So….how was it, then? i tried my best to make it good, and well…I think the boogie-boarding part was honestly fun. Although this chapter was a little OOC and um….bluntly written. I mean, I always imagined Misaki would miss her dad, but still, she became kind of sappy…Ah, what the hell, I shouldn't be the one criticizing my writing, of all people!
I dunno why I kept the title as 'deluge'. I just thought it went nicely since one of it's meanings is something that's overwhelming, and Misaki's emotions are all over the place in this chapter AND, incidentally, 'deluge' also means a heavy downpour! :D
Ah, I'm rambling again now.
Anyway, thanks once again for your suggestion, SweetLittleGirl16 and for reading and please review and let me know what you think needs changing. That applies to all of my other readers as well!
Thanks for keeping up with my terribly late updates and broken promises *smiles sheepishly*
Adios!
~SS~