43Sequel to Weak here! :) To everyone waiting, read and review!
Disclaimer: Not Kure Yuki. [: Full summary in profile.
Kahoko's POV
Sunlight entered my room through the glass window, hitting my closed eyes. I rolled to the other side of the bed, trying to block it. Last night, I slept well. Even though my mother and sister asked again and again about the previous day, it didn't matter. I was feeling high and restless.
I got up, my lips breaking to a big smile. Smiles always made my day. Taking my neatly-ironed uniform, I danced my way to the bathroom. The warm water calmed me a little, wearing off my too happy emotion. The scent of my shampoo helped my mind wander.
I've never felt this happy since we lost my brother way back. After spending a night laying at a bed with Len, he escorted me home and talked to my mohter. At first, the tension was uncomfortable. I thought my mom would yell at me for giving such an answer. I wasn't just scared. I was terrified. My mom could be intimidating if she has to.
It was a sunny day. The skies were clear and birds flew at the sky. Len and I were sitting hand in hand in their car. He's rubbing circles in my hand, trying to comfort me. I was busy touching the ring that's placed in my finger. I couldn't take in the fact that I was engaged. I'm still young, I'm a high school student, and this? I could here my mom and sister scolding me for not using my head before answering. Of course I didn't use my head. It's the heart.
"Are you alright?" Len asked, concerned. I turned to him and laid my head in his chest.
"Not really. What will my mom think about this?" I showed him the hand holding the ring. "She's going to be.. Ugh!" I groaned, slapping my head. Len took my hand and touched the ring.
"You're the one who said yes. She's your mother, she cares for you, but it's still you who said yes." His voice was confident. His eyes shone in happiness, though there's no smile in his lips.
"Well. Y-Yes." I took a deep breath. I have no one to blame because this was all about me. He didn't force me, I willingly answered. Too soon for my liking, we stopped in front of our house. I gulped. This is it. The door in Len's side opened. He pulled me out. We walked to the door. I looked down, not wanting to face my mother. The door opened, revealing my personal nightmare.
"O-Ohayou o-okaa-san." I stuttered, giving her a peck in the cheek. She looked at me suspiciously.
"Ohayou Hino-san." He said flawlessly, without any stuttering or whatsoever. How come could he be confident about this? Damn him and his control.
"Ohayou Tsukimori-kun. Kahoko, don't be rude. Let him in." She ushered us inside the living room. I was about to run to my room and lock myself to be saved from this interrogation, but it seemed that my boy.. uh.. fiancee have other plans. He tugged my arm and pulled me to the couch. My mom sat across us, her eyes narrowing into slits as she noticed our linked hands.
"So. To what do we owe this visit?" My mom asked casually, leaning back to her seat.
"Mom. I said yes." A person didn't have to be a genius to know what 'yes' mean. Even though my mom could be dense like me as they say at times, she knew when things needed her attention. I didn't have the courage to look up to her and see her face, red with anger.
The silence took a long time. It was excruciatingly slow for me. The tension didn't help either. I mentally slapped myself for blurting out that. Len was just sitting there, as if he isn't affected by the happenings. I wished I had the calm he possesses. Maybe after spending time with him, I'd learn to be composed. My mom cleared her throat. I looked at her and saw a warm smile in her face.
"If that's so, then welcome to the family, Len-kun." She clapped her hands happily, like a child. My mom stood up and went to the kitchen. She returned with some tea, offering us some.
"Aren't you going to.." I couldn't find the right words to say. My mom didn't react as I expected. What do you expect from me? Smile cheefully and ignore it as of nothing happened?
"Scold you and rant about my failed marriage with your father? No honey. I'm not that kind of parent. If that's what you think is right, then I'll support you until the end. Don't think about my complaints whenever we talk about you dad. What's important is that you're happy with it. It's just.. You're too young to get married.." She explained, sipping her own tea. Well, what a reason.
"Hino-san." Len's voice pulled me from my thoughts.
"Don't call me Hino-san. Okaa-san will be fine." My mom suggested. Way to go, mom. Okaa-san? Seriously. Len looked like he didn't have a problem with that.
"Okaa-san. I'm not going to marry Kahoko right now. We still have to finish school, and go on our own ways. I gave her the ring so she'd know that I'm not going to back out." He explained. He did say a lot. That's a new record.
"Oh. Well, if that's so, you have my blessing." She smiled. The door suddenly opened, revealing my sweaty sister.
"Ohayou minna-san." She greeted us happily, going straight to the kitchen. She went the living room and sat beside mom.
"So, who's this man here?" She pointed to Len.
"He's Tsukimori Len." I saw the wicked look in my sister's face. This is gonna be bad. She knew about Len, and would definitely find ways to embarass me. Kami-sama, I'm in desperate need of help.
"Tsukimori Len?! Kahoko's boyfriend? Good job, imouto! You know how to pick 'em." She hugged me before going to her room. I blushed deep red. My sister really knew how to talk.
"We'll break the new to her later." My mother winked before leaving me and Len at the living room.
The daydreams stopped when I heard some yelling downstairs telling me that I have to wake up. I walked out of the shower and wore my uniform. I combed my hair slowly, trying to fix the mess. I used another comb to emphasize the locks of my hair. When I was finally satisfied with how I look like, I smiled, grabbed my bag and rushed downstairs.
"Well. Well. Well. Look who's glowing today." My sister greeted me, looking up from her plate. I smiled sheepishly before sitting in front of her. My mom placed a plate of food in front of me.
"You cleaned up nice today dear." She complimented before washing the dishes. I blushed red. The breakfast was filled with a conversation with me and my mom and sister. We chatted until the doorbell rang.
"If I were you dear sister, I'd go now and won't let loverboy wait." My sister smirked mockingly. I mentally slapped her arm before rushing to the door. I opened it and saw Len, standing in front of me with an amused look. I pecked his lip quickly before he could deepen the kiss. The neighbors wouldn't appreciate seeing people making out early in the morning.
"Beautiful." He pressed his lips on my knuckles, making my cheek redder than my hair. We walked hand in hand to the streets. People murmured and smiled, saying to each other that we look so adorable. I hated the attention, though their words made my heart flutter. The butterflies in my stomach wouldn't settle down.
The walk was silent. Since it's still early, we took our time. I was surprised Len was swaying our intertwined hands back and forth. He and his family were known figures around here. If he's doing something like this, then it only showed that he really feels something for me. My heart beat quickened like a ran miles.
"Kahoko, why are you blushing?" He said, his voice emotionless. Again, his calm facade. I shook my head, and he dismissed it. Good thing he wasn't on the mood to nag me about it. He wasn't a nagging type either.
We arrived at school with a few minutes to spare. I saw our friends absorbed in their own world near the tree, talking among themselves. We just watched them from afar. Every once in a while, Nami would hit the back of Ryoutaro's head, which earned laughter from Kazuki. Mio and Nao just glared at him, which made him stop.
"Ohayou Kaho-senpai. Tsukimori-senpai." A sleepy voice greeted from behind us. I almost jumped in surprise, but Len placed his arm firmly on my waist. We turned around. Shouko and Keiichi were standing together. Keiichi looked angelic with the smile in his face. Shouko, though flushed, was smiling sweetly at us. They both looked at our position.
"Ohayou Shouko-chan, Keiichi-kun!" I greeted happily, giving the two warm hugs. Keiichi patted my shoulder, while Shouko gave me a full hug.
"Ohayou. Fuyuumi-san. Shimizu-kun." Len greeted them. That's a first. At least he wasn't a snob. He gave them a curt nod. The two smiled and walked to the freshmen building.
"Kahoko!" I heard squeals, indicating that they already saw us. Mio, Nao, and Nami rushed to my side and pulled me away from Len, giving him an apologetic look.
"Okay. What did you answer?" I was taken back by their question? Why.. How.. ?
"Yes?" I answered. It sounded like a question. Again, they squealed, making my cheeks redder. Too much attention wasn't my thing.
"Okay. Enough from us, but don't think you'll get away without us knowing everything!" Nami said, pulling away my best friends to our building. From a distance, I saw Ryoutaro and Kazuki waving at me. I waved back and was about to follow my friends when a familiar set of arms hugged me from the back.
"See you later, Kahoko." Len kissed my flushed cheeks before walking away, as if nothing happened. I looked at his retreating back before shrugging and going to class.
Students started to whisper to each other as I walked to our homeroom. Some looked at me happily, some glaring with hatred. What's wrong with them? I haven't even talked to some of them, and yet they looked at me with such? They must have a problem.
When I entered the room, everyone was silent. As I walked to my table, I saw them looking at me with curious eyes. I shrugged. I've had enough of that a while ago. I sat beside Mio and the window. Someone placed something on my table. I looked down and my eyes almost popped from the sockets.
There was a big.. Well, big is an understatement. We - Len and I in our outfit last Friday - were the front page of the school paper. His hand were in my waist, holding it close against his lean yet muscular chest - which I got the privelege to see. One of my hands was in his shoulder, the other one in his neck near his blue hair. He was staring at me with love and happiness. The picture didn't give justice to his expressive eyes. I was giving him a big smile, my eyes a bit watery.
"You loook beautiful there Kahoko! And you look so sweet! Oh my gosh." Mio and Nao squealed. More whispers. Then the door opened, revealing Nami with a gleeful expression. She made her way to our table and placed a fat envelope above our picture.
"Glad your teacher wasn't here. Anyway, these are the pictures from Friday night. You should see it! I couldn't stop squealing when I saw that. So, see you later." She waved before going out of the room. Before anyone could borrow the contents, I took the envelope and put it inside my bag.
"You wouldn't share it?" Mio pouted. I shook my head.
"No. Maybe later. I want to see it first with Len." I covered my blazing cheeks with my red hair and looked outside the window. I played with the necklace that holds the ring. My mom suggested it, because she's sure that my classmates would be firing out questions if they say something in my hand.
The morning classes passed like a blur. Nothing held interest to me. The teachers were oblivious of the gossiping students, or they were just good enough not to mind them. I tuned out everyone. The school paper was still in front of me. I didn't bother reading it. After a long time, the lunch bell rang.
"So. I bet you won't join us for lunch?" Mio smirked. Nao rolled her eyes and dragged her out of the room.
"I want to clear my mind. With all those gossips, then the school paper, I've had enough for my whole stay here. I'll catch up with you later!" I waved at them, placing the school paper inside my bag. Waste not, want not. It could be used sometime as scratch. I made my way out of the room, and was surprised when I saw Len waiting outside. His arms crossed in front of his chest, his eyes staring far away, and his body leaning casually at the wall. He looked.. Handsome.
I tried to play with him. We did a lot of playing last Friday, so he must be used to it. I walked silently to the other side, hoping he wouldn't notice. Suddenly, arms were in my waist, and I was being pulled.
"Think I'd let you get away?" His voice was music to my ears.
"N-No." I stuttered, relaxing in his touch. He let me walk, but he never let go of my hand. We went to the rooftop, one place we could spend out time together without interruptions.
We sat there, sharing our food with each other. His mother was a good cook. I got carried away when he offered to me some strawberry crepe with whip and chocolate fudge. We fed each other, talking occasionally with stolen kisses. I wouldn't be shocked if my cheeks were filled with whip cream, thanks to Len's messy kiss slash eating.
"I saw the school paper today. They gave me a copy." He said, biting the chocolate covered strawberry I gave him. I blushed, looking away. Great.
"I didn't know that they'd do that, specially Nami-chan. She didn't tell me that she's going to put an article about it in the school paper. Then the pictures! She gave me those pictures. Agh. I can't believe my face was there. For sure, they will-" My senseless rant was interrupted my the strawberry-chocolate flavor from Len's lips. Again, we got carried away and the kiss was deepened. He cupped my face with his hand and pulled away.
"Stop. I know everything about it. And I'm glad." He smirked. I blushed deeper red. He's glad?
"And boys asked me out a while ago." When I was walking a while ago before I reached the classroom, some of the boys offered to take my bag, and asked me if I'm available this weekend. I politely declined, knowing that I wouldn't be available anymore. Hello, I was officially off the market. A pair of lips pressed themselves on my own.
Len pulled me tight, lifting me from my seat. He was that strong. My hands were in his hair, brushing them as our lips worked in sync. The wind blew a little, and my hair was disheveled by it. Len tucked a lock of my air before ending the kiss. He had a goofy grin in his face, a rare thing.
"Do I have to prove to them that you're already mine?" He said the last word with a growl. My heard leaped in my chest. It was beating frantically, making my chest hurt a bit. I smiled at him before shaking my head. Never have I ever imagined that Len was the possessive type. With his composed and stoic expression, it wasn't obvious.
"Maybe no for you, but I want to so they better back off." He removed the necklace, then the ring, placing it in my ring finger. I smiled, looking it. Len's hand covered mine. He took a deep breath. Len smelled good - a mixture of strawberry, chocolate, and some spice.
"It's really a perfect fit." He lifted my hand and kissed the ring. "I love you Kahoko."
"I love you too." We stayed there for a while. My head resting in his chest, his head resting above mine. I could hear the pretty fast thump in his chest. It's wonderful to hear such sound. It assured me that this is reality.
"So, mom wants to invite you over for dinner. Gramps wants to meet the one who stole his little boy's heart." He shrugged, his cheeks turning a bit pink.
"Gramps? Little boy?" I have to laugh at that. It's not everyday that you hear Len calling someone gramps or him being called a little boy.
"He used to call me that. And I call him Gramps. We're pretty close when I was still a kid." He explained. I felt sad for him. His parents weren't always there for him. Good thing his grandfather was there.
"Sure. I'll come." I smiled brightly. No need to be nervous Kahoko. It's just a simple dinner.
"Arigatou, for giving me the chance to show you off." He cupped my face and his lips touched mine. We're in the middle of some passionate kiss when the bell rang. I groaned before standing up.
"See you later Len." I stole a kiss from his pouting lips, and walked away. Great. Dinner. I'm so looking forward to it.
Good or not so good?
Review! :) I hope you like the start. This is loonger than the usual 2000-word chapter, so credits!
