TAKE XXXIII.

    The feelings had stayed all along, even after the kidnapping case where my memories are all jumbled up. Having fun with Erika and Reito just made me fell harder for the redhead. Well I have no idea my feelings would last until this year. I mean, it’s been a long time and I’d have met different kinds of men during my stay in Australia. But whatever happens, I was like under a huge spell. When one guy tried to flirt with me back in college in Aussie, I felt nothing. Even though girls go crazy about him, it’s like the space in my heart is waiting to be filled and it’s not him.

    When I got back to Japan and memories came rushing in like flood, the space was gone; my heart is now one whole piece. So it’s him that I’ve been waiting for.

    A knock came on the door and the familiar voice said, “Kazuto, I’ll be waiting in the car.”

    “Be right there.” I replied and got off from the tub. Quickly, I wore my outfit and ran downstairs, darted pass the bowing maids and into the car. Akashi gave a nod to his chauffeur and the car went off towards Nana’s house.

    “Kazu-nee!” Erika and Reito shouted from the front seat. I flinched and gave them a huge hug as they crawled to me. Akashi took Erika to his lap and I took Reito. They went silent, enjoying the ride and pointed to stuffs they saw along the way.

    45 minutes later, we arrived at the 2-storeys terrace. Nana welcomed us in. Shiori was inside and grinned when she saw us. Well, I know something nasty is going on in his mind. As we entered, Shiori gave a smug smile.

    “You guys look like a real family.” She commented. On cue, a cushion flew towards her. She laughed as it hit her face, seeing me glaring at her. Erika and Reito went towards Nana, hugging her and stuffs.

    Nana cooked lunch. Akashi and I went to help but all I did was handing them ingredients they need. We ate the meals and chatted for a long time before Shiori told me to bring Erika and Reito to the park near the house, a 2 minutes walk from here. We agreed without complaints and brought them out. As the door went close, I heard Shiori and Nana giggled shouting something like, “Let’s do this!” and I’m like what the heck is wrong with my auntie but whatever.

    “Kazu-nee! Sei-nii! I’m bringing Erika to the swings! Stay here, okay!” Reito grinned and ran with Erika, holding her tight after both of us gave a nod. We stood under a tree, watching them from afar. A sudden idea struck me.

    “Hey, Akashi.” I spoke without glancing at him, my gaze fixed on the children.

    “What?” he said.

    “Would you mind if I do it once again?” I asked.

    “Do what?” he answered with a question.

    I took a deep breath before pouring out what I want to. “I hate you. I still do. You scold me for running in the hallway, which is very cliché and I hate you for it. I spilled a cake on you and I hate how you didn’t order your guards to just execute me on the spot. I hate how you won the basketball match and saved me from dying in the gym after being hit by something hard. I hate you for kidnapping me to buy stuffs for the school festival and to Australia. I hate you for making me fall to an endless pit of desire and affection. I hate you for buying me Snowy and having us attached, calling each other Mummy and Daddy. I hate you for bringing me out to have fun, somewhat like a date. I hate you for rejecting me and I hate myself for being kidnapped and missed the chance of saying sorry to you. I hate myself for losing my memories and I hate myself at the thought of you going out with other girls when it’s almost confirmed that I won’t go back. I hate you when I got to know you were waiting for me all these while,” Tears welled up. “I hate you for making me fall for you all over again. I hate you for not forgetting me. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you! Push me away Akashi! Reject me properly!” I said and yelled towards the end.

    But instead, Akashi pulled me to his embrace and buried his face onto my hair, hugging me tightly like how he did back when I woke up for the first time in the hospital, as if I’ll run away. “Damn you Kazuto.” He spoke. I sobbed and sniffed. I could feel his shirt getting wet because of my tears. His chest was broad and I could hear his heartbeat. It was fast.

    He let out a small laugh. “You made me sound like a gay all these years, calling Kazuto almost all the time. People thought you were a guy because your name.”

    I couldn’t help but smile and giggled accompanied with sobs.

    “This time, it’s not rejection, Kazuto.”

    I clutched his shirt tightly, breathing in his sweet scent.

    “Just marry me, bakashi.” I blurted out.

    He chuckled. “Impatient brat.”

________

    By the time Erika and Reito came back to us, the drama was over and we headed home for dinner. When we entered, the lights were off and suddenly I heard the sound of a clap. Reito and Erika were gone and I was standing beside Akashi, as clueless as he is.

    The lights went on and I gasped as I saw what’s in the living room. On the wall, a white canvas was hung with the words ‘CONGRATULATIONS!’ There were balloons and a cake on the table.

    Shiori and Nana appeared, grinning widely. “Congratulations you two lovebirds!” Shiori said.

    I frowned. “What?”

    Nana laughed then called for Erika and Reito. The twins appeared. Erika was holding a bouquet of primrose. She handed it to Akashi. He accepted it with a smile and knelt on one knee. I bit my lower lip.

    “Akihiko Kazuto, I command you to marry me and it is an absolute order.” He said and gave me a smirk.

    I let out a small laugh, accepted the flowers and hugged him as he stood. “Command accepted, sir.” I said and all of them cheered. My face went real red.

    “Let’s eat the cake! I’m hungry!” Erika shouted and we did.

********

    The next day, Akashi asked if I want to meet my former teammates. I said ‘yes’ and he drove me to a building. “Isn’t this your building, Akashi?” I asked.

    “Yes.”

    “And, what am I doing here?” I queried as we stepped in the elevator.

    “Just follow me without questions, can you?”

    “Yes, sir.”

    A ‘ting’ indicated that we have arrived. I looked at the small screen and saw the number 14. So we’re now at the 14th floor. Akashi led the way, stepping out of the elevator and gestured for me to follow. He stopped in front of a table. I hid behind him. No idea why LOL.

    “Attention,” he spoke and all whispers and voices stopped, all attentions on him. “Former soccer player of Rakuzan are to step out and give respect to your captain.”

    A huge gasps and murmurs were heard. I stepped away from behind him. Then suddenly someone ran and collided with me.

    “HEICHOU!!!!” the guy cried. I patted his back, still unsure of who is this. He pulled away and smiled.

    My smile widened. “Yuta.”

    He burst into tears once again and hugged me. Nine other guys stepped out from their workplace. I recognized, each and every one of them.

    “Aki, Ren, Shou, Yuu, Kei, Yoshio, Tatsuya, Shun, Takeru.” I said.

    All of them rushed to me. A perfect drama happened and they told me about their lives whatsoever. Rakuzan won the Winter Cup and the club was eventually disbanded as they graduated. Aki, Ren and Yuta went to the nationals but came out on the second place. I was proud of them. After the touching reunion, Akashi led me to the 21st floor and brought me to his office. There, I heard a familiar mew.

    Looking down, I saw that adorable white furred Snowy. “SNOWY!!!!” I yelled and pulled him for an embrace. He mewed again and looked at me.

    “Hey, Mummy’s back. Did Daddy take care of you well? Eh, by the looks of it, I guess he did.” I said to him and hugged him again, making him mew angrily because I accidentally pulled some of his whiskers along. Akashi sat on his chair, examining the piled papers on his neat, clean table.

    “Do you know what happened to Inoue Ousuke?” I questioned, put Snowy on my lap as I sat in across Akashi.

    “You want to know?” he asked back.

    I nodded.

    “That time when we found you in Inoue’s building, we found Inoue Eru as well. She was dehydrated but no sign of beating. The police chased Ousuke to the roof. That’s when he jumped down. But luck hates him, thus, when he fell, a truck ran over him, causing his head to be separated from his body. That wasn’t the end. The head rolled off the other side of the road and a pack of wild dogs made a feast.”

    I winced. “Ow. That hurts.”

    “Well, serves him right for hurting you and Eru.”

    “And killing Ethan and Kou.” I mumbled.

    “Who?”

    “Those two were the ones who helped me get to you, helped me with water and foods and tried to get me to the police. But their friends killed them.”

    “I see. It’s a shame then. I’d like to give them two a token of gratitude. Perhaps a mansion and a lifetime supply from my company.”

    “Wow. Stop being so rich bakashi.”

    “I can’t. Or you’ll die because of starvation when we get together later.”

    I blushed and looked away.

    “Let’s survey the wedding dress.” He suggested.

    “I’m gonna die of embarrassment.”

    “Not on my watch.”

    “IT’S BECAUSE OF YOUR GAZE BAKASHI!”

    “Oh? That nervous around me?”

    I rolled my eyes and stomped out of the room, followed by the amused Akashi as he brought me to the wedding store.

____

    “This is too exposed! I’ll catch a cold!” I whined and handed back the strapless bareback white dress to Akashi outside the changing room. It has 2 hours since I start changing dresses and stuffs because all of them don’t suit his taste.

    “Oh, then should I get you a dress with fur?” he asked.

    “What? No! That’ll make me look like the villain in 101 Dalmatians!” I said.

    “Then just be naked.”

    “Akashi!”

    “Hm, wear this.” He said and handed me another dress. I closed the door and examined the dress. Smiling, I tried to wear it. [A/N: Refer to the picture above~]

.

.

.

.

10 minutes past and eventually, I managed to wear it properly. I opened the door and Akashi stared at me.

.

.

    “Stop staring.” I said.

    “No, I was wondering what took you so long. You just need to put it on, right?”

    I shrugged. “You can never understand dresses.”

    He nodded. “This is perfect.”

    I breathed out a sigh of relief. “Finally, something that you agree.”