She never thought the day would come when she would be excited for a formal party - not because of any boy this time around, but because of genuine anticipation.
It was finally the day of the engagement party. She was at her mansion's glam room, Rina expertly styling her blonde locks while her mother frantically directs the stylists to steam iron her dress to perfection.
Her heart was pounding loud against her chest, unable to focus on anything else but its erratic sound. She wonders if she was merely overreacting or if this was totally normal for a young lady, hours away from officially being engaged to the love of her life.
The party doesn't start until four more hours later but she desperately wishes it would, going slightly insane from the thought of starting this new phase in her life.
Not that it would make any difference though. Akashi and her were in the best possible place in their relationship, but something about officiating their life-long commitment in the near future was making her feel like a coy school girl again.
After hours of being dolled-up and briefed about the event, she was finally instructed to leave for the venue. As she walked through her main door, she expected to see Gorou-san, her driver waiting at the driveway, but instead, she was met with Akashi's driver Yoshino-san, his hair neatly styled and his arms behind his back.
She gulped as her gaze flew to the tinted windows of the jet-black limousine, hoping to confirm her assumption.
Why she was still nervous to see her own boyfriend even after knowing him for years and dating him for months was beyond her.
Yoshino-san bowed to her slightly and swiftly unhinged the car door, revealing deep crimson eyes already looking at her.
His gaze lingered on her for a few seconds, taking in her ruffly beige dress and her blonde hair neatly styled in a braided up-do. He was caught off-guard to say the least, and he hoped she didn't notice the way his eyes must've sparkled in admiration towards his girl.
Sayuri smiled and sat down opposite him on the seat directly behind the driver. But before she could settle down, he stood up and gestured for her to exchange seats with him.
She was about to protest when he beat her to it, "You get dizzy sitting there right?" he asked rhetorically.
She stared at him in awe, internally gushing at how he remembered her menial preferences. Simple gestures like these really made her feel like the most special women in the world and she hoped she could tell him that.
She muttered a soft 'thank you' and finally sat back down, her eyes unable to look away from the dazzling emperor before her.
Akashi was dressed in an all-black suit, crisp and ironed to perfection. His scarlet hair, which was usually unstyled, was neatly gelled back, only allowing a few loose strands to fall onto the smooth skin of his forehead.
She must have ogled at him for a second too long because she caught a small smirk appear on his lips, causing her to look away immediately and blush from being caught in the act.
"Y-You look nice today," she stuttered, her eyes wavering.
She heard him sigh and crossed his arms over his chest, "Damn it, you beat me to it," he said.
"What?" she blurted, confused with his question.
"Nothing. Guess I was too mesmerized to compliment you first," he stated with a straight face. He flickered his eyes to her and smiled, "Thank you. And you look absolutely stunning yourself, Sayuri."
The suddenness of his compliment made her heartstrings ring in absolute delight. Something about the way her name rolled off from his tongue sent pleasant shivers down her spine.
Damn you, heterochromatic idiot.
The ride to the venue consisted of Akashi endlessly teasing her; "I think Tachibana put a little too much blush on your cheeks", "You can stop staring now", "You're that into me?" - eventually, by the time they arrived, she was still a flustered mess and the redhead was thoroughly enjoying it.
All eyes were on them as they walked on the carpet leading to the entrance, her arms linked on his.
She blushed even harder when Kise's overenthusiastic jeers reached her from the side: "Woohoo! Look at that power couple go!"
She heard Akashi chuckle at his friend's comment and looked down at the girl to catch a glimpse at the expression on her face.
The venue was breathtaking - floor to ceiling windows overlooking an expansive rose garden, about twenty tables neatly arranged with candles and expensive silverware, and a custom made poster propped on the back of the stage reading 'Seijuro and Sayuri' in fancy font.
Unlike the usual rules she had to abide by during parties, her parents allowed her to take control of her night. She was allowed to mingle with her friends for as long as she wanted, heck she even forgot the adults there at some point; seems like she and Akashi's parents purposely booked another hall for themselves.
Though they made sure to gather everyone at the main hall when the host instructed Akashi and her to climb up on stage. Her heartbeat quickened as her friends cheered loudly upon noticing Akashi intertwine their fingers.
When her father and Masaomi-san finished their short speech, the mic was handed to Akashi who thanked the crowd, his friends, and his family for their presence and support.
When it was finally her turn to speak, she suddenly forgot what she was going to say in the first place, "Uh, I swear I had a whole speech planned in my mind but I guess I'm just gonna wing this right now," she admits, causing wholesome laughter to erupt from the crowd. Her friends' table was the rowdiest and somehow their supportive cheers encouraged her to keep going.
"Believe it or not, this whole engagement thing started as a huge mess," she confessed, causing the audience to quiet down. "Yeah, the reality is, I'm still a high school student with a lot of plans for my life. So yeah, I initially opposed the idea of being controlled by my parents like this."
By now Akashi held onto her free hand and she felt him squeeze it tight to comfort her.
"But that's the thing. A mere teenager like me just couldn't understand the reality of the life I had to embrace and live. I didn't try to understand why my parents thought this was the best for me and Seijuro, but..." she turned to her mother and father who sat on the closest table from the stage.
"To that I say," she immediately bowed 90 degrees towards her parents, "Hontoni Gomenasai," she apologized sincerely.
"Sorry and thank you for being so patient with me," she continued. She then turned to the Akashi's and bowed the same way, "And thank you Masaomi-san, Shiori-san for accepting me into your family wholeheartedly!" she affirmed.
The audience erupted in loud cheers and applause at her simple, but impactful speech and even Akashi was taken aback. She looked up at him and saw the proud smile on his face.
He admired the girl for her bravery and for addressing the stereotype that all arranged marriages were wrong, and he couldn't help but think; Ah, he was definitely the luckiest man in the world to see her grow into such a bold young woman.
* * *
"Hayaku Sayu-chan!" Rina prompted as she, Megumi, and Momoi pushed her down the cleared pathway of the rose garden just outside the venue.
"Okay, okay! Is the gift so big that you guys just had to place it there?" she asked. After the formal part of the party, her girl friends eagerly asked her to head outside to the garden's massive greenhouse to reveal their 'gift'.
She had no idea what it was but considering how smart and witty her friends were, she knew it was definitely something to look forward to.
"I swear if you guys got something super expensi-"
"Shhh! Just walk!" Momoi shushed her as she pushed her eagerly towards the glass door of the greenhouse.
The structure was fully lit up with warm, yellow fairy lights lining the top of the entrance. She observed the place in awe, fresh greens and wild botanical plants decorating the vicinity and she noticed a small, outdoor table set placed right in front of the mini waterfall.
"Okay, you see that? Wait there. We'll bring you the gift in a bit!" Megumi instructed. before she could question her further, the three girls scrammed out of the entrance hurriedly, leaving her all alone.
She sighed and reluctantly took a seat on the table. About a minute passed when she heard rustling from behind, and when she turned around to check who it was, she was surprised to see Midorima and Takao walking towards her.
"Yo! Hamsaki-chan! Come with us," Takao prompted, while the green-haired boy beside him nodded at her to comply.
"Huh? Ma te-" before she could protest any further, Takao gently grabbed her arm and lead her deeper into the greenhouse where they stopped on top of a wooden bridge suspended right on top of a pond.
"Okay! Stay here!" Takao said.
"Wait!"
She rubbed the back of her neck in frustration, clearly too confused to understand why her friends are driving her into their maze. But upon realizing she was way too deep into their prank, she decided to stay put and admire the giant water lilies floating below her instead.
She stared into the clear filtered water, her reflection slightly wavering with the subtle flow. She was mesmerized by its calmness when suddenly, hundreds of light reflections appeared on the surface of the pond.
Completely taken aback, she turned her attention to her surroundings and her mouth went agape.
The whole interior of the greenhouse lit up with warm string lights; decorating the trunk of the trees, hanging strategically from the high ceiling, and running through the railing of the bridge she was currently on.
Amidst her wonderment, she didn't even notice a figure walk towards her. Only when he called out her name did she realize who it was.
"Seijuro," she said, eyes still wide from the timing of his entrance.
"Oh my god, don't tell me this was the girl's 'big' surprise. What the hell...," she was dumbfounded, trying to piece everything together.
Akashi chuckled, "So you don't want it?"
"Huh?"
"Their gift. Me," he said with a smirk.
This cunning man!
"Ha ha, real funny Sei. Seriously, what's up with this? Almost got a heart attack from all the lights," she rambled as she looked around, still admiring the pleasant ambience of the structure.
"Holy shit! Is that a frog?!" she pointed towards the giant waterlily on the pond, a yellow frog sitting on top of it peacefully.
"Seijuro, look!-"
What she saw in his eyes at the moment was unlike what she ever saw before. His gaze was so soft, so loving that it cut her off mid-sentence. He sported a gentle smile on his face that communicated so many unsaid words and she wanted nothing more at that instance than to unravel exactly what he was thinking.
"Sayuri," he whispered. He gently took both of her hands into his, his thumb grazing on her skin lightly.
"I'm not very good at these kinds of things but," he was now staring at her eyes with deep admiration, "I just suddenly had this urge to tell you how much you mean to me."
"Wha-"
"I know these past few months have been a rollercoaster ride for you, for us, and I'm sorry for getting you in such tough situations. But I can't even begin to explain how grateful and lucky I am to have you by my side through it all," he continued.
"You have no idea how much I admire you and how excited I am to grow with you for the rest of our lives.
You're my safe place, my safe haven, and I can't imagine how things would've turned out I managed to push you away for good that day."
By now she was feeling a rapture of emotions stirring inside her body, and she swears to god if this isn't love, then she doesn't know what is.
"I'm sorry if I ever hurt you, but I'll make sure to love you tenfolds in advance to make up for it. I'm sorry if one day you start to feel alone. I promise I'll do my absolute best to make sure that never happens.
And thank you in advance for staying with me through it all. As cheesy as it may sound, you're my empress and my love, and I can't wait to work out our flaws together."
She couldn't speak. He took every last bit of words from her mouth, and she continued to be stunned when he reached into the inside pocket of his black suit.
"Technically, this is a bit too late, but I thought you don't deserve any less than this," he trails on as he pulled out a small velvet box.
Oh god, oh no, this is happening, oh my god.
It felt like a flash of emotions surged through her body at the speed of light. The erratic beating of her heart, the moisture of her palms, everything felt like a vivid dream.
Akashi slowly drops down on one knee, completely surrendering to his empress as he flips open the box to reveal a diamond ring.
She instinctively covered her mouth with both of her hands, eyes welling with joyful tears. A lump was stuck in the base of her throat as she stared at those heterochromatic eyes, so captivating, so enthralling.
"Hamasaki Sayuri, will you marry me?"
That did it.
Uncontrollable tears streamed down her face. She doesn't even care if it ruined the makeup Rina worked on for hours, all she could think about was Akashi. Akashi. Akashi.
Still caught in a daze, she nodded her head vigorously, "Yes. Yes! Of course!"
As if on cue, a string of hollers and cheers rang through the whole greenhouse as her friends and Akashi's whole basketball team revealed themselves from hiding. Their cheers excitedly rose up in volume when Akashi slipped the band onto her ring finger, placing a soft peck on the back of her hand before getting back up.
He chuckled slightly when he noticed the tears staining her beautiful face and he reached out a hand to wipe them away.
Sayuri, fueled by her emotions immediately wrapped her arms around him in a tight, meaningful embrace. She held onto him hoping her utmost deepest feelings would reach him and he squeezed her tighter in response.
She was still sobbing when she finally deciphered her friend's comments; "Finally! Oh my god!", "Quick! Take a pic Reo-nee!", "Who would've fucking thought, right Satsuki?"
She grinned against his chest and chucked through her happy tears.
"I really hate you, Seijuro,"
He chuckles and grabbed her face, placing a quick chaste peck on her soft lips, "Wanna say that again?"
She blushed harder and buried her face back into his chest as he held her lovingly in his arms.
"I love you too, Hamasaki Sayuri."
At that moment, as she looked up at him with enchanted eyes, she realized one thing that echoed in her Akashi-pervaded mind.
Maybe 'love' wasn't a strong enough word to describe her feelings, but if there was one thing she learnt from 'loving' him, it was the fact that every person can freely make their own definition of love.
And it just so happens that her's was him.
----
(A/N)
Okay so, the next chapter may or may not be the last one...
Hope you guys stick till' the end!