Chapter 86: Valentine Wish
Sigh. Since I've got nothing to do today, I should try finishing the song that I was asked to compose for that upcoming television drama; it's not like I have anything better to do here at home. The apartment really is too big for one person alone. I can't believe that I won't be seeing Ai for a month or so! It's cool that he got a big job like that...but but but—it's been three weeks already and I really miss him! He's so busy that he only calls when he's free which is usually thirty minutes a week!
I think back on the day when he told me that he'll be accepting that job...
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We were having breakfast and while we were eating, Ai brought up something.
"Kaori, I have something to tell you."
"Hm? What is it?"
"I was offered to be part of a Marriage Contract's wedding event in commemoration of their 20th anniversary and I decided to accept the job."
"Marriage Contract? That's a big company! Will you be modelling for them?"
"Yes, along with other people that they've decided to offer a chance to take part; some of us will also perform and do other things requested by Marriage Contract. Reiji, Ranmaru, and Camus were also offered the job and they've accepted it; Quartet Night will be together in the project."
"Is that so? I look forward to the event then! Good luck in your job then!" I said happily.
Ai seems a little down. Is there a problem with the job with Marriage Contract?
"You seem...a little down, Ai."
"Kaori, I will be leaving on the 20th since work will start on the 21st; I won't be around for at least a month."
"E-Eh?! Why?! Why are you leaving? What do you mean?!"
"The preparations for the event and the event itself will be held in Niigata; I won't have time to go back and forth every day so I'll be staying at a hotel with Reiji and the others in Niigata for the entire duration of the project."
"Oh...I see...Okay."
I feel a little sad inside but I do my best to keep smiling.
"Will you be okay by yourself?" he asks with concern.
"I'll be fine! There won't be any problem at all!"
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely! You go on ahead and do your best for Marriage Contract's event, okay? Do your best as always!"
He looks at me with an unconvinced face and then he reaches for my cheek.
"I'll call you whenever I'm free."
"I'll always be waiting for your call." I smile and hold his hand that's on my cheek.
I then look at his plate. "Now finish those vegetables on the side of your plate."
Ai looks at them. "But...those aren't particularly delicious..."
"You can't leave for work unless you eat those."
"That's fine by me." He says bluntly.
"W-What?! No way, Ai! You have to go to work!"
"Then let me go this time?"
"No can do either! Ugh, I have no choice!"
I then force him to eat the unwanted vegetables by feeding it to him without letting him go.
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Sigh...
I sulk on the sofa while holding my music sheets in my arms. I said that I'd be okay but I lied...It's work and work is important so I shouldn't be selfish at times like this. I'll just endure it and do my best on my end!
I get off of the sofa and enter the practice room; I head over to sit on the piano. I spread out the music sheets I've been editing for quite a while now and start playing the parts I've finalized. This part is perfect so I'm not going to touch that anymore. This part is good but I think it could be better; maybe I should change it like this.
As the workaholic that I am takes over, I ended up composing till the evening. Instead of finish that one song that I had to submit soon, I ended up finishing all of my composing jobs; sometimes I just end up surprising myself that it becomes kind of scary. Ah, look at the time! I haven't eaten since this morning! I should prepare dinner. As I enter the kitchen, I notice the bag of groceries that I left on the counter. I bought those ingredients just in case Ai would be able to come home tomorrow since tomorrow is February 14...If he can't come then I could still use them for myself for lunch or dinner tomorrow.
I took a bath after eating and watched television a little. The whole time, my cell phone was with me wherever I went. Even when I was taking a bath, my phone was nearby. However, no matter how long I waited, Ai never called; I guess that he was busy today too and probably went to bed early to rest. I prepared to go to sleep but when I was tucked in, I just couldn't sleep so I ended up waiting for two more hours; I fell asleep while holding my phone in my left hand.
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*ding dong ding dong*
"Hnn...What?"
*ding dong ding dong*
I slowly sit up on the bed. What is that annoying sound?
*ding dong ding dong*
Ah! That's the doorbell! I got out of the bed and quickly made myself look presentable.
*ding dong ding dong*
"Coming!"
I rushed down the stairs and headed for the door.
"Y-Yes?!"
"Mam, are you Ms. Yamashita Kaori?"
"Yes, I am."
"This is a package for you."
The deliveryman hands me a medium sized box. He left after I signed the papers. What could be inside? It's a bit heavy so it must be really full.
I place the box on the living room table and noticed that there was an envelope attached to the side of the box. I take the envelope and open it; there's a yellow card inside.
I read what's written in black script, "Don't open this box until I call you. Don't cheat, okay? Please wait for me to call you tonight."
Is this from Ai?! Wait a minute, if he's calling me tonight, then it means that he won't be coming home today...So he won't be here for Valentine's Day.
I kept the box on the table and kept myself busy for the rest of the day. I just need to be busy today; busy until the day passes or until the call comes.
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"Whaaa! Nothing beats a nice warm bath after cleaning the whole apartment!"
I drop dead onto the sofa and looked at the box that was sitting on the table on front of me. I wonder what time he'll be calling. I hope that he won't be calling too late and I definitely hope that he didn't forget that he was going to call me!
The sofa feels so comfortable after taking a bath. Maybe a short nap won't do any harm. I'll just close my eyes for a little while; just for a short while.
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*ring ring ring ring ring*
"Hnn..."
*ring ring ring ring ring*
"Hnn...AH! How long was I asleep?!" I immediately got up and notice my phone.
*ring ring ring ring ring*
I immediately pick it up.
"H-Hello?!"
"...Kaori?"
"Ai!"
"I've been calling your phone for a while. I was starting to worry that you wouldn't pick up..."
"Ah! I'm sorry! Um, I cleaned the apartment today and then I took a bath and then well...I took a nap on the sofa and woke up just now..."
"You cleaned the whole apartment by yourself? It must have been tiring; thank you for your hard work then."
"It was okay. It wasn't that difficult since the apartment is usually clean. How are you over there?"
"I honestly am quite tired; we have a lot of things to do—modelling, singing, acting, it's like a one package deal of jobs. Then project head from Marriage Contract is really strict and wants everything to be perfect. Every time we head back to the hotel, I just fall asleep immediately."
"Whaa, sounds really hard! Are you eating properly and sleeping enough? Take care of yourself; I don't want you to get sick or anything."
"Yes. I will take care of myself. How about you? How are you there?"
"It's kind of lonely without you." Very lonely, actually.
"I miss you."
"I miss you too, Ai. It's too quiet here at home without you."
"Kaori, I'm sorry that I couldn't come home today."
"It's okay, I understand so don't let it bother you."
"I don't think that being alone and cleaning the house on Valentine's Day is a good way to celebrate; I wanted to spend the day with you."
"Me too..."
"Will you be eating out for dinner?"
I remember the ingredients that I bought. "There's no way I'd eat out by myself today! Haha. I'll be cooking something for dinner; I bought some ingredients yesterday just in case you'd come home."
"...I'm sorry."
"I said it's okay; there's no need to apologize. It's okay."
"I'll make it up to you when I get the chance to take a day off and return home; I'll take you out somewhere nice. I promise."
How sweet of him; he's so thoughtful.
"Did you make something for me?"
"Well...I was going to cook something special for dinner and I did make some chocolates for you since it's Valentine's Day."
"...I want to go home right now."
"You have work, silly."
"Sigh...I'm sure it tastes good."
"Of course! I would never give you anything that tastes bad. Since you won't be able to eat the chocolates I made, I'll just eat them myself."
"Eh? Don't do that; those were meant for me. Keep them in the fridge and I'll eat them when I get back."
"Oh fine." I chuckle.
"Did you receive my package?"
I take the box from the table and put it on my lap.
"Yes, I received it this morning. It's kind of heavy; what did you put inside?"
"You can open it now."
"Okay. I'll open it."
I remove the red ribbon and pink wrapper. I lift the cover of the box and to my surprise—there were two boxes of chocolate and a box of bear shaped cookies. A gentle smile forms on my face.
"Ai...you didn't have to."
"I hope you'll like them; they taste good."
"I'm sure they do. You really didn't have to get me anything. Um, it's Valentine's Day...not White Day; the girls are supposed to be the givers today."
"I can't wait for White Day to give you something in return. I want to be able to respond to your feeling as soon as possible all the time; I want to make you feel my love as fast as I can convey them."
"Oh Ai, thank you."
"Happy Valentine's Day, Kaori. I love you."
"Happy Valentine's Day, Ai. I love you very much too."
"Did you find the dress?"
"Dress? What dress?"
"It's underneath the chocolates and cookies."
I take out the chocolate and cookies to find a red dress nicely folded at the bottom. I take the dress out and it look beautiful.
"Ai, what's this dress for?"
"I bought that dress because I thought that it would suit you and I want you to wear it when I get back."
"How come?"
"We'll go on a date when I get back since we couldn't have one today."
I feel my face getting warm. "O-Okay. Do your best at work...so you can come home soon."
"I can't wait to return to you."
I move up to the bedroom with his gifts in my arms. I listen to him talk about Niigata as I put the dress into my closet and the chocolates and cookies on the side table; he says that Niigata is a nice place and that he'd like to go back there with me some time. I told him that it's not a bad idea.
I sit on the bed and continued to listen to him. His stories and complaints about the project are amusing to listen too; I find his complaints about the project head to be funny. As I listened to his voice, I started getting sleepy. I became less responsive and after a while, I fell asleep.
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"Kaori? Hello?"
She doesn't respond.
"...Kaori?"
She must have fallen asleep; it's late after all and I just kept talking. I'll just wake her up myself when I reach the apartment; I hope she covered herself properly. It's a good thing that the project head got sick; he won't be able to facilitate tomorrow's session and the day after as well. We'll have two days off this way. I'll be seeing you soon, Kaori.
Looking outside the window of the shinkansen, I wait for my arrival at Tokyo station.
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I can smell perfume....where is it coming from? I feel something like an arm on top of me.
I open my eyes and I wake up immediately to find the person I want to be with most lying beside me on the bed. Is this a dream? Ai is supposed to be in Niigata right now. Is he really here by my side?
He's looking at me with a smile. Was he watching me sleep?
"Ai?" I called out his name meekly.
"Good morning, Kaori."
He kisses my forehead and that's when I knew that this isn't a dream; he's really here.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Niigata, working?"
"The project head got sick and as soon as we were told that we won't be working for the next two days because of that, I took the shinkansen to come back. I arrived here past twelve midnight; you were already asleep so I just got in bed with you."
I looked at Ai.
"You didn't change your clothes before sleeping? You're still wearing your black slacks and white polo shirt; you didn't even undo your neck tie."
"I was too tired to change my clothes. I just wanted to get in bed with you when I came home."
He pulls me closer and buries his face on my shoulder.
"I'm home."
"Welcome home, Ai. You've worked har—" Eh?! What is he doing?!
"Indeed I have been working really hard. I think that I deserve a little reward."
E-Eh?! W-Wha—?!
I flinched as he started kissing my neck and shoulder area.
"Ai, s-stop that...!" I said embarrassingly as I try to push him off but I feel weak from his kisses so I barely could shake him off. This is so embarrassing!
"Ai..." I said weakly.
He stops and kisses my lips. My face is burning and I don't know how to respond to his wicked smile directed at me.
"Um, would you like to have breakfast?"
"Only if it's you."
"W-What are you—"
"I'm just teasing. I'll go get changed."
Ai gets out of bed and starts changing into house clothes. I hid under the bed's blanket and curled up like a cat; he could have waited till I left the room first! I could hear a soft chuckle; he's probably laughing at me!
"Kaori, I'm done changing; you can come out now."
"No."
"Why not?"
"I don't want to."
"You do know that breakfast won't cook itself. If you won't come out, I'll go cook breakfast."
"Ah! No! I'll make breakfast!"
I sprang out of bed and rushed to the kitchen. I didn't want him to make breakfast because I remembered that I kept the chocolates that I made for him in the fridge. When I reached the kitchen, I noticed that the ingredients that I bought are still on the counter. Didn't I cook them for dinner last night? Wait, did I even eat dinner last night?
I think for a moment.
I remember it now; I didn't get to make dinner because I fell asleep while on the phone with Ai. Well, at least I'll be able to cook this for him. It's a good thing that I didn't get to eat dinner last night!
"Ai! I finished making breakfast!" I said from the bottom of the staircase.
"I'm coming. I just had to wash some clothes in the washing machine."
He comes down.
"For work?"
"Yes and for tonight."
"Are you going somewhere tonight?"
"Did you forget what I said last night over the phone? I did say that we'll go out on a date when I get back so don't forget to wear the red dress tonight."
"O-Okay."
We sit at the table and he looks surprised with the food.
"Um, this is what I was going to prepare if you were going to be here last night."
"I thought you used the ingredients for dinner last night?"
"Well, when I fell asleep while we were talking on the phone, I didn't wake up anymore so I didn't get to make dinner. Haha."
"So you haven't eaten since lunch yesterday? You should eat a lot then."
"You too. You look like you lost some weight, Ai. Eat as much as you'd like."
Ai looks happy while he's eating; I guess he likes it. I'll give him my chocolates when he's done eating; I'm sure he'll like them.
I start washing the dishes after we ate and he went to check on the clothes he placed in the washing machine. I quickly finish up and take his chocolates out from the fridge. I go over to the sofa and started writing on the card; I forgot to write a message. What should I write? Just putting Happy Valentine's Day is kind of boring. I'll just write down whatever I feel at the moment; I've always been like that so it must be okay this way.
"Happy Valentine's Day. You're the most lovable and adorable lover that I could ever ask for. I love you very much, Kaori."
Wait, was I saying that out loud while I was writing? I don't think so. Maybe I was just hearing things—
"There you go calling me adorable again."
"Ai?!"
Before I could even look back, he hugs me from behind the sofa.
"Did you make those?"
"Yes, I made them for you."
I tap his head with the box of chocolates I made.
"I made these chocolate truffles for you. Belated Happy Valentine's Day, Ai." I said embarrassingly. I can't believe he read out loud the message; he's such a tease.
"Thank you very much." He says happily.
I open the television and he sits beside me on the sofa; I try to look for a good show that we could both watch for the mean time. He opens the box of chocolates as I flick the channels and takes one.
"Kaori, say ah."
"B-But those are for you."
"I want you to eat at least one. Please?"
Ugh. I hate it when he asks me like that; it's really not fair. I don't think anyone could refuse him if he asks like that.
I open my mouth and he inserts a small piece inside. I didn't expect what he did after that! Right after he puts the piece of chocolate in my mouth, he kissed me! He didn't stop until the piece of chocolate melted away in our mouths; it was a really sweet kiss...
"Ai...l-lately you've been becoming...um...bolder?" I think that's the word that would best describe what I'm thinking at the moment? I think?
"Do you dislike it?"
"W-Well...not entirely. I'm just wondering why you're acting this way at times...um, that's all."
"My feelings for you have been constantly growing and lately, there are times when I can't keep myself in control. I am a man and to be honest, there are times when I want to touch you more than needed."
"But Ai..."
"I know. I promised you, didn't I? I won't go past the line but could you at least let me get close to it? I would never step on it nor go past it until I know that I can. Is that absolutely alright with you? Tell me, Kaori."
"That's...It's alright with me."
Ai's feelings are so strong. I'm amazed by how he controls himself; it must be really hard to restrain his feelings to a certain limit. If only...
"I'm happy to hear that. Thank you, Kaori."
He pulls me into an embrace and I can feel his warmth spreading into me. Oh Ai...
"I also think that it's Reiji and Ranmaru's fault why I'm falling into such a problematic state."
"Eh? Ranmaru-senpai? I understand why you would say Rei-chan but why Ranmaru-senpai too?"
"Well..."
"Are they treating you badly? Are they telling you unpleasant things?"
Ai looks away from me and lets out a deep sigh. "Telling...more like teaching..."
"W-What?"
"It's nothing. It's best if you know nothing." He pats my head.
Huh? I don't understand...
"Oh look!"
I point at the television.
"They're showing a movie starring Hyuuga-sensei."
"I haven't seen this one yet."
"Neither have I. I bet it's going to be good."
"For sure."
Ai and I just lazed around the house for the rest of the day until evening.
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*knock knock*
"Kaori, are you ready to go?"
"Just a minute."
I take one last look at myself on the mirror. The red dress he gave me looks nice on me. It's an A line off shoulder dress with the skirt of the dress ending just below my knees. I decided not to tie my hair and just let it down; I curled the ends a little to give it some style. My shoes are silver colored heels that aren't too tall and my purse is black. The jewelry that I'm wearing is just a pair of simple silver earrings, a silver necklace with a star shaped pendant, and the ring that Ai gave me. My makeup is just powder, red lipstick, and black eyeliner; simple and enough.
I take one deep breath and step outside the bedroom.
"I-I'm ready." I said nervously.
"...Maybe we shouldn't go out after all."
"Eh? Why? Do I look bad? I could always change if you'd like."
"It's not that you look bad...you look great; the dress suits you very well. I don't want other people to see you look like this; it makes me want to keep you all to myself."
"But I didn't make dinner..." I said with a flushed face.
He takes my hand pulls me towards him; I end up hugging him.
"It can't be helped then. Just make sure not leave my side; I don't want someone taking you away from me."
"Don't worry. I wouldn't leave your side; I don't want to anyway."
"Let's go then and enjoy the night."
"Yeah. Um, you look good too, Ai; you look good in your suit."
"Thank you, I'm happy to be complemented by such a beautiful woman."
You know what, when Rei-chan and Kurosaki-senpai comes back, I'm going to give them a piece of my mind!
We took a taxi and set out into the night streets of Tokyo. Ai takes me to different places all night long with no rest. It was really exciting and fun and I could tell that he planned this ahead of time; perhaps he planned this during his free time just in case he gets the opportunity to come back home.
People had their Valentine's Day celebrations on the 14th but Ai and I had it on the 15th. It didn't matter to us so much that we celebrated on a different day because what mattered most was that we were having fun together without a care in the world. The most memorable thing that happened during our date? We went to a bar and I found out that Ai can hold his alcohol well; I was surprised. I asked him about it and he told me that Rei-chan once forced him to drink and they drank so much that they both became drunk. Ever since then, he doesn't get tipsy easily; I guess he got used to it? Hmm...I hope that we won't have a hangover tomorrow when we wake up; it's good thing we don't have work tomorrow.