It was a picture of Akashi Seijuurou, with a girl linking her arms with him – with a face so eerily familiar to her own.
Yuurei felt the world spun as she stared at the picture situated neatly inside the broken frame. Her heartbeat quickened and her emotions swirled relentlessly, unsure of what to feel at the moment and her mind fall into a blank state, unable to get the image of the smiling girl that stood next to Akashi Seijuurou out from her head.
Just as she about to look at the picture again, Yuurei heard the door clicked open. She almost fumbled while placing back the broken frame at its original place and quickly turned to look at the figure leaning on the doorframe. It was Akashi and his piercing gaze was definitely fixed on her intently, as if analysing her and Yuurei could only silently prayed that Akashi wouldn't notice her little discovery on his desk.
"Good morning to you, Yuurei," he greeted as he walked in casually, his lips forming a smirk, "I hope you have a good slumber last night."
If her face was pale due to what she discovered a few minutes ago, now her cheeks were stained with crimson as she suddenly realized where exactly she was right now. Thanks to his unnecessary words too, Yuurei was quite sure that Akashi wouldn't notice her disturbed self just now. That being said, the thoughts of the discovery just now surely wouldn't leave her mind unless she decided to do something about it – which was quite impossible since it was involving Akashi Seijuurou.
Thus, Yuurei composed herself again – faking it from Akashi who thought she was trying to calm down from his words earlier. "How did I end up here anyway?" she asked without any hesitancy, only to realize how hoarse and horrible her voice sounded due to the fact she just woken up. Once again, a blush blossomed on her cheeks as Akashi's smirk grew wider and she immediately cleared her throat while throwing a nasty glare in his direction.
"Believe it or not, a certain someone was crying on the street last night and out of pity and considerable sympathy, I consoled that someone until she ungracefully fall asleep in my arms." Akashi crossed his arms as he moved closer towards where she stood.
A part of her wanted to deny what Akashi just said, but considering she did wake up with a throbbing headache this morning, she had no other choice but to believe whatever he said. With a frown, Yuurei simply muttered, "Oh," a fragment of silence ensued between them and she finally spoke, her voice barely a whisper, "Thank you."
Noticing the lack of enthusiasm in her reactions, Akashi raised a brow at her attitude. "Oh? What makes Yuurei so quiet this morning?" he said as he begin circling the girl who just stood there, almost impassive. There was something different about her and somehow he couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was yet.
"I can be quiet whenever I want, Akashi," she replied back harshly, "And I just thanked you, isn't that better than giving you a verbal fight at this hour?"
"So you believed what I said?"
"I don't think you are desperate enough to kidnap someone – so yeah, I do believe your story even though it sounded a tad bit exaggerated."
Akashi now stood in front of her as he searched for her eyes. Yuurei, noticing the sudden intrusion into her personal space, wanting nothing more than to move a step backward to avoid the scrutiny his gaze held but a pair of hands immediately clasped on both of her shoulders as she tried to move. The action initiated from him almost made her stumble but luckily, she did not fell.
Irritated by the sudden contact made by Akashi, Yuurei looked straight into his eyes and for a moment, she felt her breath caught on her throat. His mismatch gaze was intense with feelings that she couldn't name – it resembled a tsunami of emotions resembling pain and regret and melancholy mostly – and hidden behind those eyes were a story of agony and sorrow, of love and loss.
She never fully grasp how he look like because all this time, they were bickering with each other but now – she had always known that Akashi Seijuurou was an attractive young man – looking directly at him, she saw how his scarlet red hair framed his chiselled face beautifully, along with his mesmerizing eyes and once more, she felt her heart skip a beat when she finally realized what she truly felt.
How could somebody so beautiful held a gaze that looked so sad and helpless at the same time?
And it made her fall for him harder.
Snapping out from her daze, her eyes widen when Akashi lowered his head and bumped his forehead with hers. Despite the touch, Akashi's eyes never once leaving hers making her tripping on her words, "W-what?"
"As I thought, there's something definitely wrong with you." Standing straight once more, Akashi made no attempt on removing his hands on the girl's shoulders. "Is it about what happened last night?" he asked and Yuurei instantly shook her head. How could she ever describe whatever emotions she felt a moment ago? Especially when their eyes met with each other's, it probably lasted for a few seconds, but during that short period of time, a thousand thoughts passed through her head.
Feeling a little overwhelmed, Yuurei asked, "May I go to the bathroom?" As much as she thought herself to experience a romantic scene similar to the shoujo manga she read, she knew her appearance was completely messy as she was still wearing her clothes from last night and she need to clean herself up. And to think that the redhead actually went to see her when she looked like she a survived a fight during a storm made her cringed.
Akashi gave her a quick nod before releasing his grip on her shoulder. "I'm expecting you after this at the dining room. You can just take any shirt to wear for this morning." Yuurei nodded her head as she saw a few shirts – how come she didn't notice it before? – sprawled on the bed while he walked out from the room.
.
Sitting on the dining table to have breakfast with Akashi Seijuurou in his own house already caused her to be nervous, but in addition to the fact she was currently wearing his shirt right in front of him made her wanting to magically disappear from his prying eyes.
"Red suits you well, Yuurei." He commented with unhidden amusement at her discomfort.
"I don't think I was given any other choices back there." She replied hastily because it was true, the three shirts that he prepared for her only differed in their shades of red – making her wonder just how much he was infatuated with the colour red. Could it be related to the girl on the picture that she saw on his room earlier?
"So, are you going to talk? Or do I have to make the initiative first?" Apparently, there was no point in pointless conversation, so Akashi just went straight to the main subject. He watched her movements and reactions, wanting to know the reason for the tears she shed last night.
"Do I really have to tell you that?"
"Yes, since I've been involved in this matter."
"How?" She tried to avoid from telling him what happened last night but this was Akashi Seijuurou she was dealing with and this particular redhead never take a 'no' for an answer.
So she ended telling him the whole event, leaving the part that it was her father's request that made her end up in that miserable situation. Akashi listened attentively, interrupting when needed but never commented on anything yet. It almost felt like she was ranting her disbeliefs and misery to the point she felt a hot sensation on the corner of her eyes, but she kept on continuing. In the end, she just looked down – just anywhere and anything except for Akashi – as the memories of yesterday flooded in her mind.
What happened to Hamada?
Did her father find out where she was right now?
If yes, then it might give Akashi an unavoidable trouble by letting her stay the night here.
If no, what should she do at this situation?
"So it was Hamada who made you cry last night?" The question that slipped out from his lips made her stunned and she roughly caught a flicker of ire across his beautiful face for an instant. Or was it just her imagination?
"Well, it's not like Hamada wanted to make me cry. I told you just now, right?" she paused, "I cried because I feel too overwhelmed and I am having an emotional distress."
"You cried because you're betrothed to him, don't you?"
"True, because it's completely unexpected and shocking. But like I said before, Hamada did nothing wrong to me."
Looking at Akashi's impassive face, she knew nothing she said will change his mind. Sighing, she simply said to Akashi that she needed to be home. Luckily, no more words exchanged between them. The talk they had just now was tense and Yuurei hoped that the redhead wasn't scheming anything bad to Hamada – and why did he became so disturbed by the fact she cried last night? There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but she knew that none of it will be answered.
Before she left, Yuurei thanked him but the redhead was completely occupied with whatever he was thinking that he didn't even respond to her greetings.
.
Later that day, Akashi went to his bedroom and something caught his attention. It was Yuurei's cell phone that situated on the nightstand next to his bed. She'd probably checked her cell phone earlier this morning and completely forgotten about it the next moment. 'Seriously, what a klutz,' he thought as he took the cell phone from the nightstand. 'Her phone's completely ridiculous too,' those words passed through his mind as he inspected the accessories she put on her cell phone.
Usually, Akashi wasn't intrigued by one's belonging because he respected their privacy, but upon seeing several unread messages sent by that one person that he directed his wrath to, made his curiosity peaked. Obviously the cell phone was guarded with a password, making Akashi clicked his tongue softly but he tried several combinations until he succeeded at last. Opening it, he felt an emotion flickered deep in his heart when he saw the name of the sender that appeared on the screen – but he wasn't sure what it was.
|| CLASS REP HAMADA – 07:38 ||
Nakazuki, are you okay ??
|| CLASS REP HAMADA – 07:40 ||
did you get home safely? i shouldn't just left u there
|| CLASS REP HAMADA – 07:43 ||
sorry for last night Nakazuki
|| CLASS REP HAMADA – 07:44 ||
is it possible if we meet up this evening?
at the book café by the park
at 5 okay?
i'll be waiting
A smile appeared on his lips. It was truly unfortunate this guy named Hamada because he just incurred his wrath for playing with his belonging. While his heart was still conflicted by the resemblance of Rena in that girl, Yuurei was not Rena and she will never be – the wheels of fate sent her to him as a mere plaything and nothing else. Nevertheless, Akashi would make sure that nobody could have Yuurei because no matter what happen, what belonged to him was his only. He smirked – perhaps he just found an interesting event today and nothing could stop him from having his fun.
.
As the clock struck 5.00, Hamada Akito was seated on one of the tables while lightly tapping his fingers on the surface of the wooden table. His eyes wandered around, hoping to catch the figure of the one he wanted to meet today. He was pretty sure that Nakazuki read his messages, but there was no reply given and that made him feel slightly worried. What if Nakazuki hated him now for the stupid arrangement that their parents made? He sighed.
Minutes passed and suddenly, someone sat on the seat opposite from him. Hamada frowned when he saw a certain redhead with mismatched eyes sat there rather than the one he was waiting for. It was Akashi Seijuurou, the president of the Student Council of Rakuzan. What could he possibly want from him? "Akashi-san? Why are you here?" he asked, when he felt Akashi Seijuurou's cold gaze on himself.
"It's nice to meet you, Hamada Akito." Akashi said nonchalantly and that made Hamada astonished. How did he know his name? Did he memorize everyone's name on the school? Most importantly, why was he here instead of Nakazuki?
"Perhaps there are many thoughts running through your mind right now," Akashi paused for a while, "But I'm here to talk to you. Regarding someone we both know."
"About Nakazuki then?"
"Indeed."
.
HAHAHAHA I'm back with another super late update. Hope all of you enjoy the story so far, because the ending for this story is still unknown lol – I might be torn between happy endings and anguish ones. As usual, pardon my bad grammar mistakes and this is unedited. Votes and comments are much appreciated!
Yaaaassssss
kisekiyukira