I didn't want to wake up that morning. I felt extremely low. I couldn't stop thinking about Gōjun. I had no idea why he was behaving like this, or even, what took over him on the previous day. I didn't know how to face him so much I felt uneasy.
However, I didn't see him that whole day.
Shunsui informed me that Gōjun was going to spend the day at his dōjō. With his fractured rib, he had not had the chance to practice a lot, but now that he was completely healed, it was time for him to get back to it. On his side, Shunsui left to spend the day at the Zaibatsu with Tsubasa-sama. He asked me to accompany him, but I refused politely. I felt too low to leave the house, but also, I wanted to give the two of them the occasion to spend some time alone with each other.
On my side, I spent the whole day at times in the kitchen, at times in my bed.
The sun was about to set when I heard a knock on the front door. I went to get it immediately. I thought that it was Shunsui, but when I opened the door, I saw that it was Gōjun. He was coming straight out of his Kendō practice and was still wearing his hakama and hakamashita. He was carrying a bag in his hand.
'Gōjun…' I whispered, my heart skipping a beat at his sight, and lowering my eyes, uneasily, I backed away to allow him in.
He closed the door behind him with his hand and took a swift look around the living room, searching for Shunsui.
'Shunsui is not home yet,' I informed him, timidly, without looking up.
'I see,' he stated, and I felt his eyes returned on me to fixate me. I became even more uncomfortable.
'I- I'll be in my room,' I told him, rapidly, and on this, I turned around, preparing to scoot away when, without giving any warning, he let go of his bag and reaching out for my wrist to seize it, he forced me back around such that I was facing him again. At the same time, he pulled me closer to him, his other hand coming around my waist to hold me into place.
I stared into his eyes, my heart picking up speed.
The next second, his mouth came over mine. I tried to push him back, tears coming to my eyes, making them sting, my heart fluttering.
But he continued to kiss me for a moment, before his mouth came down to onto my neck.
'Gōjun, stop!' I cried, and this time, I successfully managed to shove him backward.
Breaking into sobs, I dashed past him to yank the door open and run out of the house. The moment I stepped off the porch, I came across of Shunsui who was arriving just yet. The reddish-brown-haired young man came to a stop to ask me what was wrong, but I didn't pause down and simply continued to run, making for the gate.
***
Shunsui Shigeizumi stared after the crying dark-haired girl for a minute, before he looked through the doorway of the house at Gōjun Shoran's face. He had no doubt about the reason why the girl was in this state.
'Gōjun...' he said, in a serious tone, entering the door. 'Why are you behaving like a real pervert with her?! No, in fact, you know what? Don't answer me! I'm going to tell you! The thing is that you feel attracted to Hime, you've fallen in love with her, but you're trying to convince yourself that it's only physical! This is only because you're scared! You're too scared to open your heart to her! Gōjun, you know, just like me, that she will never make you suffer! You have to open your heart to her! If you continue like this, you will lose her!'
Gōjun's eyes went wide at the reddish-brown-haired young man, his heart trembling not only at the thought that he could be in love with the girl, but also, at the idea of losing her.
Putting his hand down onto his friend's shoulder, Shunsui told him, earnestly, 'Go after her!'
And on this, Gōjun took after the dark-haired girl without losing a second, his heart palpitating in his chest, his eyes desperately searching for her on the street. He managed to catch sight of the girl in the distance. She was walking away, crying to herself.
He ran to catch up with her.
'Hime!' he called out, and the dark-haired girl paused down instantly to look at him, her expression filled with surprise, without any doubt due to the fact that it was the very first time that she could hear him calling her by her name.
He grabbed her hand before she could try to run away.
'I'm sorry,' he told her, fervently. 'Please, forgive me! I promise that I'll stop behaving like a pervert with you!'
His apology didn't seem to leave her unaffected.
She stared at him in the eyes for a minute, trying desperately to control her tears, before she nodded to acknowledge his apology, croaking out, 'Okay.'
'Thank you,' he whispered, gratefully.
As he held the dark-haired girl's gaze, he couldn't stop thinking about what Shunsui had said.
Is he right? Am I... in love with her?
He decided to accompany the girl back to the house after that, but he didn't stay. He left for his own home, still pondering over what the reddish-brown-haired young man had said.
When he arrived at his house, he found Kenren in his office. The dark-haired male had returned home earlier today.
'Gōjun, can I speak to you for a minute?'
'Yes, of course,' the teenager answered.
'Well, in fact, there is something that I wanted to ask you.'
The dark-haired man seemed to be hesitating.
'What is it?'
'As you already know, Katsura and I have already fixed the date of our wedding. Since we'll be getting married in less than two weeks, I was thinking that maybe she could shift in with us in the meantime. Of course, we'll be sleeping in separate rooms until the ceremony. But if you find it too inappropriate for her to shift in with us before the wedding...'
'You don't have to ask me this question, because I think the answer is already quite obvious, yes?' Gōjun told him, a small smile coming to his lips. 'It's about time that there is a feminine presence in this house!'
Kenren lowered his head to smile too. 'Thanks.'
'I'll be upstairs in my room if you need me.'
'Okay.'
As Gōjun entered his bedroom, he pondered over the older male's relationship with the the brown-haired woman. Immediately, his mind drifted off to a certain dark-haired girl, and to his great surprise, his heart stopped trembling.
***
The following day...
Katsura-san had called me last night to announce to me that she was moving in with Kenren and Gōjun.
The date of their wedding had been fixed, and with the ceremony so close, we were all beaming with even greater eagerness than before. It was beautiful to watch two persons so much in love with each other and ready to spent the rest of their lives together.
As such, Gōjun, Shunsui, Tsubasa-sama and I, together with the dark-haired male, found ourselves at her home early in the morning to help her to pack her things. She had already started to pack up from the night before, and by noon, we had finished.
Kenren Shoran and I held her hand as she bid goodbye to her apartment and landlady.
'Are you scared?' I asked her, softly.
'No,' she replied, looking at the dark-haired male's face to gaze at him with a smile. 'I have found the man of my life.'
A smile came to my lips too, and I lowered my eyes, my heart filled with contentment.
By dusk, we were done shifting all her things to her new home and we had helped her settle down. Neko-chan, Taro-chan, Upo-chan, and Niou-niisan seemed to be getting along well with little Yamcha, and they had made the side yard of the house their playing ground.
'Niou-niisan, is that you?' I said, softly, as I approached one of the empty boxes lying on the side yard of the house. The box was moving.
The five balls of fur were apparently playing hide and seek.
Feeling equally playful, I bent down slightly to reach out for the box with one of my hands, preparing to uncover it when, unexpectedly, a hand came past my upper-arm to grab hold of my hand, before I could touch it.
I looked over my shoulder instantly at the person who had arrived behind me and was leaning over me. That person was none other than Gōjun!
My eyes returned to the front when I felt him slip something on my annular with his other hand, only for my breath to catch and my cheeks to redden when I saw that it was a ring!
'Gojun, wha- what does this mean?' I stammered in a panic, turning around to face him,
He had straightened up now.
As I looked as the ring properly, I blushed even harder when I realized that it resembled an engagement ring!
'Is- Is this an engagement ring?!'
I was about to take it off in complete panic, but he put his hand over mine, stopping me.
'Don't you dare take it off!' he stated, his voice stern. 'If you do, I promise that I'll kill you!'
I flinched, all color draining out of my face.
His expression was terrifying.
Turning his face to the side then, he muttered at me, grumpily, 'Now, hurry up! The others are about to leave! They're waiting for you!'
And digging his hands into the pockets of his jeans, he flung around and started to make his way towards the front of the house. I stared after him for a few seconds, then at the ring I was wearing on my finger, my mind dancing in confusion.
What does this mean?
I followed after him a minute later to catch up with Shunsui and Tsubasa-sama, and soon, the three of us were sitting in the car, heading for the reddish-brown-haired young man's house.
Gōjun wasn't going to dine with us this evening; he had decided to stay at home with his father and Katsura-san. On her side, Tsubasa-sama had something to do at the Zaibatsu, and so she wouldn't dine with us either.
Some times after we had dropped her at the Zaibatsu, Shunsui seemed to notice something.
'Hime, what is this ring?' he asked me, lifting my left hand slightly up, while cupping his chin. 'It resembles an engagement ring, yes?!'
I flushed up.
'It- It's Gōjun who gave it to me earlier,' I stuttered, lowering my eyes and squirming in a mixture of panic and embarrassment.
A large smile came to his lips. 'Eh?!'
'I don't know why he gave it to me. He told me that if I take it off, he'd kill me.'
He was chuckling to himself now, and turning his face back to the window, he went back to gazing out at the defiling scenery, cheerfully.
***
Next day, in the late afternoon...
'There we go! A strawberry milkshake for you and a chocolate one for me. And this is our Hawaiian pizza!' Natsui declared, as she brought all of this to our table, taking back her seat across of me.
We were at the pizzeria where she works with Yūsei; the ginger-haired girl and I having decided to spend some quality time together in-between girls.
'Thank you,' I told her, with a pleasant smile, and we both picked our milkshakes up to have a sip at it. But very quickly, the ginger-haired girl put her glass back down to look at me, more particularly, at my left hand, with wide surprised eyes.
'Hime, is this an engagement ring?!' she exclaimed.
My cheeks reddened, and lowering my eyes and scratching the back of my head, I told her, 'It's Gōjun who gave it to me! I don't know why.'
'Gōjun?! Wait a second! What's going on between the two of you? I want to know everything! And I want all the details!'
'Well...'
***
Meanwhile…
'What are you doing?' Gōjun Shoran asked the brown-haired woman as he entered the kitchen.
Turning to face him with the wok in her hands, Katsura Hiō showed him the burnt dinner, giving him a sheepish look.
'I'm sorry, Gojun. I'm really not a good cook.'
The teenager took a seat at the table, giving her a smile.
'You know, I really like the instant noddles that you make with the chicken sausages!'
At this, the woman's eyes widened at him a little, and cheering up again, she declared, eagerly, 'I'm going to prepare us some immediately!'
***
'He ki- kissed you?! And that, several times?!'
The ginger-haired girl's face had gone tomato red.
I lowered my head again, flushing even deeper as I nodded.
Taking a deep breath then, I let out a heavy sigh.
'I really don't understand what's happening!'
'What do you mean you don't understand what's happening?! If he kissed you and he gave you an engagement ring, it's because he feels attracted to you! I think it's pretty obvious, right?!'
I looked up at her face for a minute, pondering over what she had just said.
Does Gōjun feel attracted to me?
'Maybe you're right. But I believe it's only physical.'
Her expression became serious.
'Why are you saying this?'
Humping my back and closing my eyes, I moaned, 'Because he's always trying to put me in his bed!' But then, putting my fists up, I stated, fervently, 'If he thinks I'm going to let him touch my chastity!'
'How about you, Hime?' she asked me, after a minute of silence, and I looked up into her eyes once again. 'What do you feel for him?'
At this, my eyes widened at the ginger-haired girl; my heart skipping a beat.
What I feel for Gōjun?
This was a question that I had never asked myself before.
What do I feel for him?
Thank you for reading!
Glossary
Hakama - pant-like garment
Hakamashita - short robe worn with a hakama