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Seasons we've seen together
Spring
The first time she meets him, spring is in full bloom.
It was her second day of high school and the beautiful and pink cherry blossoms were raining down. The gentle wift of sweetness lingering in the air was a reminder of the new season. And also for new beginnings like everyone said.
Walking down the unfamiliar hallways with a sheaf of papers in her arms, Machi feels oddly aware of every eye that follows her movement. The halls are bustling with seniors and she wonders why was it a good idea for the staff room to be built on the second year's floor. She didn't want to admit it but a part of her was wishing to catch a glimpse of her idiotic older brother. In a sea of nothing but strangers, Machi longs to find comfort of seeing someone familiar. She sighs inwardly. She had never imagined to see a day where she would want to see Kakeru voluntarily.
"Excuse me?"
Name of the devil- wait, the voice was softer than her brother's upbeat screech.
She whirls around and comes face to face with 'the prince'. The rumoured senior who had been proclaimed as the most beautiful boy of the school. She had seen him first through the windows, surrounded by people smiling gently, as the girls around her talked about how perfect and charming he looked.
The prince with a lonely smile.
But now close up from here, she could see how mussed his hair was and the tie he wore looked crooked. Prince? Was she sure he was one?
"Yes?"
"Ah, I think you dropped this."
He extends a few papers in her direction which might have spiralled down to the floor when she was busy grappling with her thoughts.
She is able to mumble out a 'thank you' as he places the papers on the top. She waits for him to leave but he doesn't. Instead, he gives her that carefully calculated smile that she had seen a day ago directed at someone else and asks, "Do you need some help?"
"Could you please let me know the way to staff room?"
She replies him with another question of her own, her observant eyes noticing how he eyed the large bundle of papers in her arms.
"Sure. Just take right turn the next aisle you see. You'll see the plaque hanging right in front."
"Thank you."
She gives him a small bow, mindful of the stuff she was carrying. He gives her a nod and a genuine smile and weirdly enough, a part of her is relieved to see that he could smile like that. Before they could part appropriately, he is approached by a group of giggling and squealing girls who were gushing about how they were absolutely sure that he would ace the tests. Machi didn't know him that good but even still she could see how uncomfortably overwhelmed he looked at the moment. Giving him one last glance Machi went on her way, sure that he'd forget her in an hour or two. After all, why would the prince surrounded by people remember someone like her.
But she couldn't have been more wrong.
Summer
If he was honest, then Yuki didn't think he was enjoying being the student council president. Apart from the stress that the curse caused, he couldn't hold the energy that the student council exudated together. From Kakeru's unbound enthusiasm to Nao's complaining and Kimi's shallowness - everything would tire him out to the bones at the end of everyday. These people drove him mad with their eccentricness and unrestrained behaviour. Not that he should complain...but still.
Except for the newly appointed school treasurer who, at the moment, has been quietly following him around.
Kuragi Machi.
He tilts his head back slightly to steal a glance at the girl who had never once lifted her head from the papers she was invested in. Even accompanying him on the patrol today was Kimi's job. Not hers. But somehow Kimi had pushed the chore to the younger girl.
"Kuragi-san? Where do we go next?"
He questions, a pathetic attempt to start a conversation once again after countless failures.
"The sports club."
She replies monotonously, eyes never once leaving the list. He nods in acknowledgement, inwardly grimacing at another defeat.
It didn't matter, he had the entire list memorized but he couldn't help but notice how different this girl behaved. She had perfect grades, good records, perfect attendance and was highly efficient in her work. But despite how much rowdy the student council office got, she would still finish her work on time and even have enough energy to make up for the slack of others. Yuki cannot explain it in words but her behaviour unnerved him for some reason. The scene of their first meeting is still fresh in his mind. He still didn't know what had caused her to be on her knees back then, with files, papers and the entire room torn all around her. What was that Kakeru knew but he didn't.
And if he has to admit, he wants to know her better. Something about her empty eyes spoke volumes to him. He wonders why nobody else could see what he did in her. It causes a sense of discomfort in him knowing that this person was hiding her true self behind that perfect doll like persona.
"President, we're here." Her voice stops his train of thoughts, startling him for a second.
"Ah, yes. Of course."
He gives her an apologetic smile realising that he had been so occupied with his thoughts that he might have missed the gate to the outside had she not pointed it out.
The sports club building was situated near the playgrounds and fields, at a distance from the main campus. They had to walk around the football field to reach on the other side.
Yuki inhales a breath of fresh air, the sun shining strongly above their heads. It decides that it feels good. He gives a smile to his companion but she returns the look with a blank face and Yuki inwardly laughs.
It was no surprise that class 1 C was having their sports period at the moment. He had the entire time table in his head. He knew that. What shocked him was the way he was hounded on by the junior girls the second he stepped on the field.
"Yuki Senpai!"
"Senpai!"
"Sohma senpai!"
He jumps away from the girls, careful at dodging any physical affection they fling on him. His anxiousness rises as they push their way through each other, fighting, arguing and calling each other's names.
"Watch out!"
Somebody yells and Yuki feels his senses go on high alert. The first thing he notices is a football hurtling straight at them. Without thinking much, he immediately steps forward, swinging his leg out with enough force to deflect the ball on the other side. Thankfully, everyone is safe and unharmed.
"Yuki Senpai! You're a hero!"
The girls start screaming even before he is sure he had saved them all. The second he puts his foot down, he realises he had sprained it. Badly. He instantly bites his lip to not wince in pain.
"Yuki Senpai, you're really such a good hearted prince!" Someone sings from the crowd, and those words make something twist in his gut.
"I'm not..." Yuki blurts out, softly enough that the girls do not hear.
He watches the chaos for a few more minutes, trying to pacify them but with no luck. The pain in his foot growing much worse with the ticking of the clock.
"Excuse me, President. We must leave. Sports club council is waiting for us."
A familiar voice from his side delivers and he thanks Kuragi-san a million times for saving him inside his head. Apologising and leaving as soon as he could, he feels as if he could finally take a breath again after escaping the gaggle of girls. He is careful to hide his limp, deciding to deal with it only after he had reached home.
They were seated in the sports club council room to talk about the investments and renovation that the club required. But even before they could begin the meeting with the sport council's president, someone rushed in a flurry to report something immediate to the guy.
"Ah, apologies! President! Looks like I'll have to deal with the mess these idiots have made again! Will it be okay if I return back in five minutes?" He asks with a grimacing smile.
"Absolutely. Don't worry about it Nakamura-san. Please go ahead." Yuki returns it with an sympathizing one and giving a nod.
The boy is about to walk out of the room when she, who rarely ever speaks, calls out loudly.
"Nakamura-san. If you don't mind, may I use the first aid kit here?" She gestures to the kit that was kept above one of the cabinets.
"Definitely. Feel free to use it." He nods in agreement before running out of the room. The boy is barely out of the room when she speaks again, this time directed at him.
"President. Please remove your shoes."
Yuki sits their gobsmacked as she is busy rummaging through to kit, pulling out pain relieving spray and creams.
He was so sure that he had hidden his pain well. Nobody else had noticed. Then how did she? Was he that easy to read? But then again, people see him as a perfect prince. Should a perfect prince be injured and feel pain? He was sure that the answer would definitely be a 'No'. He is startled again when she kneels in front of him with the medical supplies.
What she told him next was something nobody had ever said. Something he had desperately needed to told. But he never thought that it would be from her. The person he wanted to help and to save. But nonetheless, it made him feel warm inside. And it was something he could never forget.
"You are not a Prince. You are in pain and you could have said something sooner. President, please remember that."
Rains
The stack of papers seems never ending. His pen glides over the paper fluently, extra care being taken to make sure that no mistakes occur. The door to the room is open, wind wafting in softly, carrying the scent of petrichor with it.
The sound of rain hitting the window panes was overpowering the silence of the room. Yuki is not worried, because most of the noise causing elements of the student council were currently absent.
Kimi was out on a date with one of her new boyfriends. Nao had left earlier to prepare for an upcoming test. And Kakeru, worried about the incoming weather and torrential rains had left to pick up his girlfriend from her school, obviously entrusting his precious sister's well being in Yun-Yun's hands. Though he did not forget to warn Yuki to not do anything perverted to his sister which had unsurprisingly earned him a harsh bonk on the head.
His gaze darts toward the only other occupant of the room. Machi is busy scribbling on a notepad, working with numbers, her diligence for her work being reflected by her immense concentration. Yuki feels a little guilty though. She might have left earlier had he not asked her to calculate and summarise the expenses of the sports club for the last three months. But she never complained. The thing is she never did.
Unable to tear his gaze away from her, he admits how much he adores the way she subtly bites her lip when something doesn't add up. He likes how her brows shoot up when she finds the error in her calculations. He has no idea how long he's been sitting there simply taking her features in. And if he was honest, he is thankful to Kakeru for arranging their seats in a way that allowed him to stare at her without much suspicion.
A part of him feels wrong... watching her like this, when his heart thrums the way it does. She's...so unaware of him and his growing fondness for her but so incredibly conscious of the mess he is and his demons. He had always wondered if there was someone who could see past his lonely smile. And now, the person of his dreams was sitting right in front of him, barely a few feet away.
The sound of the rain becomes louder as the lights flicker off, startling her. The room falls into a colour of grey and darkness as she looks around with slightly visible panic on her face, only for her dark brown eyes to meet his grey ones. He is definitely amused when, even in the dim light, he can see a hint of redness of her cheeks. And she might have noticed it too, he knows when she turns her head to a side, willing her long bangs to hide it. Even though her cuteness is too much for him, her stubborn behaviour is something he has surpassed. So, in the premise of opening the window of the room, on her right, he stalks near her desk, loving how the red of her cheeks grows even brighter. His hands mechanically open the latch of the window, his attention is still directed at her. Of course, that is his fault when a violent spray of water rushes in and makes him sputter like an idiot.
"President?"
He notes how she sounds alarmed and his form tenses when she appears beside him, closer than they normally are. But Machi has never been the one to invade people's personal space and she probably had none of Tohru's natural clumsiness. He swipes the water on his lashes by the sleeve of his shirt when a white handkerchief enters his field of vision.
Machi extends the small article in his direction with wide worried eyes.
"Are you all right?"
He takes the offered cloth with a thankful smile and wipes his face. He's unexpectedly thrown off guard when her scent hits his senses. It was soft, so unlike Kimi's perfume which was strong enough to make them all cringe at it's fruity flavour. He could not put a finger at what this smell feels like though. And he was sure that trying to inhale it with a breath would definitely...freak Machi out. And he wants to believe that he is not a pervert.
"Thank you, Machi."
He expresses his gratitude, eyes brimming with something he can hardly hold. She nods and comes to stand beside him on the window, not minding the stray water droplets that hit her. Yuki notices how her eyes soften.
"Does Machi like rain?"
He questions, his gaze travelling to the cloudy sky above, watching the descent of the drizzle.
She hums in agreement and whispers, "Rain - messes up everything. Causes disorder and troubles in our mundane routine. But yet, it breathes life into everything around us. We can't survive without it, can we? And I think it's beautiful."
The faint smile that graces her lips is something that Yuki might have missed had he not been paying as much attention to her as he did. Machi is the only girl beside Tohru, whose simple upward quirk of lips could make his heart swell with immense affection. Maybe it was how rare this smile seemed that Yuki desperately wished to etch this moment in the back of his mind, to preserve and hold it close forever like a precious gem.
He had known that she was special for a while now, but now, he accepted that he yearned to see that smile for as long as possible.
Autumn
The red leaves dance around her as she trudges through the roads to her apartment. The sun is about to set, the sky painted in hues of red, gold and pink. She jumps when a wildly whirling leaf smacks her right in the face, her fingers immediately latching on it.
The leaf looked...pretty. Red, with more yellow splotches on the left side than the right and a few brown spots of decay. It reminds her of the leaf she still had in her bag, tucked safely in one of her notebooks. Suddenly, a strong wind blows and the leaf escapes her fingers in the direction of the path she had just walked away from. And probably due to her stupid fascination with red coloured maple leaves, she instinctively runs to follow it when a hand snatches it out of air in one swift motion.
She is left dumbfounded. The president of her school is standing right in front of her, her leaf pinched carefully between his long fingers.
"Were you looking for this?"
He steps closer to her, offering the leaf as if he was offering a rose, smiling softly. She grasps the stalk of the leaf and holds it close to her chest.
"What are you doing here?"
"Why? Is there a rule that I am not allowed in this part of the city?" He teases her, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
Before she can retort, he smiles and says, "Please come with me."
Moving past her he heads for a certain destination and a part of her feels indignant that he's sure she'll follow him. Funnily enough, another part of her conscience chides her, reminding that he wouldn't come all the way just to annoy her. He is not like that. Then again, she shouldn't underestimate him.
He leads them to a nearby park and gestures for her to sit down on a bench, beside him. Machi flushes slightly but settles beside him anyway.
"Actually," he speaks rummaging through his backpack, "I came here to return this back to you." Pulling out a file, he hands it over to her. And she immediately notes it to be her assignment file.
"I thought I dropped it in my bag." She mumbles, quite astonished that she had carelessly left it behind.
Yuki's chuckle pulls her out of her
thoughts.
"It wasn't you!" He laughs. "It was Kakeru! That idiot pulled your bag apart when you were out with Kimi for a pencil he couldn't find. And then forgot to rearrange it and put this file back. And I noticed it only after you had left."
"That idiot…" Machi hisses, but then looks at Yuki. "President, why did you-"
"Don't worry about it! I'm glad that I caught up to you."
He gives her such a smile that it knocks the breath out of her lungs. He looks almost a figment of her imagination, smiling like that, with red leaves falling over them. So beautiful. So impossible. But yet, here he was, sitting beside her as if she was someone who should be cherished.
"Has Machi eaten the dango of that shop here?"
His words startle her, she jerks her gaze away from him to the shop across the street he was pointing at.
"No." She answers timidly.
"Come on then! Let's have some!" He stands up, excited, offering her his hand and Machi feels her heart thudding in her ears. The red creeps on her face and she scolds herself for letting him overwhelm her with his exuberance every single time.
A few minutes later, they are on the bench again, biting onto the soft and delicious dango and Machi has to admit that it tastes good. She steals a glance at her companion who is already chewing on his third stick, eyes focused on the scenery around them.
"President?"
"Hmm?"
"You didn't have to come all the way here to deliver that assignment."
He looks at her, a questioning expression on his face as he chews on the last bite.
"Actually, that assignment was already graded."
What continues her statement is a long stretch of silence as Yuki sits there with his mouth hung open.
"You mean-"
"Yes, the assignment was already graded. You...wasted your time by coming here." She says, softly, averting her gaze.
"Machi." He calls out, chiding her gently.
She stares at her shoes unable to meet his eyes because she did occupy his time unnecessarily. She wonders if he was minding it now. She wants to run away and hide in some hole when he leans closer to her, his lips a few inches away from her ear.
"Machi, I did not waste my time. I was here because I wanted to be. In Fact, I'm glad I got to share and eat dango with you."
His genuine but firm words, his fond smile and the transparent look in his eyes was too staggering for her. It was so incredibly hard to accept that he was here out of his own free will. Not because he was forced to. Not because he felt obligated too. But because he wanted to be here. Because he didn't mind spending time with her. A strange warmth pooled inside her chest, spreading through her bones, making her tingle all over.
He simply chuckles and bids her farewell, loving how her face was the brightest red he had ever seen.
Winter
When the morning sun rays penetrate the minute gap between the curtains of his room, Yuki wakes up. He blinks, eyes full of golden light and dark brown hair over his nose and lips. Even his sleep deprived senses are honed enough to detect her presence beside him and it leaves him with a comforting warmth.
He gently swipes her hair off his face, grey eyes coming to rest on soft sleeping face. Her head is resting in the crook of his arm and her arm was draped over his torso. Her leg is over his, bare and soft. She is dressed in a pair of small pajamas and his red shirt. He knows he was leaner in comparison to a lot of other men, but still his clothes were too big for her. Though he loves seeing her in them. The shirt is quite large for her small frame, sliding off on from one shoulder, exposing her soft and pale skin to him.
A sudden cold sensation of chill makes him shiver and he immediately drags the blankets up to cover both of them. His arms slide over her waist, pulling her close to him and nuzzling her neck and side of cheek. Sometimes, having her beside him feels like a dream that he's terrified of waking up from. Both of them have had struggled against their own demons, found love and support in each other and the few kind people around them. As time passes by, things change and people do too.
Like how he loves mornings now.
For as long as he can remember, he has never been a morning person. But having Machi nestled against him, watching the sun rays fall on her eyelashes, illuminating her in a golden ethereal glow filled him with a sense of contentment that nothing else did. That moment of satisfaction, that feeling of his heart beating in his chest in synchrony to hers was something he craved so deeply that any morning he got to witness it made him feel blessed.
But he knows he's not the only one to have started loving something he never had before because of Machi. She had confessed to him as well, how winters - which she dreaded before became something she held close to her heart thanks to the promise he had made years back.
Yuki leans over and gently brushes his lips on her forehead and a small moan escapes her mouth.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty."
He calls her affectionately, knowing that he was going to receive a smack for that later. She blinks, frowning at him and then burying her face into his chest again.
"Machi. Wake up." He pokes his nose on her cheek and she immediately swatts him away. He chuckles and slowly slides away from her, out of the bed. The air is so cold and crisp that he resists the urge to crawl back into the blankets and into Machi's arms again with everything he had. Sauntering over to the window, he pulls the curtains apart and gasps dramatically.
"It's snowing! Machi, wake up!"
He runs to the bed, disheveling the blankets and adoring the angry noises his wife was making. Finally pulling the last blanket off her, he makes a few more attempts to get her out of the bed with no success. He sighs and takes a moment to appreciate her small form and his eyes coming to rest on the milky stretch of white skin of her exposed shoulder, and a devilish idea lights up his brain. He quickly leans over and playfully nips her bare shoulder.
"Yuki!"
Machi squeals, thrashing her arm out to strike him but he's agile enough to dodge it efficiently.
"Try harder Machi. You won't have me like that." He smirks, making sure that she notices the way he's all over her.
Okay, fine. He is a pervert. But only when it comes to her.
The next few minutes are nothing but a scarlet faced Machi chasing him around the house in nothing but pajamas in freezing winters.
Yuki knows, if someone ever asks him to define love, all he would ever say that it's the feeling you get when you witness all the seasons passing, but falling in love and finding something precious to appreciate in each of them because you have that person - the love of your life - by your side.
That is what love is.