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"Wh-who… are you?" To Honjou Nami, this was a nightmare. Stuck in an unknown time, a chill went down her spine.She soon locked eyes with the calm male's maroon eyes. The familiarity in his gaze, the softly cut red hair, and the unusually old fashioned clothing distracted her. Even though confusion permeated her mind, she could not help but glance back up at the man before her curiously. He looked too familiar to her and then it came to her in a flash. "...Akashi-kun?" She breathed out."It's been a while since I last heard that from you, Gen Yura." The coldness in his eyes unfortunately remained. He bent down on one knee carefully and reached out to touch her cheek tentatively as if judging her reaction to his action.She narrowed her eyes and stiffened when she felt his touch. "Gen Yura…?" That was not her name. Fear gripped her heart.Surprise flickered in his eyes before the male sighed softly to himself. Whether it was done out of relief or disbelief, she was not sure. He swiftly turned around and faced the door. "I heard that you hit your head really hard, which is why I was forced to visit you, but to think that you would forget your own name and even your reaction just now..."A burst of courage encouraged her impulsive questioning. "Well, just who are you to me?" Honjou Nami - no, it would be Gen Yura right now - asked him.He paused in his walk and said in a clear voice, "Akashi Seijuurou. Your betrothed for our arranged marriage.""WHAT?!" Her answer came almost automatically. She gaped at him speechlessly.Her loud voice caused him to face her again with a raised eyebrow. Amusement pooled into his hard gaze. His lips curled into small smirk. He never expected such an outward reaction. After all, she used to always try to seduce him at every moment of their meetings. While he found her outwardly pleasing to the eye, her personality and stupidity was something left to be desired. That was why he disliked and abhorred her existence, but now that she was acting quite differently from her previous self, she perked his interest just a tiny bit.He watched as she stood up from her spot and paced around the room speedily, mumbling words to herself in an unusually smooth fashion. The moment she waved him out of the room, he stiffly smiled to the absent minded female and left."I was hiking with
seito kaichou
and his friends...and then I accidentally slipped and fell, but I thought
seito kaichou
grabbed a hold of my hand… Did I die and end up in this time?" Nami sat down contemplatively and sighed. "To think that I would be forced to marry
seito kaichou. I mean he is one of the most popular at school, but I don't want to marry already…. I'm only a second year in high school after all!" That was when her maid entered the room and poured tea in her cup.Nami smiled up at the maid. "Sakuya-san.""Hai, ojou-sama." The maid set the teapot down."You said that this year is 1921 of Taisho Period (1), correct?""Hai."Nami sighed. "And my name is Gen Yura?""Hai." The emotionless expression on her maid's face disconcerted her."I...see. And why do I have to marry Akashi-kun?" Perhaps her maid could give her a better picture on what she has to deal with."Your father ordered you, but…" Nami noticed how the maid avoided her gaze towards her. "You were also insistent about marrying him.""Oh." Awkward silence permeated the room. "Thank you for telling me, Sakuya-san.""It is not a problem at all." She bowed before exiting the room."What am I going to do now…?"It had been a few months since her last encounter with Akashi. During those months, she had learned several disturbing facts.One, she is ethnically Korean in this body but was adopted by a wealthy and influential Japanese family.Second, she has to hide the fact that she is ethnically Korean and she was not going to dispute that as she recalled the 1923 massacre of Koreans (2) from her studies. If she was in her actual body, she would not have such worries since she was ethnically Japanese, but in this body, being Korean was a death sentence during these turbulent days.Third, her previous self, Gen Yura, was not a good child; she was, in fact, almost similar to the identity of the female protagonist, Naomi, in Tanizaki's novel "A Fool's Love," (3) only when it came to Akashi. For every other male, she was, at the very least, never the type to spread her legs out though, so Nami was relieved that Yura was only an obsessive seductress when it came to Akashi.Thankfully, Yura had also graduated from university - just as the Akashi from this timeline did. While it was still rare to have a female graduate during the Taisho Period, it was still enough for Nami to feel relieved and to use it as a reason as to why she was actually smarter than what she outwardly showed to people. It almost made it seem as though she hid her intelligence from people in the past, which she honestly did not mind at the moment.That took her to the final point.Akashi Seijuurou hated everything about Gen Yura. Unfortunately, that meant that her usually kind
seito kaichou
looked at her with disgust. It was worse than dealing with the previous Akashi. It honestly hurt to be seen in such a way by someone she trusted in her previous life.As Nami though, she could care less about this Akashi Seijuurou since she had better things to deal with than a man who hated her, such as planning her escape out of the Kantou region in 1923 to avoid the massacre after the earthquake (4), along with gathering enough of her personal finances to complete this quest. Because of this, she was quite surprised to find Akashi Seijuurou standing in the living room of the house, waiting for her.Nami instinctively bowed. "Is there something that you need from me, Akashi-kun?""Good timing. We're going to head out." Without waiting for her to answer, he held her hand and led her out of the room."Eh?" It was time for her tea and reading. While it was unusual for a female to be allowed to read difficult and male-oriented literature from their family's library, despite being a university graduate, she managed to convince her family members to let her read such literature by using Akashi as an excuse. Nevertheless, she was awfully confused as to why Akashi would want to
take her out
in simple terms. "Where are we off to, Akashi-kun?""To my family estate.""Ah, I see-
WHAT?!" She whipped her head to face him with a look of horror. "But why?""I heard from Sakuya-san that you have tea and read books, which I presume are the recently released that have been popular with the ladies lately, during this time of the day, so I thought that we could enjoy such time together at my family's library." An odd warm smile that had hints of unusual teasing lingered on his lips. To her, it was suspicious. She tried to tug her hand out of his grip, but his strength was too strong for her to overcome. "I also received permission from your family." The moment she saw the fake warmth disappear from his expression, she forced her thoughts to empty. "My family insisted in helping us bond before our marriage.""Are you kidding me?" She murmured to herself. Sighing to herself in resignation, she decided that it would be best to just follow him in silence. "Then lead the way."When they arrived, she admired the Japanese and Western elements of the house. "It's quite beautiful." She commented without realizing."I'm glad that you are pleased with your future home." His nonchalant response caught her off guard. Her heart skipped a beat, whether it was from anxiety or dread was unknown, but her face remained emotionless."Future home, huh…" She sighed once more, allowing him to lead them to the library. Even if she was forced to be in his family's library, she would not read her chosen book near him. After all, he would probably think of her as a fool who was incapable of reading books of his caliber."I didn't think I would see your betrothed at such a meeting. After all, isn't it for the scholarly?" A man held a condescending grin towards her. Nami's smile tightened in displeasure."At least she's pretty." Someone else commented snidely. Her eyebrow twitched.Another patted Akashi's shoulder while yelling out to the others. "Oi, don't say that. After all, it's Akashi-san's betrothed." Akashi's eyes darkened a little dangerously.Nami sighed. She had enough of the insults towards herself and towards her betrothed. While she did not care about others, she could not have others continue to slander their reputation and she refused to keep letting Akashi take care of their idiocy. It would only worsen her relations with him. Her eyes finally sharpened into focus. "In that case,
gentlemen, why don't you spend your time on learning how to adapt and benefit from the current system?" Sarcasm dripped from her voice. "Day by day, you only complain about the lack of freedom of speech, assembly, and association. You talk about winning the rights of association and labor strikes. You talk about free education and the self-autonomy of universities from the rule of the Ministry of Education, and yet you do nothing to support those that have been part of the organized movements. Where were you in the fight?"Some men glared at her. "Wha-""At least, Akashi-kun himself supported them in the way that he could. Considering that his support is common knowledge among the people in the movements, it clearly shows that you are all talk but no action. And yet you have to audacity to insult us...?" Her already emotionless face hardened into a cold glare. She took a calm step towards them. Some flinched under the intensity of her gaze. "Japan has no time to wait for the enlightenment of their neighbors so that they can work towards the development of Asia. If you prideful men are the ones in charge of enlightening others, I am very worried for the future of Japan and of Asia during this time of modernization." While she personally did not agree with Fukuzawa Yukichi's words (5), she knew that her words would resonate with and provoke the intellectuals in the meeting to a certain extent."You…" A man tightened his fists and was ready to attack her when a tall male pushed him to the side. "Hey!"The tall man clapped and barked out a loud laughter. "Wonderful, wonderful… Fukuzawa Yukichi's
Datsu-A
(6). It seems our lady here is not as stupid as we thought she would be. Akashi-san, you got yourself an interesting betrothed. What I would do to marry her instead!" The tense atmosphere from before immediately disappeared.Akashi only chuckled. "That would be a problem, Daichi-san.""Well then everyone, let's head to the groups and discuss." He motioned to everyone who followed his instructions, giving nervous and tense glances at Nami. She almost rolled her eyes at everyone but stopped herself, forcing her presence to almost fade into a sleepy lull.When she glanced at Akashi, she unwillingly met his gaze. Interestingly enough, instead of the usual intense disgust, she caught a small glimpse of admiration and pleasant surprise from him. It seemed as though he never expected her to be able to behave in such a way. She dropped her gaze and wondered miserably to herself if her current way of speech and presentation of her intellect around Akashi was a wise idea in the long run.By the end of the first meeting, she noted to herself that she should be more careful around this man. She could not allow herself to be of interest to Akashi Seijuurou. To do so would mean unpleasant consequences. She would not be able to escape and that was what worried her the most.Even during the next couple of meetings, she kept her distance away from him and maintained her attention towards the discussions at hand, despite his curious gaze towards her. When she had no choice but to interact with him, she remained polite and calm, unwilling to get close to him and unwilling to strain their current relations.Akashi's voice cut through her concentration. "Sit with me." Startled by his sudden presence, she jumped backwards into the wall that she had been standing next to, gripping the book in her hand."What?" Nami blinked in confusion. His smile felt sincere and warm. It only confused her further. "But why?" She thought that they had a good routine going when it came to having to read and drink tea at his family's library, but she now wondered if it really was enough to satisfy Akashi's terrifying father, considering that Akashi was now asking her to sit with him.He held her hand and tugged her gently towards him. "It has nothing to do with my family's wishes.""Were my thoughts that obvious?" She asked him, feeling a bit miffed that he was able to tell without her explicitly saying it."Perhaps." He placed his hand over her head, patting it before removing it. "I want to get to know you, so sit with me.""But I...thought that you hated me, so why would you want to get to know me and sit with me? That makes no sense." Nami faced him with a serious expression. The pat on her head earlier caught her off guard, crumpling her mind into chaos. "I heard from the others in the group in one of the meetings that you were going to end the arrangement between us..." That was why she tried very hard to at least neutralize the relations between her and him after that official meeting. At the very least, their relations should not end in a negative way for future consideration.His eyes narrowed slightly. He sighed before patting her head again gently. "Do not believe in such rumors. While I admit that I had my reservations about this marriage, I am now pleased to have you as my future wife. Perhaps after you hit your head really hard, that caused vast permanent changes in your personality. I actually find it to be a blessing in disguise.""Oh…" A bit of guilt towards Yura lingered inside of Nami as she looked down at the ground. "So you don't hate me then." While she was a bit happy to see Akashi not viewing her as some kind of scum or anything lower, she felt a bit sad for Yura at the same time."No, I do not." He shut his eyes for a brief moment and then opened them to look at her. "Not anymore."When she saw how his gaze finally softened towards her, she pulled at his sleeve enthusiastically in hopes of changing the subject. "So where in the library should we sit? I want to drink some of that new tea today while we're reading." He chuckled under his breath before leading her to a comfortable space in the library.It was now 1922 and was yet another day in the Akashi family's library. She flipped the pages of the book carefully, getting absorbed in texts that she never thought that she would be able to read in her previous life. Absentmindedly, she picked up the teacup and took a sip. When she placed her cup down on the table, she peeked at Akashi. He sat calmly with his own book.His presence reminded her of the last time she talked to Yura's father. He informed her that the marriage was to take place in a month. There was no way to avoid it.Without looking up, Akashi spoke. "I heard that you tried to convince your father to postpone the wedding."She inwardly flinched but kept her cool. "I personally don't feel ready for the marriage life yet. Maybe in a year or two…" Her voice became quieter.He answered just as softly. "Even if we were to marry, I wouldn't force you.""Eh?""That's what you're worried about, aren't you?" Akashi glanced at her knowingly. She averted her gaze.Her cheeks slowly glowed red. "Well… I… That…" She had not actually thought about that, but now that Akashi had mentioned it, the supposed duties of a wife during this time period caused her to panic a little. However, since he had already said that he would not force her, which she thought was a bit unusual for a male in this time period, she calmed down once more. "I guess that was one of the reasons…" She finally whispered out to him. She took another shaky sip of her tea. The main reason why she tried to postpone the wedding was because she was planning on leaving Kantou by herself before 1923. Since that was her main goal, she had not factored Akashi into her future life, but she could not tell him that."Then will you continue with the marriage now?" He closed his book and waited for her to answer.She fiddled with her book. "Well…" She did not know what to say.He stood up and walked over to her. When Nami glanced at him curiously, he trapped her in her seat, holding onto the arm rest. "Yura. Is there something else that you're worried about?""..." She wanted to break the gaze, but there was something in his eyes that forced her to continue to look at him. "I do, but I…"Akashi leaned towards her and whispered in her ear. "Is it about your ethnicity?" Her throat constricted. She could not breathe. Inwardly, she forced herself to calm down. After all, her father had told her that no one would know of this truth."What...do you mean...by that?" Her voice shook a little. She hated herself for being weak under this pressure.He closed his eyes in resignation. "So it's true that you're Korean." She stiffened."Where on earth did you get that from?" The strength in her voice returned. Before realizing, he soon unraveled her grip on the book and held it close in his hand on top of the arm rest."I did not mean to overhear a conversation between you and your father, but he briefly mentioned it to you. While his words did not reveal the truth of your ethnicity explicitly, your recent interest in certain political, historical, and philosophical literature, along with your words and thoughts during the meetings, soon helped me connect the dots." Once silence filled the room, she slowly slumped against the chair - almost lifelessly, but her mind was in an overwhelming panic. She could not breathe well. It was as if she was taking a backseat and waiting for her body to naturally calm down, so that she could take the next step or make the necessary changes to her plans."So what do you want from me?" She whispered to him. Tired tears sprouted from the corner of her eyes. "To end the arrangement? Fine. I can do that if that's what you want. To shout out to the world of my true ethnicity? I'll probably die if you do. It's a death sentence to be Korean here." She let out a shaky laugh. His eyes widened and a frown etched in his troubled expression."Yura, it looks like I pressured you too much. I apologize." He slowly wrapped his arms around her, letting her rest against his chest. His words provided much relief to her and gave her a sense of nostalgia, reminding her briefly of
seito kaichou
and the incident at the local clinic. "I don't want to do such a terrible thing to you, but clearly, your ethnicity is bothering you more than anything. So what is it about being Korean that is stopping you from continuing with the wedding?" She took small breaths, slowly calming down when she found that he was not going to use her ethnicity against her. "After all, we can just keep it a secret. My father does not need to know and I do not plan on letting him find out about it ever.""Well...I want to leave Kantou this year. I want to stay away for a couple of years, so that is why I do not want to marry. I doubt your father would let you do that with me, which is why it would be better if we did not marry in the first place." She held onto his sleeve, breathing in his soft musky scent. "If something goes wrong politically or in general here that has to do with Koreans, my family will have no issues with throwing me out in the streets. I'll just be brutally killed by the anti-Korean nationalists." Nightmares of what would happen if she failed in implementing her plans invaded her dreams almost daily."I will protect you. I will make sure that we can leave." Akashi's voice was firm and convincing. "I will not allow my father or your family ruin us. I promise you.""I'll believe you then. Please keep your promise or else I will disappear forever in the future." He did not have to ask her to understand what she was implying. To disappear forever meant death or worse.He cupped her cheeks and pressed his lips against her forehead. "I promise." While he was not the same person as
seito kaichou, she felt as though she could truly believe in his words because she knew that his capabilities were at the same level as
seito kaichou's and if
seito kaichou
was able to keep his promise on something that she personally thought was impossible to fulfill, then this man should be able to as well. Swiftly pulling her out of the chair, he wrapped his arms around her waist tightly as though she was going to fade away at any moment. She immediately embraced him back.While outward physical affection was usually not allowed, this very moment was their private time together.Despite the fact that they were both trusted to not touch each other in such a manner since each parent merely assumed that their children held no interest to do that to each other, especially on Akashi's side, the two took the chance to indulge in expressing their physical affection for each other in the form of kisses, hugs, and touches - in the privacy of the library.Overwhelming. Explosive. Intense. Soft. Gentle. Teasing. Those were the words that described every touch they shared with one another.This became their tiny secret together and it was the only way for her to distract herself from the overwhelming anxiety she felt about their future together.Nami changed out of her white kimono and wiped away all of the makeup. The Shinto ceremony for their wedding ended a couple of hours ago. She soon stood in the middle of the bedroom in a daze. She still could not believe that she got married. After all, she was only a second year in high school when she entered Gen Yura's body. When she felt Akashi's arms wrap around her from behind, she leaned against him comfortably. "We're finally married, Seijuurou.""Yes, we are." Akashi whispered, only holding her closer. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, he announced. "Tsuma, should we sleep now? It's late.""Otto…" She turned around and embraced him from the front. "Okay. If I get a nightmare, then please wake me up.""Of course." He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. Leading her by the hand towards the bed, he immediately held her in his arms and never let her go as they laid down together on the same mattress. She almost sighed in relief. "You are mine to protect." His voice reverberated."As are you." She murmured to him."The first day of the ninth month of 1923… As long as we are long gone before then, I will be happy. So do you think that we'll make it before then?" Nami fidgeted with the book in her hand and sipped on her tea."Yes. We should be able to start our journey at the end of this month." Akashi glanced up at her.She genuinely appeared relieved at this piece of news. "Only two more months before the ninth month after we start our journey…"He patted her head and smiled. "Are you worried because it's the year of 1923? Or are you worried because of what Father said to us?"She flushed red. "It's not because of what your father said to us. Definitely not!" She hid her face behind the book she was reading earlier. He chuckled at her reaction.He leaned on his arm, watching her put down the book. He took this chance to tell her his thoughts. "Yura, I would like to have a child with you, just as Father wants, but also because I myself wish for it, so if you could tell me when you will be ready for that, I would appreciate it.""Seijuurou…" She set the book down on her lap, getting lost in her thoughts.He interrupted her thoughts. "My wife, while I do have great self-control, I might have to start sleeping in a separate room if I do not get an estimated amount of time from you on how long I need to hold back."She very much liked the idea of having a child with the man before her, especially since it seemed unlikely that she would go back to her own time, but she did not want to take a chance if the massacre was to catch up to their new location. Once the massacre ended, that would be the perfect chance to set up a comfortable life together with her husband. "Otto, we could start our attempts on the last day of the eighth month of this year. Would that be okay with you?""I suppose that would be doable. A bit difficult, but I can handle it." He took a deep breath and released it in the next second."If… If it's really unbearable, just tell me. I'll… I can try something that I heard about from others...to try to… erm… relieve your needs...without me getting pregnant in the process." She fidgeted in her seat uncomfortably."Ah, you mean
that." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully."I don't exactly want you to go to others for it…" She muttered under her breath. "So I'd rather be the one to do that with you if anything."Akashi chuckled and walked over to her, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Of course. I will let you know then.""Un." She happily leaned against him in a comfortable manner. Perhaps their future would not be so dark as she had first assumed it to be, but the uncertain ache in her heart subtly indicated otherwise."We're here,
tsuma." Akashi shook Nami gently. It had been a long journey on the
takuri
car (7).She rubbed her eyes and blinked as she spotted a moderately sized house in a short distance away. "Is that our new home,
otto?"He nodded. "Yes. I know that it took us longer than expected, but we're finally here.""It's okay that it took longer than expected since we still have a month and a half before the ninth month. I will have to say that I'm still amazed at how you convinced your father though… and how we don't have to tell him of our location as long as you keep in contact with him in some form. It's relieving." She brightly smiled at Akashi. "Now then... Shall we start unpacking?""Of course." He held her hand and helped her out of the car. Grabbing their bags, they strode towards the house."It looks nice and cozy. I like it." Nami commented as he unlocked the door."It's apparently the Western style of housing." When they entered, the house was spotlessly clean. They set down the bags, locking the door behind them, before exploring the rest of the interior.To her, a new home meant a brighter future. She hoped as she touched the nice finish of the wood that this home would bring them bundles of endless happiness and contentment.Akashi sat down on a wooden chair, pulling out the newspaper in front of him. "Only half a month left before the ninth.""Yes." Nami poured some tea in his cup.He took a sip and smiled. "Your brewing has exponentially improved since we moved here.""I had Sakuya-san train me well before we left. We can't have bad tea while living here. I won't allow it!" She pumped her fist in the air enthusiastically. He chuckled at her antics and took another sip. "I'm almost done cooking our breakfast, so wait a little longer, Seijuurou.""Of course." He placed the newspaper down and took out the utensils to set up the table. From the corner of his eyes, he spotted a dark shadow from the window. "Hm…?" Walking over to the window, he scanned the area but found nothing. Instead, small animals were running around. His eyes narrowed one last time. An unsettling feeling lingered inside of him.Once she placed the food on top of the table, she glanced up at him. "What's wrong,
otto? You have such a serious expression on. Is there something out there?" She stood next to him, looking out curiously."No, it's nothing. Must be my imagination." Akashi twirled her around, persuading her to sit down. He glared out the window suspiciously before neutralizing his expression into a warm one. "Shall we eat then?""Yes!" The one thing that she looked forward to the most after moving into the new house was to cook. After all, she was not allowed to engage in such activities in her family's home. Cooking was only a small mundane activity from her previous life, but it made her miss her previous life dearly. Now that she was free to do whatever she wanted, her homesickness dissipated much more. Akashi took a bite of the food. He paused. Her anticipation for his reaction was at an all-time high. "So… How is it?"His eyes widened and he stared at the food in a daze. "It's good.""Are you surprised that my skills in cooking aren't bad?" She laughed a little and prepared to eat as well."I suppose not. You were always quick at picking up new skills. While it isn't as extravagant as the food I ate at my family estate, I prefer this instead." His maroon eyes softened and he reached out to cup her cheek with his hand endearingly. "Tsuma, will you be mine?"She held his hand against her cheek. Her pleased smile widened. "Otto, I am already yours. There is no need to question it."He then leaned forward and pressed his lips against her forehead. "And I am yours too.""Then let us finish the meal before it turns cold." Nami's face brightened.Once the two finished their meal and she completed washing the dishes, she sat down with him at the table near the window. "Seijuurou, I don't know if it's just me, but you looking outside with a serious expression just reminded me of something.""What is it?" He noted the grave expression on her face."I hope it's just my imagination, but I feel like someone has been peeping inside of the house and spying on us after the first week we moved in." Her eyes narrowed uncomfortably. "It's a bit unnerving. I'm hoping it's nothing serious, but since the ninth is coming up, I feel a little scared."He held her hands. He also appeared worried and determined. "Would you like me to search the area? I don't know why you're so insistent about the ninth month being the worst, but I would like to relieve your fears.""If you can, but please be careful. I don't want to lose you to anyone." Unease colored her voice as she pulled him into a tight hug."Of course. I will be very careful and return to you safely." He patted her head and leaned against her comfortably. They would be safe and happy. He would make sure of it. The unease she felt for such a long time slowly started to disappear from the deepest crevice of her mind."It's finally the day before the ninth month,
tsuma." Akashi whispered in her ear before sitting down next to her. The unusual anticipation in his voice perked her interest until she recalled why he was so excited. She almost smirked, but she first had something important to tell him."Yes, it is." Nami leaned against Akashi, wondering if she could do this or not. "Otto,
do you know why I was always scared of the ninth month?"Seeing that she desperately wanted to tell him, he encouraged her. "...Why?""It's because a great earthquake will erupt in the Kantou region tomorrow, forcing Japan into a chaotic state. That will then lead to the massacre of Koreans because of the Japanese belief in that we, the Koreans, are the source of their misery." Immense worry pooled into her eyes. He knew that she believed in her words completely. She was not the type to believe in anything unless there was a solid reason. However, this seemed a bit too far-fetched for him."That's…" Hesitation and uncertainty plagued his thoughts.She smiled at him sadly. Her eyes flickered of understanding. "Silly, isn't it?""Tsuma." He did not want her to think that he was treating her words as nothing.She shook her head at herself. "Otto, you can call me crazy, but please remember what I'm about to tell you. Please. Even if you think of it as ridiculous, I need you to remember everything I'm about to tell you. Do not repeat it to anyone." The pleading in her voice held all of his attention."You have my word. I will remember everything that you will tell me right now for the rest of my life." He held her hands in his own, forcing her to see the sincerity in his eyes. "So tell me everything."She took a deep breath before speaking. "In 77 years, I will be born as a native Japanese female baby. My name will be Honjou Nami.""Honjou… Nami…" Her heart almost soared when she heard him call out her name. She had always wished to hear it from him, but did not have the courage to ask him. It also subtly reminded her of
seito kaichou, which warmed her heart.Feeling a bit more courageous, she continued. "When I was eighteen years old, I hiked with a group of friends up a mountain, but I ended up falling. And when I woke up, I was already in Yura's body.""That's why you couldn't remember anything." He pondered out loud thoughtfully.She nodded. "Yes." A comfortable but tense silence filled the room.Akashi broke the silence. The severity of the potential future that she spoke of unsettled him for a moment. "If what you are saying is the truth, then tomorrow's earthquake and massacre will only confirm your knowledge." His thumb rubbed tiny circles on the palm of her hands. "While I will not ask why you couldn't do anything about preparing for both events for our families, since I understand that it would have been impossible from your standpoint, I will ask you to remain as you are even after.""Remain... as I am?" She questioned him.Akashi patted her head once more, leaving his hand there. "As my
tsuma. In this house. As Honjou Nami in Yura's body."She chuckled before nodding. "That will never change,
otto. I am only relieved that I finally got to tell you the truth, even if you might not believe me. And that you have not pushed me away because of it." She held a new sense of deep appreciation for her husband.He shrugged nonchalantly, looking out of the window. The moon was bright that night. "I have earned more positives than negatives in the end anyways. There is no need to push away a positive.""As expected of my husband." She hugged his arm and watched the moon with him. Nami breathed in and out when she again remembered the deadline she gave Akashi. Calming herself, she still felt her cheeks flush red. Her whisper was hesitant and soft. "Seijuurou, shall we head to bed now?"He smirked and pretended to not hear her. "Did you say something,
tsuma?"She stood up, feeling a little irritated. "Nothing." She walked towards their bedroom in a huff. Akashi followed her in silence."Tsuma." He caught her from behind, wrapping his arms around her tightly, as they stood in front of the bed. It was as though he was asking her to not feel irritated around him.She sighed, giving up. She could never get mad at him anyways. "Seijuurou…" She hesitated and spoke in a quiet voice. "Just for tonight, can you call me Nami…? I want to keep this in my memory forever."Seeing how it was important to her, he nodded and whispered. "If that is what you want, but I can also call you Nami for the rest of our life when it's just the two of us.""Seijuurou…" Her eyes shined of appreciation for her husband's consideration. Finally dropping her
haori
to the floor, Nami cupped his cheeks and tiptoed, pressing her lips against his. Her skin seared and burned red, but she ignored her initial embarrassment when he wrapped his arm around her waist and held the back of her head with his hand, pulling her close to him until they were touching. Feeling a bit brave, her arm wrapped around his neck and her other arm touched his arm, deepening the kiss between them. He took a step forward, making the two to fall on top of the bed together. His legs tangled with hers as his hand clasped with hers.Akashi then abruptly pulled away to angle himself better. Before Nami could complain about the lack of touch, he immediately bit her bottom lip lightly and rubbed his lips against hers, teasing and gently massaging her tongue with his own with more energy than before. Soon, he sucked on and laid feathery kisses on the bare skin of her exposed neck, leaving behind trails of his mark until he reached her clothing. The tingling sensation of his lips on her skin made her tremble. Playing with her hair with his hand, he breathed out. "Are you ready,
tsuma?"Pulling him down towards her, she whispered in his ear. "Yes,
otto." She smiled encouragingly, locking eyes with him in an intense fashion. His eyes sparked and he smiled during their next kiss as he pulled on her
obi."This is Radio Ichiban. Today is the first day of the ninth month of 1923 and it is now 1:00pm... I am here to announce once more of the tragedy in the Kantou region. There was an earthquake that lasted around four to ten minutes. It caused widespread damage throughout and estimated casualties are so far over 100,000. We will update everyone when we receive more information." Nami sighed and she turned off the radio (8). She sipped on her tea. It had happened and she had survived."It seems like your words are coming true." Akashi brought over food for the two.Surprise flickered in her eyes. "Ah, I can get the rest of the food!" She tried to stand up but the discomfort and dull ache in between her legs made her pause."Does it hurt,
tsuma?" The worry in his voice was apparent as he patted her head affectionately.She blushed. "No, it's okay. It feels odd and uncomfortable, but it doesn't hurt that much anymore." She sat back down, letting Akashi bring the rest to the table."Then let's finish eating and then perhaps go for another round." He said nonchalantly.Nami nodded without fully processing his words. "Okay." She quickly whipped her head towards him in shock. "Wait,
WHAT?!
R-round two…?"He kept a straight face for a minute before bursting out into laughter. "I was joking. We can go for the next round at night. It's still day."She sighed in relief. "Joking… To think I would hear a joke from you." She then nibbled on her food, nodding to herself. "Then tonight will be the next round. I can handle that."He smirked. "Of course. Since the earthquake is over, we need to try to get a child of our own, so let's put all of our efforts towards that. Daily.""...Daily… If you say so,
otto." She sighed a little. "I don't know if I'll have the energy to do it every night though. You have too much stamina, Seijuurou." She briefly wondered how he had so much energy when he was not even playing basketball or anything of the sort in this life. It was not like he was
seito kaichou
in that he was required to have a lot of stamina in his devoted trade or passion in life.He leaned on his arm, watching her carefully. He decided to interrupt her train of thought. "Nami, you seemed to quite enjoy it last night."When she processed his words, she grabbed the book that was on the table and lifted it slowly. "...I did." She soon hid her embarrassed face behind the book. "But you did too…""Of course, I did. I looked forward to it for a long time." Akashi admitted in a carefree tone."How can you admit that with such a straight face?! I wish I could do the same when it comes to this." She pouted and took a big bite of her food out of frustration.He raised his eyebrow at her. "Why? I rather enjoy seeing you get embarrassed over it."She rolled her eyes. "Of course you do." He only chuckled in response to her fake displeasure.The radio crackled. "There is a rumor that Koreans are taking advantage of this devastating time, committing arson and robbery. Apparently, they are in possession of bombs as well. A newspaper reported that the Koreans were poisoning wells. What is all of this madness coming from? They are clearly rebelling and sabotaging Japan. We must protect and stand by Japan."Her fists tightened as she sat down with a stiff posture. "That's not true." She knew at the very least that Akashi never believed in the words of the radio when it came to this matter. Nevertheless, the injustice of the fake news that forced others to believe in the rumors as the truth cut her deeply in a way she never thought was possible. While she was not Korean in her previous life, the discrimination and the constant fear opened her eyes to a stranger world that she was never truly exposed to in her previous life. "We didn't do anything wrong… It's not fair.""Mass murders of Koreans are happening right now and has been going on for a week by mobs in Tokyo and Yokohama. Will this be lasting for a while or will the government finally put a stop to this? We will report and update everyone as soon as possible." Nami got up and turned off the radio once more.After she sat back down in silence, she thought about whether the Koreans in her previous life were still this discriminated against, but remembering the positive effect the Hallyu wave (9) had on Japan, she believed that the Japanese were not too against them. Nevertheless, she knew that she was being too optimistic.On the individual level, the Japanese and Koreans were definitely not against each other unless they were the extreme anti-Japanese or anti-Korean nationalists, but at the governmental level, the Japanese and Korean governments held an animosity that had an unfortunate effect on the two countries' friendship. It did not help that the Japanese did not fully get rid of the signs and symbols of their past beliefs of imperialism, militarism, and colonialism, such as the Yasukuni Shrine (10). The visitations of that particular shrine by active diplomats and legislators only worsened the resentment towards Japan by other countries that had been horribly treated and aggressively terrorized by Japan.Even though she could not fully sympathize with the other countries and could not fully consider herself to be a part of that Japan, she knew that such thoughts were only excuses. "In the end, are we fated to hate each other for the rest of humanity?" At the very least, she wanted Korea and Japan to hold hands with one another to support each other in times of need and to team up against other countries that continued to try to control the entirety of Asia for their own benefits.Unfortunately, to forgive but to never forget was a hard action to take for the victimized countries. However, for the sake of their future as Asia, she could only pray to herself that one day, Japan would take the first step towards this goal by putting aside their pride for the actions of their dark past by taking the appropriate measure to genuinely apologize to all those countries, including the non-biased and complete education of the reality of their mistakes to future generations in a truthful manner, so that they could all learn and then bring about a brighter future that would solidify the influence and power of Asia as one major team player in a global society, instead of remaining as a divided region.The self-conflict she felt as a current Korean and as a past Japanese overwhelmed her in her time of silence and solitude. Those were the consistent thoughts that fiercely fought in the depths of her mind like a hurricane, despite understanding that there was nothing she could do as a single individual.Finally glancing outside, she noted that Akashi would be arriving in a couple of hours. Stretching her arms out, she headed to the kitchen, confirming the list of the available ingredients she had at hand in her mind. "We sure do have a lot of tofu…" She chuckled under her breath when she recalled the pure pleasure that erupted in his face as he ate the first yudōfu (11) she made for him. He always asked her indirectly or directly if they would have yudōfu for dinner in the mornings before he left for work. Despite not allowing him to eat it daily, she was still happy that he loved it that much, so whenever she felt like it, she would make it for him again."Since I feel like it today, I'll make him yudōfu for dinner. I'm sure he'll be happy about that." She smiled joyfully to herself, preparing the ingredients in order to shorten the cooking time. When she finished, she strode towards their bedroom and stretched her arms before crawling into bed. "He seriously has too much stamina though… I'll need all the sleep I can get now…" She dozed off, feeling the warmth of the sun through the small window. "Such a good day…" Nami closed her eyes without hurry and finally embraced sleep in minutes. She never thought that this peaceful sleep would be her very last in this life.Near the window next to their dining table, an unknown man stood with a grin. A psychotic glint flickered in his eyes. He held a match, waiting for the sun to fall, so that he could begin. The house he stood in front of would be his first victim of his arsoning. The excitement and thrill caused him to shake in happiness. It was wonderful that the husband of this house never found him in the end because it led to his current chance to do what he wanted to do most -
to light everything on fire.It was so hot for some reason. She could not reason as to why it seemed hot in the room. Her dream was nothing but a lull. Immediately, Nami coughed consistently. Her throat felt dry and something felt very wrong. Opening her eyes, everything looked relatively normal in the room, but she continued to cough heavily. "Wh-what…?" That was when she smelled something burning. Her mind quickly filed through her memories, wondering if she had forgotten to turn off the stove for the water, but then she also remembered that she had not boiled any water before sleeping.Nami then heard someone yelling from outside of the house. "Let go of me! I have to save my wife! She's still inside and I can't let her die! She is mine to protect!""Seijuurou?" Hearing the desperation in his voice set off more alarms in her head. She immediately sat up, understanding that she should not stay in the house any longer for her own safety and for her husband's safety. "Fire…" Nami hoped that Akashi would not be foolish enough to enter the house, but at the same time, the uncertainty plagued her thoughts."Wait, young man! Don't go inside! You'll die!" An unknown person's voice screamed out."No!" Her husband really did decide to enter into the fire to save her. A chill went down her spine. She did not want him to die. Swiftly grabbing one thin bed sheet, she ran to the sink and poured cold water over it. At the very least, she wanted to save her husband. When she went back into the bedroom and draped herself over it, she slammed the door open. The fire was crawling in her direction at a fast pace. "I could still make it to the exit." She said out loud as she ran in the opposite direction of the fire. "Otto!
Seijuurou!" She screamed. Coughing once more, she scanned the hallway and then into the living room where the exit was located."Nami! Tsuma!" When she was near the living room, she saw her husband from a short distance away and sighed in relief. He called out to her. "Stay right there. I will go over to you!"The moment she nodded, she noticed from the corner of her eye of a wooden plank falling down in his direction. Her feet pushed her towards him with a speed that almost surprised her. The pumping in her ears and the desperation in her arms that reached out to him while throwing the wet sheet towards him told her that she was probably going to die. She pushed him out of the way, feeling the plank crash down on her legs. She cried out in pain."Nami!" Akashi held the blanket in one hand, running over to his wife. "Tsuma, why did you…" The distress in his voice was obvious.She winced, holding onto Akashi's hand tightly. "Seijuurou… I don't think I'll be able to leave-"He shook his head in disagreement. "Don't say that! I said that I would protect you and-" The frustration towards himself lingered in his expression."Seijuurou… I need you to escape for me. And…" She began coughing again from the smoke."Nami, don't talk too much or else you'll start coughing." He chided her as he attempted to remove the plank on top of her legs. "You said that you'll stay with me as my wife and I intend to ensure that you keep your word to me." He grunted when he pushed the plank to the side. He then collected her in his arms gently.She leaned against his chest before gripping the end of his arm sleeve. "Seijuurou…" Nami used her last strength to look at him in the eye."I love you." It was the first time that she said such words to him and she had hoped to say it to him as much as he wanted later in the future, but there was no chance for that now. She wished she could have seen him smile pleasantly again when he ate the yudōfu she made for him. She wanted to raise children that had his hair or his eyes and to experience with him the societal changes that she had learned in history classes in her previous life. Whether she was Honjou Nami, Gen Yura, Akashi Nami, or Akashi Yura, it no longer mattered. She had lost everything in the end.But was it her destiny to die like this?She supposed that it was since humans were not allowed to venture into the path of immortality anyways. In that case, she would accept her death with the hopeful relief that her husband would stay alive for the upcoming years."I want you to live. Just like how you said that you would protect me, I also want to protect you. I love you so much and if I could see you again in 95 years, then I would be so happy, but since I don't know if that's even possible, I would rather see you alive now. So please leave. Leave me,
otto, and live." The strain to breathe caused her vision to blur. Tears sprouted from her eyes. She felt nauseous and could hardly get a hold of her focus."I love you…and I will never forget you…" Her voice was soft and almost indiscernible. The last sight of her despairing husband hurt her deeply. She desperately wanted to comfort him and hold him in her arms for a long time, but time decided that it was no longer her place to stand by his side as she saw her husband crying something out to her one last time. Unfortunately, she could no longer hear him, despite wishing that she could have heard his final words to her before leaving him alone. To no avail, her vision soon turned black and her mind faded away permanently."Tsuma, no… You can't leave me like this. I promised-" He coughed as well, not letting go of his wife. "Nami, Yura... Come back to me…" He shook her in horror. "Tsuma…
You didn't even hear my last words… The words that I wanted to tell you for a long time." Tears gathered in his eyes, but he willed them not to spill. Only the crackling of the fire and the shouts of the people outside could be heard."If I cannot live with you happily in this life, then I will look for you in 95 years or earlier… I will be born at the same time as you this time in 77 years with the same body and with the same name, so that you can recognize me,
ore no itoshii hito yo. Wait for me,
tsuma. I will be joining you soon." The fire blew the debris of the house onto them both, taking his life as if in response to his very resolve."That student has been visiting her everyday since she fell into a coma." A nurse whispered to another. "She's so lucky. If only she would wake up…""Do you think he's her boyfriend?" The other nurse giggled. "If I was just a little younger, I would seduce him for myself.""Don't say that!" The head nurse glared at the three."We were just joking..." They sat back down in silence."..." Akashi stared at the young face of Nami. It was odd how he finally saw the last few memories of his previous life that night very clearly. In fact, the recollection of such memories all began in his third year in middle school. He started having intense vivid dreams of them, but when he pushed them to the side and entered high school as the new member of the student council, his other self was intrigued by her existence when he recognized and officially met the disinterested and younger Nami who seemed to not recognize him at all. However, when he switched personalities with his other self in his last year of middle school, the dreams had almost faded away, just appearing a couple of times a month. It was only after Rakuzan had been defeated by Seirin that those dreams had come back in full force. "When will you wake, Honjou Nami?"He sighed to himself. While he had a lot of time to process his memories, the last few memories hurt him deeply. "After all…" A sad smile graced his lips. While being in student council with her last year and part of this year calmed him down for the most part, when he saw her slip and fall during the hike, he felt as though his life was being ripped away from him once more. It was unnerving how much he was affected by his previous life and yet, at the same time, he considered himself to be a separate entity from the previous Akashi, who was similar to the other personality that disappeared during the match against Team Jabberwock."Mn…" Nami's fingers twitched. Her eyes fluttered open. Her breathing turned heavy. Startled, he watched her for a brief second before calling the doctor. The Nami he learned from the previous Akashi's memory and the Nami he personally knew as a student council member blurred together into one Nami, which was the Nami who had just woken up from her coma. "Whe….I…?" He noticed how tears trickled down her cheeks before he wiped them away gently with his thumb."You're in the hospital. You were in a coma for a few weeks." Akashi softly informed her."Dream…? Felt so real..." Confusion, regret, sadness, and resignation flickered in her eyes."You will be okay now." He finally allowed himself to give into his whims and patted her head, leaving it there, to comfort her and also to comfort himself."Seito...kaichou…?" She was surprised at how this Akashi patted her head like the previous Akashi, especially since this Akashi never did that to her before in the last year and a half that they had known each other.Once the doctor cleared her with a slightly incredulous look and left the room, she sat on the bed in silence while Akashi watched her carefully."Fuku-kaichou.
How do you feel now?" He broke the silence."Confused." She answered curtly. She had a lot to think about.When he realized that she would not engage him in a conversation, he decided to make the first move. "If I could see you again in 95 years, then I would be so happy, but since I don't know if that's even possible, I would rather see you alive now." Akashi whispered to her. Nami whipped her head to face him with a shocked expression.Disbelief pooled into her eyes. "What… What did you say just now?" Only one person would know of those words."I understand that you still need to process everything that happened, but I would like you to listen to my words calmly." Akashi sat down in his chair comfortably."Go on." She motioned to him that he had her full attention."I am not the same as the Akashi from my previous life. While I do have the memories and had plenty of time to process it, he is not completely the same as me." He paused, gauging her reaction. She was still attentive and receptive to his words. He continued. "Nevertheless, I do have some things that I wish to tell you as the representative of the previous Akashi and as… well… myself."She raised her eyebrow at the part about him being a representative of the previous Akashi. "Continue…""Tsuma." She twitched uncomfortably. Hearing him call her his wife felt odd but right. "I am displeased about the fact that you told me that you were from the future and yet did not have the audacity to believe that I would be able to find you again." He got an amused smile out of her from those words, which comforted him. "And how dare you die before listening to my reply to your words? How could you leave me like that? There were so many things that I wanted to tell you."Her gaze turned sorrowful. "I…""Tsuma,
I love you too.
Ore no itoshii hito yo. You are mine to protect, whether you were Yura or are Nami and whether you were my wife or are my
fuku-kaichou." The fact that he included the current her to his statement touched her from the bottom of her heart."Akashi...kun…" She felt the tears gathering in her eyes. She struggled to hold them in. She did not want to once again appear weak in front of her
seito kaichou, so she turned her head away, hiding her tears."I love you and I never forgot you.
And this time, in this life, you are not allowed to leave me like that ever again. Because if I could not live with you happily in that life, then in this life, we will take the chance to do so through the freedom of our choices." He shut his eyes as if calming himself. "Whether that means we stand next to each other for the rest of this life or not.""..." She breathed in and out, wiping away her tears. She understood that what
seito kaichou
really wanted to say was his next upcoming set of words. She prepared herself."Honjou. As I said before, I am not the same Akashi as the previous life. I have no plans on becoming the same Akashi either because I am me. However, I would like you to stay in my life - just like how I was in that life. I would like to know more about the current you and I would like it if you were willing to learn more about the current me. Would you be willing to take that chance together with me?""..." She sat there quietly, plunging deep into her thoughts. "...I also want to say something to you.""Go ahead." He waited patiently for her to gather her words."Akashi-kun, I'm also not the same as Yura. While I was the one in that body, the circumstances and the environment never gave me the chance to fully flourish as myself. So I also have no plans on becoming like Yura again since I now have the freedom to be whoever I want to be." She paused, watching him absorb what she was telling him. "So if you're willing to get to know the current me, then I will be happy to get to know the current you as well." That was her answer to his question. She then huffed at him with an odd smile. "And although I did love the previous Akashi as my husband, I honestly did miss interacting with
seito kaichou
when I ended up in that time…" She sheepishly laughed a little. "In the end, I suppose I also want you in my life - just like how I was in that life. So yes, I am most definitely willing to take that chance together with you." Even though she was clarifying her answer to his question once again, this time, it was actually her way of confirming her own resolve to herself of her choice.His eyes warmed at the sight of her and his lips widened into a relieved smile. "Then let's do our best to learn more about each other from now on. Slowly. Because this time... We have more than enough time to spend with one another.""In that case…
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, seito kaichou." She bowed towards him. "Or should I call you, Akashi-kun, instead?" Mischief and excitement lurked in her expression.He briefly wondered if this was a good idea, but once he noted the pure sincerity in her eyes, he decided that while it would be a long journey for them both, it would be a journey that would be worth doing. "Akashi-kun is fine, Honjou.
Ore mo, yoroshiku tanomu." He finally smiled serenely at her as she did the same as well.The future is now theirs for the choosing.
TRANSLATIONS AND NOTES:
*The
incident at the local clinic
will be shown in the next chapter. seito kaichou
= student council president hai
= yes ojou-sama
= young lady; daughter of a high-class family tsuma
= wife otto
= husband un
= okay haori
= a traditional Japanese hip- or thigh-length kimono-style jacket, worn over a kosode obi
= a broad sash worn around the waist of a Japanese kimono ore no itoshii hito yo
= my beloved person fuku-kaichou
= student council vice president yoroshiku onegaishimasu
= please treat me well; I look forward to working with you ore mo
= me too yoroshiku tanomu
= take care of me well
REMINDER: The notes that are written for this chapter come from Wikipedia, Japan Times, , Encyclopedia Britannica, Brown University Library Center for Digital Scholarship, All Car Index, my own knowledge of the topics, and my detailed notes from the classes I took that talked about the topics down below. The notes also contained the insights and knowledge gained from the original materials I mentioned in this story and from the materials that are relevant or that refer to the actual history of Japan. I only chose the information from most of the sites, especially from Wikipedia, that matched the information in my notes.(1)
Taisho Period
- The Taishō period or Taishō era, is a period in the history of Japan dating from July 30, 1912, to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign of the Emperor Taishō.(2)
1923 Massacre of Koreans
- Right after the Great Kantou Earthquake, in 1923, Japanese people from the Kantou region murdered and massacred obvious Koreans. Even after the government ordered the safety of Koreans, the police would usually hand the Koreans over to the extreme anti-Korean nationalists, which led to the death of many Koreans. The killing was extremely brutal in that they would get their head chopped off and so much more. The government officials and the police were generally ordered to group the Koreans and put them into safety zones. Unfortunately, most of that did not happen. Because most Koreans fled to police boxes, the police boxes were attacked by the Japanese. Sometimes, the neighborhoods would team up to protect the Koreans themselves. The reason why the Japanese were so adamant about killing the Koreans was because of the protesting in Korea (that had to do with making the Japanese leave Korea since Korea was under Japanese imperialist ruling during that time). And it was also because of a rumor that stated that Koreans were arsoning the Japanese and that the Koreans were taking all the jobs from the Japanese, which were all untrue. Interestingly enough, when the Japanese realized that many were escaping to other regions, they would set up a blockade and check the dialect of each traveler. If any had dialects of any sort, they were killed, so even Japanese with other dialects and the Chinese were killed as well. This was a time when a lot of protesting went on in Japan as well, so tension was at a new time high. Of course, because of the government, there is not a lot of information about the massacre since they covered it up and hushed anyone who tried to report it to the world. It was only after a couple of months later that it was sort of mentioned, but not much spotlight was placed on it. While some of the murderers were tried at court, it was pretty much a joke since they just laughed about the massacre and set those guys free.(3)
The Female Protagonist, Naomi, in Tanizaki's Novel "A Fool's Love"
- Written between 1924 and 1925, Tanizaki's classic tale of Japan's roaring '20s is a warning to any man who falls for a much younger woman and is fool enough to think he can control her. It's "Lolita" meets "Pygmalion," though Naomi is no "fair lady," despite the efforts of the book's narrator, Joji (professor Higgins to Naomi's Eliza). Naomi is a dominatrix and a huge manipulator, while Joji is an obsessed fool. Hence why it's called a Fool's Love.(4)
1923 Great Kantou Earthquake
- The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 shocked the nation. The magnitude of its destruction was almost beyond imagining. Disaster struck at 11:58 on September 1st, 1923, just as families were gathering around the table for lunch. Most workers went home after a short day at work and for students it was their first day back at school after a long summer break. Although the quake itself measured 8.2 on the Richter scale, the fires that resulted from the overturned cooking stoves in many homes, coupled with high winds caused most of the destruction. The epicenter of the quake was located near Oshima Island in Sagama Bay (south of Tokyo). The tremors most heavily affected the imperial capital, Tokyo, and left the port metropolis Yokohama in ruins. In total, both the quake and fires that followed claimed the lives of nearly 130,000 people. In Yokohama, 90 percent of all homes were damaged or destroyed while 350,000 homes met the same fate in Tokyo, leaving 60 percent of the city's population homeless.(5)
Fukuzawa Yukichi
- The greatest of all the cultural critics — and the true founder of modern Japan — was Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901). Fukuzawa had been steeped as a boy in neo-Confucian thought, but had also trained in Dutch studies before switching to English. Fukuzawa's call was not for slavish copying of the West — a notion he derided as fiercely as the old ideas he was railing against — but rather the pragmatic adoption of all things, regardless of origin, that suited local needs.(6)
Fukuzawa Yukichi's
Datsu-A
- From the 1870s, Fukuzawa grew increasingly fearful of the imperialistic designs of Western nations and began to prioritize the strengthening of the nation state over individual liberty as a necessary expedient of the age. He even called for Japan to take the lead throughout Asia in resisting Western imperialism, implicitly encouraging Japan's own imperial ambitions. (The call for Japan to take lead is the core of the
Datsu-A
document.)(7)
Takuri
Car
- Takuri (1907 - 1909). Takuri was the first petrol-powered car produced in Japan.(8)
Radio in Japan
- Planning for Japanese radio was delayed by the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923; transmissions did not get under way until two years later, allowing the country to refine its basic broadcast policies (based on the experience of other countries) before the first stations appeared. The first Tokyo station began regular service in March 1925, and the first network—the Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK), or Japan Broadcasting Corporation—appeared the next year; it would dominate Japanese radio for decades. Several other stations were added throughout the decade and into the 1930s.(9)
Hallyu Wave
- A term now widely used to refer to the popularity of Korean entertainment and culture across Asia and other parts of the world.(10)
Yasukuni Shrine
- A notable image of the shrine is the Japanese Imperial Chrysanthemum featured on the gate curtains leading into the shrine. The shrine represents and is the symbol of Japanese imperialism. More recently, the visitation of the shrine by active Japanese diplomats and legislators have brought public controversy in global media. One of those legislators publicly apologized to the Koreans for Japan's horrendous acts during the war and of their imperialist acts, but then that legislator also visited and prayed at the shrine that was the symbol of their imperialism days. So the apology felt like a joke to the victims as though the Japanese weren't truly being serious and weren't taking their victims seriously enough. That is why tension rose even further and why the victims still demand an apology from the Japanese.(11)
Yudofu
- Yudofu is Tofu cooked in hot water in a pot. It is a very simple Nabe hot pot dish.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It was a clear day with bright blue skies and the beautiful petals of cherry blossoms flew towards the walkways.Honjou Nami sighed a little, regretting her decision to go to Rakuzan High. "What was the point when I didn't even get first place… Who was it that got first place again?""Akashi Seijuurou." A girl answered her. She turned around in surprise. There stood a familiar person."Sae-chan. You also decided to go to Rakuzan?" Nami blinked in confusion. "But I thought that you were going to Kaijou because of your acting career…"Hikari Sae's beautiful features distorted when she snorted. "I want to go to school with you. Plus, my gigs were pretty much moved to the Kyoto prefecture for the majority of the time since my popularity remains in the historical dramas." Her silky long black hair were tied back in an elegant ponytail. Her friend was essentially the perfect image of Nadeshiko."Well… if I get to go to school with you, that makes me happy. We can keep talking about otome games and anime too." Nami held onto Sae's arm with a bright expression. "Does that mean we'll be in the same class?""Of course. I need to ensure that my grades are similar to yours at the very least." She squeezed Nami into a tight hug. "I can't separate from you that easily when you're my best friend!""Un! I'm glad to go to school with you again. Let's try to sit together! I'll also make sure to take notes for you when you're out working." Nami pulled Sae towards the building that they needed to enter for the entrance ceremony."You don't need to go that far, but nevertheless, thank you. I'll be sure to do my best with and without your help!" She pumped her fists in the air. Nami gave a light laugh in response."He's quite handsome, that Akashi Seijuurou." Sae grinned. Her elbow gently hit Nami's consecutively."What are you trying to say, Sae-chan…" She gave her an unamused look."Ah… I forgot… You're not interested in 3D guys, except for the truly privileged, but then again, you're just as picky when it comes to 2D, so I guess in general..." Sae sighed sadly to herself. Dramatically wondering if her friend would ever have a love life in the future, she hugged Nami. "I wonder if this will be the start of Akashi's route.""Urusai. This isn't an otome game and I have no intention of raising his flags nonetheless." Nami's eyebrow twitched in annoyance."But you're still lucky to be working with Akashi-kun though. He's rich, smart, and totally alpha. The top two students of our class will be
iinchou
and
fuku-iinchou
for our year, so that means that since Akashi Seijuurou got first place and you got second place, he will be
iinchou
and you will be
fuku-iinchou! I wonder what kind of drama this will become~!" Sae giggled to herself as if imagining a romantic comedy."Fukuzatsu…" Nami sighed. "As long as he does his job and doesn't act like an arrogant brat to me, then I don't care.""Mou… Always so serious, but that's what I like about you the most though." They finally entered the classroom. Sae observed the other classmates who immediately noticed her presence. When they began talking amongst themselves while keeping their eye on her, she knew then that they knew her as the actress,
Sakura, which was her stage name. "Well this is going to be a fun year.""If they try to bother you, I'll kill them." The severity in Nami's voice made Sae smile warmly."I don't think killing is the answer." Sae reassured Nami that this time, she would not have to protect her so much when it came to her fans."No. Your manager entrusted me with the duty to keep you away from ardent fans. I will destroy them if needed." Danger flickered in Nami's eyes before she neutralized her expression. "This time, we will have a quiet year… I will make sure of that for both of our sanities.""Pft." Sae laughed in her hand. "Nami-chan. I think you killing them is more for your sake than mine at that point.""You're right. It is. I'm selfish in that I want to hoard all of my friend's time so that we can chat about things that we both enjoy without having anyone interfere." She huffed as she sat in her assigned seat. "At least you're sitting behind me. I would have preferred you to sit in front of me, so that I could derail anyone trying to do anything inappropriate to you, unless you wanted it from a certain person, but… I suppose this will have to do."Adoration and appreciation for her friend lingered in Sae's expression. "And this is why I wanted to go to school with you.""Eh...?" Nami had snapped out of her intense intimidation to her fellow classmates who kept staring at her friend. "What…?""Nothing. It looks like class will start soon." Sae settled down in her seat.That was when Akashi Seijuurou entered the room. Immediately, the light atmosphere from before faded away. Everyone's focus lingered on him. Meanwhile, Nami stared outside of the window in a lazy manner. She had no intention of looking at the male that she would have to spend a year with anyways. It seemed pointless to her. Who cared if someone was good looking? She preferred average looking guys with personalities that she personally valued and respected. Although she said average looking, to her, they seemed perfect with their imperfections, almost becoming aesthetically pleasing in her eyes. At least, that was what Sae had told her.The chatters around her suddenly stopped. She felt someone standing next to her. She really wanted to sigh but she supposed that it was not the time for such an action. Turning her head, she found Akashi Seijuurou staring down at her. Her face expression remained emotionless, unwilling to spare any sign of hormonal attraction towards him."Honjou Nami." His voice almost gave her shivers, but she held her place firmly."...Yes?""You are the
fuku-iinchou." It was not a question; rather, it was a statement."Yes…." She did not understand why he was talking to her. Was there a point to this? Irritation bubbled up inside of her. "...And?" There was no need to talk to her before then. That was what she reasoned to herself."Hm…" It was as if he was analyzing her, giving her no chance to escape from him. "Keep up with me,
fuku-iinchou." The authoritative tone in his voice interested her. It took a lot of effort on her part to stop herself since her initial jerk reaction would have been to rebel against him anyways. However, he was extremely lucky that her sole desire during her high school days was to maintain a peaceful time with her friend. After all, rebelling against the top student would only spell trouble for her wishful and quiet future years at Rakuzan High.Nami turned her head to face the window, enjoying the blue sky. While the way he talked irritated her a little since it felt like he was assuming her to be one of the incapable people, she could not fault him. After all, she also hated stupid people. "...Hmph. Isn't that a given." It was her way of telling him that he had nothing to worry about and that she would give him the best support for that year.She finally sighed. She now knew from this first interaction that he was one of those troublesome type of people. "I should have gone to Kaijou." She muttered under her breath. Sae giggled behind her but stayed silent when Nami glared at her."Do you think of yourself as worthy enough?" A female upperclassman pushed Nami into the wall harshly. "Just because you're friends with Sakura-sama! Don't act like you're all that! Stay away from her! She doesn't need someone like you in her life!""Hah…" She sighed in a bored fashion. "The moment Sae-chan goes to work, this happens… I suppose it was bound to happen." She scratched the back of her head. She really disliked Sae-chan's extreme fans. To think that she had to deal with her unexpectedly extreme female fans too exhausted her. "I'm so tired of everyone trying to put me down when they themselves aren't that great either.""What did you say?!" Another upperclassman slapped her. She let it go since it was better than attacking them immediately after. Plus, the male upperclassman was clearly underestimating her self-defense ability. Unfortunately, their aim was to get her in trouble, so she would need to time this correctly."First of all, we're all human. When we die, we end up in the dirt. Money? Fame? Why is that so important?" She asked them curiously, but they ignored her question. "Why don't you just use your energy for more productive tasks? I don't understand the logic of foolish people who try to bully others because of their incapabilities and frustration towards life." Nami soon felt her cheek burn a bit more from the earlier slap."You're the fool who doesn't know her place!" Two students, which included her female classmate, grabbed her arms to stop her from lashing out. The leader smiled unpleasantly. "If Sakura-sama cannot understand that you are not worthy enough in her life, then perhaps she isn't worth supporting after all." Nami's fists tightened as she emotionlessly stared at the leader.He lifted her chin up with one hand. "Perhaps if you stayed away from Sakura-sama, I could even consider going out with you since you're not that bad looking.""It's one thing to diss me, but to think that you would insult Sae-chan…" Her eyes darkened. "I will never forgive you…
Bastard. I'd rather die than go out with someone like you."He slapped her again and then pulled at her hair harshly. "This is Rakuzan High. Accomplishment in both letters and arms. That is our motto. I think you should be grateful that someone like me would even consider you as a girlfriend candidate." He gritted his teeth.When the leader's eyes flickered to the side, she decided that it was time. She quickly kicked the male in between his legs fiercely, forcing him to fall to the ground. She then swung herself up and slammed her knee against the nose of the male upperclassman who held her arm. The female classmate yelped when she kicked her in the stomach. The others that were watching flinched as Nami glared at them coldly. "Anything else you want to add before you end up on the floor with them?"They all flinched, slowly backing away from her. "Where do you think you're going? I thought that you wanted to have fun with me?" Nami strode towards them lazily as though she was confident that she could take on all of them with no problems. "Accomplishment in both letters and arms. Isn't that what you lot said? Shall I teach you what it means to be both an accomplished student and an accomplished fighter?" Their faces paled. "Or shall I say an accomplished martial artist… Either way, it doesn't matter... I might no longer go to a dojo anymore, but it doesn't mean that my skills have deteriorated for the past few months.""We…" The fear that she saw in their eyes pleased the usually hidden sadistic side of her."We what? Don't tell me that you want to back out now. Just when things are getting fun…" She untied one of the unconscious upperclassman's tie. She wrapped the end of it around her hand and then whipped it down on her knee to test how painful it would be. "Hm… I just wanted to give you a warning, so no need to be that scared." Nami noted to herself that it had been a while since she last went berserk on someone, but then again, people seemed to learn to not bother her the hard way. "If you're that scared, it only makes me want to play with you more.""O-oni." One of them had tears gathering in the corner of their eyes, tripping on their own feet and falling onto the ground as if thoroughly terrified."Oni…? That isn't very nice to say about someone, especially after you all had so much shit to say about me. Now…" Nami dropped her interested expression and coldly stared at them. "If you bother me or Sae-chan ever again with your stupidity, I will show you what true Hell is like. Whether you're older than me… That doesn't matter to me. After all, those are just trivial matters." Nami once again smiled brightly at them. "So who wants to go first?""Where were you?" Akashi's eyes narrowed at her."Somewhere. I have no excuses." Nami sat down in her seat and worked on her portion without complaint. She probably would stay after for a while, but she was glad that he never said or asked about anything else. The scribbling sound of the pen and the sound of breathing calmed her. Her cheek still hurt and her body ached from the hits that she had taken from the group, but the fact that they would no longer bother her unless they seeked a death sentence gave her a sense of satisfaction and contentment of her safety and of the upcoming quiet years. "How perfect…" She murmured to herself absentmindedly.An hour passed by and she never noticed how Akashi had left the room twice. When he stood in front of her, he lifted her chin to get her attention since him calling out to her turned out to be useless. "Eh…? What?" She waited for him to speak. All of a sudden, something cold touched her swollen cheek. She flinched in response."Use it." She stared at him incredulously before holding onto the ice pack against her cheek. He went back to his seat and organized the documents. "Take care of the rest." Akashi then left the room, most likely heading towards the basketball club."...Thank you." She whispered, despite understanding that he was not even there to hear her thanks. Perhaps Akashi Seijuurou was not that bad after all. Nami then continued to work on the documents in silence."Nami-chan!" Sae jumped on her friend's back when Nami was informing Akashi about a change in the date of the upcoming student council meeting. Nami controlled the pain that she felt, slowly rearranging her face into a neutral expression. She would not flinch in front of her friend.Nami gave her a smile. "Sae-chan. You're done with work?" Thankfully, the swollen part of her cheek had disappeared overnight with the use of the ice pack, but the aches and bruises on her body remained sensitive."Un!" Sae noticed Akashi's displeasure and frowned. "Ah, it seems like I interrupted something. I'll see you back at the classroom then!" She then waved to her friend before leaving like the wind.Sweat trickled down her cheek, wincing a little when she still felt the sensitivity of her hurt cheek. Nami quickly wiped it away, turning towards Akashi again with an emotionless expression. Everything felt so draining. Thanks to her injuries, even sleeping was hard. "So as I was saying earlier…" Once she finished informing him, she began to leave the room when Akashi called out to her. She faced him once more. "Yes? Is there something you need from me,
iinchou?""Go to the infirmary." It was one of his orders again.While she really did want to, she was hesitant. "But I still have class and…" She did not want Sae to know of her troubles since it was already taken care of."I will make an excuse to your...friend. However, I will not permit you to go to class. You are going to rest in the infirmary, get your injuries taken care of, and not hold me back for the student council work." There was no room for negotiation.Frustration took over her exhausted self. "But class-""You will listen to me, Honjou Nami." His sharp gaze held her attention."Fine. Then let me see and copy your notes after." She glared at him, waiting for him to ignore her words as always."If that is what will make you go to the infirmary, then so be it." He walked past her and left the room without letting her respond."Well… That went better than expected…""Nami-chan! How are you feeling?! You should have told me that you fell down the stairs! I knew that you were a bit clumsy when you're out of it, but to think that it would end up in that way…" Sae cried as she embraced her friend. Nami, on the other hand, was horrified at what Akashi had told her best friend. "Are you okay?""Ah… Yes. No worries. Just feel the aches and bruises, but they should disappear in time. Nothing to worry about." She reassured her actress friend. "I should head over to the student council room and finish my work.""But-!" Sae wiped her tears away and looked outraged that Nami was going to be forced to do more work for the student council when she was physically hurt."Sae-chan. I don't want to burden the others. We already have a lot of stuff to take care of and Akashi-kun is captain of the basketball club. You know how important that is." Nami bowed to the nurse and walked out. "I'll see you tomorrow since I don't know how long it will take today. Text me when you watch the newest episode, okay?"Sae pouted. "Okay... If you really think so…"Nami patted her on the shoulder. "I do. Now go home, so that I can be reassured that you're safe."She pumped her fists in the air again. "Of course! I will practice my lines after watching the newest episode! You can bet on it!""You don't need to go that far…" Nami laughed before realizing that Sae ran off without hearing the rest of her words. "And she already left…""Nami-chan… I didn't know that you were interested in basketball!" Sae whispered excitedly to Nami. She only sighed in response.Nami grumbled. "It's not like I really wanted to come to the Winter Cup finals… Akashi-kun told me that I needed to report to him of the student council work after their final match.""But the matches were so fun to watch anyways. It's a shame that Rakuzan High lost against Seirin though… And yet it was the most exciting!" Sae's eyes shimmered of admiration and disappointment at the same time.She smiled at her best friend. "As expected of an actress… to express such conflicting emotions in your eyes that easily." She looked out the window with a sigh."Mou… Don't tease me, Nami-chan!" Sae pouted before pulling on her sleeve. "Look! It's Rakuzan! Let's go!""I'm going… I'm going…" Nami groaned, not wanting to see Akashi during her precious weekend."Akashi-kun!" Sae called out happily as though his intimidating aura from before never affected her badly."Ah, Hikari-san. Are you here to support Rakuzan?" Akashi calmly smiled at the energized actress."Not really! I'm here to accompany Nami-chan for a couple of hours since she seldom comes to Tokyo even when I have a job here!" She hugged Nami from the side before curiously glancing over to the rest of the team. In particular, she was staring at the energetic light-haired male."AH! So you're Sakura-chan!" Hayama Kotarou swiftly stood in front of the actress who seemed overwhelmed at his sudden closeness in physical distance. His eyes sparkled with amazement. "My sisters are super big fan of yours!"She quickly recovered from her minor shock. "I feel honored. Can you tell your sisters that I'm thankful for their support? I am always happy to meet my fans." Sae smiled brightly at Kotarou who actually blushed a little and took a small step away from her, giving her space. She seemed genuinely ecstatic to talk to the small forward player who she shyly admired from afar during her attended days at Rakuzan High. At least, that was what Nami observed.He scratched the back of his head nervously and then confidently hit his chest with his fist. "OF COURSE! LEAVE IT TO ME!"While they were chatting with one another, Nami took the chance to walk over to Akashi. "Akashi-kun. I'm here to give you my report." She was ready to escape from the building since it was strenuous to be in a place with so many people."..." His eyes had widened a little, staring at her in disbelief. That only happened for a very brief second before his expression reverted back to the supposed softer and warm expression that he wore in his middle school days, catching her off-guard. Nevertheless, she calmly observed the hardness that hid in the deepest depths of his eyes. "Honjou."She blinked. "...What did you just call me?" She wondered if she was hearing things now. Clearly, she needed to get some sleep or meditate for today."Honjou." He called out to her again, looking a bit amused."..." No, she heard him correctly, but the problem was why he was suddenly calling her by her last name. In the past, ever since they first met, he had only called her by her full name. "..." She finally grabbed his shoulders and shook him vigorously. "Did the loss against Seirin put you into shock? No, that can't be right. Then why?!" She quickly took a step back. Her face paled. In fact, it was the first time that Honjou Nami looked terrified in Sae's opinion.Akashi gave her a pained smile. "The loss… I admit... has shocked me, but it will only push us to train harder, so that we can win the next time." She gaped at him in silence."Na...Nami-chan, are you okay?" Sae finally shook her friend."Sei-chan… I think she's in shock." Mibuchi Reo glanced at her worriedly.Her sanity came back in a flash. Nami stood back up with little effort. The look of horror seemed like an illusion as her emotionless face was no longer disturbed. "Either way, I am only here to report to you. Nothing more and nothing less. No point in getting startled over someone who I'm not even close with. New times… New people..." Her eyes darkened briefly before reporting to Akashi automatically. "And that is all. I will be taking my leave now." She turned her heel to leave when Sae pulled her backwards harshly."Nami-chan! I want to talk to Hayama-senpai a little bit more!" Sae pouted, soon grabbing Kotarou's arm. He turned unexpectedly quiet, looking exceptionally pleased. Even Reo looked a bit disturbed at how quiet he became. "I can call you Hayama-senpai, right?"Nami rubbed in between her eyebrows. She really needed to get more sleep. At this rate, she might snap. "Sae-chan. Don't bother them. They probably need to get their rest and go back-""O-OF COURSE! NOT A PROBLEM AT ALL! YOU CAN EVEN CALL ME KOTAROU-SENPAI IF YOU WANT TO!" Kotarou yelled out in an unnaturally nervous manner as though he had planned to interrupt Nami in order to keep Sae with him longer. She highly doubted that though. Perhaps, it was his infamous animal instincts instead. "CAN I CALL YOU SAE-CHAN AND EXCHANGE NUMBERS WITH YOU?""Of course you can call me Sae-chan, Kotarou-senpai! And here is my number…" She began exchanging numbers with the male that Nami definitely knew was her type - based on the guys she typically went for in otome games."What was this… the Kotarou route?" She mumbled to herself unhappily. Nami sighed deeply. She knew that she could not take away her friend from the person of her great affection in a normal way. "Akashi-kun, I apologize for disturbing your team like this, especially after that match. Once they are done, I'll be glad to take her away from everyone.""It's fine, Honjou." Akashi noticed the way she twitched when he called her by last name. "We were actually going to eat somewhere in Tokyo afterwards before heading back to Kyoto. If you would like, you and your friend can go with us." He had no plans on having her leave him just like that.Nami had a bad feeling that she would be pressured into saying yes by Sae and the others who were gazing at her intently as if she was a puppy. "Argh…" This was too difficult of a level.Sae's eyes sparkled as she jumped up and down, smiling at Kotarou brightly. "Eh, really?! Is that really okay with everyone?" When the Rakuzan regulars sent a nod and a smile in her direction, Sae immediately gave her best friend the puppy eyes and the pout. "C'mon, Nami-chan! Go with me for my sake~! Please~~!""Hah…. I knew this was going to happen…" Nami desperately hoped to get some sleep, but at the same time, she did not want to derail her friend's potential romance with someone she really liked. "Fine." It was most definitely not because of her friend's puppy eyes. After all, she should be relatively immune to it by now.She did note that the regulars seemed pleased at how unexpectedly shy and quiet Kotarou was around Sae half of the time, making her believe that
that
was the true reason as to why they wanted the two to accompany them during their meal time, especially after their loss against Seirin."Sae-chan, don't you have work soon?" Nami whispered to her."It's okay. I wanted to keep it a surprise but I might as well just say it. I finished my work very early today, which is why I could hang out with you and stay with you for the rest of the upcoming two days!" She announced to her best friend brightly."In that case, enjoy your time with the object of your great affection." Nami smirked, subtly indicating Kotarou, before joining Reo and Akashi at the front. She chuckled under her breath when she heard the 'Mou~!' come out of her friend's mouth."Nami-chan, have some of this. It's delicious!" Sae placed a piece of bread on her plate. Nami kept her frown hidden. She was not very fond of bread to a certain extent, but she could not refuse Sae at the moment. It was not as though Sae knew. Nami decided that she would just have to tell her afterwards. Nevertheless, she chewed on it slowly. It was still pretty tasty. At the very least, it was not something sweet.From the corner of her eye, she spotted yudofu in one of the mini bowls. Before she had the chance to reach out for it, Akashi had taken it for himself. The sadness in losing the chance to cleanse her mouth of the buttery bread lingered as she scanned the rest of the table for something else. Instead, she saw Sae's favorite curry bread. "Nothing…" She murmured to herself when she noted that nothing was on Sae's plate. Nami then grabbed the last curry bread and placed it on Sae's plate, tugging on her sleeve to let her know of its existence on her plate. When her friend's eyes brightened, she knew that she made the right choice."Hm…" A complicated expression appeared on Nami's face. There was nothing that she really wanted to eat on the table, so she just took a sip of her water. If anything, she could get something to eat on the way back home and if she really was not hungry, then she could wait until she got home to eat. Nami stared at the half-eaten bread and sighed. She supposed that she should finish her food and not leave anything to go to waste. Nibbling on the bread again, she once again noted the tiny mess that Sae left on the table. When her friend left for the bathroom, Nami placed down her bread, wiped her hands, and then quietly cleaned it up for her."You're quite attentive to her needs." Reo spoke to her with a pleasant smile. She flinched as though she was caught doing something bad. "It's nothing bad. I definitely think it's a respectable quality to have.""..." Nami blinked before nodding slowly. "Thank you." Her voice was soft. She tried to keep to herself and not bring any attention to herself from the Rakuzan team members, but she wondered if she really was doing a good job at that. She went back to nibbling on the bread as it gave her an excuse to not talk."I'm back!" Sae smiled happily at her best friend. "Nami-chan… Were you eating that bread this entire time...?" She stared at the piece of bread incredulously. "Do you not like bread?"Nami had a hard time lying, so she told her the truth. "Bread can be tasty, but I'm not really a big fan of it...and I prefer eating the food that I cook for myself than eating out…for various reasons.""You have nothing that you're craving to eat in particular too, right?" Sae took the bread out of her best friend's hands. "Do you want me to order you yudofu? I think that's what you would prefer out of everything on the menu, right?""...Un." Nami began to relax as she excitedly waited for the order to come. She swung her legs back and forth lightly. The growing energized smile was obvious. She never looked at the others and instead, glanced down at the table and then in the general direction of the kitchen area."Nami-chan, do you like yudofu?" Reo once again initiated a conversation with her.It was as if her reserved attitude from before faded away. "Un. It's tasty. I like it, but I also like other delicious food that aren't too oily or salty. I'm not a huge fan of anything sweet though."Reo said sadly. "Oh, that's a shame. I'm really good at making sweets. It's a hobby of mine.""I don't like eating sweets but I do like looking at them. They're very pretty." Nami began to cut everyone but Reo out of her focus.Reo leaned on his arm. "Aren't they? They're quite cute too.""I saw a pastry recently that was shaped like a bunny." Nami imitated the rabbit's ears with her hands briefly before cupping her cheeks, remembering the small pastry. "It was so adorable that I wanted to buy it, but I knew that it should go to someone who would actually eat it, so I didn't get it for myself."Reo's smile widened. "Oh! I saw that one recently and-""Excuse me. Here is your yudofu." A waiter brought it over to Nami."Ah, thank you very much." Nami gave the waiter a pure innocent smile, emitting her appreciation to him as brightly as possible. He stared at her briefly with a faint blush, but the moment he felt an intimidating aura coming from someone across from her, he quickly nodded and strode away as fast as possible. "Anou, Mibuchi-senpai… Would it be okay if I eat my yudofu first?" She stared at the dish before her longingly."Of course you can eat first, dear. I wouldn't want you to starve."As if Nami heard no one after that, she dived into eating her yudofu with an uncharacteristically blissful expression. It was as though she was turning into a blob of happiness. The smile even evolved into a more genuine one, compared to the other times she actually smiled in front of them. The quiet but obvious sounds of gratification and contentment came from her."Isn't Nami-chan adorable when she's eating food that she likes?" Sae leaned on her arm, laughing a little to herself. "If she's eating like this, it means that she can't hear anything or see anything else but the food.""Have you seen her eat like this at school?" Reo asked. Curiosity lingered in his expression.Sae burst out into laughter. "Definitely not! Nami-chan makes sure that she brings food that isn't delicious to the point of bliss. She just brings food that she consumes daily for nourishment purposes and not for taste, but she's really good at cooking, especially when she's cooking for others! Oh and she gets embarrassed when she realizes that she was acting like this again, so try not to tease her or stare at her too much about it. I only get to see it once in a while since she really dislikes going out for some reason."The moment Nami finished eating her yudofu, satisfaction lingered in her expression as she laid against the sofa chair and closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she found several Rakuzan team members staring at her. Her cheeks flushed. She must have done it again. She bit her bottom lip."It must have been really tasty, Nami-chan!" Reo gave her a reassuring smile before returning to his meal."Eh? Ah,
hai…
Totemo…" She sipped on her water nervously. Akashi looked at her with unexpectedly warm eyes. When they locked eyes, she could not help but feel unnerved at the change in his personality, but at the same time, she accepted it as natural. Honestly, the only thing she was shocked about earlier was the change in the way he called her and now that she was over that, there was nothing to be shocked about.Anyways, if she was being arrogant, she would have assumed that he was looking at her with genuine affection and perhaps adoration, but that would be a huge mistake to assume of him in her opinion. It was not as if they were close to begin with. He never dropped his gaze and because she was a bit competitive, she ended up leveling her gaze towards him as well.Nevertheless, there was something about his gaze that bothered her; it was as though he knew something about her that she herself did not know. She could not tell though, but she soon felt herself relax under his stare."Honjou.""Hai." Nami answered automatically."Let's eat the yudofu that you cook together one day." The confidence in his declaration astounded her."...Eh?" Once again, she felt as though he was certain that they would eat the yudofu she would make together one day in the future and that there would be no question about it."Sei...chan…?" Reo glanced at Akashi with astonishment. Everyone else had quieted down. It was, after all, a very unexpected statement.While she should have been terrified of the fact that he uttered such a suggestion to her, she strangely took it in a stride since analyzing everything became a highly troublesome headache for her when it came to him. "If you're fine with my cooking. Might not be as tasty as the one you have at home though.""N-Nami-chan?" Sae was unsure as to how she should take this situation. She wondered if Akashi had a shock so big that it began affecting his brain.Nami took a sip of her water. The time on the clock that was at a short distance from her bothered her. "Sae-chan, if you're done eating, we should head back soon. I don't want to get home too late today.""Oh, right. Your groceries." Her actress friend immediately stood up. "We need to take our leave now, but I'll be sure to text you when I get home, Kotarou-senpai.""OKAY!" He grinned. Sae smiled back at him warmly, twirling her hair with her finger shyly."Then I will see you later, Akashi-kun." Before he had a chance to reply, Nami bowed to everyone and set off, checking her phone for the time."Ah,
matte, Nami-chan!" Sae ran after her.While most of the members were curious as to why Akashi said such words to her, they could not ask him outright as he drank his tea nonchalantly."Did I hear incorrectly,
seito kaichou?
Fuku-kaichou?" Nami almost dropped the documents she had in hand."Honjou-san. We recommended you to the teachers to be the
fuku-kaichou
for next year. You're the person who worked with Akashi-san the best. Not to mention, your contributions to making the student council more efficient than ever fixed a lot of problems that were left alone in previous years for no reason. It is not a recommendation done out of a whim, so you should be able to accept this position with pride since it's due to your own efforts and skill." The current
seito kaichou
reassured her."That's right. Out of everyone in the school, I also believed that you were the best candidate, so make us proud. I know that working with Akashi-san was hard and since he will become the next
seito kaichou, you'll be working harder than ever, but I also know that you're capable and diligent enough to handle the load." The
fuku-kaichou
patted her shoulder comfortingly. "Your grades have remained the second highest throughout the year and even at the end of this year, so no one should complain about your new position for next year anyways.""If
seito kaichou
and
fuku-kaichou
believe in my abilities that much, then I will accept this position proudly and will do my utmost best to not let you both down." Nami placed the documents down and bowed to the two with a confident smile.Seito kaichou
gave her a thumbs up. "Of course. I look forward to seeing what kind of school you two will shape Rakuzan to be when I come back to visit."Nami shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket when she realized mid-stride that she forgot her wallet and phone back home. "Seriously… Why do I keep forgetting things these days?" She turned her heel to walk back. Multiple sounds of footsteps from behind her made her pause. She stiffened slightly. There were no festivals or special events going on in her neighborhood, so there should not be any groups of people walking around. If anything, what was strange was the fact that the group of people behind her were not speaking at all as though they were trying to blend in with the background noise."What is this deja vu that I'm feeling right now? Is it my imagination?" Nami truly assumed that the rest of her years at school would remain carefree after taking care of Sae's extreme fans. "Did I not take care of them all then?" She could hardly believe that she would have more trouble in high school than middle school. "Isn't it supposed to be a prestigious school? Why is it filled with extremists over anything?"The moment she walked faster, the sound of footsteps grew louder. She then sprinted, turning the corner in a mere half of a second. Twirling around, she faced the group that followed her. "Rarely anyone comes by here. This should be the perfect spot to do whatever you wanted...but...it's also the best place for me as well. Now what do you want from me?"The leader, this time, was female. "We want you to stay away from Akashi-kun.""Oh, Akashi-kun, eh…?" She nodded to herself, processing the words carefully. "Wait, what? What does Akashi-kun have to do with anything? Weren't you here to bother me about Sae-chan?""Hah…? We don't care about Sakura-chan! She can hang out with anyone for all we care." Another female cried out.Nami glanced at the males. "So… uh… Are you guys also fans of Akashi-kun?" She never knew that Akashi had male fans as well."NO! We're only here to test your skills and fight you!" A rough looking male yelled out. "We heard of your strength through a rumor, so when they invited us to put you in your place, we decided to accept their offer in order to see if the rumors were really true!" They did awfully look a bit different from the typical Rakuzan male student. She could accept their reasoning."To think that the rumors would get so out of hand…" Nami stretched her arms out. She desperately hoped that she would not get too injured during her break. While she considered running away, she noted the speed of the males with great displeasure. Would she be able to defeat them? To think that she would need to deal with Akashi's extreme fans as well ticked her off. It was her job as previous
fuku-iinchou
and now as
fuku-kaichou
to properly support him. The only way to do a successful job at that was to consistently interact with him. What did they expect her to do? To do a terrible job at managing the school and the council itself? That would only burden Akashi's workload and stress level. She doubted that they thought that far in their delusional minds though. "Let's get this over with."A male threw a punch in her direction as she took a step to the side and dug her fist into their stomach harshly. They gagged, slumping to the ground and holding their stomach, when another immediately kicked her. She quickly guarded with her arm, wincing. The hit was heavier than expected. Without letting that deter her, she then grabbed the leg and swung him to the next opponent. When the person on the floor stood up, she used their shoulder to lift herself into the air and roundhouse kicked the two people behind him. She finished by jabbing her knee at the face of the person whose shoulder she used at the end of her circular motion. Unfortunately, their stamina and resilience was much higher than hers. They kept going at her endlessly, even after she kept throwing and pushing them to the ground.At a short distance away, she could hear the cries of the crazy fangirls to beat her up until she had to go to the hospital. Her fists tightened. What finally set her off was the word that she felt did not describe her at all: the loser who deserved to die. Was it their own stress? Their own inferiority? Anger clouded her better judgment and she immediately swung her fist one last time at the last male that was attacking her. Her stamina had reached its limit.When the males could no longer stand back up, she turned her head and glared at the females, while fiercely yelling out. "What's so great about Akashi-kun… Sure, he's smart and good at what he does, but if that's the case, then why don't you just confess to him and get it over with? Or if that's so impossible, then get close to him in vicinity by joining the student council or becoming the assistant manager for Rakuzan's basketball club! Why are you bothering me for doing my job?!"Her fists tightened once more. Her teeth clenched and the stress that built up in regards to dealing with her acquaintance and her friend's fans crashed down on her. Angry tears gathered at the corner of her eyes. One by one, they trailed down her cheeks. "What the hell have I done to deserve this shit from people? I'm not their manager or their bodyguard! What's so wrong with being friends with them? Are they that better than normal human beings? Are they not human?""O-oi." One of the males felt a little bad for her as they sat up from the ground to rest, accepting their loss against her graciously."Why do I have to get told by those who aren't even in the student council or who do not have the highest grades in that damn school that I'm not worthy of existing? I'm the one who determines my own worth, dammit!" She finally felt something inside of her snap. "So stay out of my life and just leave me alone already!"The leader looked like she heard nothing from Nami as she took a step towards her. "So you really are good at fighting." She then took out a swiss knife from her pocket. The leader smiled brightly at Nami who kept her eyes leveled on the female. The other female students let out noises of fear when they saw the knife. "I suppose I shouldn't feel guilty if you were to get hurt badly then."One of the females stammered with a terrified expression. It clearly was not something that anyone expected in this situation. "Touka-senpai...? I-I thought we were only going to scare or hurt her a little bit! Why do you have a knife?"She waved them off. "Isn't that obvious? I'm going to make her stay away from him permanently.""You're insane! As if you'll get away with it if you kill her!" Another yelled out angrily. "Do you think we'll just let you-"Touka snorted. "I don't care. As long as the nuisance is gone, then at least, he'll remember me. He'll realize that I was always there for him." Her cheeks flushed red as thought she was an innocent maiden. The males on the ground crawled away from her, but could only go a short distance, due to severe exhaustion. They were horrified that such a person stood in front of them.Nami wiped her tears away with her arm, feeling chills go down her spine. "Is she what we call a yandere…?" She asked herself and hoped that everything was just a bad dream. There was no way that she would end up in the bad ending scene. There was no way that she wanted to die before attaining a successful career. "Well at least, she'll end up in jail if she does kill me.""Don't joke around! Run away,
onna!" The same male who felt bad for her earlier cried out to her. The desperation and fear in his voice calmed her."I have a feeling that if I leave, then she'll hurt you guys as retaliation. Makes me feel guilty for injuring you all badly." Nami smiled sardonically. Pain lingered in her eyes. The earlier fight truly did tire her out a lot since she barely had little of any stamina left. She felt the trembling in her legs and her arms, but at this point, she had no choice, unless she wanted someone to possibly die in her place.They tried to convince her otherwise. "There's no way she would-"Touka let out a loud laughter. "Oh? I'm surprised that you figured that out! That's why I invited them! They would tire you out and if I manage to not kill you, then at least, I could use them to relieve my anger." The males on the ground paled."I don't want to die!" The female student grabbed her friend and ran off. Tears gathered at the corner of their eyes as they screamed out of fear. The rest of the females also scrambled away in a clumsy manner, getting a hold of themselves after the initial shock."Well? Are you going to stand there or are you going to actually back up your resolve and attack me?" The minute Nami finished her question, Touka dashed forward with her disturbing smile, aiming her knife at her. While Nami had managed to dodge to the side, her response time was not as great as it was from the beginning since it resulted in a deep cut on her cheek. Cursing under her breath, she quickly twirled around to find herself under attack once more. She managed to grab Touka's arm and threw her to the ground. When the knife flew out of her hand, Nami ran over to take it when Touka managed to unexpectedly make her trip with her own shoe. Before Nami had the chance to balance herself, Touka swiped the blade from the ground and tackled her to the floor, holding one of her arms down.Nami bit her bottom lip in frustration. Her energy was so low that she was starting to feel nauseous. She heard people yelling in the background, but she could not focus on such minor details.Deciding that she would not be able to avoid getting hurt, Nami swung her fist against Touka's head, feeling the sharp knife against her arm. She winced and quickly rolled away from Touka. Her arm began to bleed. As she stood up, she decided that it was time to finish the match. Dashing towards the upperclassman, Nami focused her energy on her dominant foot for the roundhouse kick when dirt flew into her eyes. She heard the maniacal laughter, realizing that Touka had thrown the dirt in her eyes. Nevertheless, she continued the roundhouse kick in full power, feeling nothing but air."WATCH OUT!" Someone suddenly screamed out.Before Nami had time to stabilize her position, she saw a flash of metal heading in her direction. Nami fell down to the ground as she held part of the blade and the handle of the knife in her hands. The searing pain of the cut and the warm blood now dripping out of her wounds blurred her vision. All she could do was hold onto the knife in order to ensure her life. The loud and endless chants of 'DIE' rung in her ears. Her arms were slowly losing strength. She gritted her teeth. It was only a matter of time that the knife would plunge into her face or neck. She shut her eyes tightly, concentrating all of her strength in her arms and hands.The moment she thought that she was actually going to die was the moment when she suddenly felt the pressure off of her. The knife felt light in her hands as though no one was holding it. She dropped the knife to the side as her arms finally went limp. From the corner of her eye, she spotted two people standing in front of the unconscious Touka and the male student who she assumed was the one who tackled her away with his last strength.
Ah… So she was saved…
That was her last thought before falling unconscious."She'll be fine after some rest. Her injuries are not too severe. It might take her a while before recovering fully. If possible, it would be best if she did not use her hands and arm, but if she has to use them, then she should take everything lightly. The cut on her cheek will also disappear in time as well. It shouldn't leave a scar behind." An unfamiliar male spoke."Which one is the most severe,
sensei?" Their voice brought a sense of security to Nami as she was starting to wake up. It was so familiar, but she could not pinpoint it in the cloudiness of her mind."It would be her hands. They will probably feel sensitive for a while. Of course, I will have to talk to her family or guardian in greater detail as to what they should do to support her in the next few weeks." The unfamiliar person pointed out."Of course." There was a moment of silence after that."Mn…" Nami's eyes flickered open. All that her mind processed was pain and aches. She supposed that she would no longer be able to sleep for the next few weeks. "Whe...re…?""Oh, you're awake." A familiar male watched over her. It was Eikichi Nebuya from the Rakuzan basketball team."Nebuya...senpai…?" She stared at the white ceiling and walls. "Clinic…?""Yeah, this is the clinic, but man, you gave us quite a scare. I thought that you were already dead with the way the guys on the ground were screaming." He scratched the back of his head uncomfortably."Dead… I..." Nami tried to sit up, wincing at the pain that shot through her hands. Gathering them together, she stilled in an attempt to calm herself."Oi!
It's best if you don't use your hands for a while." Nebuya panicked over her as he finally swung the curtain to the side to call the doctor. "Sensei, she's awake!"When a man with a white coat entered the room, she noticed the familiar red haired male standing behind the doctor. "Akashi-kun." It was surprising to see him at a local clinic of all places or in her neighborhood for that matter."How are you feeling, Honjou-san?" The doctor asked with a kind smile."My hands hurt as expected. My arm doesn't hurt as much though and the cut on my cheek feels ticklish. I want to scratch it, but that's probably not a good idea." Before anyone could ask her about how to contact her family, she said, "And my parents are living overseas while I'm in high school, so it's pointless to call them."Concern flickered in the eyes of the doctor. "Then is there anyone who can help you with daily life activities for a few weeks?""..." She stared down at her hands. "I'll just hire a helper for the next few weeks."The doctor walked towards the hallway. "In that case, I will leave you detailed notes on what the helper should and should not do. That way, you'll have less things to worry about. For now, get some rest and then you are free to leave.""Thank you." Nami gave him a short bow before staring down at her lap blankly. Her hair feathered down to hide her face. Once she realized that she was safe, she shook a little. She refused to cry, whether it was from relief or stress, in front of the two Rakuzan members, but the tears built up in the corner of her eyes without permission."Nebuya." Akashi called out to the tall center player."Aa..." The kind upperclassman glanced at Nami worriedly before exiting the room.Akashi walked over to her, standing next to the bed. Before he could call out her name, he noticed the small wet spots next to her hands on the blanket. Droplets of her tears fell continuously, sliding down her hands and onto the blanket. His eyes softened. He sat down on top of the bed and held her hands gently in his own.It was so unfair. He should not be so nice to her. Nice guys were supposed to finish last, weren't they? Bitterness lingered inside of her. She forcefully pulled her hands away from his, turning her head. "Get out." She wanted to drown in her spite for an hour by herself, so that she could feel okay afterwards."No." The firmness in his voice irritated her.She whipped her head towards him. Rather than a glare, her eyes sharpened, emphasizing the fatigue in her expression. "Why? Why can't you just leave me alone?"He spoke in a matter-of-fact style. "Because you're
fuku-kaichou.""Then because I'm
fuku-kaichou, leave me alone already, Akashi-kun!" She yelled out, feeling complicated about her situation."No." It was his 'no' again - the one that reflected his stubbornness.Her hand curled into a fist as she snarled. "I'm sick and tired of having to deal with people who-""Don't say anything that you'll regret saying, Honjou." The fact that he was calm and she was not fueled her self-hatred at her lack of control over herself at that very moment.She turned her head away from him and mumbled. "As if I'll regret my words.""You would."Nami sighed, feeling a little numb. "Why do you always think that you're right?""I'm not always right, but… words that are said in anger are usually incorrect and purposely hurtful." Akashi reasoned with her. "While your words are clumsily chosen, you don't like hurting others with your words intentionally. It's not in you. In fact, you feel more hurt than the person receiving them.""..." She loathed the fact that he was right again."You can't always do everything alone." The moment he said that, she stared down at the blanket."Well it's not like one person can take care of something that is out of their control." Nami murmured to herself as if she was trying to convince herself the most. Perhaps, it was actually a matter of her pride. She was not the type to ask for help, after all. "There's nothing else someone can do about it. The only thing I can do is to try to deal with it by the time I come across the problem.""Honjou…" It was those eyes and that voice again. It was as though he knew something about her that she herself never knew about and that unnerved her the most. The way he saw her -
no, it was not at her
- looked warm and inviting, but it was only a front. That was what she convinced herself to believe."..." She hated how he looked at her like that. She hated the fact that those eyes were never meant for her and that made her feel the most bitter out of everything. Being seen as someone else was truly unfair to her. Giving her hope when there was none to begin with was even worse. "Akashi-kun, stop looking at me like that! As if I'm someone else! I'm not whoever you are seeing!"His eyes widened in shock. He seemed to contemplate something before reaching a conclusion about it. "I… I apologize. I did not mean to look at you like that." It seemed as though he really did regret projecting whoever it was that was important to him onto her. However, she was not in a very forgiving mood."…Please leave, Akashi-kun. The only relationship we should have with each other is the
seito kaichou-fuku-kaichou
one. Not friends or anything else." Nami was exhausted. If she had to choose between a peaceful life with Sae or a chaotic life with both Sae and Akashi, she chose the former. The injustice of the situation angered her once more. The fact that she was almost killed for being
fuku-kaichou
pained her, throwing her emotions and thoughts in a pit of confusion.Akashi, however, was not deterred by her words. He merely pulled her into a loose embrace, patting her back gently. "Honjou, it looks like I pressured you too much. I apologize." He then pulled away, looking straight into her eyes. That was when she concluded that he was actually looking at
her
and not the other person that he projected onto her earlier. "But I do not wish to just maintain a strict
seito kaichou-fuku-kaichou
relationship with you. So I promise you here that I'll keep you safe from them."She shook her head. "Don't make promises that you can't fulfill, Akashi-kun.""It is a promise that I will fulfill, whether you believe me or not." Akashi then smiled. "If I manage to keep my promise to you, then you are no longer allowed to push me away. You will let me in, either as a potential friend or not.""If not?" Strangely enough, his offer sounded interesting to her. It was not everyday that Akashi Seijuurou would make such a reckless deal with her."Then the dynamic of our relationship will be in your hands." He sounded so assured of his win that she was almost tempted to spite him on purpose."Fine. I can accept those terms. But-" She was about to negotiate when Akashi cut her off by pulling her back into a loose embrace."Enough. Get some rest." It was a command. She sighed and leaned against him. She noticed once more how much her body ached painfully."With you hugging me?" Nami asked, hoping to turn the situation around in her favor.Clearly, her wishes were dashed. "Yes."She sighed. "Fine." It reminded her of the previous Akashi. There was no room for negotiation. Nevertheless, it was not like she hated his touch, which was why she let him have his way. After all, if she truly did hate him, then she would have been more violent and hurtful with her words. She began disliking herself for being dishonest with him in regards to how she thought of him and felt about him. It was not like her to be this way. "Sometimes, I don't like you, Akashi-kun."He chuckled under his breath. "I know. And sometimes I dislike your stubbornness.""Touche." She finally gave him a small smile. It was a smile that he hoped to see for a long time after. Despite recognizing that he had unknowingly saw her as Yura, he could not help but see the uncanny similarities between them. Nevertheless, the smile that she currently wore only made Honjou Nami more endearing in his eyes. While their similarities were the reason why she caught his eye, it was the current Honjou Nami that maintained and increased his interest in her. He only wished she would realize that soon.He then continued in a soft voice. "But that stubbornness is also why I can't hate you."Nami's thumb rubbed the bandages on her hands thoughtfully. "As always, you need to have the last word." Her tone sounded almost teasing.Akashi immediately smiled in response before asking. "Do you not like that?""..." She hummed to herself and then answered. "No. I like it. Most of the time." It was clear to him that her mood had gotten better. He then gently grabbed her hand in his own, warming them up. Nami, for once, did not pull her hands away from him.A comfortable silence hovered over them until he broke it. "Honjou. I want to let you know that it's not just because you're
fuku-kaichou
that I can't leave you alone." Akashi's arms pulled her even closer to him in a protective manner as his thoughts began formulating a thoroughly detailed plan that he would implement as soon as they left the clinic."What do you mean?" Nami asked curiously.He chuckled under his breath, looking forward to the future. "You'll see what I mean one day.""If you say so." She sighed, giving him a weird stare. She then continued to lean against him comfortably. The exhaustion finally overtook her.Akashi stared at her strangely while they were completing the papers together for the student council."Is there something on my face?" Nami eventually asked when she placed the paper to the side without looking up at him."Ah, no…" He glanced out the window uncharacteristically, remembering last night's dream. It was not a complete dream and he felt like he forgot a few parts in it, but from what he remembered, he was very sure that they became very intimate with each other's bodies last night in the dream. However, instead of calling her Yura like always, he called her Nami instead, which was why he became confused. "Was that actually a memory or a desire?""Akashi-kun?" She became a little worried at how spaced-out he was."Ah, it's nothing. Let's get back to work." Akashi reassured her.Ever since he proved to her that he could keep his promise, she accepted her loss and began opening up to him with great difficulty. Nevertheless, now that almost half of the school year was over, she smiled and laughed a lot around him, which sometimes surprised him.To him, her darker and pessimistic attitude from last year seemed like an illusion. However, the way she treated each student council member with an easygoing and respectful attitude reminded him of the reason why the previous
fuku-kaichou
and
seito kaichou
recommended her to the teachers.Once Hikari told him that Honjou was always like that with others, except for those who she was on-guard with or who made her feel nervous around them, he did not know how to feel. While he did wonder which one she considered him to be, he put those thoughts aside when she began showing signs of revealing her real self to him that differed from when she was with the other student council members.How did he know that it was her real self? It was because her sarcastic, teasing, and mischievous attitude when she was around him seemed completely identical to the times when she was with her best friend, Hikari Sae.That being said, he remembered that Kuroko had invited everyone from the Generation of Miracles to go on a short hiking trip with him. They were all allowed to bring one or two people each. While Mibuchi agreed to go, Hayama and Nebuya had other events that they needed to attend. "Honjou, are you free this weekend?""No. Why? Are you going to invite me to go somewhere?" She placed the second to last paper on top of the pile next to her."Yes. There is a hiking trip that I was invited to and we were told that we could bring one or two people with us." He paused. "Mibuchi will be going...""If it's one or two people, then shouldn't Mibuchi-senpai be enough?" While she did have a point, he wanted to go with her as well. There was something irrational inside of him that compelled him to convince her to go with him."I want you to go." He stubbornly said to her with a serious expression.She announced nonchalantly, continuing her work. "I'm not good with hiking.""It's okay. I'll be with you." The smile he wore almost made her smack her face with her hand."I bet it's with the other people who play basketball, isn't it?" She pointed out with a sigh.He looked down at the paper that he was signing. "...Yes."She groaned. "My stamina is not that high, Akashi-kun. I won't be able to keep up. Plus, that'll end up boring you."Akashi immediately looked up at her. "You said that I can eat the yudofu that you made one day."An unamused expression crossed her face. "Is that your true reason?""Yes and no." He smiled again.Nami decided to give in. "I don't like hiking, but I do need to keep my word, so I'll go. I won't bring any yudofu for the hike. If anything, you can come to my house for dinner afterwards. We can have yudofu then.""Aa, I look forward to it." The anticipation in his voice made her smile at him. He sounded so happy, even though he wore his usual expression of warmth. It made her feel happy as well.Nami huffed as they hiked up the mountain. "Why...is...it...a...mountain?!"When she first recognized the place they decided on, she had a terrible feeling about it and she ended up being right. There was no way they would have taken the easier path. Thankfully, it was not only her who was suffering. While the other female, Momoi, who she liked at first conversation, was doing a better job than her at hiking, she was also clearly exhausted."Kurokocchi! Don't you think this route is a bit too tough?" Kise glanced down at the females of the group.Kuroko breathed hard as he began matching Nami and Momoi's pace. "...I also think that way."Akashi slowed down until he matched Kuroko's speed. "Kuroko, who was the one that recommended this to you?""Ah, now that I think about it… She did seem particularly happy when I asked her for recommendations…" Kuroko looked up at the sky blankly. "Kantokuwas the one.""..." They all stared at Kuroko and shook their head. "Should have known.""Let's take a break soon." Akashi announced while everyone nodded in agreement. "The ground is a bit slippery, so watch your step-"Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, the supposed rock that Nami stepped on to cement her position on the upward path crumbled down into soft dirt, causing her to lose her balance. She cried out in horror as Akashi reached out to grab her. When she felt his hand wrap around hers, the relief almost calmed her until his hand slipped out of her own. The last thing she saw then was the distress and agony in his maroon eyes. His tormented voice that yelled out her name rung in her ears. Soon, she blacked out from the pain and from the shock of falling.Reo managed to pull Akashi towards him before he fell with Nami. What he did not expect and felt horrible about was the fact that Akashi's hand slipped out of Nami's, possibly due to his interference.Silently, Akashi personally acknowledged that he was unable to get a good grip on Nami's because of the sweat and their awkward position. He knew that, but it did not lessen the loss he felt inside of him as he stood there briefly before running to perform first-aid on her. He hoped as he cradled her protectively in his arms that she would wake up, but when he found her to be almost unresponsive, he could not help but hold her closer to him, trying to convince himself that everything would be okay.By the time everyone had gathered around the two, Midorima decided to inform Akashi quietly that he had already contacted the hospital and that the rescue team would arrive in a few minutes."Aa…" The dull and empty expression on Akashi's face told everyone everything they needed to know. To Akashi Seijuurou, Honjou Nami was an irreplaceable existence in his life.
TRANSLATIONS:

un

= okay; of course

urusai

= shut up; be quiet

iinchou

= class president

fuku-iinchou

= class vice president

fukuzatsu

= complex; complicated; mixed feelings

mou

= interjection used to strengthen expression of an emotion (often exasperation)

oni

= ogre; demon

anou

= err…

totemo

= very; exceedingly

hai

= yes

matte

= wait

seito kaichou

= student council president

fuku-kaichou

= student council vice president

oi

= hey

onna

= female; woman

sensei

= doctor (in this context)

kantoku
= coach

aa

= yeah; right; gotcha

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"NAMI-CHANNNNN!" Sae swung the door open and embraced Nami tightly. Tears swelled out of her eyes, staining Nami's clothes. "I missed you so much and I was so scared that you were going to never wake up! I couldn't concentrate on everything and food tasted like nothing!"Her manager entered the room in a huff. "Sakura-san! You shouldn't be running like that!" Nami offered her a glass of water that she took gratefully. "You should tell Nami-san about your accomplishments in the scenes you had to act in during her coma."Sae glared at her manager. "I don't want to! I thought I was going to die and-"The manager ignored her and grabbed Nami's hands with sparkling eyes. "Sakura-san recently received an amazing award for her depiction of the depression and the loss the character she acted as felt. I have only you to thank since she never felt anything of the sort in the past. While I do not like the fact that it took you to be in a coma for her to act in such a way, I am pleased to see her progress as her manager. I am also very appreciative that you managed to wake up too. If you stayed in a coma, I would have been really worried for both you and her… I will have to say that this experience of you waking up also furthered her progress as an actress in the drama that she is a part of right now."Nami laughed nervously. "Of course…""Well now that your time is up, Sakura-san… Let's head back to work." The manager stood back up and faced Sae with a firm expression."But I didn't even get to talk to Nami-chan! You did all the talking and even held her hands! It's not fair! I want to be with Nami-chan!" Sae whined, hugging Nami tightly. She refused to budge until the manager forcefully managed to drag her out of the room."We will see you later then, Nami-san." The manager kept Sae at a distance with her hand as Nami waved at the two sheepishly. Nevertheless, her actress friend kept trying to pull herself towards the room. When the manager reached her patience, she swiftly bowed to Nami and slammed the door shut. It was once again quiet in her hospital room."Akashi-kun… You don't need to come visit me everyday." Nami popped a slice of an orange into her mouth and chewed carefully. It was amazingly delicious. She seriously craved it while she sat in her hospital bed. A blissful smile blossomed on her face. "That was juicy and perfect… You have such good timing with my cravings." She felt his hand run through her hair as he caressed the side of her head."I want to." He murmured to her. The smile he held looked a little forlorn and guilty before it reverted back to its normal warmth. Nami sat quietly until she finally took his hand in her hands. It was the hand that desperately tried to hold onto her during the hike.She then held his hand to her cheek. Caressing the back of his hand with her thumb, she leaned against it and smiled. "You did well."His eyes widened in surprise. "Are you telling that to my hand? Whatever for?" He never made a move to pull his hand away from her. Instead, he sat closer to her."Well... It's something that I just wanted to say to your hand." Nami closed her eyes, enjoying the soothing warmth coming from his hand. Akashi cupped her other cheek with his free hand. She held that hand with her own. Now that both of her hands were touching his, he leaned toward her closer. "Nee, Akashi-kun.""Hm?" She could hear his soft breathing and could feel the heat radiating from his body."I thought about my memories before the time travel or whatever it was and I realized something important." Akashi watched her carefully. She seemed relatively calm."What is it?" He asked."I realized that I might have…" She bit her bottom lip before frowning and then her grip over his hands tightened a little. When her ears turned red, he wondered what exactly she was thinking about. "I realized that I might have had feelings for you before the time travel and that I just never noticed it." She did not want to see him or hear him, so she continued in a panic. "But I know that we agreed to take things slow...to get to know each other better before deciding on whether or not we should change the dynamics of our current relationship… a-and that's why I began to analyze and examine my memories of before the time travel and during the time travel-"Nami stopped talking when she felt something soft and warm touch her forehead. She opened her eyes and saw his neckline in front of her. That was when she realized that he was kissing her forehead. Her ears burned red. "A-Akashi-kun…?" Her voice almost squeaked.When his forehead leaned against hers, he stared into her eyes calmly. "Honjou. I already said that you are mine to protect, whether you are Nami or
my fuku-kaichou. I meant what I said.""Wh-what do you mean by that?" She was honestly confused.His lips widened into a sincere smile. "It means that I have liked you for a while now…""What…?" Her eyes grew big in disbelief.His thumb stroked her cheek gently. "While the dreams and the memories of my past life led me to recognize you as someone of potential interest at first glance, you yourself as Nami and as my
fuku-kaichou
captured my full attention.""You...liked….me…." She gaped at him in shock."Now… While you did say that you
might
have had feelings for me before the time travel, I intend to change your words to: you
have
and
still haveromantic feelings for me… very soon." His expression subtly changed into one of displeasure. A sardonic smile that seemed to be bright at first glance made her look in another direction nervously."A-Akashi-kun. To tell you the truth, I do like you in the romantic light. It's hard to see you in a different light anyways when I was technically married to the past you and had a potentially big but suppressed crush on the current you that I kept denying in order to protect myself." She murmured quietly to him."Hmm…" He still did not seem very happy, despite his warm expression. That irked her a little.She narrowed her eyes at him and emphasized her words. "It means that I really like you as in you, my
seito kaichou
and my
Akashi Seijuurou, in this current time and at this very moment!" She then cupped his cheeks with her hands and pulled him towards her. Her lips gently touched his skin that was a little next to his lips. She immediately pulled back. Her heart raged against her ribcage. She thought that she was going to faint at any moment. It was more nerve-wracking than being with the past Akashi. "To tell you the truth… Not to hurt the past Akashi, but I think kissing you near the lips right now made me more nervous than anything that I actually did with him." Her cheeks flushed as she could no longer face him with a calm expression.He blinked in surprise. "Honjou…""Wh-what?""You're quite forward, but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since you were the one who initiated the-" The rest of his words were cut off by Nami's hands. She covered his mouth."Akashi-kun." She warned. "Don't you dare…"He almost smirked but managed to replace it with an unusual teasing smile. He pulled her towards him. His arms held her waist loosely. Instead of getting annoyed, he willingly pressed his lips against her hand that covered his mouth, kissing it over and over again."That tickles!" She finally let go, trying not to laugh. Before she had the chance to escape from his grasp, he leaned forward and glanced at her lips for a second. He then locked eyes with her and pressed his lips against hers softly.The tickling sensation in his lips after he pulled away felt pleasingly satisfying. He watched as she sat there frozen. "Honjou, are you okay?" She quickly threw the sheets over her head and seemed to scream in her own pillow. He waited for a few minutes for her to calm down before attempting to pull the sheets away from her. When she did not relent her hold, he let go and sighed. "I won't kiss you by surprise, so will you release your hold on the blanket?""..." Her head popped out of the makeshift cave. She appeared as though she was pouting at him or frowning. "I didn't hate the kiss… I just didn't know how to take it." She almost looked like a small animal. He found it strangely cute and then covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing."Then we could always keep practicing until you know how to take it." He suggested as he sat back down on the bed.She began retreating back into her makeshift cave. "I'm still recovering. I don't know if my heart could take it if we practice too many times." She mumbled, pulling the covers closer around her.He fixed her hair and caressed her cheek. "I suppose I do need to let you recover…""Right?" Her eyes seemed to sparkle."But we will practice as soon as you're done recovering." It was one of his orders, but it instead sounded like music to her ears. She could finally rest without worry."I can agree to that!" She smiled happily as she laid back down on the hospital bed comfortably."So how was it?" Nami sat in her seat with anticipation. She had perfected the dish to her satisfaction. She only hoped that Akashi enjoyed it as much as she did.Akashi placed down his chopsticks and paused. "It was delicious." He finally smiled. "Thank you for the meal." The dishes were completely empty and joy lingered in her expression.She relaxed and took a sip of her tea. "I'm glad that you liked my yudofu." She then gathered the dishes into one pile before standing up to take them to the sink."I always did. It did not disappoint at all." He was almost tempted to call her
tsuma, but held it back in. After all, if everything goes well, there would be plenty of time for that in the future."You know, Akashi-kun…" Nami placed their dishes in the sink. "I sometimes want to call you
otto
for some reason, especially when I'm not really thinking about it… I know that I should have better control over myself, but yeah… I'll try harder." She sat back down. "I do feel better after telling you this though."He thought about it carefully in silence for a few minutes before coming to a conclusion. "Then maybe we should call each other that as nicknames." Akashi smiled as he sipped on his tea."I suppose we could… Wait, WHAT?!" She stared at him and placed her cup down on top of the table immediately. "But…""It could just be when we're alone if you're uncomfortable with calling me that in public." The amused smile he wore made her sigh. He just had to make that suggestion to her. While she did occasionally imagine them calling each other that in private, she always found herself unwillingly thinking about how they would obtain the bad end if they kept calling each other that.She stiffened a little. "I think we should never call each other that in public or else I might get killed by someone." She leaned on her arm in a thoughtful manner. "But then again, I could protect myself to a good extent...""Even so, I'll protect you if it ever comes to that because you are mine to protect." Akashi swirled the tea in his cup as if he was visualizing various scenarios in his head."Hm… Well… I suppose it would be nice to have your support and protection as a backup." Nami grinned and took a sip of her own tea again. When he told her that he would protect her, it warmed her heart once more because she knew that he would keep his word to her no matter what. "You do make me feel safe.""Well said,
tsuma." Akashi took another sip of his tea nonchalantly, watching her reaction carefully.Without fail, Nami choked on her tea and began to cough relentlessly. "Akashi-kun, you're already going to use it?! That was too fast of a change, don't you think?"He smiled encouragingly at her. "I think the change felt quite natural." She wondered briefly if he wanted to hear her call him by his new nickname too.She sighed as though resigned to her fate. "Of course. After all,
otto
was always quite fast at picking up everything anyways."When his expression brightened a bit, it made her happy to see that he was so happy about it. Of course, his face never showed the true extension of his feelings, but she could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice. "See? You did it naturally as well." Akashi sounded pleased.Nami rubbed the side of her head with her fingers a little. "I did it almost too well to the point that I'm worried that I might accidentally use it in public without realizing."He leaned on his arm and placed his cup back down on the table. "I wouldn't mind hearing it." The smirk that he wore immediately changed into a soft smile. The change was so fast that she almost thought that she imagined his smirk."...Of course you wouldn't." She laughed a little. Pouring more tea into her cup, she rubbed the sides of the cup with her thumb. It was warming up her hands.The smile he wore stayed consistent. "You should try it one day." He suggested to her.She sighed once more. "Stop teasing me." She sipped on her tea, swallowing the hot liquid. It calmed her down."I was being serious."She felt like hitting her face with her hand. "That's even worse."When a comfortable silence fell between the two, he leaned on his arm as he watched her drink her tea. The way she glanced at him during those moments warmed his heart. He smiled once more. "I like you,
tsuma." His sudden attack made her cheeks flush red. It was so unfair. It almost made her feel shy again.She put the cup near her mouth again and whispered. "I know. I like you too,
otto."His smile widened as he then caressed her cheek with his hand before patting her on the head. "Good."Deciding to change the subject, she stood up and pulled him out of the chair. "Let's go out."On their way to the door, Akashi grabbed his jacket off of the hanger. "Where to?" He quickly wore his jacket in a smooth manner as she also wore her coat. She then wrapped her dark blue scarf around his neck as he pulled the hood over her head. While it was not completely cold outside, despite the light layer of snow on the ground, it was still chilly enough that they needed to wear some winter items.As they walked out of the house together, she locked the door and pointed in a general direction. "There was a nice teahouse that opened in my neighborhood just recently over there. Let's go check it out together.""Sounds good." He held her hand naturally before slipping their clasped hands into the front pocket of his jacket. "Shall we go then?""Un!" She held his arm with her other hand and leaned against him comfortably as they happily walked together in the cold. A trail of their footprints was left imprinted on top of the thin layer of snow behind them.

END

.
TRANSLATIONS:

nee

= hey; listen

fuku-kaichou

= student council vice president

tsuma

= wife

otto

= husband