Full Moon Wo Sagashite Fan Fiction ❯ Incarnate ❯ Chapter 5

A/N: This chapter is based on volume 3 chapter 13 of the manga. In the anime, Takuto takes her first kiss. In the manga, he does not.

 

Chapter 5

The figure of the little boy faded from Mitsuki's sight. Her trembling fingers touched her lips where he had kissed her.

Eichi.

An hour later, she stood outside her home and took out her keys to open the front door. Tonight, she knew that Takuto wouldn't greet her at the door with a warm smile, as he did before. When the door opened, she saw a tomato colored Takuto standing with a red rose in his hand.

A gasp escaped her, “What is this?”

Out of breath, he explained, “…Secret…”

She narrowed her eyes, “What?”

“Is it because I avoided making our relationship public that you so easily went to that kid? Do you know how hard I worked to protect you from other guys?”

Did Takuto see the kiss she shared with Eichi?

“Wait, Takuto, I can explain.”

He put his finger over her mouth, “Mitsuki, it's okay. I'm just lucky that I was able to stop that kid from kissing you against your will.”

So, he didn't see it?

Her face showed nothing but relief, “You're not mad at me?”

His eyebrows wrinkled, “No. I…I guess I'm partly to blame. I hid you from everyone and all you really wanted was to be acknowledged as my girlfriend.”

Mitsuki remembered the times they fought because in interviews, Takuto always denied he had a “significant other.” So, she hated talking about him to her friends, because they thought he was available and she was just taking up all this time and care.

Lowering her gaze, she spoke softly, “So, if this hadn't happened you still wouldn't stand there with a rose right now?”

Confusion set in. Did he say something wrong?

Walking up to her, he asked her again, “Mitsuki, do you want everyone to know that we are a couple?”

Shaking her head, she sighed, “No.”

Takuto raised his eyebrow, “No?”

Her voice came out small and unsure, “Because I want you to see me as an adult…as a woman, first.”

His ears piqued, “What? Woman? Where?”

Quickly, she raised her head and pointed her finger at herself.

“Right here, Takuto! I'm a woman!”

He shook his head in confusion, “Since when? I thought this younger man charade was to get me to tell everybody I was more than a guardian. I mean, you complained that your own friends didn't believe we were a couple.”

Her face fell, “A couple?”

Her first love came back to her mind.

Eichi.

She looked into his eyes, “Are we a couple, Takuto? You haven't kissed me once, since you became human again.”
A repulsive look answered her, “Because you were a child then! Did you want me to kiss you as an adult when you weren't one?”

She shook her head sideways, “So, I was right. You never saw me as a woman?”

Takuto raised his voice, “Shall I kiss you then, Mitsuki? Would that solve everything? You've never been kissed, so you got tired of waiting for me and wanted to kiss that little boy? Is that it?”

She balled her hand into a fist and prepared to hit Takuto. But he saw it coming and grabbed her hand before she could swing it.

She shouted louder than she intended, “I have been kissed! But, it wasn't by you! It was with Eichi!”

Sakurai Eichi, Tateishi Eichi, Eichi.

Ignoring her, Takuto grabbed her other hand and asked her again, “Shall I kiss you or not, Mitsuki?”
A strange man stood before her, “When you were a shinigami…”

Releasing her, Takuto brought his hand to his chin, “Continue. When I was a shinigami…what happened? I'm sorry I don't have memories of being one, but I love you as a human. Isn't that enough?”

Her voice turned to ice, “I think I loved Takuto, the shinigami.”

“What's that supposed to mean? You don't love me?”

“No. I didn't say that.”

“Do you love me, Mitsuki?”

“Yes, of course…but…”

Takuto crossed his arms, “But…what?”

She looked away, “When you walked in on us earlier, you just yelled and then left me alone with him…”

Takuto released her, “So? I would have to be crazy to take that little boy seriously. Anyway, where is all this leading?”

Mitsuki looked at Takuto, “I wish you had taken me with you when you left, then….”

He wrinkled his eyebrows, “Then, what?”

Embarrassed by his questions, she shouted, “Then none of this would have happened!”

Finally able to reveal her feelings, she ran into the bedroom and sulked as hot tears fell from her eyes. She missed the shinigami team of Negi Ramen, Takuto and Meroko. They were better friends as ephemeral shinigami rather than as translucent as angel's breath and a tangible human who kept too much distance. She had felt so lonely all this time, even though Takuto was right beside her.

He had been given a second chance at life. Wasn't she responsible in some way for letting him have a second chance at life? Feeling guilty, she wanted to make it up to him so he wouldn't feel like he came back from the dead for nothing. Even though she still had her memories of Takuto and Meroko as shinigami, she felt as if Takuto was a stranger since he became human.

Too much had changed. Now she felt obligated to stay with Takuto until he decided whether he wanted to stay with her forever or not. Right now, he was just her guardian. Did he ever feel that he could be anything more? Did he ever wonder what it would be like to kiss her with his human lips? Wasn't kissing something that couples did together? Were they a couple?

Before, when she was younger, Mitsuki was a child and couldn't force anything on Takuto because he was older than her. Now, overwhelmed by her feelings for Eichi after that kiss…

For the first time she wished that she had kissed Takuto a long time ago, then she wouldn't be so unsure of her feelings. Maybe she was just seeing her dead Eichi in this little boy. If she was seeing someone else in him, what was her best course of action? Pushing him away only lead him to kiss her.

But, if she accepted Takuto's kiss now, how would things change? Would he magically fall in love with her and take away all those years of loneliness that she had felt? Well, it wasn't as if Tateishi Eichi could do what Takuto couldn't, right?

No.

Eichi had already done what Takuto hadn't done in four years. He took away her loneliness, even if it was just for a moment. She touched her lips to remember the kiss they shared earlier in the evening. His words echoed in her mind.

“I was lonely because of you.”

She understood his words now. Loneliness for someone meant anyone would do to take it away. Loneliness because of someone meant only one special person could take it away. She was lonely for Takuto all these years, but now she was lonely because she had met Sakurai Eichi.

How could she repay Eichi for what he had done? How could she ask for forgiveness for her cruel words? Her cries were louder now, but her mind could only hear the screams of one name.

EICHI!