Hot Gimmick Fan Fiction ❯ Winner Take All ❯ Runaway Bride ( Chapter 1 )

Winner TakeAll

 

By: Katryn Parker

 

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Author's Note: Takes place after the series, so there will be MAJOR SPOILERS!! Hatsumi will be ending up with Shingo, Ryoki, or Azusa, and Akane will end up with Subaru or Kazama.

 

Thoughts and memories will be in italics.

 

Please enjoy!

 

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Disclaimer: I do not own Hot Gimmick or any of its characters.

 

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Did I make the right choice?

 

Hatsumi Narita - or Hatsumi Tachibana, as she would soon be called - stood in front of the full-length mirror at the church, a nervous tick making her rock on her feet and play with the strand of hair that had fallen out of her up-do. She was alone in the small room that they'd left her in now…

 

How did I get myself into this? Could I just leave? No…Ryoki would freak…oh no…Hatsumi…why didn't you ask to wait a little longer when you had the chance?

 

Akane had been a little too supportive. She could see her younger sister's face, that gun-ho smile on. 'Go ahead Hatsumi! If you love him you should go for it!'

 

And Shinogu too…if he had protested...maybe she wouldn't be here now.

 

To tell the truth, she was completely panicked. Who was going to get her out of this now? Yes, she loved Ryoki, she really did…

 

…but do I? He's so forceful sometimes…and I thought he would change…but will he ever change? Can he change? So many questions…I need more time to answer them…aaaaaaaah…

 

Even though Azusa was going to be at the wedding, she was sure he wouldn't help her either. Hatsumi remembered the last conversation they'd had, and the last thing he'd said to her before the rehearsal yesterday. 'I know you'll regret it Hatsumi, but I guess you should do whatever you want. Ryoki's right. You are an idiot.'

 

And there it was again: the fact that, even if Ryoki did love her more than anything else in the world…he thought that she was stupid. And that hurt. Why would he think that, anyway? Why did he keep saying all those bad things about her? If he really thought those things, why did he love her?

 

She looked up at the clock, almost not wanting to see. If she was going to do this…she just wanted it done and over with.

 

Or not…maybe not. Fifteen minutes…well, that was enough time to do something and get out of here. But what? She was just sure that someone was outside the door, watching like a hawk. Probably Ryoki's mother. Oh God…Mrs Tachibana was still such a big problem in Hatsumi's life. And she wasn't going to stop being there. Even after it had seemed like she would completely disconnect with Ryoki and his father, she had come back with a vengeance to try and take hold of wedding plans and pretend like everything was OK. At least she hadn't succeeded; Hatsumi's mother and - surprisingly, Ryoki's father - were trying to keep Ryoki's mother in check.

 

Hatsumi looked up at the clock again before slowly walking to the door and cracking it open to look outside, afraid that she would get a swift kick in the face by Ryoki's mother…but no one was out there. Glancing around, she opened the door a little wider, wishing that she'd brought her clothes into the room with her…easier to avoid detection when you aren't wearing a big white dress.

 

OhmiGod…I can't believe I'm doing this…

 

It was at that moment that he - the one person who could do the most to help her - walked past the room.

 

Azusa Odagiri.

 

He paused to talk to some other people out of her line of vision and she hissed out a breath at him, trying to make sure he would see her. She didn't want to have to resort to waving her arms…but she would if she had to.

 

Azusa glanced over and made a small smirk before hastily saying goodbye to his friends and pushing them through to the next room. Hatsumi thought he was going to leave for a moment before he looked around and quickly walked into the room with her.

 

The smirk on his face made her blush with shame as he closed the door behind him. "So…changed your mind, Hatsumi?"

 

She sighed. "Azusa…please just get me out of here."

 

"And how am I supposed to do that?" He grinned, crossing his arms. "Unless you plan on seriously pissing off your fiancée…you're out of luck."

 

"I don't know…" She had to do it. She needed to do something…she just didn't know what. Then it hit her. "Wait a minute."

 

"What?"

 

"Azusa…you need to kidnap me!"

 

Silence hung between the two of them before his eyes widened and his arms dropped to his side. "Wha…Hatsumi, you've got to be kidding me. Your dear Ryoki would have the cops on my ass in a second…"

 

"No, I would make sure Ryoki knows that you didn't really do anything. It'll all be cleared up! No trouble at all…and Ryoki already hates you anyway so it's no big deal!"

 

Again, she doubted if he was going to help her…and then a grin appeared on his face. "I'm starting to like this idea of yours…on one condition."

 

"And that is?"

 

"You spend your spare thinking time…with Shinogu."

 

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Fifteen minutes later, Ryoki Tachibana stood at the altar waiting for his bride. Tonight he would be able to show her just how much he loved her…rediscover every inch of her body as his wife. He'd been rehearsing it in his mind over and over again - words of adoration that he had been afraid to utter for so long, because of the lack of affection in his own family. He knew that Hatsumi didn't understand the magnitude of his love for her…but he really did! And she would know soon.

 

The wedding march started. Ryoki sucked in a breath; she would walk down the aisle soon. And he was sure she would look stunning…not only was she physically beautiful, but she had such a kind soul. That was one of the first things he had noticed about her when they had first gotten involved…how much she cared about her sister and how much she was willing to sacrifice for the people she loved.

 

Where is she?

 

She wasn't coming…

 

Where the hell could she be?!

 

Ryoki's mother looked at him from the front row, a satisfied smirk on her face. If she had something to do with this…

 

Akane came running down the aisle as people began to murmur in the pews, hiking up her light green dress in order to gain speed. Ryoki tried hard not to panic…why was she so worried? Should he be worried?

 

She walked right up to him and looked around before passing him a piece of paper and leaning towards him. "Here…I just found it in Hatsumi's room."

 

Ryoki didn't even have to read the rest after he read the first line:

 

'Hey asshole.'

 

Azusa…

 

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Hatsumi forced herself to breathe in and out slowly as Azusa's car sped down the highway, her hair flying around her head and continuing to fly out of the up-do and into her mouth or eyes. The dress was getting itchy…she hadn't even been able to stop at home and get some real clothes, since Azusa said that if she wanted time to think they would have to get out of Tokyo as soon as possible.

 

"Where are we going anyway?" she said.

 

"The monastery where Shinogu's staying…where else?"

 

She turned towards him, pulling a bobby pin out of her hair to stick it somewhere else and pin some more hair back. "Azusa, if Shinogu is a monk now, doesn't it mean that we can't…you know…anyway?"

 

"Seriously Hatsumi, who gives a shit about that?" Azusa replied, as if she was too stupid to comprehend. "Shinogu still loves you, and he's not going to stop. I'm sure he would give up his religion to be with you…that is, if the occasion arose."

 

Maybe I should've just stayed…married Ryoki…I mean, what if he doesn't take me back after he finds out where I've been? Should I even tell him? What have you done, Hatsumi?

 

"How far is it?"

 

Azusa shrugged. "It's gonna be a while before we get there. Shinogu didn't want to be anywhere near here after you decided you were gonna get with Tachibana…yeah, he's been pretty out of it, Hatsumi."

 

"Oh…I feel bad. I haven't even talked to him for months."

 

"Probably because he's still crazy about you," Azusa said patronizingly. Hatsumi's stomach churned uncomfortably; Azusa was blaming her for Shinogu's sad state of mind. "Being a fucking monk isn't helping. I'm sure he still thinks about you all the time…he's called me a few times. Just to ask about you. Damn passive…" - Hatsumi tried to stop him, but he continued - "…that's all he is. And this whole no sex thing is only stopping him from finding someone else and moving on-"

 

"Azusa, stop."

 

The car pulled to a halt - she supposed they were stopping somewhere for the night, as the time had passed quickly - and Azusa turned to look at her. "I'm in love with Ryoki…and there's nothing you can do about that. And I don't…I don't want people trying to change my mind about everything anymore. I just want to make my own decisions…and I want to be thought of as intelligent enough to make my own decisions. And if that's not OK with you…well then…you know what, if that's not OK with you, I'm going to tell the police you really kidnapped me. And I'm going to tell them all about your whole idea to gang rape me too, just to make them believe me."

 

His eyes widened for a second, and then he grinned. "Wow…I wasn't expecting that."

 

"Now where are we?"

 

"We're going to stay here for the night. Just some hotel. I don't know exactly where we are."

 

She let out a deep breath and then opened the car door, Azusa getting out as well.

 

"Glad you're finally getting a backbone Hatsumi…" Azusa muttered under his breath as they walked inside.

 

"What?"

 

"Oh, nothing…nothing at all."

 

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Author's Note: Yeah…I know it's short. But I don't like dragging things out, and I thought it was time that this chapter was over. More complex things will be added later…but I'm tired now and it's time to stop.

 

Please review! I'm kind of a review whore…and I usually don't write for small fandoms like this one…so pleeeeease review! And you might get an update sooner!

 

--Kat