Aikatsu: Life as Suzukawa Naoto

11. Confessing

       I looked up at Suzukawa. "I guess I'm dead." I said with a smile. "Good luck, Ichigo" He said. Before I could answer, he pulled me into a close hug. After a couple seconds, we pulled away. I started walking towards the car, but before walking in, I turned around. The cold wind blew through my hair as I said "I'll see you at school". With that, I stepped into the car. "We'll talk about this tomorrow." Dad said with disappointment in his voice. "I....love you." I whispered as the car drove off. Even though my prince couldn't hear me.

       I headed straight for bed when I got home. I couldn't sleep that night. At around 3am, I heard pebbles tapping at the window. I looked outside the window to see my prince standing below. His raven black hair moving with the wind, yellow eyes glowing in the moonlight. "Suzukawa-San?" I said. Suzukawa climbed up the tree beside the window. "You forgot this at my place." He said handing me my stuffed bunny. "Thank you" I said climbing out the window. "You aren't sneaking out again, are you?" He said with a laugh. "I can't sleep, I'm pretty sure my parents wouldn't notice me gone for 5 minutes." I said. Suzukawa-san laughed. He laid his hand on mine. "There's something I've had on my mind..." I said looking at him in the eyes. "Go on..." He said. I noticed it was a full moon. The moonlight made the snow glow. It was snowing tonight. "When ever you're around me, I feel so calm, it's the way you talk, the way you smile, the way you're always holding back your emotion. I-I think I love you." I said. He looked at me. I already knew he wouldn't feel the same way, but I didn't care. "I know you don't feel the same way but-" I was cut off when he put his thumb on my lips. "How do you know I don't feel the same way?" He asked with a sigh. "I've been in love with you since before you left for America. Do you have any idea how hard it was not to show much emotion around you? Because you fill me up with happiness. I feel like you're always there to talk to. I-I love you so much!! I could just yell it out!!" he added. My face lit up. "You love me?" I asked. He nodded. I leaned in nervously and kissed him on the cheek. When I pulled away, he held my hands. "There's just one wall though." He said. "What is that?" I asked. "If i'd had known this would happen, I'd have never taken the job as a teacher. It just wouldn't be right for me to date a student." He said looking down. "Oh" I said disappointed. "I have a proposal." He said. "Hmm?" I answered. "Once you graduate, would you be my girlfriend?" He asked. "But that's a year away, I wanna be with you now!!" I said. "Will you wait for me, my love?" He said. "I promise, but in the time between, can we still be friends?" I asked. "Of course!!" He said. I leaned my head on his shoulder. I watched as the moon glowed. "Once you're ungrounded, would you like to go ice-skating with me?" He asked. "Like a date?" I asked. "Okay, but we'll keep it a secret that it's a date." He said. "One more thing..". "What's that?" I asked. "Don't tell anyone about this." He said before he kissed my cheek. "I love you with my soul, Hoshimiya Ichigo!!" He yelled.  Before he ran off, he leaned in and locked lips with me.  With that, he climbed down the tree.  I climbed back into my room, hugging my stuffed bunny. Best night ever....

I went downstairs the next morning to deal with my parents. Dad sat there on the sofa. I sat down next to him to get things over with. "Your mother and I were so worried about you yesterday." He said. "I-I'm sorry" I said nearly breaking into tears. I held my stuffed bunny for comfort. "Why did you sneak out? Was it out of rebellion? I want to know the reason before I make up the punishment." Dad said. When I finally spoke, my voice was soft. "I made a promise...." "A promise? to who? what did you promise?" Dad asked. Mama walked over to join the conversation. "I made a promise to a friend of mine before I went to the party that I'd meet up with him the next day for something important. I may have bent the rules, but I made my word I wouldn't bail out on him under any circumstance." I said. "You know Ichigo, even though you broke the rules and went out when you were grounded, you kept your promise and that, I'm proud of you for. But next time you make a promise like that, tell us so we won't be worried." Dad said. "I agree with your dad, you're turning out like him you know?" Mama said. "That still doesn't get you out of your punishment. I've made my decision that you'll clean up the shop for us and help out." Dad said. "That's all?" I asked. "You did what you did to keep a promise. Things would've been different if you were doing it out of rebellion." Mama said. I hugged them. I got off so easy.
After I cleaned the bento shop, I went behind the counter for work. Mama chopped vegetables while I put up the "Open" sign. Aoi and Ran were first to walk in at 11am. "I hope you're not over-eating again, Ichigo-Chan." Aoi said. I shook my head. "I'll have Miso Soup please" Ran said. "I'll have a seaweed bento" Aoi said. "Hey Ichigo, have you lost weight?" Ran asked. "Since it's new years, I expected you to puff up." Aoi added. I just realized, I haven't been eating as much food as I used to. "Gee, Thanks Aoi." I answered. "Ichigo isn't acting right, have you noticed Aoi?" Ran said. I sighed. I guess I'm picking up a bit of Suzukawa's personality. I decided to play dumb anyways, it doesn't take long for Aoi to figure things out after all. "What do you mean?" I asked with the bubbliest smile I could come up with. "You're acting like Ran" Aoi said. "Excuse me?" Ran said. "I guess I've got a lot on my mind, like getting more rare pics for Raichi!!" I said. Speaking of Raichi's love for Aoi, he doesn't know she's here does he. "Raichi!! Aoi is here!!" I yelled. "Aoi-neesan?" Raichi said running in the room. Raichi walked into the bento shop with a camera and took a bunch of pictures. Aoi posed for all of them. "One miso soup and a seaweed bento" Mama said setting them out. "Ichigo is definitly hiding something" Aoi whispered loudly into Ran's ear. I hope Aoi doesn't figure it out.....