Innocent romance (A maid sama story)

- Chapter 16-

Misaki was mind blown. Never in her wildest dreams would she have ever thought she would kiss Takum before they stood on the altar. A month ago they were at each other's throats and now here they were swapping DNA. A feeling she had buried many years ago had started to rise again. She could not deny that she was starting to like Takumi.

She hadn't been with a man since she was twenty-one and when she was twenty-five her parents proposed the idea of her marrying someone within the Walker family. She denied it at first but with the constant remarks from her father about a woman needing a man to guide her, she went along with the engagement. It seemed out of character for those who knew Misaki but she didn't do it for the sake of having a man beside her, she did it because she had known Takumi for not caring about what others did. He wasn't controlling like the other men in their social circle. It would be a loveless marriage but they wouldn't care about the other person's business. Misaki also knew she needed a child eventually and a sperm donor would cause another world war within her household if she did.

Resting back in her seat after Takumi kissed her, she wondered if it would be possible for them to have a child in the future and coexist. He wasn't that different from herself. They were puppets controlled by their families. Although her family wasn't that bad compared to Takumi's, her father always had a way of breaking her spirits so she put up a strong defense around herself not wanting to let many people into her life. If your father could hurt you, what man wouldn't?

From what she heard Takumi was mistreated his whole life by his grandfather and brother. She could see why he made no effort to like her in the beginning. He was probably forced into this marriage. He helped grow his family empire and yet they disregarded him and continued to use him. It kind of made Misaki want to protect him from his family but she wondered. He had the resources to break ties with his family so why didn't he? Why let them use him? What was holding him back?

If he needed her help, she didn't mind helping him. He didn't deserve to be their slave. In return, he could help her humble her father who changed the more money they got. She didn't hate her father necessarily but instead pity how he let others influence his opinions. If he had ever decided to fight for the position as Ceo, her father would run the business into the ground.

"Thinking about me Misaki?" Takumi said seeing her frozen in her seat and staring at him. He was expecting her to yell and asked why he kissed her but instead she remained silent. Maybe he had broken her.

"Who would think about you idiot." She muttered looking off to the side. Why the hell did he kiss her? He could at least warn her before he did it to get rid of the host.

"One kiss and you're enchanted by me Misa." He teased knowing it would annoy her deeply.

"Please don't call me Misa." Misaki glared at the man beside her.

"Prez."

"Not that either.

"Misa chan." He said with a sly smile on his face. Teasing her was always exciting.

"That's no different from Misa." She replied deciding to focus on the event instead. The host had moved away to chat with other couples.

"The difference would be the chan Misaki." He answered resting his elbow to watch Misaki try her best to ignore him. The demon prez couldn't look more angelic than she did right now. He was wrong for assuming many things about her before. She wasn't like he had expected and he wanted to uncover what she was hiding from everyone else.

"This is uncomfortable." Said Misaki who continued to stare at others. "Sitting among people who love each other and want to cherish these memories. We could try but we might not ever be like that. This is just a business marriage after all."

"You're right that we might never be like everyone else here but we'll never know that to be true right now. It's up to us to decide what becomes of this engagement." Takumi answered what he honestly thought.

"We started rocky and it would be a lie for me to say things have changed drastically because they haven't but I want to know more about you Misaki. That's the first step we can take. I'll open up to you if you'll do the same." Takumi called a truce again.

"I will do the same. It's been a while since I've opened up to anyone other than Sakura." Misaki paused for a moment. "Have you ever had anyone you loved before?"

Takumi was taken aback by her question. "I did but I'm starting to think I fell in love with the idea of her being different. I loved that she wasn't from the circle we're in and I could escape it by being with her."

"Why did you two stop loving each other then?"

Takumi remained silent.

"I had someone I loved in the past and they were in my circle. We were young and our fathers were happy because it would benefit them to have us together. Our parents kept interfering with our relationship and I just didn't love him as I used to and because of that, I called it quits. See you weren't my first engagement but it did start as a love for the first one and then it just turned to business. My father just saw dollar signs. I knew my fiance at the time was growing tired of it too. We were growing apart and he found someone else at that time. I found out about it and we decided it was best to part ways." She concluded facing downward to play with a fork on the table.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be. We fell out of love so it wasn't hard to part ways. It didn't feel right staying with him when I knew his heart loved someone else more. It was better for both of us and I have no hate for him. Thanks to that you have me as your wonderful bride to be." She joked but Takumi could tell she was hurt by it all.