Move My Heart (Lev Haiba x Reader)

Chapter 20: Surprise After Surprise

Author's note: longer chapter ahead + this is the season 1 finale! Next season will be timeskip :)

*A week later*

Lev was laying on his bed, tossing a volleyball above his head, when someone opened his door obnoxiously. Startled, Lev dropped the ball, letting it fall on his face. He groaned, propping himself up and rubbing his face.
"Alisa..., can you learn to knock?" he said, annoyed. His sister laughed, sitting on the edge of his bed.
"My bad...anyways, what are you thinking about?" Lev leaned back, giving his sister a confused look.
"What do you mean?" Alisa eyed her brother knowingly.
"I know you, Lev. Whenever something's on your mind, you play with that ball." Lev shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said innocently. She narrowed her eyes at him, not satisfied.
"Ok... don't tell me." Her eyes scanned the room, landing on a large paper bag by the door.
"Hey, what's that?" she asked, heading over. Lev immediately stood up straight.
"Wait, don't touch that!" Alisa had already begun to rifle through, and as her eyes landed on the contents of the bag, they widened.
"Woah, this is beautiful. Why-,"
"It's a surprise," Lev said, and he explained to his sister what it was. She nodded, smiling proudly.
"Wow, Lyovochka, I didn't know you could be so thoughtful!" she said teasingly, and Lev rolled his eyes.
"But in all seriousness, I think it's a great idea. The packaging could use some work though." Lev saw the gears in his sister's head turning.
"What's wrong with it now?" he asked, confused.
"Lev... that's a brown paper bag. You can do better," Alisa said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Lev frowned, staring at the bag. "Presentation matters too, you know. Luckily, you have me to help you!" Alisa reached over and picked up the bag, carrying it out of the room.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Lev asked, following her.
"Helping you, obviously," she said, giving her brother a sly smile. Alisa's plea to play matchmaker was finally in full effect.

Walking through a quieter neighborhood of Tokyo, the butterflies in your stomach grew stronger with every step. Lev had asked you to meet up with him to get dinner, and excitement was an understatement to describe how you were feeling. You felt giddy, and although you walked at a brisk pace, you were mentally skipping through the streets. Arriving at the restaurant, you saw Lev standing in front, and you waved to him. You were glad he had proposed to go to the restaurant that you went to the first day you were in Tokyo with him. You greeted him, noticing he was carrying a large backpack. In the restaurant, you saw that Mr. Yoshio was at the counter, and waved at him.
"I was wondering when you two would be back!" he said, and winked at Lev. Lev laughed, slightly embarrassed, and Mr. Yoshio began to clean off the countertop, motioning to two seats.
"Actually, could we get a booth this time?" Lev asked, and Yoshio raised his eyebrows, surprised.
"Sure, right over there," he said, pointing to a free booth at the back of the restaurant. Lev placed his backpack carefully next to him, and as you sat across, you wondered what was inside.
"Sooo... any special occasion why you guys are here? Or did you miss my cooking?" Yoshio said, placing menus in front of you, and Lev reddened slightly.
"Umm.. not really, just wanted to get something to eat," he said.
"You know, if this is a date, you can tell me, I won't tell your parents if I see them," Yoshio teased. Now you were sure you were blushing too, and Lev looked like he was going to burst with embarrassment. Yoshio chuckled at your reactions, and took your orders. After that, conversation was slightly awkward, but as you got your food, you loosened up. However, you noticed Lev seemed weirdly nervous and on edge, shifting in his seat, and not quite making eye contact.
"Lev, are you ok?" You asked, watching him aimlessly stir some noodles in his plate with his chopsticks.
"Yeah, of course, why wouldn't I be?" He said, giving you a smile. You pursed your lips, not convinced.
"You look kinda out of it," you said, giving him a concerned look. Now that you studied his face, you noticed that he definitely looked paler.
"No, no, I'm fine," he said, but you knew better.
"If you're not feeling good, we can always go home early," you said, putting your chopsticks down.
"No, wait!" He said, surprising you. You saw out of the corner of your eyes, Yoshio lift his head and peer over the counter, raising his eyebrows at you.
"Um... ok, if you say so," you said, still unsure.
"It's not that, it's just..., I have something to give you," Lev explained, and you cocked your eyebrow, not understanding what was with him. He reached over to his backpack, unzipping it, and your eyes landed on something white. As he took it out, you realized it was a large package, wrapped in cream white paper, and tied together with a large yellow bow. Your eyes widened as Lev carefully cleared the table, and gently pushed the package towards you.
"What is this?" you asked, surprised. You looked up at him and saw him staring at you intently, looking nervous.
"I got you a gift...," he said, trailing off, and your fingers grazed over the wrapping paper. It was pretty large, and took up the majority of tablespace in front of you.
"You didn't have to do that!," you said, still in disbelief. It wasn't like it was your birthday, so you had no idea why he had done that.
"I wanted to," he said shyly, blushing, and you smiled. You looked down at the gift, and pulled the bow, then gently ripping the paper. You felt Lev's eyes on you, and you could tell he was anxious. You pulled back the paper, and your hand immediately went to your mouth when you saw what was hidden.
"You didn't..." folded in front of you was the kimono that you had tried a couple of weeks ago, during your weekend trip with the Haibas. You reached down and ran your hands over the fabric, in shock.
"Are you happy?" he asked cautiously. You looked up at him, eyes wide, speechless.
"Lev..." you felt tears begin to form, and you quickly wiped your eyes, breaking out into a huge smile. "I can't believe you did this."
His nervous expression immediately turned into a look of relief. You looked back down, gently lifting the kimono up.
"No way...," you whispered, still in shock, and Lev chuckled softly.
"I wanted you to have it," he said shyly, and you felt like you were going to melt.
"But when... how? Lev, wasn't this really expensive? You shouldn't have spent your money on this," you said, starting to feel guilty. Lev's blush deepened, and he shifted his eyes.
"Still, you looked really pretty in it... it's not a big deal." You lowered the kimono, and looked at him, getting teary eyed.
"Thank you, really. I honestly wasn't expecting this, and... and I love it," you said, trying your best not to cry. You felt slightly overwhelmed, and couldn't believe that he had thought to do something like this. The kimono was beautiful, and you were extremely excited to have it, but in that moment, you were most touched by Lev's gesture. You batted your eyelashes, trying to dissipate the tears.
"Wait, don't cry," he said, and you wiped your eyes, laughing.
"Sorry, I'm just really touched, that's all," you said, smiling at him. You placed the kimono on the table and got up, and he looked at you, surprised.
"C'mon, you don't want a hug?" you said, and he got up, grinning. You pulled him into a hug, and he bent down, snaking his arms around your waist.
"Thank you," you whispered, smiling against his chest, your tears wetting the front of his shirt. Although you couldn't see his face, you could bet he was smiling, too. You were about to loosen your grip, when you felt him pull you in closer and lean his head down, so that his mouth was practically touching your right ear.
"Be my girlfriend?" he asked, in barely a whisper. Huh? Did he just? You pulled away slightly, so that your eyes could meet his.
"Wait, what?" you asked, unsure if you had heard correctly.
"Um... I said, be my girlfriend?" he repeated quietly, a hint of doubt in his voice. He was blushing like crazy, but there was a mischievous gleam in his eyes. It took you a second to register what he was saying, and realize what he was asking. You broke out into a grin, and got onto your tippy toes. He seemed surprised, but you snaked your hand around his neck and gently pulled him down towards you, softly kissing his cheek.
"Of course I'll be your girlfriend," you whispered, smiling like crazy.
"Hey, no making out in the restaurant, you two! Just because you're back there doesn't mean I can't see you!" You and Lev immediately pulled away, and saw Yoshio shaking his whisk at the both of you from the counter.
"We weren't even-" Lev started, embarrassed, but Yoshio chuckled, cutting him off.
"I'm just messing with you two. But seriously, don't think about doing that in here, please." Lev's face had grown red like a tomato, and the both of you awkwardly sat down.
"So..." Lev said, visibly frazzled, and you laughed.
"You should learn to ignore him," you joked, blushing slightly.
"On a serious note, though, do you actually want to be my girlfriend?" Lev asked, smirking, to which you rolled your eyes.
"I said, yes, didn't I?" Your eyes landed on the kimono in front of you, and you smiled. "You didn't buy this for me just to use it to convince me to go out with you, right?" you teased, and Lev grinned sheepishly.
"You know, it was Alisa's idea to wrap it like that," he said, making you laugh. That definitely did not surprise you.
"She also told me to put a handwritten letter in there asking you, but I figured that would be too much," he said, and you cocked an eyebrow.
"So she knows you were going to ask me out?" you asked, secretly satisfied, because that meant she had given her approval.
"I think she's wanted me to do that since the day you moved here," he joked. "You know-"
"Now I know why you asked for a booth, for some privacy, eh?" Yoshio said loudly, making his way over to your table and waving the check in his hand. Lev sighed, giving you a knowing look.
"That's not why-"
"Anyways, wasn't I right when I said that there was something going on between you two?" he asked, completely cutting Lev off, making you laugh. Poor Lev could never finish a sentence when that man was around. After paying for dinner and saying goodbye to Yoshio, you and Lev headed out, walking slowly side by side.
"I'll walk you home," Lev said, and you snaked your arm around his. He looked down at you, surprised, but gave you a sweet smile, obviously happy. You two couldn't stop smiling, and you leaned slightly into him as the both of you walked, arms conjoined. This was relatively new territory for you, but you couldn't be happier in that moment. You knew then and there that no moment with Yun or Kenzo would compare to being with Lev, and you sighed softly.
"What's the matter?" Lev asked, and you shook your head.
"Nothing... just thinking," you said, grinning to yourself.
Once you reached your apartment, you let go of Lev's arms, still feeling giddy. Lev looked up at your apartment building, looking deep in thought.
"Our parents are going to have a field day with this if we tell them," he said, laughing softly. You pursed your lips, considering.
"I think they suspected already," you said, and Lev nodded, smiling at you. You turned to face him, angling your body towards him, and studied his face. His eyes seemed to sparkle, a mix of anticipation and intrigue.
"This is going to sound weird, but you have beautiful eyes," you said, immediately laughing at how cringey you sounded. He grinned, obviously pleased from being complemented.
Your gaze shifted from his eyes to his lips, and you took a half step towards him, so that you could easily lean in.
"Y/n..." Lev was saying something, but you weren't focused on his words at the moment.
"Did you hear what I said?" he asked, staring down at you, and you gave him a timid look. You leaned in slightly, stepping onto your tippy toes and placing your hands on his shoulders, pulling him down towards you. You had to stretch your neck slightly to kiss him, and you pulled him into the kiss. At first Lev seemed surprised, but he quickly relaxed, and leaned down, allowing you to fall back on your feet. He placed a hand on your back, stabilizing you, and you tightened your hold on his shoulders. The kiss was gentle, soft, and you indulged in the feeling, your heart doing somersaults. You felt Lev's other hand, pulling you in, and inviting you to deepen the kiss. He pulled you towards him, slightly bending you, and you relaxed in his embrace, letting him hold you. Omg, omg, omg. To say it was an intense kiss was putting it lightly, and you hoped your mom didn't happen to look out the window of your apartment. Her witnessing your kiss with Yun was more than enough, and you weren't too keen on repeating history. It felt good, no, great, to be kissing Lev, stabilized by his arms, and you felt immediate disappointment as he began to pull away. He loosened his grip slightly, and you sighed, feeling hot. You leaned your forehead on his chest, smiling to yourself, and the two of you stood there, catching your breaths.