Chapter 141 - Born For Each Other

"Homura Ryuu, I think I like you…"

Suzuki Ara's whispery voice felt like a caress to his ears. However, the prince was so shocked he was not able to move. He was not even sure if he'd heard her correctly. He just looked at her in wonder as she stared back at him with those pair of warm, laughing gray eyes.

"W-what did you say?"

For the first time in his life, the Koutaishidenka of the Homura House stuttered. He continued to search her face as something in his chest fluttered but he didn't know why.

"I said, I think I like you," Ara repeated, her voice clearer and with more confidence this time around that it was hard for Ryuu to miss.

She… wait.

"You think?" the Koutaishidenka countered in disbelief.

The soaring in his chest plummeted and he felt like sulking, he frowned.

"Of course," Ara replied. "I'm not a hundred percent sure yet of course but I think I like you. Isn't that already good?"

Well…

If she put it like that, compared to before when she wanted to be friends, this was indeed already very good. Homura Ryuu had no choice but to acquiesce. 

On Ara's part, she felt that it was actually a very good enough situation. She had no idea how much more time she needed to confirm her feelings, but right now, she found this tall, sulking man adorable.

"Don't mope," Ara scolded him playfully, as she again threw herself at him.

The Koutaishidenka gladly received her in his arms. She had her head rest against his chest, clearly hearing his heartbeat. It felt so comfortable she didn't want to leave.

"Kou?" she called him after a while.

"Yeah?" his chest rumbled under her ear as he answered and Ara smiled, feeling content.

"I just met you. But why do I feel like I've known you for a long time?" she wondered audibly, making him chuckle.

"What are you talking about?" he asked back. "Weren't you born just for me?" he continued teasingly, and Ara lifted her head so she could stare at him.

Ryuu's blue gaze was earnest. They were like warm pools so deep she could drown in them gladly. "Like how I was born for you..."

Ara grinned. "I was born for you like you were born for me?"

If it were some other time and with someone else, she'd have laughed out loud. After all, she was someone who didn't believe in fast romance. She even thought that the only people who did were some dumb Disney characters. However, right now, those words felt wonderful to her ears, although more of it would make her gag from sweetness.

"Of course," Ryuu countered with a grin of his own. "Why are you surprised? Weren't we engaged the day you were born?"

Well…

This was a fact and a very logical reason for the cheesy line that Ara could accept so easily. This big husky knew how to cure her sweetness overdose at the right time.

Then again, with this fact out, there was something she had also been wondering to know.

"Kou?" he asked again, this time a bit seriously that Ryuu inclined his head at her to let her know he's listening.

"If we've been engaged for a while, why did you only contact me recently?" She had been wondering about that.

Most couples who were engaged since young were made to grow up together. Ara and Ryuu though didn't really meet until that one time back in middle school, and then just after her accident. He didn't even go to see her at the hospital. She wasn't angry about it though. However, she wanted to know why.

"Your parents made my parents promise we'd stay away from you until you graduated from middle school."

Eh? There was something like that?

"Me in particular," the Koutaishidenka continued.

"You? Specifically?"Ara was in disbelief, most especially when Ryuu nodded. "But why?"

The Koutaishidenka chuckled. "Why do you think? Your parents requested for the Homura House to let you experience having a normal life first," he explained, his lips twitching. "If people found out your connection to the Cedar Palace – your connection to me, do you think your life would still be normal?"

Ah…

Then again…

"How about after I graduated from middle school?"

Ryuu sighed. "We were planning to do that. That was why I went to your school first so you could see me, and hopefully, I could see you – which I did."

"You did?"Ara was shocked. 

"Nice try hiding behind the window. I spotted you almost immediately," the Koutaishidenka chuckled as if remembering that time.

"What kind of eyes do you have?"Ara couldn't believe it. The real Ara even crawled on the floor to hide from him. It appeared it was useless.

"So? Why didn't you show up at my door then?"

The Koutaishidenka sighed. "Because your parents died right after that – remember?"

Oh… That's right.

Suzuki Ara changed a lot after that. She was mourning not just the loss of her parents, but the loss of Aki's time for her. Then there was that custody battle. It lasted for a year.

"You were still underage for marriage then. If we showed up, those relatives of yours would have made it more difficult for you, knowing about the possible connection to the Homura House. Since we couldn't get married yet, it would have been bloodier than it already was."

Again, Homura Ryuu was right. Those hyenas hungry for their inheritance would have been more frenzied and more aggressive in taking custody over her if ever.

"But what about when I turned sixteen?"

This time, there was no explanation she could think of.

Homura Ryuu's face closed off. "This one was a fault on my part," he said afterwards.

He looked hesitant for a while as if he was trying to figure out how he'd tell her. But they did promise each other to tell what's in each other's minds as much as possible so he did.

"We always had someone monitor you at school," he confessed, but Ara was not surprised. It was understandable that they did, considering that they couldn't check up on Ara in person.

"When you were in your second year, the rumor about you running after that boy surfaced – then you fought with Ichihara that time too, solidifying that rumor," he continued, his voice getting smaller as he did.

He really sounded apologetic and totally looked the part too that Ara couldn't find it in her heart to be really angry at him, although she still needed him to know what she thought.

"That's stupid. You should have confirmed it," she told him lightly.

Ryuu looked more forlorn. "I'm so sorry," he apologized softly as he bowed his head, looking like a scolded puppy. "I know logically, we should have checked it thoroughly. But… But I was unhappy."

Ryuu cleared his throat before he continued. "I was angry actually – mad that you looked at another person while all this time since I was young, I already considered you my wife."

Huh?

Ara felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She really should be angry or at least try to. But with Kou looking like this, sincerely apologizing to her like a Big Papa Husky that he was, it was a very difficult feat.

"I was jealous…."