Open Your Heart - Chapter Fifteen (Final)
~心ひろげて~
~Kokoro Hirogete~
Chapter 15: Love
Sunday morning, Kota awoke to the smell of chocolate-drizzled crêpes and freshly brewed green tea.
“Kei, what are you doing here?!” Kota asked, alarmed to see anyone in his house over the weekend.
Kei smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry for coming over unannounced… It’s just… I remembered how lonely said you always were over the weekends, and how much liked this breakfast, so I wanted to come see you.”
Kota blinked. “Okay…” I thought you would’ve tried your hardest to avoid me, but I guess I was wrong…
“But Kei, you know you’re no longer under the binds of your paycheck, right? If you don’t want to keep coming here, you don’t have to.” Kota bit his lip, anticipating the imminent heartbreak.
“Kota…” Kei smiled shyly. “I was hoping I could stay and continue working here, if you don’t mind…”
“N-No, of course not!” Kota immediately answered, sitting up in bed. This was not the response he had been expecting from Kei.
Kei set the breakfast tray down on Kota’s desk, just as he did the first time, and sat down on the edge of the bed beside him.
“Kota… I’m so sorry for everything I’ve done, everything I’ve said, all of which has hurt you… You have to believe me, hurting you was the last thing I could have ever wanted. I want to be there for you, always. No matter when you’re sad, when you’re happy, or when things are painful, I just want to be by your side through it all…
“Meeting you has changed my life in so many ways that I can’t even begin to explain. Even though this one week I’ve worked here for you has been full of tears, angst, struggles and hardship, it’s also been filled with laughter, friendship, happiness, and love. And the truth is, this ‘love’ I feel, I only feel for you. My heart is only open for you…
“I love you, Kota Yabu.
“I love you so much I wouldn’t mind losing my cell phone on the bus everyday, just so I could call you and hear your voice, and you would personally return it to me.
“I love you so much I would be willing to come here, dressed as a maid, and work every single weekday and weekend, just so I could get to see you.
“I love you so much I would be willing to get locked into a million dark closets and drenched with freezing water a million times, just so that afterward, you would hold me warmly in your arms and kiss me on the forehead, just to comfort me.
“I love you so much that my heart throbbed when you told me you loved me, and it ripped my heart to pieces to reject you.
“So now, I can only hope… you will love me back.” Kei’s eyes gazed lovingly into Kota’s, his expression one of pure longing.
Kota gently cupped his hands around Kei’s face.
“I’ve been yearning to hear you say that… Kei Inoo, I love you, too.”
Without another word, Kota captured Kei’s lips in a sensual kiss. Soft and sweet, Kei savored every light caress of their lips.
“But seriously, Kei,” Kota smiled as he just barely pulled away from Kei, their faces remaining mere centimeters apart. “You talk too much.” Kota playfully poked Kei’s reddening cheek, feeling his own face beginning to blush slightly as well.
“Then why don’t you stop talking?” Kei smiled back as he closed the distance between their lips, pulling Kota back into an even deeper, more salacious kiss.