"M.. Married ?" Xiao Ping is stammered, disbelief her own hearing. Takeshi nods while playing with her hair. They are now sitting next to each other. "Are you serious ?" Xiao Ping asks, still disbelief. "What.. you want me to go there now ?" Takeshi teases her, pretending to pounce to her private. "Noo..," Xiao Ping reflexively covers it with both hands. Takeshi laughs heartily. "I mean.. do you really want to .. marry me ?" Once again, Takeshi nods. "Yes. Not anytime soon, of course. You still have to finish your education, and I still have to work hard to prepare our future. But yes, I want to marry you someday. Except.. you don't want ..."
Xiao Ping immediately kisses him. "Of course I do," she replies only after the kiss. Takeshi kisses her back. "That's why I will patiently wait.. to go there," he glances to her below, "only when we are legitimate." Xiao Ping blushes profoundly.
"Ufh.. right! I need to write it down," Takeshi suddenly breaks their kiss as he remembers something. He then gropes his bag to find his small notebook and opens a page in the middle and writes on it.
"What is that ?" Xiao Ping quickly jumps on his lap, trying to grab the notebook. "Uugh..!!" Takeshi jolts and squints, at once drops his notebook. Since Takeshi is still half erect, her action gives a strong reaction to him. "Are.. are you okay ?" Xiao Ping asks cluelessly. "Yeaah..," he answers with chocked sound, but has no energy to grab his notebook from Xiao Ping's hand.
"What's this ?" Xiao Ping asks once more. The words are written on Hiragana and Katakana. "Hmm.. my promises to you," Takeshi answers after a moment while taking his notebook back. He lets Xiao Ping moves to his side then embraces her before reads his writing to her,
"One.. Manage my time well so I can always contact you daily. I promised you this after I was hospitalized. Two.. Always face my troubles with smile. This was after I boycotted my company. Three.. To not lose you, no matter what. Four.. No Lie. Five.. Marry you." Once he is finish reading it, he turns to Xiao Ping only to see her dropping jaw.
"I know now you hate people who breaks promise. I reread all our emails and wrote down all promises I made so I can always remember them and try hard not to break them," he explains. Xiao Ping's eyes are wet as she feels so overwhelmed. "Thank you," she murmurs. Takeshi wipes tears at the corner of her eyes then kisses her again.
After finish kissing, still in his embrace, Xiao Ping takes his notebook and opens it. "You can't make these as promises," she utters, circling point number 3 and 5. "What ? Why ?" Takeshi asks. "They depends on fate," Xiao Ping answers. "No. I will try hard to make them happen," Takeshi insists. Xiao Ping kisses him slightly. "I know, Love. But we can't fight fate. What if.. I die tomorrow ?"
"Don't say such a thing!" Takeshi snaps. "No.. Just think about it. We never know our fate. If.. only if.. I suddenly die tomorrow, you can do nothing about it. You will break point 3 and 5 helplessly. I think promises are things we can work to keep them. not things depend on fate. So.." Xiao Ping crosses out number 3 and 5 with his pen, "I don't want you to promise these."
Xiao Ping moves her gaze to Takeshi. His eyes are red, suppressing the emotion that occurs when he imagined he might lose Xiao Ping. One he thought about gently puts a kiss on each of his eyes. "I don't want to lose you," Takeshi utters his fear. His voice is hoarse and unconsciously a tear drops from a corner of his eye. "I don't want to lose you neither, Love. I would love to be Mrs. Hasegawa. I will pray that fate is on our side," she whispers softly as her lips brushes and drying his closing eyes. Takeshi opens his eyes then brings her face in front of his. "I love you so much, Shiawase," he whispers in front of her lips before munching them with full of emotion.
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When the alarm of his cellular rings, Takeshi opens his eyes slowly then reluctantly dismisses the alarm. Still in his sleepiness he smiles to see Xiao Ping deeply asleep in his embrace. They finally fell asleep on the couch together after took turn on talking and kissing.
It is not the most comfortable position as Takeshi lets his body as Xiao Ping's mattress. Half of Xiao Ping's body has been on him the whole night. Her head lies on the nook of his neck, her left arm surrounds Takeshi's body while his left arm also embraces her. He barely can feel his left arm now. But he really doesn't mind. It is the most intimate moment between them, both body and soul.
Takeshi punches numbers on his cellular with his free hand. He hates to but he must call taxi now. His flight is at 6 AM. After making a call, he puts his arm around Xiao Ping and closes his eyes again. He doesn't want to leave her a second too early.
It is only when the taxi has arrived, he reluctantly shakes Xiao Ping's body to wake her up. "Babe, I have to leave now," he whispers to her ear. "You do ?" she mumbles, still with closing eyes. Takeshi kisses her eyes, makes Xiao Ping smiles then opens them. "Can't you stay longer ?" she asks. Takeshi kisses her lips. "Next visit I will try to stay for a whole week. How about that ?" Xiao Ping kisses him back before wakes her body up. She tidies her self a bit while Takeshi wears his hoodie. He then opens his backpack.
"I almost forget.. Hiroshi asked me to give you this gift," he says. handing her a small box. "Thank you. He shouldn't have to," Xiao Ping says while taking it. "It's a cellular phone. So we can keep in touch on Sunday also," Takeshi tells her. "Are you sure it's from him ?" Xiao Ping asks in curiosity. Takeshi blushes. It is actually from him, but he was embarrassed to admit it. Xiao Ping chuckles then kisses him, "Thank you." Takeshi kisses her back. The taxi blows its horn. "I really have to go," he says after sighing. Xiao Ping accompanies him until the gate of her house. They kiss one more time before separate.