Recap:

When he opened his mouth for the next question I smirked and said, 'time's up Kanata…'

He suddenly looked at me a little surprised. His eyes were a little blank and he looked like a kid who had laid his eyes on Disney Land for the first time. I blushed at this and cleared my throat reproachfully.

He shuddered lightly and then focusing again, jerked his head away from me and muttered, 'sorry… I blanked out suddenly…'

I remained silent, ignorant as to what to do next.

'W-what did you s-say…?' he asked lightly, not turning to face me.

'Erm…' I found it hard to search for what I had said earlier, 'er… yeah… um… it's my t-turn t-to ask you the q-questions…'

Why the hell did I stutter like that?

But the odd gleam in Kanata's eyes returned as he turned to face me again with an oh-so-alluring-smile.

'Shoot…' he said to me, raising his eyebrows pointedly inviting my questions.

I regained my posture and smirked as I began.

READY FOR LOVE

:: Keep correcting your little mistakes; because nobody slips down by the hills, but all can slip by just little stones::

Chapter 4

'Erm…' he said thoughtfully, 'I usually am no fan of ice-creams…'

'Oh come on…' I urged him.

We've been doing this for about forty five minutes now. Just like he had, I asked a lot about him and quite the number of stuff I did find about him. We had a lot of things opposite.

I did my schooling in America while he did his in Japan. While I transferred to Japan for my University, he was accepted at Harvard for his excellent academics. He currently runs a Law Firm in L.A. and had worked for some of the most prominent people.

'Vanilla, perhaps…' he finally said smiling at me.

She smiled back and then asked, 'Movie…?'

'Come on…' he said, rolling his auburn eyes, 'you can't just ask me my own questions…'

'Hey!' I accused, pouting my lips lightly, 'nobody said they were yours…'

He sighed and said after a minute of thinking, 'I guess I have to go with… hm… Pretty Woman'

'Ooh…' I said smiling, 'fan of Julia Roberts…?'

'Yeah…' he said with a smirk and edging closer to me added, 'but I'm in the middle of changing my favorite pretty woman'

I felt blood rise to my cheeks and was sure I flushed. I knew from the very start that he was trying whatever he can to make me blush and turn red. And flirting turned out to be an effective instrument. But for some reason, I seem to blush for every word of his.

'Next…?' he asked, smirking again.

I glared at him for awhile and then said with the sweetest smile I could muster, 'No more questions…'

'Really…?' he asked disbelievingly and also with a heart-throbbing smile.

'R-Really…' I said with another smile.

'Then…?' he asked.

'Just tell me about your romantic life Kanata…' I said, smirking.

He smirked and said, 'I don't have one… simple…'

'What do you mean you don't have one…?' I asked at once.

'Well, I go out with three different women in one month and not once does the date last for more than ten minutes…' he said simply.

'Why not…?' I asked, curiously.

'Cause they just don't feel right for me…' he said, shrugging with a frown.

'So, you leave…?' I asked, hardly able to believe my ears, 'just like that…?'

'Yeah…' he said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

'Like… without an explanation…?' I asked again.

'Yeah… so…?' he asked.

'So…?' I repeated, fury rising through my veins, 'Jerk!'

'Hey!' he exclaimed, defensively, 'I send them flowers with an apology the very next morning…'

But I didn't find that as something comfortable to hear. I gave him the best glare I could muster and raised my eyebrows in disapproval. To my surprise, he looked amused at my reactions.

'Come to think of it…' he started and edged closer to me. I felt my temperature rise again as I was almost just inches away from him, 'you are the only woman I've managed to be with for more than ten minutes…'

I rolled my eyes and turned away. Well, I actually started hyperventilating at those words and tried my best not to give him the satisfaction that he had managed to make me blush, yet again.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes and I was able to catch another one of his smiles as he smiled to himself with a slight shake of his head.

I had this feeling inside my stomach. It was like having to see a very beautiful ending to a sad story. No… it was much more intense. I can't actually find the right words to convey how I feel right now… looking at him.

"Miyu Kouzuki, will you marry me…?"

I got to my feet so suddenly that I was sure to have surprised the brunet as well as the doctor to his other side. But that came as a total surprise. I couldn't feel my feet as I slithered through the two guys, apologizing lightly.

I could feel his calculating eyes on my back as I made my way to the rest room robotically. I closed my eyes shut as I opened the door and entered it.

I looked into the mirror and the reflection of a troubled twenty-four year old blonde stared back at me. As I watched, my heart started to ache. Yes, I landed myself in a very difficult situation.

I looked at my left hand and there glimmered my engagement ring, just as bright as ever. And just a few steps from where I stood, sat the guy of my dreams.

I always wanted someone who'd understand me without the use of words for I was incapable of making people feel what I'm thinking. And amazingly, he seems to understand me. I tried so hard not to think about him but he kept popping into my thoughts.

'Stop this, Miyu,' I said to myself, 'there's just a few more hours of journey left and you might not see him again… don't go torturing yourself… just think about the wedding plans when you're by him…'

And that seemed so easy to think but the moment I sat back down, beside him, my mind and my eyes wouldn't stop grazing back to the brunet. He seemed too perfect to be real, I told myself repeatedly but of no avail.

'Do you want to continue…?' he asked almost tentatively as though he could feel the uneasiness that I was feeling at the moment.

But before I could even answer, he smiled and said, as though reading my thoughts, 'I bet you're tired of this…'

Very much… tired of having to think that I'm having someone waiting for me as soon as I get out of this plane.

'Not really…' I said, pulling a small smile.

But he didn't look as though he bought that. He raised his eyebrows with a smirk and edged closer again and to my total embarrassment said in a whisper, 'don't worry… I won't take you away… Your fiancé can still have you…'

'What…?' I asked at once. It was as though he was reading my thoughts and taunting me.

Then, he smirked again and muttered, 'you know, that was a joke… laugh for once, Miyu…'

I narrowed my eyes and turned away from him. For once in my lifetime, I was sure of two things.

One, naturally this handsome brunet is the most irritating guy I've ever come across.

And finally, I'd surely be having difficulty in saying "I Do" in two weeks before all my friends and family. And the reason for that is the guy sitting right beside me, christened Kanata Saionji.

I sighed and closed my eyes. A lot of disturbing images flew through my head, making me sick. I got my MP3 player and placing the earphones to either of my ears, I played a random song.

Thought that I was going crazy
Just having one of those days yeah
Didn't know what to do
Then there was you

And everything went from wrong to right
And the stars came out and filled up the sky
The music you were playing really blew my mind
It was love at first sight

'Cause baby when I heard you
For the first time I knew
We were meant to be as one—

I turned off the MP3 player at once. Well, that was the last song I would like to hear right now. As I pulled off the earphones, I was mildly aware of the brunet's eyes on me. I tried to act as though I didn't know and concentrated on the book that I didn't read earlier.

I didn't make it through even a paragraph. I felt my eyes getting a little groggy as I tried to keep them steady and concentrate of the now-dancing letters of the novel. I couldn't fight sleep back anymore. So, I gave in and I felt my head wobble a bit as it dropped back on the comfortable seat.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

I tried to keep my mind steady. But for once in my whole life, I was unsure of what was going on inside of me. I can easily keep tags on my emotions. There were rarely any. So it had been easy.

Anger—obviously at the useless people at work…

Irritation—Dad, naturally… and of course some of my friends…

But today, amazingly I had these two weird emotions which I had no way of tracing back to. I'm not even sure why I was suddenly acting the way I did right now.

For one, I don't know for a fact why I suddenly find the urge to tease the blonde who currently slept by my side, with her head slowly dropping from its current position.

And another one of the same proportion was the fact that I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. Why am I suddenly drawn towards her when there are millions of other women in America?

"Maybe," I tried to reason, "Maybe, it's just 'coz she's Japanese… that might be it…"

I sighed. I couldn't help but glance sideways at her. She murmured something in her sleep and slowly slid sideways and before I could even respond, I found her head on my shoulder, breathing down my neck.

I could feel my temperature rise. I moved about a little awkwardly, trying to get into a comfortable position. She frowned in her sleep as I tried to move. So, I chose to stop.

After a few seconds, feeling it too weird to just look into her face, I reached out and pulled away the MP3 player from her lap. It was halfway through a song by Kylie Minogue. I played it.

'Cause baby when I heard you
For the first time I knew
We were meant to be as one

Was tired of running out of luck
Thinking 'bout giving up yeah
Didn't know what to do
Then there was you

And everything went from wrong to right
And the stars came out and filled up the sky
The music you were playing really blew my mind
It was love at first sight

I sighed lightly as the song ended.

Cheesy, was my first thought, a little cliché. And it was definitely not meant to be heard right now.

I switched it off and placed it back to where it belonged. I watched her cuddle a little closer and then she muttered something. I was curious. Naturally.

I leaned a little closer so that I could hear it when she spoke of it again.

'Kanata…'

My heart seemed ready to stop but a smile spread across my face and closed my eyes as well, trying to figure out what she was currently dreaming about.

::to be continued::

Next on READY FOR LOVE:

Hm… A little off the beat…! But anyway, the next chapter turns out the worst. The flight would be landing soon and we shall have to go our separate ways but I'm sure that my wedding isn't going to be a cake-walk anymore…

*sigh*

Well, tune in for the next chapter of…

"Ready for Love"

—M.R.