Chapter 13 – Underneath The Sakura Tree

Apart from Touda the God of Fire, the rest of the Gods from heaven knew about Natsume Takashi's presence in the residence of the quaint little Saya-hime, also known as Ichi no Hime in the exorcist world. They were excited, and Touda informs of Saya about their arrivals.

And one by one, everyone in Saya's residence saw with their own eyes for the very first time the arrival of the Gods from Heaven. Everyone gaped as the Gods materialize in front of them, all beautiful in their ancient garbs and floating powers. And they are all powerful with their golden hoops on their heads.

"Natsume Takashi dono…" they all goes down on one knee and bows to him. Natsume is flustered, and tries to ask them all to stand up.

"P-please… don't bow to me…" he said to them, flustered at the sight of so many Gods bowing to him.

All of them stood up as per his orders, and stood there to admire the young beautiful boy.

Natsume Takashi.

"They like you a lot, Natsume-kun," Saya said to him by the sides, and Natsume is surprised.

"E-eh!?" he exclaims in shock.

Saya nodded her head.

Seiji came and stood by her side, patting Natsume on his back.

"Oh well, how happy it is for me to not be the boy that the God loves, Natsume-kun," Seiji said to him with a smirk, smiling widely at Natsume's flustering distress. "You have their attentions now, so go on ahead and get to know them."

With that, he pushes Natsume off the stairs and into the arms of all the Gods, who had spread their arms wide awaiting Natsume to fall into their arms, their faces happy and a wide smile on their ethereally fair face. And the moment Natsume fell into their arms, he is instantly seized up in a moment that he desperately wanted to escape from.

"Oh, he is so cute!" one of the female gods said, wrapping her arms around his head and crushes him to her chest.

"He's mine!" another one said, pulling on to his arm and gently ran her hand up and down his arm, feeling his warm skin and sighs heavenly. "Oh, his skin is so smooth!"

"Oh, so adorable! I wanna be with him forever!"

"Kyaaaaa!"

"Natsume-sama…" Touda called, sweat dropping when he saw the other Gods tackling Natsume in a tight hug.

Seiji smiles and looked at Saya.

"Saya-Hime…?" he calls her gently. She turns to him with a small smile and cocked her head aside.

"Hai, Seiji-sama?" Saya said adorably with her eyes wide and sparkling, a smile on her red lips.

Seiji held her hand in his and smiles at her.

"Follow me," he said to her, who looked instantly confused with his sudden actions.

Seiji brought them to a place where there is no one else. They were under the Sakura tree, and it is raining Sakura petals everywhere with the light wind causing the petals to fall from the tree. The scenery is beautiful, and Saya, as per usual, is very in awe with nature itself.

"It's so beautiful…" Saya said, smiling up at Seiji.

Seiji stopped walking, and so does Saya.

"I wish to tell you something…" Seiji said to her, watching her smile up at him with that sweet smile he had grown to love.

"Hmm? What is it?" she asks him, again cocking her head to the side.

And he just can't hold it back anymore.

Holding one side of her cheek, he leans in to kiss her on the lips. The act of cocking her head aside is just too adorable for him to take, coming from Saya herself. Surprised, Saya leans back a little, and Seiji leans forward, not wanting the kiss to break so soon and instead pulls her back with his hand that now holds onto the back of her head while the other hand wrapped around her waist possessively. Getting over the initial surprise kiss, Saya slowly closes her eyes and immerse herself in the kiss bestowed upon by Seiji himself.

They kiss passionately underneath the shower of Sakura flowers. By right, it is Saya's first kiss with a man, and it is Seiji's first time to ever kiss with Saya. Usually it is only on the back of the hand or on the cheek, or on her lovely temples. But now, he just couldn't hold it back. He has to at least kiss her or he'll go insane with want and desires.

Saya moans adorably into his mouth when he slipped his tongue into her mouth, and he groans and holds her tighter against him when he felt her small hand fisting his clothes in front of his chest, earning him another moan and squeak. He loves it when she made those noises, especially when he is the one that illicit such noise from her. He inhales deeply, breathing in her unique scent of incense and lily flower that is so sweet he could practically taste it in his mouth. He loves the feel of her in his arms, and more so when she would shyly place her small hand on his cheek and his neck, leaving butterfly touches here and there that drives him mad with want.

And before he could lose himself, he stopped.

Panting deeply, Seiji places his forehead with hers, and closes his eyes in bliss. Finally, he thought to himself. Finally, I've kissed her.

"Seiji…" she calls him in a whisper, her voice lost over the passionate kiss.

"Shh…" he said to her, reassuring her by pulling her into his warm embrace. Saya nuzzles her face against his neck, loving the warmth here at the crook of his neck and the scent that belongs solely to him. "I want to tell you something, but things got out of hand and… and I am sorry if-"

"Sorry for what…?" she asks him in a small voice.

Seiji was silent for a while. He caresses her long hair and kisses the end of her braid. "I am sorry if this is not what you want, and I am sorry – if I may so boldly presume – that this is your first kiss and that you had initially wanted someone else to share this with-"

"Seiji," Saya stopped him from talking, placing one hand on his chest and that immediately and effectively silenced him. "I know I've never told you this… but… but…"

She hesitated shyly. Seiji pulls her off his embrace gently and cupped both of her cheeks with his hand.

"But what…?" Seiji said gently, not wanting to scare her off.

"But… but…" she hesitated, her eyes darting nervously as her face reddens up in an alarming degree.

And Seiji almost smile.

Will she say what I thought she would say…? He thought to himself with a smile.

"But… I… I've… always… like you… Seiji-kun…" she said in a small voice, the volume of her voice becomes almost nonexistent and trailes off, leaving Seiji to smile wider and leans in further to hear her better.

"What is it?" he said to her, smiling teasingly. He knew what she had said, but he wanted to hear it once again to confirm what he had heard is right.

Saya blushes adorably right under his gaze, and her eyes darted everywhere but into his eyes. He forces her to look into his eyes by pulling her chin up and smiles at her gently.

"Saya-hime," he calls her name gently. "I love you, and I wish to be with you from now on…"

Saya blinked rapidly, swallowing hard and blushes even harder with him staring at her at such a close distance.

"I-I… w-was t-t-t-trying to s-s-say…" she stuttered horribly, her blush now escalated towards her ears, while Seiji smiles grew wider, enjoying her reaction far to much to spare her the shame and continues to tease her of her shyness.

"Say…?" Seiji said in a singsong tune, leaning in further as they shared one breath together, prompting Saya to blink rapidly and stare into Seiji's dark eyes. "Say what, Saya koi?"

"K-k-k-k-k-koi!?" Saya stuttered, surprised with the pet name he had given her so soon into their now improving relationship.

"Yes, Koi," he said to her, confirming to her that what she had heard is not wrong. "I love you, and so, I shall call you Koi. Saya koi, what do you wanna say to me, hmm?"

Saya bit her lips nervously. It was a situation where she couldn't escape at all, and even if she could, she wouldn't want to escape seeing as this is an opportunity for her where she could tell him what she feels about him as well.

And now that he had told her what he feels about her, then this time, it is her turn…

Oh dear, she thought to herself nervously.

Closing her eyes tightly, she half-screamed, half exclaimed in a speed of speech so fast that no one who had not anticipated this would have understood any of her words.

"ILIKEYOUTOO!" she exclaims with her eyes shut tight, not wanting to see Seiji's eyes staring into her own as she, too, confesses to the Onmyouji of the Matoba clan, despite her feeling embarrassed with displaying her love for him for the first time ever verbally.

Seiji blinks his eyes at her and smiles widely. Chuckling silently at first, he started to laugh out loud after a few moments, which prompts Saya to open her eyes and look at him.

It is rare to see Matoba Seiji of the Matoba Onmyouji clan laughing so freely. And to see him laughing like this made her smile, and it made her day complete as well.

"You are so adorable," Seiji said to her and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in and kissing the top of her head. "Oh, you're so adorable, Saya koi. So adorable! And you are mine!"

He picks her up from the ground and swings her around, hearing her squeak in protest of him swinging her around. Seiji laughs happily with her in his arms and only stops to place her back on the ground to kiss her again on her soft lips. This time, she responded back to him as fervent as the kiss and passion he imbued in their kiss.

"You are the Sun in my darkest nights, Saya Koi," Seiji said to her after breaking off their kiss, leaning his head against hers and closes his eyes to enjoy the feel of her in his arms. She smiles and whispers back to him.

"Then you shall be the Moon of my life, Seiji-kun…" she said to him in a small voice, and Seiji smiles at her.

"Usually it is the man who is described as the Sun instead of the Moon…" he said to her with a smile.

"Well," she said to him. "You do fit the description of being the cold and silent Moon far better that I would ever be. It suits you, so why ever not?"

Slipping his hand into hers, Seiji laces his fingers with hers and leads them back to the manor ground. "I suppose I shall have to make do with whatever it is that is left for me to use then, Koi. Whatever you wish for, I shall have it fulfilled to you."

Seiji watches as Saya smiles at him widely and brightly, unrestrained and without ill intents. Her smile is sincere, and for once, Seiji felt his heart almost burst with pride and happiness.

For finally finding someone who loves him for being him…

"I am so glad to have met you in my lifetime, Saya koi…" Seiji said to her with a small smile. The wind starts to ruffle his front fringes while the Sakura petals continue to fall everlastingly around them in a shower of pink flurry blossoms. He decided that to end the frustration of possibly having her fell into the hands of the other clan leaders seeing as she is almost at the age whereby she is matured enough to be married off to the other families, he would go with his instincts and asks her one final question, and with her staring at him with her clear eyes and a small smile on her lips, Seiji lifts his hand up and ran the back of his fingers from her temple to her chin, and gently caresses her smooth cheek.

"I shall have no more regrets if I can have you as my bride… if you would give me the honor of having you as my bride-to-be…?"