Chapter 18 - Kiseki - To End up with my Princess

I woke up feeling as if I was forgetting something. Hmm, what was it? I put on my robe, dragging myself down to breakfast. Miki was in her usual attire this time, not like the ballroom gown that I had her wear last night. She was already immersed in her breakfast, munching on a particularly golden looking hash brown. Cute, I thought to myself, getting started on my own breakfast. It was only when I was halfway done did I realize what it was.

My head snapped up and I pointed at Miki.

"We're going out, now!" I exclaimed.

She almost dropped her knife. "D-don't just shout embarrassing things in the morning!" She looked mortified that I had shouted it. She looked to her left and right swiftly, probably hoping no one heard me. Too bad for her – some of the maids were standing by the doors, mouths covered and giggling.

Happiness bubbled up in me as it really sunk in. "I forgot about it until just now."

Miki narrowed her eyes, ignoring the others in the room. "How do you even forget about something like that?"

"Hmm. Maybe it was just so good that my brain didn't register it as reality," I mused.

She coloured slightly. "Again with the embarrassing things..." She set down her cutlery, finished. "Anyway, what do you want to do today? We're leaving this afternoon, right? I've already packed my bags."

Heh. I remembered that. "We're going to the beach!"

xxxxx

The Sun shone in celebration of my return to the smooth white sands of Sapphire Bay. The sea was calm, the waves moving up and back down the gentle slope. Different people were dotted around the beach, so it wasn't empty yet it wasn't too crowded.

That was at the main strip of the beach, though. I was standing in front of our private villa, Miki shifting awkwardly.

"I didn't bring a swimming suit," she said. It seemed like she didn't want to swim.

"It's okay. We have many swimming suits in the changing room, for guests and such. Choose whichever you want." I added as if it just occurred to me, "oh right, you'll have to take off your hat if you don't want it ruined."

I grinned at her while she stuck her tongue out at me. "You did this on purpose."

"No clue what you mean," I almost sang.

"Fine, I guess I have no choice." She stomped down to the changing room and I went to my own room to change.

Success! I was finally going to see a hatless Miki. Hehe.

I waited for her in the front, wearing a pair of simple swimming trunks, ones that were a dark blue transitioning to purple. These were my favourite pair and I made sure to bring them back here for the trip.

I heard footsteps - Miki was approaching. I whipped around, feeling a kind of excitement. Hatless Miki was -

- wearing a blue swimming cap.

"You're kidding me!" I said in despair.

"Don't think you'll get everything you want, Prince!" She crossed her arm, posture triumphant. The grin on her face was one that matched her pose.

Damn, she really had gotten the upper hand on me...

I blinked and started looking at her properly. She wasn't wearing a bikini and I expected as much (Miki didn't seem to like wearing those kinds of clothes) but she had on a swimming top that was sleeveless, tied up around her neck. It was her signature light blue. She had swimming shorts that were a darker blue that came down about a quarter way down her thighs. She has pretty long legs...

"S-stop that!" She squealed all of a sudden, stepping back.

"Stop what?"

"Staring at me...like that." Read: 'Stop checking me out'.

Whoops. Guess I was doing that. "Fine, fine. You have the privilege of seeing me without a shirt on, so we should be even."

She blushed.

Huh? Wait, was she staring at me, too?

Now I was starting to feel a bit self-conscious. It wasn't like I was really buff or anything. I wasn't too scrawny, was I?

Shooing away such thoughts, I grabbed the inflated red beach ball that I brought down. "Anyway, let's go swim!"

I charged down the beach, sand shifting where I stepped, and jumped into the sea, making a big splash in the process. The water was just the right temperature - pleasantly cooling on this warm day.

Miki joined me soon after, slowly lowering herself down into the water, to accommodate herself to the temperature.

We played a bit, passing each other the ball. I think the atmosphere between us improved a lot after last night, no tension to worry about. Tiring ourselves out, we were content with just floating for a bit.

"It doesn't feel like we're going out," Miki said in a thoughtful tone, while she was floating on her back.

I, on the other hand, stood straight up. "What do you mean?" Was I doing something wrong?

"I mean that...wouldn't we be doing this even if we weren't going out?"

She had a point...

"Yes, but doesn't that make us an even better couple? You know, like we don't have to force anything," I said.

She laughed. "Makes sense. I just thought I'd be a bit more nervous after getting a boyfriend."

Oh! I thought of something good.

Sneaking up behind her, making sure I didn't splash loudly I lowered my head so that it was right by her ear. "Miki."

She eep-ed and tried to get back on her feet. As she did that, I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her against me.

"W-whaa-"

"Got you."

She tensed in my arms.

"Am I making you nervous now?" I whispered against her ear.

"You..." She struggled with her words. "You're just trying to act all smooth."

"I am making you nervous, aren't I?" I said, ignoring her accusation.

"Not. At. All." She said this through gritted teeth.

She's so stubborn. I presses a light kiss against her cheek. "We're all alone, you know."

She suddenly managed to loosen my grip, enough to turn around, raising her hands to press against my chest. "I know."

She was trying to turn the tables on me. As if I'd fall for that.

I was smooth.

Completely smooth.

Absolutely smooth.

"Your face is as red as a tomato," she said, with a smirk.

Argh!

I let go of her, covering my face. "It is not!"

"Is too!"

"Yours is too!"

"Yes, but yours is redder!"

Damn...I went underwater, trying to dispel the heat in my face. After a few seconds I popped back up to see Miki smiling at me.

"It doesn't suit you to act like that," she commented. "Sneak attacks like that are too weird coming from you."

"Hmph..."

"You're better off being straight forward."

I huffed. "Well, you apparently want to be nervous and I wanted to please you – because I like you - so I did something weird like that." My pride...

I was surprised to see her blush again.

"What?"

"That's more like you."

Huh?

I didn't really get it but Miki seemed to be happier and that made it fine with me.

xxxxx

When we arrived home, Ran, Su and Daiya had their heads sticking out from around the door. The car journey back from the airport hadn't been too long, but it was Sunday evening by the time we has got back.

They had their eyes glued to us and saw that we were holding hands.

Ran cheered. "You did it Kiseki!"

"Well done-desu!"

"This is wonderful news," said Daiya.

Miki rolled her eyes. "Hey, hey, stop being so excitable all the time."

Ran helped us bring in the bags, though she threw a passing wink at the two of us. "Why? Aren't you happy, you love-birds?"

I smirked as Miki blushed. "S-shut up! Don't call is that! It's so lame."

"I think it's very sweet," said Suu with a gentle encouraging smile.

"Guyyys!" Miki was obviously embarrassed by all the interest.

Mrs. Mayoke then appeared once we entered the living room. "Miki!"

Miki dashed over to give her mum a hug.

Her mother then looked up at me. "I'm going to guess everything went fine."

"Yes," I said and bowed slight. "Your daughter will be in my care from now on."

"W-wait! Are you telling me that you were supporting Kiseki, Mum?"

With a giggle that only married mothers would make, she replied, "Why of course. Your dad and I were the ones that gave permission for you to go with Kiseki, after all."

"Whaat?" Miki seemed like the only one surprised, while her sisters looked indifferent to the news. "Even Dad?"

"Hmm, well he was a bit worried," she said with a pondering expression, "but your dad trusts Kiseki, so he eventually accepted the idea."

She then turned to Kiseki and gave him an appraising look. "That also means to say, no inappropriate behaviour under my house, understand?"

Miki let out an indignant squeak of, "why would you even say that?"

Meanwhile, I laughed at her reaction. "Of course, Mrs. Mayoke. I promise under my honour as the Prince of Platinum."

xxxxxx

"Congratulations!"

The whole class cheered the next day when we stepped into the classroom.

"Whatt-!?" Miki cried, shocked at everyone. "What's going on?"

I had thought she would react like that.

Yoru raised his hand. "See, I just had to tell everyone, since everyone was eager to see you get together."

"When did you tell Yoru?" Miki asked me.

"Oh, never mind." I texted Yoru and Daichi about an hour after we finished dancing. "Isn't it great, huh?"

"No!" She said. "I don't want this to be a big deal."

"But it is a big deal. I like you and I want people to know that you like me too." Couples in royalty were never secret, after all.

"Woohoo! Way to go Satoji!"

"Even though it's not us, we're cheering you on Miki-chan."

"Hehe, I won the bet so you owe me 100 yen."

"H-huh?" Miki was astounded by everyone's reaction. Her eyes scanned over the classroom as if she had never seen anyone there before in her life.

"Didn't you know, Miki? You and I are were quite a popular 'potential couple' after you rejected me."

"I never heard this!"

"That's cause I was the one they were rooting for."

Yes, the rejection of mine had been common knowledge and my advances on Miki weren't hidden, so I learnt to accept it as a prince. Instead of putting me down, my classmates seemed to like the idea of Miki and I going out. It was something I came to appreciate – I was glad to find out that I wouldn't have any rivals for Miki's affections.

I waved at them. "Thanks for the support!"

Another cheer went off in the room and though she was frowning at first, Miki's face slowly broke into a smile.

"You really are something, Kiseki."

"I am a Prince."

"You're my Prince," she said quietly. It didn't sound foreign coming from her. As if maybe she had thought of me that way before saying it this time.

Nope, I couldn't help myself. I took her into my arms and kissed her.

"KYAAA!"

"WOAAHHH!"

"Mmph - Kiseki!"

xxxxx

At lunch, our friends didn't waste any time shooting Miki with questions. The girls wanted every detail out of her and she reluctantly told them, whispering in a low voice so that us boys couldn't hear.

The guys didn't pester me because that would not be cool. They did, however, nod at me with proud looks that said 'well done'.

The girls continued to chatter while I turned to the members of Operation Mayoke. Daichi and Yoru both grinned at me when I did.

"Thanks, guys. Without your help I would have never gotten that date with Miki," I said, actually feeling very sincere.

Daichi shrugged. "What kind of right hand man would I be if I couldn't aid our dear Kiseki in something like this?"

"Don't push it," I said, though not in a serious way. "Remember who got you a girlfriend."

He put his hands up in defence. "I've got it, I've got it." He didn't want to be ungrateful after all.

Yoru said his piece, too. "Yeah, but don't forget about me." He cocked his head towards the blond in question.

I shrugged. "I think at this point, the more dignified thing to do would be to give up."

"What?!"

Daichi played along. "Yeah, I mean she's got a whole fanclub, you know. If she doesn't get the message that they all like her, how are you going to do that?"

"I can! And I will!" Caught up in our words, Yoru stood up and pointed at Suu. "Hey, Suu-chan!"

The girl looked away from her friends, looking at Yoru instead.

"Will you go out with me?"

The table went silent.

"...Go out where?"

You could practically hear the silent groans that everyone else on the table made at that moment. Suu just looked around innocently, looking bemused.

My pity laid with Yoru.

He sat back down, looking as if the soul had been sucked out of him. "This really is hopeless."

"Hey," I said. "She's probably just a late bloomer. You shouldn't really give up. When you give up, that's when it's really hopeless." I looked at Miki, thinking about how I had practically chased after her, kind of like a fool – a happy fool. "I should know."

Yoru followed my gaze and then smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We've got a few more years together anyway, I'm sure I can make something happen by then."

"That's the spirit," said Daichi.

The three of us high fived.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Miki shake her head and then smile at the sight of the three of us.

xxxxx

It was three weekends after that when Miki's parents had gone away again with her sisters. When they said they were going to, it brought my thoughts back to the previous time they had done that. It was the day just I kissed Miki for the first time, albeit without her knowledge.

I was touched that her parents trusted me so much, though I think if they ever found out that I had kissed her that day, they might have been thinking along different lines right about now.

I think Miki had been getting used to dating me. During school, she had been reluctant at first to hold hands with me or anything during school-time. We already walked back together, something that she had alerted to me that she only just realised was usually a turning point in shoujo manga, whereas with us it had always been something natural. Like Miki said, I am special.

In the last two weeks, though, she was the one who took my hand on the way back home.

I was filled to the brim with happiness that she would actually do that.

It just showed what a long way we had come.

Aand I'm thinking about Miki again. Just when I was supposed to do some maths homework. Well, I couldn't do anything about that. Tiptoeing out of the room I figured I would go check up on what Miki was doing. If we did our homework together, like last time, maybe I could actually concentrate.

I opened the door slowly and it turned out that Miki had not been doing her homework either.

She was painting.

Now, Miki's paintings were usually beautiful and unique – it was a given that any art Miki did was amazing. However this one took my breath away.

It was a painting of two people, with golden crowns on their heads. One was a prince – an older version of me. The other person was an older Miki and most importantly, she was wearing a wedding dress.

"Wow, I exhaled."

She almost jumped, but relaxed when she saw it was me. "I thought I told you to knock."

"Sorry," I apologised immediately, which seemed to satisfy her.

I walked over to sit on her bed, and she didn't scold me for it unlike last time. "Is that…us?"

"Y-yeah." She tried to seem unfazed by my stare but she clearly felt some embarrassment over being caught drawing us as if we were getting married.

I didn't see any reason to be embarrassed though. "It would be wonderful if that could happen in the future."

"K-kiseki! We're still going to school, you know! Thinking about marriage is – is –"

"I know, that's why I said in the future."

"In the future, huh?" said Miki, looking at her own painting. "You know, when we first talked, I didn't really think 'we' would have any sort of future. It's kind of crazy how you ended up living with me. I didn't expect that you were a prince or that…I'd end up liking you." Hearing that still made my heart skip.

"Me neither," I admitted. "I just thought you were a commoner."

"You still think of lots of people as commoners."

"Not true!" I protested. Well…"Not everyone."

Miki giggled and I smiled too.

"Hey," I said, realising something, "in the painting, you aren't wearing your hat. Guess I'll get to see the real thing in the future too."

There was a short silence before she raised her hands up towards her head. She's not…?

She took of her hat.

She looked at me wide-eyed, waiting for my response.

My heart could not take it anymore.

I grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. She let out a surprised gasp, as I ran my fingers through her blue locks. This was special – no one else could see Miki like this.

"You're so adorable."

I squeezed her tighter.

"I should have seen this coming," she said, flustered. "Can you please let me go?"

"I refuse."

She sighed. "You're a royal pain, you know?"

"But you still love me anyway," I pointed out.

"Hm." Miki didn't reply, but she smiled into my shoulder.

And we stayed like that for a long time, all the while with me imagining that we were in the time that Miki had painted in her picture.

A time where Miki was finally my princess.

A/N: Tadaa! Wow. This took me ages to update but it's finally finished! I couldn't think of the perfect way to end this, and I didn't want to just give you guys some rubbish, so I had to think long and hard about it, to make it consistent with my other chapters. I'm satisfied with the ending I gave you all, and I hope you liked it too.

Thank you everyone for reading this and following this story and putting it on your favourites. Thanks for reviewing this work - your feedback kept me pushing on.

I love each and every one of you - thank you again so much!

- Dina (18/1/2014)