ARCHIVED.

       she gave a small sound of surprise at his hand upon her arm, eyes darting down & then back up again as he pulled her closer //  understanding flickered across her face  &  a smile bloomed, warming her already rosy features.  “ no, don’t apologise! ” sachiko insisted, even though she had done the very same thing moments previous.  “ thank you, i — aha, well, we seem to be tripping over each other, don’t we? ”

       it wasn’t how the movies depicted it. it was dramatic, certainly, but not in the same way as a clean cut directors vision //  no actors  &  actresses with perfect clothes  &  make-up  ( was she even wearing any? the thought struck her with a tinge of horror, lord, what must she look like? but she willed herself not to care despite it all ). no, this was so far from hollywood adaptations of meeting your soulmate.

       then, why couldn’t she stop smiling?

       slender hands cupped her burning cheeks, looking up at him with a euphoric disbelief. it happened, it actually happened —- she met him, the one meant for her. the one she was meant for, too. & he was drop-dead gorgeous! ( something she still hadn’t wrapped her head around fully, there were so many pretty parts of him  //  suddenly she felt very bad for her friend, anne-marie, whose soulmate had been a 56-year old man ).

       “ y – your hair! your hair is so – wow! w – well, i mean, wow doesn’t really do it justice, i — ” yet, despite all that, she still didn’t know what to say. nothing from the movies or books she could remember seemed to fit, their descriptions of how this felt nothing but subpar // her entire world changed in an instant  & he was the one to usher in that change. nothing could possibly compare ( & that’s why she couldn’t stop smiling, it didn’t matter that their meeting had been clumsy & imperfect, that they met at all was a miracle ).

       she shook her head, at herself, at him, at them  –  grown adults  &  yet here they were stumbling over their words. the girl couldn’t contain her amusement. as if a dam within her broke, laughter  ( & more snorts than she would have liked )  flooded the air around them  //  &  with it, the tension within her dissipated. at least, for the most part.

       “ oh, oh this is so silly! why can’t we string a sentence together between us?! ” her voice was bubbling with laughter,  & she must’ve looked quite insane to passersby but her whole attention was consumed by him. she couldn’t have cared about anyone else if she tried.  “ are you – free? can we go  &  talk? i… Well, I want to get to know you, if you don’t mind. ” & just getting his phone number would not sate the burning need to understand this person in front of her, at least a little. no, sachiko required some form of immediate gratification.

        “ there’s — ”  she tore her gaze away from him to scan the area, “ a bench, over there! wanna sit  & … Talk? ”  a finger pointed the way. her energy eager  &  electric now that the shock had begun to wear off.  “ please? ”

       ❛  no  ...  no  problem.  ❜  voice  was  hushed,  eyes  wildly  taking  in  the  other.  when  she  acknowledged  their  joint  stammering,  his  lips  couldn’t  help  but  lift  heavenward.  he  had  planned  to  studiously  ignore  their  less - than - perfect  meeting,  act  as  if  it  were  run  of  the  mill.  but  the  tight  feeling  in  his  chest  eased  upon  hearing  the  huff  of  laughter  that  left  her.

       he  blinked  rapidly  when  she  echoed  his  clumsy  compliment.  ❛  my  hair ?  ❜  brows  furrowed  for  a  moment,  before  a  hand  came  up  to  pinch  a  lock  and  bring  it  into  his  vision.  and,  oh,  now  he  understood  what  she  meant.  his  hair  was  ...  a  colour.  he’d  wondered,  sometimes,  what  it  was           had  asked  his  parents,  who’d  said  RED,  but  couldn’t  explain  it  with  words.  now  he  knew,  because  he  could  see  in  colour !  because  he  had  met  his  soulmate !  he  always  came  back  to  this  one  revelation.

       mikoto  could  only  repeat  what  she’d  said  moments  prior,  ❛  w - wow.  ❜  gaze  turned  back  to  her,  and  a  small,  hesitant  smile  played  upon  his  mouth.  ❛  though  i  ...    think  yours  is  nicer.  i  wish  i  knew  what  colour  it  was.  ❜

       silence  descended  upon  them,  and  he  struggled  to  come  up  with  something  compelling  to  say.  before  he  could  further  make  a  fool  of  himself,  however,  his  soulmate ( ! )  erupted  into  laughter.  for  a  moment,  chest  constricted,  and  he  thought  her  amusement  was  DIRECTED  AT  HIM.  (  he  was  transported  back  to  middle  school,  to  the  girl  who’d  cruelly  asked  him  out  and  then  rejected  him  in  one  fell  swoop.  god,  he  was  so  stupid,  what  did  he  think  would  happen           )  but  no,  that’s  not  it.  she  herself  says  so.

       slowly,  her  words  were  processed,  and  eventually  he  was  laughing  alongside  her.  not  uninhibited,  there  was  still  some  hesitation  within  him,  but  he  was  getting  there.  he’d  thought  this  first  impression  to  be  terrible,  and  yet  she  was  smiling  at  him.  asking  him  if  he  was  free  to  spend  time  with  her.  she  wanted  to  get  to  know  him !

       but  was  that  a  good  idea ?  it  was  going  to  be  hard  to  be  suave  in  his  current  state  ...  and  part  of  him  wanted  to  be  himself.  what  a  terrible  idea !  she  mustn't  know  how  much  of  a  loser  he  was !  while  he  might've  mellowed  out  somewhat  since  high  school,  became  less  fazed  by  what  others  thought  of  him,  this  was  his  SOULMATE !  he  hesitated,  before  finally  nodding.  ❛  y - yeah.  that  sounds  good.  ❜

       he  wanted  to  know  her  better,  too.  he  wanted  to  know  whatever  she  was  willing  to  tell  him.  and  so  he  made  his  way  to  the  bench,  past  the  onlookers,  gaze  lowered.  every  step  sent  his  heart  into  a  tizzy,  and  he  kept  looking  towards  the  other  to  ensure  she  was  still  there.  he  silently  marveled  at  her.  this  was  his  soulmate.  she  was  ...  beautiful.  actually,  really  beautiful.

       ❛   what were you expecting me to do , mikoshiba - san ?  ❜ what comment was deemed appropriate enough to fit the situation ? she didn’t expect him to linger as long as he had / the subtle faltering of his jaunty expression had spawned concern , and she inwardly debated whether or not to voice her opinion on his delivery of the line she’d recited seconds prior . dealing with his antics were like dancing on tightropes ; one wrong move  , one wrong reaction , and his sense of confidence gave way and caved in on itself . she’s dumbfounded as to what response he had been anticipating ; had he expected her to swoon and melt into a puddle at his feet ? that wouldn’t have been a honest answer ! he needed sincere critique , and perhaps she wasn’t the right person to provide it ? an outside source that wasn’t associated with him … ? maybe he would accept criticism at face value with a stranger … or maybe it would make it worse .

        ❛   perhaps my brain isn’t wired properly , and that’s why i’m immune to your pickup lines … ?  ❜ attempting to reason with him was as delicate as dismantling a ticking bomb ; and given chitanda’s candid disposition, things usually didn’t go well .

       ❛  i - i don’t know !!  ❜  came  his  flustered  reply,  muffled  behind  the  hand  he’d  raised  over  his  mouth.  he  couldn’t  bring  himself  to  look  at  her,  fully,  now  that  he  had  thoroughly  embarrassed  himself.  even  acting  as  if  she  was  at  fault  did  nothing  to  quell  it.  ❛  couldn’t  you  at  least  say  something ?  ❜  anything ?  at  least  then  he  wouldn’t  look  so  stupid  and  uncool  ...  and  yet,  while  he  was  wondering  how  he  looked  to  outsiders,  he  was  ultimately  disappointed  that  eru  appeared  so  unfazed  by  it  all.  what  he  wanted  was  ...  how  strange,  he  didn’t  even  know.  it  made  him  more  annoyed  with  the  situation.

       ‘ well if that’s all you want then, lea- ‘

   and before he could even tell the other to leave him alone ( once again ) he was caught off guardby his sudden complement. having totally forgotten what he was doing before he had turned his attention towards the other. looking down towards his note book where flowers were scribbled all over from top to bottom, and from corner to corner. ‘ mmm- ‘ nodding, he would pick up his pencil once more with graphite stained fingertips he had clearly been using to shade some flowers with.

          ‘ they would have looked better if i was painting. ‘ and with that, it seemed as if hikaru had become comfortable as he began to scribble away once more. ‘ the graphite tends to smudge a lot making the picture look messy. ‘ letting out a huff of air, he stopped for a second, only to get out a handkerchief from his pocket and wipe his hand clean. ‘ but then again, paint is just as messy. ‘

       brows  raise  as  the  other  immediately  becomes  more  forthcoming.  but  he’ll  take  it,  head  tilting  to  view  the  drawing  better.  ❛  you  paint  as  well?  i  usually  just  work  with  graphite  or  ink  ...  as  long  as  i  mind  my  hands,  the  picture  tends  to  come  out  nicely.  ❜  not  that  he  hasn’t  tried  painting,  but  fingers  are  clumsy  with  a  paintbrush;  the  flowers  always  become  lopsided  and  smudged.  not  that  he’ll  admit  this  fault  aloud.

    “ your lady? ”  she chimes back with  ( an almost incredulous )  grin  //  what an odd, but utterly delightful, choice of words. mikoto had a sort of off-beat kind of charm about him which sachiko found to be rather refreshing, his nervous energy contrasted starkly with the pretty phrases he spun.

      she was so caught up in how adorably amusing he was that she almost missed the eternal love hunter comment. almost. immediately rosy lips pulled into another smile  &  laughter threatened to bubble forth —–  “ oh? are you, mikocchi? i had no idea i was on a date with one of those! ”

      sachi loops her arm into his, giving it a playful squeeze before leading him towards the entrance of the haunted house. already eerie soundtracks could be heard playing inside // pushing the door open with her hip & propping it open with the palm of a hand – casting a final gleeful look towards him.  “ but i’m pretty sure i can handle anything you through at me, mr. hunter, in fact, you may need to be the one to keep your guard up… think you can handle me? ”  a quick cheeky wink &  she pulls him onward!

       ❛  aren't  you  my  lady,  just  for  tonight ?  ❜  her  reiteration  of  his  line  fills  him  with  more  embarrassment,  though  most  may  not  notice  it.  thankfully  she  doesn’t  press  the  issue  and  moves  on.  his  relief  doesn’t  last  long,  unfortunately,  as  she  instead  hones  in  on  something  else  he  said.  that,  coupled  her  weaving  their  arms  together,  is  enough  for  him  to  DEEPLY  REGRET  his  actions.  maybe  mikoto  should  have  changed  the  date  venue.  how's  he  going  to  survive  the  next  hours,  between  his  bumbling  mouth,  sachiko,  and  the  haunted  house ?

lack  of  words  sidestep  his  questions.  mikoto  doesn’t  need  to  know  about  seung-ho’s  other  plans.  the  girls  are  to  be  a  surprise  and  he  wouldn’t  be  a  proper  wingman  if  he  didn’t  try  to  set  his  best  friend  up  with  someone…  decent,  if  anything.

         ❝ is  that  a  yes?  what  i  have  planned  is  harmless,  i  promise. ❞

       lips  purse  in  thought,  though  they  both  know  his  stalling  is  for  naught.  no  matter  how  much  mikoto  may  drag  his  feet  and  complain,  he  tends  to  go  along  with  seung - ho’s  whims  regardless.  he  thinks  briefly  to  his  parents  when  they’d  learned  of  his  MISDEEDS,  commanding  him  to  not  hang  out  with  ‘ that  ruffian ’  anymore.  this  would  certainly  constitute  as  hanging  out.  still,  he’s  his  only  friend  (  though  kim  yoosung  appears  to  be  trying  to  disrupt  this  dynamic  ),  especially  so  when  the  others  turned  their  back  on  them.  where  would  he  be  WITHOUT  seung - ho ?

       compulsion beckons her to retreat ; to forbear from wearing the feelings she harbored so tenderly on her sleeve as she always did . smother temptation to take the prince’s face into her hands and declare with triumphant assertion the affections she’s nursed for so long . impetuous disposition lends itself to reckless decisions and courage ; tell him , tell him ! her heart sings with pressing desperation , lessen the weight encumbering your heart and tell him !!

       ❛  i would consent tenfold . ❜ she timidly proclaims to him, words falling into stammers and quivering syllables , mousy timbre betraying smothering anxiety .  ❛  you … you would accept me as your spouse , yes … ?   ❜

       her  candor  all  but  fells  him,  it  feels.  breath  escapes  from  lungs  and  fingers  twitch.  they  shake  with  the  effort  he  exerts;  he  wants  to  reach  for  her,  but  that  would  be  too  forward  of  him.  he  balls  them  into  fists  instead.  and  now  she  asks  the  same  of  him.  yet  his  throat  is  trembling,  mouth  dry.  is  this  real ?  is  this  truly  happening ?  after  years  of  pining,  of  wondering,  of  hoping  ...  this  moment  appears  surreal.

TAGGED BY: the wonderful @itaidoshin ! TAGGING: @heavenlorn, @svagefaith, @rationalclover, @puritybled, @merakiis, @villagerbee, @conseille, @lovsickening, @kindhcart, and anyone else who wants to do this !

YOU’RE THE STARGAZER ! a laid-back dreamer. you lie back, look up to the skies and dream.

  openness - conscientiousness - extraversion - agreeableness - neuroticism          62%                           3%                               4%                         31%                        98%

OUTLOOK: realist. realists like to think they see things the way they really are. but it's important to remember that everyone sees the world differently. you might tend to keep a level head, and don't excite easily, but this can leave you susceptible to bouts of gloominess. if you feel yourself moving towards a negative emotional extreme, try looking to other people for fresh perspectives.

CHARACTER: indulgent. indulgent people might have a tendency to be more concerned with their own comfort and pleasure than other people's. but they can also sometimes have problems identifying when their indulgences have become undesirable and unhealthy habits. you may fall into this category if you find it difficult to identify areas of self improvement from time to time.

SELF CONTROL: impulsive. you're usually able to keep things under control but sometimes anger can sneak up on you and take over very quickly. and when it does it feels natural to express it pretty directly. it's important to think not just about how your anger makes you feel, but how it makes other people feel too. it's also important - even if it doesn't seem so in the heat of the moment - to learn when it's best just to walk away from a situation.

COMPOSURE: direct. direct people can find it hard to resist their urges and impulses. in fact, when they really want something it's hard for them to keep their desire in check. if you find it all too easy to sacrifice your long-term goals for instant gratification, or wake up with a major headache the next morning, this might be an aspect of your life that would benefit from a bit more concentration.

TASTE: creator. your real interests lie in creative activities. you can seem like quite a private person, but you're equally comfortable pursuing your interests with a group of like-minded people or by yourself. people who share this characteristic like a challenge they can get their teeth into and really focus on without any distractions.

SOCIABILITY: master. people with this characteristic can sometimes be a bit competitive when interacting with other people. also, they value their privacy and sense of respect very highly, so can come across as quite distant and closed off figures. if you recognise this trait in yourself it’s important to think about the different ways of getting what you want from people, and giving them what they want too.

ACTION: laid back. laid back people don't worry too much about big plans and goals. they're much more likely to keep a fairly clean slate so they're able to respond to those sudden important jobs that always seem to crop up. you might sometimes lack the motivation to take charge or avoid coming up with new ideas, but you know deep down that putting in the effort will benefit you in the long run.

ATTITUDE: analytical. people with analytical attitudes are true critical thinkers and like to consider each situation on its own merits in order to avoid being influenced by sentimentality or tradition. this leaves them free to think about every angle and option before making their own judgement. if this sounds like you, be careful not to disregard the feelings of other people in pursuit of 'the truth.'

PROCESS: dreamer. dreamers get very excited by the prospect of new ideas and ways of seeing the world, but they tend to lose their way in theoretical possibilities and flights of fancy. if this sounds like you, you might be seen as a fantastic starter but not so great finisher. but, no one can fault your enthusiasm and ability to thrive in the uncertainty of the new. force yourself to be a bit more organised and you'll blow people away.