Purple - Yata Misaki Love Story

Part 80

~Long special~

-

"Hey, Misaki-kun?" I asked, swirling around in the stool I was sitting on, Chitose moving to put something away behind the counter - surprisingly the one in charge when Kusanagi went out.
"Yeah?" The male replied, standing up from switching out the old wheels of his skate board for new ones.
"Remember that day, when I used that pick up line on you - what was it again?"
He snorted, "You said 'hey, you're red and I'm blue, wanna make purple?'"
I laughed, Chitose snickering as well, "You really said that, Yuri?"
"I told you I made a good pick up line once! It was perfect too, since I was working with the blues."
"What a Romeo and Juliet scenario." He mused, cleaning a glass, "Never would have imagined that with someone like Misaki."
"You need to get yourself a real girlfriend, Chitose!" Misaki snapped back, making the male frown in annoyance.
The doors bell wrung and in came Kusanagi with Rikio, and Anna close behind. After that year we spent alone, even though Kusanagi usually stuck close to Anna - I think Rikio was the one Anna felt most comfortable with now ever since Mikoto. She followed him around everywhere.
Now, the girl was thirteen and I had to be the one to give her 'the talk' just a few months ago, cause no one knew what to do when the poor thing came running up to Izumo in tears saying she peed blood.
"Welcome back guys!" Misaki called out happily, standing to help them carry some of the grocery bags to the back.
Anna came up and sat beside me, fixing her Lolita dress slightly before starting to tell me about the trip. She had also become a lot more vocal, which is something everyone was really happy about, continuously encouraging her to tell us all about her days and her trips - we even managed to get her enrolled into the school on the island with Seri's help.
By this point, everyone knew Kusanagi and Seri were together, even if they refused to announce it.

-

Rei was almost nine years old, an average student in school with a passion for music. Misaki and I banded together with the money I got from my job at the dojo and his from odd jobs and bought him a guitar, to which he sat in his room and struggled to learn. Luckily, some of the guys from sceptre 4 knew how to play, so they helped him as well. He tried singing too, and even though his voice was pretty premature, we knew right away he had a beautiful voice.
Everything flowed easy now that there wasn't any clan wars to worry about, and I slowly stopped worrying constantly about Rei's safety when he went outside on his own. Misaki was still trying to teach him how to ride the skateboard, but even though he knew how to balance and do a simple trick, he was still more interested in guitar.
I tried to teach him martial arts like Jessie taught me, and he was enrolled in my classes, but he still just preferred his music. I suppose there was nothing we could really do about it, his passion was his choice after all.

We were sitting in the bar relaxing on a holiday, myself scrolling through my phone and Misaki sleeping on my shoulder. Akegi worked to clean the bar while Izumo was out, talking to Fujishima, who was now a father of two - well, three of you included Erik. I hummed, bored, until I swiped past a photo I forgot I had.
My eyes widened slightly and I sat up, forgetting about Misaki who fell and cried out as he woke himself up, "What the heck...?"
"Misaki, look! I know we have it hung up in the bar, but I forgot we had it." I turned my phone towards him, and the sleepy man narrowed his eyes as he took in the photo.
"Oh yeah, that was a long time ago, our group picture."
"We should do another." I suggested, standing up, "Hey, Rikio, when did Izumo say he was coming back?" I asked.
"He should be here any minute, why?"
I smiled, moving from the couch and grabbing on to the camera placed on an old shelf, it was something Izumo bought a while back saying we had to capture our memories like Tatara used to, though his camera remained untouched since the day he died.
"Lets take a group picture, a new one."
"Huh? Like the one we took with Tatara and Mikoto? Were you there for that?" Dewa asked.
"Of course I was! The pictures hanging up right over there you know!"
He blinked, and Erik ran over to take a look, "She looks like a little kid. How cute!" He laughed and I groaned, rolling my eyes.
The doors bells wrung as Izumo stepped in, "What's going on in here?"

Anna sat carefully and still on a stool in the middle, and everyone gathered around her. Izumo took his place behind the bar, and Misaki tugged me close to him right beside Anna, Rikio across from us.
"Ready?" Chitose called, setting the camera's timer, he ran up and got behind Erik and Dewa, throwing his arms around them, "Smile everyone~!" He sang.
The camera flashed, and when it was done the group crowded Chitose as he tried to look at the picture, "I dunno, my hair-"
"Shut up, Chitose." Bando sighed heavily, grabbing the camera and looking for himself, "You're hair looks fine!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
I rolled my eyes, ignoring Chitose as he complained like a child even though he was one of the oldest of all of us, and grabbed the camera to see for myself. Misaki draped an arm around my shoulder and leaned forward to look as well.
I smiled lightly, "It looks perfect." I mumbled, Misaki humming in agreement. 

Izumo went right back out to get the picture printed. We hung it up in the bar and he gave Misaki and I the extra one that he got to frame and put up in our apartment. As he pinned the picture to the board, everyone took just a moment of silence, before yelling out and asking Akegi to get them some drinks for some kind of celebration.
I stayed by the board, gazing at the old picture, Tatara's smile was gentle and kind, and even though it was just a picture it was still reassuring some how. I knew if he could have come back here for just a second, he'd tell me we'd all be just fine.
"What was it he always used to say?" I asked, ignoring Misaki's yawn as he stood waiting for me so we could join the others together, "Don't sweat it, everything will work out in the end... I guess it really did, huh?"
"What was that, Yuri?" Misaki asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Everything worked out, Misaki-kun. And even though sometimes it still hurts, it's not as painful as it was. I'm not sad anymore, and I'm really, really happy to be here with all of you!"
He blushed as I kissed him, and he stuttered over his next couple of words before swallowing hard and regaining himself as I smirked,
"Y-Yeah, me too. I guess now we know that no matter what happens, we don't have to sweat it!"

-

~ Thank you all for reading, even though I stopped this book for a long ass time and didn't bother to update until recently. Now that I think of it, I may have stopped writing simply because I didn't want it to end. I don't think I have one published book that I have even considered listing as completed yet.
Out of every anime character, Misaki is the one I've loved the most. And I mean... it's probably unhealthy how much I love this guy. I have a hard time ending things, because I have a hard time with the whole 'growing up' thing, but that's something I'm learning to accept as I grow up myself.
In every show, and especially every anime, there is a lesson to be learned - even if it's just one line one character says in the middle of the series at the most insignificant moment ever - these lessons are very important. In Haikyuu, it's that no matter what, you can still spread your wings and take flight. In My Hero Academia, it's that anyone can be a hero. And in K Project, it's that everything will work out in the end, so don't sweat it.
Don't sweat it, everyone. ~