Head Hits and Personality Shifts - Eisuke Ichinomiya
Disclaimer: MC’s name is Zela. Her profession changes depending on the bidder. This part is about Eisuke only. The others are a work in progress, lol.
She had been humming Ed Sheeran’s ‘Perfect’, a song she had recently found an obsession in, when it happened. Once again justifying her clumsy personality, she had tripped on the ladder while cleaning the windows, landing on the ground. Her head had hit the nearby wall in the process, making her vision blurry for a moment. Although the fall hadn’t been that bad, the meeting of head and the wall sure was, making her lose her consciousness for a moment or two.
As if on cue, Eisuke had entered the lounge, his tablet in hand. With his attention completely on the documents Soryu had sent regarding the upcoming auctions, he had failed to notice his unconscious girlfriend until he heard her groan. Immediately setting his tablet aside and rushing to her, Eisuke’s attempts to help her up were met my her shifting away from him as if she had been struck by lightning. He could only look on in confusion, wondering why his girlfriend, who loved being close to him, flinched and moved away when he touched her.
“Hey, don't touch me. I bloody hate it when people touch me. I don't like all that unnecessary physical contact.”
Her words had done nothing to ease his confusion, instead with his eyebrows still knit together with worry, he had wondered if Zela had lost her memories, giving rise to the fear of losing her somehow.
“Oh, and by the way, where are we going this evening? I’ll pick out an outfit on the basis of the place we’re having our date at.”
Eisuke had let out a sigh he didn’t know he had been holding in, relieved. She seemed to have her memories intact, considering she remembered being his girlfriend and their date today. His mind then focused on the next thing which concerned him: Why had Zela run away from him like that? And what was about her hating people touching her?
Not wasting anymore time than he already did, Eisuke had immediately called up Luke to come and tell him what was wrong.
“Hitting her head might’ve fiddled with her nerves and brain, resulting a change of behavior. No need to worry though, there isn’t any serious damage to her brain, so she should be back to her normal self soon," Luke had said. How soon though, was something Eisuke could only wonder.
Shaking his head to get rid of the negative thoughts, he stepped forward to pick up his car keys, turning around at the sound of his girlfriend's voice calling out to him.
"Eisuke? Are we ready to leave?" Zela asked, looking down to smooth out the barely-there wrinkles on the trousers, missing the look of utter bewilderment spread across her boyfriend's face.
Zela, who usually preferred wearing bright and pastel colours, skirts and dresses, now stood in front of him wearing a black shirt paired with maroon trousers, a jacket of similar colour completing her look. His sweet, adorable and cute-sy girlfriend now looked like a person who had it all together, someone who you wouldn't want to mess with. Something like his Zela's alter ego, of sorts. If he was being completely honest, he had been unnerved by this personality switch in his girlfriend, even though he couldn't deny he found this version of her appealing too.
Nodding his head, he took her hand in his, walking towards the elevators. Once they reached the entrance of the majestic hotel he called his, Eisuke could only look on in amusement as Zela's eyes widened slightly, shocked at the realisation that it was Eisuke who was going to drive them to their destination, not some mere driver.
Sitting in the passenger seat, her attention was mostly on the world outside the car window, with bothered Eisuke a little, for he wanted her attention to be focused on him, not the scenery. Smirking at the idea that popped in his head, one which he was sure would make Zela blush like she mostly did, he stopped the car at the next traffic signal. Turning his head to see Zela’s attention still on the view of what lay beyond the window, Eisuke tugged on her hand - hard - pulling her into his embrace and kissing the daylights out of her. And of course, he was rewarded well with that rosy blush he had been aching to see.
After that, the journey had been peaceful, at least for Zela, with no surprise kisses. Soon, they reached their destination - the beach. But this time, they were not here to go splashing in the water. ‘Its so overrated,’ Zela had retorted, instead suggesting a new way to enjoy the beauties of the place. So here they were today, not in their swimwear but some casual clothes, not running around in the water but sitting in the sand, not kissing amidst the waves but holding hands, not enjoying just each other but also the view. This wasn’t so bad, Eisuke thought, even though Zela hadn’t been very welcoming of the idea of sitting on his lap, her discomfort with physical contacts still bothering him.
Sitting there on the beach, enjoying the calm, silent embrace of the ocean, while their fingers were interlaced and sitting in the sand between them gave him different but deep sense of intimacy and security, although Eisuke would never admit that out loud. Minutes became hours in the blink of the eye, and by the time they got up after watching the sunset, both felt a bit more connected to other, in some unexplained way.
Not wanting to waste the rest of the night away, Zela had suggested to drive them both to another place. Overcoming the initial hurdle of Eisuke’s playfully sexual remarks, she drove them to a place she had never told him about. A place, which ranked high in her list of favourite places.
Eisuke had no idea where his girlfriend was driving them, and he only got more confused when she stopped at a store to buy two blankets. Although he was quiet the entire ride, he couldn’t deny the curiosity that had been picking at his mind.
His unspoken questions were answered soon, though, when Zela finally stopped the car and asked him to come out. The only way one could describe Eisuke’s reaction would be to say he was beyond amazed, he was... bewildered. The dark night sky was covered in beautiful stars, the quiet around the area somehow making them seem even brighter.
While he was focused on the starts, he once again failed to notice Zela trip over a stone, her head meeting the roof of the car with a bang. Running over to her side to ensure she was okay, he was about to touch her when his hands stopped mid-air, as if remembering how she had flinched away from him. Before he could completely retract his hands, Zela spoke up, apparently having recovered quickly.
“Ouch. That hurt,” she said, and the way she rubbed the spot on her head with her poker face replaced with an adorable expression of being in pain was all it took for Eisuke to realise his girlfriend was back to normal. After making sure her head was okay and asking her a few questions about their day, Eisuke was relieved at the realisation that Zela still remembered their date, and all that had happened that day. After giving her a quick summary of what personality switch had happened, embracing her tightly to ensure she was back to normal, and exchanging a few tender kisses, they decided to enjoy the place and the calm - the reason for which they had come all this way.
Eisuke walked over and sat down beside Zela on the edge of the cliff, their feet dangling above the valley. Their hands remained interlinked, the only difference this time being that instead of sitting a little away from Eisuke, his girlfriend was cuddled up to him.
And as much as Eisuke enjoyed the other personality and the different sense of intimacy on the beach, he couldn’t deny that having Zela’s warmth close to him was what gave him a sense of belonging, a sense of coming home.
