Disclaimer: …..

*Have a sore throat and cannot speak* =.="

Nanami's Boyfriend

Nanami's boyfriend had held her hand as they walked to school.

It was quite a simple thing, quite a commonplace occurrence. After all, boyfriends and girlfriends everywhere in the world held hands and hugged and kissed. And it wasn't like this was the first time Miyu ever heard of such a thing. She had watched so many couples holding hands during lunch breaks, after school, in the park, on the TV and basically all over the place.

But for some reason, she couldn't forget Nanami's smiling face as she held hands with her boyfriend…

Maybe because it was the first time the message had truly struck home?

All those other couples were just that – other couples. They had nothing to do with Miyu or her friends and they didn't hold any significance other than that of providing gossip material for the girls over lunch. Christine would always be sighing about how romantic it was and Aya would always be imagining all kinds of plotlines involving the main characters falling in love and holding hands under the full moon, under the cherry blossom trees, by the starry river, in the quiet shade of a bougainvillea…

But Nanami had never fussed over such gossip. She had never swooned over holding hands or romantic rendezvous. It was the fact that Nanami had always been the least romantically inclined of the four of them that hit Miyu with a thump when she saw her friend holding hands with her boyfriend.

Even the tomboyish Nanami had a boyfriend who held her hand as they walked to school.

"I'm home!" Miyu called out as she removed her shoes in front of the Saionji house.

There was no response and Miyu looked around curiously, before spotting a paper tacked to the fridge with Wanya's hurried scrawl telling her that he had gone to the supermarket and would be back in another hour.

Miyu chewed her lip and went to her room to get changed. All through the day, she had kept thinking about it. Nanami's boyfriend had held her hand as they walked to school.

Sitting in front of her small vanity, Miyu paused in the middle of brushing her long hair. Was she that unattractive? Nanami was a great girl for sure. She was full of spirit and energy and was tall and had wonderful brown eyes. Miyu remembered when so many guys had wanted to date Nanami and every day Nanami's locker invariably contained a love letter. In contrast, she had never received any love letters.

Quietly, she put down her brush. Maybe, she really was that unattractive. And that's why Kanata never held her hand or hugged her.

Sometimes, she wondered if she had imagined his confession…

"I'm home!" Kanata's voice rang out from the hall.

Miyu got up and walked out to greet him. "Welcome back!"

"Where are Wanya and Ruu?"

"They went to the supermarket. They'll be back in an hour."

"I see."

And that was it. Kanata simply walked to his room and shut the door.

Miyu bit her lip. What should she do? She wanted to ask him if he still liked her. Maybe he had changed his mind? Maybe he hadn't meant it like that at all and she had misunderstood? Maybe he was regretting his decision?

Caught in her thoughts, she failed to notice Kanata step out of his room.

"Miyu."

"Miyu!"

"MIYU!"

Miyu snapped out of her bitter thoughts with a jerk. "Wh-wha?"

"You were just standing there staring into space." Kanata said.

"Oh…"

"Hungry?"

"Mm-hm." Miyu replied, just realizing that she was, in fact, hungry.

This was the perfect time to ask him. Wanya and Ruu were not there, they were alone and she wouldn't embarrass herself too much if she asked him and he laughed at her. She watched him pour out a pack of milk into a bowl of cereal and opened her mouth.

"Kanata, did you see Nanami-chan coming to school today?"

"Hm? Yeah, what about it?"

"She came with her boyfriend."

"Hm."

"Ehehe… I was a bit surprised actually. I never thought Nanami-chan would be holding hands with any guy."

"Mmm." Kanata agreed around a mouthful of cereal.

Miyu looked at him, her heart sinking. He didn't even seem interested. Did he find it a chore to even talk to her? Desperately, she asked, "They looked cute together, don't you think?"

"Oh… I guess."

Slowly, Miyu looked away from him and into her bowl of cereal. She really was a fool, wasn't she? Thinking that he liked her or something. He probably didn't even realize that she had misunderstood him like that. Suddenly, she found that she had lost her appetite.

She was about to get up and leave the room, when the door burst open and a panicked Wanya ran in.

"Kanata-san! Miyu-san! Ruu-chama, Ruu-chama—"

Miyu froze, a strange fear gripping her heart.

Kanata stood up abruptly. "Wanya, what happened to Ruu? Where is he?"

Wanya trembled, before he collapsed and wailed, "I don't knoooooooow! I can't find hiiiiiimmmmmm! Waaaaaaaaaah! Ruu-chamaaaaa!"

"Shit!"

Miyu stood up shakily. "We have to look for him…"

"Alright, Wanya you look for him near the supermarket and the train station. Transform into a bird or something so that no one will suspect. Miyu and I will look near the park and the lake and the forest."

"Yes!"

It had been almost two hours since they had started searching for him. It was growing dark and there was no sign of Ruu yet. Miyu could feel her heart pounding loudly in her chest as a cold dread steadily gripped her.

RuuRuuRuuRuuRuuRuuRuuRuu…

They were in the children's park, which looked strangely lonely – the children had all already gone home.

"Ruu!" She called out, "RUU!" There was only silence other than the sound of her heavy breathing, the loud pounding of her heart and the buzz of her blood in her ears. "RUU! Answer me, Ruu!"

She was going to cry any minute now, she knew. She was going to collapse, Ruu was nowhere! "RUU! Where are you? Ruu!"

No, she couldn't break down here. She couldn't panic! Ruu was out there somewhere, waiting for her and she needed to find him and she needed to get to him fast because he would be scared and it was growing dark and he would be crying and hungry and – oh God, she had been having cereal when he was lost – cold and shivering and she needed to hold him and hug him and tell him that she would never let him be alone again and Mama loved him and she couldn't cry, no, she had to run, still run, run some more, because Ruu was waiting for her and—

A pair of arms came around her and suddenly she was in a very warm place. The darkness at the edges of her vision momentarily swayed before she blinked and her head swam and Kanata's voice was in her ears.

"Miyu, we'll find him. Don't worry, I promise you, we'll find him. Miyu, are you listening to me?"

Slowly, the world came back into focus.

"Ka…nata?"

"Miyu, stay with me. We'll find him, we'll find him! Don't panic!"

"Kanata…"

He turned her around to face him, his hands on her shoulders. "Do you trust me?"

Miyu stared at him, a rapid thumping in her chest drowning out all sound.

"Miyu, do you trust me?"

His eyes were firm as always. There was nothing warm or comforting about them, or anything that would give her hope. His mouth was unsmiling and his gaze was locked on hers, hard. A strange thought flitted through her head – Nanami's boyfriend had eyes full of light and laughter, nothing like the pair of eyes in front of her right now.

And she knew her answer. No matter how warm and gentle, how kind and caring, Miyu could never trust Nanami's boyfriend as absolutely as Kanata Saionji. It didn't matter if he liked her or not, it didn't matter if he cared or not, because she would never give him up for anyone in this world.

"I do."

He smiled then, a small smile, but a smile nevertheless, and he held her hand in his. "Let's go then, Ruu's waiting."

And she nodded back and held his hand just a little bit tighter.

They found Ruu finally at seven in the morning next day – after over twelve hours of searching. Apparently, Momoka had found him lost and crying near the ice cream stall outside the supermarket and taken him to her home. There they had played till they had fallen asleep and Momoka had forgotten to call up the Saionji house and let them know. When they had finally woken up the next day, Ruu had thrown a fit at not seeing his Mama there, and Momoka had brought him in her tricycle to the Saionji temple. Miyu and Kanata had met her midway there.

Miyu was exhausted and her entire body trembled weakly. She walked on, one step at a time, and Kanata held her hand as he walked along, equally tired. They looked down at the small baby fast asleep on Miyu's shoulder and smiled. It was worth it…

"Kanata," Miyu whispered, trying not to awaken the sleeping baby, "did you mean it when you said you liked me?" Finally, finally, she asked him…

He didn't turn towards her, just like last time she asked him. "What do you guess?" And said the same thing as the last time she asked him.

But this time, she did not remain silent. Tentatively, she shook her head "no" and looked at him expectantly.

He chuckled, and in the calm of the morning, the sound was beautiful. "Well, now we know why you score so poorly on all your tests!"

It was nothing romantic, but more than holding hands, more than hugging, more than kissing, it made her blush like never before…

"Ru-u-u-cha-ma-a-a…"

Somewhere, an exhausted eagle with whiskers and cat ears flomped down wearily in a tree… Until someone remembers him and calls him home, let's wish him all the best.

Hope you all liked it! ^o^ It came out less angsty than I intended, but well, my stories always turn out totally different from what I expect...

I am suddenly feeling quite inspired to write a lot of stories... o.O Most of which will probably turn out to be garbage anyways... :P

Well, please review if you like this one! ^_^