Oh my goodness, I haven't written a fanfiction in so long, my apologizes to the people who told me they were looking out for my stories. I'm just super lazy. Well, I have another fanfic I came up with. For any of you Horimiya lovers, I hope you like this one.
Also, as for some background information…This is purely my imagination, based off of what I've read in Horimiya. I don't own Horimiya. Hori and Miyamura and the like are all 22 years old. Souta is 11. (I'm hoping I got that age gap right.)
Hori Kyoko let out a tired sigh as her last class of the day ended at her university. This was her fourth year attending college and she was rather tired of it, and the large amount of work she received didn't exactly help with that either. Gathering her books and papers, she exited the lecture hall and then began heading out of the building, only to run into a familiar face.
"Remi." She greeted, with a small smile and a wave.
She and Remi had ended up in the same college and had gotten to know each other quite well. Sengoku-kun had ended up in a very prestigious college, to Remi's dismay, and so in the end she had to settle for the one Kyoko had happened to be accepted into as well.
"Hey, Kyoko-chan. Heading home already?" She asked, a friendly smile brightening her face.
"Yeah, I have to make dinner today. I think Izumi's coming over as well." She informed Remi casually. "What about you, what are you doing today?" She asked, raising her brows. Clearly she was hinting at Sengoku-kun, but Remi just smiled and ignored Kyoko's hinting.
"Oh, nothing much." She replied. Kyoko rolled her eyes. Remi had recently been proposed to by Sengoku, but had refused to share any of the details of his proposal for some reason. Kyoko supposed that Remi simply wanted to keep Sengoku all to herself, so she had been bothering Remi about it ever since. It had gotten to the point where Remi didn't even acknowledge Kyoko's questioning anymore. But Kyoko didn't mind, she just laughed it off. Remi's eyes suddenly flashed mischievously.
"Hey Kyoko-chan, let's go sit down over there." The short girl said, skipping a bit too excitedly over to a bench that was sheltered under a leafless tree. Kyoko quirked a brow but then shrugged it off and joined her, wondering what she wanted to talk about. And she soon found out.
"Kyoko-chan~" began Remi, "So how have things been going with Miyamura?"
"Fine." Replied Kyoko, feeling a sense of foreboding.
"Really? Has anything interesting happened? Like…maybe something to do with a ring or…" Remi continued, waving her hand with the engagement ring on it in front of Kyoko's face, but she was cut off.
"Oh come on! I can't ask you questions about your fiancé but you can ask me questions about my boyfriend."
"Eh, but Kyoko-chan! I'm curious! You two have been going out almost as long as Kakeru and I and yet there has been no sign of anything interesting happening!" Lamented Remi. Kyoko huffed.
"Remi, didn't Sengoku propose to you just recently? And you're complaining that things have been going slow on my end? What's the rush anyways?" Kyoko asked, irritated.
"But Kyoko-chan! What's the reason in holding it off? It's not like much would change, you spend so much time together already." Remi complained.
"Less time than we used to actually, what with work and university and such—"
"But you spend more time with him than I spend with Kakeru!"
"Regardless, I think Izumi and I are waiting until things settle down, you know, until I finish college and get a job and such…" Kyoko said whilst counting the amount of things she had to do first on her fingers. Remi huffed and rolled her eyes.
"Kyoko-chan, at this rate you won't ever get married until you're old and have already collected all of your retirement funds. Have you even ever talked to Miyamura-kun about this?" She asked, tilting her head in question. Overhead a bird chirped as it flew past.
"Not really, not directly anyways….And no! I won't be old! Don't worry it'll happen! Just stop asking about it!" Kyoko shouted.
"Then stop asking me about Kakeru!" Remi countered. Kyoko bit her lip and sighed.
"Fine. Anyways, I got to get going. I need to feed Souta. See ya Remi." She said as she stood up and walked off, waving goodbye. Remi sighed heavily as she waved back.
"See ya Kyoko-chan."
The brown-haired girl then exited the university gates and headed onto the cleanly swept sidewalk. It was a cold and clear day. Winter was still deciding on whether or not it wanted to end, but the fact that most of the snow had melted was a sure sign of spring. Now that Kyoko thought about it, she realized that she'd soon be graduating college and entering the working world. It was a bit exciting and a bit disappointing at the same time. On one hand, Hori was finally leaving lectures, tests and studying behind. On the other hand, she would now face the prospect of finding a job and getting employed and then working that job for the rest of her life. But it wasn't all that bad, she had her family and Izumi to keep her company. A smile lit her face.
About a half an hour later, Kyoko was unlocking the door to her house and slipping off her shoes at the entrance.
"I'm home!" She called out.
"Welcome home~" Answered the voice of an eleven-year-old Souta. He was in 5th grade now and growing fast. When standing his head was a little below Kyoko's shoulders. She headed inside and turned left, entering the common room. There she saw Souta sitting at the table in the living room, working on homework. Kyoko smiled. She then looked up at the clock and saw that it was 4:30 PM.
"Hungry?" She asked as she headed into the kitchen and slipped on her apron without waiting for a reply.
"Yeah." He replied shortly, not even looking up from his homework.
"Anything in particular you want to eat?" She asked.
"Not really." He answered. Kyoko rolled her eyes. Whatever. She thought. She then began to cook. She decided on hambagu (a Japanese-style hamburger steak) with rice and vegetables. About an hour later, just as she was finishing up dinner, there was a knock on the door.
"Souta, can you get that, it's probably Izumi." Kyoko called out. Souta rose from the table and his nearly completed homework and hurried off to answer the door. And sure enough, Izumi was there. His hair was long and tied back, just like it had been when she first met him. Ever since he had become popular after cutting his hair senior year of high school she had forced him to grow his hair back out to ward off potential rivals. Izumi smiled as he walked up to Kyoko, carrying a cake box. Souta hurried back to his homework, finished it a moment later, and began to pack it away.
"I made this. We can have it for dessert." He explained as he set a white box down on the counter.
"'Kay." Kyoko replied with a smile before turning off the stove with a click. She then began to set the dinner table. It had been like this without change ever since high school. At least twice a week Izumi would come and have dinner with them and sometimes he'd bring cake from the bakery he worked at with his parents. Their lives were simple, but happy. When the table was set and the food was served, all three of them sat around the table and said "Thank you for the food!" before digging in.
After dinner Souta had returned to his room and Kyoko and Izumi were standing side by side in the kitchen as they cleaned up from dinner. They were silent at first, not having anything to say.
"So," Kyoko finally began, "…how was work today?"
"Fine, and how was school?" He asked whilst placing a dish in the dishwasher with a clank.
"Good. I talked to Remi, she was bothering me about something and she still won't talk to me about Sengoku's proposal. She's so annoying sometimes!" She huffed with a clink as she dropped a few utensils into the dishwasher. Izumi chuckled.
"And what was she bothering you about?" He asked calmly. Kyoko yelled as she almost dropped the plate she was rinsing off. She sighed in relief as she managed to keep her hold on it and placed it in the dishwasher. Izumi quirked a brow at her in question. Kyoko frowned at him and elbowed him in the arm.
"Ow! What was that for? Did I say something wrong?" He asked, brows now knit in slight irritation. Kyoko, who had looked angry a second ago, suddenly calmed down. She sighed quietly and then closed the dishwasher and started it up after placing the last dish inside. Izumi looked honestly worried about her.
"…Is something wrong?" He asked. Kyoko wrung her hands a bit.
"Actually, I want to talk to you about something. Let's go to my room." She said, and so the two of them did exactly that. Once they were both inside her room, Kyoko closed the door behind them and sat down on the edge of her bed. Izumi sat down on the floor and crossed his legs, looking up momentarily to meet her gaze but then looking back down again. He seemed uncomfortable.
"So, uh, Kyoko…what did you want to talk about?" He asked tentatively. She felt a little nervous but she gathered her courage and finally began to speak.
"Well, to get to the point, Remi was wondering when we were going to get engaged. And to be honest, I hadn't really thought about that myself until now." She said simply. She looked down at Izumi and his head rose sharply, eyes wide.
"R-Really?" He stuttered, looking nervous. Kyoko simply nodded her head. Izumi began to play with his hands, not looking up at her. She could tell he wasn't prepared for this conversation.
"And so, I thought I'd clarify some things…'cause you know…why not…" Now Kyoko also found herself becoming nervous and the whole conversation seemed to be going downhill. But luckily, Miyamura saved the day.
"Well, actually, I just kind of thought that…that was already decided. If I'm getting ahead of myself then…"
"Wait, what do you mean already decided? Don't be so vague Izumi." Kyoko scolded. Izumi swallowed hard.
"What I mean to say is, I thought that it was already decided that we would…be getting, you know…m-married. In the future, that is." He finally said, sighing heavily afterwards. Obviously it had taken a toll on him to get all of that out. Kyoko couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from turning up, but since Izumi was still looking down he couldn't see this.
"Oh, really? You thought all of that?" Kyoko said in the most serious voice she could muster. She was trying hard not to laugh. Izumi frowned.
"W-Well, It's my fault for thinking that! If you weren't thinking about that at all then I'm sorry! I was really getting ahead of myself…" But then he paused. He had known Kyoko for how many years now? As Izumi looked up, he saw a big grin on Kyoko's face, and as he did this she burst into laughter.
"Dang! I almost got you! Look at you, getting smart." She said, laughing. Izumi looked exasperated but he soon started to laugh too. The two sat there laughing for a few minutes, and then, as Kyoko was wiping tears from her eyes, she picked up from where they had left off.
"I don't think I need an engagement ring. Rings cost money you know. Don't even think about it." She said, waving a finger at him.
"But then Remi won't believe you at all. And you won't even be able to tell her how I proposed, because I didn't." Izumi said, crossing his arms. Kyoko rolled her eyes.
"Oh, I'll figure something out. Don't worry about that. You see, I'll be graduating from college very soon. In a few months time actually. We need to get married after I graduate and before I get a real job, so there won't be any complications with the name change. So why would you buy me a ring when I'll be wearing it for barely any time at all? Just forget it Izumi." She told him, waving a hand dismissively. He looked troubled.
"But what if people make fun of me for it!" He finally said, getting to the bottom of his troubles.
"I'll beat them up." Kyoko replied.
"What if my parents make fun of me for it? Would you beat them up Kyoko?"
"I'd beat them up with words, then. Don't worry about it, if anyone makes fun of you I'll take care of it." She assured him, raising her foot and pressing it against his forehead, making him tilt back a bit. He grabbed her ankle and pushed her foot away.
"Well fine. Then I guess that's that." He said, standing up. Kyoko smiled. She suddenly felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
"Yup."
