A/N: Here comes another Nightmare Inspector oneshot! I was thinking of making this the second chapter in "You Are My Teahouse", but then I decided that this could just be a separate companion piece to that fic. You certainly don't have to read "You are My Teahouse" before you read this, though. =D Yes, I know I promised some of you a Kairi oneshot, and I'm currently working on that one. Kairi is incredibly hard to write about, after all.
So until then, I wrote another Hiruko and Mizuki oneshot. You can never have enough of those, eh? xDD
Last note: I'm not sure about the name of the cat. It is Namu, right? Hehe, I hope so…
While serving her cherished coffee, Mizuki almost always had other things running through her mind. Whether Namu had been fed that morning, if she needed to sweep, if the laundry needed folded…the list seemed endless when it came to the young teahouse owner. She guessed that came with the ownership.
But with that list came another much shorter one. A list that she often confided in whenever feeling alone or doubtful of herself. A list that, she foolishly felt, needed to be completed more frequently.
That second list had only one word: Hiruko.
As terribly mushy as that list sounded, Mizuki, little by little, began to understand its importance. Without Hiruko, she wouldn't have a job to work at; without Hiruko, she wouldn't have someone else to talk to in that old but dark teahouse. On the normal days, she felt content behind the counter or in a chair across from him, silently waiting for the next sufferer of the night. She slowly began to worry over useless things about him, like if he got hungry or thirsty while waiting, only to realize sheepishly seconds later that he had no use for such delicacies.
She had no problem voicing her worries out loud to him. In fact, no matter how embarrassing or random her worries may have sounded, Hiruko never once turned them away or failed to listen to them. Mizuki loved watching his face as she recited her latest worry of the upcoming tsunami season, and that she'd been slacking off on her seasonal 'What to do in case of a Tsunami' emergency rundown. No matter how little or soft his expression turned to, they were always right there in front of her, causing emotions to stir in her stomach and her mind to flourish with jumbles of thoughts.
Leaning slightly back in his wooden chair, he'd shortly sigh then smirk at his preoccupied companion, responding in the teasing tone of "You worry too much." or "It'd be best not to inform Hifumi." He'd swirl his cane around playfully with one hand while petting the l furred head of Namu sleeping peacefully on his lap. These were the times that Mizuki liked best: A relaxed environment before a possibly horrifying nightmare came their way for them, or more specifically Hiruko, to defeat.
He was always calm whenever around her, even in her most troubled of times. Even when she yelled in frustration of spilling all of her freshly made coffee on the rickety floor, or when she got amused or confused as Hifumi made his latest 'confession of love' to her. He always seemed to be watching over her in his own special, quiet way. A way that, no matter how Hiruko tried to hide it, Mizuki would immediately recognize, her cheeks becoming the faintest shade of pink.
She never knew if Hiruko noticed that detail or not, but even if he did, he never once questioned her. She was both relieved and disappointed by that fact.
For when she lay awake in the middle of the night, she'd somehow think of him. She wondered how he slept, if he snored (she had an assumption that he did), even if he woke up in the middle of the night from his own worse nightmare. At first, she thought her feelings were pure sisterly affection and worriment. But as the months droned on, she hesitantly accepted that her feelings could possibly be more than sisterly affection. Because the more she thought about him, the more she wanted to be…with him.
To be more than just gazing at him from across her tea counter, to be more than sitting beside him eating her breakfast as he dazed in boredom at the sunrise.
She wanted to truly be with him, in everything that he did. She didn't just want to be the girl waiting for his return, or the girl who swept his floor or folded his clothes. She didn't care that he wouldn't take her offering of coffee even though she made it with her best blends and sweetest creamers. She wanted to return his minuscule moments of caring with one even greater. Whenever he draped a blanket around her shoulders, she wanted to wrap her arms around his and share in her warmth if only for a second. Whenever he caught her by the hand to keep her from tumbling down the stairs, she wanted to pull against that hand and keep it in hers until they both reached the bottom step.
In the end, she wanted something so painfully out of reach. But she simply didn't care. She tried not thinking of him as her brother or a baku anymore, but rather a boy. And she was simply, yet fondly, the girl who loved him dear.
The next time he draped that same blanket over her shoulders, she quickly took hold his pale wrist tightly. Ignoring his surprised and curious expression, she spoke in a clear and unsure voice: "Please, stay with me."
A/N: So….ehem. That was yet another attempt at fluff. Sorry if it wasn't to your liking. I did try hard though!
In case anyone's wondering about the title, "Contigo quiero estar" means "I want to be with you" in Spanish. Ah, I simply love Spanish! =D