Disclaimer: Lovely Complex is rightfully owned by Aya Nakahara.

WHY DO YOU LOVE ME?

"Don't say anything. One is loved because one is loved. No reason is ever needed for loving."

--Fatima; The Alchemist

"Honey, I love you like the fire that melts my heart every time I see you. I love you because you are my life… Please say you love me, too…" The man said while he firmly held the hand of his sweetheart. He slowly brought the girl's hand to his lips while he waited patiently for her reply.

"I love you too, honey. I'm all yours…" came her meek but sweet answer. Finally, when no words could express the insurmountable emotions quelling inside their chests, the man and his lady kissed. It was a happy ending.

A popular ballad played while the credits began to roll. Show's over.

**************

Otani pressed the remote's STOP button. Then he turned to his girlfriend Koizumi beside him on the couch, her eyes distant, apparently lost into her own fantasy land.

"Koizumi?" he playfully slapped her left shoulder a little too hard.

She usually complains when Otani would ruin her daydreams like that but this time seemed a bit different. Snapping back to reality, Koizumi looked at him with some sort of a goofy expression on her face. Otani grimaced as he noticed that her eyes were practically sparkling when she clapped her hands together and exclaimed, "That was so wonderful!"

"There you go again…" Otani can't help but sigh. Koizumi's badly bitten by the love bug again. He could almost tell where this was all headed. And he guessed right.

"Touya-sama was just soooo amazing" she gushed. "Not only was he very handsome, he's also incredibly sweet!"

"It's just a movie, Koizumi…" Otani told her as a matter-of-factly.

"Who cares? I still say he's soooo adorable!" Koizumi defended herself. "'I love you…because you are my life,'" she mimicked Touya-sama's lines, not caring if Otani seemed to gag. "Ah…such is a man who would go through any lengths to win a maiden's heart," Koizumi went on, her own hands cupping he face as she replayed the scene over and over inside her head. "How could any woman not fall for someone like that?"

"Yeah, right," Otani simply scratched his head. What else could he say? Koizumi would not listen to him, anyway. The truth is, he finds Touya-sama annoyingly cheesy. 'I love you like the fire that melts my heart?!' C'mon! He felt suddenly nauseated just by thinking all about it. You can't possibly say that in your sweetheart's face in real life, can you? He knew he could've easily drifted off to sleep if Koizumi had not constantly poked his ribs while they sat on the couch.

He threw one, final glance at Koizumi before heading towards the door. Her caramel-brown eyes were still distant and sparkly, proof that she hasn't recovered yet from Touya-sama's heart-stealing charms. "I'll just get us more popcorn and soda downstairs. And…" he added, "I'll decide on the next film, 'kay?"

**************

The smell of butter wafted across the room as Otani came back after a few minutes with a large bowl of freshly popped kernels and four more cans of soda that he and Koizumi would share for the rest of the night. He sat again by her side and handed her one of the soda cans he brought which she silently accepted. He felt relieved seeing Koizumi a little sober now. The sparkly eyes were gone, thank heavens. He proceeded to open his soda can, brought the rim to his lips, and almost choked at what he heard next.

"Why do you love me, Otani?"

It was a short, out-of-nowhere question; probably the product of Koizumi's rambling and hopelessly romantic mind. Though Otani had heard it well, he was completely taken off guard that the soda he was drinking squirted out of his mouth.

Wiping the sides of his lips with the sleeve of his shirt, he turned to Koizumi as if he just heard the most absurd question in all history.

"What kind of question is that?!" he demanded. He noticed that she was very still, her head bent towards the floor. He also realized that she hadn't opened her soda can just yet.

Koizumi then lifted her face and looked straight into Otani's eyes. "Why do you love me?" she repeated. "Seriously, I wanted to know,"

The odd look on his girlfriend's face almost freaked him out that he took a wary step backward. "Hey, Amazon, get over it already, will you?"

"Is it because I'm funny? Or because I'm special?" Koizumi returned, ignoring the sarcasm implied within Otani's words. "Tell me."

"Did you hurt your head while I'm downstairs or has the love bug completely messed up your thoughts?" Otani brought a hand to his forehead. "This is why I hate chick flicks, tsk. We should've watched Umibouzu's concert first."

"You couldn't even think of an answer," he heard her say. It sounded more of a declaration than a question and honestly, it's getting in his nerves.

"What is your problem, Koizumi?" he was getting irritated.

"It's just a simple question!" she fired back, her tone rising.

"Why are you asking pointless questions all of a sudden?!"

"Why can't you just answer me, then?!"

"Oh, good. Here we go again…" Otani rolled his eyes.

Koizumi's anger burned that she vehemently stood up. She couldn't take the idea that her boyfriend kept evading her question and simply dismissed these important matters as mere joke.

"I'll tell you what, you idiot! If you're gonna ask me, I could tell you a million things why I want to be your girlfriend! I've got so many reasons that a single night won't be long enough for me to tell you why I'm in love with you! And here you are, acting like a total, clueless jerk!" she fought her fierce anger real hard, but altogether failed to keep herself from screaming.

Otani will never tolerate being screamed at in his own house, right inside his bedroom, and especially over some completely preposterous issues. He stood up to counter Koizumi's towering figure and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"I won't answer anything so please, STOP BEING PATHETIC!"

Koizumi was rendered silent for a while. She just couldn't believe this. Yes, she loved him but now, she isn't sure how long she'll have to put up with Otani's denseness.

"Do you really love me, Otani?" Koizumi snapped indignantly, balling her hands into tight fists. "You can't think of reasons why you're in this relationship with me—not even one, good enough reason." She thought this has to stop or it would be too late for her to keep herself from breaking down shamefully in front of Otani.

"Oh, and before I forget, you haven't even told me 'I love You' on your own. So I guess, you're right. I am so pathetic! At least you got that one point correct." She retorted.

Common sense tells her this is already a hopeless situation and the longer she stays, the more she gets hurt. In utter disappointment, she didn't wait for him to say anything. She turned to her heels and stormed out of the room to the front porch, leaving Otani behind.

He figured right then that going after her calmly would make things better but all that screaming drained most of his energy; he weakly slumped on the floor, burying his face in his hands.

Why would Koizumi pick a fight at such a night as this? So many thoughts were swimming inside his head now. He looked around his room, remembering how hard he had worked since yesterday to keep it as neat as a pin and as presentable as he could. This was supposed to be the first night she'll stay in his house, the supposed beginning of many nights when they would spend as much of their free time in each other's company before college could make it a little challenging for their relationship. He was still angry now that the whole evening is ruined. Coaxing himself to keep his temper in check, he took deep breaths and sighed repeatedly.

Hadn't she realized until now how much she means to me? Did Koizumi really expect him to utter mushy things just like Touya-sama? Otani shuffled his hair in frenzy, asking himself what went wrong.

'…I've a million reasons why I want to be your girlfriend!'

'…You haven't even told me 'I Love You' on your own,"

'Do you really love me?'

Koizumi's words kept popping in his thoughts that he felt like going mad. Just then, Otani's memories drifted back to the not so distant past when Koizumi had been telling Mimi-chan that she herself couldn't tell for sure is he liked her or not.

So what if I'm not very vocal, does that really matter?

**********

Some forty minutes elapsed and Koizumi still hadn't returned from the porch. The empty room's atmosphere felt tensed and the silence was already deafening. Otani looked behind him, half-expecting Koizumi to be there already.

Who am I fooling, anyway? He let out an audible sigh for the nth time tonight and slowly got to his feet.

Otani gently slid the door to the porch open and saw Koizumi perched on the bench while hugging her knees.

"Hoy, Koizumi,"

She was startled when she heard Otani call her name and she hastily rubbed her teary eyes with the back of her hands.

"It's getting cold out here. Why don't you get inside?"

Instead of standing up, she simply stared at Otani. She still found it unbelievable and supremely depressing that he can't even tell her why he loved her. One. Just one, sincere and sappy declaration of love is all that she asked and it would've made this evening perfect. But looking at him now, Koizumi's resolve is that she can't stay mad at this midget for so long, after everything that they've been through together.

Never mind the reason… he is my boyfriend. Otani loves me… Otani loves me…right?! She shook her head a bit too fast trying to convince herself.

"Koizumi, I think you should—"

"I'm sorry," Koizumi whispered as if to herself. "You're right. I shouldn't be asking pointless questions." She made a silly face and let out a half-hearted laugh. "L-Let's just forget about it, okay? Ahehe.. hehe.." she went on ludicrously.

He could never tell exactly why, but it hurt him when he saw the weak smile on Koizumi's lips. Without further ado, Otani abruptly took steps towards his girlfriend and embraced her, burying her face in his chest.

"You are an idiot for doubting me," he softly whispered into her hair.

Then Otani gently pushed her away so that he could look at her. Koizumi found her heart thumping rapidly as Otani's hand gently rested on her shoulders, his hazel eyes intent on her, almost piercing her soul.

Just say what's on your mind. Plain and simple. No need for flowery speech.

Otani was never really sure if he could do it. Yet, this desire to bring back the glow in Koizumi's eyes far outweighed the overweening pride that kept him hesitant.

"I love you, Koizumi Risa." Otani started. "I really do…"

"I love you not because you first loved me, but because I simply found no reason not to,"

There, he said it. He never knew it would take a great deal to let the words out but seeing Koizumi's expression light up in the pale moonlight made every effort worth it.

At first, her eyes widened in surprise. She was deeply moved that she couldn't speak right away. It felt dreamlike, just like when he first kissed her but she knew it was for real. She tried to open her mouth to say something but before any word could escape, Otani had gently pressed an index finger into her lips.

"Now, don't ask me to prove it,"

As soon as he said them, he cupped Koizumi's face in his warm hands. The next thing she knew, Otani was tenderly kissing her already, under a blanketful of shimmering stars that seemed to dance with her thoughts.

They were both dazed when they pulled away, each of them swept in a torrent of unfailing bliss. Both were blushing but neither of them cared as they continued to gaze into each other's eyes. The overwhelming love they have for each other floated freely across them like no words could ever communicate.

Just then, Koizumi's eyes started to fill with tears. Either brought about by so much joy upon hearing his words or by the sheer amusement of seeing his face redden like an overly ripe tomato, she wasn't sure. In a few moments, she was sobbing uncontrollably, much to Otani's amazement.

"Now, what did I do wrong?" Otani asked, puzzled.

"Y-you… you…" Koizumi's shoulders bobbed up and down while she sniffed. "You look so ridiculous when you're blushing that it makes me cry,"

"Look who's talking," Otani told her in a slightly sarcastic tone.

"Otani!" she squealed, before wrapping her hands oh-so-tightly around him. "T-thank you!"

"Hey, it's alright to cry, b-but don't strangle me!" Otani complained while wriggling away from Koizumi's long arms. She flashed him a big, warm smile as she loosened her embrace.

That was the smile I was waiting for, he thought. While the moon illuminated her face, he saw her caramel-brown eyes shine and her cheeks glow. Koizumi was undeniably radiant. Otani considered himself lucky for having a girlfriend like her.

"Don't be happy too soon, Koizumi," Otani advised, rather jokingly. He wanted to completely lighten the mood between him and Risa. "Now, it's my turn to do the questioning,"

"H-huh?!" she raised an eyebrow in total confusion. There was this mischievous glint in Otani's eyes and she wasn't very sure if that was something to be excited about.

Otani began rubbing his nose playfully. "Say…Am I…Am I a good kisser?"

The question seemed to take a long moment to register in Koizumi Risa's head.

"W-What kind of question is that?" Koizumi was absolutely baffled that she slapped his shoulder hard.

Otani continued teasing her. "Just tell me! Am I?"

Koizumi felt like she's melting slowly and slowly as Otani kept staring at her with those pair of knowing eyes which she had grown to love each day. She bit her lip and thought for a second. "How will I know? I do not have anybody to compare it with," she frowned.

"Good." Otani smiled smugly to himself. "But seriously, what do you think?"

Narrowing her eyes, she said:

"It's. A. SECRET!" Koizumi stuck out her tongue at him.

"Aw. You. So unfair!" Otani muttered, scowling. "Now, let's head back inside. It's getting cold," he stood up, pulling his girlfriend's hand. But instead of doing what she's told to do, she grabbed Otani's arm, pulled him to her side and forced him to sit again on the bench beside her.

"Not so fast, Midget!" she laughed that Otani almost tripped to her side. "The night sky is wonderfully clear. Let's enjoy the stars while you keep my hands warm!"

"Hmph," he muttered, feigning disinterest.

Otani took one of Koizumi's hands and held it comfortably with both of his own. In quietness and contentment, the two of them sat together like that, their faces towards the velvety night sky. Just like the darkness around them, neither Otani nor Koizumi knew for sure what the future holds for their relationship.

One thing is certain, though. Their love would constantly brighten their paths and guide them along, just like the stars that would always shine above their heads.

--END--

Author's notesy-notes:

There goes my first LoveCom ficcie! I wanted everything to occur in At-chan's head but it was kinda hard so I just littered this with dialogues. I just finished the anime last week and I noticed that At-chan wasn't really vocal with his feelings so I hope I had a tangible basis for this fic. It's a great thing to feel loved, but sometimes, we need to hear it loud and clear, right? So the problem was kinda fashioned for new couples like A-chan and Risa. Hopefully, I'd get better at this. Please do review. Reactions of any kind are welcome! Many thankies!