A/N: I actually managed to write a story someone requested in a reasonable amount of time! Huzzah it's a minor miracle! Anyways, Riv asked for the story to be happy this time, so I tried my best. Unfortunately though (or fortunately I suppose, depending on your personal preferences), when I hear 'happy', my brain thinks 'humor and fluff'. So that's what you get.
Oh also, this is sort of connected to a little drabble I wrote a while ago, but you really don't have to read that to understand what's going on here.
"Hey Bruno! You're a black belt, right?"
All activity within the small café ceased as every patron's attention snagged on the loud and completely unexpected entrance of a young woman with flaming red hair. Either oblivious to the attention or simply choosing to ignore it, the young woman let the door slam behind her with a resounding crash that was accompanied by the gentle tinkling of the bell hanging above the door. She approached the counter with confident strides, the young man standing behind it registering her sudden appearance with confusion tinged by mild amusement.
"Good to see you too Miki," He said politely as she stopped right in front of him, resting her elbows on the counter, "How long has it been since the last time you bothered to come visit me?"
The girl responded with a dismissive wave of her hand, "Eh, some amount of time that I really don't care about right now. What's important is that you answer my question."
"You mean the one about if I'm a black belt or not?"
"Exactly. How you answer this question could determine the happiness of one very lonely little girl."
"What…how do those two ideas connect at all? And, how did you even know that I was working today? Actually…how do you know that I work here at all? I'm pretty sure that it's been about two or three years since the last time I saw you."
Miki gave him a withering look, not even dignifying his questions with an answer. Her eyes said everything that she may have wanted to relay: 'Your questions are stupid. Stop asking them.'
Bruno's immediate response was to roll his eyes; apparently some people never changed. Ever since he first met her back in their freshman year of high school, when Miki got an idea in her head, if you weren't with her every step of the way she simply left you to rot on the roadside as she continued on her way.
"Fine. To answer your question, yes I have a black belt in-"
"Nope," Miki said suddenly as she held her hand up, "Don't care what it's in. Knowing that you have one is enough. Now, do you have something to write with and something to write on?"
Bruno was about to question just why he was doing this, but one fiery glare from Miki informed him that questions would garner him nothing but an icy silence. With a sigh of resignation, he fished under the counter for a napkin and pen, which he was able to find in short order. The moment he righted himself, Miki snatched them from his hands and began to scribble furiously. Bruno's curiosity mounted as Miki's head obscured whatever she was writing.
"Here," She said dramatically once she had finished, shoving the paper so close to Bruno's face that he couldn't read what she had written, "You are to come to the location indicated on the day indicated to meet the not indicated person or I will hunt you down and drag you there."
"Aren't I the one with the black belt?" Bruno asked, allowing the napkin to remain in Miki's hand for now, "Won't it be kind of difficult for you to drag me there?"
"Come on now Bruno, it's true that I haven't seen you in a while, but you're just deluding yourself. You may be physically stronger than me, but you know that I have my ways of ensuring that I get what I want."
Bruno felt a shiver run through his system. Miki had used her 'ways' an untold number of times when the two of them were in high school and Bruno still remembered the hours of humiliation he had been forced to suffer at her hands; her threat was real and dangerous.
"Alright, alright," Bruno admitted with a sigh of defeat as he took the napkin into his hands, "I'll play along with your little scheme…whatever it is."
The grin that flitted across Miki's face could only be described as coming from the darkest pit of hell. Bruno was beginning to doubt the soundness of the decision he had just made. Unfortunately for him, an agreement with Miki was the equivalent of signing a blood contract with the devil himself – escape was nothing less than the most delusional of fantasies.
"Then my work here is done," Miki said before she turned on her heels and headed towards the door. With only a lackadaisical wave of acknowledgement serving as her farewell, the door of the café once more slammed closed and the red-headed firebrand was gone as quickly as she had arrived. For a moment, there was absolute silence within the room as all eyes turned from the door to look at the barista who stared dumbfounded at where Miki had been merely seconds ago while still clutching the napkin in his hand. As he became aware of the eyes of the patrons on him, he suddenly felt extremely self-conscious.
"Alright, the dog and pony show is over for the day," Bruno said quickly once he had regained some control of his faculties, "You can all stop staring at me now."
There was the distinctive sound of pointed clearing of throats and shuffling of bodies as everyone returned to their own affairs and left Bruno to his. It was only at this point that he actually looked at the napkin gripped within his hand and deciphered Miki's messy scrawl that she considered handwriting.
The little forest preserve near your house – Saturday the 23rd – 1 PM
Apparently in the world of Miki, this worked as a proper invitation. Bruno couldn't stop a wry smile from slipping onto his face; no additional information about why the heck he was going to this place, no discernible reason for why she had asked him if he was a black belt, no explanation how this situation would help 'one very lonely little girl'. His earlier evaluation about Miki not changing at all was only further confirmed.
Well, the deal had been struck and there was only one thing he could do now. Another sigh escaping his lips, Bruno slipped his phone from his pocket and pulled up his calendar.
Of course.
Miki had magically picked a Saturday where he wasn't working.
Well there went his last hope of having a viable excuse to get out of his deal with the devil.
Fingers moving grudgingly across the touchscreen, Bruno began entering the new event into his calendar. When it came time to name it, he already knew what it was going to be. With a wry smile, he entered it into his calendar, slid his phone back into his pocket, and raised his head just in time to hear the gentle tinkling of the bell above the door announcing the entrance of another, far saner than Miki, customer.
"Welcome," He greeted, "How can I help you today?"
He would have time to worry about 'Miki's Insane Plan' later. After all, it was still a week away and there was no way Miki would suddenly barge into his life after three years and have him do anything too irrational…right?
Bruno shifted his cellphone uncomfortably from one hand to the other, not quite sure what to do with himself. He had arrived at the park precisely at the time Miki had indicated, but so far, there had been no sight of her. Of course, she had never promised him that she would be the one showing up for this meeting (he was pretty sure that no one in their right mind would ever refer to Miki as 'one very lonely little girl'), but he had no idea who else he was supposed to be looking for. The best he had to go on was that it was a girl and that she was, apparently, lonely.
So far, none of those had shown up either. In the time Bruno had sat down on the bench directly at the entrance of the park, he had seen only three people – a young couple walking hand-in-hand as they giggled over a shared secret and a business man who had been deep in heated discussion on his cellphone. Bruno was beginning to doubt that Miki had any sort of plan at all.
But then again, if this wasn't one of Miki's pranks, she could very easily make his life a living hell for breaking his promise.
Wait under the assumption that whoever was supposed to be coming was simply late or risk the wrath of Miki…wait under the assumption that whoever was supposed to be coming was simply late or risk the wrath of Miki…
"I'll wait a few more minutes…" He mumbled aloud to himself as he slipped his phone into his pocket and leaned back in the bench, intending to stare at the clouds as they passed above his head.
Instead, he found himself staring into the face of a young woman.
She had soft brown eyes that were spread wide in surprise; her lips were parted as if she were about to speak; the longer the two of them continued to stare at one another, the more her pale face colored with a luminescent blush.
The seconds dragged on as they continued to stare at one another.
"Uhm…" Bruno began awkwardly, his head still hanging over the back of the bench, "Are you the 'one very lonely little girl' that Miki asked me to meet today?"
His voice seemed to break the girl from a trance as she jumped back, allowing him to right himself so his neck wasn't resting on the back of the bench. He watched as the young girl entered into a deep bow, her long bangs obscuring any view he might have had of her face, "I'm so so so sorry that I'm late! I was actually here earlier but I got nervous and sis had to drag me back and then when I saw you I got even more nervous and I thought maybe I would just give you a tap on the shoulder to get your attention because I thought it might be easier and…"
Although the girl continued to talk, her words had become so muddled by speed and soft volume that Bruno could no longer discern what she was saying. For a few seconds, he simply stared at her still bowed form until her muttering dropped into silence.
"So, you are the one that I'm supposed to be meeting here, right?" Bruno asked before the girl could launch into another string of impossible to understand and follow logic, "And please stop bowing. It makes me feel weird."
"Ah, yes, of course!" The young girl said as she shot out of her bow and righted herself. Now that Bruno had a proper view of her for the first time, he allowed his eyes to trace her figure. She was significantly shorter than him, had a very slight build, had soft pink hair that was pulled back into a long ponytail that disappeared behind her back, and worse a simplistic summer dress covered with a strawberry print. In her hands, she held a picnic basket. The longer he stared at her, the more he realized that he had some sort of vague memory of meeting her before.
"Oh wait…" He said slowly, his mind finally registering where he had seen her, "You're Miki's little sister, aren't you? Iro…uhm…I'm sorry but I don't really remember your name."
"No please, don't worry about it! We haven't really spoken much and it has been several years since either of us saw one another. I'm really sorry if my sister inconvenienced you by asking you to meet with me; I know that people can't often get a full Saturday off. Oh, and my name's Iroha by the way, you know, just so you know and so you're not forced to spend your Saturday with a girl you don't even know the name of."
"No, don't worry about it. I didn't have any plans for today" Bruno responded with an emphatic shake of his head. Well it wasn't entirely true, he would much rather spend an afternoon hanging out with someone than studying for the exam he had on Monday. It didn't hurt that the 'someone' he was hanging out with happened to be a rather cute young woman. "Oh, and my name's Bruno by the way, just so you're not spending your Saturday with a guy you don't even know the name of."
"Thank you for telling me, but Miki already told me. That's…not creepy is it?" Iroha's face clouded over with genuine concern as she began to nervously play with the handle of the picnic basket.
"No, don't worry about it. Actually, it probably just makes things easier."
"Oh good, I'm so glad to hear that!" Iroha responded, a wide grin filling her face and lighting up her features. The smile was so infectious that Bruno found himself smiling in return. He waited for her to continue, but she just smiled up at him, her brown eyes glowing with excitement. Apparently it was up to him to take some sort of initiative.
"So are we going on a picnic?" Bruno asked, indicating the basket she held.
"We don't have to if you don't want to!" Iroha stated hastily, pulling the basket behind her back, "When I told Miki that I had no idea what I was supposed to do with you for an entire day, she suggested a picnic and I really had no reason to disagree with her. Of course if there's something you would rather do, we can do that! I have no problem with it!"
Bruno couldn't help another bemused smile from spreading onto his lips. This girl was the jumpiest person he had ever met; she seemed to be the exact opposite of her assured and loud sister. Pulling himself up from the bench, he gently stretched before once more turning to look at the girl.
"A picnic sounds like fun. Is there any particular place that you would like to eat at?"
"Well…if it's alright with you, there's a picnic area further back in the park that Miki showed me."
"Lead the way."
Iroha gave an uncertain nod of her head and a shaky smile before she began to walk down the dirt road that wound through the park as Bruno fell in step with her. An uncomfortable silence settled between the two of them and any attempt Bruno made at breaking it was met with a polite nod or comment, but nothing further. Instead of pushing the issue, he allowed silence to lapse in as he evaluated the girl next to him and, he noted with amusement, as she continued to steal glances at him.
The only memories he had of Iroha were vague and indistinct – her tagging along with him, Miki, and a couple of their other friends to go see a movie, seeing her in passing the few times that he visited Miki at her home, seeing her hugging and congratulating Miki on graduation day. Before today he had never really sat down and had a conversation with the girl, and now he was expected to spend the whole day with her. It seemed like an impossible task.
But as that thought crossed his mind, his mind once more recalled the bizarre exchange that had occurred with Miki a week earlier. Ignoring for the moment her asking if he was a black belt (he was still trying to decipher how that figured into everything), she had referred to her sister as 'one very lonely little girl'. While she had been obviously shy up to this point, he hadn't found her to be particularly depressive or lonesome. Yet his whole life hadn't he heard how people learned to hide away the symptoms in an attempt at normalcy? Maybe this was the only way Miki thought it was possible to get her sister back to some level of sociability and comfort.
Or it could just be that Miki was trying to hook her sister up.
However, Bruno wanted to believe that, for once in her life, Miki wasn't doing something for her own amusement, but was instead trying to help another human being. If that was the case, he knew that he would do everything in his power to ensure that today was as wonderful for Iroha as possible.
"Here," he heard Iroha's voice sounding for the first time in several minutes, breaking into his thought process. Bruno looked up to find that they had somehow ended up in a clearing dotted with a few picnic tables that looked significantly worse for wear. It was far from a picture perfect place for a picture perfect picnic, but he supposed that fit in well with the situation – awkward place for a picnic for their awkward not-quite-a-date blind date. He gently took the picnic basket from Iroha's hands.
"Then let's get this date started."
At the word 'date', he watched as Iroha's face flared bright red and she began to stutter string after string of meaningless syllables. Amusement driving his actions, Bruno gently took her hand in his as the two of them headed into the picnic area.
"I'm really sorry…"
Iroha's apology came out as little more than a mouse's mumble as she rang her hands in her lap. Bruno was about to explain that she didn't have control of the weather so it wasn't her fault that a freak storm had decided to sweep in, but a deep rumble of thunder ran through the air, causing the young girl to jump and squeak in freight. Her cheeks colored with embarrassment as she mumbled another apology into her shoulder.
Bruno couldn't stop his bad habit of rolling his eyes from kicking in, but he also couldn't stop himself from smiling. The entirety of the afternoon had been spent trying to get Iroha to open up more and stop apologizing for everything. Although it had been a slow and gradual process, the young girl managed to curb in some of her apologizing and grew more comfortable talking to him. By late afternoon, the two of them were talking and laughing as if they were old friends.
Then the freak storm had happened and by the time the two of them managed to find shelter in the form of a playground with a roof they had both been soaked to the bone. Now the two of them sat back to back, huddled under the colorful plastic roof, waiting for the storm to pass. Behind him, he heard Iroha let out a sneeze before apologizing once more.
"You really have nothing to apologize for Iroha," He said kindly as he managed to shuffle around enough so that he was facing the girl in question. Her back was still to him and he realized for the first time just how frozen she must be; she was wearing nothing more than her sundress. Swiftly removing his light jacket, he draped it over the girl's slim shoulders and felt her stiffen in response. When she turned around to look at him, bewilderment showed clearly on her face.
"If you kept sitting there like that, you were going to freeze," He responded with a carefree shrug of his shoulders, "I figured it would be pretty bad form to allow Miki's sister to freeze after she's the one who set up this whole thing."
"But won't you be cold?" Iroha looked up at him, her eyes tracing his now exposed shoulders before she swiftly looked away, a bright blush once more coloring her features, "You're only wearing a tank-top after all…"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"No, we should share it," Iroha said with sudden determination in her voice, "I…well, I figure it would be pretty poor form to allow Miki's friend to freeze after she set this all up for me."
Bruno smiled as Iroha parroted the words he himself had used earlier to defend his actions; apparently she had a stubborn streak, just like her sister.
"All right, I'll concede on this one," He said as he sat next to Iroha and allowed her to gently drape the jacket over the both of them. Because of the height difference and the limited amount of coat to go around, it was impossible to cover both of them and at this point it did little good for either of them.
But Bruno couldn't bring himself to insist that Iroha take the jacket once more; pretending that the jacket actually managed to cover them forced the two of them to sit ridiculously close to one another, their knees pressing together and their hands nearly touching. He could feel her shake against him, but whether it was from the cold or something else, he couldn't quite say.
For several minutes, the only sound in the world was the storm that continued to batter their makeshift shelter and the gentle sound of their breathing.
"You're really warm…"
The sound of Iroha's voice was so quiet and unexpected that Bruno wasn't even sure he had heard her speak. However, the next moment he felt her gently scoot closer to him as she rested her head on his shoulder. To his surprise, Bruno felt his heart rate spike in response – he had only really 'met' her today, there was no way he could already have feelings for her…his mind was suddenly empty as he desperately searched for the proper response to this advance.
Apparently his body wasn't as befuddles as his mind as his hand came to rest on top of Iroha's. Silence fell between them again, but this time it was warm and inviting; it was the silence of two people simply enjoying one another's company. The longer the two of them sat there in this state, the quicker Bruno's heart seemed to beat.
Despite his misgivings and attempts at convincing himself otherwise, he realized he was developing feelings for this 'one very lonely little girl'. Calling it love would have been both presumptuous and premature, but it was the emotion was definitely something he wished to explore further.
"Hey Iroha," he said quietly, careful not to jostle the young woman. The only response he received was a sleepy sounding mumble of acknowledgement. Once more, Bruno found himself smiling. "Are you sleeping?" He teased gently.
Suddenly, she sprang away from him, jumping to her feet and slamming her head on the low, plastic ceiling. Bruno saw her wince in pain before she quickly hid it away by entering into a deep bow.
"I'm really sorry! You were just so warm and the sound of the rain on the roof was just so calming and rain always makes me sleepy and…"
As he words disintegrated into mumbling, Bruno couldn't help himself. He started laughing. Iroha looked at him confused, as a few nervous and uncertain giggles also escaped her lips.
"We've ended up right back where we started," Bruno managed as he gained control of his laughter.
"I guess we have," Iroha replied with a weak smile.
"Well…maybe not exactly where we started," he said softly.
"You mean because it's raining and we're hiding away in a children's jungle gym?"
"That's…not exactly what I was talking about," Bruno said carefully before he threw all caution to the wind and grabbed Iroha's hands, pulling her gently downward so they were once more sitting next to one another. He waited until she met his eyes before continuing, "What I mean is that my feelings towards you have changed."
Expectedly, the young woman's face flared bright red and she immediately diverted her eyes. When she spoke, it was only in a whisper, "What are you talking about?"
"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want to go on a date with you - an official not set up by Miki one. You don't have to commit yourself to liking me or anything like that, just give me a chance." Bruno realized that he was pleading, but he found himself unable to care.
To his surprise, he felt her slip his hands from her grip and pull them to her chest. Her entire body seemed to be shaking, but Bruno had no idea what was the source. Instead, he simply watched intently as he waited for a response. Either he would go home with a promise for another date or a slightly bruised heart.
Suddenly, every muscle within his body tensed as his honed sense of danger picked up on an incoming attack. His conscious mind stepped back and allowed his body to react, his hand flew to protect his face and a split second latter he felt a fist slam into his flesh. His body easily absorbed the shock of the impact as he waited for another punch to be thrown. None came.
Instead, his ears registered the sound of Iroha's surprised gasp.
"You…you're not passed out! I didn't deck you in the face!" Iroha's face glowed with excitement and shock as she kept looking from her fist, which was held in Bruno's palm, to Bruno's face.
"Uhm…no I'm not. But I do think it's fair that I ask you what in the hell just happened," He said, his confusion only growing. How had this situation gone from asking a girl on a date to almost being decked in the face?
"Whenever a boy asks me out, I get so nervous and worried that my brain just freaks out and I end up punching them in the face. I-I have freakish strength and every time they ended up knocked out. But this time it didn't happen! This time I didn't knock you out!"
Ah, so that's why Miki had asked him if he had a black belt.
Before Bruno had time to further consider the implications of what had just happened, he heard the sound of sobbing covering up the sound of the still falling rain. Iroha was crying. Acting on an instinct he wasn't even aware was there, he took the frail looking girl into his arms and held her tight. For her part, the girl in question just clung desperately to him as her sobs grew in intensity.
"Thank you, thank you so much! I, I, I never thought that I would be able to accept a confession like a normal girl. Thank you so much Bruno."
Bruno fought back the urge to point out that the 'confession' the two of them had just shared was anything but normal and instead gently traced circles along the girl's back as she continued to hiccup in his embrace. He waited for the girl's tears to die down before he released her and looked at her face. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but a genuine smile dance across her features.
"I guess I'll take that as a yes?" He asked.
Iroha nodded her head so vigorously that he couldn't help but laugh before taking her into his embrace once more. Well, at least there was one less 'lonely little girl' in the world, even if she wasn't quiet lonely for the reasons he had expected. Despite himself, Bruno couldn't help a smile from spreading on his face as he gently teased the girl in his embrace.
"So the next time I ask you out, should I expect to be punched again?"
A/N: ...Over the years, I have become so much worse at writing fluff.