Title: Pigtail's romance
Pairing: AkarixAkatsuki
Genre: Fluff, Humour, Romance
Summary: Set at time when Ai is Akari's trainee. Ai studies the special relationship between Akari and Akatsuki, especially his presence in their breakfast.
A/N: HOLY FISHPASTE! This is the first fanfic I've written in about a year and a half and possibly my first anime fic! I was inspired after watching a couple episodes of Aria and I've always loved the AkarixAkatsuki pairing! There needs to be more fanfics about those two~ Anyways, I didn't even proof-read this and just typed away in one go in the last 3 hours. Plot bunny made a doodoo in my head and this was the result. I hope you guys like it! It should've been longer as I had more stuff that I wanted to add buts it's 6 am here and well, a girl has to sleep. Please read and comment! Constructive criticism is fine but please don't be sharks! .; Enjoy! (P.S I'm opting this to be multi-chaptered though it's more like a drabble but whatever, there'll be more parts to come in the... uh... not near future! lol)
Ai fluttered her eyelashes and was greeted with the rays of the morning sun. She smiled unknowingly and a yawn escaped her lips. The birds outside her window sang in reply and she rose languidly, stretching her arms into the air.
"Good morning~~" she said to no one in particular.
A scruffling from the corner of her room attracted her attention and she turned her head and was presented with President Aria's backside. She laughed brightly and called to the cat. "President Aria, good morning~"
President Aria turned his head and mewled adorably at the girl. He turned back to the front, a wooden box in front of him, and grabbed the picture frame with his mouth. He ran towards Ai's bed and jumped to its foot, successfully landing on the feet of the undine.
"What do you have there, President Aria?" asked Ai, receiving the wooden frame that the cat handed to her. She gave a little pat on the cat's head as he then crawled next to her and stared at the picture with her.
"Ah, it's Akari-san and everyone!" Ai exclaimed. The photo consisted of Akari and her friends. The photo showed signs of old as Aika's blue locks of hair were still cropped short and Al was next to her, barely over reaching her height. It must have been a few years back before I became a trainee.
She knew everyone in the photo and Ai couldn't help but smile at everyone's younger appearances. Though she had lived mostly at Man-Home (known as Earth), she was updated with Akari's and everyone's life through her emails. She could see and feel the lively events that took place in their lives and changes in Neo-Venezia as if she were there. In the picture, Alicia stood behind Akari and radiated with her angelic warm smile. Akira and Athena weren't found far as they posed near her, Akira's arm around them and Athena gazing lovely at the camera.
Aika and Alice were in the front along with Akari, huddled together with bright smiles plastered on their faces. Hints of red adorned Alice as she presented the camera with a bashful smile while Aika held her head high and boldly gazed at the camera, a smirk playing on her lips. Ai giggled to this and finally studied her teacher, Akari. Not much has changed from then to now with her Akari teacher. She still wore her silly but natural smile with President Aria in her arms with her long pink hair being pulled by Akatsuki.
Akatsuki.
Ai followed the pink tresses of Akari and stared at Akatsuki. Akatsuk sat cross-legged in front of Akari and plastered toothy grin at the camera. His hand was raised up in the air and was slightly pulling on the sides of Akari's long hair. Ai noticed the Akari's slightly furrowed brows that she didn't notice earlier and glared at Akatsuki at the photo. Even then, he was already teasing her.
During the first time she met Akatsuki, through Akari's emails, Ai already felt there was special connection between her teacher and Akatsuki. His job was an apprentice Salamander that maintains the climate of Neo-Venezia and when she met him during New Years, he was exactly like what Akari wrote in her emails, forever calling Akari "Pigtails" and forever pulling on them as well.
Ai always wondered what exactly the relationship between the two. Akari and Akatsuki definitely had a special relationship but she couldn't quite put a name to it. Ai looked at the goofy smile and burrowed frows of Akari and the toothy grin of Akatsuki.
There was something definitely.
After a deliberation of determining the relationship between her teacher and Akatsuki, Ai finally gave up and assumed her morning ritual. She took a warm shower and dressed herself in undine clothes. President Aria wa pressed against the windows playing(?) or rather falsely acting brave in front of the birds whom she knew the cat was really scared of. She chuckled how President Aria made sure to lock the window hatch to prevent the birds from coming in.
"Ai-chan~! Breakfast!" called Akari from downstairs. Ai immediately responded with her coming and she grabbed her white undine hat and President Aria followed her. Her padded footsteps and the small thuds of President Aria's sprint emanated and they turned the corner as they reached the landing of the steps.
Ai smiled at the exhausted cat next to her and they walked to the kitchen. She faced the day with her smile and slowed her steps when she heard small talk in the kitchen.
"-stopped by. What's for breakfast, Pigtails?"
"Ah, Akatsuki-san. I'm not Pigtails."
"Semantics. Ooh, sausages and eggs, my favourite."
Ai entered the kitchen and saw Akari and Akatsuki facing each other as Akatsuki grabbed a nearby fork and speared a sausage into his mouth. He beamed a pleasant grin to the girl in front of him and situated himself into the chair opposite of her.
He was here again.
"Good morning, Akari-san, Akatsuki-san."
Both persons turned their heads at her direction and Akari immediately smiled at her tenderly and greeted her back. "Good morning, Ai-chan."
President Aria shuffled past her and toward the two. And just like yesterday, or any other day for that matter, President Aria climbed up Akatsuki's chair, past his shoulders and situated himself on top of his head. President Aria always ate breakfast on the top of Akatsuki's head.
"Y-yo, brat." Akatsuki struggled as the cat on top of his head leaned from side to side.
Ai smiled in return and placed her usual spot next to Akari. The delicous aroma of fried sausages and eggs filled the air and crisp smell of tea and coffee blended in. Ai felt her stomach stir and started to dig in.
"Itadakimasu", they all said.
All three of them began to eat. Akatsuki briskly attacked the eggs and with his free hand, picked up a sausage and lifted it to his head, prompting for President Aria to eat. The cat hugely opened its mouth and devoured the sausage in one bite with Akatsuki's whole hand in his mouth.
Akatsuki grumbled to this but nevertheless, grabbed another sausage and offered it to the cat on his head. Akari giggled to this and went back to eating her salad. Ai watched the silent interaction between the two and nibbled on her chopsticks.
Their mornings, especially breakfast, always started out like this. There were days, just like today, where Ai would come down for breakfast with Akatsuki already in the kitchen and teasing Akari. He would prop a lazy elbow on the countertop that led to the outside and rested his hand on the palm as he ushered Akari to make their breakfast.
"Hurry up, Pigtails. I need to go to work!"
"Ehhhhh? I'm going as fast as I can!"
Akari, in her attempt to quicken her pace, would accidentally spill or drop something and Akatsuki would secretly smile or even laugh and immediately tease her. Her teacher would whine adorably, as Akari always does unknowingly, and Akatsuki would cross the kitchen and start to help out.
Eventually, he would always help out.
Ai didn't remember when Akatsuki joining them for breakfast became a norm. She remembered the first day he came to them for breakfast and reasoned that his older brother hadn't let him borrow any money and therefore he became a starving man. He surprised Akari with a "Big Double Pigtails Attack" then and pulled both Akari's pink long side hair. That was the first day of the everyday pigtail attack.
There were also days when Ai came for breakfast and Akatsuki wouldn't be there... yet. Akari always prepared their breakfast before Ai would wake up and on days when Akatsuki was late, her teacher would sit at the table and wait for him. Most of the times, even if Akatsuki were late, they would eat together. But there were also times when she would eat a few nimbles of food and wait for Akatsuki to arrive before fully eating. Akatsuki would reach them panting and huffing exhaustedly as he exclaims his arrival at their store.
"ORE-SAMA. IS. HERE!", he would yell in between pants. Akari would always smile and greet him and direct him to his seat opposite of her. Of course, even from the exhaustion of running, he would always tug at one lock of Akari's hair and greet her, "Morning' Pigtails."
Ai continued to watch the man diagonally across from her and Akari next to her. Akari was smiling (as always) and continued to eat her salad. A sausage was suddenly placed at Akari's bowl and both girls nearly missed Akatsuki's grumblings of "Eat, you're too skinny."
The pink haired girl stared at the long-haired man in front and her and then broke into an appreciating, warm smile. She picked up the sausage with her chopsticks and consumed it in her mouth. Akari smiled once more and thanked him, eliciting a flush of crimson to run across Akatsuki's cheeks as he mutters, "...but your face is chubby."
"Eeeeeeehhhh?" Akari moaned in confusion but nevertheless still smiled after.
Ai couldn't help but smile as well and she resumed eating and reminiscing. On the rare days that Akatsuki didn't join them for breakfast, and Ai would know when there's no extra plate on their table and President Aria would sit at his seat, her teacher didn't change and was her usual whimsical self. She prepared their breakfast and she and Akari would exchange stories just like any other day. During these times, Akatsuki would often call and tell them that he can't join them for breakfast.
"PIGTAILS!" Akatsuki would scream into the phone and a holographic image of him in a square would show up.
"A-Akatsuki-san!" would Akari reply as she always become startled by the black haired man's yelling.
"icantjoinbreakfastmystupidolderbrotherwantsmetoco meinearlyandworkonsomenewnewstuffughorelsehewontle tmeborrowmoney! iswearthatmanisouttotortureme-
"A-Akatsuki-san", Akari would cut in as she tries to calm down the fervent man on the phone. "It's okay. We can save you some leftovers."
The blackhaired man would stare at Akari across of him and become even more enraged. "BUTIWANTTOEATWITHYOUANDTHEBRAT! iwanttoeatwiththatstupidcatontopofmyhead! THIS ORE-SAMA WANTS TO EAT THE BREAKFAST YOU MADE!"
And sometimes, he was too cheesy in the mornings in Ai's opinion. But the smile that she would see on her teacher's face right after was the reason she didn't mind Akatsuki in their home. Because Akari would give the kindest, loving smile different from her usual, earnest smile she always has on. This loving smile was slightly different and was reserved only for Akatsuki.
"Your brother always believes in your skills, Akatsuki-san."
And sometimes, Akari was still so naive and Ai knew that Akatsuki would get frustratedly speechless and distracted as that was not the reply he was looking for.
"But...," Akari would continue on, "thank you for always caring to call and tell us. Ai-chan, President Aria and I will miss your presence at the table."
And everytime, Akari would always say something that even those simple statements would fuel the heart and mouth of the man. Akatsuki would flush in red and stutter incoherent sentences as Akari would get confused and calm him down. And as he ends his long call to the pink-haired girl, Akatsuki woulds aways end it with a whispered promise and determined eyes, "I'll be there later."
And Akatsuki has never broken any promise as far as Ai remembered.