Title: Insecurities

Pairing: Marui/Kirihara

Rating: G

Summary: Kirihara wanted to know why, but Marui kept evading the question.

A/N: An ultimate drabble. It's so damn short, and full of fluff. I love Maruihara to bits. I love MaruiNiou too, but Maruihara is love. Marui should be given more credit. It's a crime to ignore him. :)

Reviews are gladly accepted.

Insecurities

By: Blufox

"Then why me?" Akaya said.

He risked the chance of being caught, and decided to steal a glance at Marui before lifting up his left hand and looking at the silver band wrapped around his ring finger. Marui just handed that to him earlier that day and he could have sworn that he'd feel less insecure if the self-proclaimed tensai handed it to him with a blush on his face, or if any act of sweetness or sincerity could be seen in his action. But instead, his senpai happened to have chosen the way of throwing the box right at his forehead and making him wear the ring by himself.

He knew that Marui was far from being romantic, but he could have expected him to be at least a little bit sweeter on their first anniversary date. Akaya could have sworn he'd a have a list more of things to complain about how bad their anniversary is going when Marui decided to answer back.

"Whaddy'ya mean?" he said before making a huge pop.

The least thing Akaya wanted to do right now was to act like an insecure lover, but with the way things were going, he doubt if he'd be able to last.

"I mean…" he began, "why me?"

It took him only a second to realize that he just repeated his question, and an additional half second after realizing his mistake when he felt Marui's fist hitting his right cheek. For a second there, we was expecting Marui to walk out and leave him alone like he always does when he's feeling insecure, but instead, Marui positioned himself lying partly on top of Akaya, making his stomach a pillow under the shade of the oak tree.

Slowly gathering his guts, Akaya decided to explain himself. "Jackal-senpai likes you. Last week, I heard Yagyuu-senpai having an argument with Niou-senpai after he caught him staring at you for too long. And I'm willing to bet my life that if it weren't for buchou's deadly glare, fukobuchou would have long asked you for a date," Akaya said forlornly. He was about to stop yapping when he remembered something and immediately added "And that Hyotei-boy had been stalking you for three years in a row!" in an obviously bitter voice.

Akaya knew that Marui hated it when he was acting possessive, but he couldn't help himself. He was about to apologize for his words when Marui suddenly corrected him.

"Actually…" he started then blew a pop. "Akutugawa had been following me for four years. But I wouldn't say he's stalking me though," he finished with an all teeth smile, leading Akaya to release a growl.

"Not helping!" he said, throwing Marui off his stomach.

Marui slowly massaged his head and then forced himself to use the trunk of the tree to lay his back on instead. As much as he's concerned, Akaya wasn't making sense at all. The urge to leave him behind was something that Marui had been willing to do minutes ago, but he figured that it was their first anniversary and the least thing that he can do is to be patient. As he tried to avoid letting out a sigh, Marui decided to blow up another bubble before finally breaking off the silence.

"What's your point, brat?" he asked.

Akaya wanted to cry, but fought as much as he can to fight the welling of his eyes. Marui was the densest person in the world. Most of time, Akaya even doubted that they're together. Up until this point, he addresses Marui as senpai, as Marui addresses him as brat, after the tensai insisted that it would stand as their "pet name" for one another. He wanted to say that it sucked and that he preferred calling Marui "Bunta" or even "koi", but he knew that Marui would only laugh at his face and tell him how girly he acts. Trying to ignore his frustration, Akaya decided to give it a try.

"They all like you, senpai."

Akaya felt Marui shrug his shoulders, acting as if what he heard was something of common knowledge.

"So what? You're feeling insecure, then?" Marui said as he teased Akaya who was trying his best to hide his blushing face, but failed to do so.

When Marui received no response, he immediately ruffled Akaya's curly locks, took his arm, and dragged him all day.

Akaya didn't seem to bother that the topic was dropped. Marui didn't seem to like the topic anyway, so he reasoned that he should just ignore his insecurities and enjoy Marui's company instead of sulking and thinking of things that he shouldn't be worrying about.

At the end of the day, Akaya insisted on walking Marui home even though Marui kept reminding Akaya that he was older and that he's not a girl. Akaya, however succeeded in this argument, and later got a bonus when Marui's mother insisted that he it's too late and that he should stay over that night. She prepared the guest futon and fixed it in Marui's room even though all three of them were aware that Akaya always shared Marui's bed.

After they took a bath, both of them slumped their body on top of the bed and snuggled closely to each other. It has been a long day, and to say that they were exhausted may turn out to be an understatement. But it was seconds before Akaya felt his eyes giving up when he heard Marui whisper something to his ear—an answer that was directly connected to his question not so long ago.

He would have answered back if he weren't tired, but he was. And he figured that he'd ruin the moment if Marui would know that he's awake. But as drowned himself to sleep, the four words Marui said kept bouncing inside his head.

"Because I love you."

FIN