A.N: I've had this idea for a while and finally got it actually done. At first I wondered if it'd even reach 1000 words but it turned out to be a bit over 3000... heh. Ryo and Matsuri are my favorite couple in 7 Seeds so I thought I should write something about them... does anyone else feel like doing the same? I'd love to read more 7 Seeds fics.
Disclaimer: I don't own 7 Seeds
Just the Way You Are
Matsuri sighed, watching Ryo (trying to) teach Semimaru how to raise the sails properly. She truly liked him, the quiet and reliable Ryo-kun. Her current problem was that he hadn't been paying much attention to her lately. It's not like he was ignoring her or anything, the situation wasn't that bad, but he only paid attention to her if she did so first to him.
"And here I thought we've gotten closer... I suppose it was just forced by the situation" she thought, sighing. What could she do to get his attention?
"Matsuri-chan, is something wrong?" Natsu asked hesitantly as she came over, having noticed the other girl sighing quite a lot.
"Nat-chan..." she muttered weakly, looking at the other girl "Do you think I'm ugly?"
"Huh?" she asked, surprised by the sudden question "Well um... I never followed fashion or any trends or anything so I don't really know about that stuff... but I don't think you're that bad..."
"..." Matsuri realized that Natsu might not be the best person to ask from.
"Um, why are you asking?"
"Ryo-kun keeps ignoring me" Matsuri whined, quiet enough so the guys wouldn't hear her "How can I get his attention?"
"Erm..." Natsu didn't really know what to say to that. She wasn't exactly and expert in these things.
"...maybe you're not the best person to ask from" the usually so cheerful girl realized "It's like asking Chimaki-chan about sports or something."
"Sorry..."
"Ah, no offence Nat-chan, this just aint your thing" Matsuri said quickly, noticing that she'd offended her friend "You might not be much of help but you're a good listener and I appreciate that, really."
"Thank you"
"Don't mention it" Matsuri said "Anyway, back to my problem; do you have any suggestions?"
Natsu sweat dropped, feeling that their conversation just few seconds ago had already left Matsuri's memory. Or did she just fail to see the connection?
"Well uh... what do you usually do?" Natsu asked. She knew Matsuri tried to talk to Ryo every chance she got, but what she tried to talk about was beyond her knowledge "Can't you just continue that?"
"Well I usually try to start a conversation about anything I can, but well..." Matsuri sighed, defeated "It's not working."
"Um well m-maybe you should give him some space... I mean things like this don't happen just like that..." Natsu said, trying not to sound too rude. She knew she was pretty much calling the other girl impatient.
"I know, but that's just not who I am" Matsuri said, bringing her hands in the air "I'm a woman of action! Patient waiting just isn't my thing!"
That was easy to believe.
"I'd try a changing my appearance, but I have a limited amount of clothes and no make up... and I don't wanna cut my hair, either." Matsuri thought aloud, frowning "Any ideas, Nat-chan?"
"Uh... well..." Natsu bit her lip. She really wanted to help, to be useful, but she had no idea what to do. Fortunately she spotted Chimaki painting something again out of the corner of her eye, which gave her an idea.
"Maybe you could borrow some of Chimaki-san's paint" she said. Matsuri gave her a confused look, which is why she quickly continued: "I mean some of it might be usable as make up... I think. I mean I'm not really good at these things."
"That's a great idea!" Matsuri yelled, jumping up and startling Natsu in the process "I'll do just that."
"What's a great idea?" Semimaru asked as he came over, dragging Ryo with him in the process "Spit it out you two."
"Umm..."
"No way!" Matsuri refused, sticking her tongue out at Semimaru "its girl talk."
"Girl talk?" Semimaru questioned "Is now really the right time for that?"
"It's always time for that" Matsuri answered, taking Natsu's arm "Let´s go Nat-chan. Chimaki-cha~n!"
"So she counts Chimaki as a girl?" Semimaru asked.
"I'm actually not that surprised" Ryo said "Let's go."
"After the girls?"
"No, back to the sails" Ryo replied, irritated. Semimaru sighed.
"Aye aye boss"
XXXXX
"Done!" Matsuri cheered. She had successfully gotten some paint from Chimaki and just had her makeup done "What'cha think, Nat-chan?"
"Matsuri-chan, you're great at this" the other girl replied "You'd have made a great beautician!"
"Thanks!" Matsuri chirped "Do you want some too?"
"Eh?!" Natsu let out, surprised "I-I'm not exactly used to this sort of stuff..."
"It's okay; I'll do it for you!" Matsuri said excitedly "C'mon Nat-chan, please!"
"Uhh..." she wasn't so sure about this. She backed away a few steps, but couldn't come up with anything to say, so in the end she gave up "Okay."
"Yay!" she cheered "Now sit here so I can get to work!"
Natsu laughed nervously but did as she was told anyway. Maybe it'd be alright... maybe.
XXXXX
"Gather up guys!"Semimaru called from the kitchen, hitting the pot with a spoon "Time to eat!"
Soon everyone was there save for Natsu and Matsuri.
"Where the heck are those two?" Semimaru wondered "Still having their girl talk?"
"Girl talk?" Arashi asked. Semimaru shrugged saying: "Ask Chimaki."
The swimmer raised an eyebrow at the artist, but he just shrugged.
"Dunno"
"Gah, whatever!" Semimaru said "Oi Matsuri, Natsu! Haul your asses over here so we can eat!"
"We're coming!" Matsuri yelled, dragging silently protesting Natsu with her "Tadaa!"
Everyone turned to look at them, registering their makeup fast.
"Impressive Matsuri; you would have made a great beautician" Botan said "I couldn't do it that well even if I had proper equipment."
"You two look beautiful" Hotaru said.
"Damn straight!" Semimaru said "Even the forever child Natsu looks somewhat feminine."
"That's rude, Semimaru" Arashi said "Don't worry about him Natsu; you look great!"
Matsuri laughed with the others as Natsu blushed and Semimaru glared at Arashi.
"What's the point in messing up your faces like that?" Ango asked. The others, with the exception of Ryo, looked at him oddly.
"That guy's never heard of makeup" Semimaru muttered.
"Ango-kun, I think you have a big gap in general knowledge" Matsuri said with a snicker "It's to make us look better."
"Well it certainly isn't working" Ryo said suddenly as he looked at Matsuri "Especially on you."
A deep silence followed. Even Ango looked at Ryo with a surprised face, knowing that that wasn't the best thing to say. Matsuri stared, the smile from earlier having frozen on her face even though she now felt like crying. Out of the eight of them, Semimaru was the first to recover.
"Ryo-chin, you can't say things like that to girls!" he yelled "Have a heart, will you!"
"Matsuri-chan..." Natsu muttered as she looked at the other girl. Thanks to her concern for her friend she barely registered that she had been insulted as well, but she didn't really care about it. But she knew Matsuri had a crush on Ryo.
"Aw shucks, looks like I'm a little rusty!" the pig tailed girl said "The next one's gonna be better."
"Matsuri-"
"Well then, time to eat!" she cheered "Semi-chan, food!"
The others exchanged looks, but decided against saying anything. They knew Matsuri took it harder than she showed, but if she didn't make a number of it then they wouldn't either. She'd be fine.
XXXXX
The next morning Matsuri decided to use even heavier makeup. She wasn't going to overdo it, but it'd certainly be anything but unnoticeable.
"Let's see what he thinks of this!"
"Matsuri-chan, are you okay?" Natsu asked worriedly. Nobody mentioned it, but all the women noticed Matsuri crying last night in her bed.
"Yep!" the other girl said "I'll just do better this time!"
When Natsu didn't say anything Matsuri turned around. She and her friend stared at each other for a while before the other one sighed.
"Well I'm a bit down about what Ryo-kun said, but that just means he's got high standards" she said "I aint giving up before he thinks that I look good!"
Natsu kept quiet, not knowing what to say. By now her social skills were good enough so she could tell Matsuri wasn't as fine as she said, but not good enough to know what to say or do.
"Uh... good luck"
"Thanks!" Matsuri beamed "I'm done; time to fight!"
"F-fight?" Natsu questioned.
"Fight for his love" Matsuri said, winking "You do your best, too!"
"B-but I don't-"too late, Matsuri was already out of the door. She ran across the deck as she immediately spotted Ango and Ryo by the railing, discussing about something.
"Ango-kun, Ryo-kun!" she called out to get their attention "What do you think?"
Before Ango could tell his opinion, Ryo blurted out: "Still terrible."
"Ryo..."
Matsuri managed to keep the smile on her face, but she was disappointed. Ryo took out his handkerchief, handing it to the girl: "Wipe your face."
"Right" Matsuri said, the smile slowly melting away as she did as told "Thanks, Ryo-kun."
"What'cha doing, Matsuri?" Semimaru asked as he came over "Just wiping off some make up."
The redhead stared at her for a while before glancing at Ryo, getting quite good picture of the situation.
"It won't come off like that; go wash your face" he said. Matsuri made eye contact with him for a split second before giving him a grateful smile "Thanks, Semi-chan."
When Semimaru was sure Matsuri was out of hearing range he turned to Ryo.
"The hell'd you say this time, Ryo-chin?!" Ryo stared for a while, annoyed, before saying: "I didn't say anything but the truth. And she didn't seem too angry about it; she was smiling, wasn't she?"
"You idiot!" Semimaru hissed "Chicks don't always show their true feelings, you know" he face palmed, muttering under his breath "And people call me stupid..."
"Because you are" Ango said "...but at times Ryo isn't any better."
"Excuse me?" he asked "Then what are you suggesting I do, if you´re not stupid like us?"
"Dude, you're dense!" Semimaru said dramatically "Just go and apologize!"
"As weird as it is to say, Semimaru´s right" Ango said "Go apologize to her."
"I have no reason to do so" Ryo said, walking away despite Semimaru's loud protests. He didn't want to deal with that at the moment. As he went under the deck he passed by the toilet, hearing quiet sobbing from inside.
"It's a woman's voice. Hotaru and Natsu were on the deck and it doesn't sound like Botan, so that leaves-"he sighed, irritated "Matsuri."
Alright, maybe Semimaru was right about her not liking what he said, but it's not like he did anything wrong. That paint made her look terrible; she looked better without it. That was his opinion and he wasn't going to change it. What was her problem anyway? It was just one person's opinion; it shouldn't matter that much.
"Whatever; it's not my problem" he thought. Just as he was about to continue his way deeper in to the ship the toilet door opened, colliding with his face.
"Huh?" Matsuri looked behind the door as she heard it collide with something "Ryo-kun!? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine" he answered, holding his bloody nose. He couldn't believe he'd gotten lost in thought like that and hadn't been able to notice the door opening.
"You're bleeding" Matsuri realized "You need to stop the blood... uh..." she remembered she still hand Ryo's handkerchief "Here!"
"Thanks" Ryo said, pressing it to his nose as he walked to the living area, sitting down. Matsuri had followed him and was now nervously standing next to the couch, eyeing her crush.
"Ryo-kun?"
"What?"
"Are you mad?" Matsuri asked. Ryo looked at her, but she was looking at her shoes instead of him. She didn't meet his eyes.
"It wasn't your fault; I should've paid attention" Ryo said, sighing "I really need to pull myself together; lack of attention can cost one's life."
Matsuri blinked, raising her head to see Ryo, but he wasn't looking at her anymore. He seemed to be lost in thought.
"Ryo-kun, are you okay?"
"I'm fine" he answered. Looking up at her, he asked: "And what about you?"
"Huh?"
"What is up with you, messing up your face like that?" he asked "That's by far the weirdest thing I've seen you doing. Is it supposed to protect from sunburn or something?"
Matsuri sweat dropped. Hadn't they talked about this already?
"Like I've said it's to make me look better... or it's meant to do so, anyway" she said, quietly muttering the last part "It seems it's not working."
"Took you long enough to notice" Ryo said "Stop wasting your time with it."
Matsuri bit her lip. She didn't want to make Ryo mad, but giving up wasn't her thing either.
"Nope" she said "I'll be able to make it work next time!"
"Matsuri-"
"No worries; I can do it" she assured "I can do it right now!"
Matsuri was out of the room before Ryo had the chance to say anything. He sighed, moving the handkerchief from his nose. Why did he even bother? It's not like Matsuri's ridiculous little hobby was harming anyone; it was just an eyesore. A very annoying one at that.
"I'll just get this over with so it won't bother me anymore" he decided, standing up and leaving for the bathroom where Matsuri was most likely to be.
XXXXX
Matsuri frowned, trying to concentrate as she looked at herself from the mirror. She had to get it right this time; she'd definitely get it right this time. Ryo would like this version. From the mirror she could see the door starting to open, so she snapped: "Don't come in!"
"Aren't you just painting your face? What's the problem?" Ryo asked from the other side, but stopped opening the door anyway.
"I'm not done yet; it looks stupid" she explained. At the moment she felt that even Semimaru understood her and women in general better than Ryo.
"It's going to look stupid anyway, isn't it?" Ryo asked, opening the door after not getting an answer in a while. It was not like Matsuri to stay quiet. She had her head down so Ryo couldn't see her face from the mirror.
"Ryo-kun..." she muttered, turning to face the man with tears in her eyes "You idiot!"
The only thing Ryo could do was blink in surprise. He hadn't been called an idiot ever before. Sadist? Yeah. Bastard? Many times. Troublemaker? He lost count long time ago. Masochist? Well, once, but an idiot? Never. He didn't even have the chance to question her as she ran past him, disappearing along the hallway. He stared after her, wondering if he should follow. He still didn't feel like he'd done anything wrong, but he was a little curios of why Matsuri acted the way she did. He guessed her to be in the women's cabin and was right.
"Care to tell me why I am an idiot?" he questioned the girl lying on her bed after closing the door.
"..."
Ryo stared at her for a while longer, trying to figure out why he even bothered. Was it because there weren't that many people alive and a big part of those few that were hated him already? Yeah, he and Ango couldn't afford making more enemies than they already had. He walked over to her, sitting on the bed.
"Go away Ryo-kun" Matsuri muttered, her voice half muffled by the pillow her face was on. Now this was a first; usually it was him trying to get rid of her, not the other way around. It was not like Ryo to give up midway but then again, what was he doing here in the first place? Without a word he stood up to leave, but was stopped as Matsuri grabbed a hold of his arm.
"...I didn't mean it." Ryo sighed, saying: "Sometimes you are even more trouble than Semimaru."
"...sorry" she muttered, burying her face deeper in to the pillow. Ryo sat next to her on the bed, asking: "Did you clean up your face?"
"..." Ryo took that as a no. After taking a handkerchief from his pocket, a clean one, not the bloody one, he easily pulled Matsuri up on her knees with just one hand on her shoulder. Maybe a bit too fast since she let out a yelp of surprise, flailing her arms around to gain her balance. One hand on her shoulder Ryo wiped Matsuri's face with the other. Matsuri blushed; she could've done it herself.
"Not that it actually matters" Ryo spoke suddenly "But stop doing that; it's ridiculous and waste of time."
"But-"
"And it doesn't even work" Ryo pointed out, dealing the final blow "So forget about it."
"...okay" Matsuri said with a sigh, defeated. So much for that idea. Ryo stopped wiping her face, putting the handkerchief aside. Taking Matsuri's chin in his now free left hand, he inspected her face.
"W-what?" she asked, a blush creeping across her face once more. Ryo didn't answer for a while, making sure he'd really gotten all the paint of her face.
"Much better" he muttered, more to himself than to Matsuri.
"Huh?"
"Your face" Ryo clarified bluntly "You don't need to mess it up like that; you're fine just the way you are."
It took about three seconds before the words sunk in for Matsuri and when they did her blush deepened, her face becoming a very dark shade of red.
"Your face is red" Ryo stated the obvious, touching her forehead "You don't seem to have a fever so it's probably an allergic reaction; you should've stopped doing that sooner."
"I-I'm fine" she said, pushing his hands away "Thanks, Ryo-kun."
As Matsuri started to get off the bed her legs got tangled with the sheets, making her fall. Yelping, she took a hold of Ryo's arm by reflex. His reflexes were as good as ever as he grabbed Matsuri's arm, yanking her back with a bit too much force as she was pretty much on his lap now. Before she could even thank him the door opened with Natsu and Arashi standing in the doorway. The two stared for a moment before blushing, Natsu way more so than Arashi.
"Sorry for interrupting" he apologized before closing the door, hurrying off with Natsu.
"It's not what you think!" Matsuri yelled, almost falling again as she got off "Guys!"
"What are you going on about now?" Ryo questioned, having not even considered that the position they'd been in could have been misunderstood.
"Don't worry about it!" Matsuri said, running off "Nat-chan, Arashi-kun, wait up!"
Ryo sighed; he'd probably never be able to learn what she was thinking but then again, maybe that was partly the reason he was so drawn to her at times.
"Well" he thought "At least she got my point."
A.N: To be honest the whole idea for this one shot left from a single scene; the idea of Ryo telling Matsuri that she is fine just the way she is and then I started to build a short story around it. Did I make Matsuri seem a bit too shallow?
P.S: It took me a ridiculous amount of time to actually write the word "handkerchief" right when I first tried.