Just have one thing to say: Belated happy birthday to my sweet Colo-senpai :3
She cursed everything about him. His blond tresses that seems to glimmer wildly underneath the cold-blooded sun; his magnificent blue eyes that appears to make the light from above dance with sickening delight; and, moreover, his smile that could make any hard feelings—most specifically hers—melt away into a soft, mushy ball of hysteria that makes her nauseous.
And yet she can't stop thinking about him.
But, no, she won't say she's in love with him.
"Hey, Lal!" he greeted, his usual low voice rising into a childish tone to which she despises. "What are you doing, kora?"
"I'm dancing, Colonello," she monotonously replied, not taking her eyes off the stacks of paper in front of her. In some instances, she would glance shortly at the paper in her hand, and then glance back at the stacks of papers. This became her method for the past three hours, which is why it became a surprise to her when she looked back and found the piece of paper missing.
"Honestly, Lal," the blond Italian mock-sighed while waving the piece of paper in his hand. "You're overworking yourself again, kora…"
"Give the paper back," she growled, holding her hand out calmly for it.
Colonello thought for a moment, and then playfully shook his head with a teasing smile, much to the other's irritation. She quickly reached up to grab it, but his reflex acted quickly, and rose the paper where it was unreachable for her.
"I'm going to count to three," she warned. Colonello just smirked, making it look like he didn't care. As a matter of fact, instead of apologizing, he just smiled a goofy smile as he playfully poked her forehead, saying:
"Oh, lighten up, gorgeous! You stress yourself too hard, kora!"
"You cause my stress, idiot!" she stressed, to which he just chuckled off.
"Nuh-uh," he disagreed. "In all honesty, I only came here to free you from stress, kora!"
The reply caught her off-guard, and she ended up just blinking at him.
"What…?" she asked dumbly.
His goofy grin dropped into a small smile for a brief second, and then immediately went back to its original form.
"Say, are you free today?" he asked.
"F-free?" she blinked even more, and then immediately tried to contort her face into a scowl. 'Are you stupid? Can't you see that I'm horribly busy and…"
"This paper says that what you're doing is due next week, kora," he pointed out, presenting the paper to her. Evidently, a small shade of red laid itself on her face in slight embarrassment. She snatched the paper back, and turned her back on him, pretending to rearrange the paper so as to hide her countenance.
"So, I guess the answer is 'yes', hm?"
"The answer is still 'no'," she replied. "Even if this is due next week, I'm still under working hours…"
"Oh." His tone evidently dropped. "We-ell… I'm wondering if Iemitsu will get mad if you and I played hookie for today, kora?"
She turned her head to him, her face filled with a dubious expression.
"Hookie…?" she questioned. The word felt like foreign gum as it passed through her cherry lips. Obviously, a term she had never heard of in her entire life. Or if she did, she never acknowledge as such.
"You're kidding me, right?" she continued.
"Do I look like I'm kidding, kora?"
She wanted to say "yes" as in "he does look like he's kidding", but apparently, the "yes" came out as "I'll come with you". Perhaps, the stress was getting into her when she told him to meet her outside. Maybe the heat was influencing her when she actually put on a presentable version of hers, and even checked and re-checked herself in the mirror. Possibly, she was already tired from too much work when she walked quite briskly towards the gate where he was waiting for her, his tall appearance gleaming like diamonds underneath a thousand LED lights.
Or, probably, she was just mesmerized by his smile that seems so engulfing, the way he flashes it easily at just about anything.
Or she could just be stupid.
Yeah, that was probably it.
She was practically out of her mind from the moment she said "yes" to the moments when she'd smile and just walk with him obediently, like a child who just saw the world outside of its crib borders for the first time.
Call her weird, but that was easier to admit than to say that she had fallen hook, line, and sinker for him.
Nope, she won't say she's in love.
"We're here, kora," he announced gratefully, gesturing towards the almost empty park that was blanketed by the early evening sky, showered with bits of light coming from the hidden moonlight.
"You don't say," Lal responded in a dull tone.
He turned to look at her with an innocent-ish hurt expression in his face.
"What's with the attitude, kora?"
"You kept saying that we reach a certain place, for crying out loud!" she huffed. "When we went to that restaurant, to that playground, to that ice cream parlour, to that arcade, to that other restaurant… Man, we've been eating ourselves silly all day…"
"Well, I have to fatten you up a bit," he said matter-of-factly, a smile struggling to escape from his lips. "You're too thin, kora!"
"You're a smooth one," she commented as she watched him walk forward, giving a few second head start before she started walking herself.
"Besides…" He twisted on his heel to stare at her while walking backwards. "It's not like you didn't enjoy all those places we've been to, kora!"
She just sighed lightly, almost unnoticeably. True, she had quite a lot of fun with this whole day of playing hookie. Those seconds, minutes, moments when she felt like she was alive. Seconds, minutes, and moments: helping her to her seat like a gentleman would do, but then would tease her all the way; getting her her favourite cone of ice cream when she complained she was hot, but then smeared some on her nose; inviting her to be just a simple human being who lives, laugh, and… And… And…
And love?
Oh, most certainly not.
She may have felt she had finally lived. She may have finally seen herself laugh.
But she won't admit it.
She won't say she's in love.
"Look at that, kora!" He suddenly pulled her to him, and pointed upwards. She followed his finger and found a bright stream of light flashing across the sky.
A shooting star.
Her cerise orbs followed the light before it disappeared into oblivion, leaving that expecting feeling still hovering above them.
"Hey, Lal?" he whispered, tightening his hold on her hand. "Thanks for coming with me today, kora."
"I didn't even do anything… What are you thanking me for?"
He shrugged.
"For being with me on such a special day, kora…"
"What's today?"
He smiled, his eyes losing some glow.
"Let's just say, I'm older now, kora…"
To that, Lal's eyes widened a bit. But only a bit.
"Oh." She looked down, and then slightly bit her lip. "Well, happy birthday, then…"
"Thanks, kora…" Then he brightened up as he led her to a fountain and made her sit down next to him. "You know, even though you didn't give me anything tangible, it still felt great that you were with me the whole time. The first in a long time that I never felt alone on this day, kora."
She stared at him.
"Well, it's kind of lonely back in the shores of Mafia Land, you see…"
"You know," she sighed, looking up. "It's sometimes better to be alone, because no one can hurt you…"
"What are you saying, Lal?" His eyebrows creased a bit, but then he realized what she meant. If he felt alone on his birthday, she was alone the rest of her days. What difference does one measly day would make to a person who opened and closed her eyes to a world of loneliness?
"I'm sorry," he said.
"There's nothing to apologize about."
"But, you know what?" he said a bit sincerely, taking both of Lal's hands with his. "I promise that I feel like loneliness is not even a word when I'm with you." He raised them both to his lips, and landed a soft kiss.
"I'm just hoping you feel the same way, kora…"
"Please, stop, Colonello," she begged softly, pulling her hands away. "Stop before I…" Before she could continue, she realized he was already nearing his face to hers.
Worse was that she was paralyzed and could not move herself.
"I love you, Lal…"
"No, please… Before I…"
Their lips were but millimetres apart, and she knew she couldn't stop him, neither does she seem to want him to.
But then a sudden flash of light appeared from nowhere, blinding them both.
"Lal-san?"
The light sailed down from their eyes, and Lal was able to make out a figure from the slight myopia, and, my, that figure was so on time.
"Basil?" she asked.
The dirty-bronze-haired boy blinked at both of them, putting the flashlight to his side, giving out a sigh of relief. But then, he tensed up after seeing the blond man blinking furiously at the woman's side.
He felt like he destroyed something.
"Er…" he stammered, biting his lip. "Sorry to interrupt?"
Lal stood up, and straightened her outfit.
"What are you doing here?" Lal asked.
"Uh, Iemitsu-san is looking for you, and…"
"Fair enough," she replied, walking away. As soon as she passed by him, she touched his shoulder, and whispered:
"Thanks, Basil. I owe you one."
Basil turned to around and blinked warily at the woman. Then he turned to look at her current companion, and found the tall blond man looking down on him with a deadly glint in his eyes, cracking his knuckles as if to ready himself to clobber someone up.
Lal didn't bother waiting for anyone of them. She just kept on walking briskly back to the headquarters, trying to blank her mind of those things that just happened.
The problem was that she couldn't. as a matter of fact, instead of feeling relieved, she felt somewhat disappointed as she stepped farther and farther away from that rather heavenly place.
And so she realized.
Ah well.
At least out loud, she won't say she's in love.
-FIN-
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LoveLots~