Don't forget to lock your door.
That was one of the first things her brother had told her when she enrolled into the same university as him. To put it frankly, she did not know why he had to tell her such a thing, wasn't it the normal thing to do? Who didn't lock their door? And that's exactly what she told Natsume.
But the worst part was that the same night Aoi forgot to lock it. She had been unpacking until late at night and in the end she was so tired that she just went straight to bed. Life really did work in mysterious ways, did it not? The moment you declared something stupid, you were bound to end up doing it yourself.
Aoi had trouble falling asleep, probably because of the change of place. She had finally started drifting off when she heard the door open and then something fall on the floor. That was when she realized what a huge mistake she'd made.
The girl got up and grabbed the thing closest to her, which turned out to be a very thick book. Good. She made her way to the kitchen, turned on the light and was about to throw the book at that potential burglar but what she saw made her freeze, her hand still in midair.
There was an unknown guy lying on her kitchen floor. She kneeled down next to him and upon further inspection realized he was passed out and reeked of alcohol. He must have been at that party her brother mentioned. The question was, why was he here?
Either way, she wouldn't be able to get answers from him in this state and he wasn't doing anything harmful so Aoi supposed she could leave him be for the time being. She would have enough time to question him in the morning. The problem was- she could not move him no matter how hard she tried. She had never been particularly strong but it had never been a problem until now, Natsume had always been the one helping her with stuff she could not carry. However, Natsume was not there at that moment and preferably he would never find out such a thing had happened either. It would only give him more reason to treat her as a child?
It would have been better if she could move him to the couch but that was obviously not happening so she did the next best thing- covered him with a blanket, before retiring to her bedroom.
In the morning Aoi had almost forgotten about her guest until she walked into the kitchen and saw him sitting on the floor and playing with her cat. He had the biggest smile on his face and her cat, Natsu, was purring in contentment, it was as if both of them couldn't be happier. That was weird. Natsu didn't like strangers.
''Umm…''
Upon hearing her owner's voice Natsu ran towards her. Aoi picked her up and started petting her while she neared the stranger.
He rubbed the back of his head and looked down at his lap. ''Thank you for letting me stay in your room. Not everyone would have done that with a complete stranger.''
Aoi shrugged and sat on the floor in front of him. ''I had no choice, really. I couldn't move you even if I wanted to. I tried to do it and failed.''
''Ah, I'm really sorry for causing you trouble. I'll leave immediately if you wa-''
The guy started panicking and that made Aoi burst into giggles. ''I'm just kidding. You didn't cause my any trouble. Well, you did wake me up in the middle of the night but I managed to fall asleep right away after that so that's fine.''
The guy bit his bottom lip and looked up at Aoi, his face was bright red. ''I really am sorry for barging in like that.''
''I said it was fine.''
However, he continued. ''You see, I was at a party with my best friend and his girlfriend and we were supposed to go to her room since it was the closest but I must have went into the wrong room.''
''Well, you did seem pretty drunk so it comes as no surprise.'' If possible, the guy blushed even harder and started fidgeting. ''There is no need to be embarrassed, such things happen to everyone once in a while.'' Aoi tried to reassure him. It seemed to be working a bit because he stopped freaking out, but his face was still red. ''By the way, what's your name? It seems weird that we're talking like that in the middle of my kitchen and I still don't know what to call you.''
''Ruka… Ruka Nogi.'' He mumbled.
Ruka Nogi. Where had she heard that name before? She rubbed her temples and tried hard to remember. Then it hit her. Ruka Nogi was her brother's best friend in the university. He'd said nothing more but hearing even that much about Natsume's personal life was a miracle. Judging from Ruka's words he also had a girlfriend Aoi had never heard of.
''When you say 'best friend' do you mean Natsume Hyuuga?''
Ruka blinked at her. ''Umm… yes. How did you know? Do you know Natsume?''
Aoi grinned. ''But of course. I'm his sister, after all.''
Ruka stared at her in shock. ''Wait, you're Aoi-chan?!''
''Yeah. I'm surprised he even told you of my existence. He doesn't tend to do that, mostly because he's really overprotective.''
But Ruka didn't seem to be listening. ''I slept in Aoi-chan's dorm room. Natsume is going to kill me.''
''Hey, calm down.'' Aoi gently touched his shoulder and spoke in a quiet and even voice. ''It was an accident. And besides, big brother doesn't need to find out.'' She said with a smile.
Natsu walked towards Ruka and jumped into his lap. She started rubbing her head on his hand, begging to be petted. Despite his panic, Ruka was more than happy to comply. Aoi could not hide her surprise. ''How do you do that?'' She blurted out.
''Do what?''
''Natsu does not like strangers. Why is she so happy around you?''
Ruka continued to pet her cat and, for the first time this morning, he smiled. ''I just have a way with animals. It has always been that way, I have no idea why. But I'm glad we get along so well, because I've always loved their company.''
Aoi openly stared at him, she knew it was weird to stare at somebody for so long but she just couldn't look away.
''Is something wrong, Aoi-chan?'' Ruka asked in concern.
She snapped out of it and shook her head. ''I'm fine. Everything's fine. I just spaced out.'' She lied. ''Hey, do you want breakfast?''
''I certainly wouldn't mind but after all that trouble I've caused you I wouldn't want to impose more on you that I already have.''
''Nonsense.'' Aoi got up and held out her hand for him, smiling brightly. ''I told you that you've caused me no trouble. But if you really want to repay me, you can just tell me embarrassing stories about my brother over breakfast. He never tells me such things and I'm dying to find out. You can start with that girlfriend you mentioned.''
Ruka smiled back at her, took her hand and got to his feet. ''Deal.''
As Aoi made breakfast Ruka told her everything he knew and she couldn't help but think that maybe leaving your door unlocked wasn't so bad after all.
I was excited for this round because I finally got to write about the AU I suggested aka the "You broke into my apartment drunk thinking it was your friend's house and I should call the cops but my cat likes you so we're good"!AU . I've never written Ruka/Aoi in my life and I wasn't sure how well they would work with this AU but Ruka has the animal pheromone alice so I thought the whole thing with the cat made a lot of sense.