Eyes Wide Open
Waking up, Nomiya groggily glanced around the hotel room. Lying on the other queen-sized bed was Yamada, legs exposed, as usual. As he stood up, Nomiya attempted to brush out the wrinkles in the work clothes that he had fallen asleep in.
As he passed the sleeping Yamada, he tried not to stare at her… well-formed legs since he could practically see the gruff-voiced unicorns shouting at him to back off. Heaving a sigh, he went out to get some breakfast.
Squeezing her eyes tighter, Yamada began to wake up from the light peaking in through the window's open curtains. Stretching her arms lazily, she blinked a few times to rid herself of any vestiges of sleepiness. Looking at her surroundings, she realized that she wasn't in her room above her father's liquor store – she was in a hotel room.
Suddenly remembering last night's situation, she let loose a short groan of frustration at herself.
Nomiya had invited her to dinner again. And, again, she had ordered a bit too much alcohol. In short, she had gotten hammered. Now that she remembered a bit more of the previous night's events, she recalled that she had practically forced Nomiya to down some of it, too; thereby making it prudent for Nomiya (as the more sober of the two) to abandon the car and buy a hotel room for the night.
Well… that's what we get for eating at a German restaurant, Yamada thought, still striving to recover from being "drunk as a skunk."
Now that she thought about it, Yamada realized that this was the... (let's see…) fifth time that this had happened… in the last three months.
Wow! I think that's a record! Yamada thought. The saddest part of it, she continued to herself, is that I hadn't even been crying over Mayama when I called Nomiya-san with my new cell-phone.
In fact… Yamada realized, I haven't cried over Mayama and Rika-san for a long time… maybe six months or so.
Then… why did I call Nomiya?
Because I like him! Or his company, rather, Yamada anxiously thought, answering her own question.
That's food for thought…
Grappling with the door-handle after inserting the card-key, Nomiya barely managed to open the door while still holding onto the large package in his other hand.
Striding confidently into the hotel room, he paused, stunned, as he saw Yamada standing motionless as she stared thoughtfully out the window.
"Yamada?" Nomiya asked.
Turning around sharply at his voice, her eyes were wide and a faint blush could be seen on her cheeks. At that moment, Nomiya swore he'd never seen anything more beautiful.
Tearing his eyes away from her, Nomiya went over to her bed and placed the hefty package in his hand on her bed, like an offering to a goddess, Nomiya mused wryly.
Curious, Yamada gently sat on her bed and opened the offering. Inside, there was a mountain of baked goods – Nomiya knew by now that her appetite was insatiable.
Pulling out a doughnut, she glanced nervously in his direction before chomping down on the powdered doughnut with a renewed blush on her cheeks.
Pretending not to see this, Nomiya began applying a healthy layer of cream cheese to his bagel, though he couldn't help knitting his eyebrows together in puzzlement over her behavior.
"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" Nomiya queried not much later.
Awkward silence.
"Is it Mayama again?" he asked gently.
"No!" Yamada replied more sharply than she had intended.
Nomiya's eyebrows furrowed even more.
"What I mean is…" Yamada began, "I just realized that… I haven't really been sad about Mayama for a while…" Looking up at the architect across from her, she looked away quickly and blushed at the intensity of his gaze.
"I'm really glad," he said with a warm smile after several silent moments which he had needed to collect his scattered thoughts.
Still avoiding his eyes and blushing, Yamada tucked some hair behind her ear and returned her attention to eating her breakfast.
Suddenly, the silence didn't feel uncomfortable in bad way – it just felt different.
A few hours later, after picking his car, Nomiya stopped the vehicle fifty-feet from the Yamada Liquor Store. Puzzled, Yamada began to ask, "Why…?" but Nomiya did something unexpected.
Leaning towards the girl he loved, Nomiya gently kissed her forehead.
Dazed, Yamada walked robot-like through her father's liquor store and made her way up to bedroom.
Touching her forehead gently, she stared out her window at Nomiya's car that drove away as she watched. She was still in shock… her cheeks still felt hot to her touch and her eyes were wide open…
Perhaps in more ways than one…
A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own "Honey and Clover," but if I did, there sure would be a heck of a lot more Nomiya/Yamada…
I just love Nomiya/Yamada… For the longest time I was hoping for a Mayama/Yamada turn-around, but after Nomiya was introduced, I dumped any hopes for Mayama and Yamada, and I began wishing for Yamada to go and find consolation by crying on a certain architect's shoulder… (Nomiya-san, not Mayama)
VIVA NOMIYA AND YAMADA!!!!!!
Side Note: I just lost the Game.
Extra Side Note: Sorry guys! That was hitting below the belt, wasn't it?
Extra Extra Side Note: HOPE YOU ENJOYED MY NOMIYA/YAMADA!!!!!
