A/N: Hello, fellow Furuba fans! :) This is my first attempt at a Furuba fic. It is from the POV of Mine Kuramae, Ayame's assistant. Just a little warning: it does NOT follow the continuity of the manga. I haven't had a chance to buy the manga yet, so while I know some things that happen in it, this story primarily follows the continuity of the anime.

As this is my first attempt, I'd really appreciate any feedback anyone can give me. So, please enjoy reading and review afterward! Thank you. :)

CHAPTER ONE:

The candles were lit carefully, the table was set impeccably, and the chicken was almost ready to escape from the oven. I wore my hair up in a fancy up-do, with just a few wavy strands falling down and framing my face. I also wore more makeup than usual: some hot red lipstick and a bit of green eye-shadow that the lady at the store said would bring out my chocolate-colored eyes. Even though she was just giving me professional advice, I had blushed a bit at that…Anyway, I also wore contacts instead of my glasses (something I had never done before, and they were already starting to bug me).

I had also spent two hours at the shop earlier, rummaging through all the dresses Ayame had made in the past…dresses he had made for everyone in town except me. I was never one to ask him for things; just being his companion was more than enough for me. But at times like these, I had to admit that I wished…I don't know. It was silly. All those dresses were costumes anyway. None would have been appropriate for tonight; I shouldn't have even considered it. It's just that...wearing something he made on this very important evening would have been pretty wonderful.

But it had all worked out anyway. I ended up going to a nice boutique where I had always gotten inspiration for my own designs. Unlike Ayame, I had never quite learned how to sew. Well, not beyond the basics anyway. I could make scarves and blankets and all that, but to make an actual outfit? To make my designs become realities, to put fabric together in such a magical way that an actual piece of clothing would be birthed from my efforts? I couldn't do that yet. Ayame knew how to make fantasies come true, whether they were his or his costumers'. But me…I was still in stage one. I drew my heart out, I designed everything I could imagine...but my dreams stayed dreams.

Sometimes Ayame would see one of my designs and decide to make it himself. Those moments when I would show him an idea and his beautiful golden eyes would widen at what I had drawn and he would love the idea so much that he took on the project and would whip up the outfit in merely a few hours, letting me feast my eyes on my realized dream...those were my proudest moments, but they also always left me with a twinge of sadness. I was so dependent on Ayame for my happiness; he made my dreams come true, and while I was grateful, I…I guess I just wished that he needed me the same way.

Now I sat at the table, waiting for the dinner to be ready, but mostly waiting for my love. He was always a little late, and it usually didn't bother me, but that night…I really wanted him to be on time.

I drummed my fingers against the table, the table at which Ayame and I had dinner together almost every night for the past six months. We had been dating for that length of time, and they had been the best six months of my life. Ayame and I just complemented each other perfectly. I felt so deeply that we were destined to be together, that we were two irregularly-shaped puzzle pieces that only fit into one another. We would spend hours just laughing and joking and gossiping and talking about fashion and what celebrities we thought were cute, and we would spend hours more somberly, talking about our pasts and our regrets and our families and our lives.

There was only one problem in our relationship: Ayame didn't really like…to touch me. Yeah, I thought it was bizarre too. I always thought, "But he's so flirtatious with everyone! You'd think that—once actually in a relationship—he'd be all over me!" But no. Secondly, I always considered myself a cute girl! Maybe not in the same league as Ayame's beauty (check that: definitely not), but I had the whole meganekko thing going on and I looked great in a French maid's costume. And yet…nothing!

I always wondered: if he wasn't attracted to me, why would he waste his time? He could have any girl or guy he wanted, basically. Why stick around with me if he didn't feel the same way?

Whatever the reason, the fact was that whenever things starting getting heated between us, he all but shoved me away. And one night, I decided to ask him about it.

We had finished dinner at this very table for the umpteenth night in a row and it didn't take long before we were on the couch, kissing. We had been dating for three months at that point, and I thought it was pretty natural that things started to progress beyond kissing by then. I mean, we were two twenty-something's, not a high school couple. To have sex was just part of the natural order of an adult relationship, or so I thought.

As we kissed, I leaned closer and stroked Ayame's tie a bit before beginning to loosen it. He seemed slightly taken aback but he allowed it to happen. It was when I began kissing his neck and gently unbuttoning his shirt that he...kind of freaked out on me.

"Mine, darling! What are you doing?!" he exclaimed as he took hold of my wrists and ensured my hands didn't complete the task they started.

I sighed but attempted to smile. "I was trying to seduce you, silly!" He didn't laugh, as I had expected he would, or even return the smile. He suddenly looked very uncharacteristically serious. "Aya? What's the matter?"

"Mine…" he began, still holding onto my wrists. Though now loosened his grip and linked his fingers with mine. "Listen, my love. I…well, I…"

I waited anxiously for an explanation. He continued to hesitate, so I decided I would try to help him out. There had been one possible explanation that had been in the back of my head for a while, so I just asked: "Are you…gay?" I hoped that, if it was the case, it would make it easier to admit to if I already figured it out. "You can be honest with me!"

He looked up with wide, confused eyes. "Whaaat? Gay? No, of course not!"

"Okay; well…I just thought maybe you were, and…maybe you were with me just because it was…easier."

Ayame chuckled a bit at this but then looked sad. "'Easier'. Heh. No, my love, I wish I was gay. That would make life easier. But alas, I tragically cannot unburden myself of my fleshly desires for women. Believe me; I've tried. And in the process, I discovered that I certainly did have an affinity for men as well, but this affinity did nothing to kill those primal feelings for the female form…No, they continued to stir, to run rampant inside me, to torture me with their antics."

I didn't understand why being gay would make his life easier or why his attraction to women tormented him so, but at the time, I was just happy to know he wasn't gay; he was at least capable of being attracted to me. But was he actually attracted to me? "Well, then is it me?" I asked. "Am I just not the kind of woman that you feel those desires for?"

Ayame looked even more shocked at this question than at the last. "Mine, have you gone insane? You're the most wonderful, kind, funny, beautiful woman I've ever met!" He then lowered his voice a bit and leaned his body in closer to mine, but still not in direct contact with it. He stared into my eyes with an unmistakable look of lust in his. "I've never been so completely attracted to someone in my entire life, and believe you me, I mean attracted in every way."

My mouth began to feel dry and my heart rate increased tenfold. I gulped and took a deep breath. "Then…why don't you want to…?"

Ayame leaned back again and unlinked our hands in the process. He looked away from me, seemingly pained by the situation. "Well, as you know, I'm certainly not the most traditional man, but…I am still an old-fashioned gentleman at heart! A true romantic, as I hope you also know. And as such…I want to wait until marriage!"

I blinked a few times, stunned. "Wait, Aya, are you telling me that…you're a virgin?"

He appeared hesitant but then smiled confidently. "Why yes, I am! I am a virgin!"

I blinked again. And then I fainted.

After the initial shock of the situation wore off about a week later, I began to think long and hard about it. I tried to accept it and move on at first. I didn't want Ayame to compromise his values, and I was successful in my attempts to ignore my own desires…for about three more months. But our relationship continued to feel incomplete the way it was, and I had to come to terms with the fact that I was a young woman with my own set of needs.

Not so much the need to have sex. I mean, yes, the yearning for what was sure to be mind-blowing intercourse with the man I was more attracted to than anyone else was certainly a big part of it, undoubtedly something I longed for in a purely physical sense. But much more than that was the need to make love to Ayame. I loved Ayame so profoundly, and I wanted and I needed to express that to him in more than just words. It sounds cliché, I know, but it was absolutely true for me. I wanted to become one with him in body, as we already had in mind and spirit. There was just that piece of the puzzle missing. Our life together was so close to being perfect, and I'm a bit of a perfectionist.

And so I decided that there was only one solution to our one problem. I had to fix it with this special dinner, with this special night.

I had to propose to Ayame.

End of chapter one. Please tell me what you thought! I'd really appreciate it. :)