A/N: I hope you enjoy my YukixMachi nonsense. It picks up where the manga finishes, although my timeline is probably riddled with inaccuracies. Anyways I'm not sure if I'll make more chapters or not, so don't hold your breath, but if I do, then expect some minor pairings and probably more of the old "School Defense Force". Man I love those guys.
Ch.1
Just Drinking Tea
Slender fingers held tightly onto a shiny silver key, as brown hair was tussled by a light breeze. The girl had been standing in front of the apartment building for just over half an hour now, looking through the ground to ceiling glass doors to the warm foyer within. It was a nice building. Shiny. Modern. Of course. The girl slapped her frozen cheeks quickly, willing herself to get focused. Gritting her teeth, the girl pushed the door open and once inside stamped her feet to get rid of the cold. Excellent. She had made a move. Hopefully she wouldn't spend another half hour working up the courage to move over to the elevator. She wondered briefly how long exactly it would take her to get to her boyfriends apartment.
"Here's the key to my new place. You can come over anytime you want," was what he had said.
The girl looked down at the key in her hand dubiously. Was it really okay? She didn't want to seem like a needy girlfriend, checking up on him constantly, or invading his space. He had just moved in, so he probably would want to get settled in before receiving guests, right? And he'd just started university; he'd be too busy to see her anyway. She'd just annoy him.
It was this kind of thinking that had prevented her from dropping by so far, despite the open invitation of three weeks ago.
"Machi?" A familiar voice came from behind her, causing a small blush to creep onto her face.
Machi turned around slowly to see a young man with delicate features holding bags of shopping, with a surprised look on his face. Snow was melting into his purple tinged hair, and his thick woolen scarf was slipping off his neck, threatening to fall off entirely.
"Y-Yuki-senpai… I was just um… what a surprise seeing you here." Machi flustered, waving her arms around as though they would offer the explanation she couldn't.
Yuki grinned and walked closer, dropping the shopping so he could cup her face in his hand. Their lips were only a hairs width apart when his voice dropped to a volume usually reserved for secrets. "Not really, since I live here. And since I'm not your senpai anymore the honorific isn't really necessary."
Embarrassed by the close contact, and flushing a much brighter shade of pink, Machi made up for it the only way she knew how- by bursting into a somewhat irrational rant on why senpai was a perfectly acceptable term to keep using.
Yuki just kept smiling indulgently in his usual calm manner, and picked up the shopping again while shepherding Machi into the elevator.
The door shut, and Machi and Yuki stood beside each other silently- neither daring to make eye contact. There wasn't much room in the elevator, and Machi was intensely aware of the side of their bodies pressing against each other, even if their bulky winter clothing and the bags of groceries were in the way. If Machi had actually looked up at her boyfriends face she would have seen a blush to rival her own, which would indicate he had been sharing a similar thought. But as it was, both kept their eyes firmly fixed on metal door in front of them. The door opened and Yuki cleared his throat nervously, gesturing for Machi to go ahead of him. "Well this is my floor. The apartments first on the left. It's a bit of a mess right now- I wasn't expecting anyone to drop by."
Ah. She knew it. She was in the way, her being here was probably throwing off all his plans for the day. As if sensing what she was thinking, or maybe just reading the drop in her expression, Yuki added hastily, "But I'm really glad you did. I've been wondering when you were going to visit." Yuki opened his door revealing the horror within. Piles of dirty laundry lay over what may have possibly been furniture, and take-out boxes created mountains on an already littered table. World War 3 wouldn't have explained the state of the room. In fact, trained soldiers could have gone missing in here for months and never find their way out to civilization again. The sight was enough to give grown men bad dreams about laundry-monsters for weeks. It would have been a challenge even to the cleaning-wonder of Tohru. At the very least Yuki had the decency to look shame faced. Cleaning wasn't exactly his forte. That and cooking.
But Machi didn't even bat an eyelid. Her apartment wasn't much better. "Where's the kitchen?"
Yuki pointed into the distance. "Er… somewhere between the leaning tower of dirty plates, and that sinister looking collection of garbage bags. Have I mentioned how my apartment's a bit of a mess?"
Machi strode bravely in the direction he had pointed, and set about helping putting away Yuki's groceries. In the meantime Yuki tried his best to straighten the place out, and even managed to find a teapot hidden under an old TV guide. After cleaning it out he put on some tea, and helped Machi pack away what was left in the shopping bags.
Before too long they were comfortably drinking tea around a recently tidied table, getting caught up on what the other had been up to since they'd seen each other last.
"So you're enjoying your studies then?" Asked Machi, before blowing the steam off the top of her cup and taking a sip.
"Well, it's only just started so it's mostly been introductory classes. We're going to get more into the course content next week probably. The lecturers have a reputation for hitting their classes hard in the second week."
"You don't look too concerned about that." Machi grumbled, his expression too calm for her liking. Yuki had the habit of being good at just about everything he tried. He had always been top of the class, with little effort. He laughed lightly in response, which succeeded in pissing her off, and ended with a cushion being thrown at Yuki's head.
"And what about you? Last year of high school is important- have you been working hard?" Yuki teased.
Machi blushed, and sought refuge in her tea. "Of course. I said I'd catch up to you, didn't I?"
A soft expression fell on Yuki's face as he watched Machi's fringe fall over her eyes in an attempt to conceal her flustered face while her small hands pulled the warmth of the cup closer to her lips. Cute. He thought, before replying simply, "Yeah."
Her eyes flickered up to meet his, surprised by the strange timbre in his voice. Their eyes locked there and Machi felt like the whole room had suddenly become much warmer. Yuki didn't quite understand the flood of emotions that had built up inside him, but he felt himself leaning over the table close to Machi. His heartbeat was now beating loudly in his eardrums, and he was almost certain she could hear it too. Machi unconsciously found herself leaning in response, her lips parting slightly and her eyes still unable and unwilling to move away from his intoxicating gaze. "Machi-" Yuki began to whisper, with a catch in his voice.
"My god what a dump! HEY! Yuki! Are you alive in there or do I have to begin the corpse hunt?" Interrupted a loud impulsive voice.
A shadowy figure wound its way through the mess then paused at the sight of Yuki and Machi.
"Ooooh. I see. I'll come back later then. You naughty boy Yuki." The voice said slyly.
Machi spurted out a mouthful of tea, and turned angrily on the intruder.
"Hello Manabe." Yuki replied wearily. "We were having tea, did you want to join us?"
Manabe smiled knowingly, "Oh… tea. Sure. You two don't need to act so shy around me, just say the word and I'll be out of your little love nest, leaving you to get back to your… tea drinking session."
Machi punched her half-brother in the gut, and stood up to fetch a third cup.
"I don't remember telling you my address." Yuki began conversationally.
Manabe was still bent over double recovering when he gave his muffled reply, "I got it from the Commander."
"Ah." Yuki took a sip of tea. "Of course. How is my brother by the way?"
"Oh. The usual. His shop is doing well. In fact he wanted me to ask you why those boxes of freebies he sent you were returned unopened. He put all his heart into making those outfits for Machi. So cruel." Manabe shed a few crocodile tears.
"Please tell him to stop sending me things." Yuki replied tersely.
"Alright, but he won't listen….. Man that guy is classy." Manabe said admiringly.
"The word 'class' should never be used in the same sentence with my brother."
"So cold! He even found you this apartment!"
"I suppose he isn't a complete waste of space." Yuki amended. He did feel more fondness for Ayame these days. Especially now that he lived so far away.
Machi clunked a cup in front on Manabe and shot him a glance filled with the promise of a severe beating if he made any more insinuations. He smiled back at his half-sister idiotically in an attempt to look innocent.
"Anyway Machi, I haven't heard from you in ages. How's school now that you're all Presidential?"
"President? Machi, you didn't tell me you're the student council president! That's awesome!" Yuki interrupted.
Machi looked uncomfortable and mumbled, "It's nothing. The school wanted this year's president to have experience in last years council, and since Nao refused I got the job."
Manabe's eyebrows shot up, "That chibi Nao refused? I would have thought he'd be dying for that position."
Machi shrugged, "Well he's taken on extra study classes and he's got a part-time job."
"Workaholic." Manabe nodded. "Still. I thought that stick up his-" somebody coughed "-was up way further than that. Good on him."
Machi shrugged again, while Yuki said, "Still I think we should celebrate. Where do you want to go for dinner Machi? My treat."
"BBQ!!!!!!" Shouted Manabe, jumping into the air enthusiastically, before pulling out his mobile, "Gotta invite Komaki. And we mustn't forget the Commander. Do you think we should invite Chibi-suke and Kimi, or would that be rubbing it in? Ah whatever, I'll call them too. Your treat you said?"
Manabe got punched.