AN: This is my fist work that I am actually publishing. I was skipping my classes, and wrote these instead. A collection of drabbles and such from what? two months of slacking? Something like that… Anyways, I added a little now and then.
From the manga Charming Junkie, I present to thee, my work:
Minutes
It was in these few moments, when he woke up before her, after a long night of planning and designing, that he enjoyed the most, watching her calm cute face as she slept. But then the announcer woke her up and it was over.
Envy
He wasn't jealous, no of course not, why would he be? He just didn't want any guy looking, touching or talking to her, that's it.
World Trip
"Eh, where are we going?"
"To Hawaii, I have a photo shoot."
"And why am I coming?"
"Mental support."
Chocolate
Why, oh why, oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why oh why did it have to be the 14th? He thought miserably as a horde of guys chased after him with chocolate for their precious 'Umi-chan'. But a small box thumping in his pocket made him rethink his hatred towards the day.
Halloween
"Trick or treat!" Squealing kids pounded on the door to his home, arousing the grouchy boy. But when he opened it he found a much nicer treat than he expected. "What? I've always wanted to be a fairy."
Feminist
The girl pouted, watching as the cross-dressing pervert smiled and waved to all of his fans. "How is it that he has more guy fans than an actual girl again?"
Security
He felt most secure when she was with him, he could look out for her. So if the number of jobs together they had increased, well he didn't talk to, plead to, and threaten the president regarding it.
Babble
When she was nervous she would talk nonstop, and the boy thought of numerous ways to shut her up. "Eh, Umi do you have a fever?"
Lollipop
He froze, as he saw her picture in the ad. She was never, ever, ever eating candy in front of that guy again.
Ice
He hated the cold, simply hated it. But as silver hair flew in front of him, slipping, and she landed in his lap, he had second thoughts.
Bungee Jumping
"You Idiot!" He kicked her high up, and she crashed to the floor. Getting up, she glared at him. "What? I happen to like working with Tsutsumi…" But she never finished her sentence as she went soaring high up again.
Conflicted
He wanted her, but couldn't get in her way. He wanted her, but couldn't get in her way. And when he finally resolved to never look at her again, she came out of the dressing room in her dress looking ridiculously cute, and it started up all over again.
Bribe
"Aw, come on Umi-chan, don't be like that. Tsutsumi didn't mean to insult you."
"Hmph! No way!"
"Why? All he said was that I was as tall as you."
"DON'T SAY THAT!!!"
"… I'm sorry…"
But a warm firm pair of lips cut her off whose smile ruined her first love.
Reading
He froze as he entered the practically empty waiting room, they were the finalists for the contest. And if she had that face on she would have won, but it was an unconscious thing, and there was no way she was showing anyone else but him that face.
Grades
She burst through the door, for once on her own, very happy even if she couldn't smile, waving a slip of paper with grades that reluctantly informed the girl she had passed.
"I did it! Hah Umi! Now I want my reward!"
"Tch like I would give you anything."
"You promised!!! I want my ice cream!"
"I'm changing the prize."
"Don't you dare try to rip me off…"
She was cut off, a frustratingly annoying event that seemed to have increased in numbers lately, as a pair of warm lips covered her mouth.
Studying
She got up and stretched, her hair flowing behind her in a grey cascade. "Ugh, studying so much on a Sunday is horrible, can we stop now?" She pleaded towards the grouchy boy who lounged on the floor.
He looked up. "Tch like I care, but you better not hold us up on our next shoot because you fail though."
She winced, and sat back down, pouting. "You don't even need me for this shoot."
"I'll lose my head worrying, and you need the experience."
Nails
She sighed as she looked at her nails and compared them to Umi's next to her. She sighed again, louder than before. "What??" Umi growled, irritable as always.
"Why are your nails so long and strong?"
"…I don't know…?"
She sighed again, and nursed her hands. "Ne, tell me what you do for them?"
"Woman, I already said I didn't know right?"
"Yeah, but there must be something!!!"
He sighed and got up, "Fine then, one minute."
-x-x-x-
The president walked in to the lounge to see two of her models bent over something on the floor.
"Oh, so you manicure your fingers and add those fake nails to them, so that they always look long."
"Yes little chick, because otherwise they would look too much like a guy's. Happy now?"
She giggled and nodded.
The president swore she saw a flicker of a smile across Umi's face, but it was hard to tell with the sun in her eyes.
Birthday
"Eh? Its Umi's birthday today?" The girl gave a puzzled look to the wall as she talked on her cell. "He didn't tell me about it at all… Did he say what he wanted as a gift?"
The president rubbed her head, feeling an oncoming headache. "No, he didn't." Sighing, she bid her model goodbye and hung up.
Puzzled, the girl hung her phone up. She knew that Umi was off in a sulking/raging mood, which meant that he eventually would head towards the closet where he dragged her to beat her up.
Deciding that was the best place to look for him, she hurried over. Opening the door and letting herself in, she saw him slumped in a corner.
"Ne, Umi, why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?"
"Shut up, your voice is so friggin squeaky it gives me a headache."
More quietly now, she tiptoed over the moody model and sat down, folding all of her limbs under her.
"So what's wrong?"
The boy grunted in response.
"Umi??"
"Shut up."
They stayed like that for a while, one in a bad mood and the other confused.
Umi sighed and got up, feeling even grouchier than before. He looked down to berate the model next to him, seeing her worried face made tight into her murderer's glare. Clucking softly, he crouched down and blew on her nose, waking her out of her thoughts, and surprising her into that ridiculously cute face of hers.
"Oi, I already told you that you had a cute enough face, you just need to relax. I'm fine now."
She studied him and raised her eyebrows. "Really?"
"Yeah."
"Then…" She got up, gave him a quick peck on the cheek and hurried towards the door, looking back over her shoulder. "Happy Birthday Umi." And with that she left, she needed to do her homework.
He stared at the now vacant spot in front of him, completely and utterly shocked. Smirking now, he shoved his hands into his pockets and headed to the student council's office, he needed to make sure his workers weren't slacking.
Irony
Naka knew that in the model business she was called "Long Shot". She was used to the nickname and it sort of grew on her. But when she went to her archery lessons, (courtesy of her uncle) she was called Long Shot as well, but not because it was such a long shot at her getting a job, but because it was her amazing accuracy at hitting the target. Her friends there told her she looked like a pro when she shot. Sometimes when Naka thought of that she really felt like laughing. Not that she could.
1000 words
Umi glanced at the present the President had given him. It was a photo album, with all of his job pictures in there. There was even a section titled "Naka's Co Op jobs." If a picture was worth a thousand words, it would be written on the back a 1000 times, "I love you."
Cotton Candy
Modeling for a new candy commercial was simply perfect for the Naka and Umi duo. One sweet and cheerful, the other simply serene. The last scene required Umi to feed Naka some candy, as "Girl friends would". Her surprise at the sweet and simple candy was adorable, and Umi mentally promised her that he would take her to an amusement park someday.
Progress
President sighed and rubbed her temples, being the President was hard. Umi had many requests coming in, but most of them were swimming suit and ball gown modeling, and Umi wasn't too keen on that type of modeling.
Deciding to come back to his assignments later, she turned to her next, smaller pile. The president grinned and mentally counted the number of letters. 8. She was getting better.
Secret
As they lounged in their room, waiting for the start of tomorrow's competition, Umi and Naka were reading. Umi was reading something about hair (and were those beads???) while Naka worked on remaining calm.
She found that if she remembered scenes from her favorite movie, she was calm enough to get through the day. She chuckled to herself. She never figured a story about a mass murder would calm her enough to keep her face from looking like his. That was ironic.
Stylist
Many people had come to touch her hair, and although Naka didn't mind, Umi did. She was off limits, yet idiotic people did not seem to understand such a simple concept. It was tough living in a world full of morons.
Glaring into space, he continued fuming. "Umi…how does this look?" Naka came out from behind the changing blockade stand that they had set up in the small hotel room. Her clothes were a modern hip-hop costume. ** Her hair though, was a huge mess.
"Tch, you look like you always do."
Naka became depressed, she had really tried to make it look good. "I got it. I'll go change it now."
She turned around, only to be prevented by a tugging hand. She turned around.
"Id-iot. I didn't say that your clothes were bad. Its your hair." He looked irritably at her, as was pure second hand nature by now.
She felt her hair. "Eh? What's wrong with it?"
"Tch." He sighed and pulled her over to sit beside his bed. He grabbed the hairbrush and pulled it through her hair. Slowly, he managed to revert it back to its silky natural self. But it wouldn't go well with that outfit.
He reached for his accessories that he put on when he was modeling. Slowly, he braided her hair in small parts, beading it at the end. It felt surprisingly nice to him to handle her hair, and he made sure to "disinfect" any part of it that was touched by someone else. He grinned as he brought another lock of her hair to his lips and destroyed any bad germs lingering in her hair.
Naka swore that he was probably sexually harassing her, but she couldn't tell. Afterwards, she looked much more authentic, although her hair smelt a little weird.
** I don't enjoy describing outfits, but it would probably be something with long baggy pants, and a short shirt that showed her midriff. I'm thinking something with stripes, and maybe a beanie. But I don't describe well.
Details
There were always the little things that he did to constantly remind her that he loved her. Those little subtle hints that teetered on the line of love and friendship, but were enough for her as a reminder. Of course there were the big reminders too, but those were in private and didn't matter then anyways.
Soap
Cleanliness was a huge thing for any model. You lose your skin, you lose your job. So most models spent tons of money on their cleaning products. They shunned any type of food that could worsen their skin, and generally were very picky. Umi was one of those. As he and Naka unpacked their stuff in the bathroom, Naka rummaged through his bag.
"Facial soap, body soap, three types of shampoo and conditioner, an acne prevention mask, cleansing lotion, body lotion, scented soap… oh look its mint scented! I love the scent of mint." She held the unopened bar to her nose.
"Oh, that's the one that I got from my mom. I hate the scent though."
"Really?" She looked sadly at the unopened bar, and gently put it back in the bag.
Sighing, she exited the room. Umi's sharp eyes watched her go.
The next day as he dragged her out towards the next competition, Naka swore she caught a sniff of mint in the wind. But she figured that it was from the ice cream shop and ignored it.
Equation
Sometimes when people found out about them they would complain that they didn't match, that she wasn't good enough. He was gorgeous and she was, well, Naka. They said that there was no balance between them, and that it was a disaster from the start. Naka ignored them. She wasn't a match for anyone if you followed their line of thinking.
But really, in their case, she figured it was better this way. He could act like anyone, anything. She could only be herself, and only when she was calm. He was a pro, she an amateur. They knew how to help each other, and she was one of the few who knew his secret.
He sexually harassed her more than anyone else, and could become very possessive. She was open, and calming. Somehow they made it work, completing each other to create a balance in their equation.
Besides, whenever she got hesitant, he somehow knew and would devote an hour to making out with her, until she was confident that she was the only one for him again.
Stairs
She was slowing ascending the model stairs, going slightly higher with each job that she took on. And Umi watched from afar, afraid to drag her down if he got too close. But then, Tsutsumi was the one who said that, so he shrugged it off and decided to annoy her some more.
There was still a long way to go until the top anyways.
Coincidence
"You have to work harder. Getting to the top of the modeling business is not going to be easy. You have a limited time left Umi. Where are you working these days??" The president berated the model, who was slumped against the wall.
"I got it, I got it. Sheesh Woman."
"Well, if you fail this audition in Tokyo, you won't make any progress at all. We need you to get this one."
"Fine, fine." He grumbled, and calmly left the room.
The President sighed, he was slacking and hadn't been giving it his best in weeks. What was wrong with that boy?
"Ah, Umi!" Naka called out to the model, who was grumbling darkly to himself.
"What?" His tone was irritable and dark.
"I got in to the Tokyo audition!" She cheerfully reported to her partner.
"Ah, good work. Then I guess we'll be stuck together there again."
"Oh, are you going? Promoting Junk I suppose." She mused to herself.
"Yeah."
"Well if you're there, I guess I'll feel better. It's easier when you're with me. Well, see you!" She chirped, before heading off.
"Tch." He smirked, before heading off to pack his stuff.
-x-x-x-
"She's amazing! I must have her in my next photo shoot." The guy continued blubbering and slobbering on the other phone, begging the President to let him use Umi.
"Well, I'll get back to you." The President hung up, amazed at her worker's performance.
-x-x-x-
"You know Umi, I'm curious."
"Whaaaat???" He drawled out, annoyed.
"How is it that you are always at my auditions these days?"
"What, I can't go for them too?"
"Well it's not like it's a bad thing, it's easier to work when there's someone you know close by, but why are you at some of them? I'm sure they are way below your level."
"Oi."
"Hmm?"
She turned towards him, to find his lips against hers. He conveyed through his lips that he wanted to be near her rather than go to some harder audition for work.
He pulled back and put his hands in his pockets. "It was just a coincidence."
"Ah, I see."
Naka wasn't that good at reading between the lines, and figured he was teasing her again.
Raindrops
Green and grey. Her favorite colors. But she never told anyone about that since they weren't cool enough for anyone. So she kept them to herself. But never was she happier then on a rainy day in summer.
"Happy Birthday Long Shot!"
Naka tried to smile, but it only brought out the freaky murderers smile that sent everyone jumping out of their skins. They gave her their gifts, those that they could have bought for anyone in general. No green or grey things in sight. She easily masked her disappointment and thanked everyone profusely for their gifts.
It was much later when Umi gave her his gift. It was a multitude of green colored swirls printed on a white headband, with grey smudges hazing through.
"Be grateful that I got you anything, idiot."
"No, thank you!" And she looked so happy that Umi felt as if the sun was attacking him.
Possessive
He lounged in his room, dull and empty, waiting for something he couldn't quite remember.
"Umi!" She burst through the door, her countless energy filling up the once lifeless room. "You know, yesterday I walked into…" She sat there and talked to him, not noticing his fast approach, until he had his arms around her, pulled into his lap, and was leaning against the wall.
"Umi??" Naka asked, confused, as she sat there.
He didn't respond, but held her tighter and propped his chin on her shoulder. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be breathing gently.
Naka sighed, and leaned back into his chest, and closed her eyes.
Umi remembered what he was waiting for, and didn't plan on letting go soon.
Visit
"Umi, you have a visitor!" His sister called up through the house. "It's your girlfriend!" Umi rolled his eyes as he turned over to sleep some more.
"No, you're mistaken. No we are not in a relationship. No, no I'm fine. Eh? Thank you." Naka walked through the house, correcting their mistake and slowly plodding through his herd of siblings.
She came up to the room 15 minutes later, panting and gasping for breath. "Why (huff huff) do (huff) they always (gasp, pant) manage to question (pant huff) me and deter me at the same time???" She sunk to the floor of his room, laying back on the door.
"Who knows?"
"You're not helping."
"It's not my problem."
"Fine then, I won't visit you anymore."
"…I'll talk to them."
Home
"Ne, Umi."
"Hmm?"
"How does this place look?"
Naka handed over the paper, pointing to one of the advertisements.
He looked at it calmly, peering through his glasses.
"Mou, but its sad ne? This apartment we've been using while taking on more jobs is one I've gotten used to…" She looked around from her position on the carpet, ads for new apartments scattered on the coffee table before her.
The next thing she knew, strong arms had encompassed her, as Umi looked out from his place by her shoulder.
"I'm fine with it as long as you're there." And he gave her a squeeze before turning back to the apartments. "I think this one works."
Naka grinned and looked at it. "No way! I want that one!"
And they returned to bickering over the new apartment.
Cleaning
Naka sat back on her bed, sitting among piles of junk that she had kept over the years. Well she was a pack rat, enough said. Sighing, Naka sifted through the piles, looking for anything that was worth keeping, when her eyes caught on something sticking out.
She smiled when she discovered it was a small roll of stickers she got from a picture booth on the street, when she was on a date with Umi. Umi was dressed like a girl and smiling from ear to ear, while she herself was silently probing the camera with her eyes.
Naka put it on top of her drawer. She could keep it for a while yet.
Summer
Naka lay sprawled on the mats in the small apartment. She had been sent to Kyoto for a few days with Umi to take on a summer clothes modeling job, and the tight budget had resulted in a one room, not air conditioned, little apartment that was the source of her misery.
She lay there in extremely small shorts, a t-shirt that was pulled up to reveal her flat stomach, with her hair sprayed out in all directions.
Umi came in, shirtless and irritated, fanning himself.
He looked over to Naka, sprawled on the floor. Her face was relaxed and dazed, and her limbs were askew, and he felt a large blush on his face.
"Oi, Naka."
"Hmm?" She moved her head so that she was looking at him upside down. "What is it?"
"You need a bigger shirt. I hate summer." And he stomped away, completely flushed.
Naka figured it was a summer stroke.
Heat
"Uwah look at the snow, Umi!" Naka cried out excitedly as she watched the snow from the taxicab. They were going to Hokkaido for a break, the president insisted that they rest and enjoy wildlife a little, letting them stay at her cabin.
When they were let off, they were in the middle of a forest, covered in snow and saw a small cabin in front of them.
"Let's hurry." Umi grumbled and grabbed her hand as he led her through the snow towards the cabin. Since his hand was warm, Naka wrapped her hand around his and let him lead her.
But when they reached the cabin, to their dismay they discovered the rural cabin had no heating system save for a fireplace.
While Umi was having a fit, Naka slowly built up the fire, and jumped on the big bed next to it. "This is good Umi, this way it'll be warm when you go to sleep."
He looked over at it and froze. "Is that the only bed?"
Naka looked around. "Seems like it."
He stood there frozen, until Naka sensed his distress. "Umi what's wrong?"
"There's only one bed idiot!"
"Well duh."
"Well, where do you plan on sleeping then?!"
"In the bed of course."
"And where will I sleep?"
"…Oh."
"Yes you stupid moron."
"Oh, well um…" She fidgeted uncomfortably.
"Well, I guess we'll both have to sleep here." She said, thinking it through.
"And why's that genius?" He sarcastically asked.
"Because it's too cold to sleep anywhere else." She replied.
It was late, and so Naka changed and got into the bed. Umi complied as well. With their backs to each other, they fell asleep, both blushing madly.
Umi was wakened up some hours later, when he felt a shivering and chattering. Turning his head, he found that Naka was shaking in her thin flannel pajamas, and was clearly cold.
Worried that she might get sick, he reached out, and held her in his grasp. He hugged her until she began to warm up again, and then kissed her forehead. "Don't make me worry so much, idiot."
In the morning Umi found he didn't want to let go, but had to when he saw the skunk by the foot of the bed.
Dinner
Naka hummed cheerfully as she paraded around Umi's kitchen, cooking up a meal for both of them. Yesterday when she heard that all of his family had suddenly gone on a large vacation and that they abandoned Umi, she worried that he wouldn't eat properly and so rushed over to cook dinner for him.
Since she had to cook for her brothers and father, she was pretty much used to it, and so was able to cook something decent.
When Umi sat down to eat it, with Naka happily sitting down across from him, he imagined what it would be like if that was what it was like everyday. It made him tremendously happy, but then he shook it out of his head and decided to think about that another day.
Signs
Of course the class wasn't that obvious to it, Umi was rarely at school, and when he was he was in the Student Council office harassing his workers. But there was the occasion when both Umi and Naka would disappear, and not come back to their respective work places until much later, but they rarely put two and two together.
Then there was the extra bentou Naka sometimes packed as well, on the days when Umi did come to school. But since they never saw him eating, they never figured who it was for and left it alone.
When finally a few of the girls were talking about boyfriends and one asked Naka if she had one, the girl grinned and said "Yes."
Still no one figured it out who was who, and secretly Umi got a kick out of their stupid faces recognizing without realizing.
Of course he loved his girlfriend to no end, but if they were too stupid to pick up on the signs, then he wasn't about to point it out to them. Public affection wasn't something he was keen on, and besides, Naka didn't complain about it either.
Understanding
Comprehensive skills were one of Naka's talents. She could listen to any part of the story, immediately identify with the characters and accurately predict what they would do later on.
She was a born shrink. She could help any one and not even know it.
So why was it that when it came to Umi's feelings for her, she was completely and utterly dense? Umi practically screamed as he slapped his forehead. Someone shoot him.
Games
Umi and Naka both liked games, and what was a game without a little penalty? Generally the penalties were stupid things like, "Name your most embarrassing moment," or "List your top three items you secretly enjoy." And so the two came to understand each other better in this way.
But then of course Umi went and said, "If I beat you at jan ken pon, you have to kiss me."
Naka blushed. "What????"
"You heard me."
"Fine then, I just have to win at jan ken pon right?"
"Yep."
But she lost as always.
Naka leaned in, and slowly kissed his mouth. He had kissed her tons of times, but it was different if she kissed him. She sat there and counted to ten in her mind, for she figured he wouldn't count it as a real kiss if she didn't kiss him long enough.
Umi secretly enjoyed the fact that she finally kissed him, although he generally wanted to be the controlling one, (which he knew he was) it felt good to be kissed the other way.
Unfortunately it was way too short for his liking, so before Naka could get up and pull out another game to play, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her onto the bed, getting on top of her.
"Not bad. Here's how it really should be done." And he leaned down and kissed her firmly, pinning her underneath him.
He didn't mind being kissed by her, but that still didn't mean that he was going to let her end it on such a simple note.
Fin.
AN: Well there you go folks, over 4600 words about our adorable couple, Naka and Umi. So, what do you think? If you want, you can review, if you don't want to, hell if I care. Flamers go ahead, laughing and optimism are my strong points.
Savvy?
~Penguin-san.