Summary: Watanabe Maki finds herself in love with Kuwabara! Find out how she tries to set ablaze the heart of the man with a heart of gold! Diary of a Spy side story.
Author's Notes: Since I never wrote a Kuwabara chapter in the original fic, I've decided to write a one-shot side story on how Maki deals with her crush on him! I wrote this in third person, so for some reason I don't think it'll be as funny as DoaS (not a lot of comments on Maki's part.) Any helpful comments are welcome!
Disclaimer: I've noticed how these are actually not necessary, (nor mentioned in the rules,) since this is, well, a place for fan fiction.
Act One: Target, Lock On!
I wonder if there's anyone worthy of my love….
Watanabe Maki; a fifteen year old senior at Sarayashiki Middle High. Good grades, not to mention a rather mysterious character. She doesn't have any friends, but her personality is considered to be 'friendly' by her classmates. Maki's the type of girl to have friendly conversations with people during school hours, but once those were over, she would disappear without trace. All the girls in her class have given up trying to build a long-lasting friendship with her.
"She's cool to talk with, but she's just never around. It's like she's too busy doing stuff to care about hanging out with us…"
Maybe that was why nobody spoke up when she was suddenly surrounded by some punks from a neighboring rival school by Sarayashiki's entrance gate.
"Hey, why aren't you responding, huh?!"
Maki flinched as she was suddenly pulled closer to the 'leader' of the gang by her tie. The grip she had on her school bag loosened, causing it to fall on the ground. Even though the commotion was causing the gate to be blocked, no one dared step up to the delinquents.
"So, you don't want to become the woman of the man who commands the strongest gang in town!?" They guy spat, shaking Maki collar.
"N-no," she whimpered, closing her eyes tightly as she expected some sort of violent act to take place for her words. Not only because she had declined his offer, but also because, "Your breath really stinks…"
Even those unhelping students couldn't hold back a chuckle.
"Why you bitch—!!"
The 'leader's hand rose to slap Maki's face, but an even stronger hand had stopped the attacking arm. This hand belonged to none other than Kuwabara Kazuma.
"A real man wouldn't hit a woman," he said, tightening his grip.
This resulted in the 'leader' loosening his hold on Maki, which allowed her to free herself from him. She cast a look at her savior, who pushed her school bag (he had picked it up for her, now nice,) into her arms.
"You can go home now," he said gently, much unlike the tone he had used to speak to the 'leader'.
"Th-thanks," she said, running past the starting fight on her way home. She did look back though, wincing in pain as she saw an upper-cut land successfully on the 'leader's face, a present given to him by Kuwabara. She smiled.
I think I've found my target.
Act Two: And You're Out!
Today's weather was awfully nice. The sun was out, and only a couple of clouds were visible in the clear, blue sky. It was a Sunday, meaning that all students were left to devote a full day to themselves and do whatever it was they wanted to do. As for Kuwabara, he was standing in the city park waiting for his companion-of-the-day.
Maki couldn't believe her luck. After the fateful encounter with Kuwabara, she had managed to successfully ask him to the movies. Just three days before Sunday, she 'bumped' into Kuwabara and told him she had an extra ticket and wanted to treat him as thanks for saving her from those hoodlums. Inside her mind, she exploded in high-pitched squeals as he agreed to go with her.
Thank you, God! Thank you, Buddha!
Not wanting to look unattractive, Maki went all out in making herself as pleasing to the eye as she could. Shirt that shows the perfect amount of cleavage, check. Feminine skirt she had purchased for the occasion, check. Natural-looking make up, check. Girly up-do her mother had helped her in, check. Perfect bag and low heels, check.
Battle mode? On!
Kuwabara stared at her for a few minutes before opening his mouth. "Aren't you over-doing it? It's just the movie theatre…"
Stee-rike one!
"Ahahah…shall we go now?" Maki smiled without relish, clearly disappointed in his reaction.
The movie they had gone to see was a horror flick, carefully chosen by a scheming Maki who had already seen it twice before the date.
Alrighty, there are two major scenes in which I have a chance of clinging on to Kazuma. Then he'd look at me with a smile and say, 'Gee, I didn't know you would be scared!' and hold me for the rest of the movie. Bwahaha. Here's my first chance!
"AH-CHOO!"
Just as Maki leaped sideways to grab ahold of Kuwabara's shirt, he leaned forward and let out a public offending sneeze. Needless to say, Maki was again very disappointed.
It's okay. Here's my second chance!
Shutting her eyes tightly, she again leaped sideways to attach herself onto Kuwabara. Just as she did, he very suddenly stood up, allowing her to fall into his seat. Not just that, the seats in the theatre were the type to flip backwards once the occupant left it, so Maki's face was hit by the rough seat material.
"Toilet," Kuwabara said, looking at her oddly before he left her to wallow in her misery.
Stee-rike two!
Why God, why…?
After the movie was over, Kuwabara could not understand why Maki has such a miserable look on her face. Perhaps she didn't like horror flicks? He glanced at his watch. It was only four in the afternoon, but he was kind of hungry.
"Wanna go catch a burger with me? My treat," he said, shoving his hands in his pocket. He wasn't expecting her to agree and go with him, since she looked like she wanted to go home, but he still thought he should ask. He was a gentleman, anyways.
Who would want to eat after being rejected like that…wait. Is he inviting me? Maki stared at him. He doesn't want our date to end!
"Sure! I'm getting pretty hungry anyways," she grinned, facial expression brightening up all of a sudden.
"You really are a weird one," he said, eyebrows raised at her sudden change. Maybe she was bi-polar?
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Oh, hold on," he said, digging into his pocket at his turned around to answer a call.
Maki didn't mind it, since she was busy contemplating on ways to ask him to have an ice-cream in the park later on. It seemed that her battle tactics were working. She grinned at just the thought.
Kuwabara returned and Maki approached him with a cute smile.
"Hey, want to go eat—"
"Sorry, something came up and I have to go home, bye!"
And with that, he left her standing there, words still in her mouth. What. The. Hell?
Stee-rike three! You're out!
Watanabe did not give up easily. Just you wait, Kuwabara Kazuma, just you wait.
Act Three: Always Watch The Kitchen While You Cook!
Maki waited three days after the movie incident. During these three days, she learned from her mother the basics of cooking and managed to produce and bento for her love. Summer had begun, so she made some refreshing dishes to match the season. As for how should she give Kuwabara her bento…
"Ah, Kuwabara, going to buy some bread?" She asked politely, tapping his shoulder as soon as the lunch bell rang. Having 'studied' him for the past few days, she had learned that it was his habit to buy bread in the cafeteria to satisfy his hungry stomach during this period.
"Yeah. What's up?" He asked, clearing his desk before leaving the class.
"Hmm, well you see…I made lunch for my father this morning, but I accidentally put it in my bag along with mine. Since I won't be able to eat it, would you like to have it?" She asked with a shy smile.
Kuwabara stared at her. "Is that okay? I mean, what if your dad gets hungry?"
"Oh! Don't worry, I'm sure he'd call home and tell my mom to make him one," she grinned, handing him the bento.
Kuwabara returned the grin as he took the neatly wrapped lunch from her. "Thanks, then."
She waited for his reaction as he took the first few bites.
"Wow, you can cook!" He said, surprised at her skills. "The side dishes are perfect for the season, too. You would make a wonderful wife," he finished.
The effect? Maki nearly exploded inside her mind, blissfully repeating his words over and over as she maintained a cool exterior.
"Say, want to come to my house on Friday? We could have dinner then," she said.
Kuwabara considered her offer before nodding. "Sure, why not!"
Maki was one happy girl that day.
By Friday, everything she had planned was perfect. After school she had run home and donned a, for the lack of a better word, skimpier outfit that the knee-lengthed skirt she wore to school. It was merely shorts and a tank top, but Maki felt over-exposed as she stood in front to the kitchen counter chopping vegetables for dinner. A pot of water was set to boil on the over next to her. She had made preparations for curry tonight.
She had been so startled by the doorbell that she cut her index finger.
"Coming!"
She hastily grabbed a napkin and pressed it onto the wound before rushing towards the door and opening it. Out in her doorstep stood Kuwabara, along with a cheeky-grinned Urameshi. They let themselves in before she asked what was going on.
"Oh! This is my friend Yusuke, you've probably heard of him. We were hanging out together before I remembered I was supposed to come over. Is that okay?" Kuwabara said sheepishly.
"Huh? Oh, it's okay, I guess…" Maki's disappointed tone went unnoticed.
"But wow, this is a really nice house," Urameshi commented, hands behind his head as he examined the entrance hall with relish. "You're pretty rich, huh?" He grinned at Maki.
She glared at him with loath in her eyes before she ignored him and walked them to the living room. "You can stay here while I finish cooking dinner," she said to Kuwabara. "Watch TV or something, I'll be back with drinks."
She walked back to the kitchen and stabbed the carrots with a little more force than she should have. Then she remembered she had cut herself and sighed. "I'll go bandage this up, first…"
She returned with two glasses of iced tea for the boys, careful to not block Kuwabara's vision from the TV. This caused Urameshi to miss a funny part in the comedy act that was playing.
"Hey! You're blocking the TV!" He complained, grabbing one of the drinks and taking a large sip. To Maki, he was being rude.
She glared at him to shut up before smiling at Kuwabara, and Urameshi mumbled something about people in love being biased. He left them alone as he journeyed towards the toilet.
Maki seized the chance to sit down next to Kuwabara, who was still immersed in the comedy duo that were doing silly, but funny things on TV.
"Uhm, I have something I want to say…"
She was cut off by sudden laughter from Kuwabara. Apparently he wasn't listening. She stared at him and he noticed.
"Oh, sorry…what was that?" He said, setting the TV on mute to fully avert his attention to what she was saying.
"You see, I like—"
"What's that smell?"
"THE HOUSE IS BURNING!"
Sirens wailed outside the Watanabe household as three teenagers stood by big, red trucks, covered in soot from head to toe. Maki's parents were informed (they each gone on business trips,) that their kitchen was completely destroyed. Curry was mentioned.
In the end, Maki couldn't set Kuwabara's heart ablaze, but at least she managed to set something on fire.