"What's the problem, Shika-kun?"
'What's the problem?! I don't know... Well, maybe I'm in love!" Shikamaru shouted angrily in his head, feeling such strong impatience as unlike him. "Nothing."
"Hm? Oh... well, you just look a little down," Momoko explained with sincere concern.
"I'm not," Shikamaru uttered coldly, trying to get away from the subject causing his emotional trauma.
"Oh... well, bye..." Momoko ran away with her face down and her arms tucked into her before Shikamaru could get in another word. The boy sighed.
'I'm such a charmer...' He thought sarcastically. 'Why am I thinking about it every time I talk to her? I can't stop thinking about it."
He looked up into the cloudy sky that normally gave him peace, but now the blue visage fell useless upon his eyes that were blinded by thoughts of her.
'Gah, how much longer will it take to cure this? Just to cure it... well, I can't ignore it if it's love. Kind of makes me want to turn around and face her but I don't know anything about love."
In a state of mind similar to Shikamaru's, Momoko sat on the branch of a tree on the edge on the woods.
Come on, come on,
Turn a little faster!
Come on, come on,
The world will follow after!
Her thoughts reeled on like a song playing that encouraged her to go up and tell him, but couldn't. Could she?
Come on, come on,
'Cause everybody's after love!
Is this what it was? Momoko always read romances and found them so fluttery and lovely. They never even mentioned the what-would-he-say feelings or the it-might-ruin-everything jitters. No, not jitters. More like spasms. She imagined him... His chocolate eyes shining with the light of the sky upon them, and his comforting, hearty, loving voice laughing with her... the thought nearly killed her.
'No,' Shikamaru thought, 'I've got to stop this now. I'm like a snowball running down a hill... into some spring of... no. I won't say the word. I've got to be done with her now and stay away from her. It's all I can do to stay sane, right?'
Melting under blue skies,
Belting out sunlight,
Shimmering love!
Momoko's face sunk into her hands and her expression turned to a dreamy gaze. That was the kind of love she wanted. The kind where everything was vibrant and everything seemed to sparkle. Where everything... shimmered. The kind where all the world would be perfect, or at least seem to be, when they were together. And that's what she felt, but the pang of, "We're just friends, remember?" always ruined the idea of it. Sometimes, when they were together, though... she just forgot. That wouldn't have been a problem, however, if she didn't remember.
Shikamaru, elsewhere in the forest out in an open field, was beginning to surrender the battle of denying love. 'Fine, maybe I will tell her. That is... if I don't smell her. She smells like strawberries... no. Strawberry ice cream. Oh man, why do I care about this stuff? She's just another troublesome woman, like all the rest... no. I think she's different. Meh, that's the kind of thinking that'll get me in trouble. I didn't mean to do this... Man, is there any escaping this love?'
'I guess these feelings I'm having...' Momoko pondered, 'These, lines of lightning, they remind that we need other people with us, as humans, and we're never alone... that's a nice thought. I would be nicer if I wasn't so unsure about this, though.'
Come on, come on,
Move a little closer!
Sure enough, the song was still going in Momoko's head, but she had to ignore it. She couldn't push to get any closer to Shikamaru, let alone tell him how she felt, with the way he was beginning to act. Had she said something? Did she do something wrong? These were things she wondered. He was acting awfully strange lately...
Come on, come on,
I wanna hear you whisper!
A thought swept over Shikamaru. Did she want to know how he felt?
Come on, come on,
Settle down inside my love...
Even if she didn't, he wanted her to know.
Come on, come on,
Jump a little higher!
Shikamaru got up to go find her.
Come on, come on,
If you feel a little lighter!
Momoko's head felt light as she awkwardly maneuvered back to the meadow where she and Shikamaru normally watched clouds.
Come on, come on,
We were once
Upon a time in love!
Momoko smiled and blushed at all the fairy tales and romances she had heard about in her life time. Were they really true? Could they really happen?
Both she and Shikamaru, in the separate places, went looking for each other to no end. What a huge forest!
We're accidentally in love.
Accidentally in love, accidentally in love, accidentally in love,
Accidentally in love, accidentally in love, accidentally in love,
Accidentally in love, accidentally in love, accidentally in love,
Accidentally in love, accidentally in love, accidentally in love,
Accidentally,
I'm in love! I'm in love!
I'm in love! I'm in love!
I'm in love! I'm in love!
Accidentally, Accidentally!
Around the open cloud watching field again, the two ninja collided in the air in the middle of their jumping from branch to branch(though clever Shikamaru knew the situation the entire time). He caught Momoko in his arms.
Come on, come on,
Sping a little tighter!
Momoko looked in his eyes and got lost in a daze for a moment.
Come on, come on,
And the world's a little brighter!
Neither of them knew what to say. They were lost in each other and honestly didn't even notice they were holding hands walking back out onto the field, though their blissful ignorance would cause them future turmoil to no end. Though, at this moment, none of it mattered, no matter what anyone could say. Shimmering love.
Come on, come on,
Just get yourself inside her love!
Shikamaru and Momoko laid down side by side to each other to watch to sky. The boy turned his head to catch a glimpse, and decided it utterly pointless to continue this fight. 'I'm in love...'