Sorry for the lack of activity on here; I've been distracted by sword boys. I don't know how to write fanfic properly anymore apparently.
Kagerou Project belongs to Jin.
"Takane, you don't sound so good." Her headphones muffle the sound of his voice, as well as the usual optimism and overall dorkiness – but don't let him hear that last part. There was actual concern in his tone, and she felt absolutely…dirty making him worry about her. She didn't deserve to have him dote over her health; no, she won't allow it! It should be the reverse of their situation, and that's final.
She lets out a strangled cough, sweat running down her forehead in a sticky manner. Ugh, being sick in the summer was absolute torture. How did she even get sick in the first place? Casting her hazy memory back, it might have been when they went to the hospital for her grandfather…
Hmph, there's no time to think about that. Her droopy eyelids threatened to block her sight, but she tried blinking them awake in fear of losing to the zombies flashing on her television screen. Ah, she was back at it with her infamous video game, and as she methodically pushed the buttons on her controller, she felt that ever-growing headache throbbing in her head.
This was not her plan. She'd planned to spend her summer break merrily playing "Dead Bullet", occasionally letting Haruka call her via Skype to play the game with her. While he's not on the same level as her (and let's be honest, he won't reach that for a very long time), he's steadily getting better at the whole thing, despite Takane's advice being, "Haruka, aim your gun at the zombie's head, you idiot! It'll give you more points!"
(To which he had replied, in an earlier call in an earlier time, "But I don't want to hurt it, Takane!" Now, though, he does what he's told. It's just that he's often…unwilling to do so.)
"That's kind of rude to say," she retorted to the boy, and the picture of his smile faltering and face falling to one of shame made her feel guilty. Why'd she care so much about what she made him feel, anyway…?! Emotions are a mess. "Well, I got sick, so that's why my voice sounds gross."
"You're sick?!" Haruka's voice, loud and ringing in her ear, made her face scrunch up in slight pain. Did he really have to yell into his mic?! After the multiple times she'd scolded him for that, he should know better. He never does learn, huh? He really is some sort of (cute, wait, what am I saying?) idiot… "Takane, that's awful!"
"Yeah, well…" She paused, taking time to hit her enemies and giving her team the lead. Haruka's character – Konoha, blinking at the side with all of her teammates' names in a roster – then scooted closer to her own character in game, with a little "get better soon ene-chan! ヾ( ^▽^ )ノ" popping into the chat room.
And immediately the other players of their team filed in with their own posts, saying, "are konoha and actor going out?" and "i've seen fanart of them recently, can't believe it's real!" Those words filled her screen before she knew it, and she paid no attention to the fact that they won the match; no, her mind was reeling over the fact that they were assumed to be dating.
"Haruka, what'd you do?!" Face red with absolute shame, and with her voice sounding even raspier with her earlier exclamation, her controller's dropped to the floor, hands on her face even when no one was around her room. Oh god, no, they can't start a rumor like that! It's bad enough that they know I'm a girl! No, no, Haruka…! "This is terrible!"
"Sorry, Takane…!" Okay, he genuinely sounded apologetic. "Ah, I didn't know that people…uh…"
What, ship them? Their in game characters?! How long has that been going on – and what's with the fanart? Those were questions she wanted to ask Haruka, but if she did, she doubted that air-head would have much to say about it.
"I know, I know!" Haruka's voice broke through her thoughts, and reluctantly, she clings to it. (How pathetic.) "To make it up to you, I'll go over there and help you feel better! I'm on my way right now!"
"Huh, Haruka, wait – !"
"Go away, Haruka."
"Nope! Let me in, Takane!"
"My room's a mess."
"So is mine! There's a lot of art supplies everywhere, and – "
"Don't come in!" A pillow goes over Takane's head by force, her tired eyes peeping through tiny cracks in her bangs. She didn't even look decent; she had on some shorts she'd found somewhere in her room and a shirt from who-knows-how-long-ago, colored bright neon orange much to her dismay. And her hair wasn't even in their regular pigtails – instead, they laid loose in black strands along her back, because she assumed no one would be around.
She's definitely not going to mention the fact that the door wasn't locked in the first place. Since she'd assumed that she'd be left alone this entire day, she felt like she didn't need to do such a thing – that, and her grandmother told her to leave it unlocked so she could give her food. But she'll let the gentleman Haruka wait out there until he leaves. Yep, that's fine.
The doorknob wobbled a little bit, and Takane's heart skipped a million beats as soon as she spotted it. Her current position wasn't the prettiest – she was sprawled across her messy bed, a leg hanging off the edge because of the fact that she'd been playing earlier.
Her room was a sight for sore eyes, too; there were clothes everywhere, her gaming system in the middle of it all with the rug crumpled underneath. The curtains were half-drawn, and her desk had undone worksheets stacked in untidy piles, her school sweater hanging on the lamp and a skirt on the chair. Her closet was another beast, and she'd rather try not to open it and change.
The doorknob stopped moving, and Takane felt a prolonged sigh of relief come out of her mouth. As she was about to adjust –
"Takane, your door isn't locked!" And that's when he burst into the room, to which Takane fell off of her bed.
"Sheesh, Haruka, you didn't have to bring me food…" A small amount of steam rose from the soup, the plastic spoon that came with it in the broth and chopsticks in one of her hands. She was careful not to move; she didn't want to spill it all over her bed, and she wanted to (or at least try) sleep tonight. Haruka ate on her desk with her aforementioned papers shoved to the side, two bowls in front of him as he sat.
It was weird seeing him in casual wear. He wore a striped polo and some beige shorts, and although that much was a fashion disaster, he somehow made it work. Haruka Kokonose was a wonder, and she wasn't sure why she naturally gravitated to the boy.
"I just want you to get better faster before school starts! I don't want you to miss class!" He sifts through the plastic bag he brought with the soup, holding up a bottle right after. "I also brought medicine! And I have candy…but that's once you're better, okay?"
"You're just spoiling me," she muttered, taking a sip before the grip on her spoon falls. Making a startled face, she exclaims, "It's hot!"
"It's soup!" He laughs, and without warning, he sits next to her, making the bed move a bit. She jumps a little as well, eyes widening at the very idea that they were mere inches apart. Does this guy have no sense of personal space…?! At this point she's used to her reddening face and warming body, the humiliation second-nature when it came to Haruka being in a close proximity to her.
"Here, let me have this!" He takes the spoon from her hand, an action unexpected despite Takane preparing herself for such a thing mentally. He got her again, and she just wished that he wouldn't do this anymore. This wasn't friendship; this feeling was something beyond that, and it felt sick and unbearable. It tightens her chests, it messes with her speech, and she just can't look at Haruka the same anymore.
(It's all so confusing, I want to tell you…!)
He dips the spoon into the soup, blowing the top of the broth gently, face twisting in concentration. Takane could only stare at him, and rather sheepishly at that fact. She couldn't believe that this was happening, in her house. She hoped her underclassmen don't hear about this, or they won't stop talking about it.
"Alright, I think it's cool enough! Here comes the airplane, Takane!" Just like a child, he practically shoves the spoon into her mouth, the warm liquid going down her throat and the spoon hanging in her mouth. Luckily the soup didn't spill in her backlash, but that was yet another one of Haruka's surprises.
She takes the spoon out of her mouth, visage probably matching the red of Ayano's infamous scarf. Through the sheer mortification of Haruka's actions (how can he sit there smiling, he's unbelievable!), she manages to stutter, "H – hey, I'm not a kid anymore! That was unnecessary!"
His laugh was downright adorable.
"You get some rest now, alright?"
"Are you making fun of me?" Haruka had propped her onto a mountain of pillows and even insisted on a blanket, but it was way too hot for that to happen. So he settled with the pillow-mound, telling Takane to sit still while he set it up. He would have carried her the whole few inches to the pillows, too, had she not insisted that she, as a big girl, could do it herself. "You're too cruel."
"Sorry, sorry!" She tried to ignore the fact that his laugh made her heart swell, and she bit her lip to hide that fact that she was this embarrassing around him with her hormones and adolescent feelings and whatever Kenjirou added. "One more thing, though…"
He reached into his plastic bag, and out came a dinosaur plushie. It was moderately-sized, and she wondered how she didn't notice that in his bag of his, but maybe that's because she was that sick. It was a triceratops, green all around with yellow spikes and horns. Okay, it was kind of endearing. She'll give him that.
"Ta-da! For you!" He hands it over to her, and her arms wrap around it limply. It was soft (probably like Haruka's hair, her brain stupidly adds), and squishy, and smelled like – God forbid – Haruka.
"Did this come from your house?" She asked, an eyebrow raised as her gaze turned from Haruka to the stuffed dinosaur in her hold.
"M – maybe…" He stops for a second, and she misses the wobbly smile he managed to fix. "He's called Konoha, because I got him the day I made my account!"
You nerd, she wanted to say, looking down at "Konoha" with a bit more fondness. So this was around the day he pestered her to help him with his gaming account. She wanted to ask if she had "LightningFlashDancerENE" as a tyrannosaurus rex or something, but that seemed both creepy and greedy.
"Alright, alright," she said, hugging it closer to her to show her appreciation. She looks up at the boy again, standing there with that stupidly charming grin of his. She concluded that she'll never grow tired of it, despite the many times she'd yelled at him for smiling at a bad situation. "Thanks, Haruka…"
"No problem!" He naturally exclaims, hands going to his back. "We can play 'Dead Bullet' tomorrow, right?"
"If I don't knock out for a long time," she replies, Haruka's figure growing slightly blurry. "I think the medicine you gave me's finally kicking in."
"R – really?"
Was it just her, or was his face a little pink? She couldn't exactly tell, and her already-tired eyes were beginning to close on her. Her body seemed to relax, limbs feeling lighter than usual as her head swayed to the other side. Takane's chin was slightly on Konoha, and she felt as if that long-awaited sleep was finally getting to her after all that time.
From the corner of her eye, she could see Haruka leaning close to her face. She wasn't sure if she was too sluggish to react, or she wanted it to happen, but he left a small kiss on her cheek before pulling away quickly, snapping back to standing beside her bed.
Haruka…
His name was the last coherent thought that crossed her mind before rest overwhelmed her for the night.