Title: It Came from the Refrigerator
Author: BlackMailer
Fandom: Lucky Star
Pairing: Soujirou Izumi and Kanata Izumi
Theme: #7—milk
Rating: G
Warnings: None. I'm clean. Have fun!
Disclaimer: Lucky Star, me no ownie. I just like to talk like Konata, and dance like Minoru. Fumoffu. (Oh, and I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog either.)
Summary: We're all fighting our own monsters. Can Sou help Kana overcome her own?
--
Munch.
Munch.
Munch.
Her deep blue eyes glinted in determination as she focused on her victim. A dusting of crumbs coated her delicately pink cheeks as she took another bite. She chewed steadily, all the while fixing her unfortunate prey with a hard stare. It seemed to stare back at her, its round brown orbs like challenging eyes. There's plenty more where that came from, it seemed to leer.
At the rate she was going, it was getting difficult to keep up the pace. And her stomach was getting full. She began to slow and breathe hard. "I can't take much more of this..." she gasped.
Too much for you to handle, eh? her opponent practically snickered, taunting her.
"No!" she wailed. "I haven't finished with you yet!" She doggedly continued, the crumbs flying now, thick and fast. Munch munch munch munch...
"Watching you versus a giant chocolate chip cookie is better than watching wrestling," Soujirou commented, taking a sip of his hot coffee.
Fourteen-year-old Kanata whipped her head towards him and froze. A choking sound emerged from her throat, and she coughed on the extra-large bite she had just taken out of the cookie. Most of the customers in the café looked over at their table in alarm, until she finally swallowed with a little gasp and an apology.
"But the giant chocolate chip cookies here are so good," Kana protested. "I feel like I just have to finish them all by myself...and then when I can't, I feel defeated because I'm letting something so tasty go to waste." The little blue-haired girl looked down at the loaded cookie with a sigh, her legs swinging high above the floor from her seat in her chair.
Laughing, Sou reached across the table to pat her hand. "You're so adorable, Kana-chan."
Kanata pouted.
Sou shook his head as he stirred his coffee, wrapping his fingers around the cup to absorb the warmth. "But seriously though, Kana, you never drink anything when you're eating a cookie. Why don't you get something to wash it down with? You could have cookies and mil—"
"NO!" squeaked Kana, waving her arms in the air like a crazy pinwheel. "Don't say it!" Her eyes had suddenly grown wild with—was it fear?—and Sou couldn't suppress his alarm at seeing such a reaction.
"Kana, what's wrong? Did I say something bad? What?"
"I couldn't do it! There's no way I could drink—" Kana covered her mouth with both hands and shuddered. "There's no way I could drink...that..."
Sou gaped, turning to her with understanding and slight amusement in his eyes. "Kana-chan," he chuckled, "don't tell me you're afraid of m—"
"Don't say it!" She cringed, her face flushed a dark, embarrassed pink as she fiddled with a napkin in her lap. But after a long, uneasy silence, Kana lifted her head sorrowfully and nodded.
"Oh." Sou paused. "Sorry."
-- -- --
"Well, no wonder I never see you eating a bowl of cereal," mused Soujirou aloud as they strolled down the sidewalk, having finished their afternoon coffee and heading for Sou's house to study together. "Or blended mi—"
"AH-AH-AH," Kanata warned, grabbing his arm.
"I mean, blended thing-shakes. Or thing candies." Sou stopped in front of a display window with sets of collectible anime figures for sale. "But you still eat cheese and ice cream, don't you, and those foods have m—those foods have the thing in them."
Kana shook her head, her soft blue locks falling over her forehead. "I don't mind cheese and ice cream, because I can't taste the thing in them. But I can't eat vanilla ice cream, because its flavor is too close to the thing." She shivered again and pressed closer to Sou. Small puffs appeared from her mouth in the frigid, wintery air.
A thought came to mind, and Sou looked from the display down to her quivering head. "What about when you were a baby? Didn't you drink it?"
"I guess I did, until a certain point when I didn't need to. I wouldn't remember. But when I was growing up, I just drank juice and never touched it." Kana gently tugged on Sou's arm until they were clear of the shop window, preventing him from further decreasing the contents of his wallet. She'd seen him tempted by too many manga sales this winter already.
Sou amiably allowed himself to be dragged down the sidewalk. "Maybe that's why you haven't grown taller since you were ten."
Kana's mouth drooped at the corners. "I couldn't help it. It tastes so...so awful."
"It tastes like liquid evil, huh?" Sou couldn't help cracking a mischievous smile. Then he made his hands into claws and pretended to advance menacingly towards Kana. "The cow, Kanata..." he breathed in a low, otherworldly voice. "The cow is coming to get you..."
Squealing, Kana leaped backward lickety-split, kicking up a small shower of slush. Her face crumpled, partly out of embarrassment and partly out of real terror. "Stop it, Sou-kun!" she pleaded.
"The cow is angry...The cow is coming to get you, Kanataaaa..." wailed Sou, moving in slowly and raising his hands.
"NO! I don't want him to get me!" Kana threw her arms up to cover her face, and it was at this point that several bystanders and a police officer all turned to see what was going on. From their point of view, there was a suspicious-looking young man drawing closer to a small, helpless girl, who was shrinking back in fear. "I don't want him to get me!" she cried again.
"KIDNAPPER!" yowled one old lady who was standing nearby, and raised the knitting needles she was clutching in her clawlike hand high above her head. Soujirou might have laughed and compared it to a scene from some really weird slice of life anime, if those needles hadn't looked so pointy and dangerous right then.
Afraid of what might happen, he began to shake his head in protest, "No, ma'am," he said quickly, as he kept his wary eyes on the oh-so-shiny knitting needles. In his panic, Sou began to babble a little. "This is not how it looks. You see, this girl here is afraid of milk. And I was talking about cows. And I was only trying to--"
"KIDNAPPER!" the lady screeched all the louder, slashing menacingly at the air with her weapons. "HELP! POLICE!" One swished astonishingly close to Sou's ear.
The kidnapper emitted a squeak, grabbed his victim's hand, and ran.
Once they were in the safety of Sou's front hall, they both collapsed onto the floor, panting and relieved to have gotten out of knitting needle radius.
"Thanks...Kana...chan..." groaned Sou, facedown in the carpet, his voice muffled.
"No...problem..." Kana replied, voice equally muffled by a stray boot that had been lying on the floor.
Sou got to his feet, in as dignified a manner as possible after being attacked by a senior citizen, and announced, "Well then...let's get to work." He shouldered his full backpack and helped Kana into the kitchen, where he prepared hot tea to calm both their nerves. The kitchen table was soon the site of poring through textbooks and furious scribbling in notebooks.
But hours of algebra and Oda Nobunaga seemed like dull work after such an adventure, and soon Soujirou found himself wishing for something else to do. He rested his chin on the palm of his hand, eyes meandering over to Kana's face, which was screwed up and giving off focused, don't-bother-me vibes.
We need a break, decided Sou, and thoughts of introducing Kanata to the wonders of gin rummy or Sonic the Hedgehog soon occupied his mind. Finally, however, he struck upon it. The one thing that was sure to take Kana's mind off her books.
"Hey, Kana," Sou said casually. Kanata looked up questioningly. "We've been at this for hours. Let's get a snack."
Agreeable, Kana closed her world history textbook. "That sounds great. I am a little hungry." She hopped off the chair and accompanied Sou to the refrigerator. A little rummaging around inside produced two enormous cupcakes. "Yummy!" gasped Kana. But before she could sink into the treat, Sou pulled it out of her hands. "Sou-kun! What are you—"
"Ah-ah-ah. Not so fast, Kanata." Sou grinned devilishly. "There's something you have to do first."
"What?"
"You have to drink—" here Sou paused and reached into the fridge again—"a whole glass of fresh milk." He plunked the carton of milk on the table.
"Sou-kun! You know I can't! I hate milk!"
Sou shrugged indifferently as he turned away. "Okay then. Guess I'll have to eat these cupcakes aaaaall by myself." He slowly lifted one to his mouth. "Mmm, and they're chocolate, your favorite..." Kana made no move to stop him, just watched him helplessly, eyes wide, as he prepared to eat the cupcake. Her cupcake. And just as he was about to take a bite...
"All right, all right! I'll do it! I'll drink the milk! Just please don't eat my cupcake!"
Satisfied at having gotten the response he wanted, Sou lowered the cupcake and nodded. A slow smirk spread across his face, much like a predator who knows it has cornered his prey. "Excellent. Let us begin," he declared. "Oh, and just so you can't sneak a taste before your ordeal is over..." Sou put the cupcake back in its box and placed it carefully on the highest shelf.
Kanata pouted.
"Now. When you have a cold, it makes you harder to taste stuff that you eat and drink, right?" Sou sat down across from Kana, pushing the carton and a full glass of milk to the center of the table. "So...when you drink the milk, all you'll have to do is hold your nose, and you won't taste a thing! Simple!" Sou snapped his fingers.
Kana stared at the glass as if it had horns. "I don't know, Sou-kun."
"Come on, you promised to try to get over your fear. And besides, I won't wait forever to eat those cupcakes..."
"Okay, okay! I'll try it." Kana hesitated before grabbing the glass of milk in one hand, holding her nose in the other. She wobbled on the edge of her seat for a moment, the glass inching its way towards her mouth for what seemed an eternity. Then, in one lightning-fast movement, she was swallowing the creamy white drink.
Sou grinned brightly. "That's great, Kanata! See, I told you that you could do—"
Before he could complete his sentence (for he had spoken too soon), Kana was clapping a hand over her mouth and out of her seat in a flash, scurrying to the bathroom as fast as her short legs could get her. She was back in a couple of minutes, looking sheepish and embarrassed. "I've changed my mind," she said. "I don't care if you eat my cupcake. I just can't handle it."
"Nah. I think we'll need a different approach," replied Soujirou, refilling the glass and standing up with it in his hand. He gave it to Kana, paused for a moment, and then in a sudden lightning bolt of inspiration, began shouting at the top of his voice at machine-gun speed. "Aliens have invaded the planet Earth! We are among the last living people in the world!" Sou grabbed Kana by the shoulders, eyes wild. "The aliens are coming to kill us! They know where we live! They are flying here in their UFO's as we speak!" Sou waved frantically at the sky. "And they will not rest until they have melted us with their mega-bionic laser guns!"
"What do we do?" Kana cried in panic.
Sou stroked his chin, frowning in deep calculation. "According to the data HQ sent me, there is a single human being who contains in her DNA the ability to morph at warp speed into a superhuman, and conquer the monstrous alien lifeforms." He whirled to face the small girl. "You, Kanata! Only you can save us!"
"But I don't know how!"
"All you have to do is transform into Magic Girl Kana-chan! Then you will gain the power to fight these extraterrestrials! Your transformation sequence is triggered by—" Sou pointed dramatically at the glass in her hands. "That intergalactic karyoplasmic suspension substance! Drink it, and your morph will be activated!"
"I can't!" Kana shoved the glass at Soujirou.
"But it is your duty, Kanata! You must save the world! You must become Magic Girl Kana-chan!" Sou pushed it back at her.
"I'm not ready to save the world!"
"Destroy the lifeforms, Kana-chan! DESTROY THE LIFEFORMS!"
Suddenly, Soujirou grabbed his heart and let out a cry of pain, staggering drunkenly to the kitchen table. He teetered for a second before slumping against it. "The aliens...they've shot me..." he croaked. "They're here...coming...you...save..." He dropped to the floor, looking blankly up at the ceiling, his breathing short and raspy.
Kanata threw herself down beside him, shaking his shoulders desperately. "Sou-kun! No! You can't leave me!"
The teenager smiled weakly, gasping for breath. "Don't worry...I'll always be...right here. You know...what you...have to...do..." He clasped her small hand in both of his. "Save the world...Kana-chan," he murmured. "Save the world." With that, his eyelids drooped shut, and his hand fell limply on his chest.
"No, Sou-kun! No!" Kana clutched at the front of his shirt, but Sou did not move. "Open your eyes, Sou-kun! Please, don't die!" She looked around for something—anything that would save him—and her gaze fell upon the neglected glass of milk. "Wake up, please wake up!" she said, and grabbing the glass, she splashed its contents into his face.
The formerly dead Soujirou jackknifed to a sitting position, spluttering at the unexpected cold dousing he'd received. He stayed silent for a moment, the only sound in the kitchen the milk dripping from his soaked hair. Then he turned to Kana, who was kneeling with her hands covering her mouth.
"I think," Sou said quietly, "we need a different different approach."
Over the course of the next two hours, Soujirou tried begging, taunting, yelling, torture with the use of Barney tapes, and reverse psychology. He tried replacing the contents of all the water bottles and juice cartons in the house with milk. He even tried making milk popsicles (which turned out tasting like ice and not much else). Nothing seemed to work on the stubborn, lactose-hating girl.
After Sou's latest attempt (explaining the dangers of osteoporosis), he was just about ready to give up. "That's it," he groaned, headpalming himself and flumping forward onto the kitchen table. "I've tried just about everything. Nothing is going to get you to drink that milk. Nothing."
Kana wilted slowly. "I'm sorry, Sou-kun. I just don't think I can either." She pulled her books back towards her and opened one up. "Maybe we should get back to studying and forget the whole thing. Thanks for trying to help me anyway. No other friend could have done better."
Sou's head snapped up. "Friend," he murmured, almost dazedly. He gazed at Kanata for the longest time, not saying anything, until she noticed and raised her eyes to meet his. "Is something the matter?"
"No...no, it's nothing, really." Sou sighed deeply, a bitter smile spreading across his face as he glanced away. "It's just...you're never going to realize, are you?"
"Realize what?" Kana tilted her head.
"How I really feel about you." The young man looked at her again, and this time, there was an intensity in his eyes that she had never seen before. A fierce intensity, and—was it caring she saw there as well?
Kanata was on her feet in an instant, stunned and at a loss as to what to do. "But Sou-kun, I...I didn't know that you..." she stammered.
Soujirou stood abruptly too, reached out hesitantly as if to take her hand, then turned away and slammed his fist against the wall in anger. "I knew it," he muttered to the wall when she didn't respond further. "I knew you'd reject me, I knew you wouldn't feel the same way—but I had to say it anyway." He leaned against it dejectedly and exhaled. "Maybe I should have just given up a long time ago."
"No! Sou-kun, I—" Kana latched onto his arm firmly, even though her voice and her hands were shaking. "I'm sorry that I didn't know. And I'm flattered that you like me so much, but...I thought we were just friends. I'm so sorry," she pleaded. "Please don't be mad at me. I'm not rejecting you, I...I just don't want our friendship to be ruined by this. By anything." She buried her face in the back of his shirt. "I'm so sorry."
Then Sou was whirling her around, putting one arm about her waist, tilting her backward tango-dancer style. He smiled and said, "It's okay. I understand." Then his face grew somber. "But I can't ever forget the fact that I love you, Kanata. I love you, and I always will." He leaned in closer, and Kana's eyes fluttered shut. "Which is why I..."
Sou drew his other hand out from behind his back. "Which is why I want to live long enough to see you grow taller, darnit!" And with that final statement, the only lips that met Kana's were the lips of a plastic glass of cold milk. Before she had time to react, half of it was down her throat.
Gasping for breath, Kanata fell back onto the floor. "Sou-kun!" she choked in astonishment and indignation. "You didn't—you didn't just—"
"I just did," grinned Sou, as he put the glass calmly back on the table. "Which means you can have your cupcake now, my dear."
-- -- --
"I still can't believe you tricked me like that," Kana was remarking incredulously an hour later as they left Soujirou's house, the latter having offered to walk her home. "That was completely unnecessary, not to mention sneaky and conniving!" She flung her hands up helplessly to the sky. "I didn't know what to think! I don't even know what to say!"
Sou tipped his head to one side, moving in close. "But you're not mad."
Kana's expression caved in. "Of course not." She linked arms with him, the way she always did, even though she didn't even come up to his shoulder. "I could never be mad at you. I might be a little confused, or annoyed...but never mad."
"I know. But I wanted to say sorry anyway."
They walked like that in amiable silence for a few precious moments, watching the winter sun sink in the pale sky, Kanata leaning peaceably against Sou's side.
"Um, Sou-kun?" He peered down to see Kana fiddling nervously with the end of her scarf. Her face was steadily turning a hot pink, and she wasn't making eye contact, just staring down at the wet path. "Did you...did you mean all the things you said? Back then...before you shoved the glass in my face." She blushed even harder. "Or were you just making them up to fool me?"
Some vague, yet strong feelings stirred in Sou's chest as he gazed fondly down at her. The truth was, he had said all the things he had wanted to say there in the kitchen. If he ever confessed his true feelings to her, he knew how she would react. They were friends; they always had been. There had never been any reason for Kanata to think otherwise. Until now...
And Soujirou wanted to keep it that way.
"Of course I did," he announced strongly to the twilight skies. "I meant what I said. I love you, Kanata...you're the best friend I ever had."
A relieved, almost nervous smile spread over Kana's face. Her beautiful, perfect, innocent face. "Thanks, Sou-kun. I feel the exact same way." She gave him a quick, one-armed hug. A gusty wind swished past them, and impulsively Sou slipped his arm around her shoulders and kept it there as they strolled. They could have stayed like this forever...they had all the time in the world.
If not for the loud, elderly voice from behind them that distinctly screeched, "THERE HE IS, OFFICER! THAT'S THE KIDNAPPER!"
Sou and Kana shot each other a quick glance. "The aliens!" they yelled simultaneously, grinning. And hand-in-hand, the two "friends" escaped into the sunset.
--
Thanks so much for reading! Review, and I will love you to death!
- Your friendly neighborhood BlackMailer