He opens the door with a nervous tick in his stomach, grinning awkwardly from ear to ear as a blush spreads across his face when he sees her standing on the other side. She's wearing her glasses and a leather jacket, her blue jean shorts ripped so that the sleeves of the pockets show through the holes on her thighs. Her tights have runs in them, those boots of her scuffed and worn. She raises an eyebrow at his obvious perusal of her appearance and props her hands on her hips.

"See something you like, Kanbara?" she asks wittily, the corner of her mouth curling into a smirk.

His blush grows darker as he meets her eyes, tugging at the collar of his yellow sweater. "O-Obviously." Akihito steps back and gestures for Mirai to come into his apartment. Her smirk becomes full blown as she stalks inside, kicks the door shut behind her and shoves his back up against the wall. He yelps in surprise before she's kissing him, her lips hungry, tongue already flicking against his mouth eagerly.

He responds immediately, cupping her neck with his hand, allowing it to wander down to the expanse of her collar bone where he presses against her erratic heartbeat. She tangles her hands in his hair and arches into him, as though to make sure he stays there securely against the wall. A hum vibrates in the back of her throat; she tilts his mouth toward the ceiling by tugging his hair and nips at the base of his throat.

"I-Idiot," she scolds. "You aren't supposed to look at me that way."

"What way?" He's breathless as she pushes aside his collar and gives and open-mouthed kiss to the spot where his neck meets his shoulder, using her teeth and her tongue. She drives him crazy; she really, really does. Where did she learn this stuff? If she's going to keep assaulting him like this there's no way he'll be able to keep himself from encouraging her further.

She pulls away and kisses his chin, running her hands down the front of his chest, curling around his belt. He swallows thickly. "Like you've never seen me before," she replies, a little out of breath.

He glances down at her, his blush even more prominent than before as she runs her hands back up and pushes against his chest. "I forget how pretty you are," he admits.

Mirai blinks slowly, dazed, and then launches herself back onto her toes to flatten her mouth roughly against his, her glasses going crooked. "You," she hisses out against his lips. "Dumb." His jaw. "Nerd." His cheek.

His hands squeeze her hips as he tries to put space between them. "If you don't stop, we aren't going anywhere," he says, his breath hitching at the way she licks her lips.

The excitement in her eyes thrills him - especially framed as they are by her spectacles - but she steps away completely, the heat of her body disappearing from his. "As appealing as that is, I have plans for us," she informs him in an almost shy manner. "So go get dressed."

He looks down at his sweater before glancing back to her, confused. "I am dressed."

"You're not going out dressed like a nerd." She kicks off her shoes before clutching the fabric of his sweater and pulling him back toward his room.

"Hey," he protests, even though he's unashamedly turned on by the way she likes to tug him around all the time, "you like my sweaters."

She purses her lips to hide a smile. "Yes, but tonight, I'm thinking sexy, not scholarly."

"I'm always sexy."

She's teasing him. "Debatable."

He smirks and circles his hand around her wrist before walking her backwards until she's pressed to his bedroom door. "Fact," he murmurs in a low, low voice that sends a shiver down her spine.

"Biased," she whispers when he lets his hands rove down her leather-clad arms with a feather touch. He's leaning down to kiss her, but when their noses brush, she twists the knob of his bedroom door and walks back, causing him to stumble a little after her. "Just throw on a button up or something. I'll wait for you by the door."

She turns and leaves. He does as he says and discards the yellow sweater, slipping into one of his white button ups. With a smirk resting against his mouth, he rolls the sleeves up and leaves the base of his throat exposed, remembering the first time she kissed him when he'd done that.

She's waiting by the door as promised with her shoes back on, blinking at him as he runs his hand through his hair and bends down to slip into his sneakers. He thinks that she's probably the best thing that has ever happened to him, even if he won't say it out loud. They've been in a relationship for almost five months now and yet, he's still not used to the way that she regards him. Her manner is a little rough, but there is so much warmth in her eyes when she looks at him that they glow like sunlight.

Mirai grabs his hand and kisses his knuckles in a sudden gesture of affection, avoiding his gaze when he looks at her, a blush burning on her face.

"Y-You look good," she murmurs.

He grins and pulls her into his side as he tucks his keys and wallet into his pocket. "Says the best looking girl I've ever seen," he replies, flattening his lips against the crown of her head. Her hair is soft like silk and smells like almonds and vanilla. "Where are you taking me tonight?"

::::

They go to dinner at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant first before heading back to Mirai's apartment to "pick up something she forgot." She emerges from inside with a small backpack that she hitches over one shoulder, shooting him a large smile, and then he allows her to lead him to a meadow on the edge of town. The sun is long gone, but since summer is around the corner the air is warm and comfortable.

"It's a nice night," Mirai says as she plunks down in the tall grass and slips the bag from her shoulder.

He smiles a bit before taking a seat next to her and rolling his eyes. "I suppose it is. How'd you get your hands on that bottle of wine?"

Her glasses shine a little against the light of the crescent moon and she grins. "Being friends with the Nase princess can get you anything you want if you know how to ask nicely."

He laughs - even if Akihito got on his knees and begged, Mitsuki would never willingly do him a favor. It makes him happy that she's got such a good friend in the Nase girl. She uncorks the lid without his help and then takes the first drink before passing it to him. He's never been much for alcohol - he's underage and he's never invited to the parties where heavy drinking would ensue - but it's just him and his favorite girl and there's nothing more he'd rather be doing, actually.

He makes a bit of a face at the taste and she laughs. "It's just wine, you nerd."

"I'm out of practice," he defends as he passes it back.

"You mean you've never had any practice," she scoffs before taking another swig and settling the bottle in the cradle of his crossed legs. Her eyes are lidded behind her lenses as she leans close to him, the strawberry wine on her breath kissing his mouth. "You're so pure sometimes, Kanbara. It makes me want to mess you up."

He smirks down at her as she presses her cheek to his shoulder and meets his gaze. "I'm pretty sure you've already messed me up quite a bit."

"Y-You were m-my first time, too," she stumbles over her words and then sticks her tongue out. His heart jumps out of his chest when he leans just a fraction of an inch down and opens his mouth against her tongue. She moans in surprise and pulls away, her face hot. "You're lewd."

"And to think you used the word 'pure' to describe me." He grins and takes the neck of the wine bottle in his hand, drinking another sip. They fall into a comfortable silence for a while, turning their eyes to the cloudless sky where the stars twinkle against the blanket of navy blue, taking turns with the bottle of wine until Mirai is drinking less and Akihito is drinking more.

They both wind up on their backs, shoulders pressed together. His head feels fuzzy and he's sure that if he has anymore to drink he'll be beyond the point of no return but that doesn't seem to send off any alarm bells as it usually would. All he can seem to focus on is Mirai, the heat of her, the soft sounds of her breath. He sighs contentedly, reaching to take her hand in his as his eyes roam the heavens above them.

"Mirai," he says and she trembles slightly beside him. "I think I love you."

She goes stiff and then she's sitting up, staring down at him in the darkness. His face is lined gently by the light of the night sky, as if the moon is caressing him itself and her heart is racing in her throat. "You're drunk," she says unsteadily.

"Yeah," he admits. "But that doesn't mean I'm lying. I don't think so, anyway. Because you're really warm and really pretty, and when I'm with you, I feel really good. And I think about you a lot."

She leans over him, blocking the stars from his view, placing her hands on either side of his head. "That doesn't mean you love me, Akihito."

"When. . ." he trails off as if lost for a moment before regaining his train of thought through the haze in his mind. "Sometimes, I think about what our kids would look like. They'd have my hair, but your eyes. They'd probably need glasses. My mother would spoil them rotten."

"Akihito."

"I think about making love to you a lot. Every night. Your skin is really soft and you smell good, and when you touch me I'm so happy that I'm alive. That way you say my name under your breath. . . damn, I think sometimes I could die because I feel so overwhelmed by you."

"You are so corny." She leans down, pressing her forehead to his chest.

He breathes in deeply. "Yeah, I know."

Her voice is small; she knows she's not fully in control of her thoughts or her mouth now either, but her heart is swelling painfully at his words. "You would marry me? Even though I've got baggage?"

He sits up on his forearms, furrowing his eyebrows, and gives her a harsh look. "Geez. Don't say stupid things like that. A broken family does not make you less worthy of anything, idiot, especially of me. You're everything to me."

She listens to his heart. "You're seventeen. How do you know that I'm what you want?"

There's a moment of silence and then he settles back against the grass. "I just know."

::::

Akihito doesn't have much of a headache when he wakes up, but that might be because when he opens his eyes, the first thing he sees is Mirai's face, gentle and tender in unconsciousness. Her lips are parted, the feathers of her eyelashes brushing against her cheek, bangs side swept. The sunlight kisses her face in slanted bars, and his heart swells. He doesn't remember much, really - she had two bottles of wine and they drank both of them completely - but he does vaguely recall telling her that he loves her, and he knows its true.

Continuing his perusal, he notes that she is topless and he isn't wearing anything. It's not the first time they would have slept together, but it still makes him blush anyway. Just a tinge. He leans forward and presses his mouth to her forehead before rolling out of bed as silently as possible and padding his way to the bathroom to take a shower. The clothes they were wearing the night before are like a trail of breadcrumbs all the way back to his apartment door and he smirks to himself as he shuts the bathroom door behind him.

It's not until after he steps out of the shower and he's toweling off that he notices the bright red ink against his skin near the hollow of his shoulder. A tattoo?! Of glasses?! In a panic, he scrubs at the mark in the hopes that it is fake, and he breathes a sigh of relief when it smears a little. Permanent marker. Not as big of a deal as ink. He laughs to himself.

Kuriyama is still asleep when he emerges naked from the bathroom, his hair hanging damp over his forehead, curling awkwardly. He crawls into his bed and up to her side, pressing his mouth to the spot behind her ear. She wakes up as his lips make their way over her shoulder and he's pulling the sheets down to her waist.

She groans. "Why."

He laughs; she never has been a morning person. "It's nearly lunch time, Kuriyama."

"There's no rule saying I have to get up yet," she mutters grumpily. "Go away."

"You're in my bed!" he chuckles.

She peeks at him and then shuts her eyes again. "Then come here."

"You wish," he teases. "I'm going to go make lunch." Turning away, he dons a pair of sweatpants and a white T-shirt and just before he leaves the room, Mirai sits up.

"Akihito."

He pauses and looks back at her over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"I think I love you, too."