A/N: Story written for my very special friend, Abby.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story and ideas. I don't own Gakuen Alice.
Under My Skin
Hotaru's P.O.V.
"Mrs. Nogi, your husband is here to pick you up," my secretary informed through the intercom, momentarily distracting me from me handiwork. I didn't put my wrench down, however, and didn't even bother to look at the speaker attached to the wall. Using my free hand, I pressed the button and replied in a clear, calm tone.
"Send him away." And just like that, went back to my own work. I didn't understand why he insistently persists that today was a momentous occasion, which had to be celebrated together. He just wanted an excuse not to work, and hinder with mine at the same time. I won't let him, though.
"Ma'am, he insists to see you immediately," the secretary replied, and I made a mental note to fire her later for this. If she couldn't even carry out one small order, than she was just useless to me. Putting my wrench down grudgingly, I pressed my finger over the intercom a bit harsher then I intended to, and spoke once again.
"I said-" I was about to scold her, but was rudely interrupted by the buffoon who went on his knee and offered me the same ring I now where on my finger, in front of an audience of other dinner attendees, the swaying of the boat almost tipping him overboard – which at this moment, I wish had done it's job.
"Can't a guy meet with his wife every now and than when he pleases?" His deep voice was annoying. How could he go from the squeaky, whiney toned, weakling little boy I knew from years ago to the deep voiced guy who was strong enough to throw me over his shoulder when I was caught off guard.
"Not if the wife is busy with work and disapproves. Plus, we see each other everyday once we come back from work, at home, where personal matters are supposed to be kept," I shot back, my voice never wavering. He was just trying to get on my nerves. Sometimes I slip and let him, but I'm as hard as a rock. I will not let him get under my skin.
"But what if the husband just couldn't resist the temptation of seeing his wife, against his better judgment? What if she was all he could think about from the moment he woke up by her side that morning, and he just wanted to hold her, and never let her go?" The exaggeration was making me want to vomit out my lunch. "He can't concentrate on his work, because his wife all he thinks about." He was blaming me as his excuse for not wanting to work today. "He just wants her all to himself, just for today." He had a snowball's chance in Hell. "He just wanted to tell her how much he loves her, on this special day that they should be spending together." What happened to the blushing and easily embarrassed little boy from the past?
"I can imagine that my secretary is feeling quite uncomfortable with your passionate, yet shady, declaration of affection." I was just throwing out whatever I could to get him to leave. Couldn't he just get along his way and wait until I was done with work? I don't have time for this.
"I sent her away." I'm beginning to wonder why I married this idiot again.
"And why, may I ask, would you do something as absurd as that?" I asked, an expert at keeping my anger in, for all the years I spent handling Mikan.
"I thought we could use some privacy on such a special day. By the way, your phone is ringing like crazy; it's quite irritating. You should really get that checked." My clients. My work. My job offers. My career. My sustenance.
My money.
Instead of replying, I left everything behind and exited the lab, storming down the hallways. I wasn't fuming. I wasn't seething. I will not embarrass myself and go off into a hissy fit. I will not let him get under my skin. The only indication of me emotions was the sounds of my heels reverberating throughout the halls, bouncing off the walls.
I needed to stop and check myself, so I entered the elevator, and took a few calming breathes. This was a better idea then running down twenty flights of stairs, which would have just made me even angrier, and sweaty, and tired, and unsightly. I am calm. I am Hotaru. Nothing fazes me.
The doors slid open before going to the lobby, and I stared menacingly at the clatter of businessmen about to enter the elevator, but stopped short as they noticed me. They cautiously approached, but stopped when I slammed the heel of my palm on the 'close doors' button, watching the fear seep into their gazes as they backed away to wait for the next available elevator.
So maybe I wasn't as composed as I'd hoped to be. I am Hotaru. I am unmoving ninty-nine percent of the time of my life, I was allowed to blow off my top once in a while, correct? However, I stopped that train of thought. That was just what Ruka would want me to think. I will not blow off my top. I will ask him to leave, in a low, impolite tone. And if he didn't comply, I could easily grab the baka-gun from under the secretary's counter, and hit him with that a couple of times before calling security to escort him out. He might be my husband, but that didn't mean he had leverage over me. I will not let him get under my skin.
As the elevator doors slid open once again, I held my head up high and walked out, fully prepared to tell Ruka off. He was being a hindrance to my work, and he needed to know it. However, I wasn't expecting him to be standing there, in a white tuxedo, with a bouquet of an assortment of different purple shades of flowers bundled together, clutched tightly in his sweaty palms, a light pink blush dusting his cheeks as others around the lobby stares and gossiped and giggled all around him.
For a second, I remember the little boy from long ago, who'd blush whenever I take pictures of him to sell off to his fan-girls. I remembered the little boy who stared longingly at my best friend who was already in the arms of another. I remembered the little boy who was too scared to speak his mind, but I already knew what he was thinking, since it was practically written all over his face. I remembered the man who stuttered when proposing to me, flustered by all the attention we were grabbing, yet his eyes twinkled with nervous expectations against the stars overhead.
I slowly gave him a once over, making him fidget where he stood, seeming not as confident and cool as he tried to portray himself through the intercom. My eyes landed on the flowers in his grasp, and I easily could pick out the types they were. Eustoma, dahlia, gladiolus, rose, hyacinth, and a touch of forget-me-nots. They were all purple, just like-
"-the color of your eyes," Ruka finished for me, somehow easily able to pick up on my thoughts, probably since I was gazing for longer than necessary at the flowers. He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, the blush only grow with my endless silence, waiting anxiously for his impending doom. I walked closer to him, standing right in front of him, and he held the flowers out for me. His smile was wavering, as I didn't make any move to accept the flowers from him. "Ok, I know you're mad and that you want to get back to work, but just hear me out. I just wanted to let you know that since today is a special occasion, I just wanted to remind you that you are-" I held my hand up, stopping me mid-way, to get my question out before he could continue rambling.
"Why are you so susceptible to believing that today is some momentous occasion, that it must be different from any other regular day of our lives?" I asked, wanting – needing – to understand why he couldn't just shrug it off or push it for a later time.
"Why are you so adamant to believing that today isn't a special day?" he shot back, but I gave him a look, notifying him without words that my question is of utmost importance than his snap remark. He took a deep breath, his face contorting a bit, as if in deep thought, before replying. "I try my best to show you how much I love you every single day of our lives, from the moment we wake up together to the morning to the moment our heads hit the pillow, so I can sleep and recharge myself to be able to repeat the cycle and show you how much I love you the next day all over again. However, today is a day when I can easily use as it as an excuse to shower you with even more of my love. When I can buy you presents, take you to nice places, feed you good food, and have you all to myself, just so I can show you just how much you mean to me. How much I love you."
I was letting him get under my skin.
"The food, the nice places, the presents, having me all to yourself. Don't you usually do that everyday anyways?" I inquired, trying to lighten the suddenly heavy mood surrounding us, his smothering gaze never leaving mine. He set down the bouquet on the secretary's desk counter, grabbing my hands and downing down on his knee, his eyes leaving mine. The buzzing chatter of the audience around us was growing louder. It was like the proposal all over again, the one moment in my life that I did not foresee, and was caught off guard, and was uncertain for a wavering moment.
"Hotaru Nogi, I love you with all my heart, and that love just grows more every fleeting moment by your side. There are an uncountable amount of times when I think, I wouldn't mind if time just stopped right now. Will you forever be mine? Even when Mochu comes over just to eat our food, or Kitsu flies around the house and makes a mess of everything, or Mikan runs in crying about something trivial Natsume did and ruining our lovey-dovey mood, or even when all our friends pokes fun at us and calls us complete opposites, but even then I know in my heart, you are the most perfect and beautiful woman I have ever encountered, and no one could ever replace you no matter how hard they try?"
How did he so easily get under my skin without my knowing of it?
"Didn't I already agree to this when you asked me to marry you?" I replied, seeming uninterested, but even I can't ignore the feeling of joy and happiness bubbling up in my chest, growing to the point of suffocation. He understood my round about way of answering him, his grin etching across his face. His understanding nature toward my somewhat mechanical behavior was one of the things that made us compatible, which attracted me to him in the first place.
He stood up, cupping my small face in his palms, which seem larger than I last remembered them, and pulled me face closer to him. Before he could kiss me in front of the crowd of onlookers, I pulled out the baka-gun from under the secretary's desk, and shot him with it, staring down indifferently at his shocked expression.
"Wha-?" he began, but I stopped him, my authoritative tone overriding his.
"Now that you've said you're piece, you may now leave and allow me go back to my work, along with everyone else who's idling around here. Unlike you, I am no slacker. We will continue our business later on when I reach home," I explained informatively, turning on my heel and walked away from him, pressing the elevator button to call it down for me. I needed to get back to my lab, get away from the dozens of pairs of eyes piercing through me.
"Actually, I wasn't finished," Ruka's voice lifted through the tense silence. I turned to him, watching him stand up and dust off his white suit. He lifted his gaze to meet mine, and smiled broadly, as if I hadn't just publicly humiliated him in front of my employees. The elevator was almost down to my floor, and I stayed, waiting for him to continue and wrap things up quickly, before I left him hanging. He straightened his tie, seeming lax. "Happy anniversary, love."
The elevator dinged, signaling that it had arrived, and I walked in. I would deal with him later, when I was done with my work, and he was what I trained my undivided attention on.
I hated how he was crawling deeper and deeper under my skin, and I couldn't scratch him out, no matter how hard I tried.
The End