Horimiya | ホリミヤ

Hi guys! I have come to love (and I mean it) the manga, so I decided to write an alphabet fic. :) I swear, these two are so cute, and so I just couldn't help but write something for them!

My first fic for the Horimiya archive, please take care of me!


Chapter 1: Abaci and apples


Hori Kyoko rubbed her temples in agitation as she carefully placed her abacus on their kotatsu. "Each bead in the ones place at the upper deck counts for five digits", she repeated for the nth time, her voice gone cold with the loss of enthusiasm in teaching her boyfriend.

Miyamura Izumi let his chin touch the kotatsu's table. "Is the Philippines a country?"

"That's the fifteenth time you asked that", she mentally face-palmed. "Please don't act like its people aren't people. You're offending them you know! And of course it's a country!"

"What's the point of using an abacus? Don't calculators exist– ow!"

Kyoko retreated her hand that was holding her abacus, and went back to doing her homework. "Why don't you say that to Sensei? I'm sure he'll understand and let you off the hook."

"I just don't get why one has to use beads for calculating. When you're out doing your shopping, do you actually carry an abacus to check how much the stuff you buy added up to?"

The brunette sighed in defeat. "Did you start studying for English?"

"Maybe I should just become the hanasaka jiisan*. Like maybe I could become some wicked old man and get imprisoned. In that way, I wouldn't have to worry about failing to recognise a couple of wooden beads."

"You know you don't have to kill a dog to fail your exams. In fact, you can do it very well by simply doing nothing."

The boy narrowed his eyes. "That hurt, Hori-san."

Just then, Souta entered the room with a bowl of something in his hand. "'Kaa-san asked me to bring these to you. She left with 'tou-san by the way." The five-year-old brought the bowl to his sister's face, before setting it down on the kotatsu.

"Oh. Apples", Izumi stated. "They're red."

Kyoko scoffed, "Talk about being obvious."

"Well, I'll be going to Izumi-kun's house, 'nee-chan. I asked permission from 'tou-san earlier! Bye 'nee-chan, 'nii-chan! Itekimas!"

Izumi smiled, "Take care, Souta! And have fu–"

The brunette growled. "Why would you ask that old fart? Does 'kaa-san know about this?!"

"Yeah I guess, I mean, they went out together, so of course she should know", Souta slung his small duffel bag over his shoulders and was out of the house before his sister could change her mind.


"Hori-san." Miyamura Izumi's voice was no less than a faint whisper.

'She's beautiful', he thought.

Hori Kyoko had fallen asleep after waiting for him to solve the next math problem, and he only noticed it when he felt that she wasn't glaring daggers at him anymore.

'You must be so tired.'

She was so peaceful. Her brown hair framed her snow-kissed porcelain face perfectly, and her eyes moved behind the lids that the boy was so tempted to kiss. He gave into his needs, and bent down to feel them flutter beneath his lips.

"Mmm, Miyamura..."

The raven-haired watched his girlfriend snore slightly; a bitten and bruising apple was clutched in her left hand. He blushed at the sight of her.

She was wearing a t-shirt a little too big for her, and some boy shorts that he guessed were Kyousuke's old clothes. She was so different, compared to the Hori Kyoko that he knew in school. That Hori-san was popular, probably did not snore, had perfectly long beautiful hair that was always left untied, at the top of the class – and perhaps even their grade – and seemed so kind and light-hearted as a feather. But accidentally unearthing all the layers of the ideal student was the most beautiful thing that he had done. He was beyond thankful that the odds were in his favour, with his girlfriend's little brother running into him then.

The other side of Hori-san was beyond beautiful too, if not even more. This other side of Hori-san that he knew had fairly big muscles, can cook delicious curry (even though she hated it), does not wear makeup nor care about her hair in the least bit, is sadomasochistic – if that's the right way to put it – and was violently tough.

He still remembers that day when he entered the Hori household. Seeing that side of Hori-san surprised him, and all of that happened because of her little brother. He and she were connected through Souta, and they became the people who they are now.

He took the apple from her hand and popped it into his mouth. It tasted like her skin. A little salty, but sweet and delicious as pure heaven. And obviously, it tasted like apples. It was soggy, but it was nice. He relished its taste.

"Hori-san", he whispered again, only louder this time.

'Why is my voice so husky in all of a sudden?'

Suddenly, she jolted her head up and violently turned her head from left to right, as if searching for someone.

"Relax, it's just me. You fell asleep."

She rested her head down on the table. "My head hurts."

Miyamura Izumi smiled again. He kissed her forehead, which elicited a rather interesting hue of red to appear on her cheeks, and on her nose as well.

"Dummy Izumi."

"Ah, you're saying dummy again", he said as he lowered his head, bangs covering his eyes. Sure, he was fine with her saying anything about him, but her first name without an honorific, albeit with the term 'dummy', was still new to his ears, and he liked the sound of it much more than he should.

"Stupid Izumi."

'There it is again.'

"Ahh, Hori-san, how about–"

"Izumi." He looked at her, eyes widened at what she said. He was quite relieved that she couldn't see the embarrassed look on her face.

'You don't like the way she says your name.'

Hori Kyoko grabbed her precious abacus and started moving its beads in an expert manner, and he couldn't help but say it. No, he had to say it.

"You look really cool using an abacus, Hori-san."

Soon, all the embarrassment from being so bold dissipated in the cold air. She was now laughing really loudly, even snorting actually.

"YOU LOOKED SO SERIOUS WHEN YOU SAID THAT, I JUST– HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Izumi smiled awkwardly, before grabbing the smallest slice of apple from the bowl. He placed it in between his lips as he watched the girl before him fall on her back and snicker on the floor, hugging her abacus ridiculously. Gosh, she's still laughing.

He got out of the kotatsu, his actions remaining unnoticed as she laughed her heart out. He then pinned her on the floor by holding both her arms on top of her head.

She was taken aback; confusion was strewn all over her face.

The boy bent down, lowered his face onto hers, and let the apple touch her lips. She slowly welcomed the fruit as she opened her mouth and held it between her teeth before biting and swallowing it.

The boy looked away, successfully hiding his blush. "Do you want more?"

"Yes."

"Can you repeat what you said earlier?" He whispered as he took another slice from the table, only to be stopped by her hand.

Miyamura Izumi watched his girlfriend take a slice and place it between her lips. She held his shoulders and slowly crashed her mouth onto his.

"You mean..." She looked away as she covered her mouth with her hand. "When I said Izumi?"

He pursed his lips before nodding slightly.

"Like that? Izumi?" She set down her abacus.

He smiled at her before placing a chaste kiss on her mouth, which soon evolved into a quite passionate one.

"Yes", he panted in between kisses. "Like that. Izumi."

Their abaci and apples were long forgotten. And again, it was Souta's fault. The two stopped when they needed air, moving to lie down together in the kotatsu. Hands intertwined, they closed their eyes.

'Just a short nap', they both thought.

Miyamura Izumi's last musings made him smile and squeeze her hand. It was funny how an old mathematical instrument and fruit slices could transform into something that would forever be etched into their hearts and memories.

'You don't like it, Izumi. You love the way she says your name.'

おわり


*The legend of the Hanasaka Jiisan


Disclaimer: I do not own the story below – I simply copy-pasted it from a website called web-jpn . org, and I do not intend to use it in any wrong way or means. It is merely a Japanese folktale which I have come to know through the manga Kamikami Kaeshi by Tooyama Ema. What I do own however, is the plot and work of writing above, titled "Abaci and apples". I do not own Horimiya either. All credits and rights to Daisuke Hagiwara for the manga and its characters.

Once upon a time in a remote mountain village in Japan there lived an honest old man and his wife. The old man was out plowing his field one day when a little white puppy came fleeing toward him, crying. The puppy had been mistreated by the greedy old man who lived in the next field over. "Oh, you poor thing." exclaimed the old man, and taking him in, gave the puppy the name "Shiro." ("Shiro" in Japanese means white)

The old man and his wife loved Shiro very much. Shiro, in turn, became devoted to the old couple, and helped the old man with his work in the field every day. Shiro ate and ate, and quickly grew into a big dog.

One day, Shiro led the old man up a nearby mountain. When they reached the top, Shiro barked, "Arf Arf - Dig here! Arf Arf - Dig here!" As the old man began to dig, to his amazement, sparkling gold coins started pouring up from the ground.

"Let me borrow Shiro!" The greedy old man heard about this and, grabbing Shiro, forced him to take he and his wife to the mountain. "Where's the gold?" the old man demanded. Frightened, Shiro began to whimper. "Ah, so it's here," said the old man, and he began to dig. But instead of gold coins, garbage began pouring up from the ground. "How dare you!" exclaimed the old man. Furious, they killed Shiro.

When the honest old couple found out about this, they were overcome with grief. They decided to dig a grave for Shiro. Upon burying Shiro, a sapling sprouted from the ground above his grave. By the next day, it had grown into a towering tree.

"Shiro liked steamed rice cakes," recalled the old man. "Let's make some to take to his grave." He chopped down the tree that had sprung from Shiro's grave and made a mortar. Then he and his wife began to prepare the rice cakes. As the old man pounded the rice into the mortar, it began to turn into gold coins.

Upon seeing this, the greedy old couple rushed over. "Give us that mortar." Stealing the mortar, they returned to their house and began to make rice cakes. When they pounded rice, however, it turned into black mud right before their eyes. "What on earth?" cried the old man. Furious, he took an axe and chopped the mortar to pieces. Then he tossed the pieces of wood into the stove and burned them. The honest old man was disheartened. He gathered up the ashes from the mortar, put them in a box, and carried the box carefully back to his house.

"Let's sprinkle these ashes over the field and grow the radish that Shiro loved so much." When the old man sprinkled the ashes, a wind swirled up and blew the ashes into a dead tree. Amazingly, the dead tree began to bloom beautiful cherry blossoms. He then went and happily sprinkled ashes onto one dead tree after another, each which thereafter bloomed brilliant cherry flowers. News of the old man's miracle reached the town and before long, even the ears of the king, who promptly sent for the old man.

The old man was brought to the king, carrying his box of ashes. "Now I'll make the flowers bloom." He sprinkled the ashes onto the nearby trees, and immediately, beautiful white cherry flowers appeared.

"Splendid!" exclaimed the king, who was very pleased. "Well done. You are the greatest flower bloomer in all of Japan. You will be rewarded."

At that moment, the greedy old man came running, carrying the leftover ashes which he had gathered from the stove. "Wait! I'm the greatest flower bloomer in Japan." With that, he began to sprinkle his ashes. Instead of landing on the flowers, however, the ash flew into the eyes and nose of the king, choking him. "You impudent!" the king stormed, and promptly threw the greedy old man into prison.


A/N: Okay that turned out worse than I had expected it to be, *starts crying in a dusty corner* but I'm excited, so that's that. Honestly though, I think it was too OOC or something like that, which is why I'm so anxious to post this.

Sorry for typos or OOC moments by the way, I only proofread it like thrice– okay, I really didn't proofread it properly. But anyways, please tell me your thoughts! じゃね!

Meanings

'Kaa-san – mother
'Tou-san – father
Itekimas – is actually written as 'itekimasu', but that's how it's said. It means "I'm off" or "I'm leaving".