Theme: Simply

Timeline: Perhaps after the Cherry Blossom episode... Before? Eh. Take your pick.

A/N: Just a small oneshot that exploded out of the depths of my shipper heart. Do enjoy. The picture was one I found in my computer. If anyone knows the artist, do tell me so that I can give him/her credit. Fluff attack!

~Blaze.

Chitanda was... In love, simply put.

But love really wasn't so simple, was it? She hummed a tune quietly to herself, her hands clutching the soft sweater she knew matched his eyes, pulling up the turtle neck just above her collar bones. (Because she knew his eyes weren't staying level with hers sometimes for a reason.) Love was something that seemed to freeze her insides and burn her outsides at the same time, throwing her through the tumbling whirlpools of a washing machine and hanging her out to dry, exhausted and tangled and yet impossibly addicted with the whole process. She wouldn't mind being blended up into pieces as long as it was with or about... him.

Simple didn't seem to fit it at all, and at the same time, it did.

It felt wrong to say she was curious about this feeling she felt about him, with him, around him, beside him; because lately, that term felt overused. Of course, familiarity meant security, and "I'm curious!" was definitely a phrase she was most familiar and secure with, but...

This was a feeling that wasn't either of the two. So she tried something else.

Like that she was fascinated, and not curious, of how he seemed to be able to conjure up facts and accurate stories from baseless gossip and simple phrases like he was picking out candy from a vending machine. She was surprised that she felt drawn to him in such away, his answers that filled in all of her questions streaming newer, complicated ones with added rebuttals flowing out of her pores. She was interested in the way his lips twitched when he was irritated, his eyes finding hers in side long glances when he was deep in thought, when his mouth formed wide smiles during passionate detective work and betrayed his usually bored aura, when he avoided her each time he was too embarrassed to even breathe in her presence. She was curiou - no, bothered that she craved a sense of closeness, to gaze into his bright emerald eyes until she melted into a puddle of satisfaction at his feet, to touch his face until he felt violated in every right, to kiss him until she was as red as blood cherries on a summer evening.

That last thought was enough to make her turn a crazy shade of pink, and she shook her head, slapping her hands against her cheeks. She had to pull herself together or else she would probably end up jumping him right then and there. Breathe, Chitanda. In, out, in, out...

"Oi."

She felt a gentle nudge on her head, and when she looked up, she found those eyes, filling her body with warmth. He recoiled at her radiant smile, his eyes widening in a mix of reluctance and... Yes, that was happiness, alright. He couldn't fool her even if he tried.

"Hey, Oreki-san," she said, smiling amiably, because she was indeed happy right next to him. "You ready to meet the others?"

He blinked, caught off guard, before clearing his throat and staring off down the road. "Actually... Satoshi and Ibara... Bailed on us," he admitted, his shoulders slumping. "It's just the two of us."

"Really?" She asked, her side brushing close to his. "That's a shame. You don't mind going on a walk with me, though, would you?"

He seemed to consider declining before relenting - she knew coming up with an excuse for him would "cost more energy than it should". "Why not? It's not like I have anything to do, anyway."

Chitanda clasped her hands behind her back, tilting her head, saying nothing. He seemed to enjoy silence anyway. She'd let him off the hook for once.

They walked together for a while before he broke the silence first, surprisingly. "Chitanda," he said, tugging his collar. "I... Was slightly curious about something."

She blinked, taken aback. "Go ahead," she said, hesitant, surprised. (not curious, not curious...)

"I was wondering... No, that's not it. I, uh, wanted to..." He scratched his head nervously, his eyes shifting to hers and back at the ground. "God, this is taking more energy than I - ahem. Chitanda - "

"Ooohhh...!" She suddenly screamed, her head exploding. She couldn't take it any more, this - this watching, waiting, fascinating, irritating circle of simplistic feeling that seemed to murder every organ in her body and send her flying into endless bliss with every second she spent with him and so she stepped in front of him and grabbed his shirt and yanked him forward and screamed.

"I'll admit it! I'll say it right now because I can't anymore, so you better listen!" Her voice sounded desperate, afraid, frustrated, not curio- "I'm fascinated by you, I'm infatuated with you, I can't seem to stop staring at you, and yet I - I don't get it, Oreki-san. You have this crazy effect on me and I just can't stop thinking about you, and I want you to start something, to explain to me why I can't stop and why you seem to like me because I'll admit it - I'M CURIOU - "

He stopped her with a quick, soft kiss, his mouth brushing hers and his eyes lidded and dark and nothing like the eyes she remembered and suddenly she was intoxicated, enchanted, enveloped by his scent and the electric currents that ran through her body from his touch. His mouth covered hers in one swift motion, and she turned into a puddle of nothing in his arms. And when Chitanda blinked she saw stars and a void of blues and purples and greens, and she saw her monstrous locks clinging to his arms and cascading over his shoulders like waves of black chains that bound them together. She could see green lilies covering her hair and her arms and his arms and everything, and suddenly she knew she was seeing his brilliant world.

Only when they pulled away did Chitanda realize her body was pressed against his, his one arm carelessly wrapped around her waist and the other trapped on her hair, her fingers clutching his shirt until her knuckles turned white. It took them about a minute to untangle from each other's grasp, and both of them started breathing hard, lost in each other's eyes.

His face was a dark shade of pink, and he brought his hand to his nose, covering his mouth in embarrassment. "Does that answer your question?" He asked, averting his gaze.

She beamed, grabbing his hand. "Of course. But you still haven't asked yours yet."

"I was wondering..." He touched his nose, meeting her gaze. "... If you'd like to see the stars with me."

And Chitanda giggled, because she was satisfied once more with his answer.

Houtarou was in... Well, he was in something, and he liked that something, so he'd leave it at that. Whether it meant that he was bound to a life of endless wasted energy because of it, he couldn't bring himself to care. Because he had already grabbed on to it on his own account.

And he'd simply never let go.