Summary: This is not the first time he feels that way, but his forbearance is limited. He wants her to show him how much he means to her, even if he has to be black and blue in a whole day.
Pairing(s): Ran x Tatsuki. Slightly Aya x Rei.
Disclaimer: GALS! belongs to Mihona Fujii.
Tell Me
by
Chiby Angel-chan
Winter might freeze the country but it would never work on a guy who was heavenly being in love. That was what the well-known black guy of Machida had been thinking about; at least before he met his super girlfriend. Like usual, they would spend the day together. Now that he had entered the train, he couldn't wait until he arrived at Shibuya; the common place where he would enjoy his date with the world's greatest gal.
"Tatsukichi-kun?" A meekly familiar voice called to him and he lifted his face to see the speaker.
"Hey, Miyu-rin!" Tatsuki amiably accosted the yellow-haired girl. "What are you doing here? Have you just visited Machida?"
Miyu took a seat beside the spiky-haired guy as she replied, "Right. Miyu was looking for exclusive home cooking materials. Miyu heard that there's a special discount at Machida marketplace. But most of all, Miyu wants to cook something different for Yamato-kun."
"Ook! Such a brilliantly good future wife, I'll bet!" The black guy of Machida threw a compliment, clapping his hands. "But you've made a big mistake, Miyu-rin! You shouldn't have bought the foods in the marketplace. You can get the most mouthwatering food in "The Kuroi's Ramen Restaurant"! Ran's bro will surely love it, ook!"
Miyu let out a soft giggle. "Mm, maybe next time, Tatsukichi-kun. Oh, what about you? You're going to see Ran again, right?"
Tatsuki nodded in reply. "Yeah, but our relationship hasn't had any development yet. I couldn't even touch her finger. Sometimes I wondered if I don't mean anything to her." He mumbled, sighing heavily.
"Well, you do know that Ran is exceedingly shy when it comes to love." said Miyu. "But she obviously likes you. If she doesn't, she wouldn't have chosen you as her boyfriend in the first place."
Tatsuki exhaled. "Ook…"
"Cheer up, Tatsukichi-kun." Miyu reaffirmed, "You can't go to see Ran with that look, can you?"
"I'm envious of Ran's bro, Miyu-rin." The spiky-haired guy muttered in a low voice. "Ran-pyon never made a lunch for me."
"Oh, speaking about cooking…it seems like Ran always asked Miyu about home cooking lately." Miyu recollected. "Could it be that she planned to cook something for you, Tatsukichi-kun?"
Hearing that, Tatsuki couldn't help getting excited on the instant. "For real? R-Ran-pyon…cooked for me?"
Miyu looked unsure. "Miyu doesn't know exactly. But probably…"
Before the yellow-haired gal could continue her sentence, the black guy of Machida roared gaily, regardless of being seen by other passengers. "I'm gonna eat Ran-pyon's home cooking! Woo-hoo!"
Miyu sweat-dropped at this. Well, at least he didn't look distressed like before.
xXxXxXx
"Man, where's Tatsukichi?" Ran grumbled to herself, glancing at her watch. "How long do I have to wait for him? And I feel like the temperature is getting colder here…brr! This is all that monkey boy's fault!"
In less than a few seconds, she heard the voice of the guy she'd been waiting for. "Ran-pyon! Sorry for making you wa—"
As Tatsuki approached his girlfriend, a punch from Ran successfully landed on his cheek, making him fly onto the ground. "Where have you been, you annoying monkey boy? I've been waiting for 15 minutes and all you can say is "sorry"? Does it take a very long time for you to reach for Shibuya?!"
Tatsuki hissed in pain as he caressed his swollen cheek. "Ook…sorry 'bout that, Ran-pyon. I promise I will never do it again." He said, getting up.
"Whatever. Let's go! I'm famished!" Ran exclaimed. But before she took a pace, she frowned as her spiky boyfriend put his hand out and smiled intently at her.
"What's the matter, Tatsukichi?" asked Ran frantically.
"Where's my lunch, Ran-pyon?" Tatsuki asked back.
"Lunch? What lunch?"
"Don't tell me that you'd forgotten! You were going to make a lunch for me, weren't you?"
Once again, Tatsuki didn't receive anything but another question from her. "What the hell are you getting the wrong idea about?"
"Err, Miyu-rin told me that you asked her about home cooking lately. Doesn't it mean that you…" Tatsuki seemed to be hesitant. "…oops…so, am I wrong?"
"Miyu? Home cooking?" Ran looked puzzled. "Ah, I just needed her suggestions since I got a remedial in the cooking lesson."
Tatsuki questioned, "Then…you didn't even think about cooking for me? At all?"
"And why do I have to do that? You jumped to conclusion too quickly." Ran told him resolutely. "Hey, we have no time to waste! I'll die in a minute if I can't get something to eat! Hurry up, Tatsukichi!" The caramel-haired gal yelled as she started running.
"W-Wait, Ran-pyon!" Tatsuki rashly followed her.
Not long afterwards, the "bakapuru" had their lunch in a restaurant. Ran chewed her fried potatoes ravenously while Tatsuki was looking outside with a blank look. It seemed like he was really disappointed about the home cooking.
Then he saw two familiar persons walked. They stopped near the restaurant. Ah, that's Ototchi and Aya-ppe. Are they going for a date, too? Tatsuki inwardly thought.
Aya breathed rapidly. It was obvious that she felt cold, concerning that she didn't wear her gloves. Rei realized this and without saying a word, he raised his elbow, offering her to hug it.
Aya blushed prettily but she couldn't help accepting his help. She slowly wrapped her arms around his elbow and surprisingly, she didn't feel cold anymore, thanks to him. After that, they began walking again.
On the other hand, Tatsuki, who had been watching the short romantic scene between them, enlarged his eyes in awe. Ook! Even the cold-blooded Ototchi is brave enough to look so intimate with his girlfriend in front of the public! That really inspires me! Tatsuki mentally said to himself.
"Hey, Tatsukichi! What are you looking at? Quick, finish your lunch or else I'll take all of your French fries!" Ran threatened. She had eaten up her own lunch but she didn't seem like getting sated already.
"Ook! Alright, I won't be long, Ran-pyon!" Tatsuki hurriedly masticated his sausages and his French fries. Not that he was worried if Ran ate his lunch, but a flamboyantly excellent idea had just popped up in his mind and he had to leave this restaurant as soon as possible.
xXxXxXx
Ran trembled, gritting her teeth. "Brr, I think I'm gonna get frostbitten! I don't like winter, especially if the snow doesn't show up!"
Tatsuki's smile grew wider at this. He shut his eyes and raised his elbow like a gentleman as he said to the caramel-haired gal, "I'll be more than willing to warm you up, Ran-pyon! Just embrace my arm tight and you'll be—uh, Ran-pyon?"
The spiky-haired guy looked around in confusion, being aware of his girlfriend's disappearance. "Where is she? Ran-pyon! Ran—" He took a pause as he saw the world's greatest gal standing in front of a shop.
Tatsuki quickly walked toward her. "What are you doing here, Ran-pyon?"
"Tatsukichi…" Ran turned her face to her boyfriend and gazed upon him with glassy eyes. It was the first time she suddenly showed such an adorable look that Tatsuki's heart started pounding like crazy. "…do you really love me?"
Getting such a shocking question, Tatsuki couldn't help feeling happy. And that was also the first time she asked him about his feelings. "O-Of course I do! Why are you asking it…so sudden…like that?"
"If you do love me, then…" Ran opened her closed eyes charmingly and continued, "…please purchase that lovely sweater for me!" She declared, pointing to a blue sweater which was displayed on the shop window.
"…" Tatsuki's mouth gaped widely when she said that. He petrified as if his soul was taken by the death angel.
Looking at her boyfriend's strange look, Ran became flustered. "Tatsukichi?"
Tatsuki clenched his fists and feebly murmured, "Just as I thought…you never cared about me, Ran-pyon…"
Ran cocked a brow. "What?"
"I…" Tatsuki shivered and then, he turned around and ran away after screaming, "…I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"
Ran sweat-dropped at him and instead of running after him, she questioned confusedly, "What on earth is going on with him?"
Tatsuki kept running though Ran didn't chase after him. His eyes contained tears that it was kind of hard for him to keep in sight properly.
Fortunately, Tatsuki found a couple of lovebirds that he saw earlier from the restaurant. Without hesitancy, he immediately ran to the two of them and shrieked, "OTOTCHI!"
"Ah!" Aya shouted in surprise as Tatsuki suddenly embraced her legs. As a matter of fact, he was going to hug Rei, but the tears in his eyes had caused a mistake of recognizing the two of them.
"Please help me, Ototchi! I'm begging you!" Tatsuki sobbed bitterly, not knowing that he was mistaken yet.
Aya nervously admonished him, "P-Pardon me, Tatsukichi-kun, but would you please…"
"You're my only hope, Ototchi!" Tatsuki cried louder and tightened his arm around Aya's legs. Seeing that, Rei popped a tiny vein and harshly grabbed Tatsuki's collar from behind to set his girlfriend free. "What do you want from me, Tatsukichi?"
Tatsuki blinked innocently. "W-What? If Ototchi's over here, then I've just hugged…" Tatsuki fearfully turned his face to Aya. "Aya-ppe! Ook! I'm terribly sorry! I didn't notice that it was you!"
"It's all right." said Aya. "Did something happen, Tatsukichi-kun? Do you have a problem with Ran?"
Tatsuki nodded. "Ook…"
In a little while, the three of them talked in a takoyaki shop. Tatsuki told everything to Rei and Aya. "…then I shouted at her and left, but she didn't care at all. I know this is the third time I have a quarrel with Ran-pyon because I feel like she doesn't consider me her boyfriend. But still, I'm a man and I should be firmer than her. Yet, I always ended up being punched and even dumped by her."
Aya remarked, "Don't talk like that. As you know, Ran is clumsy and shy—"
"…when it comes to love. Yeah, Miyu-rin also said that." said Tatsuki with a sigh. "If only I could force her to show me her feelings…ook."
"And you still call yourself a man despite your lack of confidence?" Rei coldly scoffed while sipping his juice.
"Ouch!" Tatsuki's usual "stabbed mode" emerged. "It hurts, Ototchi! Of course I'm a man, ook! Who do you think I am?"
"A coward." Rei plainly stated.
"Ouch!" cried Tatsuki again. "What am I supposed to do, then? Taking a bow for her?"
"Moron." Rei added, "A man's got to do what a man's got to do."
"A man's gotta do…what a man's gotta do?" Tatsuki's eyes widened. He slowly caught the meaning of Rei's tongue lashing. "Ook! I got it! Thanks a lot, Ototchi, Aya-ppe!" He said as he rose from his seat and swiftly left the shop.
Aya looked back to Rei in amazement. "Otohata-kun, everything you say is always right."
Rei asked sarcastically, "Everything?"
"I-I mean…most of your words." Aya turned her constantly flushing red face away from him.
xXxXxXx
Meanwhile, Ran was sitting on the Hachikou statue. She didn't seem to care about Tatsuki outside, but deep inside, she was worried about him. She did a monologue with the silent Hachikou statue, completely not sensing that people were watching her.
"Hachi…I wonder what Tatsukichi is doing right now. I mean, what the hell was he thinking? I just don't get it, Hachi." Ran muttered. "I just persuaded him to buy a sweater for me, but why did he…ah!" Ran gasped as she recalled Tatsuki's words.
Just as I thought, you never cared about me, Ran-pyon!
"Tch…that idiot…" Ran whispered fretfully. It looked like she finally comprehended why her boyfriend was angry with her. "Why can't he keep a faith on me?"
The caramel-haired gal released the statue and started pacing. "Once I find that muddle-headed monkey boy, I'll make sure to—"
"RAN-PYON!" One more time, the Machida Black appeared at the moment Ran wanted to see him. "I'm so sorry! I—ouch!" He accepted Ran's second punch for today.
"You foolish monkey boy, how many times do I have to tell you to not making me wait?!" Ran yelled in a rage, clenching her fist. "Wanna taste my super swat again?"
"I don't mind at all, Ran-pyon." Tatsuki asserted. "You can beat me until I turn black and blue, as long as you promise that you'll tell me honestly about your true feelings!"
Ran slightly blushed at this. "W-What? That again! I've told you that I didn't fain on being with you, but I chose to be with you! Wasn't that good enough for you?"
Tatsuki shook his head. He seemed to be serious. That was so unlike him, indeed. "I just want to say what I want to say, Ran-pyon. I need a proof to make me believe that you do consider me your boyfriend."
Ran kept on abjuring it. "Stupid! If I don't consider you my boyfriend, why do you think we've been going out for these two years?"
"That's not what I mean! I want to know how much I mean to you, Ran-pyon. You never cooked for me like what other girls usually does, you never acted romantically like what other girls usually does, and you didn't even say that you love me!"
"…" Ran was silenced. Her cheeks slowly turned bright cherry red. "Silly…can't you accept me just the way I am? I'm me and other girls are…"
"Just tell me, Ran-pyon!" Tatsuki cut her off. "Tell me."
Ran lowered her face. She bit her lower lip and grimaced. "Tatsukichi,"
"Yes, Ran-pyon?" Tatsuki responded.
Ran took something from her handbag and threw it to Tatsuki. He caught it. It was a small lunchbox. Tatsuki slowly opened the lid and became breathless as he found curry rice in the lunchbox. "R-Ran-pyon…is this…?"
Ran averted her eyes from her boyfriend and awkwardly answered, "W-What I said to you before…it was a lie. I did have a remedial, but I also wanted to try to…m-make something for you. Since I got some materials left, then…"
"Why didn't you tell me from the start?" asked Tatsuki again.
"I'm not sure if it's a good one or not. At first, I intended to throw it away but now that you insist, I… Ugh, whatever." Ran explained reluctantly. She looked so prestigious. "So, are you satisfied now, Tatsukichi?"
Tatsuki cried gleefully, "Thank you, thank you very much! Ook! I'm so happy! Can I eat it?"
"Yup." Ran said with a smile as she gave him a couple of chopsticks. Both of them really forgot that they were on the middle of street now and not aware of people's existence. Good thing those people didn't watch the two of them anymore.
As Tatsuki took a bite, cold sweat started drenching his face which also began reddening. S-So spicy! Tatsuki inwardly thought.
Seeing her boyfriend's look, Ran could tell that she failed again. "I warned you, Tatsukichi. I knew it's awfully nasty from the beginning."
"N-No. This is delicious, Ran-pyon." Tatsuki spoke wearily. "I-I just need…some…water." As the black guy of Machida mentioned his last words, his eyes whirled and in three seconds, he fainted and lay on the ground.
"H-Hey, Tatsukichi! Wake up!" Ran shook her boyfriend's body and slapped his cheek to arouse him, but it was pointless. Tatsuki couldn't survive to eat Ran's home cooking any longer.
He's so dumb, Ran said in her inner thought. As she began to think what she should to the unconscious Tatsuki, she noticed his cheek swelling and she chuckled, considering that she was the cause of it.
Ran took a deep breath. She repeatedly screamed in her mind, 'jeez, I can't believe I'm actually doing this!' leaning forward and leaving a kiss on Tatsuki's bruised cheek. She just hoped that it wouldn't awaken him because if it would, she would have died in embarrassment.
I do care about you, you foolish monkey boy.
End
A/N: This one is dedicated to my bestest friend in the whole world, Ainara Aya a.k.a Mungil, who's been the 100th reviewer in Super Innocent Gal. Puas kan, Ngil?! Kalo gag, DEEL! Hahah. I know, most of you long for AyaRei ficcies, but the only idea I had in my head is a RanTatsuki somehow. Please forgive me. -.-
At this rate, I'm sure that I will get fewer readers (especially reviews) but for those you who have been strong enough to read this oneshot from the beginning until the end, I give you many thanks from the bottom of my heart.
Sorry for my mistakes. Err, review?
Chiby Angel-chan :)
