Tea and Travel for Two

"Akira, let's travel around the world together!"

The short-haired woman gently grasped a handful of Ceylon tea leaves and placed them into a silver tea infuser. She did not turn around to respond to Tadashi's exclamation. "What kind of an idea is that?" she nonchalantly asked as she picked up the infuser and lowered it into a rose-pink teapot with lavender flowers painted onto it. "Do you know how expensive it would be?"

The brunet reminded the woman, "Money isn't a problem for us! Our families are really rich! Traveling around the world wouldn't be a big deal at all!" He energetically showed a thumbs-up sign to her, but she could not see it, since she was not facing him.

She placed the lid atop the teapot before telling him, "It would be a problem for Hikari. Her family can't afford to waste money on ridiculous things like that. Besides, what's wrong with staying in Japan? We're all happy here, aren't we? We don't need to go anywhere."

Tadashi still did not lose any hope. "We don't need to," he stated, a broad smile stretching across his tanned face, "but don't you think would be nice to travel to lots of different places? Seeing the rest of the world would be awesome!" When she gave no response, he added, "I think you're foolish if you spend your life in one place. The world is gigantic! It's a waste if you don't try to see it."

Akira smiled a little, but she did not turn around to show it to Tadashi. "That doesn't sound like something you made up," she giggled, halfway closing her copper eyes. "Where did you hear that from?"

He laughed loudly while informing her, "I read it online somewhere, and I thought it sounded cool." He then paused for a moment before saying, "But does it matter whether or not Hikari can afford it? I mean, it's not like Hikari would be going with us."

At this, Akira fully opened her eyes again and finally turned around, clearly surprised by this statement. "What are you talking about?" she asked, her alto raising in pitch to nearly a soprano. "Why wouldn't she join us? She's a member of the S A, too!"

Tadashi smiled again, glad to see the woman's familiar face. "Hikari isn't who I invited," he calmly stated, ignoring the angry frown forming on her ruby lips. "I also didn't invite Megumi, Yui, or Finn. Ryuu, Kei, Jun, Yahiro-none of those guys will be joining us, either. It'll just be the two of us: you and me, Akira and Tadashi."

Her frown faded and was replaced with a gentle, cheerful smile that made Tadashi's heartbeat double in speed. "That sounds a little lonely," she admitted, "but if it's what you want to do, then I'll be happy to accompany you." She leaned forward and embraced him, letting go before three seconds passed: he could not return her hug before she jolted backward. She giggled, amused, and asked the brunet, "When do you plan on leaving? I can be ready within a few hours if you want to leave today."

He smiled even wider, now eager to depart as soon as possible. "Yeah, today would be great!" he exclaimed. "I can buy plane tickets right now! Where do you wanna go?"

She uncovered the teapot and removed the infuser from it. "I would happily go anywhere," she said as she placed the infuser on the countertop, "but don't you want to go to countries that are far away-you know, not near Japan?"

"I thought of doing that," Tadashi stated, placing his right fist against his chin, "but the country that's farthest from here-isn't that England? We've already been to England, and I'd like to visit completely new places first. Maybe we could go to England later-uh, if you want to, that is." He rubbed underneath his nostrils using his left pointer finger, something he did when he was nervous. "I don't wanna go somewhere if you don't wanna go there, too. I don't want you to be unhappy, Akira."

She smiled at him again as she opened one of the kitchen cabinets. "I don't mind visiting England again," she told him while removing a rose-pink platter and floral print teacups from the cabinet. "Their tea leaves are excellent and I would love to buy more of them, but we don't have to go there right away. We could visit England after we've already traveled to other countries, like Russia or China."

Tadashi gasped loudly and withdrew the finger from his face to clench his hand and raise it high into the air. "We could go to Russia!" he enthusiastically exclaimed, smiling like a Cheshire Cat. "It's the largest country in the world, so there's definitely a lot of things for us to do over there!" He vigorously nodded his head several times, enthralled with Akira's vague suggestion. "Yeah, we could see all of their rivers! They have some of the longest ones in the world!"

He continued to talk about Russia and its tourist attractions, seeming to forget about Akira's presence in the kitchen, although she was not bothered by his ignorance. As he maintained a conversation with himself, she calmly prepared for the daily tea party. She poured the brewed tea into seven floral teacups and removed a glass bowl from the refrigerator. The bowl contained a variety of citrus fruits-tangerines, clementines, and mandarin oranges-which would complement the Ceylon tea that she had brewed. She placed the teapot, teacups, and bowl atop the platter and picked it up using both of her small hands, intending to bring it to the other members of the SA. As she exited the kitchen, leaving Tadashi alone, she heard him talking about Russian cuisine: she smiled to herself at how quickly his attention diverted from landmarks to food.

"He's as gluttonous as always," she cheerfully noted as she walked along the pathway to the greenhouse. "It's like he has to experience eating everything firsthand; otherwise, he won't be satisfied." A giddy laugh burst from her mouth, and she continued to giggle until she reached the back door of the building. "I don't mind him being a foodaholic, though. I always enjoy watching him devour my snacks and tea."

She placed the platter atop the grass so she could open the door without the risk of dropping the tray of tea and fruits. "Starting tomorrow, I'll be able to watch him eat my food every day, so I'm looking forward to traveling with him." Once the door was open, Akira picked up the tray again and headed into the building. "Making the announcement to Hikari and the others might be hard for me, but he'll be standing beside me, so I'm not worried."

Akira stopped walking and smiled a little, still holding the platter with both of her hands. "Yes, that's right," she murmured as a bubblegum pink brightened her cheeks. "That's always how it's been." She closed her eyelids, temporarily concealing her copper eyes, and her smile widened as she quietly admitted, "When I'm with you, Tadashi, I won't worry about anything. I'll go anywhere as long as we're together."


Author's Notes: Yeah, I can't end stories. I fixed the ending so many times, but it never turned out like an actual ending, so I decided to leave it like this and just focus on the fact that I actually completed a decent fanfic. This was something that my friend, Julie, requested for me to write, and I spent almost two months finishing it, since I have a habit of not finishing stories that I start. I did a lot of research for this one-mostly about tea and Russia-and I enjoyed writing it. I guess it's something close to fluff?

Anyways, I hope you [the reader] had fun reading this. Did it make you laugh or giggle? Did it seem canon enough? Were they out of character? I'd like to know what you guys think, so please give me any feedback that you may have. I'm always appreciative of honest, sincere criticism.