A/N: Hello everyone! I was inspired to write a collection of short stories after reading the ending of Kuragehime manga. I will add more stories when I feel like writing them. There will be multiple pairings, but mainly Kuranosuke x Tsukimi and Mejiro x Chieko. I love getting reviews, favourites and follows of course. So if you feel like it, please tell me what you think!
I'm not a native English speaker, so if you notice any horrible grammatical problems, please tell me!
Ratings vary between the stories, but I will use M as the official one just in case. If a certain story is T or M rated, I will state so in the beginning of the story. I think this is it, enjoy the stories! : )
Title: The first time I drew him
Pairing: Kuranosuke x Tsukimi
Rating: T just in case
Other notes: Tsukimi's pov
Mom. Life has become a lot more exciting recently. I wake up each day with a smile on my face and blush of happiness colouring on my cheeks. What a peculiar feeling. All the other Amars feel the same, I'm sure. It has now been a month since the fashion show at the aquarium. My dreams can't forget that day and I don't want them to. In those fluttery realms everything is shining and beautiful. Lights around the stage makes everything glitter. My usual nervousness isn't present, and I am radiating silver. All my friends are there and they're all laughing and looking at me with tender eyes. But my eyes are fixed on the young god in front of me.
He is holding his hand out for me, looking so incredibly graceful and divine. If I was the cold and shimmering silver, he was pure liquid gold shining bright like a sun. In that moment he is so beautiful I could drown in him. And still he is waiting for me to take that soft hand and let him lead me to a dance. My eyes are wide of wonder, my mind still on those three important and unbelievable words he said to me earlier. And that's when I usually wake up.
I hadn't discussed the words Kuranosuke had said to me with him. Not because I didn't want to, but because I didn't have the words to explain what I felt. If I were to bring it up, he would want an answer for sure. He had said he needed and loved me. But to me he was like star in the sky. Untouchable and far away but still so attracting I couldn't turn away. He had made me a princess, and not just me but all the other Amars too. I wanted to make dresses with him inside this castle for all eternity. Our partnership was everything to me. Anything else felt like too much. I had already had incredible happiness given to me by this prince. But on the inside, I was still the frumpy otaku girl with a fixation on jellyfish.
So, I watched him when he wasn't looking. It began on the day he moved in with us. No longer needing to wear women's clothing all the time, he arrived wearing black jeans and a button up shirt. Most of his clothes and other belongings stayed at his father's house. There was no way he could have fitted all of them in his rental room in Amamizukan. I noticed he had a few top buttons of his shirt undone. Outside in the sun the flash of his skin was painfully gorgeous. It was milky and looked soft as velvet. I then wondered if it would feel like velvet too.
My self confidence had gotten better since I came back from my kidnapping trip. I no longer froze completely in Kuranosuke's presence. Even Mejiro-sensei was slowly starting to become my friend. It was only when those rare moments of physical attraction washed over me, I would get so shy. Kuranosuke had demanded he should keep my eyebrows and skin condition in check after moving in. Having him that close was sometimes a battle but usually I could handle it. Being a weak person, I let him do it when he wanted to, because it made him smile. And today was one of those days when I would sit on my bed and let him work his magic.
''Tsukimi. You haven't given me your answer. I just wanted to let you know it's okay. I told you I knew you don't need a man in your life. But I'll wait as long as you need me to. And I won't ever stop being your best friend and partner in our business'', Kuranosuke whispered with a voice so low I hardly heard it. He was close, too close, to me. Blond locks tickled my jaw when he concentrated on my eyebrows. I could smell his skin and hair, a weird mix of masculinity and that strawberry shampoo he so loved. I didn't know what to say, but to both our surprise I didn't freeze either.
He pulled away and looked me in the eyes. How could a man have eyes like that? Like one of the ball jointed dolls Nomu collected. It was almost painful to look at them. Somehow, I managed to turn my gaze away. I heard Kuranosuke sigh but soon he asked if I wanted to go shopping with a chirp in his voice. Atmosphere was quickly back to normal and we were laughing and joking like always. Well he was joking, and I was getting annoyed.
In the evening Kuranosuke had insisted he wants to sleep on the floor next to my bed. I often let him, knowing it would be almost impossible to get him to go to his room. In the dimly lit room he looked almost like a normal person. I could see the blanket move up and down in the rhythm of his breathing. He had fallen asleep quickly like he often did. I was scribbling in my notebook. It had been a while since I had had the time to draw jellyfish for the sake of drawing. But I couldn't help but to glance at the puffing man occasionally.
Suddenly I got the urge to draw him. Contrary to the popular belief I could actually draw other things than jellyfish too. I looked at his relaxed face with curiosity and wondered if I could ever move all that beauty on paper. And not just the beauty on the outside but inside too. A wave of compulsion was drowning me, and I flipped to the next empty page of the notebook. I moved my pen with urgency and desperation. The whole world stopped as I tried to capture everything inside me. Pen didn't stop gliding on the paper much, drawing a line after another.
It was impossible to say how long I sat there silently molding my feelings and thoughts and channeling them to the drawing. But I was finished when the light of the morning sun hit its first rays in the room. On the paper appreciation had took the form of harder strokes, happiness had become light and playful lines on his hair and the deep emotions inside me were a rainbow of colours, all in balance with each other. I looked at the drawing with content.
''Tsukimi? What are you doing? You look like you haven't slept at all.''
Kuranosuke had woken up. Embarrassed, I tried to hide the notepad, but he was quicker than me and reached to snag it off my hands. There was a deep silence in the room as he looked at the notepad page with wide eyes. I couldn't watch his reaction and hid under the duvet. I knew it was childish, but I was sure he would hate the drawing. My entire body was burning, and I wished he would say something. But moments passed and there wasn't even a peep. Slowly I peaked from under the soft covers and the expression on his face hit me hard with surprise.
He hadn't moved an inch and his angel eyes were still wide. But his face was crimson red and for some reason he looked like he might cry.
''Kusanosuke-san?''
My questioning voice shook him back to reality. He looked up at me. There was something new and odd in his eyes. Slowly he put the notepad next to him and crawled closer to me. I couldn't move, his eyes were holding me right there. My flushed face was a reflection in his purple diamond gaze. Soon he reached up and laid his bare upper body on my duvet covered lap, carefully wrapping his arms around my waist. The blond man snuggled his head against my hip and sighed.
''Thank you'', he said with a trembling voice.
