HARUxMV

The hot, salty tears rolled gently down the slope of MV's pale cheek, dropping onto the black shirt she wore. An angry attack with her sleeve wiped them away, but left her face slightly flushed and eyes a bit red from crying. What was wrong with her, anyway? Standing up, she viciously rubbed away any remaining evidence of her sadness, and turned around, only to run into Hatsuharu Sohma.

"H-Haru?" MV blushed, and looked up into his slate-coloured eyes with her own light greenish-grey ones. The pale pink tinge across her cheeks grew deeper, and she took half a step back. Even though the curse had been lifted from the Sohma's – and therefore her, since she seemed to have had Haru's curse rub off on her – she still forgot about it. Well, it had only been a couple of weeks back, so everyone still avoided running into members of the opposite sex. Her face felt like it was on fire when he lifted one hand and brushed his long fingers down one side of her face, following the trail of where the tear tracks had been before she rubbed them away with her sleeve.

"You've been crying. Why?" Haru looked at her with his ever-serious expression on his face. His eyes seemed to drill into hers, making her heart melt into a rapidly beating puddle. How was it that he could tell everything about her, without even trying? It made her feel so weak, so helpless. She had known for a while that she was in love with him, just not this violently. It was like she had been thrown headfirst into a pit and told to claw her way out when there were no handholds to grab onto.

"I…ah…it's nothing," she mumbled, averting her gaze with cheeks burning. Of all people, why was it Haru, the one she was so madly in love with? Maybe it was just her bad luck. Actually, it was probably her own fault – not picking a better place, and then crying where someone could find her. Yes, it was her own doing that she had been caught.

"It's never nothing. You don't cry for no reason."

That serious, caring voice was getting to her. His voice and just…well, the way he looked at her. The expression in his eyes was like a dagger to the heart.

Haru turned MV's face to look right into his eyes with one hand, not letting her turn away again. A sober expression was on his face, unfathomable and unreadable. "You know you can tell me," he murmured. He knew she wouldn't turn away; MV wasn't like that.

"H-hai…" she trailed off, and looked up at him with eyes still shiny with misty tears. The truth was, she didn't entirely know why she had been crying, only that she felt as if she was being strangled in pale grey and shimmering silver tears. A soft sigh escaped her, and the milkvamp tried not to let that serious gaze melt her heart. Naturally it didn't work, it never would. "I don't really know what it is." She admitted, playing with the hem of her shirt and working it between her fingertips nervously.

"Don't cry, MV," Haru whispered, looking down at her with a strange expression in his eyes. What was it? This seemed so unreal – the birds chirping sedately to one another, the sunbeams slanting down through the trees at just the right angle to highlight the lighter brown streaks in MV's chocolate-coloured hair and make Haru's white hair seem brighter than it already was. It made her wonder whether it had all just been planned out, or if it really was just coincidence.

Perhaps being caught was not so bad, after all.

"…I won't. Not anymore," she promised, almost afraid to break the half-silence in the forest. A slight smile cracked her face, and she looked up at the Ox Jyuunishi with an almost-shy look on her face. He dropped his hand from her face, back to his side, and seemed about to turn away when MV caught his arm in one hand. "Haru?" she asked softly.

"Hai?" Haru turned back to her with a slightly inquiring look. He was obviously more curious than he was letting on. He usually was, but kept up a dazed, slightly distant air to hide it. Mostly. Unfortunately his horrid sense of direction wasn't so easy to hide. Though that was off-topic at the moment.

Curse it. MV had no clue what to say, so she settled for a slight smile, hoping he would get the message on his own. All of a sudden it was extremely hard to voice her opinion around him, though her heart fluttered on sight of the boy. She just wanted him to stay, but how could she say that? There just didn't seem to be a way! So rather than speak, MV smiled slightly. Something flashed in the Ox's eyes, and he pulled her close.

MV's eyes went round and huge. Apparently he had gotten the message just fine. She smiled slightly, and closed her eyes. She heard Haru speak once more before her head went off into space with total happiness.

"You know I love you."