Note: The emphasis is on the rum in rum and raisin.
–
"Ryuuji-chan... Have I told you how much I love alcohol?" A ditzy (and very un-Minori-like one at that) giggle escaped from her pink lips. Her pink lips, which matched her now-flushed pink cheeks.
Ryuuji sighed. Of course she had. This was the fifth time she mentioned it, actually.
It was the night before graduation, and Haruta had brought about the suggestion of having a pre-graduation party. There would be a post-graduation one, of course, but since everyone had nothing better to do anyway, why not have another? The class was more than delighted at the idea, one of them volunteering her house for it. It was all good fun. Too much fun.
Because someone (a certain purple-haired male who shall remain unnamed), smuggled in some -seven bottles- wine.
For the most of his classmates, this was the first time they had ever been let loose with wine, so it certainly was a new experience. A new, glassy-eyed, light-headed, hiccup-filled experience.
Ryuuji himself, was less than keen. He, after seeing years of his own mother drinking herself silly at her job, knew of the many less-than-desirable effects of alcohol, aside from the much known hangover. Not to mention the fact that he, unlike Yasuko, had literally no tolerance for alcohol whatsoever. The teeniest sip (supplied by his own mother) had turned him as red as a cooked lobster, a smiling maniac which laughed at every joke. That, and the fact that he threw his guts up an hour later.
After that kind of experience, he knew better than to even touch the wine bottle. But apparently, others did not have the same wealth of experience, and thus proceeded to approach the sparkling liquids with utmost enthusiasm.
One of which, was Minorin.
Minorin, who was quite literally throwing herself at Ryuuji, more of the smiling girl than she usually was (and that was saying a lot). "Ryuu-channn! Take me (hiccup!) home~"
He blinked down at her. How does one respond to such a comment respectfully? He sure didn't know.
So he did what she said. He brought her home. To his home. (Partly because she was too drunk to give directions to her home; He tried.)
He opened the door (with an amount of difficulty, Minori still clinging to his left arm), pulled his red-headed friend through. Gravity got the better of them, pulling her down (plop) right in the middle of the hallway.
Poke. Poke poke.
"Kushieda...? You can't stay there. You'll catch a cold. Come on, its just a few feet to the living room..."
She stayed in the fetal position, and for a few seconds, staring down at her, Ryuuji wondered if the large amount of alcohol had caused some sort of reaction in her body which thrust her into the throes of death, or something to that effect.
Still no movement.
Sighing, he picked her up, bridal-style, into the living room. Dragging the spare futon out, he somehow managed to prod her onto the soft mattress, instead of on the hard tatami.
"Mm... Taiga-chan needs to do the hula with Kitamura-kun... And we can all have watermelon ice-cream later..."
Ryuuji raised an eyebrow. He absently wondered if he had said delusional things like that when he was drunk. Coming out of the kitchen, he held a tray, on which was a small bowl of porridge left over from last night. As far as he knew, Minorin hadn't had anything to eat at the party, aside from copious amounts of champagne and other similar beverages.
And as far as his knowledge reached, regarding alcohol, drinking on an empty stomach resulted in at least two days worth of stomach pains. Or at least, it had for Yasuko. Yasuko, who was an experienced drinker, let alone Minori, who probably had her first taste of alcohol just an hour ago. Not good.
"... Kushieda. Kushieda? You really need to eat something before you fall asleep... Come on, it'll just be a quick-"
To his surprise, she sprung up half-way through his persuasion speech. He hadn't expected that. He'd expected another five minutes of gentle nudging before she'd even budge, or at least, that was his experience with drunk women.
Watching her spoon the sticky liquid into her mouth with unexpected precision, he briefly wondered if she was sober again. Maybe she was a natural at handling alcohol. One never knew, after all.
The half-filled bowl was finished in less than five minutes, and the glass of warm green tea was downed once put in her hands. She handed both back to him, which he put on the tray again, still eying her suspiciously. He'd never ever seen someone 'recover' from being drunk this fast.
Finally realizing that he was looking at her, Minori looked up at him and smiled. He couldn't help but notice how completely lucid she seemed to be, when she had lied unmoving in his corridor, ten minutes back.
"Well... I suppose you could sleep now."
Minori continued to stare at him, smiling. He stared back at her, lifting an eyebrow at her stillness. He'd seen drunks who fell about laughing randomly, smiled seductively at no one in particular, but not one who smiled blankly at a person who was staring right back at them-
"Ryuuji-chan's such a nice person. I like you."
She leaned forward, pressing her lips onto his cheek, making his eyes widen, his cheeks flush slightly.
Then, before he could react, she fell back down onto the futon, her face still reminiscent of the pinkish tones which came with alcohol.
Dazed, he picked up the tray, deposited in the sink, and went to the bathroom to wash up for bed.
As he stared in the mirror, Ryuuji could see the spot where she kissed him, pink lipstick staining his already-pink cheek. He touched it gently, still feeling her lips warmth on his skin. He let his fingers linger for a while, his thoughts wandering.
Then he turned the tap and washed the mark off with cool water.
Definitely drunk, he told himself.
–
A/N:
I was going to have this as an installment of Ice Cream Parlor, but it turned out longer than expected, so I decided to make it a one-shot of its own! I for one, thought that Ryuuji's 'switch' between Taiga and Minorin was a little too fast, for all his feelings to be gone. And thus this.
Thanks for reading!