Me: H-hi! My name is Mikashimotaku... And I'm a newfound fan of Acchi Kocchi!

My dear friend Hana-chan (StrawberryDream15) told me about it, cause it features my favourite character's (Kashino Makoto of Yumeiro Patissiere) voice actor. And I really like it!~

By looking at just my stories, you can see I'm a Yumeiro Patissiere kinda girl and I rarely stray from that. But I wanted to try. And I hope that I captured Tsumiki and Io's personalities well enough. I didn't want to stray too OOC, but I'm sure I must have... I can't seem to tap into their minds as well as I do with Yumeiro Patissiere, but I hope you guys can give me a chance.

I hope you all like it!

I do not own Acchi Kocchi :)

Little Things

"...Why do you keep doing that?" She finally asked.

He stared at her for a moment, "Keep doing what?"

She herself was stunned that she had actually asked, a rosy red blush quickly taking over her cheeks, "Um... W-with your pen," She murmured, looking away quickly, "I mean... Spinning it around so much."

He laughed at her, putting the pen down on the desk and rubbing the top of her head. "I don't know," He replied honestly, "It's a habit I guess, does it bother you Tsumiki?"

The girl quickly shook her head, "N-no! I just... I..." She twiddled her fingers, "Never mind."

The truth was, Tsumiki was in awe of everything he could do, everything he loved, everything he was. From the way he wore narrow glasses that made showcased his deep brown eyes, to the way his hands gently moved back and forth on the top of her violet coloured hair. But that was just how Otonashi Io was; and Miniwa Tsumiki loved every single thing.

Io stopped patting her head, before looking at the clock situated by the door of his room, "They should be here soon, I don't know what's keeping them so long."

Both he and Tsumiki sat at the low table in the middle of the room, their notebooks open and ready to be written on. Mayoi was the one who had suggested a study session at Io's house at the first place, but it was obvious that it would also be Mayoi who'd be late. Hime and Sakaki were late too, but they had a last minute shift at Hotch Potch, so it wasn't really their fault.

As usual, Tsumiki had been there early, as she usually was when it came to going to Io's house. But now, she wondered if she really wanted to be there, since it felt extremely awkward; or maybe that was just her.

She fidgeted a little bit, before picking up her pen trying to continuing writing in her notebook. She didn't really want to focus on homework when she was alone with Io, but she couldn't think of anything to say, so she didn't say anything, even with how much she wanted to.

Io was unaware, as usual. He was sitting beside her, staring out the window, absently twirling his pen in his hand, trying to kill time before their friends arrived. What he did notice was that Tsumiki had her eyes fixed on the spinning pen in his hands; though he didn't know what she really wanted was to have her eyes on him.

"Do you know how?" He asked finally.

She flinched slightly, startled to be addressed, "Know how to...?"

He stopped twirling his pen to point it at her, "Do you know how to twirl a pen?"

It was a simple question. The answer was either yes or no. However, Tsumiki always over thought things when it came to what Io might think of her. Was he going to think it was impressive if she said she knew? But what if she said she didn't and he taught her? She'd like that a lot. "Uh..." She said, trying to kill the silence that stuck in the air, "I..."

But she really wasn't sure what to say. Yes? No?

"Tsumiki...?"

"Ye-no!" She exclaimed finally, her cheeks once again taking on a pink tint, quickly spreading to cover her whole face.

"Ye-no?" Io repeated confusedly. "What do you mean exactly?"

Finally, the shy girl shook her head profusely, also trying to prevent Io from seeing the blush on her face. He laughed before taking the pen she was holding out of her hand, and twirling it once before asking, "Do you want me to show you?"

She stopped immediately, staring intently at him, as if she was trying to see if he were joking or not. The sincere smile on his face said not. "W-well," She stammered, "If it's you s-showing me... I don't see why not."

He nodded, "All you have to do is figure out what way makes the pen turn better, it's different with each kind." Io's own pen was a simple ballpoint pen, the outer shell made out of translucent blue plastic with a pen cap stuck on the end, so that the pen tip was visible. "A pen with this kind of design is easiest."

He gestured to Tsumiki's pen in his hand, which was quite different. It was baby pink, with a button on the bottom in which to click to release the pen from inside the case or pull it back inside. The button itself was the head of a white teddy bear, made of plastic with a blank face painted on it. "This would be harder, because the one side is heavier, right?"

Tsumiki was watching intently, trying to grasp every single word he was saying, whether or not it was important. Her hands gripped tightly to her skirt, the little curl that always stuck out of her hair, bouncing around as she nodded. "When you spin a pen around, you have to kind of let it balance along your fingers," Io told her, balancing his blue pen on the top of his knuckles, "And then start to twirl it around, letting it weave around your fingers." He started to do so, "And when you keep going at it, you just naturally get better." He picked up his speed, so fast the pen itself was barely visible, but rather a blurry blue circle in his hand. It blew a gentle stream of air toward Tsumiki, which felt good against her burning, blushing skin.

"I-it shouldn't be that hard then," She replied, trying not to sound shy. She reached over and went to take her own pen out of his hand. The feeling of his skin against her own felt inviting, and her hand almost froze there, gently resting over his hand and her pen.

"Tsumiki...?"

"Ah..." She quickly caught herself when he called her name and tore her hand away, grasping her pen in a tight fist, "Let me try it," She murmured, shying away, just the slightest bit.

He didn't say anything, but watched her instead. She took the pen and balanced it on the top of her right hand, much like he had. Her slim fingers began to nudge the pen in a circular motion, very slowly and less smoothly as Io, but she was doing it nonetheless. To think that she could singlehandedly defeat Sakaki at video games in one moment, but not twirl a pen smoothly in her hand was quite humiliating to her.

"You're doing great Tsumiki," Io encouraged her.

She went on for a little bit more, before missing a beat, and the pen went from being in her hands to clattering onto the floor. "Oh!" She exclaimed, "I'll get-"

But Io already picked it up himself, before handing it back to her, his own hand staying over her own, in a similar fashion that she had done toward him just a few minutes before. His eyes showed that even he was surprised in what he was doing, thoroughly liking holding her small hand in his own. "Here," He replied, his own face feeling just the slightest bit warmer. Much like it had that one time in the classroom. What had he felt at that time? He had been softly cupping her cheek with his hand, until Sakaki had re-entered the room after talking with his sister on the phone. Io wasn't quite sure what it was, and it bothered him a lot, but he just couldn't place a finger on it.

Tsumiki meanwhile was quite rigid, startled and flustered that Io still held her hand. Her bashfulness clearly showed on her face, and her catlike nature made her meow softly.

"S-sorry," Io stammered finally, quickly moving his hand away. "I didn't mean to... I..."

"I-it's okay!" Tsumiki exclaimed, before realizing she sounded a little bit too forceful. She retreated a little before saying, "I-i-if you like holding onto my hand, I-I'm okay with that. Because I also... I l-like holding your hand too." She couldn't believe she was actually saying these things out loud, but at the moment she currently couldn't help it.

Io's facial expression was one of confusion, before he smiled at her and took hold of her hand, spreading it flat against his own. Her fingers barely cleared over the crease in his skin where his fingers curled, which in retrospect, was quite adorable. "You're hands are so small," He said sweetly, "... And cute."

Her face turned very red at that point and a little trickle of blood trailed out of her nose. She was quite flustered and was about to wipe it away with her sleeve, when Io laughed softly. "Not funny," She mumbled shyly, turning away. It was then Io took his handkerchief out of his the pocket on the chest of his shirt and softly dabbed at her nose.

"It's cute though," Io replied honestly, he hesitated before adding, "... You're cute, Tsumiki."

Tsumiki loved the way he said it. She loved how tender he dabbed at her small button nose with his handkerchief. She loved how soft the cotton felt, and how warm it was. She loved that he thought she was cute and she loved the way her hands felt when against his own.

The doorbell to the apartment rang at that moment, and Io got up to answer the door. Tsumiki could already hear Mayoi's voice faintly, demanding Io open the door.

"I'll be back in a minute Tsumiki," Io replied, "Just hold the handkerchief to your nose, it should stop bleeding soon."

When the door closed, she inhaled the scent of his handkerchief, the subtle smell of cinnamon and mint that Io always carried with him. It was those little things that made her remember why she had come to be his friend in the first place.

And it was those little things that made her love him just that little bit more.

Me: So how was it? Okay? Good? Bad? I'd be happy if I got some general remarks (including criticism, but try not to be too harsh on me!) If anyone wants, I can try to add more chapters, maybe make this a collection of one-shots, rather than just one.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope you enjoyed. Please review!

With Much Love,

xoxo

~Mikashi-chan :)