Time Allowances
By – Hime no Ichigo

Genre: Angst/Romance
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: OKABE Rintarou x MAKISE Kurisu
Story Type: Drabble
Summary: If only life has constancy.

Disclaimer: Steins;Gate is the intellectual property of 5pb. and Nitroplus.

Notes: This is from this week's theme: "butterfly effect". Theme not used fully to its true meaning.


On a rare occasion, Kurisu allows him to stay with her that night.

As much as he fools around, teasing and poking fun at her, when it comes to being serious, she has always been the better one. He's too emotional, driven by his current state of mind and only thinking about his actions and consequences afterwards—too often, too late.

"Okabe," she says, ever straight-forward and straight-laced. "I thought this is what you wanted?"

He strokes her face hesitantly, afraid she'll disappear...like last time. It's just as soft and smooth as he remembers, and the way her nose scrunches up as his palms move from her cheek to her ear hasn't changed either. The growing warmth in her cheeks encourages him to continue; with a touch of bravery, he presses his lips to her forehead, her lips. The surge of nostalgia that wells up inside him is too much, and Rintarou lets his tears fall, prompting a worried Kurisu to wipe them away.

"Okabe, what's wrong?"

He continues, wordlessly, memorizing the curves of her body that overlap with those in his memories. Rintarou isn't the kind to talk at times like these, preferring to speak with his body instead. In the wake of his fingers, his tears follow.

"Okabe?"

Everything, he wants to tell her, including how you're acting. You're not like this, I'm not used to you being so willing and obedient when it comes to me. How do I get you back?

Yet he knows there is no one Kurisu he can call real, that they all exist and are parts of her he can never see all at once, and he holds them all dear to his heart, regardless of which alpha line he is in.

- Owari -

Authoress' Notes: It's been a long time since I've written things for S;G, and they all turn out to be angst. Haha.