A/N: I'm a minor character fan.
(Yay for the School Rumble band!)
And the little scene in the anime
between Fuyuki & Yuuki was mega
cute. Thus the fic:
THE ELEVENTH COUPLE
There was something not quite so right about her eyes as they shone in the moonlight, he noted as he approached her while stargazing.
"Hi, how'd your date go?"
"It went fine." No Mikoto around to make her feel insecure, so at least there was that but she had waited so long to ask him that it had built up this expectation, an expectation that she tried not to focus on. "Hanai sure talked about Yakumo a lot."
He let out a light laugh. "Well that's nothing new."
"There were a few odd moments though..." she trailed off, thinking there were a few moments he acted like the gentlemen he was when her glasses were broken. Those odd moments that should have made it all worthwhile didn't seem to be enough.
Fuyuki nodded and looked out the telescope to the night sky, thinking that a girl losing their love was like a star burning out, only a flicker of it's original light still there... it was sad. "Something's changed about you" he said quietly, more musing to himself than anything.
She guessed she was starting to wake up to reality. So this was what it felt like when your feet started floating back down to solid ground.
-
0.o.0.o.0
-
A week later he found her in the same place - on the roof - before band practice.
"Yuuki, Megumi told me to come up here and get you for practice. Karasuma has this new idea for a song, you have to hear it." When she turned and faced him though, he was blown away, frozen to the spot for a while before speaking again. The spark was back. "Let me just get my camera."
He was about to make a getaway but she reached out an arm to stop him and he looked back at her quizzically. "Did you have another date? Hanai's a lucky guy."
Instead of answering she questioned him softly. "How do you do it?"
"Huh?"
"Understand people just by looking at them."
He rubbed the back of his neck, thoroughly embarrassed. "Just a gift I guess, like with you understanding Astronomy, seeing things other people wouldn't."
"Something had changed that night, last week."
"You're not crying this time." He pointed out, wondering if he crossed a line for a second by saying that.
"Huh?"
"I mean you're still in love right? But it's not so sad this time."
"I guess not" she smiled at him, a little knowingly but she somehow doubted he would get the hint. A hand went out to him, and he took it, perhaps now getting the hint a little clearer. "We should go to practice."
"Yeah" he breathed, a little too aware of the hand he was holding. "So after practice did you want to...?" Get something to eat...
She nodded and maybe he did have some sort of higher understanding with girls after all (after all that's what the guys were paying him for with his shots).
The theory was correct - girls were more beautiful when they were in love, it was just too bad that guys like Hanai didn't appreciate it (and guys like him were just scary when they were in love). "When did this happen anyway? Not that I want to change your mind or anything."
"I realized I felt more at ease with you after the date then when I was actually on it."
"Guess I'll have to thank Hanai then."
She grinned at him. "I wouldn't bother."
"Yuuki?"
She turned her head to him.
"Let's not tell the band about this."
"Megumi?"
"Uh-huh. You know she's going to claim credit for this."
She paused, in thought. "You know what else is true about girls in love?"
"What?"
"They usually want to tell everyone about it."
Her grin broadened. His face fell.
"I guess I'll have to deal with that" he replied, once composed.
"Thanks Fuyuki."
"For what?"
"For giving me a chance to see things more clearly."
"... Anytime."
The end. I'm sappy. :]
My fave Rumble pairings (besides this one) are: Nishimoto/Mai, Imadori/Ichijou and Karasuma/Tenma. I have no preference to who Hanai, Harima or Mikoto end up with even though they're rockin' characters. But as another weird pairing I wouldn't have minded Megumi with Nara. 3