Hello there. Bastion speaking.

Second fanfic ever created. Yay.

It has been quite a while since the last time I've written a story, and this time, I've come up with a Hyouka fanfic. And yes, it's HoutaEru. Just how I love this pair :3 And yes, this a oneshot, and quite lengthy at that. Also, this the first I've used a first person view in story, so be easy on me.

I actually wanted to make this into a longer, multi-chapter story rather than a oneshot, but I ran out of ideas, so oneshot it is.

Enough ranting. Enjoy the fic, guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hyouka.

A Walk to Remember

Ah, just how much I love the bed. Especially to just slump yourself into it after another day of tiring school. That just feels heavenly.

But maybe not today.

Right after I dropped myself on the bed, I'm sucked into a deep thought, and repeatedly asked myself.

Did I really wanted to have a rose colored life?

Usually if Satoshi brought that up, I just let that slipped away, since I know what my answer would be. But today, I'm starting to question myself about it.

All this time, I've gone through my grey colored life and in my opinion, that's just what I wanted, living as an extremely average person that doesn't stand out in the community. Not socializing, and staying in my own world, unrelated with the others around me.

But all of that has changed since the time when I joined the classics club one year ago, last spring to be exact.

There's only a few person that would affect my life directly. I've been friends with Mayaka and Satoshi since junior high, and not even once have I ever doubted about my choice to have a grey colored life, so that leaves me with only one person that I could come up in my mind as a possible suspect.

Chitanda Eru.

Since the day I met her, all of my days has been full of her saying 'I'm curious!' And me solving the mystery that she is curious about, like the club room door case, the juumonji incident, and a lot of other cases, from the serious ones to the ridiculous ones.

And my opinion about this?

I downright hated this.

All she could do is beg for my help to appease her curiosity, and weirdly, she always have new mystery for me to solve everyday, as if she have an unlimited supply of mysteries. She is a big waste of energy.

But even though I hated this, somehow, deep inside of me...I enjoyed it. At first, I was like annoyed by this, but now, it's more like I want it. It would strange to have a day without her asking me for some mystery solving, and even though this never happened before, I don't think I could keep my calm if she asked for someone other than me to appease her curiousity. Maybe the reason I'm enjoying all of this is because of what she gaveme after I solved each of the mystery: the smile on her face. I don't know why, but seeing her smile everytime a case is solved, it makes me feel rather satisfied. I want to see her smile.

Is this what they call...love?

No, Houtarou! You're not the kind of person who would fall for someone like her! On top of that, romance is only for those with rose colored life, not for someone who had been living a grey colored life like me!

Or...maybe that's why I wanted to have a rose colored life? Because I want to relate to Chitanda? Romantically?

"Agh, all of this is driving me insane!" I unconsciously shouted that last sentence.

"Houtarou, if you have time to shout to yourself like that, then why don't you join me downstairs for dinner?" Just before I lost my sanity, my sis asked me to join her for dinner.

"Coming." Was the only respond I gave her before I changed my clothes and went downstairs.

I remained silent throughout the meal as always, until my sister started a conversation.

"Is there something that's bothering you, Houtarou? You seemed to be...bothered about something."

"No, it's nothing, Aneki."

"Are you sure about it? If there's something that you want to know, feel free to ask me, okay?" She sounded surprisingly caring, which is different from her usual nature. Well, it's not like I have anything to ask her...wait, maybe there is something that I need ask her.

"Aneki."

"Hmm?"

"Uh, is it true that rose colored life is better than grey colored life?"

My sister only stared at me. What? Don't stare at me like that. That's creepy. But before I could make any comment on her expression, the stare on her face changed into a smile, or maybe more of a smirk.

"I see. So Houtarou is interested in a rose colored life, eh? May I know the reason behind this? A particular girl, maybe?"

Upon hearing the word 'particular girl', I could feel my cheecks started to heat up. You've failed me, cheek. Don't blush too easily. I don't even know if I even like this 'particular girl' or not, and yet blood rushed to my head nonethless.

"N-no reason, I just wond-"

"Ah, was it just me or did you just blushed?" She cut my sentence halfway teasingly. Maybe I shouldn't have asked her about this. Cursed you and your sharp eyes, Aneki. My face would melt from blushing anytime soon.

"Well, putting that matter aside, I can't say that a rose colored life is better than the grey colored one, since it all came down to the eyes of the beholder." She stopped for while to sip her drink. "All I know is life could be a lot more colorful when you're in love with someone." She finished her sentence with a wink.

Life could be a lot more colorful when you're in love with someone, huh?

This might not sound coming from me, but I feel like taking a walk. I stood up from the table, headed to the front door, and left without saying any words, leaving my sister behind.

I could feel the cold breeze going through my shirt. It was spring already, and the flowers has blossomed, but the remnants of the icy winter wind was still in the air.

I walked around without any particular place to go. All I wanted to do is to think about what my sister said just now.

Am I really in love with Chitanda?

Well, she sure is one interesting girl, and in many ways, beautiful. That long, raven colored hair of hers which helped those purple orbs to stand out, that white and soft looking skin of hers that makes me want to caress it all day and that li-wait.

That makes me sound like I'm madly in love with her when actually I'm not even sure how I feel towards her!

Calm down, Houtarou. You're not that pathetic to have a fight with yourself in the middle of the night at the middle of the street, are you?

I really need to think about this thoroughly. And I will need to find a place to think about it.

Maybe the riverbed is a good place to clear up my mind.

As I walked towards the river, I just can't get rid of the images of Chitanda from my head, and found that my face is heating up everytime those images surfaced. I really shouldn't have asked Aneki about this.

Aftter about 10 minutes of walking, I finally reached the river that I was thinking about. The riverbed which used to be empty is now filled with sakura trees which were moved here not too long ago. The night wind blew some of the petals off from their branches, some landed on the riverbed, while some other landed on the river, creating soundless ripples.

I positioned myself near the riverbed, and started to lost myself in deep thought.

Is she the reason that I wanted to have a rose colored life? Is my life going to be a colorful one if I really did fall in love with her? Did she feel the same way towards me?

Those questions repeatedly surfaced on my mind, but I couldn't answer any of those, so I just sit there, staring blankly at the still river before me, until I heard someone moving behind me.

"Eh? Oreki-san?"

Actually, I didn't need to turn around to see the owner of that familiar voice, but my reflexes thought differently, so I turned my head anyway.

"Chitanda?"

"Oh, it really is you, Oreki-san!" She said, sitting next to me. "It's rare to see you here this late. What a coincidence!"

What a coincidence indeed. You're the last person that I want to bump into at time like this.

"Yeah, there's something that I really need to think about, so I came here to have some peaceful time of thinking."

"Really? May I know what it is? Maybe I could help."

I jumped back upon hearing her question. "N-n-nothing, really, it was j-just some personal m-matters." It was about you, Chitanda. Unfortunately, I'm not that spontenaous to just simply told you that.

She just gave me a confused look and tilted her head to her side, which I must admitted, looked kinda...cute.

Again, a shade of pink could be seen on my cheeks.

"Oreki-san, you're face looks a bit red. Are you sick or something?"

Why did she has to notice that out of all things?!

"N-no, I'm al-" before I could finish my sentence, I could feel something on my forehead, which turned out to be Chitanda's hand. I'm pretty sure my face has gotten even redder by now. I really need to get better control of my blushings.

"Hmm, your temperature seems to be normal..."

"I told you, I'm alright. I'm not sick or something." I said, removing her hands from my forehead while turning my head to hide the remaining blush from her.

"That's good to hear."

"Anyway, what brings you here?"

"Oh, about that, it's pretty much the same as you, I think. I just can't sleep, so maybe a little walk would help. I often do this when I have trouble sleeping." So, she come here when she has trouble sleeping, huh? I'll keep that in mind.

After that, both of us has stayed silent. We seemed to succumbed by our own thoughts. Only the quiet sound of the flowing river could be heard.

"Say, Oreki-san..."

"Hmm?"

"What do you think of me?"

I almost choked myself after hearing her question. That's too despicable to suddenly come up with that question out of nowhere, Chitanda! "W-what are you t-talking about so s-suddenly?"

She suddenly looked down, looking a bit sad. "No, it was just that, I'm wondering if you're annoyed by my behavior of always asking you to solve a lot of mysteries for my sake. I just...don't want to be a troublesome person. I have been wondering if my friends actually hated me for being like that..."

Oh, so that's what she mean. I stayed silent for a moment, thinking how I would answer her question. If you asked this question before, I would've blurted out that I downright hated her, but now, seeing her like that, and with the possibility that I might have a crush on her, I couldn't say that, could I?

"Um, not at all. I don't think I would hated you for something like that, nor Satoshi and Mayaka. Yes, you did asked me to solve a lot of questions, but In fact, that might've been something that I would enjoy doing everyday. After all, you're someone that I can't ignore."

She stared at me with a shocked expression. A moment later, I could see her smiling from the edge of my eyes. I think I've gave her the answer she was looking for.

"I'm happy to hear that, Oreki-san." She said as she stood up. "It's getting very late now, so I'm heading back now."

"Um." Was all the respond I gave to her. I still have my eyes staring at the river blankly. In the end, I couldn't answer my own question, huh? Well, it sure has gotten a bit late, so I'll head back in a-

"Ah, one more thing, Oreki-san."

I turned my head to see the person that called my name just behind me.

"I think you're a very special person in my life."

...

What?

Me? Special? She thought of me as someone special for her?

And that's when realization hit me.

That's it. That's the answer that I've been looking for.

I did want to have a rose colored life. And the sole reason to that is because I want to be considered special.

I want to be considered as a special person by Chitanda.

She is the reason why I've started to doubt my grey colored life. She is the reason I blushed countless times. She is the reason that I want to have a rose colored life.

I want to relate with her.

I know how I feel towards her now, so there's no turning back now.

"Ah, sorry, I must have blurted out something weird agai-"

I cutted her sentence midway. I don't care what she want to say. I grabbed her hand, pulled her towards myself, and do something that I have never expect to happen this soon.

I pulled her into a kiss.

I've always thought that a kiss would have no taste at all, but when I kissed her like this, I could taste the somewhat sweet sensation coming from her lips. I could get addicted to this.

I could feel that she was quite shocked the moment I kissed her, but it seems that she have relaxed and tried to kiss me back.

After what seems like an eternity for both us, we parted from each other, trying to catch our breath, while embracing each other in our arms.

"I like you, Chitanda."

"E-eh?" Looks like she still doesn't really get the situation.

"Your words have make me realized that I have wished for a rose colored life. And you're the reason behind that. I want to be someone special for you. When you said that I'm a special person for you, I knew that my feelings are telling the truth. I've fallen for you."

She didn't give any respond. Instead, she just burried her head into my chest, mumbling something inaudible.

"-too."

"What did you just say?"

"...When I said that you're a special person in my life, I also meant it this way." She repeated her mumbling shyly. I could see her face growing red with every words that came out from her mouth. "I like you too, Oreki-san."

That was probably the happiest moment of my life. The girl that I've fallen for liked me back. I could imagine seeing the shade of grey that has been surrounding me all this time starts to fade away, replaced with a shade of rosy color.

I think I have to say hello to my newly acclaimed rose colored life.

"Well, does that means that we're...d-dating now?" Man, I never thought the day when I use that word would come so soon.

"I-I guess you could p-put it that way..." She sounded just as nervous as me.

Then, for god-knows-how-long, we stayed in that position. And strangely, I can't find anyhting wrong with that. My mind only cared about Chitanda, who were right there in my arms.

"Uh, Chitanda?"

"Yes?"

"Shouldn't you be heading home now? It really has gotten very late."

"Oh, you're right!" She said with a bit of panicked tone in her voice. "I better head back now."

"Um, do you want me to walk you home?"

"..." She only gave me a mix of confused and shocked expression.

"What now?"

"That doesn't sound like you at all, Oreki-san."

"Well, that's what a...b-boyfriend would do, right?" I scratched my head while trying to hold in the blush from surfacing.

Chitanda let out a very small, almost inaudible, surprised shriek, but smiled anyway. "If that's what you want, then I won't refuse your offer."

We walked together to Chitanda's house in complete silence. Neither I or Chitanda tried to start a conversation. I have nothing to complain about that, but...

...Does she really need to lock my arm in hers? Thank godness it was already the middle of the night. If not, I would've fainted from
embarassment.

Eventually, we reached Chitanda's house, or rather Chitanda's mansion in my opinion. She finally let go of my arms which were all sweaty by now.

"Thank you for walking me home, Oreki-san." She thanked me as she bowed down to me, just as polite as ever.

I gave her a small nod before I turned my body around to head back home, just to have my name called again.

"Um, Oreki-san?"

"What?"

"Ah, no, it was just, that..." She started fidgeting her fingers. "...May I call you H-Houtarou-kun from today onwards?"

If blush could kill, I swear I would've been dead by now.

"W-Well, go ahead if that's what you want, Chitan-" My words were cut halfway by her index fingers which she put on my mouth, signaling me to stop talking.

"It's Eru-chan." She said before she walked back inside her house, leaving the surprised me all alone.

I really have no idea how I will explain all of this to Aneki, Satoshi, and Mayaka.

Well, that's the end of it guys. I know, there is a bit of inconsistency at the later part, but I'm a newbie after all, so that's to be expected...

Maybe I'll add an epilogue chapter for this if I have some ideas.

Reviews are highly welcomed as usual.

Until then.

~Bastion~