A/N: This is my first Dengeki Daisy fanfic and my first fanfic in several years. I'm sorry if I got any details wrong. I hope you like this story. If you do, please keep your eyes open for updates and shoot me a review/comment.
100 Days
Kurosaki was a stupid fool. In a desperate attempt to contain his crumbling self-restraint, he'd given himself rules.
Rule 1: Kissing Only (Until Graduation)
He regretted that rule almost immediately upon conception but he was determined to stick to the plan. One could only do so much kissing before curiosity and boredom lead to innovation and discovery. Teru liked to study, and she was good at it. His body was not an exception. She was starting to learn things, things that were proving difficult for Kurosaki to ignore. That of course led to more rules. Teru didn't know about Kurosaki's rules and he was sure if she had she'd use them against him. Age was really starting to feel like a number and that feeling was definitely starting to freak him out.
So Kurosaki gave himself a project.
Rule 2: No Smoking
It was a slow, torturous project that would draw out into awful eternity, the perfect distraction to Teru's quickly improving seduction attempts. Except his foot was vibrating a mile a minute and all the glassware behind the bar was starting to rattle.
"You okay there, kid?" Master queried, eyeing the young blonde with no shortage of curiosity. Even Akira had stopped chopping to watch as Kurosaki seemed to vibrate uncontrollably in his seat. A pair of cheap bamboo chopsticks blurred between his fingers as he distractedly swiped through his emails. He was on a one man track to stressed out.
"Kurosaki."
Nothing.
"Tasuku."
Completely ignored.
Master was not ashamed of his skillful vocal impersonation of Riko shrieking. "Oh no, where's Teru?!"
Kurosaki immediately straightened to attention, the sudden movement launching the chopsticks a surprisingly far distance, only to hit the wall and fall behind the cash register. His gaze automatically scanning for the young woman in question. Kurosaki shot Masuda a dirty look after finding her exactly were he'd left her; attached firmly and affectionately to Riko's inebriated hip.
"Dirty trick old man." The blonde growled.
"What's up with you?" Master shot back, ignoring the younger man's barb.
Kurosaki bristled, taking a quick gulp of his beer. "I quit smoking."
Master's laugh was long and loud. "No wonder Teru's hiding from you."
"She's not hiding." Kurosaki grumbled, pressing the cool glass against his cheeks to combat his stupid blush. She had definitely been hiding from him. He'd been nothing but a jittery whiney mess for the last week and despite how many time he snapped at her, she just continued to smile like she was having the time of her life.
"She's definitely hiding." Akira mumbled a little too loudly.
Kurosaki flicked the crumpled chopstick wrapper at the teenager. "It's not my fault I'm annoying right now." Akira shot him a doubtful look, suggesting he clearly thought Kurosaki was annoying all the time, but he decided to ignore the insult. Between M's testament and the follow surgery, Akira has been acclimating to normality well. They all knew about his recovery process and the brutal detox that followed his years of anesthetic use. Kurosaki's struggle felt shallow by comparison, along with his reasons for quitting his own drug dependence. It was easier for him to agonize over nicotine cravings than it was for him to live every day starving for a girl he'd made a vow not to touch. Plus, he had a head start on her and if he was going to spend forever with her he was going to have to start getting his shit together… and if they ever had kids, he couldn't be that kind of father…
Kurosaki's heart pounded ahead of his thoughts until a damp towel smacked him square in the face.
"Cool your jets kid." Masuda chuckled. Kurosaki, embarrassed but grateful pressed the cool towel to his hot face. It wasn't very often he'd get carried away like that. He'd never really thought of the future until Teru. He'd had only brief moments to consider the future. He'd spent so much time thinking about the past that the sudden future that seemed to stretch out ahead of him was so broad it frightened him.
"If you're getting this worked up, I'm assuming your "only kissing until graduation' promise is still in effect. Kurosaki surprise was sudden and dark. "How do you know about that?"
Akira snickered quietly as Masuda grinned. "Oh, you know, I talk to Riko sometimes."
Kurosaki couldn't help but glare over his shoulder at the two women as they ate and chatted. Riko, already buzzed, was attempting to feed small sips of sake to Teru. Kurosaki watched as Teru slyly tipped her portions back into Riko's cup as she smiled back at the drunk woman. Andou, on the other hand, had given up long before Riko and he lounged comfortably in the booth as Riko continued his supply of booze.
He forced a frown over his smile as he caught both sight of both Master and Akira's twin smirks.
"Shut up." He grumbled, turning into his luke-warm ramen.
"So how many days left?"
Akira's question was short and smug. Kurosaki pinned the youth with a hard glare. Despite Kurosaki's hard edges or perhaps because of Akira's own, a long quiet beat stretched between the two men. Master stopped his cleaning and even the girls, giggling contently in their booth, stopped to observe the silent exchange.
A loud groan rent the air, signaling the end to their spontaneous battle. "Why can't I ever win?!" Akira growled, rubbing fiercely at his fatigued eyes. Kurosaki grinned, wiping the tears from his lashes. "Staring contests and pro crackers go hand in hand." He shrugged.
A warm presence at his side had Kurosaki turning as the group settled back into their mutual relaxations. He tried not to tense as a fresh package of chopsticks slid into his hand. Teru, warm and blushing smiled at him. "I totally saw that." She laughed.
Kurosaki winced, remembering the flight of the chopsticks.
"Try not to put anyone's eye out with these ones." A small cracking sound echoed from between his fingers as he gripped the package. Teru laughed quietly.
"One-hundred days."
Teru's smile caught for a moment, her eyes shot wide in a moment of surprise. "What?" He watched as she schooled her face, something he'd long memorized. He never really knew what she was thinking, but he'd like to imagine, on occasion, that he could read her face well enough to get close. The corner of his mouth tweaked slightly as he used her elbow to pull her closer. Her hair brushed against his cheek as her bodyweight settled into this shoulder. Even with their layers between them, the heat of their contact was absolute and overwhelming.
"Until you graduate." He confessed quietly into her ear. "There are one hundred days left." He brushed his nose gently against the shell of her ear before tracing it against the blade of her cheekbone.
Teru looked dazed as he pulled back. It was rare when her embarrassment had such a delay. Her eyes, wide and molten looked almost black as she dazed sightlessly back at him. Kurosaki enjoyed those moments when he caught her looking like a woman. They were becoming much more frequent as of late and he was starting to realize he could only tease her so much before she would start to seek revenge. Thankfully, reason would inevitably dawn and…
"Kurosaki!" She announced indignantly as she regained her senses. She narrowed her gaze and Kurosaki flinched, prepared for the usual violent pull of hair. Cracking his eye opened he watched dumbly as Teru gently reached forward and slipped her fingers softly through Kurosaki's bangs. Kurosaki's eyes widened as she suddenly leaned in closer and whispered.
"Go bald."
With a sudden flair Teru pulled back and skipped across the floor and slipped back into her booth like nothing had happened. Kurosaki's whole body had followed her retreat and he bent forward in awkward rejection as her void became evident. Stunned at Teru's successful play, Kurosaki turned slowly in his seat, his movements slow and choppy. Akira blushed furiously and Master looked like he was getting ready to vomit he was laughing so hard.
Overcome, Kurosaki dripped his hot face into his hands. "I need a cigarette."
"M-monster!" Master wheezed between muffled pants of laughter. "You've created a monster."
The hopeful distraction of quitting smoking melted into a puff of hopelessness as Kurosaki finished his meal. The Teru Front of his war was nothing compared to his battle against smoking, and why'd he let mistakenly let himself believe anything was enough to make him forget about a certain shorty A-cup was beyond him.
New rule, Kurosaki decided as he fidgeted with his chopsticks, don't tease Teru.
