Yay! I'm leaving my mark in the Love Com fandom :D I do that with all media. Ffff I like writing canon. Don't judge me, bruh. Risa/Otani is amazin. Without further ado...
Lack of Passion
"Otani, you're not romantic enough."
Risa had several things on her mind.
It was hard to even begin to contemplate them, however, because of the cacophony that was the current heated argument between Nobuko and Otani.
Speaking of Otani...
Argh, she was getting distracted! She couldn't afford to fall into thoughts of Otani, not when she was this close to failing math and this make-up homework assignment was her only hope!
And Risa absolutely abhorred math homework.
She clenched her teeth on her pencil and tapped her foot in an illegible rhythm, trying to block the noise out. Unfortunately, it did not jar Nobuko or Otani's voices in the least.
She swore that sometimes her friends, namely Otani, were going to be the bane of her existence.
"Guys, shut up!" Risa shouted, instantly rising from her chair. She was always the one to take action, due to shy Chiharu never speaking up just as her equally quiet boyfriend. And yet again, speaking of boyfriends...
"You're not involved in this, Risa!" Otani countered hastily with an accusing finger and lightning eyes.
"Shut up! Yes I am, we all agreed to do this together!" Risa fired back, arms crossed as she glowered at him.
"Well, I don't see you helping!"
Otani had a point. Surprisingly.
She made a very unflattering noise before muttering, "Fine then! Screw math homework! I'll help you guys."
The commotion settled, and Chiharu released a sigh of relief.
"What the hell were you guys arguing about, anyway?" Risa pointedly sent a scathing glare to the guilty duo.
"Um..." Chiharu opened her mouth to speak, but a stern look from Otani silenced her.
"What?" Risa demanded to know.
Nobuko laughed it off. "Er, it was nothing."
"Come on, it had to be something!"
"Uh, it was... Risa, he wanted to use freakin' blue balloons for the decor. It's a Valentine's Day dance we're preparing, here! I mean, where does the color blue fit at all!?"
Discreetly, Otani stomped on Nobuko's foot. Even more discreetly, he muttered out of the corner of his mouth,"You don't have to make me sound so stupid!" Nobuko ignored him and instead smiled innocently at Risa.
The tall, salmon-haired girl was unimpressed. "You know what, nothing surprises me any more with you guys," she informed them, shaking her head. She ran a hand through hair and managed to break a smile. "Well then, let's continue!"
Otani stared at her for a moment with a placid face. He had always marveled at how easily Risa's mood shifted sometimes. He smiled brightly at the thought some odd reason, and ducked down to hide it. He continued the impossible task of hanging up the last streamer.
Risa brushed past him, taking the streamer from his hand and hanging it up on the school gym wall for him.
She offered a smile, and he felt his heart flip before flushing and grumbling a "thanks" and walking off.
Risa frowned; she was not pleased.
Was it so abstruse to Otani that he was supposed to act, say, a little more different towards his girlfriend?
While contemplating this, she wandered over Nobuko and confessed this problem to her.
Nobuko giggled like Risa had said the funniest thing. Ironically enough, she had been arguing with Risa's boyfriend about the same issue not just ten minutes ago.
Otani wasn't romantic enough.
"I mean, it's not like he can be embarrassed or something! We're already a couple, for crying out loud!" Risa complained, throwing her hands up.
A Cheshire cat grin appeared on Nobuko's already cat-like face, intimidating Risa just a little more than she would've liked to admit.
"Nobu...what...are you..."
"Hey, Otaniii~!" Nobuko gleefully skipped over to boy she was beckoning, who was sticking with blowing up balloons and passing then over to Nakao to hang up.
"What do ya want?" He offered her a blank, dead stare.
Nobuko stared back. "I do not understand what Risa sees in you."
"You've told me that a million times, now get to the point!"
"Oh, I just need supplies from the supplies closet next door to the gym," Nobuko informed him cheerfully. Otani didn't look very happy. "Come on, please! You'd be very helpful! You're awesome! You're smart! Go!" she cajoled helplessly. "Go with Risa in case you can't reach anything!" she added with an amused snicker.
"Jerk," he muttered, shooting her a quick glare before setting off with an annoyed Risa at his side.
"So, um...we're supposed to get a banner," Otani read off the list, catching Risa's gaze.
Risa's glare deepenend. "Well? Find it, then!"
He grimaced. "Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" He climbed up onto a stool to get a better view of the top shelf.
"Not quite." She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at Otani's ever-present denseness. "Found a new package of balloons," she said instead, dryly. She purposefully made a show of using her height to easily reach the package, successfully irritating Otani.
Risa almost laughed. What didn't irritate him? She was so done. She would just tell him what was on her mind and be done with it.
"You're not romantic enough," she said casually, tossing the plastic package in her hands to the floor.
Otani fell to the floor along with it.
"Wh-Wha! What are you talking about?" Otani inquired loudly, incredulous.
"You heard me, didn't you!?"
"Yes, but-"
"But?"
"..."
"I guess... it's just like... you have this lack of passion."
"Hey, you think I'm in a relationship with you because I don't like you?"
"No! I meant like...physical passion."
Otani raised an eyebrow. "Physical?"
Her skin tone changed to the colour of her hair. "N-Not like that!" Although it was true that would've been a nice bonus.
"Risa, some couples are all lovey-dovey and stuff. Maybe we're just better off with a less... touchy relationship," Otani said, nervous laughter following.
Risa groaned. "Isn't that what a couple means? Lovey-dovey?"
"No, not all couples are like that!"
"You mean we aren't!"
"What do you want me to do?!"
"For starters, when I help you, don't mumble your thanks and walk away. You could at least smile back, idiot!"
She got him on that. He blushed before adding, "Well I don't have that type of personality, okay!" His voice faltered, however. Otani realized he was fighting a losing argument.
"Whatever!" Risa spat, whirling around to cross her arms again. Apparently she had enough of it, and he had now put Risa in a very bad mood. Just wonderful.
Risa grabbed the supplies and flashed him blazing eyes. "Let's go!"
"Risa, hold on," Otani said. Risa paused, surprise evident in her eyes as she turned to face him. "I don't...I don't know how this stuff really works, okay..."
Otani cringed at how stupid he sounded. He was a good listener, really! He just wasn't a good speaker. He... didn't have the talent of conveying his feelings in a way that made sense.
"What do you mean?" Risa had crouched down to his level, her gaze intent on him.
Otani stared back, at a loss for words, and he had soon lost himself as his mind begin to fill with thoughts of Risa. Risa and her long, silky hair. Risa and he shining, kind eyes. Risa and he tall, slim waist. Risa... just Risa.
A strange emotion exploded in his stomach and he floundered for a moment, not sure how to let it out. Instead of speaking, he went with his instincts - he placed both hands on her shoulders and dove in for a kiss.
Oh. So those dumb heart flips were just the desire to kiss her?
How incredibly stupid.
What made this interaction different from the others was that they kept going. He opened his mouth, and she did so in return, attacking his lips with passion. As the kiss deepened, they let themselves go - the excitement and nervousness was enough to keep them going and away from potential embarrassment.
They soon begin to lose track of time when Otani, barely comprehending what he was doing, slowly slid a hand underneath the hem of her shirt. His thumb stroked her stomach, and she shuddered before threading her fingers through his hair, eliciting a satisfied noise from him.
And then, Otani's hand reached her bra strap.
The warning bell went off in both of their heads, and they sprung apart from each other, reality slapping them in the face. Of course, what they had just done... that was reality. Though, neither of them had ever even thought they were capable of that.
Breathing hard, both stared at each other, completely flushed with embarrassment, thinking the same thing:
Did we really just do that?!
The awkward silence was filled when Chiharu sneezed quite loudly from the opened door. Her face was a deep red while Nobuko and Nakao were laughing their heads off.
"I. Knew. It!" Nobuko got out between hacking coughs, exhausted from laughing.
"Nobuko Ishihara." Risa's voice caused everyone in the room to flinch.
She sounded ready to kill.
Nobuko cleared her throat as she faced a quite red-faced Risa, practically blowing smoke from her nostrils.
"I honestly didn't know - I swear!" That's all the young blond got out before Risa begin chasing her, hurling death threats while Nobuko simply continued to laugh and flee from her wrath.
"Whoa, man." Nakao walked over to Otani and extended his hand for him to stand up.
He tried to stifle his laughter but it wasn't working. Otani's hair was thoroughly mussed and his lips were red with lip gloss.
"How was that?" He prepared himself for a humiliated, red Otani punching him in the face, but felt no hit.
Nakao slowly opened his eyes.
"Actually, it was um ... pretty cool. I think I'll be romantic more often."
When Nakao grinned, Otani blushed and glowered, aiming a kick to his shin.
"Don't tell anyone I said that!"