Bothersome Acquaintances - Part One

By Autumn Win-Dow

(AoGA House Cup. Words: 764)


Ruka was on the verge of falling asleep in his economy class seat when he felt a sudden cold sensation slap him in the face and his chest.

He jolted wide awake as looked down at his white shirt, stained with a vivid orange patch. He could smell the juice as dripped down his face, and he was already feeling his skin become sticky.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry, sir!" The culprit – a brunette flight attendant – panicked as she hastily grabbed some serviettes from her cart and started to wipe the juice off his face.

Ruka was never someone who liked to be belittled in the way she was treating him, but he let the matter go for the sake of her sanity and his face.

He grabbed a handful of the serviettes from her hands and wiped the juice from his own face before dabbing them on his wet shirt, in an attempt to absorb as much of the liquid as possible.

"I'm very sorry, sir!" The flight attendant repeated, as she bowed as low as she could. "I've spilt some on your seat, as well."

Ruka sat up from his chair – a part of him thankful that he wasn't wearing his seatbelt at the time – and saw a large patch of orange on the seat.

Damn it, he thought to himself, am I supposed to sit in discomfort for ten more hours?!

"Please excuse me. I'll see what I can do." She hurriedly promised, before darting off towards the front of the place.

The blonde could only sigh at his misfortune.

"Tough day," The passenger next to him spoke, amused, "for both you and the flight attendants on this plane."

"…I guess you could say that." Ruka breathed as he threw the used tissues on the wet seat, deciding that wiping his shirt wasn't going to make a difference in regards to his discomfort.

"It's the second time a flight attendant's apologised to us today. Not exactly an ideal flight." The man – of whom had a strange star-shaped tattoo beneath his eye – said, as he leaned his head far back into his seat.

Ruka was aware of what his neighbour was referring to. He had also seen the pointless argument between a green-haired flight attendant and a passenger in one of the furthest seats, which was mainly fuelled by the attendant in question.

"I couldn't agree with you more. But it'll only be for a few more hours." Ruka decided that his optimism was necessary in regards to thinking about his situation.

After a brief silence, the stranger held out a hand. "Tsubasa Andou."

Ruka raised his own hand to shake, but realised that it was a bad idea, considering that his hand was sticky from the juice. Instead, he dropped his hand and sighed in slight embarrassment his name. "Ruka Nogi."

A part of him was glad that he had finally acquainted himself with someone who didn't look like he was going to make his trip even worse than it already was.

However, his hope had immediately been squashed because of the next words Tsubasa spoke.

"…that flight attendant was gorgeous, though, despite being a klutz. Don't you reckon?"

In terms of the topic of females, Ruka felt awkward. It wasn't exactly a conversation starter which he felt comfortable with – he lacked the confidence which other males had when talking about the opposite sex, and he found it embarrassing.

"…I guess…" He forced out, trying to look natural.

When he thought back about the flight attendant, Ruka eventually did admit – although to himself – that she really was a pretty creature. His love for animals had somehow altered his vocabulary, and he would often use the word 'creature' over human when he thought to himself, but at that moment, he felt guilty about doing so.

"You're blushing!" Tsubasa exclaimed, although not loud enough to alert the rest of the passengers.

Right on queue, the attendant returned with a relieved smile on her face.

"Sir, I've organised a seat for you in business class, since there's only one remaining seat available. Please follow me."

Ruka immediately grabbed his bag from under his seat and sent an annoyed stare at Tsubasa, who only smiled in amusement. He followed the brunette attendant towards the front of the plane.

Never did he expect that all thought of attraction regarding the woman in front of him would be immediately thrown out of the window, because of a second encounter which would change his life.