Hi! I'm back for second chapter of Her. It took me a really long time to finish this. I apologise to two people I might've promised speedy update within 24 hours the other day. xD (You know who you are, if you're reading this) Aside of being busy, I've also been sidetracked with YouTube. To any Korean culture fans, you might want to check the channel of The World of Dave! He makes real dope videos. *^* Anw, enjoy! An update. (Don't worry, I'll get started with writing ONW's ch9 asap. :D)
(This chapter is set after ch8 of ONW)

Be nice, people. I welcome honest, constructive criticism and any mention of mistake is highly appreciated. No flame, please.
I do not own Gakuen Alice or any familiar words/titles mentioned in the story.
Words approx. ; 2900 (Overall approx.; 5800)

#writer`s_l^lla8y#

Her by Writer's Lullaby

Everyone knew being with her was not easy. She was always so unpredictable. She rarely got annoyed but when she did, it was always because of the weirdest things. But he could not bring himself to care because he loved her nonetheless. A RukaRu spin-off from One Night Wrong.

Issue #2 : Food Makes Her Happy

Ruka was in the process of shaving his face. He had finished taking his bath just a few minutes ago. Although Ruka barely had facial hair growing on his face, he still made the effort to shave at least once every two or three days. It was simply a ritual that he never minded getting used to. And today was one of those days where he felt he needed to shave. When he saw his reflection on the mirror upon arriving home, he immediately decided to shave after bathing that day.

As he concentrated to shave with care, he heard the sound of the door being opened and shut. The sound was accompanied with jiggling noise from keys.

He gave a simple smile to himself on the mirror, 'Hotaru is home.'

He was forever excited to meet the most beautiful face ever known to him. Always looking forward to seeing her face coming home from work, especially when the day was long like today. There were many customers coming to the veterinary. Weekends had always been busy for him because people usually felt inclined to bring their pets to meet the vet when they were free during weekend.

He also had his girlfriend's brother to thank for.

Imai Subaru had came to him not long after he went exclusive with Hotaru. The charismatic guy was a famous uprising surgeon in the city and he was going to inherit the family's hospital. Although the hospital was not as big as other local hospitals in the big city; they were still known to be one with good services with reasonable medical fee.

Subaru had came to him proposing a plan; he wanted Ruka to join him as soon as he inherited the hospital. He had promised to provide a small wing just for Ruka to practice his veterinary medicine. Ruka was first sceptical to accept the offer but after discussing it with his family, girlfriend and bestfriend; he had finally agreed. He had never once regret the decision he made ever since then. Of course the journey went a little rocky for the first few months, but with the support from the people around him, he survived the phase.

Today, with the department under his care; they had hired more vets and also generating income just like the others. It gladdened Ruka that people were not only concern with their own well-being but also of their pets. As someone who really loved animals, he could not ask for more.

Ruka finally finished shaving and did a quick wash on his face. After drying his face with a small towel, he finally exited the bathroom wearing only a piece of towel on his waist. However, there was no sight of Hotaru in their bedroom, it was as empty as when he went in for a bathe.

With the small towel currently on his head drying his wet blonde hair, he stepped towards the small loveseat sofa in light aqua. It matched with the room's theme. Hotaru and him had decorated their bedroom in soft blue and violet when they first moved in. It was more and homey-looking comfortable than contemporary. Draped on the sofa was the comfy cargo shorts he had placed there earlier.

He wore said clothing article and exited the room to track his girlfriend.

Ruka continued his unhurried walk in the apartment when he could not find Hotaru in the living room. He did, however, see the extra keys hung on the wall. They were Hotaru's and definitely were not there earlier.

He finally spotted her at the closed garden patio at one the balconies. They had remodelled the design before moving in to better suit his pet, Usa's needs. Unlike the other balconies on the apartment building, they had barred theirs with quality wood. It accommodated the rabbit really well and Hotaru was the one who had came up with the plan.

His eyes laid on her. She seemed to be occupied as she sat gingerly on the garden. Not far in front of her was Usa, gingerly eating asparagus as her treat.

Before they moved in together, Ruka was a bit worried on how to keep Usa. Hotaru never really showed any interest to his pet or animals. She just accepted and understood the fact that he was a vet and that he cared a lot for animals. Although she always supported him through, she never acted curious. It led him to think that she did not really have strong feelings for animals. So, it was a rather nice surprise for him when she actually got along really well with his pet, and adored Usa as much as he did. Sometimes, she would even have a one-sided conversation with the cute Usa. And he knew all of that from Saki, who acted as his consultant whenever he was not home.

Hotaru let out a sudden irritated sigh.

Ruka quirked a brow and voiced out, "Is anything wrong?"

If she was surprised by his appearance, Hotaru did not show it. She just stood up and turned around to him. Her tired eyes slowly warmed at the sight of him. He shot a charming smile at her when she stepped closer to him. He opened his arms wide and she crashed herself into his arms, tucking her head to the crook of his neck. They fit just perfectly.

"You just took a bath."

"Mm hmm."

"And you shaved."

His right hand which was softly caressing her back to comfort her stopped midway pattern. And he softly murmured, "How can you tell?"

She tilted her face directly to his neck. And he could feel her sniffling him in; pleasure rushing in. "I can smell you." If he did not know her better, he would think she was being her usual uninterested self. But his sharp senses which had became better attuned to her could notice the slight difference. She really liked the smell. She gave a light peck on his neck. "I should return you the sentiment."

"What do you mean?"

Her voice sounded bored, "Well it's not really a sentiment, more like a favour?"

"Huh?"

And she leaned her face down, giving his face a quick glance. Her eyes fluttered shut and softly kissed his collarbone. Ruka sucked his breath in realisation of what she was about to do. He reached out to her shoulder to push her back, intending to resist but alas, it was too late. She had already began nipping down his collarbone, proceeding next to sweetly suckle on the skin.

His eyes dimmed and blood rushed to his head, making him slightly dizzy. His hand was buried in her hair making them a mess. And suddenly she stopped and smirked at him mischievously with a satisfying glint in her eyes. It took him a few seconds before he finally crashed his lips to her.

He looked at his reflection on the mirror, sighing at the sight of the small bruise on his collarbone. At the back was Hotaru walking back and forth in the room getting dressed after her bath. Realising she was being stared, she paused and looked at him, her mouth pulling a small half snicker.

With his finger thumbing the mark, he shook his head. "Why'd you do this?"

She shrugged, her face turning sour. "The stupid boys kept bugging me about it at the lab." She nodded briefly at his questioning glance. "It seems like Hyuuga isn't the only one who noticed." In her hands was her Mac. "And again, those boys are all stupidheads. Well, except for Hayami, maybe." She paused briefly as if pondering her words then shook her head in decision. "He's better than the others but sometimes he can be as stupid. Definitely more reliable though."

Ruka gave a small smile, understanding her need to rant. And then he sighed again, "But it's not so obvious on you?" She looked away, acting uninterested at his spoken thoughts. "Everyone can see this," his hand traced the purple on his collarbone. "And they'll definitely be asking."

Hotaru looked back at him blankly, annoyance clear on her body posture. She was crossing her arms, "Let them ask, I saw from a lot of the tape records, most of your clients are females." Her voice pressed at the last word, obviously chagrined. "And their pets don't look unhealthy but instead scared?!" She looked away, annoyed.

A smile formed on his face and Ruka could feel his heart warming hearing her. He turned around and walked towards her; no longer bothered with the hickey. "Okay, I'll make sure to flash this to everyone if that'll make you happier."

"Good and yes," she answered giving a curt nod.

"Anything else I should know?" he asked while pulling Hotaru's hands softly to the bed. "What was the important matter at the lab you mentioned earlier?" And they lied down together as he asked the question. Neither looking at each others' face but their eyes fixed to the ceiling above. She had gingerly placed her Mac on the bed beside her head.

Sounds of frustrations escaped her.

"What's wrong?" His hold on her hand tightened, softly massaging her to calm her nerves.

"Those idiots were playing around with Tor."

Worry formed in his head at the mention of the familiar name. "Okay, so anything went wrong?"

She released her breath slowly calming herself from erupting before she recounted the tales. "Well, to put it simply, he played around with it and someone managed to trace us and broke into our data. It was harmless prank but the dude didn't know they are confidential data."

"Okay, that sounds dangerous."

"I know," she sighed.

He began making a circular pattern on her palm using his forefinger. "I trust everything is okay now?"

"Of course," she answered almost with a sass. Then she added, "But I told him I'm deducting fifteen percent of his pay for three months."

He chuckled at her typical demeanour. "Isn't that like a lot?"

"Yes but I don't care. It's his fault. It is only right of me to do so."

"I see."

"Yes, we still need to clean the web through, since there are still few leaked. I told everyone to do the job." She sighed at her own explanation. Perhaps mildly annoyed to do work on the weekend. She rolled to him and rested her face on his shoulder. "I'm recharging. You smell so nice." She sighed again but this time in content.

He leaned down and kissed her head. "So do you, beauty."

Ruka woke up to the low sound of a music playing.

Last night, he had waited for Hotaru to finish her work beside him on the bed. The whole time as she tapped away on her laptop, he was also awake beside her doing some reading. The night was silent and he did not bother making noise, trying to let her focus on her work. She was so engrossed that she never mentioned of food at him which was really rare. Unless she was highly focused on her work and last night was one of them.

When she was finally done, it was already so late and past midnight. After shutting down her laptop and putting it away on the bedside table, she drank a glass of water. Only after then did she let herself sleep. Ruka immediately spooned her after switching off the lights; the switches just above the the bedhead. He had softly patted her until they both fell asleep in a deep slumber.

In his barely awake state, he moved his body to face her.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" she asked him softly, still busy tapping on the laptop.

He could still hear the low music playing. He answered groggily, "No. But what are you doing?" Trying to keep his eyes opened, he peered at the screen but miserably failed. Giving up, he burrowed his head on her thighs. "What time is it right now? I thought you finished the work last night."

Hotaru affectionately ruffled his blonde hair. "It's almost 6 am. And yes we did. This one's not work-related, I'm making money." Her voice sounded happy and content.

"I thought you gave that up? We make pretty decent living now, don't we?" he asked curiously, his mind finally began to clear up.

She shook her head although knowing well he would not be able to see. "It's not for me, it's for Mikan."

That certainly grabbed his attention. "Mikan?" he asked to confirm as he moved his head to the pillow away from her. "You're not scheming anything, aren't you?"

"Pfft. I'm her bestfriend, why would I scheme her?" she answered, giving him a side mocking glance. "Look at this."

And he did as she told him to find a recording of Friday night. His eyes widened in surprise, "What is this for? You're editing them."

"I told you, I'm making money," she stated obviously.

He quirked a brow in wonder, "Okay, if you say so." He shut his eyes only top open them back when he remembered something. "I forgot to ask. So who sent Mikan and Saki home last night?" He placed his hands on the back of his head as he gazed on her back. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it last night because we were really super busy. A lot of people came."

"I know. It's Saturday night after all."

"Yeah, so Mikan and Saki?"

Silence met his question.

"Well?"

"Hyuuga sent them home."

Once again, silence ensued in the room. Ruka was highly surprised he could not form a speech. "Hyuuga? Which Hyuuga?"

Hotaru shrugged, "The only Hyuuga I call as Hyuuga would be Hyuuga, your bestfriend."

He sucked in his breath while pondering her statement. "So Natsume sent them home? Did you blackmail him something or did Kaoru-san ask him to?"

She shook her head. Her face still glued to the laptop's screen; busy editing the videos. "No, he volunteered himself." The sound of the keyboard being tapped could be easily heard amidst the sound of a music playing. "Hyuuga even provided his arguments on why he should send her home instead of me or her taking a taxi."

Wonder and amazement filled him. "Okay. So how did she react?"

Hotaru finally turned around and looked at Ruka on his face blatantly. "Before she could protest, he already cut her off." They looked at each other's eyes, a silent communication between them both. "And I guess she didn't wanna argue with him cause she easily gave in." She massaged her nape softly. After that, she rearranged the messy bun that she made out of her head. "Hyuuga was coolly insistent. And I guess I have to thank him for it."

Ruka ran both of his hands on his hair as he released his breath; blinked his eyes a few times at her. "Did Saki say anything?"

"No. He looked really sleepy and tired last night."

He nodded understandingly. "So Saki really knows?"

She looked away from him hesitantly. "I'm not sure if he's making it up. But kids don't lie, you know?" Ruka nodded, agreeing to her words. "He said Mikan tells him about him from time to time. Especially when he made it to the news the other day. And it was purely accident he talked about it with me. He's as smart as he is, the kid basically begged me not to tell Mikan he accidentally spilt the beans to me. She probably told him not to tell anyone about it."

"So that was why because it was also the same case with us the other night," he paused, reminiscing the night at Mikan's workplace the other day. "I just don't remember them meeting each other," he then added.

Hotaru sighed sounding tired herself. "I know, she never told me. She still won't tell why she got fired three years ago."

He whispered to himself, "Just what happened three years ago?"

Ruka was once again reading on the bed. It was around eight in the Sunday morning and he had the day off. He decided he deserved being lazy and did not feel like going away from bed yet. Hence, after washing his face and brushing his teeth earlier with Hotaru, he went back to bed getting himself comfy. Hotaru's spot next to him was empty. Unlike him, she had went out of the room to get something to eat perhaps hungry from being up so early. And she had been using her energy a lot since last night; tracing the leaked data and waking up early this morning to edit the videos. She pushed herself a lot from time to time.

In the midst of his read, the bedroom's door opened and a nice smell of food wafted in.

Hotaru walked in with a tray in her hand. She looked genuinely happy as she placed the tray on the small table at the corner of the room. It was a mini table perfect being turned into a kotatsu during cold weather especially the winter. She turned around and looked at him enquiringly, "Wake up, lazybum. It's breakfast time."

He smiled and rose from the bed. He stretched lazily and walked towards her. In a unique Hotaru way, he could see that she was beaming happily at him. When he reached her, she gave light kisses at both sides of his cheeks.

"Thank you. You bought my chocolates and favourite crab cakes brand."

Ease filled and he lightly returned a soft kiss on her nose. "I hope you like them?" He looked into her eyes with warmth.

"I do."

-end of chapter-

This section exists solely for explanation and credits.

- Tor is a browser software to do some very incognito online activities. Some might be more familiar with the term of dark/deep web. I read abt this a long time ago and thought it'd be interesting to insert it to the story. :)
- I'm well aware the two characters here might be ooc. (Just like I mentioned in the earlier chapter) Forgive me, if you found it annoying. If some of my facts are wrong here, I'd be glad if any of you would correct me. :)

#writer`s_l^lla8y#

Created ; 10:57 pm, 16/08/17
Finished ; 3:49 pm, 21/08/17

A RukaRu fic rarely gets a lot of reviews but you'd make my days if you leave reviews after reading this. xD