The Wonders of the Internet - Revelations
"I'm sorry, Flower."
The words continued to resonate in her mind as both of them stood there, Saruhiko's arms wrapped tightly around Misaki.
Saruhiko had called her Flower. He apologised. No, that couldn't possibly be right! And yet, she knew what she had heard. She knew that's what he'd said. But... She couldn't possibly be the Flower Glasses had so often spoken of! It simply... It didn't make sense! Glasses had hurt Flower. He'd said she was beautiful, but not many saw it. He'd said she was tough and unafraid. He'd said she was clueless about others' feelings. But most importantly, Glasses said he loved his Flower, and Saruhiko couldn't possibly love her. They had been best friends, for crying out loud! And if he'd felt that way, why in hell would he have betrayed Homra!? Besides, she didn't see Saru that way! She hated the stupid bastard! Even as she told herself that, however, Misaki could still feel the pleasant tingle on her lips.
Misaki sheepishly brought her arms up and tentatively put her hands on Saruhiko's chest.
"S-saru... U-umm..." She said, lightly pushing him to indicate she wanted to break the hug. Misaki felt her cheeks heat up once she noticed people staring at them.
"S-saru... C-can we uh... D-do this somewhere e-else...?"
Noting how the other remained completely still, Misaki resigned herself to forcibly breaking them apart. Without looking at Saruhiko's face, she bent down, picked up her skateboard and clumsily stuffed her phone into her pocket. A moment of hesitation passed, and, blushing furiously, she grabbed a hold of Saruhiko's wrist. She made a quick, decided pace towards the only place she knew they could be alone: her apartment. As they walked, Saruhiko kept completely silent, simply letting himself pulled by the red head.
Misaki was confused, to say the very least. What on earth was she supposed to say? How should she react? How long has Saru felt that way? How did she feel? A flurry of conflicting emotions overwhelmed her and she felt as though her heart would implode at any given moment.
They were approximately halfway there when she felt the bluenette's wrist turn in her grasp and suddenly, no longer was Misaki holding onto his wrist. Instead, she was holding the taller male's hand. If there was a deeper colour she could have blushed, she'd most certainly have blushed it. Unconsciously, she quickened her pace and felt Saruhiko tighten his grip around her own hand. The red head dared not so much as glance in her ex-best friend's direction. Misaki simply continued walking in that same quick pace towards her apartment, whilst attempting to sort through her emotions and vainly struggling to calm her rapidly beating heart.
What on earth was he doing?
Saruhiko was simply letting Misaki drag him; their hands currently intertwined in a way that was both familiar and completely alien all at once. It was seldom the first time the two had held hands, but this time, it left Fushimi more breathless than it ever had before; something that simply added to the bluenette's furiously beating heart.
This was most certainly not how Saruhiko had envisioned informing Misaki of his feelings. In fact, now that he thought about it, he never really had given the subject much thought... Scratch that, he'd never envisioned telling her, period.
What on earth was he going to do now? What was he supposed to do? And where was Misaki dragging the both of them? Now that he thought about it, his gaze had been transfixed on the beautiful red hair that was jutting out from her dark blue beanie. He let his impassive gaze wander around, taking in his surroundings.
Oh.
He knew this neighbourhood. He knew this neighbourhood very well, in fact. This is where Misaki lives. Why was she taking him here, of all places? 'Probably to yell at me...' He reasoned.
He'd angered her. He'd unwillingly hurt her. He'd kissed her.
Oh how he'd longed to do that. Every time they were together. It had always been a thought, both a conscious and subconscious one that haunted him. He'd finally done it, and he wasn't sure how to feel about it. He knew he wanted to kiss her again, that he had wanted to deepen the kiss rather than break apart. And yet, was that regret he felt? Guilt?
Heh. She probably hates me even more now. He thought, keeping his face expressionless. Fushimi once again reverted to staring at the girl he'd nicknamed Flower for the previous 4 months.
Misaki, oddly enough, led the both of them up to her apartment and the bluenette once more wondered why Misaki would ever want to take him to such a place after what had just transpired. Homra's vanguard hastily opened the door and roughly pulled him inside. The moment they entered, the red head yanked her hand away from his own. Her back continued to face him and he closed the front door on her behalf, noting how she made no move to do so of her own accord. Instead, she brought her hands up to her chest, seemingly to clutch them together.
A long, suffocating silence hung between the two before either said or did anything. Fushimi simply stared at the girl, who had yet to turn in his direction, or provide him with any sort of idea regarding her thoughts about what he had revealed moments earlier.
Why didn't I just play along with what she said and pretend as though I had made it all up? He mentally scolded himself.
Saruhiko let out a sad, almost exasperated sigh, effectively breaking the silent trance they'd been in.
"I'll just -"
"Why?" Misaki breathed out with a shaky breath, cutting him off.
More silence.
How was he supposed to answer that? He had no idea what her inquiry pertained to. Why could mean absolutely anything.
"I don't understand your question, Misaki." He responded calmly.
"... W-why did you s-say that... Back there..." The red head re- questioned, Saruhiko finally noticing how her entire frame was shaking slightly. He had to resist the urge to pull her into a hug. Instead, he shrugged and vaguely contemplated lying to the girl before answering.
"Didn't Red tell me I should apologise to my Flower before doing anything else?" Misaki's muscles visibly tensed and she began to shake her head side to side.
"No... No. No, I'm not... I can't... I'm not Glasses' - your Flower!" She said firmly, determinedly. "... I can't." The vanguard finished in a whisper.
The bluenette began getting frustrated again and he reflexively clicked his tongue.
"And why not?"
That seemed to catch the girl off guard because she let her hand fall to her side. The tenseness in her body seemed to vanish and she calmly let her skateboard twirl around before letting it fall safely to the ground. She finally turned to face the Scepter 4 officer. The first thing Fushimi noticed were Misaki's eyes. Those gorgeous eyes filled with challenging, determined fury. His lips twitched into an involuntary smirk, only serving to intensify the burning in the red head's eyes.
"Because you don't love me. You can't! We used to be friends and now we hate each other. You can't love someone you hate! And I'm not clueless to other people's feelings like Flower! And, and… Plenty of people think I'm p-pretty, okay?" She blushed furiously at the last part. Saruhiko's grin widened and his heart began to thrum painfully, excitedly in his chest. Oh how he loved seeing her blush like that.
"Oh really now? Then would you mind informing me which of those savage clan members of yours have already told you as much, hmm?" He teased.
"They aren't savage! A-and… uhm… I-I'm not telling you! S-stupid monkey!" She sputtered, completely embarrassed.
Saruhiko took a couple of steps forward, closing some of the distance between the both of them.
"And what makes you say that I hate you? Aren't you the one who clumsily assumed that in your anger?" Misaki frowned at that, looking up to the bluenette who no longer sported his characteristic grin. In its place was an expression that told Misaki he was dead serious.
"Then... Why did you betray Homra? Why did you burn your tattoo? Why did you just leave me like that? And... Why did you look so goddamned happy when you did it all?" She questioned angrily.
Something seemed to snap within the taller of the two.
"Why?" He took steps forward as he continued to speak, effectively forcing Misaki to continuously back away. "If you're such a genius at figuring other people's emotions out, then shouldn't that be obvious?"
"Ah - " She let out a slight squeak as her back hit the wall.
Fushimi placed both his hands on the wall on either sides of her head.
"Mikoto-san this, Mikoto-san that! It was always "Mikoto-san, Mikoto-san, Mikoto-san!" or "Homra!" You don't think I got tired of hearing that? When we weren't with Homra, it was just us. Nothing else mattered. Whatever it was, video games, movies, food, whatever. It was always the two of us. All of that was over. We didn't matter anymore. Homra and Mikoto did! And now, fighting is all we freaking have!" He responded angrily, letting every bit of pent up frustration out, then and there. Misaki, as for her, was shell shocked. The bluenette's breathing was ragged and laboured with anger as he refilled his lungs with much needed oxygen.
And again, that suffocating silence reigned.
For what felt like the millionth time that day, Saruhiko sighed and removed his hands from the wall, reverting to simply standing in front of her. He watched her for a few seconds longer before turning to leave.
"W-wait." He heard Misaki mumble as she grabbed the back of the bluenette's shirt, a gesture that reminded him of a lost child.
"..."
"... Uh... Umm..."
Saruhiko once again turned to face the red head, realising then that she was blushing up to her ears and that her gaze was transfixed to the floor.
"Y-you mean... You were... J-jealous?" She stuttered awkwardly.
With that, the Scepter 4 officer pulled Misaki close, tilted her head upwards and pressed his lips to her own. Even as her lips remained unresponsive, he continued to kissing her with gentle need, one arm wrapped securely around her waist, the other keeping her head tilted upwards. When Saruhiko glided his tongue on her bottom lip, silently asking permission to deepen the kiss, she placed her hands onto his chest and, as a response; she gave a rather violent shove. She let her head drop downwards, in a way that prevented Saruhiko from seeing her expression.
"W-wait, I-I... I don't... I mean..."
Taking into account that Misaki hadn't tried to beat the living daylights out of him as a good sign, the bluenette grabbed a hold of the shorter girl's wrists and gently removed them from his chest as he took a step forward.
"Is something wrong, Misaki?"
"I-I... I don't... I don't know." She whispered desperately.
"Do you hate it when I kiss you? Do you hate it when I say love you? Do you hate me?"
orz Please don't kill me for being so late. ;-;
I had exams and then well summer rolled around and I've been busy and if my parents hadn't decided to exile me to a baron wasteland without internet or cell service (aka camping) I never would have finished this!
I know, I know, Saru is seriously OOC here but I'm trying. I normally love to write his kind of character and usually I can do it with such ease but apparently not in this fic and it frustrates me to no end.
Okay, you all remember the little warning at the beginning of this fic? Yeah that's next chapter ;)
This fic will only last two more chapters so yeah... BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN HERE SINCE CHAPTER ONE AND HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO JOINED THIS LITTLE JOURNEY ON THE WAY! THANK YOU ALL INFINITELY FOR THE FAVS FOLLOWS AND REVIEWS IT'S SO MAGICAL TO KNOW THAT YOU GUYS ENJOY THIS FIC!
Please review it warms my heart every time I get one and I get supper giddy and excited and it really should motivate me to write the next chapter quickly~