"But Lady Suzushiro, isn't she a bit...heavy...wouldn't you prefer it if I carried her inside for you," Haruka's butler asked worriedly, as he held the back door of the sedan open, and watched his employer's daughter climb out with a sleeping Shizuru's held tightly in her arms.
"No, no I've got her. No one else is allowed to hold her besides me. I can carry her weight just fine. I'm not a weakling and she's really not all that heavy. Now if you could please just hold the front door open for me, I'm going to be taking my friend upstairs to my room, and I don't want anyone coming in to disturb us," Haruka replied, as she began walking up the cobbled walkway towards the massive mansion that was her family's home.
Shizuru had fallen into a fitful sleep on Haruka's lap on the way to her house, and the lavender-eyed girl hadn't had the heart to awaken the obviously tired girl.
Probably spends too much of her time at night worrying about that delinquent, Haruka grumbled to herself as she slowly made her way up the long winding staircase, cradling Shizuru against her chest like the most precious of cargoes which she was to Haruka.
Despite what she had told her butler though, by the time Haruka made it all the way up the grand staircase, she was huffing and puffing lightly. She then struggled to get Shizuru through the thankfully open door to her bedroom, and lightly rested the chestnut-haired girl on top of the soft mattress, before turning around and closing her bedroom door. She then made her way back over to Shizuru, as she saw that the honey-haired girl was finally awakening.
Shizuru gave a small cat-like stretch and her eyelids slowly opened revealing her ruby-red eyes, which she blinked for a few seconds in slight confusion.
"Haruka...what...how...did I fall asleep on you? Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to...and...are we in your room?" Shizuru asked as she sat up slowly on Haruka's bed, and began looking around with unconcealed interest.
"Ah it's nothing, bubuzuke. Yeah, you did kinda fall asleep on me, but it's fine. And yes, this is my room. And a fine room it is, isn't it," Haruka exclaimed with a proud smile on her face, as she faced Shizuru with her hands on her hips.
Shizuru let out a light giggle at Haruka's pronouncement, then she gave the blond-haired girl a soft smile.
"Thank you Haruka for...earlier. I am truly grateful for your good timing with an offer for a ride, and thank you for granting me the wish of not taking me home right away. I really couldn't deal with being alone in that big empty house right now," Shizuru said as she turned her face away to stare out Haruka's open sliding-glass door. The door led out to a wide balcony that overlooked the beautiful gardens of the Suzushiro property.
"Hey now, look at me," Haruka said softly, as she raised her hand and lightly brushed her fingers across Shizuru's cheek, and turned the tawny-haired girl's face back towards her.
Shizuru blinked her garnet-coloured eyes once, as she focused her attention back upon Haruka.
"Shizuru...I would...do you...would you like...ahh, dammit! Shizuru would you like to go out on a skate with me!" Haruka exclaimed as her back went ramrod straight, and she looked almost fearfully at Shizuru as she awaited the tawny-haired girl's answer.
Shizuru blinked in surprise at Haruka, as her brain processed what it thought it had just heard from the amethyst-eyed girl.
"You mean a...date...you want to go out on a date with me?" Shizuru asked as she tilted her head to the side, and looked curiously at Haruka.
"Yes yes, a date. That's what I asked, wasn't it?" Haruka answered back a little impatiently, as she began to fidget a bit while waiting for an answer.
Shizuru looked curiously at Haruka for a few seconds more, before she closed her eyes and seemed to sink deep into thought.
Haruka was about to jump off of her own balcony with anxiety when Shizuru re-opened her eyes, and opened her delicate lips to finally give Haruka her answer.
"Yes. Yes Ruka, I would love to go out on a date with you," Shizuru answered with a small smile, as she reached forward and took hold of Haruka's slightly clammy hands, and gently squeezed them.
Haruka gave Shizuru a slightly-crooked grin, as the nerves that had made her hands grow cold while she waited for an answer finally began to thaw, and she returned Shizuru's squeeze.
Shizuru let out a sudden yawn, which she looked surprised and slightly embarrassed to have done.
"Ara ara, I'm sorry. That was quite rude of me. Now Haruka probably thinks that I'm bored with her company, which is actually quite far from the truth," Shizuru said with a light teasing smile, that reached all the way up to her now-sparkling red eyes.
Haruka lightly blushed, which Shizuru found to be one of the cutest things she'd ever seen.
Haruka let out a light huff, before she climbed up onto her bed beside Shizuru, and kicked off her shoes which fell with a light thud onto her soft plush carpet. She then crawled up her large bed towards her comfy pillows, and then pointed at Shizuru's feet and made a motion for Shizuru to also climb up the bed towards her.
Shizuru looked down at her feet for a couple seconds, before she also kicked off her shoes, and then turned around to crawl up towards Haruka. Once she was beside the blond-haired girl, Haruka surprised Shizuru by quickly taking her into her arms, and then settling the two of them back against the large soft pillows.
"Ruka...?" Shizuru said hesitantly, as she rested her head against Haruka's soft chest.
"Shh, bubuzuke. Just close your eyes and get a little more sleep. I'll take you home later, so just get a little more rest for now," Haruka said in a soft, yet lightly commanding voice.
Shizuru surprisingly found herself deciding to obey that soft command, and she let out another quiet yawn as she pressed her body closer against Haruka's.
Shizuru then gave a small surprised start, as the gentle sound of singing suddenly reached her ears. And Shizuru quickly realized that the singing was coming from none other than Haruka herself.
She has such a soft wonderful singing voice...one would never know it because she usually only uses her voice for shouting...but it's...beautiful...Shizuru thought to herself as her eyelids began to slowly flutter closed, and her breathing evened out as she was lulled to sleep by the hidden musical voice of one Haruka Suzushiro.
AN - There is a new Haruzuke (Haruka/Shizuru) forum that has been created, and the link to it is in my profile =)
Thank you to everyone who has read and who has also reviewed, including the anonymous readers whom I can't reply personally back to ^_^
You guys are the ones who keep me inspired, so please continue to let me know what you all think =3