Words: 863
Setting: post-series
Summary: Ikki has his own way of doing things
Misunderstanding
Ringo tapped her foot impatiently as she waited outside of Ikki's room. Checking her watch, she noted that it was already fifteen minutes past eight o'clock, which was, as of now, fifteen minutes after the agreed upon time when she and Ikki were supposed to meet Kazu and Emily for karaoke this evening.
Huffing, she rapped her knuckles against the door. "Ikki," she enunciated his name with a tone of urgency, "are you ready to go yet?"
Her only answer was an immediate shout. "Almost!"
I swear, he's worse than me, Ringo mused, rolling her eyes as she continued to wait. Unlike him, she was already dressed, shoes and all, and prepared to head out.
After another five minutes flew by, she finally reached her limit. "What the hell are you doing in there!?" she half-shouted, putting her hand on the door handle. "I'm coming in!"
"You don't want to know!"
Ringo's hand froze as her mind automatically assumed the worst. Trying to suppress the blood that was now rushing to her face, she shook her head to force the explicit thoughts out of her mind. Considering this was Ikki, he definitely was just joking around to buy time—right?
Clearing her throat, she decided to call his bluff. Upon sliding the door open, thankfully, she found Ikki harmlessly sitting on his bed. "What are you doing?" she sighed, relieved that this scene wasn't what she imagined.
"Double checking my ATs," he replied nonchalantly, holding up one of his skates for closer inspection. "We're gonna battle another A-rank team this week."
Ringo's expression dropped; she should have known this was the reason why they were running late. She didn't kid herself into thinking that Ikki wasn't as obsessed with ATs as he initially was, but this was the first time he apparently decided to put his hobby before her. It was a bit depressing to think that a bunch of mechanical skates ranked higher up on his priority list than his one and only childhood friend and lover.
Ikki must have noticed her change in mood. "You seem a bit down."
Ringo shot him a nasty glare in return. "You think?" she hissed, feeling her temper start to run short. "Did you forget that we had plans? We were supposed to meet up with Kazu and Emily twenty minutes ago!"
Glancing at the clock next to his bed, his expression remained the same as before. Shrugging, he stood up and stretched his arms out. "But, we've got plenty of time," he yawned, completely lackadaisical in spite of Ringo's apparent unrest.
"Are ATs all you ever think about?" Her voice cracked as she finally was on the brink of tears. Normally he would at least apologize after noticing his blunder, but this time Ringo was sure he didn't even feel remorse.
Ikki raised an eyebrow. "Obviously not," he answered, as if it was common knowledge. Before Ringo could say anything, he quickly pulled out his cell phone and tapped a few buttons. "Kazu said they'll be late. He said Emily sent you a message, too. I thought you knew." He showed his phone to the fuming redhead.
Quickly scanning the content of the text message, Ringo's eyes grew wide as she realized he was telling the truth: the new meeting time was bumped up by half an hour. Pulling out her own phone, she noticed with a shocked face that her battery had run out, hence the lack of communication. However, before she could mentally slap herself for the not checking the obvious, Ringo remembered that they still had to take a bus to get to the karaoke bar. So, technically, they were severely behind schedule regardless.
"We're still running late, you know," she continued, in a slightly less incisive voice this time, "And why are you…" Ringo trailed off, as she noticed that Ikki started to put on the ATs he was previously inspecting.
"Hmm?" His quizzical face only puzzled the redhead more. Finishing his task, Ikki crouched down with his back facing her. He flashed her a wide grin, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. "How do you think we're getting there? As Storm Riders, at least one of us has to show up in style. C'mon, let's get rolling!"
Ringo suddenly felt a sense of awkwardness; he actually was on top of things. Without saying a word, she meekly walked up to him, looping her arms around his neck. Ikki then slowly stood up, and caught her legs as they swung forward on either side of his torso. The next thing she knew, the cool, evening wind was blowing past her as Ikki jumped out of his bedroom window and off into the streets, his ATs carrying them at an incredible speed to their destination across town.
"Just so you know," Ikki spoke in between breaths, as he maneuvered around traffic. "ATs are not the only thing I think about anymore."
Tilting her head more closely against his, she mumbled in surprise. "Really?"
He tightened his grip on her legs, flashing her a warm smile that melted away her doubts.
"Duh, I spend more time thinking about you than anything else."
