Love Blossom
jogging
Sleep is a good thing, at least Yakumo believes it is. It revitalizes and rejuvenates and all of those other words skin commercials use to market their product.
This is why he doesn't quite understand why anyone would forgo one of the world's simplest pleasures to get up early in the morning just to go run around the block and become a hot and sweaty mess.
(Un)luckily for him, Haruka is that kind of person.
It used to happen once in awhile, but soon enough, it becomes a routine.
He hardly awakens when she leaves and on the rare chance that he does, a few hushed whispers and gentle caresses on his cheeks are all he needs before he heads back to sleep. Her jogging routine hardly bugs him.
Until now, of course.
"I can smell you."
"You smell me before you see me? This must be love."
The sarcasm dripping from her voice almost makes him smile. Gotou would probably complain about Haruka taking on Yakumo's bad traits.
His eyes finally open and he sees her smiling above him.
"Hey."
She leans in and Yakumo leans up. He hears her laughing when she merely kisses his nose. The glare comes naturally to him.
"You can lay around for awhile. I need to go shower. I stink, according to you." She is smiling and Yakumo notes her unusually high spirits but ignores that in favour of something else. He hears the familiar tease in her voice, but he doesn't miss the hint of another thing. "I'll be back."
His hand instantly shoots out, catching her wrist. He doesn't like when he takes his comments too seriously. Besides, he likes her scent after jogging. There's the smell of her, but she also carries the scent of her perfume, something floral—he still has to figure out what exactly, and the dew of the morning.
Eyes meeting hers, he doesn't know what to say. So he does what he knows he can. He pulls her to him and she tumbles down, almost crushing him, but he doesn't care as he digs his face into the crook of her neck.
He breathes in deeply, enough so that his nose tickles her. "Hurry back."
The smell of peaches and pomegranates reach his nose and Yakumo sees her walk into the living room. She grabs the cup of tea he left for her on the counter and walks back to sit beside him.
But he sees something. There's an extra spring in her step, a happy buzz around her and her smile, the one he had seen when he woke up, is still there. Even as she sits beside him and takes a sip of the tea, it is still there.
"Do you like the tea?"
She idly hums, her thoughts reorganizing to think about his words. "Oh yeah, it's good. Thanks."
"The tea can't be that good."
"Huh?"
"You haven't stopped smiling since you walked in. Did you help a woman give birth during your jog?"
Haruka's elbow digs into his side. "It was a good run. I feel really energized," she says airily.
But she avoids his eyes and Yakumo almost laughs at her attempt to conceal her thoughts. The very act of doing so laid her open in front of him. "Did you meet a guy?"
It's a joke. An honest joke, something he always used to poke fun at before they had a relationship and she usually retaliated with a sharp negative response.
Not this time. She freezes and that makes him stop to. He stares at her. Something bubbles in him.
Haruka's hands are up in defence after taking in his carefully composed expression. "I made a jogging buddy." Her voice is calm, trying to ease any pricks she thinks there might be in Yakumo's mood.
He nods.
Yakumo can tell she is testing the waters and he almost lets himself be more distracted by her reactions than her words. Almost. "We are going to meet tomorrow morning again."
Deciding his tea is more important, Yakumo ends the topic. "Whatever."
But it's not whatever.
He wakes up early that morning. He hasn't set an alarm but he isn't surprised when he looks out the window and sees the shadow of the night waging war with the sun. He is also not surprised to see her out of bed.
Sleep is still in his eyes and his feet as he drags them to fix himself a cup of tea. He decides to go out to the balcony and gets a chair. He is unimpressed by the sunset and his interest is only truly piqued when he sees two figures standing below, crossing the street towards his apartment building. He is tight-lipped as he sees them disappear out of his sight and watches someone, her jogging buddy, walk across the street and collapse on a bench. He turns away and walks back into the living room before he feels his mind prick him more.
He is berating himself on being a child when she walks in with a smile. Her mood is up again. Usually her lips turning up so brilliantly would make him soften but now, he only feels it gnawing at him.
"Oh, you're awake!"
It takes him a few moments to respond. "Did you have fun?" Ah, there it is. His contempt. He nearly bites his lip at it coming out.
Her eyes widen. "Are you..."
When she finally continues, her voice is calm. In response, a bundle of irritation washes over him. "You know, I thought it was weird that he suddenly started running, especially when he could barely keep up."
She is quiet before he impatiently asks, "What are you talking about?"
"It's Miki's boyfriend. He was asking for proposal tips."
"Oh."
A/N: I'm not a big fan of using jealousy as a writing tool, but the image of brooding, jealous Yakumo was just too amusing for me not to play around with him being jealous, even if just a little.
