-Imitation Black-
They rarely ever went on dates. In fact, the number of times in which they went out alone together could be counted on one hand. There was the time that they went to get Lavi's present, or the other time Lavi forced them to go to the amusement park together, or rarely, they'd drive around for a bit when Kanda decided to. And so it wasn't that surprising that about a month after they were officially together, Reiichi had never once held his hand.
It wasn't like she expected Kanda to be romantic or whatever—she knew the person whom she had fallen for well enough. Sometimes he could be in his own way, like doing things she knew he never bothered with other people, like waiting for her, or the way he kissed her slowly when he was in the mood. But sometimes she wondered if they were really doing this dating thing right—after all, she hadn't actually dated anyone else seriously before, and Kanda, well, perhaps his definition of dating was different from normal people. The things Lavi kept insisting to her were mainly things she saw in movies, read in books, sometimes witnessed with other couples—like how the male would always put his hand around his girl's waist as they walked step in step—basically public display of affections she knew Kanda hated.
But it still didn't stop her from wishing Kanda to do that, even if it was entirely out of character from someone like him. She was a relatively private person and didn't really like such things in public either, but sometimes when they were alone in the house together just spending time, she just wished that he could do something like that.
Not that it was happening.
"Yuu~" Lavi whined, trying to hug the model who was failing to get away. "I missed your left arm so much~!"
"Usagi stop fucking trying to hug my goddamn arm!" Kanda shouted, extremely annoyed.
"But I haven't seen it for a month!" his friend protested, hugging the said limb with much vigour. "And look! You've got a tan line there, it's so cute!"
Kanda scowled, snatching his arm that had his cast fully removed (finally), and tried to punch Lavi for laughing at him. "It'll go away soon, so shut up!"
"Ne, Rei-chan!" Lavi grinned, dodging the punches and addressing the girl who seemed to be ignoring both of them. "Are you going to hang Lena-chan's infamous words of his cast on the wall? Because I couldn't have phrased it better myself!"
It was quite an awkward affair in the doctor's room when Kanda took his cast off, because Lavi had purposely brought a camera along and took a picture of evidence of it before either of them could stop him, and the doctor had merely stared at the few words in the upmost uncomfortable silence that Reiichi tried not to feel happy upon seeing those words again, and Kanda tried not to commit seppuku in his humiliation.
Reiichi instantly blushed, trying to ignore her stupid cousin. "Lavi, go away," she sulked.
"Meh," her cousin snorted at the lack of reaction, then turned to the Japanese and beamed. "It's okay though, because Yuu can say it to you every day~" he sang, laughing hard when Kanda increased his efforts to kill him with a flushed face. "If I know what lurveeeeee is~ It's because of Yuuuuu~~~!"
"Fuck, usagi," Kanda tried to strangle the other to make him shut up. "Will you get the fuck out of my house?" he demanded.
"Why?" Lavi grinned teasingly. "You want more couple time with Rei-chan?"
Kanda instantly denied it. "NO! I—"
"You can hug her or hold her or kiss her or whatever you want in front of me, you know?" Lavi snorted, jumping over the couch despite the many times Kanda had yelled at him for that and landing beside Reiichi who inched further away from him, determined to shut her ears from the conversation whilst keeping rapt attention on the television screen. "You're not shy about this, are you?" he raised an eyebrow, suddenly becoming serious.
"I'm not fucking shy—" Kanda growled, glaring at him as he walked over, not jumped, to the other side of the couch to block Lavi's view.
"Uh huh," Lavi nodded patronizingly, pulling Kanda down to flop beside him and talking as though Reiichi wasn't trying to burn in embarrassment beside him. "Then why haven't you done anything of those things?"
"Because," Kanda started out harshly, then faltered when he couldn't answer it. "Just shut the fuck up,"
"See?" Lavi grinned triumphantly. "It's not that hard, is it, Yuu? I mean you love Rei-chan from the deepest part of your admittedly black heart—" he continued on despite the frustrated snort that Kanda let out in being unable to deny that yes, he did like Reiichi, though not in the same kind of phrasing as he said it, "and you've kissed her a few times in private, haven't you?" the red head huffed, feeling annoyed that the only times he ever saw Kanda kiss his cousin was because they thought he wasn't around.
"What we do has absolutely nothing to do with you!" Kanda grounded out, irritated.
"Sounds like a weak excuse," Lavi raised an eyebrow. "And actually, it has absolutely everything to do with me, because I'm going to be related to you!" he brightened up suddenly. "Oh my god! I just realized this—"
"I'm not fucking shy," Kanda repeated once more, scowling deeply and choosing to ignore the second part of what Lavi was saying even if he was starting to blush heavily but he looked angry enough to cover that up.
Lavi sniffed at how Kanda didn't want to talk about how they'd actually be brothers. So epic. "Prove me wrong then," he declared, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow in challenge. "Kiss her now, right in front of me,"
It was then Reiichi was unable to pretend that she hadn't heard a single thing they were talking about since she was sitting right next to them. She shoved Lavi off the couch, frowning as he fell to the ground rather painfully.
"Oww—" he whined, pulling himself back on the sofa even as Kanda snickered openly. "Shut up, Yuu shy ol' boy!"
"I'm not—"
"Shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy shy—" Lavi repeated it like a broken recorder much to the model's aggravation.
"Lavi, shut up!" Reiichi rubbed her temples, wondering why her cousin was so hell bent on teasing them today. Or every day, actually. "Just leave Kanda alone, okay?" she sighed, and then nearly face palmed when she realized her comment in defending Kanda just dug a deeper hole for herself.
"But Rei-chan!" he turned to her and she groaned. "You'd like that, don't you?" he pouted innocently. "I know you are shy and all," he grinned at how she couldn't deny that, "but it's just me, not the public. Yuu can whisper sweet nothings into your ear twenty four seven, or he can hold you and never let you go~" he sang, watching how hard she started to blush and furiously refused to look at Kanda.
Damn her cousin for reading her stupid mind, even if his ideas were so much more farfetched than hers. "Lavi," she cut him off in mid song that he nearly started to sing, "We," for the first time she was actually saying something flat out that Kanda and her were something, "Are fine! Stop trying to butt in!" she shouted in frustration. "Just, leave us alone!"
Lavi stopped in shock, shutting up immediately. He saw how her eyes darted around insecurely, biting her bottom lip, and then she stood up and walked towards her room, door closing with a silent click. In one whole minute Lavi sat there feeling incredibly guilty, speechless for the first time in his life. It wasn't like he intended to irritate her so much, but he just thought it was rather cute at how both of the people he loved most in the world acted around each other. And well, he knew Kanda needed pushing if he was ever going to do anything romantic—which he knew his cousin wanted. She was a girl.
"If she starts to avoid me again," Kanda suddenly spoke up, voice deathly dangerous, "I will fucking murder your fucking ass," he glared, angry. He got up from the couch, padding towards the corridor that Reiichi disappeared to.
Lavi sat still feeling numb, but he knew he had to apologize or else he'd be the one being ignored for the next entire month or something. Slowly he went to over towards her room, stopping at the entrance of the corridor when he spotted Kanda leaning against the wall next to her room.
"Rei…open up," Kanda was saying, arms crossed and a scowl on his face, but his tone was much softer than his usual speech.
"I can't," Reiichi said softly across the door, and her voice sounded a little cracked like she was going to cry. "I'm sorry, I can't face you now,"
Lavi certainly felt like he committed murder or something at the moment. "Rei-chan…" he walked forwards, and Kanda snapped up his face to glare at him.
"Lavi, fuck you," Kanda hissed bluntly, fists clenching in fury. "Do you have any goddamn idea how fucking difficult it is to be where we are now? Of course, you don't, you fucking asshole," he snorted patronizingly. "Can't shut up for a moment, can you?"
Lavi looked at his feet guiltily. True enough, he hadn't really understood what really happened between them both when they started to develop their relationship, just that he knew that their feelings had changed. Moreover they kept doing things in private—could you blame him for not knowing?
"I'm sorry," he murmured finally.
"That doesn't mean shit to me," Kanda spat and Lavi could see how furious his friend was at him, especially with the way his eyes burned with resentment. "If she doesn't talk to me tomorrow," he pulled on Lavi's collar harshly, gripping it so tight that Lavi could've choked. "You are so fucking dead," Kanda released him roughly, storming towards his own room and slamming the door shut.
The echo burned painfully in Lavi's chest. In a normal circumstance he would've been delighted to know how much his cousin meant to his best friend, but there were more important things to take care of. He knocked on Reiichi's door softly. "…Rei-chan?"
There was no answer.
"Rei-chan…" he stood outside her door like an idiot. "I'm really sorry," he pleaded. "I'm really really really sorry," he continued, heart breaking at how this was all his stupid fault. "Please open the door…"
Not that he didn't expect it, but Lavi felt even worse when there was again, no answer. "Rei-chan, I love you," he leaned his forehead against her door, wishing that she was at least listening to him. "I love you so much," he whispered, "That's why I worry, Rei-chan. I worry about you more than anyone else. I worry if Yuu is treating you right even if he's my best friend. I worry if you will be happy with him all the time," he sighed, closing his eyes. "You don't talk to me about Yuu at all…" he continued. "And Yuu doesn't talk to me about you either… I love you both so much, but neither of you will tell me anything, I just want to know—"
Silence.
"I'm so sorry," he murmured finally. "I'm sorry,"
The quietness that rang in his ears was more painful than anything else he had experienced. He stood outside the door for the next thirty minutes, alone and in the dark, wallowing in misery and occasionally cursing himself or knocking on her door uselessly. "Rei-chan, please," he whispered, voice raw with guilt and hurt. "Please open the door. I swear I'll never see you again if you don't want me to—"
The door swung open suddenly, and Reiichi launched herself at him, arms around his neck and pressing her face into his shoulder. He staggered back in surprise, then immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, with no intention of ever letting go.
"I'm sorry," he repeated as he buried his face into her hair, squeezing her tightly. A choked sob only escaped from her lips and he realized she was crying, trying to hug him tighter. "I love you so much, Rei-chan," he whispered into her ear, rubbing her back gently.
"I didn't mean to shout at you," she mumbled into his shirt eventually, sniffing. "Don't leave me,"
"I won't," he held her fiercely. "I swear, I won't ever leave you," he patted her back, hoping that she'd stop tearing. Lavi cupped her face and wiped the remaining tears that leaked. "I'm so sorry," he pressed his forehead against hers.
She nodded quietly.
"Rei-chan…" he looked at her seriously. "I just want to know if things are fine between you and Yuu," he explained. "I never meant to anger you or anything. I just," he sighed with frustration. "I just don't understand," he admitted. "I don't understand why you can't talk to me about him," he continued on when he saw that she looked hesitant in answering. "But I trust you, Rei-chan. You don't have to tell me,"
"I…" Reiichi looked away for a moment, and then leaned her head on his shoulder as he cradled her. "I like Kanda, Lavi," she said it so softly that Lavi had to strain his ears to hear. "I like him so much," she squeezed her eyes shut, hugging him by the neck tighter. Lavi kept quiet as she talked, stroking her hair. "I can't talk to you about him because you know him so well," she continued. "He listens to you more than anyone else," she said, and Lavi was very tempted to correct that Kanda listened to her more than him nowadays, but he didn't. "But I want us to develop our relationship by ourselves. That's why I said you can't help me with this,"
"Rei-chan, it was never my intention to…" he trailed off and started again. "I was never my intention to build the relationship for you guys," he kissed her cheek lightly. "You know that Yuu loves you, Rei-chan. He really does,"
"I know…" Reiichi turned slightly pink. "But sometimes you keep saying things that I..." she swallowed. "…want Kanda to do…" she pressed her face into the crook of his neck. "And I keep hoping that he does when I know he won't," she mumbled.
"I'm sorry," Lavi hugged her tighter. "I didn't mean…" he sighed. "I just thought Yuu would get the hint,"
"That what I meant, Lavi," she said. "I don't want you to ask Kanda to do something that he doesn't want to. It doesn't mean anything if he does it on your egging,"
"…I understand," he whispered. "But Rei-chan," he brushed her cheek gently. "I just want you to know that Yuu doesn't do anything that he himself doesn't want," he said firmly. "Ever. He kisses you because he wants to," he continued. "And sometimes, I think you should do things that you want too,"
Reiichi nodded slightly, closing her eyes as she listened to her cousin's steady heart beat. "I'm just afraid..." she said, "that Kanda won't like it,"
Lavi hummed softly. "You have to remember…" he answered eventually."…that Yuu is afraid too,"
Kanda was waiting right outside her door the first thing the next morning. He was afraid, he would admit this, that things would start to revert back to the way it was before they got together—the avoiding, the awkwardness, the pretending he didn't exist—and he didn't want to let her even attempt to avoid him at all. Unfortunately he didn't know that Lavi had stayed the night, and cursed when the person who opened the door was him and not the one he was waiting for.
"Mornin' Yuu," Lavi patted his shoulder, humming to himself happily.
Kanda eyed him suspiciously. If Lavi had stayed in her room, that meant that they made up or something. He nodded in acknowledgement reluctantly, but he still glared at the other. He spotted Reiichi a step behind Lavi, and she met his eyes for a moment before looking away. Kanda set his lips in a displeased frown.
"I'm hungry~" Lavi whined, walking nonchalantly away from them both, heading to the kitchen, not before giving Reiichi a look and smiling at Kanda.
Both of them watched as Lavi, for the first time ever, left to give them personal space. After no red hair popped back in sight, they were left standing alone in the corridor. Kanda turned to Reiichi, gazing at her directly. Reiichi fidgeted slightly, but she eventually looked back at him quietly, smiling softly. "Good morning,"
Kanda gave a gruff nod in response. "Made up with the usagi?"
"Yeah," she responded. "I'm sorry about yesterday," she stepped closer to him and touched his arm lightly. "I heard you talking to Lavi outside my door. I'm sorry about that," she looked at him meaningfully. "I promise I won't ignore you,"
Kanda looked away slightly uncomfortable, knowing that he had ranted on without much thought when he was angry. "Che," he snorted, but he couldn't deny he felt rather relieved. "Just don't do that again,"
She nodded slightly. "And Kanda?"
He only looked back questioningly, and was surprised when she rested her hands on his shoulders and leaned up to kiss him on the lips, softly, unsurely, but she got bolder when he started to respond back, hand trailing underneath her jaw to pull her closer, and with the cast newly off his left arm, he could play with the side of her shirt. She felt him slip his tongue into her mouth to deepen the kiss, and she let him take control eventually. After a while he pulled back, breathing lightly through parted lips and stared at her. "What's with you today?" he asked, voice slightly deeper than normal.
"Nothing," she blushed slightly, "Just felt like it,"
He raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Slowly he released her and froze when he spotted Lavi leaning at the doorway of the corridor, smirking. He expected the usual train of teasing to occurred, but Lavi merely snorted in amusement and turned away, disappearing back into the kitchen. He felt Reiichi stiffen slightly in shock as well, but she relaxed when her cousin went off his merry way.
"Strange," he muttered, but he was extremely glad he wasn't going to hear the usual whiny voice of his friend. "Did you say something to him?" he questioned suspiciously.
"Yeah, I did," she nodded. "I told him to lay off the teasing,"
"Good," he shrugged, turning away to walk to the kitchen for breakfast, since they were back to normal, and then paused suddenly. "I'm still not going to kiss you in front of him,"
Reiichi blushed, huffing a little. "That wasn't my point!"
Kanda merely cocked an eyebrow at her, smirking slightly before he continued down the corridor. Reiichi shoved him from the back.
Maybe Reiichi had told Lavi to lay off the teasing, but apparently that only applied when Reiichi was around, unfortunately. Lavi still did crack his usual Kanchi jokes on when they were going to get married and all that, but he stopped with suggesting what he felt Kanda should do and stuff, which did tone down the amount of teasing they usually endured every day. But as mentioned, it was only when Reiichi was around. It was sad for Kanda, because he was stuck in the basement with the annoying redhead while Reiichi was up in the offices.
"Yuu, you've got to bring her out this weekend!" Lavi insisted as he opened his tenth can of coke—he was seriously addicted to caffeine—while Kanda tried to ignore him and try not to fail. "You've got to bring her on a date every once in a while! It's called dating, see?"
"Shut the hell up," he retorted, nearly throwing his own cup of water at the other, except he wanted to drink it. "I do bring her out," he defended, then wondered why the hell he even bothered.
"You bring her out to your living room," Lavi snorted unimpressed. "Come on, you guys need to do some serious couple things," he pressed on. "Like, have you even walked in the park with her?"
"The moment I step into the park—" Kanda started off bluntly.
"—you get raped," Lavi finished, watching Kanda roll his eyes but nod in agreement. "So? Just disguise yourself or something! Like," he snickered. "Alto-hime,"
"Shut it," Kanda hissed dangerously.
"Fine, hime-sama," Lavi dodged the cup at went flying into his face. "Okay, something simple then. Have you hugged her?"
"What?"
"H-u-g," Lavi repeated. "Hug. You know, the thing I do to her every day. And to you, almost every day,"
"I know what it is, you retard," Kanda glared.
Lavi shrugged. "So? Have you?"
"What has that got to do with anything?" the model asked incredulously.
"It's one of the most basic things to do with the one you love!" the photographer replied back, just as incredulous that Kanda even asked a question like that.
"But I don't—"
"Love her?" Lavi asked flatly, daring him to deny.
Kanda growled, standing up with every intention to storm away.
"Yuu, sit," the redhead frowned, pointing at the chair the other had just gotten up from, and Kanda did so with much reluctance. "I want to talk to you," he said seriously.
"As if you weren't talking to me for the past goddamn hour," Kanda muttered, sulking. "Will you shut up if I talk to you?"
"I guess," Lavi sipped his can of coke casually, but his tone of voice wasn't in the annoying range now. "I had a talk with Rei-chan yesterday," he began.
"How long did you stand outside her door for?" Kanda sneered.
"Just half an hour, you ass," Lavi huffed. "Anyway, she talked to me about you for the first time,"
At that, Kanda stilled, not knowing if that was a good or bad thing. "So?" he growled impatiently when Lavi just paused there.
"She said she likes you," the redhead watched with some amusement at how his friend looked away with a slight pink tint upon the direct words.
"I know that already," Kanda grounded out eventually.
"Mmm hmmm," Lavi agreed. "And do you?"
The Japanese kept his mouth firmly shut. Honestly what was the point of asking him this now? Wasn't he dating Reiichi for like, a month already? And hadn't Lavi seen them together when he spied on them? And Lavi knew he didn't just commit to one person for fun. "What the fuck are you getting at?"
"Yuu," Lavi sighed, almost whining. "Why can't you just say yes? Would you kill you, honestly?"
Honestly? No. But figuratively? Yes.
"Shut up," Kanda scowled. "Are we done talking?"
"No, we're not," the redhead pouted. "Rei-chan told me that she wants you to do something lovely dovey with her,"
"Liar," Kanda immediately retorted.
"Fine, maybe she didn't say that," Lavi conceded. "But surely you noticed how I've stopped saying some stuff around her, haven't you?" he continued when Kanda didn't say anything. "You know why? It's because Rei-chan starts to want to do you that sort of stuff with her," he cut off Kanda before the other could retort. "I'm being perfectly serious,"
"…she didn't tell me this," Kanda muttered eventually after a while of silent staring. Then he frowned at Lavi. "Isn't it your fault that you keep saying such stupid stuff in the first place?"
"That's because you don't even think of such things that are not stupid!" Lavi sniffed. "Have you even thought of holding her hand when you guys walk side by side, huh? I bet you haven't!"
"Why the fuck would I need to do that?" the model demanded, feeling insulted.
"My point exactly!" Lavi pointed at him, scowling. "She's a girl, Yuu. She likes this kind of stuff!"
"If she fucking likes it, she would've done it!"
"That's what I said!" Lavi huffed. "But she's scared you won't like it so she doesn't do it!"
"I've never said I didn't—" Kanda stopped abruptly in his sentence when he realized he was going to say something that he knew Lavi would lord over him for the rest of his life. "Tch," he ran a hand through his hair in annoyance.
"So, first step," Lavi smirked triumphantly. "Hug her tonight!"
"No,"
"Why not?" the redhead demanded. "Your cast is off, you have no excuse not to!"
Kanda growled. "I don't have to answer you,"
"Come on," Lavi insisted. "You can watch the stars with her tonight," he went on excited with his new idea. "And then, you yawn, stretching your arms and lay one over her shoulder, and pull her closer to hug her!" he beamed. "It'll be so romantic! I'll even record it on tape for you, so that you can watch the moment,"
Kanda snorted, standing up from the table when he concluded that their talk was long over. "Go jump off a fucking cliff," he stalked out of the kitchen, Lavi following him at his heels immediately.
"Where are you going?" the other asked, noting that usually Kanda waited for Reiichi to come down at this time.
"Away from you,"
Lavi pouted. "Hey," then he stopped when the elevator opened as if on cue. "Rei-chan!"
Kanda stepped into the lift as Reiichi held the door open for them both, and let go of the button when Lavi launched towards her for a hug. "I missed you~" he cooed, rubbing his cheek affectionately against hers, giving Kanda an eye signal discreetly to do the same thing. Kanda tried not to cringe and pretended he didn't see anything.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Rei-chan," Lavi said as he held open the passenger seat for his cousin once they reach the black convertible.
"You're not coming?" she asked curiously, since Lavi had been staying over rather frequently over the past month.
"I've got panda business to take care of," he smiled, then leaned forwards and whispered in her ear. "He's all yours tonight,"
Reiichi flushed, glaring at him slightly and shutting the door herself.
"Remember what I said, Yuu-chan!" Lavi called, chuckling a little at how Kanda flipped him the finger, scowling. "Wear a condom!"
Even if Kanda stepped on the pedal at his words, he still did not miss the furious blush that erupted on his cousin's face. He waved cheerfully as their car disappeared into the high way.
"Oh god," Reiichi wanted to smack her head painfully against the dashboard, willing herself to stop blushing like a virgin girl, except for the fact that she was. "I am going to skewer him tomorrow," she muttered to herself.
Kanda's smirk didn't help her any.
Perhaps it was just his own imagination, but Kanda started to notice what Lavi was blabbering about at work. It was the way Reiichi sometimes played with her fingers, like she wanted to touch him but decided against it, or the way she looked at him sometimes when she thought he wasn't watching her. Then he started to wonder if maybe he really should be taking Lavi's advice. It wasn't that he hated doing that kind of things—okay, he lied, he did hate it. He hated how it made him felt especially, or the sort of things he would start to think because it was plain mushy and disgusting and just… not him.
Contrary to what Lavi probably thought, he had done it before, with Lulubell. But to be clear, he never started any of those moments, but just let it happened because she wanted to. He didn't understand why girls always felt the need to cuddle—even with girls he had bedded, they always liked to do that.
And now, Reiichi.
They were sitting on the couch next to each other, close but not touching, and Kanda suddenly noticed the tenseness between his skin and hers. He didn't even know what the hell they were watching—and vaguely he wondered if they really should do something else instead of sitting in the living room—and it didn't seem like Reiichi was paying attention to the television either. Actually, she kept twitching her fingers and that kept distracting him.
It was a dilemma. To hold, or not to hold? It was ridiculous. They had been dating for a month. Lavi had once told her that the amount of time a couple was considered dating and the amount of time they actually spent together was a different thing, and it was true. And so to make matters more pathetic, they had spent every single day together. She had gotten more comfortable around him, but suddenly the idea of doing this couple thing was such an agony to mull over.
She tapped her fingers that lay a centimeter apart from his own, debating whether it'd be a good idea to touch his hand. Lavi had told her she should just do the things she wanted with Kanda, and if Kanda really didn't like it, they could talk it over. It would be trial and error, and from there they could understand each other better. She understood that—it was perfectly logical—but somehow it just wasn't as easy as to just do it.
She was too busy thinking over such a trivial matter that her finger accidentally brushed against his, and she jolted, feeling a shock of electricity from just touching him. She snatched her hand back hurriedly, trying to pretend that she didn't just do something stupid.
"Are you going to take it?"
"W-what?" Reiichi jumped, turning to look at him in surprise.
Kanda looked at his hand and flexed it and she blushed, cursing herself for assuming he wouldn't notice her actions, except for the fact that he did all the time. Her heart started to race uncontrollably, and she suddenly felt tongue tied.
A minute of silence passed and Kanda sighed irritably, reaching over and taking her hand in his nonchalantly, but he couldn't stop how his heart suddenly started to beat faster with one simple action. Her hand was naturally smaller than his, and it wasn't exactly smooth like most of the girls he had met. She had done housework before—probably from her orphanage, and sometimes at home too—and was felt by the slightly rough skin of her palms. He didn't really mind it though, because it felt entirely too good to have her hand wrapped in his, slightly trembling as though she was scared to let go. He watched as her face turned red, but she was unable to stop the shy smile that kept tugging on her lips. It had been a month yet she was still acting like this. It was unbelievable, but he couldn't deny it was more fun this way.
Reiichi sat there for a while reveling in the warmth of his hand, fingers gripping his hand tightly, trying to cool her rapid breathing and pounding of heart. He brushed a thumb over the top of her hand and she blushed even deeper, not daring to believe that Kanda was doing this to her. Then she saw the smirk on his face and she scowled slightly, looking away. "…Jerk," she muttered.
Kanda snorted. "So are you happy now?" he cocked his head at their clasped hands.
Reiichi thought for a moment. "I guess?"
"What do you mean, you guess?" he frowned. He just did something he would've normally killed himself over, all for what?
Reiichi didn't answer, but instead shifted her hand slightly, slowly entwining her fingers with his so that they were holding hands the correct way. Kanda stiffened when he felt the joint in between her fingers touching his, causing a thrill to course through his veins. He never thought a stupid thing like hand holding would ever have such a sensation. Apparently Reiichi didn't expect it either, because he felt her clench her hand in shock, not letting go, and she was starting to smile in the way that showed she was incredibly happy.
"Why do you like this kind of stuff?" he leaned his head back on the couch, eyes averted to the ceiling to try and act nonchalant.
"I don't know," she answered honestly, leaning a little on his shoulder, content to feel his hand. "I know you don't though," she smiled to herself. "Thank you, Kanda,"
A warm feeling started to spread in his chest and he just wondered if he should do stuff like this more often, then he quickly killed that thought. "Che," he snorted. "But never in front of the usagi,"
"Or in public," she agreed, to which he growled in affirmation.
While Kanda looked at the ceiling, she stared at their hands, savoring how it felt so right. She squeezed his hand slightly, and he retaliated by squeezing back slightly harder, and it became a small childish war of hand grappling, till Reiichi started to chuckle and Kanda tried not to die in how mushy he was becoming, eyes trained hard to the blank space of white while listening to her laughter.
She paused suddenly.
"Kanda, this ring…" she tapped on the metal band that was on his left hand's forth finger, the position where one would normally wear a wedding ring on. She had felt the cool metal while they were playing. "I've noticed you're always wearing this, but you switch your other rings…I can see it?"
Kanda shrugged, and she released their clasped hands slowly, tugging the ring off and turning it in her hand. It was a pretty simple metal band, with only curl on top that looked like teardrop. In fact, it looked rather familiar to her... "Did you buy this?"
"No, the usagi gave it to me,"
At this, Reiichi paused. "You wear a ring that Lavi gave you on your wedding ring finger?" she asked incredulously, because well, that thought sounded really, uh, gay.
"It's the only finger that fits," he scowled. "Not whatever you're thinking,"
"Then why do you wear it all the time?" she asked curiously.
Saying that Lavi had gotten it with the money from the photo that made him famous and he wore it out of memory's sake was quite embarrassing to say. "So girls don't bother me when they see it,"
"Okay," she blinked. But then, didn't everyone know that Kanda Yuu wasn't married?
"Well, Lavi gave me a ring too…" she stopped suddenly, realizing why his ring looked so familiar. She placed his ring into his hand, hurriedly trying to undo the choker she always wore. Quickly she slipped out the ring Lavi had given her many years ago out of the necklace, holding it up to inspect it. Likewise, there was a curl in the shape of a teardrop. "He didn't…" she muttered, hands trembling slightly. She put her ring beside Kanda's ring in his hand, watching as the rings clicked together magnetically.
"Fuck," Kanda could only stare in—he didn't even know what he was supposed to feel actually—disbelief as he realized what exactly had happened. "Lavi," he could only mutter. "Fuck,"
Reiichi raised the now conjoined rings, staring at the pattern that formed when the two teardrops were placed side by side.
It was a heart.
"I can't believe I've been wearing a couple ring all these years!" she flushed, unable to believe it. "And it was with…with you!"
"You tell me," Kanda muttered, "What the fuck,"
Reiichi dumbly took the rings apart, wearing back her own ring on her neck and slipping his ring back on—stopping suddenly when she realized he was wearing a couple ring on his wedding ring finger and she was putting it on for him—she flushed red, dropping his hand and averted her eyes, trying to clear her mind with her own imagination. It seemed like Kanda caught on to what she had realized, because he looked away uncomfortably.
"You think Lavi planned this?" she managed after a while, resisting the urge to dig a hole to kill herself.
Kanda scoffed. "You know the idiot planned this,"
"Lavi! Why did you..you.." Reiichi nearly strangled him the next day, face flushed with indignation and disbelief and embarrassment.
"Why did I…?" he blinked back, confused as he fought with the hands that tried to go near his neck.
"Why did you give me a couple ring?" she demanded.
Lavi hugged her, not at all bothered at how she was glaring at him.
"Do you know much how trouble we could've gotten into if someone spotted me wearing a couple ring with Kanda Yuu?" Reiichi growled, unable to get why Lavi had even done something like that.
"But everyone knows your relationship with him!" he whined, tilting his head innocently. "Except the tabloids, but well, they're tabloids,"
"I meant even before I met Kanda!" she frowned. "If one of my mentally insane Kanda obsessed classmates had noticed something like that—"
She was overreacting. "Chill, no one ever notices that sort of thing!"
Except that yes, fans did, because she had heard lots of her classmates discussing such things before. "They do!"
"But they didn't," Lavi stated calmly, shrugging. "Anyway, it's no big deal. You could just say it's coincidence or something,"
"Not likely, seeing how I'm your cousin and Kanda is your best friend," she deadpanned, but at least she stopped trying to strangle him. "They still don't believe I've never met Kanda before I started on your project!"
"Who's they?"
"The press. Other people," she sighed, irritated. "And," she glared at him, "I found out that our rings were custom made, meaning, they're only one in the world. How do you explain that, Lavi?"
"How did you find out about that?" he blinked.
"I called Cartier," she crossed her arms. "What were you thinking?"
"Eh…" Lavi chuckled. "I was thinking about the future?"
She looked unimpressed. "You can do better than that,"
"Rei-chan," he relented finally, looking at her seriously. "I gave you that because you're half of me, and Yuu is the other. I can't live without either of you,"
She hugged him tightly for those words. "I know…but you should have told me," she murmured.
"I should have," he nodded, stroking her hair. "I'll show you one more thing then," he pulled back, releasing her. Raising his right hand he took off the ring that he wore on his second finger, and showed it to her. On the top it had two curls like two teardrops, instead of one like hers and Kanda.
"This is…" she trailed off when Lavi lifted up the ring she was wearing around her neck and placed his own ring next to it. A magnetic click sounded.
"What I gave you isn't exactly a couple ring with Yuu," he corrected, turning the conjoined rings in front of her. Now it was a heart with a teardrop next to it. "It's actually a triple ring," he tapped on the other side of his ring that had the single curl left. "Yuu's ring will go here,"
"Oh," she stared at the rings.
In a way, she did understand why Lavi had given them both such pieces of jewelry. She knew Kanda and she were the two most important people to him, and it showed from the fact that he chose to wear the middle ring—the one who brought them both together. It was rather perfect actually, to describe all three of their relationships together.
"But why did you have to give Kanda and I rings that fits only our wedding ring fingers?" she demanded, because it was entirely too suspicious that her ring too, only fit on her left hand's forth finger, and that was the reason why she wore it around her neck instead.
"Like I said," her cousin hummed. "I was thinking about the future,"
"Come on, Rei-chan~" Lavi whined. "Stop ignoring me~"
Reiichi threw a soapy sponge at him and he caught it easily, bending over to the side to rinse it in a bucket of water. He tossed it back when he was done, and she continued on with her task. Lavi pouted, tapping his foot on the floor in some unknown tune and hummed, not liking how he was bored to death watching her do work.
You see, Reiichi was washing his best friend's car—why, he had no idea, because the black Lambo looked shiny enough—and he was forbidden to do anything related to housework. To be honest, the last time he scratched Kanda's side view mirror while trying to help was a pure accident, but apparently neither of them believed him.
"I'm hungry~" he drawled annoyingly from his position on a chair beside the bucket of water for that was his current job.
"Go bother Kanda," Reiichi stated, rolling her eyes, wiping away the excess soap and water with the sponge.
"But he'll kick me out of the kitchen!" Lavi pouted. It was also unfair how he was never allowed in the kitchen when Kanda was cooking.
Reiichi shrugged, not really sympathizing with his status. It was her cousin's own fault to crash over their house today after work, and since she had decided to wash Kanda's car and Kanda was busy preparing dinner, they couldn't really entertain Lavi much.
"So, what did you guys do yesterday?" Lavi asked casually, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back.
"Other than finding out about the rings?" she answered back sarcastically.
"Sheesh," Lavi muttered, frowning at how she kept grumbling to him about that the entire day. "Yes, other than the rings,"
"Nothing much," she shrugged, but Lavi was sharp enough to spot the faint tint of pink on her cheeks.
"I'm sure it's nothing if you're being extra happy," he grinned. "Did he hug you?"
"N-no!" she denied, stopping in her actions to glare at him.
"Huh. I thought he'd watch the stars with you or something,"
"Lavi…" she warned threateningly. "Did you say something unnecessary to Kanda?"
"It's not unnecessary, Rei-chan," he sighed. "I told you that Yuu doesn't do anything he doesn't want. It's just that he has no imagination, okay?"
"I'm so sure holding my hand needed imagination," she muttered, turning back to wipe off the last part of the car.
Lavi nearly toppled the bucket of water beside him as he fell off the chair he was lounging on. "YUU HELD YOUR HAND?" he nearly shrieked in excitement, his voice echoing throughout the garage. "OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!"
"LAVI!" she hissed loudly, face burning with mortification at his reaction. "WILL YOU KEEP IT DOWN?"
"But Yuu held your hand!" he beamed widely, bouncing over to hug her enthusiastically."That's amazing! Oh my god I need to tell Lena-chan about this—" he patted his pocket frantically to find his phone while Reiichi dropped the sponge on the floor and tried to make him stop.
"Lavi, don't!" she grappled with him for his phone, but Lavi was taller than her and he raised it out of her reach. "Lavi!"
Her cousin merely grinned at her and pressed the speed dial, but Reiichi jumped and swiped the phone, shutting it with a click. "Aw, come on, Rei-chan! Lena-chan would be ecstatic! It's not every day that Yuu does things like this!"
"No!" she insisted, face red.
"Huh," he frowned, and then brightened up. "Oh Yuuuuuu~!" he turned and ran back towards the house, laughing as Reiichi dashed after him with widened eyes and a scowl. "YUU! I HEARD SOMETHING FROM A LITTLE BIRDIE~!"
"LAVI! COME BACK HERE!"
"YUUUU~~~" Lavi stopped when he reached the kitchen, blinking at the lack of person he was trying to find.
"STOP RUN—" Reiichi nearly collided into him, but she stopped in time and also blinked at the empty kitchen.
"Where did Yuu go?" her cousin asked, walking in and glancing about. There was a pot on the stove which turned out to be soup, and there were cut vegetables and meat on the counter on a plate, but they hadn't been cooked yet. The rice cooker was left open, but there was nothing inside.
"Kanda?" she called, wandering out of the kitchen and knocking on his door but there was no response. She walked towards the dojo, the gym, and finally the pool, but there was no trace of him.
"Did you find him?" Lavi asked, stepping back in through the front door after he searched outside.
"I think he went out the house," she commented, looking at the bunch of keys that were missing on the table near the front door.
"What for?"
They went back to the kitchen and Reiichi closed the rice cooker, spotting the empty container on the counter that normally held rice. "To buy rice, I think,"
"Darn," he muttered, "Well, I'll just have to wait for him to come back,"
"No, you won't say a word to him when he comes back," she corrected.
"Why not?" Lavi whined. "Don't you want to see him being cute and flustered and blushing—"
Truth was, she did, but then she couldn't even look at Kanda when Lavi started to tease them both. "No I don't," she denied with a huff, heading back to the garage to clear the things they had left behind.
"Yes you do," Lavi grinned, following behind her. "Tell you what, I'll take a picture of him when he does that, and you can look at it every day!"
Reiichi almost took the bucket of dirty water and splashed it at him.
She was done washing his car, and now they were both sitting at the kitchen table waiting for the one who was cooking their dinner to come back. Kanda hadn't really been gone for very long, and she knew the nearest mini mart wasn't that far away—within walking distance—but she couldn't shake of this particular dreaded feeling that settled in her chest. She fidgeted in her seat, unable to keep still even as Lavi rambled on god knows what, but she wasn't listening.
"Rei-chan?" Lavi paused suddenly, touching her shoulder worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"I…" she murmured, frowning. "I feel off," she admitted. "I don't know,"
Lavi scrutinized her for a moment. "Are you falling sick? 'Cause the weather's been rather hot these days…"
"I don't think so," she answered, and suddenly it felt difficult to breathe. She bit her lip worriedly, flexing her hands impatiently. "Lavi, I think…" she choked slightly, looking out the window. "It's going to rain,"
"Rei-chan, relax," Lavi hugged her, and pulled her close. "Calm down,"
Then, as if on cue, the familiar sound of a crack of thunder jolted them both suddenly and the rain drops started to pelt. "Shit," Lavi cursed, squeezing her tighter when he felt her tremble in his arms, desperately trying to bury her face into his chest.
"The weather forecast didn't say anything about this," he muttered to himself, placing a hand on her head when lightning flashed this time, and Reiichi flinched. "Must be a flash storm,"
The entire house had suddenly darkened, and the small drizzle turned out a torrential downpour within seconds. Which much difficulty, he shuffled over to the window and closed it, heaving a sigh of relief when the sound of rain muted just a little. Then he flicked on the lights, lightening up the heavy atmosphere.
"It'll be over soon," he patted his cousin's back consolingly, and she nodded slightly, but she didn't let go of him.
Then she froze.
"K-kanda," she whispered. "Lavi, Kanda is outside," her eyes widened frantically, gripping the front of his shirt tighter. "Kanda is…Kanda is…"
"Breathe," Lavi rubbed her back in circles. "Calm down. Yuu will be fine," he assured her. "He'll take shelter,"
Logically, Reiichi knew that, but her phobia overrode her rational thought. If Kanda didn't come back, then… then… "But...K-kanda—" she started to sob slightly, deathly afraid of her own trail of thoughts.
"Shh…" Lavi whispered into her ear. "He's going to come back, okay? He's not going to leave you," he continued to murmur softly, even as she started to tremble rather violently.
"But w-what if…" she breathed deeply, hands wiping her face furiously as tears started to leak.
"He won't," Lavi told her firmly, digging into her pocket for his phone. "I'm going to call him, alright? Don't cry anymore, okay?" he held her tightly as he pressed the speed dial for Kanda, only that no one picked up after the seven try.
"L-lavi," she bit her lip, and he could see how scared she really was, and she flinched harder when another thunder cracked.
Lavi frowned grimly. "I can find him—"
"N-no!" she pulled him tight, voice shaky and cracked. "No…you can't go out there," she protested. "If K-kanda doesn't…" she choked. "Then you… I can't…" she sobbed softly, grasping his waist, unable to go on.
"He's going to come back," Lavi promised, cupping her face and wiping her tears away. "He's going to come back,"
Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck.
After wasting so much goddamn time in the mini mart because the cashier girl had recognized who he was—Kanda Yuu—and basically made a huge commotion about it, seeing that she had screamed the moment she registered who he was and thereby alerting everyone else in the mini mart. After half an hour of fans trying to touch him or get an autograph, the supervisor had apologized to him repeatedly for the incident, because the only reason why Kanda even went to this particular store was because the staff of the mart was specifically told not to react in the way the new cashier girl had.
All he wanted to buy was a packet of rice, was it really so hard?
He was never coming to this store ever again.
And because he had wasted more time than he predicted, a flash storm suddenly decided to occur just as he was stepping out of the store.
Fuck.
He didn't have an umbrella, and it seemed like an umbrella wouldn't even help, considering the heaviness of the rain that pelted down. He cursed again, standing behind the sliding glass doors to prevent getting wet. He didn't really like the rain much, because it brought more trouble than it was worth. But then, he didn't hate it as much as Reiichi did.
Reiichi.
Oh fuck.
He remembered very clearly that day when she was huddled in the corner of her room so unlike her usual herself crying. But then, Lavi was with her now, wasn't he? So she'd be alright.
After a few minutes of staring blankly into the rain, the sinking feeling in his gut kept getting stronger and he cursed, knowing the exact reason why. He was getting worried. Worried if she would start to breakdown again, worried if she started to become scared, worried if she started to cry. She was fucking nineteen, he knew that, but if he himself hated his own childhood that much, then she probably handled her own phobia worse.
He made to take out his phone from his pocket, then cursed again when he realized he had left it in his room when he changed earlier. So. What to do now? Normally he would wait the storm out even with his impatience, but something inside of him was egging him on to run back home. Shit. Why the hell did he care so much for her? She should be fine, especially since Lavi was there.
But still.
He gripped the plastic bag in his hands grimly, debating whether to step out in the rain.
Fuck this.
"He's going to come back," Lavi repeated it like mantra, hoping that Reiichi wouldn't start to panic as he stroked her back gently, the other hand shielding her eyes from the occasional lighting that streaked past.
It had been thirty minutes already, and no sign of his best friend. That either meant Kanda was hiding in some shelter to wait out the storm, or that he was also getting paranoid. "Shit, Yuu," he murmured to himself, hugging his cousin tighter.
Then suddenly, the front door slammed open loudly causing both of the relatives to jump in shock, in sync with the boom of thunder that sounded.
"Fuck this stupid goddamn rain!" the figure who entered cursed angrily, kicking off his wet shoes and throwing a plastic bag on the table. "I'm never going to—"
Kanda didn't get to finish that sentence, because he nearly doubled over when Reiichi crashed into him, arms wounding around his neck tightly. He was dripping wet—thoroughly drenched, actually—but she didn't care as she hugged him closer, a small sob starting to escape from her lips. Kanda squirmed a little, feeling slightly uncomfortable at how she was hugging him, and then looked away even more awkwardly when he realized Lavi was just watching them both blatantly. Lavi gave him a look to do something, and he glared back in retaliation.
"Kanda…it's really you, right?" Reiichi murmured, not willing to let go at all. "You came back,"
He snorted. "As if the stupid rain would do anything to me," but he placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder, gripping it.
He felt her sigh in relief, sniffing a little. "I was so afraid that—" she stopped, opting to pull him closer, ignoring the cold that seeped through her clothes. "I can't lose you, Kanda," she whispered, voice just as vulnerable as the last time he heard it, and it made his heart twinge. "I can't,"
Kanda kept quiet, allowing her to hold him as much as she wanted. He didn't really expect her to worry about him actually—the last time, she had been crying over Lavi. He felt her stiffen when another crack of thunder clapped, but she didn't break down into tears again.
Lavi walked over, shutting the front door quietly and muting the sounds. He gave Kanda a look and clasped his shoulder once, turning away to walk into the kitchen. Once Lavi couldn't be seen, he finally relaxed. Lightning flashed again, and she squeezed him tightly, but this time, he cautiously wrapped his own arms around her waist and pulled her closer.
Reiichi didn't say anything, but merely sighed in contentment. Lavi was safe, Kanda was safe, that was all it mattered. Even if Kanda was cold and wet and her clothes were starting to get soaked as well, she didn't care. It felt strangely good to hold him—and for him to hold her—and she never wanted to let go. She breathed lightly, eyes closed as she felt his body heat slowly radiating, slowly assuring her that everything was alright.
Kanda still felt slightly awkward because he didn't really like hugging people—in fact, Reiichi was probably the first person he ever bothered to hug—but he figured if the heart racing thrill that pumped ever continuously in his heart was a consequence of it, he might consider doing it again.
Maybe, if Lavi would stop grinning at him creepily from the kitchen failing to stay out of sight.
Owari.
Point of chapter:
I had three things I wanted to write
1. The first time they held hands
2. Their couple ring
3. Another storm incident, but this time with Kanda
1) I'm not entirely sure if Kanda was in character at all with the hand holding. I was thinking that he'd be a lot more lenient towards Reiichi especially in private. IDK. I wanted to write it because it was just fluff.
2) The couple ring is not a sudden idea that I just plucked in. If you noticed I did mention Reiichi's choker that she always wears a few times, and once in the orphanage chapter I did mention about Kanda's possible couple ring that he wore. Hee.
I know I did say I won't update for a while, but honestly I couldn't stop writing alsdmksdnmjf *frustrated groan*. This is how I procrastinate all my real life shit. D: D:
Anyway, I'm sorry I didn't reply to any of your reviews this time round D: I started on this chapter the moment I came back from Viet (which was a pretty cool trip I must add), and I figured it's a better present to post this instead. Hope the chapter wasn't too weird, though it feels a little to me.