Teru and Kurosaki spent the morning riding through the rolling highlands of Nasu on their way to the flower farms. They stopped occasionally at particularly picturesque spots to ooh and ah at the scenery and take typical tourist photos; hamming it up and flashing the 'V' for the camera.
Well, typical until Kurosaki started hauling her close for a kiss at every stop, making her head swim every time as he snapped a quick shot with his phone.
The flower farms, with their miles of azaleas in early bloom, made Teru sigh and Kurosaki smile (at her). They walked hand in hand along the paths between the bushes that covered every shade of purple and pink. She chided him when he broke off a single soft flower and put it in her hair, but he noticed that she kept raising a hand to touch it as they continued their hike.
Now they walked through the nearby town of Nasu. They ate lunch off from street vendors as they shopped for more souvenirs to take home to their friends. He called her 'grandma' for getting a traditional yaki imo or sweet potato, making her laugh as he then proceeded to hit on her in his 'old man' voice. She patted his shoulder when he got crepes from three different vendors and assured him solemnly that she'd still love him when he was fat.
"What are you doing?"
Teru jerked a little as she finished taking a picture of their joined hands with her phone. "Nothing," she murmured, then squeezed his hand. "Thank you again for the flowers," she said, speaking of the baby potted azalea he'd bought from the gift shop.
"What else was I going to do," Kurosaki teased as he squeezed hers back. "You kept going back to the little runt and staring at it like it was a puppy in a window." He shrugged. "Now we see if we can just keep the thing alive in our room until we get home."
"We can do it." The thought of their now having a 'home' together made her scrunch her shoulders in pleasure. "So what do you want to do next?" She pulled a piece of paper from her purse. "We still have to get souvenirs for everyone." She gave him a poke. "And I'm not sure potpourri counts for the guys."
"Are you kidding?" He poked her back, making her squeal. "Boss puts that smelly crap even in the men's room at the Flower Garden. At least this azalea stuff smells good. And I will bet you 100 yen that Andy has it in his place. On purpose."
Teru pursed her lips and tried not to laugh. "No bet."
Kurosaki watched her fold the paper to put it back and noticed it wasn't a brochure as he'd thought. "What's that?" It looked hand-written.
Her 'it's my list' would have satisfied him if she hadn't murmured, blushed, and shoved it much too forcefully into her purse. All at the same time.
He grinned down at the top of her head.
Teru smiled up at him as he let go of her hand to slide his arm around her shoulders. She sighed when he pulled her close, leaning her head against his side as he uncrinkled the paper from her purse… "Hey!" She made a grab for the bag he'd slipped from her shoulder.
Kurosaki handed it as he held the paper above her hopping reach. "And what's this?" He tsked and booped her nose. "Are you keeping secrets from Daisy, Princess?"
She grabbed a hold his shirt and tried to pull down/climb up his torso. "It's just a list. Give it back!"
"Ah, ah, ah. Lying is worse than a secret," he sang, enjoying her attempts to span their foot difference in height and arm-length. He walked over to a bench in the empty little park they were passing and stood on it. He folded the paper in half before clearing his throat and putting a solemn hand on his chest. "A reading of Kurebayashi Teru by Kurosaki Tasuku. Ahem."
She looked around frantically for any gawkers. Finding thing that they were alone she just sat down beside him on the bench and hid her face in her hands as he kept reading. Her only consolation was that he hadn't turned the paper over yet. She knew exactly what he was reading.
Vacation List
Souvenirs for
Riko (earrings or classy lotion)
Andy (no clue. Ask Kurosaki)
Boss (regional spices or local historical warfare map)
Akira (local candy)
The list went on through her school friends and she had a bit if a reprieve as some of her gift choices made him pause to either laugh or editorialize (apparently one did not get dogs vacation souvenirs).
"Ahem." Kurosaki felt kind of bad about torturing his fiancé, but seriously. These were not blush-worthy scribbles. "Page 2." He turned the paper over, expecting a list of nerdy tourist sites. ""Questions for Kurosaki. # 1. When do you want to get married?"." He stopped as he recognized the question and just read on quietly. The first few were the questions she'd asked when they were driving to the onsen.
Questions suggested by Rena.
He stepped down off the bench and sat down beside Teru, who currently had her jacket hood up, her face buried in her hands, and her small purse on top of her head like she was attempting to hide under it. He just put a hand on her back and rubbed comfortingly as he finished reading the multicolumn list.
He blew out a breath and folded the paper back up into a neat square, took the purse off of her head and put the paper in a side pocket. He gently placed the strap over her head, where it then swung like a metronome as they sat there in silence for a full minute.
He clasped his hands between his knees. "I'm sorry for teasing you," he said simply. But not for reading it, he added silently.
She nodded.
He cleared his throat and leaned back, stretching his arms along the back of the bench. "So at least two kids, huh?" He said, referring to the note beside question #5. "That seems a little low to me, but yeah, at least two." He'd been alone, but at least Teru had had her brother for a while.
He went through the next few mundane questions, like assuring her he'd teach her how to drive and that they'd take turns cooking. "Now," he scooted closer to her hunched figure and played with the tip of her hood before pulling it back to reveal her black, glossy hair. He picked up a strand and let it go to watch it dance in the wind. "I'm afraid that I can't answer questions 8-23."
He waited until she peeked up at him through his fingers in confusion. "Really?"
"Really." He watched her sit up and finger her purse like she wanted to get out the paper and double-check what 8-23 were. He'd bet she didn't even know what some/most of them meant.
Kurosaki put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. You know, so she couldn't run. "I'm sorry. Let me clarify," he said with a wag of his finger. "I can't, no, I won't," he said seriously, "answer them unless we're both naked." He ignored her squeak and turned to face her, bringing his arm up to brace against the arm of the bench, effectively caging her in the corner. "It's okay," he crooned with a snicker as he kissed eyes that were closed in mortification. "Trust me. Some things should only be answered behind closed doors, for privacy's sake. Others need visual aids. And others," he scooted even closer and tipped her chin up, pausing until her eyes fluttered open. He smiled, and it wasn't leering or smirking. Instead, it was loving and tender. Teru smiled shyly back as he lowered his head. "others require demonstration," he finished on a whisper against her lips.
"Oh, okay," she whispered back as her head fell back to rest on the arm across the back of the bench. Her eyes closed as his lips pressed against hers softly, repeatedly, until she was a boneless, panting mess that had to hold on to his shirt or slide off the bench.
"Please excuse the intrusion, but isn't it a little early for that?"
The breathless pair pulled back to stare wide-eyed at each other until the polite voice spoke again, asking if they need any help…or possibly a hotel accommodation.
They turned around to find a crisply uniformed police officer standing beside the bench, arms behind his back as he patiently waited for an answer.
Teru scrambled up off the bench and bowed at the waist. "We're so sorry! Please excuse us!" She grabbed Kurosaki's hand and with another bow, ran from the pretty little park.
She finally had to stop. Kurosaki couldn't move very fast when he was almost bent over laughing.
"That was not funny!"
He wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh princess, it was. I love these backwoods cops. We weren't even doing anything." He gestured to her purse. "We were just kissing. No tongue or anything and he acted like we were doing a public version of #14!"
She almost reached for the paper to see what he was talking about, but stopped herself just in time. "I thought really nice about it."
He put his arm around her shoulder as they started walking again. "Just wait. A Tokyo cop would have ignored that very chaste example of pda. It takes a lot more that to get them to break up a pair of lovers on a park bench. You'll see."
"Um, anyway." Teru put a cool hand to her hot cheeks. "What do you want to do next? Do you want to go back to the hotel?"
His moment of silence had her clueing in fast. "Um, I mean…"
"How about," he interrupted softly as he took one of her hands and turned it over to kiss the palm. "We go take a look at some of those famous, ancient suspension bridges you were waxing on about this morning, huh?" He winked at her as they turned back towards the car. "We've got time for everything."