Welcome back to another installment of Butterflies. This fanfic is rated M, but I have to warn that it would be a while before the nut in the gut occurs. For now, my focus is on them experiencing the closeness that accompanies living together, and all the revealed secrets that follow.

Red. A colour of love. Passion. That's what most people see in this seductive colour.

Takumi saw none of that.

He crouched down in horror, finally understanding why his girlfriend was in such turmoil this morning.

He ran to the bathroom door, knocking furiously.

"Misaki," he pleaded, "open the door."

He could feel his heart pounding in his ear. Misaki was injured. He doesn't understand how or when it happened, but judging from the amount of blood that came out of her wound, there wasn't any time to be asking questions.

"Let me help, Misaki."

That fucking pervert. Misaki was at her wit's end with him. She thought it was about time she helped him because he was in obvious need of it.

She washed her hands and threw the door open. Takumi scanned her body frantically, looking for something Misaki could only assume was to help him with his teenage hormones.

"Why don't you try keeping your eyes to yoursel–"

"Where are you bleeding?" He cut her off desperately. He wasn't surprised Misaki was hiding her pain from him. She was always so strong.

How did he know? A look at the tampered evidence she had hidden gave her the answer. She could feel her palms sweat at his discovery. But why was he asking her that question? Did he want her to suffer more?

"You are honestly a pervert." She looked down at the floor as she walked past him. She was too embarrassed to be angry with him. She didn't want to see his face for a long time, which she knew would be hell to achieve with his new living status.

Takumi was confused. She seemed normal… -ish. Not how someone with a gashing wound would be acting, though.

"There was blood on your blanket… I just want to know if you're okay," Takumi said earnestly.

Misaki took a glance at his solemn eyes, then turned around. He really had no idea what was going on.

"You're an idiot, Takumi Usui." And all along she thought she was dating the number one ranking student of the school.

Misaki exited the room without waiting for his reply. She left her sullied blankets on the ground, not caring if the stain set or if Takumi decided to get nosey again.

She stood at the bottom of the stairs, debating who to blame the situation on now. The universe was a good victim, with it deciding to gift her this early morning headache. Another person to blame was of course no other than the clueless boy in her room. But a part of her was mad at herself; How could she let herself fall in love with a boy whose ignorance of womanly affairs is too big to excuse?

Takumi knew he was to blame. Somehow when things were going so well (insert thoughts about Misaki's hands in all the right places), he managed to mess things up. He looked at her blankets one more time, and he suddenly couldn't agree more with what Misaki had last said to him.

There was no gashing cut or near-death experience. Misaki was just on her period.

Takumi's head fell into his hands. He had hardly been here a day, yet he had already intruded into his girlfriend's business.

He hoped he hadn't embarrassed Misaki, but he already knew it was too late for that. He didn't even know how to apologize to her. I'm sorry you're on your period was definitely NOT the way to go.

He accepted all his doubts and made his way to Misaki. He hoped his mind could conjure something acceptable.

He found her on her living room couch, watching the black screen of the TV.

"That's my favourite show," Takumi said, surprising her.

Misaki's head whipped around, then quickly reverted to her original position. She grabbed the remote and switched the TV on, turning the volume up unnecessarily high. She set the remote down with a thud.

I guess that means she's mad, Takumi thought with a slight shake of the head.

He made his way around the couch to sit down next to her. He took a deep breath in before addressing her.

"Misaki, about this morning…" He perused her face before continuing. She was focused on the flashing colours in front of her, but he knew she was listening. "I misunderstood and I wanted to apologize." That seemed like a good start.

So he knows. She thought, embarrassed. Maybe it would have been better if she just pretended to die from blood loss.

She really didn't want to be talking about her period with Takumi. She picked up the remote and raised the volume again, hoping he would understand her way of saying that this conversation was officially over.

He didn't.

Takumi raised his voice to be heard. "You don't have to be embarrassed… I know it's normal to go through these things as a girl, and I wanted you to know that I'm here for you. If you need anything, you could ask me. I've heard that it could be painful, and something about chocolate–"

Oh my gosh, does he ever shut up?

"Listen, Takumi," Misaki started, "all I want from you right now is to shut u–"

"–What are you kids doing?" Minako asked, incredulously. "Misaki, why are you blasting Dora at nine a.m. in the morning?"

"That's my fault, Ms. Ayuzawa. I'm sorry," Takumi bowed.

"Oh, there's no need to apologize, dear. No harm is done. I know you both are excited to be living together–"

Misaki scoffed.

"–and I'm glad you both are enjoying yourselves."

Another scoff.

"Misaki, do you need some cough drops?"

"Huh? Oh… I'm okay," Misaki turned to the now quieter TV, focused intently on whatever Spanish Dora was trying to teach her.

She faintly heard Takumi and her mom discuss breakfast, and consequently, the discussion about grocery shopping arose. Takumi insisted that he should go out, reasoning that he was in debt for her hospitality. Minako vehemently denied, mentioning his illness.

The universe suddenly gifted Misaki with a genius idea. With all the embarrassment she has had to face this morning, she realized it was payback time.

She jumped into the conversation. "Don't worry mom, I made sure he got lots of medicine and rest. Look," she pointed to his stoic face, "Takumi is A-OK!" Misaki gave a wide smile.

Misaki was a bit too happy for the both of them. There was an evil intent behind her toothy grin.

Misaki noticed their hesitation. "Don't worry guys; the grocery store is 5 minutes away. I will give Takumi a list and everything. I think it would be good for him to get some fresh air."

Minako was about to input her disapproval, but Takumi agreed with Misaki.

"I agree. Also, this is the least I could do for you housing me and I will be truly happy to do so," Takumi gave a soft smile.

Misaki interrupted his chivalry with a push. She brought him to the front door and helped him into his jacket. She did his zipper up higher than they both knew it could go. She couldn't wait to set her plan in play.

"Misaki… I haven't even changed," Takumi noted, his voice muffled behind his jacket.

He was right. He had been in the same clothes that he came in yesterday.

"You're fine. Oh, that reminds me; I'll stop by your house to get your things."

"Ah, Misaki's wish to finally be able to look through my underwear will finally be granted." He gave her a thumbs-up as a sort of congratulations.

"Only a pervert like you will think that way," Misaki said, trying her best to sound convincing. She has thought about what type of undergarments he preferred, but he didn't need to know that.

"That's true… I always assumed you prefer the white lacy type. At least, that's what you're wearing in my dreams–"

"Would you shut your mouth?" She said hurriedly in embarrassment. She peeked around the corner to make sure her mother wasn't within earshot.

She couldn't tell if Takumi was just trying to ruffle her feathers, or if he truly did have erotic dreams of her. He held a playful smile, so she assumed the former.

Her attention was shifted as she watched a water droplet race down his forehead. She didn't want to risk him getting a fever again, so she dug her hand into the closet for one final item. She fit her toque over his head and made sure his ears were covered. His head wobbled with her movements.

She stood back to look at her final product and sneered.

"Perfect!"

…

Misaki dropped her boyfriend off at the supermarket while she made her way to his condo. She tried to keep the excitement of her plan at bay, instead choosing to focus on the task at hand.

His door opened and closed with a soft thud. His house didn't smell of anything particular. It was very… lifeless. Which is to be expected with no one living here, but Misaki reckoned this was the feeling Takumi returned to upon every entry.

Misaki shook her head to get rid of a sob-story bound to arise.

His room was just as barren as she expected, but she was glad his closet made up for it. She chose all the warm-looking pieces she could find and stuffed them into her duffel bag. After she was done, she looked for his pyjamas.

A chest of drawers stood alone on the wall opposite to his closet. She peeked inside the first drawer and shut it without hesitation. This was the infamous underwear drawer.

Inside this drawer, Misaki would find an answer to one of her most pressing questions about Takumi.

But if she looked inside, let alone picked a few for his stay at her house, she wouldn't hear the end of it.

No, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

She moved her attention to the lower drawers. Socks in one, pyjamas in the other. She sighed in relief. These were all things she could work with.

After finished up in his room, she held her head up in false confidence and entered his bathroom.

This was where she found Takumi last time…

Where she found him naked to be precise. However, Misaki was not just trying to comfort him when she told him she hadn't seen anything. His privacy was to be respected.

Well, that was a bit hard to preach now with her head in his cupboards.

She looked for any self-care products she could find, but she only found his oral hygiene products (all of which she provided for him yesterday), a half-used bottle of Aveeno moisturizer and two identical electric shavers. She really did not understand his need for both of them.

She finished up with thoughts of lecturing Takumi about smart spending habits.

…

Takumi walked down the cereal lane with pride. He got a few side glances here and there, but unusually, Takumi didn't mind.

This was the first time he has been dressed by Misaki, and that too in her clothes. He wished he could also hold up a poster reading "MISAKI AYUZAWA IS MY GIRLFRIEND", but he could settle with this.

The hat Misaki had dressed him in had an untraditional design; It had two rather large pom-poms on either side of his head, but he shouldn't be surprised. Misaki isn't a traditional girl.

He turned his head to scan the rows of colourful boxes and settled for some life cereal. It would do Misaki good to lower her sugar intake; her energy levels were off the charts lately.

He pulled up his phone to scan the text Misaki had sent. Bananas, check, kiwis, check, cereal, check… always. Always?

Takumi read the text again, wondering if it was a typo. Maybe she was trying to type Aloe Vera.

Just in case, Takumi made his way to the large spiky plant and added one large branch to his collection of groceries.

He thought of what other things "always" could mean.

Always and forever? As giddy as that made him feel, he knew he had to be realistic.

As a last resort, he made his way to an older lady shelving. She turned to him. She shot a judging look to his choice of apparel, but he paid no heed.

"Excuse me. Would you happen to know where "always" is?"

"Always? Oh… they're over there," She pointed in the direction of the next aisle and gave him an even dirtier look.

Takumi gave her his thanks, then made his way to the pointed aisle. There, he would find more questions than answers.

I don't know how worldwide the brand Always is, but if you don't know what I/Misaki am/is referring to, you'll just have to wait and see until the next chapter :)

Or you could just search it up. But why ruin the fun?

II VI MMXXI