Futari no Merry

Futari no Merry-go-round: Chapter 5 - Secret

Yosha! Fifth chapter done! One more chapter and this will finally be finished. Seriously, I am having trouble continuing this T.T My creative juices don't flow well these days….

As usual, standard disclaimer applied. I don't claim any credits in characters, etc as they all belong to Anzai Nobuyuki sensei. What do you think of my story though? Email me your thoughts!

Love Love Aishiteru,

Pink Yuki

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Upon seeing Fuuko and Kurei under the mistletoe, the following happened:

Recca was so shocked that he tripped while holding Yanagi's cake; the cake went flying and landed right on Koganei's head.
Neon fainted. Joker offered to take her to his room and got whacked by both Aki and Miki.
Kuukai, Gashakura, and Kashamaru switched their singing from 'Rudolph the red nose reindeer' to 'Can you feel the love tonight'.
Mikagami turned into stone. Raiha, who was nearby, could hear him murmured Tsurara something, or sometime Hebi.

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Fuuko broke the kiss. Kurei loosened his embrace with a smile and said "Merry Christmas! And thanks."

"My pleasure, since I didn't get you a present." Fuuko winked. "When you said you wanted a present, I thought you would ask me to join Uruha instead of a kiss!"

"It's lonely to have a lover who cannot kiss you." Kurei summoned Kurenai. "I won't love anyone as much as I loved Kurenai; in fact, I won't love anyone except for Kurenai. Yet it would still be nice to have a kiss on Christmas." He gazed lovingly at his flame and sighed.

Fuuko looked sympathetically at Kurei and gave him a hug. She let go of Kurei and turned to see a very stunned crowd. "Ano…Kurei?" Fuuko sweatdropped. "What's up with them?"

Kurei looked up in time to see Joker throwing himself at him. "Kurei-han!" The braided man gave the flame master a bear hug. "I won! Raiha admitted it. 200,000 dollars! When can I have it?" Joker finally let go of Kurei. "And nice work with Fuuko-han!" He whispered the last part.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kurei was trying his best not to summon a full force Kurenai at Joker. Suddenly, what Joker said sank in, "You won?" Kurei turned to see a fanged grin and a v-sign from his subordinate.

"I should really call my banker now… 200,000 dollars. Darn…" Kurei whispered to himself. He slowly walked out of the door towards his study, with Joker bouncing and jumping after him.

"Fuuko-san?" Fuuko was still shocked from the little Joker incident when she heard the familiar voice behind her. She turned to see the purple haired ninja. "You and Kurei-sama…." His voice trailed off as he still could not believe what he saw.

"Kurei just want a kiss for Christmas." She smiled. "It's so sad that he cannot touch Kurenai anymore, ne?" Raiha just nodded in response.

"Oh, so that was it?" Aki walked over with Domon. "Thank god! Neon-neechan nearly had a heart attack! Well, she would still be upset that she wasn't the one to kiss Kurei-sama, but nonetheless she would stop thinking of strangling you." Domon and Aki let out a sigh of relief together.

Fuuko laughed. "For goodness' sake! Even a blind person can see there is nothing between me and Kurei! It's just a friendly kiss!" Her three companions just looked at her and shrugged.

"Ano… sorry to disturb you. But did you guys see Mikagami senpai? The cake is ruined but still we are going to open the presents right?" Yanagi tapped Domon on the shoulder, holding a neatly wrapped present. "I was just distributing the presents but he was no where to be found…"

"Yanagi-san, I think I saw Mikagami-san ran out of the door a minute ago." Raiha turned to the healer. "Should I help you with the presents?"

"What the heck is wrong with the fridge boy now? Running out of the party like this." Fuuko asked Domon, who just shook his head and walked towards the presents.

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Mikagami was making the twists and turns down the road in his beloved 'glace', a silver Toyota Celica. *What the heck is she thinking? Kissing Kurei like that….* He pushed the accelerator with such vengeance and the car sped through the highway. *What the heck did I do anyway? Why did I punch Raiha?* His thought annoyed him and he pushed the accelerator even harder.

Mikagami turned the car into the garage and walked out of the car, slamming the door hard. "After all I have to spend Christmas alone." He whispered to himself.

"Tadaima." He walked into the living room but, as usual, no one answered him. How he wished to come home one night and have someone waiting for him! How he wished to see someone walk out of the kitchen and say a simple "Okairi!"! That purple haired someone…

"Now what am I thinking?" He smiled bitterly to himself. He IS the lone wolf, isn't he?

Mikagami took off his jacket and landed himself on the couch. He turned on the TV unconsciously just in time to see the lovers' Christmas special. The program host was interviewing pair after pair of lovers. "How nice." Mikagami said sulkily and turned off the TV.

He picked up a can of beer from the fridge and walked over the cabinet. "Neechan, Merry Christmas." He looked into the picture of Mifuyu and smiled.

He turned his gaze and looked at the picture next to Mifuyu's. The Hokage team picture taken after the Ura Buto Satsujin. Fuuko had made a handful of copies and distributed them to all members. Even though he protested, Fuuko has forced her way to putting the picture up in his house.

He picked up the framed picture and once again settled himself on the couch. Koganei's fanged grin; Yanagi and Recca smiling sweetly into each other's eyes; Domon showing off his muscles; Mikagami himself standing on the side, with Fuuko's arm tightly clinging onto his. She said it was to prevent him from running away.

Mikagami smiled into the picture. "Those were the good days." He looked more intently at the picture. She forced him to smile then. She was screaming on top of her lungs, "Mou! Mi-chan, lift the corners of your lips! It's not THAT hard!" She was threatening to use Fuujin on him.

He chuckled at the thought. She had made him smile; not a lot, but one could still see the curve of his lips in the picture. That was the first picture with him smiling since Mifuyu died.

The familiar tune of "Mizu no Kenshi" started ringing in the room. Mikagami put the picture down and searched for his cell phone from his jacket.

"Mikagami here."

"Hey, how come you leave so early? I didn't even get to say goodbye!" Kurei's voice was unusually irritating to Mikagami. "Anyway, the party is over now and I am taking Fuuko home. We will drop by your place to give you your presents okay?" Without Mikagami's answer, Kurei already hung up.

"So they are together now? What the..." Mikagami stared at his phone. "Presents? Yeah, I left without opening any..." He put down his cell phone and drank some more beer. Within minutes, the doorbell rang.

"Mi-chan! You might want to help me with this..." Fuuko's voice rose behind the pile of presents in front of him. He quickly took the pile and saw a dazzling smile in front of him. "Kurei, I will get home by myself. See you later!" Fuuko grinned at the flame master. Kurei waved from his kawaii yellow Beetle and left.

Fuuko let herself into the Mikagami residence. "Your place hasn't change a bit." She commented while Mikagami walked back into the living room. "Open your presents!" Fuuko pulled him down onto the couch and handed him one of the presents.

"Err... okay." was all Mikagami could mutter. He unwrapped the present and found a 5000 pieces puzzle inside. "This is from Koganei, right? Gee, not everyone likes puzzle as much as he does!" He felt warmth in his heart when he thought of the little anki wielder.

"Second one... a whole selection of hair accessories?" He looked up in confusion and saw Fuuko laughing hysterically. "That's from Uruha. Neon, Miki, Tsukishiro... all of them. They thought you would need it." She was laughing so much she thought she could die.

"Gee... half of them are pink.... wonder what they were thinking." Mikagami looked through the whole pile and laughed also.

"Okay, this is from Recca." Fuuko handed him another present, and again she broke into a hysterical laugh. The present was wrapped in pink Barbie wrapping paper.

"Very funny." Mikagami snickered. He torn the wrapping paper and found a sea monkey exhibit inside. There was a note on the side stating "Don't yell at me when you are angry, yell at him! I have named it 'hanabi' for you." Mikagami just looked at the exhibit in shock. *Recca, don't you ever think of getting away when I am angry.* He grinned evilly at his thought.

"This one is from Yanagi. Hey, I am going to get a beer from your fridge okay?" Fuuko handed him another present and walked off towards his kitchen.

Mikagami has opened nearly all of the present when Fuuko came back. "Oh, that's from me." She smiled as Mikagami picked up the last present in the pile.

He was surprised to find a law textbook inside. "Might be useful when you get into college. Fuuko." He read from the note attached with the book.

"Thank you." He whispered as he continued to stare at the note. Fuuko smiled warmly at the ensui wielder and finished her beer.

"Well, thank you for you present also." She pushed her hair backwards and a pair of dangling diamond earrings could be seen.

Mikagami looked up and smiled. "I knew they would fit you."

"Well, I think I'd better go home now." Fuuko stood up and Mikagami walked her to the door. "Thanks again for the earrings." She kissed Mikagami on the cheeks.

Mikagami felt a burning sensation. It seemed like all his blood was racing towards his head. His feet have gone wobbly and his mind went blank. He has the urge to grab Fuuko but before he reacted, Fuuko has already pulled away and left.

*What was that I felt? It was just a kiss on the cheeks. A friendly one. So why do I have this feeling?* Mikagami stood at his door for a whole five minutes before he could walk back inside.

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Mikagami walked into the Uruha mansion with Tsukishiro after their biweekly ritual of going to the salon together. After all, bishounens like them have the responsibilities to keep their appearance perfect, or so Tsukishiro says.

"Mikagami, you shouldn't frown that much. You will have wrinkles before you know." Tsukishiro sat down on his bed and put sliced cucumber on his eyes.

"I was born that way, I cannot do much about it." Mikagami shrugged and picked up the cucumber slices.

"Well, in that picture of the Hokage team you smiled." Tsukishiro pointed out. "So don't give me that 'I was born that way' answer."

"Whatever." Mikagami took off the cucumber slices from his eyes and picked up the latest fashion magazine from Tsukishiro's desk. "So purple is the "in" color this year huh?"

"Yeah, I was thinking of dying my hair Fuuko's color." Tsukishiro started hanging up his new clothes. "But then I thought it might be too much. I got this purple Miu Miu shirt though." He waved his latest conquest to Mikagami. "Then again it would probably get ruined when I go on a mission for Kurei-sama…"

"You wear all these clothes to fight?" Mikagami narrowed his eyes.

"As if you don't wear your Armani suits when you were in Ura Buto Satsujin." Tsukishiro quickly replied.

"Well…" Mikagami thought of his white Gucci suit he wore during the UBS. "…it was Gucci." He whispered under his breath.

"So what are you going to wear to the New Year's party?" Tsukishiro never turned his admiring gaze from his closet. "I don't want to wear the same suit as you. Just in case."

"Don't know yet." Mikagami shook his head slightly.

"Gee… you haven't decided yet? It's only two days away!" Tsukishiro exclaimed. "I planned what I wanted to wear at least a week ago!"

"Just tell me what you are going to wear then I won't wear the same one." Mikagami covered his eyes with the magazine. *Tsukishiro is getting more feminine by the day.* He thought.

"This." Tsukishiro pulled out a navy blue Tuxedo from his closet. "It would go well with Naomi-chan's dress." He smiled proudly at his choice.

"Naomi-chan?" Mikagami remembered the girl from a party they went to. She was a ditz, but with a great body and a beautiful face. Tsukishiro rushed towards her the minute they stepped into the party. At the end of the night Mikagami could see them making out in a dark corner away from everyone. "That blonde?"

"Yeah, she agreed to be my date." Tsukishiro beamed. "Do you have a date for the night?"

"Good for you." Mikagami lazily replied. "And no, I don't have a date." His mind, however, was thinking of the purple haired girl who has entered his dreams every night since Christmas Eve.

"Well, you should." Tsukishiro finished with putting his clothes away and settled back down on his bed. "Neon finally agreed to be Joker's date this morning. Raiha is bringing this girl from his dojo. And I heard that even Kurei-sama was going to ask someone."

"Kurei? Is he asking Fuuko?" Mikagami could only think of Fuuko and Kurei kissing under the Christmas tree.

"I don't know." Tsukishiro answered truthfully. "Say, it seems like you care for Fuuko-chan a lot, why don't you ask her to be your date?" Tsukishiro grinned.

"Well…" Mikagami could not finish his sentence. "I..." He blushed.

It was unusual for Mikagami to stumble with words, and it was even more rare for him to blush. Tsukishiro watched him with interest and decided to push it a little further. "Do you like her?"

"I..." Mikagami struggled with words in his mind. "I don't dislike her." He finally said.

"I'll take it as like. Hey, let's do this little test here in Cosmopolitan." Tsukishiro picked up a magazine on his bedside table. "It's Neon's. I don't buy women's magazine myself." He added as he saw Mikagami's questioning gaze.

"Okay, first question. Do you think you know her well?" Tsukishiro read from the book.

"I guess…" Mikagami muttered. He was forced to exchange life stories with the gang during one of the nights in the UBS, so technically he knew Fuuko's past.

"Let's see… goes to question 4. Right, did you ever want to buy her presents for no apparent reason?"

"No." Mikagami pondered a while before he answered. He did saw a cute bracelet the other day and thought he would buy it for her, but then he didn't, so it didn't count, right?

"Goes to question 7…did you ever have the urge to kiss her?" Tsukishiro looked up after reading the question. His eyes were shining wickedly.

"Err…." Mikagami blushed slightly. He thought of the other day when Fuuko gave him a kiss on the cheeks and quietly answered. "Yes."

"Oh you did!" Tsukishiro grinned widely as Mikagami face went a shade redder. "Alright… goes to answer B…"Tsukishiro turned the page, "Answer B: You are in love with that person…"

Tsukishiro kept on reading the answer but Mikagami could not hear a word. *I am in love with her?* He shook his head frantically. *Maybe I am…I can't be in love with that monkey can I?*

"My friend, maybe you should go ask Fuuko to be your date." Tsukishiro finally finished reading the paragraph. "Before Kurei-sama does." He added.

Mikagami snapped out of his thought. "I think I would be better off going alone." He stated his conclusion. "Well, I must be going now. See you at the New Year's party okay?" He ran out of the Uruha mansion and sped off in his car, feeling extremely confused.

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Security Room.

"So that's why Mikagami has been acting all weird since Fuuko came back." A voice lazily said from the chair.

"Explains why he kissed her with such passion and urgency too." Another voice rose from the corner.

"Kurei-han, maybe you should just send the invitation to Fuuko-han instead of asking her to be your date." Joker appeared from the shadow and turned down the volume of the security system.

"I guess so. Too bad I already had the speech memorized." Kurei rose from the chair and stretched. "Now I have to find a different date. Any suggestions?"

Recca walked out of the corner with a smile on his face. "If you invite anyone else, I bet Kurenai would abandon you and becomes my flame also." His smile grew wider, "After all Kurenai knows Fuuko is not interested in you that way."

"True. I guess I have to attend alone then." Kurei said with a frown on his face. "At least I would see a great show that night."

All three of them grinned as they thought of different scenarios Mikagami would get into, of course, due to their influences, and walked out of the security room completely satisfied.