A/N: Alright, dunno what possessed me on this one. I just had the urge to produce a little bit of fluff and I hope it pleases. Isn't all that important to the last couple of chapters (two more probably) and was written out of a good mood. Oh, and look: Five days! My personal record!
Disclaimer: Yeah, sure I own this, and a mansion in France, and a Mini Cooper, and Draco Malfoy, and Winnie the Pooh, and... You get the idea, don'tcha?
Damn, what was this? As soon as she woke up, Ruki had the urge to smile. Not grin nor smirk, just a perfectly happy smile. She couldn't bring herself to open her eyes, but she turned on the mattress.
Or rather tried to.
A strong arm, snaked possessively around her waist, was holding her back, and instantly she wanted to smile again. Man, this was not good. She actually behaved like a girl. Worse, she behaved like a girl in one of those silly thirteen-year-old romance novels! She woke up and she was happy, her world in perfect peace. That was ridiculously unrealistic!
With soft force, she finally managed to turn around to face him.
Him. So kind an d caring, so gentle with her. so mature, and yet so child-like at times. Like now. He was sleeping and looking as if he felt just as good as she. His peaceful expression made her see him not as a young adult, but as the boy she'd fallen in love with. Naïve and cute, giving anyone looking in his direction a flawless smile. That was him entirely, even with twenty-one. Just a little more... attractive.
She felt the smile creep up again when she tried to lift from the soft covers, receiving an unwilling growl from Sleeping Beauty. She laid back down and kissed his forehead, her smile turning into a grin when he groaned, obviously just now realizing that the sun was no good to sleepy eyes. When he finally felt recovered enough to face her, his lips were turned into a lazy smile.
"Morning."
"Hi."
"I can't really make conversation in the morning, so... how about a kiss?"
She grinned again and thought that soon, her facial muscles would begin to ache from all the happy face making. But she couldn't imagine a way she could like sore muscles better. Just to tease him, she leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the lips.
"There, happy now?"
He gave another remonstrative growl as he pulled her closer.
"Not quite. Mind if I continue?"
"Not in the-"
"Great."
And at once, she felt their lips crush again. She managed to get on top of him, straddling his waist without ever breaking their kiss. But eventually, the need for oxygen became frustratingly apparent. She collapsed onto his firm chest and his hand went to unconsciously draw slow circles across her back.
"God, I've never felt so... girlish before."
He lifted a mocking eyebrow.
"What did you feel like before? Masculine?"
"No, moron. I felt... more or less genderless. I wasn't attracted to anyone. But now...all I can think about is you and to find a way to get those damn butterflies in my stomach to stop flipping. I read one or two of those romance novels and I always thought it was childish and silly. 'His kiss took her breath away, she melted against his touch, she awoke in complete happiness because he was with her', bla bla. Those were the most ridiculous words I could think of to describe a girl's feelings around a guy, or rather, my feelings around you. I felt nervous, attracted and enticed, yes, but the majority was nervousness. That I would do something wrong, that you wouldn't want me, that you'd hurt me. Do you believe that I was scared of you? Just because you're the only person I could imagine to fall in love with?"
His voice, albeit quiet, sounded contradictive and almost hurt.
"You know exactly that I would never willingly hurt you!"
She smiled lightly and smoothed the lines on his forehead with a gentle kiss.
"Of course I do. I knew it then, too. But we're not talking about the rational mind of a seventeen-year-old woman, we're talking about the remains of a small, extremely hurt girl still inside of me. I could contradict myself as long as I wanted, there was always this torturing little voice, telling me how easily you could hurt me and how I couldn't really tell if you cared enough not to. I wanted to let you in, all this time I really did. But I couldn't seem to think of it as a woman that could and wanted to be loved, I thought like a seven-year-old child that had sworn to herself that she would never again enable someone to hurt her, no matter what the cost. And I want you to understand what it means that I finally could let you in, as the first person in years. And I want to remind you that if you ever forget that and decide to go try and break me for whatever reasons, there'll be a serious threat to the keeping of your manhood. Am I understood?"
He chuckled softly and brushed her hand across his lips, reactivating this damn smiling urge.
"Sir, yes, sir!"
"Ah, shut up."
"Make m-"
His teasing comment was abruptly cut off by her lips clashing hungrily with his again. But just as abruptly, she pulled away again and he could see a smirk tugging at her soft lips.
"Better?"
He just growled and flipped her over, leaving her underneath him and giggling like mad.
His mind went from passion and desire to love again while he wondered how long it was ago that he had seen her being so carefree, so... unguarded. This was actually the first time she had ever let her guard down to him, not caring about appearance or keeping her heart wall up. And he felt his own lips lift into a bright smile when he finally could tell himself that this was all his earnings, that he made her happy. His life had gone from bad to good in a matter of hours, and now he simply loved it.
He placed a caring and gentle kiss onto the side of her throat while flipping the both of them onto their sides again. Another giggle erupted from her chest when he nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck, taking a deep breath to savour her scent. This was so... unexpected.
Ruki had imagined her life countless times, but never had something like this been involved. Something that left her feeling wanted and loved and actually happy. She'd always thought she'd die miserably and alone after having spent her whole life lonely and cold of emotions. Well, maybe she would die miserably and alone, but she'd have these wonderful memories of him, of them together.
And to think, she had these thoughts after only one night spent in the same bed! Another romance story cliché. Not that it bothered her in the least.
She snuggled closer and into his chest, enjoying the feel and warmth of him. And she knew now that she wanted to bask in that warmth for all her life.
"Ryo?"
"Huh?" His voice was muffled and low, and she suppressed another contented giggle. Wow, she was in girl mode today! She couldn't remember a single day in her life when she'd giggled as much, and the day was barely ten minutes old.
"You'll stay with me, won't you? You're not gonna leave?" It came out much weaker than she thought it would, low and almost begging.
"Gods, no. You'd have to shoot me, pet."
"Didn't I order you once to not give me any nicknames?"
"You did, but did I ever take your orders?"
He felt her chest vibrating against his with mirth as another chuckle escaped her. He felt her pulse where his face was in contact with the bare skin of her neck. He felt her nestle against him with a happy sigh.
That was all he needed and would ever need. To feel her. To be with her. To just have her complete his mind and soul the way she always did. yeah, that was all he needed. If he needed anything, it wasn't food, it wasn't water, it wasn't money or possessions.
It was Makino Ruki. And her love for him, now having become as obvious to him as his was to her.
He never wanted to leave his bed, never wanted to remove his arms around her. All his thoughts were focused on her.
Until he felt it again.
Ruki was startled when she felt his grip on her tighten and heard his sharp intake of breath. But in an instant, she knew what was wrong. She sat up, pulling the young man with her. on his face, she found all the evidence she needed. His features had contorted into a mask of intense pain, a picture she knew perfectly well. His pain was back.
His breath came in short, raspy gasps and his arms had immediately gone from her waist to his stomach, clutching it as if trying to squeeze the pain out.
"Come on, baby, it's gonna be okay." She pulled him into her embrace and soothed him by gently running her fingers through his thick mass of hair. She had to wait for the ache to subside a little before she could actually do something.
His firm arms curled around her midriff again, holding onto her as if for dear life.
"Shhhh… it's gonna be okay, I promise."
"Don't promise something you can't keep true, and now I'd rather have you kiss me if you please."
His voice was still harsh and his breath short, but at least he could produce a sensible sentence.
"Alright. Now lift your head off my belly so I can actually reach you if you please." She said, her tone slightly mocking.
"Stop pulling that shit on my right now, okay?"
His tone was a low and almost dangerous growl, and she felt the smirk appear on her lips.
She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him up to face her. Again the contact of lips was more out of hunger than of their love for each other, their tongues fighting to dominate the other. Ryo was oddly aggressive while kissing her as a cure, and she had taken an equally odd liking to it. But while the kiss was proceeding, his movements grew softer, signalising that the pain was wearing off. Still they didn't stop. There was no need to anymore. They could kiss as much as they wanted to from now on.
And with that pleasant thought in both their minds, the couple drifted off into a comfortable slumber.
Much later, Ruki awoke again, her eyes meeting the alarm clock that said 11:39 a.m. and her nose the delicious smell of fried eggs and ham. She rubbed her eyes, a smile taking over her features again, and lifted herself off the bed.
When she entered the kitchen, her boyfriend stood with his bare back to her, clothed only in his black drawstring pants and obviously preparing breakfast. Boyfriend... That had really nice ring to it... And seeing him handle with all those pans and pots, she felt her smile widen considerably. It was a picture she could definitely get used to.
Ryo ruffled his hair and turned around when he finally noticed her, standing in the doorframe and watching him with such a brought smile that he felt his own face lighten up too. He walked up to her and pulled her into his arms.
"Hey, honey. I was trying to make breakfast for us. Whoops, sorry, I forgot about the 'no nicknames' thing again, didn't I?"
She smiled up at him.
"I don't know, but I strangely liked that one. It has an obscurely possessive undertone that for unknown reasons kinda appeals me."
"Meaning I can call you honey all I want?"
"Well, avoid it in public, but for now, call me whatever you want..."
"Alright, then I'll call you... Ah, let me think..."
He rubbed his chin in fake thoughtfulness, then grinned.
"I think I'm gonna call you my girlfriend if you don't mind."
"That's perfectly fine with me."
He smiled and then bent to place a loving kiss on her lips.
"Sorry, darling, but if we remain like this any longer, your eggs will be black."
She smiled sheepishly and disconnected herself from his arms, again feeling this book-déjà-vu thing at the small wave of coolness that surged through her at the loss of his touch. Unbelievable that this corny stuff was actually possible in real life.
"You can see if you find the plates and set up the table, okay?"
"Sure."
She turned to the cupboards and found them to be surprisingly tidy, everything easy to locate. It didn't take her long to finish and she never realized that Ryo's eyes were on her the whole time.
She looked like she belonged here, into his kitchen, as if she was living here, sitting in here every morning and setting up the table for the two of them. That would most definitely be his picture of the day.
They sat down, eating and conversing anything that crossed their minds. It felt good actually behaving like normal adolescents, like a normal couple.
The only thing they didn't discuss was his cure. It was plain embarrassing.
Ruki was pretty sure she was ready now. But that still didn't take the awkwardness away, still made her feel nervous to the thought of being naked in front of him, of doing something wrong. So she decided she would just have to ask him about it.
"Hey, baby?"
He looked up at her and beamed, obviously pleased by her nickname and how easily it rolled from her tongue. She smiled back.
"Huh?"
"Well, we still have something important to talk about. Remember?"
"Dumb question, but yes, I indeed do remember. What about it?" He shrugged nonchalantly.
She resisted the intense urge to roll her eyes at him, but he caught the notion and grinned.
"What about it? Don't you think we should talk this through?"
"No, frankly, I don't. I don't really want this to be planned, like it's all something plain and mechanical. I want this to happen when it's supposed to happen, not when one of us thinks it right. Let's just say, you stay here with me, I take care of precaution, and we let things flow from there. Is that okay with you?"
"Stay here? As in live here?"
He chuckled.
"Yes, as in live here. You want to or not?"
"Well, I think I do, but I don't know if my mother will accept it."
"Just tell her you want to catch up on old times with me, you don't have to mention that we're a couple."
"Alright, I'll try."
"Good girl. Now come here."
"What makes you think I would take orders from you?"
But despite her remark, she plopped down onto his lap, mirroring his wide grin.
"Good, now kiss me."
"Haven't you listened to me?"
He made a puppy face.
"Please?"
And grinning even wider, she brought her mouth up to his again, again amazed at how good it felt. If kissing was like that, how would sex feel? She could only imagine, and the thought of Ryo without his drawstring pants suddenly grew strangely appealing. But before anything further could happen, the young man pulled back, almost gasping for breath and the girl realized that her breathing was just as unsteady.
"Okay, I think I'll lay down for another while, you in?"
"Yep, I'm incredibly tired."
"That's my charm, it's sucking up your energy."
"I think it's more your tongue and what it possesses mine to do."
He grinned and supported her with his arms, just lifting her up as he stood up.
"You carrying me into the bedroom? I feel like I'm on my honeymoon."
She smirked and he grinned back at her. Then suddenly she felt him remove his arms around her, and she squealed half surprised, half angry before she realized that he had only dropped her onto the bed.
He went around the bed, lifted the covers and snuggled underneath, pulling her up to his chest. She happily complied and the two went to sleep again, happy as never before.
A/N: Yeah, I felt like fluff here and I think I more or less succeeded in writing it. Alright, all I have to say is left- button- review- submit- PRESS!
