DISCLAIMER: I do not own FoR or any of its characters. This plot is a product of my imagination. Any similarities to other fan fictions are unintentional.
BABY YOU'RE MINE
By bishounen lovah
Chapter 8
Ganko woke up just as the sun was setting in the west. The room was starting to darken and was dimly illuminated by the glow of the street lamp through the open window. She felt refreshed, the most she ever did for a long time now. She sat up and stretched a little, noticing immediately that her hand was linked with Kaoru's.
She gave it a small squeeze before gently easing out of bed. After giving him one last look, she went to the window seat and stared outside. The past weeks had been unreal for her. Her whole life had gone topsy-turvy just because of one ghost. If she told this to anyone outside the Hokage gang then she'd surely be sent to a mental asylum with straightjacket and all. But so far her mind was not on her supernatural problem but on the guy drooling on her bed.
Kaoru. No longer could she bring herself to call him brother like she did as a child. Especially feeling this way about him. The past couple of days had made her realize that she felt more for the cheeky Anki master. She liked him...a lot.
The thought should give her the chills but it did not. Instead, thinking of him in a non-sibling way made her all warm and tingly on the inside. She never thought that the day would come when she, Ganko Kirisawa (previously Morikawa), would develop a crush on Kaoru Koganei. It was all Megumi's fault for putting such thought in her head. Now she didn't know how to act in front of him especially after that kiss.
Ganko's hand involuntarily went to her lips. When she realized what she was doing she wrapped her arms around her raised knees and clasped her hands together. She didn't know what to think anymore.
Why did he kiss her?
Why did he insist in holding her hand?
Why was he being so sweet to her?
Why did she feel so comfortable and safe when he was with her?
Why did she like it when he held her hand?
Why did she kiss him back?
Because I love him.
The answer was so simple that it had rendered her speechless even if she wasn't speaking at all.
Even before, she had loved him but had mistaken it for sisterly affection. That was why she was so hurt when he didn't kept contact when she was away. And that was why his groupies irritate the heck out of her. Not that she was jealous or anything because she knew those ditz didn't mean anything to him. They irritate her because they could freely express their adoration to him whereas she could only do that from afar lest he noticed.
And she would still do that—love him from afar. She didn't need any other complications right now especially if he didn't feel the same way for her. Somehow she knew that it would devastate her. She broke her line of vision from the star filled sky to gaze at his sleeping form. Unfortunately he was no longer sleeping and was staring back at her. Their cheeks reddened at the same time but went unnoticed due to the darkness of the room.
"You're awake." Duh. Nice one, Ganko.
"Aa. How do you feel?"
"Better, I guess," she said as she looked outside again. Out of the corner of her eyes, she watched Kaoru stand up and stretch his lithe form, all the while admired how his shirt clung to his frame. She hid her blushing face from view since he was walking towards her.
They stayed that way for some time—her sitting in the window seat and him standing beside her. The night was clear and the street was quiet. A few people passed by, coming home from work or walking their dogs. Cars drove by just as quietly. "It looks peaceful, ne Kaoru?"
"Aa." But he wasn't looking outside, she noticed. Instead he was gazing at her. She blushed again but this time she did not look away. She never realized how beautiful his golden brown eyes looked against the pale moonlight.
"Kaoru," came her whispered reply as he reached and tipped her chin. Her breath was stuck in her throat as he leaned over closer...and closer...and closer...
Flash!
Just then the overhead lights were turned on and they had to blink back at its brightness. They turned their heads in unison to the door and saw a grinning stuffed kitsune holding a broomstick. "Correct me if I'm wrong but don't desserts come after dinner?"
They jumped away from each other at those teasing words (actually Kaoru did the jumping while Ganko hid her face again). The boy glared at Kondo while the kitsune gave him a knowing smirk. "Oi! Don't look at me like I'm some kind of party pooper. Fuuko sent me to tell you that supper's ready. Then you can go back to your dessert hehehe."
A throw pillow smacked right on the kitsune's face. Such an apt name for a thing. Kaoru walked past the fallen fox then turned back to look at Ganko.
"Go on ahead. I still have to change," she said.
He nodded his head in understanding then wordlessly closed the door. She let out a sigh but she didn't know if it was a sigh of relief or disappointment. He was going to kiss her. Again! Surely that meant something?
"Your face is gonna get stuck that way if you keep on grinning like that."
"Keh! That coming from someone who grins day in, day out." She picked up Kondo and dumped him on her bed then proceeded to cover him with her blanket so he won't be able to see her changing clothes. Not that he hasn't seen any of her body parts before. She had practiced this type of modesty ever since puberty started.
"What do you expect? I'm a stuffed toy. I'm sewn that way. Any way I open my mouth it always ends up looking like a grin." He struggled underneath the bedding. By the time he reached the edge of the blanket Ganko was already dressed.
"Ne, Kondo? Do you think Kaoru likes me?"
"He'd be a fool if he doesn't."
"You're just saying that."
"No I'm not. Jeez! I'd walked on you guys doing very friendly acts twice already. How many proofs do you need?"
"But he hasn't said anything."
"Have you?"
"No..."
"Then maybe you should stop bugging me." He jumped off the bed and started waddling to the door.
"Ano Kondo..."
"What?!!"
"Are you okay? You seem to be acting weird."
"I'm fine. I just don't feel right inside."
"Eh?" Question marks popped over Ganko's head.
"I can't explain it. I just feel weird inside." For a moment the kitsune looked serious and then a second later he was back grinning like an idiot. "Come on. You don't want to keep lover boy waiting. You still have that dessert to go back to."
"NANI!!!"
~Next day~
They went to school earlier than usual to miss the rush of students but it seemed like everybody else had the same idea. The school ground was already littered with students of all levels, all of whom were staring at them. Ganko tried to act as nonchalant as Kaoru but the way the others were staring at them and following their every move was unnerving.
"Ganko-chan! Kaoru-sempai! Ohayo gozaimasu!"
"Ohayo, Megumi-chan," Ganko greeted back to her friend who had just rushed out of the school building to meet them. "You're early. And so is everybody else for that matter. Did the school move the classes earlier?"
"Iie," the other girl shook her head in response.
"Then why..."
"They came here to see you guys and I came here early to warn you off."
"Eh? Warn us about what?"
"That!" Megumi pointed at the crowd that was heading their way. The mob was composed of boys (Ganko's brave admirers while some were Kaoru's queer admirers) and girls (Kaoru's usual groupies) alike. It was no surprise that the person leading the group was Meiling, the high priestess of the Koganei Cult.
"What's going on here?" Ganko demanded.
"I should ask you the same question, little girl." Meiling always emphasized the point that she was younger than most of them thus had no right to be cozy with an upperclassman especially someone as famous as Kaoru.
"Ah, but I asked you first." Ganko could barely hide her amusement.
"Eh? Oh yeah...right, right...you did," she responded after the sweatdropping guy beside her nudged her with an elbow. She got distracted, drooling at Kaoru who looked rather cute with a scowl. "We came here to demand an explanation. What have you done to our Koganei, you witch?!"
After that chaos broke loose. All of them started to ask questions at the same time and there were arguments on who stole whom. Ganko could only sweatdrop and turn to Megumi for an explanation.
"Er, you see, rumors started to spread after what happened to you. It started innocent enough, you know, about the CPR but at the end of an hour there were various versions already. I believe the worst one was about you and Kaoru-sempai making out at the back of the class during the film showing."
"NANI!!!" Ganko's eyes nearly popped out in disbelief. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Kaoru's mouth twitching up in one corner. The abominable guy was absolutely enjoying this! She would have knocked him senseless but had to turn her attention back to her friend.
"And then it got worse because some kids saw you two holding hands. That's why they're here. They want to know if something's up between you two."
"Demo..."
"URUSEI!!!" Meiling called a halt to the chaos then latched herself to Kaoru's arm, much to the irritation of Ganko's twitching eye. "Koganei-sempai, the rumors aren't true, are they? You wouldn't leave us for her. Tell them she's not your girlfriend."
Kaoru's next move surprised them all, including Ganko. He shrugged off Meiling's grasp and wrapped an arm around Ganko's waist then pulled her closer to his side. "Gomen ne, minna-san. It would be best if you left us be from now on." And as if to emphasize his point, he kissed the top of Ganko's glossy head then led her away.
She looked back and saw the crowd turn into stone statues, so shocked were they of the news. Her face turned red from anger. She dragged him in the next room, which turned out to be a broom closet then slammed it shut. "WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU JUST DID?"
"I just got rid of nuisances," he shrugged as he leaned on an unoccupied wall.
"No...You just made matters worse. Do you have any idea what those girls could do to me?"
"Keh! It's not as if you can't handle them blindfolded. That's not the real reason why you're so upset, is it?"
"Of course it is! What else could there be?"
"You tell me."
Why indeed? It was true she was not upset because she was worried of her safety and reputation. She was upset because she liked the idea of being his girlfriend too much. She was upset because this was just a pretend game. Another means of entertainment for him. But was it just a whim?
"Why did you really do it," she asked him, searching his eyes for some emotions.
"It's as I said. It would be best for them and for us. With them not bothering us we won't be distracted and I could protect you better. At the same time we're preventing any mishap that could happen if Tsukiho attacks again. He's getting bolder and the others might get caught in the crossfire."
She sighed both in relief and disappointment. It did make sense, what he just said, but she could not help but wish that there were more personal reasons. "Okay I'll go along with your pretend game but don't get too fresh with me. I'll throttle you so good you won't be able to distinguish pretend from reality."
"Is that a promise?" He gave her that cheeky grin then opened the door for her. "After you, my love."
Her heart skipped a bit at the endearment but scowled all the same. It was not real. It was just make-believe. It was just wishful thinking.
He took her bag and carried it for her, not giving her time to protest. He dropped his arm on her shoulder and weaved them through the crowd of stupefied students.
Yes, she could get used to this. She ignored that little voice that warned her not to enjoy the game too much.
She might end up losing.
To be continued...
BISHLOV: Ack! I know, I know! It's getting too fluffy even for me. Sorry for those who were itching for action but I had to give Raiha and the others some time to get the Spirit Ball so this is what I thought up at a moment's notice. Hehehe. Even I don't know what's going to happen next (well more or less).
Flame me if you wanna as long as they're constructive. If you don't wanna flame then any type of review would do. I just want to hear from you. Gah! I hate it when I rhyme. Responses to reviews for chapter 7 are in my email notification. Kissy thanks!!!