Kisa walked side by side with Tohru down the street towards the grocery store. Tohru was humming happily. Kisa thought the forceful beating heart was going to cause her chest to explode any minute now. This made her wonder if Tohru knew CPR, and that maybe if she faked passing out- Kisa quickly shook her mind of these thoughts, feeling her face go red for what must've been the hundredth time. What she wouldn't have given to be a 9 year old again, naïve of such bawdy yet entertaining thoughts.
"Kisa-chan? Something wrong? Your face is red, are you sun burnt? Every time I look at you it looks like your face gets a deeper shade of red." Tohru asked, a face of concern present, "We can get some lotion for it if you need to."
Kisa wanted to find a hole to hide in, or a blanket to duck under, or a book to shove her face in, or a truck to jump in front of. A nervous laugh came from the younger girl, "N-no, I'm fine, thanks for worrying onee-chan." She cringed a bit at that nickname. It felt a little weird calling her that as of late. Considering what she thought sometimes, and then calling her sister, well, anyone would've felt weird. Once again Kisa damned emotions and the autonomy of the human brain sometimes. Kisa sighed a bit, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"Here we are, the grocery store! Now where did I put the shopping list…?" Kisa looked up happily when Tohru called this out.
"I think you put it in your pocket," Kisa said, happy that they finally had a reason to not walk in awkward silence that only she had noticed.
Tohru smiled and ruffled Kisa's tawny hair, "Thanks Kisa, you're such a sweetie." She blinked a bit seeing Kisa's face, "we are definitely getting you some lotion for that sunburn…"
"…Rice, cod-roe, curry, umeboshi. That's the last of the list. Ready to go?" Tohru asked, wondering if Kisa had anything she wanted to get.
Kisa shook her head but then stopped noticing they were passing the fruit section. Her eyes spotted a treat she knew Tohru loved. "Tohru-chan? Look, they have strawberries. You like them right? Why don't you get some?"
Tohru smiled then shook her head, "Nope! Shigure gave me the money to buy food, so I don't mind eating just what they want. I'm fine really!"
Kisa raised an eyebrow, knowing that Shigure wouldn't care one way or another if Tohru bought a type of food she liked. Kisa thought for a moment, wondering why Tohru thought it would be so terrible to buy strawberries, even if she wanted them. Kisa wandered over to the strawberry bin and started bagging some quietly.
"Kisa-chan, what're you doing?" Tohru let out a soft laugh, "If you wanted strawberries you should've just said so."
"Heh, alright, I'll remember that Tohru-chan." Kisa said, lying. She didn't really care for strawberries to be honest, oranges and lemons were something she was fonder of. But if it took her eating the unsavory berries, so Tohru could have some, she would happily do so.
Meanwhile, Haru and Yuki had relocated themselves to Yuki's secret base. They had stopped briefly in town, but being in crowded areas was never a joy in their eyes, either alone or with friends. Haru lay back on the grass, sipping now and then from a drink he'd gotten from a vending machine. Yuki sat not too far away, peering at the scenery and glancing now and then at Haru. They were both happy they had found another one of those calm spots where they could talk, or just sit in peace.
Haru glanced over at Yuki, then to his beloved plants and smiled. Yuki had only brought him here for the first time a few weeks ago. The rat had feared Haru would find him a sissy for it. Yuki should've known better.
"I still find it funny that you garden Yuki. You never seemed the type." Haru muttered quietly, wearing a small grin.
Yuki looked to Haru, annoyance clear, "I told you, don't make fun of me. I won't share secrets with you if you tease me for it."
He sat up, "That's not what I meant. I meant I never saw you as the type of person to slow down and enjoy the little things in life," Haru plucked a clover blossom from the ground, handing it towards Yuki, a sly smirk on his face, "It's comforting to know we share more than I thought."
Yuki returned his smirk, but took the small white flower, tucking the blossom in his own hand. "You'd be surprised how much you don't know about me Hatsuharu. "
Haru moved himself closer to Yuki, staring into his violet eyes. He traced his thumb down Yuki's jaw line, "I'd like to learn more…"
Yuki found himself blushing, and actually becoming nervous. He jerked himself back and frowned, irritated by his own flighty behavior. "Stop it Haru, I don't like it when you get so close to me."
Haru lowered his hand and lay back down, staring at the fluffy white clouds. He was wondering why in the world Yuki would blush, if he spoke the truth, he had no reason to go red. Haru wasn't the only one wondering. Yuki stared at his garden, wondering why his heart beat so hard, his breath came so quick, and his face heated so hot when Haru came near. The white haired boy was so seductive, how could he help but get flustered. Why the hell did he think seductive? He meant, grabby, yes grabby was the word. Sure he did. Yuki rubbed his forehead, flustered was the wrong word too, preteen girls near their crushes got flustered, not him. A small voice in the back of his mind chimed, "Well there you go captain obvious. You got yourself a hankering for him." Yuki's first reaction was why his subconscious used the word hankering like a southern American hick, but then drifted to more serious thoughts. He couldn't possibly like some guy, right?
"These moments are nice, huh?" Haru's voice broke the silence that had allowed Yuki time to think.
"Huh?"
"These nice silent moments," Haru looked to him, "That's when you know you've found somebody special. When you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably share silence."
Yuki wondered for a moment why he was getting déjà vu, and smirked at Haru.
Haru grinned, "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I break your concentration?"
An eye roll met Haru "Really? The silence was comfortable for you? That's why you found the need to steal a line from a movie to start a conversation?"*
"Aw, that's awful cold." Haru whined.
"Perhaps," Yuki looked at the ground. He was hurt Haru would call him cold, one of the things he feared being the most. Yuki stood up, "Hey, maybe we should head back; it's nearly lunch time… We could head over to the mall or something…"
Haru nodded a bit, wondering what he had done to offend Yuki, as his voice had taken a new tone. "Ok, sounds good to me."
The two boys wandered off, Yuki hoping he had some way to prove he wasn't as icy as everyone seemed to think.
Kisa and Tohru had just finished up lunch dishes and were sitting at the kitchen table. Kisa was quiet as usual. She was glad she had survived the ordeal of Tohru putting green cooling goo on her face for her "sunburn". Kisa had thought she was going to die from how hot her face had grown when Tohru's soft hands were so close. It only made matters worse when Tohru said, "Kisa, you're burning up! Maybe you have a fever?!" and insisted on taking the girl's temperature.
Tohru tried to think of little things they could chit-chat about, giving Kisa a reason to use her sweet voice. Kisa searched her mind for something to say that wouldn't make her look childish or dumb. Somehow they had gotten on the topic of books.
"I've heard of that book Kisa-chan! I wanted to read that. It's a type of manga right?" Tohru asked, genuinely interested.
Kisa nodded, happy she had managed to find something good to talk about. "Yes, it's strange though… I do think the bookstore had it last time I was there."
"The one in the mall?" Tohru asked, "Chi's bookstore?"
A timid nod came from Kisa, "uhm… yes that one."
Tohru jumped up and looked at Kisa with pleading eyes, "Can we go there? Would you like to? Of course I can get it another day of course if you'd rather do something else."
Kisa smiled and hopped up next to Tohru, "No, let's go. It'll be fun."
"All right lets go!" Tohru clasped Kisa's hand and they headed off to the shopping center, Kisa smiling bashfully at the warmth embracing her hand.
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*The lines were from Pulp Fiction. You should know that, if you don't know that, get your rear to the video store and rent it. ^_^
Read and Review, next chapter: DDR and a jealous plotting sheep? (unless I change my mind…)