Imadoki! Red Rose of Love

By: Shini'chi Raine

Raine Reports: (shrugs) A new idea. Nothing wrong with it.

Categories: Anime/Imadoki

Genre: Romance/Drama

Rated: PG-13

Couple(s): Kouki/Tanpopo

Summary: Starting after the fourth manga when Tanpopo is about to tell Kouki her feelings. Kouki gets a call about a suicide attempt of his former 'fiancé'… One-shot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Imadoki! (Nowadays). Satisfied, now?

"Tanpopo?" Tanpopo turned around to see Kouki standing and staring at her. "Kouki?" she breathed, her eyes dried from her recent tears of guiltiness over Youji. "What are you doing here? Are you alone?" Tanpopo felt her face heat up as Kouki walked towards her. "Uh… I… Kouki… I…" Just say it. Say, 'I love you.' Almost just as Kouki neared her at arms length, his cell phone rang. "Yes?" Kouki said, answering his phone. "What! …Erika… tried to kill herself?" Tanpopo gasped. Kill herself! Mumbling slightly, Kouki said into his phone, "All right, all right, calm down! I'll be right there!"

Turning to look at Tanpopo, whose attention was on Poplar, her fox friend, he saw that she had a pained look. "Kouki… I… You better go. I'm going to move back to Hokkaido…" she whispered, her sadness and pain laced through her tone. What! His thought came out his mouth, "What! You're moving!" Tanpopo sighed, her breath seen as misty cloud from the cold air around them. "Yes, I… I'm going back… home." Turning, she smiled at him, although this time, her smile caused him pain. Moving toward him slightly, Tanpopo stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek.

Kouki brought a hand to his cheek. That… felt nice. He gave Tanpopo a stunned, but pleased look. "That's… for being my friend, Kouki. I… I have to go now… Take good care of… of Erika…" Tanpopo picked up Poplar who yipped at him; a final goodbye. He watched her go, too shocked to understand. Why? He grabbed her wrist, making her drop Poplar. "Why!" he asked. He was scared, and he didn't know why. The thought of Tanpopo leaving… it hurt, and it frightened him, and not just because it hurt, either. Tanpopo paused, keeping her face turned as her hair hid her face. Should I tell him? "Kouki, I…" Kouki turned her around and looked deeply into her eyes.

Tanpopo took in a deep breath as she said quietly, "I'm moving, Kouki… because, because I… I love you." Hearing those words, he smiled gently at her and pulled into a tight hug. I don't care whether or not Erika tried to do suicide. Here with Tanpopo… I can finally relax. "I… Tanpopo… I love you… too. But why do you have to return home?" Tanpopo cried gently into his coat as she said, "…Erika… Erika said that if I didn't leave you alone and return to Hokkaido, she would… she would…" Tanpopo fell silent as she sobbed harder, but still quietly. Kouki tightened his grip on her. "…What about Erika? Did she make you a bet over me… again?" he asked, seething slightly with anger. Tanpopo shook her head, delicate tears falling from her eyes. "No… she made a bet… over my life." Kouki resisted the urge to gasp. No. No way.

His cell rang again, but this time he ignored it as he lifted Tanpopo's face to his and met her lips with his. Tanpopo gasped, opening her mouth, and Kouki took advantage of it as he dove his tongue into her mouth to dance with her own tongue. Tanpopo soon replied as she closed her eyes. His lips… Oh, Kouki… Too soon for either of them, Kouki pulled away, panting as he laid his forehead against Tanpopo's. "Even if you're moving back to Hokkaido, I'll soon follow you—after I deal with Erika and her problem of relying on other people too much and not herself." Tanpopo smiled. Kouki felt his heart beat faster when he saw her smile. He smiled back as he watched her slowly back away. I'll see you soon, Tanpopo… he thought as she waved to him and returned home.

Almost just before he reached his home, his cell phone rang. Sighing, he grabbed it and spoke. "Yeah?" Instead of his father's voice, it was Tanpopo's. "Kouki! My grandfather; something's wrong! I'm leaving sooner than I thought! I'm sorry, Kouki, but our date will have to wait until after I've tried to figure out what's wrong with my grandfather!" Kouki gasped as he tried to make sentences but he was too in shock. "Tanpopo…!" He was interrupted by a voice that was too sad to be Tanpopo's, but was hers all the same. "Kouki… Kouki, if I lose my grandfather, I wouldn't know what to do! Maybe I should bring my grandma here to Tokyo…" her voice faded and he heard a click.

That was when he started worrying. Oh no… Putting his phone back into his pocket, he jogged into his house. Hi father was there, and he was furious. "Kouki! What have you done to Erika! To kill herself…! Of all the things she could do!" Kouki waited calmly until his father calmed. "Father, did you marry Mother… in an arranged marriage?" His father answered quickly without thinking. "No, of course not! I married your mother out of love…" His father realized what he was just asked. "Oh dear… Is this what's it's all about… Kouki?" Kouki smirked slightly as he felt his face heat up lightly. "…Yes." His father ran a hand through his hair. "…I'll handle Erika. Go back to that girl—what was her name, Tanpopo?—and do whatever it is you need to do, son."

Kouki embraced his father before turning and running at full speed over to Tanpopo's. Mr. Kugyo watched him go, understanding etched in every inch of his face. Good luck… my son…ugh, Erika is such a handful… Why is she so set on trying to marry my sons? No matter. Neither of them loves her… and besides, she is merely marrying for money. I want my sons to be happy… I understand now. Truly, this was the way… things were to be understood… and how they were meant to be.

Tanpopo was all packed and ready to go when her doorbell rang. Putting the final touches to her packs, she answered the door to find Kouki waiting. He quickly gave her a chaste kiss. Blinking, (but nonetheless enjoyed the quick kiss), Tanpopo asked, "Kouki? What are…" She was interrupted when Kouki pulled his into his strong embrace. "I'm going with you. To Hokkaido. Forget about Erika. She's being handled by my father." Tanpopo giggled as she hugged him back, tears of happiness flowing from her expressive eyes. "Let's go help my grandpa… together," she said happily. As soon as she had finished saying that, Kouki brought her into a passionate kiss. "Yes," he whispered against her sweet honey lips, "together."

Raine Reports: So how was it? I'm not very good at one-shots, so this is sort of bad in my opinion. But review anyway… please? Oh, and if itlooks distorted, blame the in-between line breaks. They're very annoying when they don't stay the way you want them.