RUSSET: MERRY CHRISTMAS, KURO-NEKO
For Christmas 2002; For Kuro-neko, my darling imouto
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The morning Sunday sunshine flitted flirtingly through the gap between the drawn curtains. It was a bright new day at 7am, with birds whistling about the day's surprises.
At a sturdy house in the district of Kanagawa, Japan, a queen-sized bed stood in the middle of the fairly large room. Its sheets were mussed and slept in. While no figure in deep slumber was on it right now, the clean white sheets were still tinged with human scent and comfortable warmth. The walls of the room were covered with basketball posters and photos. The door to the adjoined bathroom was shut. From behind that door, soft sounds of falling water were emitted, the gentle splashing as the droplets hit the tiled floor lightly and speedily.
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Outside the window, some suspicious activity was going on. An occasional grunt, and "Damn it!" could be heard before being stifled hurriedly. The small bedroom window was abruptly pushed open and someone started climbing in slowly, to be found on the bedroom floor in a split second later after a muffled thump as he hit the surface. He turned and directed a cold grouchy glare at something. A loud rustling and hissing prompted him to remember his mission.
He trod carefully across the room before stopping in front of a set of photos stuck messily with tape onto the wall. A small grin lit up his face as he cocked his head to enjoy the evidence of his growing intimacy with the occupant of this room. Just then, a loud attempt to damage his eardrums sent him hurtling through the air and colliding against the solid wall behind him. Cursing under his breath, he gingerly went forward towards the bathroom door where the source of the blasting volume came from.
He cautiously slid open the door to arrive face on with a mad onslaught of flying water. Fighting to keep his eyes open, they lit up as he caught sight of the target of his objective. Producing a video camera and a digital camera in each palm with a magical twist of his wrists, he tried to balance himself as he pressed 'record' and aimed to take some pictures of the person standing, back facing, in front of him, simultaneously. Amidst the carefree roaring of "Ore wa Tensai!" and dancing water, a flash of blinding light startled both individuals present in the bathroom. "Hell." Rukawa Kaede muttered as he realized that he must have forgotten to switch off the flash of the waterproof camera. He stumbled backwards into the bedroom as his target swung around and stared at him in utter shock.
Sakuragi Hanamichi stormed out of the bathroom after turning off the water quickly. He spluttered madly while dripping water onto the paneled floor. "Kae – Baka Kitsune! What the fuck are you doing here!" Rukawa blinked a little, not denying his crime. He took a couple more clear pictures of Sakuragi, still in his birthday suit. Sakuragi blushed furiously as he look down to observe his nakedness and scrambled to get a towel. In the meantime, Rukawa happily clicked away.
Sakuragi finally emerged again face-to-face with Rukawa in his after-shower garb, which was well, a towel hanging around his waist. "You haven't answered my question! You stupid fox!" Sakuragi argued as he tried to shoot his infamous killer glare in his current state. "You saw. To take photos and record a short show of you in the shower." Rukawa answered calmly as he eyed Sakuragi's lower body with interest. "The tensai was not performing a striptease!" Sakuragi raised his hands to try and grab both cameras. Rukawa's eyes glinted further as the towel dropped again, enabling a few more seconds of rapid photo-taking as Sakuragi fought to tie it securely this time.
"You're so dead, Rukawa Kaede." Sakuragi's face was flushed and as red as his fire-like hair. "I'm going to see it all soon anyway." Rukawa said in a sultry tone. "Who the hell are you doing this for anyway?" Sakuragi asked in an accusing tone. Rukawa gestured nonchalantly at the pried-open window. Sakuragi stormed over and pushed aside the flowing-in-the-morning-breeze-lalala! curtains to reveal a girl with long russet hair and tinted glasses, clad in black pants and a white polo-tshirt, crouching apprehensively on a shaky branch of the tree outside his bedroom. Caught, she beamed and exclaimed, "Hanamichi-kun! Uh, hello!"
"She's Keax. This is her idea." Rukawa explained monotonously. "I know! You must be one of them from that scary Bubble club!" Sakuragi nodded at his own intelligence. "Er, right, but it's Babble with an 'a'." Keax acknowledged, still smiling tensely as she held onto the tree trunk for dear life, almost certain she would be hearing the hallelujah chorus any minute from now. "Oh. Haha! I knew it! I was just kidding!" Sakuragi waved madly. "Whatever, do'aho." Rukawa said before throwing the cameras to Keax who caught them deftly before they went crashing down two stories, then flapped her arms madly to regain her balance while glaring at Rukawa who smirked in reply. 'That's for the vicious kick through the window.'
"Wait! What was that for!" Sakuragi yelled, as he made a wild grab for the cameras. "It's for Kuro-neko's Christmas gift!" Keax grinned as she kept the precious cameras. "Who's Kuro-neko?" Sakuragi scratched his head, an image of an adorable black kitten popping into his mind. Keax's eyes flashed with amusement before she answered, "She's my imouto-chan, and a great fan of you, Hanamichi-kun!" Sakuragi's jaw dropped convincingly. "A f - fan. My fan! HAHAHA! The great tensai has a fan club too!" Keax took the chance to sneak back down the tree in hasty relief as the branches creaked threateningly. "Hey, wait! No! Keax!" Sakuragi hollered as Keax took off merrily.
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Rukawa pulled Sakuragi back into the dim room, his eyes roaming the sight of his redhead in enjoyment. "You are not going to need this anymore, are you?" Sakuragi did not resist as Rukawa gripped the towel and flung it aside.
