Disclaimer: I don't own Hot Gimmick.

Not So Bad

"Hey Hatsumi? Hatsumi? Hatsumi!"

Hatsumi jumped at the sound of her name. Glancing around to see who was calling her, she saw Akane giving her a questioning look. Blushing, she looked down, knowing exactly what was going to happen next.

Now she won't leave me alone until I tell her what I was thinking about. Great.

"Why didn't answer me before? Do you know how embarrassing it is to be seen shouting like a maniac? God, I'm just glad no one from the complex is out here," Akane huffed, making her sister slowly fill with guilt. She wasn't really mad, but this would make it easier to get Hatsumi to talk. "I can just hear old Touchy-bana now. 'That type of behavior is too disgraceful for our company…' blah, blah, blah."

"Akane! What if someone heard you? You shouldn't be saying things like that!" Hatsumi really hated when her younger sister talked like that. Sure, it was true, but that wouldn't make any difference to Mrs. Tachibana, especially if it was from someone in the Narita family.

Akane just looked at her. She couldn't figure out why, exactly, but lately Hatsumi had been more on edge than usual. She had a good guess, though. She smirked inwardly.

Why not use this to my advantage? And, if I'm right, Ryouki's advantage as well.

Adopting a hurt look, she made sure Hatsumi was paying attention before adding in a sniff. Seeing the look on Hatsumi's face was enough to make her turn her head to hide the small grin that wouldn't be held back. Of course, her sister assumed she was trying to hide tears, or something of the like.

Bonus. Cool.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Akane! I honestly didn't mean to snap at you," Hatsumi quickly said. When Akane only looked at her, she started babbling. "It's just, you know how she's been. It seems like she's trying to do anything to get us out of the complex, or at least, have everyone else blackball us again, and you remember what-"

Akane shook her head a little, glad that her sister was such a pushover. All anyone had to do to get anything from her was appeal to her caring nature. Many people in the complex had obviously noticed it, and used it to their advantage whenever they wanted. What confused her the most was that, smart as he supposedly was, Ryouki never used it to get her alone with him. Akane herself had even told him about it.

Interesting.

Deciding to move the conversation in the direction she wanted, Akane cut Hatsumi off.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it. I was just wondering, what were you thinking about?" She asked, smiling slyly.

Hatsumi froze mid-stride. Only when she looked more closely did she notice the familiar, mischievous glint in Akane's eyes. She silently cursed herself for not seeing her intentions from the beginning. Now she realized why she had turned away.

To hide a grin.

This makes how many times that she's pulled this trick on me?

"W-what are you talking about?" Hatsumi tried to sound calm, but inside she was going crazy.

"Well, you seemed to be in deep thought about something. Or should I say someone?" Akane smirked as Hatsumi's eyes grew wider.

Bingo.

By then they had reached their apartment. Both girls were glad to find it empty of the other Naritas, although for different reasons. Hatsumi was relieved that no one could over hear the confession from her that she knew was going to come out, while Akane was happy that there would be no interruptions.

"Okay. Now that we have some privacy, spill. Both of us know you were thinking about Ryouki, so don't try to hide it."

Cringing at Akane's bluntness, Hatsumi sunk into the couch. Sighing, she opened her mouth to fend the inevitable off when a completely random thought threw her off track.

The couch in Ryouki's penthouse is so much softer.

Hatsumi could have slapped herself for that. The last thing she needed at the moment was to be thinking of him, but that was exactly what she was doing. So when Akane once again told her to 'spill', she couldn't stop the flow of words wanting to escape.

She found herself explaining everything (except for the whole 'slave' issue), from how he had been at first, acting like a prick, then slowly becoming more possessive, even going as far as to tell her to think of no guy other than him, not even Shinogu or Hikaru. She told Akane what she felt like on New Year's, how he could infuriate and make her strangely happy at the same time, how confused he made her.

"And it's like, no matter how much I want to hate him, I just can't." Hatsumi finished. It took a lot of effort to say those things, so when Akane started giggling, her jaw just dropped.

"You really are as dense as Ryouki always says." At Hatsumi's blank look, Akane elaborated. "Don't you see? The reason he makes you feel this way is because you're in love with him. And from what you've told me, I'm pretty sure he's in love with you too, or, at least cares about you a lot."

Hatsumi snorted at that idea. Not about her loving him, though. She had thought about it before, and had come up with the same conclusion, but never wanted to believe it. The second part though? Not likely. Yes, there were some times at which Ryouki was kind to her, but the majority of the time he was completely rude, and cared about only one thing.

When she voiced those opinions to Akane, however, she only laughed and shook her head.

"Believe me, he cares a lot more than you think. Even when he's being a jerk he's better to you than most guys would ever be. You don't have it so bad." Akane said softly, thinking about some of the guys she had known.

Hatsumi abruptly stood up, a thoughtful expression on her face. As she was putting on her sweatshirt, she told Akane that she needed some time to think. Akane watched as her sister left the apartment, knowing exactly where she was going. As she scrambled over to the phone, one thought ran through her mind.

He better be home. Hatsumi needs it.

"Hello?" A masculine voice answered after the second ring.

"Ryouki-kun? It's Akane."

"What do you want? Subaru's not here, if that's what you wanted to know. Hey, is your sister home? She better be, because if she's-"

"Ugh! Would you please listen to me? I'm not calling about Subaru, it's Hatsumi, okay? Right now she's out on the roof, thinking some things over. Go to her, and please behave this time. Believe me, you'll be very happy if you do."

"What are you talking about?"

"Let's just say that if you're good to her now, she'll be able to decide how she feels about you. Just remember to behave."

And with that, she hung up, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

Now it's up to those two.

Can he really feel that way? I mean, it is Ryouki we're talking about, the man who can change moods so spastically.

Hatsumi was pulled from her thoughts the second time that afternoon by the sound of someone else coming out on the roof. Moving just the tiniest bit to get a look at the person without them noticing, she found Ryouki leaning against the wall, watching her with softness in his eyes that she had never before seen. Seeing that he didn't realize she was watching him, she turned completely, making sure to look surprised to see him there.

"Oh. Hi," she said in a small voice, suddenly feeling a little weak.

"Hey," he replied as he moved to join her in leaning against the railing. "What were you thinking about? It looks serious. You sure your empty head can handle it?"

Hatsumi was about to retort when she noticed that there was something about the way he said it, that made her stop. It seemed like, instead of being an insult, he was just gently teasing her.

Well, I've never seen this side of Ryouki Tachibana. I like it. It's not as bad as I thought. Maybe Akane's right.

Smiling a little, she chose not to say anything, instead staring out at the Tokyo skyline. As the wind picked up, she shivered in only her thin sweatshirt. Wondering why she hadn't worn something warmer, she jumped at the feeling of warm arms wrapping around her waist, pulling her into the warmth that was Ryouki's chest. Her first thought was to fight him, that he hadn't changed at all, but was stopped when he spoke.

"You looked cold."

Then, a few minutes later,

"Hatsumi? You know I would never let anything happen to you, right?"

Her smile grew when she heard that. She turned and nestled her face in his chest, truly relaxing.

Not so bad after all.

A/N: Okay, that was worse than I thought, but whatever. This is my first Hot Gimmick fic, so... Sorry if anyone seemed OOC. Please review!