Daa!Daa!Daa! (c) Kawamura Mika

I Hate You. I Hate You Not.

01.

On a lovely Saturday evening, fourteen-year –old Miyu Kouzuki was in a very bad mood. The reason? Well, once could say that once again, her frank and sarcastic housemate was to blame. As always, everything began with a very petty thing, which eventually, this led to another serious argument (only he could make big deal out of a stinking soy sauce)

And now, she was purposely missing dinner just to avoid seeing him—Saionji Kanata a.k.a. The Jerk.

Since she had nothing else to do, Miyu decided to just sleep the night and her anger away. But there was one tiny problem: she was too hungry to sleep.

Miyu inwardly cursed as she tossed and turned in her sleeping mat. A part of her wanted to go out and feast on Wannya's delicious beef stew, but her stubborn side was telling her not to give in

It's all in the mind, Miyu. It's all in the mind, she convinced herself, while returning to her attempts to sleep. No sooner than she had closed her eyes, Miyu heard faint footsteps from the hallway outside her room. The sound came nearer and nearer, until it stopped right in front of her shouji.

Opening an eye, Miyu checked who was standing outside her door. Judging by the short silhouette, she immediately knew it was Wannya—unless, of course, Kanata had somehow magically transformed himself into a fat, cat-like creature (which Miyu hoped Kanata would do to make himself a bit adorable at least.)

"Miyu-san, dinner is ready," she heard him say, while knocking at her door.

"I'm not hungry," she answered though her grumbling stomach was saying otherwise.

Wannya's lips curved to form a frown. "Miyu-san, I don't think it's a good idea to starve yourself just because you're angry with Kanata-san."

"This has nothing to do with him. " Lie.

"I actually had some snacks with Aya and Nanami before going home." Another lie.

"Are you sure?" The sitter-pet asked once more behind her closed door.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Ok…" he replied, though in truth he was unconvinced by her words. Afterwards, he left, leaving Miyu all alone once more.

"Miyu -san doesn't want to go out of her room," Wannya worriedly said as soon as he had re-entered the kitchen. Furrowing his brow, he looked at the brown-haired boy behind the table and waited for his reaction.

But Kanata merely remained silent as he continued to feed Ruu his dinner, pretending as if he didn't hear what the sitter-pet had said.

Disappointed because of the lack of concern from the boy, the sitter-pet sighed as walked forward and settled on one of the chairs. Then, he started preparing the food, which he decided to bring to Miyu. He strongly felt that she was lying to him earlier.

"What are you doing, Wannya?" Kanata finally broke his silence.

"I'm taking this to Miyu-san," he replied.

Kanata's eyes narrowed. "Don,'t," he firmly said. " If she wants to eat, she has to get her own food."

"Aren't you being too harsh on her?"

"Well,she brought this upon herself." His tone had an obvious tinge of irritation, which made the sitter-pet frown even more, and which caused Ruu to stare wonderingly up at him.

"Papa?"

Upon hearing the alien baby speak, Kanata 's facial expression softened. He plastered a fake smile on his face in order not to relay the message that everything was just fine. The last thing that Kanata ever wanted was to upset the child.

But young as he may be, Ruu wasn't immediately fooled by his act. He first looked around the room before turning his attention back to his surrogate father. "Mama?"

"She's in her bedroom, Ruu. Mama's…er…not feeling well tonight," Kanata lied, thinking he had convinced the child.

But Ruu continued to look doubtful. And in a little while, tears began to trickle out of the alien baby's eyes.

"Mama!" he wailed as he struggled against Kanata's hold.

"He wants to see Miyu-san," the sitter-pet pointed out.

"I know," Kanata replied curtly. Standing up from his chair, he walked around the table and faced Wannya. "Take him to her," he said as he held Ruu out to the cat-like creature.

But as soon as Kanata left him on Wannya's clutches, Ruu's cries became even louder.

"Papa! Mama!" he shouted while reaching out for Kanata.

"Hmm…I think he means he wants you to take him there."

Sighing, Kanata took Ruu from Wannya again. "Fine, fine. We'll go to her," he told him just to appease his tantrum.

Upon hearing his words, Ruu's wails were converted into mere sobs.

Meanwhile, inside here bedroom, Miyu continued to toss and turn in her sleeping mat. Exasperated, she sat up from her sleeping mat and muttered a silent curse. Sleeping with an empty stomach was indeed quite difficult. Maybe she should just swallow her pride and get out of her room. To hell with Kanata!

Miyu slightly jolted when she once again heard footsteps along the hallway. She saw two silhouettes next; one belonged to a baby and the other belonged to…

"Stop crying, Ruu. See? There's Miyu's bedroom."

…Kanata.

Frantically, she lied back down on her mat and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep. She first heard her door slid open, before the sound was eventually followed a set of footsteps coming nearer. The next thing Miyu felt was a tiny hand trying to shake her shoulder.

"Mama."

Miyu opened an eye very slightly just to have a faint image of Ruu—and as much she hated to admit it, also of Kanata.

She saw the brown-haired boy crouched down beside the baby, stroking the child on the head. "Look, Ruu, Mama's sleeping. It's better if we just go and not disturb her okay?" he urged, as he moved to pick the baby up.

But Ruu shook his head defiantly and flew to Miyu's left. Once more, he made an attempt to wake the blonde. Kanata, meanwhile, looked down to watch her as she slept.

He didn't really mean to argue with her that night, especially over something as petty as what was the better soy sauce brand. He explained to her that Brand X was better because it was capable of enhancing the food's flavor more; she insisted that Brand Y was a more intelligent choice, mainly because Mizuki recommended it.

Now,Kanata had nothing against Mizuki. As a matter of fact, he liked Mikan's younger brother a lot. They had always gotten along fine. But Kanata couldn't explain why every time Miyu spoke about the older boy, he felt so…annoyed. It was so strange.

"Papa."

Kanata tore his eyes away from Miyu and looked up to the floating baby. Slowly, Ruu descended into his welcoming arms.

"Papa…" Ruu spoke in a pleading tone while pointing at the Miyu. Kanata took it that the child wanted him to wake Miyu himself.

Since he knew better than to upset the alien, he willingly obliged. "Miyu," he repeatedly said her name as he shook her. Miyu, meanwhile, continued to pretend to stay asleep.

After several failed attempts, Kanata gave up. "Well, Ruu, Mama's really fast asleep. Let's just leave her alone now, okay?" This time around, Ruu didn't make any objections, but he made one request.

"Mama, chu"

"Ah, you want to kiss Miyu good night? Okay…."

As soon as Kanata released him, Ruu hovered above his mama and planted a kiss on the girl's cheek. Miyu inwardly smiled. Ruu was such a sweet, adorable kid.

"Let's go, Ruu," Kanata held out his arms once more. But Ruu didn't fly towards him. Instead, the child returned to Miyu's left side and told him, "Papa, Mama, chu"

Kanata's mouth momentarily hanged open, as Ruu's request sank in his brain. Miyu, on the other hand, was silently screaming.

What? A kiss? No! Ruu-kun, what are you thinking!

"I.. I don't think that's possible," he began to protest, much to Miyu's relief. But as the alien child began to sob, both Kanata and Miyu knew refusal was out of the question.

"Papa, Mama, chu" he continued to say in between sniffles.

"Ruu…"

"Papa, Mama, chu!"

Releasing a sharp breath, Kanata glanced down at Miyu. Personally, he didn't like the idea of giving Miyu a kiss while she's asleep (that's like taking advantage of her, which was the last thing he'd ever do) or even when she's awake (she'd definitely beat the hell out of him if he did), but since he hated to see Ruu crying, he was willing to make some…sacrifices.

Just a peck on the cheek, no big deal, he told himself. And he swore that it would be so quick that she would barely sense it happen. But then again, considering how Miyu slept like a bear in hibernation, he doubt it if she would even feel it if he decided to make the kiss longer. Not that he had any plans of doing so…

In order to soothe the sobbing child, Kanata smiled a bit and told Ruu, "Okay, don't cry. I'll do it."

Ruu gradually stopped sobbing as Miyu's mental screams became louder. Kanata, don't you dare!

But dare, he did.

The kiss was as quick as he had intended it to be, and it was over before she even realized that it was coming.

"There, Ruu,I did it. Now, can we both go back to the kitchen and eat our dinner?" Kanata asked as he looked at the alien hopefully. He sighed in relief when Ruu came flying towards him and returned to his arms.

Before rising from the floor, Kanata looked at Miyu. His brow furrowed upon noticing the tinges of red on the sleeping girl's face. Keeping silent about it, he walked towards her doorway and stepped out of her room. Glancing at Miyu once again, a small smirk graced his lips as he slid her shouji shut.

Right after the door came to a close, Miyu's eyes quickly shot open. Bringing a hand up to her face, she touched the cheek, which Kanata had kissed. "Kanata, you idiot," she mumbled, but strangely, Miyu realized, she was not as annoyed as she expected herself to be. As a matter of fact, she was not annoyed at all. She felt…weird. It was like she didn't mind being kissed by him.

"Mou, Miyu what are you thinking!"she exclaimed as she shook her head vigorously. Covering herself up with a blanket, Miyu closed her eyes again, and tried to forget the latest incident with Kanata.

As soon as Kanata and Ruu came back to the kitchen, they were immediately greeted by a question from Wannya.

"How's Miyu-san?"

Kanata walked towards his chair and sat down. "She's asleep," he replied, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. But inwardly, he was cursing as the memory of what happened inside Miyu's bedroom continued to bother him .Why the hell was he still thinking about it?

Shaking the thought out of his mind, he moved to resume feeding Ruu.But as he did so, he noticed that Wannya was staring at him curiously.

"What's wrong,Wannya?"

"I'm just wondering,Kanata-san…" the sitter-pet said. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Of course. Why do you ask?"

"Your face is all red," Wannya pointed out casually.

Kanata merely became dumbfounded while Ruu released a few giggles.

Fin.

Author's Note:Second fic posted here for this category. I apologize for the lack of fluff. I'll try to make it up on the next issue.

Thank you for reading.

(By the way,I know it's been more than a year, but I'll try to post the second chapter of The Thirst.Also, for my shorter,Gen-ish Daa!3x ficlets,kindly see my LJ)