Chapter Twelve
I am SO sorry I haven't updated in a while! DX I've been a bit busy on some other things and I barely had enough time to write this! I've been wanting to write this ever since the group went to Osaka so I hope you guys enjoy it!
"Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life."
-Omar Khayyam
"Why don't we just wander around for today and see what happens?" Aoko suggested.
Ruri and Aoko were sharing a room in the cheap little hotel the school had chosen.
Ruri was in the middle of putting away their futons when Aoko had sprung the idea on her.
"That...doesn't sound like a bad idea..."Ruri replied, pausing for a bit. "But where would we wander?"
Well, their wandering had certainly proved interesting.
Hakuba and Kaito were pretty ok with the proposed idea, so it wasn't hard for the girls to convince them. (They were all in violent agreement)
And here they stood, well, Ruri, Aoko, and Hakuba stood. Kaito cowered behind the girls.
"IT'S HELL!" he screeched.
And if you had guessed they were in front of an aquarium, here's an invisible award.
"HOW COULD YOU GO INTO THAT WHERE ALL THE F-FINNY THINGS ARE?!"
Ruri shook with effort as she tried not to laugh.
Hakuba was trembling as well in an effort to not laugh, but unlike Ruri, he was failing.
Aoko...well, she was having the time of her life.
"T-then what do you w-want us to do?" Aoko tried to keep her laughter in check.
"I AM NOT GOING IN THERE!"
Kaito had opted for hiding behind Ruri since he didn't like Hakuba and Aoko was very close to toppling over.
"We're already h-here, though," Hakuba stifled a laugh.
"I can stay out here with h-him," Ruri volunteered, raising a hand to cover her mouth in an attempt to muffle her laughter.
"AH! RURI! EVEN YOU'RE LAUGHING?!"
"That might be best," Hakuba nodded, trying to fight a smile.
He took Aoko's hand and they walked inside the fish shaped building.
Ruri glanced down at Kaito who, somewhere along the line, had grasped her hand and was clinging to it like his life depended on it.
"Let's go where you can't see the fish anymore," she coaxed, pulling him up into a kind-of standing position.
Ruri once again found herself in a sweets shop.
Kaito was busy on his 4th double chocolate sundae.
Ruri had asked for a cup of tea.
Silence filled the space between them until Ruri could no longer take it.
"I'm not going to laugh again, Kuroba-san."
Kaito froze in place.
"We all have our weaknesses and fears."
Ruri smiled kindly.
"In exchange for finding out your fear, how about I tell you one of mine?"
That definitely perked the magician up.
"And what are you afraid of?" he asked, wiping the chocolate off his mouth with a napkin.
Ruri took a deep breath.
"I'm afraid of heights."
"Heights?"
The girl nodded.
"I'm afraid I'm going to fall to my death."
"Are you scared of airplanes?"
Ruri nodded.
The traumatic event of crashing and dying in a plane crash weighed much more heavily than Ruri had originally thought.
A hand moved over to cover Ruri's hand.
"It's ok," Kaito's soothing voice reassured.
She hadn't even realized she had begun to shake.
"Thanks."
"So you guys went on a date?" Aoko asked, placing her clothes in the little basket inside the changing room.
"Um, well, no, not really," Ruri turned a bit red, pulling off her shirt.
Aoko grinned.
"It sounds like you had a good time, though," she prodded.
"Aoko-san!"
Aoko laughed and headed for the spring.
"Che. Why did I have to be here with you," Kaito grumbled, sitting in the water of the hot spring.
"That should be my line," Hakuba sat next to him, arms crossed.
"Aoko-san!" a voice broke through the boys' thoughts.
There was a bit of laughter and a splash.
"What if there's someone here? It DID say communal bathing..."
"I-Is that Ruri-san's voice?" Hakuba whispered to Kaito.
Kaito slowly nodded. "I think so..."
Both boys turned a bit red.
"Don't worry! There's no one here but us!"
"A-And Aoko-kun..." Hakuba's face turned even redder.
"Hurry up and get in!"
There was a surprised cry and a splash.
"Ruri-chan?!"
"I'm ok... Mou, Aoko-san, you surprised, poking my back like that!"
"Gomen, Ruri-chan! I won't do it again!"
"Huh?"
"What's wrong, Ruri-chan?"
"I think there's someone else here..."
CRAP! both boys thought.
"Someone else?" Aoko asked, looking around the rocks.
Ruri nodded. She turned the corner of a rock and saw two shadowy figures obscured by the steam.
"Is someone there?" she called.
"Yes~ there's someone here~" a husky voice replied.
"Oh! A husky voice! How cute!" Aoko smiled.
WAIT.
Ruri waved at the steam and saw two figures facing away from her.
Both had their towels on their heads, wrapped around the hair to keep it from getting wet. One had brown hair, the other blonde...
Ruri stood straight up in the spring.
"I think I'm done bathing for now," she told Aoko, stiffly walking to edge.
"Ruri-chan? Is something wrong?" Aoko called as Ruri walked into the changing room. "You look red all over!"
"..."
"We never speak of this to anyone, agreed?" Kaito asked.
"...agreed..." Hakuba squeaked.
Ruri lay on her futon in her and Aoko's room, clutching the pillow.
That was too weird. WAY too close for comfort. We weren't even wearing bathing suits!
"Ruri-chan?"
Aoko hovered above her friend, looking worried.
"Yes?" Ruri asked, trying to shove away bad and impure thoughts.
"Hakuba wanted to know if you'd be interested in ping pong."
Oh hello again impure thoughts.
"I think I'm ok..."
Aoko pouted. "You've been acting strange ever since you left abruptly in the hot spring!"
Ruri didn't say anything.
"Come on! I'm sure whatever is bothering you will go away!"
Ruri still didn't answer.
"Fine."
Aoko made her way to the end of Ruri's futon.
"It's been quite a while since we last saw Aoko-kun... I hope nothing bad has happened..." Hakuba sighed as he and Kaito waited in the recreation room with some of their fellow students.
"Oh, here she is," Kaito stood up as soon as he saw Aoko walking down the hall with Ruri in tow.
"Yahoo!" Aoko called, waving to the boys.
"What took you so long?" Kaito asked.
"Oh, Ruri-chan was being stubborn," she glanced at Ruri who was avoiding looking at either of the boys.
"Are you ok?" Kaito asked.
"I-I'm fine," Ruri mumbled, her face going red.
"Ok...If you say so..." Kaito twirled one of the ping pong paddles in his hand.
"Aw~! I'm so sad that ya'll be leaving!" Kazuha hugged Ruri.
"I'm sure we'll come back," Ruri reassured.
"Just make sure ta leave the blondie at home," Heiji glared at Hakuba.
"I'm British, you oaf," Hakuba sniffed.
"Why you-" Heiji started, raised his fist.
"OK, Heiji, time to let them leave," Kazuha butt in, holding Heiji's arm.
Heiji turned a little red and lowered his hand.
He turned to Ruri instead and put his hand on her head.
"Come see us, ok?"
Ruri smiled and nodded.
And here is where this chapter ends! Ruri has left Osaka and it's the end of her break! I hope you all enjoyed the fluff Ruri and Kaito had this time around! Next chapter, I'll be writing an actual case from the series!
DFTBA EVERYONE!