Obscene
Yu Narukami was not one to sit down, Naoto found out. It seemed every moment of his life was on a schedule. As soon as school started, he'd be busying himself with his schoolwork. He jotted down notes like his pencil was on fire. Whenever the teacher questioned him he would supply the correct answer without hesitation. Naoto also discovered, to her annoyance, whenever one of his friends was asked a question by the teacher he would often supply them with the correct answer.
Naoto wasn't sure whether to commend his sense of camaraderie, or be annoyed with his callous disregard of rules. She eventually chose the latter.
As soon as school was done, Narukami left to do one of several activities afterwards. He would either attend one of two different clubs (Basketball and Music, Naoto noted), go to one of several part time jobs he had (child caretaker seemed to be his usual choice), spend time with his circle of friends (which included recent missing person cases, Yukiko Amagi and Kanji Tatsumi), or single one friend out to socialize with.
And that wasn't even touching on the rumors she was beginning to hear about how he could bring anyone anything they wanted. Statues, horns, lamps, the list went on. She wasn't sure where he got the supplies. Perhaps worth investigating.
Back on topic, Naoto came to a realization she couldn't deny. She had almost a healthy respect for Yu Narukami. Top of his class, hard working, always offering his time to others. It was almost like Yu Narukami was somekind of superhero, leaping out of the pages out of the TV.
That respect would quickly vanish after seeing him again.
She sat at Junes food court, awaiting his arrival. With any luck, he would forgo this stupid game and tell her what she wanted to do. But luck had not been on her side as of late.
"Naoto!" The silverette ran to her, grinning ear to ear. He took a seat, forgoing the seat across from her and instead sitting directly beside her. Naoto tipped her hat to hide her flushed cheeks and grumbled as he placed both of his hands on the table. "I'm glad you actually came."
"...You're late."
"Huh? Heh. I guess I am. Sorry. There was just this little girl who lost her twin sister. So I had to help her, I mean, who wouldn't, right? So we were running all around Inaba, looking for her sister. When we found her, she was all upset at her twin. I had to play neutral party to a sibling fight, but eventually I was able to calm both parties down so-"
"Stop. Its bad enough that I have to sit through this farce of a 'date' with you. The least you could do is not make ridiculous excuses for why you were late. Need I remind you that you've already bribed me into attending this frivolous event?" Naoto's steel blue eyes glared at the young man, who stared back in surprise, before his ever smug smirk formed on his face.
He politely bowed. "As you wish, my Prince. What shall we do instead?"
Arrogant ass, she thought to herself. "You could answer my questions regarding the murders," she suggested. Please, let this torture end quickly. I doubt I can withstand his smugness for long.
Narukami's smile only grew, and that scared Naoto. "Ah, wishing to just skip the foreplay and go right to the climax, my dear Prince? How erotic," he practically moaned afterwards, no doubt attracting the curious stares of several other customers. "Such a hungry, little minx."
"T-that's not what I meant and you know it!" She hissed, shoving an open palm against his chest.
He took the hit with a smile. "Ow. My nipple."
"Arrogant ass!" She hissed back, glaring daggers into his eyes. He just winked at her.
"Heh. I'm going to get something for us to eat it, if you don't mind." He stood up from his chair, only for Naoto to stand in his way.
"Wait! I'm not letting you pay for my food," she stated. "We'll split it, fifty/fifty. Understood?" No way am I giving him the satisfaction of actually paying for this meal. Bastard...
"Progressive. I knew there was more to you than just your gorgeous looks and harmonious voice."
"Hrm..." The two walked into line, the grinning, silver haired delinquent standing behind the scowling, famed Detective Prince.
"Personally, I always thought it was rather ridiculous to have the man pay for the girl's meal all the time. A sexist stereotype, really."
Naoto simply frowned more, not wishing for Narukami to know she actually agreed with him on that point. Wait... "Did...did you just call me a girl?" She asked, blushing despite herself. Her eyes scanned the area, darting to and fro in hopes that no one was listening to the two talk. Thankfully, after Narukami's moaning, most people were ignoring the couple...Couple of people, not couple couple!
The delinquent simply stared at his date with a curious smile. "I was mere implying that out of the two of us, you are the girl, my dear Prince. Short, more mature, though certainly not weak. I bet you are quite strong.."
Oh, how I'd love to show you how strong I am...
"In fact, I'm sure you could pin me down and hold me under you quite easily," he sang, whispering into her ear. A knowing wink made his intentions clear.
"M-must everything be related to sex with you?!"
"No...But I'd like it if it was." He laughed to himself as Naoto turned her head away with flushed cheeks.
The rest of the 'date' was mostly uneventful. Narukami flirted with her, constantly referring to her as 'my Prince' and Naoto would roll her eyes and ignore him. Once the food was gone and the drinks were emptied, the detective placed her hands on the table and glared at the older boy.
"Alright, Narukami. Talk. What do you know about the murders?"
"Yu knows a lot." He chuckled at his pun. She didn't even waste energy rolling her eyes this time, only leaning in closer to glare at him harder. Realizing she wasn't even mad at this point, he sighed. "You are no fun sometimes, hon."
"Enough with the stupid nicknames and terms of affection! I want answers," she growled.
"Heh. Answers are something I'm looking for too...But I think hints are good enough to live off of, for now. A few teases before I bare it all for you," he winked. He leaned in close, which made Naoto lean back. If she hadn't, the two would been far too close for her comfort. "Well...The perp? He isn't really killing anyone."
"What? That's ridiculous!"
"Ah. Let me finish, sweetie. If I dropped you off in the desert, and left you there without water, is that technically murder?" He inquired, brow raised.
"So...He's merely putting them in a position to be killed? So these technically aren't murders..." Naoto's eyes widened. She never even considered, but..but how could Narukami know this?!
"Semantics. He's still a murdering scumbag, all things considered..." She had never seen that look in his eye before. It wasn't a flirtatious smile or an arrogant grin. It looked angry. Enraged, in fact. She almost wasn't sure it happened... Then it was gone, and he smirked again. "Welp, date's over! Same time tomorrow, my dear Prince?"
"W-wait! How do you know this?! How could you possibly know?!"
"Ah, ah, ah. You'll ruin our game if you try skipping ahead. I like foreplay, Naoto, you know that," he joked. He collected the trash and began to leave, walking right past her. "Piece the clues together, Naoto. Maybe you can make sense of it all." The sound of the garbage entering a trashcan was the last sound she heard before he left.
Naoto was left with a lot of questions and even fewer answers than when she started.
Naoto found the young man waiting for her this time. Well, sort of. He was asleep at the Junes, face pressed against a table. Naoto could just imagine the idiotic snot bubble coming from his nose, like out of the pages of one of her childhood mangas. She considered simply leaving him and skipping the date today...only to feel her lip tilt upward as a better idea formed in her mind.
After all, he wasn't going to tell her anything until the date ended, she knew that rule by now. Fine. Allow me to start our 'date,' Narukami.
She walked around him to fetch their lunch for the day. She paid for all of it herself. Pricey, but worth every bit. She walked back over to the sleeping silverette, placing the drinks on the table before holding the tray of food over it. With a slip of the fingers, the tray and Narukami leapt up from the loud bang.
"Wha-?! I'm up! Huh? Who?! What?!" Yu screamed, looking left and right as he stood up. He shook his head, rubbing his eyes as he mumbled incoherently. "Ah...? Huh...?"
Naoto smiled to herself, tilting her hat down a bit to hide the victorious grin. Was this childish? Yes. But did that change the fact that it felt good to push Narukami back after his constant teasing? Absolutely not. Observing the silverette's shocked face and his hilarious attempts to assess the situation while half awake was enjoyable to watch.
"N-Naoto?" He finally realized, before letting out a loud, slow yawn.
"Good morning, Narukami. Welcome back to the land of the living."
"Couldn't have simply kissed me awake, my Prince?" He countered, smiling a bit, though the usual smirk was ruined by the presence of the bags under his eyes.
Naoto rolled her eyes. And there it is again... she thought to herself. She looked down at the table, ensuring the food hadn't made too much of a mess from its small drop. Nothing too bad, a few fries of Narukami's had fallen on the table. Wait...What's that?
Yu's eyes followed her and his smug smirk returned again. "Ah, looking at my sketch book, my Prince?"
"You draw?"
"Yu does." Yu laughed far too much at his own little joke.
Moron, she thought to herself with a sigh.
"Please, look through it. Tell me what you think?"The older boy smiled as he began to unwrap his burger. She knew it was more of a plea for attention than an offer. "You knew my favorite meal? Ahhh...This must be love." Yu placed a hand on his cheek as he took in the fresh aroma of the delicious burger in his hands. She swore she saw him tremble in joy at the burger.
"Its the same thing you ordered last time. Don't be so impressed." Naoto quietly saw across from him, ignoring the sounds of his constant chewing, munching, and slurping of his drink as she looked through his sketch book.
"I just started out. I've always been a fan of mangas, and I thought to myself, 'Hey! Why don't I give it a shot?' And so I did."
Narukami went on, but Naoto didn't really listen. She was too distracted by the drawings themselves. She swore under her breath as she found yet another thing Yu 'Mr. Perfect' Narukami was good at. The sketches inside were well done, detailed, even shaded properly. It was unreasonable that such an arrogant, perverted ass could be so good at so many things! One set of pictures made her stop turning pages though.
"Phoenix Rangers? Really? Aren't you a bit old for such a childish show?" Naoto asked, raising one of her brows as she accused the older boy. The Detective Prince mentally kicked herself. She recognized every Ranger he drew, not to mention several of the monsters...Not that she'd let Narukami know that!
"Hey! One: Phoenix Rangers Feathermen R is one of the BEST shows. Ever. Period. Two: The art direction for the show is amazing. Period. Third: I don't care if the show is marketed towards kids, its awesome."
"Men in spandex swinging plastic swords to hit men in-"
"Period."
He grinned. She frowned. "...In rubber monster suits hardly seems like the work of good fiction." Naoto silently scolded herself for recognizing every drawing he did, from the morphers, to the outfits, to the kid-appeal toy characters, not to mention finding the drawing of Feather Swan especially attractive.
"Feather Swan's my favorite. He's awesome! Smart, cool under pressure, and an excellent marksman." Narukami cocked his finger and 'fired' away at Naoto, shamelessly mimicking Feather Swan's in-show mannerisms. On the other side of the table, Naoto was using the sketchbook to hide her face. She was heavy with thought...
Is it possible Narukami's been following me? So he could try appealing to my my youth? Impossible, I've been so careful with watching Featherman R! He couldn't possibly know...Does he simply have the same favorite character as I do? Feather Swan is, obviously, the best of the Rangers, its not so ridiculous to find he has other fans... Damn it, Naoto! Focus. This changes nothing. He probably doesn't even realize you're a fan of the show, and you certainly won't admit it to him...
Regardless, Naoto admired the well done sketches for a few moments longer, before turning the page to Narukami's latest drawing. Her face immediately turned as red as Feather Hawk's suit. The picture was detailed...very detailed. Both bodies were colored and shaded with colored pencils. The smaller person, laying under the second, had blue hair and the other person, the one on top of the blue haired boy, had shiny, silver hair... Both were covered in sweat and slightly flushed. The figures laid on a bed together. While nothing explicit was shown, the blue haired boy's open mouth and dialogue ("N-Narukami! Please, don't tease me!") and both drawings' flushed faces were all she needed to see.
Naoto stared at the erotic picture for what seemed like an eternity. She wanted to turn away, wanted to scream, wanted to take her gun out and shoot Narukami dead. The young man was talking...or maybe he was screaming at her, she couldn't tell. The image was burned into her eyes as she began to sweat. Her eye twitched. She was finally able to look up at the silverette, who looked back at her.
"Naoto? What's wrong? I've been trying to get your attention for minutes here..." He got out of his seat and walked around the table to get closer to her. As he approached her, his eyes saw the erotic picture...and he turned as red as Feather Hawk too. "N-Naoto! I-I can explain! I promise, I wasn't planning on showing you that image!"
Naoto stood up abruptly, shaking, sweaty hands trembling as she held the sketchbook. Yu rubbed the back of his head, chuckling nervously. "I...suppose that's not the actual problem here, huh?" Without another word, Naoto tore the page out of the sketchbook and began to stomp away, her food untouched. "N-Naoto! Honey! My Prince, come back! I'm sorry! For real this time! Come on, my Glimmering Sapphire! N-Naoto, wait up!"
END
God...Delinquent Yu is so fun to write. Such a jerk, so snarky, and everything is a sexual innuendo with him. Pretty fun. Also, more Yu puns to come.
Sorry for the slight hiatus. Holidays. Hope you guys understand. One somewhat common critique this story has gotten is chapter length. Fair enough. Thus, this chapter is longer for those wanting that kind of thing. Tell me what you think in a nice review! Always fun reading them.