"Ritsu… I would never leave you!! I've never been happier in my life than just being around you! You don't need to try!" Zuka explained.

Ritsu was about to cry at this point.

"I LOVE YOU!" he blurted out.

Chapter 5: "Awkward!"

~next day~

Zuka was in the kitchen making rice balls. She had her back turned towards the door. Ritsu looked into the room from the doorway.

"Good morning Zuka-chan" Ritsu said cheerily.

Zuka jumped, screeching and whipped around holding a hand over her heart.

"Holy shit! Oh…Ritsu…*breathes* you scared the crap out of me!"

"OH MY GOD!!!! I'M SOOOOOO SORRY ZUKA-CHAN!!! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!!!" Ritsu spazzed as he grasped Zuka's hands.

Zuka laughed and held his hands as well, "it's okay Ritsu! You didn't mean it!"

Then she leaned in and kissed him on the nose. Ritsu blushed and smiled smally.

'I'm sooooo lucky to hae such a great girlfriend' he thought.

"Good morning everyone!! Oh my, am I breaking up another romantic moment" Ayame burst in through the door.

-_-# Zuka closed her eyes as an annoyed look spread across her face, vin pulsing on her temples.

'Breathe in, breathe out…I'm going to kill him…no, calm down for Ritsu…damn…' Zuka thought.

Ritsu, still holding her hand, looked at her worried.

'Oh no…please don't get angry…please.'

She looked up at Ayame and smiled [fakely].

"Good morning Ayame-san. How did you sleep?" Zuka stated as cheerful as she could bare.

Ayame blinked then smiled brightly. He ran up and hugged her, she stood frozen in rage.

"Oh my Zuka-chan!! You are finally out f that bad weather blues!! And you're finally coming around and warming up to me!! How absolutely wonderful!!"

Zuka could feel anger boiling in her stomach but for Ritsu's sake, she swallowed down.

"Sure."

Ritsu couldn't help but smile. Zuka was learning to tolerate Ayame! Or she was a good actor. Either way, she wasn't angry. He let out a sigh of relief. Then Ayame skipped out of the room to tell his 'Gure-san'. Zuka turned to Ritsu and closed her eyes again.

"You have no idea how hard it was not to beat him to a pulp."

Ritsu blinked.

"You mean… you were holding it in? Why?" Ritsu asked.

"*opens eyes* For you, silly. I want you to be happy and if I'm fighting, you always seem to worry. So I swallowed my pride and held it in" she explained.

Ritsu was about to cry. He lounged at her, wrapping his arms around her neck, accidentally knocking her into the counter.

"You're the best girlfriend ever!! You're too good for me!! Thank you SOO MUCH!! I LOVE YOU!!" he cried.

Zuka chuckled and smiled, putting one hand on the counter and one hand around his waist.

"I love you too."

~Shigure's Office~

"And then she said 'good morning. How did you sleep?' It was so awesome! She's warming up to me, 'Gure-san!" Ayame exclaimed.

Shigure laughed.

"That's great, Aaya!"

Ayame looked up and sniffled, "I knew it'd just take some time! Everyone warms up to me eventually!"

Shigure smirked perversely, moving next to Ayame.

"Oh yes, that is true. But I'm the one who warms you around you…" he leaned in, kissing him on the neck.

Ayame giggled and wrapped his arms around his 'Gure-san's neck, "oh Shigure! You always know what to say."

And right as Shigure continued to kiss Aaya's neck, Zuka and Ritsu walked in.

... Everyone froze, Zuka and Ritsu wide eyed and blushing, Ayame smiling and Shigure smirking up at them.

"Awkward!" Zuka stated and an out with Ritsu.

Shigure and Ayame chuckled.

~Zuka & Ritsu~

After they were back in the safety o the living room, they stopped running. Ritsu was blushing bright red as Zuka coughed to cover her blush.

"Um…*cough* anyway, maybe we should just leave a not" Zuka offered.

Ritsu nodded. Only moments before…the 'awkward' moment, they had decided to go out and go shopping. So they scribbled a quick note, leaving it on the counter and put on their shoes. Zuka wore a pair of loose jeans, tight red shirt under her trademark hoodie. Ritsu (after borrowing some of Shigure's clothes) wore a light blue button-up shirt, original jeans and a long tan trench coat. It had stopped raining but was still damp.

"Alright! You'll have to show me around…I don't know where to go" Ritsu said shyly, holding hr hand as they walked down the driveway.

"K! No worries just follow me!" Zuka stated and stepped closer to him, causing him to blush.

~In Town~

People stared at the odd couple. Ritsu looked down, frowning. He let go of her hand and stopped. Zuka turned back to him, confused. The more people that whispered about them, the worse Ritsu felt. He felt like he was going to cry.

"Ritsu-kun, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

Ritsu nodded and wiped his tears away, his hair covering his face. When he looked up fake smiling, eyes red and teary, Zuka got angry. She looked at a group of girls who were pointing and whispering. She lost it.

"WHAT?! YOU GOT A PROBLM WITH US?!?! A GIRLFRIEND AND BOYFRIEND CAN'T HOLD HANDS?!?! MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!!!!!" she yelled at them and grabbed Ritsu's hand, storming off.

All of the mouths of the group of girls dropped and they scrambled away. Ritsu, to say the least, was shocked. He just let Zuka drag him to the park. Once they were stopped by the bench by the swing set, he recovered. Zuka was silent and had both fists clenched to the point her knuckles were white. (She had let go of his hand.)

"Those beotches!! They thin they can just judge us without even meeting us! Agh!! I hate people like that!! They get me so MAD!!" and she punched a tree.

"Zuka?...It's okay…you said yourself…don't worry what other people think, as long as you love yourself, that's all that matters…" Ritsu pleaded hugging her from behind.

"Ya, but they mad you cry!! I can't forgive them for that!" she said turning into in the hug wrapping her arms around his waist, "but you're right…come on…let's just finish shopping and go back."

Ritsu smiled and nodded.

~A Store~ 30 minutes later

Zuka again was storming out of the shop with Ritsu in hand.

"Zuka! He didn't say anything to us…please, we should go apologize!"

Zuka was fuming red down the sidewalk. People unfortunate enough not to move, got pushed out of the way. The smarter ones moved right away.

"He deserved it! He was talking about us! I'm not apologizing!" she yelled, dragging them along.

"But you didn't have to push his face into a cake! Zuka!"

Zuka stopped. They were right outside of the entrance to the park. She turned back around.

"Ritsu, do you know who that was?! That jerk was my ex-boyfriend! He cheated on me with 3 girls! He deserved it!!"

Ritsu froze.

'Oh no! I upset her!' Ritsu thought.

"Um…Zuka-chan?...Do you wanna go get some takoyaki? (note: from vol. 8 chap.45)" Ritsu asked suddenly. *Takoyaki-dumpling made with bits of octopus meat

"…Takoyaki? Why takoyaki?" Zuka said suddenly calm.

"Well…you see… back when I first met Tohru, she told me something. That she wanted to find her reason for living in someone else…find someone who will want to eat takoyaki with her than anyone else. And I realized…that I have found someone who I want to eat takoyaki with more than anyone else…so…will you eat takoyaki with me? Because I think that you are my reason for living…" Ritsu stated. (again note: from vol. 8 chap. 45)

Zuka blinked for a second, absorbing what was just said. Her heart was beating fast in her chest.

"I'm your reason for living?"

Ritsu blushed and nodded, "I know we've only known each other a few days but…I feel it…"

He was wringing his hands as Zuka stared at him.

"*smiles* Ritsu…I would love to eat takoyaki with you…more than anyone in this entire world. Because…like you said, you're my reason for living…I'm so glad I mt you Ritsu. You're probably the only reason I'm alive right now. *grabs hand* Let's go find some takoyaki…"

Ritsu smiled feeling a tear run down his face and looked over to see Zuka wiping one from hers.

The End!