a/n: yet another request fic for Shiranai Atsune. by the way, to all of you who wished for it, i'm rather sad to say that i will not be publishing Darker Than Black anytime soon. i have a rather large pile of multichapters to complete, and if any new story is uploaded, it will be mostly oneshots and already completed multichapters. you may have to wait a few months for the sequel to Those Three Words.
disclaimer: i own nothing.
dedication: to the pure, simplistic romance that rarely ever exists.
summary: Like the name suggests, cotton candy is sweet and sticky and capable of turning any pair of self-respecting teenagers into little children. – Shindou/Aoi.
candy swirls
crystals, spun, fragile as glass
"Cotton candy, Aoi?" the teen wrinkled a nose as the vendor took a plastic cone and stuck it into the machine, "Really?" The vendor twisted the cone, wrapping layers of the confectionary sweet around it as the blue-haired girl pressed her face to the glass, watching the sweet in awe as it was spun into fluffy pink clouds.
"Shut up, Taku-kun," Aoi sniffed derisively as she took the cone from the vendor, barely restraining her glee, "You're too much of an old man to understand the joys of cotton candy."
"Old man?" Shindou grumbled, paying the vendor and shooting his girlfriend a dark look, "I'm only a year older than you, Aoi."
"I meant your so-called 'maturity'," Aoi said, making air quotes as she took a bite of the sweet. She moaned as it melted in her mouth, making soft, happy sounds that tested Shindou's already limited patience with his girlfriend.
The fair was crowded – children ran in circles, high on sugar and adrenaline as frazzled parents attempted to keep them in line. Couples wandered, hand in hand, drowning in mountains of stuffed animals, or grumbling with empty wallets.
The booths that were set up called out to passerby, the colorful displays attracting as many customers as the games themselves. In the distance, the Ferris Wheel spun, slow and majestic as it towered over the grounds.
The fair had come to one of the towns that neighbored Inazuma, and was running for two weeks. Shindou had promised to take Aoi and here they were, on a lazy Sunday afternoon, just another two people enjoying the sweet smells and loud noises and undercurrent of excitement that ran through the crowd.
It was the perfect day to be outside – the skies were blue with fluffy white clouds that looked as sweet and sugary as Aoi's candy. The sun shone over the scene, occasionally disappearing behind a crowd. A light breeze blew, dispelling the sticky heat of summer with the smell of freshly-baked cookies and the sharp tang of lemon pops.
"Why don't you try some, Taku?" Aoi held out her half-eaten candy, interrupting Shindou's thoughts. He eyed the pink mass suspiciously and declined, his hand interlocking with Aoi's as they meandered through the crowd without purpose.
However, he missed the mischievous look in his girlfriend's eyes.
Shindou's thoughts had just turned to football, and the realization that he wouldn't be able to practice on this beautiful day, when something sticky landed on his face. Grimacing, Shindou pulled it off of him, eyeing the half-melted sugary snack in disgust.
He turned to look at Aoi, who assumed an innocent expression so perfect it would've fooled almost anyone.
Shindou quietly, deliberately, stuck the cottony mass in her blue hair.
Aoi, as predicted, shrieked and attempted to claw the sticky sweet out of her hair, shooting him filthy looks while she was at it. Unfortunately, she thought in terms of revenge and flung the entire half-eaten blob at him, covering his face with the sickeningly sweet sugar.
Shindou was so shocked that he just stood there for a few minutes, covered in violent pink cotton candy, listening to his girlfriend giggle as she snapped pictures of him and watching passerby slow down and stare at the pink clouds that decorated him like a twisted fairy.
Of course, he quickly regained his senses, and the better part of the afternoon was used in buying up different colors of cotton candy and assaulting Aoi, both of them flinging the sugary snack at each other as they played a game of keep away amongst the increasing crowds.
Shindou and Aoi both walked home, covered in a rainbow of cotton candy, looking like demented unicorns with the vibrant, multicolored fluffs that stuck to their skin, both so happy that they couldn't stop smiling.
"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Aoi asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet as they paused to separate – Shindou to his manor and Aoi to her apartment.
"Ah," he replied, already turning to leave when Aoi darted up and kissed him, her lips sticky, sweet with the cloying taste of artificial sugar.
No, Shindou thought, scooping up a cloud of cotton candy and replicating the taste of his girlfriend's kisses – it really wasn't all that bad.
sugary, sticky, sweet as summer
le fin
a/n: i thought i'd give a literal meaning of 'fluff'. honestly – cotton candy has been the first thing my mind has always jumped to whenever someone writes fluff.