Title: Runaway

Author: shimasama

Pairing: Akane Narita/Subaru Yagi

Fandom: Hot Gimmick

Theme: #4 – our distance and that person

Disclaimer: I don't own Hot Gimmick. It belongs to Viz and Miki Aihara.

When Akane was five years old she ran away from home. It was only for a day, since all she had taken with her was four dollars and her windbreaker. But she had had a lot of fun. She went to the arcade in the middle of what would have been her kindergarten school day. She kept winning tokens to play more games until the pimple-y faced teen at the front counter asked her where her mommy was. She had just stuck out her tongue at him and ran away.

At fifteen, Akane thought she was too old for running away. But when she saw him with some girl from his gaming club, laughing and being, well, happy, she felt the familiar sting in the corners of her eyes. And then she ran. She didn't know where she was going, or what she would do when she got there, but she couldn't stop running.

Ironically, she ended up just inside the door of her family's apartment. Her back was against the door and her hand was clasped around the doorknob.

She heard the quick footsteps a few seconds later, before she had the chance to catch her breath. She knew-or at least, she hoped she knew-who it was. He tried the doorknob, but she had locked the door. She heard him curse and, though he almost never cursed, knew now for sure who it was. The sound of something hitting against the door sent vibrations through the parts of her body that rested against the door. He was knocking his head against the thick wood. When the noise stopped, she could imagine Subaru Yagi with his forehead still against the door, his eyes tightly shut.

"Akane," he moaned through the door, and the girl in question couldn't help blushing, "please open the door."

"No," she whispered, but she knew he heard her.

"Please," he pleaded with her. She shook her head, though she knew he couldn't see her. "Just tell me what I did."

The sound of his voice had made her forget why she was mad at him. And now, she still couldn't remember. Then the images of the girl who made him happier than she did came flashing through her mind.

Just a silly piece of wood stood between them, but it felt like they were at opposite ends of the Great Wall of China. Akane wondered vaguely if this was how Hatsumi felt whenever something got in the way of she and Ryoki. If it was, then Akane could understand Hatsumi's inability to deal with it. But Akane was not Hatsumi. She was much stronger emotionally than her sister was, and she always knew what she wanted.

She slowly opened the door, her back still facing Subaru. He watched the shuddering of her shoulders and immediately knew she was crying. He put his arms around her, noticing how strange it was for him to be the strong of the two for once.

At five years old, Akane had run away from home, only to come back because she had nowhere else to go.

At fifteen, Akane had run away to home, only to wait for that person to come and catch her.

"You don't have to run anymore," Subaru whispered fiercely from behind her, his face buried on her shoulder. "There doesn't have to be distance anymore."

She looked at him over her shoulder, tears still running kisses down her cheeks. "I know," she whispered back. Then she cleared her throat and swallowed, raising her voice a little. "You just make me so jealous sometimes."