Title: Awkward
Author: shimasama
Pairing: Akane Narita and Subaru Yagi
Fandom: Hot Gimmick
Theme: #20 – the road home
Disclaimer: I do not own Hot Gimmick it belongs to Viz and Miki Aihara.
Their first walk home was awkward, to say the least.
Akane didn't like her new high school uniform. It didn't fit her properly yet, and made her look much younger than she actually was.
When the final bell rang at the end of the day, everyone else seemed to scurry out of the building, only to loiter aimlessly on the front lawn.
The first day of school ritual, it seemed, was to take place on school grounds: the discussion of the day, teachers, students, who was wearing what, etc. Akane was at ease among her friends during this part of the ritual.
Then Subaru and a few of his otaku friends came down the front steps, deep in conversation.
Simultaneously they saw each other even though they were not close. A blush stained Subaru's cheeks and he seemed to lose track of what his friends had been saying.
Akane was a bit more composed. She quickly said goodbye to her friends and strode across the lawn, staring Subaru down with a smile on her face. Subaru's friends all stopped to watch where this pretty girl was heading—and she saw the shock on their faces when they realized she was coming towards them. Being in different schools had kept their relationship more or less a secret. Akane was ready to put it out in the open.
"Hey, Subie-kun," she spoke slowly, ignoring the shocked looks of his two friends. She smiled brightly at him, and he looked down at her-as down as he could, being they were almost the same height-and she saw the ghost of a smile cross his lips. He was still shocked, awkward, and didn't know what to do, but he obviously appreciated her taking the lead.
"H-hey Akane." He answered, and Akane did something to surprise them both. She leaned forward and slipped her hand in his. "Wh-what?" He asked, looking over at his friends, who both had their mouths open.
"Walk me home?" Akane asked simply, tugging on the sleeve of his uniform. Subaru relaxed at the question and shot a goodbye towards his two friends, who still stood staring at them as if they had just grown two heads each.
Other people stared as they left the front lawn. Subaru was awkward, and they bumped shoulders until Akane leaned against him completely, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked. She felt him slowly relax again as they walked down the sidewalk. Far from the school, no one knew how strange this was—a popular freshman with a geeky senior. They just smiled at them as Akane and Subaru neared the apartment complex.
It was awkward, again, for Subaru to walk her to her door. They stood in the elevator with their hands still clasped, for once not fearing what others might say. Subaru leaned easily against the wall of the elevator as it rose, and Akane smiled at how, out from under the scrutiny of the public eye, he was just her Subaru again.
Standing in front of her door while knowing that no one was home was also awkward. Subaru didn't know whether to just leave her there or wait until she had closed the door. And what if he was invited inside? What happened when the Narita family came home?
But there was one thing, on their first walk home, that wasn't awkward. When Akane leaned up the little bit that was needed and kissed Subaru on the lips, he responded without awkwardness. He tightened his grip on her hand and leaned into her, as if this was the most natural thing in the world for both of them. And, really, it was. Maybe not completely natural to Subaru, who still wasn't sure he was any good at it, but natural to them.
When Akane leaned back against her door, Subaru was a tad more awkward than he had been before. He wasn't used to being the one who pressed against the other fully in a kiss. But he let it happen.
And when the kiss was finished, Akane smiled at him and they awkwardly let their hands fall apart. She touched his face once, quickly, before opening her door and floating inside. Subaru watched the door close and sighed.
Maybe walking home wouldn't be completely awkward.