Title: The Little Things

Author: shimasama

Pairing: Akane Narita and Subaru Yagi

Fandom: Hot Gimmick

Theme: #14 – radio cassette player

Disclaimer: I do not own Hot Gimmick. It belongs to Viz and Miki Aihara.

"It's a state of bliss, you think you're dreaming

It's the happiness inside that you're feeling

It's so beautiful it makes you want to cry.

This innocence is brilliant."

-"Innocence" by Avril Lavigne

Subaru always seemed to have his headphones on.

In class, which attributed to his poor grades, he managed to sneak one bud into his ear, if not both at the same time. No teacher ever noticed-or if they did, they didn't care enough about his performance to do anything about it. Subaru looked like a nerd, certainly, but he didn't have the grades of one.

It annoyed Akane that he always had his headphones in. The first few times she noticed were for the same reason-she had come by his high school, under the guise of walking home with her sister, in order to start up a chat with him. Prior to their going out, this only frustrated her. She could call out as loud as her lungs could manage, and he would never hear her.

When they began dating, it just made her angry. They never went on official "date," such as going to the movies, but when she walked with him along the shopping center and he still had one headphone it, it drove her crazy. So what if he could hear her?

Akane knew asking would not get it through to Subaru how annoying a boyfriend surgically attached to his headphones was. She knew she couldn't yell at him, either, because Subaru was spooked easily. So a plan formulated in her mind instead of conjugating English verbs in school one day.

"Subaru? Are you listening to me?" Akane asked when she was walking with him home one day. Now that they attended the same school, she always managed to catch him on his way back to the apartment complex.

Subaru only had one headphone in today, and in the ear not facing Akane. He looked at her, startled. "Of course!" He chirped, slightly defensive. Akane stopped, and Subaru did soon after, and he turned to face her completely. "What is it?"

Akane pouted, looking down at their shoes momentarily. "It's just…" She didn't finish; instead, she took a few baby steps forward until they were almost completely pressed together. Subaru's eyes widened just as she looked up into them.

Then, ever so carefully, she hooked her finger around the white headphone cord, and tugged it out of his ear. Without missing a beat, she also leaned up and pressed her lips to his.

Subaru made sure to always have one bud in his ear on their walks home from then on.