fic... :)
TITLE: Trouble With/Or Date
CHARACTERS: Matsumoto Jun, Inoue Mao, Ikuta Toma, Horikita Maki, Aiba Masaki, Becky
PAIRING: Jun/Mao, Toma/Maki, AIba/Becky
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
Summary: White day dates could never be harder as when the troubles starts before and during the date itself…
Author's Note: written for bubbly posted here for the fic exchange in je_whiteday
“You look bad…” Aiba commented the moment Matsumoto Jun entered the dorm room they were sharing.
There was an obvious slump in the shoulders of the latter as he closed the door behind him before dropping his bag on his study table as he headed to his bed. And it wasn’t just his body signs too that supported Aiba’s observation because Jun’s face was dark. Sure, most of the time, there’s a serious look in there but this time, it really is dark. And if it had been anyone else who had made that comment, that person would have surely gained a death glare from the guy.
But since it is Aiba Masaki and Aiba is Jun’s roommate and one of his best friends, Jun simply shrugged when he turned to look at the guy now lying flat on his bed.
“You look worse…” Jun told him.
Because while Aiba still had that smile that seemed to have become a permanent fixture on his face, it still could not completely hide the fact that the guy looked tired, way more tired than he usually is or had ever been before.
Aiba just shrugged though.
“I just got back from the shelter…” he said, referring to the animal shelter near the school campus where he had been volunteering at since they started college. “Two of the regulars called in sick so it was only me, Daigo-kun, Gussan, and Ken-san in there… And it just had to be on the day that two of the animals gave birth and some of the others looked sick…”
“Too bad…” Jun said, not bothering to offer his services. Everyone knew that he and animals don’t really mix, no matter how much he wants it to be otherwise.
“We’re managing though…” Aiba smiled. “The vet came in earlier to check on the new mums and some of the sick ones… I have to leave in a while again though…”
“Becky-chan?” Jun assumed, Becky, the theatre club’s artistic director, being Aiba’s girlfriend of almost a year now.
“No… They’re still busy with their upcoming play…” Aiba replied. “I’m going back to the shelter… They need all hands on deck until at least before midnight…” he added with a shrug. After a few seconds, he added thoughtfully “I’m a bit worried you know…”
“About what?”
“Tomorrow is white day already but I still haven’t figured out how or what to give Becky-chan…” Aiba sighed. “And it also looks like you might not be even spending tomorrow with each other with the way things are going…”
“I’m sure you’ll figure things out before tomorrow…” Jun told him in confidence. “You always do… Or if you really can’t come up with anything, I can always ask Ohchan to reserve one of the tables at The Lounge for you guys…”
“That’s only half the problem…” Aiba sighed. “She hasn’t even told me if she can free herself from theatre duties tomorrow… Thanks for the offer though… I think I’ll call Ohchan myself… How about you and Mao-chan? You went out earlier right? What happened?” he asked, changing topics.
But when Jun just snorted at that, he ended up chuckling. “Let me guess, Toma-kun?” he assumed.
“Yeah… Him… Him and his huge announcement…” Jun replied.
While it isn’t really customary to harbour almost bad feelings towards the relatives of one’s girl friend, especially when that relative just happens to be the favourite cousin of the girl, Jun feels a bit righteous in having a little less than good thoughts towards Mao’s favourite cousin. After all, while Toma did start as a friend, or at least, a good acquaintance of Jun, things started changing especially when Jun realized that the guy had a knack of interrupting his and Mao’s dates and his plans by suddenly appearing, tagging along, or anything he could manage to think of.
“What about this time?” Aiba laughed, knowing full well the relationship between Toma and Jun. They’re not enemies, but they’re not friends too.
“He says he’s got a date tomorrow…” Jun sighed.
“And shouldn’t that be good news already?” Aiba asked incredulously. “That means you’ve got Mao-chan all to yourself tomorrow without her cousin showing up…”
“No and no…” Jun said, pushing himself to sit upright. “Not when he’s dating Maki-chan…”
“Maki-chan?!” Aiba repeated. “As in Horikita Maki-chan? Kame’s Horikita Maki-chan?”
Kame, or Kamenashi Kazuya, is their other best friend and the most financially able of their trio. He’s out of the country at the moment though, studying Business Management in New York for two years. And while the guy is usually considered the snobbier one of all of them, Kame’s particularly protective of people, especially the ones he love.
When Jun simply sighed, Aiba continued ”What did Mao-chan say about it?”
“She’s happy of course…” Jun replied. “She even went as far as volunteering that we go double for tomorrow…”
Aiba whistled. “What did you say?” he asked, but when Jun simply turned to look at him, he ended up laughing. “You said no, but of course, Mao-chan won…” Aiba continued for him. “Well, here’s hoping we both find solutions for both our problems tomorrow…” he said, grabbing his bag as he headed for the door.
“Yeah…” he heard Jun say.
But when he opened the door, he realized that his path is blocked by a human figure standing right outside their door, his hand halfway up, apparently to knock on the door he just opened.
“Toma-kun!” he exclaimed, prompting Jun behind him to growl.
“Oh, Aiba-chan…” Toma smiled. “Heading out for a date?”
“Nah… I’m going to the shelter…” Aiba smiled. “He’s inside…” he said, taking one last look at Jun before continuing on his way out.
“I still remain to be amazed that the animal lover and the man animals love to hate are best friends…” Toma chuckled as he took a couple of steps into the room, his eyes still following Aiba’s back as he stepped further away.
Jun snorted. “Mao isn’t here…” he told Toma instead.
“I know…” Toma smiled, closing the door before sitting on Aiba’s study chair comfortably. “I just called her…”
“Then what are you doing here?” Jun demanded.
Toma simply continued looking at Jun for a while before the smile that was on his lips was replaced by something thoughtful.
“When you said no earlier, there seemed to be something more there than just you not wanting to have to share Mao-chan with anyone tomorrow…” he said. “I’m curious… Why?”
Jun turned to him and glared.
-----
“So you mean you two actually know each other?!” Mao exclaimed, her eyes gaping as she turned to look from Jun, who’s seated next to her, then to the girl seated in front of him and next to Toma.
It’s already white day and the four of them found themselves hanging out at The Lounge, the premier hang out spot conveniently located just a few kilometres from the campus that caters mainly to college students like themselves.
They had just arrived there actually, in separate pairs, and Maki had just finished exclaiming her delight since it’s been a while since she and Jun had seen each other, despite the fact that they’re on the same university. Toma and Maki’s eyes grew wide at those words actually, though Mao’s was more of delight and Toma’s, out of shock and realization.
“Yeah… “ Maki chuckled. “He’s best friends with my brother…”
Turning to her boyfriend, Mao cried, “I never knew Aiba-chan had a sister studying here!”
Still slightly frustrated of the combined fact that he had to go out on a date with another pair and the fact that Toma is taking Maki out, Jun turned to Mao and said dryly “Aiba isn’t my only best friend…”
“You’re brother is Kamenashi?!” Mao exclaimed as realization dawned on her.
“Yeah…” Maki smiled, nodding. “Well, no… Actually, he’s my cousin… But his parents had already officially adopted me years ago… And he’s practically a brother to me already even without that…“
“Oh… Wow…” Mao smiled. “Small world…”
“Yeah…” Toma could only say.
Jun smiled, sensing the sudden unease within the guy who left his door room still with a huge smile the night before despite the fact that he was growling at him.
And then his eyes caught sight of the familiar figure of his best friend entering the establishment. Aiba wasn’t with Becky though, but he also didn’t look like he headed there to wait for his girlfriend. If anything, it looks like he’s the one told to go there. And he couldn’t help but smile more.
-----
When Aiba entered the private booth he had been led when he arrived at The Lounge, he had completely no idea why he was there in the first place.
Well, completely may be going a bit too far. Technically speaking, he knew bits of what he’s doing there, first of which is to wait for his girlfriend who had sent him that message that tells him to meet her there. But what happens after and why there is still completely a mystery to him. After all, Becky’s message only had said to meet her there. Prior to that, Becky had told him that she’s still not sure of what time she could get herself free for the night.
Aiba had already arrived at the conclusion that they’d just be spending the night with a simple dinner there when he finally caught sight of his girlfriend heading towards the their table.
But Becky wasn’t alone. And she didn’t come from the direction of the entrance. She appeared to have emerged from the direction of the kitchen and is now being followed by one of the waiters holding a huge covered tray in his hands. And she had a huge smile on her face.
He was still confused when he stood up to greet her with a soft kiss.
“What’s this?” he ended up asking when the two of them were already seated next to each other, eyeing the tray the waiter had left on their table. “You said you were still busy about an hour ago…”
“Well, I was…” Becky smiled as she reached out to remove the cover of the tray to reveal to him its contents.
“Chinese food?!” Aiba exclaimed, recognizing some of his favorite dishes unveiled in front of him, Zha jiang mian, dimsum and mooncakes to be exact. “But they don’t serve Chinese food here…” he told her.
“They normally don’t…” Becky corrected with a smile. “Ohchan helped me convince the head chef to make an exception for tonight… Mabo-kun agreed when I said I’d help…”
Aiba’s eyes drifted quickly away from the food to his girlfriend’s face the moment he heard those words… “Oh… Becky-chan…” he exclaimed, his heart soaring at everything his girlfriend had just done. “I’m supposed to be the one giving you something tonight… Not the other way around…”
“Well, I knew you’ve been really busy at the shelter and all so I figured I’d do this…” she said, reaching out to caress Aiba’s slightly reddish cheeks.
Aiba couldn’t help but beam at those words as his hand covered hers before leading it to his lips for him to kiss her palm. Becky smiled.
“Besides… I already know you’re giving me something…” she added. At Aiba’s slightly confused look, she added with a chuckle “Gussan slipped when I saw him earlier this morning… I was asking him about the newborns since you said some of the animals gave birth yesterday and he told me you’ve already asked Ken-san’s permission to take one of the newborns for me…”
Aiba’s jaws dropped and he couldn’t help but groan a bit. He really had done what the older shelter regular had told his girlfriend because he knew that Becky’s quite the animal lover too. But he had intended to keep it a secret from her for a bit.
Seeing him look suddenly chagrined, Becky giggled.
“Even if it’s no longer a surprise, I love my gift…” she told him before leaning in to give him a quick peck on the lips.
-----
“You looked suddenly scared when you found out I was Kame’s cousin…” Maki whispered as she and Toma took their seats at the balcony of the theatre where the two of them had decided to head to after the light dinner with Jun and Mao, the pair having declined their invitation to join them. The movie had just actually started when she mentioned that reaction she noticed earlier that night.
“Scared? Me? Of course not…” Toma scoffed. “Why should I be?”
“Oh really?” Maki exclaimed, glancing sideways to take a peek of his reaction. Though Toma’s eyes remained glued to the widescreen, he looked slightly discomforted.
He seemed to have felt her looking at him though since he turned around to meet her gaze. After a few seconds, he admitted “Okay, maybe I’m a bit intimidated… After all, I wasn’t expecting you to have a rich, bossy and domineering cousin…”
Maki chuckled lightly. “Oh come on, Kame’s not that bad… Okay, he may be slightly domineering but he’s not bossy at all!”
“He is…” Toma insisted. “And he’s not just slightly domineering… He’s very domineering… And arrogant too…”
“Kame’s a nice guy...” Maki insisted, pouting a little as she looked back on the screen without really seeing what’s in it. “He has his faults but he’s seriously nice… And to him, I’m his little sister… Is it so hard to believe that he can be nice too? Why did you look so out of it all of a sudden?”
“Well… No…” Toma replied. “You just never said that he was your cousin…”
Turning back to look at Toma again, Maki challenged “Why? Would your decision to ask me out change if I did?”
“No…” Toma replied without a second thought and in a slightly louder voice, causing a few of those around them to reprimand him for the disturbance. Maki couldn’t help but giggle slightly.
“No…” Toma repeated a little less loudly this time. “Not even if I find out that you’re an alien sent here to annihilate earth…” he added with a grin.
Maki couldn’t help but smile as she looked at him for a while.
“That’s cute…” she told him before turning to look at the screen again.
“What? That’s all you’re going to say?” Toma asked playfully, inching closer to her.
“Shhhh!” Maki reprimanded, putting a finger to her lips and putting on the image of someone suddenly concentrated on the show.
Toma chuckled lightly as he too turned to look at the screen but with his arm reaching out to drape itself over Maki’s shoulder. He couldn’t help but grin when Maki didn’t jerk it off and even more when he felt her settling more comfortably to his side.
-----
“Don’t tell me you’re worrying about Maki-chan and Toma-kun…” Mao said as she and Jun walked side by side.
They weren’t really heading to anywhere in particular, as far as she’s concerned. All she knew was that Jun had invited her to go around walking after they left Maki and Toma to head to the movie house themselves.
“No…” Jun replied. “Maki-chan’s very much capable of taking care of herself… I’m worried about your cousin messing up tonight…” he admitted.
“Wait a minute!” Mao exclaimed, stopping on her feet, prompting Jun to stop too. “Are you telling me that you actually want Toma-kun to be successful tonight?” she asked only when she saw him fully looking at her.
Jun looked at her in disbelief for a while before he sighed. “If he messes this one up, it’d be really awkward for me when Kame starts hunting him down considering that he’s your favourite cousin…”
Mao grinned. “So you’re saying that you’re worried of how I’d react if your best friend decides he doesn’t like Toma-kun for his cousin and how you’re going to be caught in between, is that it?”
When Jun shrugged his admittance, Mao’s smile only widened. “Don’t worry…” she told him as walked to him to anchor her arm to his. “If he messes this one up, I wouldn’t interfere… That much…”
Jun chuckled as they resumed their walk as he moved to remove her arm locked to his for him to entwine his fingers to hers.
“Why are we talking about them anyway?” Jun asked.
“I don’t know…” Mao chuckled although the smile that was on her lips had a hint more of glow after he held her hand. “You weren’t talking much…”
“Oh… Sorry about that…” Jun chuckled. “I was trying my best to remember the direction…”
“Direction to what?”
Jun turned to her with a huge smile. “To where…” he corrected before, using the hand still holding hers, he pointed at a certain direction.
Following their fingers, Mao’s eyes widened before she turned back to him in a mix of delight and surprise. A few away from them was an ice cream parlor she’d always been hoping to go to of a brand she’d always loved, Haagen Dazs.
Jun smiled as he shook his head, endearingly, a bit. “I knew you loved it so I thought we’d go there…”
Like a child suddenly seeing Disneyland before her eyes, Mao beamed before leaning over to give Jun a lingering kiss, a kiss he so willingly accepted and responded to.
“I love you…” she told him when that kiss ended.
“More than you love ice cream?” Jun challenged.
When Mao pretended to think about it, Jun’s hands that were just holding her waist encircled itself around it to hold her closer to him, making Mao chuckle.
“Of course…” she said.
“Good…” Jun said with a huge grin, giving her a quick peck on the lips before saying “Let’s go?”
Mao nodded excitedly and grinned.
With their hands entwined once again, they headed towards one of her favourite places with the person she and he loved the most.
-----The END-----
still participating in arashi_on 's fundraiser...
so, if you have a story you've always wanted to read, a prompt you've always had in mind, or a JExgirl pair you've always wanted to see, PM me... :)
CHARACTERS: Matsumoto Jun, Inoue Mao, Ikuta Toma, Horikita Maki, Aiba Masaki, Becky
PAIRING: Jun/Mao, Toma/Maki, AIba/Becky
RATINGS: PG
DISCLAIMER: The only thing i own in this story is the plot...
Summary: White day dates could never be harder as when the troubles starts before and during the date itself…
Author's Note: written for bubbly posted here for the fic exchange in je_whiteday
“You look bad…” Aiba commented the moment Matsumoto Jun entered the dorm room they were sharing.
There was an obvious slump in the shoulders of the latter as he closed the door behind him before dropping his bag on his study table as he headed to his bed. And it wasn’t just his body signs too that supported Aiba’s observation because Jun’s face was dark. Sure, most of the time, there’s a serious look in there but this time, it really is dark. And if it had been anyone else who had made that comment, that person would have surely gained a death glare from the guy.
But since it is Aiba Masaki and Aiba is Jun’s roommate and one of his best friends, Jun simply shrugged when he turned to look at the guy now lying flat on his bed.
“You look worse…” Jun told him.
Because while Aiba still had that smile that seemed to have become a permanent fixture on his face, it still could not completely hide the fact that the guy looked tired, way more tired than he usually is or had ever been before.
Aiba just shrugged though.
“I just got back from the shelter…” he said, referring to the animal shelter near the school campus where he had been volunteering at since they started college. “Two of the regulars called in sick so it was only me, Daigo-kun, Gussan, and Ken-san in there… And it just had to be on the day that two of the animals gave birth and some of the others looked sick…”
“Too bad…” Jun said, not bothering to offer his services. Everyone knew that he and animals don’t really mix, no matter how much he wants it to be otherwise.
“We’re managing though…” Aiba smiled. “The vet came in earlier to check on the new mums and some of the sick ones… I have to leave in a while again though…”
“Becky-chan?” Jun assumed, Becky, the theatre club’s artistic director, being Aiba’s girlfriend of almost a year now.
“No… They’re still busy with their upcoming play…” Aiba replied. “I’m going back to the shelter… They need all hands on deck until at least before midnight…” he added with a shrug. After a few seconds, he added thoughtfully “I’m a bit worried you know…”
“About what?”
“Tomorrow is white day already but I still haven’t figured out how or what to give Becky-chan…” Aiba sighed. “And it also looks like you might not be even spending tomorrow with each other with the way things are going…”
“I’m sure you’ll figure things out before tomorrow…” Jun told him in confidence. “You always do… Or if you really can’t come up with anything, I can always ask Ohchan to reserve one of the tables at The Lounge for you guys…”
“That’s only half the problem…” Aiba sighed. “She hasn’t even told me if she can free herself from theatre duties tomorrow… Thanks for the offer though… I think I’ll call Ohchan myself… How about you and Mao-chan? You went out earlier right? What happened?” he asked, changing topics.
But when Jun just snorted at that, he ended up chuckling. “Let me guess, Toma-kun?” he assumed.
“Yeah… Him… Him and his huge announcement…” Jun replied.
While it isn’t really customary to harbour almost bad feelings towards the relatives of one’s girl friend, especially when that relative just happens to be the favourite cousin of the girl, Jun feels a bit righteous in having a little less than good thoughts towards Mao’s favourite cousin. After all, while Toma did start as a friend, or at least, a good acquaintance of Jun, things started changing especially when Jun realized that the guy had a knack of interrupting his and Mao’s dates and his plans by suddenly appearing, tagging along, or anything he could manage to think of.
“What about this time?” Aiba laughed, knowing full well the relationship between Toma and Jun. They’re not enemies, but they’re not friends too.
“He says he’s got a date tomorrow…” Jun sighed.
“And shouldn’t that be good news already?” Aiba asked incredulously. “That means you’ve got Mao-chan all to yourself tomorrow without her cousin showing up…”
“No and no…” Jun said, pushing himself to sit upright. “Not when he’s dating Maki-chan…”
“Maki-chan?!” Aiba repeated. “As in Horikita Maki-chan? Kame’s Horikita Maki-chan?”
Kame, or Kamenashi Kazuya, is their other best friend and the most financially able of their trio. He’s out of the country at the moment though, studying Business Management in New York for two years. And while the guy is usually considered the snobbier one of all of them, Kame’s particularly protective of people, especially the ones he love.
When Jun simply sighed, Aiba continued ”What did Mao-chan say about it?”
“She’s happy of course…” Jun replied. “She even went as far as volunteering that we go double for tomorrow…”
Aiba whistled. “What did you say?” he asked, but when Jun simply turned to look at him, he ended up laughing. “You said no, but of course, Mao-chan won…” Aiba continued for him. “Well, here’s hoping we both find solutions for both our problems tomorrow…” he said, grabbing his bag as he headed for the door.
“Yeah…” he heard Jun say.
But when he opened the door, he realized that his path is blocked by a human figure standing right outside their door, his hand halfway up, apparently to knock on the door he just opened.
“Toma-kun!” he exclaimed, prompting Jun behind him to growl.
“Oh, Aiba-chan…” Toma smiled. “Heading out for a date?”
“Nah… I’m going to the shelter…” Aiba smiled. “He’s inside…” he said, taking one last look at Jun before continuing on his way out.
“I still remain to be amazed that the animal lover and the man animals love to hate are best friends…” Toma chuckled as he took a couple of steps into the room, his eyes still following Aiba’s back as he stepped further away.
Jun snorted. “Mao isn’t here…” he told Toma instead.
“I know…” Toma smiled, closing the door before sitting on Aiba’s study chair comfortably. “I just called her…”
“Then what are you doing here?” Jun demanded.
Toma simply continued looking at Jun for a while before the smile that was on his lips was replaced by something thoughtful.
“When you said no earlier, there seemed to be something more there than just you not wanting to have to share Mao-chan with anyone tomorrow…” he said. “I’m curious… Why?”
Jun turned to him and glared.
-----
“So you mean you two actually know each other?!” Mao exclaimed, her eyes gaping as she turned to look from Jun, who’s seated next to her, then to the girl seated in front of him and next to Toma.
It’s already white day and the four of them found themselves hanging out at The Lounge, the premier hang out spot conveniently located just a few kilometres from the campus that caters mainly to college students like themselves.
They had just arrived there actually, in separate pairs, and Maki had just finished exclaiming her delight since it’s been a while since she and Jun had seen each other, despite the fact that they’re on the same university. Toma and Maki’s eyes grew wide at those words actually, though Mao’s was more of delight and Toma’s, out of shock and realization.
“Yeah… “ Maki chuckled. “He’s best friends with my brother…”
Turning to her boyfriend, Mao cried, “I never knew Aiba-chan had a sister studying here!”
Still slightly frustrated of the combined fact that he had to go out on a date with another pair and the fact that Toma is taking Maki out, Jun turned to Mao and said dryly “Aiba isn’t my only best friend…”
“You’re brother is Kamenashi?!” Mao exclaimed as realization dawned on her.
“Yeah…” Maki smiled, nodding. “Well, no… Actually, he’s my cousin… But his parents had already officially adopted me years ago… And he’s practically a brother to me already even without that…“
“Oh… Wow…” Mao smiled. “Small world…”
“Yeah…” Toma could only say.
Jun smiled, sensing the sudden unease within the guy who left his door room still with a huge smile the night before despite the fact that he was growling at him.
And then his eyes caught sight of the familiar figure of his best friend entering the establishment. Aiba wasn’t with Becky though, but he also didn’t look like he headed there to wait for his girlfriend. If anything, it looks like he’s the one told to go there. And he couldn’t help but smile more.
-----
When Aiba entered the private booth he had been led when he arrived at The Lounge, he had completely no idea why he was there in the first place.
Well, completely may be going a bit too far. Technically speaking, he knew bits of what he’s doing there, first of which is to wait for his girlfriend who had sent him that message that tells him to meet her there. But what happens after and why there is still completely a mystery to him. After all, Becky’s message only had said to meet her there. Prior to that, Becky had told him that she’s still not sure of what time she could get herself free for the night.
Aiba had already arrived at the conclusion that they’d just be spending the night with a simple dinner there when he finally caught sight of his girlfriend heading towards the their table.
But Becky wasn’t alone. And she didn’t come from the direction of the entrance. She appeared to have emerged from the direction of the kitchen and is now being followed by one of the waiters holding a huge covered tray in his hands. And she had a huge smile on her face.
He was still confused when he stood up to greet her with a soft kiss.
“What’s this?” he ended up asking when the two of them were already seated next to each other, eyeing the tray the waiter had left on their table. “You said you were still busy about an hour ago…”
“Well, I was…” Becky smiled as she reached out to remove the cover of the tray to reveal to him its contents.
“Chinese food?!” Aiba exclaimed, recognizing some of his favorite dishes unveiled in front of him, Zha jiang mian, dimsum and mooncakes to be exact. “But they don’t serve Chinese food here…” he told her.
“They normally don’t…” Becky corrected with a smile. “Ohchan helped me convince the head chef to make an exception for tonight… Mabo-kun agreed when I said I’d help…”
Aiba’s eyes drifted quickly away from the food to his girlfriend’s face the moment he heard those words… “Oh… Becky-chan…” he exclaimed, his heart soaring at everything his girlfriend had just done. “I’m supposed to be the one giving you something tonight… Not the other way around…”
“Well, I knew you’ve been really busy at the shelter and all so I figured I’d do this…” she said, reaching out to caress Aiba’s slightly reddish cheeks.
Aiba couldn’t help but beam at those words as his hand covered hers before leading it to his lips for him to kiss her palm. Becky smiled.
“Besides… I already know you’re giving me something…” she added. At Aiba’s slightly confused look, she added with a chuckle “Gussan slipped when I saw him earlier this morning… I was asking him about the newborns since you said some of the animals gave birth yesterday and he told me you’ve already asked Ken-san’s permission to take one of the newborns for me…”
Aiba’s jaws dropped and he couldn’t help but groan a bit. He really had done what the older shelter regular had told his girlfriend because he knew that Becky’s quite the animal lover too. But he had intended to keep it a secret from her for a bit.
Seeing him look suddenly chagrined, Becky giggled.
“Even if it’s no longer a surprise, I love my gift…” she told him before leaning in to give him a quick peck on the lips.
-----
“You looked suddenly scared when you found out I was Kame’s cousin…” Maki whispered as she and Toma took their seats at the balcony of the theatre where the two of them had decided to head to after the light dinner with Jun and Mao, the pair having declined their invitation to join them. The movie had just actually started when she mentioned that reaction she noticed earlier that night.
“Scared? Me? Of course not…” Toma scoffed. “Why should I be?”
“Oh really?” Maki exclaimed, glancing sideways to take a peek of his reaction. Though Toma’s eyes remained glued to the widescreen, he looked slightly discomforted.
He seemed to have felt her looking at him though since he turned around to meet her gaze. After a few seconds, he admitted “Okay, maybe I’m a bit intimidated… After all, I wasn’t expecting you to have a rich, bossy and domineering cousin…”
Maki chuckled lightly. “Oh come on, Kame’s not that bad… Okay, he may be slightly domineering but he’s not bossy at all!”
“He is…” Toma insisted. “And he’s not just slightly domineering… He’s very domineering… And arrogant too…”
“Kame’s a nice guy...” Maki insisted, pouting a little as she looked back on the screen without really seeing what’s in it. “He has his faults but he’s seriously nice… And to him, I’m his little sister… Is it so hard to believe that he can be nice too? Why did you look so out of it all of a sudden?”
“Well… No…” Toma replied. “You just never said that he was your cousin…”
Turning back to look at Toma again, Maki challenged “Why? Would your decision to ask me out change if I did?”
“No…” Toma replied without a second thought and in a slightly louder voice, causing a few of those around them to reprimand him for the disturbance. Maki couldn’t help but giggle slightly.
“No…” Toma repeated a little less loudly this time. “Not even if I find out that you’re an alien sent here to annihilate earth…” he added with a grin.
Maki couldn’t help but smile as she looked at him for a while.
“That’s cute…” she told him before turning to look at the screen again.
“What? That’s all you’re going to say?” Toma asked playfully, inching closer to her.
“Shhhh!” Maki reprimanded, putting a finger to her lips and putting on the image of someone suddenly concentrated on the show.
Toma chuckled lightly as he too turned to look at the screen but with his arm reaching out to drape itself over Maki’s shoulder. He couldn’t help but grin when Maki didn’t jerk it off and even more when he felt her settling more comfortably to his side.
-----
“Don’t tell me you’re worrying about Maki-chan and Toma-kun…” Mao said as she and Jun walked side by side.
They weren’t really heading to anywhere in particular, as far as she’s concerned. All she knew was that Jun had invited her to go around walking after they left Maki and Toma to head to the movie house themselves.
“No…” Jun replied. “Maki-chan’s very much capable of taking care of herself… I’m worried about your cousin messing up tonight…” he admitted.
“Wait a minute!” Mao exclaimed, stopping on her feet, prompting Jun to stop too. “Are you telling me that you actually want Toma-kun to be successful tonight?” she asked only when she saw him fully looking at her.
Jun looked at her in disbelief for a while before he sighed. “If he messes this one up, it’d be really awkward for me when Kame starts hunting him down considering that he’s your favourite cousin…”
Mao grinned. “So you’re saying that you’re worried of how I’d react if your best friend decides he doesn’t like Toma-kun for his cousin and how you’re going to be caught in between, is that it?”
When Jun shrugged his admittance, Mao’s smile only widened. “Don’t worry…” she told him as walked to him to anchor her arm to his. “If he messes this one up, I wouldn’t interfere… That much…”
Jun chuckled as they resumed their walk as he moved to remove her arm locked to his for him to entwine his fingers to hers.
“Why are we talking about them anyway?” Jun asked.
“I don’t know…” Mao chuckled although the smile that was on her lips had a hint more of glow after he held her hand. “You weren’t talking much…”
“Oh… Sorry about that…” Jun chuckled. “I was trying my best to remember the direction…”
“Direction to what?”
Jun turned to her with a huge smile. “To where…” he corrected before, using the hand still holding hers, he pointed at a certain direction.
Following their fingers, Mao’s eyes widened before she turned back to him in a mix of delight and surprise. A few away from them was an ice cream parlor she’d always been hoping to go to of a brand she’d always loved, Haagen Dazs.
Jun smiled as he shook his head, endearingly, a bit. “I knew you loved it so I thought we’d go there…”
Like a child suddenly seeing Disneyland before her eyes, Mao beamed before leaning over to give Jun a lingering kiss, a kiss he so willingly accepted and responded to.
“I love you…” she told him when that kiss ended.
“More than you love ice cream?” Jun challenged.
When Mao pretended to think about it, Jun’s hands that were just holding her waist encircled itself around it to hold her closer to him, making Mao chuckle.
“Of course…” she said.
“Good…” Jun said with a huge grin, giving her a quick peck on the lips before saying “Let’s go?”
Mao nodded excitedly and grinned.
With their hands entwined once again, they headed towards one of her favourite places with the person she and he loved the most.
-----The END-----
still participating in arashi_on 's fundraiser...
so, if you have a story you've always wanted to read, a prompt you've always had in mind, or a JExgirl pair you've always wanted to see, PM me... :)