It's so awesome. <33`
Hey, guys~!
I just wrote my first ever Hanadan fanfiction. 8DDDDDD;~!!
What's the ship here?
That would be RxK.
...
Yes, you're right, that means Rui x Katie. 8'DDDDDDDDDDD; <33333`
IT'S SO AWESOME, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW.
PLEASE READ ON.
The story begins on the day at the very end of Hana Yori Dango Final, when Rui calls Shizuka to tell her he's over her, and looks at that picture on the day of the wedding with F4 and Tsukushi, before walking out of his room. It goes as far back as a couple of months before all the events in Hana Yori Dango Final start.
The Day During Which Hanazawa Rui Realized That He Actually Loved Katie And Did Not Really Have Any Truly Intense Feelings For Makino Tsukushi After All And Became Verifiably Happy
By Katie Dorrian
Rui looked at the picture of the happy, smiling couple, surrounded by friends. He once again felt the all-too-familiar pain deep in the center of his ribcage, but it was less powerful this time, and he embraced it.
It’s over, he thought. It’s really over. And they’re happy.
Holding the framed photo in his hands, he made a decision. He looked at it, held it up, and whispered one last “I love you” to the girl who had turned his existence around. Then he set the photo down and walked out of his room to do something he had wanted to do for months.
Rui had met Katie one day a year back in a small coffee shop. She was trying to order an iced mocha latte and a ham sandwich, he remembered, but she didn’t know enough Japanese to do so, so she kept saying it in English, hoping the waitress would somehow understand. He could tell she was really trying, so he went up to the waitress and translated for her.
“You speak English?” asked a shocked Katie after the waitress had left.
“Yes, I do,” he had replied. “You don’t speak Japanese?”
“No. Well, no, not really,” she confessed, ashamed. “I’ve been studying on my own, but I have never tried to get by in a real-life situation, and clearly I’m not as good as I thought I was.”
Rui laughed.
“Why are you in Japan, then?” he questioned curiously.
“I’m here to study,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to come to study in Japan, and a chance came up rather suddenly at my school back in America, so I took it. But I don’t suppose I’m very prepared.” She laughed awkwardly.
“What is it you’re studying? Oh, may I sit down?” he added casually.
“Oh, please, go right ahead!” Katie said in a rush. “I’m Katie, by the way,” she said with a nervous smile. Rui smiled back; this girl was cute. “I’m here to study art, and the Japanese language, of course. Mostly, though, I just wanted to be somewhere where I could easily access anything and everything Arashi ever releases…”
This made Rui laugh even harder. He had never in his life met someone who took such a large step in life for such a seemingly small purpose. For whatever reason, he admired that, and it made him all the more interested in this girl.
They proceeded to spend hours that day in the coffee shop, just talking and laughing. Rui had never before felt such an instant connection with another person. He had never spent so long just talking about… everything. It felt… nice.
He even came out and told her all about his unrequited love for Tsukushi, the spunky girlfriend of his own best friend. Even though it was a complicated story, she heard him out and seemed to understand it all. Her sympathy was not condescending; rather, it was comforting to have someone listen and sympathize with all of his troubles. The happy “game face” that Rui consistently put on in front of everyone he knew was gone with Katie. There were no pretences, no acts, no standards to uphold. For the first time in a long time, Rui almost felt as if he could breathe.
“Well,” he said later, “It’s already starting to get dark out. I can’t believe we spent this much time here…”
“…Oh. Oh!” Katie exclaimed worriedly. “I’m sorry! I bet you had something to do, somewhere to be, right? Oh, geez, I’m sorry, I’ve kept you here all day! I was just so happy to meet someone friendly who actually spoke English…”
“No,” Rui laughed. “I really had nothing to do today, nothing at all.” Talking to you gave me a reason to do something other than feel sorry for myself, as usual, he thought. “I enjoyed talking to you. Where are you staying? I’ll walk you home.”
“Ah, okay, thank you so much!” Katie said gratefully.
They left the shop together, walking towards the small, run-down apartment that had been offered to Katie in place of a room in a dormitory.
“I’m sorry my place is so ugly,” Katie laughed. “It’s all they had available. But there’s room enough to cook and to sleep, so it works for me.”
“I think it’s cute,” Rui said. “It has character.”
“Ah, you think so?” Katie replied.
“Yeah. Actually, it kind of reminds me of you, in a way.”
“…What? This reminds you of me? This run-down old place?! That’s mean, Hanazawa-san!” Katie laughed. Rui smiled and looked at her. She looked back, smiled, then looked away quickly, hiding her face. “Well, I should probably let you go!”
“Alright,” Rui said. “Ah, wait-.” He held out his right hand. “Let’s shake hands. This means we have officially become friends, right?” he said with a grin.
Katie, blushing slightly, grinned back and took his hand, shaking it with firm resolution.
“Friends,” she confirmed.
“When is your next day off?” Rui asked. “We should hang out some more. I can buy us food. I am very rich, you know.”
Katie laughed.
“Well, in that case, I would love that. I’m off on Sunday.”
“Well, then, I’ll see you Sunday.” Rui winked. He began walking away, backwards. “Oh, and by the way, don’t call me Hanazawa-san. I’m Rui.”
“Rui…-san?” Katie tried.
“No, just Rui,” he called back, then turned, waved, and walked off.
Rui sometimes wondered if he was too friendly with Katie. Neither of them seemed to have a problem with it, and they both greatly enjoyed the close friendship they had come to share, but Rui was a good listener, and he heard the people around him calling them a “couple.” He mentioned this to Katie once, but she just laughed it off, saying, “Oh, what a nicely-matched couple. A rich, pretty, and highly-eligible Japanese boy and a tall, random American girl who can’t speak Japanese to save her life.”
Though she joked this way, however, Rui knew, as he must, that Katie had feelings for him. She never let it get in the way of their friendship, and always put Rui’s feelings and needs first, but she was not very good at hiding things. Her semester of studying abroad was almost up, but she had found a job in Japan and had decided to continue living there for the time being. Rui knew that she was staying because she loved Japan, but he wondered if there was another reason behind her decision, as well. He worried that being close with her would only end up hurting her if he could never move on from his feelings for Tsukushi. Still, he was too selfish. He couldn’t take himself away from Katie, and their constant companionship was clearly something she did not want to lose, either, weakening his willpower all the more.
The strange thing, though, was that Rui was starting to notice himself preferring Katie’s company over that of Tsukushi. He loved Tsukushi, and that was an undeniable fact. But he also couldn’t deny that where Tsukushi was his drug, Katie was his remedy. He didn’t know what his feelings towards Katie could be defined as, but Rui knew that being around her was not only comforting, but healing. He felt almost happy when he was with her, and that feeling lasted for progressively longer and longer periods of time after they parted. Being with Tsukushi was always perfect during, but afterwards left him feeling lonely and sick. Between the two, he often chose the former.
I suppose maybe I’m relying on her too much, he thought to himself. I shouldn’t be doing this. But I don’t know how to stop.
It was that night on the boat that made him realize it. Rui was with his friends, and Tsukushi, on a boat, helping Tsukushi and her fiancée, Tsukasa, find a certain crown that would “guarantee their marital happiness.” It was all a test, and Rui was part of the planning. He and his friends had cooperated with Tsukasa’s family to put this couple’s relationship to the test before they tied the knot, hoping to make their feelings stronger and more definite before they made the final commitment. It pained Rui, of course, but he knew it was all for the sake of the couple’s happiness, and for that, he would do anything.
He had been talking to Tsukasa on the roof of the boat when he suddenly realized just how very much his best friend was in love with Tsukushi. Something clicked inside him, and, for whatever reason, he was finally able to accept that he would never be with the girl he loved.
And, because she had Tsukasa, that was okay.
Rui startled himself with this new realization, and sat alone, confused, trying to bring himself to think something coherent. He couldn’t make sense of his thoughts, and was having a very hard time figuring out exactly what the images floating through his mind were. Then, suddenly, the biggest image became clear.
It was Katie.
She was smiling and laughing. Then it changed, and it was her again, eating enthusiastically like she always did. It changed again, and it was Katie falling asleep in the passenger seat of his car.
What is this? he thought frantically. Why is she appearing in my brain? I only saw her a couple of days ago. Why am I thinking about her now?
At this moment, Rui abruptly came to his second major conclusion of the night.
“I like her.”
Tsukushi soon took on the Domyouji name, Rui playing the part of the minister and sealing the couple’s happiness. Katie had helped Rui prepare for the wedding, wishing him luck beforehand and waiting for him in their favorite café afterwards.
It was on this night that Rui decided he needed to say something important. In the middle of their conversation about the wedding, he suddenly changed the subject.
“Katie, there’s something I need you to know.” He paused, looking at her, judging her response. When he confirmed for himself that she seemed willing to listen, he continued. “I like you.”
He waited a moment for her response to that. She simply sat still, looking back at him.
“…But I…” said Katie hesitantly. “…I thought… What about Tsukushi?”
“I still love her,” Rui admitted. “I think that will take a long time to fade. But I just wanted you to know that…I care for you, too.”
“…Oh,” Katie murmured quietly. “I… um. Thank you. I, um…I care for you, too. A lot.”
They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. Katie forced awkward laughter once, prompting Rui to take it one step further.
“I fully intend to get over Tsukushi,” he said decisively. “It will happen. And when it does, I am going to devote myself to making you happy.”
Katie, in the middle of a sip of coffee, choked. The drink went everywhere.
“Oh, ew, gross,” Rui laughed to a still-coughing Katie. “Are you okay? Here.” He quickly stood up to slide into the seat next to Katie, pounding her on the back in an attempt to stop her choking. Handing her his handkerchief, he said, “After you stop dying, I should take you home. You’ll want to get changed into something a little less covered in regurgitated coffee, I think.”
She nodded, clearing her throat before taking a drink of water. Rui chuckled. He left a bill worth much more than their drinks had cost on the table, stood up, and held out his hand, looking at Katie expectantly. She took it, her face pink from a combination of embarrassment, happiness, and choking on coffee. The two left the café, both much happier than they had been upon entering it.
One year passed, and Rui and Katie continued their friendship, never moving past the in-between stage to which they had come on the night of the Domyouji wedding. Rui never pushed further than he thought he should, having still not lost his feelings for Tsukushi; Katie never asked for more than he was willing to offer. It continued this way until a calm day in September, when Rui, staring at the photograph of his friends, Tsukushi, and himself taken the day of the wedding, felt something click inside of him. It was time.
He set the photo down and let his feet lead him down the path he had traveled so many times over the past year. When he arrived, he looked up at the ramshackle place Katie called home here in Japan, and without hesitation climbed the stairs to her room on the second floor. He knocked on the door.
“Ah, one minute, please!” she called from inside, in Japanese. Rui laughed quietly to himself. He had taught her some key phrases in Japanese, but this and “pass the salt” seemed to be the only ones she ever remembered. Shuffling sounds could be heard, and then a loud, rather unpleasant noise, followed by an irritated exclamation of pain and a curse word or two.
“Sorry about that, I tripped and knocked over the lamp,” she said worriedly as she undid the chain lock on the door. “What can I-oh! Rui! It’s you!” she exclaimed, suddenly switching to English and grinning upon seeing his face. He walked towards her, making her back into the apartment, and shut the door behind him. Katie suddenly got nervous. She began rambling, “Hey, you’re just in time! I was just making a baked potato. The potatoes down at the store were really, really cheap yesterday and I bought a ton. Oh, geez, I hope they don’t go bad, I didn’t think about that… If you want one I can throw another one in and it’ll be done in about-”
Rui didn’t let her finish. He bent down and, holding her face in his hands, kissed her, gently but resolutely. Katie didn’t move. The kiss lasted no longer than five seconds before he pulled himself away from the stunned and dazed Katie, and, softly brushing her bangs away from her eyes, finally told her what he knew she had been waiting for a year and a half to hear, and what he had been waiting almost equally long to say.
“I love you, Katie. I love you.”
Katie smiled, tearing up a little, and said, “I love you too, Rui. I always have.” She reached up and touched his cheek, looking at his face in disbelief and liberation, laughing softly, tears now freely flowing down her face. Rui wiped the wetness off her cheeks, grinned, and said, “I know,” making Katie laugh a little more.
They stared at each other, both cherishing the moment for which they’d longed for so long. Then, at the same time, they moved into each other, their lips locking more certainly this time. Rui moved his arm to hold Katie’s waist, the other holding her head, and Katie had moved both of her arms around his neck. They kissed triumphantly, joyfully. They belonged with each other. Now they belonged to each other, too. Both felt whole and protected for the first time in their lives, and it felt better than they had ever imagined.
The two were still very happily entwined when Rui suddenly pulled away.
“…Um. I think something’s burning,” he said, wrinkling his nose. Katie took a minute to snap back into awareness, looking around the room confusedly.
“Oh, crap!” she realized. “My potato! No!”
She ran off to rescue her burning lunch while Rui followed her, laughing like it was the funniest thing to have happened in a long time. When Katie turned off the oven and opened the door, she saw that her potato had turned black. Rui began laughing so hard he doubled over next to the tiny, one-person table shoved into Katie’s cramped apartment. The amount that he was laughing made Katie laugh in turn, despite the fact that her potato was no longer edible.
“Tsk, look what you did, now I have no lunch,” she stated, pouting jokingly. Rui recovered himself enough to shut the oven door before grabbing Katie around the waist from behind and pulling her into his arms.
“Hmm, I’m sorry. I guess I could buy you lunch. I am very rich, after all.” He grinned down at her, and she replied with a mimicking expression. “Plus, you did tell me you love me. That should be worth a lunch,” he teased.
“A lunch?” Katie scoffed. “One?! I think that should be worth a lifetime of meals, at the very least.”
“Ah, okay, I guess that works, too,” he said smilingly. “A lifetime of meals it is. You can have everything you want. Just not liverwurst, because that stuff is disgusting. No matter how much I love you, I am never allowing that to be anywhere near me. Now go get your jacket, it’s chilly outside.”
“M’kay!”
They walked out the door hand in hand, chattering contently.
“You know, that was my first kiss,” Katie commented.
“…Wait, what? Seriously? That was your first?”
“Yep.”
“I was your first kiss?”
“Yep. What, are you proud, or something?” She jokingly punched him on the arm.
“Maybe a little bit. No, okay, a lot,” he smirked. “Oh, and also, ow.”
Katie giggled. Then she suddenly stopped, causing Rui to turn around questioningly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, a slightly surprised look on his face.
“Ah, nothing, just…what you said back at the apartment. About a lifetime of meals.”
“Hmm? What about it?”
“Did you really mean that? Do you really mean…a ‘lifetime’?”
Rui smiled softly, standing directly in front of her and taking both of her hands in his.
“Yes, I did,” he said calmly, looking directly into her eyes. “I meant a lifetime. I want to be with you for the rest of my life.”
Katie beamed and leapt up to hug him. He laughed, picked her up, and spun her around a few times, causing her to shriek.
“No, I’m going to get sick! Put me down!” she laughed breathlessly. He obediently set her down, but did not let go of her.
“I love you,” Rui said sincerely.
“I love you, too,” Katie said back.
“Let’s go get food,” he said, equally sincerely.
“Okay! What should we get?”
“Hmm, I don’t know,” he pondered. “How about an iced mocha latte and a ham sandwich?”
Katie laughed and agreed, and Rui took her left hand in his right. They walked off together, discussing food, childhood dreams, sweaters, and their outrage at the fact that Ikuta Toma was still a Johnny’s Junior, both truly happy for the first time either of them could remember.
...What did you think? 8'DD;;
Long, right?
Self-gratifying, right?
Weird, right?
...Great, because that's exactly what I was going for!
-shot-
...
Hahahahahaha. X'DDDDDDDDDDDDD;;;
I really needed to get this out of my system, hahaha~. It was really fun. I've never actually written fanfiction before-at least, not with as much dedication as I did this. TwT; <3`
...
Please don't kill me, guys. LOL.
I just wrote my first ever Hanadan fanfiction. 8DDDDDD;~!!
What's the ship here?
That would be RxK.
...
Yes, you're right, that means Rui x Katie. 8'DDDDDDDDDDD; <33333`
IT'S SO AWESOME, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW.
PLEASE READ ON.
The story begins on the day at the very end of Hana Yori Dango Final, when Rui calls Shizuka to tell her he's over her, and looks at that picture on the day of the wedding with F4 and Tsukushi, before walking out of his room. It goes as far back as a couple of months before all the events in Hana Yori Dango Final start.
The Day During Which Hanazawa Rui Realized That He Actually Loved Katie And Did Not Really Have Any Truly Intense Feelings For Makino Tsukushi After All And Became Verifiably Happy
By Katie Dorrian
Rui looked at the picture of the happy, smiling couple, surrounded by friends. He once again felt the all-too-familiar pain deep in the center of his ribcage, but it was less powerful this time, and he embraced it.
It’s over, he thought. It’s really over. And they’re happy.
Holding the framed photo in his hands, he made a decision. He looked at it, held it up, and whispered one last “I love you” to the girl who had turned his existence around. Then he set the photo down and walked out of his room to do something he had wanted to do for months.
Rui had met Katie one day a year back in a small coffee shop. She was trying to order an iced mocha latte and a ham sandwich, he remembered, but she didn’t know enough Japanese to do so, so she kept saying it in English, hoping the waitress would somehow understand. He could tell she was really trying, so he went up to the waitress and translated for her.
“You speak English?” asked a shocked Katie after the waitress had left.
“Yes, I do,” he had replied. “You don’t speak Japanese?”
“No. Well, no, not really,” she confessed, ashamed. “I’ve been studying on my own, but I have never tried to get by in a real-life situation, and clearly I’m not as good as I thought I was.”
Rui laughed.
“Why are you in Japan, then?” he questioned curiously.
“I’m here to study,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to come to study in Japan, and a chance came up rather suddenly at my school back in America, so I took it. But I don’t suppose I’m very prepared.” She laughed awkwardly.
“What is it you’re studying? Oh, may I sit down?” he added casually.
“Oh, please, go right ahead!” Katie said in a rush. “I’m Katie, by the way,” she said with a nervous smile. Rui smiled back; this girl was cute. “I’m here to study art, and the Japanese language, of course. Mostly, though, I just wanted to be somewhere where I could easily access anything and everything Arashi ever releases…”
This made Rui laugh even harder. He had never in his life met someone who took such a large step in life for such a seemingly small purpose. For whatever reason, he admired that, and it made him all the more interested in this girl.
They proceeded to spend hours that day in the coffee shop, just talking and laughing. Rui had never before felt such an instant connection with another person. He had never spent so long just talking about… everything. It felt… nice.
He even came out and told her all about his unrequited love for Tsukushi, the spunky girlfriend of his own best friend. Even though it was a complicated story, she heard him out and seemed to understand it all. Her sympathy was not condescending; rather, it was comforting to have someone listen and sympathize with all of his troubles. The happy “game face” that Rui consistently put on in front of everyone he knew was gone with Katie. There were no pretences, no acts, no standards to uphold. For the first time in a long time, Rui almost felt as if he could breathe.
“Well,” he said later, “It’s already starting to get dark out. I can’t believe we spent this much time here…”
“…Oh. Oh!” Katie exclaimed worriedly. “I’m sorry! I bet you had something to do, somewhere to be, right? Oh, geez, I’m sorry, I’ve kept you here all day! I was just so happy to meet someone friendly who actually spoke English…”
“No,” Rui laughed. “I really had nothing to do today, nothing at all.” Talking to you gave me a reason to do something other than feel sorry for myself, as usual, he thought. “I enjoyed talking to you. Where are you staying? I’ll walk you home.”
“Ah, okay, thank you so much!” Katie said gratefully.
They left the shop together, walking towards the small, run-down apartment that had been offered to Katie in place of a room in a dormitory.
“I’m sorry my place is so ugly,” Katie laughed. “It’s all they had available. But there’s room enough to cook and to sleep, so it works for me.”
“I think it’s cute,” Rui said. “It has character.”
“Ah, you think so?” Katie replied.
“Yeah. Actually, it kind of reminds me of you, in a way.”
“…What? This reminds you of me? This run-down old place?! That’s mean, Hanazawa-san!” Katie laughed. Rui smiled and looked at her. She looked back, smiled, then looked away quickly, hiding her face. “Well, I should probably let you go!”
“Alright,” Rui said. “Ah, wait-.” He held out his right hand. “Let’s shake hands. This means we have officially become friends, right?” he said with a grin.
Katie, blushing slightly, grinned back and took his hand, shaking it with firm resolution.
“Friends,” she confirmed.
“When is your next day off?” Rui asked. “We should hang out some more. I can buy us food. I am very rich, you know.”
Katie laughed.
“Well, in that case, I would love that. I’m off on Sunday.”
“Well, then, I’ll see you Sunday.” Rui winked. He began walking away, backwards. “Oh, and by the way, don’t call me Hanazawa-san. I’m Rui.”
“Rui…-san?” Katie tried.
“No, just Rui,” he called back, then turned, waved, and walked off.
Rui sometimes wondered if he was too friendly with Katie. Neither of them seemed to have a problem with it, and they both greatly enjoyed the close friendship they had come to share, but Rui was a good listener, and he heard the people around him calling them a “couple.” He mentioned this to Katie once, but she just laughed it off, saying, “Oh, what a nicely-matched couple. A rich, pretty, and highly-eligible Japanese boy and a tall, random American girl who can’t speak Japanese to save her life.”
Though she joked this way, however, Rui knew, as he must, that Katie had feelings for him. She never let it get in the way of their friendship, and always put Rui’s feelings and needs first, but she was not very good at hiding things. Her semester of studying abroad was almost up, but she had found a job in Japan and had decided to continue living there for the time being. Rui knew that she was staying because she loved Japan, but he wondered if there was another reason behind her decision, as well. He worried that being close with her would only end up hurting her if he could never move on from his feelings for Tsukushi. Still, he was too selfish. He couldn’t take himself away from Katie, and their constant companionship was clearly something she did not want to lose, either, weakening his willpower all the more.
The strange thing, though, was that Rui was starting to notice himself preferring Katie’s company over that of Tsukushi. He loved Tsukushi, and that was an undeniable fact. But he also couldn’t deny that where Tsukushi was his drug, Katie was his remedy. He didn’t know what his feelings towards Katie could be defined as, but Rui knew that being around her was not only comforting, but healing. He felt almost happy when he was with her, and that feeling lasted for progressively longer and longer periods of time after they parted. Being with Tsukushi was always perfect during, but afterwards left him feeling lonely and sick. Between the two, he often chose the former.
I suppose maybe I’m relying on her too much, he thought to himself. I shouldn’t be doing this. But I don’t know how to stop.
It was that night on the boat that made him realize it. Rui was with his friends, and Tsukushi, on a boat, helping Tsukushi and her fiancée, Tsukasa, find a certain crown that would “guarantee their marital happiness.” It was all a test, and Rui was part of the planning. He and his friends had cooperated with Tsukasa’s family to put this couple’s relationship to the test before they tied the knot, hoping to make their feelings stronger and more definite before they made the final commitment. It pained Rui, of course, but he knew it was all for the sake of the couple’s happiness, and for that, he would do anything.
He had been talking to Tsukasa on the roof of the boat when he suddenly realized just how very much his best friend was in love with Tsukushi. Something clicked inside him, and, for whatever reason, he was finally able to accept that he would never be with the girl he loved.
And, because she had Tsukasa, that was okay.
Rui startled himself with this new realization, and sat alone, confused, trying to bring himself to think something coherent. He couldn’t make sense of his thoughts, and was having a very hard time figuring out exactly what the images floating through his mind were. Then, suddenly, the biggest image became clear.
It was Katie.
She was smiling and laughing. Then it changed, and it was her again, eating enthusiastically like she always did. It changed again, and it was Katie falling asleep in the passenger seat of his car.
What is this? he thought frantically. Why is she appearing in my brain? I only saw her a couple of days ago. Why am I thinking about her now?
At this moment, Rui abruptly came to his second major conclusion of the night.
“I like her.”
Tsukushi soon took on the Domyouji name, Rui playing the part of the minister and sealing the couple’s happiness. Katie had helped Rui prepare for the wedding, wishing him luck beforehand and waiting for him in their favorite café afterwards.
It was on this night that Rui decided he needed to say something important. In the middle of their conversation about the wedding, he suddenly changed the subject.
“Katie, there’s something I need you to know.” He paused, looking at her, judging her response. When he confirmed for himself that she seemed willing to listen, he continued. “I like you.”
He waited a moment for her response to that. She simply sat still, looking back at him.
“…But I…” said Katie hesitantly. “…I thought… What about Tsukushi?”
“I still love her,” Rui admitted. “I think that will take a long time to fade. But I just wanted you to know that…I care for you, too.”
“…Oh,” Katie murmured quietly. “I… um. Thank you. I, um…I care for you, too. A lot.”
They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. Katie forced awkward laughter once, prompting Rui to take it one step further.
“I fully intend to get over Tsukushi,” he said decisively. “It will happen. And when it does, I am going to devote myself to making you happy.”
Katie, in the middle of a sip of coffee, choked. The drink went everywhere.
“Oh, ew, gross,” Rui laughed to a still-coughing Katie. “Are you okay? Here.” He quickly stood up to slide into the seat next to Katie, pounding her on the back in an attempt to stop her choking. Handing her his handkerchief, he said, “After you stop dying, I should take you home. You’ll want to get changed into something a little less covered in regurgitated coffee, I think.”
She nodded, clearing her throat before taking a drink of water. Rui chuckled. He left a bill worth much more than their drinks had cost on the table, stood up, and held out his hand, looking at Katie expectantly. She took it, her face pink from a combination of embarrassment, happiness, and choking on coffee. The two left the café, both much happier than they had been upon entering it.
One year passed, and Rui and Katie continued their friendship, never moving past the in-between stage to which they had come on the night of the Domyouji wedding. Rui never pushed further than he thought he should, having still not lost his feelings for Tsukushi; Katie never asked for more than he was willing to offer. It continued this way until a calm day in September, when Rui, staring at the photograph of his friends, Tsukushi, and himself taken the day of the wedding, felt something click inside of him. It was time.
He set the photo down and let his feet lead him down the path he had traveled so many times over the past year. When he arrived, he looked up at the ramshackle place Katie called home here in Japan, and without hesitation climbed the stairs to her room on the second floor. He knocked on the door.
“Ah, one minute, please!” she called from inside, in Japanese. Rui laughed quietly to himself. He had taught her some key phrases in Japanese, but this and “pass the salt” seemed to be the only ones she ever remembered. Shuffling sounds could be heard, and then a loud, rather unpleasant noise, followed by an irritated exclamation of pain and a curse word or two.
“Sorry about that, I tripped and knocked over the lamp,” she said worriedly as she undid the chain lock on the door. “What can I-oh! Rui! It’s you!” she exclaimed, suddenly switching to English and grinning upon seeing his face. He walked towards her, making her back into the apartment, and shut the door behind him. Katie suddenly got nervous. She began rambling, “Hey, you’re just in time! I was just making a baked potato. The potatoes down at the store were really, really cheap yesterday and I bought a ton. Oh, geez, I hope they don’t go bad, I didn’t think about that… If you want one I can throw another one in and it’ll be done in about-”
Rui didn’t let her finish. He bent down and, holding her face in his hands, kissed her, gently but resolutely. Katie didn’t move. The kiss lasted no longer than five seconds before he pulled himself away from the stunned and dazed Katie, and, softly brushing her bangs away from her eyes, finally told her what he knew she had been waiting for a year and a half to hear, and what he had been waiting almost equally long to say.
“I love you, Katie. I love you.”
Katie smiled, tearing up a little, and said, “I love you too, Rui. I always have.” She reached up and touched his cheek, looking at his face in disbelief and liberation, laughing softly, tears now freely flowing down her face. Rui wiped the wetness off her cheeks, grinned, and said, “I know,” making Katie laugh a little more.
They stared at each other, both cherishing the moment for which they’d longed for so long. Then, at the same time, they moved into each other, their lips locking more certainly this time. Rui moved his arm to hold Katie’s waist, the other holding her head, and Katie had moved both of her arms around his neck. They kissed triumphantly, joyfully. They belonged with each other. Now they belonged to each other, too. Both felt whole and protected for the first time in their lives, and it felt better than they had ever imagined.
The two were still very happily entwined when Rui suddenly pulled away.
“…Um. I think something’s burning,” he said, wrinkling his nose. Katie took a minute to snap back into awareness, looking around the room confusedly.
“Oh, crap!” she realized. “My potato! No!”
She ran off to rescue her burning lunch while Rui followed her, laughing like it was the funniest thing to have happened in a long time. When Katie turned off the oven and opened the door, she saw that her potato had turned black. Rui began laughing so hard he doubled over next to the tiny, one-person table shoved into Katie’s cramped apartment. The amount that he was laughing made Katie laugh in turn, despite the fact that her potato was no longer edible.
“Tsk, look what you did, now I have no lunch,” she stated, pouting jokingly. Rui recovered himself enough to shut the oven door before grabbing Katie around the waist from behind and pulling her into his arms.
“Hmm, I’m sorry. I guess I could buy you lunch. I am very rich, after all.” He grinned down at her, and she replied with a mimicking expression. “Plus, you did tell me you love me. That should be worth a lunch,” he teased.
“A lunch?” Katie scoffed. “One?! I think that should be worth a lifetime of meals, at the very least.”
“Ah, okay, I guess that works, too,” he said smilingly. “A lifetime of meals it is. You can have everything you want. Just not liverwurst, because that stuff is disgusting. No matter how much I love you, I am never allowing that to be anywhere near me. Now go get your jacket, it’s chilly outside.”
“M’kay!”
They walked out the door hand in hand, chattering contently.
“You know, that was my first kiss,” Katie commented.
“…Wait, what? Seriously? That was your first?”
“Yep.”
“I was your first kiss?”
“Yep. What, are you proud, or something?” She jokingly punched him on the arm.
“Maybe a little bit. No, okay, a lot,” he smirked. “Oh, and also, ow.”
Katie giggled. Then she suddenly stopped, causing Rui to turn around questioningly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, a slightly surprised look on his face.
“Ah, nothing, just…what you said back at the apartment. About a lifetime of meals.”
“Hmm? What about it?”
“Did you really mean that? Do you really mean…a ‘lifetime’?”
Rui smiled softly, standing directly in front of her and taking both of her hands in his.
“Yes, I did,” he said calmly, looking directly into her eyes. “I meant a lifetime. I want to be with you for the rest of my life.”
Katie beamed and leapt up to hug him. He laughed, picked her up, and spun her around a few times, causing her to shriek.
“No, I’m going to get sick! Put me down!” she laughed breathlessly. He obediently set her down, but did not let go of her.
“I love you,” Rui said sincerely.
“I love you, too,” Katie said back.
“Let’s go get food,” he said, equally sincerely.
“Okay! What should we get?”
“Hmm, I don’t know,” he pondered. “How about an iced mocha latte and a ham sandwich?”
Katie laughed and agreed, and Rui took her left hand in his right. They walked off together, discussing food, childhood dreams, sweaters, and their outrage at the fact that Ikuta Toma was still a Johnny’s Junior, both truly happy for the first time either of them could remember.
...What did you think? 8'DD;;
Long, right?
Self-gratifying, right?
Weird, right?
...Great, because that's exactly what I was going for!
-shot-
...
Hahahahahaha. X'DDDDDDDDDDDDD;;;
I really needed to get this out of my system, hahaha~. It was really fun. I've never actually written fanfiction before-at least, not with as much dedication as I did this. TwT; <3`
...
Please don't kill me, guys. LOL.