Trouble
Title: Trouble
Rating: PG
Fandom/Pairing: Kobato (Fujimoto+Kobato)
(Personal) Challenge: Seasonal (Summer 2007/2008) -- Beer
Summary: Heat+Beer=?
Warnings: None really, except for crossover characters and possible under-age drinking (but that’s up for debate)
Author’s Notes: I am venturing into un-chartered territory here. I’m not really happy with it, but hey, it’s a first attempt.
Fujimoto wasn’t sure how he’d gotten himself into this mess, but he was definitely sure he’d avoid it at all costs in the future.
On his futon was a pink-cheeked and blissfully drunk girl. He frowned when he noticed her drool seeping into the pillow and sighed to himself. It had been just under a year now since she’d barrelled into his life - a girl whose naïveté got her into far too much trouble; a girl whose bravery could be described as both incredible and stupid; a girl who somehow managed to affect him almost as much as Sayaka-sensei, and without even trying. For the first time in many, many years someone had gotten past his defences without his realising it until it was too late.
So yes, he could grudgingly admit to himself (and only to himself) that he cared about her, and that was probably why he’d taken it upon himself to make sure she was looked after today - evidently she couldn’t do a very good job of it herself, as she proved earlier that day.
***
Choruses of “It’s soooo hot!” filled the air, many a grateful adult taking a sample of the beer. Suzuhara-san and Kizaki-san seemed to have some unexplainable immunity to the heat, cheerily handing out their samples as they had the previous year. It would have been a rather uneventful repetitive summer’s day if his ears hadn’t pricked at the sound of a rather familiar keening wail that joined the rest of the public’s objections to the humidity. He glanced up, wondering where she was, but was unable to spot her. He began to wonder if he’d been imagining things until there were several cries of alarm a few meters to his left.
“Oh my!”
“Is she alright?”
“Someone help! This girl’s collapsed!!”
Suzuhara-san and Kizaki-san were left staring in confusion after Fujimoto as he dashed over to where a small crowd was gathering to investigate. Sure enough, that familiar form was collapsed on the ground - her hat was wonky, her hair going every which direction… and that weird plushie was sitting in her pocket. He frowned and crouched next to her, ignoring the people surrounding them, and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. Damn, she was burning up! He shook her gently. “Hey. Hanato-san.”
“Do you know this girl?” a middle-aged woman kneeling on the other side of Kobato’s collapsed form asked.
Fujimoto nodded without bothering to further reply. He shook her again - still nothing. Scrunching his eyebrows, he thought for a moment then pressed the ice-cold beer can he’d forgotten he was holding to her cheek. Red-brown eyes flew open in shock and she squealed, “COLD!” She sat up so fast that their foreheads knocked. Kobato cried out in pain; Fujimoto swore under his breath.
Kobato blinked. “Fujimoto-san?”
“Young miss, are you alright?” the woman cried. “You collapsed! And on the concrete! We need to check your head and make sure you-“
“OH! No-no-no!! I’m fine, really!” Kobato held her hat on with one hand, waving the other dismissively and smiling that ridiculously innocent smile. It was then that she noticed he was now holding the can of beer to his forehead, and she gasped. “Oh no! Are you alright Fujimoto-san??” Those eyes, those damn concerned eyes, they could make him blush; he scowled instead.
“What about your head, clumsy?”
She gingerly touched her fingers to her temple, pressing until she winced. He handed her the beer. “Here. Until we can get you an ice pack that’ll have to do.”
She held it in her hands like a treasure, sparkling. “Thank you so much Fujimoto-san!” Before he could fight back another blush she had opened the can and was chugging it back. His jaw dropped and he was momentarily flabbergasted. The crowd murmured in concern and disapproval.
“Wha--? NO!” He grabbed the can off her before she could finish it. “I didn’t mean drink it!”
Confused, Kobato looked at him. “But that’s what you do with beer-san, isn’t it?”
“Are you even old enough to drink?”
Another bright smile. “I’m just short of one century!”
Someone in the crowd whispered “She’s drunk already!”
Growling, Fujimoto grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. She wavered. “Why is the world spinning?”
Covering his face with his hand, he groaned.
He’d had to take her home after that, leaving the girls in charge of the stand until Kinomoto-san arrived to replace him. On the way home he’d been even more horrified to find her sniffing him, repeatedly, before declaring he smelt very nice. He’d gone so red, then, that Mihara-san had been worried that he’d gotten heat stroke too!
Reluctant to invade upon her privacy, he’d taken her to his apartment to sleep it off, which also allowed him to keep an eye on her. Which, of course, brought him back to the present moment sitting and watching her soak his pillow with drool and wondering why the hell this had to happen to him?
It was getting towards evening now, and she was still deep in slumber. Her cheeks were still flushed, and her upturned nose looked a little sunburned, but otherwise she looked fine. Her forehead wasn’t even bruising, unlike his!
He frowned, looking at her hat. It was falling off her head again, and had a small dirt stain on it. Moving from his seat, he reached over to take it off with the intention of cleaning it when he stopped himself. She always wore a hat of some kind - heck, he’d never seen her without one, even when inside! Then just earlier she’d been so desperate to keep it on despite potential injury… Whatever her reason for it, he decided that he’d respect that. Rather than removing it he reached over and straightened it so it was more secure, then sat back and decided that he’d leave her alone until she woke.
After all, it was a matter of respecting her wishes. It had nothing to do with the evil look in that plushie’s eyes. Nothing at all.