This should not have taken me two hours to write.

[still_ciircee]

This is a continuation from The Girl She Isn't. It would help greatly to read that one first as this one picks up pretty much where that one left off. And I know I’m supposed to be working on other things but cookie!Jun is injured, my wrist is killing me, the weather is bipolar, and I wanted to write this instead. Suck it.

So, in a way, I guess you can say this is for vintage_belle.



She's Still Not That Girl

Saturday night was life changing for Ohno.

The movie had been all right and the ramen had been nothing out of the ordinary. Kazuko had mocked the movie in a whisper through most of it, had eaten half of her dinner and had the rest of it put away to take home instead of letting Ohno eat it. When he'd walked her to her door she'd fidgeted and looked away and said 'goodnight' before shutting the door firmly in his face.

He practically floated down the stairs to where his cab was waiting. He slid into the seat and looked at the tattoo-covered mob-member driving (Kazuko had insisted the mob-run service was cheapest and she was probably right).

The mobster looked at him in the rearview. "Well? Where are you going?"

Ohno looked at him. "I-" He stopped and then started over. "That was our first date," he said.

"Good for you," the mobster said dryly.

"Do you know a jewelry store?" Ohno asked him.

The mobster turned in the seat and looked at him. After a moment he smiled. "I got the perfect place," he said, putting on his blinker and pulling out into traffic. "But don't be surprised if that girl throws it right at your head, man."

The jewelry store was tiny, tucked back into a back alley with a tiny sign that said 'True Emotions'. There was a man and a woman at the counter and Ohno thought they were both probably younger than he was. "We're about to close," the woman told him cheerfully.

"Hina, this is a man on a mission," her partner said. "Tell me about this girl."

Ohno stared at them as they both propped an elbow on the counter and put their chin on their fists. "She's-" he said. "She's kind of bossy and I think she's a bit of a brat but sometimes she blushes over…over nothing, like me saying she's got cute hands. And it pisses her off that she's a bit girly sometimes. She plays video games-she kicks ass at video games. She develops them and things explode a lot. She's such a guy's girl, she just works with guys and she's so…she worked at this maid café and threatened to feed me my own nuts. She does magic tricks and she's got these tiny hands and she does the most amazing card tricks." He thought of Kazuko, the way she smiled and rolled her eyes and how she'd kissed him a week ago and shut the door right in his face tonight. "But she's not just tough or viper-tongued. She's got this laugh and her ears turn pink and she looks away and… She's not one of those girls you see everyday," he said. "She's…" He looked at them helplessly, "Tonight was our first date."

For a moment there was nothing but silence. Then Hina looked at her partner. "Toma, lock the door and put up the closed sign. This is going to take a while."

"Right!" Her partner bounced to the door and threw the lock. "I say something romantic!" he volunteered on his way back. "She's that type on the inside, yeah?"

"No!" Hina disagreed. "She might have a romantic streak but she's pragmatic. She's not going to want some unicorn fantasy ring on her finger! Something clean and simple!"

Ohno looked back and forth between them. "Can I look around?"

They both waved him off, facing each other. "Okay, okay, I see that. Then. Something unique? How about one of the steampunk rings? Set with diamond? I can pop a stone in six seconds."

"Steampunk is too big if she's got small hands-she's going to need something more delicate. Classic solitaire."

"He might as well tell her that he didn't even make an effort, Hi-chan. Platinum band, three stones, princess cut and baguettes."

"At that point he can just tell her that he picked up a catalog and opened it to any random page. Rose-gold, full encrusted band, marquis cut center stone and rounds."

Toma made a noise. "How about an engraved band, pear cut yellow diamond? Something with color that's not too girly like a pink."

"Victorian!" Hina said rapturously. "Filigree on the band and raising the stone, delicate and sweet, with a pretty oval cut."

"She uses her hands; she's not going to want something hefty sticking up. How about inset diamonds, square cut at the sides and emerald cut in the center?"

"She's not going to want it to be invisible, Tomasu."

Ohno tuned them out and wandered, looking in the cases. He could see where the rings were different from each other but he couldn't see much besides the sparkle of the stones. He didn't know a thing about diamonds, about rings, about any of this stuff. He didn't even know what he wanted.

Until he saw it.

He wasn't sure about the gold beyond 'yellow' and he didn't know the cut of the stones-the big one in the middle was round and the three on each side were kind of pear-triangle-leaf shaped. What he knew was that it sparkled, it didn't stick up too much, and-from where he was standing-it looked like a tiny, shiny UFO. "This one," he said, pointing.

Both of the partners looked at him and then scurried over to look at the ring. They stared. "It's kind of-" said Toma.

"It's a little bit…" said Hina.

"This is hers," Ohno told them. Then he shook his head. "It's ours."

They both melted at him. "Okay."

"Um, but this ring-you see, the stones themselves are very-"

Ohno shrugged. "I don't spend my money." He had several years worth of salary in savings and he knew it. If this ring took it all…well. Well then he'd reconsider because Kazuko would kill him. "So it's all right."

"Anything else?" Hina asked him as Toma handed him the staggering bill for the ring.

It was more than three months worth of his salary and he vowed to never, ever tell Kazuko unless he was sure she wouldn't hit him. Anything else? She'd definitely, definitely kill him. "Well…"

"Just be ready for her to chuck this back in your face," Toma told him as they waved him out of the shop.

"Don't duck," Hina advised. "Just take it for the team."

They both flashed him the peace sign. "Do your best!"

Ohno carried the ring with him everywhere, all the time. It wasn't that he was planning on giving it to her right away but he liked knowing it was there. He like the feeling of carrying the future around with him in his pocket. When the right moment happened, he would be ready.

Plenty of wrong moments happened.

"Kazu," he complained, trying to discreetly stretch his back. "I'm getting tired."

"I don't care. You came over drunk and threw up on my floor so you're cleaning it up."

"But it's all dry and gross now!" he complained, poking at the hardened mess by the foot of the toilet. "Couldn't you have just cleaned it up last night and then-I don't know, just yelled at me in the morning?"

"Nope," Kazuko told him companionably. "And Yuki and I are sick of this mess in our bathroom-we've had to deal with it all day. Get back to work."

"But you were both at work all day!"

"Do you want to break up? I don't date whiners."

Grumbling Ohno went back to cleaning, the ring box a familiar weight in the pocket of his borrowed apron.

"You paid money for this?" Kazuko hissed.

"Shh!" Ohno smiled at the people around him.

"It's not even in Japanese. What language IS this?"

"It's opera, you're supposed to just listen," Ohno said.

"If you tell me you got ballet tickets I will break up with you right now."

Ohno did have ballet tickets. "No!" He glanced around. "Want to go get ramen?"

"And waste this money even more? Shut up and listen, Oh-chan," she fumed.

The ring was a small, hard lump in his tuxedo pants and Ohno patted it before he focused on the stage-and the song in Italian-again.

Not that the right moment never came along, because those happened too.

Kazuko had one of the best laughs Ohno knew. The way her head tilted back, exposing her neck as the laughter burst out of her, her whole body shaking with it. It was just a dumb movie-one they'd watched before-but she was laughing and Ohno couldn't get over how beautiful she was with her hair up in a sleek little ponytail and no makeup and her Pink Ladies t-shirt and her jeans with the hole in the knee. Barefoot and perfect, curled up beside him and laughing.

He felt the ring in his pocket, like a lump in his throat as he looked at her.

"What?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

He was struck by her, speechless with her. He shook his head and touched her cheek, trying to find the words to tell her, to say to her, to ask. He couldn't even reach for the ring-her skin was too soft as he cupped her face in both hands and just looked at her.

"Oh." She blushed so dark and hot that he could feel it and he found enough air to laugh at her. She was too cute. He was too lucky. "Shut up," she muttered, clicking the button on the remote and plunging her apartment into darkness. Her mouth touched his, light and impossibly sweet.

He pulled her against him, wanting to feel her weight and the way she melted as he kissed her back, as she opened for him and let him in. "Kazu," he breathed, kissing her again. The ring burned but it could wait. This moment was too perfect. In just a moment…just another minute. He touched her neck, her shoulder, ready to stop when her hand covered his. But she just moved it down, down until it covered the firm swell of her breast and he moaned at her. Moaned again as her hand landed on his thigh, high up and so close, so warm. She whimpered into him as he slid his hand down and under her shirt, back up.

"OH MY GOD," Yuki shrieked as light flooded the room. She whipped around, dark hair a cloud around her.

"SORRY!" Jun yelped turning away as well. "We'll come back!"

"Hey!" Aiba grinned.

Kazuko blinked at everybody as Ohno scrambled to unhand her, unhand himself, and set them a respectable distance from each other. "I thought you were working at Idiot-chan's tonight," she said dryly, nodding at Aiba.

"My neighbors are having really loud, marathon sex. We thought here would be quieter." Aiba beamed at them, a cheerful leer.

"SHUT UP," Yuki snapped. Then, "Kazuko, your room, we have to talk!"

Ohno wanted nothing more than to give Kazuko the ring but she was standing, tugging her shirt down from where it was rumpled. "Whatever. I know how to kick a guy in the nuts if I have to."

He ended up working the project with Aiba and Yuki and Jun while Kazuko played Zelda and ordered him to make coffee. He spent the night wanting to give her the ring but he'd never do it in front of everybody. That was just asking for trouble.

So, of course, that was how it happened.

He'd taken to looking at the ring at work, taking it out and holding it in his hand and turning it in the sunlight through his office window. He wondered and he waited and he dreamed on it, just a bit.

Which was what he was doing when Yuki came in, overloaded with project projections and he rushed to help her and she saw the ring and dropped everything with a terrifically loud noise. "WHAT THE HELL?"

Ohno looked at the ring, still in his hand as he dropped to the floor to gather things. "No, no, it's-okay, it is but I want you to know that I-"

"Holy SHIT," Aiba announced, staring.

"Don't be dumb," Jun said, hitting the back of his head. "It just looks bad." Jun pushed Aiba in to the office ahead of him and Ohno let him pull his hand up to look at the ring. "Nice, but she's going to throw that in your face. Congratulations?" he offered, dropping his hand.

"Yeah, congrats!" Aiba agreed.

"Kiss off and die," Kazuko announced, dropping the bento box she was carrying and stomping out.

Ohno took stock. He was on his knees, with a ring, and Yuki and being congratulated. Shit. "Kazuko!" he started after her.

Yuki shoved him out of the way, racing after her friend. "Kazuko-chan!"

"Nino-chan!"

"Ninomiya-san!"

The door to the ladies room at the end of the hall slammed shut and then opened again a moment later as Yuki dived inside.

Ohno didn't care that it was a women's room. Mostly. He paused for a moment before opening the door. "…not like that, Kazuko," Yuki said. "It just-"

"I know that," Kazuko said angrily. "He's not that dumb and even if HE was YOU aren't."

"Then how come you're so mad," Ohno asked. Both women whipped around to face him. "Kazuko-chan…I…"

"Shut up and get out," Kazuko snapped.

Ohno backed up a step.

"Not you," she said, glaring. "THEM." Ohno turned and saw Jun and Aiba just behind him. "I'm not doing this in front of the whole world."

"Of course," Yuki said, hugging her. What she whispered, Ohno didn't hear. He barely watched as she hustled past him and shooed Jun and Aiba along with her.

"Kazu," Ohno said softly.

"Just a sec!" a voice called. The toilet flushed and a flustered looking Yamashita appeared. "I just want to wash my-you know what? I have hand sanitizer in my desk. I'll just…do that." She practically ran.

"Kazu," Ohno started over.

"Don't you 'Kazu' me," Kazuko snapped.

"Did you make me lunch?" he asked her softly. Sometimes she did that. She would make him lunch and bring it to him at work. She always said it was from the combini down the block and that she just dumped it in the box but he knew better. Nobody cooked like Kazuko did, not even his own mom. "Were we going to have a surprise lunch together?" Because she was like that, lonely and sweet, tough and independent.

She looked away. "It's just from the corner store," she said softly. Then, in a harder voice, "Explain this stupid mess to me."

Ohno took the ring out of his pocket and held it out to her. He knew better than to get too close too fast. "I bought it after our first date," he told her simply. "I didn't know if we'd get this far but I wanted to. Everybody says you're going to throw it at me so I wanted to wait until you wouldn't."

"And that idiot scene back there?"

"I look at it sometimes and I think about you wearing it," he said honestly. "Then Yuki saw it and dropped everything and you know Aiba can't resist a loud noise and Jun won't let Aiba run loose so-and then you came in." Something occurred to him. "I suppose I probably should have asked Yuki if it was okay if I proposed to you." Like asking for Kazuko's hand.

Kazuko stared at him. He could see her inner-romantic fighting her. "You're dumb," she said at last.

He edged closer, still holding the ring out. "I know I am. I know this is the wrong time-"

"Lunch time in the ladies room at work? Noooo, that's perfect," Kazuko said but she was looking at the ring, looking away, pink in her cheeks. "Why wouldn't this be the right time?"

"Because you're going to throw it at me," Ohno said. "I don't care where I can give this to you. I don't care about any of that stuff, not really. I just want you to-" he took a breath and went for it. "I just want you to marry me. I just want to be married to you. Forever."

Kazuko turned away completely. "Seriously, you're a moron. You met me in a stupid maid café and you bought a ring after getting ramen and you're using it on me in a ladies toilet. What makes you think I'll say yes? Or that ANYBODY would say yes?"

Oh, but he knew her. He knew this moment just like he'd known the ring, just like he'd known in the back of the yakuza-run taxi cab, just like he'd known in that stupid, stupid maid café. He crossed the room, footsteps loud on the tile and in the quiet. Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he laid his cheek against her hair. "I'll take you anywhere in the world and we can do this again," he promised. "I just want to be with you. You don't have to say anything now. You don't even have to look at the ring. Just tell me where and tell me when and I'll do this right."

"Let me look at this dumb thing first," Kazuko said after a moment. "If it's all wrong…" she trailed off as Ohno opened his fist. He watched over her shoulder as she picked the ring up out of his hand, turning it in the light so little darts of light and fire leapt inside of the stones. She was silent, turning it and turning it, over and around and over again. "It kind of looks like a UFO," she said quietly. "You're such an alien."

"If you take it, you can be the alien bride." He paused, thinking. "That could be a good game, Alien Bride. You could make that a game."

She snorted. "See if I don't," she told him. He watched the ring turn and turn in her nimble fingers. "What if I don't want to get married?"

He hugged her tighter. "Can I move in someday, then?"

The way she turned in his arms was so fast that he was almost unprepared for it. But it was Kazuko and he was never ready and always ready for her. He held her close as she hid against him. "If I give this back to you, are you going to keep carrying it around?"

"Yeah." He stroked his hands over her back. She was such a tomboy, looked like a boy in her jeans and rock band t-shirts, sometimes. But she was delicate and soft, too. His perfect girl. "What do you want to do?" he asked her.

She made a sound against him. "We should probably have sex or something before I say anything. If you're lousy, we'll have to break up."

Ohno smiled into her hair, glancing at the empty cubicles. "Okay."

"Are you looking at the stalls?" Kazuko demanded, her arms around his neck going tight.

"Not at all," Ohno lied smoothly. He ruined it by laughing, backing her up toward the nearest one.

Kazuko punched him on the shoulder and then stepped back. She was smiling, her eyes a little bit red. "I'll hold on to this," she said, holding up the ring and then making it disappear. "So that you quit making scenes. You know everybody thinks you're two-timing me with Yuki now, right?"

Ohno touched her face. He didn't care what anybody thought as long as she was thinking things over. He'd let Kazuko carry their future around for a little bit, let her try it on for size in her own head. "She's not as pretty as you." She went scarlet, smiling softly. Ohno grinned, pleased.

Swiping at her cheeks, she glared. "I would throw this in your face," she said, producing the ring again, "but it's expensive. Where's the box and I'll throw that."

He took her by the hand. "It's in my office. Let's have lunch and you can throw it at me." Leading the way out of the restroom, he considered. "And then we can have sex in my office chair for a trial run if you want."

"Lame," Kazuko told him as Yara choked at the water cooler. "We can just make out on your desk. I don't have a long lunch today." She gave him a sideways look. "So don't plan on buying any wedding bands and hustling me over to the Registry to do anything."

Squeezing her hand, Ohno smiled ahead, opening his office door, "I've got those in my desk. Wanna see?"

Kazuko shut the door and he found his tie in her hands and his face inches from hers. "Kiss me first," she said.

And he did.