Chocolate Fic for ayumwu
To: ayumwu
From: saengie
Title: It's not the size of the mike, it's the length of the song
Pairing: Kazunari Ninomiya/Mika Nakashima
Rating: PG
Summary: Nino still isn't sure whether or not Mika is actually real, but he thinks that she's more like a devil with a halo than an angel.
A/N: 2.813 words. Inspired by Common Rotation's "Rockstar". Thanks to A for the beta and hand-holding. ayumwu, I hope you'll like it. ^_^
I meant it when I told you that "You're the only one"
My fickle fretted heart might change with the season
But it's a nice night and baby you're my reason for living
one.
The first time Nino meets Mika, he's not completely sure whether she's actually real, or if he's seeing things again, like that time when he had been awake for four days straight and Ohno thought it would be a good idea to force-feed him chocolate and energy drinks. She's a fantasy in deep purple and pink, and the gold chains around her waist and wrists make soft sounds whenever she moves, as if there's bells attached. When she notices him looking, she smiles to him; her eyes impossibly dark, and he's sure - almost sure - that she's an angel. He's young, he doesn't know any better, and he still likes to believe in fairytales.
"You look like you fell out of a garbage truck," Mika remarks when he comes over, awestruck, and he nearly chokes.
Angels really aren't supposed to talk like that.
Ten minutes and a few more sentences later, Nino still isn't sure whether or not Mika is actually real, but he thinks that she's more like a devil with a halo than an angel.
He can live with that.
two.
The second time Nino meets Mika, it's for about three minutes at a small coffee shop in a back alley at nearly three in the morning. He feels like he's been working for several days straight and he can't stop yawning, no matter how much he would like to. Mika raises an eyebrow and orders for him - a triple shot of an espresso so strong that Nino has a feeling he has steam coming out of his ears.
"Do you ever sleep?" Mika asks. Almost like a mother or a sister would, except that she doesn't sound worried. Just mildly amused, as if she knows better. Her voice is slightly hoarse, too husky for a girl, and she sounds older than her years, wiser beyond words.
It makes Nino feel like a little boy. It's a feeling he's not used to these days, certainly not when he's with girls. Not that he's particularly good with girls, sure, but he's not bad either.
With Mika, he's bad. Horribly, uncomfortably bad.
"Uh," he says, and shrugs awkwardly.
Mika just grins and pats his head as if he was five years old. "Get some sleep. Maybe next time, we could actually talk." She gathers up two large coffees to go and a pack of cigarettes, and leaves him there with only the memory of her smile.
three.
And the next time they meet, they do talk.
Not that Nino has slept all that much more this time, but it's not three in the morning, and that helps a lot. The party - Nino has forgotten what it was for; Jun dragged him along and told him that he should 'find a nice girl or guy or whatever and get laid for a change' - has been becoming progressively dull, and Nino sits alone at a table in the corner. He doesn't feel like dancing, and he doesn't feel like getting drunk and stupid or both.
"Is that a coma on your face or are you just happy to see me?" Mika asks from behind him, and it makes Nino jump. Literally. Something which also makes him nearly lose his balance and topple over, but he manages not to make a total fool of himself.
For now, at least. He has no doubt that it'll change soon enough.
"I... Uhm," he says intelligently, and gestures for Mika to sit down. She looks like a fantasy this time too; all red and black, and he feels like he can't stop looking at her, even if he has heard via a friend of an acquaintance of a friend that she's taken. Right now, he doesn't really care. He doesn't believe in fairytales anymore, but he still likes to dream.
Mika notices it too, he can tell, because her smile widens and she leans in slightly, looking at him intently. "You're not really my type. Definitely not," she says, but then she leans in further and kisses him lightly, before she settles next to him and talk about music and Tokyo and travelling and movies and more music.
Nino wonders if he's sleeping or if he's more drunk than he thought, if this is just all his imagination, but then the tips of Mika's fingers trace invisible patterns over his arm and he becomes very, very aware that he's awake and sober.
"Whoa," he whispers, and Mika laughs.
four.
Nino has no idea just how Mika got his phone number, but one day a text message from her pops up. You should have a codename for me, it reads, and Nino merely looks at it, puzzled. He doesn't know why he would need a codename for her, but he decides to play along after contemplating it deeply, thoroughly and very, very seriously - for about twenty seconds.
How about 'siren'? Or 'lotus'? Nino grins to himself as he sends it off, in a way liking the idea of referring to Mika that way.
The answer comes quickly; You're hilarious, midget.
Nino suddenly doesn't think it's so funny anymore. You're shorter than me!
So you've checked up on me, huh? is the only reply he gets. Nino can easily imagine Mika's smile, and he curses quietly. It's just not possible to win with girls. Honestly.
This time he's damn near pouting as he texts. Girls. You're all evil. He has a feeling that even in written form he's coming off as immature and sulky, but that's what she gets for teasing him. At least he tried to come up with a nice codename.
...of course we are. That's why you love us, isn't it?
Quite frankly, Nino doesn't know what to answer to that, because any kind of answer seems like it would make matters even worse. So instead, he draws a heart on a piece of sheet music and takes a picture of it, sending that to her instead.
Judging from the smiley face he gets in return - drawn on a piece of sheet music as well - Mika likes the reply.
five.
Working together is strange. Very strange. Incredibly strange, in fact, because save for a few smiles across rooms and quick conversations backstage at some show, Nino hasn't seen Mika in too long.
Or well, he would be lying if he said that he hasn't seen her. He has a folder on his computer with pictures of Mika, and he listens to her songs more often than he would like to admit. For a couple of months he manages to keep it a secret, but then his friends find out - of course - and he hasn't had a moment of peace since.
"About time you got laid," Jun smirks, and that's all he has to say about it.
"Isn't she a bit too mature for you?" Aiba asks innocently, on his stomach across a hotel bed and Sho's legs.
"And a bit too smart?" Sho adds, smiling slyly.
Ohno tilts his head and looks through Nino's computer without having been given permission. "I'd give it a week," he says helpfully. "Because you know, you could never manage to get a girl like that to go out with you any longer."
Nino rolls his eyes at them. "Thank you so much for your help and confidence in me and my ability to impress the girls," he says, and smacks them all in turn. And he vows to one day - definitely possibly maybe hopefully - have more with Mika than just one evening where they talk and she kisses him so lightly he might just have imagined it.
Working together comes in handy. Especially because Mika's character is irresistible, and even more so because she likes Nino.
Nino knows that technically - technically - she just likes Koichi, but he's willing to look past that. Mika can hardly be blamed for that, after all. And she smiles and loops her arms around his waist and smiles at him, just smiles, and somehow, it makes Nino forget that he's supposed to be acting.
Mika's laughter is soft and quiet and when she speaks, her breath tickles Nino's neck; he wonders just how much she knows.
six.
When they finally do go out, it's not Nino's doing (though he'll tell his friends that he was the one who asked Mika out, because it sounds much better that way; more manly. Really). After they're done shooting for the day and Nino goes to his and Ryo's room to change, there's a Polaroid stuck to his mirror. It's impossible to tell what the picture is of, but the words written on the white frame are easy enough to make out.
So Nino meets Mika at a small restaurant the next day, and he offers her a slightly sheepish smile when he says hello.
"I gave up waiting for you to ask me," Mika explains. "I don't mind waiting, but it was starting to seem like you were never going to ask."
"I would have asked soon," Nino says, though it's more to convince himself than to convince Mika - he's pretty sure that she won't believe him. "You're just so..."
Mika grins. "Beautiful?"
This time, Nino's smile is less uncertain. "Overwhelming and intimidating and loud."
"You really know how to woo a girl, don't you?" Mika asks dryly, but she doesn't look offended, so Nino just laughs and follows her to a table in the corner.
"I managed to get you to ask me out, didn't I? So clearly I'm doing something right."
Mika laughs out loud at that - so loud that several of the other people in the restaurant turn their heads to look at them. It doesn't seem to bother Mika though; her focus is on Nino and only Nino.
He has to admit that it feels pretty nice.
"Was this a date?" he asks her when they're walking through the streets after the - sinfully long - meal. He doesn't know where they're heading, but it doesn't seem to matter to him. Normally, he would be more careful and take a taxi straight from the restaurant and home, but something about Mika makes him more careless. Funnily enough, seeing as she also has a tendency to turn him into a complete coward.
She glances over at him with a secretive little smile. "It was what it was," she says, and she takes his hand, linking their fingers for three heartbeats before she pulls away from him and is gone in the shadows.
seven.
Nino has never felt this way in a relationship before. Hell, this is the first time he's even been unsure about whether or not he's actually in a relationship.
Mika is not like any other girl he has ever met. She's more of a challenge than anyone, yet more accessible. She's a nightmare to talk to, and yet he wants to talk to her again the second she says goodbye. She makes him feel like an immature little brat, and yet she's more impulsive than he could ever dream to be. She is purple and gold and made of stardust and she smells of the ocean, but she's more down to earth and real than any other girl in their line of work, any girl he's ever met.
Sometimes, Nino thinks he loves her. Other times, he thinks he doesn't even like her. Mostly, he can't even begin to figure her out.
Mika's not easy to be with. She hardly ever shows up when she says she would, but she can suddenly knock on his door in the middle of the night; wide-eyed and awake and wanting his company. She's stubborn and intelligent and she loves to discuss, and she'll drive him crazy with her theories that don't really make sense, but which all have their own logic to them, meaning that he'll end up spending hours trying to pick them apart. And all the while she'll be laughing next to him, wearing him down again.
He can never be annoyed with her for long.
Especially not when she asks him to play for her, and she sits with her head against his shoulder, singing softly along to his melodies. They make up songs on the spot; songs without meaning and some with. Songs about life and love and being happy and growing up and growing together, and at the end of one of them, Nino turns his head and kisses her properly for the first time. It seems like the right thing to do, the right moment.
Mika smiles against his lips, and after a couple of seconds, her hand curls around the back of his neck, her fingers toying gently with his hair.
eight.
They don't really have time to go on dates and spend time together like a regular couple with. Nino is busy, busy, and then busy, and Mika isn't much better. In some ways it sucks (something Nino will tell anyone who'll listen until they refuse to listen to him for even ten more seconds), but on the other hand, it certainly ensures that they don't get sick of each other.
Instead there are small text messages - Mika still calls Nino 'midget', so he calls her 'cradle robber' in return because he is younger than her, after all - and short phone calls where they only have time for the barest essentials. There are pictures of sunsets and dinners and concerts and friends sent between their phones, and sometimes Nino will draw hearts on paper and send Mika a picture of that. Every single time, she answers with a smiley face, and the next time they see each other, she always hugs him a little bit harder.
Mika sends him Polaroid pictures in the mail, and Nino sends her postcards in return, with one-word messages written on the back. He composes a song for her and records it on a CD that he leaves in her mailbox at the crack of dawn, and when she calls him that night, she sounds like she's crying. The next week, he gets a CD in return, with a song where Mika sings the words to his music, and he replays it over and over for several hours straight until he has learned all the words.
The next time they're together, they play it. Sitting on the floor of Nino's living room; him with the guitar in his lap and Mika wearing one of his shirts.
She spends the night for the first time that day.
nine.
Mika is like a fantasy when they go out together a hot summer night in a sort-of-anniversary-that-isn't-really-one, and Nino can't take his eyes off of her all through the evening. Like the first time they met, she's dressed in deep purple and pink, and the golden jewelry make soft sounds whenever she moves, and Nino thinks he will never be able to figure her out. He also thinks that she's probably way out of his league, but she likes him, so it doesn't really matter.
"Are we together?" Nino asks quietly; it's late and they're sitting outside on Mika's balcony, smoking. It's not that he has to have things clearly defined, with rules and conditions and three-point-seven dates per week and a kiss goodnight every time they part, but the uncertainty is making him... Well, uncertain.
Mika takes his hand and walks to the edge of the balcony, leaning lightly against the railing. It takes a while before she answers, and for once, she doesn't sound like she has all the answers either. "I think we are. But it doesn't really matter. We don't have to call it something in particular. For me it's enough to know that you're only a phone call away when I need you, and that you're here with me right now. We have years to figure out the details. They don't matter right now."
Nino nods and tightens his hold on her hand, just a fraction. He hasn't really thought about it before now, but he's afraid of losing her, of losing this. This something that he can't define, and which Mika won't define. Maybe that's what makes it beautiful.
They stand next to each other looking out over the Tokyo night, before Nino pulls her into a hug. "You're my sweetheart, baby," he says - in horrible English - and Mika laughs loudly.
ten.
Even if Nino knows Mika a lot better now, he still can't tell if she's actually real. He can't tell if he loves her, or if she loves him. He can't tell if they're meant to be, or if this is some kind of fairytale that can't last. And he certainly can't tell whether she's a devil or an angel.
But that's okay. He can live with that.
~end~
From: saengie
Title: It's not the size of the mike, it's the length of the song
Pairing: Kazunari Ninomiya/Mika Nakashima
Rating: PG
Summary: Nino still isn't sure whether or not Mika is actually real, but he thinks that she's more like a devil with a halo than an angel.
A/N: 2.813 words. Inspired by Common Rotation's "Rockstar". Thanks to A for the beta and hand-holding. ayumwu, I hope you'll like it. ^_^
I meant it when I told you that "You're the only one"
My fickle fretted heart might change with the season
But it's a nice night and baby you're my reason for living
one.
The first time Nino meets Mika, he's not completely sure whether she's actually real, or if he's seeing things again, like that time when he had been awake for four days straight and Ohno thought it would be a good idea to force-feed him chocolate and energy drinks. She's a fantasy in deep purple and pink, and the gold chains around her waist and wrists make soft sounds whenever she moves, as if there's bells attached. When she notices him looking, she smiles to him; her eyes impossibly dark, and he's sure - almost sure - that she's an angel. He's young, he doesn't know any better, and he still likes to believe in fairytales.
"You look like you fell out of a garbage truck," Mika remarks when he comes over, awestruck, and he nearly chokes.
Angels really aren't supposed to talk like that.
Ten minutes and a few more sentences later, Nino still isn't sure whether or not Mika is actually real, but he thinks that she's more like a devil with a halo than an angel.
He can live with that.
two.
The second time Nino meets Mika, it's for about three minutes at a small coffee shop in a back alley at nearly three in the morning. He feels like he's been working for several days straight and he can't stop yawning, no matter how much he would like to. Mika raises an eyebrow and orders for him - a triple shot of an espresso so strong that Nino has a feeling he has steam coming out of his ears.
"Do you ever sleep?" Mika asks. Almost like a mother or a sister would, except that she doesn't sound worried. Just mildly amused, as if she knows better. Her voice is slightly hoarse, too husky for a girl, and she sounds older than her years, wiser beyond words.
It makes Nino feel like a little boy. It's a feeling he's not used to these days, certainly not when he's with girls. Not that he's particularly good with girls, sure, but he's not bad either.
With Mika, he's bad. Horribly, uncomfortably bad.
"Uh," he says, and shrugs awkwardly.
Mika just grins and pats his head as if he was five years old. "Get some sleep. Maybe next time, we could actually talk." She gathers up two large coffees to go and a pack of cigarettes, and leaves him there with only the memory of her smile.
three.
And the next time they meet, they do talk.
Not that Nino has slept all that much more this time, but it's not three in the morning, and that helps a lot. The party - Nino has forgotten what it was for; Jun dragged him along and told him that he should 'find a nice girl or guy or whatever and get laid for a change' - has been becoming progressively dull, and Nino sits alone at a table in the corner. He doesn't feel like dancing, and he doesn't feel like getting drunk and stupid or both.
"Is that a coma on your face or are you just happy to see me?" Mika asks from behind him, and it makes Nino jump. Literally. Something which also makes him nearly lose his balance and topple over, but he manages not to make a total fool of himself.
For now, at least. He has no doubt that it'll change soon enough.
"I... Uhm," he says intelligently, and gestures for Mika to sit down. She looks like a fantasy this time too; all red and black, and he feels like he can't stop looking at her, even if he has heard via a friend of an acquaintance of a friend that she's taken. Right now, he doesn't really care. He doesn't believe in fairytales anymore, but he still likes to dream.
Mika notices it too, he can tell, because her smile widens and she leans in slightly, looking at him intently. "You're not really my type. Definitely not," she says, but then she leans in further and kisses him lightly, before she settles next to him and talk about music and Tokyo and travelling and movies and more music.
Nino wonders if he's sleeping or if he's more drunk than he thought, if this is just all his imagination, but then the tips of Mika's fingers trace invisible patterns over his arm and he becomes very, very aware that he's awake and sober.
"Whoa," he whispers, and Mika laughs.
four.
Nino has no idea just how Mika got his phone number, but one day a text message from her pops up. You should have a codename for me, it reads, and Nino merely looks at it, puzzled. He doesn't know why he would need a codename for her, but he decides to play along after contemplating it deeply, thoroughly and very, very seriously - for about twenty seconds.
How about 'siren'? Or 'lotus'? Nino grins to himself as he sends it off, in a way liking the idea of referring to Mika that way.
The answer comes quickly; You're hilarious, midget.
Nino suddenly doesn't think it's so funny anymore. You're shorter than me!
So you've checked up on me, huh? is the only reply he gets. Nino can easily imagine Mika's smile, and he curses quietly. It's just not possible to win with girls. Honestly.
This time he's damn near pouting as he texts. Girls. You're all evil. He has a feeling that even in written form he's coming off as immature and sulky, but that's what she gets for teasing him. At least he tried to come up with a nice codename.
...of course we are. That's why you love us, isn't it?
Quite frankly, Nino doesn't know what to answer to that, because any kind of answer seems like it would make matters even worse. So instead, he draws a heart on a piece of sheet music and takes a picture of it, sending that to her instead.
Judging from the smiley face he gets in return - drawn on a piece of sheet music as well - Mika likes the reply.
five.
Working together is strange. Very strange. Incredibly strange, in fact, because save for a few smiles across rooms and quick conversations backstage at some show, Nino hasn't seen Mika in too long.
Or well, he would be lying if he said that he hasn't seen her. He has a folder on his computer with pictures of Mika, and he listens to her songs more often than he would like to admit. For a couple of months he manages to keep it a secret, but then his friends find out - of course - and he hasn't had a moment of peace since.
"About time you got laid," Jun smirks, and that's all he has to say about it.
"Isn't she a bit too mature for you?" Aiba asks innocently, on his stomach across a hotel bed and Sho's legs.
"And a bit too smart?" Sho adds, smiling slyly.
Ohno tilts his head and looks through Nino's computer without having been given permission. "I'd give it a week," he says helpfully. "Because you know, you could never manage to get a girl like that to go out with you any longer."
Nino rolls his eyes at them. "Thank you so much for your help and confidence in me and my ability to impress the girls," he says, and smacks them all in turn. And he vows to one day - definitely possibly maybe hopefully - have more with Mika than just one evening where they talk and she kisses him so lightly he might just have imagined it.
Working together comes in handy. Especially because Mika's character is irresistible, and even more so because she likes Nino.
Nino knows that technically - technically - she just likes Koichi, but he's willing to look past that. Mika can hardly be blamed for that, after all. And she smiles and loops her arms around his waist and smiles at him, just smiles, and somehow, it makes Nino forget that he's supposed to be acting.
Mika's laughter is soft and quiet and when she speaks, her breath tickles Nino's neck; he wonders just how much she knows.
six.
When they finally do go out, it's not Nino's doing (though he'll tell his friends that he was the one who asked Mika out, because it sounds much better that way; more manly. Really). After they're done shooting for the day and Nino goes to his and Ryo's room to change, there's a Polaroid stuck to his mirror. It's impossible to tell what the picture is of, but the words written on the white frame are easy enough to make out.
So Nino meets Mika at a small restaurant the next day, and he offers her a slightly sheepish smile when he says hello.
"I gave up waiting for you to ask me," Mika explains. "I don't mind waiting, but it was starting to seem like you were never going to ask."
"I would have asked soon," Nino says, though it's more to convince himself than to convince Mika - he's pretty sure that she won't believe him. "You're just so..."
Mika grins. "Beautiful?"
This time, Nino's smile is less uncertain. "Overwhelming and intimidating and loud."
"You really know how to woo a girl, don't you?" Mika asks dryly, but she doesn't look offended, so Nino just laughs and follows her to a table in the corner.
"I managed to get you to ask me out, didn't I? So clearly I'm doing something right."
Mika laughs out loud at that - so loud that several of the other people in the restaurant turn their heads to look at them. It doesn't seem to bother Mika though; her focus is on Nino and only Nino.
He has to admit that it feels pretty nice.
"Was this a date?" he asks her when they're walking through the streets after the - sinfully long - meal. He doesn't know where they're heading, but it doesn't seem to matter to him. Normally, he would be more careful and take a taxi straight from the restaurant and home, but something about Mika makes him more careless. Funnily enough, seeing as she also has a tendency to turn him into a complete coward.
She glances over at him with a secretive little smile. "It was what it was," she says, and she takes his hand, linking their fingers for three heartbeats before she pulls away from him and is gone in the shadows.
seven.
Nino has never felt this way in a relationship before. Hell, this is the first time he's even been unsure about whether or not he's actually in a relationship.
Mika is not like any other girl he has ever met. She's more of a challenge than anyone, yet more accessible. She's a nightmare to talk to, and yet he wants to talk to her again the second she says goodbye. She makes him feel like an immature little brat, and yet she's more impulsive than he could ever dream to be. She is purple and gold and made of stardust and she smells of the ocean, but she's more down to earth and real than any other girl in their line of work, any girl he's ever met.
Sometimes, Nino thinks he loves her. Other times, he thinks he doesn't even like her. Mostly, he can't even begin to figure her out.
Mika's not easy to be with. She hardly ever shows up when she says she would, but she can suddenly knock on his door in the middle of the night; wide-eyed and awake and wanting his company. She's stubborn and intelligent and she loves to discuss, and she'll drive him crazy with her theories that don't really make sense, but which all have their own logic to them, meaning that he'll end up spending hours trying to pick them apart. And all the while she'll be laughing next to him, wearing him down again.
He can never be annoyed with her for long.
Especially not when she asks him to play for her, and she sits with her head against his shoulder, singing softly along to his melodies. They make up songs on the spot; songs without meaning and some with. Songs about life and love and being happy and growing up and growing together, and at the end of one of them, Nino turns his head and kisses her properly for the first time. It seems like the right thing to do, the right moment.
Mika smiles against his lips, and after a couple of seconds, her hand curls around the back of his neck, her fingers toying gently with his hair.
eight.
They don't really have time to go on dates and spend time together like a regular couple with. Nino is busy, busy, and then busy, and Mika isn't much better. In some ways it sucks (something Nino will tell anyone who'll listen until they refuse to listen to him for even ten more seconds), but on the other hand, it certainly ensures that they don't get sick of each other.
Instead there are small text messages - Mika still calls Nino 'midget', so he calls her 'cradle robber' in return because he is younger than her, after all - and short phone calls where they only have time for the barest essentials. There are pictures of sunsets and dinners and concerts and friends sent between their phones, and sometimes Nino will draw hearts on paper and send Mika a picture of that. Every single time, she answers with a smiley face, and the next time they see each other, she always hugs him a little bit harder.
Mika sends him Polaroid pictures in the mail, and Nino sends her postcards in return, with one-word messages written on the back. He composes a song for her and records it on a CD that he leaves in her mailbox at the crack of dawn, and when she calls him that night, she sounds like she's crying. The next week, he gets a CD in return, with a song where Mika sings the words to his music, and he replays it over and over for several hours straight until he has learned all the words.
The next time they're together, they play it. Sitting on the floor of Nino's living room; him with the guitar in his lap and Mika wearing one of his shirts.
She spends the night for the first time that day.
nine.
Mika is like a fantasy when they go out together a hot summer night in a sort-of-anniversary-that-isn't-really-one, and Nino can't take his eyes off of her all through the evening. Like the first time they met, she's dressed in deep purple and pink, and the golden jewelry make soft sounds whenever she moves, and Nino thinks he will never be able to figure her out. He also thinks that she's probably way out of his league, but she likes him, so it doesn't really matter.
"Are we together?" Nino asks quietly; it's late and they're sitting outside on Mika's balcony, smoking. It's not that he has to have things clearly defined, with rules and conditions and three-point-seven dates per week and a kiss goodnight every time they part, but the uncertainty is making him... Well, uncertain.
Mika takes his hand and walks to the edge of the balcony, leaning lightly against the railing. It takes a while before she answers, and for once, she doesn't sound like she has all the answers either. "I think we are. But it doesn't really matter. We don't have to call it something in particular. For me it's enough to know that you're only a phone call away when I need you, and that you're here with me right now. We have years to figure out the details. They don't matter right now."
Nino nods and tightens his hold on her hand, just a fraction. He hasn't really thought about it before now, but he's afraid of losing her, of losing this. This something that he can't define, and which Mika won't define. Maybe that's what makes it beautiful.
They stand next to each other looking out over the Tokyo night, before Nino pulls her into a hug. "You're my sweetheart, baby," he says - in horrible English - and Mika laughs loudly.
ten.
Even if Nino knows Mika a lot better now, he still can't tell if she's actually real. He can't tell if he loves her, or if she loves him. He can't tell if they're meant to be, or if this is some kind of fairytale that can't last. And he certainly can't tell whether she's a devil or an angel.
But that's okay. He can live with that.
~end~