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-.o; I know, I know, I should be working on YnH.
Problem is, I’m stuck with this writer’s block, and it’s already killing me. I’ve been stuck with this writer’s block for quite some time, so bear with me on this one. I’ve already replaced Fragment I with the new re-written one, so don’t worry.
Eh, I’ve been trying to write the new Fragment II, but I’ve trouble working on how describe a certain SOMEONE’S clothes again (yes, I’m talking to you this time, Taiyaki-dono). So yeah, for now, I’m stuck.
This is a one-shot, an early Valentine’s Day present, and also a gift for our monthsary of two years and now two months. Happy monthsary, koishii, aishiteru.
Based on YnH canon. And I plan on rewriting Jun’ai again, even though I barely started that project. I’m just gonna write the beginning on a different angle, instead of starting off like how I did. Why everyone’s after Hitomi in the first chapter of J’A, I’ll start working on that much later.
And this won’t reveal much of what happens in YnH. Like, this is after both Keiya and Hitomi regained their memories and they’re a couple in this for two years and two months, this taking place in February 2007 instead of spring-fall 2004 now
So enjoy. XD And excuse my Japanese for the title. I think you’ll able to figure out what it means and why I named it that way.
Mafuraa Rabu
The female had grown a bit taller, but is still around her height of 4’11.” Black eyes looked around the surroundings she was in while black hair—which had been dyed light brown with an auburn red tinge—had been in a short layer from the chin to around the neck length for a while now, though the hair was slowly growing near her shoulders, some of it below her neck now. She was wearing a red jacket with black gloves along with black boots. This girl is seventeen (turning eighteen in June) now, unlike the one you’ve seen two years ago.
“Tomi-chan!” A male voice called to her. And she turned around as a response, trying to see on who it was. And she smiled brightly as she saw a certain someone into view.
Running over to him, she tackled and glomped him to the ground.
“KEI-KUN!”
“ACK! Hey kiddo.” Taiko Keiya greets her with a smile, caressing the petite girl’s hair. Keiya is twenty now (turning twenty-one in October), his grey eyes having a tender look in them as he gazes at the girl who is, apparently, in his lap now. Black hair still adorned his head, long bangs falling into his left eye. He is wearing a black trench coat but, underneath it, with a white sweater and jeans. He is also wearing sneakers. Still 5’11” in height, this still points out that Yuume Hitomi is shorter than him by a foot, though she doesn’t mind of it all too much.
“You took long!” Hitomi pouted a bit, giving him the puppy dog look. “How can you be so mean?!” She pretended to whine with a hurt tone to it, just as a joke.
“Hehe, sorry.” He replies, smiling as he gets up, carrying her bridal style as well. “I was just doing some errands and things I needed to finish up… And… How come you were waiting for me out here and how long have you been waiting?” He had frowned in worried as he said this, in which Hitomi gives him an uncertain look in return.
“I was waiting for you out here because I was done with my things to do and I figured I would see you when I was done… But, then again, I probably must’ve waited a little over an hour…” She mumbled sheepishly, which caused him to be concerned when he heard this.
“E-Eh?! You could’ve been sick, Tomi-chan, if you stayed out here a bit longer! Why…?” He looked confused and surprised at the same time, kissing her forehead.
“Because,” The younger girl replied softly, looking a bit bashful. “I… I just wanted to see you a bit sooner… True, I could’ve welcomed you at home—home being the dorm we’re sharing together—but… I’d rather go out and remained here for you than being cooped up. Besides, I don’t like staying in a place for too long nor do I like spending it there alone. And another thing, I was getting worried that you weren’t going to come back…”
“Aw, come on.” Keiya smiles softly, giving her a light peck on the lips. “You worry too much.”
“Says you,” She took the kiss affectionately, sticking out her tongue childishly afterwards when he pulled away. “You worry too much about me too, so don’t even go there, you hypocrite.”
“Fair enough. Touché.” He shook his head, the warm smile still there.
Well, I betcha you’re surprised, huh? You know, on how these two are interacting with each other? What happened was, after retrieving their recollections of their childhood, and also of what happened in the 2004 timeline as to why they got sent back there, Hitomi and Keiya have gone back to their old selves. As Keiya’s memories were connected in a way on how Hitomi’s own were lost, even though he wasn’t directly involved in the incident that had started her amnesia, and that he was bonded to her in other ways, he had become affected of it too. When she received her memories back when she was in the hospital after fainting from the overwhelming experiences of recalling them, he suddenly remembered things that he thought he didn’t forget, from what happened between Hitomi and him in the 2004 period (and why they and their friends got sent back, again, due to the incident that caused Hitomi’s memory loss) to the tie between the two of them eight years ago.
But it wasn’t over yet.
After overcoming the last test, which was realizing their feelings towards each other once more by around December 1st, 2004, it came to this. Even though both had doubted one loved the other beyond the sibling border, and fear consumed them that the other didn’t feel the same way, they loved each other to the point it had caused pain to swell in their hearts as they kept their emotions inside, aguishly at that. Hitomi doubted Keiya would feel for her more than just a little sister figure for that she was afraid to be alone and hurt again if she were to speak her true feelings for him as she felt so much for him for such a long time, not to mention he may have someone else to admire, and she felt undeserving of his love. As for Keiya himself, perhaps he was scared of loving Hitomi because of losing her in a way that she was irreplaceable (whether by fate or decision) or maybe because he felt unworthy to accept her affection, possibly both.
After Keiya had decided to confess to her, though nervously so, Hitomi couldn’t say anything of it. But through her shy demeanor, she returned his warmth with her own, indeed, giving both of them liberation that they loved each other beyond sibling terms.
And so, two years and two months have passed, and they’ve been a couple for that long. And it was surprising to them that they’ve been still together for this long (especially since they had other relationships in the past that didn’t work out), but it started to give them hope to believe that things will work out between them… And, although they wouldn’t talk much detail of it since they considered themselves still young, they considered of getting married to each other someday.
Opening the dorm room, though locking it from the outside, Keiya placed Hitomi onto the one bed that was in the dorm. Originally, this was a single dorm for Hitomi to live in alone. But due to circumstances since the beginning when they first met, Keiya had become her roommate, and it’s been like this since. Hitomi nodded in thanks, going off in the bathroom to change into warm clothes.
Coming back out, the girl looked to be in a grey hoodie with black jogging pants. However, her hands are hidden in the sleeves for some reason.
And seeing this, Keiya (in his own warm clothes as well) was on the bed, giving her a questioning look.
“Hm? Why are your hands in your sleeves?” He asked, looking a little confused and what looked like suspicion.
Looking a bit shocked, she masked it up under an unreadable expression. However, she can only reply quietly again, the shyness evident.
“Well, my hands are cold… Actually, I’m cold in general.”
“Come here, then. I’ll hold you tight…”
Nodding reluctantly, the girl went to him, only to end up being pulled down on his lap. Smiling, she cuddled him, feeling safe and warm in his presence. Smiling in return, he decided to warm up one of her hands by lacing it with his own.
Although, when he was feeling the texture of it, he looked at her hand, and his eyes widened slightly in surprise. It looked to be that both of the Kendo girl’s hands were bandaged.
“Hitomi…” Keiya mumbled, caressing her cheek. “What happened?”
“…” She shook her head, biting her lower lip. “Keiya…” She closed her eyes, briefly shivering softly of his touch on her face.
“Tomi-chan… What happened? Did you get an accident of some sort?” By accident, he meant burning her hands while cooking or something like that. At this, she shook her head again.
“No, it’s not that sort of thing…”
“Then?”
“…Please… I don’t want to talk about it yet. It’s just… I do want to tell you, but I don’t want to ruin it. After all, it took me a long time to work on it…”
“I see, then.” He nods, kissing her lips. “All right, I won’t bother you on it. But you promise you’ll tell me, right?”
Smiling, she replied, “I will, very soon.”
Sighing in relief, Keiya pulled her closer in his arms, just cuddling her. With a smile, Hitomi sighed in content, snuggling into her lover’s arms for warmth and protection.
Seeing that she has fallen asleep, he places his face into her hair, breathing in the lavender scent that came from it. It calmed him down more from worrying about her so much and, soon, it lulled him to a peaceful slumber.
- - -
Hitomi sighed, looking quite stressed. It isn’t really like her to be so but, when she is, it’s hard to her to pull out of it. It was quite evident to see for that she was tapping her black pen onto the blank page of her notebook in such an impatient manner. Although the English classroom was empty, she always comes here to relax, so she can focus on writing.
Of course, now, it was hard for her to do so.
“Hm? What’s wrong, Hitomi-san?” A kind voice acknowledged her, causing her to look up. Seeing the black hair and green eyes behind glasses, there was no mistake that this was the English teacher of the room; one Hitomi was on very familiar terms with.
“Hakkai-sensei…” She heaved another sigh, looking crestfallen. “Well, I… Today’s Valentine’s Day, isn’t it?”
“I believe it is.” He smiled softly. “Why are you so sad? Aren’t you still with Keiya-san?”
“I am still by his side, but… I’m not sure if he’ll like what I got him… I worked hard on it and I’m afraid on what he’ll think…”
“I see… I’m sure whatever it is, he’ll like it, no matter what. After all…” He had a tender expression. “He loves you. And you love him. I know you two have gone through so much just to go this far alone, so…” With that, he placed a hand on her head, ruffling it softly like an older brother would.
“Hakkai-sensei?” Hitomi was moved, feeling some tears well up in her eyes.
“Don’t hold back when it comes to loving someone. I know you’ve been hurt before… Every time I see you smile, sometimes, I thought I had imagined the loneliness and sadness that briefly flickered into your eyes. But I know now that I wasn’t imagining things... You may not believe in many, but you trust him, don’t you?”
“…” Nodding silently, she gets up from her desk to hug Hakkai, the tears almost falling. She knew in her heart that her teacher was right when he had said this because she had went through so much, both Keiya and her did. Sometimes, the things they’ve gone through had led to arguments that cropped up every once in a while. And once some of the fights got ugly, Keiya had made her cry. And he made her afraid, afraid to be all alone again.
But regardless of this, she still has faith in him, and trusts him to never leave her side.
Even though Hakkai knew the girl for a long time, he was still taken aback from the overwhelming emotions she was feeling for he did not expect the embrace. It looked to him that she hasn’t been able to show affection to anyone and she had done so for the first time in a long time. Since she felt acknowledged to open up to Keiya, even when becoming loving towards him, slowly, she began to trust again.
“Hitomi-san…” His deep green eyes still had that tender look. Pulling away, Hitomi was smiling brightly than he had ever witnessed her doing so.
“Thank you, Hakkai-sensei.” She was smiling warmly, closing her eyes, feeling the tears fall down her face. Bowing to him in respect, she wipes her tears and smiles, walking out of the classroom.
And Hakkai can only smile on how happy she is now, memories of her younger self being like that after she stops crying flashing through his mind. To him, she had grown up so much and went through a lot. And now, she’s able to move forward without being afraid.
Now that’s the Hitomi I knew a long time ago…
- - -
“…” Hitomi had her hands behind her back, leaning against the wall as she was waiting for Keiya to come to the dorm. Apparently, she forgot her keys to the room, so she was locked out of it, and he had the duplicate.
“Hm? Tomi-chan.” A certain someone called her, which almost made her jump in surprise.
“K-Kei-kun…” She mumbled, giving him a sideway glance, not looking at him directly in the eyes. Seeing this, he moved right in front of her, leaning forward to press his forehead against hers.
“What’s wrong? Do you have something to say to me?” He asked gently, seeing how his girlfriend went into her extremely shy persona like she usually does, but he noted that she was tenser than the norm.
“Remember when I said I would tell you why my hands are in bandages?” She inquired nervously, gulping a bit as she spoke.
He nodded, but pulled away a moment. Taking out the key, he inserted it into the lock, and unlocked the door. Locking it again from the outside, he decided to go into the room first, much to Hitomi’s relief. Following him silently, Hitomi closed the door quietly.
“Well… Here.” She said with a smile as she extended her arms out from behind her back. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
Looking what was in her bandaged hands, the older boy was touched, feeling his heart tugging a bit. He could see why her hands were in this condition. In her hands was a red muffler that was knitted by the stitch. It must’ve taken her a long time to do so for that she wouldn’t be hurt like she was now and that she looked to take her time to do every little detail. Gently taking the scarf out of her grasp, he wraps some of it around his neck, the ends of it with some length sticking out. And he sighed gently, smelling lavender in the scarf.
“Do you like it?” The Kendo girl was apprehensive, shyly looking down at the floor, twiddling her fingers. “I-It took me a month to work on it…”
What she didn’t expect was for her boyfriend to pick her up bridal style. Sitting down on the bed, he pulled her close to him in his lap, his forehead resting onto hers.
“Thank you, Hitomi, for making this for me… You didn’t have to…” Keiya whispered with a soft smile.
“I wanted to…” Hitomi wrapped her arms around him, smiling a bit. “I usually worry about you, especially around this time of year since it’s cold, and we both hate the cold, so… I wanted to do this for you.”
“I see.” He kissed her forehead. “Thank you. Oh, I got something for you.”
“Mm?” Now, she was curious as to what he had. In his hand was a necklace with a pendant on the silver chain. The pendant that was hanging by onto the chain by a small loop that was attached to the top of it were made with small pearls that made out the shape of Kanji, the Kanji of love, which is “Ai.”
“Oh no…” Hitomi was a bit stunned. “This must’ve been costly… Kei-kun, I-I can’t accept this…”
Putting it around her neck, despite her protests, he smiles.
“It took me a bit to save up for it… But it was the least I can do for you. Happy Valentine’s Day, chibi-chan. I love you very much.”
Grinning because of him using one of his many terms of endearment to call her, and one that involved the obvious of her being vertically challenged, no less, she stuck her tongue out at him playfully.
“Haha, thank you, meanie.” She chuckled, saying this playfully. Sighing in content, she nuzzled his neck softly, lifting her head up to kiss him on the lips.
“I love you too, sweetheart. Let’s continue sharing happiness and sadness together...”
Nodding at this, cuddling her, Keiya gave her another kiss on the lips.
Smiling, he replied, “Sure thing. I already promised I won’t leave you, no matter what, and I intend to keep it.”
Feeling safe and warm in his arms, she nodded silently, her head resting into the curve of his neck, nuzzling it softly. The two dropped into silence, listening to the rain that was softly falling outside. They didn’t need one day to celebrate their love.
They could always do that every day.
And no matter what happens, how bleak or bad things may be, they only have each other to fulfill what they truly need, not just want.
For that they had a special place in each other’s hearts, a place that they call “Home,” since they have nowhere else to go.
Yes, they were home, and they were there to stay.
Sorry if it didn’t have much of a plot to it… XD And yes, I know I’m guilty on writing fluff since it’s been quite a long time since writing such a thing.
I had the song, “Eternal Snow,” in mind of this, from the anime/manga, Full Moon wo Sagashite. The line that mentioned a muffler in the lyrics struck me to write this (and another line was “Hold me tight.”), though there has been other inspiration behind this. Of course, FMwS in general (including the J-Pop songs in it that my boyfriend had given me, which I felt that truly connected us) made me write this.
Anyway, happy monthsary, sweetheart. And remember, like the song, “Love Chronicle,” says, “No matter what happens, I’ll never let go of your hand… Forever…”
