A/N: Sorry this took so long to update! I was out of the country, then I had school stuff to deal with. Thank you for the nice reviews, they mean the world to me! This chapter is a little short but I hope it's worth it.

"You're so lucky to have long hair, Kurisu. Mayushii's hair is too thick to keep long!" Mayuri was braiding Kurisu's hair. She had recently picked up various hair accessories for cosplay, and she wanted to see what Kurisu would look like in them. Kurisu thought that she might as well, seeing as she had turned down the offer to wear the cosplay outfits Mayuri had made.

Okabe was on the floor as well, flicking through TV channels. He glanced over to the two girls, smirking at Kurisu, who obviously did not like to be fussed over. "Kurisu, when do you go back to the US?" Mayuri asked.

"In September," she said.

"Ohh, in a month," she said a little sadly. "I hope you don't forget us…"

"I could never forget you," she assured Mayuri.

"What about Okarin?"

"It would be impossible to forget Okabe," she laughed a little. "Not sure if that's a good or bad thing."

"Will you come back to Japan?" Mayuri asked. "Your dad is here, right?"

She fidgeted uncomfortably. "Yes, he is. We don't talk that often though."

"Why?" Mayuri tilted her head.

"Don't pry, Mayuri," Okabe scolded gently.

"Oh. Okay." she sagged a little, a frown on her face.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie," Kurisu ruffled her hair. "I'm just fine."

Mayuri giggled, her nose crinkling. "I should probably get to work! Faris will get mad if I'm late!"

Not thirty minutes after Mayuri left, the door creaked open and a head peeked in shyly. "Um, hello."

"Rukako, come in," Okabe said. She stepped in. "How are you? Doing well?"

"Uhm, I'm fine," she said. "Is Mayuri here? I wanted to stop by and say hello…"

"She's not, she went to work," Okabe said.

"Oh, that's okay, then," she said, then glanced over to Kurisu. "Oh, hi! I haven't seen you in awhile!"

"I know! Nice to see you," she smiled. "How are you doing?"

Ruka sat nervously on the couch. "I'm good. I've been kind of busy. Most tourists come to the shrine in the summer…"

"That makes sense. I feel like I would get hot in all those robes!"

"I do," she giggled. "But, I'm used to it."

"You look so cute in your shrine maiden clothes, though!"

Okabe watched them talk and laugh with a gentle smile on his face. Kurisu was so personable and kind to Ruka and Mayuri. She was a bit more challenging to him, but he (begrudgingly) admitted that he did the same thing to her.

"I think you're very pretty," Ruka said.

"Thank you very much!" Kurisu said in English, blushing.

"You speak English? Oh, that's right you came from America!" she replied in English as well. It was thickly accented English, but good English.

She nodded. "Yes, I've spoken it since I was born. How do you know English?"

"I had to learn it for my shrine work."

"You speak it very well!"

Okabe couldn't understand much of what they were saying-English was his hardest class in school. He barely spoke any besides the basic phrases. They were talking so fast, and he could barely understand any of the words. Still, he admired the way Kurisu's eyes lit up, her lips turning up into an endearing quirk of a smile. And Ruka even seemed to come out of her shell. Kurisu was good at coaxing people like that.

Noticing he was staring at them in confusion, Kurisu gave Okabe a little wink. It was a teasing gesture, but he couldn't help but smile. Ruka's phone beeped. "Oh, I should get home," she said, going back to Japanese. "It's a busy day and all!"

"Thank you for stopping by Rukako," Okabe said. "I'm always happy to be visited by such a faithful lab member."

She giggled, used to his antics. "Thank you for having me," she bowed, ever the polite one still, and left.

"She's really a sweetheart, just like Mayuri," Kurisu smiled into the distance. "Shy, but sweet."

"I think shyness is in her nature. Especially around me," Okabe sighed wearily, remembering the way he had spoken to her in the past regarding her gender. It was embarrassing; he felt so intelligent and superior in the moment, but when the girl started to cry his ego came crashing down around him.

"What do you mean?"

"I haven't always been...informed about issues she's had in her personal life. I took it upon myself to make comments about them, comments that were incredibly rude. I made her cry and Mayuri threw all her upa toys at me. I apologized, and I understand better now...but it's not a pleasant memory."

And just like that, he realized she had coaxed him again, made him open up when he could've so easily brought Hououin out and threw some snarky comment her way. The more times this happened, the stronger the desire to kiss her grew.

"Well, you seem to be sincere...for once," she laughed dryly. "She doesn't seem the type to hold grudges. Don't beat yourself up, okay?" she held his hand, hesitantly at first, but they found that it felt more natural than awkward. She had a certain look in her eyes that he couldn't place.

"Something on your mind, Christina?"

"Can you...close your eyes for me?"

"Huh?"

"Ju-just….close your eyes. I'm not gonna kick you in the balls or something, okay?"

"That only makes it sound more threatening, but okay," Okabe reluctantly closed his eyes. It was silent for a moment-so silent, that he could hear Kurisu shift her weight. He felt a heat close to his face and then-

Instead of his eyes flying open and him pulling away, gasping, Okabe simply melted into the kiss. Kurisu interlocked her fingers with his and squeezed his hand. After a few moments, Kurisu pulled away. "I don't think I've ever seen you so shocked," she grinned. "If I knew this was how I'd get you to shut up I should've done it a long time ago."

"I, um, my mouth went dry," Okabe swallowed. The kiss was only a few seconds, but he could've sworn it was longer...there was science behind that, wasn't there? His brain was so muddled he couldn't remember.

"Well, at least I didn't kick you in the balls."

"You just kissed me, I don't really want you to think about you doing that," he winced.

"Sorry, I'm not one for romance usually."

"Neither am I," he admitted, then cleared his throat, "That was, um...my first kiss."

She looked down at their shoes. "Mine too," she said.

"I'd like to have my second."

She looked up, rolling her eyes. "Smooth," her tone was sarcastic, and yet, she obliged, kissing him again, this time more passionately. Her hands lazily petted his messy hair, and they were so lost in each other they didn't hear the click of the door.

"Damn!" Daru's voice rung out, and they jumped nearly a foot apart away from each other. "It's about time. There's been so much sexual tension in this lab you could feel it in the air."

"We're never gonna hear the end of this," Kurisu groaned, but neither her nor Okabe regretted it one bit.

A/N: So next chapter will probably be the last. This was just a short little fluffy fanfic I wanted to write to break away from all the suffering these characters go through in canon. I'm really glad people have enjoyed it. Hopefully it won't take as long to update, and as always thank you for reading.

xoxo Lulamae