Stuck

A/N: Hello! This one's another RukaRu story! But it's a one-shot, though. It's actually a drabble; I had it kept in the deepest vault of my sister's laptop's hard drive (just in case they'd try to read my stories, yikes!), and for some reason I got inspired by the pairing these past few days. SO...I edited it, finished it, and voila! Here it is now.

So...R&R people! :D

"Next time I see that Tsubasa, I'll kill him."

Ruka could feel the black aura emanating from the girl beside her. His back was starting to ache now, not being able to move around freely for hours. The first time this happened, it was New Year when they were still in Elementary. It was troublesome, but when you're ten, you don't get to worry about other things as compared to when you're already sixteen. Yup; history did repeat itself. He and the Ice Queen got stuck with each other again due to the same base ingredient care of their beloved Tsubasa-senpai.

"I'm sorry this had to happen." He mumbled, remembering how smoothly Hotaru's surprise birthday party went a few hours ago and all of a sudden…this.

They were all about to get to their own rooms when the effect took place—apparently, just the two of them. Tsubasa said he didn't do it on purpose; and under the threat of getting his hair burned by Natsume, he swore he planned it for the "best friends", Mikan and Hotaru.

Ruka sighed and stared at the ceiling. Looking back, he could almost hear Tsubasa's words again.

**Flashback**

'I swear! I'm telling the truth!' The poor senpai wailed as the Black cat held on the back of his collar. 'I-I just didn't expect Hotaru would share the bun to Ruru first—'

'Don't call me Ruru!'

"But, hey…you guys did well way back, didn't you? I mean…not as vi-violent as Mikan and Natsume was when—'

Natsume lit a tongue of flame. "Fix this, shadow."

'H-ey! I-I…' Tsubasa whimpered, and then turned to his Misaki who was calmly nibbling on a breadstick, apparently watching him with an amused expression on one corner as he remembered. 'Hey, Misaki! Help me out here!' –but, no, Misaki wasn't there anymore.

'Oh, I don't think Hotaru cares!'

Heads turned, upon hearing Mikan, and Ruru didn't feel any better.

'Well, then, I guess they should sleep together tonight.' More heads turned to the blond teacher and Natsume's flame somehow faltered. He could feel eyes on him, Narumi-sensei, and he couldn't blame his students. Tch. Teenagers.

Apparently, they were all speechless.

'Come on, guys!' Narumi clapped dismissively. 'It's not the first time, right? Besides…' he turned to look at the glued teens, 'Ruru won't be doing anything fishy would he?'

The surprised faces made the poor blond want to storm out even more; and with Narumi grinning at him like that, he felt even more trapped than he already is.

**End of Flashback**

"It's not your fault." Her voice sent him out of his reverie.

Apparently, they were "glued" by the upper arm down to the elbow, and they had to lie down on her bed reallycloseto each other as the circumstance forcibly dictated. They were under the covers, and except for their free arm and head, they were barely moving. Their "glued" side seemed plastered by concrete—and Ruka knew the feeling of having a part of your body harden like rock—and their hands were still, one just about touching against the other. Lying down on this bed wasn't supposed to be so hard…except for the fact that they weren't ten-year-olds anymore.

"It's just troublesome." Hotaru muttered. She was lying on her back, their shoulders stiff against each other, and since Ruka was on her right side, her neck started to get strained from trying stay looking on her left. "I usually sleep on my side."

Their shoulders were free from being stuck, but the "glued" part was enough to restrict them from any sleeping position aside from lying on their backs. Ruka tried to relax, to not much avail. He was staring at the ceiling, as though some cure was there to separate them. "Still." He mumbled, feeling sorry for the situation. "I shouldn't have tasted that bun Tsubasa-senpai gave you."

"I said it's not your fault." Hotaru replied, her voice colder than necessary. After a moment, she sighed. "I shouldn't have shared it with you in the first place."

Well, he wondered about that, too; why she shared it to him. Maybe she wanted to share it with everyone else, but since it wasn't enough—and that he was apparently standing just a foot from her side—she decided to share it with him instead, being the closest one in proximity. Thinking about it, he knew it was absurd. Or maybe…well, nevermind.

It was quiet for a while, and though each tried to get a little comfortable with their troublesome sleeping positions, their backs and shoulders and necks just couldn't try to cooperate. Besides, it's not every night that they'd get to sleep with a teenage opposite sex.

A good fifteen minutes must have passed, and Ruka sighed. Ican'tsleep. He wondered if the Ice Queen's already asleep, and maybe a peek wouldn't hurt so much. He just didn't know that'd count as one of his greatest mistakes in life. Risking himself a glance, his heart thundered hard; inch by inch his neck joyed with the change of position.

Their eyes met.

"What're you looking at?"

The blond Alice froze, suddenly having stiff neck, and couldn't quite look away immediately. "Uh-uhm…" He mumbled, figuring that he somehow needed to at least say something. "N-nothing." And he almost snapped his neck by looking back to the ceiling. "I-I just w-wondered if…if you're still awake."

Actually, he wondered if Hotaru was sleeping; not if Hotaru was stillawake. Well, that didn't make so much difference, but still…

Hotaru looked at the flustered guy from the corner of her eyes, feeling the strain on her body not wavering. "You can't sleep."

It wasn't a question, he noticed, but he somehow felt compelled to answer. "Uhm…right." He managed to choke out; then mumbled under his breath nervously, not really meaning for her to hear.

The Ice Queen looked back to the ceiling, feeling a lump on her throat trying to get out as she debated within herself. It was quiet for a while, and she almost didn't believe her ears when she heard him break the silence.

"So…did you enjoy your party?"

It's been a couple of hours already, but still she found herself smiling in the dark. "Yes."

"That's good." Ruka smiled at the ceiling as though he was speaking to it instead; he really didn't expect a reply to his question. "Mikan spent lots of effort planning it."

"I bet not everyone's up to it."

At that, he couldn't help but look at her from the corner of his eyes. "Well…"

But he found her smiling. "That idiot did a great job, though."

"Actually…" Ruka said, his voice lower than it usually sounds. "Everyone was up to it."

It was now her turn to look at him; this time, she turned her head. If he dared to turn his head ninety degrees, they would've been caught in an inch of a distance—that's barely separating—and he felt his neck tense even more. But he did meet her eyes, and he wondered why he didn't notice before how pretty they were.

When she looked back to the ceiling, he found himself still looking at her. But if he was already tense, the air seemed thicker when she opened her mouth again. "So you still like Mikan."

Again, it was barely a question; but then again, he was compelled to answer it; and yet again, it was difficult.

She wondered how long it would take him to find his voice, and she was starting to believe that silence means 'yes'. But that's when he finally spoke up.

"I…" he started, "Well…n-not liking Mikan…that might take a great deal of effort. B-but…" Ruka paused, sorting out his words. "…but i-it's no longer the way you think it is."

She blinked. "Not like before, you mean."

That would've made him feel more uncomfortable, but he was surprised how it made him smile instead. Glancing at the Ice Queen, he muttered. "Well…you can say that."

Hotaru thought about that; and why she asked in the first place. Of course, like any other person, she was curious; that particular topic had been quite a fuss back then, and information has always mattered to her. But that didn't really explain the reason so well.

In the dark, Hotaru could barely make out of his face; but in the dim light from the full moon outside, his eyes had a faint shimmer as he looked up to the ceiling, a faint smile on his lips. She trailed his sight, and practically found nothing on her bedroom's ceiling. Ruka, on the other hand, didn't really mind looking—and smiling—at an empty ceiling. He figured it was better than looking at the Ice Queen in the face with an inch of 'barely separating' distance. It was quiet again, and she was about to close her eyes and force herself to sleep when he spoke again.

"Did it hurt?"

His heart skipped a beat. "Wh-what…what hurt?"

"When you gave up."

He found himself taking a deep breath. Letting it out in a quiet sigh, he managed to reply. "Of course it did." He muttered. It was quiet for a moment, then he broke it with a surprising chuckle that Hotaru looked at him with an eyebrow raised and that 'are you nuts?' look in her face. "But that's so long ago, Imai. It's not like I'm still brooding on it until now."

"Really."

His chuckle somehow felt good, though he found it quite absurd, suddenly bursting out like that. But for some reason, this rare talk with Hotaru Imai seemed…refreshing.

He nodded, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes then back to the ceiling. "After that…things looked different. I-I can't explain it, but…but I noticed things I didn't really care about before when I sulked of being alone."

"You weren't alone."

He paused; and completely turning to the Ice Queen, he smiled at her. "I wish I'd known that." He mumbled under his breath. "But, hey…" The blond muttered, "…because of what happened, I learned lots of things; I got closer to the others..." He had that faraway look in his eyes as he said that, and Hotaru could see it. Then his smile seemed to reach his eyes. "Hey, did you even know Inchou had a crush on you?"

Adding to the list of the things Hotaru Imai wondered about while listening to the unusually blabbing Ruka Nogi was why he was suddenly asking about crushes. Half-turning to face him, Hotaru managed a reply. "Where'd you get that?"

He smiled, and for the first time didn't look like he was bothered by how close their faces were; but she could see his eyes holding back protectively, and she wondered about that too. "Koko isn't very secretive."

She smirked, and then looked away.

Silence.

"So?"

"So, what?"

"Uh…d-did you know?"

Ruka watched her move her shoulders way back as she tried to stretch a little; her joints made those snapping sound and he kind of wanted to try it himself. But that's when she answered. "I think he told me about that."

His eyes widened, and he shot her a look. "Y-you mean I-inchou…"

"It wasn't like a confession or anything…" her amethyst eyes moved to meet his widened irises. "A couple of years ago, I think, during the culmination of the Cultural Festival back in middle school, he told me that."

"H-he just…told you?"

"Yes."

"Just that?"

She met his eyes again, and this time, the blue orbs didn't look so calm anymore. "Yes."

"A-and…"

"What do you want me to say, Nogi?"

Ruka bit his gum, not knowing what to say at that. He just…well, he just didn't expect cute class-rep would actually be able to do that. No offense meant, though.

"What's with the fuss about that?" Hotaru muttered, her face calm and indifferent as though they were simply talking about Howalons. "We were in Elementary. Crushing on someone's normal."

He bit his gum harder, gulping back an erupting curiosity.

"A-and…d-did you…" He mumbled under his breath, but stopped himself immediately when her eyes bore down on him.

"What?"

"N-nothing." He stuttered, looking back to the safe ceiling staring. "C-crush. Elementary. C-completely normal. O-of course. Just like you crushing on Misaki-sensei, right?"

And that's when he received his first glare of the night from the Ice Queen. It's record-breaking, actually.

"Shut up, Nogi." She muttered, but maybe if it wasn't because the lights were off, he was pretty sure he'd see her blushing.

Neither dared to speak a few minutes after that, and when she looked at the alarm clock above her head, it said eleven thirty. She's used to sleeping up late, but it's the first time she'd done it to do something really important like…talking to a guy. And as if he was reading her thoughts and wanted to make a really good emphasis, the blond suddenly spoke again.

"A-about Iinchou…"

A pause; she watched him sort his thoughts from the corner of her eyes.

"I…I kind of envy his courage." His eyes were closed now, but he could feel her eyes boring down on him. At the back of her mind, she was wondering if Ruka Nogi's already sleep-talking, since his eyes were already closed and he looked utterly peaceful as he said that; and it made her heart relax a bit. But then he opened his eyes, turned to her, and smiled; and Mikan was right: Ruka-pyon's not very good for the heart. "I envy him…for being able to say that to you."

She could feel the muscles of his arm slightly move against hers as his hand twitched. And just when she thought she could never feel tensed and strained as she already was, his hand moved to hold hers. Hearing her pulse pounding, she managed to even out her breathing. Besides, she wasn't called the Ice Queen for nothing.

"Why."

His eyes shot open. Why.

At the age of ten he fell in love for the first time, getting his heart broken alongside a series of unfortunate and dangerous happenings in the Academy; and watching his bestfriend and the girl he fell in love with flutter around as couples as years passed, recovery became quite difficult, but fulfilling. Just when his heart finally healed, he would find himself falling for the same trap again; he just wished the cycle would be different. So, that's why.No one could really blame him if he would envy Inchou's courage.

Hotaru looked perfectly calm and collected; but in truth, she had never felt this way before. Sure, she'd been nervous countless of times, but those were different. Thiswas different. Now, she had no idea what was coming; and even if she knew, she didn't know how she'd be able to act on it. At the back of her mind, she wished she'd just let it drop, and not probe any further with a 'Why'.

"Because…" he gulped, seemingly in half-trance as he listened to the ringing in his ears. "I'd want to tell you that, too."

There, that's the blow; and the Ice Queen could barely control her heartbeat, let alone react to that calmly. Taking a deep breath, she let it out in a quiet sigh. "You're starting to remind me of that idiot in the Dangerous ability group, the wind guy."

He chuckled, lightly at first but eventually became a really inviting laughter. Really, now; if he was her, his heart would've burst into pieces right there and then. "Oh. That guy who calls you 'Cool Blue Sky'."

"I guess that's him." She replied, feeling the tension easing now. Genuinely, her eyebrows furrowed. "What's his name again?"

When Ruka turned to look at her, she had that glint of playful look in her eyes he rarely could see. "You have lots of fans, you know."

"Look who's talking."

Hotaru could perfectly feel his hand holding hers, and thinking about it made her heart flutter even more. It's not all about the physical touch—they were physically and literally stuck with each other so the touching didn't really bother her so much anymore—it's the fact that, though she hated to admit, by holding her hand like that, it's the first time the Ice Queen felt sick, nervous, and on the verge of bursting. For the record, Hotaru Imai's blushing.

It was very quiet now, but to them it continuously sounded like it was thundering in their ears as their hearts raced furiously. Blinking at the ceiling, Ruka sighed.

A weak smile crept up his lips. "Do you like him? That…Hayate."

"He's an idiot." Ruka blinked, wondering if what she just said was something to be happy about, or the opposite. "He follows me around; popping every now and then." There was a slight twitch on hand, and just when he was pulling his hand away, she caught it and held it tight. "But I don't know him."

He heard a sharp intake of air, and he figured that must be him. Gulping back cowardice, Ruka cleared his throat and tried to stay calm. "Then get to know him."

She already surprised him when she caught his hand; now that she was holding it gently, he felt his heart thudding against his throat. He gulped it back when she met his eyes. "I don't want to."

"Imai…"

"We've been through a lot already." She cut in, making him choke with her statement. With a glance from the corner of her eyes, she muttered, "Can't you call me by my name?"

His eyes widened, and the best he could do was try not to stutter. "I…"

"And to Mikan, also." She continued; her eyes boring down on him as she spoke. "Don't get the habit of calling your friends by their surname."

At that, he couldn't help but smile. "Sure." He mumbled. "I'll call you H-hotaru…from now on."

"Better." Hotaru smirked. "And I'll call you Rurufrom now on."

"Wha—hey!" The blond managed to lift his head up and look at the Ice Queen frantically, his face burning. "Y-you can't c-call me th-tha—"

"Well then at least try not to stutter while begging."

"I'm not…b-begging you, Imai!" Ruka sputtered. "I-I mean, Hotaru! You can't call me—with thatname!"

Her smirk widened, if that's even possible, and he could feel her eyes staring him down bit by bit. "Oh, I'll call you any way I want, alright."

"Hey, that's unfair!"

"Fine..." Suddenly he noticed her pause in his eyes. "…Ruka." He froze, his neck aching more by trying to look over her. "—pyon." His eyes narrowed. "—Bunny boy. Pyon-pyon. Ruru." With one last smirk, Hotaru stared back to the ceiling, obviously feeling amused.

Grunting under his breath, Ruka slumped on the bed and exhaled loudly. "You're unbelievable."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

He shook his head, closed his eyes and sighed, and then turned to look at the girl so close beside him.

"When Inchou told you that…" He muttered, "…he didn't care what you'd be thinking, or if you'd even care, or if it'd affect things. I know it's not a serious confession everyone knows; but still, that's something a guy couldn't just do so easily…" He paused, sorting his thoughts. It was ten minutes to twelve now, Hotaru's birthday slowly ending. Feeling his blood rush up to his head, Ruka found himself squeezing her hand. "I'm in love with you."

She blinked once, twice, and then turned her head a full angle to look at him. All of a sudden, the inch of distance didn't matter.

"I-I know it sounds absurd; i-it's the truth…" he averted his eyes, his whole body frozen in the moment. "But don't think that I don't care, because I do. I care about what's going to happen after I tell you; if it'd affect things; what—what you'd be thinking; if you'd even care."

"What do you want me to say?"

Her voice sounded almost like a whisper, but he heard it just right. He wanted to tell her she didn't have to say anything, but he figured that's not what he really wanted to hear. He wanted to hear her say it, too; or at least the opposite of it so he wouldn't be racking his brain thinking about what she might answer. So still not looking at her in the eyes, he replied. "I-I just…wanted you to know that."

He wasn't looking her in the eyes now, but she was fully aware of their proximity. Ignoring her heart's erratic beating, Hotaru blinked and managed to find her voice. "I have the urge to hit you right now, you know that?"

When she kissed him, all the stress from being stuck felt exactly the opposite. With their lips touching, and their skin glued to each other, the proximity suddenly made sense.

Hotaru pulled away, and smirked. "You should see your face."

And suddenly, Tsubasa's doing didn't feel so troublesome anymore.

A/N: there! What do you think? Please review and let me know! :D