Title: love in progress.
Fandom: Hot Gimmick
Pairing: Tachibana Ryouki x Narita Hatsumi
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Word Count: 1,078
Disclaimer: Not my manga, Ryouki's not real, some curse words & no spoilers.
Summary: Losing his virginity isn't the only thing on his mind when he's with her. Could become a continuing series.

Author's Notes at the bottom. Enjoy.


Someday, he fears she will see through his transparent actions. Presently, he is extremely relieved that she is too dense to realize how obvious his feelings are… and enjoys tormenting her with hints of his affection from time to time.

"Hey…"

She turns around, biting her lip. "Y-Yes?"

He always has to spell things out for her, from his intentions to her homework; actually, he usually has to wait before she stops nervously prattling around. She may have already admitted that she was in love with him, but he still scares her--and he knows this. He also knows that her fear is slowly falling to the wayside (and why can't her clothes fall by the wayside just as easily, he wonders irately) the more they spend time together. Even if she isn't the brightest bulb in the bunch, she knows more about him… has seen more sides of him… than anyone else.

"Why are you walking so far ahead of me? Are you trying to lose me or something?" Her cheeks redden as she brushes honey-brown bangs away from her face.

"Oh, no, I'm not, I promise…" Her gaze rises from the pavement to his eyes, before she turns redder and stares at the ground again. "I was just thinking about something."

He can't hide the comical expression on his face. "That's new."

But really, he's thinking too… and not about another scheme to rid both of them of their respective virginities. She really makes him think a lot more than he prefers. Not even school and his upcoming college entrance exams give him as much of a headache as she does. When he's apart from her, he always wonders—Someday, I won't scare her at all… and how will I keep her? or Does she notice other men when I'm not with her? Both questions drive him up the wall, and he always feels like punching something afterwards.

"No, really…" she trails off, unsure. "I was thinking that… I like spending time with you, like this." His eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"We haven't even done anything yet… we just left the damn complex. What the hell could you possibly be referring to?"

"It's nice, though," she continues stubbornly, her hands clenched. "I… like knowing that we'll be… doing things together, just the two of us."

Watch what you say, he thinks wryly as the corners of his lips quirk upward for a split second. Our track record of uninterrupted dates is not even worth mentioning.

"Yeah, I guess," he decides to say instead, striding over to her and grabbing her arm roughly. "So. Let's go, and stop thinking so much. You'll slow yourself down."

The feel of her soft skin between his fingers sends a shock of nerves up his arm and to his spine, and he remembers why touching her—any part of her—in public is so dangerous.

"Hey, you don't have to yank my arm off, you know," she retorts with a childish huff, her feet tumbling behind his. He stops suddenly, his hand still grasping her arm tightly as she almost collides into his back.

No matter what time of day or what type of mood he is in, he is always wishing he could have her all to himself.

"…Ryouki?"

He can have any other girl—someone smarter, someone more beautiful, someone more experienced, more amply supplied in the chest region—hell, he can have her sister if he so chooses.

He turns his head to see her peering worriedly at him over his shoulder, and stares at her shamelessly. She blushes under his scrutiny.

"…actually, I was thinking just now…" he starts.

She is the only one he has ever wanted, and the realization hits him like a ton of bricks.

"…that I would rather have you next to me than behind me." He knows that his face is turning a delicate shade of pink, so he continues hurriedly. "I don't want you sneaking peaks at other men. If you're next to me, I can watch you when your eyes wander."

"But they wouldn't," she says shyly, walking forward and facing him. Her hand tentatively reaches up to cup his cheek. "I'm here with you, aren't I?"

His heart is beating loudly, and he finds himself out of breath.

No matter how much effort he puts into controlling her, she is the one who always gains the upper hand in the end. And somehow he is… glad, and a little relieved.

He thinks it's probably love.

"Hatsumi," he says suddenly, his voice raspy. He grabs her other hand, pulls her to him and wraps his arms around her. He hears her gasp in surprise, then sigh in contentment.

None of his sexual handbooks ever mentioned the possibility of love into their detailed situational guides. He knows that for a fact—he's memorized all of them.

Maybe, this time, he'll have to fly without a plan.

"Hatsumi," he says again, and she pulls away from him enough so that she can look him in the eye.

"Yeah?" she smiles. He tries to regain his composure by frowning and furrowing his eyebrows.

"Let's be alone. Right now." Because I can't wait anymore, because all I want to do is press my naked skin against yours, because I crave your warmth, he thinks, distracted by the fullness of her lips and the nape of her neck peeking out of her shirt.

She surprises him again by blushing and looking away.

"…maybe for a little bit," she says softly. Her gaze immediately meets his again. "But what about the show, Ryouki…"

"Fuck the show," he says shortly, his forehead leaning onto hers. The tickets for the live concert were only 10,000 yen anyway… and it wasn't his money in the first place. He decides to withhold this information from her, knowing that the price tag on the tickets alone would make her think she had to go. "Let's head back to my place."

"But won't people notice that we just left?"

"Fuck the people," he retorts. "You already gave your consent, Hatsumi. We're going, and that's a goddamn order."

He leans in enough to kiss her, and his hands clench behind her back as she sighs into his eager lips. He forgets about the street, the cars driving by and the people walking around them on the sidewalk.

He loves her, and she's going to know just how much when their clothes come off.

end.


So... this is my first time writing anything Hot Gimmick... I'd really appreciate feedback because I want to know if I'm doing something right--making characters go OOC is something I avoid at all costs if I can. And like I said before, I'm very tempted to make this a continuing series story (it'd be slice-of-life, probably a little sexually explicit ). So we'll see. Hope you liked it!