Woo, I have overcome the horrible writer's block! MEGAHUGEAWESOMEAMAZINGTHATNKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU to my good friend Mrs. Fluffy-sama for the whole locked-in-a-closet idea. This is one of two stories that I've written that I actually like. Seriously, this was so much fun to write! And the part about a crosswalk was inspired by one of my favorite songs, Merry Go Round by Yui. That could so be the theme song for V.B. Rose if (and when, hopefully) it gets turned into an anime. Anyway, on with the story!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own V.B. Rose or anything in it, and I do not own The song/artist used. But Yui is still awesome.

Crap. Crap, crap, crap. How did this happen, again? I'm locked in a closet – and a very small, very cramped closet at that – with the guy I'm in love with. This really wouldn't be so bad, if only we weren't so close. I have my legs pulled up to my chest, as does he, and our knees are pressed together. Right now, we're just sitting. Avoiding each others' eyes. Being silent. Being not-so-comfortably silent, in fact. So, I decide – and God only knows what I'm thinking – to break our uncomfortable silence by uttering the first words that come into my head:

"Arisaka-san, how did this happen?"

He looked at me – I swear I could drown in those eyes – and replied.

"Well, I came back here to get some designs, and you were back here for... something, and somehow the door both closed and locked."

I raised an eyebrow. Kuromine-san? my eyes asked.

His lips pressed into a thin line and he nodded once. Yup.

Well, at least we don't have communication issues.

With my simple little question, we began to fill to the silence. At first we talked only about trivial little things, like the weather. Then we went deeper, and... somehow ended up talking about our love interests. This day just kept getting better.

"Right now," he said, "I'm really just confused. I think she likes me, but I can't be sure. I just keep thinking that I'm overconfident, or something. What about you?"

Hmm. I suppose I'm a bit flattered that he's telling me all this, but mostly I just feel like bulldozer is ravaging my insides. But oh, well. Can't tell him that, now can I?

I sighed. "Right now... I guess you could say that it's like I'm at a crosswalk. The light is red, and I'm trying to decide – right or left? Tell him, and risk rejection, or play it safe and be happy with what I have?"

Yeah, that sounded about right. A crosswalk – but unbeknownst to me, that red light was about to turn green.

I closed my eyes, sighing again.

"Ageha?" His voice was softer now, more intense. "Who are you in love with?"

To say the very least, that wasn't what I was expecting. My eyes flew open, and I blatantly stared at him. This was the same Yukari Arisaka, right? Because it certainly wasn't like him to be quite this straightforward. And really, how was I supposed to answer that? Just an, "Oh, I'm in love with you, and I have been for months. No biggie."?!

All of this ran through my head in about a second. I gulped, then inhaled shakily.

"You tell me who you love, and then I'll tell you who I love." Somehow, my voice had dropped to the same intense whisper without my giving it permission to do so.

He closed his eyes and put his head back against the shelf behind him. I bit my lip, uselessly fretting, as I so often did, about what could possibly be going through his head.

He leaned forward – or at least, as forward as was possible in this miniscule space – and said, still whispering, "We'll say it on three – at the same time. Okay?"

I just nodded, too flustered by what I was about to do – basically skewer my heart – to speak.

"One..."

My eyes closed.

"Two..."

My breathing spiked.

"Three..."

Eyes open. Inhale. Speak.

"You."

Our voices sounded nice together. My eyes widened, staring into his. Somehow, he managed to maneuver himself so that our faces were about an inch apart. His lips brushed mine lightly...

And I melted. If there hadn't been a wall behind me, not to mention his arms around my waist, I probably would have fallen backward.

I'd never been kissed before, so this sensation was entirely new to me. Little jolts of electricity shot down my spine, my legs, my arms, locked around his neck. I couldn't remember where I was, or why I was there. I couldn't remember my own name. I'd never been this happy in my life.

All too soon, he pulled away. My arms stayed in place around his neck, his around my waist. I realized I was breathing pretty hard – I had kinda forgotten about that whole "humans need air to live" thing. Then again, I'd kinda forgotten about everything.

Including the door, which was no longer closed. The narrow doorway was occupied by a very wide-eyed and slack-jawed Mitsuya Kuromine. He recovered quickly, though – by bursting into a fit of laughter. Arisaka-san stood first, then helped me up.

Then we went after him.

"I suppose we'll thank you for this later, but... right now I'm not really in the mood to be humble." I smirked as I said this. Arisaka-san and I both got a good hit in, and he was pretty much out after that. So, we stuck him in the closet. We'd get him out in an hour or so... maybe. Then we just walked.

We went to a tiny, secluded playground – no one was there – and sat on the swings.

"So, I guess this means we're together now, huh?" he said, taking my hand and twining our fingers together.

"Mmm."

"Does that mean you're happy?"

I smiled. "Mmm."

He rolled his eyes.

Then he kissed me again.