Disclaimer- Lovely Complex is one of my favourites. However, it is not mine.

A/N- My first LoveCom fic- a dedication to my new favourite couple, Otani and Risa. :)

What's in a name?

'What's the use of their having names the Gnat said, 'if they won't answer to them?'
'No use to them,' said Alice; 'but it's useful to the people who name them, I suppose. If not, why do things have names at all?'
'I can't say,' the Gnat replied.

- Lewis Carroll

The old gang had gathered one summer, after their first semester of college. They'd managed to convince Maity sensei to let them borrow their old classroom that evening, and a boisterous reunion party had commenced.

The problem started simply enough, occurring as the party had begun to wind down.

"Oi, Koizumi!" Otani called to his girlfriend, " Could you bring out some more drinks, please?"

"More? What are you, an old drunkard?" Risa grumbled even as she complied, a fond smile on her face.

And that was when Nobu-chan, being Nobu-chan, decided to mention something that was really better left unsaid.

"Ne, Otani-kun?"

"Hm?"

"When you finally marry Risa, what are you going to call her? She won't be Koizumi anymore, you know."

Deathly silence followed. Four pairs of eyes switched between Otani and Risa, both of whom had their backs turned to their audience.

Otani recovered first with a loud, surprised "Huh?!"

Risa blushed.

"W-w-what are you talking about?" Otani said, stuttering as always when embarrassed. "We're not getting married!"

"D-don't be silly Nobu-chan!" Risa said a moment later. "He'll call me by my given name of course. Won't you, Otani?"

"Its not just him you now. You have to call him by his first name too." Nobu–chan pointed out, rolling her eyes.

"You don't refer to Nakao-chii by his name either! Its always 'daaarrlliing'!!" Risa said defensively.

"Well, of course, you could call him that too." Nobu-chan conceded with a grin. " I think you should just start with 'Atsushi' though."

"No way, that would be too weird!!" Both Risa and Otani exclaimed in perfect harmony.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean weird?" They pointed at each other accusingly.

"Well, you said it too!"

"If she tried doing something cute like that, she'd just end up being scary." Otani said in mock disgust.

Risa narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh? So are you saying I can't be cute, At-chan??" She said in a dangerously sweet voice.

"Who're you calling At-chan?!?!"

"Who're you calling scary?!?!"

"Sometimes, I wonder if these two will ever grow up." Nobu-chan said taking the aspirin Nakao-chi had quietly handed her.

So that was how the former All Hanshin Kyoujin found themselves seated across each other at the table, red faced, and with two of their friends on either side.

"Right." Nobu-chan announced. "You two simply can't go on like this. We'll start from the basics. Pretend you're having dinner together. Better yet, dinner together alone in you apartment, after you're married. A light, normal conversation. Requests to pass the salt etc."

" Just refer to each other by first names okay." Nakao-chii told them. Chiharu and Suzuki added their encouragements.

The problem couple nodded their heads, both looking queasy. Thus the game began.

"Could you pass the salt, Ko…. uh, R-r-risa?" Otani looked like he was being forced to read out his own death sentence.

At the sound of her name from his mouth, Risa flinched and blushed at the same time. It sounded so strange, and good at the same time.

"Of course Atsushi, dear." She replied, and immediately got hit on the head by Nobu-chan.

"Don't sound so sarcastic!" She admonished. Across the table, Otani looked dazed, like he couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry.

A couple of minutes later, Otani decided to try again. " How's the food, R-r-r-isa?"

"Um, quite tasty. As a matter of fact, I really like the sushi, At…" There was a pause, during which Risa's face underwent a series of transformations, from shock, to realization to…

" Atsushi??!"

Risa let out a great shout of laughter. "Oh My God!! Sushi! Your name rhymes with sushi!!" She screamed, banging the table in mirth.

Otani's face slowly turned puce. "Shut up, you idiot!! Its not that funny!" he barked.

"Actually, it kinda is." Suzuki-kun said slowly. Nobu and Nakao had already turned away, unable to hold their laughter.

Otani looked like he was going to explode. "Oh, yeah?" He shouted at his girlfriend. "Your name is funny too. After all, Risa rhymes with… with…" he struggled to come up with something.

"With the Leaning tower of Pisa!"

Nobu-chan and Nakao doubled up with laughter as even Chiharu and Suzuki had a hard time keeping a straight face.

"That's right. It suits an Amazon like you perfectly! The Leaning tower of Pisa. Maybe we should put you up for show and charge tickets." Otani taunted.

"Shut up! My height is remarkable only to a midget like you!" Risa shouted at him.

"Who're you calling a midget, Totem Pole?!?!"

"Microbe! Speck of dust!"

"Bean Stalk! Giant!"

"Dwarf!"

"Arrghh!!" Otani screamed in aggravation. "This is pointless! How does it matter anyway? I can call you by any name I want, and same goes for you! Besides, just because you're marrying me doesn't mean you're going to change your name to Otani!"

Silence once again prevailed, and Otani quickly realized that he had said something horribly wrong.

"Oh… so you don't want me to adopt your name?" Risa said, in an eerie voice, going into ghost mode.

"Wha- no! I mean, yes! I mean- huh?" Otani tried to backtrack, failing miserably.

"Do you even want to marry me at all??" Risa demanded in a whisper.

"That's not what I… wait, we're not getting married!"

"Otani, you idiot!" Risa shouted, whirling around. She ran out of the room, tears in her eyes.

"What'd you do that for?" Nobu demanded.

"But, I…. Isn't that what all women want these days? Their own identity and all?"

"This isn't the time to be a feminist!"

"What the hell?! How did it come to this anyway? We were just pretending!" Otani said, annoyed.

"That's not important. You broke Risa's heart!" Nobu chan exclaimed.

"Poor Risa-chan." Chiharu said sadly.

Otani ran a hand through his hair in frustration. It looked like he had some apologizing to do.

He found Risa on the terrace, in the same spot where he had kissed on her birthday nearly a year ago. She had curled up into a ball, and even though her back was turned to him, he knew she was crying.

He sighed. Why did she have to be so dramatic about everything?

"Koizumi." He said, kneeling down next to her. She stiffened, but ignored him.

"Koizumi?" He called again.

"Oh my, it is quite windy up here. I thought I heard someone call my name." She said loudly. "Oh well. It couldn't be anyone important, or they would have called me by my first name."

That did it. "Risa!"

As much as she didn't want to, there was something in Otani's voice that made her look at him.

"Risa." He said again, sending shivers down her spine. "I- about that…" he blushed and looked away.

"Look, I don't know what you're making such a big fuss over. Its not like we were really getting married or anything. All that drama over names. But, " He continued in a softer tone. "I-Its not that I don't want to m-m-marry you or anything. Of course, its too early to be thinking about all of this," he said in a rush. " But if, t-things stay the way they are, s-someday, I… I think I-I'd like to ask you."

He was still looking anywhere but her. "So… If you want me to call you Risa, or you want to adopt my name, or whatever…. I just want you to know that I'm fine with it."

"Of course, it'll be a little weird at first, 'cuz I'm used to Koizumi. And 'idiot', of course." He added with a grin.

"Otani…." Risa breathed. Had he just kinda, sorta, proposed to her?

She smiled suddenly and reached over to hug him. "Otani, you're the best! I'm sorry for all the trouble. You can call me Koizumi, just like always. I like Otani better than At-chan anyway."

"Hey!" He protested, and then asked, "So… for now, its okay?"

She grinned at him. "For now, its perfect." And she leaned over to kiss him.

What's in a name, anyway?

A/N- I'm sure the 'first name' plot has been used before, but this story demanded to be written. I tried keeping them in character, and I'm not really sure about my attempts at humour, but I hoped you liked it!

Please leave a review!