Y-e-a-h, another ItsukixYuki oneshot o_o"

If anybody of you watch the anime, you might find this similar to Darker than Black, where Yin "smiles". I was really impressed and decided to try it on Yuki.

Please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors! And also, please enjoy!

Cuter

Itsuki x Yuki

It was another one of those days when Haruhi decided to meet at the station and then split up into groups to find something...anything unusual.

Of course, knowing Haruhi, Itsuki was always out of the door of his house at least an hour before 15 minutes to the time. This morning, Yuki had already arrived and was sitting on a bench conveniently placed there, her gaze lowered and her hands placed neatly on her lap. And as usual, she was wearing her school uniform.

"Good morning, Nagato-san." Itsuki greeted her, sitting down on the bench as well.

"..." Yuki did not lift up her gaze, nor did she say anything.

"How are you today?"

"..." Yuki slowly lifted up her head. "I'm fine." She answered, keeping her poker face, looking up at Itsuki before flicking her gaze towards something else.

Itsuki followed her gaze to see Haruhi loping towards them, with Mikuru beside her. "Hey, Koizumi-kun! Yuki!" Haruhi called out before she was even five feet from them.

Itsuki flashed a smile as they neared. Haruhi told them briskly before anyone else spoke, "I met Mikuru-chan at the station." Then she paused before frowning in irritation. "Kyon's late again?"

Itsuki didn't bother to point out that it was at least thirty minutes before the time, since it wasn't like he ever did.

Finally, the figure of Kyon was seen walking towards them, and he didn't flinch when Haruhi yelled at him for being "late" since he was accustomed to it. "You should at least learn from all the other times that you were late!" Haruhi said.

"Yeah, yeah, so what's my death penalty this time?" Kyon retorted. Haruhi just grunted and loped off towards the direction of their usual cafe.

After they had ordered their drinks, Haruhi fished out 5 toothpicks from the small box on the corner of the table and marked two of them. Then, with her fist covering the marked parts of the toothpicks, she gave everyone a turn to pick.

This time, Itsuki and Yuki had taken the marked ones.

After Haruhi had given the bill to Kyon, then given out the usual instructions, the two groups parted.

At first Itsuki wasn't sure where to go. Of course, Haruhi wanted them to search for strange things, but Kyon had always brought Yuki to the library right? But...

"So, where do you want to go, Nagato-san?" Itsuki turned to Yuki, smiling.

"..." Yuki looked at Itsuki intently for a while. "Anywhere is fine."

"What about the library?"

"..."

Itsuki wasn't sure whether it was a yes or no.

"...There was a book I saw last time..."

Itsuki was surprised at Yuki's sudden answer. Does that mean she wanted to go to the library? "Of course." Itsuki smiled at her.

Once at the library, Yuki had already taken out the thick hardback book, and the library card Kyon had helped her register the first time they went to the library. Then she turned her gaze expectantly at Itsuki.

"Aren't you going to read?" He asked.

"..." Yuki didn't answer, but seemed like a 'no'.

Itsuki only smiled, again, and led her out of the library. Perhaps reading even became boring, for a while at least. After all, Itsuki was sure Kyon only ever brought Yuki to the library when they were in the same group.

So, out of instinct, Itsuki led Yuki to the park, since there was still plenty of time.

They walked for a while, in silence.

"Nagato-san, do you ever feel lonely?" Itsuki suddenly asked, not wanting the atmosphere to be so awkward and silent.

"..." Yuki seemed to hesitate. "...sometimes."

"Really?"

"..."

"Why do you always read? Aren't there other things you would've liked to do?"

"...Yes..." Yuki didn't answer the first question.

"Like what?"

"Anything else...is fine..."

Itsuki wondered if it was her way of saying she wouldn't mind doing anything at all, even if they didn't consist of books.

He dared to look down at the short-haired girl, who was much shorter than her. She was so small compared to him. Her face remained the same, and Itsuki couldn't help wondering what she would look like if she smiled.

After a long pause, Itsuki finally said, "You know, Nagato-san...you should smile more."

"...smile...?"

"Yeah. My teacher once said that the more you smile, the prettier you get." Itsuki informed her.

"How do I...?" Yuki broke off, as if wanting to say smile.

Itsuki was surprised, that Yuki was actually listening to him. But, Yuki wasn't entirely human, as she wouldn't understand any human characteristics like smile, being emotionless.

"You've always seen me and the others do that, haven't you?" Itsuki said, flashing Yuki one of his famous smiles, yet maintaining honesty in that gesture.

Yuki stopped in her tracks, and so did Itsuki. She looked up at him, as if studying his face, examining how his lips curved upwards into what the humans called, a smile. Itsuki noticed the corner of Yuki's lips twitch ever so slightly, as if she was trying to imitate him, but finding it difficult as she had never smiled before.

"Well..." Itsuki watched her for a while before lifting up his two hands, his index finger extended. "You can start practicing like this." His hands moved forward to Yuki's face, and then he pressed his two index fingers on Yuki's cheek, near the corners of her mouth, and pushed it upwards. Her lips had curved upwards into a "smile".

Itsuki was much surprised he had dared to even touch this girl standing in front of him. And as soon as his fingers had came in contact with her skin, he wondered how would she have responded to it. Itsuki was a bit embarrassed, of course, especially since there were a few people strolling about, but he kept his fingers there.

Yuki stared at Itsuki, wondering what he meant. "You look much cuter when you smile, you know that, Nagato-san?" These words were out of Itsuki's mouth before he knew it. But however much he was embarrassed because of those words, they were true. Yuki looked much different like that, even if two fingers were used to do it.

"Cu...ter?" Yuki echoed, pausing momentarily in the middle of the word, her tone betraying a slight bit of interest and curiousity.

"Yes, cuter." Itsuki replied. Finally, he released Yuki's face.

At once Yuki's lips dropped back down to their usual position. "Cuter..." Yuki repeated, lowering her gaze, as if she was learning a new word.

Yuki then, with her book under one arm, Yuki opened her hands, staring at her index fingers. Then, she lifted them up, and with her fingers, she pushed her cheeks up, forming into another "smile".

"...Cuter...?" Yuki sounded like she wanted Itsuki's opinion.

Itsuki, amused by Yuki's interest and curiousity that could be matched by a little young girl trying on her first dress, smiled down at Yuki and said, "That's right, you look much cuter that way."

Yuki stared at him, and blinked once, her fingers still on her face. Itsuki tore his gaze away and looked at his watch. "It's about time we returned." He said.

--

The day after tomorrow, was monday. When Itsuki arrived at the clubroom, Kyon was standing outside, looking irritated. "Is something the matter?" Itsuki asked, smiling.

"Nothing's the matter. Haruhi's just forcing Asahina-san to wear another one of her crazy outfits." Kyon grunted, jerking his head towards the club room door.

As Itsuki listened, he could hear squeaks and cries of Mikuru as Haruhi constantly shouted at her to stop struggling and be a good girl.

"I see." Itsuki just smiled.

Kyon rolled his eyes.

Finally, Haruhi called out from the room, "You can come in now!"

Kyon let out a sigh and opened the door, revealing Haruhi holding a trembling Mikuru. Yuki was reading her book in the corner.

"Oh hi, Koizumi-kun! I was just getting Mikuru-chan to wear a cheerleader costume! I wanted to take some more photos!" Haruhi said, when she saw Itsuki.

Kyon and Itsuki exchanged a bemused glance. Kyon mumbled the words, not to crazy after all. Itsuki half-guessed he was relieved.

"I see," Itsuki said, walking towards the table and placing his bag there.

"What do you think?" Haruhi said, glancing at the two boys, grabbing Mikuru's hands – which held two large pom-poms – and lifting them up into a pose.

Kyon just stared, then he coughed. "It's okay. But do you have to take pictures?"

"She looks...like a real cheerleader." Itsuki added, smiling, before Haruhi could snap at Kyon. Haruhi looked satisfied at Itsuki's comment, but then she turned to Yuki.

"What do you think, Yuki?"

Yuki paused, then she looked up at them. She glanced at Mikuru then at Haruhi. Then she lifted up her two index fingers, and she pushed her cheeks up, revealing a "smile".

"Fine." She said, answering Haruhi's question.

Everybody stared at Yuki like she had just turned into a dog. Even Haruhi was shocked. The emotionless book-reading former-literature club member was smiling? Even though she had used her fingers to support her expression, it was still a smile to Yuki.

"N-Nagato...did you just..." Kyon was baffled.

Yuki turned to him, her fingers still on her face. "Yes."

"W-ow...N-Nagato-san looks...much cuter..." Mikuru gasped out, amazed.

Finally, Haruhi burst out. "Yes! You look much cuter, Yuki! So much cuter like that! It would look better without those two fingers but it still looks so cute on you, Yuki!" She said in excitement, waving her arms.

"Oh! Oh! I suddenly have an idea for another movie! How about...how about... The Smile of Nagato Yuki?!" Haruhi said, her eyes sparking in excitement.

"What? How are you going to create a plot then?" Kyon protested.

Yuki stared at them, her fingers still helping her face form a smile. Then she turned towards Itsuki, as if expectantly.

Itsuki met her gaze, and flashing her a smile in return, he said, "You indeed look much cuter, Nagato-san."

Yuki continued staring at him for a while, then she released her cheeks. She looked at her fingers, then at Itsuki. Then she finally turned to her book.

Itsuki could've sworn he saw the corner of Yuki's lips twitch into a faint smile.

End.

There you go! Not very fluffy or romantic, but it's something! I would've named this story "The Smile of Nagato Yuki", but it'd make Haruhi's line pointless. and since the word "Cute" and "Cuter" is mentioned so much...then yeah X3