Name: Not That Simple

Disclaimer: I do not own Until Death Do Us Part...or any of its characters...

Rating: PG...

Summary: Such a simple task...such a hard thing to do really...

A/N: I have had this thing on my PC for a long time now...posted it in the UDDP FC at BA for OD and was much later on convinced by a friend of mine to post it here(though I pretty much gave up on the series for some reason...sshhhh...don't let OD know...lol)

~Not that simple~

You consider yourself in control of a lot of situations but you sometimes have to admit that there are things beyond your control…or that's the way they appear to be.

For example, after months of serious denial and some poor trees/rocks/buildings being hacked with your sword, you finally and grudgingly came to admit to yourself that maybe you liked your little charge more than…well…uhm…more than liking a little charge. Scratch the word little; it was a good number of years (8…but who was counting) since she had uttered that phrase "until death do us part." Now she was clearly grown up, more mature than before and attracting some serious attention from males wherever she went…which was what had made you start acting weird.

You had scorned such emotions and promised yourself that they would fade with time but nay that was not in your power to do so. Instead, they had flared up and thus been the cause of some bewildering acts of yours. If she so much as gripped your arm during a mission, your concentration would be lost for a second and really, she could not be blamed. It was your entire fault for having such emotions.

Seeking out your mentor's help in forms of meditation may have worked while she was not around you but the moment you were in each other's company, you were a lost cause.

So after months of being moody, irritated with everyone and having an honest desire to seriously slice Igawa for his knowing chuckles over the com-link, you decide to do what any normal man would do: ask her out. Ofcourse you quickly reached this conclusion after overhearing Sierra and Juliet discuss how soon the person-in-question would be asked out judging from the numerous phonecalls, emails and serious male attention she's getting. No one would ever know why there was a deep cut in the wall afterwards.

So you get down to the plan: how on earth are you going to ask her out? Does she you as an older brother figure…some protector she met or…wait, you always suspected she had foreseen meeting you.

And where on earth would you take her? The movies? Totally out of the question as you are…well, to put it kindly, visually unable to enjoy the event. Hmmm…the park? Scratch that…yakuza would be on your tail within minutes. Your options are quite limited. Maybe order some take-out, stay in and watch mov…wait, movies were out. Besides, staying in would be a problem given the curiosity of Igawa and co. Even if you asked them to be scarce, you would bet your life that all rooms, from the garage to the toilet would be bugged.

Thus, you decide to do something you would never have thought of doing: ask for advice. Maybe if threatened enough to secrecy, one of your comrades would be able to help.

Igawa—broke into fits of giggles after declaring it was about time. It was useless to approach him in the first place.

Alpha—suddenly went all fatherly and demanded to know your intentions towards said person.

Kilo—reunited with Sierra and trying to make a baby

Sierra—reunited with Kilo and trying to make a baby; thus Sierra and Kilo are off the grid for a few…days. All this is gleefully given to you by Juliet.

Juliet—too busy getting drunk in celebration of Sierra and Kilo's reunion; kept calling you a douche bag

Pyro-….he chose not to say anything. Might as well have approached a wall

Igawa, again—still in giggles and joining Juliet in getting drunk. The two of them decide to tease you

Foxtrot—told you to open your mouth and ask as simple as that. You punched him.

Charlie—tightlipped after seeing you punch Foxtrot

Gen—he's after your head; could care less about your heart

Dai—not if he were the last human on earth

So exasperated and more than irritated with the lot of them, you decide to do it your way. Finding her curled up in the chair reading a book, you utter your simple phrase.

"Haruka, let's go!"

Heartbeat

Hands clenched till knuckles are white

Sweat on the back of the neck

"Ok."

Simple joy, she said yes. But does she even get what you are saying? She may think that you mean a mission.

"Wait, do you…"

"We can do a picnic by that mountain trail you showed me last time. No one will bother us there and I'm sure we can handle the bears."

You can definitely hear the smile in her voice but you stand there bewildered, probably looking like a silly fish. How…how did she…

"How did…"

"Mamoru-san, I am a precog, remember," she replies brightly and with that she's off to fetch her coat. You stand there, still shocked.

She had probably visualized all your hopeless actions and even knew how the "date" would go.

"Let's go. I heard Igawa and Juliet singing and I am sure we need to leave now," you hear her say as she touches your arm. With that touch, you really could care less about anything else. Putting on a tough face, you lead the way.

Any bears that dare disturb your day had better have a deity they believe in.