Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Just Be Yourself ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Summary: Miaka is worried about Nuriko still acting like a girl, & wants to think of a way to remedy it. Meanwhile Usagi frets about Haruka still playing out a guy. The two girls devise the perfect solution. Set their friends up on a blind date... with each other!

Rating: PG

Chapter 4

"Well," said Haruka, sweatdropping as she looked at the busted table. "I never expected that."

"Yeah, um," said Nuriko nervously. "I'm a... a bit stronger than most people think."

"I meant what you just said," Haruka replied. "What's this about you wearing women's clothing?"

Nuriko's face turned a curious shade of scarlet. "I, uh..." he stuttered. Usually, Nuriko wasn't bad for making excuses on the spur of the moment, but for this, he wasn't quite sure how to handle it. And now his date across the table started giggling profusely, which only made Nuriko feel worse.

"Well, you don't have to find it that funny," he muttered. Haruka shook her head.

"It's not that," she said, reaching for her wallet and pulling out her school ID. "Here, take a look." Nuriko took the ID and looked it over. Sure enough, it was Haruka, just as she appeared in the photo he saw earlier.

"Thought this wasn't you," Nuriko teased, handing the card back.

"No," said Haruka, pointing down to the frilly dress she was wearing. "This isn't me."

Nuriko laughed. "I dunno, I think the dress looks rather nice on you."

"Even the dress wouldn't be so bad, but these shoes," she complained. "They're inhuman!"

"They make you look taller," Nuriko pointed out.

"I'm a foot above everyone as it is. Why do I need to be taller?"

"Excuse me, are you read to order yet?" came an impatient voice behind them. Nuriko and Haruka both glanced behind them to see a waiter tapping his foot loudly on the restaurant floor. Haruka clumsily picked up her menu, as the thought occurred to her that she never actually decided on what she wanted to order yet.

"What's the... Hawaiian delicacy?"

"It's one of our specials this evening. Three slices of freshly baked glazed ham, accompanied by chopped pineapple, guava, and three halved lychees."

Haruka looked at the waiter like he might as well have said it was accompanied by three cockroaches. "What the heck is a lyche?" she asked.

"It's a fruit."

"Okay, fine, um... I'll have that."

"Fine." The waiter eagerly took Haruka's menu from her before she got the chance to change her mind. "And for the gentleman?"

"I'll have the uh..." Nuriko carefully ran his finger over the strange words in the menu. He would get it right this time. "…the …pep-per-oh-ni-peet-zah."

After the rather refreshing meal, Haruka and Nuriko walked arm and arm outside the restaurant. It was funny, but suddenly Haruka noticed she felt a lot more comfortable around this guy. Maybe it was because she wasn't so nervous about having to act just a certain way. Or maybe it was the way he opened himself to her. In either case, the effect seemed to be mutual. At least he wasn't rubbing his wrist so much now like he seemed to have a fetish with before.

"So where do you want to go?" Nuriko asked.

"Honesty?" Haruka asked with a smile. "I'd like to do some clothes shopping."

"You read my mind."

When Haruka said clothes shopping, she had, of course, had in mind something like a department store. And they did go to one of those too. Haruka got herself a couple new shirts, and Nuriko found some relatively cheap jewelry that he just "had" to get. It was afterwards when they were walking out of the department store and Nuriko spotted the costume shop on the other side of the mall that things got interesting.

"Is that another clothing store?" he asked anxiously.

"Sorta," Haruka explained. "But it's not exactly..."

"Great! Let's go there!"

Before long, Nuriko found himself in what appeared to him to be shopping paradise. Clothing in this world was just so incredibly amazing, he couldn't get enough of it. And as embarrassed as Haruka seemed at first to be there, soon she was joining in the fun as well.

"Is this too much?" she asked, trying on a Mexican sobrero.

"Not at all," Nuriko giggled, showing a pair of plastic fairy wings on his back. "How about this?"

"Maybe... just a tad."

Arms now packed with more bags, Haruka with a pirate costume she thought she could use for Halloween, and Nuriko with enough black leather to keep the Starlights happy for months, the two them next walked past a music store.

The store window was filled with all sorts of different instruments, along with several on display outside. Nuriko's eyes quickly caught an electronic keyboard and he sat his bags to the side.

"Hey," he said, nudging Haruka. "Isn't that the instrument you said you played?" Haruka sat her belongings next to Nuriko's and glanced over at the machine.

"Sorta," she said. "I prefer a grand piano, but I can play keyboard too."

"Feel free to try out anything you like," the storekeeper said, standing in the doorway. Haruka glanced at Nuriko, and unable to resist the urge to show off, she stood over the keyboard, glanced over the selection on instruments, finally deciding on the regular piano. Her skilled fingers began to move gracefully across the keyboard, letting off an enchanting melody. That was, until all of a sudden the sound went from a delicate piano to a rather obnoxious sounding accordion. Haruka's hands jumped back off the keys.

"What the heck?" she exclaimed.

"You like it?" the storekeeper asked with a smile. "It's our newest model, it changes instruments as you play." The shopkeeper seemed to think this was just about the coolest thing in the world, but Haruka thought otherwise.

"That's um… unusual," she admitted, unsure of what else to say.

"Hey, let me try it," said Nuriko, moving to Haruka's side. He wasn't nearly as skilled as his date was, but with the instruments changing back and forth, it was kind of hard to tell.

After the crash course in unusual keyboard playing, the couple decided to go to a park. The sun was starting to set now and the evening stars were just beginning to show.

"I guess we should head home," Haruka sighed.

"Yeah," said Nuriko. "I guess so."

It was a clear night; one could see the stars and the celestial bodies spread out like a movie screen before them. Nuriko smiled; he knew the constellations of both his beloved friends and former enemies by heart. His eyes followed them across the display as he pointed out the name of each one. "Tamahome, Hotohori, Nuriko, Chichiri, Tasuki, Chiriko and Mitsukake. Amiboshi, Suboshi, Nakago, Soi, Tomo, Ashitare and Miboshi."

"You know the Chinese constellations?" Haruka asked.

"Yeah," Nuriko replied. "I guess you could call it a pastime of mine." Then as long as he had gone that far, Nuriko figured he might as well point out the Genbu and Byakko constellations as well. "And there's Hatsui, Iname, Uruki, Tomite, Namame, Hikitsu and Urumiya in the north. Then Tatara, Subaru, Tomite, Kagasuki, Amefuri, Kokie, and Toroki in the west."

"That must have taken forever to memorize," sighed Haruka.

"Not really," Nuriko replied. "Not when it's something you love."

At the word 'love,' Nuriko's face became bright red, and he quickly cleared his throat in an attempt to cover it up.

"Where did you say you lived?" he asked.

"Right here," said Haruka, pulling the car up to the side of the road and turning off the motor. So this was it. Their date was over.

"Hey," said Nuriko. "What's that on your driveway?"

"What's what?" Haruka asked. She looked up to see there was something sitting there in the driveway, but she couldn't tell what. The two got out of the car to go look it over. Haruka was shocked when she saw what it was. A bouquet of flowers, just sitting there. Right in the middle of her driveway. Nuriko picked up the bouquet and looked it over. The flowers were perfectly fresh. There was seven of them, all different colors, with no tag or any indication as to where they came from.

"Maybe Michiru left them?" Haruka suggested. "She said she needed to buy some to brighten up the kitchen."

"Does she usually leave flowers she buys for the kitchen on the driveway?"

"No, I guess not. I dunno then."

Nuriko shrugged and handed the flowers over to Haruka.

"For you," he said. Haruka's face turned bright red. Not far away, the city clock struck the late hour, reminding the couple it was time to part. Haruka stood gripping the door handle. It just figured, she had spent all this time griping about how she didn't want to go on this stupid date, and now she didn't want to leave. And apparently neither did Nuriko. With a graceful bow, he took Haruka's hand in his own.

"Good night, my lady," he said, leaning down to kiss her hand. Only Haruka got to him first. She leaned forward and gave Nuriko a strong kiss on the cheek, slowly working her way over to his lips. Upon pulling away, Haruka swore her face must have been scarlet with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Really. I usually don't do stuff like that, I..."

"It's okay," said Nuriko smiling. "Don't be so afraid. I'll see you another time then, okay?"

"Okay," said Haruka. "Good night, Nuriko."

"Good night."

AN: So, what'd you guys think? Wierd? I started this a while ago and ended up finishing it for a fanfiction challenge, which actually helped me get some ideas for places Haruka and Nuriko would go. Anyways, I guess they're not the most likely couple, but I thought it was cute nonetheless. Thanks for reading! -Katrina