Current mood:	bouncy
Current music:	Masquerade - Hitomi

[Redux] Popular Psychology - ARMS

I'm recycling my old fics - the ones that weren't posted here. Call it a redux mini-project. Not all of the fics, of course, since some of them are definitely better being kept away from the light of day.
Hayato/Kei; G; based on the final manga chapter. ARMS © Minagawa Ryouji, Nanatsuki Kyouichi, et al.


"So," Kei said, "when are you going to propose to me?"

Hayato looked up from his meal with astonishment. "What are you, going through some mid-twenties crisis?"

She bristled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

They were having lunch in a new restaurant which she had insisted on trying because the reviews were favorable. There were only a handful of other diners, none of whom was seated near their table. The sounds of clinking dining utensils and conversations were a soft murmur in the background.

"I mean are you afraid you'll reach thirty and still stay single, like the working girls those women magazines talk about?"

"You read women magazines?"

"Carol does, every now and then. Sometimes I get bored and those magazines happen to be lying around."

She pointed her fork accusingly at him. "Sure, go on, avoid the main issue."

"You could have used a little bit of preamble instead of dropping the subject out of the blue. What's the hurry, anyway?"

"If I'm going to get married, now or later, I'll have to arrange things so that it won't clash with my schedules."

"I see. Wedding at 12 a.m., important meeting at 2 p.m. Convenient for your secretary."

Her eyes sharpened into slits. He recognized the signal, and welcomed it. "What I mean is," she said, clipping off each word with exaggerated care, "that time flies. Soon we'll have other things to do. Other jobs to tend to. My company will get busier. You will have more pupils on your hand. Next thing we know, we're eighty and have to totter our way to the nearest wedding boutique."

"I don't go to boutiques."

"Ha. Ha."

"I repeat, what's the hurry? You know I'm going to do it one of these days."

"That's the thing. I know you're going to do it. But when, precisely?"

He sighed and laid down his knife. His steak had lost its allure for the time being. "Then would you be happy if I fall on my knees in front of you right here and now, and pop the question?"

Her tenseness ebbed away, replaced by - confusion? Trepidation? Whatever it was, her face remained stern. "You of all people won't be pulling such fluffy crap. Not where everyone and their mother can see you."

"Watch me?"

"No, thank you. Are you very busy? Can't decide on a day that will bring us abundant luck based on our horoscopes? What?"

"You don't read women magazines, do you?"

"Barely. Are you sidetracking me again?"

"Those women magazines will tell you that men detest being pushed into making commitments. Even if they do feel like it. It tends to frighten them."

She snorted - not, he noted, with disdain, but with surprise.

A waiter strolled by with a laden tray. Hayato waited until the man was out of earshot. "Let's start from the basics. There is nobody else I want as my wife - only you. You know that. Don't you?"

A stiff nod. She had been a leader too long to fall for sweet-talk and rose-wreathed words.

"For your part, you just made it very clear how you feel about me. Unless it is your schedules you're worried about."

She muttered a word that sounded anything but complimentary. "I don't want to be kept hanging around indefinitely without a firm, certain promise from you. Call it mid-twenties crisis, or whatever you want, but it's also true."

"I know. Then, will you marry me?"

Silence spun around their table. Even conversations from the other patrons seemed to have been muted. Her complexion beneath the thin, perfunctory layer of powder was flushed. He waited calmly, hearing his own blood throb against his eardrums. Outside on the street, a car blatted its horn, a high peevish sound.

Finally she lifted her napkin and held it with fingers that were not quite steady. "Yes, I will." She dabbed at her mouth. "Tomorrow, today, this minute - I will." Then, as an afterthought, "Certainly no later than next month."

Only when he released his breath did he realize he had been holding it. "Horoscopes?" he asked, a little too casually.

"No, fool. Takatsuki, Katsumi-san and Alice-chan are going away for the summer. We don't want them to miss...the occasion." The end of the sentence came out in a rush. "And Takeshi might even be home." The napkin drifted down to the table in a slow zigzagging motion. "It is settled, then?"

"Settled. You can go straight back to your office and tell Li."

"Don't tell me - women magazines again. They say girls always tell their best friends when they're about to get married. Right? I have to thank Carol for considerately buying those magazines." Suddenly rediscovering her appetite, she bent down to finish her meal. A small smile was tucked into the corners of her mouth. If it was a smile of triumph, he did not object; it made her look serene, almost beautiful.

He said softly, "I'm glad you're happy."

"I am. So must you. Both of us. We will work on achieving happiness together."

"Sure," he replied. "I'll fit that into my schedules."


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Isn't there anyone else in the whole internet who writes ARMS fanfics? Srsly.