Fanfiction - In the Name of Love
Title: In the Name of Love
Author: crazy_otaku911
Pairing: Inoo/Takaki
Rating: G
Summary: The date is unexpected, to say the least. But for Inoo, Takaki is the most unexpected part of it.
Disclaimer: This work is purely fiction.
Warnings:
A/N: Unbeta'd and incomplete, but I think it sort of stands on its own. Was written for hsjficchallenge's 'Love Battle' Challenge between me and dreamweavernyx. Since Inoobu won it out, I only wrote the beginning, so I figured I'd just post that. The full story is here.
Inoo had changed once to get ready for the evening and even though Takaki was running a full thirty-five minutes late, that was all he was going to do about it. Having settled down with a book in hand, Inoo was mostly contented to wait. Takaki being late was nothing new, in any case.
It was thirty-eight minutes before the long expected knock came at the door. Pulling himself out of the words on the page, Inoo belatedly realized that his little sister was already opening the door, An and Jam at her heels. “Hey!”
“Hello~!” Keiri chirped, stepping back to allow Takaki's lanky figure in, giggling and finger-waving. “Nice to see you again, Takaki-kuuuu~n!”
“Shoo, you,” He scolded gently, nudging her and the dogs away from Takaki. Inoo was pretty sure Keiri harbored an idol crush on Takaki and while it was probably just a silly girl thing, Inoo didn't know how to handle that sort of thing.
Takaki laughed, a familiar, albeit sheepish, smile appearing on his face. “Sorry about being so late. Borrowed my sister's car but she was running late and all...” A faint blush spread over Takaki's cheeks. “You ready to go?”
Giving his outfit of capris, t-shirt, and a light jacket one more glance, Inoo poked at Takaki's arm. “Ready for the past half-hour.”
Takaki just gave him another apologetic grin and stepped back outside, heading back to the car.
Inoo wasn't even sure if Takaki would have tried, but he walked fast enough to open the passenger door himself.
“Where are we going, anyway,” He asked, buckling himself in and eyeing the seatbelt with a mixture of resignation and hope. He had never driven with Takaki before...and he wasn't sure what was scarier, knowing that Takaki knew how or that someone actually had let him behind the wheel at all.
Takaki was concentrating on pulling back into traffic, tongue between his teeth as he focused. It had been a whole minute and Inoo was still alive. That shouldn't have felt like such a miracle, but Inoo kept such thoughts to himself.
“The beach,” Takaki finally answered with a soft smile, looking much more relaxed behind the wheel. “It's a nice day and I wanted to go before it got too cold.”
“...So why are you taking me?” Inoo raised an eyebrow in question. “It's not like I surf, you weirdo.”
“Hey!” Takaki shot him a quick look, almost pouting. “I didn't mean that. We're not surfing. We're just going to the beach.”
They settled into silence for the rest of the drive, Inoo lost in his own thoughts, not really wanting to distract Takaki from the task at hand. It was simple enough, to enjoy the scenery changing outside of the car's window.
The sun was already setting when they finally parked, streaking the sky with golden yellow and deeper orange. The water glinted with small flecks of color, as if it was made up of a million mirrors, all reflecting a different part of the sky.
“Want some ice cream?” Takaki asked, nearly startling Inoo as he broke the silence.
“Huh? Oh...Sure?” Inoo bit his lip for a moment, watching Takaki twist into the back of the car, pulling out a small cooler.
“I figured it'd be something nice after the drive...” The other boy explained, extracting two wrapped ice creamsicles, carefully unwrapping one before handing it over to Inoo. Vanilla flavour. Inoo felt secretly pleased. “Let's take a walk, ne?”
It was cool outside, the hints of warmth from the day slowly ebbing away as the sun sank. Takaki just laughed between bites, tugging Inoo along, kicking his sandals off once they reached the sand. “It's okay~” He assured Inoo, waiting for him to do the same. “It's pretty empty around here and they're just shoes.”
“You'll be buying me a new pair if they get stolen,” Inoo grumbled, but toed his shoes off, all the same. It was too nice a day to be grumpy.
The sand was warm and cool, all at the same time, just like Inoo was, warm in his jacket with the ice cream sliding down his fingers as it melted.
“I love the beach,” Takaki laughed softly, walking just close enough to the water that the waves lapped over his toes. “It's just relaxing, you know? I had a friend tell me once that the sea drains you of all your energy if you're swimming in it...but just walking next to it, I always feel like all the problems slowly wash away with the waves.”
“Really?” Glancing out at the waters, Inoo thought about it for a moment. “I guess I don't come out here often enough. It's pretty though~.”
“I like it best right now~” Sighing softly, Takaki nodded to the sunset. “I'm usually here during daylight because I'm surfing, but I always try and stay to see this.”
“Mm...” Making a soft noise, Inoo nodded, unsure of what else to say. He knew how to handle hyper Takaki and tired Takaki, maybe even upset Takaki. This was a Takaki he hadn't ever seen before and he wasn't sure what to think about it. He wouldn't have pegged Takaki as the type to notice things like the sun setting.
“So what's in there?” Inoo nodded to the bag Takaki had grabbed right before locking the car.
Takaki glanced down with it, blinking in surprise, as if he'd forgotten it. “Oh! Right...” He grinned sheepishly at Inoo as he came to a stop. “Come on... Let's sit down~”
Out of the bag came two beach towels, Inoo happily accepting the blue one while Takaki parked himself on the orange one. They sat there for a moment, sitting there and staring at the water.
“You know,” Inoo finally said, laughing awkwardly. The silences made him nervous, as if the quiet didn't belong. Or maybe Inoo just felt out of place. “This makes me think of how Keiri wanted to go to the beach for vacation... We ended up going to Minato Mirai though.” He peeked at Takaki, found him listening, and found himself still talking. “But you know, I think she preferred that, because my parents bought her so much stuff while we were in Yokohama, it was insane. You know those cute little sundresses that girls wear all the time? I swear, Mom and Dad bought her ten of them-”
Inoo wasn't sure where all the words were coming from, but they just came tumbling out. Maybe it was because he felt like he was supposed to, since Takaki was showing him all of this just because he wanted to. Maybe it was just because Inoo appreciated the fact that Takaki was listening, actually listening, to him. It felt good, having an audience who was paying attention, nodding in all the right places, smiling when Inoo wanted him to smile. Inoo even realized that he liked how Takaki laughed. It was sincere, bright, and warm.
After a few stories were swapped, Takaki reached into the bag again pulling out two small bottles of... was Inoo looking at bubbles?
“I know it's really kiddish~.” Laughing softly, Takaki pulled out a wand, blowing a stream of bubbles into the air. “But...”
“It's pretty,” Inoo breathed out, finishing his sentence for him. And it was. The iridescent bubbles caught the light from the setting sun, becoming their own little balls of solarized beauty. He soon joined in, blowing bubbles into the sky and watching them sink down to the sands around them, popping as they touched down. He briefly wondered if this was terrible for the environment, but such thoughts felt out of place. It was better just to blow bubbles and laugh and talk and watch the sun as it set over the horizon, leaving the air purple and blue.
“I guess it's late...We should head back, shouldn't we~?” It was Inoo who finally suggested it, not Takaki, though he laughed and blushed, agreeing.
“I guess I lost track of time. It was fun, right?”
Inoo couldn't help but smile and nod. It had been fun, more fun than he'd expected. They packed up the towels and the bubbles, setting back to retrieve their shoes and get into the car. Inoo pointedly ignored Takaki's laughter as he sat there for five minutes getting sand out from between his toes. He didn't want to wait the whole drive back to deal with such problems.
The drive back wasn't nearly as quiet as the previous one, Inoo and Takaki ended up singing to anything they recognized on the radio (Takaki actually sang even when he didn't), and Inoo found himself rather surprised when Takaki put the car in park, realizing that they were already home.
Sliding out of the passenger seat, Inoo realized that he was suddenly nervous and he wasn't sure why. The walk to his front door, though short, felt like an eternity, Inoo's thoughts racing. It wasn't like he'd never said goodbye to Takaki before... but it was a first date and if he were honest, Inoo wasn't sure what he was expecting Takaki to do.
Hand resting awkwardly on the doorknob, Inoo gave Takaki a small, almost timid smile. “Thanks...I really had fu--”
The last thing he'd expected was a tiny peck on the lips, soft, shy, and suddenly his heart wasn't beating. Takaki took a step back, looking abashed, head ducked as he stared at his feet. “Sorry...” He so closely resembled an errant child that Inoo would have laughed if he could.
“It's okay,” He said finally, sounding rather dazed, even to himself. “Just...” He tilted his head, biting his lower lip as he considered the question he wanted to ask. “Why did you ask me out, anyways? Like...after all this time. You just felt like it?” The date, the kiss, it had all come as a surprise to Inoo and it wasn't helping settle his thoughts.
There was another long silence as Takaki examined his shoes before meeting Inoo's eyes, his gaze clear and calm.
“I got tired of waiting,” Takaki told him, almost smiling. “It was always Hikaru, always Kouta, always someone else. I got tired of waiting to see if you'd ever notice me,” His eyes dropped down again, examining his fingers as he flexed them. “You were once my leader too, Kei... I got tired of feeling like you never noticed.”
Inoo felt all words leave him as Takaki spoke. He wasn't a talker, but he was used to knowing what to say when he needed to say something.
But now he was left with nothing but a small kiss lingering on his lips.
“Sorry...” Takaki's voice made him look up again. There was an actual smile now, though it was rather apologetic. “It's selfish of me, shoving this all on you. I'm glad you had fun tonight. I wanted you to have a good time...I'll see you later, okay?” And with that he was gone, leaving Inoo to stare at the air he'd just vacated.
With nothing but a kiss left.
Moving slowly, sluggishly, Inoo unlocked the front door, greeting his parents and absentmindedly ruffling Keiri's hair as he passed. Announcing that he was tired and turning in early, Inoo shut the door to his room and flopped onto the bed.
He didn't even bother changing before curling up into a ball, his thoughts still in a whirl as he hugged a pillow to his chest.
He'd never before fallen asleep so confused.
_____________________________________________________
A/N: It's incomplete, but I figured since the beginning was the only part I wrote, that was fine, right? I'm actually rather happy with this fic. It's not really all that cutesy or anything, but I have a hard time seeing Takanoo as an OTP and I liked the... feel of this? I don't know. 8D
Author: crazy_otaku911
Pairing: Inoo/Takaki
Rating: G
Summary: The date is unexpected, to say the least. But for Inoo, Takaki is the most unexpected part of it.
Disclaimer: This work is purely fiction.
Warnings:
A/N: Unbeta'd and incomplete, but I think it sort of stands on its own. Was written for hsjficchallenge's 'Love Battle' Challenge between me and dreamweavernyx. Since Inoobu won it out, I only wrote the beginning, so I figured I'd just post that. The full story is here.
Inoo had changed once to get ready for the evening and even though Takaki was running a full thirty-five minutes late, that was all he was going to do about it. Having settled down with a book in hand, Inoo was mostly contented to wait. Takaki being late was nothing new, in any case.
It was thirty-eight minutes before the long expected knock came at the door. Pulling himself out of the words on the page, Inoo belatedly realized that his little sister was already opening the door, An and Jam at her heels. “Hey!”
“Hello~!” Keiri chirped, stepping back to allow Takaki's lanky figure in, giggling and finger-waving. “Nice to see you again, Takaki-kuuuu~n!”
“Shoo, you,” He scolded gently, nudging her and the dogs away from Takaki. Inoo was pretty sure Keiri harbored an idol crush on Takaki and while it was probably just a silly girl thing, Inoo didn't know how to handle that sort of thing.
Takaki laughed, a familiar, albeit sheepish, smile appearing on his face. “Sorry about being so late. Borrowed my sister's car but she was running late and all...” A faint blush spread over Takaki's cheeks. “You ready to go?”
Giving his outfit of capris, t-shirt, and a light jacket one more glance, Inoo poked at Takaki's arm. “Ready for the past half-hour.”
Takaki just gave him another apologetic grin and stepped back outside, heading back to the car.
Inoo wasn't even sure if Takaki would have tried, but he walked fast enough to open the passenger door himself.
“Where are we going, anyway,” He asked, buckling himself in and eyeing the seatbelt with a mixture of resignation and hope. He had never driven with Takaki before...and he wasn't sure what was scarier, knowing that Takaki knew how or that someone actually had let him behind the wheel at all.
Takaki was concentrating on pulling back into traffic, tongue between his teeth as he focused. It had been a whole minute and Inoo was still alive. That shouldn't have felt like such a miracle, but Inoo kept such thoughts to himself.
“The beach,” Takaki finally answered with a soft smile, looking much more relaxed behind the wheel. “It's a nice day and I wanted to go before it got too cold.”
“...So why are you taking me?” Inoo raised an eyebrow in question. “It's not like I surf, you weirdo.”
“Hey!” Takaki shot him a quick look, almost pouting. “I didn't mean that. We're not surfing. We're just going to the beach.”
They settled into silence for the rest of the drive, Inoo lost in his own thoughts, not really wanting to distract Takaki from the task at hand. It was simple enough, to enjoy the scenery changing outside of the car's window.
The sun was already setting when they finally parked, streaking the sky with golden yellow and deeper orange. The water glinted with small flecks of color, as if it was made up of a million mirrors, all reflecting a different part of the sky.
“Want some ice cream?” Takaki asked, nearly startling Inoo as he broke the silence.
“Huh? Oh...Sure?” Inoo bit his lip for a moment, watching Takaki twist into the back of the car, pulling out a small cooler.
“I figured it'd be something nice after the drive...” The other boy explained, extracting two wrapped ice creamsicles, carefully unwrapping one before handing it over to Inoo. Vanilla flavour. Inoo felt secretly pleased. “Let's take a walk, ne?”
It was cool outside, the hints of warmth from the day slowly ebbing away as the sun sank. Takaki just laughed between bites, tugging Inoo along, kicking his sandals off once they reached the sand. “It's okay~” He assured Inoo, waiting for him to do the same. “It's pretty empty around here and they're just shoes.”
“You'll be buying me a new pair if they get stolen,” Inoo grumbled, but toed his shoes off, all the same. It was too nice a day to be grumpy.
The sand was warm and cool, all at the same time, just like Inoo was, warm in his jacket with the ice cream sliding down his fingers as it melted.
“I love the beach,” Takaki laughed softly, walking just close enough to the water that the waves lapped over his toes. “It's just relaxing, you know? I had a friend tell me once that the sea drains you of all your energy if you're swimming in it...but just walking next to it, I always feel like all the problems slowly wash away with the waves.”
“Really?” Glancing out at the waters, Inoo thought about it for a moment. “I guess I don't come out here often enough. It's pretty though~.”
“I like it best right now~” Sighing softly, Takaki nodded to the sunset. “I'm usually here during daylight because I'm surfing, but I always try and stay to see this.”
“Mm...” Making a soft noise, Inoo nodded, unsure of what else to say. He knew how to handle hyper Takaki and tired Takaki, maybe even upset Takaki. This was a Takaki he hadn't ever seen before and he wasn't sure what to think about it. He wouldn't have pegged Takaki as the type to notice things like the sun setting.
“So what's in there?” Inoo nodded to the bag Takaki had grabbed right before locking the car.
Takaki glanced down with it, blinking in surprise, as if he'd forgotten it. “Oh! Right...” He grinned sheepishly at Inoo as he came to a stop. “Come on... Let's sit down~”
Out of the bag came two beach towels, Inoo happily accepting the blue one while Takaki parked himself on the orange one. They sat there for a moment, sitting there and staring at the water.
“You know,” Inoo finally said, laughing awkwardly. The silences made him nervous, as if the quiet didn't belong. Or maybe Inoo just felt out of place. “This makes me think of how Keiri wanted to go to the beach for vacation... We ended up going to Minato Mirai though.” He peeked at Takaki, found him listening, and found himself still talking. “But you know, I think she preferred that, because my parents bought her so much stuff while we were in Yokohama, it was insane. You know those cute little sundresses that girls wear all the time? I swear, Mom and Dad bought her ten of them-”
Inoo wasn't sure where all the words were coming from, but they just came tumbling out. Maybe it was because he felt like he was supposed to, since Takaki was showing him all of this just because he wanted to. Maybe it was just because Inoo appreciated the fact that Takaki was listening, actually listening, to him. It felt good, having an audience who was paying attention, nodding in all the right places, smiling when Inoo wanted him to smile. Inoo even realized that he liked how Takaki laughed. It was sincere, bright, and warm.
After a few stories were swapped, Takaki reached into the bag again pulling out two small bottles of... was Inoo looking at bubbles?
“I know it's really kiddish~.” Laughing softly, Takaki pulled out a wand, blowing a stream of bubbles into the air. “But...”
“It's pretty,” Inoo breathed out, finishing his sentence for him. And it was. The iridescent bubbles caught the light from the setting sun, becoming their own little balls of solarized beauty. He soon joined in, blowing bubbles into the sky and watching them sink down to the sands around them, popping as they touched down. He briefly wondered if this was terrible for the environment, but such thoughts felt out of place. It was better just to blow bubbles and laugh and talk and watch the sun as it set over the horizon, leaving the air purple and blue.
“I guess it's late...We should head back, shouldn't we~?” It was Inoo who finally suggested it, not Takaki, though he laughed and blushed, agreeing.
“I guess I lost track of time. It was fun, right?”
Inoo couldn't help but smile and nod. It had been fun, more fun than he'd expected. They packed up the towels and the bubbles, setting back to retrieve their shoes and get into the car. Inoo pointedly ignored Takaki's laughter as he sat there for five minutes getting sand out from between his toes. He didn't want to wait the whole drive back to deal with such problems.
The drive back wasn't nearly as quiet as the previous one, Inoo and Takaki ended up singing to anything they recognized on the radio (Takaki actually sang even when he didn't), and Inoo found himself rather surprised when Takaki put the car in park, realizing that they were already home.
Sliding out of the passenger seat, Inoo realized that he was suddenly nervous and he wasn't sure why. The walk to his front door, though short, felt like an eternity, Inoo's thoughts racing. It wasn't like he'd never said goodbye to Takaki before... but it was a first date and if he were honest, Inoo wasn't sure what he was expecting Takaki to do.
Hand resting awkwardly on the doorknob, Inoo gave Takaki a small, almost timid smile. “Thanks...I really had fu--”
The last thing he'd expected was a tiny peck on the lips, soft, shy, and suddenly his heart wasn't beating. Takaki took a step back, looking abashed, head ducked as he stared at his feet. “Sorry...” He so closely resembled an errant child that Inoo would have laughed if he could.
“It's okay,” He said finally, sounding rather dazed, even to himself. “Just...” He tilted his head, biting his lower lip as he considered the question he wanted to ask. “Why did you ask me out, anyways? Like...after all this time. You just felt like it?” The date, the kiss, it had all come as a surprise to Inoo and it wasn't helping settle his thoughts.
There was another long silence as Takaki examined his shoes before meeting Inoo's eyes, his gaze clear and calm.
“I got tired of waiting,” Takaki told him, almost smiling. “It was always Hikaru, always Kouta, always someone else. I got tired of waiting to see if you'd ever notice me,” His eyes dropped down again, examining his fingers as he flexed them. “You were once my leader too, Kei... I got tired of feeling like you never noticed.”
Inoo felt all words leave him as Takaki spoke. He wasn't a talker, but he was used to knowing what to say when he needed to say something.
But now he was left with nothing but a small kiss lingering on his lips.
“Sorry...” Takaki's voice made him look up again. There was an actual smile now, though it was rather apologetic. “It's selfish of me, shoving this all on you. I'm glad you had fun tonight. I wanted you to have a good time...I'll see you later, okay?” And with that he was gone, leaving Inoo to stare at the air he'd just vacated.
With nothing but a kiss left.
Moving slowly, sluggishly, Inoo unlocked the front door, greeting his parents and absentmindedly ruffling Keiri's hair as he passed. Announcing that he was tired and turning in early, Inoo shut the door to his room and flopped onto the bed.
He didn't even bother changing before curling up into a ball, his thoughts still in a whirl as he hugged a pillow to his chest.
He'd never before fallen asleep so confused.
_____________________________________________________
A/N: It's incomplete, but I figured since the beginning was the only part I wrote, that was fine, right? I'm actually rather happy with this fic. It's not really all that cutesy or anything, but I have a hard time seeing Takanoo as an OTP and I liked the... feel of this? I don't know. 8D