Love Burgers
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue. If they were mine, Momo and Ryo will spend much, much, much more time together…
Warning: Shounen ai.
Rating: PG
Pairing: MomoXRyoma
Author: StrawberyJubilee
Beta: NiennaAngel (LJ: SkyAngel2009)
This is my entry to the Hatsukoi Competition on Ahunpair community on LJ
I never imagined that I would be this close to Echizen. It has been a long time since the first time I laid my eyes on him. The first time we ever talked is when he asked me for directions to the tennis club. Being such a brat, he asked his senior in such a cocky way. Yes, that was the first impression I got from him: cocky. Despite the fact that he is so arrogant, he caught my eyes since the very beginning. He was interesting in many ways.
"Where is the tennis club?" He asked me without bothering to look at me. He only glanced nonchalantly while asking the question.
It tickled me; I felt the sudden urge to tease him. I gave him directions to the sumo club instead. He said thanks while walking away, not even glancing this time. I was glad that I played around with him a bit that time. He deserves it for being such an arrogant brat.
Then I discovered that he was the son of Echizen Nanjiroh who obaasan told us about. It wasn't long until he won the right to be a Seigaku regular.
Maybe the reason why he likes burgers so much is that he grew up in America; whatever the reason is, I'm glad that we share the same interest. Moreover, our houses are close so we can go to school together. Since his first day as a regular, we started the habit of eating burgers together. Sometimes we go to the hamburger shop and dine-in, some other times we will order take-away and eat the burgers on our way home while chatting about tennis or other stuff. As time went by, we became more and more attached to each other. We always go to school and home together; we spend breaks and lunch together. Well, to be short we are inseparable; we were so close, except for-
"Momo-senpai…" A familiar voice brought me out of my thoughts. Yes, except for the way he addresses me, it's too polite. He still calls me 'Momo-senpai' until now, even though almost everyone else calls me 'Momo-chan.' At least he shortened the 'Momoshiro-senpai' to 'Momo-senpai.' I guess it takes time, but I do hope that one day he will call me 'Takeshi.'
"Momo-senpai, what are you grinning about?" He glared at me irritately.
"Nothing, Ryoma-kun," he looked startled by me using his first name. "Can I call you that?" I don't know where I found courage to call him that way, but I'm glad I did. I could see him trying to cover up his smile by lowering his cap. He always does that when he wants to hide his emotions from people. Maybe it works on other people, Ryoma, but I know you too well.
"Here Momo-senpai," he said as he handed me a package and two cans of Ponta. I never knew why he liked Ponta so much, but now we seem to share another interest.
"What is it?"
"It's lunch, Momo-senpai, baka." He looked at me as if I was the dumbest person on earth. I grinned watching him getting irritated.
"Thank you, Ryoma-kun." What I saw inside the package it made me smile whole-heartedly and it made my thoughts drift back to a certain moment-
At that time, we were going to eat at the burger shop after practice. When we entered the shop, it was oddly full; there were many people dinning in. I forgot to mention that the burger shop doesn't only sell burgers, actually it's a restaurant that has other types of food, but it is most popular for its burgers. Ryoma and I only come here to buy burgers, since it's our favorite food.
When we first entered, I was a bit curious why on that day there were so many couples, much more that usual, but the thought didn't really bother me. We ordered some burgers, fries, and drinks for us then took a seat. As we waited for the food, I saw him looking around the restaurant, trying to look as unconcerned as possible. I'm sure he feels that something is unusual, but doesn't realize what it is
I looked at the couples around us and wondered if we seemed like a couple too. I smiled at that thought; my smile widened watching him looking uneasy. Then, it struck me when the couple behind us started to hug each other and said: "Happy Valentine's Day, dear…"
Ryoma's eyes widened when he heard that. We completely forgot that the day was Valentine's Day. Usually, I would have received many gifts from the girls, but the Seigaku team was so busy since it was only days until the tournament; I rushed towards the tennis club as soon as class had ended. I suppose Ryoma did the same. Buchou made us practice so hard it was such a tiring day. After practice, I was starving; I dragged Ryoma along with me to get some food, and here we are at the restaurant.
We stared at each other for a moment, and then laughed our heart out. I felt so dumb for not realizing that is was Valentine's Day.
"Too bad you're not spending today with your girlfriend, Echizen."
"Nope, don't have one." Deep inside I felt happy about that.
Then the waitress came and gave us our order. Once again, Ryoma's eyes widened. I was surprised too. On the table there were two cups of Coca Colas; the recyclable white cups were printed with small pink hearts. On the plate, there was a pile of heart-shaped burgers. At least the fries look normal; despite the heart printed paper plate.
"Happy Valentine's Day, guys." The waitress looked at Ryoma for a while. "Cute boyfriend you have there, Momo-chan." Okay, at least one of my questions were answered; we do look like a couple. By the way, if I could say so, I was somewhat popular among the girls in school. That waitress was one of our seniors at school; she works part time at the restaurant. When she saw the dumbstruck look on our faces she realized that we were a bit confused with the things going around. "It's a Valentine's Day special today. That's why everything is in the Valentine's Day theme." She giggled as she gestured towards the sign in front of the door. It read 'Valentine's Day Couples Night.' That figured why there were so many couples around.
I looked at Ryoma as he looked down and bit on the fries quietly. I could see that his cheeks were turning pink. He looked so cute that way. "Echizen, would you rather dine elsewhere?" I thought that he was feeling embarrassed if people were thinking that he was my boyfriend.
To my surprise, still looking down, he shook his head. "No. Here is fine."
As we started to eat, the uncomfortable feeling around us began to fade away. We started to talk about how strict buchou is; how hard the regulars have been practicing; our wonders about how Fuji seemes to like Inui-juice and all of its variations; and about other stuff too.
Suddenly, Ryoma cut off our conversation, "Momo-senpai, happy Valentine's Day," he said, in the same nonchalant way like the first time we talked. That cocky brat, he never changes. "I almost forgot to tell you that," he smirked.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Echizen." I couldn't help but think that all this really feels like a date to me. I kept grinning ear to ear.
"What's up, Momo-senpai?" I only grinned at him. "I'm done, let's go." As he picked up his bag, he lowered his cap like the times he wanted to cover his emotions. He mumbled something so softly, but I managed to catch what he was saying. "I love burgers."
"I love-" at that time I thought that my brain was poisoned with too many heart-shaped burgers; I almost said 'I love you too.' I tried my best to keep my composure and said "I mean I love burgers too."
As I reached for my bag, I said, "Oi, Echizen, how 'bout we come here again every year?" I meant about having a date again on Valentine's Day.
He only smirked and started to walk away, but he halted without turning around as he said, "I don't feel that the idea of having another burger day would hurt."
"Happy Valentine's Day, Momo-senpai," he smirked. I guess he remembered that day after all. We were too busy to dine out, so he brought some take aways for me. Once again, I forgot about Valentine's Day; I was so busy since I had to help buchou with the tennis club matters. It was decided that I would be the next captain of the club.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Ryoma-kun," I smiled as I took one of those oddly heart-shaped cheeseburgers, "so they have these Valentine's Day special every year?"
"Yeah," he smirked again. "It was odd being there with all those couples around me." I chuckled by the thought of a blushing Ryoma all alone in a restaurant filled with couples.
"You mind if we have another Valentine's Day special next year too?"
"That wouldn't be a problem," he smirked again. I wondered how he could be so arrogant yet adorable at the same time.
"Oi, Ryoma-kun," he glanced at me while drinking his Ponta, "call me 'Takeshi' okay?"
This time his eyes widened and he lowered his cap. I know him too well that what he is trying to cover won't work on me. I saw his cheeks turning into a blush.
"That won't be a problem, Takeshi-senpai." As he tried to regain his composure, he smirked again but that redness on his cheeks doesn't seem to fade away.
It was too cute watching him trying to look arrogant while blushing. I took his cap off and ruffled his hair; the blush on his face turned into a deeper shade of red. "Hey, Ryoma-kun," this time it's my turn to smirk. I felt so triumphant since it is only me who can make the bratty Echizen Ryoma blush like this. "I love-" I could feel that his body tensed, "I love burgers."
"I love burgers, too, Takeshi-senpai." This time it wasn't a smirk; the bratty Echizen Ryoma smiled sincerely at me. I hope that one day I can say 'I love you' to him, but until I can find the courage to say that, for now I'm satisfied with how we are.
Owari
A/N:
Great thanks to SkyAngel2009 for beta-ing this ficcie! hugs
I kept grinning while writing this. I keep thinking that they are destined to be together. I love Momo & Ryo… Btw. How do you think about it? Let me hear your thought, okay?
You can read about the first encounter of Momo and Ryo in the manga Genius 2. I got the inspirations from that scene and the one when they were riding Momo's bike to the street tennis court.