Title: Offered Kisses

Author/Artist: YamiPaladinofChaos (ypaladinofchaos)

Pairing: Harima Kenji/Sawachika Eri (Flag Faction)

Fandom: School Rumble

Theme: #11 gardenia

Disclaimer: School Rumble is the property of Kobayashi Jin.

Notes: For 30kisses community. Spoilers for the recent manga

Something, maybe social propriety, maybe nervousness at having him in her home, maybe that little burning feeling that she held in her heart- something made her decide to take Hige on a tour of the grounds before they started work on the class album.

God, this was embarrassing.

"Pretty big place you got here, Ojou," he says casually, arms crossed behind his head, calm and collected like this was at school or some other usual place they might meet, not her house.

"It's my father's," she corrects reflexively, nervousness keep her jittery.

He doesn't respond. Not that she really expected him to, but the silence isn't exactly welcoming.

Think of something, the devil at her shoulder (who wears clothing that is way too revealing) urges, dancing in the air.

"Like what?" Eri asks under her breath, to make sure not to alert Hige.

Your flowers! Thank God for angels, literally (and also thank Him that her good side tends to wear rather chaste clothing as opposed to the embarrassing leather of the devil).

"These are my flowers," Eri manages, gesturing toward a small patch of brightness next to the house, though it sounds a little more like "Thesearemyflowers" to Harima's ears. And they are, really, truly hers- before Akira and Mikoto and Tenma, they had been her friends, and even after she had gotten human friends she never forgot the tiny part of the grounds that was her flower garden.

"Those are-" she begins to explain, but suddenly he cuts her off, kneeling in front of the flowers.

"Gardenias." Hige's face seems oddly content at that moment, and a ghost of a smile seemed to touch down on his lips for an instant. "Pyotr likes them."

"Pyotr?" Eri blinks once, puzzled. It doesn't sound like a girl's name, or even a Japanese name for that matter...

"My... uh... friend. He likes flowers," Harima says quickly, hoping to get off the subject as quickly as possible. He's not gonna tell her that his pet giraffe likes them, after all.

"Huh. I do too," Eri says quietly, kneeling next to him, so close that if she turned her head she'd likely kiss his cheek by accident. Slowly, she reaches over to one, plucking it gently, carefully, bringing it to her face to smell, lips accidentally brushing over the petals in a soft kiss. After another moment, shyly, hesitantly, she hands it over to him.

"Here," she manages, praying that he'll think the red stains on her cheeks are just the heat. "For your... friend."

He stares at her for a brief moment, enough to make the red bloom on her cheeks greater.

Finally, Hige reaches over, a light smile on his face as he takes the flower (and her kiss, a part of her absently realizes) and places it inside his jacket pocket for safekeeping.

"Thanks, Ojou."