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Rui looked over her shoulder, sighing in relief when she realized she had finally lost her bodyguards. Life wasn’t as dangerous anymore, since Akira had defeated the last of Darkzeid--although it seemed like most of Japan had no idea about the danger they had been in--but it was kind of boring. Being Akira’s secretary had been a lot more interesting than running the family business, even if Akira fluctuated from being a dumbass to a pain in one.
(At the very least, he wasn’t an asshole, but still. Hayami could have him.)
“Rui? Is that you?”
A shocked voice shook Rui out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see Akemi holding the hands of two children, several more behind her, all holding hands.
“What are you doing here?” Rui asked in confusion.
“Field trip,” one of the children said importantly, grinning to show off two missing front teeth.
“Oh,” Rui said faintly.
“What about you? Isn’t this a little…” Akemi trailed off, looking at the shops. Rui looked too. There wasn’t anything special about this area in particular, but Rui knew it wasn’t a place for the daughter of a zaibatsu.
“Well, I got bored,” Rui said snippily, falling back into her haughty role.
“Ahhhh…too good for us. I see. Come on children, the cafe is close by and the owner is going to be ready for us, aren’t you excited?”
“YEAH!!”
Rui watched as Akemi and the children turned the corner, feeling like she had done something wrong but unable to figure out what.
“Reika-sama. There you are.”
“Oh, darn,” Rui mumbled under her breath, debating if it would be worth it to run away before deciding it wouldn’t be and walking over to her bodyguards, head hung low.
It was a week later when Rui found herself in front of the school Akemi worked at. Something about Akemi and being on the wrong foot with her didn’t sit right with Rui. Antagonizing Akira was easy and fun, while bugging Hayami always made her feel a little bad, since he was so serious. And she got along with Eri just fine. It was just Akemi that she couldn’t figure out her feelings on.
“Sensei, that lady is back again!”
Rui startled, turning her heel and running, not stopping until she was in a shopping center. She stopped and caught her breath, looking around. There was a store that sold household items, and they were having a sale.
Perfect.
“Rui, what’s all this?” Akemi asked, looking around the classroom in confusion. It was after hours, and all the children were gone, the sun just starting to set.
“Curtains! They were having a sale, 5000 yen for one, but 4500 yen each if you bought fifteen. You can use them to hang in the classroom.” Rui was proud of herself for finding a sale that was more practical than mailboxes or binoculars, although the school could use those too.
“We have enough curtains though…”
“These are new, though! You can make the classroom look different!”
“No, but they would be good for costumes, this is a lot of fabric, so…thank you Rui?”
“Hmph. Glad you at least see the worth in my gift, Akira never did.”
Akemi laughed. “You spent his money, of course he didn’t! But honestly, I’m glad Hayami got him in the end. All those girlfriends and he chooses a guy, who would have thought?”
Rui snorted. She had been a little surprised, at the beginning, but it made sense for the two of them to be together. Eri had certainly been happy about the development, saying she wouldn’t have to see “pining and yearning looks” any more.
“But still, I’m surprised you came back here at all. I thought you had the zaibatsu to run.”
“It’s boring. Maybe I should become a teacher too,” Rui said, fiddling with her watch.
“I’d say that wouldn’t suit you, but then again, I was surprised how much I liked it. I wanted to be an idol, but then came here by accident. It’s hard, sometimes, but it’s fun. Definitely more rewarding than being Akira’s assistant.”
Rui nodded, noticing that the setting sun made Akemi glow, and then wondering why she noticed that.
“Rui?”
“What?”
“You spaced out. I asked if you wanted to go get dinner, since you’re here and all, and we never properly made up after you got all pushy about the assistant position.”
“Oh…” Hearing it out loud made Rui feel ridiculous. She was older than Akemi by a year (which she had found out when Akira had been overly annoyed by her spending habits), but she often felt younger. Probably the way she was raised, but still. Akemi often seemed much wiser and more mature.
“Do you not want to?”
“No, I do…it just seems kinda surprising that you want to hang out with me after I treated you like that.”
Akemi smiled. “Well, we’re both older and wiser now, right? Neither of us are dating Akira anymore, that probably raised our brain cell count.”
“Yeah, probably,” Rui echoed. Was this really happening?
“Come on, let’s go, I know this burger place that’s really good.”
“...and a vanilla milkshake, please,” Akemi told the waitress.
“The same as her,” Rui said faintly. Somehow, despite the restaurant being full of families and high schoolers, this felt oddly like a date . That was probably just her, though, considering Akemi was inspecting the jukebox.
“It’ll be right out,” the waitress promised before walking away.
“Do you…come here often?” Rui asked, feeling awkward.
“Sometimes, with the other teachers, usually, since they’re the ones who introduced it to me, it is close to the school and all. But you’re the first person I’ve brought here.”
Why this made Rui’s heart skip a beat, she wasn’t sure. But this wasn’t an Akira/Akemi date place, and that made her glad. (Not that Akira ever took her on proper dates…)
“How about you? Don’t you usually eat at fancy places?”
Rui shrugged. Fancy places had good food, she supposed, but she usually felt more like a doll than a person. Despite her supposedly running the zaibatsu, the major decisions were usually up to the people who had been loyal to her father.
“Here you two go, burger, fries, and vanilla milkshakes,” the waitress said.
“Oh, thank you!” Akemi said, smiling at the waitress and immediately making Rui feel jealous that smile wasn’t directed at her.
(Where were these feelings coming from??)
“Itadakimasu,” Akemi said, Rui echoing her a second later. Rui took a bite of her burger, finding it delicious.
“Oh, it’s good!” Rui exclaimed.
“Told you~”
The two of them ate without talking, Rui sneaking glances at Akemi as she chewed, wondering what it all meant. She hadn’t felt this way with Akira, that was for certain. Akira was too…Akira to seriously fall in love with him, and it was honestly probably because he had let her stay that she stayed at all.
“Do you still talk to Akira?” Rui asked once she finished her burger, dragging a fry around her plate.
“Not as much as before, since Hayami’s helping him with the Agency and all. I talk to Eri more, actually.”
“I thought you didn’t like Eri.”
“I didn’t. Sometimes I still don’t.”
“Oh…I see,” Rui said, not understanding entirely. She and Eri got along fairly well, after all.
“How about you? Since you wanted to make sure you were worthy of him and all,” Akemi teased, pointing a fry at Rui before popping it in her mouth.
“Not much. The zaibatsu takes up most of my time, and also last time I showed up, he and Hayami were making out,” Rui explained, making a face.
“Oh, that’s the worst! Eri said she caught them doing more , if you catch my meaning.”
Rui wasn’t entirely sure what “more” in this case entailed but didn’t particularly want to find out.
“But what about you, do you have a boyfriend, Rui?”
Rui looked up from her fries.
“No, I’m supposed to have some arranged marriage partners at some point, but I’ve told them by the time I’m really supposed to take over, I won’t need any man to help me.”
“All done with men after Akira? Can’t blame you there, I haven’t gone out with anyone since…” Akemi frowned. “You know what, I think you’re the only one outside of work since Akira got out of the hospital.”
“Really?”
“Well, being a teacher is time consuming. But this was fun, if you want to do it again?”
Rui didn’t even think twice before agreeing.
“Okay, I think we can stop running now,” Rui gasped out, letting go of Akemi’s hand. Her hand tingled from the warmth.
“They do that this much?” Akemi asked between breaths.
“Well, I’m supposed to be seeing a guy or five, so…”
“And yet you’re here with me,” Akemi said with a little smirk, crossing her arms as she leaned against the alley wall.
“I mean, I can go if you want--!” Rui said, offended.
“No, no that’s not what I meant. I’m honored, actually, that you’d run away for little ol’ me.”
“Oh.” Rui peeked out. “Coast is clear.”
“Huh…”
“What?” Rui asked, confused. Didn’t Akemi want to get to their shopping place?
“You like me that much?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Hmm…”
Rui looked to Akemi, who looked like she was considering something.
“Rui. Come here for a sec,” Akemi said, dropping her hands to her side.
“What is it?” Rui asked as she did as asked.
She could honestly say she wasn’t expecting the kiss Akemi gave her, solid and sure.
But she could honestly say she liked it.