Title: now and back then
Rating: G
Fandom: Tokimeki Memorial Girls' Side 4
Relationship: Marie/Kazama Ryota
Wordcount: 425
Short summary: Marie and Ryota return home after an afternoon trip to the local flea market with a T-shirt and some thoughts.
“And all I got was this T-shirt.”
Marie frowned as she tried to parse the sentence that just came out from Ryota’s lips. They had just returned from an afternoon at the flea market and Ryota did buy a cheap T-shirt that he said would be useful for situations where his clothes might get dirty, but the tone that he said that sentence in was far from neutral. Rather there was a tinge of dryness.
“Is that supposed to mean something?” Marie decided to ask instead of spinning her wheels.
Ryota smiled. “It’s a joke that people say in English.” He shrugged. “Although we didn’t have a particularly bad experience at the flea market…”
Ryota trailed off with a scowl. Marie sensed that the joke meant something along the lines of having a disappointing experience. And probably what made Ryota unhappy…
“It was really crowded today.”
Ryota’s scowl deepened. “I had to be extra careful to make sure no random guy touched you.”
“Ryota…” She was right on target. Now in her early 20s, even she was aware of men finding her attractive. Ryota’s protectiveness might have stemmed from his possessiveness, but it wasn’t entirely bad…
“Still, it’s nice to see that the Habataki City flea market is thriving. We had a few nice dates there back in high school. I’m glad not much has changed.”
Marie nodded. She felt the same way. She remembered Ryota’s excited energy, the thrill of being partners hunting for the best bargains, which had contrasted greatly with the energetic but controlled demeanor required for him as an auction emcee… Perhaps if it hadn’t been quite so crowded, they could have slipped back into their teenage selves. Alas…
“Well, I’ll go ahead and put the shirt away. Are you going to be preparing dinner soon? I’ll make sure to clean all my papers off the table…”
And now they were back to the reality of adulthood, of living together on their own and having to take care of their own basic needs. Marie started calculating how much time it would take to make dinner and whether she needed to start now or… Mmph? The sudden kiss broke Marie out of her thoughts.
“I’m assuming we have time.” Ryota chuckled as his hands cupped Marie’s face, the T-shirt dropping to the floor. “So I’m going to do much more than hold your hand now.”
Marie closed her eyes, signaling she was more than willing to let Ryota do what he wanted. At least this part would not leave any disappointment, right?