Spread My Wings (Fruits Basket)

Conflicts

Sukochi's POV

"Open wide," I ordered, lifting a chopstick-ful of rice out of my bento box.

"Alright," Hatori agreed, smiling faintly as he accepted it. "Delicious."

I let the top of my head slide under his chin, careful not to move too close, the small of my back barely resting on his chest. Conceding wearily, he planted a kiss on the top of my head.

Shigure made a gagging noise at Ayame, but I only rolled my eyes. "Jealous much?"

"Not so much jealous as sort of grossed-out." He wrinkled his nose. "What's up with you two anyways? Like, are you dating or not? Five girls have already asked me today, and you know, it wouldn't exactly hurt my chances with the ladies if you gave me the low-down on your relationship status."

"Um, sort of?" I glanced at Hatori, cheeks tinged pink. "I mean, it's up to you."

I said it very nonchalantly, as to not let them in on how my heartbeat was through the roof, and how I willed him to say yes, and- oh shit, he was talking.

"If our kiss was any indication," he began, still smiling, "then yes, I suppose we are."

Ayame made a kissy face at us. "I never thought I'd see the day when our darling Ha'ri scored himself a girlfriend. And Fujikawa-chan, no less!"

"Man, you really surprised us there," Shigure added, fiddling with his phone. "I never thought you'd be the one to make a move on her first, considering how much of a chicken you actually are." Moments later, a little ding sounded from the glowing screen. "Message sent. Congrats, you are officially a couple!"

I rolled my eyes. "They actually gave you their numbers?"

He winked at me. "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

I wasn't sure how effed up the social system was at Kaibara, but somehow, snagging myself a boyfriend worked wonders for my popularity. Once the bell rang, signaling the end of the day, a swarm of girls would bombard me at my desk, firing away with their questions regarding how on earth I managed to seduce Sohma Hatori. The weird otaku girl I was lab partners with for this semester even asked if I'd concocted an alchemical love potion, if you'd believe that.

"So, how did you get together?" Oshiro, the resident airhead, asked me, pen poised above her notebook.

I laughed anxiously. "Haven't I told you guys before? We were fighting, and to shut me up, he kissed me. And after that...things sort of just happened. Yeah, the greatest way to hook up, what can you do?"

"When was your last date?"

"Um, last weekend?"

"Details, Fujikawa," Tsukunda, a girl whom I occasionally ate lunch with, said passionately. "You're killing us here!"

"Fine, fine." I thought back to last Saturday. "Well, we went for a walk in the park, and he surprised me by taking me this run-down ramen shop, and after that we sat a coffee shop for a little while. Nothing special, really."

"A ramen shop?" Nakashima smirked at me from the other side of the room, attacking the chalkboard with a well-worn eraser. "Doesn't sound terribly romantic to me."

The others hushed her, assuring me that she was just jealous.

"It might seem that way, but...it's a really special place for us. We had our first date there, way back when we first met."

I perked up at the voice, smiling at the sight of Hatori peering over the heads of the girls, halfway overwhelmed.

"Not so much a date as me forcing you to buy ramen," I said dryly, tipping the stack of books piled onto my desk into my bag, "but I appreciate the blind romanticism."