The Only Place Worth Being ( Right Next To You)

by Untold_tales

Summary:

"I snuck out- and now I'm trying to sneak back in." explains Otani.

"Who knew you were a rebel" Nobuku teases.

"Just part of my charm."

"You have about as much charm as a toad-" buts in Koizumi.

Her tall frame appears suddenly in the window frame, ducking as she does so. Her grin is bright, but her eyes are still slightly red and suddenly Otani feels a pang of guilt.

She pauses -"and you kinda resemble one too"
Otani's guilty feeling vanishes.

 

Slight cannon divergence, set the night of the school trip ( so a continuation of episode 10) where Otani sneaks out the window of the hotel they're staying at in the middle of the night, in hopes of clearing his head. On his way back he needs Risa Koizumi's help getting back in.

Notes:

Inspired by "Kiss me" by Sixpence the None the Wiser and "Cold Cold Man" by Saint Motel.

I'm honestly not sure if there is even a space or audience for Lovely Complex fics anymore, but regardless I love theses two idiots dynamic and would love to write more of it, regardless of if this chapter gets alot of reads or not.

That said comments and kudos are always appreciated, hope you enjoy the fic!

Otani doesn't know what to do.

He had snuck out here, in desperate hopes that the unfamiliar landscape would offer more than just a new view, in hopes that it would open him up to a new perspective.

Yet still he found himself lost.

He sighs and let his head fall back in a childlike defeat.

Now he can only see the glinting stars and the far off mountains.

It isn't the worst sight, he can admit, even in his grumpy mood.

Clambering out a two storey window with a backpack on his shoulders, one that was so big it dwarfed him even further, was difficult, and admittedly not his smartest move.

He was careful not to wake the other sleeping boy as he packed, freezing in place as Heikichi Nakao rolled over in his sleep, almost tripping him up.

"Gwahh!" He whisper-yelled, catching himself on the edge of the wardrobe. He carefully stepped over the other boy.

If it had been that awful Haruku Fakagawa, Otani would've considered getting petty revenge, maybe by doodling on his oblivious stupid sleeping face, or perhaps dumping his bag in the nearest bin.

He probably wouldn't go through with the later, a self proclaimed "good guy" after all, with a stricter moral code then most would expect but it most definitely would've been fantasised about.

But for Heikichi, a good friend, he'd let it slide.

He swung himself over the windowsill, landing with a quiet thump, and for the first time since that evening a genuine grin painted his face.

 

While sneaking out made his heart race, and wandering through unfamiliar streets, filled with lively tourists did well to distract him, neither held what he searched for.

Music spilled out from the quaint buildings that lined the cobbled street, and Otani found himself humming along to the tune, despite it being more mellow than his own taste.

However the lively holiday-goers atmosphere was much less fun without his friends by his side no matter how much he complained about the attention they drew to them.

 

It was not long till he found himself moving away from the crowd.

 

He turned off the main street, and sure enough he was met with the quiet sight of a slightly run down basketball court, just as he thought he had spied earlier that day when he and Risa had gotten lost.

The memory almost made him laugh, as it was so typical of them. The memory of what came after wiped the smile from his face. He sighed.

He pulled the ball from his bag, bouncing it twice. There was a comfortable familiarity in the action.

He wasted away the hour, repeating the same drills, attempting to clear his head, flashes of Risa's tears he wasn't supposed to witness flashing in his mind unwanted,...He gritted his teeth and pushed it out of his mind, until the tiredness from the busy day crept up on him and demanded he take a break.

 

And that's how he found himself sitting on the ground, gazing out at the mountains, one thing only on his mind.

He yearns for a change of perspective, one that would suddenly, magically, make it clear on what to do with Risa's feelings towards him.

The dazzling glinting rivers and far off mountains, that are so different from home are truly an impressive sight but their impressive dips and heights do not hold the answers he searches for and frustration builds inside of him.

 

He absentmindedly picks up a rock and tosses it over the railing on the other side bridge that he finds himself camping out on.

It skips twice, then sinks with a satisfying splash.

 

I don't want to hurt her, he thinks.

Risa had become a good friend, despite it all, and she is certainly something to keep close he reflects, a warm feeling accompanying those thoughts.

But what if his classmates were right?
What if he was, even unintentionally, leading her on?

I don't want to be that type of man balling up his fists.

No I won't be that type of man, he decides shaking the thoughts from his head.

Somehow, though, distancing himself seems like an even worse idea.

"I'm just no good without you Risa" he mutters unthinkingly

 

He bolts up, realising the weight of his own words, crashing against the railing in his haste.

"Ouchhhh" he hisses holding his shoulder.

Ehh!?

Was that it?

Was that his answer?

No it couldn't be, could it?

Hadn't he made it clear only earlier that day, that he can't imagen him and Risa as something more than they are now?

She was his comedy partner, concert buddy, and a dear friend, nothing more.

No.

Nothing more, he concluded.

Still- his thoughts betray him, continuing on with the matter.

He sighs, defeated.

He'd promised Risa he'd think on it, but tonight he was going to have to take a break.

His friends would laugh at the irony, but all this thinking really was beginning to
hurt his head.

He packs up his bag, the cold air hitting him as he rose from his spot that he had sat curled up on the bridge.

He shoves his hands in his pockets and begins making his way towards the hotel.

 

It's harder for him to see where he's going without the light of the street lamps and he stumbles up the hill which the hotel sat upon slowly, one uncertain step at a time.

When he gets to the top he follows the edge of the building with his out stretched finger tips, he turns the corner to the side where the boys rooms window is but pauses in dismay when he sets eyes on it.

Now that he looks at it, the window is a lot higher up then it had seemed earlier that night, when he had carelessly flung himself out of it.

He sighs, letting his backpack lower on his back as he begins to consider his options when-

 

A SHRIEK cuts the silence- Otani stumbles back wards-

"SOME - Someone..window.." he hears someone exclaim but before he can figure out what's going on-

SLAM!

A bright light forces Otani to shut his eyes.

"WHO IS IT OUT OF HERE YOU PERV-"

Otani rubs at his eyes.

He blinks

Then blinks again.

Otani's eyes adjust, to see Nobuko Ishihara, bright pink curlers in her hair, staring down at him.

It's only then does Otani deduce that he must be just below the girls room. Their room is only on the first floor, but the building is raised off the ground so Ishihara still looks down at him.

"OH oh - Otani?"

"What are you doing out here?" she asks, lowering the bag she holds above her head, as if to swing.

Her eyebrows are raised still, but her eyes are calm.

He blinks.
Then blinks again.

"Nobuko" he greets.

Chiharu Tanaka clings to her side, eyes wide. Blue nails digging into the arm of Nobuko's pink pyjama shirt.

Otani realises she was most likely the first voice with that in mind-

"Chiharu" he greets gently.

Recognition filters through her eyes and she let's go of Nobuko's arm and takes a step towards the window,

"Oh thank god! I thought it was a boy, but it's just himm" she sighs clutching her chest.

"Otani! Hi!" she says happily leaning forward.

"Well-I am a boy" he reminds her.

"Well yeah- I just" backtracks Chiharu apologetically but Otani waves his hand.

"I know secretly you don't see me as a man because I'm short and I don't scare you, aldo it's quite depressing, never mind all that-"

Chiharu leans over to pat his head apologetically.

'"At least I don't think you're a creep?" She says apologetically.

Neither the statement or the headpat make Otani feel better about it, but now he's way past his feelings for her, and a little bit more comfortable with his height, so he simply smiles back at his friend, before turning back to Nobuku.

"I snuck out- and now I'm trying to sneak back in." He explains.

"Who knew you were a rebel" Nobuku teases.

"Just part of my charm."

" You have about as much charm as a toad-" buts in Koizumi.

Her tall frame appears suddenly in the window frame, ducking as she does so. She too leans over to muss up his hair as a greeting. He bats her hands away, looking up at her with a glare.

Her grin is bright, but her eyes, hidden behind the hair falling from her bun into her eyes, are still slightly tinged red and suddenly Otani feels a pang of guilt.

She pauses -"and'you kinda resemble one too"

Otani's guilty feeling vanishes.

"Cute pyjamas-" Otani shoots back, raising an eyebrow. "-Loveee the print."

"There nothing wrong with my rabbit pajamas!" She protest folding her arms over her chest.

"They look ridiculous!" Laughs Otani clutching his stomach.

 

"Shut itt." She mutters blush forming on her cheeks.

"Hmmp, so rude," she mutters disappearing back into the girls room.

"You look more ridiculous!" She adds for good measure aldo Otani cannot see her anymore.

He hears the drawer opening and closing and the sound of someone fiddling through clothes.

"That backpack makes you even shorter, you've become a tiny little dwarf man" she calls condescendingly.

"She may still be a little salty over you're rejection" observes Nanho.

Chiharu tilts her head.

"Really? Do you think that?"

"I kinda think if anything they seem to be back to normal" she says curiously.

Nanho shakes her head.

"She's too loud which means she's faking it." She sighs sympathetically, then fixes her eyes back on Otani.

Otani squirms under her sharp gaze. He knows it doesn't go unnoticed how he's lowered the bag on his back.

"You really are a fool." She tuts, shaking her head once more.

Otani opens his mouth to protest, but pauses when her hand lands on his hair.

Unlike the previous two, the action doesn't feel like a tease coming from her, more so an attempt of reassurance.

"-but the wants of the heart can't be helped." She says with a sigh, running her fingers through strands.

"Thanks, you know, for understanding." He says genuinely. A weight he didn't know was there lifts off his chest. Part of him must have been worried about the possibility of his friends having a bad reaction to his rejection of Koizumi.

Perhaps he feared the possibility of being given the cold treatment as everyone took her side, or perhaps even worse, getting kicked out of the friend group altogether.

But no, Nobokuo's support persisted. Appreciation fills Otani's chest.

"Just be kind to her." She says suddenly grabbing his hair in a fist.

"Arrghhh! I will! promise! I promise!" he agrees.

Her grip loosens.

Otani runs a hand through his own hair disgruntled.

"Good." She says contently.

Gods sake thinks Otani.

She and Chizuru turn back into the room away from him.

A second later Koizumi appears back in the window, now wearing alight washed pink hoodie.

"Why'd you sneak out " she asks leaning out the window.

"A man like me had a lot to think about." He grins aldo he thinks the real reason bleeds through.

It must, for the way Koizumi lowers her head.

"Sorry" she murmurs.

"It's not you're fault."

"It's not yours either though, even do it feels like it right now."

They could spend the night giving and accepting apologies but instead Otani simply flicks her head and asks-

"Are you still up to hang out tomorrow?" He ask tentatively.

Her eyes soften.

"Of course, we both want to try out that smoothie place rember?"

"And do another horse and cart ride?"

"And go to that beach!"

"FIND THE SPECIAL ADDITION UMIBŌZU MAGAZINE!" They yell it at the exact same time.

They are practically jumping now as they bounce ideas off one another. Risa's hands out finger guns like she's really shooting the ideas back at him, and Otani is waving his hands about while he speaks, almost like he's throwing them back. The present company can't help but watch on with amusement.

Otani feels like he just woke up, all his energy re-appearing.

It is amazing what Koizumi's presence can do for me sometimes

Notes:

Chapter two is in the works, in the main time, what was you're favourite part of chapter 1?