Title: Ticket to Ride
Author: Amm (SoulSeeker)
Pairing: Asazuki Kousuke/Takeuchi Rio
Fandom: Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna
Theme: #12—in a good mood
Rating: For Everyone (PG)
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters of Spiral. I am just playing ‘Barbie’ with them, cause god knows they’re a lot more fun than real Barbies.
Summary: Rio, you're practically glowing.

It was a particularly sunny morning in Osaka, Kousuke noticed; and even though it was a Monday, the students at Tsukiomi Academy seemed to be in a good mood. It was strange. Quite strange, but he decided not to question it. Inevitably, he was all smiles as well. It was contagious, and if he didn’t know any better, he’d say happiness was a disease.

If it was a disease, then Rio had it the worst. He could already see her smiling, skipping down the street; practically dancing to the music in her own head. He looked at her perplexed, as if she were a stranger, but nonetheless did not treat her as such.

“Well, if it isn’t Miss Sunshine,” he remarked with a sarcastic grin as she approached, arms folded. “You’re practically glowing.”

She stuck her tongue out in a childish manner, but was otherwise unfazed by the comment. “It’s called smiling,” she replied. “You ought to try it sometime, you know.”

“Give me a good reason for it, and you’d be surprised what I’d do.” Kousuke pushed up his glasses slightly, attempting to look sophisticated as he and Rio walked into the school together. He gave a light shrug of his shoulders as his eyes wandered the hallways, glancing into the classroom windows that passed.

“Why need a reason?” Rio asked. “If people want to smile, they should be able to smile. There’s no law against it.”

“Yeah, but you do have a reason, don’t you?” the redhead asked with suspicion. And it seemed suspicion was another contagious virus.

“And how would you know that?” Rio posed the question defensively.

Kousuke just smiled devilishly, responding without missing a beat. “Because I know you. You don’t surprise me anymore.”

“Don’t I, though?” she said mysteriously, in a way that sent an army of shivers up his spine. But he drew as little attention to it as possible, hoping in the back of his mind that she didn’t notice it.

“Come on, spill it,” Kousuke said seriously, turning to her. “What’s the deal?”

“With?” Rio smugly grinned.

“Oh, don’t play dumb. You know you suck at it.”

Her large grey eyes widened just then, as her mouth pried open slightly, resulting in a vague, surprised expression that Kousuke rarely saw. “Why, I’ll take that as a compliment,” she told him giddily. “Thank you!”

She sped up as they approached their first class, trying to leave him in her dust, but her short stride was no match for Kousuke’s long arms. He quickly grabbed her before she got far, and forcefully turned her around. If it had been anyone else, Rio might’ve actually been frightened.

“Come on, Princess, you’re bugging me,” Kousuke murmured, trying not to draw attention. “What’re you hiding that’s making you all giddy, hm?”

“Oh, fine, fine. Let go. Jeez.” Rio rolled her eyes, violently shaking the arm of hers that Kousuke had taken prisoner. He let go without hesitation, and with a sigh, she walked over to the side of the hallway in order to avoid the parade of students rushing to their classes. Kousuke followed like a lost puppy. Rio set down her backpack then and swiftly opened it, pulling out a small notebook he had seen before. She opened the notebook, and from it fell two pieces of paper to the floor.

She quickly picked them up, and they shone in the sunlight. Rectangular shaped, with rounded corners—whatever they were, she was taking excellent care of them. He decided to make a guess.

“Tickets?” the redhead questioned cautiously.

“London!” she exclaimed with a grin. She kissed the tickets in her hand as if they were her pets. “Eyes is going to do a special piano recital there. And he invited me to go with him, for a whole week! Isn’t it great?”

“Uh…sure,” Kousuke replied, looking slightly disappointed. “For you, I guess. And that’s why you’re all happy?”

“Well, wouldn’t you be?” Rio asked; her smile was still a mile wide.

“I suppose I should be,” he said in a laugh, after a moment’s thought. “I get a break from baby-sitting you.”

Rio couldn’t explain it, but she couldn’t help but feel that there was something he was hiding. His laughter seemed like it was forced; his entire reaction seemed anything but genuine. It was like a child lying to his parents—saying ‘Yes mommy, school was great, I loved it,’ when in reality, he just wanted to go to his room and sulk because the other kids picked on him. It was then that she realized something, just as they were walking into class. Something that, if possible, made her grin even wider than it already was.

“You’re going to miss me,” she sang.

“What?” Kousuke exclaimed defensively, facing her. “Don’t make me laugh.”

“Yes! Yes, you are!” Rio laughed. “I annoy you, but you’ve gotten so used to it that you miss me when I’m not around!”

“I just told you, I’ll be happy, not having to take care of you.”

“You’re lying.”

“You wish I was.”

“Yeah, so do you,” Rio replied confidently. “Just admit it!”

“Do you promise to shut up?” he asked hopefully.

“Maybe.” She thought about it for a moment, as his green eyes looked at her critically. She rolled her eyes. “Fine, yes. I promise.”

“Fine. I’ll miss you,” he blurted out.

“Good.”

“Okay, then.”

“Fine!”

Rio giggled; and she could tell that Kousuke was fighting back a smirk. Teasing him always was entertaining—especially when she won. Together the two finally walked into their first class of the day, and had about five minutes to goof around before they were interrupted.

Like clockwork, their teacher walked in at that very moment, opening the door loudly to announce his entrance. It succeeded in scaring most of the students, as he planned. This included Kousuke and Rio of course, who immediately bolted to their respective seats before he could notice. He had taken them by surprise; for a moment there, the two Blade Children almost forgot they were in a classroom. They sat nervously and idly, waiting for him to say something...

When he didn't however, they relaxed; turning to each other and making faces. Hand gestures. Rio smiled, taking the moment to place her precious ticket to London back in her backpack before she lost it.

Their teacher finally did begin class, and even though school was probably the last place she wanted to be, Rio still found it in her to smile. She couldn't wait for her trip, to be away from Japan and the Hunters. And even though Kousuke would never admit it, he was smiling now too. She knew he would miss her. She could tell.

And she would miss him, too.

A/N: I thought this fic would be appropriate to post—hehe, I am off on a trip myself in about ten days or so. It'll be for more than week, though...but anyways. Yeah, as usual: cute. Fluffy. All while keeping Rio's canon crush on Eyes.

I think I did pretty well. :) Thanks for reading!