Hikaru smiled at the memory again. Last night had shifted quickly from lust to laughter. He didn’t do a mad dash to the shops for some contraceptive, they didn’t fool around like horny teens, instead, Ruby fell into a fit of laughter which he followed suit once his blood settled.
‘That was so embarrassing.’
“What are you grinning at?” Ruby was pushing the shopping trolley.
Hikaru wriggled his eye brows.
Knowingly, she smiled. “Oh.” And then she giggled. “Is that all?”
“What do you mean by ‘is that all?’ Does that sort of thing happen to you regularly?”
Ruby rolled her eyes. “Forget to have condoms on hand just in case? No. Not normally.”
Hikaru grumbled. ‘Maybe we should buy some, just in case. Then again, it was probably a good thing nothing happened last night.’
Ruby looked startled.
“What?”
“My phone is vibrating.”
He slipped his hands onto the handlebar of the trolley and shifted it out of her way as she pulled out her phone from the back pocket of her shorts. “Moshi moshi?”
Hikaru moved ahead of her so as not to be eavesdropping on her conversation. ‘I’m thinking agedashi-dofu in katsuo-bushi soup… I don’t think I have any tofu left though, better buy some.’
He continued down the same path of thought as he moved along the aisles picking up ingredients. Fried tofu in soup was easy to make.
“Hikaru?”
“Yeah?”
Ruby gripped her phone in her hand and looked like she was close to tears.
Hikaru wanted to give her a hug. “What’s wrong?”
“Takashi just called.”
‘Him.’
“He wanted to check in on me.” She sniffled.
Without thinking, he tugged her into his arms. Her nose buried against his neck.
“I said that I would have dinner with him tonight, and I really want to see him, but I don’t know what to say or do now that Yuki isn’t… now that it’s just him and I and I’ve pretty much been the worst person leaving him to live in that house alone when I’m perfectly capable to go over and at least see him every day. God, Yuki would be disappointed in me.”
Walking around them, a grandmother who stood with proper posture peered at the embracing couple with cold judgement. She’d be too polite to make a fuss openly, but it was obvious to Hikaru she didn’t approve.
He stared back her defiantly. ‘So what? She doesn’t know that this isn’t romantic at all, that someone is hurting and in need of comfort.’
The grandmother slinked off.
Ruby lifted her head. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
“Shit, I’m always crying on you,” she swiped angrily under her eyes. “Did anyone see?”
He shook his head. ‘She’s a foreigner, she has some leeway when it comes to etiquette, no matter how fluent she is in the language.’
“Good,” she slipped her phone away and continued walking as if everything was alright.
That evening she left Hikaru to eat alone. She didn’t come home for hours.
Hikaru busied himself with cleaning, watching television, and sketching out stuff. When all of that failed to keep his mind off the emptiness of the apartment, he got up and walked out.
He rode his bike around for an hour, returning home to darkness.
Scrubbing a hand over the back of his neck he headed for the bathroom.
“I’m back,” Ruby’s voice called out. “Hikaru?”
He almost leapt for the door to the bathroom, but stopped just in time not to make a fool of himself. Any more than usual. “I’ll be out in a minute,” he replied and finished up quickly.
Ruby had her futon rolled out and was lying across it, staring at the ceiling, still in her blue dress.
“How was dinner?”
“Good,” her fingers played with a length of hair on her shoulder. “We had a long talk and things are a little easier… I can’t believe I let them get that out of hand. But he’s forgiven me for it.”
Hikaru stayed on the edge of the room, leaning against the wall, just watching what she was doing and listening.
“It was childish of me to run away when he needed me. Chiyo should never have had to step in like that. He needed me and I was too chicken shit to be there.”
Hikaru swallowed. ‘Maybe I should’ve listened to Chiyo and refused to let her stay with me. Then I wouldn’t have had this time living with her. This has made my summer amazing.’ Moving away from the wall, he shuffled to the door way to the bedroom. ‘What am I going to do when she leaves?’
He paused in the doorway. “Don’t blame yourself.” He filled the silence. “Was Yuki the first loved one you’ve lost?”
“Yes.”
“Then you had no idea how you were going to react to something that big. Don’t blame yourself for something unforeseeable.”
There was a long pause, Hikaru figured the conversation was over and took one step forward.
“Why do you take everything so seriously?”
He halted and spun around. “I don’t.”
“You pretend to be aloof and tell people to do as they please, but you’re serious.”
He didn’t respond.
“I’m sorry. Takashi just made me think of somethings. I didn’t mean to project it onto you.”
“How can you live without control?” He charged ahead with the question even though she gave him an out.
“Because living isn’t about controlling.” Ruby rolled upright and continued until she was standing and moving his way. “If it was, then we’d stop death and do everything to a plan.” She stood stock still.
“Control stops things from going wrong.”
“You mean you feel nothing. So you don’t waste time mourning.”
He recoiled back. “That’s not fair.”
“Neither is not trying anything with me for months because of fear.” She grabbed his face and yanked, planting a dramatic kiss before breaking it and reaching into her bra.
He was stunned.
She withdrew a foil square. “No excuses tonight.” Ruby, did pause. “Unless you don’t want to.”

Kindred Spirits on the Roof: Complete Collection, presented by Hachi Ito, Aya Fumio, Totitentsu and Liar-Soft. The English translations by Amy Osteruas. This is a manga, so not a novel, but I'm still adding it to the bucket list because it was surprisingly good and the complete collection. Most times, a manga is several editions long making it hard to review each edition without spoilers (so hard).
This story is actually based on a game; a yuri game. Yuri is the Japanese word for girl’s love and can be sweet and innocent (such as this story) or hard-core burn-you-eyes-so-mother-doesn’t-know-you-were-looking kind of stuff. Which leads me to believe that the game (and the light novel, both I haven’t seen yet) was sweet and innocent. The characters featured in the manga were the side-characters who missed out on their own happy endings in the game.
And since I haven’t played the game (nor read the light novel), the manga had to impress me in different ways.
For example; the story. It’s broken into two distinct stories and its refreshing having such different storylines told.
Mako and Shiori were friends, then Mako confessed her love for Shiori and Shiori ran (literally). Meeting again, Mako’s feelings haven’t changed, but can Shiori stop running?
Hase is a voyeur, she just loves watching friendly girls (a little creepy). She finds Natsuki and Rika especially entertaining and so to keep an eye on them, she joins the quiz club and meets Tokino, a fellow voyeur of girls. What were the odds?
The stories are told separately but I wonder if they might’ve flowed better and been more interesting if they were mashed up, like Love Actually. Or would that have made it hard to follow and keep track of who is falling in love and who is supporting cast? Don’t know.
It’s extremely cute. No sexy time happens at all. The closest that we get are little moments of hand holding and hugs. AND THEN THEY TEASE US WITH A LEAN IN, AND WE ASSUME IT’S A KISS, but it’s fake, just a whisper in the ear. As a westerner this isn’t very satisfying when reading romance.
I like how there was only one (ONE) time where Mako worried that she couldn’t have feelings for a girl because they were both girls. The rest of the time it was openly accepted as being normal. Which it is. Jeez, it’s just romance.
The art is beautiful. Great consistency throughout. Lovely rounded lines and shapes. It’s nice to look at. And it’s great they’ve included some coloured full pages in the front.
Even though it was cute and nice to read it wasn’t amazing. I won’t tell you to go forth and find it ASAP. Do have a look if you’re interested, but it isn’t life changing nor something that you’re going to want to re-read over and over (as I’ve found with some manga series, you should see how worn my copies are).

“This is bad,” Wendy groaned. Carefully placing the phone away from her on the table she dropped her head to her hands and completed a groan sigh combination.
“Didn’t you get the job?” Mum queried over her over.
“I did. That’s the problem.” She peeked through her fingers. “But the last time I worked in an office I became chubby and had to order new work pants.” Shudder. That had not been fun what so ever.
“What about your skating?”
Wendy lifted her head completely from her hands. It was time to be an adult and explain her reasoning. “That’s not going to cut it. I really am going to be working off my ass for eight hours straight and then add in the time in a vehicle driving to and from work and I graze when I’m bored.” Dramatic sigh. “Maybe I should’ve turned it down.”
“Or maybe you should exercise.”
She had said it so calmly, as if it had been the most logical answer to begin with. Of course it was; everyone knew that if you wanted to maintain a healthy lifestyle you had to eat well and exercise. Didn’t mean that Wendy wanted to give up her chocolate cake with the thick top coating of ganache. And whip cream on the side.
“I guess I could start up a workout routine for after work.” Hmm, that shouldn’t be too bad. “And it should help with my skating. Every bit of information that I find says that I need to have a strong core in order to do any jumps.”
Mother rolled her eyes. “Why do you want to jump while wearing wheels on your shoes?”
“Because the people who can do it properly look pretty.” And I want to look like that and impress people with being that cool skater chick who can mimic the ice skaters while outside on concrete.
“And what if you fall?”
“I fall normally, it won’t be any different.”
She opened her mouth to argue further, then stopped.
Have I done it? Did I make my mother speechless with that one little statement? That is so amazing. Wendy grinned at her mother. “Don’t worry. I wear my pads when I’m practicing.”
“And when you fall on your head?”
“It’ll knock some sense into me.”
“Very funny, dear.” Mum downed the rest of her coffee.
“And if I start exercising on a regular basis then I can get away wearing any cosplay costume I want without being self-conscious.” Wendy grinned. “That’s a plus.”
“How did I end up with a daughter who wants to look good while dressed as a character from an anime and rolls around on skates? Where are my grandchildren? When are you moving out of home?”
Even though she was teasing, the words had a little sting to them to remind Wendy of how abnormal she was. “Remember mother; I could be doing drugs, struggling financially, unhappy, having kids with multiple baby-daddies, and/or be spreading my misery.”
Mum smiled indulgently. “I know, I was only poking fun.”
“And I’m reminding you why I’m the best daughter in the world.”

Hikaru emerged from the bathroom, tugging his shirt over his head. “It’s all yours.”
Ruby bobbed her head up and down. “Thanks.” Bundled in her hands was a stack of fabric. She slipped by him and slid the door shut.
Hikaru sighed and moved about the apartment. ‘This is getting ridiculous. She’s not under foot to be exact and it isn’t like she’s stopping me from doing anything, but there isn’t enough time in the day.’ He moved about cleaning. It seemed so rude to clean when there was a guest, which was probably why he had let it get to a messy state.
‘It’s been a couple of days and this happens?’
He placed things back to their rightful spot and began to dust his shelves and every spare surface. The vacuum was out and he was about to turn it on when the door slid open again. ‘Damn it!’
“Do you need a hand cleaning?” She wore a loose singlet and a pair of baby pink cotton shorts.
“No, it’s fine.” Was an automatic answer.
Ruby frowned. “If we both get it done, we can be finished quickly.”
“You’re a guest.” He shot back.
She rolled her eyes. “I’ll clean the kitchen.” Ignoring his protests, she moved into the room in question and began to clink glasses together. Rushing water filled the silence.
‘I shouldn’t be letting her do that… she isn’t paying to stay here… it isn’t polite.’
Ruby stuck her head back out. “You look like you’re in pain.”
“No, I’m fine. And the cleaning is fine. I was just going to tidy up a little, that’s all.”
“And I’ll tidy up in here, that’s all,” cheekily she ducked out of view.
Hikaru sighed. ‘If she’s fine doing it, then I won’t stop her.’ He turned the vacuum on and began to run it around. Into his bedroom, he zipped about, picking up clothes from the floor. ‘I’ll do a load of washing tonight.’
Down the short hall he dragged the vacuum and turned to go into the kitchen.
Ruby was hunched over the sink.
He began to move around her, leaving a space for her to stand. When he was left with no-where else, he tapped her ankle with the head of the vacuum.
Ruby didn’t move.
“Can you shift?”
Ruby gave him a blank look. “Shift?”
“Yes, to the side.”
“Do you mean this glass?” She shifted it across the counter.
Hikaru sighed.
She laughed. “I’m playing.” She shifted, closer to him.
He inhaled sharply. Her shampoo filled his senses as her body heat reached out to him and beckoned him to touch her bare skin on display.
Ruby flicked her tongue over her lips.
‘That’s close… real close… I know what I want to do… but she’s a guest… and still in mourning… I need to step away or say something.’
Ruby stepped back. “Sorry,” she muttered and shifted to the other side.
‘Too long, baka.’ Hikaru was disappointed in himself. Quickly, he vacuumed the spot she left opened and turned and headed out to go work in the bathroom.
Soon, the apartment was cleaned.
Ruby dragged out the futon from the cupboard, Hikaru moved the table from the centre of the room, she rolled it out, he passed her the pillow from the cupboard. “Just a sheet?”
She nodded her head. “Please. Too hot for anything else.”
Together, they spread it over the futon.
Then paused.
Either side, they crouched and stared at each other. The feeling in the room shifted, it made Hikaru tingle in an anticipation that was becoming normal since he’d met her. He was hyper aware of every move she made.
She licked her lips.
She shifted on the balls of her feet.
She wasn’t wearing a bra.
‘Don’t be a perv… then again, it would be nice to kiss her again.’
Ruby pulled a face. “Are you waiting for something?”
‘Be bold.’ “I was thinking.”
“About?” She prompted.
“Kissing you.” He swallowed. ‘We’re not teens, saying what we want should be a lot easier now days. We should be fluent in this language.’ Still, he felt his cheeks begin to burn.
Ruby smiled shyly. “It’s been a while since we’ve kissed.”
“On campus. That was the only time.”
“I remember.”
“Actually, we never did much of anything else…” his mind drifted away from kissing. “Flirting has been the only thing we’ve done.”
“We can change that.”
He snapped to attention. “What?”
“We can change that. We can do more than flirting.”
“But Ruby, I’m not saying this to be a gentleman, but you said you’re looking for a husband. You’re flying out soon, anything we do will be little more than a fling.” Hikaru hated himself but he respected her too much to not say the words. ‘It has to be her choice.’
With clear purpose, Ruby pushed herself forward, her hands supporting her as she crowded into his personal space. “I’m not saving myself for marriage Hikaru. Finding someone I could fall in love with was what I hoped for on this trip. If you don’t want to have sex, that’s fine. Don’t-”
He silenced her, both hands cupping her face as he pressed his lips to hers.
She shuffled, moving her hands. Suddenly, he felt like he hand been branded, white hot fire on either knee. He gasped and broke the contact of their lips to look down and find her hands tighten on his knees, skin on skin contact. He shivered.
“This isn’t sex,” finding his voice, Hikaru made sure they both understood what was happening. “We both agreed that we’ve been falling in love with each other. If we continue, then I’m making love to you.”
Ruby blinked. “Okay, but nothing’s going to happen if you don’t have a condom.”
The blood froze in his veins. ‘When was the last time I brought condoms? Would they even still be in date if I had any?’ “I can go to the store,” he suggested.
Ruby snorted.