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☆ ♡
"W-Wait, Emu, I'm not ready!" He shoved her away, tears pricking his eyes lightly as he cried out to her. This was the seventh time in ten minutes that he had chickened out. "D-Don't just shove it in my face!"
"Tsukasa-kun, it was only in my hands," she muttered to him, placing the insect back into a plastic container with cut out breathing holes. "It's a pet tarantula, they can't bite or hurt you!"
"How do you know that, huh?!" He exclaimed back at her, his brows furrowing in stress as he did so. "It might just jump onto my face and give me an infection! And then what?! Then what will I do about it?! That stuff's poisonous, and-"
"Tsukasa-kun, do want to do this or not?"
She gave him a sad glance, her lips curling into a small frown of concern at him. He sank back into the chair, sighing heavily. Unease filled his stomach as if there were butterfli- a rock pulling his spirits down. Although he wanted to do this, he knew he wasn't brave enough to.
He had always been afraid of bugs, back to when he was just a young boy. But it seems that fear had taken over his life, to the point that if he saw a spider on school campus, he'd practically leap into a tree from fear. At his grown age.
Taking in a deep breath, he mumbled a couple indistinct words at Emu. His face turned red as he spoke, probably from the sheer embarrassment of being so very vulnerable right in front of not only one of his troupemates, but his now recent girlfriend.
"What was that, Tsukasa-kun?" She gently asked him, creeping closer to him eagerly. "I can't hear you."
He echoed louder, a small smile regaining on his face, "Let's do this."
"That's the handsome face I remember!" She cheered, pulling him into a tight hug as a smile painted itself on her face. Emu gave him a soft kiss on the forehead, rubbing his hair lovingly as he chuckled lightly.
She dragged away from the hug to go back to the container with the spider inside, instantly making Tsukasa go back into panic mode. He felt some sweat drip down his forehead as he shivered in his spot, beady eyes of fear darting at Emu.
"Don't worry - I won't open the container until you're ready," she reassured him, warmly smiling back at him. "Just take deep breaths and focus on me. Forget about the spider for now."
Obeying her commands, he shut his eyes gently and took in several deep breaths through both his mouth and nose. Soon enough he had calmed himself down efficiently, now ready to open his eyes.
As he did so, he gently sprung in his seat once he saw the spider inside the container, wriggling its eight legs around. His mind raced with horror as his face started to get hot with fear. Noticing this, Emu rubbed his head and hugged him. She moved the arm she held the container in away from Tsukasa, hoping to put him to ease.
He returned the hug back to her, shutting his eyes again. She softly rubbed his hair around and assured him, "If you don't want to do this anymore, just tell me. I won't ask anything else, Tsukasa-kun. Just don't force yourself to do this."
"No, it's OK," he sharply exhaled, tightening his grip on her. As he dug his chin into her neck, he promised, "I have to do this. This isn't going to get any better if I won't take it on at face value."
"Good man," Emu gave him a kiss on the forehead as she fixed up his hair. She brang the container slowly but surely closer to him. He instantly felt shivers down his spine, but didn't turn away from it.
In fact, he stared at it directly in the eyes, his muscles poised as he didn't tale his eyes off it. His arms felt like jelly, as did his legs, as he forcefully dug his nails into the chair. Nonetheless, he didn't ease his position as he feared it would make the spider move too suddenly.
Eventually he felt his own body relax itself, his muscles no longer forcefully remaining in the same position. He blinked back at the small insect, lightly giggling to himself. "This isn't too bad, actually," Tsukasa admitted, smiling back at the spider.
"Should I just leave it here?" The pink-haired girl offered, looking down upon the spider inside the container. "Or should I put it into my hands? Only if you want me to."
After a second of consideration, Tsukasa nodded, looking in awe at his girlfriend. He replied steadily, "Sure, go ahead."
She opened the lid to the plastic container before gently taking the creature out of it, first placing it in one of her palms. Once she put away the container, she held it in both of her palms. Emu happily stared at the insect before shuffling a bit closer to Tsukasa, showing him it.
His response was more tame than he could have ever expected, as all he did was stare back at the creature in a mixture of fear and curiosity. This was one of many creatures he had been afraid of all? God, he seemed so stupid for being so deathly scared of something so seemingly harmless.
What he wouldn't admit was seeing the girl he loved hold onto the creature made him feel better. It was as if all if his fears melted themselves away the second he saw her hold onto the spider in her hands. His heart thumped heavily, but not because of fear for insects but his love for Emu.
"Tsukasa-kun."
Her voice caught him off guard as he looked up to face her. She softly looked at the spider as it slowly crawled around her palms mischievously. Her smile was wide as she saw just how harmless the seemingly horrifying creature was.
"Do you want to hold it yourself?"
His eyes widened at her request. At first, he wanted to say no, to chicken out again, but then he remembered. He was here to get over his fear, step by step, no matter what it'd take. Swallowing his saliva sharply, he nodded, "Sure."
For a second she shut his eyes tightly, taking in as many deep breaths as possible. He couldn't believe what he had just accepted - holding onto a whole tarantula in his hands. Years ago, he would've instantly ran away crying, and he felt like he wanted to do the exact same.
But he couldn't back away now, he had to take this on face first.
Opening up his hands right in front of her, he gave her a relctant look on his face, trying to hold up his confidence. He blinked several times in front of her in sheer nerves, but gave a small smile to show her he was ready.
Understanding him instantly, Emu slowly put the spider into his hands, keeping close to him as shivers visibly began ran down his spine.
Tsukasa stared deeply into the spider's several eyes, his breath becoming heavier by the second. He felt his eyes close several times in fear, a lump forming in his throat from his overwhelming feelings.
Suddenly he felt someone dig his head into their chest, gently caressing him as they wrapped their arms around him in an attempt to soothe him. Beside him, he saw Emu, hushing words of comfort to him as she lightly planted several kisses across his head.
"You're doing so well, Tsukasa-kun...
..You're so brave...
..Tell me when you've had enough of it, OK..."
He shut his eyes so tightly he could've sworn he could feel all of his face muscles tense. Tears started to roll down his face as light hiccups stirred in his throat.
But none of this was because of how scared he was of the tarantula.
But because of how much he loved Emu, and how much she loved him back.
As he reopened his eyes, he took a long glance at the spider wriggling its legs on his hands. Weirdly, he felt at an unusual sense of relaxation. Perhaps it was all of Emu's sweet words towards him and the way they convinced him to no longer be afraid.
Despite being perfectly fine with the critter in his hands, he had had enough of it all. Tsukasa just wanted to let it go and go back to a life of not having to worry about insects.
"I want to... put it away," he gently spoke, handing the tarantula back to Emu. "I think I've had enough for today."
"Of course," she instantly took the spider into her own hands, putting it back into the plastic container she had put it in earlier.
Once she had made sure that it was stuck inside and couldn't get to Tsukasa, she clung to him and wrapped her arms all around him. She nuzzled her nose into his neck, making him flush with redness on his cheeks.
He reluctantly spoke up unusually, "I... Wh-What's all this for..? You..."
"Because I'm so proud of you," she muttered so sweetly into his ear, placing many kisses around his head, "A couple of weeks or months ago, you'd never do something like this. And here you are, standing up so proudly. I love you Tsukasa-kun!"
Emu practically threw herself at him, placing messy kisses all over his face, only making the blush on his face deepened as he shut his eyes in embarrassment. He gritted his teeth awkwardly, being strangely shocked by the sudden affect.
"H-Hey! Be careful over here! Y-Y-You might hurt yourself if you aren't careful!"
"I don't care if I get hurt! Because I love you so much, Tsukasa-kun! I love you, I love you, I love you!"
"..I-I... I love you so much, Emu... So much..."
♡ ☆