Special thanks to my beta, xKaishisxMoonx, who persevered through many a technical difficulty to check this over for me. This story has been taking shape for several months now, I hope you enjoy it.
Kurosaki plopped himself on the couch, exhausted. He'd been working on his computer like a fiend for the past three hours. The program he was working on would hopefully be able to track down the people involved with the latest incident he'd gotten Teru tangled up in. Not only had she been kidnapped, her life had been threatened as well. He sighed, resolving once again to fix up all the loose ends from his past for Teru's sake.
It took him a minute or two to realize he had forgotten to turn on the television. His eyes were shutting on their own accord. Cursing lightly under his breath he checked the clock on the VCR, which blinked a steady 7:00 at him.
"God, why does it feel so late?" Rubbing his face he started to settle down into the couch; too tired and well accustomed to the sofa to go sleep in his own bed. He was almost out of it when he heard the knock at the door.
"Damn it," he hissed, clamping his eyes closed tighter. Maybe if he ignored it-
Knock, knock.
Resigned to the fact that his sleep would indeed be interrupted, he rolled off the couch and stumbled over to the door. He pessimistically decided that this was just going to be a bad night. Opening the door, he rested his head against the frame, eyes still too tired to open.
"What?"
"Umm, Kurosaki-san, are you feeling alright?"
Kurosaki's head shot up as he actually paid attention to the person at the door. Truthfully, he had been expecting Riko, coming to check in on his progress. Instead, Teru stood in the hall, sill wearing her school uniform and holding her text books, looking a little annoyed.
"Why aren't you in your apartment?" Kurosaki asked bluntly. The annoyance on her face shifted to one of embarrassment.
"I-er... Kinda forgot my keys inside this morning..." she admitted, playing with a fray on her bag.
"And Riko won't let you in or something?"
"No, she's at a business meeting tonight."
Kurosaki snorted. He wondered when Teru would figure out that Riko's 'business trips' generally involved a dozen of her friends and a sizable amount of beer.
"Hey, what! What's so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing."
"Whatever, baldy. I was just wondering... could I stay over tonight?" Her face flushed slightly at the request, although she had slept in his apartment countless times before.
Kurosaki, not wanting to continue her embarrassment, simply replied "Sure," and continued inside. Calling over his shoulder he asked, "Have you had dinner yet?"
A thud from the hallway, presumably her bag, preceded the response, "Nope, I had to stay after for some extra classes. And I didn't get anything on the way back since I have food in the fridge at home."
Kurosaki headed into the kitchen, mentally listing the food residing in there. He realized all he had was a copious amount of noodles left in his repertoire. Groaning, he turned to Teru.
"D'you mind noodles?"
Shaking her head, she replied, "No, I'm starved."
"Fine, you go fill up a pot with water, I'll grab the noodles." He reached into one of the cupboards as he heard the water running behind him.
"Why weren't you at school today?" she asked suddenly. Kurosaki turned to her as he placed the box of noodles on the counter. Her eyes were fixed on the slowly filling pot.
"Had some work to do at home. A little bit of this and that," he replied vaguely.
"Ah."
Kurosaki ran a hand through his hair. They were once again tip toeing around the topic of Daisy. Sometimes it felt so stupid, since both of them knew the truth. Yet, Teru never brought it up explicitly, and until he was ready, neither would he.
Kurosaki decided to lighten the mood as Teru lifted the full pot out of the sink.
"Hmm, it sounds as though some brat missed me at school," he teased. Teru's reaction was immediate.
"Wh-what are you talking about you creep! I don't miss weirdoes like you, not one bit! Be quiet!" Flustered, she quickly slammed the pot on the counter. Unfortunately, she caught the lip of the surface and it slipped out of her fingertips, soaking her and half the kitchen in lukewarm water.
Kurosaki tried not to laugh as Teru looked down at her now sodden clothing. "Now look what you made me do!" Her outraged expression was hysterical.
Laughing in earnest now, he replied, "I didn't do anything! You're the one who threw it at the counter!"
Teru glared daggers at him, "I didn't throw it at the counter, it slipped! Now what am I supposed to wear?"
Kurosaki was about to remind her she lived right next door when he remembered she was locked out. He bit his lip as he considered using the spare key Riko had given him to use for "extreme emergencies". He had a feeling anything less would earn him a thorough beating from the woman. He also didn't want to weird, Teru, out by the fact he could get into her apartment at any time, or maybe he was just thinking like a pervert.
"I'll, um, lend you an old t-shirt of mine to wear," he blushed while she paled.
"But what about pants?" she asked, horrified.
He thought about that. All his pants would be either too tall, too big or a combination of the two on her. Really, the only thing that might fit her was his boxe-
"I'll get you a really, really big t-shirt," blushing even worse at the previous imagery in his head, he raced towards his room. Scrounging through the back of his closet he discovered an old t-shirt from college (which he'd accidentally ordered two times too big). The front had three Greek letters on it from his fraternity, and with a quick sniff, also, discovered it to be clean.
He brought the shirt back to Teru, who raced into the bathroom to change her soaked clothes. He mopped up the floors as he filled the pot with water once again. The noodles were almost ready by the time Teru got done changing.
"Man, what took you so long?"
"Sh-shush! I had some issues getting some stuff off, alright?"
Kurosaki turned around from the stove to tell her to set the table, only to notice how the shirt looked on her. It was plenty respectful enough, it easily reached to her knees and the excess of fabric swallowed her whole. He tried to tune out the other reasons as to why she would be wearing only his t-shirt around his apartment, unsuccessfully.
"Get the plates out," he ordered gruffly. She obliged and set the table.
Dinner was a silent and awkward affair until Teru asked Kurosaki when he had been fat enough to properly fit into the shirt. A series of 'A-cups' and 'Go-bald' comments resumed at their normal pace.
After dinner and dishes, Teru picked through the DVD pile as Kurosaki tried not to fall asleep, still tired from his activities that had occupied his day. He was about to finally lose the fight against his eye lids when Teru called from behind the couch.
"Kurosaki... What's this one about?"
He turned his head over the back of the sofa and checked. Which one-? Then he noticed.
"Th-that's not mine! Er-Riko must have, uh, left it here when she came for that...thing awhile ago," the man stuttered, trying to explain the existence of the sappy romance movie Teru now held. She eyed him suspiciously.
"Alright then..."
She already knew he was a wimp around scary movies; he didn't need her to know he had a thing for romance ones.
"Can we watch it?"
"Hmph, fine. I'm warning you, I'll probably fall asleep halfway through."
"That's fine; you've probably seen it a million times before, anyway."
"Tru- Wait, no!" objected Kurosaki, realizing his slip up. Teru tried not to smile as she put the DVD into the player. "If you tell anyone, there's going to be one less slave in the world," he threatened as she sat down on the couch next to him.
"Shush, Mr. Romance-Movie, it's starting."
He muttered darkly under his breath, which Teru studiously ignored, as the movie began to play.
It had a fairly basic plot; two people meet, fall in love, but don't have the guts to tell their feelings to one another. In the end, of course, they get together and live happily ever after. Kurosaki couldn't properly explain why the movie was one of his favorites, but enjoyed watching it none the less.
Kurosaki quickly looked down at Teru as his favorite part of the movie came up. The two main characters had pulled over on the side of the road to watch the sun set in the mountains. The blonde fought against the urge to mouth the woman's words as she said, "You know what? I think that out of everything, Sunsets are what I love most in the world," she turned to her companion, "So, tell me, what do you love most in the world?"
The man opened his mouth in surprise, and then turned away from the woman, thinking. He opened his mouth once again to answer her question, and then sighed. "I love the sound of the sea; I grew up listening to it."
Later on they would admit that they had been too afraid to tell the other person that they were the thing they loved the most.
Kurosaki suddenly felt pressure on his leg. Looking down he saw that Teru had leaned towards him, balancing herself by placing a hand on his thigh.
"Kurosaki, what do you love most in the world?" she asked innocently, looking up at him.
He froze, contemplating as though his life depended on it. His decision process took all of three seconds.
He could lie; tell her something stupid like porn, or his cigarettes. Half the time it seemed like she believed him when he'd tell her about his collection of SM memorabilia, anyway. Or he could think of a more convincing lie, like Masuda's shop or the smell of rain (which he indeed did like).
Or he could tell her the truth; that what he loved most in the world was not a 'what' but a 'who'. That this 'who' was a girl that annoyed him to no end and called him names. And that this girl also meant the world to him, and had saved him from the darkest moments in his life.
Nope, definitely lie.
Kurosaki looked down at Teru, ready to spout the first lie that came to mind. It was then he realized just how close she was. Her face was illuminated in the dark room by the light of the movie. He could feel the warmth coming off her face, a few measly inches away. The hand she had placed on his leg for balance seemed to set his skin on fire. Her eyes were bound to his own, making it impossible for him to look elsewhere.
He realized, with a start, the odd expression on her face. It was the expression she wore when she was hiding something, a look he had become far too acquainted with after she discovered he was Daisy. What could she be hiding in this innocent question? Unless... she hadn't meant it to be innocent.
He felt himself lean forward before he realized he was doing it. Hadn't he conquered any and all qualms over this at the hospital? He had broken each chain holding him back that day; their age difference, his guilt, his fears. They were even easier to forget the second time around.
The distance between them seemed to be measured in miles rather than inches. Kurosaki was able to see Teru's eyes widen slowly in surprise, as if time slowed down. Tilting his head slightly, he pressed his lips to hers.
He kept it gentle and light as a brush on the cheek. The simple touch sent flames through his senses, however, fogging up his already clouded mind. Her lips were wonderfully soft, cushioning against his perfectly.
After a moment he pulled back slightly, only an inch or two, and answered her initial question. "She needs to take her hand off of my leg."
Teru's shocked face was almost comical, half lit by the long forgotten movie. She sat there, frozen in surprise as she tried to process what had just occurred.
"She...?" she whispered under her breath. Understanding the meaning, her eyes widened even further and her previous pink hue deepened into an intensive red. Remembering the second part of the sentence she looked down, recalled the fact that she did indeed possess hands and realizing that one of them was firmly placed on Kurosaki's leg. She whipped her arm up instantly, only to fall straight back down since her weight had been supported underneath it.
Her chin hit his leg as her elbow landed square in his crotch, causing the man to let out a strangled sound of pain. Teru quickly scrambled to the other side of the couch as Kurosaki doubled over.
"K-K-Kurosaki, I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean to, I just-" She was cut off by the sound of laughter coming from the rolled up man. Kurosaki sat up, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye.
"What?" Teru asked, confused.
"It's just my luck that right after I kiss you I get nailed in the crotch," realizing the expression was far too open to interpretation, he added, "With your arm." Teru scooted back over to him hesitantly.
"Does it still hurt?"
"Nah, not as bad anyway," he replied. He looked down at the brunette next to him. She was biting her lip and her eyes neatly avoided his.
Suddenly Kurosaki's stomach dropped out. Maybe she hadn't wanted him to kiss her. Maybe she had changed her mind. Even though it went against all those times she had shared her true feelings with him (whether through thinly veiled comments or accidental mutterings), it was possible. The idea that he had made a mistake grew even more likely as her silence lengthened.
"Teru, I-"
"Kurosaki, can-"
They both started at the same time. Teru looked up at him.
"You first," she offered.
Not knowing how to voice his doubts, he replied, "No, you."
"U-um, I was just wondering, could, er, I try too?" she asked, making a vague gesture towards her mouth while blushing furiously. Kurosaki could only smile in relief, silently berating himself for doubting her feelings so quickly. He leaned closer to her.
"Of course."
He stayed still as she mimicked his previous movements, leaning towards him and gently pressing her lips to his. Kurosaki opened his mouth slightly at the pressure, deepening the kiss. Teru made a small noise of surprise, but didn't pull back. Instead, she moved even closer, melding her lips to his. His hand had somehow found itself into her hair as one of her hands had a tight grip on his shirt. Kurosaki's heart was racing, with his pulse roaring in his ears. With each beat his pulse seemed to yell 'Finally! Finally! Finally!'
After what felt like a far too short amount of time Kurosaki pulled back to catch his breath. Both he and Teru's faces were flushed from the kiss. Teru's face split into a smile.
"Wow," she whispered in an awestruck voice. Kurosaki smiled in return.
"You're tellin' me," the man turned his head towards the television, "It seems as though we've missed half the movie when we were-"
"Distracted," Teru filled in.
"Kissing," Kurosaki finished. Teru laughed. "Do you want me to rewind it?"
"Yah, I want to see what happens," she replied, snuggling into his side to watch it. They finished the rest of the movie up with Teru settled alongside Kurosaki, his arm wrapped around her middle.
Kurosaki didn't notice when the movie ended. He had fallen asleep a half an hour after they started it back up. Teru woke him up as she wriggled out of his arm.
"Sorry for waking you up," she whispered, turning off the TV and DVD player, "I tried not to."
"'is alright," he mumbled tiredly in return. He couldn't see her in the dark room, but heard her whisper goodnight and head off to the bedroom. He settled down into the couch, ready to fall back asleep when he heard the door open once more. He heard Teru quickly round the couch.
He was about to ask what she had forgotten when he felt her fingers on his chin. They patted upwards, until they located his mouth. Soon after he felt her soft lips quickly peck his as her hair fell down and brushed his face. He reached up and tucked the few strands behind her ear.
"Goodnight kiss," she explained. Kurosaki could hear the smile in her words.
"'Night, Teru," he whispered in reply. He wondered if she had heard the grin in his voice as well. Her door closed once more as Kurosaki listened to his beating heart filling the room.
He really couldn't have imagined a better night.