Kido walked into the hallway at midday. She had just woken up after another long night, and as she stumbled into the kitchen, she noticed two things. One, everyone had left. Two, Konoha had destroyed the cupboards and fridge again. She didn't know which one was more urgent- the cupboard thing happened all the time, but this was the first time she hadn't seen everyone. There would usually be fighting or chatting about something in the mornings, with Kano or Ene mocking her for getting up so late. She instinctively reached for the fridge, but the door was on the other side of the room, and there were loose live wires dangling all over the door frame. She decided it would be too much of a hazard so she left the fridge and went for the cupboards. Fallout would be putting it loosely. There was food everywhere. She sat down at the TV and reached for the remote. She turned on the TV and flicked to the news. Nothing noteworthy had happened in the last week- it seemed the whole country was in a kind of heat-haze daze, and no-one was bothered to do anything. She turned the TV off again, and then went back to her room to get changed. She had completely undressed when she looked around the room, to check all the curtains were closed, and saw- Konoha. The boy was just staring at her, with a steely gaze. She grabbed her hoodie and threw it on quickly.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded, disgusted. Konoha looked confused.
"I was just looking for food..." he said.
"Get out!" Yelled Kido. He walked slowly through the door and left the room. Kido finished changing, and walked back to the living room. Konoha was sat there, hands crossed on his lap. Kido knew he felt nervous- this is what he always did when he was nervous. He slowly looked up at her.
"Hello, Kido." He said, slowly.
"Hi." she grunted. She did feel quite bad for yelling so much- Konoha was many things, but a pervert wasn't one of them. She fully believed his story about looking for food, but she didn't think she was being unreasonable. He had just watched her get changed, after all.
"Where are all the others?" Asked Kido, sitting next to Konoha.
"I don't know." said Konoha. He looked guilty.
"When did they leave?" He looked thoughtful, then counted on his fingers.
"Four hours." Said Konoha.
"That would mean they left at, like, eight." Konoha nodded and smiled at that. They were probably just going on one of their morning escapades. It wouldn't be out of character for Kano to book them in at a hotel or something, just to scare her. Sure enough, she found a note from Seto, and another from Kisaragi. They both essentially said that they were going out, and Konoha and Kido were still asleep, so they went without. Kido had no objections to the group going out without her- any group bonding activities were fine with her. Besides, she thought with a smile, if she had to be left behind with someone, she didn't really mind being alone with Konoha...
"Food." came a voice. She spun round to see the boy in the doorway.
"Hey Konoha. Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier." she said. His head went down, and his hands moved to his trousers. He grabbed the drape of fabric between his legs. He did this when he was scared or nervous. "I was just freaked out that you were watching me get changed. I know you weren't trying to or anything, so we're good." A smile lit up his whole face, and Kido couldn't help but smile back. He had an infectious smile that cheered Kido up every time. She loved spending time with him, because he would always make her smile. She loved the way he'd cock his head to the side when he was happy, and the way he'd always scare people accidentally when they first met. She loved the way that he would gladly give his life to save his friends- it was a real sign of courage, that was so rare these days. She would often wonder about Konoha's opinions of the rest of the Dan. He just seemed to love all of them, and he had no hate in his body. It broke her heart to see him trying to cheer up Hibiya, and him rejecting him. The kid had issues, sure- she could kind of see where he was coming form- but it was tragic to see nonetheless. She'd always approach Konoha afterwards, but he'd seem so sad. He appeared to cheer up after Kido came to talk to him, and this made her happy to no end. The thought that she'd be able to cheer him up would give her a bit of encouragement when she was down- to know that Konoha cared about her, and enjoyed her presence. It'd really spur her on in dark times. In turn, he himself would always embark on an effort to cheer her up, and it would always work. He was the sweetest person she knew, and that was important to her. She wasn't sure whether she loved him or not. He was sweet, sure, but he didn't really seem the type that you could fall in love with. He was too... vacant. In an endearing way, sure, but he was more of a lovable best friend than a love interest. For now, anyway. She was glad of this opportunity though- spending a day alone with him would give her some time to get her feelings straight. Plus, she had no idea how he felt about her- if he didn't really like her, then fine, they'd keep their relationship as it was right now. But if he liked her, then maybe they could give it a shot after all. If it didn't work out, they could still be friends. If it did, well, they'd see how it went. She went and sat down next to Konoha on the sofa. She felt hungry, then remembered about the food- a small smile came to her lips, and she thought of how Konoha was much stronger than he usually thought.
"Hey Konoha, I'm going out to get some food. Do you want to come?" The boy smiled, and nodded his head. She smiled back. "Let's go, then."
They stepped out of the house and walked out to the nearby shop. She chose some bread, milk, and chicken, and he chose a basket full of Negima. She went to the self service checkout, and scanned all the items. On the way home, she realised she had lost track of Konoha. She glanced around and saw him talking to a woman with a pram. He was pointing at the baby, and the woman was getting angry and trying to walk away. She darted over to him.
"Konoha, what's up?" She asked.
"Please get this man away from my son!" Said the woman.
"Konoha, come on, let's get home."
"Triceratops..." He said, pointing at a toy in the child's hand. Kido tried not to smile.
"Come on, I'll buy you a triceratops. Let's get home." Konoha did that walk of his again, with his head down and his hands gripping his trousers tightly. They stopped by a toy shop, and bought the closest triceratops to the door. She handed it back to him, and he smiled again.
"Thank you, Kido." He had never thanked her like that before. She smiled back at him.
"It's fine, Konoha." Konoha ran off, and Kido just watched him go. She'd find him if he got in trouble, she decided. She waited where she was- Konoha would probably return to her after he was done with whatever he wanted to do. He came back five minutes later with a toy cat from a kid's shop, and gave it to Kido. He obviously felt like getting her something in return for the dinosaur. She smiled a big smile at him, and took the cat. He had kept the price label on, but Kido somehow doubted he'd paid for it. He tended to just drift in and out, occasionally taking something with him. As they walked home, Konoha occasionally just stared at Kido. She knew this was essentially his little way of saying he liked her, but she wasn't quite sure, and didn't want to overreact. Occasionally, She would look over at him, and they'd lock eyes, but he'd feel shy and look away. They finally got back home, and Konoha sat on the sofa. She brought in some Negima for them both, and he ate his instantly. She laughed at the display, and he got shy and turned away. She looked towards him.
"Hey, Konoha. What's up? You seem nervous lately. Are you okay?" Konoha nodded happily in agreement, but turned away again. She got up, and knelt down in front of him.
"Look, Konoha. You seem nervous. I just want you to be happy. Please, tell me what's wrong."
"Nothings wrong." He said.
"You keep turning away." She looked him in the eye, and embraced him. "Now tell me what's up."
He began to speak, clearly having difficulty. "Hibiya." He managed.
"What's wrong? What's up with Hibiya?"
"I want to be his friend. I want to make Hibiya my friend." He said sadly.
"Hey," Kido sat next to him and draped his arm around his shoulder. "Hibiya's just upset about Hiyori, that's all. I'm sure he'll be okay eventually."
"Why won't he be my friend? Is it... my fault?" He looked near tears. She sat forward, to look him in the eye.
"Listen Konoha. It's not your fault. Hibiya is just depressed because Hiyori's gone. I'm sure he doesn't really hate you. Just remember, okay? It's not anything with you. There's nothing wrong with you, Konoha." Konoha looked up at her, and it looked for a second as though he had genuine tears in his eyes.
"Thank you." He said. Kido reached over to him and kissed him. After about a second, she pulled back, and looked at him. He looked confused, but happy.
He smiled again, and Kido smiled back. There was a slight hint of awkwardness, but they soon overcame that feeling. She felt... right, like a burden had been lifted from her. She was suddenly happy, and by the look on Konoha's face, so was he. It was nice to see that he was cheered up by the kiss, instead of the crushing awkwardness she'd expected. "I think... Konoha, I... I love you." She said.
Konoha went quiet, but a small smile touched his face. "I love you." He said. She wasn't really sure whether he was just repeating her, or if he was confessing, but she didn't much care. The sensation had filled her with happiness, and she just hoped Konoha felt the same. He looked at Kido, and moved his head towards hers, slowly and awkwardly, as if unsure of how to proceed. She kissed him again, and then she sat with her head on his shoulder. She hadn't been this happy in a long time. By the look on Konoha's face, neither had he. The two of them sat for a while, not sure how far they wanted to take this. She wanted to take it as far as he did, but she wasn't sure what that was. So they just sat there for a while, together, in silence. Later that night, after they'd eaten an improvised dinner, Kido headed for bed. Konoha seemed to follow her, and he lay next to her. She didn't mind- the others had gone and left, and even if they did find out, so what? She didn't care what they thought of her, and neither did Konoha. She didn't feel like she was forcing Konoha into this either, or taking advantage of his naturally confused state. After all, he had followed her, and that night, they both seemed to be happy, not just Kido.
The next morning, they woke up at about the same time. When Konoha awoke, Kido was just getting ready to leave and make breakfast. The others didn't arrive until about four in the afternoon, when they'd both figured out where they stood. They'd tell the Dan about last night, they decided, and let it go where it would. Konoha had left by the time they got back, to the shop or something. There was no objection about the two- sure, Ene mocked them, but she seemed to be in raised spirits anyway. They'd stayed in a hotel that night- they had planned to just take the day out, but there was something happening the next morning that Kano wanted to see, and everyone agreed to take the bus home the next day. If anyone was jealous of the two, they did an excellent job of hiding it. Well, even if they are jealous, thought Kido, they can keep the deception for a while longer. She was happy, and no-one would take that from her. Little did she know, far away, the dark snake laughed.