One stupid, oily, dirty and useless rag could make all the difference in Van's life. The plot's pretty shallow, but my mind is pretty focused on the 'difference' the rag made and you COULD consider this a humor fic even though it's not. I classified it under Romance 'cause if you put it that way, it really is. I just don't want to think it. Whatever. Anyway, I don't own Escaflowne-- like all the people besides the creators of Escaflowne! So don't sue! My imagination's running wild but not so wild as to write a hentai fic. Just don't know how to write one, even if I have read zounds of them! And yeah, that song on the first part, it's 'Crazy For This Girl' (forgot who sang it-- please just tell me who so I could acknowledge them guys) I thought the chorus was a good thing and suits Van's feelings 'egzackly'! So much for intros! Read on, and ponder on...

Crazy Rags
by White Dragon

When you look at her,
She looks at me,
She's got me thinking about her constantly,
But she doesn't know how I feel.
She carries on without a doubt,
I wonder how she's got me figured out,
I'm crazy for this girl,
I'm crazy for this girl.

"Van?" a voice comes snapping to my senses. I look at the brown- haired girl standing in front of me, her eyes sparkling and smiling mischievously. I break from my stare and feel blood rush to my cheeks. Hitomi must have caught me looking at her. And I thought I was so careful not to let her see me. I look away and stare at something else. Lately, I observed, I often find myself staring at her. I don't know why, but I do. And Merle has been teasing me about her, to my surprise, I don't get mad. Neither do I object to it. I feel so strange lately. I get these jumpy lumps in my stomach whenever she goes near me, as if I'm afraid of her or something. And when I talk to her, I get so speechless. Sometimes, it's quite embarrassing that Allen and the others tease me about her. So often that, you know, I get used to it.

Right now we're in the windmill. I'm cleaning Escaflowne with some oil and polishing it until it shone. Merle is away at the village with the children. So here I am, alone with Hitomi. She's watching me with her green eyes. Those eyes could make me ruin my concentration. They penetrate through me like a knife. And now they're staring at me. It's a wonder I don't melt or something. I scrub on and Hitomi is sitting a few feet away from me, dangling her feet above the floor. She's obviously thinking of something. We're not talking, only the polishing of steel, that squeaky noise filled the air.

Hitomi jumps up and looks at me. I look up, my eyes flew directly into hers. "What?" I ask, and suddenly I felt very stupid. Why am I asking those meaningless, one- word questions at her? Hitomi smiles and pulls the rag away from me. She hid it behind her back. "What did you do that for?" I ask her, trying to snatch the rag away from her.

"You won't get this back," she said teasingly. I stand up and walk fast behind her. Hitomi ran out of the mill, waving the rag up in the air. "C'mon Van!" I don't know why I ran after her, because I've got other rags than that. But I did. I ran after her. She's quick, and she's reached the field already, the wind blowing her hair.

I ran faster, finally catching up. "Give that rag back," I said breathlessly, running alongside her. "You won't," she said, running faster. All that chase for one stupid rag. I could've been back there, polishing Escaflowne with another rag, but the thought only made me run faster.

Finally, I caught her arm and pulled her. We were on a small hill that we fell out of balance. Hitomi fell on top of me and we rolled downhill, gripping on my arms. We landed safely on the grass, and Hitomi was still on top. We were both laughing like crazy. "Give me back my rag," I gasped breathlessly. "Nope," Hitomi teased. I wonder why she was still there on top of me. "Look, Hitomi, I have to clean Escaflowne or-," But I was cut off. Hitomi pressed her lips onto mine. My eyes widened. I've never been kissed before, and I felt clumsy and inexperienced, but I never knew Hitomi was, too. She was grasping my hair, moaning softly into my mouth. There were those queasy lumps on my stomach, and they were jumping like crazy again. My hands were around the small of her back, gripping it tightly. I never want this moment to end. Everything was just like a dream, as if we weren't doing it. But we were, right in the middle of the field. No one was watching, everything was silent but the wind. I could feel sensations traveling up and down my spine as Hitomi began kissing me harder. We rock desperately from side to side, gripping on each other, loud moans escaping from our mouths.

Minutes passed by like hours. Finally, Hitomi pulled back just a little bit. I could still feel her lips rest lightly on mine. She's breathing heavily as I do, and her forehead glistened with sweat as I did. She looks at me through her eyes, and there was something new to see. Hitomi flushed red. "You want your rag back?" she whispers in my mouth, still breathless. Gods, I want to kiss her again. I don't want that stupid old rag back. Like I said before, I got a dozen other rags. I shook my head and pushed her head nearer so I could kiss her again.

But Hitomi resisted. She pulls back and removes herself on top of me, sitting on the grass. I sit up and look at her. Why did she pull back? She started this whole thing about the rag, and now she's leaving me craving to kiss her? That was cruel.

"Wha- Hitomi, what's the matter?" I ask her, surprised at finding my voice suddenly soft and gentle. Hitomi was looking far away, thinking of something. The rag is still in her hands, and she was absently playing with it. "Nothing," she mutters. I was about to speak when Hitomi interrupted. "Want to have your rag back? Here," She tossed me the rag. I caught it and asked her. "Um, Hitomi, it's going to sound crazy to ask you. But why did you kiss me? I mean-," Hitomi drew nearer and snatched the rag out of my hand. "Because-," she began. I saw tears forming in her eyes. "I- I don't know. I just-," She began sobbing. I wipe the tears with my hand. Why was she crying?

"Look, Hitomi. I'm sorry I ask you stupid questions, tell you meaningless things and hurting your feelings. I know I'm a jerk and-,"

"No you're not," Hitomi whispered. I put my arms around her, burying my face in her hair. Something was bothering her. And me, I don't know why I'm suddenly feeling different towards her. When she kissed me it was as if something snapped inside of me. My very being. This girl-- I love her. Everything about her makes me lose my senses. When she looks at me, fire burns inside me. But I was not about to tell her just now.

Hitomi presses her face on my chest. Her arms clutched at my back, with no intention of letting go. I run my hands into her hair. Then she spoke, her words barely forming from her mouth.

"I love you,"

My heart jumped. She wanted me-- but how will I tell her I feel the same way, too? I was never one to conceal my own feelings. It only made matters worse. But I never thought I would prove wrong with my next sentence.

"I love you, too,"

There, I said it. Now for the embarrassment.

I waited for her to answer, but I only found myself kissing her again. This time, our kiss was deeper and more passionate. Hitomi slowly slipped her tongue into my mouth. I moan slightly, letting mine entwine with her own. I could hear Hitomi moan softly, her tongue was devouring mine. I gripped tightly on her waist as Hitomi fondled my tongue harder in hungry and desperate motions. A loud moan escaped from my mouth. Hitomi was kissing me wildly, more than ever, her tongue traveling throughout my mouth. Her pressure against my body made me lose my balance. We fell over, and once again Hitomi was on top of me. It's amazing how she wouldn't stop and break away from the kiss. She pressed even harder. It was difficult for me not to moan louder than I meant to. I gripped the grass tight in my hand, the other pounding the ground hard. My eyes were glued directly on hers, half- mast with sheer pleasure.

It seemed like we lay there for hours. Hitomi had stopped kissing me, her breath was heavy and her forehead glistened with sweat. I wondered how I managed to control the desire inside me.

We were now sitting up. I was leaning against a tree and Hitomi is sitting in front of me, her head lay on my chest. My arms were wrapped around her neck, feeling her pulse throbbing at the side. The wind cooled our skin and I tried to relax a little.

Then I remembered the rag. That rag made a whole world open up for me. Where was it?

"Have you seen the rag?" I asked Hitomi. She shook her head. "Nope," then she smiled teasingly. "You're still hooked up with that rag, aren't you?" I shrugged. "No, but that rag made me realize how much I care for you," I said in a mock- serious tone. The truth was, it really did. Hitomi turned to face me. I smile at her. Thanks to that rag, my inexperience made my feelings turn out to be a total learning experience for me.


*OWARI*