Recreation

by DreamingWithMyEyesOpen

The twin sister of his former rival should've been enough of a hint that tagging along on Iris and Haruto's play date was a bad idea. (Diamondshipping hints.)

Note: Shark and Rio's parents are alive in this story. I've named them Jin and Sakura. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy.

"Nii-san?"

Kaito Tenjo glanced up from his spot on the living room couch, a book plopped in his lap. He smiled a smile he reserved only for his precious little brother. "Yes, Haruto?"

Haruto's honey yellow eyes stared at Kaito in confusion. "You're not with Chris today or up in the lab with Orbital or hanging out with Yuma?"

Since being revived three weeks ago, Kaito's daily activities ranged from being holed up in his lab working on projects with Orbital, visiting Chris, and being dragged around by Yuma. Today was one of those rare days where Kaito chose to just relax on the couch with a good book.

"Nope," was Kaito's reply.

A bright smile spread across Haruto's face, his eyes lighting up. "Really!? Great! That means you can come with me, Iris, Rio, and the twins to the park today!"

Kaito groaned inwardly, not in the mood to go out today. Wait, did Haruto just say the twins were going to the park with them? He rolled his eyes, regret at having ever built the twins seeping in.

"Kaito-sama, my beloved Obomi has been talking about having children lately," Orbital brought up one day. The robot sheepishly looked down, scuffing at the floor. "I'm planning to pay her a visit soon and showing up with children would make her really happy…"

Being around Yuma so much was making him go soft. What would robot children do at a park, anyway? If only Orbital were here and then he could make up an excuse about needing to finish up an important project with him, but the robot was out with Obomi today. He looked at Haruto's hopeful face, already feeling his desire to stay put on the couch weaken. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't been spending enough time with Haruto so maybe this trip to the park wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Sighing, Kaito finally replied while looking elsewhere, "I suppose…"

The powder blue haired boy's smile widened. "This is gonna be so much fun, nii-san!"

Yeah, so much fun. Kaito put on a weak smile for his brother's sake. "Indeed it is, Haruto."

The next twenty minutes were passed with lighthearted conversation between the two brothers with Haruto doing most of the talking. The young boy talked about how nice Rio was and how she would always pay for his and Iris's ice cream among other things. The other Bar- new residents of the Kamishiro mansion apparently took turns taking Haruto, Iris, and occasionally the twins out on play dates. Rio, Mizael, and Alit were Haruto's personal favorites. The doorbell sounding made Haruto stop midsentence and get up excitedly to answer the door.

Kaito already knew who it was.

"Hi, Haruto!" came a sweet, childish voice.

"Hi, Iris," Haruto warmly greeted. "Hi, Rio."

"Hi, Haruto," Rio said with a kind smile. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Let me just go get the twins!" Haruto bounded off upstairs to get the robot pair.

Kaito watched the two visitors make their way into the house, choosing silence over a polite greeting. The uncanny resemblance between Iris and Rio never ceased to amaze Kaito. Appearance was the only thing they had in common, however, with Iris being exceptionally more sweet and innocent in personality than Rio. Kaito was confident in the validity of the observation, despite this only being the second time he was in the presence of the little girl, the first time being at the party he attended to celebrate the newfound peace and the revival of their fallen allies.

"Well, hello to you too, Kaito," Rio said with a cheeky smile. Rio paused, waiting for the older boy to reply only to be met with silence from his end. "Not even gonna say hello to your guests? You're worse than Ryoga."

Kaito was grateful for Haruto coming down with the twins so he wouldn't have to come up with a response to the girl's snarky comments. Rising up from the couch and brushing past Rio, Kaito said, "Well, let's go."

There weren't many visitors at Heartland Park today, just an old couple occupying one of the benches and a younger couple having a picnic. Haruto and Iris wasted no time in running off to play in the sandbox with Orbito and Obito going after them. Kaito took to one of the benches, happy for the solitude until Rio decided it'd be okay to take the spot next to him. Crossing his arms, Kaito closed his eyes, hoping that his refusal to acknowledge her presence would make her go away.

"Are you really just gonna ignore me?"

'Yes,' Kaito thought, stubbornly keeping his eyes closed.

Rio scoffed. "God, you really are just like Ryoga. No wonder you two get along."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't compare me to your brother," Kaito said, finally opening his eyes. "We're nothing alike."

"Oh, so you do talk," Rio smirked playfully. "I was beginning to worry."

He suddenly remembered his conversation with Haruto before they left. "Thanks for keeping an eye on Haruto when you're out with him and Iris."

Rio smiled, glad that he was making an effort to talk more. "No problem. Haruto's such a sweet kid. It's sometimes so hard to believe you two are brothers." Rio playfully winked at Kaito while stinking her tongue out.

"He gets that personality of his from our mother" was what Kaito almost said but thankfully held it in at the last minute. He almost talked about his mother with Rio of all people. He barely even knew her let alone spoke to her.

"Geez, I was just joking so you don't have to keep making that face."

Rio's voice brought Kaito out of his thoughts. He hadn't realized he had been spacing out and apparently making a face according to the girl sitting next to him. "Sorry. It's just… Never mind." He broke eye contact with her, his face taking on a more melancholy expression.

Rio gave the older boy a funny look, lips slightly parted before pursing her lips and giving the four reasons they were even at the park her attention. The swings were occupied by Iris and Haruto, content smiles on their faces as they used their feet to get themselves higher into the air. The twins were in the sandbox, both building sandcastles with elaboration she was sure only robots were capable of. Obito, who could be recognized solely by her yellow binky, seemed to be crafting what looked from this distance to be…she really didn't know what that was actually. Squinting her eyes and leaning forward slightly, Rio was able to recognize a shape that would most likely soon become a triangle. Huh, well, whatever Obito was building would hopefully be interesting. Orbito, who could be distinguished only by his pink binky, was hard at work building the lower half of a mysterious creature. She had her money on it being a dragon.

"Whoa, that looks so cool, Orbito!" Haruto exclaimed, abandoning his swing to join the small robot in the sandbox. Iris followed suit, not much of a dragon enthusiast as Haruto, so instead choosing to crouch down near Obito and curiously examine her work in progress.

Eyes sparkling with excitement and wonder, Haruto asked, "Is that a dragon you're building, Orbito?"

"Affirmative," Orbito replied in his robotic, yet childlike voice. "It is going to be Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon."

"Did you hear that, nii-san!?" Haruto excitedly called over to his older brother. "Orbito's building your Galaxy-Eyes!"

Ha, she knew it! Rio smiled triumphantly before glancing over at Kaito and was glad she did because it was at that moment that a small smile spread across Kaito's normally straight lips. Rio didn't need to hang out with Kaito twenty four seven to know that he didn't smile much, which was such a shame because he actually looked pretty good when he was smiling. Not that he didn't look good when he wasn't but a smile somehow accentuated his already handsome features.

"That's Heartland Tower!"

The outburst from the little girl Rio had recently begun to see as her little sister made Kaito's smiling lips thin back into a straight line, his eyes shifting over to what no doubt was Iris. Rio pouted, disappointed to see the smile go. She turned her eyes toward Iris as well.

"That's Heartland Tower, isn't it, Obito?" Iris said.

"Affirmative."

Ahhh, so Heartland Tower was what Obito had been building. Once again getting sick of the lack of words not being passed between them, Rio said while still observing Iris, "You should smile more often." When Kaito didn't say anything after a beat of silence, Rio continued, "What, are you afraid that smiling will ruin your whole 'cool guy' image? Wow, the similarities between you and Ryoga just keep stacking up." Rio bit down on her lip to keep from giggling, Kaito's now frowning lips not going unnoticed from the corner of her eye.

"Are you done?" Kaito said in an unamused tone.

"Nope," Rio grinned, turning to look at Kaito with playfully gleaming eyes. "Does your wardrobe consist of just what you're wearing right now? Because I swear that every time I see you you're wearing that coat and those pants. I mean come on, Kaito, even Ryoga changes it up from time to time. You can be a guy and still have some style, for god's sake."

First she compares him to Shark twice in one day and now she attacks his wardrobe. God, why did he have to be suckered into coming by Haruto's eyes?

"You should come shopping with me sometime."

Hell no! "No thanks."

Rio pouted at his quick declination. "Oh come on, it's not like you have anything better to do."

She was right but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing that.

She wasn't at all offended that he was giving her the silent treatment now. "You know, I actually didn't really like your hair when I saw you for the first time, but now I think it really suits you and actually like it."

He couldn't wait for this play date to end so they could both go their separate ways and go back to barely being on speaking terms.

Rio groaned, getting fed up with the boy's tight lipped ways. "You're no fun, Kaito. Ryoga at least fired back at me."

Crossing both his arms and legs, Kaito said, "Which is exactly why we're nothing alike."

Finally. Rio opened her mouth to say something but Haruto beat her to the punch.

"Nii-san, come look at Orbito's sandcastle!"

Kaito silently thanked Haruto, glad he could temporarily be parted from the younger Kamishiro sibling.

"Rio-neechan, come look at Obito's!"

Rio was just as uninterested in dragons as Iris, only sparing the sand version of Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon a passing glance despite the creation being impressively intricate and detailed. She crouched down next to a smiling Iris, her pink orbs wandering across what was indeed a miniature copy of Heartland Tower. Rio wasn't surprised Obito got all the details of the tower down to a T. Obito was built by Kaito, after all, who according to Ryoga, was able to stop time among other incredible things.

"Good work, Obito," Rio commended, giving the robot child a smile.

"Impressive," Rio heard Kaito say. The blue haired girl giggled as she watched Kaito continue to visually take in Orbito's work, his thumb and index finger resting on his chin. The fact that he was keeping such a straight face made the sight even funnier. 'He's taking this way too seriously,' Rio thought amusedly.

"Right?" Haruto said.

Haruto's back was to Rio but she still knew the friendlier Tenjo brother was smiling up at Kaito. Something stirred in Rio when Kaito took his piercing gray eyes off his ace monster's sandy counterpart to look at his younger brother, his usually hard expression softening and his lips curving up into a smile, this one bigger and kinder than the last one Rio was lucky enough to witness. She sure wouldn't mind being the recipient of a smile like that.

"Rio-neechan." Iris pouted when the older girl didn't respond. "Rio-neechan." Iris frowned, displeased at Rio not paying attention to her. She would yell this time. Yeah, yelling would definitely get Rio's attention. "Rio-neechan!"

Rio jerked at the exclamation, blinking a few times as she realized with a blush that she had spaced out while staring at Kaito all while in front of Iris. Giving Iris her full, undivided attention, Rio said, "Sorry, Iris. I…" Rio trailed off glancing back at Kaito. She mentally sighed, disappointed that he was no longer smiling. "I got distracted."

Iris followed the girl's gaze, her inquisitive blue eyes landing on Kaito. Oh, it was just Haruto's older brother Kaito. She wasn't sure what to think of him, since today was her first time meeting him in person. Haruto was so warm and friendly while Kaito was…mean wasn't really the right word. He was just a lot quieter than Haruto and looked kind of scary. He and Haruto couldn't be any more different. But other than that, was there something special about Kaito? Because up until today, Iris had never seen Rio look at someone like that before.

Kaito glimpsed up at Rio, gray eyes meeting pink ones. Rio went beet red, ducking her head down to stare at the brown expanse known as sand. To make things worse, her heart was thudding rapidly in her chest. What the hell was he doing to her? 'Keep it together, Kamishiro.'

Iris watched Kaito stare at the girl she looked to as her big sister a while longer before breaking visual contact with her. The green haired girl looked back at Rio, surprised to see her flustered and appearing quite annoyed. It was strange for Rio to lose her composure like this. Iris could now confidently conclude that there was something very special about Kaito.

"Rio, my heat sensors detect that you are very warm," Obito announced. "However, your body temperature appears to be normal so you cannot be ill."

Embarrassed enough as it is and not wanting more of it, Rio said, "Iris, do you wanna go down the slide with me?"

Iris lit up. "I would love to, Rio-neechan!" Iris took Rio's hand before dragging her away toward the slide with Obito trailing behind the duo.

Haruto watched from the sandbox as Rio climbed up the slide first, reaching down to help Iris and Obito up into her lap when they followed her lead. Rio's lips mouthed words Haruto couldn't properly pick up from this distance but as soon as her lips stopped moving, Obito pulled out from one of her many compartments…was that a black pillow? Haruto briefly pondered why a pillow was such a necessity to go down the slide as Rio slid the pillow under her body before gently sitting on it, her lips curling into a satisfied smile. The sound of Iris' happy squeals and Rio's giggles as they went down the slide brought a smile to Haruto's face. "Doesn't that look like fun, nii-san?"

Kaito, who had long since gotten tired of staying crouched down and was now sitting casually in the sand, perked up at the sound of his younger brother's voice, having apparently spaced out. He followed Haruto's gaze, his gray eyes falling on a sweetly smiling Rio and the two small bundles in her lap. Were his eyes playing tricks on him or was that really a pillow Rio was sitting on? As Rio rose up from her spot at the end of the slide, Kaito was able to confirm without a doubt that that was indeed a pillow Rio had been sitting on throughout her entire trip down the slide. Why she needed to sit on a pillow of all things to go down a slide was something Kaito didn't really care to know.

Kaito couldn't believe he was about to say this. "Haruto, would you like to go down the slide with me?"

Haruto visibly brightened at the offer. "Of course, nii-san! Come on, Orbito!" Taking Kaito's hand, Haruto enthusiastically tugged him toward the slide.

Rio was just about to climb the ladder a second time but the sight of the incoming Tenjo brothers and Orbito made her freeze. Rio threw Kaito a smirk. "The great Kaito Tenjo going down a slide? I'm impressed. There's hope for you yet."

Kaito responded by giving her a glare but that only made her smirk stretch wider across her face.

As the older boy climbed the ladder, Rio opened her mouth to offer him her pillow since the slide was very dirty, something she hadn't known the first time she came to the park with Haruto and Iris and was rewarded with light brown stains covering the back of her skirt. It had been so embarrassing. The blue haired girl pinned her glossed lips closed, recalling the embarrassment she had indirectly received at Kaito's unknowing hands not too long ago. Damn him and that stupid smile. Well, this would make them even. Rio smiled mischievously as Kaito reached the top of the slide, the trench coat wearing teen reaching down to scoop up Haruto and Orbito.

'Yes, that's it, Kaito,' Rio thought as she watched him sweep the end of his trench coat out from under him, his pants now meeting the slide. His very white pants that would look so great stained light brown. Haruto's giddy laughter almost made Rio feel bad for doing this to his older brother. Almost.

Rio met the trio of boys at the end of the slide, trying to look as innocent as possible. She wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her hands continuously against her sleeved arms to give off the impression that she was cold. "Is anyone else freezing other than me?" She violently shivered to make her act more effective and believable. "I could really use a coat right now." Still shivering, Rio looked pointedly at Kaito, the only member of their bunch wearing a coat.

Kaito stared at the girl with a raised eyebrow. It had to be at least seventy five degrees today and yet this girl was still cold. Not to mention she was wearing a long sleeved shirt that should've been doing a decent job of warding off the cold. Oh great, now Haruto was giving him a look for his hesitation and Haruto being mad at him was the last thing Kaito wanted, so Kaito shrugged aside his disbelief and removed his trench coat. He held it out for Rio to take, which she gladly took.

Rio settled into the jacket, trying to simultaneously ignore the fact that Kaito actually looked pretty good without his trench coat and the fact that the coat smelled really nice. What was the point of him putting on cologne when he barely got out anyway?

"Kaito-sama, you appear to have a stain on the back of your pants," Orbito pointed out.

And here she was about to give Kaito a reason to turn around so she herself could point out the stain on the back of his pants. She didn't mind Orbito having the honors, though. It made her look less suspicious.

Kaito turned around before looking over his shoulder, his mood worsening as he beheld a light brown stain marring the back of his pants. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Rio and Iris' giggles weren't helping his embarrassing situation in the slightest. 'Goddammit, Haruto,' Kaito thought as Haruto chuckled.

Rio relieved herself of a few more giggles behind her hand before lowering the appendage, an amused, satisfied smile on her face. Whoever said revenge tasted sweet was telling the truth because she felt so much better.

Kaito perked up as realization dawned on him. So that's what that pillow was all about. Rio already knew how dirty the slides were possibly from experience so she made sure to have a pillow under her to keep from having her clothes stained.

Rio's smile turned into an impish smirk as she watched Kaito's expression flicker from annoyance to realization. Heh, were all "dueling geniuses" this slow to catch on?

Kaito glanced over at Rio, annoyance washing over him again as he took in her smirking face. She planned this. She purposely withheld from him the fact that the slide was unclean. He glared daggers at her, fuming when it did nothing but further amuse her. He bet that Rio wasn't even cold to begin with and had feigned it as a ploy to expose the back of his pants, since his trench coat covered it up.

Okay, she had seen him suffer enough. The rose eyed girl approached the furious teen, undeterred by his vicious glare. With her smile still in place, she shrugged off his trench coat before holding it out to him. "Here, I think you need this more than I do."

Kaito rudely snatched it back, ignoring Haruto's chastising "nii-san".

Rio noticed Haruto giving her an apologetic look and she gave him a smile that said, "Don't worry about it". "Silly me, it must've slipped my mind that the slide isn't good for people wearing white." She knew she said before that she was done but damn, this was just too much fun.

Kaito simply walked past her and kept walking until he made it back to the bench the two of them had been sitting on before.

Rio didn't know Kaito could be such a big baby. It was kind of cute…

Though Kaito's mood had soured considerably, it didn't stop the group of five from having fun. The dizzying, stomach churning speed of the merry-go-round brought on delighted screams and laughter from its three human occupants, their hair whipping through the wind. When the contraption came to a stop, the threesome fell to the ground, clutching their stomachs while chortling with pure glee. After their heads stopped spinning and laughter died down, they went to retrieve the twins from the monkey bars in order to start up a game of hide and seek. Rock, paper, scissors was the game used to decide who would be It with the loser being Rio, not that she minded. Iris was the first to be found by Rio followed by Orbito and Haruto soon after. It turned out that Obito was an impressive hider as forty five minutes had passed and Rio still had yet to locate the female robot.

Rio sighed as she looked behind a bush, about ready to call it quits and admit Obito the victor. Knowing Iris, though, she'd tell Ryoga all about their day today and the fact that she lost to a robot, a baby one at that, would surely come up. She could hear his smug voice already.

"You lost to a robot?" Ryoga would smirk. "I can't believe I ever considered you my equal."

Rio's cheeks puffed out in irritation at the thought, her competitive nature kicking up a notch. She'd show her stupid brother!

"Nii-san, I'm hungry," Haruto complained, his head in Kaito's lap.

So was he. A growl he knew wasn't from his stomach made Kaito's eyes shift to his left at Iris, the source of the growl. The green haired girl sighed as she wrapped her arms around her middle. He checked his watch, noting that it was 2:50. Rio had been at this stupid game of hide and seek for almost two hours now. Okay, enough was enough.

'Not in here either,' Rio thought with a sigh, her head in the hollow of a tree. She ignored the cry of her stomach. The younger Kamishiro sibling gasped at the sudden grip on her shoulder, her head jerking up and meeting the ceiling of the hollow. She groaned at the pain emitting from the crown of her head, pulling her head out of the hollow to glare up at Kaito.

"Everyone's hungry so I'm calling off the game," Kaito said decisively.

"Wait, just give me five more minutes!" Rio tried to intercede.

Kaito ignored her proposal. "Obito, come out!" Rustling coming from the tree he was standing near brought Kaito's eyes upwards. Nothing appeared to be moving about or inhabiting the branches of the tree but the sudden appearance of Obito right before Kaito's eyes proved him wrong. Ah, so Obito had cloaked herself. Clever.

"Are you kidding me!?" Came Rio's angry cry.

Kaito focused his attention on Rio, raising an eyebrow at her angrily heaving shoulders, balled fists, and spread apart legs. She was getting bent out of shape over hide and seek, for god's sake.

"Obito, you can't just cloak yourself! That's cheating!" Rio protested childishly.

"In what rule book?"

Rio turned the glare she had on Obito onto Kaito. A tug at her shirt was what brought Rio's eyes down toward Iris.

"Rio-neechan, I'm hungry," Iris said with a frown.

Rio's countenance softened. Checking her watch, she was surprised to see it was three o'clock. "Oops, looks like I got a little carried away." She flashed the little girl a sheepish smile while rubbing the back of her head.

"A little, Rio-neechan?" Iris teased with a giggle.

Rio giggled along with her, twining her hand with her smaller one before regrouping with Haruto by the bench. "Sorry about that, Haruto. You ready to go eat?"

Haruto jumped down from the bench, smiling and feeling revitalized. "Yup!"

Kaito slurped up the freshly cooked, steaming hot noodles from his bowl, too ravenously hungry to worry about his now burned tongue. He heard Rio question Haruto about how school was going, the former Numbers hunter noting from the corner of his eye how she smartly left her food alone to cool off.

"It's been great!" Haruto chirped. "Iris and I made a new friend. Her name's Pip."

That name sounded familiar… Oh yeah, she was that little girl Yuma told him about. The one who tricked him into thinking he had been dueling a talking dog. Tch, only that idiot would fall for such a trick.

"She's really nice," Iris piped in. "But also really shy. We saw her eating lunch alone one day so Haruto and I invited her over to eat with us."

"Awww, how sweet," Rio smiled. "You should bring her over to the mansion sometime, Iris."

Kaito tuned out the rest of their conversation, focusing on finishing up his noodles. When he was done, he was ready to rest his chin in his hand and close his eyes when his nose caught wind of a strange scent coming from his coat. Was that…lavender? Kaito brought the sleeve of his dark trench coat up to his nose, able to confirm with a single inhalation that the fragrance was indeed lavender. Rio hadn't been in possession of his coat long but already his jacket was covered in her lavender scent. Not that he was complaining as it smelled…nice. His mother had a similar scent.

Rio clutched at her now satisfied stomach, smiling all the while. She washed the down the taste of pork and chicken with a long sip of her soda. The fourteen-year-old girl pushed a lock of blue hair out of her eyes, sneaking a look over at the quiet boy next to her. In place of his usual blank, unsmiling mask was a faraway, somber expression. She knew that face wasn't about what happened at the park but about something else.

"Rio-neechan, can we get some ice cream next?" Iris asked with a pleading look.

Rio took her eyes off Kaito to look at Iris. Smiling, Rio replied, "Of course, Iris." She giggled at the happy cheer the little girl let out. The sudden movement next to her drew Rio's eyes to her left, toward a now standing Kaito. He seemed to be back to normal judging by his emotionless, straight lipped face.

The group left the noodle shop, coming across an ice cream cart Rio remembered seeing a little while back. Rio fumbled through her purse for her wallet but Kaito beat her to the punch, the taller boy reaching over her shoulder to hand the vendor the money needed to pay for their treats.

"Thanks, Kaito," Rio said, giving her cookies and cream ice cream cone a few licks. They were all currently on a bench in Heartland Square relaxing while eating their ice cream with the exception of Kaito who chose to go without ice cream.

"Yeah, thanks, nii-san!"

"Thank you, Kaito-san!"

Kaito grunted in response, his arms as well as his legs crossed and eyes closed.

"What should we do now?" Iris said, lapping her tongue against her mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Haruto licked away some of the rocky road ice cream that had dribbled onto his hand before saying, "Hmmm, how about we see a movie?"

Iris' eyes sparkled at the idea. She really liked movies, especially the ones about princes and princesses. Her favorite movie had to be the one Rio showed her last week. What was it called again…? Oh yeah! Barbie of Swan Lake!

"Can we, Rio-neechan?"

"Of course. What movie did you have in mind, Haruto?"

"Well, How to Train Your Dragon 2 just came out, so we could go see that."

Rio tried not to grin as she noticed Kaito's closed eyelids twitch at the mention of dragons. "How's How to Train Your Dragon 2 sound to you, Iris?"

Iris frowned slightly. "I don't know… Dragons are scary. Remember that scary dragon that was guarding the forest Rapunzel lived in, Rio-neechan?"

Rio stared down at the girl nearly identical to her in appearance, drawing a blank at first until she finally realized what she was talking. 'Oh, she's talking about that Barbie movie I showed her.' "He wasn't that bad, Iris."

"Yeah and besides, there are really nice, cute dragons in How to Train Your Dragon 2," Haruto tried to reassure his friend. "Like Toothless! Toothless is my favorite dragon and is really nice."

"Really?"

"Yup!" Haruto grinned. "Stormfly and Meatlug are pretty nice, too."

Rio watched the indecisiveness on Iris' face be replaced with relief as she finished up the remainder of her ice cream.

"Well, if you say there are nice dragons then I guess we could go see it."

"Great!"

Kaito continued to surprise Rio with his gentlemanly acts with the antisocial duelist once again reaching over her shoulder to pay for the tickets before she could. Though she had seen the first movie and liked it, Rio hadn't exactly been planning on seeing the sequel anytime soon. It was a pretty good movie, though and Kaito's engrossed expression told her he felt the same way. This was the most invested she had seen him all day. Haruto was the one most visibly interested in the film with the younger Tenjo sibling "ooohing" and "ahhing" in wonder at every incredible feat the dragons performed. Iris was even enjoying herself, quietly squealing about how cute Toothless was. But the best and most amusing part of all was the fact that Iris had a crush on Hiccup, the little girl sighing dreamily and going starry eyed every time the protagonist was on the screen. Rio couldn't blame her, though. Puberty had been more than kind to Hiccup.

They all came out of the movie impressed with its quality.

"So Hiccup isn't a prince?" Iris said innocently.

Haruto was the one to answer her question. "Nope."

"But he's so handsome!"

Rio giggled behind a hand at the girl's infatuation toward the Viking movie protagonist. No longer was the sky painted an azure blue with cotton white clouds slowly drifting above. A pretty mixture of oranges, pinks, and reds colored the sky now with the sun beginning its slow descent toward the horizon. It had been a long, yet enjoyable day for the former Barian Empress and she was kind of sad to have it end like this. The walk back to Heartland Tower was a silent one with the silence only being broken by yawns from Haruto and Iris.

Seeing as Iris was having trouble keeping her eyes open, Rio scooped her up off the ground and into her arms. Iris didn't protest, easily giving into her body's desire for sleep. Haruto held on until they made it back to Heartland Tower, letting Kaito sweep him up off his feet and into his arms the minute they stepped inside the house. Rio waited downstairs while Kaito went to tuck his brother in, occupying herself by staring down at Iris' peaceful face.

'You're just the cutest thing,' Rio thought with a smile. She ceased fawning over Iris at the sound of a throat being cleared, her eyes meeting a familiar pair of gray ones.

The former Numbers hunter descended the stairs and walked until he was within a few feet of his two houseguests. "Thanks for today. Haruto had a lot of fun."

"No problem. Iris and I had a lot of fun, too." Her vibrating phone kept Rio from getting another word in. Kaito held his arms out to take Iris with a grateful Rio gently handing the child to him. Rio turned away from Kaito before answering the call. "Ryoga, Iris and I are on our way home right now." The blue haired girl went quiet for a moment before saying, "Okay, thanks."

Rio ended the call before turning around to take Iris back. "I gotta get going. Good night, Kaito."

"Wait," Kaito said before the girl could make a move toward the door. "I'll walk you home. It's getting pretty dark out, after all."

Rio couldn't find it in herself to say she could take care of both herself and Iris, strangely not averse to being in Kaito's company for awhile longer. Before she could voice her gratitude, the antisocial boy suddenly shortened the distance between them. The female duelist could feel her heart kick into overdrive at their close proximity, the stubborn organ refusing her order to relax. She caught a whiff of the cologne clinging to his coat, silently berating herself for liking it so much. She was relieved of the slumbering weight in her arms as Kaito took Iris back before wordlessly walking past her. Rio blinked a few times, taking a deep breath before letting it out. Well, at least her heart had stopped racing.

No words were exchanged between the formidable duelists as they walked back to the Kamishiro Mansion. The distance between Heartland Tower and the mansion wasn't exactly a short one so Rio guessed they'd make it back at around 7:30. A surprisingly chilly wind pushed against her body, ruffling her attire as well as her ocean blue locks. Rio's body was wracked with genuine shivers now, the girl rubbing her hands against her arms in a feeble attempt for warmth.

Kaito eyed the girl from the corner of his eye, resisting the urge to scoff. He oughta let her freeze for the stunt she pulled at the park. After all, it wasn't like Haruto was here to reprimand him for it and the little boy would never find out so long as he kept quiet. Kaito sighed, dropping Iris into Rio's unsuspecting arms before slipping his coat off and draping it across the surprised girl's shoulder's before once again relieving her of the sleeping child.

"Thanks," Rio said, glancing away in an attempt to hide her red cheeks. She spent the rest of their walk to the mansion trying to get lost in the sounds of the chirping crickets and the howling wind, hoping it would keep her mind from fogging over at the tantalizing smell of Kaito's cologne.

Rio climbed the steps leading to her home's front door, reaching out to clutch the golden door handle but clutching the air instead as the door was flung open by none other than her mother. Rio stared up at her mother and Sakura down at her daughter.

"Oh, Rio, you're back," Sakura said while putting on a pleasant, welcoming smile. The kindly woman finally noticed Kaito's presence, gazing at him curiously. "Oh my, Rio, you didn't tell me you were seeing such a handsome boy."

"Mom!" Rio exclaimed, her red tinted cheeks puffing out in irritation. She shoved her giggling mother back inside the mansion.

"Come now, Rio, I was only teasing," Kaito heard the woman laugh from inside.

Growling a few words under her breath, the blue haired duelist whirled back around to retrieve Iris from Kaito's hold. Giving him a sweet smile, Rio said, "Thanks for walking me home. Good night."

Kaito's heart skipped a beat and breath hitched at the soft lips on his cheek. He could feel his paralyzed body relax slightly as she pulled back and retreated into her abode. Rio's kiss must've seriously clouded up his mind because it was only when Kaito was just getting into bed that the nakedness of his sleeveless arms become apparent and he realized that Rio still had his jacket. Kaito sighed, swinging an arm over his closed eyelids while mentally debating on whether he should wash his trench coat when it came back into his possession. On one hand it needed to be washed as it hadn't been washed in a week, but on the other hand washing it would get rid of the natural lavender perfume Rio seemed to give off. Turning onto his right side, Kaito stared at the picture of his mother he kept on his nightstand. After all, he really liked the smell of lavender.

"Isn't that Kaito's?" Rio heard Ryoga say from behind her after dinner.

The girl with pink jewels for eyes stopped washing the dishes for a moment in order to look back at her older brother. However, his eyes weren't pinned on her face but another part of her body. She followed his gaze, her pink orbs landing on the jacket still draped across her shoulders. Huh, she must've forgotten to give it back to Kaito. It was funny because the entire time she had been back home she had never once even felt it.

"Yeah," Rio said, turning back to continue washing the dishes. "I must've forgotten to give it back to him." She felt her brother's eyes stay trained on her a little while longer before he hummed in response, his footsteps fading as he left the kitchen.

'On the bright side, at least I have a reason to pay the Tenjos another visit,' Rio thought with a slightly mischievous smile.